No More Learning

Nil mihi tam valde placeat, Rhamnusia virgo, 75
Quod temere invitis suscipiatur heris.
Quam jejuna pium desideret ara cruorem,
Docta est amisso Laodamia viro;
Conjugis ante coacta novi dimittere collum,
Quam veniens una atque altera rursus
hiems go
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? CATULLUS. XLV. 77
Noctibus in longis avidum saturasset amorem,
Posset ut abrupto vivere conjugio;
Quod scibant Parcae non longo tempore abesse,
Si miles muros isset ad Iliacos.
Nam tum Helenae raptu primores Argivorum 85
Coeperat ad sese Troja ciere viros:
Troja nefas, commune sepulcrum Europae Asi-
aeque,
Troja viriim et virtutum omnium acerba
cinis; *
Qua? nempe et nostro letum miserabile fratri
Attulit: hei misero frater ademte mihi! 90
Hei misero fratri jucundum lumen ademtum!
Tecum una tota est nostra sepulta domus:
Omnia tecum una perierunt gaudia nostra,
Quae tuus in vita dulcis alebat amor:
Quem nunc tam longe, non inter nota sepulcra, 95
Nec prope cognatos compositum cineres,
Sed Troja obscoena, Troja infelice sepultum,
Detinet extremo terra aliena solo:
Ad quam tum properans fertur simul undique
pubes
Graeca penetrales deseruisse focos; 100
Ne Paris abducta gavisus libera moecha
Otia pacato degeret in thalamo.
Quo tibi turn casa, pulcherrima Laodamia,
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? 78 CATULLUS. XLV.
Ereptum est vita dulcius atque anima
Conjugium ; tantoteabsorbensvortice amoris 105
^Estus in abruptum detulerat barathrum;
Quale ferunt Graii Pheneum prope Cylleneum
Siccare emulsa pingue palude solum;
Quod quondam caesis montis fodisse medullis
Audit falsiparens Amphitryoniades, 110
Tempore quo certa Stymphalia monstra sagitta
Perculit, imperio deterioris heri;
Pluribus ut coeli tereretur janua Divis,
Hebe nec longa virginilate foret.
Sed tuus altus amor barathro fuit altior illo, 115
Qui tunc indomitam ferre jugum docuit.
Nam neque tam carum confecto aetate parenti
Una caput seri nata nepotis alit:
Qui, cum divitiis vix tandem inventus avitis
Nomen testatas intulit in tabulas, 120
Impia derisi gentilis gaudia tollens, .
Suscitat a cano volturium capite.
Nec tantum niveo gavisa est ulla columbo
Compar, quae mullo dicitur improbius
Oscula mordenti semper decerpere rostro; 125
Quamquam praecipue multivola est mulier.
Sed tu horum magnos vicisti sola furores,
Ut semel es flavo conciliata viro;
Aut nihil, aut paulo qaoi tum concedere digna,
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? CATULLUS. XLV1. 79
Lux mea se nostrum contulit in gremium. . 130
Ctuam circumcursans hinc illinc saepe Cupido
Fulgebat crocina candidus in tunica.
Hoc tibi, quod potui, confectum carmine munus
Pro multis, Manli, redditur officiis,
Ne vostrum scabra tangat robigine nomen 150
Haec atque illa dies, atque alia, atque alia.
Hucaddent Divi quamplurima, quae Themisolim
Antiquis solita est munera ferre piis.
Sitis felices et tu simul et tua vita,
Et domus ipsa, in qualusimus, et domina: 155
[Et qui principio nobis te tradidit, a quo
Sunt primo nobis omnia nata bona ;]
Et longe ante omnes, mihi quae me carior ipso
est,
Lux mea; qua viva, vivere dulce mihi est. 160
CARMEN XLVI.
De Inconstantid feminei Amoris.
Nulli se dicit mulier mea nubere malle,
Quam mihi; non si se Jupiter ipse petat.
Dicit: sed, mulier cupido quod dicit amanti,
In vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua.
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? 80 CATULLUS. XLVIII.
CARMEN XLVII.
Ad Lesbiam.
Dicebas quondam, solum te nosse Catullum,
Lesbia; nec, prae me, velle tenere Jovem.
Dilexi tum te, non tantum ut volgus amicam,
Sed pater ut natos diligit et generos.
Nunc te cognovi. Quare, etsi impensius uror, 5
Multo mi tamen es vilior et levior.
Qui potia est? inquis. Quod amantem injuria
talis
Cogit amare magis, sed bene velle minus.
