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diff --git a/20732.txt b/20732.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3e80b15 --- /dev/null +++ b/20732.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9381 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Carmina of Caius Valerius Catullus, by +Caius Valerius Catullus + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Carmina of Caius Valerius Catullus + +Author: Caius Valerius Catullus + +Translator: Richard Burton + Leonard Smithers + +Release Date: March 3, 2007 [EBook #20732] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAIUS VALERIUS CATULLUS *** + + + + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Keith Edkins and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +The + +Carmina + +of + +Caius Valerius Catullus + +Now first completely Englished into Verse +and Prose, the Metrical Part by Capt. +Sir Richard F. Burton, R.C.M.G., +F.R.G.S., etc., etc., etc., and the +Prose Portion, Introduction, +and Notes Explanatory +and Illustrative by +Leonard C. +Smithers + +[Illustration] + +_LONDON: MDCCCXCIIII: PRINTED FOR THE TRANSLATORS: +IN ONE VOLUME: FOR PRIVATE SUBSCRIBERS ONLY_ + +[Illustration] + + * * * * * + + +DEAR MR. SMITHERS, + +By every right I ought to choose you to edit and bring out Sir Richard +Burton's translation of Catullus, because you collaborated with him on this +work by a correspondence of many months before he died. If I have hesitated +so long as to its production, it was because his notes, which are mostly +like pencilled cobwebs, strewn all over his Latin edition, were headed, +"NEVER SHEW HALF-FINISHED WORK TO WOMEN OR FOOLS." The reason of this +remark was, that in all his writings, his first copy, his first thought, +was always the best and the most powerful. Like many a painter who will go +on improving and touching up his picture till he has destroyed the +likeness, and the startling realistic nature of his subject, so would Sir +Richard go on weakening his first copy by improvements, and then appeal to +me to say which was the best. I was almost invariably obliged, in +conscience, to induce him to stick to the first thought, which had grasped +the whole meaning like a flash. These notes were made in a most curious +way. He used to bring his Latin Catullus down to _table d'hote_ with him, +and he used to come and sit by me, but the moment he got a person on the +other side, who did not interest him, he used to whisper to me, "Talk, that +I may do my Catullus," and between the courses he wrote what I now give +you. The public school-boy is taught that the Atys was unique in subject +and metre, that it was the greatest and most remarkable poem in Latin +literature, famous for the fiery vehemence of the Greek dithyramb, that it +was the only specimen in Latin of the Galliambic measure, so called, +because sung by the Gallae--and I suspect that the school-boy now learns +that there are half a dozen others, which you can doubtless name. To _my_ +mind the gems of the whole translation are the Epithalamium or Epos of the +marriage of Vinia and Manlius, and the Parcae in that of Peleus and Thetis. +Sir Richard laid great stress on the following in his notes, headed +"Compare with Catullus, the sweet and tender little Villanelle, by Mr. +Edmund Gosse," for the Viol and Flute--the XIX cent. with the I^{st.} + + "Little mistress mine, good-bye! + I have been your sparrow true; + Dig my grave, for I must die. + + Waste no tear, and heave no sigh; + Life should still be blithe for you, + Little mistress mine, good-bye! + + In your garden let me lie + Underneath the pointed yew, + Dig my grave, for I must die. + + We have loved the quiet sky + With its tender arch of blue; + Little mistress mine, good-bye! + + That I still may feel you nigh, + In your virgin bosom, too, + Dig my grave, for I must die. + + Let our garden friends that fly + Be the mourners, fit and few. + Little mistress mine, good-bye! + Dig my grave, for I must die." + +Sir Richard seriously began his Catullus on Feb. 18th, 1890, at Hamman +R'irha, in North Africa. He had finished the first rough copy on March +31st, 1890, at Trieste. He made a second copy beginning May 23rd, 1890, at +Trieste, which was finished July 21st, 1890, at Zurich. He then writes a +margin. "Work incomplete, but as soon as I receive Mr. Smithers' prose, I +will fill in the words I now leave in stars, in order that we may not use +the same expressions, and I will then make a third, fair, and complete +copy." But, alas! then he was surprised by Death. + +I am afraid that Sir Richard's readers may be disappointed to find that, +unlike Mr. Grant Allen, there is no excursus on the origin of Tree-worship, +and therefore that, perhaps, through ignorance, I have omitted something. +Sir Richard did write in the sixties and seventies on Tree-alphabets, the +Ogham Runes and El Mushajjar, the Arabic Tree-alphabet,--and had theories +and opinions as to its origin; but he did not, I know, connect them in any +way, however remote, with Catullus. I therefore venture to think you will +quite agree with me, that they have no business here, but should appear in +connection with my future work, "Labours and Wisdom of Sir Richard Burton." + +All these three and a half years, I have hesitated what to do, but after +seeing other men's translations, his _incomplete_ work is, in my humble +estimation, too good to be consigned to oblivion, so that I will no longer +defer to send you a type-written copy, and to ask you to bring it through +the press, supplying the Latin text, and adding thereto your own prose, +which we never saw. + +Yours truly, + +ISABEL BURTON. + +_July 11th, 1894._ + + * * * * * + + +FOREWORD + +A scholar lively, remembered to me, that _Catullus_ translated word for +word, is an anachronism, and that a literal English rendering in the +nineteenth century could be true to the poet's letter, but false to his +spirit. I was compelled to admit that something of this is true; but it is +not the whole truth. "Consulting modern taste" means really a mere +imitation, a re-cast of the ancient past in modern material. It is +presenting the toga'd citizen, rough, haughty, and careless of any +approbation not his own, in the costume of to-day,--boiled shirt, +dove-tailed coat, black-cloth clothes, white pocket-handkerchief, and +diamond ring. Moreover, of these transmogrifications we have already enough +and to spare. But we have not, as far as I know, any version of Catullus +which can transport the English reader from the teachings of our century to +that preceding the Christian Era. As discovery is mostly my mania, I have +hit upon a bastard-urging to indulge it, by a presenting to the public of +certain classics in the nude Roman poetry, like the Arab, and of the same +date.... + +RICHARD F. BURTON. + +_Trieste, 1890._ + + [The Foreword just given is an unfinished pencilling on the margin of + Sir Richard's Latin text of Catullus. I reproduce below, a portion of + his Foreword to a previous translation from the Latin on which we + collaborated and which was issued in the summer of 1890.--L. C. S.] + +A 'cute French publisher lately remarked to me that, as a rule, versions in +verse are as enjoyable to the writer as they are unenjoyed by the reader, +who vehemently doubts their truth and trustworthiness. These pages hold in +view one object sole and simple, namely, to prove that a translation, +metrical and literal, may be true and may be trustworthy. + +As I told the public (Camoens: Life and Lusiads ii. 185-198), it has ever +been my ambition to reverse the late Mr. Matthew Arnold's peremptory +dictum:--"In a verse translation no original work is any longer +recognisable." And here I may be allowed to borrow from my Supplemental +Arabian Nights (Vol. vi., Appendix pp. 411-412, a book known to few and +never to be reprinted) my vision of the ideal translation which should not +be relegated to the Limbus of Intentions. + +"My estimate of a translator's office has never been of the low level +generally assigned to it even in the days when Englishmen were in the habit +of translating every work, interesting or important, published out of +England, and of thus giving a continental and cosmopolitan flavour to their +literature. We cannot at this period expect much from a 'man of letters' +who must produce a monthly volume for a pittance of L20: of him we need not +speak. But the translator at his best, works, when reproducing the matter +and the manner of his original, upon two distinct lines. His prime and +primary object is to please his reader, edifying him and gratifying his +taste; the second is to produce an honest and faithful copy, adding naught +to the sense or abating aught of its especial _cachet_. He has, however, or +should have, another aim wherein is displayed the acme of hermeneutic art. +Every language can profitably lend something to and take somewhat from its +neighbours--an epithet, a metaphor, a naif idiom, a turn of phrase. And the +translator of original mind who notes the innumerable shades of tone, +manner and complexion will not neglect the frequent opportunities of +enriching his mother-tongue with novel and alien ornaments which shall +justly be accounted barbarisms until formally naturalized and adopted. Nor +will any modern versionist relegate to a foot-note, as is the malpractice +of his banal brotherhood, the striking and often startling phases of the +foreign author's phraseology and dull the text with well-worn and +commonplace English equivalents, thus doing the clean reverse of what he +should do. It was this _beau ideal_ of a translator's success which made +Eustache Deschamps write of his contemporary and brother bard, + + _Grand Translateur, noble Geoffroy Chaucier._ + +Here + + 'The firste finder of our fair langage' + +is styled 'a Socrates in philosophy, a Seneca in morals, an Angel in +conduct and a great Translator,'--a seeming anti-climax which has +scandalized not a little sundry inditers of 'Lives' and 'Memoirs.' The +title is no bathos: it is given simply because Chaucer _translated_ (using +the term in its best and highest sense) into his pure, simple and strong +English tongue with all its linguistic peculiarities, the thoughts and +fancies of his foreign models, the very letter and spirit of Petrarch and +Boccaccio." + +For the humble literary status of translation in modern England and for the +short-comings of the average English translator, public taste or rather +caprice is mainly to be blamed. The "general reader," the man not in the +street but the man who makes up the educated mass, greatly relishes a +novelty in the way of "plot" or story or catastrophe while he has a natural +dislike to novelties of style and diction, demanding a certain dilution of +the unfamiliar with the familiar. Hence our translations in verse, +especially when rhymed, become for the most part deflorations or excerpts, +adaptations or periphrases more or less meritorious and the "translator" +was justly enough dubbed "traitor" by critics of the severer sort. And he +amply deserves the injurious name when ignorance of his original's language +perforce makes him pander to popular prescription. + +But the good time which has long been coming seems now to have come. The +home reader will no longer put up with the careless caricatures of +classical chefs d'oeuvre which satisfied his old-fashioned predecessor. Our +youngers, in most points our seniors, now expect the translation not only +to interpret the sense of the original but also, when the text lends itself +to such treatment, to render it _verbatim et literatim_, nothing being +increased or diminished, curtailed or expanded. Moreover, in the choicer +passages, they so far require an echo of the original music that its melody +and harmony should be suggested to their mind. Welcomed also are the +mannerisms of the translator's model as far as these aid in preserving, +under the disguise of another dialect, the individuality of the foreigner +and his peculiar costume. + +That this high ideal of translation is at length becoming popular now +appears in our literature. The "Villon Society," when advertizing the +novels of Matteo Bandello, Bishop of Agen, justly remarks of the +translator, Mr. John Payne, that his previous works have proved him to +possess special qualifications for "the delicate and difficult task of +transferring into his own language at once the savour and the substance, +the matter and the manner of works of the highest individuality, conceived +and executed in a foreign language." + +In my version of hexameters and pentameters I have not shirked the metre +although it is strangely out of favour in English literature while we read +it and enjoy it in German. There is little valid reason for our aversion; +the rhythm has been made familiar to our ears by long courses of Greek and +Latin and the rarity of spondaic feet is assuredly to be supplied by art +and artifice. + +And now it is time for farewelling my friends:--we may no longer (alas!) +address them, with the ingenuous Ancient in the imperative + +Vos Plaudite. + +RICHARD F. BURTON. + +_July, 1890._ + + * * * * * + + +INTRODUCTION + +The present translation was jointly undertaken by the late Sir Richard +Burton and myself in 1890, some months before his sudden and lamented +death. We had previously put into English, and privately printed, a body of +verse from the Latin, and our aim was to follow it with literal and +unexpurgated renderings of Catullus, Juvenal, and Ausonius, from the same +tongue. Sir Richard laid great stress on the necessity of thoroughly +annotating each translation from an erotic (and especially a paederastic) +point of view, but subsequent circumstances caused me to abandon that +intention. + +The Latin text of Catullus printed in this volume is that of Mueller (A.D. +1885), which Sir Richard Burton chose as the basis for our translation, and +to that text I have mainly adhered. On some few occasions, however, I have +slightly deviated from it, and, although I have consulted Owen and +Postgate, in such cases I have usually followed Robinson Ellis. + +Bearing in mind my duty to the reader as well as to the author, I have +aimed at producing a readable translation, and yet as literal a version +(castrating no passages) as the dissimilarity in idiom of the two +languages, Latin and English, permit; and I claim for this volume that it +is the first literal and complete English translation as yet issued of +Catullus. The translations into English verse which I have consulted are +_The Adventures of Catullus, and the History of his Amours with Lesbia_ +(done from the French, 1707), Nott, Lamb, Fleay, (privately printed, 1864), +Hart-Davies, Shaw, Cranstoun, Martin, Grant Allen, and Ellis. Of these, +none has been helpful to me save Professor Robinson Ellis's _Poems and +Fragments of Catullus translated in the metres of the original_,--a most +excellent and scholarly version, to which I owe great indebtedness for many +a felicitous expression. I have also used Dr. Nott freely in my +annotations. The only English prose translation of which I have any +knowledge is the one in Bohn's edition of Catullus, and this, in addition +to being bowdlerized, is in a host of passages more a paraphrase than a +literal translation. + +I have not thought it needful in any case to point out my deviations from +Mueller's text, and I have cleared the volume of all the load of +mythological and historical notes which are usually appended to a +translation of a classic, contenting myself with referring the +non-classical reader to Bohn's edition of the poet. + +Of the boldness of Sir Richard Burton's experiment of a metrical and linear +translation there can be no question; and on the whole he has succeeded in +proving his contention as to its possibility, though it must be confessed +that it is at times at the cost of obscurity, or of inversions of sentences +which certainly are compelled to lay claim to a poet's license. It must, +however, be borne in mind that in a letter to me just before his death, he +expressed his intention of going entirely through the work afresh, on +receiving my prose, adding that it needed "a power of polishing." + +To me has fallen the task of editing Sir Richard's share in this volume +from a type-written copy literally swarming with copyist's errors. With +respect to the occasional lacunae which appear, I can merely state that +Lady Burton has repeatedly assured me that she has furnished me with a +faithful copy of her husband's translation, and that the words omitted +(which are here indicated by full points, not asterisks) were _not_ filled +in by him, because he was first awaiting my translation with the view of +our not using similar expressions. However, Lady Burton has without any +reason consistently refused me even a glance at his MS.; and in our +previous work from the Latin I did not find Sir Richard trouble himself in +the least concerning our using like expressions. + +The frontispiece to this volume is reproduced from the statue which stands +over the Palazzo di Consiglio, the Council House at Verona, which is the +only representation of Catullus extant. + +LEONARD C. SMITHERS. + +_July 11th, 1894._ + + * * * * * + + +CONTENTS + + + I.--DEDICATION TO CORNELIUS NEPOS + II.--LESBIA'S SPARROW + III.--ON THE DEATH OF LESBIA'S SPARROW + IIII.--ON HIS PINNACE + V.--TO LESBIA, (OF LESBOS--CLODIA?) + VI.--TO FLAVIUS: MIS-SPEAKING HIS MISTRESS + VII.--TO LESBIA STILL BELOVED + VIII.--TO HIMSELF, RECOUNTING LESBIA'S INCONSTANCY + VIIII.--TO VERANIUS RETURNED FROM TRAVEL + X.--HE MEETS VARUS AND MISTRESS + XI.--A PARTING INSULT TO LESBIA + XII.--TO M. ASINIUS WHO STOLE NAPERY + XIII.--FABULLUS IS INVITED TO A POET'S SUPPER + XIIII.--TO CALVUS, ACKNOWLEDGING HIS POEMS + XV.--TO AURELIUS--HANDS OFF THE BOY! + XVI.--TO AURELIUS AND FURIUS, IN DEFENCE OF HIS MUSE'S HONESTY + XVII.--OF A "PREDESTINED" HUSBAND + XVIII.--TO PRIAPUS, THE GARDEN-GOD + XVIIII.--TO PRIAPUS + XX.--TO PRIAPUS + XXI.--TO AURELIUS THE SKINFLINT + XXII.--TO VARUS, ABUSING SUFFENUS + XXIII.--TO FURIUS, SATIRICALLY PRAISING HIS POVERTY + XXIIII.--TO JUVENTIUS CONCERNING THE CHOICE OF A FRIEND + XXV.--ADDRESS TO THALLUS, THE NAPERY-THIEF + XXVI.--CATULLUS CONCERNING HIS VILLA + XXVII.--TO HIS CUP-BOY + XXVIII.--TO FRIENDS ON RETURN FROM TRAVEL + XXVIIII.--TO CAESAR, OF MAMURRA--CALLED MENTULA + XXX.--TO ALFENUS THE PERJURER + XXXI.--ON RETURN TO SIRMIO AND HIS VILLA + XXXII.--CRAVING IPSITHILLA'S LAST FAVOURS + XXXIII.--ON THE VIBENII--BATH-THIEVES + XXXIIII.--HYMN TO DIANA + XXXV.--AN INVITATION TO POET CECILIUS + XXXVI.--ON "THE ANNALS"--A SO-CALLED POEM OF VOLUSIUS + XXXVII.--TO THE FREQUENTERS OF A LOW TAVERN + XXXVIII.--A COMPLAINT TO CORNIFICIUS + XXXVIIII.--ON EGNATIUS OF THE WHITE TEETH + XXXX.--THREATENING RAVIDUS WHO STOLE HIS MISTRESS + XXXXI.--ON MAMURRA'S MISTRESS + XXXXII.--ON A STRUMPET WHO STOLE HIS TABLETS + XXXXIII.--TO MAMURRA'S MISTRESS + XXXXIIII.--CATULLUS TO HIS OWN FARM + XXXXV.--ON ACME AND SEPTUMIUS + XXXXVI.--HIS ADIEUX TO BITHYNIA + XXXXVII.--TO PORCIUS AND SOCRATION + XXXXVIII.--TO JUVENTIUS + XXXXVIIII.--TO MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO + L.--TO HIS FRIEND LICINIUS + LI.--TO LESBIA + LII.--CATULLUS TO HIMSELF + LIII.--A JEST CONCERNING CALVUS + LIIII.--TO JULIUS CAESAR (?) + LV.---OF HIS FRIEND CAMERIUS + LVI.--TO CATO, DESCRIBING A "BLACK JOKER" + LVII.--ON MAMURRA AND JULIUS CAESAR + LVIII.--ON LESBIA WHO ENDED BADLY + LVIIII.--ON RUFA + LX.--TO A CRUEL CHARMER + LXI.--EPITHALAMIUM ON VINIA AND MANLIUS + LXII.--NUPTIAL SONG BY YOUTHS AND DAMSELS (EPITHALAMIUM) + LXIII.--THE ADVENTURES OF ATYS + LXIIII.--MARRIAGE OF PELEUS AND THETIS (FRAGMENT OF AN EPOS) + LXV.--TO HORTALUS LAMENTING A LOST BROTHER + LXVI.--(LOQUITUR) BERENICE'S LOCK + LXVII.--DIALOGUE CONCERNING CATULLUS AT A HARLOT'S DOOR + LXVIII.--TO MANIUS ON VARIOUS MATTERS + LXVIIII.--TO RUFUS THE FETID + LXX.--ON WOMAN'S INCONSTANCY + LXXI.--TO VERRO + LXXII.--TO LESBIA THE FALSE + LXXIII.--OF AN INGRATE + LXXIIII.--OF GELLIUS + LXXVII.--TO RUFUS, THE TRAITOR FRIEND + LXXVIII.--OF GALLUS + LXXVIIII.--OF LESBIUS + LXXX.--TO GELLIUS + LXXXI.--TO JUVENTIUS + LXXXII.--TO QUINTIUS + LXXXIII.--OF LESBIA'S HUSBAND + LXXXIIII.--OF ARRIUS, A ROMAN 'ARRY + LXXXV.--HOW THE POET LOVES + LXXXVI.--OF QUINTIA + LXXXVII., LXXV.--TO LESBIA + LXXVI.--IN SELF-GRATULATION + LXXXVIII.--TO GELLIUS + LXXXVIIII.--ON GELLIUS + LXXXX.--ON GELLIUS + LXXXXI.--TO GELLIUS + LXXXXII.--ON LESBIA + LXXXXIII.--ON JULIUS CAESAR + LXXXXIIII.--AGAINST MENTULA (MAMURRA) + LXXXXV.--ON THE "ZMYRNA" OF THE POET CINNA + LXXXXVI.--TO CALVUS, ANENT THE DEAD QUARTILLA + LXXXXVII.--ON AEMILIUS THE FOUL + LXXXXVIII.--TO VICTIUS THE STINKARD + LXXXXVIIII.--TO JUVENTIUS + C.--ON CAELIUS AND QUINTIUS + CI.--ON THE BURIAL OF HIS BROTHER + CII.--TO CORNELIUS + CIII.--TO SILO + CIIII.--CONCERNING LESBIA + CV.--ON MAMURRA + CVI.--THE AUCTIONEER AND THE FAIR BOY + CVII.--TO LESBIA RECONCILED + CVIII.--ON COMINIUS + CVIIII.--TO LESBIA ON HER VOW OF CONSTANCY + CX.--TO AUFILENA + CXI.--TO THE SAME + CXII.--ON NASO + CXIII.--TO CINNA + CXIIII.--ON MAMURRA'S SQUANDERING + CXV.--OF THE SAME + CXVI.--TO GELLIUS THE CRITIC + + NOTES ILLUSTRATIVE AND EXPLANATORY + + * * * * * + + +[Illustration] + +The Carmina + +OF + +Caius Valerius Catullus + + * * * * * + +C. VALERII CATVLLI + +LIBER. + +I. + + Quoi dono lepidum novom libellum + Arida modo pumice expolitum? + Corneli, tibi: namque tu solebas + Meas esse aliquid putare nugas, + Iam tum cum ausus es unus Italorum 5 + Omne aevum tribus explicare chartis + Doctis, Iuppiter, et laboriosis. + Quare habe tibi quidquid hoc libelli, + Qualecumque, quod o patrona virgo, + Plus uno maneat perenne saeclo. 10 + +I. + +DEDICATION TO CORNELIUS NEPOS. + + Now smooth'd to polish due with pumice dry + Whereto this lively booklet new give I? + To thee (Cornelius!); for wast ever fain + To deem my trifles somewhat boon contain; + E'en when thou single 'mongst Italians found 5 + Daredst all periods in three Scripts expound + Learned (by Jupiter!) elaborately. + Then take thee whatso in this booklet be, + Such as it is, whereto O Patron Maid + To live down Ages lend thou lasting aid! 10 + +To whom inscribe my dainty tome--just out and with ashen pumice polished? +Cornelius, to thee! for thou wert wont to deem my triflings of account, and +at a time when thou alone of Italians didst dare unfold the ages' abstract +in three chronicles--learned, by Jupiter!--and most laboriously writ. +Wherefore take thou this booklet, such as 'tis, and O Virgin Patroness, may +it outlive generations more than one. + +II. + + Passer, deliciae meae puellae, + Quicum ludere, quem in sinu tenere, + Quoi primum digitum dare adpetenti + Et acris solet incitare morsus, + Cum desiderio meo nitenti 5 + Carum nescioquid libet iocari + Vt solaciolum sui doloris, + Credo ut iam gravis acquiescat ardor: + Tecum ludere sicut ipsa possem + Et tristis animi levare curas! 10 + * * * * + Tam gratumst mihi quam ferunt puellae + Pernici aureolum fuisse malum, + Quod zonam soluit diu ligatam. + +II. + +LESBIA'S SPARROW. + + Sparrow! my pet's delicious joy, + Wherewith in bosom nurst to toy + She loves, and gives her finger-tip + For sharp-nib'd greeding neb to nip, + Were she who my desire withstood 5 + To seek some pet of merry mood, + As crumb o' comfort for her grief, + Methinks her burning lowe's relief: + Could I, as plays she, play with thee, + That mind might win from misery free! 10 + * * * * + To me t'were grateful (as they say), + Gold codling was to fleet-foot May, + Whose long-bound zone it loosed for aye. + +Sparrow, petling of my girl, with which she wantons, which she presses to +her bosom, and whose eager peckings is accustomed to incite by stretching +forth her forefinger, when my bright-hued beautiful one is pleased to jest +in manner light as (perchance) a solace for her heart ache, thus methinks +she allays love's pressing heats! Would that in manner like, I were able +with thee to sport and sad cares of mind to lighten! + + * * * * + +This were gracious to me as in story old to the maiden fleet of foot was +the apple golden-fashioned which unloosed her girdle long-time girt. + +III. + + Lugete, o Veneres Cupidinesque, + Et quantumst hominum venustiorum. + Passer mortuus est meae puellae, + Passer, deliciae meae puellae, + Quem plus illa oculis suis amabat: 5 + Nam mellitus erat suamque norat + Ipsa tam bene quam puella matrem + Nec sese a gremio illius movebat, + Sed circumsiliens modo huc modo illuc + Ad solam dominam usque pipiabat. 10 + Qui nunc it per iter tenebricosum + Illuc, unde negant redire quemquam. + At vobis male sit, malae tenebrae + Orci, quae omnia bella devoratis: + Tam bellum mihi passerem abstulistis. 15 + O factum male! io miselle passer! + Tua nunc opera meae puellae + Flendo turgiduli rubent ocelli. + +III. + +ON THE DEATH OF LESBIA'S SPARROW. + + Weep every Venus, and all Cupids wail, + And men whose gentler spirits still prevail. + Dead is the Sparrow of my girl, the joy, + Sparrow, my sweeting's most delicious toy, + Whom loved she dearer than her very eyes; 5 + For he was honeyed-pet and anywise + Knew her, as even she her mother knew; + Ne'er from her bosom's harbourage he flew + But 'round her hopping here, there, everywhere, + Piped he to none but her his lady fair. 10 + Now must he wander o'er the darkling way + Thither, whence life-return the Fates denay. + But ah! beshrew you, evil Shadows low'ring + In Orcus ever loveliest things devouring: + Who bore so pretty a Sparrow fro' her ta'en. 15 + (Oh hapless birdie and Oh deed of bane!) + Now by your wanton work my girl appears + With turgid eyelids tinted rose by tears. + +Mourn ye, O ye Loves and Cupids and all men of gracious mind. Dead is the +sparrow of my girl, sparrow, sweetling of my girl. Which more than her eyes +she loved; for sweet as honey was it and its mistress knew, as well as +damsel knoweth her own mother nor from her bosom did it rove, but hopping +round first one side then the other, to its mistress alone it evermore did +chirp. Now does it fare along that path of shadows whence naught may e'er +return. Ill be to ye, savage glooms of Orcus, which swallow up all things +of fairness: which have snatched away from me the comely sparrow. O deed of +bale! O sparrow sad of plight! Now on thy account my girl's sweet eyes, +swollen, do redden with tear-drops. + +IIII. + + Phaselus ille, quem videtis, hospites, + Ait fuisse navium celerrimus, + Neque ullius natantis impetum trabis + Nequisse praeter ire, sive palmulis + Opus foret volare sive linteo. 5 + Et hoc negat minacis Adriatici + Negare litus insulasve Cycladas + Rhodumque nobilem horridamque Thraciam + Propontida trucemve Ponticum sinum, + Vbi iste post phaselus antea fuit 10 + 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 15 + Tuo stetisse dicit in cacumine, + Tuo imbuisse palmulas in aequore, + Et inde tot per inpotentia freta + Erum tulisse, laeva sive dextera + Vocaret aura, sive utrumque Iuppiter 20 + Simul secundus incidisset in pedem; + Neque ulla vota litoralibus deis + Sibi esse facta, cum veniret a marei + Novissime hunc ad usque limpidum lacum. + Sed haec prius fuere: nunc recondita 25 + Senet quiete seque dedicat tibi, + Gemelle Castor et gemelle Castoris. + +IIII. + +ON HIS PINNACE. + + Yonder Pinnace ye (my guests!) behold + Saith she was erstwhile fleetest-fleet of crafts, + Nor could by swiftness of aught plank that swims, + Be she outstripped, whether paddle plied, + Or fared she scudding under canvas-sail. 5 + Eke she defieth threat'ning Adrian shore, + Dare not denay her, insular Cyclades, + And noble Rhodos and ferocious Thrace, + Propontis too and blustering Pontic bight. + Where she (my Pinnace now) in times before, 10 + Was leafy woodling on Cytorean Chine + For ever loquent lisping with her leaves. + Pontic Amastris! Box-tree-clad Cytorus! + Cognisant were ye, and you weet full well + (So saith my Pinnace) how from earliest age 15 + Upon your highmost-spiring peak she stood, + How in your waters first her sculls were dipt, + And thence thro' many and many an important strait + She bore her owner whether left or right, + Where breezes bade her fare, or Jupiter deigned 20 + At once propitious strike the sail full square; + Nor to the sea-shore gods was aught of vow + By her deemed needful, when from Ocean's bourne + Extreme she voyaged for this limpid lake. + Yet were such things whilome: now she retired 25 + In quiet age devotes herself to thee + (O twin-born Castor) twain with Castor's twin. + +That pinnace which ye see, my friends, says that it was the speediest of +boats, nor any craft the surface skimming but it could gain the lead, +whether the course were gone o'er with plashing oars or bended sail. And +this the menacing Adriatic shores may not deny, nor may the Island +Cyclades, nor noble Rhodes and bristling Thrace, Propontis nor the gusty +Pontic gulf, where itself (afterwards a pinnace to become) erstwhile was a +foliaged clump; and oft on Cytorus' ridge hath this foliage announced +itself in vocal rustling. And to thee, Pontic Amastris, and to box-screened +Cytorus, the pinnace vows that this was alway and yet is of common +knowledge most notorious; states that from its primal being it stood upon +thy topmost peak, dipped its oars in thy waters, and bore its master thence +through surly seas of number frequent, whether the wind whistled 'gainst +the starboard quarter or the lee or whether Jove propitious fell on both +the sheets at once; nor any vows [from stress of storm] to shore-gods were +ever made by it when coming from the uttermost seas unto this glassy lake. +But these things were of time gone by: now laid away, it rusts in peace and +dedicates its age to thee, twin Castor, and to Castor's twin. + +V. + + Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus, + Rumoresque senum severiorum + Omnes unius aestimemus assis. + Soles occidere et redire possunt: + Nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux, 5 + Nox est perpetua una dormienda. + Da mi basia mille, deinde centum, + Dein mille altera, dein secunda centum, + Deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum. + Dein, cum milia multa fecerimus, 10 + Conturbabimus illa, ne sciamus, + Aut nequis malus invidere possit, + Cum tantum sciet esse basiorum. + +V. + +TO LESBIA, (OF LESBOS--CLODIA?) + + Love we (my Lesbia!) and live we our day, + While all stern sayings crabbed sages say, + At one doit's value let us price and prize! + The Suns can westward sink again to rise + But we, extinguished once our tiny light, 5 + Perforce shall slumber through one lasting night! + Kiss me a thousand times, then hundred more, + Then thousand others, then a new five-score, + Still other thousand other hundred store. + Last when the sums to many thousands grow, 10 + The tale let's trouble till no more we know, + Nor envious wight despiteful shall misween us + Knowing how many kisses have been kissed between us. + +Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love, and count all the mumblings of +sour age at a penny's fee. Suns set can rise again: we when once our brief +light has set must sleep through a perpetual night. Give me of kisses a +thousand, and then a hundred, then another thousand, then a second hundred, +then another thousand without resting, then a hundred. Then, when we have +made many thousands, we will confuse the count lest we know the numbering, +so that no wretch may be able to envy us through knowledge of our kisses' +number. + +VI. + + Flavi, delicias tuas Catullo, + Nei sint inlepidae atque inelegantes, + Velles dicere, nec tacere posses. + Verum nescioquid febriculosi + Scorti diligis: hoc pudet fateri. 5 + 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 10 + Argutatio inambulatioque. + Nam nil stupra valet, nihil, tacere. + Cur? non tam latera ecfututa pandas, + Nei tu quid facias ineptiarum. + Quare quidquid habes boni malique, 15 + Dic nobis. volo te ac tuos amores + Ad caelum lepido vocare versu. + +VI. + +TO FLAVIUS: MIS-SPEAKING HIS MISTRESS. + + Thy Charmer (Flavius!) to Catullus' ear + Were she not manner'd mean and worst in wit + Perforce thou hadst praised nor couldst silence keep. + But some enfevered jade, I wot-not-what, + Some piece thou lovest, blushing this to own. 5 + For, nowise 'customed widower nights to lie + Thou 'rt ever summoned by no silent bed + With flow'r-wreaths fragrant and with Syrian oil, + By mattress, bolsters, here, there, everywhere + Deep-dinted, and by quaking, shaking couch 10 + All crepitation and mobility. + Explain! none whoredoms (no!) shall close my lips. + Why? such outfuttered flank thou ne'er wouldst show + Had not some fulsome work by thee been wrought. + Then what thou holdest, boon or bane be pleased 15 + Disclose! For thee and thy beloved fain would I + Upraise to Heaven with my liveliest lay. + +O Flavius, of thy sweetheart to Catullus thou would'st speak, nor could'st +thou keep silent, were she not both ill-mannered and ungraceful. In truth +thou affectest I know not what hot-blooded whore: this thou art ashamed to +own. For that thou dost not lie alone a-nights thy couch, fragrant with +garlands and Syrian unguent, in no way mute cries out, and eke the pillow +and bolsters indented here and there, and the creakings and joggings of the +quivering bed: unless thou canst silence these, nothing and again nothing +avails thee to hide thy whoredoms. And why? Thou wouldst not display such +drained flanks unless occupied in some tomfoolery. Wherefore, whatsoever +thou hast, be it good or ill, tell us! I wish to laud thee and thy loves to +the sky in joyous verse. + +VII. + + Quaeris, quot mihi basiationes + Tuae, Lesbia, sint satis superque. + Quam magnus numerus Libyssae arenae + Lasarpiciferis iacet Cyrenis, + Oraclum Iovis inter aestuosi 5 + 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 Catullost, 10 + Quae nec pernumerare curiosi + Possint nec mala fascinare lingua. + +VII. + +TO LESBIA STILL BELOVED. + + Thou ask'st How many kissing bouts I bore + From thee (my Lesbia!) or be enough or more? + I say what mighty sum of Lybian-sands + Confine Cyrene's Laserpitium-lands + 'Twixt Oracle of Jove the Swelterer 5 + And olden Battus' holy Sepulchre, + Or stars innumerate through night-stillness ken + The stolen Love-delights of mortal men, + For that to kiss thee with unending kisses + For mad Catullus enough and more be this, 10 + Kisses nor curious wight shall count their tale, + Nor to bewitch us evil tongue avail. + +Thou askest, how many kisses of thine, Lesbia, may be enough and to spare +for me. As the countless Libyan sands which strew the spicy strand of +Cyrene 'twixt the oracle of swelt'ring Jove and the sacred sepulchre of +ancient Battus, or as the thronging stars which in the hush of darkness +witness the furtive loves of mortals, to kiss thee with kisses of so great +a number is enough and to spare for passion-driven Catullus: so many that +prying eyes may not avail to number, nor ill tongues to ensorcel. + +VIII. + + 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. 5 + Ibi illa multa tum iocosa fiebant, + Quae tu volebas nec puella nolebat. + Fulsere vere candidi tibi soles. + Nunc iam illa non vult: tu quoque, inpotens, noli + Nec quae fugit sectare, nec miser vive, 10 + Sed obstinata mente perfer, obdura. + Vale, puella. iam Catullus obdurat, + Nec te requiret nec rogabit invitam: + At tu dolebis, cum rogaberis nulla. + Scelesta, vae te! quae tibi manet vita! 15 + Quis nunc te adibit? cui videberis bella? + Quem nunc amabis? cuius esse diceris? + Quem basiabis? cui labella mordebis? + At tu, Catulle, destinatus obdura. + +VIII. + +TO HIMSELF RECOUNTING LESBIA'S INCONSTANCY. + + Woe-full Catullus! cease to play the fool + And what thou seest dead as dead regard! + Whilome the sheeniest suns for thee did shine + When oft-a-tripping whither led the girl + By us beloved, as shall none be loved. 5 + There all so merry doings then were done + After thy liking, nor the girl was loath. + Then certes sheeniest suns for thee did shine. + Now she's unwilling: thou too (hapless!) will + Her flight to follow, and sad life to live: 10 + Endure with stubborn soul and still obdure. + Damsel, adieu! Catullus obdurate grown + Nor seeks thee, neither asks of thine unwill; + Yet shalt thou sorrow when none woos thee more; + Reprobate! Woe to thee! What life remains? 15 + Who now shall love thee? Who'll think thee fair? + Whom now shalt ever love? Whose wilt be called? + To whom shalt kisses give? whose liplets nip? + But thou (Catullus!) destiny-doomed obdure. + +Unhappy Catullus, cease thy trifling and what thou seest lost know to be +lost. Once bright days used to shine on thee when thou wert wont to haste +whither thy girl didst lead thee, loved by us as never girl will e'er be +loved. There those many joys were joyed which thou didst wish, nor was the +girl unwilling. In truth bright days used once to shine on thee. Now she no +longer wishes: thou too, powerless to avail, must be unwilling, nor pursue +the retreating one, nor live unhappy, but with firm-set mind endure, steel +thyself. Farewell, girl, now Catullus steels himself, seeks thee not, nor +entreats thy acquiescence. But thou wilt pine, when thou hast no entreaty +proffered. Faithless, go thy way! what manner of life remaineth to thee? +who now will visit thee? who find thee beautiful? whom wilt thou love now? +whose girl wilt thou be called? whom wilt thou kiss? whose lips wilt thou +bite? But thou, Catullus, remain hardened as steel. + +VIIII. + + Verani, omnibus e meis amicis + Antistans mihi milibus trecentis, + Venistine domum ad tuos Penates + Fratresque unanimos anumque matrem? + Venisti. o mihi nuntii beati! 5 + Visam te incolumem audiamque Hiberum + Narrantem loca, facta, nationes, + Vt mos est tuus, adplicansque collum + Iocundum os oculosque suaviabor. + O quantumst hominum beatiorum, 10 + Quid me laetius est beatiusve? + +VIIII. + +TO VERANIUS RETURNED FROM TRAVEL. + + Veranius! over every friend of me + Forestanding, owned I hundred thousands three, + Home to Penates and to single-soul'd + Brethren, returned art thou and mother old? + Yes, thou art come. Oh, winsome news come well! 5 + Now shall I see thee, safely hear thee tell + Of sites Iberian, deeds and nations 'spied, + (As be thy wont) and neck-a-neck applied + I'll greet with kisses thy glad lips and eyne. + Oh! Of all mortal men beatified 10 + Whose joy and gladness greater be than mine? + +Veranius, of all my friends standing in the front, owned I three hundred +thousands of them, hast thou come home to thy Penates, thy longing brothers +and thine aged mother? Thou hast come back. O joyful news to me! I may see +thee safe and sound, and may hear thee speak of regions, deeds, and peoples +Iberian, as is thy manner; and reclining o'er thy neck shall kiss thy +jocund mouth and eyes. O all ye blissfullest of men, who more gladsome or +more blissful is than I am? + +X. + + Varus me meus ad suos amores + Visum duxerat e foro otiosum, + Scortillum, ut mihi tum repente visumst, + Non sane inlepidum neque invenustum. + Huc ut venimus, incidere nobis 5 + Sermones varii, in quibus, quid esset + Iam Bithynia, quo modo se haberet, + Ecquonam mihi profuisset aere. + Respondi id quod erat, nihil neque ipsis + Nec praetoribus esse nec cohorti, 10 + Cur quisquam caput unctius referret, + Praesertim quibus esset inrumator + Praetor, non faciens pili cohortem. + 'At certe tamen, inquiunt, quod illic + Natum dicitur esse, conparasti 15 + Ad lecticam homines.' ego, ut puellae + Vnum me facerem beatiorem, + 'Non' inquam 'mihi tam fuit maligne, + Vt, provincia quod mala incidisset, + Non possem octo homines parare rectos.' 20 + At mi nullus erat nec hic neque illic, + Fractum qui veteris pedem grabati + In collo sibi collocare posset. + Hic illa, ut decuit cinaediorem, + 'Quaeso' inquit 'mihi, mi Catulle, paulum 25 + Istos. commode enim volo ad Sarapim + Deferri.' 'minime' inquii puellae; + * * * * + 'Istud quod modo dixeram me habere, + Fugit me ratio: meus sodalis + Cinnast Gaius, is sibi paravit. 30 + Verum, utrum illius an mei, quid ad me? + Vtor tam bene quam mihi pararim. + Sed tu insulsa male ac molesta vivis, + Per quam non licet esse negligentem.' + +X. + +HE MEETS VARUS AND MISTRESS. + + Led me my Varus to his flame, + As I from Forum idling came. + Forthright some whorelet judged I it + Nor lacking looks nor wanting wit, + When hied we thither, mid us three 5 + Fell various talk, as how might be + Bithynia now, and how it fared, + And if some coin I made or spared. + "There was no cause" (I soothly said) + "The Praetors or the Cohort made 10 + Thence to return with oilier head; + The more when ruled by ---- + Praetor, as pile the Cohort rating." + Quoth they, "But certes as 'twas there + The custom rose, some men to bear 15 + Litter thou boughtest?" I to her + To seem but richer, wealthier, + Cry, "Nay, with me 'twas not so ill + That, given the Province suffered, still + Eight stiff-backed loons I could not buy.' 20 + (Withal none here nor there owned I + Who broken leg of Couch outworn + On nape of neck had ever borne!) + Then she, as pathic piece became, + "Prithee Catullus mine, those same 25 + Lend me, Serapis-wards I'd hie." + * * * * + "Easy, on no-wise, no," quoth I, + "Whate'er was mine, I lately said + Is some mistake, my camarade + One Cinna--Gaius--bought the lot, 30 + But his or mine, it matters what? + I use it freely as though bought, + Yet thou, pert troubler, most absurd, + None suffer'st speak an idle word." + +Varus drew me off to see his mistress as I was strolling from the Forum: a +little whore, as it seemed to me at the first glance, neither inelegant nor +lacking good looks. When we came in, we fell to discussing various +subjects, amongst which, how was Bithynia now, how things had gone there, +and whether I had made any money there. I replied, what was true, that +neither ourselves nor the praetors nor their suite had brought away +anything whereby to flaunt a better-scented poll, especially as our +praetor, the irrumating beast, cared not a single hair for his suite. "But +surely," she said, "you got some men to bear your litter, for they are said +to grow there?" I, to make myself appear to the girl as one of the +fortunate, "Nay," I say, "it did not go that badly with me, ill as the +province turned out, that I could not procure eight strapping knaves to +bear me." (But not a single one was mine either here or there who the +fractured foot of my old bedstead could hoist on his neck.) And she, like a +pathic girl, "I pray thee," says she, "lend me, my Catullus, those bearers +for a short time, for I wish to be borne to the shrine of Serapis." "Stay," +quoth I to the girl, "when I said I had this, my tongue slipped; my friend, +Cinna Gaius, he provided himself with these. In truth, whether his or +mine--what do I trouble? I use them as though I had paid for them. But +thou, in ill manner with foolish teasing dost not allow me to be heedless." + +XI. + + Furi et Aureli, comites Catulli, + Sive in extremos penetrabit Indos, + Litus ut longe resonante Eoa + Tunditur unda, + Sive in Hyrcanos Arabesve molles, 5 + Seu Sacas sagittiferosve Parthos, + Sive qua septemgeminus colorat + Aequora Nilus, + Sive trans altas gradietur Alpes, + Caesaris visens monimenta magni, 10 + Gallicum Rhenum, horribile aequor ulti- + mosque Britannos, + Omnia haec, quaecumque feret voluntas + Caelitum, temptare simul parati, + Pauca nuntiate meae puellae 15 + Non bona dicta. + Cum suis vivat valeatque moechis, + Quos simul conplexa tenet trecentos, + Nullum amans vere, sed identidem omnium + Ilia rumpens: 20 + Nec meum respectet, ut ante, amorem, + Qui illius culpa cecidit velut prati + Vltimi flos, praeter eunte postquam + Tactus aratrost. + +XI. + +A PARTING INSULT TO LESBIA. + + Furius and Aurelius, Catullus' friends, + Whether extremest Indian shore he brave, + Strands where far-resounding billow rends + The shattered wave, + Or 'mid Hyrcanians dwell he, Arabs soft and wild, 5 + Sacae and Parthians of the arrow fain, + Or where the Seven-mouth'd Nilus mud-defiled + Tinges the Main, + Or climb he lofty Alpine Crest and note + Works monumental, Caesar's grandeur telling, 10 + Rhine Gallic, horrid Ocean and remote + Britons low-dwelling; + All these (whatever shall the will design + Of Heaven-homed Gods) Oh ye prepared to tempt; + Announce your briefest to that damsel mine 15 + In words unkempt:-- + Live she and love she wenchers several, + Embrace three hundred wi' the like requitals, + None truly loving and withal of all + Bursting the vitals: 20 + My love regard she not, my love of yore, + Which fell through fault of her, as falls the fair + Last meadow-floret whenas passed it o'er + Touch of the share. + +Furius and Aurelius, comrades of Catullus, whether he penetrate to furthest +Ind where the strand is lashed by the far-echoing Eoan surge, or whether +'midst the Hyrcans or soft Arabs, or whether the Sacians or quiver-bearing +Parthians, or where the seven-mouthed Nile encolours the sea, or whether he +traverse the lofty Alps, gazing at the monuments of mighty Caesar, the +gallic Rhine, the dismal and remotest Britons, all these, whatever the +Heavens' Will may bear, prepared at once to attempt,--bear ye to my girl +this brief message of no fair speech. May she live and flourish with her +swivers, of whom may she hold at once embraced the full three hundred, +loving not one in real truth, but bursting again and again the flanks of +all: nor may she look upon my love as before, she whose own guile slew it, +e'en as a flower on the greensward's verge, after the touch of the passing +plough. + +XII. + + 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 invenustast. 5 + Non credis mihi? crede Polioni + Fratri, qui tua furta vel talento + Mutari velit: est enim leporum + Disertus puer ac facetiarum. + Quare aut hendecasyllabos trecentos 10 + Expecta aut mihi linteum remitte, + Quod me non movet aestimatione, + Verumst mnemosynum mei sodalis. + Nam sudaria Saetaba ex Hibereis + Miserunt mihi muneri Fabullus 15 + Et Veranius: haec amem necessest + Vt Veraniolum meum et Fabullum. + +XII. + +TO M. ASINIUS WHO STOLE NAPERY. + + Marrucinus Asinius! ill thou usest + That hand sinistral in thy wit and wine + Filching the napkins of more heedless hosts. + Dost find this funny? Fool it passeth thee + How 'tis a sordid deed, a sorry jest. 5 + Dost misbelieve me? Trust to Pollio, + Thy brother, ready to compound such thefts + E'en at a talent's cost; for he's a youth + In speech past master and in fair pleasantries. + Of hendecasyllabics hundreds three 10 + Therefore expect thou, or return forthright + Linens whose loss affects me not for worth + But as mementoes of a comrade mine. + For napkins Saetaban from Ebro-land + Fabullus sent me a free-giftie given 15 + Also Veranius: these perforce I love + E'en as my Veraniolus and Fabullus. + +Marrucinius Asinius, thou dost use thy left hand in no fair fashion 'midst +the jests and wine: thou dost filch away the napkins of the heedless. Dost +thou think this a joke? it flies thee, stupid fool, how coarse a thing and +unbecoming 'tis! Dost not credit me? credit thy brother Pollio who would +willingly give a talent to divert thee from thy thefts: for he is a lad +skilled in pleasantries and facetiousness. Wherefore, either expect +hendecasyllables three hundred, or return me my napkin which I esteem, not +for its value but as a pledge of remembrance from my comrade. For Fabullus +and Veranius sent me as a gift handkerchiefs from Iberian Saetabis; these +must I prize e'en as I do Veraniolus and Fabullus. + +XIII. + + 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. 