Then a dainty finger heaving to the
tremulous
hide o'
the bull, 10
He began this invocation to the company, spirit-awed.
the bull, 10
He began this invocation to the company, spirit-awed.
Catullus - Ellis - Poems and Fragments
org/access_use#pd
? 40 CATULLUS.
FLING the portal apart. The bride
Waits. O see ye the luminous
Torch-flakes ruddily flickering ?
80
Nought she hears us : her innocent (80)
Eyes do weep to be going. 85
Weep not, lady ; for envious
Tongue no lovelier owneth, Au-
Runculeia ; nor any more
Fair saw rosily bright the dawn ( 85 )
Leave his chamber in Ocean. 90
Such in many a flowering
Garden, trimm'd for a lord's delight,
Stands some delicate hyacinth.
Yet you tarry. The day declines. ( 90 )
Forth, fair bride, to the people. 95
Forth, fair bride, to the people, if
So it likes you, a-listening
Words that please us. O eye ye yon
Torches ruddily flickering ? ( 95 )
Forth, fair bride, to the people. 100
Husband never of yours shall haunt
Stained wanton, a mutinous
Fancy shamefully following,
Tire not ever, or e'er from your ( 100)
Dainty bosom unyoke him. 105
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? CATULLUS. 41
He more lithe than a vine amid
Trees, that, mazily folded, it
Clasps and closes, in amorous
Arms shall close thee. The day declines. ( 105 )
Forth, fair bride, to the people. 1 10
Couch of pleasure, O odorous
Couch, whose gorgeous apparellings,
Silver-purple, on Indian
Woods do rest them; adown the bright
Feet in ivory glisten ; 1 1 5
When thy lord in his hour attains,
What large extasy, while the night ( 1 10 )
Fleets, or noon the meridian
Passes thoro'. The day declines.
Forth, fair bride, to the people, 120
LIFT the torches aloft in air,
Boys : the fiery veil is here. ( 1 1 5 )
Come, to measure your hymn rehearse.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 125
Nor withhold ye the countryman's
Ribald raillery Fescenine. ( 1 20 )
Nor if happily boys declare
Thy dominion attaint, refuse,
Youth, the nuts to be flinging. 130
Fling, O womanish youth ; the boys
Ask thee charity. Time agone ( 125 )
Toys and folly ; to-day begins
Our high duty, Talassius.
Hasten, youth, to be flinging. 135
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? 42 CATULLUS.
Thou didst surely but yestereve
Mock the women, a favourite (130)
Far above them : anon the first
Beard, the razor. Alack, alas !
Hasten, youth, to be flinging. 140
You, whom odorous oils declare
Bridegroom, swerve not : a slippery ( 135 )
Love calls lightly, but yet refrain.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 145
Lawful only did e'er delight
You, we know ; but it is not, O ( 140 )
Husband, lawful as heretofore.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 150
Bride, thou also, if he demand
Aught, refuse not, assent, obey. ( 145 )
Love can angrily pipe adieu.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 155
Look I thy mansion, a sovereign
Home most goodly, by him to thee (150)
Given. Reign as a queen within,
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 160
Still when hoary decrepitude,
Shaking wintery brows benign, ( 1 5 5 )
Nods a tremulous Yes to all.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 165
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? CATULLUS. 43
WITH fair augury smite the blest
Threshold, sunnily glistening ( 160)
Feet : yon ivory door approach,
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 170
See one seated, a banqueter.
'Tis thy lord on a Tyrian ( 165 )
Couch : his spirit is all to thee.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 175
Not less surely in him than in .
Thee love lighteth a bosoming ( 170)
Flame ; but deeper, a fire within.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 180
' 185
Thou, whose purple her arm, the slim
Arm, props happily, boy, depart. ( 175 )
Time the bride be at entering.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 190
You in chastity tried the long
Years, good women of agedest ( 180 )
Husbands, lay ye the bride to-night.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 195
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? 44 CATULLUS.
HUSBAND, stay not : a bride within
Coucheth ready, the flowering ( 185 )
Spring less lovely ; a countenance
White as parthenice, beyond
Yellow poppy to gaze on. 200
Thou, so help me the favouring
Gods immortal, as heavenly ( 190)
Fair art also, adorned of
Venus' bounty. The day declines.
Come nor tarry to greet her. 205
Not too slothfully tarrying,
Thou art here. Benediction of { 195 )
Venus help thee, a man without
Shame of blameless, a love that is
Honest frankly revealing. 210
Dust of infinite Africa,
Stars that sparkle, a myriad ( 200 )
Host, who measureth, your delights
He shall tell them, ineffable,
Multitudinous, over. 2 1 5
Make your happy delight, renew'd
Soon in children. A glorious ( 205 )
Name and olden is ill without
Children, unto the first a new
Stock as goodly begetting. 220
Some Torquatus, a beauteous
Babe, on motherly breasts to thee (210)
Stretching, father, his innocent
Hands, smile softly from inchoate
Lips half-open a welcome. 225
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? CATULLUS. 45
Like his father, a Mallius
New presented, of every ( 21 5 )
Eyeing stranger allowed his own ;
Mother's chastity moulded in
Features childly revealing. 230
Glory speak of him issuing
Child of mother as excellent ( 220 )
She, as only that age-renown'd
Wife, whose story Telemachus
Blazons, Penelopea. 235
Virgins, close ye the door. Enough
This our carol. O happiest ( 22 5)
Lovers, jollity live with you.
Still that genial youth to love's
Consummation attend ye. 240
LXII.
YOUTHS.
HESPER is here ; rise youths, rise all of you ; high on
Olympus
Hesper his orb long-look'd for aloft 'gins slowly to kindle.
Time is now to arise, from tables costly to part us ;
Now doth a virgin approach, now soundeth a glad
Hymenaeal.
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus. 5
VIRGINS.
See ye yon youthful band ? O, maidens, rise ye to meet
them.
Comes not Night's bright bearer a fire o'er Oeta re-
vealing ?
Surely ; for even now, in a moment all have arisen,
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? 46 CATULLUS.
Not for nought have arisen ; a song waits, goodly to
gaze on.
Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen come Hymenaeus. 10
YOUTHS.
No light victory this, O comrades, ready before us.
Busy the virgins muse, their practis'd ditty recalling,
Muse nor shall miscarry ; a sorig for memory waits us.
