Complete Poetical Works, Volume 2: Forest Poems

While he thinks he sees a wild beast, he hurled a sharp arrow.
The twisted shaft flies.
His Wife cries out: "I have been killed!"
It was a mistake, but it was a mistake that could never be called back.
She lay pierced upon the ground.
The one who pierced her was drenched in tears. This likely refers to the myth of Cephalus and Procris. Cephalus accidentally killed his wife while hunting when he mistook her movement in the brush for a deer.

XI.

Look, a hare appears, born for a pleasant kind of fear:
A prey that would not yield
Even to the airy flamingo. original: "phoenicoptero." While usually a flamingo, here it implies a rare or exotic bird of high value.
That single hare tires out any dog, unless there are two,
Across many acres
With its complex, circling path.
It runs into windings and eludes the gaping bite
Of Laelaps; it wavers,
And then nimbly snatches itself away. original: "Læla-pis." In Greek mythology, Laelaps was a dog that never failed to catch its prey.
And although at times it seems already caught by the foot,
And pressed by the dog's snapping mouth,
It shakes off the thief in a bramble bush.
Fear did not only give the Hare swift wings;
It also increased the animal's ability through cleverness,
And through delicate tricks.

ANTITHESIS.

To wherever my desire leads and pulls me, and yours pulls you;
Let us, as lovers, swear this is for the better.
Just as a certain Caesar believed he had laid low as many Moorish lions
With his spear as he had caught flies. original: "muscas... Mauros leones." This refers to the Roman Emperor Domitian, who was famously mocked for spending his time alone catching flies with a sharp writing instrument.
Therefore we fashion our own joys for ourselves;
And we desire to be deceived by sweetness.
If a hungry dog, chasing a fleeting hare,
Delights those watching in the field:
When a woman chases away a rival, reclining over the remains,
Let it not delight people in the city in the same way!
Even if I admit the difference between both places;
This hunt stands apart as being worse.