5 + Haec si, inquam, attuleris, venuste noster, + Cenabis bene: nam tui Catulli + Plenus sacculus est aranearum. + Sed contra accipies meros amores + Seu quid suavius elegantiusvest: 10 + Nam unguentum dabo, quod meae puellae + Donarunt Veneres Cupidinesque, + Quod tu cum olfacies, deos rogabis, + Totum ut te faciant, Fabulle, nasum. + +XIII. + +FABULLUS IS INVITED TO A POET'S SUPPER. + + Thou'lt sup right well with me, Fabullus mine, + In days few-numbered an the Gods design, + An great and goodly meal thou bring wi' thee + Nowise forgetting damsel bright o' blee, + With wine, and salty wit and laughs all-gay. 5 + An these my bonny man, thou bring, I say + Thou'lt sup right well, for thy Catullus' purse + Save web of spider nothing does imburse. + But thou in countergift mere loves shalt take + Or aught of sweeter taste or fairer make: 10 + I'll give thee unguent lent my girl to scent + By every Venus and all Cupids sent, + Which, as thou savour, pray Gods interpose + And thee, Fabullus, make a Naught-but-nose. + +Thou shalt feast well with me, my Fabullus, in a few days, if the gods +favour thee, provided thou dost bear hither with thee a good and great +feast, not forgetting a fair damsel and wine and wit and all kinds of +laughter. Provided, I say, thou dost bear hither these, our charming one, +thou wilt feast well: for thy Catullus' purse is brimful of cobwebs. But in +return thou may'st receive a perfect love, or whatever is sweeter or more +elegant: for I will give thee an unguent which the Loves and Cupids gave +unto my girl, which when thou dost smell it, thou wilt entreat the gods to +make thee, O Fabullus, one total Nose! + +XIIII. + + Ni te plus oculis meis amarem, + Iocundissime Calve, munere isto + Odissem te odio Vatiniano: + Nam quid feci ego quidve sum locutus, + Cur me tot male perderes poetis? 5 + Isti di mala multa dent clienti, + Qui tantum tibi misit inpiorum. + Quod si, ut suspicor, hoc novum ac repertum + Munus dat tibi Sulla litterator, + Non est mi male, sed bene ac beate, 10 + Quod non dispereunt tui labores. + Di magni, horribilem et sacrum libellum + Quem tu scilicet ad tuum Catullum + Misti, continuo ut die periret, + Saturnalibus, optimo dierum! 15 + Non non hoc tibi, salse, sic abibit: + Nam, si luxerit, ad librariorum + Curram scrinia, Caesios, Aquinos, + Suffenum, omnia colligam venena, + Ac te his suppliciis remunerabor. 20 + Vos hinc interea (valete) abite + Illuc, unde malum pedem attulistis, + Saecli incommoda, pessimi poetae. + +XIIIIb. + + Siqui forte mearum ineptiarum + Lectores eritis manusque vestras 25 + Non horrebitis admovere nobis, + * * * * + +XIIII. + +TO CALVUS, ACKNOWLEDGING HIS POEMS. + + Did I not liefer love thee than my eyes + (Winsomest Calvus!), for that gift of thine + Certes I'd hate thee with Vatinian hate. + Say me, how came I, or by word or deed, + To cause thee plague me with so many a bard? 5 + The Gods deal many an ill to such a client, + Who sent of impious wights to thee such crowd. + But if (as guess I) this choice boon new-found + To thee from "Commentator" Sulla come, + None ill I hold it--well and welcome 'tis, 10 + For that thy labours ne'er to death be doom'd. + Great Gods! What horrid booklet damnable + Unto thine own Catullus thou (perdie!) + Did send, that ever day by day die he + In Saturnalia, first of festivals. 15 + No! No! thus shall't not pass wi' thee, sweet wag, + For I at dawning day will scour the booths + Of bibliopoles, Aquinii, Caesii and + Suffenus, gather all their poison-trash + And with such torments pay thee for thy pains. 20 + Now for the present hence, adieu! begone + Thither, whence came ye, brought by luckless feet, + Pests of the Century, ye pernicious Poets. + +XIIIIb. + + An of my trifles peradventure chance + You to be readers, and the hands of you 25 + Without a shudder unto us be offer'd + * * * * + +Did I not love thee more than mine eyes, O most jocund Calvus, for thy gift +I should abhor thee with Vatinian abhorrence. For what have I done or what +have I said that thou shouldst torment me so vilely with these poets? May +the gods give that client of thine ills enow, who sent thee so much trash! +Yet if, as I suspect, this new and care-picked gift, Sulla, the +litterateur, gives thee, it is not ill to me, but well and beatific, that +thy labours [in his cause] are not made light of. Great gods, what a +horrible and accurst book which, forsooth, thou hast sent to thy Catullus +that he might die of boredom the livelong day in the Saturnalia, choicest +of days! No, no, my joker, this shall not leave thee so: for at daydawn I +will haste to the booksellers' cases; the Caesii, the Aquini, Suffenus, +every poisonous rubbish will I collect that I may repay thee with these +tortures. Meantime (farewell ye) hence depart ye from here, whither an ill +foot brought ye, pests of the period, puniest of poetasters. + +If by chance ye ever be readers of my triflings and ye will not quake to +lay your hands upon us, + + * * * * + +XV. + + Commendo tibi me ac meos amores, + Aureli. veniam peto pudentem, + Vt, si quicquam animo tuo cupisti, + Quod castum expeteres et integellum, + Conserves puerum mihi pudice, 5 + 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. 10 + Quem tu qua lubet, ut iubet, moveto, + Quantum vis, ubi erit foris, paratum: + Hunc unum excipio, ut puto, pudenter. + Quod si te mala mens furorque vecors + In tantam inpulerit, sceleste, culpam, 15 + Vt nostrum insidiis caput lacessas, + A tum te miserum malique fati, + Quem attractis pedibus patente porta + Percurrent raphanique mugilesque. + +XV. + +TO AURELIUS--HANDS OFF THE BOY! + + To thee I trust my loves and me, + (Aurelius!) craving modesty. + That (if in mind didst ever long + To win aught chaste unknowing wrong) + Then guard my boy in purest way. 5 + From folk I say not: naught affray + The crowds wont here and there to run + Through street-squares, busied every one; + But thee I dread nor less thy penis + Fair or foul, younglings' foe I ween is! 10 + Wag it as wish thou, at its will, + When out of doors its hope fulfil; + Him bar I, modestly, methinks. + But should ill-mind or lust's high jinks + Thee (Sinner!), drive to sin so dread, 15 + That durst ensnare our dearling's head, + Ah! woe's thee (wretch!) and evil fate, + Mullet and radish shall pierce and grate, + When feet-bound, haled through yawning gate. + +I commend me to thee with my charmer, Aurelius. I come for modest boon +that,--didst thine heart long for aught, which thou desiredst chaste and +untouched,--thou 'lt preserve for me the chastity of my boy. I do not say +from the public: I fear those naught who hurry along the thoroughfares +hither thither occupied on their own business: truth my fear is from thee +and thy penis, pestilent eke to fair and to foul. Set it in motion where +thou dost please, whenever thou biddest, as much as thou wishest, wherever +thou findest the opportunity out of doors: this one object I except, to my +thought a reasonable boon. But if thy evil mind and senseless rutting push +thee forward, scoundrel, to so great a crime as to assail our head with thy +snares, O wretch, calamitous mishap shall happen thee, when with feet taut +bound, through the open entrance radishes and mullets shall pierce. + +XVI. + + Pedicabo ego vos et inrumabo, + Aureli pathice et cinaede Furi, + Qui me ex versiculis meis putastis, + Quod sunt molliculi, parum pudicum. + Nam castum esse decet pium poetam 5 + Ipsum, versiculos nihil necessest, + Qui tum denique habent salem ac leporem, + Si sunt molliculi ac parum pudici + Et quod pruriat incitare possunt, + Non dico pueris, sed his pilosis, 10 + Qui duros nequeunt movere lumbos. + Vos, quom milia multa basiorum + Legistis, male me marem putatis? + Pedicabo ego vos et inrumabo. + +XVI. + +TO AURELIUS AND FURIUS IN DEFENCE OF HIS MUSE'S HONESTY. + + I'll ---- you twain and ---- + Pathic Aurelius! Furius, libertines! + Who durst determine from my versicles + Which seem o'er softy, that I'm scant of shame. + For pious poet it behoves be chaste 5 + Himself; no chastity his verses need; + Nay, gain they finally more salt of wit + When over softy and of scanty shame, + Apt for exciting somewhat prurient, + In boys, I say not, but in bearded men 10 + Who fail of movements in their hardened loins. + Ye who so many thousand kisses sung + Have read, deny male masculant I be? + You twain I'll ---- and ---- + +I will paedicate and irrumate you, Aurelius the bardache and Furius the +cinaede, who judge me from my verses rich in love-liesse, to be their equal +in modesty. For it behoves your devout poet to be chaste himself; his +verses--not of necessity. Which verses, in a word, may have a spice and +volupty, may have passion's cling and such like decency, so that they can +incite with ticklings, I do not say boys, but bearded ones whose stiffened +limbs amort lack pliancy in movement. You, because of many thousand kisses +you have read, think me womanish. I will paedicate and irrumate you! + +XVII. + + O Colonia, quae cupis ponte ludere longo, + Et salire paratum habes, sed vereris inepta + Crura ponticuli assulis stantis in redivivis, + Ne supinus eat cavaque in palude recumbat; + Sic tibi bonus ex tua pons libidine fiat, 5 + In quo vel Salisubsili 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 10 + Lividissima maximeque est profunda vorago. + Insulsissimus est homo, nec sapit pueri instar + Bimuli tremula patris dormientis in ulna. + Quoi cum sit viridissimo nupta flore puella + (Et puella tenellulo delicatior haedo, 15 + Adservanda nigerrimis diligentius uvis), + Ludere hanc sinit ut lubet, nec pili facit uni, + Nec se sublevat ex sua parte, sed velut alnus + In fossa Liguri iacet suppernata securi, + Tantundem omnia sentiens quam si nulla sit usquam, 20 + 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, 25 + Ferream ut soleam tenaci in voragine mula. + +XVII. + +OF A "PREDESTINED" HUSBAND. + + Colony! fain to display thy games on length of thy town-bridge! + There, too, ready to dance, though fearing the shaking of crazy + Logs of the Bridgelet propt on pier-piles newly renewed, + Lest supine all sink deep-merged in the marish's hollow, + So may the bridge hold good when builded after thy pleasure 5 + Where Salisubulus' rites with solemn function are sacred, + As thou (Colony!) grant me boon of mightiest laughter. + Certain a townsman mine I'd lief see thrown from thy gangway + Hurled head over heels precipitous whelmed in the quagmire, + Where the lake and the boglands are most rotten and stinking, 10 + Deepest and lividest lie, the swallow of hollow voracious. + Witless surely the wight whose sense is less than of boy-babe + Two-year-old and a-sleep on trembling forearm of father. + He though wedded to girl in greenest bloom of her youth-tide, + (Bride-wife daintier bred than ever was delicate kidlet, 15 + Worthier diligent watch than grape-bunch blackest and ripest) + Suffers her sport as she please nor rates her even at hair's worth, + Nowise 'stirring himself, but lying log-like as alder + Felled and o'er floating the fosse of safe Ligurian woodsman, + Feeling withal, as though such spouse he never had own'd; 20 + So this marvel o' mine sees naught, and nothing can hear he, + What he himself, an he be or not be, wholly unknowing. + Now would I willingly pitch such wight head first fro' thy bridge, + Better a-sudden t'arouse that numskull's stolid old senses, + Or in the sluggish mud his soul supine to deposit 25 + Even as she-mule casts iron shoe where quagmire is stiffest. + +O Colonia, that longest to disport thyself on a long bridge and art +prepared for the dance, but that fearest the trembling legs of the +bridgelet builded on re-used shavings, lest supine it may lie stretched in +the hollow swamp; may a good bridge take its place designed to thy fancy, +on which e'en the Salian dances may be sustained: for the which grant to +me, Colonia, greatest of gifts glee-exciting. Such an one, townsman of +mine, I want from thy bridge to be pitched in the sludge head over heels, +right where the lake of all its stinking slime is dankest and most +superfluent--a deep-sunk abyss. The man is a gaping gaby! lacking the sense +of a two-years-old baby dozing on its father's cradling arm. Although to +him is wedded a girl flushed with springtide's bloom (and a girl more +dainty than a tender kid, meet to be watched with keener diligence than the +lush-black grape-bunch), he leaves her to sport at her list, cares not a +single hair, nor bestirs himself with marital office, but lies as an alder +felled by Ligurian hatchet in a ditch, as sentient of everything as though +no woman were at his side. Such is my booby! he sees not, he hears naught. +Who himself is, or whether he be or be not, he also knows not. Now I wish +to chuck him head first from thy bridge, so as to suddenly rouse (if +possible) this droning dullard and to leave behind in the sticky slush his +sluggish spirit, as a mule casts its iron shoe in the tenacious slough. + +XVIII. + + Hunc lucum tibi dedico, consecroque, Priape, + Qua domus tua Lampsaci est, quaque silva, Priape, + Nam te praecipue in suis urbibus colit ora + Hellespontia, caeteris ostreosior oris. + +XVIII. + +TO PRIAPUS, THE GARDEN-GOD. + + This grove to thee devote I give, Priapus! + Who home be Lampsacus and holt, Priapus! + For thee in cities worship most the shores + Of Hellespont the richest oystery strand. + +This grove I dedicate and consecrate to thee, Priapus, who hast thy home at +Lampsacus, and eke thy woodlands, Priapus; for thee especially in its +cities worships the coast of the Hellespont, richer in oysters than all +other shores. + +XVIIII. + + Hunc ego, juvenes, locum, villulamque palustrem, + Tectam vimine junceo, caricisque maniplis, + Quercus arida, rustica conformata securi, + Nunc tuor: magis, et magis ut beata quotannis. + Hujus nam Domini colunt me, Deumque salutant, 5 + Pauperis tugurii pater, filiusque coloni: + Alter, assidua colens diligentia, ut herba + Dumosa, asperaque a meo sit remota sacello: + Alter, parva ferens manu semper munera larga. + Florido mihi ponitur picta vere corolla 10 + Primitu', et tenera virens spica mollis arista: + Luteae violae mihi, luteumque papaver, + Pallentesque cucurbitae, et suaveolentia mala, + Vva pampinea rubens educata sub umbra. + Sanguine hanc etiam mihi (sed tacebitis) aram 15 + Barbatus linit hirculus, cornipesque capella: + Pro queis omnia honoribus haec necesse Priapo + Praestare, et domini hortulum, vineamque tueri. + Quare hinc, o pueri, malas abstinete rapinas. + Vicinus prope dives est, negligensque Priapus. 20 + Inde sumite: semita haec deinde vos feret ipsa. + +XVIIII. + +TO PRIAPUS. + + This place, O youths, I protect, nor less this turf-builded cottage, + Roofed with its osier-twigs and thatched with its bundles of sedges; + I from the dried oak hewn and fashioned with rustical hatchet, + Guarding them year by year while more are they evermore thriving. + For here be owners twain who greet and worship my Godship, 5 + He of the poor hut lord and his son, the pair of them peasants: + This with assiduous toil aye works the thicketty herbage + And the coarse water-grass to clear afar from my chapel: + That with his open hand ever brings me offerings humble. + Hung up in honour mine are flowery firstlings of spring-tide, 10 + Wreaths with their ears still soft the tender stalklets a-crowning; + Violets pale are mine by side of the poppy-head pallid; + With the dull yellow gourd and apples sweetest of savour; + Lastly the blushing grape disposed in shade of the vine-tree. + Anon mine altar (this same) with blood (but you will be silent!) 15 + Bearded kid and anon some horny-hoofed nanny shall sprinkle. + Wherefore Priapus is bound to requite such honours by service, + Doing his duty to guard both vineyard and garth of his lordling. + Here then, O lads, refrain from ill-mannered picking and stealing: + Rich be the neighbour-hind and negligent eke his Priapus: 20 + Take what be his: this path hence leadeth straight to his ownings. + +This place, youths, and the marshland cot thatched with rushes, osier-twigs +and bundles of sedge, I, carved from a dry oak by a rustic axe, now +protect, so that they thrive more and more every year. For its owners, the +father of the poor hut and his son,--both husbandmen,--revere me and salute +me as a god; the one labouring with assiduous diligence that the harsh +weeds and brambles may be kept away from my sanctuary, the other often +bringing me small offerings with open hand. On me is placed a many-tinted +wreath of early spring flowers and the soft green blade and ear of the +tender corn. Saffron-coloured violets, the orange-hued poppy, wan gourds, +sweet-scented apples, and the purpling grape trained in the shade of the +vine, [are offered] to me. Sometimes, (but keep silent as to this) even the +bearded he-goat, and the horny-footed nanny sprinkle my altar with blood; +for which honours Priapus is bound in return to do everything [which lies +in his duty], and to keep strict guard over the little garden and vineyard +of his master. Wherefore, abstain, O lads, from your evil pilfering here. +Our next neighbour is rich and his Priapus is negligent. Take from him; +this path then will lead you to his grounds. + +XX. + + Ego haec ego arte fabricata rustica, + Ego arida, o viator, ecce populus + Agellulum hunc, sinistra, tute quem vides, + Herique villulam, hortulumque pauperis + Tuor, malasque furis arceo manus. 5 + Mihi corolla picta vero ponitur: + Mihi rubens arista sole fervido: + Mihi virente dulcis uva pampino: + Mihique glauca duro oliva frigore. + Meis capella delicata pascuis 10 + In urbem adulta lacte portat ubera: + Meisque pinguis agnus ex ovilibus + Gravem domum remittit aere dexteram: + Tenerque, matre mugiente, vaccula + Deum profundit ante templa sanguinem. 15 + Proin', viator, hunc Deum vereberis, + Manumque sorsum habebis hoc tibi expedit. + Parata namque crux, sine arte mentula. + Velim pol, inquis: at pol ecce, villicus + Venit: valente cui revulsa brachio 20 + Fit ista mentula apta clava dexterae. + +XX. + +TO PRIAPUS. + + I thuswise fashioned by rustic art + And from dried poplar-trunk (O traveller!) hewn, + This fieldlet, leftwards as thy glances fall, + And my lord's cottage with his pauper garth + Protect, repelling thieves' rapacious hands. 5 + In spring with vari-coloured wreaths I'm crown'd, + In fervid summer with the glowing grain, + Then with green vine-shoot and the luscious bunch, + And glaucous olive-tree in bitter cold. + The dainty she-goat from my pasture bears 10 + Her milk-distended udders to the town: + Out of my sheep-cotes ta'en the fatted lamb + Sends home with silver right-hand heavily charged; + And, while its mother lows, the tender calf + Before the temples of the Gods must bleed. 15 + Hence of such Godhead, (traveller!) stand in awe, + Best it befits thee off to keep thy hands. + Thy cross is ready, shaped as artless yard; + "I'm willing, 'faith" (thou say'st) but 'faith here comes + The boor, and plucking forth with bended arm 20 + Makes of this tool a club for doughty hand. + +I, O traveller, shaped with rustic art from a dry poplar, guard this little +field which thou seest on the left, and the cottage and small garden of its +indigent owner, and keep off the greedy hands of the robber. In spring a +many-tinted wreath is placed upon me; in summer's heat ruddy grain; [in +autumn] a luscious grape cluster with vine-shoots, and in the bitter cold +the pale-green olive. The tender she-goat bears from my pasture to the town +milk-distended udders; the well-fattened lamb from my sheepfolds sends back +[its owner] with a heavy handful of money; and the tender calf, 'midst its +mother's lowings, sheds its blood before the temple of the Gods. Hence, +wayfarer, thou shalt be in awe of this God, and it will be profitable to +thee to keep thy hands off. For a punishment is prepared--a roughly-shaped +mentule. "Truly, I am willing," thou sayest; then, truly, behold the farmer +comes, and that same mentule plucked from my groin will become an apt +cudgel in his strong right hand. + +XXI. + + Aureli, pater essuritionum, + 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, 5 + Haeres ad latus omnia experiris. + Frustra: nam insidias mihi instruentem + Tangem te prior inrumatione. + Atque id si faceres satur, tacerem: + Nunc ipsum id doleo, quod essurire, 10 + A me me, puer et sitire discet. + Quare desine, dum licet pudico, + Ne finem facias, sed inrumatus. + +XXI. + +TO AURELIUS THE SKINFLINT. + + Aurelius, father of the famisht crew, + Not sole of starvelings now, but wretches who + Were, are, or shall be in the years to come, + My love, my dearling, fain art thou to strum. + Nor privately; for nigh thou com'st and jestest 5 + And to his side close-sticking all things questest. + 'Tis vain: while lay'st thou snares for me the worst, + By ---- I will teach thee first. + An food-full thus do thou, my peace I'd keep: + But what (ah me! ah me!) compels me weep 10 + Are thirst and famine to my dearling fated. + Cease thou so doing while as modest rated, + Lest to thy will thou win--but ---- + +Aurelius, father of the famished, in ages past in time now present and in +future years yet to come, thou art longing to paedicate my love. Nor is't +done secretly: for thou art with him jesting, closely sticking at his side, +trying every means. In vain: for, instructed in thy artifice, I'll strike +home beforehand by irrumating thee. Now if thou didst this to work off the +results of full-living I would say naught: but what irks me is that my boy +must learn to starve and thirst with thee. Wherefore, desist, whilst thou +mayst with modesty, lest thou reach the end,--but by being irrumated. + +XXII. + + Suffenus iste, Vare, quem probe nosti, + Homost 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 palimpseston 5 + Relata: chartae regiae, novei libri, + Novei umbilici, lora rubra, membrana + Derecta plumbo, et pumice omnia aequata. + Haec cum legas tu, bellus ille et urbanus + Suffenus unus caprimulgus aut fossor 10 + Rursus videtur; tantum abhorret ac mutat. + Hoc quid putemus esse? qui modo scurra + Aut siquid hac re scitius videbatur, + Idem infacetost infacetior rure, + Simul poemata attigit, neque idem umquam 15 + Aequest beatus ac poema cum scribit: + Tam gaudet in se tamque se ipse miratur. + Nimirum idem omnes fallimur, nequest quisquam, + Quem non in aliqua re videre Suffenum + Possis. suus cuique attributus est error: 20 + Sed non videmus, manticae quod in tergost. + +XXII. + +TO VARUS ABUSING SUFFENUS. + + Varus, yon wight Suffenus known to thee + Fairly for wit, free talk, urbanity, + The same who scribbles verse in amplest store-- + Methinks he fathers thousands ten or more + Indited not as wont on palimpsest, 5 + But paper-royal, brand-new boards, and best + Fresh bosses, crimson ribbands, sheets with lead + Ruled, and with pumice-powder all well polished. + These as thou readest, seem that fine, urbane + Suffenus, goat-herd mere, or ditcher-swain 10 + Once more, such horrid change is there, so vile. + What must we wot thereof? a Droll erst while, + Or (if aught) cleverer, he with converse meets, + He now in dullness, dullest villain beats + Forthright on handling verse, nor is the wight 15 + Ever so happy as when verse he write: + So self admires he with so full delight. + In sooth, we all thus err, nor man there be + But in some matter a Suffenus see + Thou canst: his lache allotted none shall lack 20 + Yet spy we nothing of our back-borne pack. + +That Suffenus, Varus, whom thou know'st right well, is a man fair spoken, +witty and urbane, and one who makes of verses lengthy store. I think he has +writ at full length ten thousand or more, nor are they set down, as of +custom, on palimpsest: regal paper, new boards, unused bosses, red ribands, +lead-ruled parchment, and all most evenly pumiced. But when thou readest +these, that refined and urbane Suffenus is seen on the contrary to be a +mere goatherd or ditcher-lout, so great and shocking is the change. What +can we think of this? he who just now was seen a professed droll, or e'en +shrewder than such in gay speech, this same becomes more boorish than a +country boor immediately he touches poesy, nor is the dolt e'er as +self-content as when he writes in verse,--so greatly is he pleased with +himself, so much does he himself admire. Natheless, we all thus go astray, +nor is there any man in whom thou canst not see a Suffenus in some one +point. Each of us has his assigned delusion: but we see not what's in the +wallet on our back. + +XXIII. + + Furei, quoi neque servos est neque arca + Nec cimex neque araneus neque ignis, + Verumst et pater et noverca, quorum + Dentes vel silicem comesse possunt, + Est pulchre tibi cum tuo parente 5 + Et cum coniuge lignea parentis. + Nec mirum: bene nam valetis omnes, + Pulchre concoquitis, nihil timetis, + Non incendia, non graves ruinas, + Non furta inpia, non dolos veneni, 10 + Non casus alios periculorum. + Atqui corpora sicciora cornu + Aut siquid magis aridumst habetis + Sole et frigore et essuritione. + Quare non tibi sit bene ac beate? 15 + A te sudor abest, abest saliva, + Mucusque et mala pituita nasi. + Hanc ad munditiem adde mundiorem, + Quod culus tibi purior salillost, + Nec toto decies cacas in anno, 20 + Atque id durius est faba et lapillis; + Quod tu si manibus teras fricesque, + Non umquam digitum inquinare possis. + Haec tu commoda tam beata, Furi, + Noli spernere nec putare parvi, 25 + Et sestertia quae soles precari + Centum desine: nam sat es beatus. + +XXIII. + +TO FURIUS SATIRICALLY PRAISING HIS POVERTY. + + Furius! Nor chest, nor slaves can claim, + Bug, Spider, nor e'en hearth aflame, + Yet thine a sire and step-dame who + Wi' tooth can ever flint-food chew! + So thou, and pleasant happy life 5 + Lead wi' thy parent's wooden wife. + Nor this be marvel: hale are all, + Well ye digest; no fears appal + For household-arsons, heavy ruin, + Plunderings impious, poison-brewin' 10 + Or other parlous case forlorn. + Your frames are hard and dried like horn, + Or if more arid aught ye know, + By suns and frosts and hunger-throe. + Then why not happy as thou'rt hale? 15 + Sweat's strange to thee, spit fails, and fail + Phlegm and foul snivel from the nose. + Add cleanness that aye cleanlier shows + A bum than salt-pot cleanlier, + Nor ten times cack'st in total year, 20 + And harder 'tis than pebble or bean + Which rubbed in hand or crumbled, e'en + On finger ne'er shall make unclean. + Such blessings (Furius!) such a prize + Never belittle nor despise; 25 + Hundred sesterces seek no more + With wonted prayer--enow's thy store! + +O Furius, who neither slaves, nor coffer, nor bug, nor spider, nor fire +hast, but hast both father and step-dame whose teeth can munch up even +flints,--thou livest finely with thy sire, and with thy sire's wood-carved +spouse. Nor need's amaze! for in good health are ye all, grandly ye digest, +naught fear ye, nor arson nor house-fall, thefts impious nor poison's +furtive cunning, nor aught of perilous happenings whatsoe'er. And ye have +bodies drier than horn (or than aught more arid still, if aught there be), +parched by sun, frost, and famine. Wherefore shouldst thou not be happy +with such weal. Sweat is a stranger to thee, absent also are saliva, +phlegm, and evil nose-snivel. Add to this cleanliness the thing that's +still more cleanly, that thy backside is purer than a salt-cellar, nor +cackst thou ten times in the total year, and then 'tis harder than beans +and pebbles; nay, 'tis such that if thou dost rub and crumble it in thy +hands, not a finger canst thou ever dirty. These goodly gifts and favours, +O Furius, spurn not nor think lightly of; and cease thy 'customed begging +for an hundred sesterces: for thou'rt blest enough! + +XXIIII. + + O qui flosculus es Iuventiorum, + Non horum modo, sed quot aut fuerunt + Aut posthac aliis erunt in annis, + Mallem divitias Midae dedisses + Isti, quoi neque servus est neque arca, 5 + Quam sic te sineres ab illo amari. + 'Qui? non est homo bellus?' inquies. est: + Sed bello huic neque servos est neque arca. + Hoc tu quam lubet abice elevaque: + Nec servom tamen ille habet neque arcam. 10 + +XXIIII. + +TO JUVENTIUS CONCERNING THE CHOICE OF A FRIEND. + + O of Juventian youths the flowret fair + Not of these only, but of all that were + Or shall be, coming in the coming years, + Better waste Midas' wealth (to me appears) + On him that owns nor slave nor money-chest 5 + Than thou shouldst suffer by his love possest. + "What! is he vile or not fair?" "Yes!" I attest, + "Yet owns this man so comely neither slaves nor chest + My words disdain thou or accept at best + Yet neither slave he owns nor money-chest." 10 + +O thou who art the floweret of Juventian race, not only of these now +living, but of those that were of yore and eke of those that will be in the +coming years, rather would I that thou hadst given the wealth e'en of Midas +to that fellow who owns neither slave nor store, than that thou shouldst +suffer thyself to be loved by such an one. "What! isn't he a fine-looking +man?" thou askest. He is; but this fine-looking man has neither slaves nor +store. Contemn and slight this as it please thee: nevertheless, he has +neither slave nor store. + +XXV. + + Cinaede Thalle, mollior cuniculi capillo + Vel anseris medullula vel imula oricilla + Vel pene languido senis situque araneoso, + Idemque Thalle turbida rapacior procella, + Cum diva munerarios ostendit oscitantes, 5 + 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 10 + Inusta turpiter tibi flagella conscribillent, + Et insolenter aestues velut minuta magno + Deprensa navis in mari vesaniente vento. + +XXV. + +ADDRESS TO THALLUS THE NAPERY-THIEF. + + Thou bardache Thallus! more than Coney's robe + Soft, or goose-marrow or ear's lowmost lobe, + Or Age's languid yard and cobweb'd part, + Same Thallus greedier than the gale thou art, + When the Kite-goddess shows thee Gulls agape, 5 + Return my muffler thou hast dared to rape, + Saetaban napkins, tablets of Thynos, all + Which (Fool!) ancestral heirlooms thou didst call. + These now unglue-ing from thy claws restore, + Lest thy soft hands, and floss-like flanklets score 10 + The burning scourges, basely signed and lined, + And thou unwonted toss like wee barque tyned + 'Mid vasty Ocean vexed by madding wind! + +O Thallus the catamite, softer than rabbit's fur, or goose's marrow, or +lowmost ear-lobe, limper than the drooping penis of an oldster, in its +cobwebbed must, greedier than the driving storm, such time as the +Kite-Goddess shews us the gaping Gulls, give me back my mantle which thou +hast pilfered, and the Saetaban napkin and Thynian tablets which, idiot, +thou dost openly parade as though they were heirlooms. These now unglue +from thy nails and return, lest the stinging scourge shall shamefully score +thy downy flanks and delicate hands, and thou unwonted heave and toss like +a tiny boat surprised on the vasty sea by a raging storm. + +XXVI. + + Furi, villula nostra non ad Austri + Flatus oppositast neque ad Favoni + Nec saevi Boreae aut Apeliotae, + Verum ad milia quindecim et ducentos. + O ventum horribilem atque pestilentem! 5 + +XXVI. + +CATULLUS CONCERNING HIS VILLA. + + Furius! our Villa never Austral force + Broke, neither set thereon Favonius' course, + Nor savage Boreas, nor Epeliot's strain, + But fifteen thousand crowns and hundreds twain + Wreckt it,--Oh ruinous by-wind, breezy bane! 5 + +Furius, our villa not 'gainst the southern breeze is pitted nor the western +wind nor cruel Boreas nor sunny east, but sesterces fifteen thousand two +hundred oppose it. O horrible and baleful draught. + +XXVII. + + Minister vetuli puer Falerni + Inger mi calices amariores, + Vt lex Postumiae iubet magistrae, + Ebriosa acina ebriosioris. + At vos quo lubet hinc abite, lymphae 5 + Vini pernicies, et ad severos + Migrate: hic merus est Thyonianus. + +XXVII. + +TO HIS CUP-BOY. + + Thou youngling drawer of Falernian old + Crown me the goblets with a bitterer wine + As was Postumia's law that rules the feast + Than ebriate grape-stone more inebriate. + But ye fare whither please ye (water-nymphs!) 5 + To wine pernicious, and to sober folk + Migrate ye: mere Thyonian juice be here! + +Boy cupbearer of old Falernian, pour me fiercer cups as bids the laws of +Postumia, mistress of the feast, drunker than a drunken grape. But ye, +hence, as far as ye please, crystal waters, bane of wine, hie ye to the +sober: here the Thyonian juice is pure. + +XXVIII. + + Pisonis comites, cohors inanis + Aptis sarcinulis et expeditis, + Verani optime tuque mi Fabulle, + Quid rerum geritis? satisne cum isto + Vappa frigoraque et famem tulistis? 5 + Ecquidnam in tabulis patet lucelli + Expensum, ut mihi, qui meum secutus + Praetorem refero datum lucello + 'O Memmi, bene me ac diu supinum + Tota ista trabe lentus inrumasti.' 10 + Sed, quantum video, pari fuistis + Casu: nam nihilo minore verpa + Farti estis. pete nobiles amicos. + At vobis mala multa di deaeque + Dent, opprobria Romulei Remique. 15 + +XXVIII. + +TO FRIENDS ON RETURN FROM TRAVEL. + + Followers of Piso, empty band + With your light budgets packt to hand, + Veranius best! Fabullus mine! + What do ye? Bore ye enough, in fine + Of frost and famine with yon sot? 5 + What loss or gain have haply got + Your tablets? so, whenas I ranged + With Praetor, gains for loss were changed. + "O Memmius! thou did'st long and late + ---- me supine slow and ----" 10 + But (truly see I) in such case + Diddled you were by wight as base + Sans mercy. Noble friends go claim! + Now god and goddess give you grame + Disgrace of Romulus! Remus' shame! 15 + +Piso's Company, a starveling band, with lightweight knapsacks, scantly +packed, most dear Veranius thou, and my Fabullus eke, how fortunes it with +you? have ye borne frost and famine enow with that sot? Which in your +tablets appear--the profits or expenses? So with me, who when I followed a +praetor, inscribed more gifts than gains. "O Memmius, well and slowly didst +thou irrumate me, supine, day by day, with the whole of that beam." But, +from what I see, in like case ye have been; for ye have been crammed with +no smaller a poker. Courting friends of high rank! But may the gods and +goddesses heap ill upon ye, reproach to Romulus and Remus. + +XXVIIII. + + Quis hoc potest videre, quis potest pati, + Nisi inpudicus et vorax et aleo, + Mamurram habere quod Comata Gallia + Habebat ante et ultima Britannia? + Cinaede Romule, haec videbis et feres? 5 + _Es inpudicus et vorax et aleo._ 5b + Et ille nunc superbus et superfluens + Perambulabit omnium cubilia + Vt albulus columbus aut Adoneus? + Cinaede Romule, haec videbis et feres? + Es inpudicus et vorax et aleo. 10 + Eone nomine, imperator unice, + Fuisti in ultima occidentis insula, + Vt ista vostra defututa Mentula + Ducenties comesset aut trecenties? + Quid est alid sinistra liberalitas? 15 + Parum expatravit an parum eluatus est? + Paterna prima lancinata sunt bona: + Secunda praeda Pontica: inde tertia + Hibera, quam scit amnis aurifer Tagus. + Timentne Galliae hunc, timent Britanniae? 20 + Quid hunc malum fovetis? aut quid hic potest, + Nisi uncta devorare patrimonia? + Eone nomine urbis, o potissimei + Socer generque, perdidistis omnia? + +XXVIIII. + +TO CAESAR OF MAMURRA, CALLED MENTULA. + + Who e'er could witness this (who could endure + Except the lewdling, dicer, greedy-gut) + That should Mamurra get what hairy Gaul + And all that farthest Britons held whilome? + (Thou bardache Romulus!) this wilt see and bear? 5 + Then art a lewdling, dicer, greedy-gut! 5b + He now superb with pride superfluous + Shall go perambulate the bedrooms all + Like white-robed dovelet or Adonis-love. + Romulus thou bardache! this wilt see and bear? + Then art a lewdling, dicer, greedy-gut! 10 + Is't for such like name, sole Emperor thou! + Thou soughtest extreme Occidental Isle? + That this your ---- Mentula + Millions and Milliards might at will absorb? + What is't but Liberality misplaced? 15 + What trifles wasted he, small heirlooms spent? + First his paternal goods were clean dispersed; + Second went Pontus' spoils and for the third,-- + Ebro-land,--weets it well gold-rolling Tage. + Fear him the Gallias? Him the Britons' fear? 20 + Why cherish this ill-wight? what 'vails he do? + Save fat paternal heritage devour? + Lost ye for such a name, O puissant pair + (Father and Son-in-law), our all-in-all? + +Who can witness this, who can brook it, save a whore-monger, a guzzler, and +a gamester, that Mamurra should possess what long-haired Gaul and remotest +Britain erstwhile had. Thou catamite Romulus, this thou'lt see and bear? +Then thou'rt a whore-monger, a guzzler, and a gamester. And shall he now, +superb and o'er replete, saunter o'er each one's bed, as though he were a +snow-plumed dove or an Adonis? Thou catamite Romulus, this thou'lt see and +hear? Then thou'rt a whore-monger, a guzzler, and a gamester. For such a +name, O general unique, hast thou been to the furthest island of the west, +that this thy futtered-out Mentula should squander hundreds of hundreds? +What is't but ill-placed munificence? What trifles has he squandered, or +what petty store washed away? First his patrimony was mangled; secondly the +Pontic spoils; then thirdly the Iberian, which the golden Tagus-stream +knoweth. Do not the Gauls fear this man, do not the Britons quake? Why dost +thou foster this scoundrel? What use is he save to devour well-fattened +inheritances? Wast for such a name, O most puissant father-in-law and +son-in-law, that ye have spoiled the entire world. + +XXX. + + Alfene inmemor atque unanimis false sodalibus + Iam te nil miseret, dure, tui dulcis amiculi? + + Iam me prodere, iam non dubitas fallere, perfide? + Nec facta inpia fallacum hominum caelicolis placent: + + Quod tu neglegis, ac me miserum deseris in malis. 5 + Eheu quid faciant, dic, homines, cuive habeant fidem? + + Certe tute iubebas animam tradere, inique, me + Inducens in amorem, quasi tuta omnia mi forent. + + Idem nunc retrahis te ac tua dicta omnia factaque + Ventos inrita ferre ac nebulas aerias sinis. 10 + + Si tu oblitus es, at di meminerunt, meminit Fides, + Quae te ut paeniteat postmodo facti faciet tui. + +XXX. + +TO ALFENUS THE PERJUROR. + + Alfenus! short of memory, false to comrades dearest-dear, + Now hast no pity (hardened Soul!) for friend and loving fere? + + Now to betray me, now to guile thou (traitor!) ne'er dost pause? + Yet impious feats of fraudful men ne'er force the Gods' applause: + + When heed'st thou not deserting me (Sad me!) in sorest scathe, 5 + Ah say whate'er shall humans do? in whom shall man show faith? + + For sure thou bad'st me safely yield my spirit (wretch!) to thee, + Lulling my love as though my life were all security. + + The same now dost withdraw thyself and every word and deed + Thou suffer'st winds and airy clouds to sweep from out thy head. 10 + + But an forget thou, mindful be the Gods, and Faith in mind + Bears thee, and soon shall gar thee rue the deeds by thee design'd. + +Alfenus, unmemoried and unfaithful to thy comrades true, is there now no +pity in thee, O hard of heart, for thine sweet loving friend? Dost thou +betray me now, and scruplest not to play me false now, dishonourable one? +Yet the irreverent deeds of traitorous men please not the dwellers in +heaven: this thou takest no heed of, leaving me wretched amongst my ills. +Alas, what may men do, I pray you, in whom put trust? In truth thou didst +bid me entrust my soul to thee, sans love returned, lulling me to love, as +though all [love-returns] were safely mine. Yet now thou dost withdraw +thyself, and all thy purposeless words and deeds thou sufferest to be +wafted away into winds and nebulous clouds. If thou hast forgotten, yet the +gods remember, and in time to come will make thee rue thy doing. + +XXXI. + + Paeninsularum, Sirmio, insularumque + Ocelle, quascumque in liquentibus stagnis + Marique vasto fert uterque Neptunus, + Quam te libenter quamque laetus inviso, + Vix mi ipse credens Thyniam atque Bithynos 5 + 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. 10 + Hoc est, quod unumst pro laboribus tantis. + Salve, o venusta Sirmio, atque ero gaude: + Gaudete vosque, o Libuae lacus undae: + Ridete, quidquid est domi cachinnorum. + +XXXI. + +ON RETURN TO SIRMIO AND HIS VILLA. + + Sirmio! of Islands and Peninsulas + Eyelet, and whatsoe'er in limpid meres + And vasty Ocean either Neptune owns, + Thy scenes how willing-glad once more I see, + At pain believing Thynia and the Fields 5 + Bithynian left, I'm safe to sight thy Site. + Oh what more blessed be than cares resolved, + When mind casts burthen and by peregrine + Work over wearied, lief we hie us home + To lie reposing in the longed-for bed! 10 + This be the single meed for toils so triste. + Hail, O fair Sirmio, in thy lord rejoice: + And ye, O waves of Lybian Lake be glad, + And laugh what laughter pealeth in my home. + +Sirmio! Eyebabe of Islands and Peninsulas, which Neptune holds whether in +limpid lakes or on mighty mains, how gladly and how gladsomely do I re-see +thee, scarce crediting that I've left behind Thynia and the Bithynian +champaign, and that safe and sound I gaze on thee. O what's more blissful +than cares released, when the mind casts down its burden, and when wearied +with travel-toils we reach our hearth, and sink on the craved-for couch. +This and only this repays our labours numerous. Hail, lovely Sirmio, and +gladly greet thy lord; and joy ye, wavelets of the Lybian lake; laugh ye +the laughters echoing from my home. + +XXXII. + + Amabo, mea dulcis Ipsithilla, + Meae deliciae, mei lepores, + Iube ad te veniam meridiatum. + Et si iusseris illud, adiuvato, + Nequis liminis obseret tabellam, 5 + Neu tibi lubeat foras abire, + Sed domi maneas paresque nobis + Novem continuas fututiones. + Verum, siquid ages, statim iubeto: + Nam pransus iaceo et satur supinus 10 + Pertundo tunicamque palliumque. + +XXXII. + +CRAVING IPSITHILLA'S LAST FAVOURS. + + I'll love my Ipsithilla sweetest, + My desires and my wit the meetest, + So bid me join thy nap o' noon! + Then (after bidding) add the boon + Undraw thy threshold-bolt none dare, 5 + Lest thou be led afar to fare; + Nay bide at home, for us prepare + Nine-fold continuous love-delights. + But aught do thou to hurry things, + For dinner-full I lie aback, 10 + And gown and tunic through I crack. + +I'll love thee, my sweet Ipsithilla, my delight, my pleasure: an thou bid +me come to thee at noontide. And an thou thus biddest, I adjure thee that +none makes fast the outer door [against me], nor be thou minded to gad +forth, but do thou stay at home and prepare for us nine continuous +conjoinings. In truth if thou art minded, give instant summons: for +breakfast o'er, I lie supine and ripe, thrusting through both tunic and +cloak. + +XXXIII. + + O furum optime balneariorum + Vibenni pater, et cinaede fili, + (Nam dextra pater inquinatiore, + Culo filius est voraciore) + Cur non exilium malasque in oras 5 + Itis, quandoquidem patris rapinae + Notae sunt populo, et natis pilosas, + Fili, non potes asse venditare. + +XXXIII. + +ON THE VIBENII--BATH-THIEVES. + + Oh, best of robbers who in Baths delight, + Vibennius, sire and son, the Ingle hight, + (For that the father's hand be fouler one + And with his anus greedier is the Son) + Why not to banishment and evil hours 5 + Haste ye, when all the parent's plundering powers + Are public knowledge, nor canst gain a Cent + Son! by the vending of thy piled vent. + +O, chiefest of pilferers, baths frequenting, Vibennius the father and his +pathic son (for with the right hand is the sire more in guilt, and with his +backside is the son the greedier), why go ye not to exile and ill hours, +seeing that the father's plunderings are known to all folk, and that, son, +thou can'st not sell thine hairy buttocks for a doit? + +XXXIIII. + + Dianae sumus in fide + Puellae et pueri integri: + _Dianam pueri integri_ + Puellaeque canamus. + + O Latonia, maximi 5 + Magna progenies Iovis, + Quam mater prope Deliam + Deposivit olivam, + + Montium domina ut fores + Silvarumque virentium 10 + Saltuumque reconditorum + Amniumque sonantum. + + Tu Lucina dolentibus + Iuno dicta puerperis, + Tu potens Trivia et notho's 15 + Dicta lumine Luna. + + Tu cursu, dea, menstruo + Metiens iter annuom + Rustica agricolae bonis + Tecta frugibus exples. 20 + + Sis quocumque tibi placet + Sancta nomine, Romulique, + Antique ut solita's, bona + Sospites ope gentem. + +XXXIIII. + +HYMN TO DIANA. + + Diana's faith inbred we bear + Youths whole of heart and maidens fair, + Let boys no blemishes impair, + And girls of Dian sing! + + O great Latonian progeny, 5 + Of greatest Jove descendancy, + Whom mother bare 'neath olive-tree, + Deep in the Delian dell; + + That of the mountains reign thou Queen + And forest ranges ever green, 10 + And coppices by man unseen, + And rivers resonant. + + Thou art Lucina, Juno hight + By mothers lien in painful plight, + Thou puissant Trivia and the Light 15 + Bastard, yclept the Lune. + + Thou goddess with thy monthly stage, + The yearly march doth mete and guage + And rustic peasant's messuage, + Dost brim with best o' crops, 20 + + Be hailed by whatso name of grace, + Please thee and olden Romulus' race, + Thy wonted favour deign embrace, + And save with choicest aid. + +We, maids and upright youths, are in Diana's care: upright youths and +maids, we sing Diana. + +O Latonia, progeny great of greatest Jove, whom thy mother bare 'neath +Delian olive, + +That thou mightst be Queen of lofty mounts, of foliaged groves, of remote +glens, and of winding streams. + +Thou art called Juno Lucina by the mother in her travail-pangs, thou art +named potent Trivia and Luna with an ill-got light. + +Thou, Goddess, with monthly march measuring the yearly course, dost glut +with produce the rustic roofs of the farmer. + +Be thou hallowed by whatsoe'er name thou dost prefer; and cherish, with +thine good aid, as thou art wont, the ancient race of Romulus. + +XXXV. + + Poetae tenero, meo sodali + Velim Caecilio, papyre, dicas, + Veronam veniat, Novi relinquens + Comi moenia Lariumque litus: + Nam quasdam volo cogitationes 5 + Amici accipiat sui meique. + Quare, si sapiet, viam vorabit, + Quamvis candida milies puella + Euntem revocet manusque collo + Ambas iniciens roget morari, 10 + Quae nunc, si mihi vera nuntiantur, + Illum deperit inpotente amore: + Nam quo tempore legit incohatam + Dindymi dominam, ex eo misellae + Ignes interiorem edunt medullam. 