Rightly ; for all their souls do inwards labour in issue.
We our thoughts one way, our ears have drifted an other, 15
So comes worthy defeat ; no victory calls to the careless.
Come then, in even race let thought their melody rival ;
They must open anon ; 'twere better anon be replying.
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus.
VIRGINS.
Hesper, moveth in heaven a light more tyrannous ever? 20
Thou from a mother's arms canst wrest her daughter
asunder, [ing,
Wrest from a mother's arms her daughter woefully cling-
Then to the burning youth his virgin beauty deliver.
Foes in a new-sack'd town, when wrought they crueller
ever ?
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus. 25
YOUTHS.
Hesper, shineth in heaven a light more genial ever ?
Thou with a bridal flame true lovers' unity crownest,
All which duly the men, which plighted duly the parents,
Then completed alone, when thou in splendour awakest.
When shone an happier hour than thy god-speeded
arriving ? 30
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus.
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? CATULLUS. 47
VIRGINS.
Sisters, Hesper a fellow of our bright company taketh.
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus.
YOUTHS.
35
40
Hesper, awaiting thee each sentinel holdeth alarum.
Night veils love's false thieves ; thieves still when,
Hesper, another
Name, but unalter'd still, thou tak'st them surely,
returning. (35)
Yet be the maidens pleas'd in woeful fancy to chide
thee. 45
Maybe for all they chide, their hearts do inly desire thee.
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus.
VIRGINS.
Look in a garden-croft when a flower privily growing,
Hid from grazing kine, by ploughshare never
y-broken, (40)
Strok'd by the breeze, by the sun nurs'd sturdily, rear'd
by the showers ; 50
Many a wistful boy, and maidens many desire it :
Yet if a slender nail hath nipt his bloom to deflour it,
Never a wistful boy, nor maidens any desire it :
Such is a girl untoy'd with as yet, yet lovely to kinsmen ; (45)
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? 48 CATULLUS.
Once her body profan'd, her flow'r of chastity blighted, 5 5
Boys no more she delights, nor seems so lovely to
maidens ;
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus.
YOUTHS.
Look as a lone lorn vine in a bare field sorrily growing,
Never an arm uplifts, no grape to maturity ripens, (50)
Only with headlong weight her tender body declining, 60
Bows, till topmost spray and roots meet feebly together ;
Her no peasant swain, nor bullock tendeth her ever :
Yet to the bachelor elm if marriage-fortune unite her,
Many a peasant tills and bullocks many about her; (55)
Such is a maid untoy'd with as yet, in loneliness aging ; 65
Wins she a bridegroom meet, in time's warm fulness
arriving,
So to the man more dear, and less unlovely to parents.
O then, clasp thy love, nor fight, fair maiden, against him.
Sin 'twere surely to fight ; thy father gave to his arms
thee, (60)
Father's self and mother ; obey nor wrongly defy them. 70
Virgin's crown thou claim'st not alone, but partly the
parents,
Father's one whole part, one goes to the mother allotted,
Rests one only to thee ; O fight not with them alone
thou,
Both to a son their rights and both their dowry
deliver. 75 (65)
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus.
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? CATULLUS. 49
LXIII.
IN a swift ship Attis hasting over ocean a mariner
When he gained the wood, the Phrygian, with a foot of
agility,
When he near'd the leafy forest, dark sanctuary divine ;
By unearthly fury frenzied, a bewildered agony,
With a flint of edge he shatter'd to the ground his
humanity. 5
Then aghast to see the lost limbs, the deform'd inutility,
While still the gory dabble did anew the soil pollute,
With a snowy palm the woman took affrayed a taborine.
Taborine, the trump that hails thee, Cybele, thy initiant.
Then a dainty finger heaving to the tremulous hide o'
the bull, 10
He began this invocation to the company, spirit-awed.
" To the groves, ye sexless eunuchs, in assembly to
Cybele,
Lost sheep that err rebellious to the lady Dindymene ;
Ye, who all awing for exile in a country of aliens,
My unearthly rule obeying to be with me, my retinue, 1 5
Could aby the surly salt seas' mid inexorability,
Could in utter hate to lewdness your sex dishabilitate ;
Let a gong clash glad emotion, set a giddy fury to roam,
All slow delay be banish'd, thither hie ye thither away
To the Phrygian home, the wild wood, to the sanctuary
divine ; 20
Where rings the noisy cymbal, taborines are in echoing,
On a curved oat the Phrygian deep pipeth a melody,
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? 50 CATULLUS.
With a fury toss the Maenads clad in ivies a frolic head,
To a barbarous ululation the religious orgy wakes,
Where fleets across the silence Cybele's holy family ; 25
Thither hie we, so beseems us ; to a mazy measure
away. "
Thus as Attis, a woman, Attis, not a woman, urg'd the
rest,
On a sudden yell'd in huddling agitation every tongue,
Taborines give airy murmur, give a clangorous echo
gongs,
With a rush the brotherhood hastens to the woods,
the bosom of Ide. 30
Then in agony, breathless, errant, flush'd wearily,
cometh on
Taborine behind him, Attis, thoro' leafy glooms a guide,
As a restive heifer yields not to the cumbrous onerous
yoke.
Thither hie the votaress eunuchs with an emulous
alacrity.
Now faintly sickly plodding to the goddess's holy
shrine, 35
They took the rest which easeth long toil, nor ate
withal.
Slow sleep descends on eyelids ready drowsily to
decline,
In a soft repose departeth the devout spirit-agony.
When awoke the sun, the golden, that his eyes heaven-
orient
Scann'd lustrous air, the rude seas, earth's massy
solidity, 40
When he smote the shadowy twilight with his healthy
team sublime,
Then arous'd was Attis ; o'er him sleep hastily fled away
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? CATULLUS. 51
To Pasithea's arms immortal with a tremulous hovering.
But awaked from his reposing, the delirious anguish
o'er,
When as Attis' heart recalled him to the past
solitarily, 45
Saw clearly where he stood, what, an annihilate apathy,
With a soul that heaved within him, to the water he
fled again.
Then as o'er the waste of ocean with a rainy eye he gazed
To the land of home he murmur'd miserable a soliloquy.
