Vesper adest, iuuenes, consurgite: Vesper Olympo
exspectata diu uix tandem lumina tollit.
surgere iam tempus, iam pinguis linquesre mensas,
iam ueniet uirgo, iam dicetur hymenaeus.
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!

Cernitis, innuptae, iuuenes? consurgite contra;
nimirum Oetaeos ostendit Noctifer ignes.
sic certest; uiden ut perniciter exsiluere?
non temere exsiluere, canent quod uincere par est.
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!

Non facilis nobis, aequales, palma parata est;
aspicite, innuptae secum ut meditata requirunt.
non frustra meditantur: habent memorabile quod sit;
nec mirum, penitus quae tota mente laborant.
nos alio mentes, alio diuisimus aures;
iure igitur uincemur: amat uictoria curam.
quare nunc animos saltem conuertite uestros;
dicere iam incipient, iam respondere decebit.
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!

Hespere, quis caelo fertur crudelior ignis?
qui natam possis complexu auellere matris
complexu matris retinentem auellere natam,
et iuueni ardenti castam donare puellam.
quid faciunt hostes capta crudelius urbe?
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!

Hespere, quis caelo lucet iucundior ignis?
qui desponsa tua firmes conuibia flamma,
quae pepigere uiri, pepigerunt ante parentes,
nec iunxere prius quam se tuus extulit ardor.
quid datur a diuis felici optatius hora?
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!

Hesperus e nobis, aequales, abstulit unam ....
... namque tuo aduentu uigilat custodia semper,
nocte latent fures, quos idem saepe reuertens,
Hespere, mutato comprendis nomine Eous.
at lubet innuptis ficto te carpere questu.
quid tum, si carpunt, tacita quem mente requirunt?
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!

Ut flos in saeptis secretus nascitur hortis,
ignotus pecori, nullo contusus aratro,
quem mulcent aurae, firmat sol, educat imber;
multi illum pueri, multae optauere puellae:
idem cum tenui carptus defloruit ungui,
nulli illum pueri, nullae optauere puellae:
sic uirgo, dum intacta manet, dum cara suis est;
cum castum amisit polluto corpore florem,
nec pueris iucunda manet, nec cara puellis.
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!

Ut uidua in nudo uitis quae nascitur aruo,
numquam se extollit, numquam mitem educat uuam,
sed tenerum prono deflectens pondere corpus
iam iam contingit summum radice flagellum;
hanc nulli agricolae, multi coluere iuuenci:
at si forte eadem est ulmo coniuncta marito,
multi illam agricolae, multi coluere iuuenci:
sic uirgo dum intacta manet, dum inculta senescit;
cum par conubium maturo tempore adepta est,
cara uiro magis et minus est inuisa parenti.

Et tu ne pugna cum tali coniuge, uirgo.
non aequom est pugnare, pater cui tradidit ipse,
ipse pater cum matre, quibus parere necesse est.
uirginitas non tota tua est, ex parte parentum est,
tertia pars patrist, pars est data tertia matri,
tertia sola tua est: noli pugnare duobus,
qui genero sua iura simul cum dote dederunt.
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!

Translation

The Evening Star is here, friends, rise up: the Evening Star
scarcely lifts the long hoped for light at last from the sky.
now is the time to rise, now is the time to leave the rich meal,
now the bride should go, now the wedding song should be sung.
Hymen o Hymenaeus, Hymen you come o Hymenaeus!

Do you see the young boys, unwed maidens? rise against them;
evidently the Evening Star shows its Oetaean light.
Yes, that's for sure; don't you see them swiftly leaping up?
Do not hesitate to leap up, they will be singing what is up to us to outdo.
Hymen o Hymenaeus, Hymen you come o Hymenaeus!

Friends, the palm of victory is
look, the girls are remembering the things they have rehearsed.
they rehearsed not in vain: they have something that is memorable;
no wonder, they are deep at work with their entire mind.
We, on the other hand, have divided with some listening, some thinking;
rightly we will be defeated: victory loves care.
Wherefore at least now turn our minds;
now they begin to sing, now it will be right to respond.
Hymen o Hymenaeus, Hymen you come o Hymenaeus!

Hesperus, who more cruel is born through the sky on a heavenly body?
Because you can snatch a girl from the embrace of her mother,
you can snatch a reluctant girl from the embrace of her mother,
and give the pure girl to a desirous youth.
Do enemies do worse in a captured city?
Hymen o Hymenaeus, Hymen you come o Hymenaeus!

Hesperus, who shines sweeter in the sky on a heavenly body?
Because you can solidify a confirmed wedding with your flame,
which men settled, the parents settled before,
which can not be joined before your flame itself has risen.
what more hoped for thing can be given by the gods on this happy hour?
Hymen o Hymenaeus, Hymen you come o Hymenaeus!

Friends, Hesperus has stolen one from us ...
... for the watchman always wakes with your arrival,
thieves can hide at night, whom you, returning often,
overtake, Hesperus, by a different name, Eous.
But it is right for you to seize the girls with made up complaint.
Since then, if they are seized, they desire you with quiet thought?
Hymen o Hymenaeus, Hymen you come o Hymenaeus!

Just as a secret flower is born in a walled in garden,
unknown by cattle, crushed by no plow,
which the air charms, the sun nourishes, the water fosters;
many boys desire her, many girls choose her:
when the same is ripped with sharp nails in many places,
no boys want her, no girls select her:
thus a maiden, as long as she remains untouched, so long is she cared for by her people;
when she loses her pure youth with her whole body destroyed,
she does not remain sweet to boys, she is not cared for by girls.
Hymen o Hymenaeus, Hymen you come o Hymenaeus!

Just as a vine deprived which is born in a bare field,
never lifts herself up, never produced a ripe bunch of grapes,
but the delicate body hangs down with drooping weight
now the highest vine shoot now touches the root.
this one no farmers, no bullocks cultivate:
but if by chance this same one is married to an elm husband,
many farmers, many bullocks cultivate her:
thus the maiden as long as she remains untouched, so long does she grow old, neglected;
while a marriage with one of equal rank is obtained at the right time,
she is cared for more by her man and she is less hateful to her parents.

And so you too do not fight with such a marriage, maiden.
It is not right to fight with he whom your father himself gave you,
your father himself with your mother, it is necessary to obey them.
Virginity is not only yours, it is partly your parents',
a third part is your father's, a third part is your mother's,
only a third is yours: do not fight them both,
who have given their right over your with a generous dowry.
Hymen o Hymenaeus, Hymen you come o Hymenaeus!