15 + Ignosco tibi, Sapphica puella + Musa doctior: est enim venuste + Magna Caecilio incohata mater. + +XXXV. + +AN INVITATION TO POET CECILIUS. + + Now to that tender bard, my Comrade fair, + (Cecilius) say I, "Paper go, declare, + Verona must we make and bid to New + Comum's town-walls and Larian Shores adieu;" + For I determined certain fancies he 5 + Accept from mutual friend to him and me. + Wherefore he will, if wise, devour the way, + Though the blonde damsel thousand times essay + Recall his going and with arms a-neck + A-winding would e'er seek his course to check; 10 + A girl who (if the truth be truly told) + Dies of a hopeless passion uncontroul'd; + For since the doings of the Dindymus-dame, + By himself storied, she hath read, a flame + Wasting her inmost marrow-core hath burned. 15 + I pardon thee, than Sapphic Muse more learn'd, + Damsel: for truly sung in sweetest lays + Was by Cecilius Magna Mater's praise. + +To that sweet poet, my comrade, Caecilius, I bid thee, paper, say: that he +hie him here to Verona, quitting New Comum's city-walls and Larius' shore; +for I wish him to give ear to certain counsels from a friend of his and +mine. Wherefore, an he be wise, he'll devour the way, although a milk-white +maid doth thousand times retard his going, and flinging both arms around +his neck doth supplicate delay--a damsel who now, if truth be brought me, +is undone with immoderate love of him. For, since what time she first read +of the Dindymus Queen, flames devour the innermost marrow of the wretched +one. I grant thee pardon, damsel, more learned than the Sapphic muse: for +charmingly has the Mighty Mother been sung by Caecilius. + +XXXVI. + + Annales Volusi, cacata charta, + Votum solvite pro mea puella: + Nam sanctae Veneri Cupidinique + Vovit, si sibi restitutus essem + Desissemque truces vibrare iambos, 5 + Electissima pessimi poetae + Scripta tardipedi deo daturam + Infelicibus ustulanda lignis. + Et haec pessima se puella vidit + Iocose lepide vovere divis. 10 + Nunc, o caeruleo creata ponto, + Quae sanctum Idalium Vriosque portus + Quaeque Ancona Cnidumque harundinosam + Colis quaeque Amathunta quaeque Golgos + Quaeque Durrachium Adriae tabernam, 15 + Acceptum face redditumque votum, + Si non inlepidum neque invenustumst. + At vos interea venite in ignem, + Pleni ruris et inficetiarum + Annales Volusi, cacata charta. 20 + +XXXVI. + +ON "THE ANNALS"--A SO-CALLED POEM OF VOLUSIUS. + + Volusius' Annals, paper scum-bewrayed! + Fulfil that promise erst my damsel made; + Who vowed to Holy Venus and her son, + Cupid, should I return to her anon + And cease to brandish iamb-lines accurst, 5 + The writ selected erst of bards the worst + She to the limping Godhead would devote + With slowly-burning wood of illest note. + This was the vilest which my girl could find + With vow facetious to the Gods assigned. 10 + Now, O Creation of the azure sea, + Holy Idalium, Urian havenry + Haunting, Ancona, Cnidos' reedy site, + Amathus, Golgos, and the tavern hight + Durrachium--thine Adrian abode-- 15 + The vow accepting, recognize the vowed + As not unworthy and unhandsome naught. + But do ye meanwhile to the fire be brought, + That teem with boorish jest of sorry blade, + Volusius' Annals, paper scum-bewrayed. 20 + +Volusius' Annals, merdous paper, fulfil ye a vow for my girl: for she vowed +to sacred Venus and to Cupid that if I were re-united to her and I desisted +hurling savage iambics, she would give the most elect writings of the +pettiest poet to the tardy-footed God to be burned with ill-omened wood. +And _this_ the saucy minx chose, jocosely and drolly to vow to the gods. +Now, O Creation of the cerulean main, who art in sacred Idalium, and in +Urian haven, and who doth foster Ancona and reedy Cnidos, Amathus and +Golgos, and Dyrrhachium, Adriatic tavern, accept and acknowledge this vow +if it lack not grace nor charm. But meantime, hence with ye to the flames, +crammed with boorish speech and vapid, Annals of Volusius, merdous paper. + +XXXVII. + + Salax taberna vosque contubernales, + A pileatis nona fratribus pila, + Solis putatis esse mentulas vobis, + Solis licere, quidquid est puellarum, + Confutuere et putare ceteros hircos? 5 + An, continenter quod sedetis insulsi + Centum an ducenti, non putatis ausurum + Me una ducentos inrumare sessores? + Atqui putate: namque totius vobis + Frontem tabernae scorpionibus scribam. 10 + 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 indignumst, 15 + 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. 20 + +XXXVII. + +TO THE FREQUENTERS OF A LOW TAVERN. + + Salacious Tavern and ye taverner-host, + From Pileate Brothers the ninth pile-post, + D'ye claim, you only of the mentule boast, + D'ye claim alone what damsels be the best + To swive: as he-goats holding all the rest? 5 + Is't when like boobies sit ye incontinent here, + One or two hundred, deem ye that I fear + Two hundred ---- at one brunt? + Ay, think so, natheless all your tavern-front + With many a scorpion I will over-write. 10 + For that my damsel, fro' my breast took flight, + By me so loved, as shall loved be none, + Wherefor so mighty wars were waged and won, + Does sit in public here. Ye fain, rich wights, + All woo her: thither too (the chief of slights!) 15 + All pitiful knaves and by-street wenchers fare, + And thou, (than any worse), with hanging hair, + In coney-breeding Celtiberia bred, + Egnatius! bonnified by beard full-fed, + And teeth with Spanish urine polished. 20 + +Tavern of lust and you its tippling crowd, (at ninth pile sign-post from +the Cap-donned Brothers) think ye that ye alone have mentules, that 'tis +allowed to you alone to touzle whatever may be feminine, and to deem all +other men mere goats? But, because ye sit, a row of fools numbering one +hundred or haply two hundred, do ye think I dare not irrumate your entire +two hundred--loungers!--at once! Think it! but I'll scrawl all over the +front of your tavern with scorpion-words. For my girl, who has fled from my +embrace (she whom I loved as ne'er a maid shall be beloved--for whom I +fought fierce fights) has seated herself here. All ye, both honest men and +rich, and also, (O cursed shame) all ye paltry back-slum fornicators, are +making hot love to her; and thou above all, one of the hairy-visaged sons +of coney-caverned Celtiberia, Egnatius, whose quality is stamped by +dense-grown beard, and teeth with Spanish urine scrubbed. + +XXXVIII. + + Malest, Cornifici, tuo Catullo, + Malest, me hercule, et est laboriose, + Et magis magis in dies et horas. + Quem tu, quod minimum facillimumquest, + Qua solatus es adlocutione? 5 + Irascor tibi. sic meos amores? + Paulum quid lubet adlocutionis, + Maestius lacrimis Simonideis. + +XXXVIII. + +A COMPLAINT TO CORNIFICIUS. + + Cornificius! 'Tis ill with thy Catullus, + 'Tis ill (by Hercules) distressfully: + Iller and iller every day and hour. + Whose soul (as smallest boon and easiest) + With what of comfort hast thou deign'd console? 5 + Wi' thee I'm angered! Dost so prize my love? + Yet some consoling utterance had been well + Though sadder 'twere than Simonidean tears. + +'Tis ill, Cornificius, with thy Catullus, 'tis ill, by Hercules, and most +untoward; and greater, greater ill, each day and hour! And thou, what +solace givest thou, e'en the tiniest, the lightest, by thy words? I'm wroth +with thee. Is my love but worth this? Yet one little message would cheer +me, though more full of sadness than Simonidean tears. + +XXXVIIII. + + Egnatius, quod candidos habet dentes, + Renidet usque quaque. sei ad rei ventumst + Subsellium, cum orator excitat fletum, + Renidet ille. sei ad pii rogum fili + Lugetur, orba cum flet unicum mater, 5 + Renidet ille. quidquid est, ubicumquest, + Quodcumque agit, renidet. hunc habet morbum, + Neque elegantem, ut arbitror, neque urbanum. + Quare monendum test mihi, bone Egnati. + Si urbanus esses aut Sabinus aut Tiburs 10 + Aut fartus Vmber aut obesus Etruscus + Aut Lanuinus ater atque dentatus + Aut Transpadanus, ut meos quoque attingam, + Aut quilubet, qui puriter lavit dentes, + Tamen renidere usque quaque te nollem: 15 + Nam risu inepto res ineptior nullast. + Nunc Celtiber es: Celtiberia in terra, + Quod quisque minxit, hoc sibi solet mane + Dentem atque russam defricare gingivam, + Vt quo iste vester expolitior dens est, 20 + Hoc te amplius bibisse praedicet loti. + +XXXVIIII. + +ON EGNATIUS OF THE WHITE TEETH. + + Egnatius for that owns he teeth snow-white, + Grins ever, everywhere. When placed a wight + In dock, when pleader would draw tears, the while + He grins. When pious son at funeral pile + Mourns, or lone mother sobs for sole lost son, 5 + He grins. Whate'er, whene'er, howe'er is done, + Of deed he grins. Such be his malady, + Nor kind, nor courteous--so beseemeth me-- + Then take thou good Egnatius, rede of mine! + Wert thou corrupt Sabine or a Tiburtine, 10 + Stuffed Umbrian or Tuscan overgrown + Swarthy Lanuvian with his teeth-rows shown, + Transpadan also, that mine own I touch, + Or any washing teeth to shine o'er much, + Yet thy incessant grin I would not see, 15 + For naught than laughter silly sillier be. + Thou Celtiber art, in Celtiberia born, + Where man who's urined therewith loves a-morn + His teeth and ruddy gums to scour and score; + So the more polisht are your teeth, the more 20 + Argue they sipping stale in ampler store. + +Egnatius, who has milk-white teeth, grins for ever and aye. An he be in +court, when counsel excites tears, he grins. An he be at funeral pyre where +one mourns a son devoted, where a bereft mother's tears stream for her only +one, he grins. Whatever it may be, wherever he is, whate'er may happen, he +grins. Such ill habit has he--neither in good taste, well assumed, nor +refined. Wherefore do thou take note from me, my good Egnatius. Be thou +refined Sabine or Tiburtine, paunch-full Umbrian or obese Tuscan, Lanuvian +dusky and large-tusked, or Transpadine (to touch upon mine own folk also), +or whom thou wilt of those who cleanly wash their teeth, still I'd wish +thee not to grin for ever and aye; for than senseless giggling nothing is +more senseless. Now thou'rt a Celtiberian! and in the Celtiberian land each +wight who has urined is wont each morn to scrub with it his teeth and pinky +gums, so that the higher the polish on thy teeth, the greater fund it notes +that thou hast drunk of urine. + +XXXX. + + 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? 5 + Quid vis? qua lubet esse notus optas? + Eris, quandoquidem meos amores + Cum longa voluisti amare poena. + +XXXX. + +THREATENING RAVIDUS WHO STOLE HIS MISTRESS. + + What thought of folly Ravidus (poor churl!) + Upon my iambs thus would headlong hurl? + What good or cunning counsellor would fain + Urge thee to struggle in such strife insane? + Is't that the vulgar mouth thy name by rote? 5 + What will'st thou? Wishest on any wise such note? + Then _shalt_ be noted since my love so lief + For love thou sued'st to thy lasting grief. + +What mind ill set, O sorry Ravidus, doth thrust thee rashly on to my +iambics? What god, none advocate of good for thee, doth stir thee to a +senseless contest? That thou may'st be in the people's mouth? What would'st +thou? Dost wish to be famed, no matter in what way? So thou shalt be, since +thou hast aspired to our loved one's love, but by our long-drawn vengeance. + +XXXXI. + + Ametina puella defututa + Tota milia me decem poposcit, + Ista turpiculo puella naso, + Decoctoris amica Formiani. + Propinqui, quibus est puella curae, 5 + Amicos medicosque convocate: + Non est sana puella. nec rogate, + Qualis sit: solet esse imaginosa. + +XXXXI. + +ON MAMURRA'S MISTRESS. + + That Ametina, worn-out whore, + Me for a myriad oft would bore, + That strumpet of th' ignoble nose, + To leman, rakehell Formian chose. + An ye would guard her (kinsmen folk) 5 + Your friends and leaches d'ye convoke: + The girl's not sound-sens'd; ask ye naught + Of her complaint: she's love-distraught. + +Ametina, out-drained maiden, worries me for a whole ten thousand, that +damsel with an outspread nose, _chere amie_ of Formianus the wildling. Ye +near of kin in whose care the maiden is, summon ye both friends and +medicals: for the girl's not sane. Nor ask ye, in what way: she is subject +to delusions. + +XXXXII. + + Adeste, hendecasyllabi, quot estis + Omnes undique, quotquot estis omnes. + Iocum me putat esse moecha turpis + Et negat mihi nostra reddituram + Pugillaria, si pati potestis. 5 + Persequamur eam, et reflagitemus. + Quae sit, quaeritis. illa, quam videtis + Turpe incedere, mimice ac moleste + Ridentem catuli ore Gallicani. + Circumsistite eam, et reflagitate, 10 + 'Moecha putida, redde codicillos, + Redde, putida moecha, codicillos.' + Non assis facis? o lutum, lupanar, + Aut si perditius potest quid esse. + Sed non est tamen hoc satis putandum. 15 + Quod si non aliud potest, ruborem + Ferreo canis exprimamus ore. + Conclamate iterum altiore voce + 'Moecha putida, redde codicillos, + Redde, putida moecha, codicillos.' 20 + Sed nil proficimus, nihil movetur. + Mutandast ratio modusque vobis, + Siquid proficere amplius potestis, + 'Pudica et proba, redde codicillos.' + +XXXXII. + +ON A STRUMPET WHO STOLE HIS TABLETS. + + Come, Hendecasyllabics, many as may + All hither, every one that of you be! + That fulsome harlot makes me laughing-stock + And she refuses at our prayer restore + Our stolen Note-books, an such slights ye bear. 5 + Let us pursue her clamouring our demands. + "Who's she?" ye question: yonder one ye sight + Mincingly pacing mime-like, perfect pest, + With jaws wide grinning like a Gallic pup. + Stand all round her dunning with demands, 10 + "Return (O rotten whore!) our noting books. + Our noting books (O rotten whore!) return!" + No doit thou car'st? O Mire! O Stuff o' stews! + Or if aught fouler filthier dirt there be. + Yet must we never think these words suffice. 15 + But if naught else avail, at least a blush + Forth of that bitch-like brazen brow we'll squeeze. + Cry all together in a higher key + "Restore (O rotten whore!) our noting books, + Our noting books (O rotten whore!) restore!" 20 + Still naught avails us, nothing is she moved. + Now must our measures and our modes be changed + An we would anywise our cause advance. + "Restore (chaste, honest Maid!) our noting books!" + +Hither, all ye hendecasyllables, as many as may be, from every part, all of +ye, as many soever as there be! A shameless prostitute deems me fair sport, +and denies return to me of our writing tablets, if ye are able to endure +this. Let's after her, and claim them back. "Who may she be," ye ask? That +one, whom ye see strutting awkwardly, stagily, and stiffly, and with a +laugh on her mouth like a Gallic whelp. Throng round her, and claim them +back. "O putrid punk, hand back our writing tablets; hand back, O putrid +punk, our writing tablets." Not a jot dost heed? O Muck, Brothel-Spawn, or +e'en loathsomer if it is possible so to be! Yet think not yet that this is +enough. For if naught else we can extort a blush on thy brazened bitch's +face. We'll yell again in heightened tones, "O putrid punk, hand back our +writing tablets, hand back, O putrid punk, our writing tablets." But naught +we profit, naught she budges. Changed must your measure and your manner be, +an you would further progress make--"O Virgin pure and spotless, hand back +our writing tablets." + +XXXXIII. + + 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. 5 + Ten provincia narrat esse bellam? + Tecum Lesbia nostra conparatur? + O saeclum insapiens et infacetum! + +XXXXIII. + +TO MAMURRA'S MISTRESS. + + Hail, girl who neither nose of minim size + Owns, nor a pretty foot, nor jetty eyes, + Nor thin long fingers, nor mouth dry of slaver + Nor yet too graceful tongue of pleasant flavour, + Leman to Formian that rake-a-hell. 5 + What, can the Province boast of thee as belle? + Thee with my Lesbia durst it make compare? + O Age insipid, of all humour bare! + +Hail, O maiden with nose not of the tiniest, with foot lacking shape and +eyes lacking darkness, with fingers scant of length, and mouth not dry and +tongue scant enough of elegance, _chere amie_ of Formianus the wildling. +And thee the province declares to be lovely? With thee our Lesbia is to be +compared? O generation witless and unmannerly! + +XXXXIIII. + + O funde noster seu Sabine seu Tiburs, + (Nam te esse Tiburtem autumant, quibus non est + Cordi Catullum laedere: at quibus cordist, + Quovis Sabinum pignore esse contendunt) + Sed seu Sabine sive verius Tiburs, 5 + Fui libenter in tua suburbana + Villa malamque pectore expuli tussim, + Non inmerenti quam mihi meus venter, + Dum sumptuosas adpeto, dedit, cenas. + Nam, Sestianus dum volo esse conviva, 10 + Orationem in Antium petitorem + Plenam veneni et pestilentiae legi. + Hic me gravido frigida et frequens tussis + Quassavit usque dum in tuum sinum fugi + Et me recuravi otioque et urtica. 15 + Quare refectus maximas tibi grates + Ago, meum quod non es ulta peccatum. + Nec deprecor iam, si nefaria scripta + Sesti recepso, quin gravidinem et tussim + Non mi, sed ipsi Sestio ferat frigus, 20 + Qui tum vocat me, cum malum librum legi. + +XXXXIIII. + +CATULLUS TO HIS OWN FARM. + + O Farm our own, Sabine or Tiburtine, + (For style thee "Tiburs" who have not at heart + To hurt Catullus, whereas all that have + Wage any wager thou be Sabine classed) + But whether Sabine or of Tiburs truer 5 + To thy suburban Cottage fared I fain + And fro' my bronchials drave that cursed cough + Which not unmerited on me my maw, + A-seeking sumptuous banquetings, bestowed. + For I requesting to be Sestius' guest 10 + Read against claimant Antius a speech, + Full-filled with poisonous pestilential trash. + Hence a grave frigid rheum and frequent cough + Shook me till fled I to thy bosom, where + Repose and nettle-broth healed all my ills. 15 + Wherefore recruited now best thanks I give + To thee for nowise punishing my sins: + Nor do I now object if noisome writs + Of Sestius hear I, but that cold and cough + And rheum may plague, not me, but Sestius' self 20 + Who asks me only his ill writs to read. + +O, Homestead of ours, whether Sabine or Tiburtine (for that thou'rt +Tiburtine folk concur, in whose heart 'tis not to wound Catullus; but those +in whose heart 'tis, will wager anything thou'rt Sabine) but whether Sabine +or more truly Tiburtine, o'erjoyed was I to be within thy rural +country-home, and to cast off an ill cough from my chest, which--not +unearned--my belly granted me, for grasping after sumptuous feeds. For, in +my wish to be Sestius' guest, his defence against the plaintiff Antius, +crammed with venom and pestilent dulness, did I read through. Hence a chill +heavy rheum and fitful cough shattered me continually until I fled to thine +asylum, and brought me back to health with rest and nettle-broth. +Wherefore, re-manned, I give thee utmost thanks, that thou hast not avenged +my fault. Nor do I pray now for aught but that, should I re-take Sestius' +nefarious script, its frigid vapidness may bring a cold and cough to +Sestius' self; for he but invites me when I read dull stuff. + +XXXXV. + + Acmen Septumius suos amores + Tenens in gremio 'mea' inquit 'Acme, + Ni te perdite amo atque amare porro + Omnes sum adsidue paratus annos + Quantum qui pote plurimum perire, 5 + Solus in Libya Indiave tosta + Caesio veniam obvius leoni.' + Hoc ut dixit, Amor, sinistra ut ante, + Dextra sternuit adprobationem. + At Acme leviter caput reflectens 10 + Et dulcis pueri ebrios ocellos + Illo purpureo ore saviata + 'Sic' inquit 'mea vita Septumille, + Huic uni domino usque serviamus, + Vt multo mihi maior acriorque 15 + Ignis mollibus ardet in medullis.' + Hoc ut dixit, Amor, sinistra ut ante, + Dextra sternuit adprobationem. + Nunc ab auspicio bono profecti + Mutuis animis amant amantur. 20 + Vnam Septumius misellus Acmen + Mavolt quam Syrias Britanniasque: + Vno in Septumio fidelis Acme + Facit delicias libidinesque. + Quis ullos homines beatiores 25 + Vidit, quis Venerem auspicatiorem? + +XXXXV. + +ON ACME AND SEPTUMIUS. + + To Acme quoth Septumius who his fere + Held on his bosom--"Acme, mine! next year, + Unless I love thee fondlier than before, + And with each twelve month love thee more and more, + As much as lover's life can slay with yearning, 5 + Alone in Lybia, or Hind's clime a-burning, + Be mine to encounter Lion grisly-eyed!" + While he was speaking Love on leftward side + (As wont) approving sneeze from dextral sped. + But Acme backwards gently bending head, 10 + And the love-drunken eyes of her sweet boy + Kissing with yonder rosy mouth, "My joy," + She murmured, "my life-love Septumillus mine! + Unto one master's hest let's aye incline, + As burns with fuller and with fiercer fire 15 + In my soft marrow set, this love-desire!" + While she was speaking, Love from leftward side + (As wont) with sneeze approving rightwards hied. + Now with boon omens wafted on their way, + In mutual fondness, love and loved are they. 20 + Love-sick Septumius holds one Acme's love, + Of Syrias or either Britains high above, + Acme to one Septumius full of faith + Her love and love-liesse surrendereth. + Who e'er saw mortals happier than these two? 25 + Who e'er a better omened Venus knew? + +Septumius clasping Acme his adored to his bosom, "Acme mine," quoth he, "if +thee I love not to perdition, nor am prepared to love through all the +future years moreover without cease, as greatly and distractedly as man +may,--alone in Libya or in torrid India may I oppose a steel-eyed lion." As +thus he said, Love, leftwards as before, with approbation rightwards +sneezed. Then Acme slightly bending back her head, and the swimming eyes of +her sweet boy with rose-red lips a-kissing, "So," quoth she, "my life, +Septumillus, this Lord unique let us serve for aye, as more forceful in me +burns the fire greater and keener 'midst my soft marrow." As thus she said, +Love, leftwards as before, with approbation rightwards sneezed. Now with +good auspice urged along, with mutual minds they love and are beloved. The +thrall o' love Septumius his only Acme far would choose, than Tyrian or +Britannian realms: the faithful Acme with Septumius unique doth work her +love delights and wantonings. Whoe'er has seen folk blissfuller, whoe'er a +more propitious union? + +XXXXVI. + + Iam ver egelidos refert tepores, + Iam caeli furor aequinoctialis + Iocundis Zephyri silescit aureis. + Linquantur Phrygii, Catulle, campi + Nicaeaeque ager uber aestuosae: 5 + Ad claras Asiae volemus urbes. + Iam mens praetrepidans avet vagari, + Iam laeti studio pedes vigescunt. + O dulces comitum valete coetus, + Longe quos simul a domo profectos 10 + Diversae variae viae reportant. + +XXXXVI. + +HIS ADIEUX TO BITHYNIA. + + Now Spring his cooly mildness brings us back, + Now th' equinoctial heaven's rage and wrack + Hushes at hest of Zephyr's bonny breeze. + Far left (Catullus!) be the Phrygian leas + And summery Nicaea's fertile downs: 5 + Fly we to Asia's fame-illumined towns. + Now lust my fluttering thoughts for wayfare long, + Now my glad eager feet grow steady, strong. + O fare ye well, my comrades, pleasant throng, + Ye who together far from homesteads flying, 10 + By many various ways come homewards hieing. + +Now springtide brings back its mild and tepid airs, now the heaven's fury +equinoctial is calmed by Zephyr's benign breath. The Phrygian meadows are +left behind, O Catullus, and the teeming fields of sun-scorched Nicaea: to +the glorious Asian cities let us haste. Now my palpitating soul craves +wander, now my feet grow vigorous with glad zeal. O charming circlet of +comrades, fare ye well, who are together met from distant homes to which +divers sundered ways lead back. + +XXXXVII. + + Porci et Socration, duae sinistrae + Pisonis, scabies famesque mundi + Vos Veraniolo meo et Fabullo + Verpus praeposuit Priapus ille? + Vos convivia lauta sumptuose 5 + De die facitis? mei sodales + Quaerunt in trivio vocationes? + +XXXXVII. + +TO PORCIUS AND SOCRATION. + + Porcius and Socration, pair sinister + Of Piso, scabs and starvelings of the world, + You to Fabullus and my Verianolus, + Hath dared yon snipt Priapus to prefer? + Upon rich banquets sumptuously spread 5 + Still gorge you daily while my comrades must + Go seek invitals where the three roads fork? + +Porcius and Socration, twins in rascality of Piso, scurf and famisht of the +earth, you before my Veraniolus and Fabullus has that prepuce-lacking +Priapus placed? Shall you betimes each day in luxurious opulence banquet? +And must my cronies quest for dinner invitations, [lounging] where the +three cross-roads meet? + +XXXXVIII. + + Mellitos oculos tuos, Iuventi, + Siquis me sinat usque basiare, + Vsque ad milia basiem trecenta, + Nec umquam videar satur futurus, + Non si densior aridis aristis 5 + Sit nostrae seges osculationis. + +XXXXVIII. + +TO JUVENTIUS. + + Those honied eyes of thine (Juventius!) + If any suffer me sans stint to buss, + I'd kiss of kisses hundred thousands three, + Nor ever deem I'd reach satiety, + Not albe denser than dried wheat-ears show 5 + The kissing harvests our embraces grow. + +Thine honey-sweet eyes, O Juventius, had I the leave to kiss for aye, for +aye I'd kiss e'en to three hundred thousand kisses, nor ever should I reach +to future plenity, not even if thicker than dried wheat sheaves be the +harvest of our kisses. + +XXXXVIIII. + + Disertissime Romuli nepotum, + Quot sunt quotque fuere, Marce Tulli, + Quotque post aliis erunt in annis, + Gratias tibi maximas Catullus + Agit pessimus omnium poeta, 5 + Tanto pessimus omnium poeta + Quanto tu optimus omnium patronus. + +XXXXVIIII. + +TO MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO. + + Most eloquent 'mid race of Romulus + That is or ever was (Marc Tullius!) + Or in the coming years the light shall see, + His thanks, the warmest, offers unto thee + Catullus, poet sorriest that be, 5 + And by such measure poet sorriest, + As thou of pleaders art the bestest best. + +Most eloquent of Romulus' descendancy, who are, who have been, O Marcus +Tullius, and who shall later be in after time, to thee doth give his +greatest gratitude Catullus, pettiest of all the poets,--and so much +pettiest of all the poets as thou art peerless 'mongst all pleaders. + +L. + + Hesterno, Licini, die otiosi + Multum lusimus in meis tabellis, + Vt convenerat esse delicatos. + Scribens versiculos uterque nostrum + Ludebat numero modo hoc modo illoc, 5 + Reddens mutua per iocum atque vinum. + Atque illinc abii tuo lepore + Incensus, Licini, facetiisque, + Vt nec me miserum cibus iuvaret, + Nec somnus tegeret quiete ocellos, 10 + Sed toto indomitus furore lecto + Versarer cupiens videre lucem, + Vt tecum loquerer, simulque ut essem. + At defessa labore membra postquam + Semimortua lectulo iacebant, 15 + Hoc, iocunde, tibi poema feci, + Ex quo perspiceres meum dolorem. + Nunc audax cave sis, precesque nostras, + Oramus, cave despuas, ocelle, + Ne poenas Nemesis reposcat a te. 20 + Est vemens dea: laedere hanc caveto. + +L. + +TO HIS FRIEND LICINIUS. + + Idly (Licinius!) we our yesterday, + Played with my tablets much as pleased us play, + In mode becoming souls of dainty strain. + Inditing verses either of us twain + Now in one measure then in other line 5 + We rang the changes amid wit and wine. + Then fared I homewards by thy fun so fired + And by thy jests (Licinius!) so inspired, + Nor food my hapless appetite availed + Nor sleep in quiet rest my eyelids veiled, 10 + But o'er the bedstead wild in furious plight + I tossed a-longing to behold the light, + So I might talk wi' thee, and be wi' thee. + But when these wearied limbs from labour free + Were on my couchlet strewn half-dead to lie, 15 + For thee (sweet wag!) this poem for thee wrote I, + Whereby thou mete and weet my cark and care. + Now be not over-bold, nor this our prayer + Outspit thou (apple of mine eyes!): we pray + Lest doom thee Nemesis hard pain repay:-- 20 + She's a dire Goddess, 'ware thou cross her way. + +Yestreen, Licinius, in restful day, much mirthful verse we flashed upon my +tablets, as became us, men of fancy. Each jotting versicles in turn sported +first in this metre then in that, exchanging mutual epigrams 'midst jokes +and wine. But I departed thence, afire, Licinius, with thy wit and +drolleries, so that food was useless to my wretched self; nor could sleep +close mine eyes in quiet, but all o'er the bed in restless fury did I toss, +longing to behold daylight that with thee I might speak, and again we might +be together. But afterwards, when my limbs, weakened by my restless +labours, lay stretched in semi-death upon the bed, this poem, O jocund one, +I made for thee, from which thou mayst perceive my dolour. Now 'ware thee +of presumptuousness, and our pleadings 'ware thee of rejecting, we pray +thee, eye-babe of ours, lest Nemesis exact her dues from thee. She is a +forceful Goddess; 'ware her wrath. + +LI. + + 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 5 + Eripit sensus mihi: nam simul te, + Lesbia, aspexi, nihil est super mi + * * * * + Lingua sed torpet, tenuis sub artus + Flamma demanat, sonitu suopte 10 + Tintinant aures geminae, teguntur + Lumina nocte. + +LIb. + + Otium, Catulle, tibi molestumst: + Otio exultas nimiumque gestis. 15 + Otium et reges prius et beatas + Perdidit urbes. + +LI. + +TO LESBIA. + + Peer of a God meseemeth he, + Nay passing Gods (and that can be!) + Who all the while sits facing thee + Sees thee and hears + Thy low sweet laughs which (ah me!) daze 5 + Mine every sense, and as I gaze + Upon thee (Lesbia!) o'er me strays + * * * * + My tongue is dulled, my limbs adown + Flows subtle flame; with sound its own 10 + Rings either ear, and o'er are strown + Mine eyes with night. + +LIb. + + Ease has thy lot, Catullus, crost, + Ease gladdens thee at heaviest cost, 15 + Ease killed the Kings ere this and lost + The tallest towns. + +He to me to be peer to a god doth seem, he, if such were lawful, to +o'er-top the gods, who sitting oft a-front of thee doth gaze on thee, and +doth listen to thine laughter lovely, which doth snatch away from sombre me +mine every sense: for instant falls my glance on thee, Lesbia, naught is +left to me [of voice], but my tongue is numbed, a keen-edged flame spreads +through my limbs, with sound self-caused my twin ears sing, and mine eyes +are enwrapped with night. + +Sloth, O Catullus, to thee is hurtful: in sloth beyond measure dost thou +exult and pass thy life. Sloth hath erewhile ruined rulers and gladsome +cities. + +LII. + + Quid est, Catulle? quid moraris emori? + Sella in curuli struma Nonius sedet, + Per consulatum peierat Vatinius: + Quid est, Catulle? quid moraris emori? + +LII. + +CATULLUS TO HIMSELF. + + What is't, Catullus? Why delay to out die? + That Wen hight Nonius sits in curule chair, + For Consulship Vatinius false doth swear; + What is't, Catullus? Why delay to out die? + +Prithee Catullus, why delay thine death? Nonius the tumour is seated in the +curule chair, Vatinius forswears himself for consul's rank: prithee +Catullus, why delay thine death? + +LIII. + + Risi nescioquem modo e corona, + Qui, cum mirifice Vatiniana + Meus crimina Calvos explicasset, + Admirans ait haec manusque tollens, + 'Di magni, salaputium disertum!' 5 + +LIII. + +A JEST CONCERNING CALVUS. + + I laughed at one 'mid Forum-crowd unknown + Who, when Vatinius' crimes in wondrous way + Had by my Calvus been explained, exposed, + His hand upraising high admiring cried + "Great Gods! the loquent little Doodle-diddle!" 5 + +I laughed at I know not whom in the crowded court who, when with admirable +art Vatinius' crimes my Calvus had set forth, with hands uplifted and +admiring mien thus quoth "Great Gods, the fluent little Larydoodle!" + +LIIII. + + Othonis caput oppidost pusillum + * * * * + Neri rustica semilauta crura, + Subtile et leve peditum Libonis. + * * * * + Si non omnia displicere vellem + Tibi et Fuficio seni recocte 5 + +LIIIIb. + + Irascere iterum meis iambis + Inmerentibus, unice imperator. + +LIIII. + +TO JULIUS CAESAR. (?) + + The head of Otho, puniest of pates + * * * * + The rustic half-washt shanks of Nerius + And Libo's subtle silent fizzling-farts. + * * * * + I wish that leastwise these should breed disgust + In thee and old Fuficius, rogue twice-cookt. 5 + +LIIIIb. + + Again at these mine innocent iamb-lines + Wi' wrath be wrothest; unique Emperor! + +Otho's head is paltry past all phrase * * * the uncouth semi-soaped shanks +of Nerius, the slender soundless fizzlings of Libo * * * if not all things +I wish would displease thee and Fuficius, the white-headed and +green-tailed. + +Anew thou shalt be enraged at my harmless iambics, emperor unique. + +LV. + + Oramus, si forte non molestumst, + Demostres, ubi sint tuae tenebrae. + Te campo quaesivimus minore, + Te in circo, te in omnibus libellis, + Te in templo summi Iovis sacrato. 5 + In Magni simul ambulatione + Femellas omnes, amice, prendi, + Quas vultu vidi tamen serenas. + A, vel te sic ipse flagitabam, + 'Camerium mihi, pessimae puellae.' 10 + Quaedam inquit, nudum sinum reducens, + 'En heic in roseis latet papillis.' + Sed te iam ferre Herculei labos est. 13 + Non custos si fingar ille Cretum, 23 + Non si Pegaseo ferar volatu, + Non Ladas ego pinnipesve Perseus, 25 + Non Rhesi nivea citaque biga: + Adde huc plumipedes volatilesque, + Ventorumque simul require cursum: + Quos cunctos, Cameri, mihi dicares, + Defessus tamen omnibus medullis 30 + Et multis langoribus peresus + Essem te mihi, amice, quaeritando. 32 + Tanto ten fastu negas, amice? 14 + Dic nobis ubi sis futurus, ede + Audacter, conmitte, crede lucei. + Num te lacteolae tenent puellae? + Si linguam clauso tenes in ore, + Fructus proicies amoris omnes: + Verbosa gaudet Venus loquella. 20 + Vel si vis, licet obseres palatum, + Dum vostri sim particeps amoris. + +LV. + +OF HIS FRIEND CAMERIUS. + + We pray, an' haply irk it not when prayed, + Show us where shadowed hidest thou in shade! + Thee throughout Campus Minor sought we all, + Thee in the Circus, thee in each bookstall, + Thee in Almighty Jove's fane consecrate. 5 + Nor less in promenade titled from The Great + (Friend!) I accosted each and every quean, + But mostly madams showing mien serene, + For thee I pestered all with many pleas-- + "Give me Camerius, wanton baggages!" 10 + Till answered certain one a-baring breasts + "Lo, 'twixt these rosy paps he haply rests!" + But now to find thee were Herculean feat. 13 + Not if I feigned me that guard of Crete, 23 + Not if with Pegasean wing I sped, + Or Ladas I or Perseus plumiped, 25 + Or Rhesus borne in swifty car snow-white: + Add the twain foot-bewing'd and fast of flight, + And of the cursive winds require the blow: + All these (Camerius!) couldst on me bestow. + Tho' were I wearied to each marrow bone 30 + And by many o' languors clean forgone + Yet I to seek thee (friend!) would still assay. 32 + In such proud lodging (friend) wouldst self denay? 14 + Tell us where haply dwell'st thou, speak outright, + Be bold and risk it, trusting truth to light, + Say do these milk-white girls thy steps detain? + If aye in tight-sealed lips thy tongue remain, + All Amor's fruitage thou shalt cast away: + Verbose is Venus, loving verbal play! 20 + But, an it please thee, padlockt palate bear, + So in your friendship I have partner-share. + +We beg, if maybe 'tis not untoward, thou'lt shew us where may be thine +haunt sequestered. Thee did we quest within the Lesser Fields, thee in the +Circus, thee in every bookshop, thee in holy fane of highmost Jove. In +promenade yclept "The Great," the crowd of cocottes straightway did I stop, +O friend, accosting those whose looks I noted were unruffled. And for thee +loudly did I clamour, "Restore to me Camerius, most giddy girls." Quoth +such-an-one, her bosom bare a-shewing, "Look! 'twixt rose-red paps he +shelters him." But labour 'tis of Hercules thee now to find. Not were I +framed the Cretan guard, nor did I move with Pegasean wing, nor were I +Ladas, or Persius with the flying foot, or Rhesus with swift and snowy +team: to these add thou the feathery-footed and winged ones, ask likewise +fleetness of the winds: which all united, O Camerius, couldst thou me +grant, yet exhausted in mine every marrow and with many a faintness +consumed should I be in my quest for thee, O friend. Why withdraw thyself +in so much pride, O friend? Tell us where thou wilt be found, declare it +boldly, give up the secret, trust it to the light. What, do the milk-white +maidens hold thee? If thou dost hold thy tongue closed up in mouth, thou +squanderest Love's every fruit: for Venus joys in many-worded babblings. +Yet if thou wishest, thou mayst bar thy palate, if I may be a sharer in thy +love. + +LVI. + + Orem ridiculam, Cato, et iocosam + Dignamque auribus et tuo cachinno. + Ride, quidquid amas, Cato, Catullum: + Res est ridicula et nimis iocosa. + Deprendi modo pupulum puellae 5 + Trusantem: hunc ego, si placet Dionae, + Protelo rigida mea cecidi. + +LVI. + +TO CATO, DESCRIBING A "BLACK JOKER." + + O risible matter (Cato!) and jocose, + Digne of thy hearing, of thy sneering digne. + Laugh (Cato!) an thou love Catullus thine; + The thing is risible, nay, too jocose. + Erstwhile I came upon a lad who a lass 5 + Was ---- and (so please it Dion!) I + Pierced him with stiffest staff and did him die. + +O thing ridiculous, Cato, and facetious, and worthy of thine ears and of +thy laughter. Laugh, Cato, the more thou lovest Catullus: the thing is +ridiculous, and beyond measure facetious. Just now I caught a boy +a-thrusting in a girl: and on him (so please you, Dione) with rigid spear +of mine I fell. + +LVII. + + Pulcre convenit inprobis cinaedis, + Mamurrae pathicoque Caesarique. + Nec mirum: maculae pares utrisque, + Vrbana altera et illa Formiana, + Inpressae resident nec eluentur: 5 + Morbosi pariter, gemelli utrique + Vno in lectulo, erudituli ambo, + Non hic quam ille magis vorax adulter, + Rivales sociei puellularum. + Pulcre convenit inprobis cinaedis. 10 + +LVII. + +ON MAMURRA AND JULIUS CAESAR. + + Right well are paired these Cinaedes sans shame + Mamurra and Caesar, both of pathic fame. + No wonder! Both are fouled with foulest blight, + One urban being, Formian t'other wight, + And deeply printed with indelible stain: 5 + Morbose is either, and the twin-like twain + Share single Couchlet; peers in shallow lore, + Nor this nor that for lechery hungers more, + As rival wenchers who the maidens claim + Right well are paired these Cinaedes sans shame. 10 + +A comely couple of shameless catamites, Mamurra and Caesar, pathics both. +Nor needs amaze: they share like stains--this, Urban, the other, +Formian,--which stay deep-marked nor can they be got rid of. Both morbidly +diseased through pathic vice, the pair of twins lie in one bed, alike in +erudition, one not more than other the greater greedier adulterer, allied +rivals of the girls. A comely couple of shameless catamites. + +LVIII. + + Caeli, Lesbia nostra, Lesbia illa, + Illa Lesbia, quam Catullus unam + Plus quam se atque suos amavit omnes, + Nunc in quadriviis et angiportis + Glubit magnanimos Remi nepotes. 5 + +LVIII. + +ON LESBIA WHO ENDED BADLY. + + Caelius! That Lesbia of ours, that Lesbia, + That only Lesbia by Catullus loved, + Than self, far fondlier, than all his friends, + She now where four roads fork, and wind the wynds + Husks the high-minded scions Remus-sprung. 5 + +O Caelius, our Lesbia, that Lesbia, the self-same Lesbia whom Catullus more +than himself and all his own did worship, now at cross-roads and in alleys +husks off the mettlesome descendants of Remus. + +LVIIII. + + Bononiensis Rufa Rufulum fellat, + Vxor Meneni, saepe quam in sepulcretis + Vidistis ipso rapere de rogo cenam, + Cum devolutum ex igne prosequens panem + Ab semiraso tunderetur ustore. 5 + +LVIIII. + +ON RUFA. + + Rufa the Bolognese drains Rufule dry, + (Wife to Menenius) she 'mid tombs you'll spy, + The same a-snatching supper from the pyre + Following the bread-loaves rolling forth the fire + Till frapped by half-shaved body-burner's ire. 5 + +Rufa of Bononia lends her lips to Rufulus, she the wife of Menenius, whom +oft among the sepulchres ye have seen clutching her meal from the funeral +pile, when pursuing the bread which has rolled from the fire, whilst she +was being buffeted by a semi-shorn corpse-burner. + +LX. + + Num te leaena montibus Libystinis + Aut Scylla latrans infima inguinum parte + Tam mente dura procreavit ac taetra, + Vt supplicis vocem in novissimo casu + Contemptam haberes a! nimis fero corde? 5 + +LX. + +TO A CRUEL CHARMER. + + Bare thee some lioness wild in Lybian wold? + Or Scylla barking from low'st inguinal fold? + With so black spirit, of so dure a mould, + E'en voice of suppliant must thou disregard + In latest circumstance ah, heart o'er hard? 5 + +Did a lioness of the Libyan Hills, or Scylla yelping from her lowmost +groin, thee procreate, with mind so hard and horrid, that thou hast +contempt upon a suppliant's voice in calamity's newest stress? O heart +o'ergreatly cruel. + +LXI. + + Collis o Heliconii + Cultor, Vraniae genus, + Qui rapis teneram ad virum + Virginem, o Hymenaee Hymen, + O Hymen Hymenaee, 5 + + Cinge tempora floribus + Suave olentis amaraci, + Flammeum cape, laetus huc + Huc veni niveo gerens + Luteum pede soccum, 10 + + Excitusque hilari die + Nuptialia concinens + Voce carmina tinnula + Pelle humum pedibus, manu + Pineam quate taedam. 15 + + Namque Vinia Manlio, + Qualis Idalium colens + Venit ad Phrygium Venus + Iudicem, bona cum bona + Nubet alite virgo, 20 + + Floridis velut enitens + Myrtus Asia ramulis, + Quos Hamadryades deae + Ludicrum sibi rosido + Nutriunt umore. 25 + + Quare age huc aditum ferens + Perge linquere Thespiae + Rupis Aonios specus, + Nympha quos super inrigat + Frigerans Aganippe, 30 + + Ac domum dominam voca + Coniugis cupidam novi, + Mentem amore revinciens, + Vt tenax hedera huc et huc + Arborem inplicat errans. 35 + + Vosque item simul, integrae + Virgines, quibus advenit + Par dies, agite in modum + Dicite 'o Hymenaee Hymen, + O Hymen Hymenaee,' 40 + + Vt lubentius, audiens + Se citarier ad suom + Munus, huc aditum ferat + Dux bonae Veneris, boni + Coniugator amoris. 45 + + Quis deus magis anxiis + Est petendus amantibus? + Quem colent homines magis + Caelitum? o Hymenaee Hymen, + O Hymen Hymenaee. 50 + + Te suis tremulus parens + Invocat, tibi virgines + Zonula soluunt sinus, + Te timens cupida novos + Captat aure maritus. 55 + + Tu fero iuveni in manus + Floridam ipse puellulam + Dedis a gremio suae + Matris, o Hymenaee Hymen, + O Hymen Hymenaee. 60 + + Nil potest sine te Venus, + Fama quod bona conprobet, + Commodi capere: at potest + Te volente. quis huic deo + Conpararier ausit? 65 + + Nulla quit sine te domus + Liberos dare, nec parens + Stirpe cingier: at potest + Te volente. quis huic deo + Conpararier ausit? 70 + + Quae tuis careat sacris, + Non queat dare praesides + Terra finibus: at queat + Te volente. quis huic deo + Conpararier ausit? 75 + + Claustra pandite ianuae, + Virgo ades. viden ut faces + Splendidas quatiunt comas? + Tardet ingenuos pudor: + * * * * + + * * * * + * * * * + * * * * + Quem tamen magis audiens 80 + Flet, quod ire necesse est. 81 + + Flere desine. non tibi, A- (86) + runculeia, periculumst, + Nequa femina pulchrior + Clarum ab Oceano diem 85 + Viderit venientem. (90) + + Talis in vario solet + Divitis domini hortulo + Stare flos hyacinthinus. + Sed moraris, abit dies: 90 + _Prodeas, nova nupta._ + + Prodeas, nova nupta, si + Iam videtur, et audias + Nostra verba. vide ut faces + Aureas quatiunt comas: 95 + Prodeas, nova nupta. + + Non tuos levis in mala + Deditus vir adultera + Probra turpia persequens + A tuis teneris volet 100 + Secubare papillis, + + Lenta quin velut adsitas + Vitis inplicat arbores, + Inplicabitur in tuom + Conplexum. sed abit dies: 105 + Prodeas, nova nupta. + + O cubile, quod omnibus + * * * * + * * * * + * * * * 110 + Candido pede lecti, + + Quae tuo veniunt ero, + Quanta gaudia, quae vaga + Nocte, quae medio die + Gaudeat! sed abit dies: 115 + Prodeas, nova nupta. + + Tollite, o pueri, faces: + Flammeum video venire. + Ite, concinite in modum + 'O Hymen Hymenaee io, 120 + O Hymen Hymenaee.' + + Ne diu taceat procax + Fescennina iocatio, + Nec nuces pueris neget + Desertum domini audiens 125 + Concubinus amorem. + + Da nuces pueris, iners + Concubine: satis diu + Lusisti nucibus: lubet + Iam servire Talasio. 130 + Concubine, nuces da. + + Sordebant tibi vilicae, + Concubine, hodie atque heri: + Nunc tuom cinerarius + Tondet os. miser a miser 135 + Concubine, nuces da. + + Diceris male te a tuis + Vnguentate glabris marite + Abstinere: sed abstine. + O Hymen Hymenaee io, 140 + O Hymen Hymenaee. + + Scimus haec tibi quae licent + Sola cognita: sed marito + Ista non eadem licent. + O Hymen Hymenaee io, 145 + O Hymen Hymenaee. + + Nupta, tu quoque, quae tuos + Vir petet, cave ne neges, + Ni petitum aliunde eat. + O Hymen Hymenaee io, 150 + O Hymen Hymenaee. + + En tibi domus ut potens + Et beata viri tui, + Quae tibi sine fine erit + (O Hymen Hymenaee io, 155 + O Hymen Hymenaee), + + Vsque dum tremulum movens + Cana tempus anilitas + Omnia omnibus adnuit. + O Hymen Hymenaee io, 160 + O Hymen Hymenaee. + + Transfer omine cum bono + Limen aureolos pedes, + Rasilemque subi forem. + O Hymen Hymenaee io, 165 + O Hymen Hymenaee. + + Aspice, intus ut accubans + Vir tuos Tyrio in toro + Totus inmineat tibi. + O Hymen Hymenaee io, 170 + O Hymen Hymenaee. + + Illi non minus ac tibi + Pectore uritur intimo + Flamma, sed penite magis. + O Hymen Hymenaee io, 175 + O Hymen Hymenaee. + + Mitte brachiolum teres, + Praetextate, puellulae: + Iam cubile adeat viri. + O Hymen Hymenaee io, 180 + O Hymen Hymenaee. + + Vos bonae senibus viris + Cognitae bene feminae, + Collocate puellulam. + O Hymen Hymenaee io, 185 + O Hymen Hymenaee. + + Iam licet venias, marite: + Vxor in thalamo tibist + Ore floridulo nitens, + Alba parthenice velut 190 + Luteumve papaver. + + At, marite, (ita me iuvent + Caelites) nihilo minus + Pulcher es, neque te Venus + Neglegit. sed abit dies: 195 + Perge, ne remorare. + + Non diu remoratus es, + Iam venis. bona te Venus + Iuverit, quoniam palam + Quod cupis capis et bonum 200 + Non abscondis amorem. + + Ille pulveris Africei + Siderumque micantium + Subducat numerum prius, + Qui vostri numerare volt 205 + Multa milia ludei. + + Ludite ut lubet, et brevi + Liberos date. non decet + Tam vetus sine liberis + Nomen esse, sed indidem 210 + Semper ingenerari. + + Torquatus volo parvolus + Matris e gremio suae + Porrigens teneras manus + Dulce rideat ad patrem 215 + Semhiante labello. + + Sit suo similis patri + Manlio et facile inscieis + Noscitetur ab omnibus + Et pudicitiam suae 220 + Matris indicet ore. + + Talis illius a bona + Matre laus genus adprobet, + Qualis unica ab optima + Matre Telemacho manet 225 + Fama Penelopeo. + + Claudite ostia, virgines: + Lusimus satis. at, bonei + Coniuges, bene vivite et + Munere adsiduo valentem 230 + Exercete inventam. + +LXI. + +EPITHALAMIUM ON VINIA AND MANLIUS. + +1. + + Of Helicon-hill, O Thou that be + Haunter, Urania's progeny, + Who hurriest soft virginity + To man, O Hymenaeus Hymen, + O Hymen Hymenaeus. 