19

Priapus

Fulmina sub Iove sunt, Neptuni fuscina telum,
ense potens Mars est, hasta, Minerva, tua est,
sutilibus Liber committit proelia thyrsis,
fertur Apollinea missa sagitta manu,
Herculis armata est invicta dextera clava:
at me terribilem mentula tenta facit.

Thunders are under Jove; with the trident weaponed is Neptune;
Forceful is Mars with brand, spear, O Minerva, is thine;
Liber engages in fray, confiding on sheaflets of Thyrsi;
By th' Apollinean hand shafts (they assure us) are shot;
Hercules' right is armed with the club that cannot be conquer'd;
But a distended yard makes me an object of awe.

Jove controls the thunderbolts; the trident is Neptune's weapon; Mars is mighty by the sword; thine, Minerva, is the spear. Bacchus fights his battles with a bundle of thyrsi; the bolt, we are told, is shot by Apollo's hand. Hercules' invincible right arm is equipped with a club; but a mentule at full stretch makes me appalling.