Catullus: Catullus

Cui dono lepidum novum libellum
arida modo pumice expolitum?
Corneli, tibi: namque tu solebas
meas esse aliquid putare nugas.
Iam tum, cum ausus es unus Italorum
omne aevum tribus explicare cartis . . .
Doctis, Iuppiter, et laboriosis!

To whom do I gift a charming new little booklet
just now polished with dry pumice?
Cornelius, to you: for you were accustomed
to think my trifles amounted to something.
Even then, when you dared, alone of the Italians,
to explicate all time in three volumes . . .
learned, by Jupiter, and laborious!

Quare habe tibi quidquid hoc libelli—
qualecumque, quod, o patrona virgo,
plus uno maneat perenne saeclo!

Wherefore, have for yourself whatever this is of a little book—
of whatever sort it is, which, O patron maiden,
may it remain perennial for more than one age!

II. fletus passeris Lesbiae

2. the lament for Lesbia's sparrow

Passer, deliciae meae puellae,
quicum ludere, quem in sinu tenere,
cui primum digitum dare appetenti
et acris solet incitare morsus,
cum desiderio meo nitenti
carum nescio quid lubet iocari
et solaciolum sui doloris,
credo ut tum gravis acquiescat ardor:
tecum ludere sicut ipsa possem
et tristis animi levare curas!

Sparrow, delight of my girl,
with whom to play, whom to hold in her lap,
to whom she is accustomed to give her first finger when it is craving,
and to incite sharp bites,
when my shining desire
likes to jest some dear I-know-not-what,
a little solace of her pain,
I believe that then her grave ardor acquiesces:
with you I could play just as she herself does,
and alleviate the cares of a sad spirit!

IIb.

2b.

Tam gratum est mihi quam ferunt puellae
pernici aureolum fuisse malum,
quod zonam soluit diu ligatam.

So pleasing is it to me as they say to the fleet maiden
the golden little apple was,
which loosed a girdle long bound.

III. fletus passeris Lesbiae

3. the lament of Lesbia’s sparrow

Lugete, o Veneres Cupidinesque,
et quantum est hominum venustiorum:
passer mortuus est meae puellae,
passer, deliciae meae puellae,
quem plus illa oculis suis amabat.
nam mellitus erat suamque norat
ipsam tam bene quam puella matrem,
nec sese a gremio illius movebat,
sed circumsiliens modo huc modo illuc
ad solam dominam usque pipiabat.
qui nunc it per iter tenebricosum
illuc, unde negant redire quemquam.

Mourn, O Venuses and Cupids,
and all there are of more charming humans:
the sparrow of my girl is dead,
the sparrow, the delight of my girl,
whom she loved more than her own eyes.
For he was honey-sweet and knew
his mistress herself as well as a girl [knows] her mother,
nor did he move himself from her lap,
but, leaping about now here now there,
kept chirping continuously to his mistress alone.
who now goes along the shadowy journey
thither, whence they say no one returns.

at vobis male sit, malae tenebrae
Orci, quae omnia bella devoratis:
tam bellum mihi passerem abstulistis
o factum male! o miselle passer!
tua nunc opera meae puellae
flendo turgiduli rubent ocelli.

but may it go badly for you, evil darknesses of Orcus,
you who devour all pretty things:
so pretty a sparrow you have taken from me—
O ill-done deed! O most wretched little sparrow!
by your doing now my girl’s little eyes
a bit swollen from weeping, are red.

IV. de phasello

4. about the pinnace

Phaselus ille, quem videtis, hospites,
ait fuisse navium celerrimus,
neque ullius natantis impetum trabis
nequisse praeterire, sive palmulis
opus foret volare sive linteo.
et hoc negat minacis Hadriatici
negare litus insulasve Cycladas
Rhodumque nobilem horridamque Thraciam
Propontida trucemve Ponticum sinum,
ubi iste post phaselus antea fuit
comata silva; nam Cytorio in iugo
loquente saepe sibilum edidit coma.
Amastri Pontica et Cytore buxifer,
tibi haec fuisse et esse cognitissima
ait phaselus: ultima ex origine
tuo stetisse dicit in cacumine,
tuo imbuisse palmulas in aequore,
et inde tot per impotentia freta
erum tulisse, laeva sive dextera
vocaret aura, sive utrumque Iuppiter
simul secundus incidisset in pedem;
neque ulla vota litoralibus deis
sibi esse facta, cum veniret a mari
novissimo hunc ad usque limpidum lacum.

That skiff, which you see, guests,
says it was the swiftest of ships,
that it could pass by the onrush of no floating beam,
whether there was need to fly by little palms (oar-blades) or by canvas.
And this the shore of the menacing Adriatic
and the Cyclades islands, and noble Rhodes and rough Thrace,
the Propontis, and the grim Pontic gulf do not deny—
where this skiff after being that was once a leafy wood;
for on the ridge of Cytorus its hair (foliage), speaking, often sent out a hiss.
Pontic Amastris, and you, boxwood-bearing Cytorus,
to you these things were and are most well-known,
says the skiff: from its farthest origin
it says it stood on your peak,
it dipped its little palms in your water,
and from there through so many ungovernable straits
it carried its master, whether left or right
the breeze might call, or whether Jupiter, favorable,
had at once fallen upon each tack;
and that no vows to the littoral gods
were made by it, when it came from the farthest sea
right up to this limpid lake.

sed haec prius fuere: nunc recondita
senet quiete seque dedicat tibi,
gemelle Castor et gemelle Castoris.

but these things were before: now, stored away
it grows old in quiet and dedicates itself to you,
twin Castor and twin of Castor.

V. ad Lesbiam

5. to Lesbia

Vivamus mea Lesbia, atque amemus,
rumoresque senum severiorum
omnes unius aestimemus assis!
soles occidere et redire possunt:
nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux,
nox est perpetua una dormienda.
da mi basia mille, deinde centum,
dein mille altera, dein secunda centum,
deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum.

Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love,
and let us value the rumors of the rather sterner old men
all at a single penny!
suns can set and return:
for us, when once our brief light has set,
one perpetual night must be slept.
give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred,
then another thousand, then a second hundred,
then continuously another thousand, then a hundred.

dein, cum milia multa fecerimus,
conturbabimus illa, ne sciamus,
aut ne quis malus invidere possit,
cum tantum sciat esse basiorum.

then, when we have made many thousands,
we shall confound them, so that we may not know,
or so that no wicked man may be able to envy,
when he knows how many kisses there are.

VI. ad Flavium

6. to Flavius

Flavi, delicias tuas Catullo,
ni sint illepidae atque inelegantes,
velles dicere nec tacere posses.
verum nescio quid febriculosi
scorti diligis: hoc pudet fateri.
nam te non viduas iacere noctes
nequiquam tacitum cubile clamat
sertis ac Syrio fragrans olivo,
pulvinusque peraeque et hic et ille
attritus, tremulique quassa lecti
argutatio inambulatioque.

Flavius, about your darling to Catullus,
unless she were un-charming and inelegant,
you would wish to speak, nor could you keep silent.
but you cherish some I-know-not-what of a feverish
harlot: this you are ashamed to confess.
for your bed, silent in vain, proclaims that you do not lie
through widowed nights, fragrant with garlands and Syrian olive-oil,
and the cushion, equally both this one and that one,
worn down, and the creaking and ambulation of the
trembling, shaken bed.

nam inista prevalet nihil tacere.
cur? non tam latera ecfututa pandas,
ni tu quid facias ineptiarum.

for in these matters you prevail at keeping nothing silent.
why? not so much that you would splay your fuck-wearied sides,
unless you are up to some inept antics.

quare, quidquid habes boni malique,
dic nobis. volo te ac tuos amores
ad caelum lepido vocare versu.

wherefore, whatever you have of good and of ill,
tell us. I wish to call you and your loves
to the sky with a charming verse.

VII. ad Lesbiam

7. to Lesbia

Quaeris, quot mihi basiationes
tuae, Lesbia, sint satis superque.
quam magnus numerus Libyssae harenae
lasarpiciferis iacet Cyrenis
oraclum Iovis inter aestuosi
et Batti veteris sacrum sepulcrum;
aut quam sidera multa, cum tacet nox,
furtivos hominum vident amores:
tam te basia multa basiare
vesano satis et super Catullo est,
quae nec pernumerare curiosi
possint nec mala fascinare lingua.

You ask, how many of your kisses,
Lesbia, would be enough and more than enough for me.
as great as the number of Libyan sand
that lies in silphium-bearing Cyrene
between the oracle of sweltering Jove
and the sacred sepulcher of old Battus;
or as many stars, when night is silent,
as see the furtive loves of men:
so many kisses to kiss you
are enough and more than enough for mad Catullus,
kisses which neither the curious can enumerate
nor an evil tongue bewitch.

VIII. ad se ipsum

8. to himself

Miser Catulle, desinas ineptire,
et quod vides perisse perditum ducas.
fulsere quondam candidi tibi soles,
cum ventitabas quo puella ducebat
amata nobis quantum amabitur nulla.
ibi illa multa cum iocosa fiebant,
quae tu volebas nec puella nolebat,
fulsere vere candidi tibi soles.

Miserable Catullus, cease to play the fool,
and what you see has perished, reckon as lost.
once bright suns shone for you,
when you kept coming where the girl led,
loved by us as no other will be loved.
there, when many jocose things were happening,
which you wanted and the girl was not unwilling,
truly bright suns shone for you.

nunc iam illa non vult: tu quoque impotens noli,
nec quae fugit sectare, nec miser vive,
sed obstinata mente perfer, obdura.
vale puella, iam Catullus obdurat,
nec te requiret nec rogabit invitam.
at tu dolebis, cum rogaberis nulla.

now already she does not want: you too, impotent one, do not;
nor pursue her who flees, nor live as a wretch,
but with an obstinate mind endure, be obdurate.
farewell, girl; now Catullus is obdurate,
nor will he seek you, nor will he ask an unwilling one.
but you will grieve, when you will be asked by no one.

scelesta, vae te, quae tibi manet vita?
quis nunc te adibit? cui videberis bella?

wicked one, woe to you, what life remains for you?
who now will approach you? to whom will you seem beautiful?

quem nunc amabis? cuius esse diceris?
quem basiabis?

whom will you love now? whose will you be said to be?
whom will you kiss?

cui labella mordebis?
at tu, Catulle, destinatus obdura.

whose little lips will you bite?
but you, Catullus, determined, be obdurate.

IX. ad Veranium

9. to Veranius

Verani, omnibus e meis amicis
antistans mihi milibus trecentis,
venistine domum ad tuos penates
fratresque unanimos anumque matrem?
venisti. o mihi nuntii beati!

Verani, among all my friends
surpassing, for me, three hundred thousands,
have you come home to your Penates
and your unanimous brothers and your aged mother?
you have come. O blessed news for me!

visam te incolumem audiamque Hiberum
narrantem loca, facta nationes,
ut mos est tuus, applicansque collum
iucundum os oculosque suaviabor.
o quantum est hominum beatiorum,
quid me laetius est beatiusve?

I shall see you safe and hear you, Iberian,
relating the places, deeds, nations,
as is your custom, and drawing your neck close
I shall kiss the jocund mouth and eyes.
o whatever there is of more-blessed men,
what is happier than I, or more blessed?

X. ad Varum

10. to Varus

Varus me meus ad suos amores
visum duxerat e foro otiosum,
scortillum, ut mihi tum repente visum est,
non sane illepidum neque invenustum,
huc ut venimus, incidere nobis
sermones varii, in quibus, quid esset
iam Bithynia, quo modo se haberet,
et quonam mihi profuisset aere.
respondi id quod erat, nihil neque ipsis
nec praetoribus esse nec cohorti,
cur quisquam caput unctius referret,
praesertim quibus esset irrumator
praetor, nec faceret pili cohortem.
'at certe tamen,' inquiunt 'quod illic
natum dicitur esse, comparasti
ad lecticam homines.' ego, ut puellae
unum me facerem beatiorem,
'non' inquam 'mihi tam fuit maligne
ut, provincia quod mala incidisset,
non possem octo homines parare rectos.'
at mi nullus erat nec hic neque illic
fractum qui veteris pedem grabati
in collo sibi collocare posset.

My Varus had led me, at leisure, out of the forum to see his love-affair,
a little harlot, as it then suddenly seemed to me,
truly not uncharming nor ungraceful;
when we came here, various conversations fell to us, among which, what Bithynia now was,
how it was holding itself, and with what cash it had profited me.
I answered what was the case: that there was nothing either for the locals themselves
nor for the praetors nor for the cohort, why anyone should bring back a more-oiled head,
especially when the praetor was a face‑fucker for them, and he didn’t value his cohort at a hair.
‘But surely at least,’ they say, ‘that which is said to be produced there—
you bought men for a litter, didn’t you?’ I, to make myself seem to the girl
a bit more well‑off, say, ‘It wasn’t so mean for me that, though a bad province had fallen to me,
I couldn’t procure eight straight‑upright men.’
But I had not a single man, neither here nor there,
who could place on his neck the broken foot of an old pallet‑bed.

hic illa, ut decuit cinaediorem,
'quaeso' inquit 'mihi, mi Catulle, paulum
istos commoda: nam volo ad Serapim
deferri.' 'mane' inquii puellae,
'istud quod modo dixeram me habere,
fugit me ratio: meus sodalis—
Cinna est Gaius—is sibi paravit.
verum, utrum illius an mei, quid ad me?
utor tam bene quam mihi pararim.
sed tu insulsa male et molesta vivis,
per quam non licet esse neglegentem.'

here she, as was fitting for one rather more wanton,
“please,” she says, “my Catullus, lend me for a little
those fellows: for I want to be carried to Serapis.”
“wait,” I said to the girl,
“that thing which I just said I had—
the reckoning escapes me: my companion—
it is Cinna Gaius—procured them for himself.
but, whether they’re his or mine, what’s that to me?
I use them just as well as if I had procured them for myself.
but you live wretchedly insipid and vexatious,
through whom it is not permitted to be negligent.”

XI. ad Furium et Aurelium

11. to Furius and Aurelius

Furi et Aureli comites Catulli,
sive in extremos penetrabit Indos,
litus ut longe resonante Eoa
     tunditur unda,
sive in Hyrcanos Arabesve molles,
seu Sagas sagittiferosve Parthos,
sive quae septemgeminus colorat
     aequora Nilus,
sive trans altas gradietur Alpes,
Caesaris visens monimenta magni,
Gallicum Rhenum horribile aequor ulti-
     mosque Britannos,
omnia haec, quaecumque feret voluntas
caelitum, temptare simul parati,
pauca nuntiate meae puellae
     non bona dicta.
cum suis vivat valeatque moechis,
quos simul complexa tenet trecentos,
nullum amans vere, sed identidem omnium
     ilia rumpens;
nec meum respectet, ut ante, amorem,
qui illius culpa cecidit velut prati
ultimi flos, praetereunte postquam
     tactus aratro est.

Furius and Aurelius, companions of Catullus,
whether he will penetrate to the farthest Indians,
where the shore, far off, by the resounding Eoan
     wave is beaten,
or into the Hyrcani or the soft Arabs,
or the Sacae or the arrow-bearing Parthians,
or the waters which the sevenfold
     Nile colors,
or he will stride across the high Alps,
visiting the monuments of great Caesar,
the Gallic Rhine, the dreadful waters, and the fur-
     thest Britons,
all these things, whatever the will
of the heaven-dwellers brings, ready at once to attempt,
announce to my girl a few
     not-good words.
Let her live and thrive with her adulterers,
whom, having embraced all at once, she holds three hundred,
truly loving none, but again and again of all
     bursting the loins;
and let her not regard, as before, my love,
which by her fault has fallen like the flower of the
farthest meadow, after the passing
     plow has touched it.

XII. ad Matrucinum Asinium

12. to Matrucinus Asinius

Marrucine Asini, manu sinistra
non belle uteris: in ioco atque vino
tollis lintea neglegentiorum.
hoc salsum esse putas? fugit te, inepte:
quamvis sordida res et invenusta est.

Marrucinus Asinius, with your left hand
you do not use it nicely: in jest and wine
you snatch the linens of the more negligent.
this you think to be salty? it escapes you, you inept one:
however, it is a sordid and uncharming thing.

non credis mihi? crede Pollioni
fratri, qui tua furta vel talento
mutari velit: est enim leporum
differtus puer ac facetiarum.
quare aut hendecasyllabos trecentos
exspecta, aut mihi linteum remitte,
quod me non movet aestimatione,
verum est mnemosynum mei sodalis.

You do not believe me? Believe Pollio,
my brother, who would wish your thefts to be exchanged even for a talent;
for he is a boy stuffed full of charms and witticisms.
therefore either expect three hundred hendecasyllables
or send back the napkin to me,
which does not move me by estimation,
but is a memento of my companion.

nam sudaria Saetaba ex Hiberis
miserunt mihi muneri Fabullus
et Veranius: haec amem necesse est
ut Veraniolum meum et Fabullum.

for Saetaban handkerchiefs from the Iberians
Fabullus and Veranius sent to me as a gift:
these I must love as I love my little Veranius
and Fabullus.

XIII. ad Fabullum

13. to Fabullus

Cenabis bene, mi Fabulle, apud me
paucis, si tibi di favent, diebus,
si tecum attuleris bonam atque magnam
cenam, non sine candida puella
et vino et sale et omnibus cachinnis.
haec si, inquam, attuleris, venuste noster,
cenabis bene; nam tui Catulli
plenus sacculus est aranearum.
sed contra accipies meros amores
seu quid suavius elegantiusve est:
nam unguentum dabo, quod meae puellae
donarunt Veneres Cupidinesque,
quod tu cum olfacies, deos rogabis,
totum ut te faciant, Fabulle, nasum.

You will dine well, my Fabullus, at my place
in a few days, if the gods favor you,
if you bring with you a good and great
dinner, not without a fair girl
and wine and salt and all the guffaws.
If these things, I say, you bring, our charming one,
you will dine well; for your Catullus’s
little purse is full of cobwebs.
But in return you will receive pure loves,
or something sweeter and more elegant:
for I will give perfume which to my girl
the Venuses and Cupids have bestowed,
which, when you smell it, you will ask the gods,
Fabullus, to make you all nose.

XIV. ad Calvum poetam

14. to Calvus the poet

Ni te plus oculis meis amarem,
iucundissime Calve, munere isto
odissem te odio Vatiniano:
nam quid feci ego quidve sum locutus,
cur me tot male perderes poetis?
isti di mala multa dent clienti,
qui tantum tibi misit impiorum.
quod si, ut suspicor, hoc novum ac repertum
munus dat tibi Sulla litterator,
non est mi male, sed bene ac beate,
quod non dispereunt tui labores.

If I did not love you more than my eyes,
most delightful Calvus, because of that gift
I would hate you with Vatinian hatred:
for what have I done or what have I spoken,
why would you so badly destroy me with so many poets?
those gods may give many evils to that client,
who sent to you so much of the impious.
But if, as I suspect, this new and found
gift is given to you by Sulla the literator,
it is not bad for me, but well and blessedly,
because your labors do not perish.

di magni, horribilem et sacrum libellum!
quem tu scilicet ad tuum Catullum
misti, continuo ut die periret,
Saturnalibus, optimo dierum!
non non hoc tibi, false, sic abibit.

Great gods, a horrible and sacred little book!
which you, of course, sent to your Catullus,
so that he would perish on that very day,
at the Saturnalia, the best of days!
no, no, this will not pass for you so, false one.

nam si luxerit ad librariorum
curram scrinia, Caesios, Aquinos,
Suffenum, omnia colligam venena.
ac te his suppliciis remunerabor.
vos hinc interea valete abite
illuc, unde malum pedem attulistis,
saecli incommoda, pessimi poetae.

for if it dawns I will run to the copyists’ scrinia,
the Caesii, the Aquini,
Suffenus—I will collect every poison.
and I will remunerate you with these punishments.
you meanwhile, farewell, be off from here
thither, whence you brought your evil foot,
incommodities of the age, worst poets.

XIVb.

14b.

Si qui forte mearum ineptiarum
lectores eritis manusque vestras
non horrebitis admovere nobis,

If any by chance will be readers of my ineptitudes,
and will not shudder to move your hands
to us,

XV. ad Aurelium

15. to Aurelius

Commendo tibi me ac meos amores,
Aureli. veniam peto pudentem,
ut, si quicquam animo tuo cupisti,
quod castum expeteres et integellum,
conserves puerum mihi pudice,
non dico a populo—nihil veremur
istos, qui in platea modo huc modo illuc
in re praetereunt sua occupati—
verum a te metuo tuoque pene
infesto pueris bonis malisque.
quem tu qua lubet, ut lubet moveto
quantum vis, ubi erit foris paratum:
hunc unum excipio, ut puto, pudenter.

I commend to you me and my loves,
Aurelius. I petition a modest pardon,
that, if you have desired anything in your mind,
which you would seek as chaste and quite intact,
you conserve the boy for me chastely,
I do not say from the populace—we fear nothing
from those who in the street now here, now there
pass by about their own business, occupied—
but I fear you and your penis,
infesting boys both good and bad.
which you may move where you please, as you please,
as much as you wish, when it is prepared outside:
this one alone I except, as I think, prudently.

quod si te mala mens furorque vecors
in tantam impulerit, sceleste, culpam,
ut nostrum insidiis caput lacessas.
a tum te miserum malique fati!
quem attractis pedibus patente porta
percurrent raphanique mugilesque.

but if an evil mind and witless fury
should drive you, criminal, to so great a fault,
that you attack our head by ambushes.
ah then, wretched you and of ill fate!
whom, with feet drawn back, through the gaping gate
both radishes and mullets will run through.

XVI. ad Aurelium et Furium

16. to Aurelius and Furius

Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo,
Aureli pathice et cinaede Furi,
qui me ex versiculis meis putastis,
quod sunt molliculi, parum pudicum.
nam castum esse decet pium poetam
ipsum, versiculos nihil necesse est;
qui tum denique habent salem ac leporem,
si sunt molliculi ac parum pudici,
et quod pruriat incitare possunt,
non dico pueris, sed his pilosis
qui duros nequeunt movere lumbos.
vos, quod milia multa basiorum
legistis, male me marem putatis?

I will ass-fuck and face-fuck you,
Aurelius the pathic and Furius the cinaedus,
you who from my little versicles have supposed me,
because they are a bit soft, to be hardly modest.
for it befits a pious poet to be chaste
himself; the versicles have no need at all;
which then and only then have salt and charm,
if they are a bit soft and not very modest,
and can incite what itches,
I do not say in boys, but in those hairy ones
who cannot move their hard loins.
you—because many thousands of kisses
you have read—think me poorly a man?

pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo.

I will ass-fuck and face-fuck you.

XVII.

17.

O Colonia, quae cupis ponte ludere longo,
et salire paratum habes, sed vereris inepta
crura ponticuli axulis stantis in redivivis,
ne supinus eat cavaque in palude recumbat:
sic tibi bonus ex tua pons libidine fiat,
in quo vel Salisubsali sacra suscipiantur,
munus hoc mihi maximi da, Colonia, risus.
quendam municipem meum de tuo volo ponte
ire praecipitem in lutum per caputque pedesque,
verum totius ut lacus putidaeque paludis
lividissima maximeque est profunda vorago.
insulsissimus est homo, nec sapit pueri instar
bimuli tremula patris dormientis in ulna.

O Colony, you who desire to play on the long bridge,
and you have leaping ready, but you fear the inept
legs of the little bridge, standing on redivive little axles,
lest it go supine and recline in the hollow marsh:
thus for you may a good bridge be made from your desire,
on which even the sacred rites of the Sali-Subsali might be undertaken,
grant me this gift of the greatest laughter, Colony.
a certain fellow-townsman of mine from your bridge I want
to go headlong into the mire, over head and feet,
nay, where the most livid and deepest whirlpool is
of the whole lake and of the stinking marsh.
he is a most insipid man, nor does he have sense like a boy
of two years sleeping in the trembling forearm of his father.

cui cum sit viridissimo nupta flore puella
et puella tenellulo delicatior haedo,
adservanda nigerrimis diligentius uuis,
ludere hanc sinit ut lubet, nec pili facit uni,
nec se subleuat ex sua parte, sed velut alnus
in fossa Liguri iacet suppernata securi,
tantundem omnia sentiens quam si nulla sit usquam;
talis iste meus stupor nil videt, nihil audit,
ipse qui sit, utrum sit an non sit, id quoque nescit.
nunc eum volo de tuo ponte mittere pronum,
si pote stolidum repente excitare veternum,
et supinum animum in gravi derelinquere caeno,
ferream ut soleam tenaci in voragine mula.

to whom, though a girl is wed in the most verdant flower,
and a girl more delicate than a very tender kid,
to be kept under guard more diligently than jet‑black grapes,
he lets her play as it pleases, and he does not value it at a single hair,
nor does he lift himself on his own side, but, like an alder
in a Ligurian ditch, he lies hamstrung by the axe,
feeling just as much of everything as if he were nowhere at all;
such is this blockhead of mine: he sees nothing, he hears nothing,
who he himself is, whether he is or is not, that too he does not know.
now I want to send him headlong from your bridge,
if it can suddenly rouse his stolid lethargy,
and leave his supine mind in the heavy mud,
as a mule its iron shoe in a tenacious whirlpool.

