Juvenculae
eis aiona tui sum, o mea vita, eis aiona!
Young women
For all time, I am yours, o my life, for all time!
Juvenes
tu mihi cara, mi cara amicula, corculum es.
Young men
You are dear to me, dear to me, love, my darling you are.
Juvenculae
corculum es!
Young women
My darling you are!
Juvenes
tu mihi corculum!
Young men
You are my darling!
Juvenculae
corcule, corcule, dic mi, dic mi, a te me amari.
Young women
Darling, darling, tell me, tell me, that I am beloved by you.
Juvenes
o tui oculi, ocelli lucidi fulgurant, efferent me velut specula.
Young men
Oh, your eyes, shining little eyes, they gleam, they reflect me like mirrors.
Juvenculae
specula, specula, tu mihi specula.
Young women
Mirrors, mirrors, you are my mirror.
Juvenes
o tua blandula, blanda, blandicula, tua labella.
Young men
Oh, those delicious, dulcet, delectable lips of yours.
Juvenculae
cave, cave, cave, cavete!
Young women
Beware, beware, beware — all of you!
Juvenes
ad ludum prolectant.
Young men
They entice me to play.
Juvenculae
cave, cave, cave, cavete!
Young women
Beware, beware, beware — all of you!
Juvenes
o tua lingula, lingula, lingula, usque perniciter vibrans ut vipera.
Young men
Oh, your tongue, tongue, tongue, always nimbly slithering like a snake.
Juvenculae
cave, cave, cave, cavete, cave meam viperam, nisi te mordet.
Young women
Beware, beware, beware — all of you — beware of my snake, in case she nibbles you.
Juvenes
morde me!
Young men
Nibble me!
Juvenculae
basia me!
Young women
Kiss me!
Juvenes
o tuae mammulae!
Young men
Oh, your chest!
Juvenculae
mammulae!
Young women
Chest!
Juvenes, juvenculae
mammae molliculae!
Young men, young women
Your soft chest!
Juvenes
dulciter turgidae, gemina poma! ah!
mea manus est cupida, o vos papillae horridulae!
mea manus est cupida illas prensare.
Young men
Sweet and soft, beautiful! Ah!
My hand wants, oh, you lovely lady,
My hand wants to embrace you.
Juvenculae
suave, suave,
suave, lenire.
Young women
Sweetly, sweetly,
sweetly, be gentle.
Juvenes
illas prensare, vehementer prensare.
Young men
To embrace, ardently to embrace.
Juvenculae
o tua mentula, mentula, mentula!
Young women
Oh, your heart, heart, heart!
Juvenes
mentula!
Young men
Heart!
Juvenculae
cupide saliens
Young women
Leaping with love…
Juvenes
peni, peniculus
Young men
My heart, my soul…
Juvenculae
velut pisciculus
Young women
Like a little fishy…
Juvenes
is qui desiderat tuam fonticulam.
Young men
…yearning for your water.
Juvenculae
mea manus est cupida, coda, codicula, avida, avida!
mea manus est cupida illam captare…
Young women
My hand wants, my love, greedy, greedy!
My hand wants to embrace you…
Juvenes
petulanti manicula! o me felicem! Tu es Venus, Venus es!
Young men
…with your eager little hand! Oh, lucky me! You are Venus, Venus you are!
Juvenculae
o me felicem!
Young women
Oh, lucky me!
Juvenes
in te, in te, in te habitant omnia gaudia, omnes dulcedines, omnis voluptas.
in te, in te, in tuo amplexu, in tuo ingenti amplexus, tota est, tota est mihi vita.
Young men
In you, in you, in you resides every joy, every sweetness, every pleasure.
In you, in you, in your embrace, in your vast embrace, is all, is all my life.
Juvenculae
o me felicem! eis aiona!
Young women
Oh, lucky me! For all time!
Senes
eis aiona! eis aiona! o res ridicula, immensa stultitia!
nil, nil, nihil durare potest tempore perpetuo.
cum bene sol nituit, redditur Oceano.
decrescit Phoebe, quam modo plena fuit.
Venerum feritas saepe fit aura levis.
tempus, tempus, tempus amoris cubiculum non est.
sublata lucerna nulla est fides, perfida omnia sunt.
o vos brutos, vos stupidos, vos stolidos!
Old Men
“For all time! For all time.” Oh, what ridiculous, immeasurable foolishness!
Nothing, nothing, not a thing can endure for all time.
Though the sun has shone, it still must set into the Ocean.
The moon, though just now full, still wanes.
The ferocity of Venus oft becomes a gentle breeze.