5 + +2. + + About thy temples bind the bloom, + Of Marjoram flow'ret scented sweet; + Take flamey veil: glad hither come + Come hither borne by snow-hue'd feet + Wearing the saffron'd sock. 10 + +3. + + And, roused by day of joyful cheer, + Carolling nuptial lays and chaunts + With voice as silver-ringing clear, + Beat ground with feet, while brandisht flaunts + Thy hand the piney torch. 15 + +4. + + For Vinia comes by Manlius woo'd, + As Venus on th' Idalian crest, + Before the Phrygian judge she stood + And now with blessed omens blest, + The maid is here to wed. 20 + +5. + + A maiden shining bright of blee, + As Myrtle branchlet Asia bred, + Which Hamadryad deity + As toy for joyance aye befed + With humour of the dew. 25 + +6. + + Then hither come thou, hieing lief, + Awhile to leave th' Aonian cave, + Where 'neath the rocky Thespian cliff + Nymph Aganippe loves to lave + In cooly waves outpoured. 30 + +7. + + And call the house-bride, homewards bring + Maid yearning for new married fere, + Her mind with fondness manacling, + As the tough ivy here and there + Errant the tree enwinds. 35 + +8. + + And likewise ye, clean virginal + Maidens, to whom shall haps befall + Like day, in measure join ye all + Singing, O Hymenaeus Hymen, + O Hymen Hymenaeus. 40 + +9. + + That with more will-full will a-hearing + The call to office due, he would + Turn footsteps hither, here appearing, + Guide to good Venus, and the good + Lover conjoining strait. 45 + +10. + + What God than other Godheads more + Must love-sick wights for aid implore? + Whose Godhead foremost shall adore + Mankind? O Hymenaeus Hymen, + O Hymen Hymenaeus. 50 + +11. + + Thee for his own the trembling sire + Invokes, thee Virgins ever sue + Who laps of zone to loose aspire, + And thee the bashful bridegrooms woo + With ears that long to hear. 55 + +12. + + Thou to the hand of love-fierce swain + Deliverest maiden fair and fain, + From mother's fondling bosom ta'en + Perforce, O Hymenaeus Hymen + O Hymen Hymenaeus. 60 + +13. + + Thou lacking, Venus ne'er avails-- + While Fame approves for honesty-- + Love-joys to lavish: ne'er she fails + Thou willing:--with such Deity + Whoe'er shall dare compare? 65 + +14. + + Thou wanting, never son and heir + The Hearth can bear, nor parents be + By issue girt, yet can it bear, + Thou willing:--with such Deity, + Whoe'er shall dare compare? 70 + +15. + + An lack a land thy sacring rite, + The perfect rule we ne'er shall see + Reach Earth's far bourne; yet such we sight, + Thou willing:--with such Deity + Whoe'er shall dare compare? 75 + +16. + + Your folds ye gateways wide-ope swing! + The maiden comes. Seest not the sheen + Of links their splendent tresses fling? + Let shame retard the modest mien. + * * * * + +17. + + * * * * + * * * * + * * * * + Who more she hears us weeps the more, 80 + That needs she must advance. 81 + +18. + + Cease raining tear-drops! not for thee, (86) + Aurunculeia, risk we deem, + That fairer femininety + Clear day outdawned from Ocean stream 85 + Shall ever more behold. (90) + +19. + + Such in the many-tinted bower + Of rich man's garden passing gay + Upstands the hyacinthine flower. + But thou delayest, wanes the day: 90 + _Prithee, come forth new Bride._ + +20. + + Prithee, come forth new Bride! methinks, + Drawing in sight, the talk we hold + Thou haply hearest. See the Links! + How shake their locks begilt with gold: 95 + Prithee, new Bride come forth. + +21. + + Not lightly given thy mate to ill + Joys and adulterous delights + Foul fleshly pleasures seeking still + Shall ever choose he lie o' nights 100 + Far from thy tender paps. + +22. + + But as with pliant shoots the vine + Round nearest tree-trunk winds her way, + He shall be ever twined in thine + Embraces:--yet, lo! wanes the day: 105 + Prithee, come forth new Bride! + +23. + + Couchlet which to me and all + * * * * + * * * * + * * * * 110 + With bright white bedstead foot. + +24. + + What joys the lord of thee betide! + What love-liesse on vaguing way + O' nights! What sweets in morning tide + For thee be stored! Yet wanes the day: 115 + Prithee, come forth fresh Bride! + +25. + + Your lighted links, O boys, wave high: + I see the flamey veil draw nigh: + Hie, sing in merry mode and cry + "O Hymen Hymenaeus io, 120 + O Hymen Hymenaeus!" + +26. + + Lest longer mute tongue stays that joys + In festal jest, from Fescennine, + Nor yet denay their nuts to boys, + He-Concubine! who learns in fine 125 + His lordling's love is fled. + +27. + + Throw nuts to boys thou idle all + He-Concubine! wast fain full long + With nuts to play: now pleased as thrall + Be thou to swell Talasios' throng: 130 + He-Concubine throw nuts. + +28. + + Wont thou at peasant-girls to jape + He-whore! Thy Lord's delight the while: + Now shall hair-curling chattel scrape + Thy cheeks: poor wretch, ah! poor and vile:-- 135 + He-Concubine, throw nuts. + +29. + + 'Tis said from smooth-faced ingle train + (Anointed bridegroom!) hardly fain + Hast e'er refrained; now do refrain! + O Hymen Hymenaeus io, 140 + O Hymen Hymenaeus! + +30. + + We know that naught save licit rites + Be known to thee, but wedded wights + No more deem lawful such delights. + O Hymen Hymenaeus io, 145 + O Hymen Hymenaeus. + +31. + + Thou too, O Bride, whatever dare + Thy groom, of coy rebuff beware, + Lest he to find elsewhither fare. + O Hymen Hymenaeus io, 150 + O Hymen Hymenaeus. + +32. + + Lo! here the house of high degree + Thy husband's puissant home to be, + Which ever shall obey thy gree. + O Hymen Hymenaeus io, 155 + O Hymen Hymenaeus! + +33. + + Till Time betide when eld the hoar + Thy head and temples trembling o'er + Make nod to all things evermore. + O Hymen Hymenaeus io, 160 + O Hymen Hymenaeus. + +34. + + O'erstep with omen meetest meet + The threshold-stone thy golden feet + Up, past the polisht panels fleet. + O Hymen Hymenaeus io, 165 + O Hymen Hymenaeus. + +35. + + Within bestrewn thy bridegroom see + On couch of Tyrian cramoisy + All imminent awaiting thee. + O Hymen Hymenaeus io, 170 + O Hymen Hymenaeus. + +36. + + For in his breast not less than thine + Burn high the flames that deepest shrine, + Yet his the lowe far deeper lien. + O Hymen Hymenaeus io, 175 + O Hymen Hymenaeus. + +37. + + Let fall the maid's soft arms, thou fair + Boy purple-hem'd: now be thy care + Her bridegroom's couch she seek and share. + O Hymen Hymenaeus io, 180 + O Hymen Hymenaeus. + +38. + + Ye wives time-tried to husbands wed, + Well-known for chastity inbred, + Dispose the virginette a-bed. + O Hymen Hymenaeus io, 185 + O Hymen Hymenaeus. + +39. + + Groom, now 'tis meet thou hither pace, + With bride in genial bed to blend, + For sheenly shines her flowery face + Where the white chamomiles contend 190 + With poppies blushing red. + +40. + + Yet bridegroom (So may Godhead deign + Help me!) nowise in humbler way + Art fair, nor Venus shall disdain + Thy charms, but look! how wanes the day: 195 + Forward, nor loiter more! + +41. + + No longer loitering makest thou, + Now comest thou. May Venus good + Aid thee when frankly takest thou + Thy wishes won, nor true Love woo'd 200 + Thou carest to conceal. + +42. + + Of Afric's wolds and wilds each grain, + Or constellations glistening, + First reckon he that of the twain + To count alone were fain to bring 205 + The many thousand joys. + +43. + + Play as ye please: soon prove ye deft + At babying babes,--'twere ill design'd + A name thus ancient should be left + Heirless, but issue like of kind 210 + Engendered aye should be. + +44. + + A wee Torquatus fain I'd see + Encradled on his mother's breast + Put forth his tender puds while he + Smiles to his sire with sweetest gest 215 + And liplets half apart. + +45. + + Let son like father's semblance show + (Manlius!) so with easy guess + All know him where his sire they know, + And still his face and form express 220 + His mother's honest love. + +46. + + Approve shall fair approof his birth + From mother's seed-stock generous, + As rarest fame of mother's worth + Unique exalts Telemachus 225 + Penelope's own son. + +47. + + Fast close the door-leaves, virgin band: + Enow we've played. But ye the fair + New-wedded twain live happy, and + Functions of lusty married pair 230 + Exercise sans surcease. + +O Fosterer of the Helicon Hill, sprung from Urania, who beareth the gentle +virgin to her mate, O Hymenaeus Hymen, O Hymen Hymenaeus! + +Twine round thy temples sweet-smelling flowerets of marjoram; put on thy +gold-tinted veil; light-hearted, hither, hither haste, bearing on snowy +foot the golden-yellow sandal: + +And a-fire with the joyous day, chanting wedding melodies with ringing +voice, strike the ground with thy feet, with thine hand swing aloft the +pine-link. + +For Vinia--fair as Idalian Venus, when stood before the Phrygian judge--a +virgin fair, weds Manlius 'midst happy auspices. + +She, bright-shining as the Asian myrtle florid in branchlets, which the +Hamadryads nurture for their pleasure with besprinkled dew. + +Wherefore, hither! leaving the Aonian grot in the Thespian Rock, o'er which +flows the chilling stream of Aganippe. + +And summon homewards the mistress, eager for her new yoke, firm-prisoning +her soul in love; as tight-clasping ivy, wandering hither, thither, enwraps +the tree around. + +And also ye, upright virgins, for whom a like day is nearing, chant ye in +cadence, singing "O Hymenaeus Hymen, O Hymen Hymenaeus!" + +That more freely, hearing himself to his duty called, will he bear hither +his presence, Lord of true Venus, uniter of true lovers. + +What god is worthier of solicitation by anxious amourists? Whom of the +celestials do men worship more greatly? O Hymenaeus Hymen, O Hymen +Hymenaeus! + +Thee for his young the trembling father beseeches, for thee virgins unclasp +the zone from their breasts, for thee the fear-full bridegroom harkeneth +with eager ear. + +Thou bearest to the youngster's arms that flower-like damsel, taken from +her mother's bosom, O Hymenaeus Hymen, O Hymen Hymenaeus! + +Nor lacking thee may Venus take her will with fair Fame's approbation; but +she may, with thy sanction. With such a God who dares compare? + +Lacking thee, no house can yield heirs, nor parent be surrounded by +offspring; but they may, with thy sanction. With such a God who dares +compare? + +Nor lacking thy rites may our land be protected e'en to its boundaries; but +it may, with thy sanction. With such a God who dares compare? + +Gates open wide: the virgin is here. See how the torch-flakes shake their +gleaming locks? Let shame retard the modest: + + * * * * + +Yet hearing, greater does she weep, that she must onwards go. + +Cease thy tears. For thee there is no peril, Aurunculeia, that any woman +more beauteous from Ocean springing shall ever see the light of day. + +Thou art like the hyacinthine flower, wont to stand aloft 'midst varied +riches of its lordling's garden. But thou delayest, day slips by: advance, +new mated one. + +Advance, new mated, now in sight, and listen to our speech. Note how the +torch-flakes shake their glittering tresses: advance, new mated one. + +Nor given to ill adulteries, nor seeking lawless shames, shall thy husband +ever wish to lie away from thy soft breasts, + +But as the lithe vine amongst neighbouring trees doth cling, so shall he be +enclasped in thine encircled arms. But day slips by: advance, new mated +one. + +O nuptial couch * * * * with feet of ivory white. + +What joys are coming to thy lord, in gloom o' night, in noon of day. Let +him rejoice! but day slips by: advance, new mated one. + +High raise, O boys, the torches: I see the gleaming veil approach. Come, +chant in cadence, "O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus." + +Nor longer silent is lewd Fescinnine jest, nor to the boys the nuts deny, +ingle, hearing thy master's love has flown. + +Give nuts to the boys, O listless ingle; enough of days thou hast played +with nuts: now 'tis meet to serve Talassius. O ingle, give the nuts! + +The country lasses slighted were by thee, O ingle, till to-day: now the +bride's tiresman shaves thy face. Wretched, wretched ingle, give the nuts. + +They say that from thy hairless ingles, O sweet-scented bridegroom, thou +canst scarce abstain: but abstain thou! O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen +Hymenaeus. + +We know that these delights were known to thee only when lawful: but to the +wedded these same no more are lawful. O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen +Hymenaeus! + +Thou also, bride, what thy husband seekest beware of denying, lest he go +elsewhere in its search. O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus! + +Look, thy husband's home is thine, potent and goodly, and shall be thine +for ever more. O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus! + +Until with trembling movement thine hoary brow nods ever to everything. O +Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus! + +Lift o'er the threshold with good omen thy glistening feet, and go through +the polished gates. O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus! + +Look! thy lord within, lying on Tyrian couch, all-expectant waits for thee. +O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus! + +Not less than in thine, in his breast burns an inmost flame, but more +deeply inward. O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus! + +Unloose the damsel's slender arm, O purple-bordered youth: now let her +approach her husband's couch. O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus. + +Ye good dames of fair renown to aged spouses, put ye the damsel a-bed. O +Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus. + +Now thou mayst come, O bridegroom: thy wife is in the bridal-bed, with face +brightly blushing as white parthenice 'midst ruddy poppies. + +But, O bridegroom (so help me the heaven-dwellers) in no way less beautiful +art thou, nor doth Venus slight thee. But the day slips by: on! nor more +delay. + +Nor long hast thou delayed, thou comest now. May kindly Venus help thee, +since what thou dost desire thou takest publicly, and dost not conceal true +love. + +Of Afric's sands and glittering stars the number first let him tell, who +wishes to keep count of your many-thousand sports. + +Sport as ye like, and speedily give heirs. It does not become so old a name +to be sans heirs, but for similar stock always to be generated. + +A little Torquatus I wish, from his mother's bosom reaching out his dainty +hands, and smiling sweetly at his father with lips apart. + +May he be like his sire Manlius, and easily acknowledged by every stranger, +and by his face point out his mother's faithfulness. + +May such praise confirm his birth from true mother, such fame unique as +rests with Telemachus from best of mothers, Penelope. + +Close ye the doors, virgins: enough we've sported. But, fair bride and +groom, live ye well, and diligently fulfil the office of vigorous youth. + +LXII. + + Vesper adest, iuvenes, consurgite: Vesper Olympo + Expectata diu vix tandem lumina tollit. + Surgere iam tempus, iam pingues linquere mensas, + Iam veniet virgo, iam dicetur Hymenaeus. + Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee! 5 + + Cernitis, innuptae, iuvenes? consurgite contra: + Nimirum Oetaeos ostendit noctifer ignes. + Sic certest; viden ut perniciter exiluere? + Non temere exiluere, canent quod vincere par est. + Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee! 10 + + Non facilis nobis, aequales, palma paratast, + Adspicite, innuptae secum ut meditata requirunt. + Non frustra meditantur, habent memorabile quod sit. + Nec mirum, penitus quae tota mente laborent. + Nos alio mentes, alio divisimus aures: 15 + Iure igitur vincemur, amat victoria curam. + Quare nunc animos saltem convertite vestros, + Dicere iam incipient, iam respondere decebit. + Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee! + + Hespere, qui caelo fertur crudelior ignis? 20 + Qui natam possis conplexu avellere matris, + Conplexu matris retinentem avellere natam + Et iuveni ardenti castam donare puellam. + Quid faciunt hostes capta crudelius urbe? + Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee! 25 + + Hespere, qui caelo lucet iocundior ignis? + 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? 30 + Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee! + + * * * * + Hesperus e nobis, aequales, abstulit unam + * * * * + _Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee_! + + * * * * + Namque tuo adventu vigilat custodia semper. + Nocte latent fures, quos idem saepe revertens, + Hespere, mutato conprendis nomine Eous. 35 + At libet innuptis ficto te carpere questu. + Quid tum, si carpunt, tacita quem mente requirunt? + Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee! + + Vt flos in saeptis secretus nascitur hortis, + Ignotus pecori, nullo convolsus aratro, 40 + 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; 45 + Cum castum amisit polluto corpore florem, + Nec pueris iocunda manet, nec cara puellis. + Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee! + + Vt vidua in nudo vitis quae nascitur arvo + Numquam se extollit, numquam mitem educat uvam, 50 + Sed tenerum prono deflectens pondere corpus + Iam iam contingit summum radice flagellum; + Hanc nulli agricolae, nulli coluere bubulci: + At si forte eademst ulmo coniuncta marito, + Multi illam agricolae, multi coluere bubulci: 55 + Sic virgo dum intacta manet, dum inculta senescit; + Cum par conubium maturo tempore adeptast, + Cara viro magis et minus est invisa parenti. + _Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee_! 58b + + At tu ne pugna cum tali coniuge virgo. + Non aequomst pugnare, pater cui tradidit ipse, 60 + Ipse pater cum matre, quibus parere necessest. + Virginitas non tota tuast, ex parte parentumst, + Tertia pars patrist, pars est data tertia matri, + Tertia sola tuast: noli pugnare duobus, + Qui genero sua iura simul cum dote dederunt. 65 + Hymen o Hymenaee, Hymen ades o Hymenaee! + +LXII. + +NUPTIAL SONG BY YOUTH AND DAMSELS. + +(Epithalamium.) + +_Youths._ + + Vesper is here, O youths, rise all; for Vesper Olympus + Scales and in fine enfires what lights so long were expected! + Time 'tis now to arise, now leave we tables rich laden, + Now shall the Virgin come; now chaunt we the Hymenaeus. + Hymen O Hymenaeus: Hymen here, O Hymenaeus! 5 + +_Damsels._ + + View ye the Youths, O Maids unwed? Then rise to withstand them: + Doubtless the night-fraught Star displays his splendour Oeteaen. + Sooth 'tis so; d'ye sight how speedily sprang they to warfare? + Nor for a naught up-sprang: they'll sing what need we to conquer. + Hymen O Hymenaeus: Hymen here, O Hymenaeus! 10 + +_Youths._ + + Nowise easy the palm for us (Companions!) be proffer'd, + Lo! now the maidens muse and meditate matter of forethought + Nor meditate they in vain; they muse a humorous something. + Yet naught wonder it is, their sprites be wholly in labour. + We bear divided thought one way and hearing in other: 15 + Vanquish't by right we must be, since Victory loveth the heedful. + Therefore at least d'ye turn your minds the task to consider, + Soon shall begin their say whose countersay shall befit you. + Hymen O Hymenaeus: Hymen here, O Hymenaeus! + +_Damsels._ + + Hesperus! say what flame more cruel in Heaven be fanned? 20 + Thou who the girl perforce canst tear from a mother's embraces, + Tear from a parent's clasp her child despite of her clinging + And upon love-hot youth bestowest her chastest of maidenhoods! + What shall the foeman deal more cruel to city becaptured? + Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen here, O Hymenaeus! 25 + +_Youths._ + + Hesperus! say what flame more gladsome in Heavens be shining? + Thou whose light makes sure long-pledged connubial promise + Plighted erewhile by men and erstwhile plighted by parents. + Yet to be ne'er fulfilled before thy fire's ardours have risen! + What better boon can the gods bestow than hour so desired? 30 + Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen here, O Hymenaeus! + +_Damsels._ + + * * * * + Hesperus! one of ourselves (Companions!) carried elsewhither + * * * * + _Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen here, O Hymenaeus!_ + +_Youths._ + + * * * * + For at thy coming in sight a guard is constantly watching. + Hidden o'nights lurk thieves and these as oft as returnest, + Hesper! thou seizest them with title changed to Eoeus. 35 + Pleases the bevy unwed with feigned complaints to accuse thee. + What if assail they whom their souls in secrecy cherish? + Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen here, O Hymenaeus! + +_Damsels._ + + E'en as a flow'ret born secluded in garden enclosed, + Unto the flock unknown and ne'er uptorn by the ploughshare, 40 + Soothed by the zephyrs and strengthened by suns and nourish't by showers + * * * * + Loves her many a youth and longs for her many a maiden: + Yet from her lissome stalk when cropt that flower deflowered, + Loves her never a youth nor longs for her ever a maiden: + Thus while the virgin be whole, such while she's the dearling of + kinsfolk; 45 + Yet no sooner is lost her bloom from body polluted, + Neither to youths she is joy, nor a dearling she to the maidens. + Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen here, O Hymenaeus! + +_Youths_. + + E'en as an unmated vine which born in field of the barest + Never upraises head nor breeds the mellowy grape-bunch, 50 + But under weight prone-bowed that tender body a-bending + Makes she her root anon to touch her topmost of tendrils; + Tends her never a hind nor tends her ever a herdsman: + Yet if haply conjoined the same with elm as a husband, + Tends her many a hind and tends her many a herdsman: 55 + Thus is the maid when whole, uncultured waxes she aged; + But whenas union meet she wins her at ripest of seasons, + More to her spouse she is dear and less she's irk to her parents. + _Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen here, O Hymenaeus!_ + +_Youths and Damsels_. + + But do thou cease to resist (O Maid!) such bridegroom opposing, + Right it is not to resist whereto consigned thee a father, + Father and mother of thee unto whom obedience is owing. + Not is that maidenhood all thine own, but partly thy parents! + Owneth thy sire one third, one third is right of thy mother, + Only the third is thine: stint thee to strive with the others, + Who to the stranger son have yielded their dues with a dower! 65 + Hymen O Hymenaeus: Hymen here, O Hymenaeus! + +YOUTHS. + +Vesper is here, arise ye youths: Vesper at last has just borne aloft in the +heavens his long-looked-for light. Now 'tis time to arise, now to leave the +fattened tables, now comes the virgin, now is said the Hymenaeus. Hymen O +Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus! + +_Maidens_. + +Discern ye, O unwedded girls, the youths? Arise in response: forsooth the +Star of Eve displays its Oetaean fires. Thus 'tis; see how fleetly have +they leapt forth? Nor without intent have they leapt forth, they will sing +what 'tis meet we surpass. Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus! + +_Youths_. + +Nor easily is for us, O comrades, the palm prepared; see ye how they talk +together in deep thought. Nor in vain do they muse, they have what may be +worthy of memory. Nor be wonder: for inwardly toil they with whole of their +minds. Our minds one way, our ears another, we have divided: wherefore by +right are we conquered, for victory loveth solicitude. So now your minds at +the least turn ye hither, now their chant they begin, anon ye will have to +respond. Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus! + +_Maidens_. + +Hesperus! what crueler light is borne aloft in the heavens? Thou who canst +pluck the maid from her mother's enfolding, pluck from her mother's +enfolding the firm-clinging maid, and canst give the chaste girl to the +burning youngster. What more cruel could victors in vanquished city +contrive? Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus! + +_Youths_. + +Hesperus! what more jocund light is borne aloft in the heavens? Thou who +dost confirm with thy flame the marriage betrothals which the men had +pledged, the parents had pledged of aforetime, nor may they be joined in +completion before thy flame is borne aloft. What can the gods give more +gladsome than that happy hour? Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus! + +_Maidens_. + +* * * * Hesperus from us, O comrades, has stolen one away * * * * _Hymen O +Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus!_ + +_Youths_. + +* * * * For at thy advent a guard always keeps watch. Thieves lie in wait +by night, whom often on thy return, O Hesperus, thou hap'st upon, when with +thy changed name Eous. Yet it doth please the unwedded girls to carp at +thee with plaints fictitious. But what if they carp at that which in +close-shut mind they long for? Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus! + +_Maidens_. + +As grows the hidden flower in garden closed, to kine unknown, uprooted by +no ploughshare, whilst the winds caress it, the sun makes it sturdy, and +the shower gives it growth * * * * many a boy and many a girl longs for it: +this same when pluckt, deflowered from slender stalklet, never a boy and +never a girl doth long for it: so the virgin, while she stays untouched, so +long is she dear to her folk; when she hath lost her chaste flower from her +body profaned, nor to the boys stays she beauteous, nor is she dear to the +girls. Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus! + +_Youths_. + +As the widowed vine which grows in naked field ne'er uplifts itself, ne'er +ripens a mellow grape, but bending prone 'neath the weight of its tender +body now and again its highmost bough touches with its root; this no +husbandmen, no herdsmen will foster: but if this same chance to be joined +with marital elm, it many husbandmen, many herdsmen will foster: so the +virgin, whilst she stays untouched, so long does she age, unfostered; but +when fitting union she obtain in meet time, dearer is she to her lord and +less of a trouble to parent. _Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus!_ + + _Youths and Maidens_. + +But struggle not 'gainst such a mate, O virgin. 'Tis improper to struggle, +thou whose father hath handed thee o'er, that father together with thy +mother to whom obedience is needed. Thy maidenhead is not wholly thine, in +part 'tis thy parents': a third part is thy father's, a third part is given +to thy mother, a third alone is thine: be unwilling to struggle against +two, who to their son-in-law their rights together with dowry have given. +Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen hither O Hymenaeus! + +LXIII. + + 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, + Devolsit ilei acuto sibi pondera silice. 5 + Itaque ut relicta sensit sibi membra sine viro, + Etiam recente terrae sola sanguine maculans + Niveis citata cepit manibus leve typanum, + Typanum, tuom Cybebe, tua, mater, initia, + Quatiensque terga taurei teneris cava digitis 10 + Canere haec suis adortast tremebunda comitibus. + 'Agite ite ad alta, Gallae, Cybeles nemora simul, + Simul ite, Dindymenae dominae vaga pecora, + Aliena quae petentes velut exules loca + Sectam meam executae duce me mihi comites 15 + Rabidum salum tulistis truculentaque pelage + 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, 20 + Vbi cymbalum sonat vox, ubi tympana reboant, + Tibicen ubi canit Phryx curvo grave calamo, + Vbi capita Maenades vi iaciunt ederigerae, + Vbi sacra sancta acutis ululatibus agitant, + Vbi suevit illa divae volitare vaga cohors: 25 + Quo nos decet citatis celerare tripudiis.' + Simul haec comitibus Attis cecinit notha mulier, + Thiasus repente linguis trepidantibus ululat, + Leve tympanum remugit, cava cymbala recrepant, + Viridem citus adit Idam properante pede chorus. 30 + 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, 35 + Nimio e labore somnum capiunt sine Cerere. + Piger his labante langore oculos sopor operit: + Abit in quiete molli rabidus furor animi. + Sed ubi oris aurei Sol radiantibus oculis + Lustravit aethera album, sola dura, mare ferum, 40 + 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, 45 + Liquidaque mente vidit sine queis ubique foret, + Animo aestuante rusum reditum ad vada tetulit. + Ibi maria vasta visens lacrimantibus oculis, + Patriam allocuta maestast ita voce miseriter. + 'Patria o mei creatrix, patria o mea genetrix, 50 + Ego quam miser relinquens, dominos ut erifugae + Famuli solent, ad Idae tetuli nemora pedem, + Vt aput nivem et ferarum gelida stabula forem + Et earum operta adirem furibunda latibula? + Vbinam aut quibus locis te positam, patria, reor? 55 + Cupit ipsa pupula ad te sibi dirigere aciem, + Rabie fera carens dum breve tempus animus est. + Egone a mea remota haec ferar in nemora domo? + Patria, bonis, amicis, genitoribus abero? + Abero foro, palaestra, stadio et guminasiis? 60 + Miser a miser, querendumst etiam atque etiam, anime. + Quod enim genus figuraest, ego non quod habuerim? + Ego mulier, ego adolescens, ego ephebus, ego puer, + Ego guminasi fui flos, ego eram decus olei: + Mihi ianuae frequentes, mihi limina tepida, 65 + Mihi floridis corollis redimita domus erat, + Linquendum ubi esset orto mihi sole cubiculum. + 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? 70 + Ego vitam agam sub altis Phrygiae columinibus, + Vbi cerva silvicultrix, ubi aper nemorivagus? + Iam iam dolet quod egi, iam iamque paenitet.' + Roseis ut huic labellis sonitus celer abiit, + Geminas deorum ad aures nova nuntia referens, 75 + Ibi iuncta iuga resolvens Cybele leonibus + Laevumque pecoris hostem stimulans ita loquitur. + 'Agedum' inquit 'age ferox i, fac ut hunc furor _agitet_, + Fac uti furoris ictu reditum in nemora ferat, + Mea libere nimis qui fugere imperia cupit. 80 + 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, 85 + Vadit, fremit, refringit virgulta pede vago. + At ubi umida albicantis loca litoris adiit, + Teneramque vidit Attin prope marmora pelagi, + Facit impetum: illa demens fugit in nemora fera: + Ibi semper omne vitae spatium famula fuit. 90 + Dea magna, dea Cybebe, Didymei dea domina, + Procul a mea tuos sit furor omnis, era, domo: + Alios age incitatos, alios age rabidos. + +LXIII. + +THE ADVENTURES OF ATYS. + + O'er high deep seas in speedy ship his voyage Atys sped + Until he trod the Phrygian grove with hurried eager tread + And as the gloomy tree-shorn stead, the she-god's home, he sought + There sorely stung with fiery ire and madman's vaguing thought, + Share he with sharpened flint the freight wherewith his form was fraught. + 5 + Then as the she-he sensed limbs were void of manly strain + And sighted freshly shed a-ground spot of ensanguined stain, + Snatched she the timbrel's legier load with hands as snowdrops white, + Thy timbrel, Mother Cybebe, the firstings of thy rite, + And as her tender finger-tips on bull-back hollow rang 10 + She rose a-grieving and her song to listening comrades sang. + "Up Gallae, hie together, haste for Cybebe's deep grove, + Hie to the Dindymenean dame, ye flocks that love to rove; + The which affecting stranger steads as bound in exile's brunt + My sect pursuing led by me have nerved you to confront 15 + The raging surge of salty sea and ocean's tyrant hand + As your hate of Venus' hest your manly forms unmann'd, + Gladden your souls, ye mistresses, with sense of error bann'd. + Drive from your spirits dull delay, together follow ye + To hold of Phrygian goddess, home of Phrygian Cybebe, 20 + Where loud the cymbal's voice resounds with timbrel-echoes blending, + And where the Phrygian piper drones grave bass from reed a-bending, + Where toss their ivy-circled heads with might the Maenades + Where ply mid shrilly lullilooes the holiest mysteries, + Where to fly here and there be wont the she-god's vaguing train, 25 + Thither behoves us lead the dance in quick-step hasty strain." + Soon as had Atys (bastard-she) this lay to comrades sung + The Chorus sudden lulliloos with quivering, quavering tongue, + Again the nimble timbrel groans, the scooped-out cymbals clash, + And up green Ida flits the Choir, with footsteps hurrying rash. 30 + Then Atys frantic, panting, raves, a-wandering, lost, insane, + And leads with timbrel hent and treads the shades where shadows rain, + Like heifer spurning load of yoke in yet unbroken pride; + And the swift Gallae follow fain their first and fleetfoot guide. + But when the home of Cybebe they make with toil out-worn 35 + O'er much, they lay them down to sleep and gifts of Ceres scorn; + Till heavy slumbers seal their eyelids langourous, drooping lowly, + And raving phrenzy flies each brain departing softly, slowly. + But when Dan Sol with radiant eyes that fire his face of gold + Surveyed white aether and solid soil and waters uncontrol'd, 40 + And chased with steeds sonorous-hooved the shades of lingering night, + Then sleep from waking Atys fled fleeting with sudden flight, + By Nymph Pasithae welcomed to palpitating breast. + Thus when his phrenzy raging rash was soothed to gentlest rest, + Atys revolved deeds lately done, as thought from breast unfolding, 45 + And what he'd lost and what he was with lucid sprite beholding, + To shallows led by surging soul again the way 'gan take. + There casting glance of weeping eyes where vasty billows brake, + Sad-voiced in pitifullest lay his native land bespake. + "Country of me, Creatress mine, O born to thee and bred, 50 + By hapless me abandoned as by thrall from lordling fled, + When me to Ida's groves and glades these vaguing footsteps bore + To tarry 'mid the snows and where lurk beasts in antres frore + And seek the deeply hidden lairs where furious ferals meet! + Where, Country! whither placed must I now hold thy site and seat? 55 + Lief would these balls of eyes direct to thee their line of sight, + Which for a while, a little while, would free me from despite. + Must I for ever roam these groves from house and home afar? + Of country, parents, kith and kin (life's boon) myself debar? + Fly Forum, fly Palestra, fly the Stadium, the Gymnase? 60 + Wretch, ah poor wretch, I'm doomed (my soul!) to mourn throughout my + days, + For what of form or figure is, which I failed to enjoy? + I full-grown man, I blooming youth, I stripling, I a boy, + I of Gymnasium erst the bloom, I too of oil the pride: + Warm was my threshold, ever stood my gateways opening wide, 65 + My house was ever garlanded and hung with flowery freight, + And couch to quit with rising sun, has ever been my fate: + Now must I Cybebe's she-slave, priestess of gods, be hight? + I Maenad I, mere bit of self, I neutral barren wight? + I spend my life-tide couch't beneath high-towering Phrygian peaks? 70 + I dwell on Ida's verdant slopes mottled with snowy streaks, + Where homes the forest-haunting doe, where roams the wildling boar? + Now, now I rue my deed foredone, now, now it irks me sore!" + Whenas from out those roseate lips these accents rapid flew, + Bore them to ears divine consigned a Nuncio true and new; 75 + Then Cybebe her lions twain disjoining from their yoke + The left-hand enemy of the herds a-goading thus bespoke:-- + "Up feral fell! up, hie with him, see rage his footsteps urge, + See that his fury smite him till he seek the forest verge, + He who with over-freedom fain would fly mine empery. 80 + Go, slash thy flank with lashing tail and sense the strokes of thee, + Make the whole mountain to thy roar sound and resound again, + And fiercely toss thy brawny neck that bears the tawny mane!" + So quoth an-angered Cybebe, and yoke with hand untied: + The feral rose in fiery wrath and self-inciting hied, 85 + A-charging, roaring through the brake with breaking paws he tore. + But when he reached the humid sands where surges cream the shore, + Spying soft Atys lingering near the marbled pave of sea + He springs: the terror-madded wretch back to the wood doth flee, + Where for the remnant of her days a bondmaid's life led she. 90 + Great Goddess, Goddess Cybebe, Dindymus dame divine, + Far from my house and home thy wrath and wrack, dread mistress mine: + Goad others on with Fury's goad, others to Ire consign! + +Over the vast main borne by swift-sailing ship, Attis, as with hasty +hurried foot he reached the Phrygian wood and gained the tree-girt gloomy +sanctuary of the Goddess, there roused by rabid rage and mind astray, with +sharp-edged flint downwards wards dashed his burden of virility. Then as he +felt his limbs were left without their manhood, and the fresh-spilt blood +staining the soil, with bloodless hand she hastily hent a tambour light to +hold, taborine thine, O Cybebe, thine initiate rite, and with feeble +fingers beating the hollowed bullock's back, she rose up quivering thus to +chant to her companions. + +"Haste ye together, she-priests, to Cybebe's dense woods, together haste, +ye vagrant herd of the dame Dindymene, ye who inclining towards strange +places as exiles, following in my footsteps, led by me, comrades, ye who +have faced the ravening sea and truculent main, and have castrated your +bodies in your utmost hate of Venus, make glad our mistress speedily with +your minds' mad wanderings. Let dull delay depart from your thoughts, +together haste ye, follow to the Phrygian home of Cybebe, to the Phrygian +woods of the Goddess, where sounds the cymbal's voice, where the tambour +resounds, where the Phrygian flautist pipes deep notes on the curved reed, +where the ivy-clad Maenades furiously toss their heads, where they enact +their sacred orgies with shrill-sounding ululations, where that wandering +band of the Goddess is wont to flit about: thither 'tis meet to hasten with +hurried mystic dance." + +When Attis, spurious woman, had thus chanted to her comity, the chorus +straightway shrills with trembling tongues, the light tambour booms, the +concave cymbals clang, and the troop swiftly hastes with rapid feet to +verdurous Ida. Then raging wildly, breathless, wandering, with brain +distraught, hurrieth Attis with her tambour, their leader through dense +woods, like an untamed heifer shunning the burden of the yoke: and the +swift Gallae press behind their speedy-footed leader. So when the home of +Cybebe they reach, wearied out with excess of toil and lack of food they +fall in slumber. Sluggish sleep shrouds their eyes drooping with faintness, +and raging fury leaves their minds to quiet ease. + +But when the sun with radiant eyes from face of gold glanced o'er the white +heavens, the firm soil, and the savage sea, and drave away the glooms of +night with his brisk and clamorous team, then sleep fast-flying quickly +sped away from wakening Attis, and goddess Pasithea received Somnus in her +panting bosom. Then when from quiet rest torn, her delirium over, Attis at +once recalled to mind her deed, and with lucid thought saw what she had +lost, and where she stood, with heaving heart she backwards traced her +steps to the landing-place. There, gazing o'er the vast main with +tear-filled eyes, with saddened voice in tristful soliloquy thus did she +lament her land: + +"Mother-land, O my creatress, mother-land, O my begetter, which full sadly +I'm forsaking, as runaway serfs are wont from their lords, to the woods of +Ida I have hasted on foot, to stay 'mongst snow and icy dens of ferals, and +to wander through the hidden lurking-places of ferocious beasts. Where, or +in what part, O mother-land, may I imagine that thou art? My very eyeball +craves to fix its glance towards thee, whilst for a brief space my mind is +freed from wild ravings. And must I wander o'er these woods far from mine +home? From country, goods, friends, and parents, must I be parted? Leave +the forum, the palaestra, the race-course, and gymnasium? Wretched, +wretched soul, 'tis thine to grieve for ever and for aye. For whatso shape +is there, whose kind I have not worn? I (now a woman), I a man, a +stripling, and a lad; I was the gymnasium's flower, I was the pride of the +oiled wrestlers: my gates, my friendly threshold, were crowded, my home was +decked with floral coronals, when I was wont to leave my couch at sunrise. +Now shall I live a ministrant of gods and slave to Cybebe? I a Maenad, I a +part of me, I a sterile trunk! Must I range o'er the snow-clad spots of +verdurous Ida, and wear out my life 'neath lofty Phrygian peaks, where stay +the sylvan-seeking stag and woodland-wandering boar? Now, now, I grieve the +deed I've done; now, now, do I repent!" + +As the swift sound left those rosy lips, borne by new messenger to gods' +twinned ears, Cybebe, unloosing her lions from their joined yoke, and +goading the left-hand foe of the herd, thus doth speak: "Come," she says, +"to work, thou fierce one, cause a madness urge him on, let a fury prick +him onwards till he return through our woods, he who over-rashly seeks to +fly from my empire. On! thrash thy flanks with thy tail, endure thy +strokes; make the whole place re-echo with roar of thy bellowings; wildly +toss thy tawny mane about thy nervous neck." Thus ireful Cybebe spoke and +loosed the yoke with her hand. The monster, self-exciting, to rapid wrath +his heart doth spur, he rushes, he roars, he bursts through the brake with +heedless tread. But when he gained the humid verge of the foam-flecked +shore, and spied the womanish Attis near the opal sea, he made a bound: the +witless wretch fled into the wild wold: there throughout the space of her +whole life a bondsmaid did she stay. Great Goddess, Goddess Cybebe, Goddess +Dame of Dindymus, far from my home may all thine anger be, O mistress: urge +others to such actions, to madness others hound. + +LXIIII. + + Peliaco quondam prognatae vertice pinus + Dicuntur liquidas Neptuni nasse per undas + Phasidos ad fluctus et fines Aeetaeos, + Cum lecti iuvenes, Argivae robora pubis, + Auratam optantes Colchis avertere pellem 5 + 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. 10 + Illa rudem cursu prima imbuit Amphitriten. + Quae simulac rostro ventosum proscidit aequor, + Tortaque remigio spumis incanduit unda, + Emersere freti canenti e gurgite vultus + Aequoreae monstrum Nereides admirantes. 15 + Atque illic alma viderunt luce marinas + Mortales oculi nudato corpore Nymphas + Nutricum tenus extantes e gurgite cano. + Tum Thetidis Peleus incensus fertur amore, + Tum Thetis humanos non despexit hymenaeos, 20 + Tum Thetidi pater ipse iugandum Pelea sanxit. + O nimis optato saeclorum tempore nati + Heroes, salvete, deum genus, o bona matrum + Progenies, salvete iterum _placidique favete_. + Vos ego saepe meo, vos carmine conpellabo, + Teque adeo eximie taedis felicibus aucte 25 + Thessaliae columen Peleu, cui Iuppiter ipse, + Ipse suos divom genitor concessit amores. + Tene Thetis tenuit pulcherrima Nereine? + Tene suam Tethys concessit ducere neptem, + Oceanusque, mari totum qui amplectitur orbem? 30 + Quoi simul optatae finito tempore luces + Advenere, domum conventu tota frequentat + Thessalia, oppletur laetanti regia coetu: + Dona ferunt prae se, declarant gaudia voltu. + Deseritur Cieros, linquunt Phthiotica tempe, 35 + Crannonisque domos ac moenia Larisaea, + Pharsalum coeunt, Pharsalia tecta frequentant. + Rura colit nemo, mollescunt colla iuvencis, + Non humilis curvis purgatur vinea rastris, + Non falx attenuat frondatorum arboris umbram, 41 + Non glaebam prono convellit vomere taurus, 40 + Squalida desertis rubigo infertur aratris. + Ipsius at sedes, quacumque opulenta recessit + Regia, fulgenti splendent auro atque argento. + Candet ebur soliis, collucent pocula mensae, 45 + Tota domus gaudet regali splendida gaza. + Pulvinar vero divae geniale locatur + Sedibus in mediis, Indo quod dente politum + Tincta tegit roseo conchyli purpura fuco. + Haec vestis priscis hominum variata figuris 50 + 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, 55 + Vt pote fallaci quae tum primum excita somno + Desertam in sola miseram se cernat arena. + Inmemor at iuvenis fugiens pellit vada remis, + Inrita ventosae linquens promissa procellae. + Quem procul ex alga maestis Minois ocellis, 60 + 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 lactantes vincta papillas, 65 + Omnia quae toto delapsa e corpore passim + Ipsius ante pedes fluctus salis adludebant. + Set neque tum mitrae neque tum fluitantis amictus + Illa vicem curans toto ex te pectore, Theseu, + Toto animo, tota pendebat perdita mente. 70 + A misera, adsiduis quam luctibus externavit + Spinosas Erycina serens in pectore curas + Illa tempestate, ferox quom robore Theseus + Egressus curvis e litoribus Piraei + Attigit iniusti regis Gortynia tecta. 75 + Nam perhibent olim crudeli peste coactam + Androgeoneae poenas exolvere caedis + Electos iuvenes simul et decus innuptarum + Cecropiam solitam esse dapem dare Minotauro. + Quis angusta malis cum moenia vexarentur, 80 + Ipse suom 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. 85 + Hunc simulac cupido conspexit lumine virgo + Regia, quam suavis expirans castus odores + Lectulus in molli conplexu matris alebat, + Quales Eurotae progignunt flumina myrtus + Aurave distinctos educit verna colores, 90 + Non prius ex illo flagrantia declinavit + Lumina, quam cuncto concepit corpore flammam + Funditus atque imis exarsit tota medullis. + Heu misere exagitans inmiti corde furores + Sancte puer, curis hominum qui gaudia misces, 95 + Quaeque regis Golgos quaeque Idalium frondosum, + Qualibus incensam iactastis mente puellam + Fluctibus in flavo saepe hospite suspirantem! + Quantos illa tulit languenti corde timores! + Quam tum saepe magis + fulgore expalluit auri! 100 + Cum saevom cupiens contra contendere monstrum + Aut mortem oppeteret Theseus aut praemia laudis. + Non ingrata tamen frustra munuscula divis + Promittens tacito succepit vota labello. + Nam velut in summo quatientem brachia Tauro 105 + Quercum aut conigeram sudanti cortice pinum + Indomitum turben contorquens flamine robur + Eruit (illa procul radicitus exturbata + Prona cadit, late quast impetus obvia frangens), + Sic domito saevom prostravit corpore Theseus 110 + Nequiquam vanis iactantem cornua ventis. + Inde pedem sospes multa cum laude reflexit + Errabunda regens tenui vestigia filo, + Ne labyrintheis e flexibus egredientem + Tecti frustraretur inobservabilis error. 115 + Sed quid ego a primo digressus carmine plura + Conmemorem, ut linquens genitoris filia voltum, + Vt consanguineae conplexum, ut denique matris, + Quae misera in gnata deperdita laetabatur, + Omnibus his Thesei dulcem praeoptarit amorem, 120 + Aut ut vecta rati spumosa ad litora Diae + _Venerit_, aut ut eam devinctam lumina somno + Liquerit inmemori discedens pectore coniunx? + Saepe illam perhibent ardenti corde furentem + Clarisonas imo fudisse e pectore voces, 125 + Ac tum praeruptos tristem conscendere montes, + Vnde aciem in pelagi vastos protenderet aestus, + Tum tremuli salis adversas procurrere in undas + Mollia nudatae tollentem tegmina surae, + Atque haec extremis maestam dixisse querellis, 130 + Frigidulos udo singultus ore cientem. + 'Sicine me patriis avectam, perfide, ab oris, + Perfide, deserto liquisti in litore, Theseu? + Sicine discedens neglecto numine divom + Inmemor a, devota domum periuria portas? 