XXI. ad Aurelium

21. to Aurelius

Aureli, pater esuritionum,
non harum modo, sed quot aut fuerunt
aut sunt aut aliis erunt in annis,
pedicare cupis meos amores.
nec clam: nam simul es, iocaris una,
haerens ad latus omnia experiris.
frustra: nam insidias mihi instruentem
tangam te prior irrumatione.

Aurelius, father of hungers,
not of these only, but as many as either have been
or are, or will be in other years,
you desire to bugger my loves.
not secretly: for whenever you are present, you jest along,
clinging at my side you try everything.
in vain: for you, plotting ambushes against me,
I will touch you first with irrumation.

atque id si faceres satur, tacerem:
nunc ipsum id doleo, quod esurire
me me puer et sitire discet.
quare desine, dum licet pudico,
ne finem facias, sed irrumatus.

and if you did this sated, I would be silent:
now I grieve at this very thing, that my boy will learn
to hunger for me, me, and to thirst.
therefore stop, while it is permitted to a modest man,
lest you make an end, but rather be irrumated.

XXII. ad Varum

22. to Varus

Suffenus iste, Vare, quem probe nosti,
homo est venustus et dicax et urbanus,
idemque longe plurimos facit versus.
puto esse ego illi milia aut decem aut plura
perscripta, nec sic ut fit in palimpsesto
relata: cartae regiae, novi libri,
novi umbilici, lora rubra membranae,
derecta plumbo et pumice omnia aequata.
haec cum legas tu, bellus ille et urbanus
Suffenus unus caprimulgus aut fossor
rursus videtur: tantum abhorret ac mutat.

That Suffenus, Varus, whom you know well,
is a charming man and witty and urbane,
and the same man makes by far the most verses.
I think he has ten thousand, or more, written out,
and not as is done on a palimpsest,
copied back: royal sheets, new volumes,
new umbilici, red thongs of parchment,
all ruled straight with lead and made smooth with pumice.
When you read these, that cute and urbane
Suffenus alone seems a goat-milker or a ditch-digger
again: so much does he fall short and change.

hoc quid putemus esse? qui modo scurra
aut si quid hac re scitius videbatur,
idem infaceto est infacetior rure,
simul poemata attigit, neque idem umquam
aeque est beatus ac poema cum scribit:
tam gaudet in se tamque se ipse miratur.
nimirum idem omnes fallimur, neque est quisquam
quem non in aliqua re videre Suffenum
possis.

what are we to think this is? he who just now seemed a buffoon,
or, if anything, more knowing in this matter,
the same man is more witless than a witless countryside,
as soon as he has touched poems; nor is he ever
equally blessed as when he writes a poem:
so he rejoices in himself and so he admires himself.
surely we are all deceived in the same way, nor is there anyone
in whom you cannot see a Suffenus in some respect
you can.

suus cuique attributus est error;
sed non videmus manticae quod in tergo est.

To each person his own error is attributed;
but we do not see what of the knapsack is on the back.

XXIII. ad Furium

23. to Furius

Furi cui neque servus est neque arca
nec cimex neque araneus neque ignis,
verum est et pater et noverca, quorum
dentes vel silicem comesse possunt,
est pulcre tibi cum tuo parente
et cum coniuge lignea parentis.
nec mirum: bene nam valetis omnes,
pulcre concoquitis, nihil timetis,
non incendia, non graves rvinas,
non facta impia, non dolos veneni,
non casus alios periculorum.
atque corpora sicciora cornu
aut siquid magis aridum est habetis
sole et frigore et esuritione.

Furius, who has neither a servant nor a chest,
nor a bedbug nor a spider nor a fire,
but you do have both a father and a stepmother, whose
teeth can even consume flint,
things are nicely arranged for you with your parent
and with the wooden consort of your parent.
nor is it a marvel: for you all are strong in health,
you digest finely, you fear nothing,
not conflagrations, not heavy collapses,
not impious deeds, not the wiles of poison,
not other occurrences of dangers.
and you have bodies drier than horn,
or, if anything is more arid, you have them
by sun and cold and hunger.

quare non tibi sit bene ac beate?
a te sudor abest, abest saliva,
mucusque et mala pituita nasi.
hanc ad munditiem adde mundiorem,
quod culus tibi purior salillo est,
nec toto decies cacas in anno;
atque id durius est faba et lapillis.

wherefore should it not be well and blessed for you?
from you sweat is absent, saliva is absent,
and the mucus and bad phlegm of the nose.
to this cleanliness add a more-clean cleanliness,
that your ass is purer than a little saltcellar,
nor do you shit ten times in a whole year;
and that is harder than a bean and little stones.

quod tu si manibus teras fricesque,
non umquam digitum inquinare posses
haec tu commoda tam beata, Furi,
noli spernere nec putare parvi,
et sestertia quae soles precari
centum desine: nam sat es beatus.

which, even if you rub and chafe with your hands,
you could never soil a finger—
these advantages so blessed, Furi,
do not spurn nor reckon of little worth,
and the sesterces which you are wont to beg for—
stop asking for a hundred thousand sesterces: for you are blessed enough.

XXIV. ad Iuventium

24. to Juventius

O qui flosculus es Iuventiorum,
non horum modo, sed quot aut fuerunt
aut posthac aliis erunt in annis,
mallem divitias Midae dedisses
isti, cui neque servus est neque arca,
quam sic te sineres ab illo amari.
'qui? non est homo bellus?' inquies.

O you who are the little flower of the Juventii,
not of these only, but as many as either have been
or hereafter will be in other years,
I would rather you had given the riches of Midas
to that fellow, who has neither a slave nor a strongbox,
than thus allow yourself to be loved by him.
'what? is he not a handsome man?' you will say.

est:
sed bello huic neque servus est neque arca.
hoc tu quam lubet abice elevaque:
nec servum tamen ille habet neque arcam.

he is:
but this handsome fellow has neither servant nor strongbox.
this you, as much as you please, cast away and make light of:
and yet that man has neither servant nor strongbox.

XXV. ad Thallum

25. to Thallus

Cinaede Thalle, mollior cuniculi capillo
vel anseris medullula vel imula oricilla
vel pene languido senis situque araneoso,
idemque, Thalle, turbida rapacior procella,
cum diva mulier aries ostendit oscitantes,
remitte pallium mihi meum, quod involasti,
sudariumque Saetabum catagraphosque Thynos,
inepte, quae palam soles habere tamquam avita.
quae nunc tuis ab unguibus reglutina et remitte,
ne laneum latusculum manusque mollicellas
inusta turpiter tibi flagella conscribillent,
et insolenter aestues, velut minuta magno
deprensa navis in mari, vesaniente vento.

Pathic Thallus, softer than a rabbit’s hair
or the little marrow of a goose or the most tender little ear-lobe,
or an old man’s languid penis with its cobwebby neglect,
and yet, Thallus, more rapacious than a turbid squall,
when a divine woman shows ram-heads to the gaping onlookers,
send back my cloak to me, the one you filched,
and the Saetabian handkerchief and the Thynian catagraphs (embroidered coverlets),
you fool, things you are wont to hold openly as though ancestral.
These now unglue from your claws and send back,
lest your woolly little flank and your soft little hands
be shamefully scribbled over for you by searing lashes,
and you swelter outrageously, like a small vessel
caught on the great sea, with the wind raving.

XXVI. ad Furium

26. to Furius

Furi villula vestra non ad Austri
flatus opposita est neque ad Favoni
nec saevi Boreae aut Apheliotae,
verum ad milia quindecim et ducentos.
o ventum horribilem atque pestilentem!

Furius, your little villa is not set facing the blasts of the South Wind
nor of Favonius, nor of savage Boreas or Apeliotes,
but rather to fifteen thousand and two hundred sesterces.
O wind horrible and pestilent!

XXVII. ad pincernam suum

27. to his cupbearer

Minister vetuli puer Falerni
inger mi calices amariores,
ut lex Postumiae iubet magistrae
ebrioso acino ebriosioris.
at vos quo lubet hinc abite, lymphae
vini pernicies, et ad severos
migrate. hic merus est Thyonianus.

Minister of the old Falernian, boy,
pour for me cups more bitter,
as the law of Postumia the mistress bids,
more ebrious than a drunken grape.
But you, go where you please from here, waters,
ruin of wine, and migrate to the stern;
here it is pure Thyonian.

XXVIII. ad Verannium et Fabullum

28. to Veranius and Fabullus

Pisonis comites, cohors inanis,
aptis sarcinulis et expeditis,
Verani optime tuque mi Fabulle,
quid rerum geritis? satisne cum isto
vappa frigoraque et famem tulistis?
ecquidnam in tabulis patet lucelli
expensum, ut mihi, qui meum secutus
praetorem refero datum lucello?

Piso’s companions, empty cohort,
with neat little packs and unencumbered,
best Veranius, and you, my Fabullus,
how go your affairs? Have you with that
vapid fellow borne chills and hunger enough?
ecquidnam in the tablets does any little lucre stand open,
entered as “expense,” so that I, who followed my
praetor, may report something “given” to my little lucre?

o Memmi, bene me ac diu supinum
tota ista trabe lentus irrumasti.
sed, quantum video, pari fuistis
casu: nam nihilo minore verpa
farti estis. pete nobiles amicos!

o Memmi, well and for a long time, as I lay supine,
you, leisurely, with that whole beam of yours, irrumated me.
but, as far as I see, you all have been
in an equal case: for you have been stuffed with a prick
no whit smaller. seek noble friends!

at vobis mala multa di deaeque
dent, opprobria Romuli Remique.

but may the gods and goddesses grant to you many evils,
the opprobrium of Romulus and Remus.

XXIX. in Romulum cathamitum

29. against Romulus the catamite

Quis hoc potest videre, quis potest pati,
nisi impudicus et vorax et aleo,
Mamurram habere quod Comata Gallia
habebat uncti et ultima Britannia?
cinaede Romule haec videbis et feres?
et ille nunc superbus et superfluens
perambulabit omnium cubilia,
ut albulus columbus aut Adoneus?

Who can see this, who can suffer it,
unless a lecher and a voracious glutton and a dice-player,
that Mamurra should have what Long-haired Gaul
and farthest Britain had? cinaedus Romulus, will you see these things and bear them?
and that fellow now, proud and overflowing,
will he perambulate the couches of everyone,
like a little white dove or an Adonis?

cinaede Romule, haec videbis et feres?
es impudicus et vorax et aleo.
eone nomine, imperator unice,
fuisti in ultima occidentis insula,
ut ista vestra diffututa mentula
ducenties comesset aut trecenties?

catamite Romulus, will you see these things and bear them?
you are shameless and voracious and a dice-gambler.
for that purpose, O only emperor,
were you in the farthest island of the West,
that that all-worn-out prick of you lot
might have devoured two hundred or three hundred?

quid est alid sinistra liberalitas?
parum expatravit an parum elluatus est?
paterna prima lancinata sunt bona,
secunda praeda Pontica, inde tertia
Hibera, quam scit amnis aurifer Tagus:
nunc Galliae timetur et Britanniae.

what else is sinister liberality?
has he expatriated too little, or been too little washed-out in luxury?
first the paternal goods were lacerated;
second, the Pontic booty; then third
the Iberian, which the gold-bearing river Tagus knows:
now Gaul and Britain are feared.

quid hunc malum fovetis? aut quid hic potest
nisi uncta devorare patrimonia?
eone nomine urbis opulentissime
socer generque, perdidistis omnia?

why the devil do you foster this man? or what can this fellow do
except to devour well-greased patrimonies?
for this reason, O most opulent of the city,
father-in-law and son-in-law, have you lost everything?

XXX. ad Alphenum

30. to Alfenus

Alfene immemor atque unanimis false sodalibus,
iam te nil miseret, dure, tui dulcis amiculi?
iam me prodere, iam non dubitas fallere, perfide?
nec facta impia fallacum hominum caelicolis placent.

Alfenus, forgetful and false to your like‑minded comrades,
now you feel no pity at all, hard one, for your sweet little friend?
now already you betray me—now you do not hesitate to deceive, perfidious one?
nor do the impious deeds of deceitful men please the heaven‑dwellers.

quae tu neglegis ac me miserum deseris in malis.
eheu quid faciant, dic, homines cuive habeant fidem?
certe tute iubebas animam tradere, inique, me
inducens in amorem, quasi tuta omnia mi forent.

which you neglect, and you abandon wretched me in misfortunes.
alas, what are men to do, say, or to whom are they to have faith?
surely you yourself were bidding me to hand over my soul, unfair one,
inducing me into love, as if all things were safe for me.

idem nunc retrahis te ac tua dicta omnia factaque
ventos irrita ferre ac nebulas aereas sinis.
si tu oblitus es, at di meminerunt, meminit Fides,
quae te ut paeniteat postmodo facti faciet tui.

the same—you now draw yourself back, and you allow all your words and every deed,
null and void, to be borne to the winds and to airy clouds.
if you have forgotten, yet the gods remember; Faith remembers,
who will make you hereafter repent of your deed.

XXXI. ad Sirmium insulam

31. to the island of Sirmium

Paene insularum, Sirmio, insularumque
ocelle, quascumque in liquentibus stagnis
marique vasto fert uterque Neptunus,
quam te libenter quamque laetus inviso,
vix mi ipse credens Thuniam atque Bithunos
liquisse campos et videre te in tuto.
o quid solutis est beatius curis,
cum mens onus reponit, ac peregrino
labore fessi venimus larem ad nostrum,
desideratoque acquiescimus lecto?
hoc est quod unum est pro laboribus tantis.

O Sirmio, little eye-gem of peninsulas and of islands,
whatever each Neptune bears in the liquid pools
and the vast sea, how gladly and how joyfully I visit you,
scarcely myself believing that I have left the Thynian and Bithynian
plains and have seen you in safety.
O what is more blessed than cares unbound,
when the mind lays down its burden, and, wearied by foreign
labor, we come to our own hearth,
and repose in the longed-for bed?
this is the one thing that is compensation for labors so great.

salve, o venusta Sirmio, atque ero gaude
gaudente, vosque, o Lydiae lacus undae,
ridete quidquid est domi cachinnorum.

hail, O charming Sirmio, and rejoice
with your master rejoicing; and you too, O waves of the Lydian lake,
laugh out whatever cachinnations there are at home.

XXXII. ad Ipsicillam

32. to Ipsicilla

Amabo, mea dulcis Ipsitilla,
meae deliciae, mei lepores,
iube ad te veniam meridiatum.
et si iusseris, illud adiuvato,
ne quis liminis obseret tabellam,
neu tibi lubeat foras abire,
sed domi maneas paresque nobis
novem continuas fututiones.
verum si quid ages, statim iubeto:
nam pransus iaceo et satur supinus
pertundo tunicamque palliumque.

Please, my sweet Ipsitilla,
my delights, my charms,
order that I come to you for a midday siesta.
and if you order it, help that along,
so that no one bolt the door-bar of the threshold,
nor let it please you to go outside,
but stay at home and be prepared for us
nine continuous copulations.
But if you are going to do anything, order it at once:
for, having lunched, I lie full, on my back,
I am perforating my tunic and my cloak.

XXXIII. ad Vibennios

33. to the Vibenniuses

O Furum optime balneariorum
Vibenni pater et cinaede fili
(nam dextra pater inquinatiore,
culo filius est voraciore),
cur non exilium malasque in oras
itis? quandoquidem patris rapinae
notae sunt populo, et natis pilosas,
fili, non potes asse venditare.

O best of the thieves of the bathhouses,
father Vibennius, and pathic son
(for the father with a more befouled right hand,
the son with a more voracious ass),
why do you not go into exile and to ill shores?
since indeed the father’s rapines
are known to the people, and, son, your hairy
buttocks you cannot vend for a single as.

XXXIV. carmen Dianae

34. song of Diana

Dianae sumus in fide
puellae et pueri integri:
Dianam pueri integri
puellaeque canamus.

We are in Diana’s trust
girls and inviolate boys:
Diana, let inviolate boys
and girls sing.

o Latonia, maximi
magna progenies Iovis,
quam mater prope Deliam
deposiuit olivam,

o Latonia, great progeny
of greatest Jove,
whom your mother near the Delian
olive set down,

montium domina ut fores
silvarumque virentium
saltuumque reconditorum
amniumque sonantum:

that you might be lady of the mountains
and of the green sylvan forests
and of the recondite glades
and of the sonorous rivers:

tu Lucina dolentibus
Iuno dicta puerperis,
tu potens Trivia et notho es
dicta lumine Luna.

you, Lucina, called by suffering
women in childbirth Juno,
you, powerful Trivia, and for your borrowed
light are called Luna.

tu cursu, dea, menstruo
metiens iter annuum,
rustica agricolae bonis
tecta frugibus exples.

you, by your monthly course, goddess,
measuring the annual journey,
fill the rustic roofs of the farmer
with good fruits.

sis quocumque tibi placet
sancta nomine, Romulique,
antique ut solita es, bona
sospites ope gentem.

may you be, by whatever name it pleases you,
hallowed in name; and, of Romulus,
ancient, as you have been wont, with good
aid safeguard the nation.

XXXV. ad Caecilium iubet libello loqui

35. he bids the little book speak to Caecilius

Poetae tenero, meo sodali,
velim Caecilio, papyre, dicas
Veronam veniat, Noui relinquens
Comi moenia Lariumque litus.
nam quasdam volo cogitationes
amici accipiat sui meique.
quare, si sapiet, viam vorabit,
quamvis candida milies puella
euntem revocet, manusque collo
ambas iniciens roget morari.

To the tender poet, my comrade,
I would like you, papyrus, to tell Caecilius
to come to Verona, leaving the walls of Novum Comum
and the Larian shore. for I want him to receive certain cogitations
of his friend and of mine. wherefore, if he is wise, he will devour the road,
although a fair girl a thousand times calls him back as he goes,
and, throwing both hands around his neck, asks him to tarry.

quae nunc, si mihi vera nuntiantur,
illum deperit impotente amore.
nam quo tempore legit incohatam
Dindymi dominam, ex eo misellae
ignes interiorem edunt medullam.
ignosco tibi, Sapphica puella
musa doctior; est enim venuste
Magna Caecilio incohata Mater.

who now, if true things are announced to me,
is perishing for him with an impotent love.
for from the time she read the inchoate
Mistress of Dindymus, from then the poor little girl’s
fires eat her interior marrow.
I pardon you, girl more learned than the Sapphic
Muse; for charmingly has the Great Mother
been inchoated by Caecilius.

XXXVI. ad Lusi cacatam

36. to Lusius’s shat-on

Annales Volusi, cacata carta,
votum soluite pro mea puella.
nam sanctae Veneri Cupidinique
vovit, si sibi restitutus essem
desissemque truces vibrare iambos,
electissima pessimi poetae
scripta tardipedi deo daturam
infelicibus ustulanda lignis.
et hoc pessima se puella vidit
iocose lepide vovere divis.

Annals of Volusius, shat-upon paper,
pay off the vow on behalf of my girl.
for to holy Venus and Cupid
she vowed, if I were restored to herself
and had ceased to brandish truculent iambs,
the choicest writings of the worst poet
she would give to the slow-footed god
to be singed on ill-omened logs.
and this the worst girl saw herself
to vow to the gods, jocose and wittily.

nunc o caeruleo creata ponto,
quae sanctum Idalium Vriosque apertos
quaeque Ancona Cnidumque harundinosam
colis quaeque Amathunta quaeque Golgos
quaeque Durrachium Hadriae tabernam,
acceptum face redditumque votum,
si non illepidum neque invenustum est.
at vos interea venite in ignem,
pleni ruris et inficetiarum.
annales Volusi, cacata carta.

now, O born from the cerulean sea,
you who tend sacred Idalium and the open Urii,
and Ancona and reed-bearing Cnidus,
and Amathus and Golgi,
and Dyrrachium, the tavern of the Adriatic,
make the vow accepted and rendered back,
if it is not inelegant nor un-charming.
but you meanwhile come into the fire,
full of rusticity and un-wittiness.
annals of Volusius, crapped-out paper.

XXXVII. ad contubernales et Egnatium

37. to the messmates and to Egnatius

Salax taberna vosque contubernales,
a pilleatis nona fratribus pila,
solis putatis esse mentulas vobis,
solis licere, quidquid est puellarum,
confutuere et putare ceteros hircos?
an, continenter quod sedetis insulsi
centum an ducenti, non putatis ausurum
me una ducentos irrumare sessores?
atqui putate: namque totius vobis
frontem tabernae sopionibus scribam.

Lecherous tavern, and you fellow-lodgers,
at the ninth pillar from the brothers with felt-caps,
you think that only you have pricks,
that only you are allowed, whatever girls there are,
to copulate, and to think the rest billy-goats?
or, because you sit there continuously, you dullards,
a hundred or two hundred, do you not think me daring
to irrumate at once two hundred seat‑warmers?
and indeed, think so: for I will
scrawl the front of your whole tavern with phalli.

puella nam mi, quae meo sinu fugit,
amata tantum quantum amabitur nulla,
pro qua mihi sunt magna bella pugnata,
consedit istic. hanc boni beatique
omnes amatis, et quidem, quod indignum est,
omnes pusilli et semitarii moechi;
tu praeter omnes une de capillatis,
cuniculosae Celtiberiae fili,
Egnati. opaca quem bonum facit barba
et dens Hibera defricatus urina.

for my girl, who fled from my lap,
loved as much as no one will ever be loved,
for whom I have fought great wars,
has taken her seat there. This one all you good and blessed
love, and indeed—what is unworthy—
all the puny and back‑alley adulterers;
you beyond all, one of the long‑haired,
son of rabbit‑warrened Celtiberia,
Egnatius—whom a shady beard makes “good”
and a tooth scrubbed with Iberian urine.

XXXVIII. ad Cornificium

38. to Cornificius

Malest, Cornifici, tuo Catullo
malest, me hercule, et laboriose,
et magis magis in dies et horas.
quem tu, quod minimum facillimumque est,
qua solatus es allocutione?
irascor tibi.

It is bad, Cornificius, for your Catullus
it is bad, by Hercules, and laboriously,
and more and more with the days and the hours.
whom you—what is the least and easiest thing—by what allocution have you consoled?
i am angry with you.

sic meos amores?
paulum quid lubet allocutionis,
maestius lacrimis Simonideis.

thus my loves?
a little something, whatever you please, of allocution,
more sadly with Simonidean tears.

XXXIX. ad Egnatium

39. to Egnatius

Egnatius, quod candidos habet dentes,
renidet usque quaque. si ad rei ventum est
subsellium, cum orator excitat fletum,
renidet ille; si ad pii rogum fili
lugetur, orba cum flet unicum mater,
renidet ille. quidquid est, ubicumque est,
quodcumque agit, renidet: hunc habet morbum,
neque elegantem, ut arbitror, neque urbanum.

Egnatius, because he has candid teeth,
grins everywhere. If it has come to the defendant’s bench,
when an orator excites weeping,
he grins; if at the pyre of a pious son
there is mourning, when a bereft mother weeps for her only one,
he grins. Whatever it is, wherever it is,
whatever he does, he grins: he has this disease,
neither elegant, as I judge, nor urbane.

quare monendum est te mihi, bone Egnati.
si urbanus esses aut Sabinus aut Tiburs
aut pinguis Vmber aut obesus Etruscus
aut Lanuvinus ater atque dentatus
aut Transpadanus, ut meos quoque attingam,
aut quilubet, qui puriter lavit dentes,
tamen renidere usque quaque te nollem:
nam risu inepto res ineptior nulla est.
nunc Celtiber es: Celtiberia in terra,
quod quisque minxit, hoc sibi solet mane
dentem atque russam defricare gingivam,
ut quo iste vester expolitior dens est,
hoc te amplius bibisse praedicet loti.

wherefore you must be admonished by me, good Egnatius.
if you were urbane or a Sabine or a Tiburtine
or a plump Umbrian or a fat Etruscan
or a Lanuvine, swarthy and big‑toothed,
or a Transpadane, so as to touch upon my own as well,
or whoever you please, who washes his teeth purely,
yet I would not want you to grin everywhere:
for with inept laughter nothing is a thing more inept.
now you are a Celtiberian: in Celtiberian land,
what each one has urinated, with this he is wont in the morning
to scrub his tooth and his ruddy gum,
so that the more polished that tooth of yours is,
the more it proclaims you to have drunk of urine.

XL. ad Ravidum

40. to Ravidus

Quaenam te mala mens, miselle Ravide,
agit praecipitem in meos iambos?
quis deus tibi non bene advocatus
vecordem parat excitare rixam?
an ut pervenias in ora vulgi?

What evil mind, poor little Ravidus,
drives you headlong into my iambs?
what god, ill-invoked for you,
prepares to rouse a deranged brawl?
or is it so that you may come upon the mouths of the crowd?

quid vis? qualubet esse notus optas?
eris, quandoquidem meos amores
cum longa voluisti amare poena.

what do you want? do you opt to be known by whatever way?
you will be, since you have wished to love my loves
along with a long punishment.