Time, time, time is not love’s resting place.
In the low light, trust does not exist — everything is deceptive.
Oh, you are all foolish, naïve, obtuse!
Senex
lanternari, tene scalam!
Old Man
Lantern-keepers, hold the stairs!
Senes
audite, audite, audite ac videte: Catulli carmina.
Old Men
Listen, listen, listen and witness: the songs of Catullus.
Juvenes, juvenculae
audiamus!
Young men, young women
Let us listen!
I.
odi et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris?
nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.
I hate and I love. Why, you ask?
I don’t know. But I feel it happening and I am tormented.
II.
vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus,
rumoresque senum severiorum
omnes unius aestimemus assis!
soles occidere et redire possunt;
nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux,
nox est perpetua una dormienda.
da mi basia mille, deinde centum,
dein mille altera, dein secunda centum,
deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum.
dein, cum milia multa fecerimus,
conturbabimus illa, ne sciamus,
aut ne quis malus invidere possit,
cum tantum sciat esse basiorum.
Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love,
and let us consider the rumors of pretentious old men
to be worth hardly a penny!
The sun can fall and it can rise;
once our brief light has fallen,
we must sleep for one perpetual night.
Give me one thousand kisses, then one hundred,
then another thousand, then a second hundred,
then, once we’ve kissed many thousands of times,
we’ll jumble them together, so even we won’t know the total,
and nobody wicked can envy us
when he discovers the great quantity of our kisses.
III.
ille mi par esse deo videtur,
ille, si fas est, superare divos,
qui sedens adversus identidem te
spectat et audit
dulce ridentem, misero quod omnis
eripit sensus mihi: nam simul te,
Lesbia, adspexi, nihil est super mi…
lingua sed torpet, tenuis sub artus
flamma demanat, sonitu suopte
tintinant aures, gemina teguntur
lumina nocte
otium, Catulle, tibi molestum est:
otio exultas nimiumque gestis,
otium et reges prius et beatas
perdidit urbes.
He seems to me to be equal to a god,
even (if it isn’t sacrilege to say) to surpass the gods,
that man who, sitting before you, constantly
gazes at you and hears
you laughing sweetly, which rips away
all my senses from me, wretched: for as soon
as I have seen you, Lesbia, there is nothing left for me…
but my tongue grows sluggish, a delicate
spark flares through my limbs, my ears ring
with their own thunder, my twin eyes
are cloaked in night.
Leisure gets you into trouble, Catullus:
in leisure you rejoice and carry on too much,
leisure has, in olden days, for kings and blessed
cities brought destruction.
IV.
Caeli! Lesbia nostra, Lesbia illa,
illa Lesbia, quam Catullus unam
plus quam se atque suos amavit omnes,
nunc in quadriviis et angiportis
glubit magnanimi Remi nepotes.
O mea Lesbia!
Caelius! Lesbia mine, that Lesbia,
that Lesbia, whom alone Catullus
has loved more than himself and his own,
now in the crossroads and walking paths
meets with the grandsons of noble Remus.
Oh, my Lesbia!
V.
nulli se dicit mulier mea nubere malle
quam mihi, non si se Iuppiter ipse petat.
dicit: sed mulier cupido quod dicit amanti
in vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua.
My woman says that she’d prefer to marry
no one else but me, not even if Jupiter himself pursues her.
She says it: but what a woman says to a pining lover
should be inscribed in the wind and rushing water.
Senes
placet, optime!
Old Men
Properly done, bravo!
VI.
iucundum, mea vita, mihi proponis amorem
hunc nostrum inter nos perpetuumque fore.
dormi, dormi, dormi ancora…
di magni, facite ut vere promittere possit,
atque id sincere dicat et ex animo,
ut liceat nobis tota perducere vita
aeternum hoc sanctae foedus amicitiae.
dormi, dormi, dormi ancora…
My life, you declare to me that this love
of ours, between us, will be enjoyable and eternal.
Sleep, sleep, sleep still…
Great gods, make it so that she can promise truly,
and make her say it sincerely, from the soul,
so that we are permitted for all our lives to maintain
this everlasting pact of sacred friendship.
Sleep, sleep, sleep still…
VII.
O mea Lesbia!
desine de quoquam quicquam bene velle mereri
aut aliquem fieri posse putare pium.
omnia sunt ingrata. nihil fecisse benigne
prodest. immo etiam taedet obestque magis;
ut mihi, quem nemo gravius nec acerbius urget,
quam modo qui me unum atque unicum amicum habuit.
Oh, my Lesbia!