" MOTHER-HOME of all affection, dear home, my nativity, 50
Whom in anguish I deserting, as in hatred a runaway
From a master, hither have hurried to the lonely woods
of Ide,
To be with the snows, the wild beasts, in a wintery domicile,
To be near each savage houser that a surly fury
provokes,
What horizon, O beloved, may attain to thee
anywhere ? 55
Yet'an eyeless orb is yearning ineffectually to thee.
For a little ere returneth the delirious hour again.
Shall a homeless Attis hie him to the groves unin-
habited ?
Shall . he leave a country, wealth, friends ? bid a sire, a
mother, adieu ?
The palaestra lost, the forum, the gymnasium, the
course ? 60
O unhappy, fall a-weeping, thou unhappy soul, for aye.
For is honour of any semblance, any beauty but of it I ?
E2
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? 52 CATULLUS.
Who, a woman here, in order was a man, a youth, a boy,
To the sinewy ring a fam'd flower, the gymnasium's
applause.
With a throng about the portal, with a populace in the
gate, 65
With a flowery coronal hanging upon every column of
home,
When anew my chamber open'd, as awoke the sunny
morn.
O am I to live the god's slave ? feodary be to Cybele ?
Or a Maenad I, an eunuch ? or a part of a body slain ?
Or am I to range the green tracts upon Ida snowy-chill? 70
Be beneath the stately caverns colonnaded of Asia ?
Be with hind that haunts the covert, or in hursts that
house the boar ?
Woe, woe the deed accomplish'd ! woe, woe, the shame
to me ! "
From rosy lips ascending when approached the gusty cry
To celestial ears recording such a message inly
borne, 75
Cybele, the thong relaxing from a lion-haled yoke,
Said, aleft the goad addressing to the foe that awes the
flocks
" COME, a service ; haste, my brave one ; let a fury the
madman arm,
Let a fury, a frenzy prick him to return to the wood
again,
This is he my hest declineth, the unheedy, the run-
away. So
From an angry tail refuse not to abide the sinewy stroke,
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? CATULLUS. . S3
To a roar let all the regions echo answer everywhere,
On a nervy neck be tossing that uneasy tawny mane. "
So in ire she spake, adjusting disunitedly then her yoke
At his own rebuke the lion doth his heart to a fury
spur, 85
With a step, a roar, a bursting unarrested of any brake.
But anear the foamy places when he came, to the
frothy beach,
When he saw the sexless Attis by the seas' level opaline,
Then he rushed upon him ; affrighted to the wintery
wood he flew,
Cybele's for aye, for all years, in her order a votaress. 90
Holy deity, great Cybele, holy lady Dindymene,
Be to me afar for ever that inordinate agony.
O another hound to madness, O another hurry to rage !
LXIV.
BORN on Pelion height, so legend hoary relateth,
Pines once floated adrift on Neptune billowy streaming
On to the Phasis flood, to the borders . /Eastean.
Then did a chosen array, rare bloom of valorous Argos,
Fain from Colchian earth her fleece of glory to ravish, 5
Dare with a keel of swiftness adown salt seas to be
fleeting,
Swept with fir-blades oary the fair level azure of Ocean.
Then that deity bright, who keeps in cities her high ward,
Made to delight them a car, to the light breeze airily
scudding,
Texture of upright pine with a keel's curved rondure
uniting. 10
That first sailer of all burst ever on Amphitrite.
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? 54 CATULLUS.
Scarcely the forward snout tore up that wintery water,
Scarcely the wave foamed white to the reckless harrow
of oarsmen,
Straight from amid white eddies arose wild faces of
Ocean,
Nereid, earnest-eyed, in wonderous admiration. 15
Then, not after again, saw ever mortal unharmed
Sea-born Nymphs unveil limbs flushing naked about
them,
Stark to the nursing breasts from foam and billow
arising.
Then, so stories avow, burn'd Peleus hotly to Thetis,
Then to a mortal lover abode not Thetis unheeding, 20
Then did a father agree Peleus with Thetis unite him.
O in an aureat hour, O born in bounteous ages,
God-sprung heroes, hail : hail, mother of all bene-
diction,
You my song shall address, you melodies everlasting.
Thee most chiefly, supreme in glory of heavenly
bridal, 25
Peleus, stately defence of Thessaly. luppiter even
Gave thee his own fair love, thy mortal pleasure
approving.
Thee could Thetis inarm, most beauteous Ocean-
daughter ?
Tethys adopt thee, her own dear grandchild's wooer
usurping?
Ocean, who earth's vast globe with a watery girdle
inorbeth ? 30
When the delectable hour those days did fully deter-
mine,
Straightway then in crowds all Thessaly flock'd to the
palace,
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? CATULLUS. 55
Thronging hosts uncounted, a company joyous ap-
proaching.
Many a gift they carry, delight their faces illumines.
Left is Scyros afar, and Phthia's bowery Tempe, 35
Vacant Crannon's homes, unvisited high Larisa,
Towards Pharsalia's halls, Pharsalia's only they hie
them.
Bides no tiller afield ; necks soften of oxen in idlesse ;
Feel not a prong'd crook'd hoe lush vines all weedily
trailing ;
Tears no steer deep clods with a downward coulter
unearthed ; 40
Prunes no hedger'sbill broad -verging verdurous arbours ;
Steals a deforming rust on ploughs left rankly to
moulder.
But that sovran abode, each sumptuous inly retiring
Chamber, aflame with gold, with silver is all re-
splendent ;
Thrones gleam ivory-white ; cup-crown'd blaze brightly
the tables ; 45
All the domain with treasure of empery gaudily flushes.
There, set deeply within the remotest centre, a bridal
Bed doth a goddess inarm ; smooth ivory glossy from
Indies,
Robed in roseate hues, rich seashells' purple adorning.
IT was a broidery freak'd with tissue of images olden, 50
One whose curious art did blazon valour of heroes.
Gazing forth from a beach of Dia the billow-resounding,
Look'd on a vanish'd fleet, on Theseus quickly de-
parting,
Restless in unquell'd passion, a feverous heart, Ariadne.
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? 56 CATULLUS.
Scarcely her eyes yet seem their seeming clearly to
vision. 55
You might guess that arous'd from slumber's drowsy
betrayal,
Sand-engirded, alone, then first she knew desolation.
He the betrayer his oars with fugitive hurry the waters
Beat, each promise of old to the winds given idly to
bear them.