XLI. ad Ameanam

41. to Ameana

Ameana puella defututa
tota milia me decem poposcit,
ista turpiculo puella naso,
decoctoris amica Formiani.
propinqui, quibus est puella curae,
amicos medicosque convocate:
non est sana puella, nec rogare
qualis sit solet aes imaginosum.

Ameana, the girl worn-out-by-sex,
demanded of me a full ten thousand,
that girl with the rather ugly little nose,
girlfriend of the bankrupt Formian.
Relatives, to whom the girl is a care,
convoke friends and doctors:
the girl is not sane, nor needs one ask
the image-bearing bronze what she is like.

XLII. ad hendecasyllabos

42. to hendecasyllables

Adeste, hendecasyllabi, quot estis
omnes undique, quotquot estis omnes.
iocum me putat esse moecha turpis,
et negat mihi nostra reddituram
pugillaria, si pati potestis.
persequamur eam et reflagitemus.

Come, hendecasyllables, as many as you are
from everywhere, as many as you are, all.
a base adulteress thinks me a joke,
and says she will not return to me my tablets,
if you can endure it.
let us pursue her and demand them back.

quae sit, quaeritis? illa, quam videtis
turpe incedere, mimice ac moleste
ridentem catuli ore Gallicani.
circumsistite eam, et reflagitate,
'moecha putida, redde codicillos,
redde putida moecha, codicillos!'
non assis facis?

Who she is, you ask? That one, whom you see
to go along shamefully, mimically and annoyingly
laughing with the mouth of a Gallic puppy.
Surround her, and demand back,
'rotten adulteress, hand back the note-tablets,
hand back, rotten adulteress, the note-tablets!'
Do you not value it at a single as?

o lutum, lupanar,
aut si perditius potes quid esse.
sed non est tamen hoc satis putandum.
quod si non aliud potest ruborem
ferreo canis exprimamus ore.

o mud, brothel,
or if you can be anything more perditious.
but nevertheless this is not to be thought enough.
and if nothing else can, let us squeeze out a blush
with the iron mouth of a dog.

conclamate iterum altiore voce.
'moecha putide, redde codicillos,
redde, putida moecha, codicillos!'
sed nil proficimus, nihil movetur.
mutanda est ratio modusque vobis,
siquid proficere amplius potestis:
'pudica et proba, redde codicillos.'

cry out together again with a louder voice.
'filthy adulteress, give back the tablets,
give back, filthy adulteress, the tablets!'
but we make no progress, nothing is moved.
the plan and the method must be changed by you,
if you can accomplish anything further:
'chaste and upright woman, give back the tablets.'

XLIII. ad Ameanam

43. to Ameana

Salve, nec minimo puella naso
nec bello pede nec nigris ocellis
nec longis digitis nec ore sicco
nec sane nimis elegante lingua,
decoctoris amica Formiani.
ten provincia narrat esse bellam?
tecum Lesbia nostra comparatur?

Hail, girl not with the smallest nose,
nor with a pretty foot nor with black little eyes,
nor with long fingers nor with a dry mouth,
nor indeed with an overly elegant tongue,
girlfriend of a Formian bankrupt.
does the province then say that you are beautiful?
is our Lesbia compared with you?

o saeclum insapiens et infacetum!

O insapient and inelegant age!

XLIV. ad Fundum

44. to Fundus

O Funde noster seu Sabine seu Tiburs
(nam te esse Tiburtem autumant, quibus non est
cordi Catullum laedere; at quibus cordi est,
quovis Sabinum pignore esse contendunt),
sed seu Sabine sive verius Tiburs,
fui libenter in tua suburbana
villa, malamque pectore expuli tussim,
non inmerenti quam mihi meus venter,
dum sumptuosas appeto, dedit, cenas.
nam, Sestianus dum volo esse conviva,
orationem in Antium petitorem
plenam veneni et pestilentiae legi.
hic me gravedo frigida et frequens tussis
quassavit usque, dum in tuum sinum fugi,
et me recuravi otioque et urtica.

O our Fundus, whether Sabine or Tiburtine
(for they aver you to be Tiburtine, who do not have it at heart
to wound Catullus; but those who do have it at heart,
contend, with any pledge whatsoever, that you are Sabine),
but whether Sabine or, more truly, Tiburtine,
I was gladly in your suburban
villa, and from my breast I drove out a bad cough,
which my own belly, not undeservedly,
gave me while I go after sumptuous dinners.
and indeed, while I wished to be a Sestian guest,
I read an oration against the Antian candidate
full of poison and pestilence.
here a chilly hoarseness and frequent cough
shook me through and through, until I fled into your bosom,
and I cured myself with leisure and with nettle.

quare refectus maximas tibi grates
ago, meum quod non es ulta peccatum.
nec deprecor iam, si nefaria scripta
Sesti recepso, quin gravedinem et tussim
non mihi, sed ipsi Sestio ferat frigus,
qui tunc vocat me, cum malum librum legi.

wherefore, restored, I render to you the greatest thanks,
because you have not exacted vengeance for my fault.
nor do I now deprecate, if I take up again the nefarious writings
of Sestius, but that a chill bring hoarseness and cough
not to me, but to Sestius himself,
who then calls me, when I have read a bad book.

XLV. ad Septimium

45. to Septimius

Acmen Septimius suos amores
tenens in gremio 'mea' inquit 'Acme,
ni te perdite amo atque amare porro
omnes sum assidve paratus annos,
quantum qui pote plurimum perire,
solus in Libya Indiaque tosta
caesio veniam obvius leoni.'
hoc ut dixit, Amor sinistra ut ante
dextra sternuit approbationem.
at Acme leviter caput reflectens
et dulcis pueri ebrios ocellos
illo purpureo ore suaviata,
'sic' inquit 'mea vita Septimille,
huic uni domino usque serviamus,
ut multo mihi maior acriorque
ignis mollibus ardet in medullis.'
hoc ut dixit, Amor sinistra ut ante
dextra sternuit approbationem.
nunc ab auspicio bono profecti
mutuis animis amant amantur.

Septimius, holding his love Acme on his lap,
says, 'my Acme, unless I love you to perdition and am further
prepared assiduously to love through all years,
as much as he who can perish the most,
may I, alone in Libya and sun-scorched India,
come face-to-face with a gray-blue lion.'
As he said this, Love, on the left as before, on the right,
sneezed approbation.
But Acme, lightly bending back her head,
and, with that purple mouth, having sweetly kissed
the drunken little eyes of the sweet boy,
says, 'thus, my life, dear little Septimius,
let us serve this one master continually,
since a much greater and sharper fire
burns in my soft marrows.'
As she said this, Love, on the left as before, on the right,
sneezed approbation.
Now, having set out under a good auspice,
with mutual souls they love and are loved.

unam Septimius misellus Acmen
mauult quam Syrias Britanniasque:
uno in Septimio fidelis Acme
facit delicias libidinisque.
quis ullos homines beatiores
vidit, quis Venerem auspicatiorem?

poor little Septimius prefers one Acme
to the Syrias and the Britains:
in one Septimius faithful Acme
makes her delights and lusts.
who has seen any mortals more blessed,
who a Venus more auspicious?

XLVI.

46.

Iam ver egelidos refert tepores,
iam caeli furor aequinoctialis
iucundis Zephyri silescit aureis.
linquantur Phrygii, Catulle, campi
Nicaeaeque ager uber aestuosae:
ad claras Asiae volemus urbes.
iam mens praetrepidans avet vagari,
iam laeti studio pedes vigescunt.

Now spring brings back tepid warmths,
now the equinoctial fury of the sky
grows hushed by Zephyr’s pleasant breezes.
let the Phrygian fields be left, Catullus,
and the rich field of sultry Nicaea;
let us fly to the illustrious cities of Asia.
now my mind, pre-trembling, longs to wander,
now my feet grow lively with glad zeal.

o dulces comitum valete coetus,
longe quos simul a domo profectos
diuersae varie viae reportant.

o sweet gatherings of companions, farewell,
you whom, far away, having set out together from home,
diverse roads variously bring back.

XLVII. ad Porcium et Socrationem

47. to Porcius and Socration

Porci et Socration, duae sinistrae
Pisonis, scabies famesque mundi,
vos Veraniolo meo et Fabullo
verpus praeposuit Priapus ille?
vos convivia lauta sumptuose
de die facitis, mei sodales
quaerunt in triuio vocationes?

Porcius and Socration, the two left hands
of Piso, the scabies and the hunger of the world,
did that Priapus—circumcised—place you
before my little Veranius and Fabullus?
you make lavish banquets sumptuously
in broad daylight, while my companions
seek invitations at the crossroads?

XLVIII. ad Iuventium

48. to Iuventius

Mellitos oculos tuos, Iuventi,
si quis me sinat usque basiare,
usque ad milia basiem trecenta
nec numquam videar satur futurus,
non si densior aridis aristis
sit nostrae seges osculationis.

Honey-sweet, your eyes, Juventius,
if anyone should allow me to keep kissing,
I would kiss all the way to three hundred thousand,
nor would I ever seem about to be sated,
not even if the standing crop of our osculation
were denser than dry ears of grain.

IL. ad Marcum Tullium Ciceronem

49. to Marcus Tullius Cicero

Disertissime Romuli nepotum,
quot sunt quotque fuere, Marce Tulli,
quotque post aliis erunt in annis,
gratias tibi maximas Catullus
agit pessimus omnium poeta,
tanto pessimus omnium poeta,
quanto tu optimus omnium patronus.

Most eloquent of Romulus’s descendants,
as many as are and as many as have been, Marcus Tullius,
and as many as will be in other years thereafter,
Catullus gives the greatest thanks to you,
the worst poet of all,
so much the worst poet of all,
as you are the best patron of all.

L. ad Lucinium

50. to Lucinius

Hesterno, Licini, die otiosi
multum lusimus in meis tabellis,
ut convenerat esse delicatos:
scribens versiculos uterque nostrum
ludebat numero modo hoc modo illoc,
reddens mutua per iocum atque vinum.
atque illinc abii tuo lepore
incensus, Licini, facetiisque,
ut nec me miserum cibus iuvaret
nec somnus tegeret quiete ocellos,
sed toto indomitus furore lecto
versarer, cupiens videre lucem,
ut tecum loquerer, simulque ut essem.
at defessa labore membra postquam
semimortua lectulo iacebant,
hoc, iucunde, tibi poema feci,
ex quo perspiceres meum dolorem.

Yesterday, Licinius, at leisure
we played much upon my tablets,
as it had been agreed to be delicate:
each of us, writing little versicles,
toyed with the number now this way now that,
rendering mutuals through jest and wine.
and from there I went away, by your charm
inflamed, Licinius, and your witticisms,
so that neither did food help wretched me
nor did sleep cover my little eyes with rest,
but, untamed with fury, over the whole bed
I tossed, longing to see the light,
that I might speak with you, and at the same time be with you.
but after my limbs, wearied with toil,
were lying half-dead on the little bed,
this poem, delightful one, I made for you,
from which you might perceive my dolor.

nunc audax cave sis, precesque nostras,
oramus, cave despuas, ocelle,
ne poenas Nemesis reposcat a te.
est vehemens dea: laedere hanc caveto.

now, bold one, beware; and our prayers,
we pray, beware you do not spit upon, little eye,
lest Nemesis re-demand penalties from you.
she is a vehement goddess: beware of injuring her.

LI. ad Lesbiam

51. to Lesbia

Ille mi par esse deo videtur,
ille, si fas est, superare divos,
qui sedens adversus identidem te
     spectat et audit
dulce ridentem, misero quod omnis
eripit sensus mihi: nam simul te,
Lesbia, aspexi, nihil est super mi
     * * * * * * * *
lingua sed torpet, tenuis sub artus
flamma demanat, sonitu suopte
tintinant aures gemina, teguntur
     lumina nocte.
otium, Catulle, tibi molestum est:
otio exsultas nimiumque gestis:
otium et reges prius et beatas
     perdidit urbes.

That man seems to me to be equal to a god,
that man, if it is lawful, to surpass the divinities,
who, sitting opposite, again and again
     looks at and listens to you
sweetly laughing, which from wretched me
snatches away all my senses: for as soon as I,
Lesbia, looked at you, nothing is left for me
     * * * * * * * *
but my tongue is numb, a thin flame
drips down beneath my limbs, with a sound of its own
my twin ears ring, my lights are covered
     with night.
Leisure, Catullus, is troublesome to you:
in leisure you exult and are carried away too much:
leisure has ruined both kings in former times and blessed
     cities.

LII. in Novium

52. against Novius

Quid est, Catulle? quid moraris emori?
sella in curuli struma Nonius sedet,
per consulatum peierat Vatinius:
quid est, Catulle?

What is it, Catullus? why do you delay to die? on the curule chair the struma Nonius sits,
Vatinius has forsworn himself by the consulate:
what is it, Catullus?

quid moraris emori?

why do you delay to die?

LIII. ad Gaium Licinium Calvum

53. to Gaius Licinius Calvus

Risi nescio quem modo e corona,
qui, cum mirifice Vatiniana
meus crimina Caluos explicasset
admirans ait haec manusque tollens,
'di magni, salaputium disertum!'

I laughed at I-know-not-whom just now from the crowd,
who, when my Calvus had marvelously
explicated the Vatinian charges, admiring
said this and lifting his hands,
'O great gods, an eloquent little squirt!'

LIV. de Octonis capite

54. on the head of Octonius

Othonis caput oppido est pusillum,
et eri rustice semilauta crura,
subtile et leve peditum Libonis,
si non omnia, displicere vellem
tibi et Sufficio seni recocto...
irascere iterum meis iambis
inmerentibus, unice imperator.

Otho’s head is quite pint‑sized,
and, rustic fellow, the master’s half‑washed shanks,
the subtle and light puffings of Libo’s farts—
if not everything, I would wish at least these to displease
you and Sufficius, the re‑cooked old man...
be angry again at my undeserving iambs,
sole commander.

LV. ad Camerium

55. to Camerius

Oramus, si forte non molestum est,
demonstres ubi sint tuae tenebrae.
te Campo quaesivimus minore,
te in Circo, te in omnibus libellis,
te in templo summi Iovis sacrato.
in Magni simul ambulatione
femellas omnes, amice, prendi,
quas vultu vidi tamen sereno.

We pray, if by chance it is not troublesome,
that you demonstrate where your shadows are.
we sought you on the Lesser Campus,
you in the Circus, you in all the little booklets,
you in the sacred temple of highest Jove.
likewise in the promenade of Magnus
I took hold of all the little ladies, my friend,
whom, however, I beheld with a serene countenance.

avelte, sic ipse flagitabam,
Camerium mihi pessimae puellae.
quaedam inquit, nudum reduc...
'en hic in roseis latet papillis.'
sed te iam ferre Herculi labos est;
tanto te in fastu negas, amice.
dic nobis ubi sis futurus, ede
audacter, committe, crede luci.

out with it, thus I myself kept demanding,
'hand over Camerius to me, you most-wicked little girls.'
a certain one says, 'bring him back naked...'
'en, look! here he hides in rosy nipples.'
but now to bear you is a labor for Hercules;
in such great haughtiness you deny yourself, friend.
tell us where you will be, declare it,
boldly; commit yourself; trust to the light.

nunc te lacteolae tenent puellae?
si linguam clauso tenes in ore,
fructus proicies amoris omnes.
verbosa gaudet Venus loquella.

are you now held by milky-white girls?
if you keep your tongue in a closed mouth,
you will throw away all the fruits of love.
Verbose loquacity delights Venus.

vel, si vis, licet obseres palatum,
dum vestri sim particeps amoris.

or, if you wish, you may bar your palate,
so long as I may be a participant in your love.

LVI. ad Catonem

56. to Cato

O rem ridiculam, Cato, et iocosam,
dignamque auribus et tuo cachinno!
ride quidquid amas, Cato, Catullum:
res est ridicula et nimis iocosa.
deprendi modo pupulum puellae
trusantem; hunc ego, si placet Dionae,
protelo rigida mea cecidi.

O ridiculous and jocose thing, Cato, and worthy of ears and of your guffaw!
laugh, Cato, at Catullus, whatever you like:
the matter is ridiculous and too jocose.
I just caught the girl’s little boy thrusting;
this one I, if it please Dione,
felled with a missile from my rigid one.

LVII. ad Gaium Iulium Caesarem

57. to Gaius Julius Caesar

Pulcre convenit improbis cinaedis,
Mamurrae pathicoque Caesarique.
nec mirum: maculae pares utrisque,
urbana altera et illa Formiana,
impressae resident nec eluentur:
morbosi pariter, gemelli utrique,
uno in lecticulo erudituli ambo,
non hic quam ille magis vorax adulter,
rivales socii puellularum.
pulcre convenit improbis cinaedis.

It suits wicked sodomites perfectly,
both Mamurra and the pathic Caesar.
Nor is it a wonder: stains equal for each,
the one urban and that one Formian,
impressed they remain nor will they be washed out:
diseased alike, each a twin,
both little erudites on one little couch,
neither this one than that one more a voracious adulterer,
rivals and comrades of little girls.
It suits wicked sodomites perfectly.

LVIII. ad Marcum Caelium Rufum

58. to Marcus Caelius Rufus

Caeli, Lesbia nostra, Lesbia illa.
illa Lesbia, quam Catullus unam
plus quam se atque suos amavit omnes,
nunc in quadriviis et angiportis
glubit magnanimi Remi nepotes.

Caelius, our Lesbia, that Lesbia.
that Lesbia, the one whom Catullus
loved more than himself and all his own,
now at crossroads and in back alleys
she strips the grandsons of magnanimous Remus.

LVIIIb. ad Camerium

58b. to Camerius

Non custos si fingar ille Cretum,
non Ladas ego pinnipesve Perseus,
non si Pegaseo ferar volatu,
non Rhesi niveae citaeque bigae;
adde huc plumipedas volatilesque,
ventorumque simul require cursum,
quos iunctos, Cameri, mihi dicares:
defessus tamen omnibus medullis
et multis languoribus peresus
essem te mihi, amice, quaeritando.

Not even if I were imagined that guardian of the Cretans,
not I Ladas nor wing-footed Perseus,
not if I were borne on a Pegasean flight,
not even Rhesus’s snowy and swift two-horse chariot;
add here the feather-footed and the flying ones,
and at the same time requisition the course of the winds,
which, yoked together, Camerius, you would declare for me:
nevertheless exhausted to the marrow
and eaten away by many languors
I would be in seeking you, my friend.

LIX. in Rufum

59. against Rufus

Bononiensis Rufa Rufulum fellat,
uxor Meneni, saepe quam in sepulcretis
vidistis ipso rapere de rogo cenam,
cum devolutum ex igne prosequens panem
ab semiraso tunderetur ustore.

The Bolognese Rufa performs fellatio on Rufulus,
the wife of Menenius, whom you have often seen in the sepulchres
snatching dinner from the pyre itself,
when, pursuing bread rolled down from the fire,
she was being thumped by the half-shaven cremator.

LX.

60.

Num te leaena montibus Libystinis
aut Scylla latrans infima inguinum parte
tam mente dura procreavit ac taetra,
ut supplicis vocem in novissimo casu
contemptam haberes, a nimis fero corde?

Was it a lioness in the Libystine mountains,
or Scylla barking from the lowest part of the loins,
that procreated you so hard and so foul in mind,
that you should contemn the voice of a suppliant in his last extremity,
out of an all-too savage heart?

LXI. epythalamius Iunie et Mallii

61. epithalamium of Junia and Mallius

Collis o Heliconii
cultor, Uraniae genus,
qui rapis teneram ad virum
virginem, o Hymenaee Hymen,
o Hymen Hymenaee;

O cultivator of the Heliconian hill,
offspring of Urania,
you who carry off the tender maiden to the man,
O Hymenaeus, Hymen,
O Hymen, Hymenaeus;

cinge tempora floribus
suave olentis amaraci,
flammeum cape laetus, huc
huc veni, niveo gerens
luteum pede soccum;

encircle your temples with flowers
of sweet-smelling marjoram,
take up the flame-colored veil, glad at heart; here,
here come, wearing on your snowy
foot the yellow slipper;

excitusque hilari die,
nuptialia concinens
voce carmina tinnula,
pelle humum pedibus, manu
pineam quate taedam.

and roused by a cheerful day,
singing in concert the nuptial songs
with a tinkling voice,
beat the ground with your feet, with your hand
shake the pine-wood torch.

namque Iunia Manlio,
qualis Idalium colens
venit ad Phrygium Venus
iudicem, bona cum bona
nubet alite virgo,

for indeed Junia to Manlius,
such as, dwelling in Idalium,
Venus came to the Phrygian judge,
the good with the good—
the maiden, with a good omen-bird, will wed,

floridis velut enitens
myrtus Asia ramulis
quos Hamadryades deae
ludicrum sibi roscido
nutriunt umore.

just as, gleaming with flowery
twiglets, the Asiatic myrtle,
which the Hamadryad goddesses
as a plaything for themselves with dewy
moisture nurture.

quare age, huc aditum ferens,
perge linquere Thespiae
rupis Aonios specus,
nympha quos super irrigat
frigerans Aganippe.

wherefore come, bearing access hither,
proceed to leave the Thespian
rock’s Aonian caverns,
which from above the nymph Aganippe
cooling, irrigates.

ac domum dominam voca
coniugis cupidam novi,
mentem amore revinciens,
ut tenax hedera huc et huc
arborem implicat errans.

and call the mistress home
desirous of a new spouse,
binding her mind with love,
as tenacious ivy, wandering hither and thither,
entwines the tree.

vosque item simul, integrae
virgines, quibus advenit
par dies, agite in modum
dicite, o Hymenaee Hymen,
o Hymen Hymenaee.

and you likewise together, chaste virgins, to whom an equal day has come,
come, in measure, say, O Hymenaeus Hymen,
o Hymen, Hymenaeus.

ut libentius, audiens
se citarier ad suum
munus, huc aditum ferat
dux bonae Veneris, boni
coniugator amoris.

so that more willingly, hearing
himself summoned to his own
office, he may bring approach hither,
the leader of kindly Venus, the
conjugator of good love.

quis deus magis est ama-
tis petendus amantibus?
quem colent homines magis
caelitum, o Hymenaee Hymen,
o Hymen Hymenaee?

what god is more to be sought
by loving lovers?
whom will men worship more
of the celestials, O Hymenaeus Hymen,
O Hymen Hymenaeus?

te suis tremulus parens
invocat, tibi virgines
zonula solvunt sinus,
te timens cupida novos
captat aure maritus.

you the trembling parent for his own calls upon,
to you virgins with a little girdle loosen their bosoms,
fearing you, the eager bridegroom
catches with his ear new counsels .

tu fero iuveni in manus
floridam ipse puellulam
dedis a gremio suae
matris, o Hymenaee Hymen,
o Hymen Hymenaee.

you yourself give into the hands
of the fierce youth the blooming little maiden
from the lap of her own
mother, O Hymenaeus Hymen,
O Hymen Hymenaeus.

nil potest sine te Venus,
fama quod bona comprobet,
commodi capere, at potest
te volente. quis huic deo
compararier ausit?

Venus can do nothing without you,
which good fame may approve,
to take of advantage; but she can
with you willing. Who to this god
would dare to be compared?

nulla quit sine te domus
liberos dare, nec parens
stirpe nitier; ac potest
te volente. quis huic deo
compararier ausit?

no house can without you
give children, nor can a parent
rely upon lineage; but it can
with you willing. who would dare to
be compared to this god?

quae tuis careat sacris,
non queat dare praesides
terra finibus: at queat
te volente. quis huic deo
compararier ausit?

which is without your sacred rites,
cannot give guardians to the land’s borders:
but can,
you willing. who would dare to be compared to this god?

claustra pandite ianuae.
virgo adest. viden ut faces
splendidas quatiunt comas?

throw open the bolts, doors.
the maiden is here. d’you see how the torches
shake their splendid tresses?

* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
tardet ingenuus pudor.
quem tamen magis audiens,
flet quod ire necesse est.
flere desine.

* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
let ingenuous modesty delay.
yet, heeding him more,
she weeps because it is necessary to go.
cease weeping.

non tibi Au-
runculeia periculum est,
ne qua femina pulcrior
clarum ab Oceano diem
uiderit venientem.

there is no peril for you, Au-
runculeia, lest any woman more beautiful
the bright day from Ocean
has seen coming.

talis in vario solet
divitis domini hortulo
stare flos hyacinthinus.
sed moraris, abit dies.
prodeas nova nupta.

such, in the variegated
little garden of a wealthy master,
the hyacinthine flower is wont to stand.
but you linger, the day goes away.
come forth, new bride.

prodeas nova nupta, si
iam videtur, et audias
nostra verba. viden? faces
aureas quatiunt comas:
prodeas nova nupta.

come forth, new bride, if
now it seems good, and listen to
our words. Do you see? The torches
shake golden tresses:
come forth, new bride.

non tuus levis in mala
deditus vir adultera,
probra turpia persequens,
a tuis teneris volet
secubare papillis,

not your frivolous husband
given over to wicked adulteries,
pursuing opprobrious shames,
will wish to sleep apart
from your tender nipples,

lenta sed velut adsitas
vitis implicat arbores,
implicabitur in tuum
complexum. sed abit dies:
prodeas nova nupta.

but just as the pliant vine
entwines the adjoined trees,
so will he be entwined
into your embrace. but the day departs:
come forth, new bride.

o cubile, quod omnibus
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
candido pede lecti,

O bed, which for all
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
by the candid foot of the bed,

quae tuo veniunt ero,
quanta gaudia, quae vaga
nocte, quae medio die
gaudeat! sed abit dies:
prodeas nova nupta.

what things come to your master,
how great joys, what the vagrant
night, what at mid-day
let him rejoice! but the day goes away:
come forth, new bride.

tollite, o pueri, faces:
flammeum video venire.
ite concinite in modum
'io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.'

lift up, O boys, the torches:
I see the bridal veil coming.
go, sing together to the tune
'io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.'

ne diu taceat procax
Fescennina iocatio,
nec nuces pueris neget
desertum domini audiens
concubinus amorem.

let not the procacious Fescennine jocularity be silent for long,
nor let it deny nuts to the boys,
the concubinus, hearing that his master's love has been deserted.

da nuces pueris, iners
concubine! satis diu
lusisti nucibus: lubet
iam servire Talasio.
concubine, nuces da.

give nuts to the boys, idle
concubine! long enough
you have played with nuts: it pleases
now to serve Thalassius.
concubine, give nuts.

sordebant tibi villicae,
concubine, hodie atque heri:
nunc tuum cinerarius
tondet os. miser a miser
concubine, nuces da.

the farm-mistresses seemed sordid to you,
concubine, today and yesterday:
now the barber’s ash-man
shaves your face. wretched, ah wretched
concubine, give nuts.

diceris male te a tuis
unguentate glabris marite
abstinere, sed abstine.
io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

you are said to restrain yourself badly from your own,
perfumed, smooth-cheeked husband; but restrain yourself.
io Hymen Hymenaeus io,
io Hymen Hymenaeus.

scimus haec tibi quae licent
sola cognita, sed marito
ista non eadem licent.
io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

We know that these things which are licit for you
are known only to you; but to a husband
those same things are not licit.
io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

nupta, tu quoque quae tuus
vir petet cave ne neges,
ni petitum aliunde eat.
io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

Bride, you too—what your
husband will petition, beware lest you deny,
unless he go to seek it elsewhere.
io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

en tibi domus ut potens
et beata viri tui,
quae tibi sine serviat
(io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee)

lo, for you the house how powerful
and blessed of your husband,
which may serve you alone
(io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee)

usque dum tremulum movens
cana tempus anilitas
omnia omnibus annuit.
io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

until, moving a trembling temple,
hoary anility nods assent
to everything for everyone.
io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

transfer omine cum bono
limen aureolos pedes,
rasilemque subi forem.
io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

carry, with a good omen, your golden little feet across the threshold,
and go under the smooth‑planed door.
O Hymen Hymenaeus, O,
O Hymen Hymenaeus.

aspice intus ut accubans
vir tuus Tyrio in toro
totus immineat tibi.
io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

Look within how, as he reclines,
your husband on a Tyrian bed
all of him leans over you.
O Hymen Hymenaeus, O,
O Hymen Hymenaeus.

illi non minus ac tibi
pectore uritur intimo
flamma, sed penite magis.
io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

for him no less than for you
a flame burns in the inmost breast,
but more deeply.
io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

mitte brachiolum teres,
praetextate, puellulae:
iam cubile adeat viri.
io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

send forth your smooth little arm,
boy in the praetexta, to the little girl:
now let her approach the husband’s bed.
O Hymen Hymenaeus, O,
O Hymen Hymenaeus.

vos bonae senibus viris
cognitae bene feminae,
collocate puellulam.
io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

you good women, well-known to old men,
set the little maiden in place.
io Hymen Hymenaeus, io,
io Hymen Hymenaeus.

iam licet venias, marite:
uxor in thalamo tibi est,
ore floridulo nitens,
alba parthenice velut
luteumve papaver.

now you may come, bridegroom:
your wife is in the bridal chamber for you,
shining with a little flowery face,
white as parthenice,
or the yellow poppy.

at, marite, ita me iuvent
caelites, nihilo minus
pulcer es, neque te Venus
neglegit. sed abit dies:
perge, ne remorare.

but, husband, so may the celestials help me,
nonetheless you are handsome, nor does Venus
neglect you. but the day is departing:
proceed, do not delay.

non diu remoratus es:
iam venis. bona te Venus
iuuerit, quoniam palam
quod cupis cupis, et bonum
non abscondis amorem.

you have not delayed long:
already you come. May good Venus
help you, since openly
what you desire you desire, and good
love you do not hide.

ille pulueris Africi
siderumque micantium
subducat numerum prius,
qui vestri numerare vult
multa milia ludi.

let that man first calculate the number of African dust
and of the scintillating stars,
who wishes to enumerate the number first,
who wishes to enumerate
the many thousands of your play.

ludite ut lubet, et brevi
liberos date. non decet
tam vetus sine liberis
nomen esse, sed indidem
semper ingenerari.

play as you please, and soon
give children. it is not fitting
so ancient a name to be without children,
but from the same place
to be always engendered.

Torquatus volo parvulus
matris e gremio suae
porrigens teneras manus
dulce rideat ad patrem
semihiante labello.

I want little Torquatus,
from the lap of his mother,
stretching forth his tender hands,
may sweetly smile toward his father
with his half-gaping little lip.

sit suo similis patri
Manlio et facile insciis
noscitetur ab omnibus,
et pudicitiam suae
matris indicet ore.

let him be like his own father
Manlius, and be easily
recognized by all, even by the unknowing,
and let him indicate the pudicity of his
mother by his face.

talis illius a bona
matre laus genus approbet,
qualis unica ab optima
matre Telemacho manet
fama Penelopeo.

such praise of him from a good
mother may approbate his lineage,
as the unique fame from his best
mother remains to Telemachus,
the Penelopean.

claudite ostia, virgines:
lusimus satis. at boni
coniuges, bene vivite et
munere assiduo valentem
exercete iuventam.

shut the doors, virgins:
we have played enough. but you
good spouses, live well and
with assiduous duty exercise
your vigorous youth.

LXII. exametrum carmen nuptiale

62. hexameter nuptial song

Vesper adest, iuvenes, consurgite: Vesper Olympo
exspectata diu vix tandem lumina tollit.
surgere iam tempus, iam pinguis linquere mensas,
iam veniet virgo, iam dicetur hymenaeus.
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!

Vesper is here, youths, rise up: Vesper from Olympus
long expected, at last with difficulty lifts its lights.
now it is time to rise, now to leave the rich tables,
now the maiden will come, now the wedding-song will be proclaimed.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, Hymen be present, O Hymenaeus!

Cernitis, innuptae, iuvenes? consurgite contra;
nimirum Oetaeos ostendit Noctifer ignes.
sic certest; viden ut perniciter exsiluere?

Do you see, unmarried maidens, the young men? rise up in answer;
surely the Night-bringer shows the Oetaean fires.
thus it is certain; do you see how nimbly they have sprung up?

non temere exsiluere, canent quod vincere par est.
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!
non facilis nobis, aequales, palma parata est:
aspicite, innuptae secum ut meditata requirunt.

they did not leap up rashly; they will sing what it is fitting to vanquish.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, Hymen, come, O Hymenaeus!
no easy palm is prepared for us, equals:
look, unwed maidens, how they seek within themselves what they have rehearsed.

non frustra meditantur: habent memorabile quod sit;
nec mirum, penitus quae tota mente laborant.
nos alio mentes, alio divisimus aures;
iure igitur vincemur: amat victoria curam.
quare nunc animos saltem convertite vestros;
dicere iam incipient, iam respondere decebit.

not in vain do they practice: they have something that will be memorable;
nor is it a marvel, they who labor deeply with their whole mind.
we have divided our minds to one thing, our ears to another;
rightly therefore we shall be overcome: victory loves care.
wherefore now at least turn your spirits;
they will now begin to speak; now it will be fitting to reply.

Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!
Hespere, quis caelo fertur crudelior ignis?
qui natam possis complexu avellere matris,
complexu matris retinentem avellere natam,
et iuveni ardenti castam donare puellam.

Hymen, O Hymenaeus, Hymen, be present, O Hymenaeus!
Hesperus, what fire in heaven is said to be more cruel?
you who can tear a daughter from the embrace of her mother,
to tear from the embrace of the mother the daughter clinging,
and to bestow a chaste maiden upon a burning youth.

quid faciunt hostes capta crudelius urbe?
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!
Hespere, quis caelo lucet iucundior ignis?

what do enemies do more cruelly, with the city captured?
Hymen o Hymenaeus, Hymen come, o Hymenaeus!
Hesperus, what fire shines more delightful in the sky?

qui desponsa tua firmes conubia flamma,
quae pepigere viri, pepigerunt ante parentes,
nec iunxere prius quam se tuus extulit ardor.
quid datur a divis felici optatius hora?
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!

who with your flame make firm the betrothed connubial bonds,
which the men have covenanted, the parents covenanted before,
nor did they join before your ardor lifted itself.
what is given by the gods more to be desired than a felicitous hour?
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, Hymen, come, O Hymenaeus!

Hesperus e nobis, aequales, abstulit unam.
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
namque tuo adventu vigilat custodia semper,
nocte latent fures, quos idem saepe reuertens,
Hespere, mutato comprendis nomine Eous
at lubet innuptis ficto te carpere questu.
quid tum, si carpunt, tacita quem mente requirunt?

Hesperus has taken one from us, peers.
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
for at your advent the custody always keeps vigil,
in the night thieves lie hidden, whom you, the same one, often on returning,
Hesperus, with your name changed, as Eous, you apprehend;
but it pleases the unwed to carp at you with a feigned complaint.
what then, if they carp at him whom they secretly desire with a silent mind?

Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!
Ut flos in saeptis secretus nascitur hortis,
ignotus pecori, nullo convolsus aratro,
quem mulcent aurae, firmat sol, educat imber;
multi illum pueri, multae optavere puellae:
idem cum tenui carptus defloruit ungui,
nulli illum pueri, nullae optavere puellae:
sic virgo, dum intacta manet, dum cara suis est;
cum castum amisit polluto corpore florem,
nec pueris iucunda manet, nec cara puellis.
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!

Hymen, O Hymenaeus, Hymen, be present, O Hymenaeus!
As a flower is born secluded in fenced gardens,
unknown to the herd, torn up by no plow,
whom the breezes soothe, the sun strengthens, the rain brings up;
many boys, many girls have desired that one:
the same, when plucked by a slender fingernail, has been deflowered,
no boys, no girls have desired that one:
so a maiden, while she remains untouched, while she is dear to her own;
when she has lost the chaste flower, with her body defiled,
she remains pleasing neither to boys, nor dear to maidens.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, Hymen, be present, O Hymenaeus!

Ut vidua in nudo vitis quae nascitur aruo,
numquam se extollit, numquam mitem educat uvam,
sed tenerum prono deflectens pondere corpus
iam iam contingit summum radice flagellum;
hanc nulli agricolae, nulli coluere iuvenci:
at si forte eadem est ulmo coniuncta marito,
multi illam agricolae, multi coluere iuvenci:
sic virgo dum intacta manet, dum inculta senescit;
cum par conubium maturo tempore adepta est,
cara viro magis et minus est invisa parenti.
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!
Et tu ne pugna cum tali coniuge virgo.

As a widowed vine which is born in a naked field,
never lifts itself up, never brings forth mellow grape,
but, bending its tender body with downward-leaning weight,
even now the topmost tendril with its root touches the ground;
this one no farmers, no young bullocks have cultivated:
but if by chance the same is joined to an elm as husband,
many farmers, many young bullocks have cultivated it:
so the maiden, while she remains untouched, while she grows old uncultivated;
when she has obtained a fitting connubial union at a mature time,
she is dearer to her husband and less hateful to her parent.
Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen come, O Hymenaeus!
And you too, maiden, do not fight with such a husband.

non aequom est pugnare, pater cui tradidit ipse,
ipse pater cum matre, quibus parere necesse est.
virginitas non tota tua est, ex parte parentum est,
tertia pars patrest, pars est data tertia matri,
tertia sola tua est: noli pugnare duobus,
qui genero suo iura simul cum dote dederunt.
Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee!

It is not equitable to fight with him to whom your father himself has handed you over, the father himself together with the mother, whom it is necessary to obey.
Your virginity is not wholly yours; in part it is your parents’.
A third part is your father’s, a third part has been given to your mother,
a third alone is yours: do not fight against two
who have given to their son-in-law the rights together with the dowry.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, Hymen, be present, O Hymenaeus!

LXIII. de Berecinthia et Athi

63. on Berecynthia and Attis

Super alta vectus Attis celeri rate maria,
Phrygium ut nemus citato cupide pede tetigit,
adiitque opaca silvis redimita loca deae,
stimulatus ibi furenti rabie, vagus animis,
de volsit ili acuto sibi pondera silice,
itaque ut relicta sensit sibi membra sine viro,
etiam recente terrae sola sanguine maculans,
niveis citata cepit manibus leve typanum,
typanum tuum, Cybebe, tua, mater initia,
quatiensque terga tauri teneris cava digitis
canere haec suis adorta est tremebunda comitibus.
'agite ite ad alta, Gallae, Cybeles nemora simul,
simul ite, Dindymenae dominae vaga pecora,
aliena quae petentes velut exules loca
sectam meam exsecutae duce me mihi comites
rapidum salum tulistis truculentaque pelagi
et corpus evirastis Veneris nimio odio;
hilarate erae citatis erroribus animum.
mora tarda mente cedat: simul ite, sequimini
Phrygiam ad domum Cybebes, Phrygia ad nemora deae,
ubi cymbalum sonat vox, ubi tympana reboant,
tibicen ubi canit Phryx curvo grave calamo,
ubi capita Maenades ui iaciunt hederigerae,
ubi sacra sancta acutis ululatibus agitant,
ubi suevit illa divae volitare vaga cohors,
quo nos decet citatis celerare tripudiis.'
simul haec comitibus Attis cecinit notha mulier,
thiasus repente linguis trepidantibus ululat,
leve tympanum remugit, cava cymbala recrepant.

Borne over the high seas, Attis on a swift raft,
as he eagerly with quick foot touched the Phrygian grove,
and approached the places of the goddess enwreathed with shady woods,
there, goaded by raging rabies, wandering in spirit,
he tore from his groin with sharp flint the burdens for himself,
and when he felt his limbs left to him without the man,
even staining the soil of the earth with fresh blood,
roused, with snow-white hands he seized the light tympanum,
your tympanum, Cybebe, your rites, mother,
and shaking the hollow bull-hide with tender fingers
trembling she began to sing these things to her companions.
'come, go to the heights, Gallae, to the groves of Cybele together,
go together, roving flocks of the lady of Dindymus,
you who, seeking alien places like exiles,
having followed my sect, with me as leader, my companions,
have borne the swift surge and the ferocities of the sea,
and have evirated your bodies from excessive hatred of Venus;
gladden your mistress’s mind with hurried wanderings.
let slow delay yield from the mind: go together, follow
to the Phrygian house of Cybebe, to the Phrygian groves of the goddess,
where the voice of the cymbal sounds, where the tympana reboate,
where the Phrygian piper plays heavy on the curved reed,
where ivy-bearing Maenads hurl their heads with force,
where they drive the holy sacra with sharp ululations,
where that wandering cohort of the goddess is wont to flit,
whither it befits us to hasten with quick tripudial dances.'
as soon as Attis, the spurious woman, sang these things to her companions,
the thiasus suddenly howls with trembling tongues,
the light tympanum bellows back, the hollow cymbals ring again.

viridem citus adit Idam properante pede chorus.
furibunda simul anhelans vaga vadit animam agens
comitata tympano Attis per opaca nemora dux,
veluti iuvenca vitans onus indomita iugi;
rapidae ducem sequuntur Gallae properipedem.
itaque, ut domum Cybebes tetigere lassulae,
nimio e labore somnum capiunt sine Cerere.

the chorus swiftly approaches green Ida with hastening foot.
raving at once, panting, wandering, driving the breath,
Attis, accompanied by the tympanum, as leader through the shadowy groves,
like an untamed heifer shunning the burden of the yoke;
the rapid Gallae follow their swift-footed leader.
and so, when the rather-weary ones reached the house of Cybebe,
out of excessive toil they take sleep without Ceres.

piger his labante languore oculos sopor operit;
abit in quiete molli rabidus furor animi.
sed ubi oris aurei Sol radiantibus oculis
lustravit aethera album, sola dura, mare ferum,
pepulitque noctis umbras vegetis sonipedibus,
ibi Somnus excitam Attin fugiens citus abiit;
trepidante eum recepit dea Pasithea sinu.
ita de quiete molli rapida sine rabie
simul ipsa pectore Attis sua facta recoluit,
liquidaque mente vidit sine quis ubique foret,
animo aestuante rusum reditum ad vada tetulit.

sluggish sleep veils the eyes with wavering languor;
the rabid fury of the mind departs in soft quiet.
but when the Sun of golden visage with radiant eyes
illuminated the bright aether, the hard soils, the fierce sea,
and with lively horse-footed steeds drove the shades of night,
there Sleep, fleeing, swiftly departed from roused Attis;
the goddess Pasithea received him in her trembling bosom.
thus from soft repose, quickly, without frenzy,
at once Attis herself in her breast recalled her deeds,
and with a limpid mind saw, without these, where she was,
and with her heaving spirit she bore her return back to the shallows.

ibi maria vasta visens lacrimantibus oculis,
patriam allocuta maestast ita voce miseriter.
'patria o mei creatrix, patria o mea genetrix,
ego quam miser relinquens, dominos ut erifugae
famuli solent, ad Idae tetuli nemora pedem,
ut apud nivem et ferarum gelida stabula forem,
et earum omnia adirem furibunda latibula,
ubinam aut quibus locis te positam, patria, reor?
cupit ipsa pupula ad te sibi derigere aciem,
rabie fera carens dum breve tempus animus est.

there, beholding the vast seas with tearful eyes,
she, sad, addressed her fatherland in such a piteous voice.
'fatherland, O my creatress, fatherland, O my genitrix,
I—wretched—leaving you, as runaway slaves are wont from their masters,
I bore my foot to the groves of Ida,
so that I might be among the snow and the icy stables of wild beasts,
and in frenzy might go to all their hiding-places,
where then, or in what places, do I think you set, fatherland?
the very pupil longs to direct its gaze to you for itself,
while for a brief time the mind is lacking wild rabies.

egone a mea remota haec ferar in nemora domo?
patria, bonis, amicis, genitoribus abero?
abero foro, palaestra, stadio et gyminasiis?

Shall I be borne into these groves, removed from my own home?
Shall I be away from my fatherland, my goods, my friends, my parents?
Shall I be away from the forum, the palaestra, the stadium, and the gymnasia?

miser a miser, querendum est etiam atque etiam, anime.
quod enim genus figurast, ego non quod obierim?
ego mulier, ego adulescens, ego ephebus, ego puer,
ego gymnasi fui flos, ego eram decus olei:
mihi ianuae frequentes, mihi limina tepida,
mihi floridis corollis redimita domus erat,
linquendum ubi esset orto mihi Sole cubiculum.

wretched, ah wretched, it must be lamented again and again, my soul.
for what sort of guise is there that I have not undergone?
I a woman, I an adolescent, I an ephebe, I a boy,
I was the flower of the gymnasium, I was the glory of the oil;
for me the doorways were frequented, for me the thresholds warm,
for me the house was wreathed with florid corollas,
where, once the Sun had risen upon me, the bedchamber had to be left.

ego nunc deum ministra et Cybeles famula ferar?
ego Maenas, ego mei pars, ego vir sterilis ero?
ego viridis algida Idae nive amicta loca colam?

Shall I now be called a minister of the gods and a handmaid of Cybele?
Shall I be a Maenad, I a part of myself, I a sterile man?
Shall I inhabit the verdant, chilly places of Ida, cloaked with snow?

ego vitam agam sub altis Phrygiae columinibus,
ubi cerva silvicultrix, ubi aper nemorivagus?
iam iam dolet quod egi, iam iamque paenitet.'
roseis ut huic labellis sonitus citus abiit
geminas deorum ad aures nova nuntia referens,
ibi iuncta iuga resolvens Cybele leonibus
laevumque pecoris hostem stimulans ita loquitur.
'agedum,' inquit 'age ferox i, fac ut hunc furor
fac uti furoris ictu reditum in nemora ferat,
mea libere nimis qui fugere imperia cupit.

shall I live my life beneath the lofty roof-beams of Phrygia,
where the woodland-dwelling hind, where the grove-wandering boar?
now now it pains me what I have done, and now even now I repent.'
as from his rosy little lips the swift sound departed
bringing new tidings to the twin ears of the gods,
there Cybele, unyoking the joined yokes from the lions
and goading the left-hand foe of the herd, thus speaks.
'come then,' she says, 'on, fierce one, go, see to it that fury
see to it that by a stroke of madness he bear a return into the groves,
he who too freely wishes to flee my commands.

age caede terga cauda, tua verbera patere,
fac cuncta mugienti fremitu loca retonent,
rutilam ferox torosa cervice quate iubam.'
ait haec minax Cybebe religatque iuga manu.
ferus ipse sese adhortans rapidum incitat animo,
vadit, fremit, refringit virgulta pede vago.
at ubi umida albicantis loca litoris adiit,
teneramque vidit Attin prope marmora pelagi,
facit impetum.

come, strike your back with your tail, lay on your lashes,
make all the places re-echo with a bellowing roar,
shake your ruddy mane, fierce, with a muscular neck.'
so speaks menacing Cybele, and binds the yokes with her hand.
the wild one himself, exhorting himself, urges on to swiftness in spirit,
he goes, he roars, he breaks the brushwood with his wandering foot.
but when he approached the moist places of the whitening shore,
and saw tender Attis near the marbles of the sea,
he makes an onset.

illa demens fugit in nemora fera;
ibi semper omne vitae spatium famula fuit.
dea, magna dea, Cybebe, dea domina Dindymi,
procul a mea tuos sit furor omnis, era, domo:
alios age incitatos, alios age rabidos.

she, demented, flees into the wild groves;
there she was forever a handmaid for the whole span of life.
goddess, great goddess, Cybebe, goddess mistress of Dindymus,
let all your frenzy be far from my house, mistress:
drive others incited, drive others rabid.

LXIV. Argonautia et epythalamium Thetidis et Pelei

64. Argonautica and the epithalamium of Thetis and Peleus

Peliaco quondam prognatae vertice pinus
dicuntur liquidas Neptuni nasse per undas
Phasidos ad fluctus et fines Aeetaeos,
cum lecti iuvenes, Argiuae robora pubis,
auratam optantes Colchis avertere pellem
ausi sunt vada salsa cita decurrere puppi,
caerula verrentes abiegnis aequora palmis.
diva quibus retinens in summis urbibus arces
ipsa levi fecit volitantem flamine currum,
pinea coniungens inflexae texta carinae.
illa rudem cursu prima imbuit Amphitriten;
quae simul ac rostro ventosum proscidit aequor
tortaque remigio spumis incanuit unda,
emersere freti candenti e gurgite vultus
aequoreae monstrum Nereides admirantes.

