Daniël Heinsius, Ambacht van Cupido, from: Nederduytsche poemata (1616)

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In lubrico. [20]


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20. In lubrico.translation


20. In lubrico.
Cupido leert het spel dat Hollandt heeft gevonden,
Hy proeft te gaen op 't ys, hy heeft twee schaetsen aen.
Hy heeft twee ysers scherp aen zijne voet gebonden,
Daer mede dat hy meynt op 't water 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 werck, die duyselt in de min. translation

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Translations

On slippery ice.
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]


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Sources and parallels