135 + Nullane res potuit crudelis flectere mentis + Consilium? tibi nulla fuit clementia praesto, + Inmite ut nostri vellet miserescere pectus? + At non haec quondam nobis promissa dedisti, + Vane: mihi non haec miserae sperare iubebas, 140 + Sed conubia laeta, sed optatos hymenaeos: + Quae cuncta aerii discerpunt irrita venti. + Iam iam nulla viro iuranti femina credat, + Nulla viri speret sermones esse fideles; + Quis dum aliquid cupiens animus praegestit apisci, 145 + Nil metuunt iurare, nihil promittere parcunt: + Sed simulac cupidae mentis satiata libidost, + Dicta nihil meminere, nihil periuria curant. + Certe ego te in medio versantem turbine leti + Eripui, et potius germanum amittere crevi, 150 + Quam tibi fallaci supremo in tempore dessem. + Pro quo dilaceranda feris dabor alitibusque + Praeda, neque iniecta tumulabor mortua terra. + Quaenam te genuit sola sub rupe leaena? + Quod mare conceptum spumantibus expuit undis? 155 + Quae Syrtis, quae Scylla rapax, quae vasta Charybdis? + Talia qui reddis pro dulci praemia vita. + Si tibi non cordi fuerant conubia nostra, + Saeva quod horrebas prisci praecepta parentis, + At tamen in vostras potuisti ducere sedes, 160 + Quae tibi iocundo famularer serva labore, + Candida permulcens liquidis vestigia lymphis + Purpureave tuum consternens veste cubile. + Sed quid ego ignaris nequiquam conqueror auris, + Externata malo, quae nullis sensibus auctae 165 + Nec missas audire queunt nec reddere voces? + Ille autem prope iam mediis versatur in undis, + Nec quisquam adparet vacua mortalis in alga. + Sic nimis insultans extremo tempore saeva + Fors etiam nostris invidit questibus aures. 170 + Iuppiter omnipotens, utinam ne tempore primo + Gnosia Cecropiae tetigissent litora puppes, + Indomito nec dira ferens stipendia tauro + Perfidus in Creta religasset navita funem, + Nec malus hic celans dulci crudelia forma 175 + Consilia in nostris requiesset sedibus hospes! + Nam quo me referam? quali spe perdita nitar? + Idomeneosne petam montes? a, gurgite lato + Discernens ponti truculentum ubi dividit aequor? + An patris auxilium sperem? quemne ipsa reliqui, 180 + Respersum iuvenem fraterna caede secuta? + Coniugis an fido consoler memet amore, + Quine fugit lentos incurvans gurgite remos? + Praeterea nullo litus, sola insula, tecto, + Nec patet egressus pelagi cingentibus undis: 185 + 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, 190 + Caelestumque fidem postrema conprecer hora. + Quare facta virum multantes vindice poena, + Eumenides, quibus anguino redimita capillo + Frons expirantis praeportat pectoris iras, + Huc huc adventate, meas audite querellas, 195 + 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, 200 + Tali mente, deae, funestet seque suosque.' + Has postquam maesto profudit pectore voces, + Supplicium saevis exposcens anxia factis, + Adnuit invicto caelestum numine rector, + Quo motu tellus atque horrida contremuerunt 205 + 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 210 + Sospitem Erechtheum se ostendit visere portum. + Namque ferunt olim, castae cum moenia divae + Linquentem gnatum ventis concrederet Aegeus, + Talia conplexum iuveni mandata dedisse. + 'Gnate, mihi longa iocundior unice vita, 215 + Reddite in extrema nuper mihi fine senectae, 217 + Gnate, ego quem in dubios cogor dimittere casus, 216 + Quandoquidem fortuna mea ac tua fervida virtus + Eripit invito mihi te, cui languida nondum + Lumina sunt gnati cara saturata figura: 220 + Non ego te gaudens laetanti pectore mittam, + Nec te ferre sinam fortunae signa secundae, + Sed primum multas expromam mente querellas, + Canitiem terra atque infuso pulvere foedans, + Inde infecta vago suspendam lintea malo, 225 + Nostros ut luctus nostraeque incendia mentis + Carbasus obscurata decet ferrugine Hibera. + Quod tibi si sancti concesserit incola Itoni, + Quae nostrum genus ac sedes defendere Erechthei + Adnuit, ut tauri respergas sanguine dextram, 230 + Tum vero facito ut memori tibi condita corde + Haec vigeant mandata, nec ulla oblitteret aetas, + Vt simulac nostros invisent lumina colles, + Funestam antennae deponant undique vestem, + Candidaque intorti sustollant vela rudentes, 235 + Lucida qua splendent summi carchesia mali, 235b + 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 + Aerium nivei montis liquere cacumen. 240 + At pater, ut summa prospectum ex arce petebat, + Anxia in adsiduos absumens lumina fletus, + Cum primum infecti conspexit lintea veli, + Praecipitem sese scopulorum e vertice iecit, + Amissum credens inmiti Thesea fato. 245 + Sic funesta domus ingressus tecta paterna + Morte ferox Theseus qualem Minoidi luctum + Obtulerat mente inmemori talem ipse recepit. + Quae tamen aspectans cedentem maesta carinam + Multiplices animo volvebat saucia curas. 250 + At parte ex alia florens volitabat Iacchus + Cum thiaso Satyrorum et Nysigenis Silenis, + Te quaerens, Ariadna, tuoque incensus amore. + * * * * + Quae tum alacres passim lymphata mente furebant + Euhoe bacchantes, euhoe capita inflectentes. 255 + 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, 260 + Plangebant aliae proceris tympana palmis + Aut tereti tenues tinnitus aere ciebant, + Multis raucisonos efflabant cornua bombos + Barbaraque horribili stridebat tibia cantu. + Talibus amplifice vestis decorata figuris 265 + Pulvinar conplexa suo velabat amictu. + Quae postquam cupide spectando Thessala pubes + Expletast, sanctis coepit decedere divis. + Hic, qualis flatu placidum mare matutino + Horrificans Zephyrus proclivas incitat undas 270 + Aurora exoriente vagi sub limina Solis, + Quae tarde primum clementi flamine pulsae + Procedunt (leni resonant plangore cachinni), + Post vento crescente magis magis increbescunt + Purpureaque procul nantes a luce refulgent, 275 + Sic ibi vestibuli linquentes regia tecta + Ad se quisque vago passim pede discedebant. + Quorum post abitum princeps e vertice Pelei + Advenit Chiron portans silvestria dona: + Nam quoscumque ferunt campi, quos Thessala magnis 280 + Montibus ora creat, quos propter fluminis undas + Aura parit flores tepidi fecunda Favoni, + Hos indistinctis plexos tulit ipse corollis, + Quo permulsa domus iocundo risit odore. + Confestim Penios adest, viridantia Tempe, 285 + Tempe, quae silvae cingunt super inpendentes, + + Minosim linquens crebris celebranda choreis, + Non vacuos: namque ille tulit radicitus altas + Fagos ac recto proceras stipite laurus, + Non sine nutanti platano lentaque sorore 290 + Flammati Phaethontis et aeria cupressu. + Haec circum sedes late contexta locavit, + Vestibulum ut molli velatum fronde vireret. + Post hunc consequitur sollerti corde Prometheus, + Extenuata gerens veteris vestigia poenae, 295 + Quam quondam scythicis restrictus membra catena + Persolvit pendens e verticibus praeruptis. + Inde pater divom sancta cum coniuge natisque + Advenit caelo, te solum, Phoebe, relinquens + Vnigenamque simul cultricem montibus Idri: 300 + Pelea nam tecum pariter soror aspernatast + Nec Thetidis taedas voluit celebrare iugalis, + Qui postquam niveis flexerunt sedibus artus, + Large multiplici constructae sunt dape mensae, + Cum interea infirmo quatientes corpora motu 305 + Veridicos Parcae coeperunt edere cantus. + His corpus tremulum conplectens undique vestis + Candida purpurea talos incinxerat ora, + Annoso niveae residebant vertice vittae, + Aeternumque manus carpebant rite laborem. 310 + 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, 315 + Laneaque aridulis haerebant morsa labellis, + Quae prius in levi fuerant extantia filo: + Ante pedes autem candentis mollia lanae + Vellera virgati custodibant calathisci. + Haec tum clarisona pectentes vellera voce 320 + Talia divino fuderunt carmine fata, + Carmine, perfidiae quod post nulla arguet aetas. + + O decus eximium magnis virtutibus augens, + Emathiae tutamen opis, clarissime nato, + Accipe, quod laeta tibi pandunt luce sorores, 325 + Veridicum oraclum. sed vos, quae fata sequuntur, + Currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi. + + Adveniet tibi iam portans optata maritis + Hesperus, adveniet fausto cum sidere coniunx, + Quae tibi flexanimo mentem perfundat amore 330 + Languidulosque paret tecum coniungere somnos, + Levia substernens robusto brachia collo. + Currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi. + + Nulla domus tales umquam conexit amores, + Nullus amor tali coniunxit foedere amantes, 335 + Qualis adest Thetidi, qualis concordia Peleo. + Currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi. + + Nascetur vobis expers terroris Achilles, + Hostibus haud tergo, sed forti pectore notus, + Quae persaepe vago victor certamine cursus 340 + Flammea praevertet celeris vestigia cervae. + Currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi. + + Non illi quisquam bello se conferet heros, + Cum Phrygii Teucro manabunt sanguine + tenen, + Troicaque obsidens longinquo moenia bello 345 + Periuri Pelopis vastabit tertius heres. + Currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi. + + Illius egregias virtutes claraque facta + Saepe fatebuntur gnatorum in funere matres, + Cum in cinerem canos solvent a vertice crines 350 + Putridaque infirmis variabunt pectora palmis. + Currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi. + + Namque velut densas praecerpens cultor aristas + Sole sub ardenti flaventia demetit arva, + Troiugenum infesto prosternet corpora ferro. 355 + Currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi. + + Testis erit magnis virtutibus unda Scamandri, + Quae passim rapido diffunditur Hellesponto, + Cuius iter caesis angustans corporum acervis + Alta tepefaciet permixta flumina caede. 360 + Currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi. + + Denique testis erit morti quoque reddita praeda, + Cum terrae ex celso coacervatum aggere bustum + Excipiet niveos percussae virginis artus. + Currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi. 365 + + Nam simul ac fessis dederit fors copiam Achivis + Vrbis Dardaniae Neptunia solvere vincla, + Alta Polyxenia madefient caede sepulcra, + Quae, velut ancipiti succumbens victima ferro, + Proiciet truncum submisso poplite corpus. 370 + Currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi. + + Quare agite optatos animi coniungite amores. + Accipiat coniunx felici foedere divam, + Dedatur cupido iandudum nupta marito. + Currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi. 375 + + Non illam nutrix orienti luce revisens + Hesterno collum poterit circumdare filo, + [Currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi] + Anxia nec mater discordis maesta puellae + Secubitu caros mittet sperare nepotes. 380 + Currite ducentes subtegmina, currite, fusi. + + Talia praefantes quondam felicia Pelei + Carmina divino cecinerunt pectore Parcae. + Praesentes namque ante domos invisere castas + Heroum et sese mortali ostendere coetu 385 + Caelicolae nondum spreta pietate solebant. + Saepe pater divom templo in fulgente residens, + Annua cum festis venissent sacra diebus, + Conspexit terra centum procumbere tauros. + Saepe vagus Liber Parnasi vertice summo 390 + Thyiadas effusis euhantes crinibus egit. + * * * * + Cum Delphi tota certatim ex urbe ruentes + Acciperent laeti divom fumantibus aris. + Saepe in letifero belli certamine Mavors + Aut rapidi Tritonis era aut Rhamnusia virgo 395 + Armatas hominumst praesens hortata catervas. + Sed postquam tellus scelerest imbuta nefando, + Iustitiamque omnes cupida de mente fugarunt, + Perfudere manus fraterno sanguine fratres, + Destitit extinctos natus lugere parentes, 400 + Optavit genitor primaevi funera nati, + Liber ut innuptae poteretur flore novercae, + Ignaro mater substernens se inpia nato + Inpia non veritast divos scelerare penates: + Omnia fanda nefanda malo permixta furore 405 + Iustificam nobis mentem avertere deorum. + Quare nec tales dignantur visere coetus, + Nec se contingi patiuntur lumine claro. + +LXIIII. + +MARRIAGE OF PELEUS AND THETIS. + +(Fragment of an Epos.) + + Pine-trees gendered whilome upon soaring Peliac summit + Swam (as the tale is told) through liquid surges of Neptune + Far as the Phasis-flood and frontier-land AEetean; + Whenas the youths elect, of Argive vigour the oak-heart, + Longing the Golden Fleece of the Colchis-region to harry, 5 + Dared in a poop swift-paced to span salt seas and their shallows, + Sweeping the deep blue seas with sweeps a-carven of fir-wood. + She, that governing Goddess of citadels crowning the cities, + Builded herself their car fast-flitting with lightest of breezes, + Weaving plants of the pine conjoined in curve of the kelson; 10 + Foremost of all to imbue rude Amphitrite with ship-lore. + Soon as her beak had burst through wind-rackt spaces of ocean, + While th'oar-tortured wave with spumy whiteness was blanching, + Surged from the deep abyss and hoar-capped billows the faces + Seaborn, Nereids eyeing the prodigy wonder-smitten. 15 + There too mortal orbs through softened spendours regarded + Ocean-nymphs who exposed bodies denuded of raiment + Bare to the breast upthrust from hoar froth capping the sea-depths. + Then Thetis Peleus fired (men say) a-sudden with love-lowe, + Then Thetis nowise spurned to mate and marry wi' mortal, 20 + Then Thetis' Sire himself her yoke with Peleus sanctioned. + Oh, in those happier days now fondly yearned-for, ye heroes + Born; (all hail!) of the Gods begotten, and excellent issue + Bred by your mothers, all hail! and placid deal me your favour. + Oft wi' the sound of me, in strains and spells I'll invoke you; + Thee too by wedding-torch so happily, highly augmented, 25 + Peleus, Thessaly's ward, whomunto Jupiter's self deigned + Yield of the freest gree his loves though gotten of Godheads. + Thee Thetis, fairest of maids Nereian, vouchsafed to marry? + Thee did Tethys empower to woo and wed with her grandchild; + Nor less Oceanus, with water compassing th' Earth-globe? 30 + But when ended the term, and wisht-for light of the day-tide + Uprose, flocks to the house in concourse mighty convened, + Thessaly all, with glad assembly the Palace fulfilling: + Presents afore they bring, and joy in faces declare they. + Scyros desert abides: they quit Phthiotican Tempe, 35 + Homesteads of Crannon-town, eke bulwarkt walls of Larissa; + Meeting at Pharsalus, and roof Pharsalian seeking. + None will the fields now till; soft wax all necks of the oxen, + Never the humble vine is purged by curve of the rake-tooth, + Never a pruner's hook thins out the shade of the tree-tufts, 41 + Never a bull up-plows broad glebe with bend of the coulter, 40 + Over whose point unuse displays the squalor of rust-stain. + But in the homestead's heart, where'er that opulent palace + Hides a retreat, all shines with splendour of gold and of silver. + Ivory blanches the seats, bright gleam the flagons a-table, 45 + All of the mansion joys in royal riches and grandeur. + But for the Diva's use bestrewn is the genial bedstead, + Hidden in midmost stead, and its polisht framework of Indian + Tusk underlies its cloth empurpled by juice of the dye-shell. + This be a figured cloth with forms of manhood primeval 50 + Showing by marvel-art the gifts and graces of heroes. + Here upon Dia's strand wave-resonant, ever-regarding + Theseus borne from sight outside by fleet of the fleetest, + Stands Ariadne with heart full-filled with furies unbated, + Nor can her sense as yet believe she 'spies the espied, 55 + When like one that awakes new roused from slumber deceptive, + Sees she her hapless self lone left on loneliest sandbank: + While as the mindless youth with oars disturbeth the shallows, + Casts to the windy storms what vows he vainly had vowed. + Him through the sedges afar the sad-eyed maiden of Minos, 60 + Likest a Bacchant-girl stone-carven, (O her sorrow!) + 'Spies, a-tossing the while on sorest billows of love-care. + Now no more on her blood-hued hair fine fillets retains she, + No more now light veil conceals her bosom erst hidden, + Now no more smooth zone contains her milky-hued paplets: 65 + All gear dropping adown from every part of her person + Thrown, lie fronting her feet to the briny wavelets a sea-toy. + But at such now no more of her veil or her fillet a-floating + Had she regard: on thee, O Theseus! all of her heart-strength, + All of her sprite, her mind, forlorn, were evermore hanging. 70 + Ah, sad soul, by grief and grievance driven beside thee, + Sowed Erycina first those brambly cares in thy bosom, + What while issuing fierce with will enstarkened, Theseus + Forth from the bow-bent shore Piraean putting a-seawards + Reacht the Gortynian roofs where dwelt th' injurious Monarch. 75 + For 'twas told of yore how forced by pestilence cruel, + Eke as a blood rite due for th' Androgeonian murthur, + Many a chosen youth and the bloom of damsels unmarried + Food for the Minotaur, Cecropia was wont to befurnish. + Seeing his narrow walls in such wise vexed with evils, 80 + Theseus of freest will for dear-loved Athens his body + Offered a victim so that no more to Crete be deported + Lives by Cecropia doomed to burials burying nowise; + Then with a swifty ship and soft breathed breezes a-stirring, + Sought he Minos the Haughty where homed in proudest of Mansions. 85 + Him as with yearning glance forthright espied the royal + Maiden, whom pure chaste couch aspiring delicate odours + Cherisht, in soft embrace of a mother comforted all-whiles, + (E'en as the myrtles begot by the flowing floods of Eurotas, + Or as the tincts distinct brought forth by breath of the springtide) 90 + Never the burning lights of her eyes from gazing upon him + Turned she, before fierce flame in all her body conceived she + Down in its deepest depths and burning amiddle her marrow. + Ah, with unmitigate heart exciting wretchedmost furies, + Thou, Boy sacrosanct! man's grief and gladness commingling, 95 + Thou too of Golgos Queen and Lady of leafy Idalium, + Whelm'd ye in what manner waves that maiden phantasy-fired, + All for a blond-haired youth suspiring many a singulf! + Whiles how dire was the dread she dreed in languishing heart-strings; + How yet more, ever more, with golden splendour she paled! 100 + Whenas yearning to mate his might wi' the furious monster + Theseus braved his death or sought the prizes of praises. + Then of her gifts to gods not ingrate, nor profiting naught, + Promise with silent lip, addressed she timidly vowing. + For as an oak that shakes on topmost summit of Taurus 105 + Its boughs, or cone-growing pine from bole bark resin exuding, + Whirlwind of passing might that twists the stems with its storm-blasts, + Uproots, deracinates, forthright its trunk to the farthest, + Prone falls, shattering wide what lies in line of its downfall,-- + Thus was that wildling flung by Theseus and vanquisht of body, 110 + Vainly tossing its horns and goring the wind to no purpose. + Thence with abounding praise returned he, guiding his footsteps, + Whiles did a fine drawn thread check steps in wander abounding, + Lest when issuing forth of the winding maze labyrinthine + Baffled become his track by inobservable error. 115 + But for what cause should I, from early subject digressing, + Tell of the daughter who the face of her sire unseeing, + Eke her sister's embrace nor less her mother's endearments, + Who in despair bewept her hapless child that so gladly + Chose before every and each the lively wooing of Theseus? 120 + Or how borne by the ship to the yeasting shore-line of Dia + Came she? or how when bound her eyes in bondage of slumber + Left her that chosen mate with mind unmindful departing? + Often (they tell) with heart inflamed by fiery fury + Poured she shrilling of shrieks from deepest depths of her bosom; 125 + Now she would sadly scale the broken faces of mountains, + Whence she might overglance the boundless boiling of billows, + Then she would rush to bestem the salt-plain's quivering wavelet + And from her ankles bare the dainty garment uplifting, + Spake she these words ('tis said) from sorrow's deepest abysses, 130 + Whiles from her tear-drencht face outburst cold shivering singulfs. + "Thus fro' my patrial shore, O traitor, hurried to exile, + Me on a lonely strand hast left, perfidious Theseus? + Thus wise farest, despite the godhead of Deities spurned, + (Reckless, alas!) to thy home convoying perjury-curses? 135 + Naught, then, ever availed that mind of cruelest counsel + Alter? No saving grace in thee was evermore ready, + That to have pity on me vouchsafed thy pitiless bosom? + Natheless not in past time such were the promises wordy + Lavished; nor such hopes to me the hapless were bidden; 140 + But the glad married joys, the longed-for pleasures of wedlock. + All now empty and vain, by breath of the breezes bescattered! + Now, let woman no more trust her to man when he sweareth, + Ne'er let her hope to find or truth or faith in his pleadings, + Who whenas lustful thought forelooks to somewhat attaining, 145 + Never an oath they fear, shall spare no promise to promise. + Yet no sooner they sate all lewdness and lecherous fancy, + Nothing remember of words and reck they naught of fore-swearing. + Certes, thee did I snatch from midmost whirlpool of ruin + Deadly, and held it cheap loss of a brother to suffer 150 + Rather than fail thy need (O false!) at hour the supremest. + Therefor my limbs are doomed to be torn of birds, and of ferals + Prey, nor shall upheapt Earth afford a grave to my body. + Say me, what lioness bare thee 'neath lone rock of the desert? + What sea spued thee conceived from out the spume of his surges! 155 + What manner Syrt, what ravening Scylla, what vasty Charybdis? + Thou who for sweet life saved such meeds art lief of returning! + If never willed thy breast with me to mate thee in marriage, + Hating the savage law decreed by primitive parent, + Still of your competence 'twas within your household to home me, 160 + Where I might serve as slave in gladsome service familiar, + Laving thy snow-white feet in clearest chrystalline waters + Or with its purpling gear thy couch in company strewing. + Yet for what cause should I 'plain in vain to the winds that unknow me, + (I so beside me with grief!) which ne'er of senses endued 165 + Hear not the words sent forth nor aught avail they to answer? + Now be his course well-nigh engaged in midway of ocean, + Nor any mortal shape appears in barrens of seawrack. + Thus at the latest hour with insults over-sufficient + E'en to my plaints fere Fate begrudges ears that would hear me. 170 + Jupiter! Lord of All-might, Oh would in days that are bygone + Ne'er had Cecropian poops toucht ground at Gnossian foreshore, + Nor to th' unconquered Bull that tribute direful conveying + Had the false Seaman bound to Cretan island his hawser, + Nor had yon evil wight, 'neath shape the softest hard purpose 175 + Hiding, enjoyed repose within our mansion beguested! + Whither can wend I now? What hope lends help to the lost one? + Idomenean mounts shall I scale? Ah, parted by whirlpools + Widest, yon truculent main where yields it power of passage? + Aid of my sire can I crave? Whom I willing abandoned, 180 + Treading in tracks of a youth bewrayed with blood of a brother! + Can I console my soul wi' the helpful love of a helpmate + Who flies me with pliant oars, flies overbounding the sea-depths? + Nay, an this Coast I quit, this lone isle lends me no roof-tree, + Nor aught issue allows begirt by billows of Ocean: 185 + Nowhere is path for flight: none hope shows: all things are silent: + All be a desolate waste: all makes display of destruction. + Yet never close these eyne in latest languor of dying, + Ne'er from my wearied frame go forth slow-ebbing my senses, + Ere from the Gods just doom implore I, treason-betrayed, 190 + And with my breath supreme firm faith of Celestials invoke I. + Therefore, O ye who 'venge man's deed with penalties direful, + Eumenides! aye wont to bind with viperous hair-locks + Foreheads,--Oh, deign outspeak fierce wrath from bosom outbreathing, + Hither, Oh hither, speed, and lend ye all ear to my grievance, 195 + Which now sad I (alas!) outpour from innermost vitals + Maugre my will, sans help, blind, fired with furious madness. + And, as indeed all spring from veriest core of my bosom, + Suffer ye not the cause of grief and woe to evanish; + But wi' the Will wherewith could Theseus leave me in loneness, 200 + Goddesses! bid that Will lead him, lead his, to destruction." + E'en as she thus poured forth these words from anguish of bosom, + And for this cruel deed, distracted, sued she for vengeance, + Nodded the Ruler of Gods Celestial, matchless of All-might, + When at the gest earth-plain and horrid spaces of ocean 205 + Trembled, and every sphere rockt stars and planets resplendent. + Meanwhile Theseus himself, obscured in blindness of darkness + As to his mind, dismiss'd from breast oblivious all things + Erewhile enjoined and held hereto in memory constant, + Nor for his saddened sire the gladness-signals uphoisting 210 + Heralded safe return within sight of the Erechthean harbour. + For 'twas told of yore, when from walls of the Virginal Deess + AEgeus speeding his son, to the care of breezes committed, + Thus with a last embrace to the youth spake words of commandment: + "Son! far nearer my heart (sole thou) than life of the longest, 215 + Son, I perforce dismiss to doubtful, dangerous chances, + Lately restored to me when eld draws nearest his ending, + Sithence such fortune in me, and in thee such boiling of valour + Tear thee away from me so loath, whose eyne in their languor + Never are sated with sight of my son, all-dearest of figures. 220 + Nor will I send thee forth with joy that gladdens my bosom, + Nor will I suffer thee show boon signs of favouring Fortune, + But fro' my soul I'll first express an issue of sorrow, + Soiling my hoary hairs with dust and ashes commingled; + Then will I hang stained sails fast-made to the wavering yard-arms, 225 + So shall our mourning thought and burning torture of spirit + Show by the dark sombre-dye of Iberian canvas spread. + But, an grant me the grace Who dwells in Sacred Itone, + (And our issue to guard and ward the seats of Erechtheus + Sware She) that be thy right besprent with blood of the Man-Bull, 230 + Then do thou so-wise act, and stored in memory's heart-core + Dwell these mandates of me, no time their traces untracing. + Dip, when first shall arise our hills to gladden thy eye-glance, + Down from thine every mast th'ill-omened vestments of mourning, + Then let the twisten ropes upheave the whitest of canvas, 235 + Wherewith splendid shall gleam the tallest spars of the top-mast, 235b + These seeing sans delay with joy exalting my spirit + Well shall I wot boon Time sets thee returning before me." + Such were the mandates which stored at first in memory constant + Faded from Theseus' mind like mists, compelled by the whirlwind, + Fleet from aeerial crests of mountains hoary with snow-drifts. 240 + But as the sire had sought the citadel's summit for outlook, + Wasting his anxious eyes with tear-floods evermore flowing, + Forthright e'en as he saw the sail-gear darkened with dye-stain, + Headlong himself flung he from the sea-cliff's pinnacled summit + Holding his Theseus lost by doom of pitiless Fortune. 245 + Thus as he came to the home funest, his roof-tree paternal, + Theseus (vaunting the death), what dule to the maiden of Minos + Dealt with unminding mind so dree'd he similar dolour. + She too gazing in grief at the kelson vanishing slowly, + Self-wrapt, manifold cares revolved, in spirit perturbed. 250 + + * * * * * + +ON ANOTHER PART OF THE COVERLET. + + But fro' the further side came flitting bright-faced Iacchus + Girded by Satyr-crew and Nysa-reared Sileni + Burning wi' love unto thee (Ariadne!) and greeting thy presence. + * * * * + Who flocking eager to fray did rave with infuriate spirit, + "Evoe" phrensying loud, with heads at "Evoe" rolling. 255 + Brandisht some of the maids their thyrsi sheathed of spear-point, + Some snatcht limbs and joints of sturlings rended to pieces, + These girt necks and waists with writhing bodies of vipers, + Those wi' the gear enwombed in crates dark orgies ordained-- + Orgies that ears prophane must vainly lust for o'er hearing-- 260 + Others with palms on high smote hurried strokes on the cymbal, + Or from the polisht brass woke thin-toned tinkling music, + While from the many there boomed and blared hoarse blast of the + horn-trump, + And with its horrid skirl loud shrilled the barbarous bag-pipe, + Showing such varied forms, that richly-decorate couch-cloth 265 + Folded in strait embrace the bedding drapery-veiled. + This when the Thessalan youths had eyed with eager inspection + Fulfilled, place they began to provide for venerate Godheads, + Even as Zephyrus' breath, seas couching placid at dawn-tide, + Roughens, then stings and spurs the wavelets slantingly fretted-- 270 + Rising Aurora the while 'neath Sol the wanderer's threshold-- + Tardy at first they flow by the clement breathing of breezes + Urged, and echo the shores with soft-toned ripples of laughter, + But as the winds wax high so waves wax higher and higher, + Flashing and floating afar to outswim morn's purpurine splendours,-- 275 + So did the crowd fare forth, the royal vestibule leaving, + And to their house each wight with vaguing paces departed. + After their wending, the first, foremost from Pelion's summit, + Chiron came to the front with woodland presents surcharged: + Whatso of blooms and flowers bring forth Thessalian uplands 280 + Mighty with mountain crests, whate'er of riverine lea flowers + Reareth Favonius' air, bud-breeding, tepidly breathing, + All in his hands brought he, unseparate in woven garlands, + Whereat laughed the house as soothed by pleasure of perfume. + Presently Peneus appears, deserting verdurous Tempe-- 285 + Tempe girt by her belts of greenwood ever impending, + Left for the Mamonides with frequent dances to worship-- + Nor is he empty of hand, for bears he tallest of beeches + Deracinate, and bays with straight boles lofty and stately, + Not without nodding plane-tree nor less the flexible sister 290 + Fire-slain Phaeton left, and not without cypresses airy. + These in a line wide-broke set he, the Mansion surrounding, + So by the soft leaves screened, the porch might flourish in verdure. + Follows hard on his track with active spirit Prometheus, + Bearing extenuate sign of penalties suffer'd in bygones. 295 + Paid erewhiles what time fast-bound as to every member, + Hung he in carkanet slung from the Scythian rock-tor. + Last did the Father of Gods with his sacred spouse and his offspring, + Proud from the Heavens proceed, thee leaving (Phoebus) in loneness, + Lone wi' thy sister twin who haunteth mountains of Idrus: 300 + For that the Virgin spurned as thou the person of Peleus, + Nor Thetis' nuptial torch would greet by act of her presence. + When they had leaned their limbs upon snowy benches reposing, + Tables largely arranged with various viands were garnisht. + But, ere opened the feast, with infirm gesture their semblance 305 + Shaking, the Parcae fell to chaunting veridique verses. + Robed were their tremulous frames all o'er in muffle of garments + Bright-white, purple of hem enfolding heels in its edges; + Snowy the fillets that bound heads aged by many a year-tide, + And, as their wont aye was, their hands plied labour unceasing. 310 + Each in her left upheld with soft fleece clothed a distaff, + Then did the right that drew forth thread with upturn of fingers + Gently fashion the yarn which deftly twisted by thumb-ball + Speeded the spindle poised by thread-whorl perfect of polish; + Thus as the work was wrought, the lengths were trimmed wi' the + fore-teeth, 315 + While to their thin, dry lips stuck wool-flecks severed by biting, + Which at the first outstood from yarn-hanks evenly fine-drawn. + Still at their feet in front soft fleece-flecks white as the snow-flake + Lay in the trusty guard of wickers woven in withies. + Always a-carding the wool, with clear-toned voices resounding 320 + Told they such lots as these in song divinely directed, + Chaunts which none after-time shall 'stablish falsehood-convicted. + +1. + + O who by virtues great all highmost honours enhancest, + Guard of Emathia-land, most famous made by thine offspring, + Take what the Sisters deign this gladsome day to disclose thee, 325 + Oracles soothfast told,--And ye, by Destiny followed, + Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles. + +2. + + Soon to thy sight shall rise, their fond hopes bringing to bridegrooms, + Hesperus: soon shall come thy spouse with planet auspicious, + Who shall thy mind enbathe with a love that softens the spirit, 330 + And as thyself shall prepare for sinking in languorous slumber, + Under thy neck robust, soft arms dispreading as pillow. + Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles. + +3. + + Never a house like this such loves as these hath united, + Never did love conjoin by such-like covenant lovers, 335 + As th'according tie Thetis deigned in concert wi' Peleus. + Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles. + +4. + + Born of yon twain shall come Achilles guiltless of fear-sense, + Known by his forceful breast and ne'er by back to the foeman, + Who shall at times full oft in doubtful contest of race-course 340 + Conquer the fleet-foot doe with slot-tracks smoking and burning. + Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles. + +5. + + None shall with him compare, howe'er war-doughty a hero, + Whenas the Phrygian rills flow deep with bloodshed of Teucer, + And beleaguering the walls of Troy with longest of warfare 345 + He shall the works lay low, third heir of Pelops the perjured. + Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles. + +6. + + His be the derring-do and deeds of valour egregious, + Often mothers shall own at funeral-rites of their children, + What time their hoary hairs from head in ashes are loosened, 350 + And wi' their hands infirm they smite their bosoms loose dugged. + Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles. + +7. + + For as the toiling hind bestrewing denseness of corn-stalks + Under the broiling sun mows grain-fields yellow to harvest, + So shall his baneful brand strew earth with corpses of Troy-born. 355 + Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles. + +8. + + Aye to his valorous worth attest shall wave of Scamander + Which unto Helle-Sea fast flowing ever dischargeth, + Straiter whose course shall grow by up-heaped barrage of corpses, + While in his depths runs warm his stream with slaughter commingled. 360 + Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles. + +9. + + Witness in fine shall be the victim rendered to death-stroke, + Whenas the earthern tomb on lofty tumulus builded + Shall of the stricken maid receive limbs white as the snow-flake. + Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles. 365 + +10. + + For when at last shall Fors to weary Achaians her fiat + Deal, of Dardanus-town to burst Neptunian fetters, + Then shall the high-reared tomb stand bathed with Polyxena's life-blood, + Who, as the victim doomed to fall by the double-edged falchion, + Forward wi' hams relaxt shall smite a body beheaded. 370 + Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles. + +11. + + Wherefore arise, ye pair, conjoin loves ardently longed-for, + Now doth the groom receive with happiest omen his goddess, + Now let the bride at length to her yearning spouse be delivered. + Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles. 375 + +12. + + Neither the nurse who comes at dawn to visit her nursling + E'er shall avail her neck to begird with yesterday's ribband. + [Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O spindles.] + Nor shall the mother's soul for ill-matcht daughter a-grieving + Lose by a parted couch all hopes of favourite grandsons. 380 + Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles. + + Thus in the bygone day Peleus' fate foretelling + Chaunted from breasts divine prophetic verse the Parcae. + For that the pure chaste homes of heroes to visit in person + Oft-tide the Gods, and themselves to display where mortals were gathered, + 385 + Wont were the Heavenlies while none human piety spurned. + Often the Deities' Sire, in fulgent temple a-dwelling, + Whenas in festal days received he his annual worship, + Looked upon hundreds of bulls felled prone on pavement before him. + Full oft Liber who roamed from topmost peak of Parnassus 390 + Hunted his howling host, his Thyiads with tresses dishevelled. + * * * * + Then with contending troops from all their city outflocking + Gladly the Delphians hailed their God with smoking of altars. + Often in death-full war and bravest of battle, or Mavors + Or rapid Triton's Queen or eke the Virgin Rhamnusian, 395 + Bevies of weaponed men exhorting, proved their presence. + But from the time when earth was stained with unspeakable scandals + And forth fro' greeding breasts of all men justice departed, + Then did the brother drench his hands in brotherly bloodshed, + Stinted the son in heart to mourn decease of his parents, 400 + Longed the sire to sight his first-born's funeral convoy + So more freely the flower of step-dame-maiden to rifle; + After that impious Queen her guiltless son underlying, + Impious, the household gods with crime ne'er dreading to sully-- + All things fair and nefand being mixt in fury of evil 405 + Turned from ourselves avert the great goodwill of the Godheads. + Wherefor they nowise deign our human assemblies to visit, + Nor do they suffer themselves be met in light of the day-tide. + +Pines aforetimes sprung from Pelion peak floated, so 'tis said, through +liquid billows of Neptune to the flowing Phasis and the confines Aeetaean, +when the picked youth, the vigour of Argive manhood seeking to carry away +the Golden Fleece from Colchis, dared to skim o'er salt seas in a +swift-sailing ship, sweeping caerulean ocean with paddles shapen from +fir-wood. That Goddess who guards the castles in topmost parts of the towns +herself fashioned the car, scudding with lightest of winds, uniting the +interweaved pines unto the curving keel. That same first instructed +untaught Amphitrite with sailing. Scarce had it split with its stem the +windy waves, and the billow vext with oars had whitened into foam, when +arose from the abyss of the hoary eddies the faces of sea-dwelling Nereids +wondering at the marvel. And then on that propitious day mortal eyes gazed +on sea-nymphs with naked bodies bare to the breasts outstanding from the +foamy abyss. Then 'tis said Peleus burned with desire for Thetis, then +Thetis contemned not mortal hymenaeals, then Thetis' sire himself +sanctioned her joining to Peleus. O born in the time of joyfuller ages, +heroes, hail! sprung from the gods, good progeny of mothers, hail! and +favourably be ye inclined. You oft in my song I'll address, thee too I'll +approach, Peleus, pillar of Thessaly, so increased in importance by thy +fortunate wedding-torches, to whom Jupiter himself, the sire of the gods +himself, yielded up his beloved. Did not Thetis embrace thee, she most +winsome of Nereids born? Did not Tethys consent that thou should'st lead +home her grandchild, and Oceanus eke, whose waters girdle the total globe? +When in full course of time the longed-for day had dawned, all Thessaly +assembled throngs his home, a gladsome company o'erspreading the halls: +they bear gifts to the fore, and their joy in their faces they shew. Scyros +desert remains, they leave Phthiotic Tempe, Crannon's homes, and the +fortressed walls of Larissa; to Pharsalia they hie, 'neath Pharsalian roofs +they gather. None tills the soil, the heifers' necks grow softened, the +trailing vine is not cleansed by the curved rake-prongs, nor does the +sickle prune the shade of the spreading tree-branches, nor does the bullock +up-tear the glebe with the prone-bending ploughshare; squalid rust steals +o'er the neglected ploughs. + +But this mansion, throughout its innermost recesses of opulent royalty, +glitters with gleaming gold and with silver. Ivory makes white the seats; +goblets glint on the boards; the whole house delights in the splendour of +royal treasure. Placed in the midst of the mansion is the bridal bed of the +goddess, made glossy with Indian tusks and covered with purple, tinted with +the shell-fish's rosy dye. This tapestry embroidered with figures of men of +ancient time pourtrays with admirable art the heroes' valour. For looking +forth from Dia's beach, resounding with crashing of breakers, Theseus +hasting from sight with swiftest of fleets, Ariadne watches, her heart +swelling with raging passion, nor scarce yet credits she sees what she +sees, as, newly-awakened from her deceptive sleep, she perceives herself, +deserted and woeful, on the lonely shore. But the heedless youth, flying +away, beats the waves with his oars, leaving his perjured vows to the gusty +gales. In the dim distance from amidst the sea-weed, the daughter of Minos +with sorrowful eyes, like a stone-carved Bacchante, gazes afar, alas! gazes +after him, heaving with great waves of grief. No longer does the fragile +fillet bind her yellow locks, no more with light veil is her hidden bosom +covered, no more with rounded zone the milky breasts are clasped; down +fallen from her body everything is scattered, hither, thither, and the salt +waves toy with them in front of her very feet. But neither on fillet nor +floating veil, but on thee, Theseus, in their stead, was she musing: on +thee she bent her heart, her thoughts, her love-lorn mind. Ah, woeful one, +with sorrows unending distraught, Erycina sows thorny cares deep in thy +bosom, since that time when Theseus fierce in his vigour set out from the +curved bay of Piraeus, and gained the Gortynian roofs of the iniquitous +ruler. + +For of old 'tis narrated, that constrained by plague of the cruelest to +expiate the slaughter of Androgeos, both chosen youths and the pick of the +unmarried maidens Cecropia was wont to give as a feast to the Minotaur. +When thus his strait walls with ills were vexed, Theseus with free will +preferred to yield up his body for adored Athens rather than such Cecropian +corpses be carried to Crete unobsequied. And therefore borne in a speedy +craft by favouring breezes, he came to the imperious Minos and his superb +seat. Instant the royal virgin him saw with longing glance, she whom the +chaste couch out-breathing sweetest of scents cradled in her mother's +tender enfoldings, like to the myrtle which the rivers of Eurotas produce, +or the many-tinted blooms opening with the springtide's breezes, she bent +not down away from him her kindling glance, until the flame spread through +her whole body, and burned into her innermost marrow. Ah, hard of heart, +urging with misery to madness, O holy boy, who mingles men's cares and +their joyings, and thou queen of Golgos and of foliaged Idalium, on what +waves did you heave the mind-kindled maid, sighing full oft for the +golden-haired guest! What dreads she bore in her swooning soul! How often +did she grow sallower in sheen than gold! When craving to contend against +the savage monster Theseus faced death or the palm of praise. Then gifts to +the gods not unmeet not idly given, with promise from tight-closed lips did +she address her vows. For as an oak waving its boughs on Taurus' top, or a +coniferous pine with sweating stem, is uprooted by savage storm, twisting +its trunk with its blast (dragged from its roots prone it falleth afar, +breaking all in the line of its fall) so did Theseus fling down the +conquered body of the brute, tossing its horns in vain towards the skies. +Thence backwards he retraced his steps 'midst great laud, guiding his +errant footsteps by means of a tenuous thread, lest when outcoming from +tortuous labyrinthines his efforts be frustrated by unobservant wandering. +But why, turned aside from my first story, should I recount more, how the +daughter fleeing her father's face, her sister's embrace, and e'en her +mother's, who despairingly bemoaned her lost daughter, preferred to all +these the sweet love of Theseus; or how borne by their boat to the spumy +shores of Dia she came; or how her yokeman with unmemoried breast forsaking +her, left her bound in the shadows of sleep? And oft, so 'tis said, with +her heart burning with fury she outpoured clarion cries from depths of her +bosom, then sadly scaled the rugged mounts, whence she could cast her +glance o'er the vasty seething ocean, then ran into the opposing billows of +the heaving sea, raising from her bared legs her clinging raiment, and in +uttermost plight of woe with tear-stained face and chilly sobs spake she +thus:-- + +"Is it thus, O perfidious, when dragged from my motherland's shores, is it +thus, O false Theseus, that thou leavest me on this desolate strand? thus +dost depart unmindful of slighted godheads, bearing home thy perjured vows? +Was no thought able to bend the intent of thy ruthless mind? hadst thou no +clemency there, that thy pitiless bowels might compassionate me? But these +were not the promises thou gavest me idly of old, this was not what thou +didst bid me hope for, but the blithe bride-bed, hymenaeal happiness: all +empty air, blown away by the breezes. Now, now, let no woman give credence +to man's oath, let none hope for faithful vows from mankind; for whilst +their eager desire strives for its end, nothing fear they to swear, nothing +of promises stint they: but instant their lusting thoughts are satiate with +lewdness, nothing of speech they remember, nothing of perjuries reck. In +truth I snatched thee from the midst of the whirlpool of death, preferring +to suffer the loss of a brother rather than fail thy need in the supreme +hour, O ingrate. For the which I shall be a gift as prey to be rent by wild +beasts and the carrion-fowl, nor dead shall I be placed in the earth, +covered with funeral mound. What lioness bare thee 'neath lonely crag? What +sea conceived and spued thee from its foamy crest? What Syrtis, what +grasping Scylla, what vast Charybdis? O thou repayer with such guerdon for +thy sweet life! If 'twas not thy heart's wish to yoke with me, through +holding in horror the dread decrees of my stern sire, yet thou couldst have +led me to thy home, where as thine handmaid I might have served thee with +cheerful service, laving thy snowy feet with clear water, or spreading the +purple coverlet o'er thy couch. Yet why, distraught with woe, do I vainly +lament to the unknowing winds, which unfurnished with sense, can neither +hear uttered complaints nor can return them? For now he has sped away into +the midst of the seas, nor doth any mortal appear along this desolate +seaboard. Thus with o'erweening scorn doth bitter Fate in my extreme hour +even grudge ears to my plaints. All-powerful Jupiter! would that in old +time the Cecropian poops had not touched at the Gnossian shores, nor that +bearing to the unquelled bull the direful ransom had the false mariner +moored his hawser to Crete, nor that yon wretch hiding ruthless designs +beneath sweet seemings had reposed as a guest in our halls! For whither may +I flee? in what hope, O lost one, take refuge? Shall I climb the Idomenean +crags? but the truculent sea stretching amain with its whirlings of waters +separates us. Can I quest help from my father, whom