Once the pines begotten from Pelion’s peak
are said to have swum through Neptune’s liquid waves
to the surges of Phasis and Aeetes’ borders,
when chosen youths, the strong-wood of Argive youth,
desiring to turn the golden fleece away from the Colchians,
dared to run down the salty shallows with a swift ship,
sweeping the blue plains with fir-wood palms.
the goddess, who keeps the citadels in the loftiest cities,
herself made for them a chariot flying with a light breeze,
joining the pinework to the bent hull’s weaving.
that vessel first, by its course, seasoned raw Amphitrite;
which, as soon as it split the windy plain with its beak
and the wave, twisted by rowing, grew hoary with foams,
faces rose from the bright eddy of the strait—
the sea Nereids admiring the marvel.

illa, atque alia, viderunt luce marinas
mortales oculis nudato corpore Nymphas
nutricum tenus exstantes e gurgite cano.
tum Thetidis Peleus incensus fertur amore,
tum Thetis humanos non despexit hymenaeos,
tum Thetidi pater ipse iugandum Pelea sensit.
o nimis optato saeclorum tempore nati
heroes, salvete, deum genus!

she, and others, saw by the light the sea Nymphs
with mortal eyes, with the body laid bare, up to the breasts standing forth from the hoary surge.
then Peleus is said to have been inflamed with love for Thetis,
then Thetis did not despise human hymeneals,
then the father himself felt that Peleus should be yoked to Thetis.
o born in a too-longed-for time of the ages,
heroes, hail, race of the gods!

o bona matrum
progenies, salvete iter...
vos ego saepe, meo vos carmine compellabo.
teque adeo eximie taedis felicibus aucte,
Thessaliae columen Peleu, cui Iuppiter ipse,
ipse suos divum genitor concessit amores;
tene Thetis tenuit pulcerrima Nereine?
tene suam Tethys concessit ducere neptem,
Oceanusque, mari totum qui amplectitur orbem?

o good progeny of mothers
hail again...
you I, often, with my song, will address you.
and you too, exceptionally, increased by happy torches,
pillar of Thessaly, Peleus, to whom Jupiter himself,
the begetter of the gods himself, granted his loves;
did Thetis, most beautiful Nereid, hold you?
did Tethys allow you to lead her granddaughter,
and Ocean, who with the sea embraces the whole world?

quae simul optatae finito tempore luces
advenere, domum conventu tota frequentat
Thessalia, oppletur laetanti regia coetu:
dona ferunt prae se, declarant gaudia vultu.
deseritur Cieros, linquunt Pthiotica Tempe
Crannonisque domos ac moenia Larisaea,
Pharsalum coeunt, Pharsalia tecta frequentant.
rura colit nemo, mollescunt colla iuvencis,
non humilis curvis purgatur vinea rastris,
non glebam prono convellit vomere taurus,
non falx attenuat frondatorum arboris umbram,
squalida desertis rubigo infertur aratris.

as soon as the longed-for lights arrived, the time fulfilled,
the whole Thessaly frequents the house with a convocation, the palace is filled to the brim with a rejoicing company:
they bear gifts before them, they declare their joys by countenance.
Cieros is deserted, they leave Phtiotic Tempe
and the homes of Crannon and the Larisaean walls,
they assemble at Pharsalus, they throng the Pharsalian roofs.
no one tills the fields, the necks grow soft for the young bulls,
the lowly vineyard is not cleansed with curved rakes,
the bull does not tear the clod with the leaning ploughshare,
no sickle attenuates the shade of the tree of the leaf-pruners,
squalid rust is brought upon abandoned ploughs.

ipsius at sedes, quacumque opulenta recessit
regia, fulgenti splendent auro atque argento.
candet ebur soliis, collucent pocula mensae,
tota domus gaudet regali splendida gaza.
pulvinar vero divae geniale locatur
sedibus in mediis, Indo quod dente politum
tincta tegit roseo conchyli purpura fuco.

but her very seats, wherever the opulent royal palace receded,
shine with gleaming gold and silver.
the ivory glows on the thrones, the cups of the table gleam in answer,
the whole house rejoices, splendid with regal treasure.
but the goddess’s nuptial couch is indeed set
in the midst of the seats, which, polished from Indian tooth,
Conchylian purple, dyed with a rosy tincture, covers.

haec vestis priscis hominum variata figuris
heroum mira virtutes indicat arte.
namque fluentisono prospectans litore Diae,
Thesea cedentem celeri cum classe tuetur
indomitos in corde gerens Ariadna furores,
necdum etiam sese quae visit visere credit,
utpote fallaci quae tum primum excita somno
desertam in sola miseram se cernat harena.
immemor at iuvenis fugiens pellit vada remis,
irrita ventosae linquens promissa procellae.

this garment, diversified with ancient figures of men,
indicates the virtues of heroes by wondrous art.
for indeed, looking out upon the wave-sounding shore of Dia,
she beholds Theseus drawing away with his swift fleet,
Ariadne bearing untamed furies in her heart,
nor yet even does she, who sees, believe that she is seeing,
inasmuch as, roused then for the first time from deceitful sleep,
she perceives herself, wretched, deserted on the lone sand.
but the forgetful youth, fleeing, drives the shallows with oars,
leaving his promises ineffectual to the windy tempest.

quem procul ex alga maestis Minois ocellis,
saxea ut effigies bacchantis, prospicit, eheu,
prospicit et magnis curarum fluctuat undis,
non flavo retinens subtilem vertice mitram,
non contecta levi velatum pectus amictu,
non tereti strophio lactentis vincta papillas,
omnia quae toto delapsa e corpore passim
ipsius ante pedes fluctus salis alludebant.
sed neque tum mitrae neque tum fluitantis amictus
illa vicem curans toto ex te pectore, Theseu,
toto animo, tota pendebat perdita mente.
misera, assiduis quam luctibus externavit
spinosas Erycina serens in pectore curas,
illa tempestate, ferox quo ex tempore Theseus
egressus curvis e litoribus Piraei
attigit iniusti regis Gortynia templa.

whom from afar out of the seaweed, with the sad little eyes of Minos’s daughter,
like a stony effigy of a bacchant, she beholds, alas,
she beholds and heaves upon great waves of cares,
not retaining on her blond crown the fine mitra,
not with a light wrap covering her veiled breast,
not with a smooth strophium binding her still‑young nipples—
all which, having slipped everywhere from her whole body,
the waves of the salt sea were toying with before her very feet.
but neither then for the mitra nor then for the flowing wrap
was she caring in turn; with all her heart for you, Theseus,
with all her soul, with all her mind she hung, undone.
poor wretch, whom with incessant griefs Erycina
sowing thorny cares in her breast drove out of her senses,
in that tempest‑season, from the time when fierce Theseus,
having set out from the curved shores of the Piraeus,
reached the Gortynian temples of the unjust king.

nam perhibent olim crudeli peste coactam
Androgeoneae poenas exsolvere caedis
electos iuvenes simul et decus innuptarum
Cecropiam solitam esse dapem dare Minotauro.
quis angusta malis cum moenia vexarentur,
ipse suum Theseus pro caris corpus Athenis
proicere optavit potius quam talia Cretam
funera Cecropiae nec funera portarentur.
atque ita nave levi nitens ac lenibus auris
magnanimum ad Minoa venit sedesque superbas.

for they report that once, compelled by a cruel pestilence,
to pay out the penalties of Androgeus’s slaughter,
Cecropia was accustomed to give as a banquet to the Minotaur
chosen youths and, together, the flower of unmarried maidens.
when the walls were harried by straits of evils,
Theseus himself chose rather to cast his own body for dear Athens
than that such funerals—nay, unfunerals—of Cecropia
be borne to Crete.
and so, relying on a light ship and on gentle breezes,
he came to great-souled Minos and to his proud seats.

hunc simul ac cupido conspexit lumine virgo
regia, quam suavis exspirans castus odores
lectulus in molli complexu matris alebat,
quales Eurotae praecingunt flumina myrtus
aurave distinctos educit verna colores,
non prius ex illo flagrantia declinavit
lumina, quam cuncto concepit corpore flammam
funditus atque imis exarsit tota medullis.
heu misere exagitans immiti corde furores
sancte puer, curis hominum qui gaudia misces,
quaeque regis Golgos quaeque Idalium frondosum,
qualibus incensam iactastis mente puellam
fluctibus, in flavo saepe hospite suspirantem!
quantos illa tulit languenti corde timores!

as soon as the royal maiden beheld him with desirous light,
whom a little couch, breathing sweet chaste odors,
was nourishing in the soft embrace of her mother,
such as myrtles gird the streams of the Eurotas,
or the vernal breeze brings forth distinct colors,
she did not sooner turn her blazing eyes away from him
than she conceived a flame with her whole body,
utterly, and burned through to her deepest marrows.
alas, you who pitifully harry frenzies with an unmerciful heart,
holy boy, who mix the joys of humans with their cares,
and you who rule Golgi and leafy Idalium,
with what billows you tossed the girl inflamed in mind,
often sighing over the blond guest!
how great fears she bore with a languishing heart!

quanto saepe magis fulgore expalluit auri,
cum saevum cupiens contra contendere monstrum
aut mortem appeteret Theseus aut praemia laudis!
non ingrata tamen frustra munuscula divis
promittens tacito succepit vota labello.
nam velut in summo quatientem brachia Tauro
quercum aut conigeram sudanti cortice pinum
indomitus turbo contorquens flamine robur,
eruit (illa procul radicitus exturbata
prona cadit, late quaevis cumque obuia frangens,)
sic domito saevum prostravit corpore Theseus
nequiquam vanis iactantem cornua ventis.

how often, the more, she grew pale at the gleam of gold,
when, desiring to contend against the savage monster,
Theseus would aim either at death or at the prizes of laud!
yet not ungrateful, not in vain, promising little gifts to the gods,
she undertook vows with a silent little lip.
for just as on the summit of Taurus, as it shakes its branches,
an oak or a cone-bearing pine with sweating bark,
an indomitable whirlwind, contorting the timber with its blast,
tears it out (it, far off, uprooted from the roots,
falls headlong, shattering widely whatever happens to be in the way,)
thus Theseus laid low the savage one, with its body tamed,
tossing its horns to the vain winds in vain.

inde pedem sospes multa cum laude reflexit
errabunda regens tenui vestigia filo,
ne labyrintheis e flexibus egredientem
tecti frustraretur inobservabilis error.
sed quid ego a primo digressus carmine plura
commemorem, ut linquens genitoris filia vultum,
ut consanguineae complexum, ut denique matris,
quae misera in gnata deperdita laeta
omnibus his Thesei dulcem praeoptarit amorem:
aut ut vecta rati spumosa ad litora Diae
venerit aut ut eam devinctam lumina somno
liquerit immemori discedens pectore coniunx?
saepe illam perhibent ardenti corde furentem
clarisonas imo fudisse e pectore voces,
ac tum praeruptos tristem conscendere montes,
unde aciem in pelagi vastos protenderet aestus,
tum tremuli salis adversas procurrere in undas
mollia nudatae tollentem tegmina surae,
atque haec extremis maestam dixisse querellis,
frigidulos udo singultus ore cientem:
'sicine me patriis avectam, perfide, ab aris
perfide, deserto liquisti in litore, Theseu?

thence, safe, he bent back his step with much praise,
guiding his wandering foot-prints with a thin thread,
lest the unobservable wandering of the dwelling
should thwart him as he went out from the labyrinthine flexures.
but why, having digressed from my first song, should I recount more—
how, leaving the visage of her father,
the embrace of her sister, and, finally, of her mother,
who, wretched, utterly devoted to her daughter, would gladly have preferred
to all these the sweet love of Theseus—
or how, borne by ship, she came to the foaming shores of Dia,
or how her spouse, departing with an unmindful breast,
left her, her eyes bound fast with sleep?
they often report that she, raging with a burning heart,
poured forth loud-sounding voices from her inmost breast,
and then climbed sheer, sad mountains,
whence she might extend her gaze over the vast swells of the sea,
then ran out into the opposing waves of the trembling brine,
lifting the soft coverings of her bared calf,
and that she, sorrowful, spoke these last complaints,
summoning chill little sobs with her wet mouth:
'is it thus, faithless one, that, carried off from my paternal altars,
faithless one, you have left me on a deserted shore, Theseus?

sicine discedens neglecto numine divum,
immemor a! devota domum periuria portas?
nullane res potuit crudelis flectere mentis
consilium? tibi nulla fuit clementia praesto,
immite ut nostri vellet miserescere pectus?

Is it thus, departing with the numen of the gods neglected,
forgetful—ah!—do you carry home accursed perjuries?
Could no thing have bent your cruel mind’s
counsel? Was there no clemency at hand for you,
that your pitiless heart might be willing to pity me?

at non haec quondam blanda promissa dedisti
voce mihi, non haec miserae sperare iubebas,
sed conubia laeta, sed optatos hymenaeos,
quae cuncta aereii discerpunt irrita venti.
nunc iam nulla viro iuranti femina credat,
nulla viri speret sermones esse fideles;
quis dum aliquid cupiens animus praegestit apisci,
nil metuunt iurare, nihil promittere parcunt:
sed simul ac cupidae mentis satiata libido est,
dicta nihil metuere, nihil periuria curant.
certe ego te in medio versantem turbine leti
eripui, et potius germanum amittere crevi,
quam tibi fallaci supremo in tempore dessem.

but not these once did you give as smooth promises with a coaxing voice to me, not these did you bid a wretched woman to hope for, but joyful connubial unions, but the longed-for Hymeneals, all of which the aerial winds tear apart as invalid.
now let no woman trust a man swearing, let no woman hope a man’s words are faithful; when a mind, desiring something, is over-eager to acquire, they fear nothing to swear, they spare nothing to promise:
but as soon as the libido of a greedy mind is satisfied, they fear nothing for their words, they care nothing for perjuries.
surely I snatched you, turning in the very whirlwind of death, and I resolved rather to lose my brother than to be lacking to you, deceiver, at the last moment.

pro quo dilaceranda feris dabor alitibusque
praeda, neque iniacta tumulabor mortua terra.
quaenam te genuit sola sub rupe leaena,
quod mare conceptum spumantibus exspuit undis,
quae Syrtis, quae Scylla rapax, quae vasta Carybdis,
talia qui reddis pro dulci praemia vita?
si tibi non cordi fuerant conubia nostra,
saeva quod horrebas prisci praecepta parentis,
attamen in vestras potuisti ducere sedes,
quae tibi iucundo famularer serva labore,
candida permulcens liquidis vestigia lymphis,
purpureave tuum consternens veste cubile.

for which I shall be given to be torn by beasts and, as prey, to birds,
nor, dead, shall I be buried with earth cast upon me.
what lioness beneath a solitary crag begot you,
what sea spewed you forth, conceived, with foaming waves,
what Syrtis, what ravening Scylla, what vast Charybdis,
you who render such rewards in return for a sweet life?
if our connubia were not to your heart,
because you shuddered at the savage precepts of your ancient father,
yet you could have led me into your halls,
that I might serve you as a handmaid with pleasant toil,
soothing your white feet with limpid waters,
or strewing your couch with a purple garment.

sed quid ego ignaris nequiquam conquerar auris,
externata malo, quae nullis sensibus auctae
nec missas audire queunt nec reddere voces?
ille autem prope iam mediis versatur in undis,
nec quisquam apparet vacua mortalis in alga.
sic nimis insultans extremo tempore saeva
fors etiam nostris invidit questibus auris.

but why should I, deranged by the misfortune, complain in vain to unknowing ears,
which, endowed with no senses,
can neither hear the voices sent nor return voices?
he, however, is now already being tossed in the midst of the waves,
nor does any mortal appear upon the empty seaweed.
thus, excessively insulting, at the last moment cruel
Fortune even begrudged ears to our complaints.

Iuppiter omnipotens, utinam ne tempore primo
Gnosia Cecropiae tetigissent litora puppes,
indomito nec dira ferens stipendia tauro
perfidus in Cretam religasset navita funem,
nec malus hic celans dulci crudelia forma
consilia in nostris requiesset sedibus hospes!
nam quo me referam? quali spe perdita nitor?

Jupiter omnipotent, would that at the very first time
the Gnossian shores the Cecropian ships had not touched,
and that the treacherous sailor, bearing the dire tribute for the indomitable bull,
had not re-fastened his rope in Crete,
nor that this evil guest, hiding cruel counsels beneath a sweet form,
had taken rest in our seats!
for where shall I turn myself? on what hope, lost, do I rely?

Idaeosne petam montes? at gurgite lato
discernens ponti truculentum dividit aequor.
an patris auxilium sperem?

Shall I seek the Idaean mountains? but, separating with its broad gulf, the savage expanse of the sea divides us.
or am I to hope for my father’s aid?

quemne ipsa reliqui
respersum iuvenem fraterna caede secuta?
coniugis an fido consoler memet amore?
quine fugit lentos incuruans gurgite remos?

whom did I myself leave behind,
having followed the youth spattered with fraternal slaughter?
or shall I console myself with the faithful love of a spouse?
who indeed flees, incurving in the surge the pliant oars?

praeterea nullo colitur sola insula tecto,
nec patet egressus pelagi cingentibus undis.
nulla fugae ratio, nulla spes: omnia muta,
omnia sunt deserta, ostentant omnia letum.
non tamen ante mihi languescent lumina morte,
nec prius a fesso secedent corpore sensus,
quam iustam a divis exposcam prodita multam
caelestumque fidem postrema comprecer hora.

moreover the solitary island is inhabited by no roof,
nor does egress lie open from the sea, the waves girdling it.
no plan for flight, no hope: all things mute,
all things are deserted; all things ostent a lethal end.
not, however, shall my lights grow languid with death before,
nor shall my senses withdraw from my weary body sooner,
than that, betrayed, I demand from the gods a just mulct,
and in my last hour I beseech the celestial faith.

quare facta virum multantes vindice poena
Eumenides, quibus anguino redimita capillo
frons exspirantis praeportat pectoris iras,
huc huc adventate, meas audite querellas,
quas ego, vae misera, extremis proferre medullis
cogor inops, ardens, amenti caeca furore.
quae quoniam verae nascuntur pectore ab imo,
vos nolite pati nostrum vanescere luctum,
sed quali solam Theseus me mente reliquit,
tali mente, deae, funestet seque suosque.'
has postquam maesto profudit pectore voces,
supplicium saevis ecens anxia factis,
annuit invicto caelestum numine rector;
quo motu tellus atque horrida contremuerunt
aequora concussitque micantia sidera mundus.
ipse autem caeca mentem caligine Theseus
consitus oblito dimisit pectore cuncta,
quae mandata prius constanti mente tenebat,
dulcia nec maesto sustollens signa parenti
sospitem Erechtheum se ostendit visere portum.

Wherefore, you Eumenides punishing the deeds of men with avenging penalty,
whose brow, wreathed with snaky hair,
displays the wraths of a breathing breast, come hither, hither, draw near, listen to my complaints,
which I—alas, wretched—am compelled to bring forth from my inmost marrows,
helpless, burning, blind with mad frenzy. Since these, being true, are born from the bottom of my breast,
do not allow our grief to vanish,
but with the same mind with which Theseus left me alone,
with such a mind, goddesses, let him doom both himself and his own.'
After she poured out these words from her sad breast,
anxious, proclaiming punishment for savage deeds,
the Ruler nodded with the invincible numen of the celestials;
at whose motion the earth and the bristling seas trembled,
and the world shook the glittering stars. But Theseus himself, his mind cloaked
with blind murk, from a forgetful breast let slip all the things
which commands he had earlier held with a constant mind,
nor, lifting the sweet signals to his sorrowing parent,
did he show himself safe to be approaching the Erechthean harbor.

namque ferunt olim, classi cum moenia divae
linquentem gnatum ventis concrederet Aegeus,
talia complexum iuveni mandata dedisse:
'gnate mihi longa iucundior unice vita,
gnate, ego quem in dubios cogor dimittere casus,
reddite in extrema nuper mihi fine senectae,
quandoquidem fortuna mea ac tua feruida virtus
eripit invito mihi te, cui languida nondum
lumina sunt gnati cara saturata figura,
non ego te gaudens laetanti pectore mittam,
nec te ferre sinam fortunae signa secundae,
sed primum multas expromam mente querellas,
canitiem terra atque infuso puluere foedans,
inde infecta vago suspendam lintea malo,
nostros ut luctus nostraeque incendia mentis
carbasus obscurata decet ferrugine Hibera.
quod tibi si sancti concesserit incola Itoni,
quae nostrum genus ac sedes defendere Erecthei
annuit, ut tauri respergas sanguine dextram,
tum vero facito ut memori tibi condita corde
haec vigeant mandata, nec ulla oblitteret aetas;
ut simul ac nostros invisent lumina collis,
funestam antennae deponant undique vestem,
candidaque intorti sustollant vela rudentes,
quam primum cernens ut laeta gaudia mente
agnoscam, cum te reducem aetas prospera sistet.'
haec mandata prius constanti mente tenentem
Thesea ceu pulsae ventorum flamine nubes
aereum nivei montis liquere cacumen.
at pater, ut summa prospectum ex arce petebat,
anxia in assiduos absumens lumina fletus,
cum primum infecti conspexit lintea veli,
praecipitem sese scopulorum e vertice iecit,
amissum credens immiti Thesea fato.

for they say that once, when Aegeus was entrusting to the winds his son leaving the goddess’s walls with the fleet,
having embraced the youth he gave such mandates:
‘son, unique, more pleasing to me than long life,
son, whom I am forced to send into doubtful chances,
you, lately given back to me at the extreme limit of old age,
since my fortune and your fervid virtue
snatch you from me unwilling, I whose languid eyes are not yet
sated with the dear figure of my child,
I will not send you rejoicing with a glad breast,
nor will I allow you to bear the signs of seconding fortune,
but first I will pour forth many complaints from my mind,
defiling my gray hair with earth and poured dust,
then I will hang dyed linens on the wandering mast,
so that the canvas, darkened with Iberian ferruginous dye, may befit
our griefs and the conflagrations of my mind.
and if the inhabitant of holy Itonus shall grant you this,
she who has assented to defend our race and the seats of Erechtheus,
that you sprinkle your right hand with the bull’s blood,
then indeed see that these mandates, stored in a mindful heart,
are strong for you, nor let any age obliterate them;
that as soon as your eyes visit our hills,
the yards lay down on every side their funereal garment,
and the twisted ropes raise white sails,
so that, seeing them at once, I may recognize with a joyful mind happy joys,
when prosperous age will set you back as a returner.’
these mandates, which Theseus previously held with a constant mind,
like clouds driven by the blast of winds left
the airy summit of a snowy mountain.
but the father, as from the topmost citadel he sought a prospect,
wasting his anxious eyes in incessant weeping,
when first he beheld the linens of the sail dyed,
hurled himself headlong from the crest of the cliffs,
believing Theseus lost by unkind fate.

sic funesta domus ingressus tecta paterna
morte ferox Theseus, qualem Minoidi luctum
obtulerat mente immemori, talem ipse recepit.
quae tum prospectans cedentem maesta carinam
multiplices animo voluebat saucia curas.
at parte ex alia florens volitabat Iacchus
cum thiaso Satyrorum et Nysigenis Silenis,
te quaerens, Ariadna, tuoque incensus amore.

thus, Theseus, having entered the funereal paternal halls,
fierce with death, the kind of mourning which to the Minoid
he had proffered with an unmindful mind, such he himself received.
she then, gazing out at the receding keel in sadness,
wounded, was revolving manifold cares in her spirit.
but in another quarter resplendent Iacchus was flitting
with a thiasus of Satyrs and Nysa-born Sileni,
seeking you, Ariadne, and inflamed with your love.

* * * * * * * *
quae tum alacres passim lymphata mente furebant
euhoe bacchantes, euhoe capita inflectentes.
harum pars tecta quatiebant cuspide thyrsos,
pars e divolso iactabant membra iuvenco,
pars sese tortis serpentibus incingebant,
pars obscura cavis celebrabant orgia cistis,
orgia quae frustra cupiunt audire profani;
plangebant aliae proceris tympana palmis,
aut tereti tenuis tinnitus aere ciebant;
multis raucisonos efflabant cornua bombos
barbaraque horribili stridebat tibia cantu.
talibus amplifice vestis decorata figuris
pulvinar complexa suo velabat amictu.