Him from amid shore-weeds doth Minos' daughter, in
anguish 60
Rigid, a Bacchant-form, dim-gazing stonily follow,
Stonily still, wave-tost on a sea of troublous affliction.
Holds not her yellow locks the tiara's feathery tissue ;
Veils not her hidden breast light brede of drapery
woven ;
Binds not a cincture smooth her bosom's orbed
emotion. 65
Widely from each fair limb that footward-fallen apparel
Drifts its lady before, in billowy salt loose-playing.
Not for silky tiara nor amice gustily floating
Recks she at all any more ; thee, Theseus, ever her
earnest
Heart, all clinging thought, all chained fancy re-
quireth. 70
Ah unfortunate ! whom with miseries ever crazing,
Thorns in her heart deep planted, affray'd Erycina to
madness,
From that earlier hour, when fierce for victory Theseus
Started alert from a beach deep-inleted of Piraeus,
Gain'd Gortyna's abode, injurious halls of oppression. 75
Once, 'tis sung in stories, a dire distemper atoning
Death of an ill-blest prince, Androgeos, angrily
slaughter'd,
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? CATULLUS. 57
Taxed of her youthful array, her maidenly bloom fresh-
glowing,
Feast to the monster bull, Cecropia, ransom-laden.
Then, when a plague so deadly, the garrison under-
mining, 80
Spent that slender city, his Athens dearly to rescue,
Sooner life Theseus and precious body did offer,
Ere his country to Crete freight corpses, a life in seem-
ing.
So with a ship fast-fleeted, a gale blown gently behind
him,
Push'd he his onward journey to Minos' haughty
dominion. 85
Him for very delight when a virgin fondly desiring
Gazed on, a royal virgin, in odours siUdly nestled,
Pure from a maiden's couch, from a mother's pillowy
bosom,
Like some myrtle, anear Eurotas' water arising,
Like earth's myriad hues, spring's progeny, rais'd to
the breezes ; 90
Droop'd not her eyes their gaze unquenchable, ever-
burning
Save when in each charm'd limb to the depths enfolded,
a sudden
Flame blazed hotly within her, in all her marrow
abiding.
O thou cruel of heart, thou madding worker of anguish,
Boy immortal, of whom joy springs, with misery blend-
ing, 95
Yea, thou queen of Golgi, of Idaly leaf-embower'd,
O'er what a fire love-lit, what billows wearily tossing,
Drave ye the maid, for a guest so sunnily lock'd deep
sighing.
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? 58 CATULLUS.
What most dismal alarms her swooning fancy did echo !
Oft what a sallower hue than gold's cold glitter upon
her ! loo
Whiles, heart-hungry in arms that monster deadly to
combat,
Theseus drew towards death or victory, guerdon of
honour.
Yet not lost the devotion, or offer'd idly the virgin's
Gifts, as her unvoic'd lips breathed incense faintly to
heaven.
As on Taurus aloft some oak agitatedly waving 105
Tosses his arms, or a pine cone-mantled, oozily rinded,
When as his huge gnarled trunk in furious eddies a
whirlwind
Riving wresteth amain ; down falleth he, upward hoven,
Fallethon earth ; far, near, all crackles brittle around him,
So to the ground Theseus his fallen foeman abasing, 1 10
Slew, that his horned front toss'd vainly, a sport to the
breezes.
Thence in safety, a Victor, in height of glory returned,
Guiding errant feet to a thread's impalpable order.
Lest, upon egress bent thro' tortuous aisles labyrinthine,
Walls of blindness, a maze unravell'd ever, elude
him. 1 1 5
Yet, for again I come to the former story, beseems not
Linger on all done there ; how left that daughter a
gazing
Father, a sister's arms, her mother woefully clinging,
Mother, who o'er that child moan'd desperate, all heart-
broken ;
How not in home that maid, in Theseus only de-
lighted ; 1 20
How her ship on a shore of foaming Dia did harbour;
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? CATULLUS. 59
How, when her eyes lay bound in slumber's shadowy
prison,
He forsook, forgot her, a wooer traitorous-hearted :
Oft, say stories, at heart with frenzied fantasy burning,
Pour'd she, a deep-wrung breast, clear-ringing cries of
oppression; 125
Sometimes mournfully clomb to the mountain's rugged
ascension,
Straining thence her vision across wide surges of ocean ;
Now to the brine ran forth, upsplashing freshly to meet
her,
Lifting raiment fine her thighs which softly did open ;
Last, when sorrow had end, these words thus spake she
lamenting, 1 30
While from a mouth tear-stain'd chill sobs gushed
dolorous ever.
' LOOK, is it here, false heart, that rapt from country, from
altar,
Household altar ashore, I wander, falsely deserted?
Ah ! is it hence, Theseus, that against high heaven a
traitor
Homeward thou thy vileness, alas thy perjury bearest? 135
Might not a thought, one thought, thy cruel counsel
abating
Sway thee tender? at heart rose no compassion or
any
Mercy, to bend thy soul, or me for pity deliver?
Yet not this thy promise of old, thy dearly remembered
Voice, not these the delights thou bad'st thy poor one
inherit; 140
Nay, but wedlock happy, but envied joy hymeneal;
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? 60 CATULLUS.
All now melted in air, with a light wind emptily fleeting.
LET not a woman trust, since that first treason, a lover's
Desperate oath, none hope true lover's promise is
earnest
They, while fondly to win their amorous humour
essayeth, 145
Fear no covetous oath, all false free promises heed not ;
They if once lewd pleasure attain unruly possession,
Lo they fear not promise, of oath or perjury reck not.
Yet indeed, yet I, when floods of death were around thee,
Set thee on high, did rather a brother choose to defend
not, 150
Ere I, in hate's last hour, false heart, fail'd thee to deliver.
Now, for a goodly reward, to the beasts they give me,
the flying
Fowls ; no handful of earth shall bury me, pass'd to the
shadows.
WHAT grim lioness yeaned thee, aneath what rock's deso-
lation?
What wild sea did bear, what billows foamy regorged
thee ? 155
Seething sand, or Scylla the snare, or lonely Charybdis?
If for a life's dear joy comes back such only requital ?
Hadst not a will with spousal an honour'd wife to receive
me ?
Awed thee a father stern, cross age's churlish avising ?
Yet to your household thou, your kindred palaces
olden, 160
Might'st have led me, to wait, joy-filled, a retainer upon
thee,
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? 40 CATULLUS.