I deserted to follow a +youth besprinkled with my brother's blood? Can I crave comfort from the +care of a faithful yokeman, who is fleeing with yielding oars, encurving +'midst whirling waters. If I turn from the beach there is no roof in this +tenantless island, no way sheweth a passage, circled by waves of the sea; +no way of flight, no hope; all denotes dumbness, desolation, and death. +Natheless mine eyes shall not be dimmed in death, nor my senses secede from +my spent frame, until I have besought from the gods a meet mulct for my +betrayal, and implored the faith of the celestials with my latest breath. +Wherefore ye requiters of men's deeds with avenging pains, O Eumenides, +whose front enwreathed with serpent-locks blazons the wrath exhaled from +your bosom, hither, hither haste, hear ye my plainings, which I, sad +wretch, am urged to outpour from mine innermost marrow, helpless, burning, +and blind with frenzied fury. And since in truth they spring from the +veriest depths of my heart, be ye unwilling to allow my agony to pass +unheeded, but with such mind as Theseus forsook me, with like mind, O +goddesses, may he bring evil on himself and on his kin." + +After she had poured forth these words from her grief-laden bosom, +distractedly clamouring for requital against his heartless deeds, the +celestial ruler assented with almighty nod, at whose motion the earth and +the awe-full waters quaked, and the world of glittering stars did quiver. +But Theseus, self-blinded with mental mist, let slip from forgetful breast +all those injunctions which until then he had held firmly in mind, nor bore +aloft sweet signals to his sad sire, shewing himself safe when in sight of +Erectheus' haven. For 'tis said that aforetime, when Aegeus entrusted his +son to the winds, on leaving the walls of the chaste goddess's city, these +commands he gave to the youth with his parting embrace. + +"O mine only son, far dearer to me than long life, lately restored to me at +extreme end of my years, O son whom I must perforce dismiss to a doubtful +hazard, since my ill fate and thine ardent valour snatch thee from +unwilling me, whose dim eyes are not yet sated with my son's dear form: nor +gladly and with joyous breast do I send thee, nor will I suffer thee to +bear signs of helpful fortune, but first from my breast many a plaint will +I express, sullying my grey hairs with dust and ashes, and then will I hang +dusky sails to the swaying mast, so that our sorrow and burning lowe are +shewn by Iberian canvas, rustily darkened. Yet if the dweller on holy +Itone, who deigns defend our race and Erectheus' dwellings, grant thee to +besprinkle thy right hand in the bull's blood, then see that in very truth +these commandments deep-stored in thine heart's memory do flourish, nor any +time deface them. Instant thine eyes shall see our cliffs, lower their +gloomy clothing from every yard, and let the twisted cordage bear aloft +snowy sails, where splendent shall shine bright topmast spars, so that, +instant discerned, I may know with gladness and lightness of heart that in +prosperous hour thou art returned to my face." + +These charges, at first held in constant mind, from Theseus slipped away as +clouds are impelled by the breath of the winds from the ethereal peak of a +snow-clad mount. But his father as he betook himself to the castle's +turrets as watchplace, dimming his anxious eyes with continual weeping, +when first he spied the discoloured canvas, flung himself headlong from the +top of the crags, deeming Theseus lost by harsh fate. Thus as he entered +the grief-stricken house, his paternal roof, Theseus savage with slaughter +met with like grief as that which with unmemoried mind he had dealt to +Minos' daughter: while she with grieving gaze at his disappearing keel, +turned over a tumult of cares in her wounded spirit. + +But on another part [of the tapestry] swift hastened the flushed Iacchus +with his train of Satyrs and Nisa-begot Sileni, thee questing, Ariadne, and +aflame with love for thee. * * * * These scattered all around, an inspired +band, rushed madly with mind all distraught, ranting "Euhoe," with tossing +of heads "Euhoe." Some with womanish hands shook thyrsi with wreath-covered +points; some tossed limbs of a rended steer; some engirt themselves with +writhed snakes; some enacted obscure orgies with deep chests, orgies of +which the profane vainly crave a hearing; others beat the tambours with +outstretched palms, or from the burnished brass provoked shrill tinklings, +blew raucous-sounding blasts from many horns, and the barbarous pipe droned +forth horrible song. + +With luxury of such figures was the coverlet adorned, enwrapping the bed +with its mantling embrace. After the Thessalian youthhood with eager +engazing were sated they began to give way to the sacred gods. Hence, as +with his morning's breath brushing the still sea Zephyrus makes the sloping +billows uprise, when Aurora mounts 'neath the threshold of the wandering +sun, which waves heave slowly at first with the breeze's gentle motion +(plashing with the sound as of low laughter) but after, as swells the wind, +more and more frequent they crowd and gleam in the purple light as they +float away,--so quitting the royal vestibule did the folk hie them away +each to his home with steps wandering hither and thither. + +After they had wended their way, chief from the Pelion vertex Chiron came, +the bearer of sylvan spoil: for whatsoever the fields bear, whatso the +Thessalian land on its high hills breeds, and what flowers the fecund air +of warm Favonius begets near the running streams, these did he bear +enwreathed into blended garlands wherewith the house rippled with laughter, +caressed by the grateful odour. + +Speedily stands present Penios, for a time his verdant Tempe, Tempe whose +overhanging trees encircle, leaving to the Dorian choirs, damsels +Magnesian, to frequent; nor empty-handed,--for he has borne hither lofty +beeches uprooted and the tall laurel with straight stem, nor lacks he the +nodding plane and the lithe sister of flame-wrapt Phaethon and the aerial +cypress. These wreathed in line did he place around the palace so that the +vestibule might grow green sheltered with soft fronds. + +After him follows Prometheus of inventive mind, bearing diminishing traces +of his punishment of aforetime, which of old he had suffered, with his +limbs confined by chains hanging from the rugged Scythian crags. Then came +the sire of gods from heaven with his holy consort and offspring, leaving +thee alone, Phoebus, with thy twin-sister the fosterer of the mountains of +Idrus: for equally with thyself did thy sister disdain Peleus nor was she +willing to honour the wedding torches of Thetis. After they had reclined +their snow-white forms along the seats, tables were loaded on high with +food of various kinds. + +In the meantime with shaking bodies and infirm gesture the Parcae began to +intone their veridical chant. Their trembling frames were enwrapped around +with white garments, encircled with a purple border at their heels, snowy +fillets bound each aged brow, and their hands pursued their never-ending +toil, as of custom. The left hand bore the distaff enwrapped in soft wool, +the right hand lightly withdrawing the threads with upturned fingers did +shape them, then twisting them with the prone thumb it turned the balanced +spindle with well-polished whirl. And then with a pluck of their tooth the +work was always made even, and the bitten wool-shreds adhered to their +dried lips, which shreds at first had stood out from the fine thread. And +in front of their feet wicker baskets of osier twigs took charge of the +soft white woolly fleece. These, with clear-sounding voice, as they combed +out the wool, outpoured fates of such kind in sacred song, in song which +none age yet to come could tax with untruth. + +"O with great virtues thine exceeding honour augmenting, stay of +Emathia-land, most famous in thine issue, receive what the sisters make +known to thee on this gladsome day, a weird veridical! But ye whom the +fates do follow:--Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles. + +"Now Hesperus shall come unto thee bearing what is longed for by +bridegrooms, with that fortunate star shall thy bride come, who ensteeps +thy soul with the sway of softening love, and prepares with thee to conjoin +in languorous slumber, making her smooth arms thy pillow round 'neath thy +sinewy neck. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles. + +"No house ever yet enclosed such loves, no love bound lovers with such +pact, as abideth with Thetis, as is the concord of Peleus. Haste ye, +a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles. + +"To ye shall Achilles be born, a stranger to fear, to his foemen not by his +back, but by his broad breast known, who, oft-times the victor in the +uncertain struggle of the foot-race, shall outrun the fire-fleet footsteps +of the speedy doe. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles. + +"None in war with him may compare as a hero, when the Phrygian streams +shall trickle with Trojan blood, and when besieging the walls of Troy with +a long-drawn-out warfare perjured Pelops' third heir shall lay that city +waste. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles. + +"His glorious acts and illustrious deeds often shall mothers attest o'er +funeral-rites of their sons, when the white locks from their heads are +unloosed amid ashes, and they bruise their discoloured breasts with feeble +fists. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles. + +"For as the husbandman bestrewing the dense wheat-ears mows the harvest +yellowed 'neath ardent sun, so shall he cast prostrate the corpses of +Troy's sons with grim swords. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye +spindles. + +"His great valour shall be attested by Scamander's wave, which ever pours +itself into the swift Hellespont, narrowing whose course with slaughtered +heaps of corpses he shall make tepid its deep stream by mingling warm blood +with the water. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles. + +"And she a witness in fine shall be the captive-maid handed to death, when +the heaped-up tomb of earth built in lofty mound shall receive the snowy +limbs of the stricken virgin. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye +spindles. + +"For instant fortune shall give the means to the war-worn Greeks to break +Neptune's stone bonds of the Dardanian city, the tall tomb shall be made +dank with Polyxena's blood, who as the victim succumbing 'neath two-edged +sword, with yielding hams shall fall forward a headless corpse. Haste ye, +a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles. + +"Wherefore haste ye to conjoin in the longed-for delights of your love. +Bridegroom thy goddess receive in felicitous compact; let the bride be +given to her eager husband. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye +spindles. + +"Nor shall the nurse at orient light returning, with yester-e'en's thread +succeed in circling her neck. [Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye +spindles.] Not need her solicitous mother fear sad discord shall cause a +parted bed for her daughter, nor need she cease to hope for dear +grandchildren. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles." + +With such soothsaying songs of yore did the Parcae chant from divine breast +the felicitous fate of Peleus. For of aforetime the heaven-dwellers were +wont to visit the chaste homes of heroes and to shew themselves in mortal +assembly ere yet their worship was scorned. Often the father of the gods, +a-resting in his glorious temple, when on the festal days his annual rites +appeared, gazed on an hundred bulls strewn prone on the earth. Often +wandering Liber on topmost summit of Parnassus led his yelling Thyiads with +loosely tossed locks. * * * * When the Delphians tumultuously trooping from +the whole of their city joyously acclaimed the god with smoking altars. +Often in lethal strife of war Mavors, or swift Triton's queen, or the +Rhamnusian virgin, in person did exhort armed bodies of men. But after the +earth was infected with heinous crime, and each one banished justice from +their grasping mind, and brothers steeped their hands in fraternal blood, +the son ceased grieving o'er departed parents, the sire craved for the +funeral rites of his first-born that freely he might take of the flower of +unwedded step-dame, the unholy mother, lying under her unknowing son, did +not fear to sully her household gods with dishonour: everything licit and +lawless commingled with mad infamy turned away from us the just-seeing mind +of the gods. Wherefore nor do they deign to appear at such-like assemblies, +nor will they permit themselves to be met in the day-light. + +LXV. + + Esti me adsiduo confectum cura dolore + Sevocat a doctis, Ortale, virginibus, + Nec potisest dulces Musarum expromere fetus + Mens animi, (tantis fluctuat ipsa malis: + Namque mei nuper Lethaeo gurgite fratris 5 + Pallidulum manans adluit unda pedem, + Troia Rhoeteo quem subter littore tellus + Ereptum nostris obterit ex oculis. + * * * * + Adloquar, audiero numquam tua _facta_ loquentem, + Numquam ego te, vita frater amabilior, 10 + Aspiciam posthac. at certe semper amabo, + Semper maesta tua carmina morte canam, + Qualia sub densis ramorum concinit umbris + Daulias absumpti fata gemens Itylei)-- + Sed tamen in tantis maeroribus, Ortale, mitto 15 + Haec expressa tibi carmina Battiadae, + Ne tua dicta vagis nequiquam credita ventis + Effluxisse meo forte putes animo, + Vt missum sponsi furtivo munere malum + Procurrit casto virginis e gremio, 20 + Quod miserae oblitae molli sub veste locatum, + Dum adventu matris prosilit, excutitur: + Atque illud prono praeceps agitur decursu, + Huic manat tristi conscius ore rubor. + +LXV. + +TO HORTALUS LAMENTING A LOST BROTHER. + + Albeit care that consumes, with dule assiduous grieving, + Me from the Learned Maids (Hortalus!) ever seclude, + Nor can avail sweet births of the Muses thou to deliver + Thought o' my mind; (so much floats it on flooding of ills: + For that the Lethe-wave upsurging of late from abysses, 5 + Laved my brother's foot, paling with pallor of death, + He whom the Trojan soil, Rhoetean shore underlying, + Buries for ever and aye, forcibly snatched from our sight. + * * * * + I can address; no more shall I hear thee tell of thy doings, + Say, shall I never again, brother all liefer than life, 10 + Sight thee henceforth? But I will surely love thee for ever + Ever what songs I sing saddened shall be by thy death; + Such as the Daulian bird 'neath gloom of shadowy frondage + Warbles, of Itys lost ever bemoaning the lot.) + Yet amid grief so great to thee, my Hortalus, send I 15 + These strains sung to a mode borrowed from Battiades; + Lest shouldest weet of me thy words, to wandering wind-gusts + Vainly committed, perchance forth of my memory flowed-- + As did that apple sent for a furtive giftie by wooer, + In the chaste breast of the Maid hidden a-sudden out-sprang; 20 + For did the hapless forget when in loose-girt garment it lurked, + Forth would it leap as she rose, scared by her mother's approach, + And while coursing headlong, it rolls far out of her keeping, + O'er the triste virgin's brow flushes the conscious blush. + +Though outspent with care and unceasing grief, I am withdrawn, Ortalus, +from the learned Virgins, nor is my soul's mind able to bring forth sweet +babes of the Muses (so much does it waver 'midst ills: for but lately the +wave of the Lethean stream doth lave with its flow the pallid foot of my +brother, whom 'neath the Rhoetean seaboard the Trojan soil doth crush, +thrust from our eyesight. * * * Never again may I salute thee, nor hear thy +converse; never again, O brother, more loved than life, may I see thee in +aftertime. But for all time in truth will I love thee, always will I sing +elegies made gloomy by thy death, such as the Daulian bird pipes 'neath +densest shades of foliage, lamenting the lot of slain Itys.) Yet 'midst +sorrows so deep, O Ortalus, I send thee these verses re-cast from +Battiades, lest thou shouldst credit thy words by chance have slipt from my +mind, given o'er to the wandering winds, as 'twas with that apple, sent as +furtive love-token by the wooer, which outleapt from the virgin's chaste +bosom; for, placed by the hapless girl 'neath her soft vestment, and +forgotten,--when she starts at her mother's approach, out 'tis shaken: and +down it rolls headlong to the ground, whilst a tell-tale flush mantles the +face of the distressed girl. + +LXVI. + + Omnia qui magni dispexit lumina mundi, + Qui stellarum ortus comperit atque obitus, + Flammeus ut rapidi solis nitor obscuretur, + Vt cedant certis sidera temporibus, + Vt Triviam furtim sub Latmia saxa relegans 5 + Dulcis amor gyro devocet aerio, + Idem me ille Conon caelesti in lumine vidit + E Beroniceo vertice caesariem + Fulgentem clare, quam cunctis illa deorum + Levia protendens brachia pollicitast, 10 + Qua rex tempestate novo auctus hymenaeo + Vastatum finis iverat Assyrios, + Dulcia nocturnae portans vestigia rixae, + Quam de virgineis gesserat exuviis. + Estne novis nuptis odio venus? anne parentum 15 + Frustrantur falsis gaudia lacrimulis, + Vbertim thalami quas intra lumina fundunt? + Non, ita me divi, vera gemunt, iuerint. + Id mea me multis docuit regina querellis + Invisente novo praelia torva viro. 20 + An tu non orbum luxti deserta cubile, + Sed fratris cari flebile discidium? + Quam penitus maestas excedit cura medullas! + Vt tibi tum toto pectore sollicitae + Sensibus ereptis mens excidit! at te ego certe 25 + Cognoram a parva virgine magnanimam. + Anne bonum oblita's facinus, quo regium adepta's + Coniugium, quo non fortius ausit alis? + Sed tum maesta virum mittens quae verba locuta's! + Iuppiter, ut tristi lumina saepe manu! 30 + 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's + Sei reditum tetullisset. is haut in tempore longo 35 + Captam Asiam Aegypti finibus addiderat. + Quis ego pro factis caelesti reddita coetu + Pristina vota novo munere dissoluo. + Invita, o regina, tuo de vertice cessi, + Invita: adiuro teque tuomque caput, 40 + Digna ferat quod siquis inaniter adiurarit: + Sed qui se ferro postulet esse parem? + Ille quoque eversus mons est, quem maximum in orbi + Progenies Thiae clara supervehitur, + Cum Medi peperere novom mare, cumque inventus 45 + 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 frangere duritiem! 50 + Abiunctae paulo ante comae mea fata sorores + Lugebant, cum se Memnonis Aethiopis + Vnigena inpellens nictantibus aera pennis + Obtulit Arsinoes Locridos ales equos, + Isque per aetherias me tollens avolat umbras 55 + Et Veneris casto collocat in gremio. + Ipsa suum Zephyritis eo famulum legarat, + Graia Canopieis incola litoribus. + + Hi dii ven ibi vario ne solum in lumine caeli + Ex Ariadneis aurea temporibus 60 + Fixa corona foret, sed nos quoque fulgeremus + Devotae flavi verticis exuviae, + Vvidulam a fletu cedentem ad templa deum me + Sidus in antiquis diva novom posuit: + Virginis et saevi contingens namque Leonis 65 + Lumina, Callisto iuncta Lycaoniae, + Vertor in occasum, tardum dux ante Booten, + Qui vix sero alto mergitur Oceano. + Sed quamquam me nocte premunt vestigia divom, + Lux autem canae Tethyi restituit, 70 + (Pace tua fari hic liceat, Rhamnusia virgo, + Namque ego non ullo vera timore tegam, + Nec si me infestis discerpent sidera dictis, + Condita quin verei pectoris evoluam): + Non his tam laetor rebus, quam me afore semper, 75 + Afore me a dominae vertice discrucior, + Quicum ego, dum virgo curis fuit omnibus expers, + Vnguenti Suriei milia multa bibi. + Nunc vos, optato quom iunxit lumine taeda, + Non prius unanimis corpora coniugibus 80 + Tradite nudantes reiecta veste papillas, + Quam iocunda mihi munera libet onyx, + Voster onyx, casto petitis quae iura cubili. + Sed quae se inpuro dedit adulterio, + Illius a mala dona levis bibat irrita pulvis: 85 + Namque ego ab indignis praemia nulla peto. + Sed magis, o nuptae, semper concordia vostras + Semper amor sedes incolat adsiduos. + Tu vero, regina, tuens cum sidera divam + Placabis festis luminibus Venerem, 90 + Vnguinis expertem non siris esse tuam me, + Sed potius largis adfice muneribus. + Sidera corruerent utinam! coma regia fiam: + Proximus Hydrochoi fulgeret Oarion! + +LXVI. + +(LOQUITUR) BERENICE'S LOCK. + + He who every light of the sky world's vastness inspected, + He who mastered in mind risings and settings of stars, + How of the fast rising sun obscured be the fiery splendours, + How at the seasons assured vanish the planets from view, + How Diana to lurk thief-like 'neath Latmian stonefields, 5 + Summoned by sweetness of Love, comes from her aery gyre; + That same Conon espied among lights Celestial shining + Me, Berenice's Hair, which, from her glorious head, + Fulgent in brightness afar, to many a host of the Godheads + Stretching her soft smooth arms she vowed to devoutly bestow, 10 + What time strengthened by joy of new-made wedlock the monarch + Bounds of Assyrian land hurried to plunder and pill; + Bearing of nightly strife new signs and traces delicious, + Won in the war he waged virginal trophies to win. + Loathsome is Venus to all new-paired? Else why be the parents' 15 + Pleasure frustrated aye by the false flow of tears + Poured in profusion amid illuminate genial chamber? + Nay not real the groans; ever so help me the Gods! + This truth taught me my Queen by force of manifold 'plainings + After her new groom hied facing the fierceness of fight. 20 + Yet so thou mournedst not for a bed deserted of husband, + As for a brother beloved wending on woefullest way? + How was the marrow of thee consumedly wasted by sorrow! + So clean forth of thy breast, rackt with solicitous care, + Mind fled, sense being reft! But I have known thee for certain 25 + E'en from young virginal years lofty of spirit to be. + Hast thou forgotten the feat whose greatness won thee a royal + Marriage--a deed so prow, never a prower was dared? + Yet how sad was the speech thou spakest, thy husband farewelling! + (Jupiter!) Often thine eyes wiping with sorrowful hand! 30 + What manner God so great thus changed thee? Is it that lovers + Never will tarry afar parted from person beloved? + Then unto every God on behalf of thy helpmate, thy sweeting, + Me thou gavest in vow, not without bloodshed of bulls, + If he be granted return, and long while nowise delaying, 35 + Captive Asia he add unto Egyptian bounds. + Now for such causes I, enrolled in host of the Heavens, + By a new present, discharge promise thou madest of old: + Maugre my will, O Queen, my place on thy head I relinquished, + Maugre my will, I attest, swearing by thee and thy head; 40 + Penalty due shall befall whoso makes oath to no purpose. + Yet who assumes the vaunt forceful as iron to be? + E'en was that mount o'erthrown, though greatest in universe, where + through + Thia's illustrious race speeded its voyage to end, + Whenas the Medes brought forth new sea, and barbarous youth-hood 45 + Urged an Armada to swim traversing middle-Athos. + What can be done by Hair when such things yield them to Iron? + Jupiter! Grant Chalybon perish the whole of the race, + Eke who in primal times ore seeking under the surface + Showed th' example, and spalled iron however so hard. 50 + Shortly before I was shorn my sister tresses bewailed + Lot of me, e'en as the sole brother to Memnon the Black, + Winnowing upper air wi' feathers flashing and quiv'ring, + Chloris' wing-borne steed, came before Arsinoe, + Whence upraising myself he flies through aery shadows, 55 + And in chaste Venus' breast drops he the present he bears. + Eke Zephyritis had sent, for the purpose trusted, her bondsman, + Settler of Grecian strain on the Canopian strand. + So willed various Gods, lest sole 'mid lights of the Heavens + Should Ariadne's crown taken from temples of her 60 + Glitter in gold, but we not less shine fulgent in splendour, + We the consecrate spoils shed by a blond-hued head, + Even as weeping-wet sought I the fanes of Celestials, + Placed me the Goddess a new light amid starlights of old: + For with Virgo in touch and joining the furious Lion's 65 + Radiance with Callisto, maid of Lycaon beloved, + Wind I still to the west, conducting tardy Booetes, + Who unwilling and slow must into Ocean merge. + Yet though press me o'night the pacing footprints of Godheads, + Tethys, hoary of hair, ever regains me by day. 70 + (Lend me thy leave to speak such words, Rhamnusian Virgin, + Verities like unto these never in fear will I veil; + Albeit every star asperse me with enemy's censure, + Secrets in soothfast heart hoarded perforce I reveal.) + Nowise gladdens me so this state as absence torments me, 75 + Absence doomed for aye ta'en fro' my mistress's head, + Where I was wont (though she such cares unknew in her girlhood) + Many a thousand scents, Syrian unguents, to sip. + Now do you pair conjoined by the longed-for light of the torches, + Earlier yield not selves unto unanimous wills 80 + Nor wi' the dresses doft your bared nipples encounter, + Ere shall yon onyx-vase pour me libations glad, + Onyx yours, ye that seek only rights of virtuous bed-rite. + But who yieldeth herself unto advowtry impure, + Ah! may her loathed gifts in light dust uselessly soak, 85 + For of unworthy sprite never a gift I desire. + Rather, O new-mated brides, be concord aye your companion, + Ever let constant love dwell in the dwellings of you. + Yet when thou sightest, O Queen, the Constellations, I pray thee, + Every festal day Venus the Goddess appease; 90 + Nor of thy unguent-gifts allow myself to be lacking, + Nay, do thou rather add largeliest increase to boons. + Would but the stars down fall! Could I of my Queen be the hair-lock, + Neighbour to Hydrochois e'en let Oarion shine. + +He who scanned all the lights of the great firmament, who ascertained the +rising and the setting of the stars, how the flaming splendour of the swift +sun was endarkened, how the planets disappear at certain seasons, how sweet +love with stealth detaining Trivia beneath the Latmian crags, draws her +away from her airy circuit, that same Conon saw me amongst celestial light, +the hair from Berenice's head, gleaming with brightness, which she +outstretching graceful arms did devote to the whole of the gods, when the +king flushed with the season of new wedlock had gone to lay waste the +Assyrian borders, bearing the sweet traces of nightly contests, in which he +had borne away her virginal spoils. Is Venus abhorred by new-made brides? +Why be the parents' joys turned aside by feigned tears, which they shed +copiously amid the lights of the nuptial chamber? Untrue are their groans, +by the gods I swear! This did my queen teach me by her many lamentings, +when her bridegroom set out for stern warfare. Yet thou didst not mourn the +widowhood of desolate couch, but the tearful separation from a dear +brother? How care made sad inroads in thy very marrow! In so much that +thine whole bosom being agitated, and thy senses being snatched from thee, +thy mind wandered! But in truth I have known thee great of heart ever since +thou wast a little maiden. Hast thou forgotten that noble deed, by which +thou didst gain a regal wedlock, than which none dared other deeds bolder? +Yet what grieving words didst thou speak when bidding thy bridegroom +farewell! Jupiter! as with sad hand often thine eyes thou didst dry! What +mighty god changed thee? Was it that lovers are unwilling to be long absent +from their dear one's body? Then didst thou devote me to the whole of the +gods on thy sweet consort's behalf, not without blood of bullocks, should +he be granted safe return. In no long time he added captive Asia to the +Egyptian boundaries. Wherefore for these reasons I, bestowed 'midst the +celestial host, by a new gift fulfil thine ancient promise. With grief, O +queen, did I quit thy brow, with grief: I swear to thee and to thine head; +fit ill befall whosoever shall swear lightly: but who may bear himself peer +with steel? Even that mountain was swept away, the greatest on earth, over +which Thia's illustrious progeny passed, when the Medes created a new sea, +and the barbarian youth sailed its fleet through the middle of Athos. What +can locks of hair do, when such things yield to iron? Jupiter! may the +whole race of the Chalybes perish, and whoever first questing the veins +'neath the earth harassed its hardness, breaking it through with iron. Just +before severance my sister locks were mourning my fate, when Ethiop +Memnon's brother, the winged steed, beating the air with fluttering +pennons, appeared before Locrian Arsinoe, and this one bearing me up, flies +through aethereal shadows and lays me in the chaste bosom of Venus. Him +Zephyritis herself had dispatched as her servant, a Grecian settler on the +Canopian shores. For 'twas the wish of many gods that not alone in heaven's +light should the golden coronet from Ariadne's temples stay fixed, but that +we also should gleam, the spoils devote from thy golden-yellow head; when +humid with weeping I entered the temples of the gods, the Goddess placed +me, a new star, amongst the ancient ones. For a-touching the Virgin's and +the fierce Lion's gleams, hard by Callisto of Lycaon, I turn westwards +fore-guiding the slow-moving Bootes who sinks unwillingly and late into the +vasty ocean. But although the footsteps of the gods o'erpress me in the +night-tide, and the daytime restoreth me to the white-haired Tethys, (grant +me thy grace to speak thus, O Rhamnusian virgin, for I will not hide the +truth through any fear, even if the stars revile me with ill words yet I +will unfold the pent-up feelings from truthful breast) I am not so much +rejoiced at these things as I am tortured by being for ever parted, parted +from my lady's head, with whom I (though whilst a virgin she was free from +all such cares) drank many a thousand of Syrian scents. + +Now do you, whom the gladsome light of the wedding torches hath joined, +yield not your bodies to your desiring husbands nor throw aside your +vestments and bare your bosom's nipples, before your onyx cup brings me +jocund gifts, your onyx, ye who seek the dues of chaste marriage-bed. But +she who giveth herself to foul adultery, may the light-lying dust +responselessly drink her vile gifts, for I seek no offerings from folk that +do ill. But rather, O brides, may concord always be yours, and constant +love ever dwell in your homes. But when thou, O queen, whilst gazing at the +stars, shalt propitiate the goddess Venus with festal torch-lights, let not +me, thine own, be left lacking of unguent, but rather gladden me with large +gifts. Stars fall in confusion! So that I become a royal tress, Orion might +gleam in Aquarius' company. + +LXVII. + + O dulci iocunda viro, iocunda parenti, + Salve, teque bona Iuppiter auctet ope, + Ianua, quam Balbo dicunt servisse benigne + Olim, cum sedes ipse senex tenuit, + Quamque ferunt rursus voto servisse maligno, 5 + 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 meast, quamquam dicitur esse mea, 10 + Nec peccatum a me quisquam pote dicere quicquam: + Verum istud populi fabula, Quinte, facit, + Qui, quacumque aliquid reperitur non bene factum, + Ad me omnes clamant: ianua, culpa tuast.' + Non istuc satis est uno te dicere verbo, 15 + Sed facere ut quivis sentiat et videat. + 'Qui possum? nemo quaerit nec scire laborat.' + Nos volumus: nobis dicere ne dubita. + 'Primum igitur, virgo quod fertur tradita nobis, + Falsumst. non illam vir prior attigerit, 20 + 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 inpia mens caeco flagrabat amore, 25 + Seu quod iners sterili semine natus erat, + Et quaerendus is unde foret nervosius illud, + Quod posset zonam solvere virgineam.' + Egregium narras mira pietate parentem, + Qui ipse sui gnati minxerit in gremium. 30 + Atqui non solum hoc se dicit cognitum habere + Brixia Cycneae supposita speculae, + Flavos quam molli percurrit flumine Mella, + Brixia Veronae mater amata meae. + 'Et de Postumio et Corneli narrat amore, 35 + Cum quibus illa malum fecit adulterium.' + Dixerit hic aliquis: qui tu isthaec, ianua, nosti? + Cui numquam domini limine abesse licet, + Nec populum auscultare, sed heic suffixa tigillo + Tantum operire soles aut aperire domum? 40 + 'Saepe illam audivi furtiva voce loquentem + Solam cum ancillis haec sua flagitia, + Nomine dicentem quos diximus, ut pote quae mi + Speraret nec linguam esse nec auriculam. + Praeterea addebat quendam, quem dicere nolo 45 + Nomine, ne tollat rubra supercilia. + Longus homost, magnas quoi lites intulit olim + Falsum mendaci ventre puerperium.' + +LXVII. + +DIALOGUE CONCERNING CATULLUS AT A HARLOT'S DOOR. + +_Quintus_. + + O to the gentle spouse right dear, right dear to his parent, + Hail, and with increase fair Jupiter lend thee his aid, + Door, 'tis said wast fain kind service render to Balbus + Erst while, long as the house by her old owner was held; + Yet wast rumoured again to serve a purpose malignant, 5 + After the elder was stretched, thou being oped for a bride. + Come, then, tell us the why in thee such change be reported + That to thy lord hast abjured faithfulness owed of old? + +_Door_. + + Never (so chance I to please Caecilius owning me now-a-days!) + Is it my own default, how so they say it be mine; 10 + Nor can any declare aught sin by me was committed. + Yet it is so declared (Quintus!) by fable of folk; + Who, whenever they find things done no better than should be, + Come to me outcrying all:--"Door, the default is thine own!" + +_Quintus_. + + This be never enough for thee one-worded to utter, 15 + But in such way to deal, each and all sense it and see. + +_Door_. + + What shall I do? None asks, while nobody troubles to know. + +_Quintus_. + + Willing are we? unto us stay not thy saying to say. + +_Door_. + + First let me note that the maid to us committed (assert they) + Was but a fraud: her mate never a touch of her had, 20 + * * * * + * * * * + But that a father durst dishonour the bed of his firstborn, + Folk all swear, and the house hapless with incest bewray; + Or that his impious mind was blunt with fiery passion 25 + Or that his impotent son sprang from incapable seed. + And to be sought was one with nerve more nervous endowed, + Who could better avail zone of the virgin to loose. + +_Quintus_. + + 'Sooth, of egregious sire for piety wondrous, thou tellest, + Who in the heart of his son lief was ----! 30 + Yet professed herself not only this to be knowing, + Brixia-town that lies under the Cycnean cliff, + Traversed by Mella-stream's soft-flowing yellow-hued current, + Brixia, Verona's mother, I love for my home. + +_Door_. + + Eke of Posthumius' loves and Cornelius too there be tattle, 35 + With whom dared the dame evil advowtry commit. + +_Quintus_. + + Here might somebody ask:--"How, Door, hast mastered such matter? + Thou that canst never avail threshold of owner to quit, + Neither canst listen to folk since here fast fixt to the side-posts + Only one office thou hast, shutting or opening the house." 40 + +_Door_. + + Oft have I heard our dame in furtive murmurs o'er telling, + When with her handmaids alone, these her flagitious deeds, + Citing fore-cited names for that she never could fancy + Ever a Door was endow'd either with earlet or tongue. + Further she noted a wight whose name in public to mention 45 + Nill I, lest he upraise eyebrows of carroty hue; + Long is the loon and large the law-suit brought they against him + Touching a child-bed false, claim of a belly that lied. + +_Catullus_. + +O dear in thought to the sweet husband, dear in thought to his sire, hail! +and may Jove augment his good grace to thee, Door! which of old, men say, +didst serve Balbus benignly, whilst the oldster held his home here; and +which contrariwise, so 'tis said, didst serve with grudging service after +the old man was stretched stark, thou doing service to the bride. Come, +tell us why thou art reported to be changed and to have renounced thine +ancient faithfulness to thy lord? + +_Door_. + +No, (so may I please Caecilius to whom I am now made over!) it is not my +fault, although 'tis said so to be, nor may anyone impute any crime to me; +albeit the fabling tongues of folk make it so, who, whene'er aught is found +not well done, all clamour at me: "Door, thine is the blame!" + +_Catullus_. + +It is not enough for thee to say this by words merely, but so to act that +everyone may feel it and see it. + +_Door_. + +In what way can I? No one questions or troubles to know. + +_Catullus_. + +We are wishful: be not doubtful to tell us. + +_Door_. + +First then, the virgin (so they called her!) who was handed to us was +spurious. Her husband was not the first to touch her, he whose little +dagger, hanging more limply than the tender beet, never raised itself to +the middle of his tunic: but his father is said to have violated his son's +bed and to have polluted the unhappy house, either because his lewd mind +blazed with blind lust, or because his impotent son was sprung from sterile +seed, and therefore one greater of nerve than he was needed, who could +unloose the virgin's zone. + +_Catullus_. + +Thou tellest of an excellent parent marvellous in piety, who himself urined +in the womb of his son! + +_Door_. + +But not this alone is Brixia said to have knowledge of, placed 'neath the +Cycnean peak, through which the golden-hued Mella flows with its gentle +current, Brixia, beloved mother of my Verona. For it talks of the loves of +Postumius and of Cornelius, with whom she committed foul adultery. + +_Catullus_. + +Folk might say here: "How knowest thou these things, O door? thou who art +never allowed absence from thy lord's threshold, nor mayst hear the folk's +gossip, but fixed to this beam art wont only to open or to shut the house!" + +_Door_. + +Often have I heard her talking with hushed voice, when alone with her +handmaids, about her iniquities, quoting by name those whom we have spoken +of, for she did not expect me to be gifted with either tongue or ear. +Moreover she added a certain one whose name I'm unwilling to speak, lest he +uplift his red eyebrows. A lanky fellow, against whom some time ago was +brought a grave law-suit anent the spurious child-birth of a lying belly. + +LXVIII. + + 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 5 + Desertum in lecto caelibe perpetitur, + Nec veterum dulci scriptorum carmine Musae + Oblectant, cum mens anxia pervigilat, + Id gratumst mihi, me quoniam tibi dicis amicum, + Muneraque et Musarum hinc petis et Veneris: 10 + 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 purast, 15 + Iocundum cum aetas florida ver ageret, + Multa satis lusi: non est dea nescia nostri, + Quae dulcem curis miscet amaritiem: + Sed totum hoc studium luctu fraterna mihi mors + Abstulit. o misero frater adempte mihi, 20 + Tu mea tu moriens fregisti commoda, frater, + Tecum una totast nostra sepulta domus, + Omnia tecum una perierunt gaudia nostra, + Quae tuos in vita dulcis alebat amor. + Cuius ego interitu tota de mente fugavi 25 + Haec studia atque omnis delicias animi. + Quare, quod scribis Veronae turpe Catullo + Esse, quod hic quivis de meliore nota + Frigida deserto tepefactet membra cubili, + Id, Mani, non est turpe, magis miserumst. 30 + Ignosces igitur, si, quae mihi luctus ademit, + Haec tibi non tribuo munera, cum nequeo. + Nam, quod scriptorum non magnast copia apud me, + Hoc fit, quod Romae vivimus: illa domus, + Illa mihi sedes, illic mea carpitur aetas: 35 + Huc una ex multis capsula me sequitur. + Quod cum ita sit, nolim statuas nos mente maligna + Id facere aut animo non satis ingenuo, + Quod tibi non utriusque petenti copia factast: + Vltro ego deferrem, copia siqua foret. 40 + Non possum reticere, deae, qua me Allius in re + Iuverit aut quantis iuverit officiis: + Nec fugiens saeclis obliviscentibus aetas + Illius hoc caeca nocte tegat studium: + Sed dicam vobis, vos porro dicite multis 45 + Milibus et facite haec charta loquatur anus + * * * * + Notescatque magis mortuos atque magis, + Nec tenuem texens sublimis aranea telam + In deserto Alli nomine opus faciat. 50 + Nam, mihi quam dederit duplex Amathusia curam, + Scitis, et in quo me corruerit genere, + Cum tantum arderem quantum Trinacria rupes + Lymphaque in Oetaeis Malia Thermopylis, + Maesta neque adsiduo tabescere lumina fletu 55 + Cessarent tristique imbre madere genae. + Qualis in aerii perlucens vertice montis + Rivos muscoso prosilit e lapide, + Qui cum de prona praeceps est valle volutus, + Per medium sensim transit iter populi, 60 + Dulci 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 inplorata, 65 + Tale fuit nobis Manius auxilium. + Is clusum lato patefecit limite campum, + Isque domum nobis isque dedit dominam, + Ad quam communes exerceremus amores. + Quo mea se molli candida diva pede 70 + Intulit et trito fulgentem in limine plantam + Innixa arguta constituit solea, + Coniugis ut quondam flagrans advenit amore + Protesilaeam Laudamia domum + Inceptam frustra, nondum cum sanguine sacro 75 + Hostia caelestis pacificasset eros. + Nil mihi tam valde placeat, Rhamnusia virgo, + Quod temere invitis suscipiatur eris. + Quam ieiuna pium desideret ara cruorem, + Doctast amisso Laudamia viro, 80 + Coniugis ante coacta novi dimittere collum, + Quam veniens una atque altera rursus hiemps + Noctibus in longis avidum saturasset amorem, + Posset ut abrupto vivere coniugio, + Quod scirant Parcae non longo tempore adesse, 85 + Si miles muros isset ad Iliacos: + Nam tum Helenae raptu primores Argivorum + Coeperat ad sese Troia ciere viros, + Troia (nefas) commune sepulcrum Asiae Europaeque, + Troia virum et virtutum omnium acerba cinis, 90 + Quaene etiam nostro letum miserabile fratri + Attulit. ei misero frater adempte mihi, + Ei misero fratri iocundum lumen ademptum, + Tecum una totast nostra sepulta domus, + Omnia tecum una perierunt gaudia nostra, 95 + Quae tuos in vita dulcis alebat amor. + Quem nunc tam longe non inter nota sepulcra + Nec prope cognatos conpositum cineres, + Sed Troia obscaena, Troia infelice sepultum + Detinet extremo terra aliena solo. 100 + Ad quam tum properans fertur _simul_ undique pubes + Graeca penetrales deseruisse focos, + Ne Paris abducta gavisus libera moecha + Otia pacato degeret in thalamo. + Quo tibi tum casu, pulcherrima Laudamia, 105 + Ereptumst 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, 110 + 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, 115 + Hebe nec longa virginitate foret. + Sed tuos altus amor barathro fuit altior illo, + Qui durum domitam ferre iugum docuit: + Nam nec tam carum confecto aetate parenti + Vna caput seri nata nepotis alit, 120 + Qui, cum divitiis vix tandem inventus avitis + Nomen testatas intulit in tabulas, + Inpia derisi gentilis gaudia tollens + Suscitat a cano volturium capiti: + Nec tantum niveo gavisast ulla columbo 125 + Conpar, quae multo dicitur inprobius + Oscula mordenti semper decerpere rostro, + Quam quae praecipue multivolast mulier. + Sed tu horum magnos vicisti sola furores, + Vt semel es flavo conciliata viro. 130 + Aut nihil aut paulo 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, 135 + Rara verecundae furta feremus erae, + Ne nimium simus stultorum more molesti. + Saepe etiam Iuno, maxima caelicolum, + Coniugis in culpa flagrantem conquoquit iram, + Noscens omnivoli plurima furta Iovis. 140 + Atquei nec divis homines conponier aequomst, + * * * * + * * * * + Ingratum tremuli tolle parentis onus. + Nec tamen illa mihi dextra deducta paterna + Fragrantem Assyrio venit odore domum, + Sed furtiva dedit muta munuscula nocte, 145 + Ipsius ex ipso dempta viri gremio. + Quare illud satis est, si nobis is datur unis, + Quem lapide illa diem candidiore notat. + Hoc tibi, qua potui, confectum carmine munus + Pro multis, Alli, redditur officiis, 150 + Ne vostrum scabra tangat rubigine nomen + Haec atque illa dies atque alia atque alia. + Huc addent divi quam plurima, quae Themis olim + Antiquis solitast munera ferre piis: + Sitis felices et tu simul et tua vita 155 + Et domus, ipsi in qua lusimus et domina, + Et qui principio nobis te tradidit Anser, + A quo sunt primo mi omnia nata bona. + Et longe ante omnes mihi quae me carior ipsost, + Lux mea, qua viva vivere dulce mihist. 160 + +LXVIII. + +TO MANIUS ON VARIOUS MATTERS. + + When to me sore opprest by bitter chance of misfortune + This thy letter thou send'st written wi' blotting of tears, + So might I save thee flung by spuming billows of ocean, + Shipwreckt, rescuing life snatcht from the threshold of death; + Eke neither Venus the Holy to rest in slumber's refreshment 5 + Grants thee her grace on couch lying deserted and lone, + Nor can the Muses avail with dulcet song of old writers + Ever delight thy mind sleepless in anxious care; + Grateful be this to my thought since thus thy friend I'm entitled, + Hence of me seekest thou gifts Muses and Venus can give: 10 + But that bide not unknown to thee my sorrows (O Manius!) + And lest office of host I should be holden to hate, + Learn how in Fortune's deeps I chance myself to be drowned, + Nor fro' the poor rich boons furthermore prithee require. + What while first to myself the pure-white garment was given, 15 + Whenas my flowery years flowed in fruition of spring, + Much I disported enow, nor 'bode I a stranger to Goddess + Who with our cares is lief sweetness of bitter to mix: + Yet did a brother's death pursuits like these to my sorrow + Bid for me cease: Oh, snatcht brother! from wretchedest me. 20 + Then, yea, thou by thy dying hast broke my comfort, O brother; + Buried together wi' thee lieth the whole of our house; + Perisht along wi' thyself all gauds and joys of our life-tide, + Douce love fostered by thee during the term of our days. + After thy doom of death fro' mind I banished wholly 25 + Studies like these, and all lending a solace to soul; + Wherefore as to thy writ:--"Verona's home for Catullus + Bringeth him shame, for there men of superior mark + Must on a deserted couch fain chafe their refrigerate limbs:" + Such be no shame (Manius!): rather 'tis matter of ruth. 30 + Pardon me, then, wilt thou an gifts bereft me by grieving + These I send not to thee since I avail not present. + For, that I own not here abundant treasure of writings + Has for its cause, in Rome dwell I; and there am I homed, + There be my seat, and there my years are gathered to harvest; 35 + Out of book-cases galore here am I followed by one. + This being thus, nill I thou deem 'tis spirit malignant + Acts in such wise or mind lacking of liberal mood + That to thy prayer both gifts be not in plenty supplied: + Willingly both had I sent, had I the needed supply. 