CARMEN XLVIII.
In Ingratum.
Desine de quoquam quidquam bene velle mereri,
Aut aliquem fieri posse putare pium.
Omnia sunt ingrata: nihil fecisse benigne est:
Immo etiam taedet, taedet obestque magis;
Ut mihi, quem nemo gravius nec acerbius ur-
get, 5
Quam modo qui me unum atque unicum
amicum habuit.
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? CATULLUS. L. gj
CARMEN XLIX.
Ad Lesbiam.
Nulla potest mulier tantum se dicere amatam
Vere, quantum a me, Lesbia, amata, mea, es.
Nulla fides ullo fuit unquam foedere tanta,
Quanta in amore tuo ex parte reperta mea est.
Nunc est mens adducta tua, mea Lesbia, cul-
pa, 5
Atque ita se officio perdidit ipsa pio,
Ut jam nee bene velle queam tibi, si optima fias,
Nec desistere amare, omnia si facias.
CARMEN L.
Ad se ipsum.
Siqua recordanti benefacta priora voluptas
Est homini, cum se cogitat esse pium,
Nec sanctam violasse fidem, nec foedere in ullo
Diviim ad fallendos numine abusum homines;
Multa parata manent in longa aetate, Catulle, 5
Ex hoc ingrato gaudia amore tibi.
Nam, quaecumque homines bene quoiquam aut
dicere possunt,
f
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? 82 CATULLUS. L.
Aut facere, hrec a te dictaque factaque sunt;
Omnia quae ingratae perierunt credita menti.
Quare jam te cur amplius excrucies 1 10
Quin te animo obfirmas, teque istinc usque re-
ducis,
Et, Dis invitis, desinis esse miser 1
Difficile est longum subito deponere amorem:
Difficile est: verum hoc qualubet efficias.
Una salus haec est: hoc est tibi pervincendum. 15
Hoc facies, sive id non pote, sive pote.
O Di, si vostrum est misereri, aut siquibus un.
quam
Extrema jam ipsa in morte tulistis opem;
Me miserum adspicite; et, si vitam puriter egi,
Eripite hanc pestem perniciemque mihi, 20
Q. ueb mihi subrepens imos, ut torpor, in artus,
Expulit ex omni pectore loetitias.
Non jam illud quaero, contra ut me diligat illa,
Aut, quod non potis est, esse pudica velit:
Ipse valere opto, et tetrum hunc deponere mor-
bum. Sg
O Di, reddite mi hoc pro pietate mea,
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? CATULLUS. L1H. 83
i
CARMEN LI.
Ad Rufum.
Rufe, mihi frustra ac nequidquam credite amice;
Frustra 1 immo magno cum pretio atque malo;
Siccine. subrepsti mi, atque, intestina perurens,
Mi misero eripuisti omnia nostra bona?
Eripuisti. Heu! heu nostrae crudele venenum 5
Vitae! heu! heu nostrae pestis amicitiae!
CARMEN LII.
In Lesbium.
Lesbius est pulcher: quidni 1 quem Lesbia
malit,
Quam te cum tota gente, Catulle, tua.
Sed tamen hic pulcher vendat cum gente Catul-
lum,
Si tria notorum suavia reppererit.
- CARMEN LIII.
Ad Juventium.
Nemone in tanto potuit populo esse, Juventi,
Bellus homo, quem tu diligere inciperes,
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? 84 CATULLUS. LV.
>
Praeterquam iste tuus moribunda a sede Pisa jri
Hospes, inaurata pallidior statua?
Qui tibi nunc cordi est; quem tu praeponere
nobis 5
Audes. Ah! nescis, quod facinus faciast
i
CARMEN LIV.
Ad Quintium.
Quinti, si tibi vis oculos debere Catullum,
Aut aliud, siquid carius est oculis;
Eripere ei noli, multo quod carius illi
Est oculis, siquid carius est oculis.
CARMEN LV.
De Arrio.
i Chommoda dicebat, si quando commoda vellet
Dicere, et hinsidias. Arrius insidias;
Et tum mirifice sperabat se esse locutum,
Cum, quantum poterat, dixerat hinsidias.
Credo, sic mater, sic Liber avunculus ejus, 5
Sic maternus avus dixerit, atque avia.
Hoc misso in Syriam, requierant omnibus aures;
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? CATULLUS. LVII. 85
Audibant eadem haec leniter et leviter;
Nec sibi postilla metuebant talia verba,
Cum subito affertur nuntius horribilis, 10
Ionios fluctus, postqaam illuc Arrius isset,
Jam non Ionios esse, sed Hionios.