FLING the portal apart. The bride
Waits. O see ye the luminous
Torch-flakes ruddily flickering ?
80
Nought she hears us : her innocent (80)
Eyes do weep to be going. 85
Weep not, lady ; for envious
Tongue no lovelier owneth, Au-
Runculeia ; nor any more
Fair saw rosily bright the dawn ( 85 )
Leave his chamber in Ocean. 90
Such in many a flowering
Garden, trimm'd for a lord's delight,
Stands some delicate hyacinth.
Yet you tarry. The day declines. ( 90 )
Forth, fair bride, to the people. 95
Forth, fair bride, to the people, if
So it likes you, a-listening
Words that please us. O eye ye yon
Torches ruddily flickering ? ( 95 )
Forth, fair bride, to the people. 100
Husband never of yours shall haunt
Stained wanton, a mutinous
Fancy shamefully following,
Tire not ever, or e'er from your ( 100)
Dainty bosom unyoke him. 105
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? CATULLUS. 41
He more lithe than a vine amid
Trees, that, mazily folded, it
Clasps and closes, in amorous
Arms shall close thee. The day declines. ( 105 )
Forth, fair bride, to the people. 1 10
Couch of pleasure, O odorous
Couch, whose gorgeous apparellings,
Silver-purple, on Indian
Woods do rest them; adown the bright
Feet in ivory glisten ; 1 1 5
When thy lord in his hour attains,
What large extasy, while the night ( 1 10 )
Fleets, or noon the meridian
Passes thoro'. The day declines.
Forth, fair bride, to the people, 120
LIFT the torches aloft in air,
Boys : the fiery veil is here. ( 1 1 5 )
Come, to measure your hymn rehearse.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 125
Nor withhold ye the countryman's
Ribald raillery Fescenine. ( 1 20 )
Nor if happily boys declare
Thy dominion attaint, refuse,
Youth, the nuts to be flinging. 130
Fling, O womanish youth ; the boys
Ask thee charity. Time agone ( 125 )
Toys and folly ; to-day begins
Our high duty, Talassius.
Hasten, youth, to be flinging. 135
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? 42 CATULLUS.
Thou didst surely but yestereve
Mock the women, a favourite (130)
Far above them : anon the first
Beard, the razor. Alack, alas !
Hasten, youth, to be flinging. 140
You, whom odorous oils declare
Bridegroom, swerve not : a slippery ( 135 )
Love calls lightly, but yet refrain.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 145
Lawful only did e'er delight
You, we know ; but it is not, O ( 140 )
Husband, lawful as heretofore.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 150
Bride, thou also, if he demand
Aught, refuse not, assent, obey. ( 145 )
Love can angrily pipe adieu.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 155
Look I thy mansion, a sovereign
Home most goodly, by him to thee (150)
Given. Reign as a queen within,
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 160
Still when hoary decrepitude,
Shaking wintery brows benign, ( 1 5 5 )
Nods a tremulous Yes to all.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 165
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? CATULLUS. 43
WITH fair augury smite the blest
Threshold, sunnily glistening ( 160)
Feet : yon ivory door approach,
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 170
See one seated, a banqueter.
'Tis thy lord on a Tyrian ( 165 )
Couch : his spirit is all to thee.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 175
Not less surely in him than in .
Thee love lighteth a bosoming ( 170)
Flame ; but deeper, a fire within.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 180
' 185
Thou, whose purple her arm, the slim
Arm, props happily, boy, depart. ( 175 )
Time the bride be at entering.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 190
You in chastity tried the long
Years, good women of agedest ( 180 )
Husbands, lay ye the bride to-night.
Hymen, O Hymenaeus, O
Hymen, O Hymenaeus. 195
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? 44 CATULLUS.
HUSBAND, stay not : a bride within
Coucheth ready, the flowering ( 185 )
Spring less lovely ; a countenance
White as parthenice, beyond
Yellow poppy to gaze on. 200
Thou, so help me the favouring
Gods immortal, as heavenly ( 190)
Fair art also, adorned of
Venus' bounty. The day declines.
Come nor tarry to greet her. 205
Not too slothfully tarrying,
Thou art here. Benediction of { 195 )
Venus help thee, a man without
Shame of blameless, a love that is
Honest frankly revealing. 210
Dust of infinite Africa,
Stars that sparkle, a myriad ( 200 )
Host, who measureth, your delights
He shall tell them, ineffable,
Multitudinous, over. 2 1 5
Make your happy delight, renew'd
Soon in children. A glorious ( 205 )
Name and olden is ill without
Children, unto the first a new
Stock as goodly begetting. 220
Some Torquatus, a beauteous
Babe, on motherly breasts to thee (210)
Stretching, father, his innocent
Hands, smile softly from inchoate
Lips half-open a welcome. 225
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? CATULLUS. 45
Like his father, a Mallius
New presented, of every ( 21 5 )
Eyeing stranger allowed his own ;
Mother's chastity moulded in
Features childly revealing. 230
Glory speak of him issuing
Child of mother as excellent ( 220 )
She, as only that age-renown'd
Wife, whose story Telemachus
Blazons, Penelopea. 235
Virgins, close ye the door. Enough
This our carol. O happiest ( 22 5)
Lovers, jollity live with you.
Still that genial youth to love's
Consummation attend ye. 240
LXII.
YOUTHS.
HESPER is here ; rise youths, rise all of you ; high on
Olympus
Hesper his orb long-look'd for aloft 'gins slowly to kindle.
Time is now to arise, from tables costly to part us ;
Now doth a virgin approach, now soundeth a glad
Hymenaeal.
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus. 5
VIRGINS.
See ye yon youthful band ? O, maidens, rise ye to meet
them.
Comes not Night's bright bearer a fire o'er Oeta re-
vealing ?
Surely ; for even now, in a moment all have arisen,
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? 46 CATULLUS.
Not for nought have arisen ; a song waits, goodly to
gaze on.
Hymen O Hymenaeus, Hymen come Hymenaeus. 10
YOUTHS.
No light victory this, O comrades, ready before us.
Busy the virgins muse, their practis'd ditty recalling,
Muse nor shall miscarry ; a sorig for memory waits us.
Rightly ; for all their souls do inwards labour in issue.