* * * * * * * *
who then, brisk, were raging everywhere with a lympha‑maddened mind,
euhoe, Bacchants, euhoe, bending their heads.
of these, some were shaking thyrsi with a spear‑point against the roofs,
some were tossing the limbs from a torn‑apart young bull,
some were girding themselves with twisted serpents,
some were celebrating orgies hidden in hollow cists—
orgies which the profane desire in vain to hear;
others were beating tympana with lofty palms,
or with rounded bronze were summoning a thin ringing;
many were breathing out the hoarse‑sounding booms of horns,
and the barbaric pipe was screaming with horrible song.
with such figures lavishly the cloth was adorned,
and, having embraced the couch, it veiled it with its mantle.

quae postquam cupide spectando Thessala pubes
expleta est, sanctis coepit decedere divis.
hic, qualis flatu placidum mare matutino
horrificans Zephyrus procliuas incitat undas,
Aurora exoriente vagi sub limina Solis,
quae tarde primum clementi flamine pulsae
procedunt leviterque sonant plangore cachinni,
post vento crescente magis magis increbescunt,
purpureaque procul nantes ab luce refulgent:
sic tum vestibuli linquentes regia tecta
ad se quisque vago passim pede discedebant.
quorum post abitum princeps e vertice Pelei
advenit Chiron portans siluestria dona:
nam quoscumque ferunt campi, quos Thessala magnis
montibus ora creat, quos propter fluminis undas
aura parit flores tepidi fecunda Favoni,
hos indistinctis plexos tulit ipse corollis,
quo permulsa domus iucundo risit odore.

after the Thessalian youth, by eager gazing, had been filled up with these things, it began to withdraw from the sacred divinities.
hereupon, just as Zephyr, making the placid sea horrific with a morning breath, urges on the slanting waves, as Dawn rises beneath the thresholds of the wandering Sun,
which, driven at first slowly by a clement breeze, proceed and lightly sound with the slap of laughter,
afterward, as the wind grows, they grow louder more and more, and, swimming far off, they gleam back purple from the light:
so then, leaving the royal roofs of the vestibule, each to himself was departing everywhere with a roving step.
after whose going away, first from the summit of Pelion Chiron arrived, bearing sylvan gifts:
for whatever the fields bear, whatever the Thessalian border with its great mountains brings forth, whatever flowers, by the waters of a river, the air of the tepid and fruitful Favonius begets,
these, woven into undistinguished garlands, he himself brought, wherewith the house, soothed, smiled with a pleasant odor.

confestim Penios adest, viridantia Tempe,
Tempe, quae silvae cingunt super impendentes,
Minosim linquens doris celebranda choreis,
non vacuos: namque ille tulit radicitus altas
fagos ac recto proceras stipite laurus,
non sine nutanti platano lentaque sorore
flammati Phaethontis et aerea cupressu.
haec circum sedes late contexta locavit,
vestibulum ut molli velatum fronde vireret.
post hunc consequitur sollerti corde Prometheus,
extenuata gerens veteris vestigia poenae,
quam quondam silici restrictus membra catena
persolvit pendens e verticibus praeruptis.

straightway Peneus is at hand, the verdant Tempe,
Tempe, which overhanging woods encircle,
leaving a Minosian maiden to be celebrated by choruses,
not empty-handed: for he brought up by the roots tall
beeches and laurels towering with straight trunk,
not without the nodding plane-tree and the pliant sister
of flamed Phaethon, and the bronze-hued cypress.
these he placed, woven widely, around the seats,
so that the vestibule, veiled with soft leafage, might be green.
after him there follows Prometheus with a skillful heart,
bearing attenuated traces of his old penalty,
which once, his limbs bound by a flinty chain,
he paid, hanging from precipitous summits.

inde pater divum sancta cum coniuge natisque
advenit caelo, te solum, Phoebe, relinquens
unigenamque simul cultricem montibus Idri:
Pelea nam tecum pariter soror aspernata est,
nec Thetidis taedas voluit celebrare iugales.
qui postquam niveis flexerunt sedibus artus
large multiplici constructae sunt dape mensae,
cum interea infirmo quatientes corpora motu
veridicos Parcae coeperunt edere cantus.
his corpus tremulum complectens undique vestis
candida purpurea talos incinxerat ora,
at roseae niveo residebant vertice vittae,
aeternumque manus carpebant rite laborem.

thence the father of the gods, with his holy consort and offspring,
arrived from heaven, leaving you alone, Phoebus, and at the same time
the only-begotten worshipper of the mountains of Ida:
for with you likewise your sister spurned Peleus,
nor did she wish to celebrate Thetis’s bridal torches.
who, after they had bent their limbs upon snowy seats,
the tables were heaped in abundance with a manifold banquet,
when meanwhile, shaking their bodies with feeble movement,
the Fates began to utter truth-speaking chants.
for these a white garment, embracing their trembling body on every side,
had girt their ankles with a purple border,
and rosy fillets were settled upon a snowy crown,
and their hands were duly plucking the eternal labor.

laeva colum molli lana retinebat amictum,
dextera tum leviter deducens fila supinis
formabat digitis, tum prono in pollice torquens
libratum tereti versabat turbine fusum,
atque ita decerpens aequabat semper opus dens,
laneaque aridulis haerebant morsa labellis,
quae prius in levi fuerant exstantia filo:
ante pedes autem candentis mollia lanae
vellera virgati custodibant calathisci.
haec tum clarisona pellentes vellera voce
talia divino fuderunt carmine fata,
carmine, perfidiae quod post nulla arguet aetas.
o decus eximium magnis virtutibus augens,
Emathiae tutamen, Opis carissime nato,
accipe, quod laeta tibi pandunt luce sorores,
veridicum oraclum: sed vos, quae fata sequuntur,
currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi.

the left hand was holding the distaff cloaked with soft wool,
the right, then lightly drawing down the threads with upturned
fingers, was shaping them, then, twisting on the leaning thumb,
was turning the balanced spindle with a rounded whirl,
and so, plucking with the tooth, was ever equalizing the work,
and wool-fibers, nibbled, were sticking to the little dry lips,
which previously had stood out on the light thread:
before their feet moreover the soft fleeces of gleaming wool
the striped little baskets were guarding.
then, while with clear-sounding voice they drove on the fleeces,
they poured out such fates in a divine carmen,
a carmen which no later age will ever arraign for perfidy.
O exceptional glory, increasing with great virtues,
safeguard of Emathia, dearest to the son of Ops,
receive what the sisters unfold to you in gladsome light,
a veridical oracle: but you, who attend upon the fates,
run drawing out the weft-threads, run, spindles.

adveniet tibi iam portans optata maritis
Hesperus, adveniet fausto cum sidere coniunx,
quae tibi flexanimo mentem perfundat amore,
languidulosque paret tecum coniungere somnos,
levia substernens robusto bracchia collo.
currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi.
nulla domus tales umquam contexit amores,
nullus amor tali coniunxit foedere amantes,
qualis adest Thetidi, qualis concordia Peleo.

Hesperus will come to you now, bringing boons desired by husbands,
your spouse will come with a auspicious star,
she who will suffuse your mind with pliant‑hearted love,
and will prepare to join with you sluggish little slumbers,
laying her smooth arms beneath your sturdy neck.
run, drawing out the weft‑threads, run, spindles.
no house has ever woven such loves,
no love has joined lovers in such a covenant,
as attends Thetis, such concord as to Peleus.

currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi.
nascetur vobis expers terroris Achilles,
hostibus haud tergo, sed forti pectore notus,
qui persaepe vago victor certamine cursus
flammea praevertet celeris vestigia cervae.
currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi.

Run, drawing out the weft, run, spindles.
There shall be born to you an Achilles devoid of terror,
known to foes not by his back, but by his brave breast,
who full often, a victor in the wandering contest of the course,
will outstrip the fiery footprints of the swift deer.
Run, drawing out the weft, run, spindles.

non illi quisquam bello se conferet heros,
cum Phrygii Teucro manabunt sanguine
Troicaque obsidens longinquo moenia bello,
periuri Pelopis vastabit tertius heres.
currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi.
illius egregias virtutes claraque facta
saepe fatebuntur gnatorum in funere matres,
cum incultum cano solvent a vertice crinem,
putridaque infirmis variabunt pectora palmis.

no hero will in war compare himself to him,
when the Phrygian Teucrians will stream with blood,
and, besieging Troy’s walls in a long-drawn war,
the third heir of perjured Pelops will lay them waste.
run, drawing out the weft, run, spindles.
his outstanding virtues and illustrious deeds
the mothers at the funeral of sons will often confess,
when they loosen the unkempt hair from their hoary crown,
and with feeble palms will stripe their withered breasts.

currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi.
namque velut densas praecerpens messor aristas
sole sub ardenti flaventia demetit arua,
Troiugenum infesto prosternet corpora ferro.
currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi.

run, drawing out the weft, run, spindles.
for just as a reaper, pre-reaping the dense ears of grain,
beneath the burning sun mows down the golden fields,
he will lay low with hostile iron the bodies of the Trojan-born.
run, drawing out the weft, run, spindles.

testis erit magnis virtutibus unda Scamandri,
quae passim rapido diffunditur Hellesponto,
cuius iter caesis angustans corporum acervis
alta tepefaciet permixta flumina caede.
currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi.
denique testis erit morti quoque reddita praeda,
cum teres excelso coaceruatum aggere bustum
excipiet niveos perculsae virginis artus.

witness to great virtues will be the wave of Scamander,
which is poured out everywhere into the rapid Hellespont,
whose course, narrowing with heaped-up piles of slaughtered bodies,
will make the deep streams warm, commixed with carnage.
run, drawing out the weft-threads, run, spindles.
and finally the prey rendered to death will also be witness,
when the rounded tomb, heaped to a lofty mound,
will receive the snow-white limbs of the stricken maiden.

currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi.
nam simul ac fessis dederit fors copiam Achivis
urbis Dardaniae Neptunia solvere vincla,
alta Polyxenia madefient caede sepulcra;
quae, velut ancipiti succumbens victima ferro,
proiciet truncum summisso poplite corpus.
currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi.

run, drawing out the weft, run, spindles.
for as soon as chance shall have given to the weary Achaeans
to loosen the Neptunian bonds of the Dardanian city,
the lofty sepulchers will be made wet with the slaughter of Polyxena;
she, like a victim succumbing to the two-edged iron,
will cast down her truncated body with knee lowered.
run, drawing out the weft, run, spindles.

quare agite optatos animi coniungite amores.
accipiat coniunx felici foedere divam,
dedatur cupido iam dudum nupta marito.
currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi.

wherefore come, conjoin the longed-for loves of the mind.
let the consort receive the goddess with a felicitous compact,
let the bride, long since wed, be given to her desirous husband.
run, drawing out the weft-threads, run, spindles.

non illam nutrix orienti luce revisens
hesterno collum poterit circumdare filo,
anxia nec mater discordis maesta puellae
secubitu caros mittet sperare nepotes.
currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi.
talia praefantes quondam felicia Pelei
carmina divino cecinerunt pectore Parcae.

nor will the nurse, revisiting her at the rising light, be able to encircle her neck with yesterday’s thread,
nor will the anxious mother, sad at the girl’s discordant sleeping apart, send her to hope for dear grandchildren.
run, drawing out the weft-threads, run, spindles.
uttering such things beforehand, the Fates with a divine breast sang songs once happy for Peleus.

praesentes namque ante domos invisere castas
heroum, et sese mortali ostendere coetu,
caelicolae nondum spreta pietate solebant.
saepe pater divum templo in fulgente revisens,
annua cum festis venissent sacra diebus,
conspexit terra centum procumbere tauros.
saepe vagus Liber Parnasi vertice summo
Thyiadas effusis euantis crinibus egit,
cum Delphi tota certatim ex urbe ruentes
acciperent laeti divum fumantibus aris.

for the celestials, with piety not yet spurned, were accustomed to visit in person before the chaste homes
of heroes, and to show themselves to mortal company.
often the Father of the gods, revisiting the gleaming temple,
when the annual sacred rites had come on festival days,
beheld on the earth a hundred bulls collapsing.
often roving Liber on Parnassus’s topmost summit
drove the Thyiads, with tresses let loose, crying euoi,
when Delphi, rushing out in rivalry from the whole city,
gladly received the gods at smoking altars.

saepe in letifero belli certamine Mavors
aut rapidi Tritonis era aut Amarunsia virgo
armatas hominum est praesens hortata catervas.
sed postquam tellus scelere est imbuta nefando
iustitiamque omnes cupida de mente fugarunt,
perfudere manus fraterno sanguine fratres,
destitit extinctos gnatus lugere parentes,
optavit genitor primaevi funera nati,
liber ut innuptae poteretur flore novercae,
ignaro mater substernens se impia nato
impia non verita est divos scelerare penates.
omnia fanda nefanda malo permixta furore
iustificam nobis mentem avertere deorum.

Often in the death-bearing contest of war Mars,
or the mistress of swift Tritonis, or the Amarynthus virgin,
being present, has urged on the armed cohorts of men.
But after the earth was steeped with unspeakable wickedness,
and all, by greedy desire, drove Justice from their mind,
brothers drenched their hands with a brother’s blood,
a son ceased to lament extinguished parents,
a father wished for the funeral of his firstborn son,
that, free, he might possess the bloom of an unwed stepmother-to-be,
a mother, impious, spreading herself beneath her unknowing son,
impious, did not fear to pollute the divine household gods.
all things speakable and unspeakable, mixed with evil frenzy,
turned away from us the justificatory mind of the gods.

quare nec talis dignantur visere coetus,
nec se contingi patiuntur lumine claro.

wherefore neither do they deign to visit such assemblies,
nor do they allow themselves to be touched by clear light.

LXV. ad Ortalum

65. to Ortalus

Etsi me assiduo confectum cura dolore
     sevocat a doctis, Ortale, virginibus,
nec potis est dulcis Musarum expromere fetus
     mens animi, tantis fluctuat ipsa malis—
namque mei nuper Lethaeo in gurgite fratris
     pallidulum manans alluit unda pedem,
Troia Rhoeteo quem subter litore tellus
     ereptum nostris obterit ex oculis.
* * * * * * * *
     numquam ego te, vita frater amabilior,
aspiciam posthac? at certe semper amabo,
     semper maesta tua carmina morte canam,
qualia sub densis ramorum concinit umbris
     Daulias, absumpti fata gemens Ityli—
sed tamen in tantis maeroribus, Ortale, mitto
     haec expressa tibi carmina Battiadae,
ne tua dicta vagis nequiquam credita ventis
     effluxisse meo forte putes animo,
ut missum sponsi furtivo munere malum
     procurrit casto virginis e gremio,
quod miserae oblitae molli sub veste locatum,
     dum adventu matris prosilit, excutitur,
atque illud prono praeceps agitur decursu,
     huic manat tristi conscius ore rubor.

Although care with incessant pain, having worn me out, calls me away from the learned maidens, Ortalus,
     nor is the mind of my spirit able to bring forth the sweet offspring of the Muses,
it itself heaves with such great evils—
     for recently in the Lethean whirlpool a flowing wave bathed the pale little foot of my brother,
Trojan earth beneath the Rhoetean shore
     crushes him, snatched from our eyes.
* * * * * * * *
     Shall I never hereafter behold you, brother more lovable than life?
But surely I shall always love,
     I shall always sing songs mournful with your death,
such as beneath the dense shades of branches
     the Daulias sings, lamenting the fate of consumed Itylus—
but yet in such great griefs, Ortalus, I send
     these expressed songs of the Battiad to you,
lest you perhaps think that your words, entrusted in vain to the wandering winds,
     have slipped out of my mind,
just as an apple, sent as a furtive gift of a suitor,
     runs forth from the chaste lap of a maiden,
which, placed beneath the soft garment of the poor forgetful girl,
     while at her mother’s arrival she springs up, is shaken out,
and it is driven headlong in a sloping descent,
     to her a conscious blush flows on her sad face.

LXVI.

66.

Omnia qui magni dispexit lumina mundi,
     qui stellarum ortus comperit atque obitus,
flammeus ut rapidi solis nitor obscuretur,
     ut cedant certis sidera temporibus,
ut Triviam furtim sub Latmia saxa relegans
     dulcis amor gyro devocet aereo:
idem me ille Conon caelesti in limine vidit
     e Beroniceo vertice caesariem
fulgentem clare, quam multis illa dearum
     levia protendens brachia pollicita est,
qua rex tempestate novo auctus hymenaeo
     vastatum finis iuerat Assyrios,
dulcia nocturnae portans vestigia rixae,
     quam de virgineis gesserat exuviis.
estne novis nuptis odio Venus? anne parentum
     frustrantur falsis gaudia lacrimulis,
ubertim thalami quas intra limina fundunt?

He who surveyed all the lights of the great world,
     who discovered the risings and settings of the stars,
how the fiery brilliance of the rapid sun is overshadowed,
     how the constellations yield at fixed times,
how, banishing Trivia stealthily beneath the Latmian rocks,
     sweet love calls her down by an aerial gyre:
that same Conon saw me upon the celestial threshold—
     a lock of hair from Berenice’s crown—
gleaming brightly, which she, stretching forth her smooth arms,
     promised to many of the goddesses,
at the time when the king, augmented by a new hymenaeal,
     had gone to the Assyrian borders laid waste,
bearing the sweet traces of a nocturnal quarrel,
     which he had waged over maidenly spoils.
Is Venus hateful to new brides? Or do they cheat
     their parents’ joys with feigned little tears,
which in abundance they shed within the threshold of the bridal chamber?

     non, ita me divi, vera gemunt, iuerint.
id mea me multis docuit regina querellis
     invisente novo proelia torva viro.
et tu non orbum luxti deserta cubile,
     sed fratris cari flebile discidium?

     no, by the gods, they groan of true things; they have gone.
that my queen taught me with many complaints,
     as a new husband was pressing on grim battles.
and did you mourn not the bereft bed you left deserted,
     but the lamentable sundering of your dear brother?

quam penitus maestas exedit cura medullas!
ut tibi tunc toto pectore sollicitae
sensibus ereptis mens excidit! at ego certe
cognoram a parva virgine magnanimam.

how deeply a mournful care devoured the marrows!
how then, with your whole breast solicitous,
your mind—your senses snatched away—fell out! But I, for sure,
had known you magnanimous since a little maiden.

anne bonum oblita es facinus, quo regium adepta es
coniugium, quod non fortior ausit alis?
sed tum maesta virum mittens quae verba locuta est!
Iuppiter, ut tristi lumina saepe manu!

Or have you forgotten the good deed, by which you attained a royal marriage—
which not even a stronger man would dare among others?
But then, sorrowful, sending off the man, what words she spoke!
Jupiter, how often she with a sad hand [wiped] her eyes!

quis te mutavit tantus deus? an quod amantes
non longe a caro corpore abesse volunt?
atque ibi me cunctis pro dulci coniuge divis
non sine taurino sanguine pollicita es,
si reditum tetulisset.

What such a great god has changed you? Or is it that lovers
do not wish to be far from the dear body?
And there you promised me to all the gods on behalf of your sweet spouse,
not without taurine blood, if he had borne a return.

is haut in tempore longo
     captam Asiam Aegypti finibus addiderat.
quis ego pro factis caelesti reddita coetu
     pristina vota novo munere dissolvo.
invita, o regina, tuo de vertice cessi,
     invita: adiuro teque tuumque caput,
digna ferat quod si quis inaniter adiurarit:
     sed qui se ferro postulet esse parem?

he, within no long time,
     had added captured Asia to Egypt’s borders.
for which deeds I, restored to the celestial assembly,
     release my pristine vows with a new gift.
unwilling, O queen, I departed from your crown,
     unwilling: I adjure you and your very head—
may he bear what is fitting if anyone should adjure in vain;
     but who would claim himself to be a match for iron?

ille quoque eversus mons est, quem maximum in oris
     progenies Thiae clara supervehitur,
cum Medi peperere novum mare, cumque iuventus
     per medium classi barbara navit Athon.
quid facient crines, cum ferro talia cedant?
     Iuppiter, ut Chalybon omne genus pereat,
et qui principio sub terra quaerere venas
     institit ac ferri stringere duritiem!

That mountain too has been overturned, over which, greatest upon the shores,
     the bright progeny of Thia is carried above,
when the Medes engendered a new sea, and when the barbarian youth
     sailed through the middle of Athos with their fleet.
What will hairs do, when such things yield to iron?
     Jupiter, may the whole race of the Chalybes perish,
and he who first began under the earth to seek veins
     and to draw out the hardness of iron!

abiunctae paulo ante comae mea fata sorores
     lugebant, cum se Memnonis Aethiopis
unigena impellens nutantibus aera pennis
     obtulit Arsinoes Locridis ales equos,
isque per aetherias me tollens avolat umbras
     et Veneris casto collocat in gremio.
ipsa suum Zephyritis eo famulum legarat
     Graiia Canopitis incola litoribus.
hi dii ven ibi vario ne solum in lumine caeli
     ex Ariadnaeis aurea temporibus
fixa corona foret, sed nos quoque fulgeremus
     deuotae flavi verticis exuviae,
vuidulam a fluctu cedentem ad templa deum me
     sidus in antiquis diva novum posuit.

my tresses, a little before severed, my sister-locks were mourning my fates,
     when the only-born of Ethiopian Memnon, driving the air with nodding wings,
the bird, presented to Arsinoe’s Locrian winged horses,
     and he, lifting me through aetherial shades, flies off and places me in the chaste lap of Venus.
Zephyritis herself had dispatched her own servant to that place,
     a Greek dweller on the Canopic shores.
these gods came there so that not only in the variegated light of heaven
     the golden crown fixed from Ariadnaean temples might be,
but that we too might shine, the cast-offs of a devoted blond vertex,
     me, a little votive thing withdrawing from the wave toward the temples of the gods,
the goddess set as a new star among the ancient constellations.

Virginis et saevi contingens namque Leonis
     lumina, Callisto iuncta Lycaoniae,
vertor in occasum, tardum dux ante Booten,
     qui vix sero alto mergitur Oceano.
sed quamquam me nocte premunt vestigia divum,
     lux autem canae Tethyi restituit
(pace tua fari hic liceat, Ramnusia virgo,
     namque ego non ullo vera timore tegam,
nec si me infestis discerpent sidera dictis,
     condita quin veri pectoris evoluam),
non his tam laetor rebus, quam me afore semper,
     afore me a dominae vertice discrucior,
quicum ego, dum virgo quondam fuit omnibus expers
     unguentis, una milia multa bibi.
nunc vos, optato quas iunxit lumine taeda,
     non prius unanimis corpora coniugibus
tradite nudantes reiecta veste papillas,
     quam iucunda mihi munera libet onyx,
vester onyx, casto colitis quae iura cubili.

For touching the lights of the Virgin and of the savage Lion,
     joined to Lycaonian Callisto,
I turn toward the setting, leader before slow Boötes,
     who scarcely late sinks into the deep Ocean.
but although by night the footsteps of the gods press me,
     yet light restores me to hoary Tethys
(with your leave let it be permitted to speak here, Ramnusian virgin,
     for I will veil no truths out of any fear,
nor, even if the stars should tear me with hostile words,
     will I fail to unroll the things stored in a true heart),
I do not so rejoice in these matters as I am racked that I shall be away forever—
     I shall be away from my mistress’s head—,
with whom I, while she as a maiden once was devoid of all unguents,
     together drank many thousands.
now you whom the torch has joined in the longed-for light,
     do not before hand over your bodies, of one mind, to your spouses,
baring your breasts with garment cast aside,
     until there pleases me as gifts the delightful onyx—
your onyx, you who cherish the laws of the chaste bed.

     sed quae se impuro dedit adulterio,
illius a mala dona levis bibat irrita pulvis:
     namque ego ab indignis praemia nulla peto.
sed magis, o nuptae, semper concordia vestras,
     semper amor sedes incolat assiduus.
tu vero, regina, tuens cum sidera divam
     placabis festis luminibus Venerem,
unguinis expertem non siris esse tuam me,
     sed potius largis affice muneribus.

     but she who has given herself to impure adultery,
let her light dust drink her evil gifts to no effect:
     for I seek no rewards from the unworthy.
but rather, O brides, may concord always inhabit your seats,
     may assiduous Love ever dwell there.
but you indeed, queen, while gazing with the stars upon the goddess,
     you will placate Venus with festal luminaries,
do not allow me, your own, to be without unguent,
     but rather favor me with lavish gifts.

sidera corruerint utinam! coma regia fiam,
proximus Hydrochoi fulgeret Oarion!

If only the stars had fallen! may I become the royal lock,
let Orion, nearest to the Hydrochoos (Water-Pourer), flash!

LXVII. de ianua moechae cuiusdam

67. on the door of a certain adulteress

O dulci iucunda viro, iucunda parenti,
     salve, teque bona Iuppiter auctet ope,
ianua, quam Balbo dicunt servisse benigne
     olim, cum sedes ipse senex tenuit,
quamque ferunt rursus gnato servisse maligne,
     postquam es porrecto facta marita sene.
dic agedum nobis, quare mutata feraris
     in dominum veterem deseruisse fidem.
'Non (ita Caecilio placeam, cui tradita nunc sum)
     culpa mea est, quamquam dicitur esse mea,
nec peccatum a me quisquam pote dicere quicquam:
     verum istius populi ianua qui te facit,
qui quacumque aliquid reperitur non bene factum
     ad me omnes clamant: ianua, culpa tua est.'
Non istuc satis est uno te dicere verbo.

O pleasant to the dear man, pleasant to the parent,
     hail, and may Jupiter augment you with good help,
doorway, which they say served Balbus kindly
     once, when the old man himself held the residence,
and which they report in turn to have served the son malignly,
     after the old man was outstretched you were made a bride to the son.
come now, tell us why you are said, being changed,
     to have deserted faithfulness to your former master.
'It is not my fault (so may I please Caecilius, to whom I am now handed over),
     although it is said to be mine,
nor can anyone say that any sin has been done by me:
     rather it is of that populace, Door, which makes you the culprit,
who, whenever anything is found not to have been well done,
     all cry to me: Door, the fault is yours.'
That is not enough, for you to say that in a single word.

sed facere ut quivis sentiat et videat.
'Qui possum? nemo quaerit nec scire laborat?'
Nos volumus: nobis dicere ne dubita.

but do so that anyone may perceive and see.
'How can I? No one asks nor labors to know?'
We wish it: do not hesitate to tell us.

'Primum igitur, virgo quod fertur tradita nobis,
     falsum est. non illam vir prior attigerit,
languidior tenera cui pendens sicula beta.
     numquam se mediam sustulit ad tunicam;
sed pater illius gnati violasse cubile
     dicitur et miseram conscelerasse domum,
sive quod impia mens caeco flagrabat amore,
     seu quod iners sterili semine natus erat,
ut quaerendum unde foret nervosius illud,
     quod posset zonam solvere virgineam.'
Egregium narras mira pietate parentem.

