The Poetry of Gaius Valerius Catullus/4

Text & Translation Meter - Iambic Senarii LineLatin textEnglish translation1phaselus ille quem videtis hospitesThat little boat which you see, guests,2ait fuisse navium celerrimusSaid that it was the swiftest of ships,3neque ullius natantis impetum trabisAnd that the speed of any sailing timber4nequisse praeterire sive palmulisIt was not unable to surpass, whether with little palms5opus foret volare sive linteoit would be necessary to speed or with a sail.6et hoc negat minacis HadriaticiAnd it denies that the menacing Adriatic's7negare litus insulasve Cycladasshore denies this, or the Cyclades islands8Rhodumque nobilem horridamque Thraciamand famous Rhodes and the rough Thracian9Propontida trucemve Ponticum sinumPropontis or the pitiless Pontic sea10ubi iste post phaselus antea fuitwhere that which you see afterward a yacht, was before11comata silva nam Cytorio in iugoa leafy forest; for on a Cytorian mountain ridge,12loquente saepe sibilum edidit comait produced a whistling sound, often speaking with its leaves.13Amastri Pontica et Cytore buxiferPontic Amastris and boxwood-bearing Cytorus,14tibi haec fuisse et esse cognitissimaTo you that these things have been and are very well-known15ait phaselus ultima ex originethe yacht says: from its farthest beginning,16tuo stetisse dicit in cacumineits says that it stood on your peak,17tuo imbuisse palmulas in aequorethat it dipped its palms in your water,18et inde tot per impotentia fretaand that from there, through so many uncontrollable straits,19erum tulisse laeva sive dexterait bore its master, whether from the left or the right20vocaret aura sive utrumque Iuppiterthe wind would call, or whether the second Jupiter21simul secundus incidisset in pedemhad fallen onto both feet at the same time;22neque ulla vota litoralibus deisand that not any vow to the gods of the shore23sibi esse facta cum veniret a marihad been made by itself, when it came from the most recent sea24novissimo hunc ad usque limpidum lacumall the way to this limpid lake.25sed haec prius fuere nunc reconditaBut these things have been before: now in hidden26senet quiete seque dedicat tibirepose it is old, and it dedicates itself to you,27gemelle Castor et gemelle Castoristwin Castor and twin of Castor. Connotations of the Text This poem, which concerns the retirement of a well-traveled ship, borrows heavily from Ancient Greek vocabulary, and also uses Greek grammar in several sections, and makes numerous geographic references and elaborate litotic double negatives in a list-like manner. Catullus 4 has been viewed as everything from a parody of epic poetry to another piece of writing in which the Ship of State metaphor is used. The meter is iambic trimeter. Line 1 phaselus A phaselus was a small boat, derived from a Greek word meaning "bean" because of its similarity in shape to a bean-pod. Line 3 trabis ("timber", "wooden beam") is here a poetic metonymy for "boat". Line 4 Palmulis (diminutive of palma, "palm" of a hand) is here a metaphor for "oar". Line 9 porpontida ("in front of Pontus") was the ancient name for the Sea of Marmara. Ponticum sinum ("Pontic sea") was the name for the Black Sea. Line 11 Cytorio Mt. Cytorus was a mountain on the southern coast of the Black Sea, between the port cities of Amastris and Cytorus. Cytorus was famous as a source of boxwood. Line 14 tibi Amastris and Cytorus are addressed in the singular (tibi instead of vobis) because the city of Cytorus was absorbed by Amastris as it expanded, forming a single city. Line 20 Iuppiter Jupiter, king of the gods, is here used as metonymy for "sky" or "wind". Line 21 pedem (literally "foot") is here used to mean "sheet", a rope fastening the lower corners of a sail to the ship. Line 27 The gemelle Castoris ("twin of Castor") refers to Pollux, the other twin in the Castor and Pollux pair, who were also known as the Gemini ("twins"). The two twins were often referred to by only a single name, most commonly Castor, as though they were one, hence the tibi in line 26. External Links Carmina for some of the texts in Latin. Carmen 4 in many other languages.