133 Roman mothers and brides, worship the goddess properly! And you, too, who no longer wear the long pieces of the headband of Vesta. Remove the golden ornaments from her marble neck! Remove her riches: the goddess must be washed all over. Return the golden jewelry to her dry neck! Now variated floral garlands, now a fresh rose must be presented to her. She herself entreats you, too, to be bathed beneath the blooming myrtle. And the reason why she might desire that (teach me!) underlies certain events which happened by the sea-shore: naked, she was drying her dripping hair. Satyrs, a shameless crowd, saw the goddess. She heard them, and covered her own body with myrtle, with the stuff opposite her. She has protection in this act, and she desires that you conceal yourselves.
145 Now riddle me this, why might you devote incense to Bold Fortune there, in that place which is damp with steamy water? That place welcomes all, with their clothes removed and set aside, and it sees every flaw on the naked body; so that she might hide by it and might also keep the men in the dark, Fortuna Virilis supplies the steam, and by this little bit of incense she creates what was asked for. Nor would she dislike to take up a bruised poppy with white milk, and honey strained from a crushed honeycomb. When Venus is first led to her eager husband, she drinks this; from that time on she is a wife. Soothe her with humble words! And beneath that woman’s beauty remain both her character and her good reputation.
157 Rome fell from virtue in the time of our great-grandfathers: you, the ancients, have consulted the old Cumean woman. She orders a temple of Venus be constructed. By those actions, by her order, Venus held the title ‘Heart-Changer’ from that point on. Always consider Romans with a gentle expression, Most Glorious Goddess, to protect your many brides!
163 While I speak, the Scorpion, who must be feared on account of the stinger of his high tail, falls into green waters.