CARMEN LVI.
Dc Amore suo.
Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.
Nescio: sed fieri sentio, et excrucior.
CARMEN LVII.
De Quintid et Lesbid.
Ciuintia formosa est multis: mihi candida, longa,
Recta est. Hoc ego: sic singula confiteor.
Totum illud, formosa, nego: nam nulla venustas,
Nulla in tam magno est corpore mica salis.
Lesbia formosa est; qua e cum pulcherrima tota
est, 5
Tum omnibus una omnes surripuit Veneres.
f
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? S6 CATULLUS. LX.
CARMEN LVIII.
De Lesbid.
Lesbia mi dicit semper male, nec tacet unquam
De me: Lesbia me, dispeream, nisi amat.
Cluo signo? quasi non totidem mox deprecor illi
Assidue: verum dispeream, nisi amo.
CARMEN LIX.
In Casarem.
Nil nimium studeo, Caesar, tibi velle placere,
Nec scire, utrum sis albus an ater homo.
CARMEN LX.
De Smyrna Cinnce Poetce.
"Smyrna" mei Cinnae nonam post denique
messem,
Quam cqepta est,nonamque editaposthiemem;
Millia cum interea quingenta Hortensius uno
*****
? ?
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? CATULLUS. LXII. 87
Smyrna cavas Atacis penitus mittetur. ad un-
das; 5
Smyrnam incana diu saecula pervoliient.
At Volusi annates [Paduam morientur ad ipsam,]
Et laxas scombris saepe dabunt tunicas.
Parva mei mihi sunt cordi monimenta [laboris ;]
At populus tumido gaudeat Antimacho. 10
CARMEN LXI.
Ad Calvum, de Quintilid.
Si quidquara mutisgratum acceptumque sepulcris'
Accidere a nostro, Calve, dolore potest,
Quo desiderio veteres renovamus amores,
Atque olim amissas flemus amicitias;
Certe non tanto mors immatura dolori est . &
Quintilix, quantum gaudet amore tuo.
CARMEN LXII.
InfericE ad Fratris Tumulum.
Multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus,
Adveni has miseras, frater, ad inferias,
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? 88 CATULLUS. LXIV.
Ut te postremo donarem munere mortis,
Et mutum nequidquam alloquerer cinerem;
Quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum, 5
Heu, miser indigne frater ademte mihi!
Nunc tamen interea prisco quae more parentum
Tradita sunt tristes munera ad inferias,
Accipe, fraterno multum manantia fletu:
Atque in perpetuum, frater, ave, atque vale. 10
CARMEN LXIII.
Ad Cornelium.
Si quidquam tacito commissum est fido ab amico,
Quojus sit penitus nota fides animi;
Me unum esse invenies illorum jure sacratum,
Corneli, et factum me esse puta Harpocratem.
CARMEN LXIV.
Ad Lesbiam.
Si quidquam cupidoque optantique obtigit un-
quam, et
Insperanti, hoc est gratum animo proprie:
Quare hoc est gratum, nobis quoque carius auro,
Quod te restituis, Lesbia, mi cupido.
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? CATULLUS. LXVI. 89
Restituis cupido, atque insperanti ipsa refers te 5
Nobis. O lucem candidiore nota!
Quis me uno vivit felicior? aut magis hac quid
Optandum vita dicere quis poterit 1
CARMEN LXV.
In Cominium.
Si, Comini, populi arbitrio tua cana senectus
Spurcata impuris moribus intereat;
Non equidem dubito, quin primum inimica bo
norum
Lingua exsecta avido sit data volturio;
Effossos oculos voret atro gutture corvus, 5
Intestina canes, caetera membra lupi.
CARMEN LXVI.
Ad Lesbiam.
Jucundum, mea vita, mihi proponis amorem
Hunc nostrum inter nos, perpetuumque fore.
Di magni, facite, ut vere promittere possit;
Atque id sincere dicat, et ex animo;
8
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? 90 CATULLUS. LXV1I1.
Ut liceat nobis tota producere vita
JEternum hoc sanctae fcedus amicitiae.
CARMEN LXVII.
Ad Gellium.
Saepe tibi studioso animo venanda requirens
Carmina uti possem mittere Battiadae,
Quis te lenirem nobis, neu conarere
Infestum telis icere, musca, caput;
Hunc video mihi nunc frustra sumtum esse Ia-
borem, &
Gelli, nec nostras hinc valuisse preces.