'First then, the report that the maiden was handed over to us,
     is false. Her prior husband did not touch her,
his hanging Sicilian beet being more languid for the tender girl.
     he never raised himself as far as the middle of her tunic;
but the father of that son is said to have violated the bed
     and to have criminally polluted the wretched house,
whether because an impious mind was blazing with blind love,
     or because the inert son had been born with sterile seed,
so that something more sinewy had to be sought from elsewhere,
     which could unfasten the maidenly girdle.'
You tell of an excellent parent with wondrous pietas.

     qui ipse sui gnati minxerit in gremium.
Atqui non solum hoc dicit se cognitum habere
     Brixia Cycneae supposita speculae,
flavus quam molli praecurrit flumine Mella,
     Brixia Veronae mater amata meae,
sed de Postumio et Corneli narrat amore,
     cum quibus illa malum fecit adulterium.
dixerit hic aliquis: quid?

     who himself has pissed into the lap of his own son.
And yet not only this does Brixia, set beneath the Cycnean watch-tower, say she has known,
     whom tawny Mella runs before with a soft river,
     Brixia, beloved mother of my Verona,
but she tells of the love of Postumius and Cornelius,
     with whom that woman did a wicked adultery.
someone here will say: what?

tu istaec, ianua, nosti,
     cui numquam domini limine abesse licet,
nec populum auscultare, sed hic suffixa tigillo
     tantum operire soles aut aperire domum?
saepe illam audivi furtiva voce loquentem
     solam cum ancillis haec sua flagitia,
nomine dicentem quos diximus, utpote quae mi
     speraret nec linguam esse nec auriculam.
praeterea addebat quendam, quem dicere nolo
     nomine, ne tollat rubra supercilia.

you know these things, door,
     to whom it is never permitted to be away from your master’s threshold,
nor to eavesdrop on the people, but here fastened to a little beam
     you are accustomed only to shut or to open the house?
I have often heard that woman speaking in a furtive voice
     alone with her handmaids, these her flagitious deeds,
naming by name those whom we have mentioned, inasmuch as she
     supposed that I had neither tongue nor ear.
moreover she kept adding a certain man, whom I am unwilling
     to name, lest he raise his ruddy eyebrows.

longus homo est, magnas cui lites intulit olim
falsum mendaci ventre puerperium.'

he is a tall man, to whom once a false childbirth, from a mendacious belly, brought great lawsuits.'

LXVIII. ad Mallium

68. to Mallius

Quod mihi fortuna casuque oppressus acerbo
     conscriptum hoc lacrimis mittis epistolium,
naufragum ut eiectum spumantibus aequoris undis
     sublevem et a mortis limine restituam,
quem neque sancta Venus molli requiescere somno
     desertum in lecto caelibe perpetitur,
nec veterum dulci scriptorum carmine Musae
     oblectant, cum mens anxia pervigilat:
id gratum est mihi, me quoniam tibi dicis amicum,
     muneraque et Musarum hinc petis et Veneris.
sed tibi ne mea sint ignota incommoda, Mani,
     neu me odisse putes hospitis officium,
accipe, quis merser fortunae fluctibus ipse,
     ne amplius a misero dona beata petas.
tempore quo primum vestis mihi tradita pura est,
     iucundum cum aetas florida ver ageret,
multa satis lusi: non est dea nescia nostri,
     quae dulcem curis miscet amaritiem.

Because you, oppressed by fortune and by a bitter chance,
     send me this little epistle written with tears,
that I might lift up a shipwrecked man cast out by the foaming waves of the sea
     and restore [him] from the threshold of death,
whom neither holy Venus allows to rest in soft sleep,
     abandoned on a celibate bed,
nor do the Muses with the sweet song of the old writers
     delight [him], when an anxious mind keeps vigil:
that is pleasing to me, since you call me your friend,
     and hence you seek the gifts both of the Muses and of Venus.
sed so that my inconveniences not be unknown to you, Manius,
     nor think me to hate the office of host,
receive by what waves of fortune I myself am submerged,
     lest you any further seek blessed gifts from a wretch.
at the time when the pure garment was first handed over to me,
     when my blooming age was carrying a pleasant spring,
I played enough in many ways: the goddess is not unacquainted with me,
     she who mixes sweet bitterness with cares.

sed totum hoc studium luctu fraterna mihi mors
     abstulit. o misero frater adempte mihi,
tu mea tu moriens fregisti commoda, frater,
     tecum una tota est nostra sepulta domus,
omnia tecum una perierunt gaudia nostra,
     quae tuus in vita dulcis alebat amor.
cuius ego interitu tota de mente fugavi
     haec studia atque omnes delicias animi.

but my brother’s death has taken away from me, in mourning, all this pursuit
     O brother taken away from wretched me,
you—you dying—have broken my comforts, brother,
     together with you our whole house has been buried,
all our joys have perished together with you,
     which your sweet love in life was nourishing.
at whose demise I have driven utterly from my mind
     these pursuits and all the delights of the mind.

quare, quod scribis Veronae turpe Catullo
     esse, quod hic quisquis de meliore nota
frigida deserto tepefactet membra cubili,
     id, Mani, non est turpe, magis miserum est.
ignosces igitur si, quae mihi luctus ademit,
     haec tibi non tribuo munera, cum nequeo.
nam, quod scriptorum non magna est copia apud me,
     hoc fit, quod Romae vivimus: illa domus,
illa mihi sedes, illic mea carpitur aetas;
     huc una ex multis capsula me sequitur.

Wherefore, as to what you write, that at Verona it is shameful for Catullus
     that here whoever is of the better note should make tepid his cold limbs in a deserted bed,
that, Mani, is not shameful, rather it is wretched.
You will pardon, therefore, if the gifts which mourning has taken from me
     I do not bestow on you, since I am not able.
For, as to the fact that there is not a great copiousness of writings with me,
     this comes about because we live at Rome: that is the home,
that is my seat; there my lifetime is consumed;
     hither one little book-box out of many follows me.

quod cum ita sit, nolim statuas nos mente maligna
     id facere aut animo non satis ingenuo,
quod tibi non utriusque petenti copia posta est:
     ultro ego deferrem, copia siqua foret.
Non possum reticere, deae, qua me Allius in re
     iuuerit aut quantis iuverit officiis,
ne fugiens saeclis obliviscentibus aetas
     illius hoc caeca nocte tegat studium:
sed dicam vobis, vos porro dicite multis
     milibus et facite haec carta loquatur anus.
* * * * * * * *
     notescatque magis mortuus atque magis,
nec tenuem texens sublimis aranea telam
     in deserto Alli nomine opus faciat.

Since this is so, I would not wish you to set down that we do that with a malign mind
     or with a spirit not sufficiently ingenuous,
because for you, requesting both, the provision of both has not been set out:
     I myself would of my own accord bring it, if there were any provision.
I cannot keep silent, goddesses, in what matter Allius aided me
     or with how great services he aided me,
lest the time that flees, with forgetful ages, should cover
     his zeal with this blind night:
but I will tell you; you in turn tell to many
     thousands, and make this paper speak as an old woman.
* * * * * * * *
     and let the dead man become more and more known,
nor, weaving a tenuous web, let the lofty spider
     make its work upon the deserted name of Allius.

nam, mihi quam dederit duplex Amathusia curam,
     scitis, et in quo me torruerit genere,
cum tantum arderem quantum Trinacria rupes
     lymphaque in Oetaeis Malia Thermopylis,
maesta neque assiduo tabescere lumina fletu
     cessarent. tristique imbre madere genae.
qualis in aerii perlucens vertice montis
     riuus muscoso prosilit e lapide,
qui cum de prona praeceps est valle volutus,
     per medium densi transit iter populi,
dulce viatori lasso in sudore levamen,
     cum gravis exustos aestus hiulcat agros:
hic, velut in nigro iactatis turbine nautis
     lenius aspirans aura secunda venit
iam prece Pollucis, iam Castoris implorata,
     tale fuit nobis Allius auxilium.

for, what double care the Amathusian has given me,     you know, and in what kind she has scorched me,
when I was burning as much as the Trinacrian crags     and the lymph at the Oetaean Thermopylae of Malis,
nor did my sad eyes cease to waste away with continual weeping,     and my cheeks were wet with a gloomy rain.
such as on the summit of an airy mountain a perlucent stream     springs forth from a mossy stone,
which, when it has been rolled headlong from a sloping valley,     passes by the midst of the path of a dense populace,
a sweet alleviation to the weary wayfarer in sweat,     when oppressive heat gaps open the scorched fields:
here, just as to sailors tossed in a black whirlwind     a more gentle-breathing favorable breeze comes,
now by the prayer of Pollux, now implored by Castor,     such was Allius’s assistance to us.

is clausum lato patefecit limite campum,
     isque domum nobis isque dedit dominae,
ad quam communes exerceremus amores.
     quo mea se molli candida diva pede
intulit et trito fulgentem in limine plantam
     innixa arguta constituit solea,
coniugis ut quondam flagrans advenit amore
     Protesilaeam Laodamia domum
inceptam frustra, nondum cum sanguine sacro
     hostia caelestis pacificasset eros.
nil mihi tam valde placeat, Ramnusia virgo,
     quod temere invitis suscipiatur eris.

he opened a closed field with a broad pathway,
     and he gave a house to us, and to the mistress as well,
to which we might exercise our common loves.
     thither my fair goddess with soft foot
entered herself, and, leaning on a ringing sandal,
     set her gleaming sole on the worn threshold,
as once Laodamia, burning with love of her spouse,
     came to Protesilaus’s house—
a marriage begun in vain, since not yet with sacred blood
     had the victim pacified the celestial Loves.
nothing so greatly may please me, Ramnusian maiden,
     as that which is rashly undertaken with the masters unwilling.

quam ieiuna pium desiderat ara cruorem,
     docta est amisso Laudamia viro,
coniugis ante coacta novi dimittere collum,
     quam veniens una atque altera rursus hiems
noctibus in longis avidum saturasset amorem,
     posset ut abrupto vivere coniugio,
quod scibant Parcae non longo tempore abesse,
     si miles muros isset ad Iliacos.
nam tum Helenae raptu primores Argiuorum
     coeperat ad sese Troia ciere viros,
Troia (nefas!) commune sepulcrum Asiae Europaeque,
     Troia virum et virtutum omnium acerba cinis,
quaene etiam nostro letum miserabile fratri
     attulit. ei misero frater adempte mihi
ei misero fratri iucundum lumen ademptum,
     tecum una tota est nostra sepulta domus,
omnia tecum una perierunt gaudia nostra,
     quae tuus in vita dulcis alebat amor.

how the fasting altar desires pious blood,
     Laodamia learned, with her husband lost,
compelled to let go from the neck of her new spouse
     before the coming of one and then another winter
had in long nights sated her avid love,
     so that she might be able to live with the marriage cut short,
which the Parcae knew was not far off,
     if as a soldier he should go to the Iliac walls.
for then, at Helen’s abduction, the chieftains of the Argives
     Troy had begun to summon men to itself,
Troy (abomination!) the common tomb of Asia and Europe,
     Troy, the bitter ash of men and of all virtues,
which even brought a pitiable death to my brother
     —ah me, brother taken from wretched me!—
ah me, from my wretched brother the pleasant light taken away;
     with you together our whole house is buried,
all our joys together perished with you,
     which your sweet love in life was fostering.

quem nunc tam longe non inter nota sepulcra
     nec prope cognatos compositum cineres,
sed Troia obscena, Troia infelice sepultum
     detinet extremo terra aliena solo.
ad quam tum properans fertur undique pubes
     Graecae penetralis deseruisse focos,
ne Paris abducta gavisus libera moecha
     otia pacato degeret in thalamo.
quo tibi tum casu, pulcerrima Laudamia,
     ereptum est vita dulcius atque anima
coniugium: tanto te absorbens vertice amoris
     aestus in abruptum detulerat barathrum,
quale ferunt Grai Pheneum prope Cylleneum
     siccare emulsa pingue palude solum,
quod quondam caesis montis fodisse medullis
     audit falsiparens Amphitryoniades,
tempore quo certa Stymphalia monstra sagitta
     perculit imperio deterioris eri,
pluribus ut caeli tereretur ianua divis,
     Hebe nec longa virginitate foret.

whom now, so far away, not among familiar sepulchers
     nor laid to rest near kindred ashes,
but obscene Troy, unhappy Troy, holds buried—
     a foreign land detains him at the farthest soil.
to which, then hastening, the youth
     of Greece is said from every side to have deserted their inmost hearths,
lest Paris, rejoicing in the abducted free adulteress,
     should pass leisures in a pacified bedchamber.
by which mischance then, most beautiful Laodamia,
     a marriage sweeter than life and soul
was snatched from you: so great a whirlpool, absorbing you, of love’s
     surge had borne you down into a sheer abyss,
such as the Greeks report near Cyllenean Pheneus
     the rich ground to have been dried, the marsh having been drained off,
which once, by the mountain’s marrows being hewn through,
     the Amphitryoniad, false-sired, is said to have dug,
at the time when with a sure arrow he struck down the Stymphalian monsters
     by command of a worse master,
so that the doorway of heaven might be worn by more divinities,
     and Hebe might not be in a long virginity.

sed tuus altus amor barathro fuit altior illo,
     qui tamen indomitam ferre iugum docuit.
nam nec tam carum confecto aetate parenti
     una caput seri nata nepotis alit,
qui cum divitiis vix tandem iuventus avitis
     nomen testatas intulit in tabulas,
impia derisi gentilis gaudia tollens,
     suscitat a cano volturium capiti:
nec tantum niveo gavisa est ulla columbo
     compar, quae multo dicitur improbius
oscula mordenti semper decerpere rostro,
     quam quae praecipve multivola est mulier.
sed tu horum magnos vicisti sola furores,
     ut semel es flavo conciliata viro.

but your deep love was deeper than that abyss,
     which nevertheless taught the untamed to bear the yoke.
for nor does the single-born granddaughter of a late-born descendant
     cherish so dear a head for a parent worn by age,
when at last with difficulty youth, along with ancestral riches,
     has entered his name into witnessed tablets,
taking away the impious joys of a deriding kinsman,
     he rouses the vulture from the hoary head:
nor has any mate so rejoiced in a snow-white dove,
     who is said far more wantonly
always to pluck kisses from a biting beak,
     than the woman who is especially flighty.
but you alone conquered the great frenzies of these,
     once you were conciliated to the blond man.

aut nihil aut paulum cui tum concedere digna
     lux mea se nostrum contulit in gremium,
quam circumcursans hinc illinc saepe Cupido
     fulgebat crocina candidus in tunica.
quae tamen etsi uno non est contenta Catullo,
     rara verecundae furta feremus erae
ne nimium simus stultorum more molesti.
     saepe etiam Iuno, maxima caelicolum,
coniugis in culpa flagrantem concoquit iram,
     noscens omnivoli plurima furta Iovis.

to whom then my light, worthy to concede either nothing or at most a little,
     brought herself into our lap,
around whom, running here and there, often Cupid
     gleamed, fair, in a saffron tunic.
who, however, although she is not content with one Catullus,
     we shall bear the occasional thefts of a modest mistress
lest we be too troublesome in the manner of fools.
     often even Juno, greatest of the heaven-dwellers,
at her husband’s fault concocts her blazing anger,
     knowing the very many thefts of all-willing Jove.

atqui nec divis homines componier aequum est,
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
     ingratum tremuli tolle parentis onus.
nec tamen illa mihi dextra deducta paterna
     fragrantem Assyrio venit odore domum,
sed furtiva dedit mira munuscula nocte,
     ipsius ex ipso dempta viri gremio.
quare illud satis est, si nobis is datur unis
     quem lapide illa dies candidiore notat.

and yet it is not fair for men to be compared with gods,
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
     take away the ungrateful burden of the trembling parent.
nor yet did she, conducted by a paternal right hand,
     come home to me fragrant with Assyrian odor,
but in a furtive night she gave marvelous little gifts,
     taken from the very lap of the man himself.
wherefore that is enough, if to us alone there is granted that one
     which that day marks with a whiter stone.

hoc tibi, quod potui, confectum carmine munus
     pro multis, Alli, redditur officiis,
ne vestrum scabra tangat rubigine nomen
     haec atque illa dies atque alia atque alia.
huc addent divi quam plurima, quae Themis olim
     antiquis solita est munera ferre piis.
sitis felices et tu simul et tua vita,
     et domus in qua lusimus et domina,
et qui principio nobis terram dedit aufert,
     a quo sunt primo omnia nata bona,
et longe ante omnes mihi quae me carior ipso est,
     lux mea, qua viva vivere dulce mihi est.

This, for you, the gift I could, confected with song,
     is rendered in return for many services, Allius,
lest a scabrous rust touch your name
     on this day and that day and another and another.
To this the gods will add very many things, which Themis once
     was wont to bear as gifts to the pious of old.
Be you happy, both you at once and your life,
     and the house in which we played and the mistress,
and may He who in the beginning gives us the earth and takes it away,
     from whom at first all good things are born,
and, far before all, she who is dearer to me than myself,
     my light, by whose living it is sweet for me to live.

LXIX. ad Rufum

69. to Rufus

Noli admirari, quare tibi femina nulla,
     Rufe, velit tenerum supposuisse femur,
non si illam rarae labefactes munere vestis
     aut perluciduli deliciis lapidis.
laedit te quaedam mala fabula, qua tibi fertur
     ualle sub alarum trux habitare caper.
hunc metuunt omnes, neque mirum: nam mala valde est
     bestia, nec quicum bella puella cubet.

Do not marvel, why no woman for you,
     Rufus, is willing to have placed her tender thigh beneath,
not even if you shake her by the gift of a rare garment
     or by the delights of a pellucid little stone.
a certain evil tale injures you, by which it is reported to you
     that under the valley of your armpits a savage goat dwells.
they all fear this one, nor is it a marvel: for it is a very bad
     beast, and no pretty girl will lie with a man with whom it shares a bed.

quare aut crudelem nasorum interfice pestem,
aut admirari desine cur fugiunt.

wherefore either kill the cruel plague of noses,
or cease to admire why they flee.

LXX.

70.

Nulli se dicit mulier mea nubere malle
quam mihi, non si se Iuppiter ipse petat.
dicit: sed mulier cupido quod dicit amanti,
in vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua.

My woman says that she prefers to marry no one rather than me,
not even if Jupiter himself should seek her.
She says: but what a woman says to a desirous lover,
one ought to write on the wind and in rapid water.

LXXI.

71.

Si cui iure bono sacer alarum obstitit hircus,
     aut si quem merito tarda podagra secat.
aemulus iste tuus, qui vestrem exercet amorem,
     mirifice est a te nactus utrumque malum.
nam quotiens futuit, totiens ulciscitur ambos:
     illam affligit odore, ipse perit podagra.

If to anyone, with good right, the sacred goat of the armpits has stood in the way,
     or if anyone deservedly the sluggish podagra (gout) cuts down.
that rival of yours, who exercises your mutual love,
     has marvelously gotten from you both evils.
for as often as he fucks, so often he avenges both:
     he afflicts her with the odor, he himself perishes by podagra.

LXXII. ad Lesbiam

72. to Lesbia

Dicebas quondam solum te nosse Catullum,
     Lesbia, nec prae me velle tenere Iovem.
dilexi tum te non tantum ut vulgus amicam,
     sed pater ut gnatos diligit et generos.
nunc te cognovi: quare etsi impensius uror,
     multo mi tamen es vilior et levior.

You used to say once that you knew Catullus alone,
     Lesbia, and that you did not wish to hold Jupiter before me.
i cherished you then not merely as the common crowd a mistress,
     but as a father loves his sons and sons-in-law.
now i have come to know you: wherefore, though i burn more intensely,
     yet to me you are much viler and lighter.

qui potis est, inquis? quod amantem iniuria talis
cogit amare magis, sed bene velle minus.

how can it be, you ask? because an injury of this kind to a lover
forces him to love more, but to wish well less.

LXXIII.

73.

Desine de quoquam quicquam bene velle mereri
     aut aliquem fieri posse putare pium.
omnia sunt ingrata, nihil fecisse benigne
     prodest immo etiam taedet obestque magis;
ut mihi, quem nemo gravius nec acerbius urget,
     quam modo qui me unum atque unicum amicum habuit.

Cease to will to merit well from anyone,
     or to think that anyone can become pious.
everything is ungrateful; to have acted benignly profits nothing—
     nay, it even wearies and harms the more;
as for me, whom no one presses more gravely nor more acerbically
     than the one who just now held me his sole and only friend.

LXXIV. ad Gellium

74. to Gellius

Gellius audierat patruum obiurgare solere,
     si quis delicias diceret aut faceret.
hoc ne ipsi accideret, patrui perdepsuit ipsam
     uxorem, et patruum reddidit Arpocratem.
quod voluit fecit: nam, quamvis irrumet ipsum
     nunc patruum, verbum non faciet patruus.

Gellius had heard that his paternal uncle was wont to objurgate,
     if anyone should say or do any “delicacies.”
Lest this should happen to himself, he thoroughly worked over his uncle’s very own
     wife, and made his uncle into Harpocrates.
He did what he wished: for, although he may now irrumate his
     uncle himself, the uncle will not utter a word.

LXXV. ad Lesbiam

75. to Lesbia

Huc est mens deducta tua mea, Lesbia, culpa
atque ita se officio perdidit ipsa suo,
ut iam nec bene velle queat tibi, si optima fias,
nec desistere amare, omnia si facias.

To this point my mind has been led down by your fault, Lesbia,
and thus it has ruined itself by its own duty,
so that now it can neither wish you well, even if you become the best,
nor cease to love, even if you do everything.

LXXVI. ad deos

76. to the gods

Siqua recordanti benefacta priora voluptas
     est homini, cum se cogitat esse pium,
nec sanctam violasse fidem, nec foedere nullo
     divum ad fallendos numine abusum homines,
multa parata manent in longa aetate, Catulle,
     ex hoc ingrato gaudia amore tibi.
nam quaecumque homines bene cuiquam aut dicere possunt
     aut facere, haec a te dictaque factaque sunt.
omnia quae ingratae perierunt credita menti.

If there is any pleasure to one recalling former benefactions,
     for a man, when he thinks himself to be pious,
and that he has not violated sacred good faith, nor in any covenant
     of the gods has he abused the numen to deceive men,
many prepared things remain, in a long age, Catullus,
     joys for you from this ungrateful love.
for whatever things men can either well say to anyone
     or do, these have been said and done by you.
all which, entrusted to an ungrateful mind, have perished.

     quare iam te cur amplius excrucies?
quin tu animo offirmas atque istinc teque reducis,
     et dis invitis desinis esse miser?
difficile est longum subito deponere amorem,
     difficile est, verum hoc qua lubet efficias:
una salus haec est.

     why now do you go on excruciating yourself?
why don’t you steel your spirit and draw yourself back from there,
     and, with the gods unwilling, cease to be wretched?
it is difficult to lay down a long love suddenly,
     it is difficult—true; but bring this about however you please:
this is the one salvation.

hoc est tibi pervincendum,
     hoc facias, sive id non pote sive pote.
o di, si vestrum est misereri, aut si quibus umquam
     extremam iam ipsa in morte tulistis opem,
me miserum aspicite et, si vitam puriter egi,
     eripite hanc pestem perniciemque mihi,
quae mihi subrepens imos ut torpor in artus
     expulit ex omni pectore laetitias.
non iam illud quaero, contra me ut diligat illa,
     aut, quod non potis est, esse pudica velit:
ipse valere opto et taetrum hunc deponere morbum.

this is what must be thoroughly vanquished by you,
     do this, whether it be not possible or possible.
O gods, if it is yours to have pity, or if to anyone ever
     you have brought last help even at death itself,
look upon me, wretched, and, if I have led life purely,
     snatch away this pest and perdition from me,
which, creeping under like a torpor into my inmost limbs,
     has driven joys out from my whole breast.
I no longer ask this: that she love me in return,
     or, what is not possible, that she should wish to be chaste:
I myself wish to be well and lay down this foul disease.

o di, reddite mi hoc pro pietate mea.

o gods, render to me this in return for my piety.

LXXVII. ad Rufum

77. to Rufus

Rufe mihi frustra ac nequiquam credite amice
     (frustra? immo magno cum pretio atque malo),
sicine subrepsti mi, atque intestina perurens
     ei misero eripuisti omnia nostra bona?
eripuisti, heu heu nostrae crudele venenum
     vitae, heu heu nostrae pestis amicitiae.

Rufus, a friend trusted by me in vain and to no avail
     (in vain? nay, rather at great price and harm),
is it thus you crept up on me, and, burning my entrails,
     from me, wretched, have you snatched away all our good things?
you have snatched away, alas, alas, cruel poison of our life,
     alas, alas, plague of our friendship.

LXXVIII. ad Gallum

78. to Gallus

Gallus habet fratres, quorum est lepidissima coniunx
     alterius, lepidus filius alterius.
Gallus homo est bellus: nam dulces iungit amores,
     cum puero ut bello bella puella cubet.
Gallus homo est stultus, nec se videt esse maritum,
     qui patruus patrui monstret adulterium.

Gallus has brothers, of whom the most charming spouse is of one,
     the charming son of the other.
Gallus is a fine fellow: for he yokes sweet amours,
     so that with a handsome boy a beautiful girl may lie.
Gallus is a foolish man, nor does he see himself to be a husband,
     who, as an uncle, demonstrates an uncle’s adultery.

LXXVIIIb.

78b.