40 + Nor can I (Goddesses!) hide in what things Allius sent me + Aid, forbear to declare what was the aidance he deigned: + Neither shall fugitive Time from centuries ever oblivious + Veil in the blinds of night friendship he lavisht on me. + But will I say unto you what you shall say to the many 45 + Thousands in turn, and make paper, old crone, to proclaim + * * * * + And in his death become noted the more and the more, + Nor let spider on high that weaves her delicate webbing + Practise such labours o'er Allius' obsolete name. 50 + For that ye weet right well what care Amathusia two-faced + Gave me, and how she dasht every hope to the ground, + Whenas I burnt so hot as burn Trinacria's rocks or + Mallia stream that feeds Oetean Thermopylae; + Nor did these saddened eyes to be dimmed by assiduous weeping 55 + Cease, and my cheeks with showers ever in sadness be wet. + E'en as from aery heights of mountain springeth a springlet + Limpidest leaping forth from rocking felted with moss, + Then having headlong rolled the prone-laid valley downpouring, + Populous region amid wendeth his gradual way, 60 + Sweetest solace of all to the sweltering traveller wayworn, + Whenas the heavy heat fissures the fiery fields; + Or, as to seamen lost in night of whirlwind a-glooming + Gentle of breath there comes fairest and favouring breeze, + Pollux anon being prayed, nor less vows offered to Castor:-- 65 + Such was the aidance to us Manius pleased to afford. + He to my narrow domains far wider limits laid open, + He too gave me the house, also he gave me the dame, + She upon whom both might exert them, partners in love deeds. + Thither graceful of gait pacing my goddess white-hued 70 + Came and with gleaming foot on the worn sole of the threshold + Stood she and prest its slab creaking her sandals the while; + E'en so with love enflamed in olden days to her helpmate, + Laodamia the home Protesilean besought, + Sought, but in vain, for ne'er wi' sacrificial bloodshed 75 + Victims appeased the Lords ruling Celestial seats: + Never may I so joy in aught (Rhamnusian Virgin!) + That I engage in deed maugre the will of the Lords. + How starved altar can crave for gore in piety poured, + Laodamia learnt taught by the loss of her man, 80 + Driven perforce to loose the neck of new-wedded help-mate, + Whenas a winter had gone, nor other winter had come, + Ere in the long dark nights her greeding love was so sated + That she had power to live maugre a marriage broke off, + Which, as the Parcae knew, too soon was fated to happen 85 + Should he a soldier sail bound for those Ilian walls. + For that by Helena's rape, the Champion-leaders of Argives + Unto herself to incite Troy had already begun, + Troy (ah, curst be the name) common tomb of Asia and Europe, + Troy to sad ashes that turned valour and valorous men! 90 + Eke to our brother beloved, destruction ever lamented + Brought she: O Brother for aye lost unto wretchedmost me, + Oh, to thy wretchedmost brother lost the light of his life-tide, + Buried together wi' thee lieth the whole of our house: + Perisht along wi' thyself forthright all joys we enjoyed, 95 + Douce joys fed by thy love during the term of our days; + Whom now art tombed so far nor 'mid familiar pavestones + Nor wi' thine ashes stored near to thy kith and thy kin, + But in that Troy obscene, that Troy of ill-omen, entombed + Holds thee, an alien earth-buried in uttermost bourne. 100 + Thither in haste so hot ('tis said) from allwhere the Youth-hood + Grecian, fared in hosts forth of their hearths and their homes, + Lest with a stolen punk with fullest of pleasure should Paris + Fairly at leisure and ease sleep in the pacific bed. + Such was the hapless chance, most beautiful Laodamia, 105 + Tare fro' thee dearer than life, dearer than spirit itself, + Him, that husband, whose love in so mighty a whirlpool of passion + Whelmed thee absorbed and plunged deep in its gulfy abyss, + E'en as the Grecians tell hard by Pheneus of Cyllene + Drained was the marish and dried, forming the fattest of soils, 110 + Whenas in days long done to delve through marrow of mountains + Dared, falsing his sire, Amphtryoniades; + What time sure of his shafts he smote Stymphalian monsters + Slaying their host at the hest dealt by a lord of less worth, + So might the gateway of Heaven be trodden by more of the godheads, 115 + Nor might Hebe abide longer to maidenhood doomed. + Yet was the depth of thy love far deeper than deepest of marish + Which the hard mistress's yoke taught him so tamely to bear; + Never was head so dear to a grandsire wasted by life-tide + Whenas one daughter alone a grandson so tardy had reared, 120 + Who being found against hope to inherit riches of forbears + In the well-witnessed Will haply by name did appear, + And 'spite impious hopes of baffled claimant to kinship + Startles the Vulturine grip clutching the frost-bitten poll. + Nor with such rapture e'er joyed his mate of snowy-hued plumage 125 + Dove-mate, albeit aye wont in her immoderate heat + Said be the bird to snatch hot kisses with beak ever billing, + As diddest thou:--yet is Woman multivolent still. + But thou 'vailedest alone all these to conquer in love-lowe, + When conjoined once more unto thy yellow-haired spouse. 130 + Worthy of yielding to her in naught or ever so little + Came to the bosom of us she, the fair light of my life, + Round whom fluttering oft the Love-God hither and thither + Shone with a candid sheen robed in his safflower dress. + She though never she bide with one Catullus contented, 135 + Yet will I bear with the rare thefts of my dame the discreet, + Lest over-irk I give which still of fools is the fashion. + Often did Juno eke Queen of the Heavenly host + Boil wi' the rabidest rage at dire default of a husband + Learning the manifold thefts of her omnivolent Jove, 140 + Yet with the Gods mankind 'tis nowise righteous to liken, + * * * * + * * * * + Rid me of graceless task fit for a tremulous sire. + Yet was she never to me by hand paternal committed + Whenas she came to my house reeking Assyrian scents; + Nay, in the darkness of night her furtive favours she deigned me, 145 + Self-willed taking herself from very mate's very breast. + Wherefore I hold it enough since given to us and us only + Boon of that day with Stone whiter than wont she denotes. + This to thee--all that I can--this offering couched in verses + (Allius!) as my return give I for service galore; 150 + So wi' the seabriny rust your name may never be sullied + This day and that nor yet other and other again. + Hereto add may the Gods all good gifts, which Themis erewhiles + Wont on the pious of old from her full store to bestow: + Blest be the times of the twain, thyself and she who thy life is, 155 + Also the home wherein dallied we, no less the Dame, + Anser to boot who first of mortals brought us together, + Whence from beginning all good Fortunes that blest us were born. + Lastly than every else one dearer than self and far dearer, + Light of my life who alive living to me can endear. 160 + +That when, opprest by fortune and in grievous case, thou didst send me this +epistle o'erwrit with tears, that I might bear up shipwrecked thee tossed +by the foaming waves of the sea, and restore thee from the threshold of +death; thou whom neither sacred Venus suffers to repose in soft slumber, +desolate on a a lonely couch, nor do the Muses divert with the sweet song +of ancient poets, whilst thy anxious mind keeps vigil:--this is grateful to +me, since thou dost call me thy friend, and dost seek hither the gifts of +the Muses and of Venus. But that my troubles may not be unknown to thee, O +Manius, nor thou deem I shun the office of host, hear how I am whelmed in +the waves of that same fortune, nor further seek joyful gifts from a +wretched one. In that time when the white vestment was first handed to me, +and my florid age was passing in jocund spring, much did I sport enow: nor +was the goddess unknown to us who mixes bitter-sweet with our cares. But my +brother's death plunged all this pursuit into mourning. O brother, taken +from my unhappy self; thou by thy dying hast broken my ease, O brother; all +our house is buried with thee; with thee have perished the whole of our +joys, which thy sweet love nourished in thy lifetime. Thou lost, I have +dismissed wholly from mind these studies and every delight of mind. +Wherefore, as to what thou writest, "'Tis shameful for Catullus to be at +Verona, for there anyone of utmost note must chafe his frigid limbs on a +desolate couch;" that, Manius, is not shameful; rather 'tis a pity. +Therefore, do thou forgive, if what grief has snatched from me, these +gifts, I do not bestow on thee, because I am unable. For, that there is no +great store of writings with me arises from this, that we live at Rome: +there is my home, there is my hall, thither my time is passed; hither but +one of my book-cases follows me. As 'tis thus, I would not that thou deem +we act so from ill-will or from a mind not sufficiently ingenuous, that +ample store is not forthcoming to either of thy desires: both would I +grant, had I the wherewithal. Nor can I conceal, goddesses, in what way +Allius has aided me, or with how many good offices he has assisted me; nor +shall fleeting time with its forgetful centuries cover with night's +blindness this care of his. But I tell it to you, and do ye declare it to +many thousands, and make this paper, grown old, speak of it * * * * And let +him be more and more noted when dead, nor let the spider aloft, weaving her +thin-drawn web, carry on her work over the neglected name of Allius. For +you know what anxiety of mind wily Amathusia gave me, and in what manner +she overthrew me, when I was burning like the Trinacrian rocks, or the +Malian fount in Oetaean Thermopylae; nor did my piteous eyes cease to +dissolve with continual weeping, nor my cheeks with sad showers to be +bedewed. As the pellucid stream gushes forth from the moss-grown rock on +the aerial crest of the mountain, which when it has rolled headlong prone +down the valley, softly wends its way through the midst of the populous +parts, sweet solace to the wayfarer sweating with weariness, when the +oppressive heat cracks the burnt-up fields agape: or, as to sailors +tempest-tossed in black whirlpool, there cometh a favourable and a +gently-moving breeze, Pollux having been prayed anon, and Castor alike +implored: of such kind was Manius' help to us. He with a wider limit laid +open my closed field; he gave us a home and its mistress, on whom we both +might exercise our loves in common. Thither with gracious gait my +bright-hued goddess betook herself, and pressed her shining sole on the +worn threshold with creaking of sandal; as once came Laodamia, flaming with +love for her consort, to the home of Protesilaus,--a beginning of naught! +for not yet with sacred blood had a victim made propitiate the lords of the +heavens. May nothing please me so greatly, Rhamnusian virgin, that I should +act thus heedlessly against the will of those lords! How the thirsty altar +craves for sacrificial blood Laodamia was taught by the loss of her +husband, being compelled to abandon the neck of her new spouse when one +winter was past, before another winter had come, in whose long nights she +might so glut her greedy love, that she could have lived despite her broken +marriage-yoke, which the Parcae knew would not be long distant, if her +husband as soldier should fare to the Ilian walls. For by Helena's rape +Troy had begun to put the Argive Chiefs in the field; Troy accurst, the +common grave of Asia and of Europe, Troy, the sad ashes of heroes and of +every noble deed, that also lamentably brought death to our brother. O +brother taken from unhappy me! O jocund light taken from thy unhappy +brother! in thy one grave lies all our house, in thy one grave have +perished all our joys, which thy sweet love did nurture during life. Whom +now is laid so far away, not amongst familiar tombs nor near the ashes of +his kindred, but obscene Troy, malign Troy, an alien earth, holds thee +entombed in its remote soil. Thither, 'tis said, hastening together from +all parts, the Grecian manhood forsook their hearths and homes, lest Paris +enjoy his abducted trollop with freedom and leisure in a peaceful bed. Such +then was thy case, loveliest Laodamia, to be bereft of husband sweeter than +life, and than soul; thou being sucked in so great a whirlpool of love, its +eddy submerged thee in its steep abyss, like (so folk say) to the Graian +gulph near Pheneus of Cyllene with its fat swamp's soil drained and dried, +which aforetime the falsely-born Amphitryoniades dared to hew through the +marrow of cleft mountains, at the time when he smote down the Stymphalian +monsters with sure shafts by the command of his inferior lord, so that the +heavenly portal might be pressed by a greater number of deities, nor Hebe +longer remain in her virginity. But deeper than that abyss was thy deep +love which taught [thy husband] to bear his lady's forceful yoke. For not +so dear to the spent age of the grandsire is the late born grandchild an +only daughter rears, who, long-wished-for, at length inherits the ancestral +wealth, his name duly set down in the attested tablets; and casting afar +the impious hopes of the baffled next-of-kin, scares away the vulture from +the whitened head; nor so much does any dove-mate rejoice in her snow-white +consort (though, 'tis averred, more shameless than most in continually +plucking kisses with nibbling beak) as thou dost, though woman is +especially inconstant. But thou alone didst surpass the great frenzies of +these, when thou wast once united to thy yellow-haired husband. Worthy to +yield to whom in naught or in little, my light brought herself to my bosom, +round whom Cupid, often running hither thither, gleamed lustrous-white in +saffron-tinted tunic. Still although she is not content with Catullus +alone, we will suffer the rare frailties of our coy lady, lest we may be +too greatly unbearable, after the manner of fools. Often even Juno, +greatest of heaven-dwellers, boiled with flaring wrath at her husband's +default, wotting the host of frailties of all-wishful Jove. Yet 'tis not +meet to match men with the gods, * * * * bear up the ungrateful burden of a +tremulous parent. Yet she was not handed to me by a father's right hand +when she came to my house fragrant with Assyrian odour, but she gave me her +stealthy favours in the mute night, withdrawing of her own will from the +bosom of her spouse. Wherefore that is enough if to us alone she gives that +day which she marks with a whiter stone. This gift to thee, all that I can, +of verse completed, is requital, Allius, for many offices, so that this day +and that, and other and other of days may not tarnish your name with +scabrous rust. Hither may the gods add gifts full many, which Themis +aforetimes was wont to bear to the pious of old. May ye be happy, both thou +and thy life's-love together, and thy home in which we have sported, and +its mistress, and Anser who in the beginning brought thee to us, from whom +all my good fortunes were first born, and lastly she whose very self is +dearer to me than all these,--my light, whom living, 'tis sweet to me to +live. + +LXVIIII. + + 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 5 + Valle sub alarum trux habitare caper. + Hunc metuunt omnes. neque mirum: nam mala valdest + Bestia, nec quicum bella puella cubet. + Quare aut crudelem nasorum interfice pestem, + Aut admirari desine cur fugiunt. 10 + +LXVIIII. + +TO RUFUS THE FETID. + + Wonder not blatantly why no woman shall ever be willing + (Rufus!) her tender thigh under thyself to bestow, + Not an thou tempt her full by bribes of the rarest garments, + Or by the dear delights gems the pellucidest deal. + Harms thee an ugly tale wherein of thee is recorded 5 + Horrible stench of the goat under thine arm-pits be lodged. + All are in dread thereof; nor wonder this, for 'tis evil + Beastie, nor damsel fair ever thereto shall succumb. + So do thou either kill that cruel pest o' their noses, + Or at their reason of flight blatantly wondering cease. 10 + +Be unwilling to wonder wherefore no woman, O Rufus, is wishful to place her +tender thigh 'neath thee, not even if thou dost tempt her by the gift of a +rare robe or by the delights of a crystal-clear gem. A certain ill tale +injures thee, that thou bearest housed in the valley of thine armpits a +grim goat. Hence everyone's fear. Nor be marvel: for 'tis an exceeding ill +beast, with whom no fair girl will sleep. Wherefore, either murder that +cruel plague of their noses, or cease to marvel why they fly? + +LXX. + + 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. + +LXX. + +ON WOMAN'S INCONSTANCY. + + Never, my woman oft says, with any of men will she mate be, + Save wi' my own very self, ask her though Jupiter deign! + Says she: but womanly words that are spoken to desireful lover + Ought to be written on wind or upon water that runs. + +No one, saith my lady, would she rather wed than myself, not even if +Jupiter's self crave her. Thus she saith! but what a woman tells an ardent +amourist ought fitly to be graven on the breezes and in running waters. + +LXXI. + + Siquoi iure bono sacer alarum obstitit hircus, + Aut siquem merito tarda podagra secat, + Aemulus iste tuos, qui vostrum exercet amorem, + Mirificost fato nactus utrumque malum, + Nam quotiens futuit, totiens ulciscitur ambos: 5 + Illam adfligit odore, ipse perit podagra. + +LXXI. + +TO VERRO. + + An of a goat-stink damned from armpits fusty one suffer, + Or if a crippling gout worthily any one rack, + 'Tis that rival o' thine who lief in loves of you meddles, + And, by a wondrous fate, gains him the twain of such ills. + For that, oft as he ----, so oft that penance be two-fold; 5 + Stifles her stench of goat, he too is kilt by his gout. + +If ever anyone was deservedly cursed with an atrocious goat-stench from +armpits, or if limping gout did justly gnaw one, 'tis thy rival, who +occupies himself with your love, and who has stumbled by the marvel of fate +on both these ills. For as oft as he swives, so oft is he taken vengeance +on by both; she he prostrates by his stink, he is slain by his gout. + +LXXII. + + Dicebas quondam solum te nosse Catullum, + Lesbia, nec prae me velle tenere Iovem. + Dilexi tum te non tantum ut volgus amicam, + Sed pater ut gnatos diligit et generos. + Nunc te cognovi: quare etsi inpensius uror, 5 + Multo mi tamen es vilior et levior. + Qui potisest? inquis. quod amantem iniuria talis + Cogit amare magis, sed bene velle minus. + +LXXII. + +TO LESBIA THE FALSE. + + Wont thou to vaunt whilome of knowing only Catullus + (Lesbia!) nor to prefer Jupiter's self to myself. + Then, too, I loved thee well, not as vulgar wretch his mistress + But as a father his sons loves and his sons by the law. + Now have I learnt thee aright; wherefor though burn I the hotter, 5 + Lighter and viler by far thou unto me hast become. + "How can this be?" dost ask: 'tis that such injury ever + Forces the hotter to love, also the less well to will. + +Once thou didst profess to know but Catullus, Lesbia, nor wouldst hold Jove +before me. I loved thee then, not only as a churl his mistress, but as a +father loves his own sons and sons-in-law. Now I do know thee: wherefore if +more strongly I burn, thou art nevertheless to me far viler and of lighter +thought. How may this be? thou askest. Because such wrongs drive a lover to +greater passion, but to less wishes of welfare. + +LXXIII. + + 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 + Vt mihi, quem nemo gravius nec acerbius urget, 5 + Quam modo qui me unum atque unicum amicum habuit. + +LXXIII. + +OF AN INGRATE. + + Cease thou of any to hope desired boon of well-willing, + Or deem any shall prove pious and true to his dues. + Waxes the world ingrate, no deed benevolent profits, + Nay full oft it irks even offending the more: + Such is my case whom none maltreats more grievously bitter, 5 + Than does the man that me held one and only to friend. + +Cease thou to wish to merit well from anyone in aught, or to think any can +become honourable. All are ingrate, naught benign doth avail to aught, but +rather it doth irk and prove the greater ill: so with me, whom none doth +o'erpress more heavily nor more bitterly than he who a little while ago +held me his one and only friend. + +LXXIIII. + + Gellius audierat patruom obiurgare solere, + Siquis delicias diceret aut faceret. + Hoc ne ipsi accideret, patrui perdepsuit ipsam + Vxorem et patruom reddidit Harpocratem. + Quod voluit fecit: nam, quamvis inrumet ipsum 5 + Nunc patruom, verbum non faciet patruos. + +LXXIIII. + +OF GELLIUS. + + Wont was Gellius hear his uncle rich in reproaches, + When any ventured aught wanton in word or in deed. + Lest to him chance such befall, his uncle's consort seduced he, + And of his uncle himself fashioned an Harpocrates. + Whatso he willed did he; and nowdays albe his uncle 5 + ---- he, no word ever that uncle shall speak. + +Gellius had heard that his uncle was wont to be wroth, if any spake of or +practised love-sportings. That this should not happen to him, he kneaded up +his uncle's wife herself, and made of his uncle a god of silence. Whatever +he wished, he did; for now, even if he irrumate his uncle's self, not a +word will that uncle murmur. + +LXXVII. + + Rufe mihi frustra ac nequiquam credite amico + (Frustra? immo magno cum pretio atque malo), + Sicine subrepsti mei, atque intestina perurens + Ei misero eripuisti omnia nostra bona? + Eripuisti, heu heu nostrae crudele venenum 5 + Vitae, heu heu nostrae pestis amicitiae. + Sed nunc id doleo, quod purae pura puellae + Savia conminxit spurca saliva tua. + Verum id non inpune feres: nam te omnia saecla + Noscent, et qui sis fama loquetur anus. 10 + +LXXVII. + +TO RUFUS, THE TRAITOR FRIEND. + + Rufus, trusted as friend by me, so fruitlessly, vainly, + (Vainly? nay to my bane and at a ruinous price!) + Hast thou cajoled me thus, and enfiring innermost vitals, + Ravished the whole of our good own'd by wretchedest me? + Ravished; (alas and alas!) of our life thou cruellest cruel 5 + Venom, (alas and alas!) plague of our friendship and pest. + Yet must I now lament that lips so pure of the purest + Damsel, thy slaver foul soiled with filthiest kiss. + But ne'er hope to escape scot free; for thee shall all ages + Know, and what thing thou be, Fame, the old crone, shall declare. 10 + +O Rufus, credited by me as a friend, wrongly and for naught, (wrongly? nay, +at an ill and grievous price) hast thou thus stolen upon me, and a-burning +my innermost bowels, snatched from wretched me all our good? Thou hast +snatched it, alas, alas, thou cruel venom of our life! alas, alas, thou +plague of our amity. But now 'tis grief, that thy swinish slaver has soiled +the pure love-kisses of our pure girl. But in truth thou shalt not come off +with impunity; for every age shall know thee, and Fame the aged, shall +denounce what thou art. + +LXXVIII. + + Gallus habet fratres, quorumst lepidissima coniunx + Alterius, lepidus filius alterius. + Gallus homost bellus: nam dulces iungit amores, + Cum puero ut bello bella puella cubet. + Gallus homost stultus nec se videt esse maritum, 5 + Qui patruos patrui monstret adulterium. + +LXXVIII. + +OF GALLUS. + + Gallus hath brothers in pair, this owning most beautiful consort, + While unto that is given also a beautiful son. + Gallus is charming as man; for sweet loves ever conjoins he, + So that the charming lad sleep wi' the charmer his lass. + Gallus is foolish wight, nor self regards he as husband, 5 + When being uncle how nuncle to cuckold he show. + +Gallus has brothers, one of whom has a most charming spouse, the other a +charming son. Gallus is a nice fellow! for pandering to their sweet loves, +he beds together the nice lad and the nice aunt. Gallus is a foolish fellow +not to see that he is himself a husband who as an uncle shews how to +cuckold an uncle. + +LXXVIIII. + + Lesbius est pulcher: quid ni? quem Lesbia malit + Quam te cum tota gente, Catulle, tua. + Sed tamen hic pulcher vendat cum gente Catullum, + Si tria notorum savia reppererit. + +LXXVIIII. + +OF LESBIUS. + + Lesbius is beauty-man: why not? when Lesbia wills him + Better, Catullus, than thee backed by the whole of thy clan. + Yet may that beauty-man sell all his clan with Catullus, + An of three noted names greeting salute he can gain. + +Lesbius is handsome: why not so? when Lesbia prefers him to thee, Catullus, +and to thy whole tribe. Yet this handsome one may sell Catullus and his +tribe if from three men of note he can gain kisses of salute. + +LXXX. + + 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? + Nescioquid certest: an vere fama susurrat 5 + Grandia te medii tenta vorare viri? + Sic certest: clamant Victoris rupta miselli + Ilia, et emulso labra notata sero. + +LXXX. + +TO GELLIUS. + + How shall I (Gellius!) tell what way lips rosy as thine are + Come to be bleached and blanched whiter than wintry snow, + Whenas thou quittest the house a-morn, and at two after noon-tide + Roused from quiet repose, wakest for length of the day? + Certes sure am I not an Rumour rightfully whisper 5 + * * * * + * * * * + * * * * + +What shall I say, Gellius, wherefore those lips, erstwhile rosy-red, have +become whiter than wintery snow, thou leaving home at morn and when the +noontide hour arouses thee from soothing slumber to face the longsome day? +I know not forsure! but is Rumour gone astray with her whisper that thou +devourest the well-grown tenseness of a man's middle? So forsure it must +be! the ruptured guts of wretched Virro cry it aloud, and thy lips marked +with lately-drained [Greek: semen] publish the fact. + +LXXXI. + + Nemone in tanto potuit populo esse, Iuventi, + Bellus homo, quem tu diligere inciperes, + Praeterquam iste tuus moribunda a sede Pisauri + Hospes inaurata pallidior statua, + Qui tibi nunc cordist, quem tu praeponere nobis 5 + Audes, et nescis quod facinus facias. + +LXXXI. + +TO JUVENTIUS. + + Could there never be found in folk so thronging (Juventius!) + Any one charming thee whom thou couldst fancy to love, + Save and except that host from deadliest site of Pisaurum, + Wight than a statue gilt wanner and yellower-hued, + Whom to thy heart thou takest and whom thou darest before us 5 + Choose? But villain what deed doest thou little canst wot! + +Could there be no one in so great a crowd, Juventius, no gallant whom thou +couldst fall to admiring, beyond him, the guest of thy hearth from moribund +Pisaurum, wanner than a gilded statue? Who now is in thine heart, whom thou +darest to place above us, and knowest not what crime thou dost commit. + +LXXXII. + + Quinti, si tibi vis oculos debere Catullum + Aut aliud siquid carius est oculis, + Eripere ei noli, multo quod carius illi + Est oculis seu quid carius est oculis. + +LXXXII. + +TO QUINTIUS. + + Quintius! an thou wish that Catullus should owe thee his eyes + Or aught further if aught dearer can be than his eyes, + Thou wilt not ravish from him what deems he dearer and nearer + E'en than his eyes if aught dearer there be than his eyes. + +Quintius, if thou dost wish Catullus to owe his eyes to thee, or aught, if +such may be, dearer than his eyes, be unwilling to snatch from him what is +much dearer to him than his eyes, or than aught which itself may be dearer +to him than his eyes. + +LXXXIII. + + Lesbia mi praesente viro mala plurima dicit: + Haec illi fatuo maxima laetitiast. + Mule, nihil sentis. si nostri oblita taceret, + Sana esset: nunc quod gannit et obloquitur, + Non solum meminit, sed quae multo acrior est res 5 + Iratast. Hoc est, uritur et coquitur. + +LXXXIII. + +OF LESBIA'S HUSBAND. + + Lesbia heaps upon me foul words her mate being present; + Which to that simple soul causes the fullest delight. + Mule! naught sensest thou: did she forget us in silence, + Whole she had been; but now whatso she rails and she snarls, + Not only dwells in her thought, but worse and even more risky, 5 + Wrathful she bides. Which means, she is afire and she fumes. + +Lesbia in her lord's presence says the utmost ill about me: this gives the +greatest pleasure to that ninny. Ass, thou hast no sense! if through +forgetfulness she were silent about us, it would be well: now that she +snarls and scolds, not only does she remember, but what is a far bitterer +thing, she is enraged. That is, she inflames herself and ripens her +passion. + +LXXXIIII. + + 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 avonculus eius, 5 + Sic maternus avos dixerat atque avia. + Hoc misso in Syriam requierant omnibus aures: + Audibant eadem haec leniter et leviter, + Nec sibi postilla metuebant talia verba, + Cum subito adfertur nuntius horribilis, 10 + Ionios fluctus, postquam illuc Arrius isset, + Iam non Ionios esse, sed Hionios. + +LXXXIIII. + +ON ARRIUS, A ROMAN 'ARRY. + + Wont is Arrius say "Chommodious" whenas "commodious" + Means he, and "Insidious" aspirate "Hinsidious," + What time flattering self he speaks with marvellous purity, + Clamouring "Hinsidious" loudly as ever he can. + Deem I thus did his dame and thus-wise Liber his uncle 5 + Speak, and on spindle-side grandsire and grandmother too. + Restful reposed all ears when he was sent into Syria, + Hearing the self-same words softly and smoothly pronounced, + Nor any feared to hear such harshness uttered thereafter, + Whenas a sudden came message of horrible news, 10 + Namely th' Ionian waves when Arrius thither had wended, + Were "Ionian" no more--they had "Hionian" become. + +_Chommodious_ did Arrius say, whenever he had need to say commodious, and +for insidious _hinsidious_, and felt confident he spoke with accent +wondrous fine, when aspirating _hinsidious_ to the full of his lungs. I +understand that his mother, his uncle Liber, his maternal grand-parents all +spoke thus. He being sent into Syria, everyone's ears were rested, hearing +these words spoken smoothly and slightly, nor after that did folk fear such +words from him, when on a sudden is brought the nauseous news that th' +Ionian waves, after Arrius' arrival thither, no longer are Ionian hight, +but are now the _Hionian Hocean_. + +LXXXV. + + Odi et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris. + Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior. + +LXXXV. + +HOW THE POET LOVES. + + Hate I, and love I. Haps thou'lt ask me wherefore I do so. + Wot I not, yet so I do feeling a torture of pain. + +I hate and I love. Wherefore do I so, peradventure thou askest. I know not, +but I feel it to be thus and I suffer. + +LXXXVI. + + Quintia formosast multis, mihi candida, longa, + Rectast. haec ego sic singula confiteor, + Totum illud formosa nego: nam nulla venustas, + Nulla in tam magnost corpore mica salis. + Lesbia formosast, quae cum pulcherrima totast, 5 + Tum omnibus una omnes surripuit Veneres. + +LXXXVI. + +OF QUINTIA. + + Quintia beautiful seems to the crowd; to me, fair, and tall, + Straight; and merits as these readily thus I confess, + But that she is beauteous all I deny, for nothing of lovesome, + Never a grain of salt, shows in her person so large. + Lesbia beautiful seems, and when all over she's fairest, 5 + Any Venus-gift stole she from every one. + +Quintia is lovely to many; to me she is fair, tall, and shapely. Each of +these qualities I grant. But that all these make loveliness I deny: for +nothing of beauty nor scintilla of sprightliness is in her body so massive. +Lesbia is lovely, for whilst the whole of her is most beautiful, she has +stolen for herself every love-charm from all her sex. + +LXXXVII. + + Nulla potest mulier tantum se dicere amatam + Vere, quantum a me Lesbia amata mea's. + Nulla fides ullo fuit umquam foedere tanta, + Quanta in amore tuo ex parte reperta meast. + Nunc est mens diducta tua, mea Lesbia, culpa, LXXV + Atque ita se officio perdidit ipsa suo, + Vt iam nec bene velle queat tibi, si optima fias, + Nec desistere amare, omnia si facias. + +LXXXVII. + +TO LESBIA. + + Never a woman could call herself so fondly beloved + Truly as Lesbia mine has been beloved of myself. + Never were Truth and Faith so firm in any one compact + As on the part of me kept I my love to thyself. + Now is my mind to a pass, my Lesbia, brought by thy treason, LXXV + So in devotion to thee lost is the duty self due, + Nor can I will thee well if best of women thou prove thee, + Nor can I cease to love, do thou what doings thou wilt. + +No woman can say with truth that she has been loved as much as thou, +Lesbia, hast been loved by me: no love-troth was ever so greatly observed +as in love of thee on my part has been found. + +Now is my mind so led apart, my Lesbia, by thy fault, and has so lost +itself by its very worship, that now it can not wish well to thee, wert +thou to become most perfect, nor cease to love thee, do what thou wilt! + +LXXVI. + + Siqua recordanti benefacta priora voluptas + Est homini, cum se cogitat esse pium, + Nec sanctam violasse fidem, nec foedere in ullo + Divom ad fallendos numine abusum homines, + Multa parata manent in longa aetate, Catulle, 5 + Ex hoc ingrato gaudia amore tibi. + Nam quaecumque homines bene cuiquam aut dicere possunt + Aut facere, haec a te dictaque factaque sunt; + Omniaque ingratae perierunt credita menti. + Quare iam te cur amplius excrucies? 10 + Quin tu animo offirmas atque istinc teque reducis + Et dis invitis desinis esse miser? + Difficilest longum subito deponere amorem. + Difficilest, verum hoc quae lubet efficias. + Vna salus haec est, hoc est tibi pervincendum: 15 + Hoc facias, sive id non pote sive pote. + O di, si vestrumst misereri, aut si quibus umquam + Extremam iam ipsa morte tulistis opem, + Me miserum aspicite (et, si vitam puriter egi, + Eripite hanc pestem perniciemque mihi), 20 + Ei mihi surrepens imos ut torpor in artus + Expulit ex omni pectore laetitias. + Non iam illud quaero, contra me ut diligat illa, + Aut, quod non potisest, esse pudica velit: + Ipse valere opto et taetrum hunc deponere morbum. 25 + O di, reddite mi hoc pro pietate mea. + +LXXVI. + +IN SELF-GRATULATION. + + If to remember deeds whilome well done be a pleasure + Meet for a man who deems all of his dealings be just, + Nor Holy Faith ever broke nor in whatever his compact + Sanction of Gods abused better to swindle mankind, + Much there remains for thee during length of living, Catullus, 5 + Out of that Love ingrate further to solace thy soul; + For whatever of good can mortal declare of another + Or can avail he do, such thou hast said and hast done; + While to a thankless mind entrusted all of them perisht. + Why, then, crucify self now with a furthering pain? 10 + Why not steady thy thoughts and draw thee back from such purpose, + Ceasing wretched to be maugre the will of the Gods? + Difficult 'tis indeed long Love to depose of a sudden, + Difficult 'tis, yet do e'en as thou deem to be best. + This be thy safe-guard sole; this conquest needs to be conquered; 15 + This thou must do, thus act, whether thou cannot or can. + If an ye have (O Gods!) aught ruth, or if you for any + Bring at the moment of death latest assistance to man, + Look upon me (poor me!) and, should I be cleanly of living, + Out of my life deign pluck this my so pestilent plague, 20 + Which as a lethargy o'er mine inmost vitals a-creeping, + Hath from my bosom expelled all of what joyance it joyed, + Now will I crave no more she love me e'en as I love her, + Nor (impossible chance!) ever she prove herself chaste: + Would I were only healed and shed this fulsome disorder. 25 + Oh Gods, grant me this boon unto my piety due! + +If to recall good deeds erewhiles performed be pleasure to a man, when he +knows himself to be of probity, nor has violated sacred faith, nor has +abused the holy assent of the gods in any pact, to work ill to men; great +store of joys awaits thee during thy length of years, O Catullus, sprung +from this ingrate love of thine. For whatever of benefit men can say or can +do for anyone, such have been thy sayings and thy doings, and all thy +confidences have been squandered on an ingrate mind. Wherefore now dost +torture thyself further? Why not make firm thy heart and withdraw thyself +from that [wretchedness], and cease to be unhappy despite the gods' will? +'Tis difficult quickly to depose a love of long growth; 'tis difficult, yet +it behoves thee to do this. This is thine only salvation, this is thy great +victory; this thou must do, whether it be possible or impossible. O gods, +if 'tis in you to have mercy, or if ever ye held forth help to men in +death's very extremity, look ye on pitiful me, and if I have acted my life +with purity, snatch hence from me this canker and pest, which as a lethargy +creeping through my veins and vitals, has cast out every gladness from my +breast. Now I no longer pray that she may love me in return, or (what is +not possible) that she should become chaste: I wish but for health and to +cast aside this shameful complaint. O ye gods, vouchsafe me this in return +for my probity. + +LXXXVIII. + + Quid facit is, Gelli, qui cum matre atque sorore + Prurit et abiectis pervigilat tunicis? + Quid facit is, patruom qui non sinit esse maritum? + Ecqui scis quantum suscipiat sceleris? + Suscipit, o Gelli, quantum non ultima Tethys 5 + Nec genitor lympharum abluit Oceanus: + Nam nihil est quicquam sceleris, quo prodeat ultra, + Non si demisso se ipse voret capite. + +LXXXVIII. + +TO GELLIUS. + + What may he (Gellius!) do that ever for mother and sister + Itches and wakes thro' the nights, working wi' tunic bedoffed? + What may he do who nills his uncle ever be husband? + Wottest thou how much he ventures of sacrilege-sin? + Ventures he (O Gellius!) what ne'er can ultimate Tethys 5 + Wash from his soul, nor yet Ocean, watery sire. + For that of sin there's naught wherewith this sin can exceed he + ---- his head on himself. + +What does he, Gellius, who with mother and sister itches and keeps vigils +with tunics cast aside? What does he, who suffers not his uncle to be a +husband? Dost thou know the weight of crime he takes upon himself? He +takes, O Gellius, such store as not furthest Tethys nor Oceanus, progenitor +of waters, can cleanse: for there is nothing of any crime which can go +further, not though with lowered head he swallow himself. + +LXXXVIIII. + + Gellius est tenuis: quid ni? cui tam bona mater + Tamque valens vivat tamque venusta soror + Tamque bonus patruos tamque omnia plena puellis + Cognatis, quare is desinat esse macer? + Qui ut nihil attingit, nisi quod fas tangere non est, 5 + Quantumvis quare sit macer invenies. + +LXXXVIIII. + +ON GELLIUS. + + Gellius is lean: Why not? For him so easy a mother + Lives, and a sister so boon, bonny and buxom to boot, + Uncle so kindly good and all things full of his lady- + Cousins, how can he cease leanest of lankies to be? + Albeit, touch he naught save that whose touch is a scandal, 5 + Soon shall thou find wherefor he be as lean as thou like. + +Gellius is meagre: why not? He who lives with so good a mother, so healthy +and so beauteous a sister, and who has such a good uncle, and a world-*full +of girl cousins, wherefore should he leave off being lean? Though he touch +naught save what is banned, thou canst find ample reason wherefore he may +stay lean. + +LXXXX. + + Nascatur magus ex Gelli matrisque nefando + Coniugio et discat Persicum aruspicium: + Nam magus ex matre et gnato gignatur oportet, + Si verast Persarum inpia relligio, + Navos ut accepto veneretur carmine divos 5 + Omentum in flamma pingue liquefaciens. + +LXXXX. + +ON GELLIUS. + + Born be a Magus, got by Gellius out of his mother + (Marriage nefand!) who shall Persian augury learn. + Needs it a Magus begot of son upon mother who bare him, + If that impious faith, Persian religion be fact, + So may their issue adore busy gods with recognised verses 5 + Melting in altar-flame fatness contained by the caul. + +Let there be born a Magian from the infamous conjoining of Gellius and his +mother, and he shall learn the Persian aruspicy. For a Magian from a mother +and son must needs be begotten, if there be truth in Persia's vile creed +that one may worship with acceptable hymn the assiduous gods, whilst the +caul's fat in the sacred flame is melting. + +LXXXXI. + + 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 5 + 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 + Culpast, in quacumque est aliquid sceleris. 10 + +LXXXXI. + +TO GELLIUS. + + Not for due cause I hoped to find thee (Gellius!) faithful + In this saddest our love, love that is lost and forlore, + Or fro' my wotting thee well or ever believing thee constant, + Or that thy mind could reject villany ever so vile, + But that because was she to thyself nor mother nor sister, 5 + This same damsel whose Love me in its greatness devoured. + Yet though I had been joined wi' thee by amplest of usance, + Still could I never believe this was sufficient of cause. + Thou diddest deem it suffice: so great is thy pleasure in every + Crime wherein may be found somewhat enormous of guilt. 10 + +Not for other reason, Gellius, did I hope for thy faith to me in this our +unhappy, this our desperate love (because I knew thee well nor thought thee +constant or able to restrain thy mind from shameless act), but that I saw +this girl was neither thy mother nor thy sister, for whom my ardent love +ate me. And although I have had many mutual dealings with thee, I did not +credit this case to be enough cause for thee. Thou didst find it enough: so +great is thy joy in every kind of guilt in which is something infamous. + +LXXXXII. + + Lesbia mi dicit semper male nec tacet umquam + De me: Lesbia me dispeream nisi amat. + Quo signo? quia sunt + totidem mea: deprecor illam + Absidue, verum dispeream nisi amo. + +LXXXXII. + +ON LESBIA. + + Lesbia naggeth at me evermore and ne'er is she silent + Touching myself: May I die but that by Lesbia I'm loved. + What be the proof? I rail and retort like her and revile her + Carefully, yet may I die but that I love her with love. + +Lesbia forever speaks ill of me nor is ever silent anent me: may I perish +if Lesbia do not love me! By what sign? because I am just the same: I +malign her without cease, yet may I die if I do not love her in sober +truth. + +LXXXXIII. + + Nil nimium studeo Caesar tibi belle placere, + Nec scire utrum sis albus an ater homo. + +LXXXXIII. + +ON JULIUS CAESAR. + + Study I not o'ermuch to please thee (Caesar!) and court thee, + Nor do I care e'en to know an thou be white or be black. + +I am not over anxious, Caesar, to please thee greatly, nor to know whether +thou art white or black man. + +LXXXXIIII. + + Mentula moechatur. moechatur mentula: certe. + Hoc est, quod dicunt, ipsa olera olla legit. + +LXXXXIIII. + +AGAINST MENTULA (MAMURRA). + + Mentula wooeth much: much wooeth he, be assured. + That is, e'en as they say, the Pot gathers leeks for the pot. + +Mentula whores. By the mentule he is be-whored: certes. This is as though +they say the oil pot itself gathers the olives. + +LXXXXV. + + Zmyrna mei Cinnae nonam post denique messem + Quam coeptast nonamque edita post hiemem, + Milia cum interea quingenta Hortensius uno + * * * * + Zmyrna cavas Satrachi penitus mittetur ad undas, 5 + Zmyrnam cana diu saecula pervoluent. + At Volusi annales Paduam morientur ad ipsam + Et laxas scombris saepe dabunt tunicas. + Parva mei mihi sint cordi monumenta _sodalis_, + At populus tumido gaudeat Antimacho. 10 + +LXXXXV. + +ON THE "ZMYRNA" OF THE POET CINNA. + + "Zmyrna" begun erstwhile nine harvests past by my Cinna + Publisht appears when now nine of his winters be gone; + Thousands fifty of lines meanwhile Hortensius in single + * * * * + "Zmyrna" shall travel afar as the hollow breakers of Satrax, 5 + "Zmyrna" by ages grey lastingly shall be perused. + But upon Padus' brink shall die Volusius his annals + And to the mackerel oft loose-fitting jacket afford. + Dear to my heart are aye the lightest works of my comrade, + Leave I the mob to enjoy tumidest Antimachus. 10 + +My Cinna's "Zmyrna" at length, after nine harvests from its inception, is +published when nine winters have gone by, whilst in the meantime Hortensius +thousands upon thousands in one * * * * "Zmyrna" shall wander abroad e'en +to the curving surf of Satrachus, hoary ages shall turn the leaves of +"Zmyrna" in distant days. But Volusius' Annals shall perish at Padua +itself, and shall often furnish loose wrappings for mackerel. The short +writings of my comrade are gladsome to my heart; let the populace rejoice +in bombastic Antimachus. + +LXXXXVI. + + Si quicquam mutis gratum acceptumve sepulcris + Accidere a nostro, Calve, dolore potest, + Quo desiderio veteres renovamus amores + Atque olim missas flemus amicitias, + Certe non tanto mors inmatura dolorist 5 + Quintiliae, quantum gaudet amore tuo. + +LXXXXVI. + +TO CALVUS ANENT DEAD QUINTILIA. + + If to the dumb deaf tomb can aught or grateful or pleasing + (Calvus!) ever accrue rising from out of our dule, + Wherewith yearning desire renews our loves in the bygone, + And for long friendships lost many a tear must be shed; + Certes, never so much for doom of premature death-day 5 + Must thy Quintilia mourn as she is joyed by thy love. + +If aught grateful or acceptable can penetrate the silent graves from our +dolour, Calvus, when with sweet regret we renew old loves and beweep the +lost friendships of yore, of a surety not so much doth Quintilia mourn her +untimely death as she doth rejoice o'er thy constant love. + +LXXXXVII. + + Non (ita me di ament) quicquam referre putavi, + Vtrumne os an culum olfacerem Aemilio. + Nilo mundius hoc, niloque immundior ille, + Verum etiam culus mundior et melior: + Nam sine dentibus est: dentes os sesquipedales, 5 + Gingivas vero ploxeni habet veteris, + Praeterea rictum qualem diffissus in aestu + Meientis mulae cunnus habere solet. + Hic futuit multas et se facit esse venustum, + Et non pistrino traditur atque asino? 10 + Quem siqua attingit, non illam posse putemus + Aegroti culum lingere carnificis? + +LXXXXVII. + +ON AEMILIUS THE FOUL. + + Never (so love me the Gods!) deemed I 'twas preference matter + Or AEmilius' mouth choose I to smell or his ---- + Nothing is this more clean, uncleaner nothing that other, + Yet I ajudge ---- cleaner and nicer to be; + For while this one lacks teeth, that one has cubit-long tushes, 5 + Set in their battered gums favouring a muddy old box, + Not to say aught of gape like wide-cleft gap of a she-mule + Whenas in summer-heat wont peradventure to stale. + Yet has he many a motte and holds himself to be handsome-- + Why wi' the baker's ass is he not bound to the mill? 10 + Him if a damsel kiss we fain must think she be ready + With her fair lips ---- + +Nay (may the Gods thus love me) have I thought there to be aught of choice +whether I might smell thy mouth or thy buttocks, O Aemilius. Nothing could +the one be cleaner, nothing the other more filthy; nay in truth thy +backside is the cleaner and better,--for it is toothless. Thy mouth hath +teeth full half a yard in length, gums of a verity like to an old +waggon-box, behind which its gape is such as hath the vulva of a she-mule +cleft apart by the summer's heat, always a-staling. This object swives +girls enow, and fancies himself a handsome fellow, and is not condemned to +the mill as an ass? Whatso girl would touch thee, we think her capable of +licking the breech of a leprous hangman. + +LXXXXVIII. + + 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, 5 + Hiscas: omnino quod cupis efficies. + +LXXXXVIII. + +TO VICTIUS THE STINKARD. + + Rightly of thee may be said, an of any, (thou stinkingest Victius!) + Whatso wont we to say touching the praters and prigs. + Thou wi' that tongue o' thine own, if granted occasion availest + Brogues of the cowherds to kiss, also their ---- + Wouldst thou undo us all with a thorough undoing (O Victius!) 