We our thoughts one way, our ears have drifted an other, 15
So comes worthy defeat ; no victory calls to the careless.
Come then, in even race let thought their melody rival ;
They must open anon ; 'twere better anon be replying.
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus.
VIRGINS.
Hesper, moveth in heaven a light more tyrannous ever? 20
Thou from a mother's arms canst wrest her daughter
asunder, [ing,
Wrest from a mother's arms her daughter woefully cling-
Then to the burning youth his virgin beauty deliver.
Foes in a new-sack'd town, when wrought they crueller
ever ?
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus. 25
YOUTHS.
Hesper, shineth in heaven a light more genial ever ?
Thou with a bridal flame true lovers' unity crownest,
All which duly the men, which plighted duly the parents,
Then completed alone, when thou in splendour awakest.
When shone an happier hour than thy god-speeded
arriving ? 30
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus.
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? CATULLUS. 47
VIRGINS.
Sisters, Hesper a fellow of our bright company taketh.
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus.
YOUTHS.
35
40
Hesper, awaiting thee each sentinel holdeth alarum.
Night veils love's false thieves ; thieves still when,
Hesper, another
Name, but unalter'd still, thou tak'st them surely,
returning. (35)
Yet be the maidens pleas'd in woeful fancy to chide
thee. 45
Maybe for all they chide, their hearts do inly desire thee.
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus.
VIRGINS.
Look in a garden-croft when a flower privily growing,
Hid from grazing kine, by ploughshare never
y-broken, (40)
Strok'd by the breeze, by the sun nurs'd sturdily, rear'd
by the showers ; 50
Many a wistful boy, and maidens many desire it :
Yet if a slender nail hath nipt his bloom to deflour it,
Never a wistful boy, nor maidens any desire it :
Such is a girl untoy'd with as yet, yet lovely to kinsmen ; (45)
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? 48 CATULLUS.
Once her body profan'd, her flow'r of chastity blighted, 5 5
Boys no more she delights, nor seems so lovely to
maidens ;
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus.
YOUTHS.
Look as a lone lorn vine in a bare field sorrily growing,
Never an arm uplifts, no grape to maturity ripens, (50)
Only with headlong weight her tender body declining, 60
Bows, till topmost spray and roots meet feebly together ;
Her no peasant swain, nor bullock tendeth her ever :
Yet to the bachelor elm if marriage-fortune unite her,
Many a peasant tills and bullocks many about her; (55)
Such is a maid untoy'd with as yet, in loneliness aging ; 65
Wins she a bridegroom meet, in time's warm fulness
arriving,
So to the man more dear, and less unlovely to parents.
O then, clasp thy love, nor fight, fair maiden, against him.
Sin 'twere surely to fight ; thy father gave to his arms
thee, (60)
Father's self and mother ; obey nor wrongly defy them. 70
Virgin's crown thou claim'st not alone, but partly the
parents,
Father's one whole part, one goes to the mother allotted,
Rests one only to thee ; O fight not with them alone
thou,
Both to a son their rights and both their dowry
deliver. 75 (65)
Hymen O Hymenaeus, O Hymen come Hymenaeus.
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? CATULLUS. 49
LXIII.
IN a swift ship Attis hasting over ocean a mariner
When he gained the wood, the Phrygian, with a foot of
agility,
When he near'd the leafy forest, dark sanctuary divine ;
By unearthly fury frenzied, a bewildered agony,
With a flint of edge he shatter'd to the ground his
humanity. 5
Then aghast to see the lost limbs, the deform'd inutility,
While still the gory dabble did anew the soil pollute,
With a snowy palm the woman took affrayed a taborine.
Taborine, the trump that hails thee, Cybele, thy initiant.
Then a dainty finger heaving to the tremulous hide o'
the bull, 10
He began this invocation to the company, spirit-awed.
" To the groves, ye sexless eunuchs, in assembly to
Cybele,
Lost sheep that err rebellious to the lady Dindymene ;
Ye, who all awing for exile in a country of aliens,
My unearthly rule obeying to be with me, my retinue, 1 5
Could aby the surly salt seas' mid inexorability,
Could in utter hate to lewdness your sex dishabilitate ;
Let a gong clash glad emotion, set a giddy fury to roam,
All slow delay be banish'd, thither hie ye thither away
To the Phrygian home, the wild wood, to the sanctuary
divine ; 20
Where rings the noisy cymbal, taborines are in echoing,
On a curved oat the Phrygian deep pipeth a melody,
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? 50 CATULLUS.
With a fury toss the Maenads clad in ivies a frolic head,
To a barbarous ululation the religious orgy wakes,
Where fleets across the silence Cybele's holy family ; 25
Thither hie we, so beseems us ; to a mazy measure
away. "
Thus as Attis, a woman, Attis, not a woman, urg'd the
rest,
On a sudden yell'd in huddling agitation every tongue,
Taborines give airy murmur, give a clangorous echo
gongs,
With a rush the brotherhood hastens to the woods,
the bosom of Ide. 30
Then in agony, breathless, errant, flush'd wearily,
cometh on
Taborine behind him, Attis, thoro' leafy glooms a guide,
As a restive heifer yields not to the cumbrous onerous
yoke.
Thither hie the votaress eunuchs with an emulous
alacrity.
Now faintly sickly plodding to the goddess's holy
shrine, 35
They took the rest which easeth long toil, nor ate
withal.
Slow sleep descends on eyelids ready drowsily to
decline,
In a soft repose departeth the devout spirit-agony.
When awoke the sun, the golden, that his eyes heaven-
orient
Scann'd lustrous air, the rude seas, earth's massy
solidity, 40
When he smote the shadowy twilight with his healthy
team sublime,
Then arous'd was Attis ; o'er him sleep hastily fled away
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? CATULLUS. 51
To Pasithea's arms immortal with a tremulous hovering.
But awaked from his reposing, the delirious anguish
o'er,
When as Attis' heart recalled him to the past
solitarily, 45
Saw clearly where he stood, what, an annihilate apathy,
With a soul that heaved within him, to the water he
fled again.
Then as o'er the waste of ocean with a rainy eye he gazed
To the land of home he murmur'd miserable a soliloquy.
