Daniël Heinsius, Ambacht van Cupido (1613)
Table of contents ↑In lubrico. [20]
Lubrica res amor est. stat mox ruiturus Amator,
Ac si concretis frigore staret aquis.
Ac si concretis frigore staret aquis.
Cupido leert het spel dat Hollandt heeft gevonden,
Hy proeft te gaen opt ys, hy heeft tvvee schaetsen aen.
Hy heeft tvvee ysers scherp aen zijne voet ghebonden,
Daer mede dat hy meynt opt vvater vast te staen.
Het ys van selfs is glat, de ysers glat daer tegen,
Men valt seer lichtelick daer op, of oock daer in.
Het vryen gaet alsoo. die niet en is te degen
Geslepen op het vverck, die duysselt in de min.
Hy proeft te gaen opt ys, hy heeft tvvee schaetsen aen.
Hy heeft tvvee ysers scherp aen zijne voet ghebonden,
Daer mede dat hy meynt opt vvater vast te staen.
Het ys van selfs is glat, de ysers glat daer tegen,
Men valt seer lichtelick daer op, of oock daer in.
Het vryen gaet alsoo. die niet en is te degen
Geslepen op het vverck, die duysselt in de min.
Garde toy Cupidon sur ce glacé passage
Il ne fault qu’vn festu pour te faire tomber.
Et toy qui en Amour fais ton apprentissage,
Le passage est glissant, garde toy de chopper.
Il ne fault qu’vn festu pour te faire tomber.
Et toy qui en Amour fais ton apprentissage,
Le passage est glissant, garde toy de chopper.
Translations
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Op glad ijs. |
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On slippery ice. Cupid learns the game invented here in Holland, He tries to walk on ice, he wears a pair of skates. He's tied onto his feet the two sharp iron blades - They'll keep him firm, he thinks, and steady on the water. The ice is slippery, the blade against it, too, It's easy to fall down, or even right straight through. With wooing it's the same: those lacking well-honed skill Will lose their footing fast, their love will come to nil. [translation by M. Scholz] |
Sources and parallels
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Typical Dutch elements also used by Heinsius in: Ni spirat, immota [9] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Quaeris quid sit Amor (c. 1601))
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Cupid is looking at two lovebirds in a tree, and looks a bit more secure at the pictura of: In lubrico. [20] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Ambacht van Cupido, from: Nederduytsche poemata (1616))
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Same metaphor ('love is like scating on slippery ice') later used in:
Hall, Emblems with Elegant Figures, embl. 16
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Typical Dutch elements also used by Heinsius in: Ni spirat immota [9] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Emblemata amatoria (1607/8))
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Typical Dutch elements also used by Cats in: Dominae, quo me vocat, aura. [29] (in: Jacob Cats, Sinne- en minnebeelden (1627))
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Motto and subscriptio repeated in, although pictura clearly based on different source: De weg der liefde is glibberig [18] (in: Willem den Elger, Zinne-beelden der liefde (1703))
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Typical Dutch elements also used by Cats in: Dominae, quo me vocat, aura. [28] (in: Jacob Cats, Proteus (1618))
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References, across this site, to this page:
- Ni spirat immota. [33] (in: Daniël Heinsius, Ambacht van Cupido (1613))