Laodamia's Lament (Latin)

Incubuit Boreas abreptaque vela tetendit,
iamque meus longe Protesilaus erat.
dum potui spectare virum, spectare iuvabat
sumque tuos oculos usque secuta meis;
ut te non poteram, poteram tua vela videre,
vela diu vultus detinuere meos.
at postquam nec te nec vela fugacia vidi,
et quod spectarem, nil nisi pontus erat,
lux quoque tecum abiit, tenebrisque exanguis obortis
succiduo dicor procubuisse genu.
vix socer Iphiclus, vix me grandaevus Acastus,
vix mater gelida maesta refecit aqua.
officium fecere pium, sed inutile nobis:
indignor miserae non licuisse mori.

The North Wind rose and filled the hastily set sails,
And soon my Protesilaus was far away.
As long as I could watch my husband, it pleased me to look,
And I kept following your eyes with mine.
When I could no longer see you, I could still see your sails;
The sails held my gaze for a long time.
But after I saw neither you nor the fleeing sails,
And there was nothing to look at but the sea,
The light went away with you, and as darkness fell,
They say I collapsed upon my weakening knees.
Scarcely did my father-in-law Iphiclus, scarcely my aged father Acastus,
Scarcely did my sorrowful mother revive me with cold water.
They performed a dutiful act, but it was useless for me:
I grieve that, in my misery, I was not allowed to die.