" MOTHER-HOME of all affection, dear home, my nativity, 50
Whom in anguish I deserting, as in hatred a runaway
From a master, hither have hurried to the lonely woods
of Ide,
To be with the snows, the wild beasts, in a wintery domicile,
To be near each savage houser that a surly fury
provokes,
What horizon, O beloved, may attain to thee
anywhere ? 55
Yet'an eyeless orb is yearning ineffectually to thee.
For a little ere returneth the delirious hour again.
Shall a homeless Attis hie him to the groves unin-
habited ?
Shall . he leave a country, wealth, friends ? bid a sire, a
mother, adieu ?
The palaestra lost, the forum, the gymnasium, the
course ? 60
O unhappy, fall a-weeping, thou unhappy soul, for aye.
For is honour of any semblance, any beauty but of it I ?
E2
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? 52 CATULLUS.
Who, a woman here, in order was a man, a youth, a boy,
To the sinewy ring a fam'd flower, the gymnasium's
applause.
With a throng about the portal, with a populace in the
gate, 65
With a flowery coronal hanging upon every column of
home,
When anew my chamber open'd, as awoke the sunny
morn.
O am I to live the god's slave ? feodary be to Cybele ?
Or a Maenad I, an eunuch ? or a part of a body slain ?
Or am I to range the green tracts upon Ida snowy-chill? 70
Be beneath the stately caverns colonnaded of Asia ?
Be with hind that haunts the covert, or in hursts that
house the boar ?
Woe, woe the deed accomplish'd ! woe, woe, the shame
to me ! "
From rosy lips ascending when approached the gusty cry
To celestial ears recording such a message inly
borne, 75
Cybele, the thong relaxing from a lion-haled yoke,
Said, aleft the goad addressing to the foe that awes the
flocks
" COME, a service ; haste, my brave one ; let a fury the
madman arm,
Let a fury, a frenzy prick him to return to the wood
again,
This is he my hest declineth, the unheedy, the run-
away. So
From an angry tail refuse not to abide the sinewy stroke,
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? CATULLUS. . S3
To a roar let all the regions echo answer everywhere,
On a nervy neck be tossing that uneasy tawny mane. "
So in ire she spake, adjusting disunitedly then her yoke
At his own rebuke the lion doth his heart to a fury
spur, 85
With a step, a roar, a bursting unarrested of any brake.
But anear the foamy places when he came, to the
frothy beach,
When he saw the sexless Attis by the seas' level opaline,
Then he rushed upon him ; affrighted to the wintery
wood he flew,
Cybele's for aye, for all years, in her order a votaress. 90
Holy deity, great Cybele, holy lady Dindymene,
Be to me afar for ever that inordinate agony.
O another hound to madness, O another hurry to rage !
LXIV.
BORN on Pelion height, so legend hoary relateth,
Pines once floated adrift on Neptune billowy streaming
On to the Phasis flood, to the borders . /Eastean.
Then did a chosen array, rare bloom of valorous Argos,
Fain from Colchian earth her fleece of glory to ravish, 5
Dare with a keel of swiftness adown salt seas to be
fleeting,
Swept with fir-blades oary the fair level azure of Ocean.
Then that deity bright, who keeps in cities her high ward,
Made to delight them a car, to the light breeze airily
scudding,
Texture of upright pine with a keel's curved rondure
uniting. 10
That first sailer of all burst ever on Amphitrite.
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? 54 CATULLUS.
Scarcely the forward snout tore up that wintery water,
Scarcely the wave foamed white to the reckless harrow
of oarsmen,
Straight from amid white eddies arose wild faces of
Ocean,
Nereid, earnest-eyed, in wonderous admiration. 15
Then, not after again, saw ever mortal unharmed
Sea-born Nymphs unveil limbs flushing naked about
them,
Stark to the nursing breasts from foam and billow
arising.
Then, so stories avow, burn'd Peleus hotly to Thetis,
Then to a mortal lover abode not Thetis unheeding, 20
Then did a father agree Peleus with Thetis unite him.
O in an aureat hour, O born in bounteous ages,
God-sprung heroes, hail : hail, mother of all bene-
diction,
You my song shall address, you melodies everlasting.
Thee most chiefly, supreme in glory of heavenly
bridal, 25
Peleus, stately defence of Thessaly. luppiter even
Gave thee his own fair love, thy mortal pleasure
approving.
Thee could Thetis inarm, most beauteous Ocean-
daughter ?
Tethys adopt thee, her own dear grandchild's wooer
usurping?
Ocean, who earth's vast globe with a watery girdle
inorbeth ? 30
When the delectable hour those days did fully deter-
mine,
Straightway then in crowds all Thessaly flock'd to the
palace,
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? CATULLUS. 55
Thronging hosts uncounted, a company joyous ap-
proaching.
Many a gift they carry, delight their faces illumines.
Left is Scyros afar, and Phthia's bowery Tempe, 35
Vacant Crannon's homes, unvisited high Larisa,
Towards Pharsalia's halls, Pharsalia's only they hie
them.
Bides no tiller afield ; necks soften of oxen in idlesse ;
Feel not a prong'd crook'd hoe lush vines all weedily
trailing ;
Tears no steer deep clods with a downward coulter
unearthed ; 40
Prunes no hedger'sbill broad -verging verdurous arbours ;
Steals a deforming rust on ploughs left rankly to
moulder.
But that sovran abode, each sumptuous inly retiring
Chamber, aflame with gold, with silver is all re-
splendent ;
Thrones gleam ivory-white ; cup-crown'd blaze brightly
the tables ; 45
All the domain with treasure of empery gaudily flushes.
There, set deeply within the remotest centre, a bridal
Bed doth a goddess inarm ; smooth ivory glossy from
Indies,
Robed in roseate hues, rich seashells' purple adorning.
IT was a broidery freak'd with tissue of images olden, 50
One whose curious art did blazon valour of heroes.
Gazing forth from a beach of Dia the billow-resounding,
Look'd on a vanish'd fleet, on Theseus quickly de-
parting,
Restless in unquell'd passion, a feverous heart, Ariadne.
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? 56 CATULLUS.
Scarcely her eyes yet seem their seeming clearly to
vision. 55
You might guess that arous'd from slumber's drowsy
betrayal,
Sand-engirded, alone, then first she knew desolation.
He the betrayer his oars with fugitive hurry the waters
Beat, each promise of old to the winds given idly to
bear them.