Stop yearning to deserve well from anyone at all,
or stop presuming that someone can become dutiful.
All things are thankless. Benevolence does no good,
but rather offends and injures more;
such is the case for me, whom no one burdens more heavily or bitterly
than the person who once considered me his one and only friend.
Senes
placet, optime!
Old Men
Properly done, bravo!
VIII.
odi et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris?
nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.
I hate and I love. Why, you ask?
I don’t know. But I feel it happening and I am tormented.
IX.
amabo, mea dulcis Ipsitilla
meae deliciae, mei lepores,
iube ad te veniam meridiatum.
et si iusseris, illud adiuvato:
ne quis liminis obseret tabellam
neu tibi libeat foras abire.
sed domi maneas paresque nobis,
novem continuas fututiones.
verum si quid ages, statim iubeto.
nam pransus iaceo et satur supinus
pertundo tunicamque palliumque.
Please, my sweet Ipsitilla,
my beloved, my charmer,
bid me come to a midday rendezvous.
And if you do, offer this help:
make sure no one bolts the door
and don’t be disposed to going outdoors.
You should stay home and prepare for me
a litany of embraces.
But if you do anything, give the order right away.
For I’m fed, reclined, full, supine,
ready in my tunic and cloak.
X.
Ameana, puella defututa,
tota milia me decem poposcit,
ista turpiculo puella naso,
decoctoris amica Formiani.
propinqui, quibus est puella curae,
amicos medicosque convocate:
non est sana puella, nec rogate
qualis sit: solide est imaginosa.
Ameana, a popular companion,
has demanded of me the entire ten thousand,
that rather ugly-nosed
girlfriend of the Formian wastrel.
Relatives who care for her,
summon her friends and doctors:
the girl is mad — and do not ask
what she’s like: she is completely delusional.
XI.
miser Catulle, desinas ineptire,
et quod vides perisse perditum ducas.
fulsere quondam candidi tibi soles,
cum ventitabas quo puella ducebat,
amata nobis quantum amabitur nulla.
ibi illa multa tum iocosa fiebant,
quae tu volebas nec puella nolebat.
fulsere vere candidi tibi soles.
nunc iam illa non vult: tu quoque impotens noli,
nec quae fugit sectare, nec miser vive,
sed obstinata mente perfer, obdura.
vale, puella, iam Catullus obdurat.
nec te requiret nec rogabit invitam:
at tu dolebis, cum rogaberis nulla.
scelesta, vae te! quae tibi manet vita?
quis nunc te adibit? cui videberis bella?
quem nunc amabis? cuius esse diceris?
quem basiabis? cui labella mordebis?
at tu, Catulle, destinatus obdura.
Wretched Catullus, stop being a fool,
and accept that what you know has been lost is gone.
Dazzling suns once shone for you,
when you were scurrying wherever your girl led,
that girl beloved by me more than anyone ever will be loved.
When those many delights were wrought,
which you desired and the girl did not refuse,
dazzling suns truly shone for you.
But now she does not want it: you, then, also must not want,
and do not pursue her as she flees, nor live wretchedly,
but with steadfast mind endure.
Farewell, girl, Catullus is enduring now.
He will not seek you or court you if you are unwilling:
but you will suffer, when you are no longer courted.
Traitor, woe to you! What life remains for you?
Who now will come near you? To whom will you seem pretty?
Whom now will you love? To whom will you be said to belong?
Whom will you kiss? Whose lips will you nibble?
But you, Catullus, as you have resolved — endure.
XII.
nulla potest mulier tantum se dicere amatam
vere quantum a me Lesbia amata mea est.
nulla fides ullo fuit umquam in foedere tanta,
quanta in amore tuo ex parte reperta mea est.
nunc est mens deducta tua, mea Lesbia, culpa,
atque ita se officio perdidit ipsa suo,
ut iam nec bene velle queat tibi, si optima fias,
nec desistere amare, omnia si facias.
No woman can rightly say that she is as beloved
as my Lesbia was beloved by me.
Never in any union has there been devotion so true
as mine has been found to be in love of you.
My mind, Lesbia, has now been weakened by your fault,
and thus it has destroyed itself by its own commitment,
so that now it could not wish you well, even if you changed for the better,
nor could it cease to love you, no matter what you do.
Juvenes, juvenculae
eis aiona! tui sum!
Young men, young women
For all time! I am yours!
Senes
oi me!
Old Men
Good grief!
Juvenes, juvenculae
eis aiona! ascendite faces! io!
Young men, young women
For all time! Raise up, torches! Huzzah!