5 + Open thy gape:--thereby all shall be wholly undone. + +To thee, if to anyone, may I say, foul-mouthed Victius, that which is said +to wind bags and fatuities. For with that tongue, if need arrive, thou +couldst lick clodhoppers' shoes, clogs, and buttocks. If thou wishest to +destroy us all entirely, Victius, thou need'st but gape: thou wilt +accomplish what thou wishest entirely. + +LXXXXVIIII. + + Surripui tibi, dum ludis, mellite Iuventi, + Suaviolum dulci dulcius ambrosia. + Verum id non inpune tuli: namque amplius horam + Suffixum in summa me memini esse cruce, + Dum tibi me purgo nec possum fletibus ullis 5 + Tantillum vostrae demere saevitiae. + Nam simul id factumst, multis diluta labella + Abstersti guttis omnibus articulis, + Ne quicquam nostro contractum ex ore maneret, + Tamquam conmictae spurca saliva lupae. 10 + Praeterea infesto miserum me tradere Amori + Non cessasti omnique excruciare modo, + Vt mi ex ambrosia mutatum iam foret illud + Suaviolum tristi tristius helleboro. + Quam quoniam poenam misero proponis amori, 15 + Numquam iam posthac basia surripiam. + +LXXXXVIIII. + +TO JUVENTIUS. + + E'en as thou played'st, from thee snatched I (O honied Juventius!) + Kisslet of savour so sweet sweetest Ambrosia unknows. + Yet was the theft nowise scot-free, for more than an hour I + Clearly remember me fixt hanging from crest of the Cross, + Whatwhile I purged my sin unto thee nor with any weeping 5 + Tittle of cruel despite such as be thine could I 'bate. + For that no sooner done thou washed thy liplets with many + Drops which thy fingers did wipe, using their every joint, + Lest of our mouths conjoined remain there aught by the contact + Like unto slaver foul shed by the buttered bun. 10 + Further, wretchedmost me betrayed to unfriendliest Love-god + Never thou ceased'st to pain hurting with every harm, + So that my taste be turned and kisses ambrosial erstwhile + Even than hellebore-juice bitterest bitterer grow. + Seeing such pangs as these prepared for unfortunate lover, 15 + After this never again kiss will I venture to snatch. + +I snatched from thee, whilst thou wast sporting, O honied Juventius, a kiss +sweeter than sweet ambrosia. But I bore it off not unpunished; for more +than an hour do I remember myself hung on the summit of the cross, whilst I +purged myself [for my crime] to thee, nor could any tears in the least +remove your anger. For instantly it was done, thou didst bathe thy lips +with many drops, and didst cleanse them with every finger-joint, lest +anything remained from the conjoining of our mouths, as though it were the +obscene slaver of a fetid fricatrice. Nay, more, thou hast handed wretched +me over to despiteful Love, nor hast thou ceased to agonize me in every +way, so that for me that kiss is now changed from ambrosia to be harsher +than harsh hellebore. Since thou dost award such punishment to wretched +amourist, never more after this will I steal kisses. + +C. + + Caelius Aufilenum et Quintius Aufilenam + Flos Veronensum depereunt iuvenum, + Hic fratrem, ille sororem. hoc est, quod dicitur, illud + Fraternum vere dulce sodalitium. + Cui faveam potius? Caeli, tibi: nam tua nobis 5 + Per facta exhibitast unica amicitia, + Cum vesana meas torreret flamma medullas. + Sis felix, Caeli, sis in amore potens. + +C. + +ON CAELIUS AND QUINTIUS. + + Caelius Aufilenus and Quintius Aufilena, + Love to the death, both swains bloom of the youth Veronese, + This woo'd brother and that sue'd sister: so might the matter + Claim to be titled wi' sooth fairest fraternalest tie. + Whom shall I favour the first? Thee (Caelius!) for thou hast proved 5 + Singular friendship to us shown by the deeds it has done, + Whenas the flames insane had madded me, firing my marrow: + Caelius! happy be thou; ever be lusty in love. + +Caelius, Aufilenus; and Quintius, Aufilena;--flower of the Veronese +youth,--love desperately: this, the brother; that, the sister. This is, as +one would say, true brotherhood and sweet friendship. To whom shall I +incline the more? Caelius, to thee; for thy single devotion to us was shewn +by its deeds, when the raging flame scorched my marrow. Be happy, O +Caelius, be potent in love. + +CI. + + Multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus + Advenio has miseras, frater, ad inferias, + Vt te postremo donarem munere mortis + Et mutam nequiquam adloquerer cinerem, + Quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum, 5 + Heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi. + * * * * + Nunc tamen interea haec prisco quae more parentum + Tradita sunt tristes munera ad inferias, + Accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu, + Atque in perpetuom, frater, ave atque vale. 10 + +CI. + +ON THE BURIAL OF HIS BROTHER. + + Faring thro' many a folk and plowing many a sea-plain + These sad funeral-rites (Brother!) to deal thee I come, + So wi' the latest boons to the dead bestowed I may gift thee, + And I may vainly address ashes that answer have none, + Sithence of thee, very thee, to deprive me Fortune behested, 5 + Woe for thee, Brother forlore! Cruelly severed fro' me. + * * * * + Yet in the meanwhile now what olden usage of forbears + Brings as the boons that befit mournfullest funeral rites, + Thine be these gifts which flow with tear-flood shed by thy brother, + And, for ever and aye (Brother!) all hail and farewell. 10 + +Through many a folk and through many waters borne, I am come, brother, to +thy sad grave, that I may give the last gifts to the dead, and may vainly +speak to thy mute ashes, since fortune hath borne from me thyself. Ah, +hapless brother, heavily snatched from me. * * * But now these gifts, which +of yore, in manner ancestral handed down, are the sad gifts to the grave, +accept thou, drenched with a brother's tears, and for ever, brother, hail! +for ever, adieu! + +CII. + + Si quicquam tacito conmissumst fido ab amico, + Cuius sit penitus nota fides animi, + Meque esse invenies illorum iure sacratum, + Corneli, et factum me esse puta Harpocratem. + +CII. + +TO CORNELIUS. + + If by confiding friend aught e'er be trusted in silence, + Unto a man whose mind known is for worthiest trust, + Me shalt thou find no less than such to secrecy oathbound, + (Cornelius!) and now hold me an Harpocrates. + +If aught be committed to secret faith from a friend to one whose inner +faith of soul is known, thou wilt find me to be of that sacred faith, O +Cornelius, and may'st deem me become an Harpocrates. + +CIII. + + 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. + +CIII. + +TO SILO. + + Or, d'ye hear, refund those ten sestertia (Silo!) + Then be thou e'en at thy will surly and savage o' mood: + Or, an thou love o'er-well those moneys, prithee no longer + Prove thee a pimp and withal surly and savage o' mood. + +Prithee, either return me my ten thousand sesterces, Silo; then be to thy +content surly and boorish: or, if the money allure thee, desist I pray thee +from being a pander and likewise surly and boorish. + +CIIII. + + 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. + +CIIII. + +CONCERNING LESBIA. + + Canst thou credit that I could avail to revile my life-love, + She who be dearer to me even than either my eyes? + Ne'er could I, nor an I could, should I so losingly love her: + But with Tappo thou dost design every monstrous deed. + +Dost deem me capable of speaking ill of my life, she who is dearer to me +than are both mine eyes? I could not, nor if I could, would my love be so +desperate: but thou with Tappo dost frame everything heinous. + +CV. + + Mentula conatur Pipleum scandere montem: + Musae furcillis praecipitem eiciunt. + +CV. + +ON MAMURRA. + + Mentula fain would ascend Piplean mountain up-mounting: + Pitch him the Muses down headlong wi' forklets a-hurled. + +Mentula presumes the Pimplean mount to scale: the Muses with their +pitchforks chuck him headlong down. + +CVI. + + Cum puero bello praeconem qui videt esse, + Quid credat, nisi se vendere discupere? + +CVI. + +THE AUCTIONEER AND THE FAIR BOY. + + When with a pretty-faced boy we see one playing the Crier, + What can we wot except longs he for selling the same? + +When with a comely lad a crier is seen to be, what may be thought save that +he longs to sell himself. + +CVII. + + Siquoi quid cupido optantique obtigit umquam + Insperanti, hoc est gratum animo proprie. + Quare hoc est gratum nobisque est carius auro, + Quod te restituis, Lesbia, mi cupido, + Restituis cupido atque insperanti ipsa refers te. 5 + Nobis o lucem candidiore nota! + Quis me uno vivit felicior, aut magis hac res + Optandas vita dicere quis poterit? + +CVII. + +TO LESBIA RECONCILED. + + An to one ever accrue any boon he lusted and longed for + Any time after despair, grateful it comes to his soul. + Thus 'tis grateful to us nor gold was ever so goodly, + When thou restorest thyself (Lesbia!) to lovingmost me, + Self thou restorest unhoped, and after despair thou returnest. 5 + Oh the fair light of a Day noted with notabler white! + Where lives a happier man than myself or--this being won me-- + Who shall e'er boast that his life brought him more coveted lot? + +If what one desires and covets is ever obtained unhoped for, this is +specially grateful to the soul. Wherefore is it grateful to us and far +dearer than gold, that thou com'st again, Lesbia, to longing me; com'st yet +again, long-looked for and unhoped, thou restorest thyself. O day of whiter +note for us! who lives more happily than I, sole I, or who can say what +greater thing than this could be hoped for in life? + +CVIII. + + Si, Comini, populi arbitrio tua cana senectus + Spurcata inpuris moribus intereat, + Non equidem dubito quin primum inimica bonorum + Lingua execta avido sit data volturio, + Effossos oculos voret atro gutture corvos, 5 + Intestina canes, cetera membra lupi. + +CVIII. + +ON COMINIUS. + + If by the verdict o' folk thy hoary old age (O Cominius!) + Filthy with fulsomest lust ever be doomed to the death, + Make I no manner of doubt but first thy tongue to the worthy + Ever a foe, cut out, ravening Vulture shall feed; + Gulp shall the Crow's black gorge those eye-balls dug from their sockets, + 5 + Guts of thee go to the dogs, all that remains to the wolves. + +If, O Cominius, by the people's vote thy hoary age made filthy by unclean +practices shall perish, forsure I doubt not but that first thy tongue, +hostile to goodness, cut out, shall be given to the greedy vulture-brood, +thine eyes, gouged out, shall the crows gorge down with sable maw, thine +entrails [shall be flung] to the dogs, the members still remaining to the +wolf. + +CVIIII. + + Iocundum, mea vita, mihi proponis amorem + Hunc nostrum internos perpetuomque fore. + Di magni, facite ut vere promittere possit, + Atque id sincere dicat et ex animo, + Vt liceat nobis tota producere vita 5 + Alternum hoc sanctae foedus amicitae. + +CVIIII. + +TO LESBIA ON HER VOW OF CONSTANCY. + + Gladsome to me, O my life, this love whose offer thou deignest + Between us twain lively and lusty to last soothfast. + (Great Gods!) grant ye the boon that prove her promises loyal, + Saying her say in truth spoken with spirit sincere; + So be it lawful for us to protract through length of our life-tide 5 + Mutual pact of our love, pledges of holy good will! + +My joy, my life, thou declarest to me that this love of ours shall last +ever between us. Great Gods! grant that she may promise truly, and say this +in sincerity and from her soul, and that through all our lives we may be +allowed to prolong together this bond of holy friendship. + +CX. + + Aufilena, bonae semper laudantur amicae: + Accipiunt pretium, quae facere instituunt. + Tu quod promisti, mihi quod mentita inimica's, + Quod nec das et fers saepe, facis facinus. + Aut facere ingenuaest, aut non promisse pudicae, 5 + Aufilena, fuit: sed data corripere + Fraudando + efficit plus quom meretricis avarae, + Quae sese tota corpore prostituit. + +CX. + +TO AUFILENA. + + Aufilena! for aye good lasses are lauded as loyal: + Price of themselves they accept when they intend to perform. + All thou promised'st me in belying proves thee unfriendly, + For never giving and oft taking is deed illy done. + Either as honest to grant, or modest as never to promise, 5 + Aufilena! were fair, but at the gifties to clutch + Fraudfully, viler seems than greed of greediest harlot + Who with her every limb maketh a whore of herself. + +Aufilena, honest harlots are always praised: they accept the price of what +they intend to do. Thou didst promise that to me, which, being a feigned +promise, proves thee unfriendly; not giving that, and often accepting, thou +dost wrongfully. Either to do it frankly, or not to promise from modesty, +Aufilena, was becoming thee: but to snatch the gift and bilk, proves thee +worse than the greedy strumpet who prostitutes herself with every part of +her body. + +CXI. + + Aufilena, viro contentam vivere solo, + Nuptarum laus e laudibus eximiis: + Sed cuivis quamvis potius succumbere par est, + Quam matrem fratres _efficere_ ex patruo. + +CXI. + +TO THE SAME. + + Aufilena! to live content with only one husband, + Praise is and truest of praise ever bestowed upon wife. + Yet were it liefer to lie any wise with any for lover, + Than to be breeder of boys uncle as cousins begat. + +Aufilena, to be content to live with single mate, in married dame is praise +of praises most excelling: but 'tis preferable to lie beneath any lover +thou mayest choose, rather than to make thyself mother to thy cousins out +of thy uncle. + +CXII. + + Multus homo es Naso, neque tecum multus homost qui + Descendit: Naso, multus es et pathicus. + +CXII. + +ON NASO. + + Great th'art (Naso!) as man, nor like thee many in greatness + Lower themselves (Naso!): great be thou, pathic to boot. + +A mighty man thou art, Naso, yet is a man not mighty who doth stoop like +thee: Naso thou art mighty--and pathic. + +CXIII. + + Consule Pompeio primum duo, Cinna, solebant + Mucillam: facto consule nunc iterum + Manserunt duo, sed creverunt milia in unum + Singula. fecundum semen adulterio. + +CXIII. + +TO CINNA. + + Pompey first being chosen to Consul, twofold (O Cinna!) + Men for amours were famed: also when chosen again + Two they remained; but now is each one grown to a thousand + Gallants:--fecundate aye springeth adultery's seed. + +In the first consulate of Pompey, two, Cinna, were wont to frequent +Mucilla: now again made consul, the two remain, but thousands may be added +to each unit. The seed of adultery is fecund. + +CXIIII. + + Firmano saltu non falso Mentula dives + Fertur, qui tot res in se habet egregias, + Aucupium, omne genus piscis, prata, arva ferasque. + Nequiquam: fructibus sumptibus exuperat. + Quare concedo sit dives, dum omnia desint. 5 + Saltum laudemus, dum modo _eo_ ipse egeat. + +CXIIII. + +ON MAMURRA'S SQUANDERING. + + For yon Firmian domain not falsely Mentula hight is + Richard, owning for self so many excellent things-- + Fish, fur, feather, all kinds, with prairie, corn-land, and ferals. + All no good: for th' outgoing, income immensely exceeds. + Therefore his grounds be rich own I, while he's but a pauper. 5 + Laud we thy land while thou lackest joyance thereof. + +With Firmian demesne not falsely is Mentula deemed rich, who has everything +in it of such excellence, game preserves of every kind, fish, meadows, +arable land and ferals. In vain: the yield is o'ercome by the expense. +Wherefore I admit the wealth, whilst everything is wanting. We may praise +the demesne, but its owner is a needy man. + +CXV. + + Mentula habes instar triginta iugera prati, + Quadraginta arvi: cetera sunt maria. + Cur non divitiis Croesum superare potissit + Vno qui in saltu totmoda possideat, + Prata, arva, ingentes silvas saltusque paludesque 5 + Vsque ad Hyperboreos et mare ad Oceanum? + Omnia magna haec sunt, tamen ipse's maximus ultro, + Non homo, sed vero mentula magna minax. + +CXV. + +OF THE SAME. + + Mentula! masterest thou some thirty acres of grass-land + Full told, forty of field soil; others are sized as the sea. + Why may he not surpass in his riches any a Croesus + Who in his one domain owns such abundance of good, + Grass-lands, arable fields, vast woods and forest and marish 5 + Yonder to Boreal-bounds trenching on Ocean tide? + Great are indeed all these, but thou by far be the greatest, + Never a man, but a great Mentula of menacing might. + +Mentula has something like thirty acres of meadow land, forty under +cultivation: the rest are as the sea. Why might he not o'erpass Croesus in +wealth, he who in one demesne possesses so much? Meadow, arable land, +immense woods, and demesnes, and morasses, e'en to the uttermost north and +to the ocean's tide! All things great are here, yet is the owner most great +beyond all; not a man, but in truth a Mentule mighty, menacing! + +CXVI. + + Saepe tibi studioso animo venante requirens + Carmina uti possem mittere Battiadae, + Qui te lenirem nobis, neu conarere + Telis infestis icere mi usque caput, + Hunc video mihi nunc frustra sumptus esse laborem, 5 + Gelli, nec nostras his valuisse preces. + Contra nos tela ista tua evitamus amictu: + At fixus nostris tu dabi' supplicium. + +CXVI. + +TO GELLIUS THE CRITIC. + + Seeking often in mind with spirit eager of study + How I could send thee songs chaunted of Battiades, + So thou be softened to us, nor any attempting thou venture + Shot of thy hostile shaft piercing me high as its head,-- + Now do I ken this toil with vainest purpose was taken, 5 + (Gellius!) nor herein aught have our prayers availed. + Therefore we'll parry with cloak what shafts thou shootest against us; + And by our bolts transfixt, penalty due thou shalt pay. + +Oft with studious mind brought close, enquiring how I might send thee the +poems of Battiades for use, that I might soften thee towards us, nor thou +continually attempt to sting my head with troublesome barbs--this I see now +to have been trouble and labour in vain, O Gellius, nor were our prayers to +this end of any avail. Thy weapons against us we will ward off with our +cloak; but, transfixed with ours, thou shalt suffer punishment. + + * * * * * + + +NOTES + +EXPLANATORY AND ILLUSTRATIVE + +Carmen ii. v. 1. Politian, commenting on Catullus, held in common with +Lampridius, Turnebus and Vossius that Lesbia's sparrow was an indecent +allegory, like the "grey duck" in Pope's imitation of Chaucer. Sannazarius +wrote an Epigram smartly castigating Politian, the closing lines of which +were to the effect that the critic would like to devour the bird:-- + + Meus hic Pulicianus + Tam bellum sibi passerem Catulli + Intra viscera habere concupiscit. + +Martial says: + + "Kiss me and I will give you Catullus's sparrow, + +by which he does not mean a poem. + +And in the Apophoreta: + + "If you have such a sparrow as Catullus's Lesbia deplored, it may lodge + here." + +Chaulieu has a similar Epigram:-- + + Autant et plus que sa vie + Phyllis aime un passereau; + Ainsi la jeune Lesbie + Jadis aima son moineau. + Mais de celui de Catulle + Se laissant aussi charmer, + Dans sa cage, sans scrupule, + Elle eut soin de l' enfermer. + +Heguin de Guerle however sees nothing to justify this opinion, remarking +that Catullus was not the man to use a veil of allegory in saying an +indecency. "He preferred the bare, and even coarse, word; and he is too +rich in this style of writing to need the loan of equivocal passages." + +v. 12. The story of the race between Hippomenes and Atalanta, and how the +crafty lover tricked the damsel into defeat by the three golden apples is +well known. Cf. Ovid. Metam. lib. x. v. 560, et seq. According to Vossius +the gift of an apple was equivalent to a promise of the last favour. The +Emperor Theodosius caused Paulinus to be murdered for receiving an apple +from his Empress. As to this, cf. the "Tale of the Three Apples," in _The +Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night_ (Sir Richard Burton's Translation, +Benares, 1885-8, 16 volumes), vol. i. p. 191. Cf. also note to C. lxv. v. +19. + +v. 13. Virgins wore a girdle, generally of wool, for wool by the ancients +was supposed to excite love, which the bridegroom the first night unbound +in bed. Both in Greek and in Latin the phrase _to undo the zone_ was used +to signify the loss of virginity. + +C. vi. v. 8. Some say this is the spikenard, and the same with the Syrian +_malobathrum_. But any rich odour was termed Syrian, by the Romans, who +were extravagantly fond of perfumes; and used them, according to Vulpius, +as provocatives to venery. + +v. 9. _Pulvinus_, not _pulvinar_. Cf. carmen lxiiii. v. 47, post. + +C. vii. v. 6. Battus (in Libyan) Bahatus, a chief, a ruler.--Halevy Essai, +p. 164.--_R. F. B._ + +C. viii. v. 18. Plautus speaks of Teneris labellis molles morsiunculae. +Thus too Horace: + + Sive puer furens + Impressit memorem dente labris notam. + + Or on thy lips the fierce fond boy + Marks with his teeth the furious joy. _Francis_. + +Plutarch tells us that Flora, the mistress of Cn. Pompey, used to say in +commendation of her lover, that she could never quit his arms without +giving him a bite. + +C. xi. v. 5. In the Classics, Arabs always appear as a soft effeminate +race; under primitive Christianity as heretics; and after the seventh +century as conquerors, men of letters, philosophers, mediciners, magicians +and alchemists.--_R. F. B._ + +v. 20. _Ilia rumpens_. More exactly rendered by Biacca: + + E sol di tutti + Tenta l'iniqua ad isnervar i fianchi. + +Guarini says of a coquette, that she likes to do with lovers as with gowns, +have plenty of them, use one after another, and change them often. + +C. xiii. v. 9. I understand this, "Thou shalt depart after supper carrying +with thee all our hearts."--_R. F. B._ + +C. xiiii. v. 15. Whence our Christmas-day, the Winter Solstice connected +with Christianity. There are only four universal festivals--"Holy +days,"--and they are all of solar origin--The Solstices and the +Equinoxes.--_R. F. B._ + +C. xv. v. 7. The Etymology of "platea" shows it to be a street widening +into a kind of _place_, as we often find in the old country towns of +Southern Europe.--_R. F. B._ + +v. 18. _Patente porta_. This may be read "Your house door being open so +that each passer may see your punishment," or it may be interpreted as +referring to the punishment itself, _i.e._, through the opened buttocks. + +v. 19. This mode of punishing adulterers was first instituted amongst the +Athenians. The victim being securely tied, a mullet was thrust up his +fundament and withdrawn, the sharp gills of the fish causing excruciating +torment to the sufferer during the process of its withdrawal, and +grievously lacerating the bowels. Sometimes an enormous radish was +substituted for the mullet. According to an epigram quoted by Vossius from +the Anthologia, Alcaeus, the comic writer, died under this very punishment. + + Lo here Alcaeus sleeps; whom earth's green child, + The broad-leaved radish, lust's avenger, kill'd. + +C. xvi. v. 1. _Paedicabo et irrumabo._ These detestable words are used here +only as coarse forms of threatening, with no very definite meaning. It is +certain that they were very commonly employed in this way, with no more +distinct reference to their original import than the corresponding phrases +of the modern Italians, _T' ho in culo_ and _becco fottuto_, or certain +brutal exclamations common in the mouths of the English vulgar. + +v. 5. Ovid has a distich to the same effect: + + Crede mihi, distant mores a carmine nostri; + Vita verecunda est, musa jocosa mihi. + +"Believe me there is a vast difference between my morals and my song; my +life is decorous, my muse is wanton." And Martial says: + + Lasciva est nobis pagina, vita proba est. + +Which is thus translated by Maynard: + + Si ma plume est une putain, + Ma vie est une sainte. + +Pliny quotes this poem of Catullus to excuse the wantonness of his own +verses, which he is sending to his friend Paternus; and Apuleius cites the +passage in his Apology for the same purpose. "Whoever," says Lambe, "would +see the subject fully discussed, should turn to the Essay on the Literary +Character by Mr. Disraeli." He enumerates as instances of free writers who +have led pure lives, La Motte le Vayer, Bayle, la Fontaine, Smollet, and +Cowley. "The imagination," he adds, "may be a volcano, while the heart is +an Alp of ice." It would, however, be difficult to enlarge this list, while +on the other hand, the catalogue of those who really practised the +licentiousness they celebrated, would be very numerous. One period alone, +the reign of Charles the Second, would furnish more than enough to +outnumber the above small phalanx of purity. Muretus, whose poems clearly +gave him every right to knowledge on the subject, but whose known +debauchery would certainly have forbidden any credit to accrue to himself +from establishing the general purity of lascivious poets, at once rejects +the probability of such a contrast, saying: + + Quisquis versibus exprimit Catullum + Raro moribus exprimit Catonem. + +"One who is a Catullus in verse, is rarely a Cato in morals." + +C. xviii. This and the two following poems are found in the Catalecta of +Vergilius, but they are assigned to Catullus by many of the best critics, +chiefly on the authority of Terentianus Maurus. + +v. 2. Cf. _Auct. Priapeiorum_, Eps. lv. v. 6, and lxxvii. v. 15. + +v. 3. _Ostreosior_. This Epithet, peculiarly Catullian, is appropriate to +the coasts most favoured by Priapus; oysters being an incentive to lust. + +C. xx. v. 19. The traveller mocks at Priapus' threat of sodomy, regarding +it as a pleasure instead of as a punishment. The god, in anger, retorts +that if that punishment has no fears for him, a fustigation by the farmer +with the self-same mentule used as a cudgel may have a more deterrent +effect. Cf. _Auct. Priap._ Ep. li. v. 27, 28: + + Nimirum apertam convolatis ad poenam: + Et vos hoc ipsum, quod minamur, invitat. + +Without doubt, ye flock to the open punishment [so called because the +natural parts of Priapus were always exposed to view], and the very thing +with which I threaten, allures you. + +And also Ep. lxiv., + + Quidam mollior anseris medulla, + Furatum venit hoc amor poenae. + Furetur licet usque non videbo. + + One than a goose's marrow softer far, + Comes hither stealing for it's penalty sake; + Steal he as please him: I will see him not. + +C. xxiii. v. 6. Dry and meagre as wood; like the woman of whom Scarron +says, that she never snuffed the candle with her fingers for fear of +setting them on fire. + +C. xxv. v. 1. Cf. Auct. Priap. Ep. xlv. + +v. 5. This is a Catullian _crux_. Mr. Arthur Palmer (Trinity College, +Dublin, Jan. 31, 1890) proposes, and we adopt-- + + "Cum diva miluorum aves ostendit oscitantes." + + (When the Goddess of Kites shows you birds agape.) + +Diva miluorum is--Diva furum, Goddess of thieves; _i.e._, Laverna Milvus +(hawk) being generally used for a rapacious robber. Mr. Palmer quotes +Plaut. (Poen. 5, 5, 13; Pers. 3, 4, 5; Bacch. 2, 3, 40), and others.--_R. +F. B._ + +v. 6. _Involasti_, thou didst swoop--still metaphor of the prey-bird.--_R. +F. B._ + +C. xxvi. v. 3. Still the "Bora" of the Adriatic, extending, with intervals, +from Trieste to Bari. It is a N.N. Easter of peculiar electrical +properties, causing extreme thirst, wrecking ships, upsetting mail-trains, +and sweeping carriages and horses into the sea. Austral, the south wind, is +represented in these days by the Scirocco, S.S.E. It sets out from Africa a +dry wind, becomes supersaturated in the Mediterranean, and is the scourge +of Southern Italy, exhausting the air of ozone and depressing the spirits +and making man utterly useless and miserable.--_R. F. B._ + +C. xxviii. v. 10. These expressions, like those in carmen xvi. ante, are +merely terms of realistically gross abuse. + +C. xxviiii. v. 5. _Cinaede Romule_. The epithet is here applied in its +grossest sense, which again is implied in the allusion to the spoil of +Pontus; for this, as Vossius proves, can only be understood to mean the +wealth obtained by Caesar, when a young man, through his infamous relations +with Nicomedes, king of Pontus--as witness two lines sung by Caesar's own +soldiers on the occasion of his triumph: + + Ecce Caesar nunc triumphat, qui subegit Galliam; + Nicomedes non triumphat, qui subegit Caesarem. + +v. 13. _Defututa Mentula_ = a worn-out voluptuary. Mentula is a cant term +which Catullus frequently uses for a libidinous person, and particularly +for Mamurra. + +v. 24. Pompey married Caesar's daughter, Julia, and is commonly supposed to +be the "son-in-law" here meant; but Vossius argues with some force, that +_socer_ and _gener_ apply, not to Caesar and Pompey, but to Caesar and +Mamurra. Those words, and the corresponding terms in Greek, were often used +in an unnatural sense, as for instance in an epigram on Noctuinus, +attributed to Calvus, in which occurs this very line, _Gener socerque +perdidistis omnia_. + +C. xxxi. v. 1. As the Venice-Trieste railway runs along the southern bar of +the pyriform narrow, Lago di Garda, with its towering mountains, whose +heads are usually in the storm-clouds, and whose feet sink into the nearest +vineyards, the traveller catches a sight of the Sirmio Spit, long and +sandy. It is a narrow ridge boldly projecting into the lake (once called +Benacus) which was formerly a marsh, but now made into an island by the +simple process of ditch cutting: at the southern end is the Sermione hill +and its picturesque Scottish-German Castle. To the north are some ruins +supposed to be the old Villa of Catullus, but they seem too extensive to +serve for the purpose.--_R. F. B._ + +C. xxxii. v. 11. Pezay, a French translator, strangely mistakes the meaning +of the passage, as if it amounted to this, "I have gorged till I am ready +to burst;" and he quotes the remark of "une femme charmante," who said that +her only reply to such a billet-doux would have been to send the writer an +emetic. But the lady might have prescribed a different remedy if she had +been acquainted with Martial's line: + + O quoties rigida pulsabis pallia vena! + +or with this quatrain of an old French poet: + + Ainsi depuis une semaine + La longue roideur de ma veine, + Pour neant rouge et bien en point, + Bat ma chemise et mon pourpoint. + +C. xxxvii. v. 1. Taverns and Wine-shops in Rome were distinguished by +pillars projecting into the streets, the better to catch the eye of the +passenger, as sign-posts of inns do with us now; the tavern in question was +a house of ill-fame, and we are told it was the ninth column or sign-post +from the Temple of Castor and Pollux. + +v. 2. It was customary to display on the fronts of brothels the names of +the inmates, just as shopkeepers' names were inscribed over places of more +reputable trade: this was called _inscriptio_ or _titulus_. + +v. 10. _Scorpionibus_. Indecent inscriptions scribbled on the walls and +door with burnt sticks. + +v. 11. Catullus's mistress had, it seems, run away from him to a common +brothel, in front of which it was the custom, not only for women but even +for men, to sit down and offer themselves for prostitution. + +v. 16. _Semitarii moechi_. Whoremongers who take up with common women who +offer themselves at every corner of the streets for a mere trifle. + +v. 20. _Hibera Urina_. We are assured by Strabo, _Lib._ 3, that this filthy +custom prevailed greatly in Spain: teeth were not only washed in stale +urine, the acid of which must necessarily render them white, but they were +also rubbed with a powder of calcined human excrement. Persons sometimes +even bathed their whole bodies in urine. + +C. xxxxi. v. 3. _Turpiculo naso_. The kind of nose alluded to is such as +sheep or goats have. Cf. Lucretius, _lib._ iv. v. 1152. + +C. xxxxvii. v. 6. _In trivio_, i.e., in the most public places, in hopes of +finding some host. + +v. 7. This hunting for invitations does not, according to modern notions, +place the two friends of Catullus in a respectable light; but it was a +common and avowed practice at Rome. + +C. liii. v. 5. _Salaputium_. A pet name for the male virile member. This +word has been the subject of much debate among the learned. Some read +_solopachium_, meaning a "mannikin eighteen inches high"; Saumasius +proposes salopygium, a "wagtail"; several editors have _salaputium_, an +indelicate word nurses used to children when they fondled them, so that the +exclamation would mean, "what a learned little puppet!" Thus Augustus +called Horace _purissimum penem_. + +C. liiii. I find it an impossibility to make any sense out of this poem. + +v. 5. _Seni recocto_. Horace applies this epithet to one who has served the +office of _quinquevir_, or proconsul's notary, and who was therefore master +of all the arts of chicanery. These are his words, Sat. v. lib. 2: + + _Plerumque recoctus_ + _Scriba ex quinqueviro corvum deludit hiantem._ + + A seasoned scrivener, bred in office low, + Full often dupes and mocks the gaping crow. FRANCIS. + +The modern Italians say of a man of this stamp, _Egli ha cotto il culo ne' +ceci rossi_. The phrase _seni recocto_ may imply one who enjoys a green and +vigorous old age, as if made young again, as the old woman was by wine, of +whom Petronius speaks, _Anus recocta vino_; or AEson, who was re-cooked by +Medaea. That witch, says Valerius Flaccus, _Recoquit fessos aetate +parentes_. + +C. lvi. v. 6. _Trusantem_. Many read _crissantem_, which means the movement +of the loins in women; _ceventem_ being the like of a man. As the +expression refers to the lad, _crissantem_ cannot be correct. + +v. 7. _Pro telo_. Alluding to the custom of punishing adulterers by +transfixing them with darts. The double-entendre of _Telo_ with _Mentula_ +is evident, and makes clear the apology to Venus. See _lib._ 9 of Apuleius +for a similar passage. + +C. lvii. v. 7. _Erudituli_. The accomplishments alluded to are not +literary, but Priapeian. It is in this sense Petronius calls Gito +_doctissimus puer_. Oezema, a grave German jurist, parodied a part of this +piece. His epigram can be read without danger of having one's stomach +turned. + + Belle convenit inter elegantes + Dione's famulas, et eruditos + Antiquae Themidis meos sodales. + Nos jus justitiamque profitemur: + Illae semper amant coluntque rectum. + +"There is a charming coincidence of sentiment between the fair votaries of +Venus and my learned brethren: we profess law and justice; they dearly love +the thing that is upright." + +C. lviii. v. 1. _Caeli_. This is the same with Caelius Rufus, Catullus's +rival in the affections of Lesbia, or Clodia, according to Achilles +Statius; Plutarch calls her Quadrantaria; she was debauched by her own +brother, Publius Clodius; afterwards she became the mistress of Catullus, +and lastly the common strumpet of Rome. + +v. 4. The meanest trulls frequented the public streets. + +v. 5. _Glubit_. _Glubo_ = to husk (corn), hence it is tropically used to +denote masturbation. Cf. Ausonius, epigram 71. + +C. lviiii. v. 1. _Fellat_. This refers to the complacent use by the female +of her lips in the act of connection. + +v. 3. The half-starved women of pleasure attended at funerals in the hope +of picking up parts of the viands which were laid on the pile and burnt +with the body. + +C. lxi. v. 22. _Myrtus Asia_. The Asia of Catullus was that marshy tract of +land near Mount Tmolus and the River Caystrus. Cf. Homer (_Il._ ii. 461) +for the "Ancient Meadow." It was said to be as famous for its myrtles as +for its cranes. Proper "Asia Minor" is the title first used by Oratius +(Orazius?) (1. 2.) in the IVth century. See the "Life and Works of St. +Paul," by Dr. Farrar (i. 465).--_R. F. B._ + +v. 54. _Timens_. Many more obscenely write _tumens_, thus changing the +"fear-full" bridegroom into the "swollen" bridegroom. + +v. 123. It was usual for the mirthful friends of the newly married couple +to sing obscene songs called _Fescennine_, which were tolerated on this +occasion. + +v. 124. _Nec nuces pueris_. This custom of throwing nuts, such as walnuts +or almonds, is of Athenian origin; some say it was meant to divert the +attention from the raptures of the bride and bridegroom, when in bed, by +the noise they, and the scrambling boys, made on the floor. For _nuces_, +referring to the use of boys, see Verg. Eclogue 8. + +v. 125. _Concubinus_. By the shamelessness of this passage, it would seem +to be quite a usual thing amongst the youthful Roman aristocracy to possess +a bedfellow of their own sex. + +v. 137. "This coarse imitation of the Fescennine poems," says Dunlop +(History of Roman Literature), "leaves on our minds a stronger impression +of the prevalence and extent of Roman vices than any other passage in the +Latin classics. Martial, and Catullus himself elsewhere, have branded their +enemies; and Juvenal, in bursts of satiric indignation, has reproached his +countrymen with the blackest crimes. But here, in a complimentary poem to a +patron and intimate friend, these are jocularly alluded to as the venial +indulgence of his earliest youth." + +C. lxii. v. 39, _et seq._ Thus exquisitely rendered by Spenser, Faery +Queen, b. ii. c. 12: + + The whiles some one did chaunt this lovely lay: + "Ah! see, whoso fayre thing doest faine to see, + In springing flowre the image of thy day! + Ah! see the virgin rose, how sweetly she + Doth first peepe foorth with bashfull modestie, + That fairer seemes the lesse ye see her may! + Lo see soone after how more bold and free + Her bared bosome she doth broad display; + Lo! see soone after how she fades and falls away! + + "So passeth, in the passing of a day, + Of mortal life the leafe, the bud, the flowre; + Ne more doth flourish after first decay, + That erst was sought to deck both bed and bowre + Of many a lady, and many a paramoure! + Gather therefore the rose whilest yet is prime, + For soone comes age that will her pride deflowre; + Gather the rose of love whilest yet is time, + Whilest loving thou mayst loved be with equal crime." + +C. lxiii. v. 23. Women devoted to the service of Bacchus or of Cybele; for +many things were common to the rights of both deities. The name is derived +from [Greek: mainesthai], to rave. + +v. 28. _Thiasus_ is properly a chorus of sacred singers and dancers, living +in a community, like a college of dervishes, who, indeed, are an exact +counterpart of the Galli as regards their howling and dancing ritual, but +have the advantage of their predecessors in one important particular, +_i.e._, they are not castrated. + +C. lxiiii. v. 65. The strophium was a band which confined the breasts and +restrained the exuberance of their growth. Martial apostrophizes it thus: + + Fascia, crescentes dominae compesce papillas, + Ut sit quod capiat nostra tegatque manus. + +"Confine the growth of my fair one's breasts, that they may be just large +enough for my hand to enclose them." + +v. 377. _Circumdare filo_. That is, may you to-morrow prove that you are no +longer a virgin; for the ancients had an idea that the neck swelled after +venery; perhaps from the supposed descent of the procreative fluid which +they thought lodged in the brain. See Hippocrates and Aristotle upon this +subject. The swelling of the bride's neck was therefore ascertained by +measurement with a thread on the morning after the nuptials, and was held +to be sufficient proof of their happy consummation. The ancients, says +Pezay, had faith in another equally absurd test of virginity. They measured +the circumference of the neck with a thread. Then the girl under trial took +the two ends of the magic thread in her teeth, and if it was found to be so +long that its bight could be passed over her head, it was clear she was not +a maid. By this rule all the thin girls might pass for vestals, and all the +plump ones for the reverse. + +v. 403. Semiramis is said to have done thus by her son Ninus. + +C. lxv. v. 19. The gift of an apple had a very tender meaning; according to +Vossius it was _quasi pignus concubitus_, that is to say, it was the climax + + To all those token flowers that tell + What words can never speak so well. + +In one of the love epistles of Aristaenetus, Phalaris complains to her +friend Petala, how her younger sister, who had accompanied her to dine with +Pamphilus, her lover, attempted to seduce him, and among other wanton +tricks did as follows: "Pamphilus, biting off a piece of an apple, chucked +it dexterously into her bosom; she took it, kissed it, and thrusting it +under her sash, hid it between her breasts." Cf. note to C. ii. v. 12, +_ante._ + +C. lxvii. v. 21. _Languidior_. This expression, here obscenely applied, is +proverbial, from the flagging of the leaves of the beet; hence the Latin +word _batizare_, to droop, used by Suetonius, _in Augusto_. See Pliny on +this plant, Cap. xiii. _lib._ 9. + +v. 28. _Zonam Solvere_. See the note to C. ii. v. 13. + +v. 30. _Minxerit in gremium_. Horace uses the word _mingere_ in the same +sense: + + _Dicitur ut formae melioris meiat eodem_. + Hor. Sat. vii. _lib._ 2. + +and in like manner Persius + + _Patriciae immeiat vulvae._ + +Pliny more than once uses the word _urina pro semine_. + +C. lxviiii. v. 6. _Sub alarum_. Many would join these two words and form +one, which, however, is not authorised by any ancient writer. The +Spaniards, it is true, say _sobaco_, the armpit, but this does not justify +a new Latin coinage of any similar word. The smell alluded to in this line +has often been compared to that of a goat; it is called _capram_, _caprum_, +and _hircam_. Thus Horace, Epod. 12, + + _Namque sagacius unus odoror_ + _Polypus an gravis hirsutis cubet hircus in alis._ + +This tetterous complaint is peculiar to warm countries; we know scarcely +anything of it in our northern climate. + +C. lxxiiii. v. 6. The reader will easily guess that one reason for the +uncle's inability to murmur was owing to the occupation which Gellius had +thrust on him. + +C. lxxvii. v. 8. _Suavia comminxit_. This habit, which the filthy Rufus +adopts, is mentioned by Lucretius: + + _Jungunt salivas_ + _Oris, et inspirant pressantes dentibus ora._ + Lucret. _lib._ 4. + +C. lxxx. v. 6. Martial has a similar expression, + + _Lambebat medios improba lingua viros_. + +v. 8. _Ilia, et emulso_. Lucretius uses the word _mulgere_ in the same +sense in lib. 4. + +C. lxxxiiii. v. 2. The first notice in the classics of our far-famed 'Arry, +whose female is 'Arriet.--_R. F. B._ + +C. lxxxviiii. v. 1. The good condition and number of the relations of +Gellius are assigned as the causes of his macilency, Gellius being an +adulterer of the most infamous kind. Thus Propertius, on the amorous +disposition peculiar to those of a spare make, + + What tho' my slender shape enervate seem, + Think not that vigour flies my meagre frame; + At Venus' rites I ne'er was known to fail, + Th' experienc'd fair can this dear truth reveal. + Proper., _Eleg._ 22. _lib._ 2. + +C. lxxxx. v. 6. _Omentum_. The sages used to draw omens from the entrails +of sacrificed beasts as they were burning; but more particularly from the +_omentum_, or _caul_, that apron of fat which covers the abdominal viscera. + +C. lxxxxiiii. v. 1. There is a double meaning in the original, and the +translator can give but half of it. _Mentula_, synonymous with _penis_, is +a nickname applied by Catullus to Mamurra, of whom he says (cxv.) that he +is not a man, but a great thundering _mentula_. Maherault has happily +rendered the meaning of the epigram in French, in which language there is +an equivalent for Mentula, that is to say, a man's name which is also a +popular synonym for what characterizes the god Priapus. "Jean Chouard +fornique; eh! sans doute, c'est bien Jean Chouard. C'est ainsi qu'on peut +dire que c'est la marmite qui cueille les choux." Achilles Statius +interprets this _distich_ thus, "It is the flesh that is guilty, and not I +who am guilty; so is it the pot that robs the garden, and not the thief +that robs the pot-herbs." + +v. 2. _Ipsa olera olla legat_. This may have been a cant proverb of the day +containing a meaning which is now unknown to us. Parthenius interprets it +"A libidinous man is apt in adultery, as a vessel is suited to hold its +contents." + +C. lxxxxvii. v. 1. There is in the Greek Anthology a similar epigram by +Nicarchus, which has thus been translated by Grotius: + + Non culo, Theodore, minus tibi foetida bucca est + Noscera discrimen sit sapientis opus. + Scribere debueras hic podex est meus, hic os; + Nunc tu cum pedas atque loquare simul, + Discere non valeo, quid venerit inde vel inde; + Vipera namque infra sibilat atque supra. + +v. 7. Few are ignorant of what Scaliger here gravely tells us: _fessi muli +strigare solent, ut meiant_. Vossius reads _defissus_, in a different +sense. + +C. lxxxxviiii. This poem shews beyond contradiction that Catullus himself +was not free from the vice of paederasty, so universal amongst the Roman +youth. + +v. 10. _Lupae_. The infamous, fetid harlot is called _lupa_ (a she-wolf) +from the ravenousness of the wolf answering to the rapacious disposition of +the generality of courtezans: but Servius, _Aen._ 3, assigns a much more +improper and filthy reason. + +C. c. v. 1. Again the Roman paederasty shews itself in Caelius's affection +for Aufilenus. + +C. ciii. It appears that Catullus had given a sum of money to the pander +Silo to procure him a mistress. He did not perform his engagement, but kept +the money, and abused our sinning bard when he reproached him with the +cheat. + +C. cv. There are not wanting commentators who give a very obscene turn to +this epigram against Mamurra. + +C. cx. v. 4. The word _dare_ has here an erotic sense. + +v. 8. _Tota corpore prostituit_. Some commentators think that this alludes +to such women as not only submit to prostitution, but are in every way +subservient to the lascivious caprices of depraved appetites. Vossius +inclines to such an interpretation. + +C. cxii. v. 2. _Multus_. Some commentators read _moltus_ in an obscene +sense, _a molendo_. Vossius understands by _descendere in sese_ the same +act as is alluded to in C. lxxxviii., hence the force of the word _multus_, +meaning _cum femina_, which he jeeringly applies to Naso as though he would +ironically exclaim: _Et tu femina! tu solus es, aut sine femina_. He writes +the epigram thus: + + _Multus homo est, Naso, neque secum multus homo qui_ + _Descendit? Naso, multus es et pathicus?_ + +THE END + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Carmina of Caius Valerius Catullus, by +Caius Valerius Catullus + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAIUS VALERIUS CATULLUS *** + +***** This file should be named 20732.txt or 20732.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/7/3/20732/ + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Keith Edkins and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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