Him from amid shore-weeds doth Minos' daughter, in
anguish 60
Rigid, a Bacchant-form, dim-gazing stonily follow,
Stonily still, wave-tost on a sea of troublous affliction.
Holds not her yellow locks the tiara's feathery tissue ;
Veils not her hidden breast light brede of drapery
woven ;
Binds not a cincture smooth her bosom's orbed
emotion. 65
Widely from each fair limb that footward-fallen apparel
Drifts its lady before, in billowy salt loose-playing.
Not for silky tiara nor amice gustily floating
Recks she at all any more ; thee, Theseus, ever her
earnest
Heart, all clinging thought, all chained fancy re-
quireth. 70
Ah unfortunate ! whom with miseries ever crazing,
Thorns in her heart deep planted, affray'd Erycina to
madness,
From that earlier hour, when fierce for victory Theseus
Started alert from a beach deep-inleted of Piraeus,
Gain'd Gortyna's abode, injurious halls of oppression. 75
Once, 'tis sung in stories, a dire distemper atoning
Death of an ill-blest prince, Androgeos, angrily
slaughter'd,
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? CATULLUS. 57
Taxed of her youthful array, her maidenly bloom fresh-
glowing,
Feast to the monster bull, Cecropia, ransom-laden.
Then, when a plague so deadly, the garrison under-
mining, 80
Spent that slender city, his Athens dearly to rescue,
Sooner life Theseus and precious body did offer,
Ere his country to Crete freight corpses, a life in seem-
ing.
So with a ship fast-fleeted, a gale blown gently behind
him,
Push'd he his onward journey to Minos' haughty
dominion. 85
Him for very delight when a virgin fondly desiring
Gazed on, a royal virgin, in odours siUdly nestled,
Pure from a maiden's couch, from a mother's pillowy
bosom,
Like some myrtle, anear Eurotas' water arising,
Like earth's myriad hues, spring's progeny, rais'd to
the breezes ; 90
Droop'd not her eyes their gaze unquenchable, ever-
burning
Save when in each charm'd limb to the depths enfolded,
a sudden
Flame blazed hotly within her, in all her marrow
abiding.
O thou cruel of heart, thou madding worker of anguish,
Boy immortal, of whom joy springs, with misery blend-
ing, 95
Yea, thou queen of Golgi, of Idaly leaf-embower'd,
O'er what a fire love-lit, what billows wearily tossing,
Drave ye the maid, for a guest so sunnily lock'd deep
sighing.
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? 58 CATULLUS.
What most dismal alarms her swooning fancy did echo !
Oft what a sallower hue than gold's cold glitter upon
her ! loo
Whiles, heart-hungry in arms that monster deadly to
combat,
Theseus drew towards death or victory, guerdon of
honour.
Yet not lost the devotion, or offer'd idly the virgin's
Gifts, as her unvoic'd lips breathed incense faintly to
heaven.
As on Taurus aloft some oak agitatedly waving 105
Tosses his arms, or a pine cone-mantled, oozily rinded,
When as his huge gnarled trunk in furious eddies a
whirlwind
Riving wresteth amain ; down falleth he, upward hoven,
Fallethon earth ; far, near, all crackles brittle around him,
So to the ground Theseus his fallen foeman abasing, 1 10
Slew, that his horned front toss'd vainly, a sport to the
breezes.
Thence in safety, a Victor, in height of glory returned,
Guiding errant feet to a thread's impalpable order.
Lest, upon egress bent thro' tortuous aisles labyrinthine,
Walls of blindness, a maze unravell'd ever, elude
him. 1 1 5
Yet, for again I come to the former story, beseems not
Linger on all done there ; how left that daughter a
gazing
Father, a sister's arms, her mother woefully clinging,
Mother, who o'er that child moan'd desperate, all heart-
broken ;
How not in home that maid, in Theseus only de-
lighted ; 1 20
How her ship on a shore of foaming Dia did harbour;
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? CATULLUS. 59
How, when her eyes lay bound in slumber's shadowy
prison,
He forsook, forgot her, a wooer traitorous-hearted :
Oft, say stories, at heart with frenzied fantasy burning,
Pour'd she, a deep-wrung breast, clear-ringing cries of
oppression; 125
Sometimes mournfully clomb to the mountain's rugged
ascension,
Straining thence her vision across wide surges of ocean ;
Now to the brine ran forth, upsplashing freshly to meet
her,
Lifting raiment fine her thighs which softly did open ;
Last, when sorrow had end, these words thus spake she
lamenting, 1 30
While from a mouth tear-stain'd chill sobs gushed
dolorous ever.
' LOOK, is it here, false heart, that rapt from country, from
altar,
Household altar ashore, I wander, falsely deserted?
Ah ! is it hence, Theseus, that against high heaven a
traitor
Homeward thou thy vileness, alas thy perjury bearest? 135
Might not a thought, one thought, thy cruel counsel
abating
Sway thee tender? at heart rose no compassion or
any
Mercy, to bend thy soul, or me for pity deliver?
Yet not this thy promise of old, thy dearly remembered
Voice, not these the delights thou bad'st thy poor one
inherit; 140
Nay, but wedlock happy, but envied joy hymeneal;
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? 60 CATULLUS.
All now melted in air, with a light wind emptily fleeting.
LET not a woman trust, since that first treason, a lover's
Desperate oath, none hope true lover's promise is
earnest
They, while fondly to win their amorous humour
essayeth, 145
Fear no covetous oath, all false free promises heed not ;
They if once lewd pleasure attain unruly possession,
Lo they fear not promise, of oath or perjury reck not.
Yet indeed, yet I, when floods of death were around thee,
Set thee on high, did rather a brother choose to defend
not, 150
Ere I, in hate's last hour, false heart, fail'd thee to deliver.
Now, for a goodly reward, to the beasts they give me,
the flying
Fowls ; no handful of earth shall bury me, pass'd to the
shadows.
WHAT grim lioness yeaned thee, aneath what rock's deso-
lation?
What wild sea did bear, what billows foamy regorged
thee ? 155
Seething sand, or Scylla the snare, or lonely Charybdis?
If for a life's dear joy comes back such only requital ?
Hadst not a will with spousal an honour'd wife to receive
me ?
Awed thee a father stern, cross age's churlish avising ?
Yet to your household thou, your kindred palaces
olden, 160
Might'st have led me, to wait, joy-filled, a retainer upon
thee,
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