Contra, nos tela ista tua evitamus amictu:
At, fixus nostris, tu dabi' supplicium.
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? NOTES.
CARMEN 1.
To Cornelius Nepos.
Catullus in these verses dedicates his volume of
poems to Corn. Nepos, on account of the interest
he had shown, in what Catullus modestly calls "his
trifles," and the commendations he had bestowed
upon them, in the midst of his own learned and la-
borious occupations.
1. Q<<oi] i. q. cui.
6. Omne . . . chartis] a general history in three
volumes.
9. patrona Virgo] 'Minerva,' the patroness of
wits. Voss reads patroa, meaning Vesta, to whom
the first fruits were offered. Vide Ovid Fasti, 6,304.
CARMEN U.
To the Sparrow of Lesbia.
Catullus mentions the various endearments a
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? 92 NOTES.
sports with her favorite bird, with which Lesbia was
wont to amuse herself, and soothe the ardor of her
passion; and the delight with which he could in-
dulge the same playful fondness. The lady whom
he so often addresses under the name of Lesbia,
was named Clodia, the sister, it is supposed, of the
infamous Clodius.
7, 8. ] In these verses I have followed the reading
of Voss, who gives this explanation; "credo te 6
passer, nescio quid carum jocari cum meo desiderio
niienti i. e. cum puella mea, et similiter credo te sola-
tiolum esse sui doloris, ut gravis ejus ardor acqui-
escat. " Sillig reads,
Et solatiolum sui doloris
Credo, ut, quum gravis acquiescet ardor
Tecum ludere sicut ipsa possem, Sfc.
making solatiolum and carum quid accusatives de-
pendent on jocari, and introducing the apodosis of
the sentence with ut quum; ut for utinam.
11. puella] Atalanta, vide Ovid Met. Lib. 10.
CARMEN III.
A lament on the death of the Sparrow.
2. quantum . . hominum] conf. Carmen ii. v. 7.
10. pipilabat] i. q. pipiabat.
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? NOTES. 93
CARMEN IV.
The Dedication of the Barque.
The bargue of Catullus which had borne him
safely through the stormy and perilous seas from
Pontus, and was now gratefully consecrated to the
sailor's gods, recounts its own history and its own
praises. The poet points out (quern videtis) the
offering to his friends, as they pass by the Temple
where it is hung.
1. Phaselus] Grace <Pugr,log a bean, a long, slen-
der kind of vessel, distinguished by the form of its
prow, which was long and extended obliquely over
the water, now and for a long time in common use
in the Mediterranean.
3, 4. Neque . . . Nequisse] Two negatives, 'to
have been able. '
13. Amastri] 'Amastris,' now Pamastro, a city of
Paphlagonia. Cytore] Virgil, 2d Georgic, 437.
18. impotentia] without self-control, i. e. ' raging. '
So Carmen 25, v. 12. impotente amore.
22. litoralibus Diis] No particular class of deities
is designated by the epithet Morales. Temples were
erected on many shores, and promontories dedicated
to various divinities, towards which the mariner of-
fered his prayer, and where he paid his vows. Neque
ullavota] Because of the entire security the sailors
felt in the excellence of their vessel. Vows were
made only in the apprehension of extreme danger.
8*
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? 94
NOTES.
24. Novissimo] 'farthest,' in compliance with a
notion of the early Greeks, who supposed Colchis to
be the eastern limit of the world. Vide Ovid Trist.
3, 13,27 ; so Carm. 38, v. 4. casu novissimo,' the last
(farthest) extremity of distress;' novissimum agmen,
'the rear. ' Livy, Lib. 21, 35. lacum] The Ben-
acus, near which was Sirmio, the residence of Ca-
tullus. Vide notes to Carm. 23.
CARMEN V.
To Lesbia.
A graceful expression of a genuine Anacreontic
sentiment, persuading her to indulge the delights
of mutual affection, by urging the shortness of life,
and the everlasting sleep which follows.
11. ne sciamus] That we may begin a new series.
13. cum sciat] He fears the fascination of some
looker on. But no witness could harm them, un-
less he knew the name or the number of the thing
to become the subject of his enchantments.
CARMEN VI.
To Lesbia.
A reply to Lesbia's question, how many kisses
would satisfy his love.
4. Laserpiciferis] 'producing' benzoin, a plant
much used for medicinal purposes.