     * * * * * * *
sed nunc id doleo, quod purae pura puellae
     suavia comminxit spurca saliva tua.
verum id non impune feres: nam te omnia saecla
     noscent et, qui sis, fama loquetur anus.

     * * * * * * *
but now this I lament: that your filthy saliva
     has befouled the pure kisses of a pure girl.
but you will not bear that unpunished: for all ages
     will come to know you, and Rumor, an old woman, will tell who you are.

LXXIX. ad Lesbium

79. to Lesbius

Lesbius est pulcer. quid ni? quem Lesbia malit
quam te cum tota gente, Catulle, tua.
sed tamen hic pulcer vendat cum gente Catullum,
si tria natorum suavia reppererit.

Lesbius is handsome. Why not?—whom Lesbia prefers
to you, Catullus, along with your whole clan.
But still let this handsome fellow sell Catullus with his clan,
if he shall have found three kisses of his offspring.

LXXX. ad Gellium

80. to Gellius

Quid dicam, Gelli, quare rosea ista labella
     hiberna fiant candidiora nive,
mane domo cum exis et cum te octava quiete
     e molli longo suscitat hora die?
nescio quid certe est: an vere fama susurrat
     grandia te medii tenta vorare viri?
sic certe est: clamant Victoris rupta miselli
     ilia, et emulso labra notata sero.

What shall I say, Gellius, why those rosy little lips
     become whiter than winter snow,
when in the morning you go out from home, and when the eighth hour,
     from repose, rouses you out of a soft long day?
I certainly don’t know what it is: does rumor truly whisper
     that you try to devour the grand parts of a man’s middle?
Surely so it is: the burst entrails of poor little Victor cry out,
     and lips marked with the whey sucked out.

LXXXI. ad Iuventium

81. to Juventius

Nemone in tanto potuit populo esse, Iuventi,
     bellus homo, quem tu diligere inciperes.
praeterquam iste tuus moribunda ab sede Pisauri
     hospes inaurata palladior statua,
qui tibi nunc cordi est, quem tu praeponere nobis
     audes, et nescis quod facinus facias?

Was no one able to be, in so great a people, Juventius,
     a pretty man, whom you might begin to cherish?
except that guest of yours from the dying seat at Pisaurum,
     a guest with a gilded statue of Pallas,
who now is dear to your heart, whom you dare to set before us,
     and you do not know what crime you commit?

LXXXII. ad Qvintium

82. to Quintius

Quinti, si tibi vis oculos debere Catullum
aut aliud si quid carius est oculis,
eripere ei noli, multo quod carius illi
est oculis seu quid carius est oculis.

Quintius, if you want Catullus to owe you his eyes,
or if anything else is dearer than eyes,
do not snatch away from him that which is by much dearer to him
than his eyes, or whatever is dearer than eyes.

LXXXIII. ad Lesbiam

83. to Lesbia

Lesbia mi praesente viro mala plurima dicit:
     haec illi fatuo maxima laetitia est.
mule, nihil sentis? si nostri oblita taceret,
     sana esset: nunc quod gannit et obloquitur,
non solum meminit, sed, quae multo acrior est res,
     irata est.

Lesbia says very many bad things to me with her husband present:
     this is for that fatuous fellow the greatest delight.
mule, do you perceive nothing? If, forgetful of me, she were silent,
     she would be sane; now, because she snarls and engages in obloquy,
she not only remembers, but, which is a much sharper matter,
     she is irate.

hoc est, uritur et loquitur.

that is, she burns and she speaks.

LXXXIV. ad Arrium

84. to Arrius

Chommoda dicebat, si quando commoda vellet
     dicere, et insidias Arrius hinsidias,
et tum mirifice sperabat se esse locutum,
     cum quantum poterat dixerat hinsidias.
credo, sic mater, sic liber avunculus eius.
     sic maternus auus dixerat atque avia.

He would say “chommoda,” whenever he wished to say “commoda,”
     to say; and for “insidias” Arrius said “hinsidias,”
and then wondrously he hoped he had spoken finely,
     when, as much as he could, he had said “hinsidias.”
I believe it: so his mother, so his freeborn uncle.
     so had his maternal grandfather and grandmother spoken.

hoc misso in Syriam requierant omnibus aures
     audibant eadem haec leniter et leviter,
nec sibi postilla metuebant talia verba,
     cum subito affertur nuntius horribilis,
Ionios fluctus, postquam illuc Arrius isset,
     iam non Ionios esse sed Hionios.

with this man sent into Syria, everyone’s ears had taken rest
     they were hearing these same things smoothly and lightly,
nor after that did they fear such words for themselves,
     when suddenly a horrible message is brought:
the Ionian waves, after Arrius had gone thither,
     were now not Ionian but Hionian.

LXXXV.

85.

Odi et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.
nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.

I hate and I love. Why I do this, perhaps you inquire.
I do not know, but I feel it happening and I am excruciated.

LXXXVI. ad Lesbiam

86. to Lesbia

Quintia formosa est multis. mihi candida, longa,
recta est: haec ego sic singula confiteor.
totum illud formosa nego: nam nulla venustas,
nulla in tam magno est corpore mica salis.

Quintia is beautiful to many. To me she is fair, tall,
straight: these I thus confess one by one.
I deny that whole to be beautiful: for no Venus-charm,
no grain of salt is in so great a body.

Lesbia formosa est, quae cum pulcerrima tota est,
tum omnibus una omnis surripuit Veneres.

Lesbia is beautiful, who, since she is most beautiful in her entirety,
then from all she alone has surreptitiously stolen all the Venuses.

LXXXVII. ad Lesbiam

87. to Lesbia

Nulla potest mulier tantum se dicere amatam
vere, quantum a me Lesbia amata mea est.
nulla fides ullo fuit umquam foedere tanta,
quanta in amore tuo ex parte reperta mea est.

No woman can truly say herself loved so much
as my Lesbia has been loved by me.
no fidelity was ever in any covenant so great,
as in your love has been found on my part.

LXXXVIII. ad Gellium

88. to Gellius

Quid facit is, Gelli, qui cum matre atque sorore
prurit, et abiectis pervigilat tunicis?
quid facit is, patruum qui non sinit esse maritum?
ecquid scis quantum suscipiat sceleris?

What does that man do, Gellius, who with his mother and sister
is prurient, and keeps vigil with tunics cast aside?
what does that man do, who does not allow his paternal uncle to be a husband?
do you know at all how much crime he takes upon himself?

suscipit, o Gelli, quantum non ultima Tethys
nec genitor Nympharum abluit Oceanus:
nam nihil est quicquam sceleris, quo prodeat ultra,
non si demisso se ipse voret capite.

he incurs, O Gellius, guilt so great as not even the uttermost Tethys
nor Ocean, begetter of the Nymphs, washes away:
for there is nothing of crime to which he might go forth beyond,
not even if, with head lowered, he should devour himself.

LXXXIX. ad Gellium

89. to Gellius

Gellius est tenuis: quid ni? cui tam bona mater
     tamque valens vivat tamque venusta soror
tamque bonus patruus tamque omnia plena puellis
     cognatis, quare is desinat esse macer?
qui ut nihil attingat, nisi quod fas tangere non est,
     quantumvis quare sit macer invenies.

Gellius is thin: why not? for whom so good a mother so hale lives, and so winsome a sister, and so good an uncle, and everything so full of kinswomen, why should he cease to be lean? who, even granting that he touches nothing, except that which it is not right to touch, you will find, however much, why he is lean.

XC. ad Gellium

90. to Gellius

Nascatur magus ex Gelli matrisque nefando
     coniugio et discat Persicum aruspicium:
nam magus ex matre et gnato gignatur oportet,
     si vera est Persarum impia religio,
gratus ut accepto veneretur carmine divos
     omentum in flamma pingue liquefaciens.

Let a magus be born from the nefarious union of Gellius and his mother,
     and let him learn Persian haruspicy:
for a magus ought to be begotten from mother and son,
     if the impious religion of the Persians is true,
so that, as one pleasing, he may venerate the gods with the received chant,
     liquefying the rich omentum in the flame.

XCI. ad Gellium

91. to Gellius

Non ideo, Gelli, sperabam te mihi fidum
     in misero hoc nostro, hoc perdito amore fore,
quod te cognossem bene constantemve putarem
     aut posse a turpi mentem inhibere probro;
sed neque quod matrem nec germanam esse videbam
     hanc tibi, cuius me magnus edebat amor.
et quamvis tecum multo coniungerer usu,
     non satis id causae credideram esse tibi.
tu satis id duxti: tantum tibi gaudium in omni
     culpa est, in quacumque est aliquid sceleris.

Not on that account, Gellius, was I hoping you would be faithful to me
     in this wretched affair of ours, this ruined love,
because I had known you well or supposed you constant,
     or able to inhibit your mind from a foul disgrace;
but not because I saw that this woman, whose great love was devouring me,
     was neither mother nor full sister to you.
and although I was conjoined with you by much usage,
     I had not believed that sufficient cause for you.
you deemed that enough: so great a joy there is for you in every
     fault, in whatever there is anything of crime.

XCII. ad Lesbia

92. to Lesbia

Lesbia mi dicit semper male nec tacet umquam
de me: Lesbia me dispeream nisi amat.
quo signo? quia sunt totidem mea: deprecor illam
assidue, verum dispeream nisi amo.

Lesbia always speaks ill of me and is never silent
about me: as for Lesbia—may I perish if she does not love me.
By what sign? Because mine are just the same: I assiduously revile her
continually, but truly, may I perish if I do not love.

XCIII. ad Gaium Iulium Caesarem

93. to Gaius Julius Caesar

Nil nimium studeo, Caesar, tibi velle placere,
nec scire utrum sis albus an ater homo.

I am not overly eager, Caesar, to wish to please you,
nor to know whether you are a white or a black man.

XCIV. ad Mentulam

94. to Mentula

Mentula moechatur. Moechatur mentula? Certe.

Mentula commits adultery. Does the dick commit adultery? Certainly.

Hoc est quod dicunt: ipsa olera olla legit.

This is what they say: the pot itself picks the greens.

XCV. ad Gaium Helvium Cinnam

95. to Gaius Helvius Cinna

Zmyrna mei Cinnae nonam post denique messem
     quam coepta est nonamque edita post hiemem,
milia cum interea quingenta Hortensius uno
     * * * * * * * *
Zmyrna cavas Satrachi penitus mittetur ad undas,
     Zmyrnam cana diu saecula pervoluent.
at Volusi annales Paduam morientur ad ipsam
     et laxas scombris saepe dabunt tunicas.

Smyrna of my Cinna at last after the ninth harvest
     since it was begun, and after the ninth winter it was published,
while meanwhile Hortensius in one year five hundred thousand
     * * * * * * * *
Smyrna will be sent all the way to the hollow waves of the Satrachus,
     the hoary ages will roll over Smyrna for a long time.
but Volusius’s Annals will die right at Padua itself
     and will often give loose tunics to mackerels.

XCVb.

95b.

Parva mei mihi sint cordi monimenta ...,
at populus tumido gaudeat Antimacho.

Let the small monuments of mine be dear to my heart ...,
but let the populace rejoice in tumid Antimachus.

XCVI. ad Gaium Licinium Calvum

96. to Gaius Licinius Calvus

Si quicquam mutis gratum acceptumque sepulcris
     accidere a nostro, Calve, dolore potest,
quo desiderio veteres renovamus amores
     atque olim missas flemus amicitias,
certe non tanto mors immatura dolori est
     Qvintiliae, quantum gaudet amore tuo.

If anything pleasing and acceptable to the mute sepulchers
     can befall from our grief, Calvus,
by which longing we renew ancient loves
     and we weep friendships once sent away,
surely premature death is not so great a grief
     to Quintilia as she rejoices in your love.

XCVII. ad Aemilium

97. to Aemilius

Non (ita me di ament) quicquam referre putavi,
     utrumne os an culum olfacerem Aemilio.
nilo mundius hoc, nihiloque immundius illud,
     verum etiam culus mundior et melior:
nam sine dentibus est. hic dentis sesquipedalis,
     gingivas vero ploxeni habet veteris,
praeterea rictum qualem diffissus in aestu
     meientis mulae cunnus habere solet.

Not (so may the gods love me) did I think it made any difference,
     whether I should smell Aemilius’s mouth or his asshole.
this is no cleaner, and that no whit more unclean,
     indeed even the asshole is cleaner and better:
for it is without teeth. He has a sesquipedalian tooth,
     and the gums of an old wagon-box,
besides, a gape such as, split apart in the heat,
     the cunt of a pissing mule is accustomed to have.

hic futuit multas et se facit esse venustum,
et non pistrino traditur atque asino?
quem siqua attingit, non illam posse putemus
aegroti culum lingere carnificis?

this man screws many and makes himself out to be charming,
and is not consigned to the treadmill and the donkey?
whom if any woman touches, should we not think that she is able
to lick the anus of a sick executioner?

XCVIII. ad Victium

98. to Victius

In te, si in quemquam, dici pote, putide Victi,
     id quod verbosis dicitur et fatuis.
ista cum lingua, si usus veniat tibi, possis
     culos et crepidas lingere carpatinas.
si nos omnino vis omnes perdere, Victi,
     hiscas: omnino quod cupis efficies.

In you, if in anyone, it can be said, stinking Victius,
     that which is said of the verbose and the fatuous.
with that tongue, if a use/occasion should come to you, you could
     lick asses and Carpatine sandals.
if you altogether want to destroy us all, Victius,
     open your mouth: altogether what you desire you will accomplish.

XCIX. ad Iuventium

99. to Juventius

Surripui tibi, dum ludis, mellite Iuventi,
     suaviolum dulci dulcius ambrosia.
verum id non impune tuli: namque amplius horam
     suffixum in summa me memini esse cruce,
dum tibi me purgo nec possum fletibus ullis
     tantillum vestrae demere saevitiae.
nam simul id factum est, multis diluta labella
     guttis abstersisti omnibus articulis,
ne quicquam nostro contractum ex ore maneret,
     tamquam commictae spurca saliva lupae.

I filched from you, while you were playing, honey-sweet Juventius,
     a little-kiss sweeter than sweet ambrosia.
but I did not bear it unpunished: for more than an hour
     I remember that I was fastened upon the topmost cross,
while I purge myself to you and cannot by any weeping
     remove even the least bit of your savagery.
for as soon as that deed was done, your little lips, diluted by many drops,
     you wiped off upon all your finger joints,
lest anything contracted from our mouth should remain,
     as though the filthy saliva of a she-wolf befouled with urine.

praeterea infesto miserum me tradere amori
     non cessasti omnique excruciare modo,
ut mi ex ambrosia mutatum iam foret illud
     suaviolum tristi tristius elleboro.
quam quoniam poenam misero proponis amori,
     numquam iam posthac basia surripiam.

moreover, you did not cease to hand over wretched me to hostile Love
     nor to excruciate me in every mode,
so that for me that little kiss would already have been changed from ambrosia
     to something sadder than grim hellebore.
since, then, you propose such a penalty to wretched Love,
     never hereafter will I surreptitiously steal kisses.

C. ad Marcum Caelium furum

100. to Marcus Caelius the thief

Caelius Aufillenum et Qvintius Aufillenam
flos Veronensum depereunt iuvenum,
hic fratrem, ille sororem. hoc est, quod dicitur, illud
fraternum vere dulce sodalicium.
cui faveam potius?

Caelius for Aufillenus and Quintius for Aufillena
the flower of the Veronese youths, are pining away,
this one for the brother, that one for the sister. this is, as it is said, that
truly sweet brotherly sodality.
whom should I favor rather?

Caeli, tibi: nam tua nobis
perspecta ex igni est unica amicitia,
cum vesana meas torreret flamma medullas.
sis felix, Caeli, sis in amore potens.

Caelius, to you: for your one-and-only friendship has been clearly perceived by us
out of the fire, when a mad flame was torrefying my marrows.
may you be fortunate, Caelius, may you be potent in love.

CI. ad inferias

101. to the funeral offerings

Multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus
     advenio has miseras, frater, ad inferias,
ut te postremo donarem munere mortis
     et mutam nequiquam alloquerer cinerem.
quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum.
     heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi,
nunc tamen interea haec, prisco quae more parentum
     tradita sunt tristi munere ad inferias,
accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu,
     atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale.

Having been borne through many peoples and over many seas
     I arrive, brother, at these wretched funeral rites,
that I might present you with the last gift of death
     and speak in vain to the mute ash.
since Fortune has taken you yourself from me.
     alas, poor brother, undeservedly snatched from me,
now yet meanwhile these things, which by the ancient custom of our forefathers
     have been handed down as a sad offering for funeral rites,
receive, much dripping with fraternal tears,
     and forever, brother, hail and farewell.

CII. ad Cornelium Nepotem

102. to Cornelius Nepos

Si quicquam tacito commissum est fido ab amico,
cuius sit penitus nota fides animi,
meque esse invenies illorum iure sacratum,
Corneli, et factum me esse puta Arpocratem.

If anything has been committed to a tacit faithful friend,
whose good faith of soul is known through and through,
you will find that I am by right consecrated among such men,
Cornelius, and think me to have been made a Harpocrates.

CIII. ad Silonem

103. to Silo

Aut sodes mihi redde decem sestertia, Silo,
deinde esto quamvis saevus et indomitus:
aut, si te nummi delectant, desine quaeso
leno esse atque idem saevus et indomitus.

Either, please, give me back ten thousand sesterces, Silo,
then be, however savage and indomitable you wish:
or, if money delights you, cease, I beg,
to be a pimp and at the same time savage and indomitable.

CIV.

104.

Credis me potuisse meae maledicere vitae,
ambobus mihi quae carior est oculis?
non potui, nec, si possem, tam perdite amarem:
sed tu cum Tappone omnia monstra facis.

Do you believe I could have spoken ill of my life,
which is dearer to me than both my eyes?
I could not, nor, if I could, would I love so desperately:
but you, together with Tappon, do every monstrosity.

CV. ad Mentulam

105. to Mentula

Mentula conatur Pipleium scandere montem:
Musae furcillis praecipitem eiciunt.

Mentula tries to scale the Pipleian mountain:
the Muses cast him headlong out with pitchforks.

CVI.

106.

Cum puero bello praeconem qui videt esse,
quid credat, nisi se vendere discupere?

Whoever sees a herald with a handsome boy,
what would he believe, except that he longs to vend himself?

CVII. ad Lesbiam

107. to Lesbia

Si quicquam cupido optantique optigit umquam
     insperanti, hoc est gratum animo proprie.
quare hoc est gratum nobis quoque carius auro
     quod te restituis, Lesbia, mi cupido.
restituis cupido atque insperanti, ipsa refers te
     nobis.

If ever anything has befallen a desiring and opting one,
     un-hoping, this is especially pleasing to the mind.
wherefore this is pleasing to us too, dearer than gold,
     that you restore yourself, Lesbia, my desired one.
you restore to the desiring and the un-expecting; you yourself bring yourself back
     to us.

o lucem candidiore nota!
quis me uno vivit felicior aut magis hac est
optandus vita dicere quis poterit?

o light of whiter mark!
who lives happier than I alone, or who will be able
to say that a life is more to be desired than this?

CVIII. ad Cominium

108. to Cominius

Si, Comini, populi arbitrio tua cana senectus
     spurcata impuris moribus intereat,
non equidem dubito quin primum inimica bonorum
     lingua exsecta avido sit data vulturio,
effossos oculos voret atro gutture coruus,
     intestina canes, cetera membra lupi.

If, Cominius, by the arbitration of the people your hoary senescence
     befouled by impure morals, should perish,
I for my part do not doubt that first the tongue inimical to the good,
     excised, would be given to an avid vulture,
a raven would devour the gouged-out eyes with its black gullet,
     dogs the intestines, wolves the other members.

CIX. ad Lesbiam

109. to Lesbia

Iucundum, mea vita, mihi proponis amorem
     hunc nostrum inter nos perpetuumque fore.
di magni, facite ut vere promittere possit,
     atque id sincere dicat et ex animo,
ut liceat nobis tota perducere vita
     aeternum hoc sanctae foedus amicitiae.

Pleasant, my life, you set before me that this our love
     between us will be perpetual.
Great gods, make it that she can truly promise,
     and say it sincerely and from the soul,
so that it may be permitted us to carry through our whole life
     this eternal covenant of holy friendship.

CX. ad Aufilenam

110. to Aufilena

Aufilena, bonae semper laudantur amicae:
     accipiunt pretium, quae facere instituunt.
tu, quod promisti, mihi quod mentita inimica es,
     quod nec das et fers saepe, facis facinus.
aut facere ingenuae est, aut non promisse pudicae,
     Aufillena, fuit: sed data corripere
fraudando officiis, plus quam meretricis avarae
     quae sese toto corpore prostituit.

Aufillena, good girlfriends are always praised:
     they accept the price for what they intend to do.
you—in that you promised, in that you lied to me like an enemy—
     in that you neither give and often take, you commit a crime.
either to do it is fitting for a freeborn woman, or, for a modest one,
     Aufillena, not to have promised; but to snatch what is given,
defrauding obligations, is more than that of an avaricious meretrix
     who prostitutes herself with her whole body.

CXI. ad Aufilenam

111. to Aufilena

Aufilena, viro contentam vivere solo,
nuptarum laus ex laudibus eximiis:
sed cuivis quamvis potius succumbere par est,
quam matrem fratres efficere ex patruo…

Aufilena, to be content to live with a single husband,
is among the most exceptional praises of married women:
but it is rather fitting to succumb to anyone whatsoever,
than to make your mother produce brothers by your paternal uncle…

CXII. ad Nasonem

112. to Naso

Multus homo es, Naso, neque tecum multus homo
te scindat: Naso, multus es et pathicus.

You are a big man, Naso, and let not a big man with you split you:
Naso, you are big and a pathic.

CXIII. ad Gaium Helvium Cinnam

113. to Gaius Helvius Cinna

Consule Pompeio primum duo, Cinna, solebant
Maeciliam: facto consule nunc iterum
manserunt duo, sed creverunt milia in unum
singula. fecundum semen adulterio.

With Pompey consul the first time, two, Cinna, were wont to have Maecilia;
with him made consul now again,
they remained two, but the single ones have grown into thousands in one—
a fertile seed for adultery.

CXIV. ad Mentulam

114. to Mentula

Firmanus saltu non falso Mentula diues
fertur, qui tot res in se habet egregias,
aucupium omne genus, piscis, prata, arva ferasque.
nequiquam: fructus sumptibus exsuperat.
quare concedo sit diues, dum omnia desint.

Mentula is said, not falsely, to be rich with a Firman estate,
which has so many excellent things in itself:
every kind of fowling, fish, meadows, arable fields, and wild beasts.
in vain: the yield is surpassed by the expenses.
therefore I concede he is rich, provided that everything be lacking.

saltum laudemus, dum modo ipse egeat.

let us laud the estate, so long as he himself is needy.

CXV. ad Mentulam

115. to Mentula

Mentula habet instar triginta iugera prati,
     quadraginta arui: cetera sunt maria.
cur non divitiis Croesum superare potis sit,
     uno qui in saltu tot bona possideat,
prata arva ingentes silvas saltusque paludesque
     usque ad Hyperboreos et mare ad Oceanum?
omnia magna haec sunt, tamen ipsest maximus ultro,
     non homo, sed vero mentula magna minax.

Mentula has the equivalent of thirty jugera of meadow,
     forty of arable; the rest are seas.
Why should he not be able to surpass Croesus in riches,
     who in a single forest-range possesses so many goods,
meadows, ploughlands, huge woods, forest-ranges and marshes
     all the way to the Hyperboreans and to the Ocean-sea?
All these things are great; nevertheless he himself is greatest besides,
     not a man, but in truth a great, menacing phallus.

CXVI. ad Gellium

116. to Gellius

Saepe tibi studioso animo venante requirens
     carmina uti possem mittere Battiadae,
qui te lenirem nobis, neu conarere
     tela infesta mittere in usque caput,
hunc video mihi nunc frustra sumptum esse laborem,
     Gelli, nec nostras hic valuisse preces.
contra nos tela ista tua evitabimus amitha
     at fixus nostris tu dabis supplicium.

Often, with a studious mind hunting, seeking how I might be able to send the songs of the Battiad to you,
     that I might soothe you toward us, and that you not try
to send hostile missiles right at my head,
     I see now this labor has been spent in vain for me,
Gellius, nor have our prayers here prevailed.
     Against us, those weapons of yours we shall evade, Aunt;
but you, transfixed by ours, you will pay the penalty.

Fragmenta

Fragments

Hunc lucum tibi dedico consecroque, Priape,
qua domus tua Lampsaci est quaque ... Priape.
nam te praecipve in suis urbibus colit ora
Hellespontia, ceteris ostriosior oris.

I dedicate and consecrate this grove to you, Priapus,
where your house is at Lampsacus and where ... Priapus.
for the Hellespontian shore, especially in its cities, venerates you,
more oyster-rich than the other shores.

II.

de meo ligurrire libido est

there is a lust to lick from my member

III.

at non effugies meos iambos

but you will not escape my iambs