The Poetry of Gaius Valerius Catullus/14

Meter - Hendecasyllables LineLatin TextEnglish Translation1Ni te plus oculis meis amarem, If I did not love you more than my eyes, 2iucundissime Calve, munere isto dearest Calvus, because of that gift3 odissem te odio Vatiniano:I would hate you more than Vatinius4nam quid feci ego quidve sum locutus, for what have I done or what did I say5 cur me tot male perderes poetis?that you should burden me with so many bad poets6 Isti di mala multa dent clienti, May the Gods send much evil on that client,7qui tantum tibi misit impiorum. who sends you such wicked people.8 Quod si, ut suspicor, hoc novum ac repertumBut if, as I suspect, this new and sought after9 munus dat tibi Sulla litterator, gift was given to you by Sulla that teacher of literature,10 non est mi male, sed bene ac beate, then I am not angry, but joyful and pleased,11 quod non dispereunt tui labores. for your labours have not gone to waste.12Di magni, horribilem et sacrum libellum! Good Heavens, what a horrible and cursed little book!13Quem tu scilicet ad tuum Catullum Which you surely sent to your Catullus14misti, continuo ut die periret, so that he might die the very next day,15Saturnalibus, optimo dierum! the Saturnalia, the best of days!16Non non hoc tibi, salse, sic abibit.No no, It will not be like this for you, clever fiend.17Nam si luxerit ad librariorumFor when it is light, I will run18curram scrinia, Caesios, Aquinos,to the booksellers' shelves, and Caesius, Aquinus19Suffenum, omnia colligam venena. Suffenus; I will collect all such poison20Ac te his suppliciis remunerabor.and repay you these punishments.21Vos hinc interea valete abiteMeanwhile, Goodbye and go away you22 illuc, unde malum pedem attulistis, to where you got your terrible rhymes23saecli incommoda, pessimi poetae.curses of our time, the worst poets. Connotations of the Text Line 1 ni read "nisi", which means 'unless'. oculis "if I did not love you more than my eyes" is unnatural in English. This may be better translated as "If I did not love you more than myself" or "If you weren't the apple of my eye". However, the meaning "eyes" would still make sense, as the eyes are a precious organ of any human being - and a thing to be cared for. amarem even though this is imperfect it is translated as present in English. Line 2 Calve Licinius Calvus was a friend of Catullus's. Line 3 Vatiniano Vatinius was a man whom Calvus had prosecuted in court. (see Poem 53) Line 6 clienti The Romans had a system of patrons and clients. The patrons protected their clients in court and gave them financial help, and in return the clients may have given the patrons political support and occasionally little presents of gratitude such as this book of poetry. Line 9 Sulla Here, Sulla refers to a man Calvus defended in court. Line 10 mi read "mihi" This line literally translates to "it is not badly for me, but well and happily". Line 12 di magni Literally "Great Gods" but in a contemporary context something like "Good Heavens" is probably more appropriate. libellum diminutive of "liber" - book. Catullus was very fond of diminutives and used them to express smallness, affection, pity, or scorn depending on the context. Here it is probably used to express scorn. Line 14 misti Read "misisti", yet another common way of shortening words in Latin. Line 15 Saturnalibus The Saturnalia was a festival for Saturn that began on the 17th of December. It was the biggest festival of the year; the Roman equivalent of Christmas. Line 16 salse - smartarse, clever Meaning "clever" or "witty", the original meaning of the word is "salt". This is because the Romans used the salt to enhance the flavour of their meat and other food, and so, the poet uses metaphorical salt, or "wit" to enhance his work. Lines 18 - 19 Caesios, Aquinos, Suffenum Nothing is now known about Caesius and Aquinus, although we can deduce from this poem that they were bad poets. Catullus attacks Suffenus as a writer of endless bad verses in Poem 22 Line 21 vos refers to the poets Catullus has gathered. malum pedem literally "bad foot". In Latin as well as English "foot" was used to mean a section of a line of poetry. Line 23 pessimi poetae - worst poets Here the alliteration of p shows Catullus' disgust for the aforementioned poets. This technique, whilst placed at the end of the line leaves a lasting impression on the reader, and Catullus' opinion on low-quality work stays with us. It could also be a subtle hint of Catullus, asserting how his work is superior. Vocabulary Line 2 munus, -eris n. - gift, present Line 5 tot - so many perderes - pester, burden, annoy, destroy Line 7 impiorum - Roman piety was defined as dedication to gods, country, and family and was the greatest virtue. So impiety or "impiorum" was considered the greatest vice. Line 8 repertum - sought after Line 10 beate - happily Line 11 dispereunt - this word contains "pereunt" (they perished) which is made up of per + eunt (through + gone). This prefix "dis-" is emphatic. Line 13 scilicet - scire + licet = it is possible to know = obviously Line 16 salse - smartarse, clever fiend, clever one Line 18 scrinia n.pl. - shelves Line 23 saecli - curses External Links Catullus 14 A Translation of Catullus 14 Catullus 14 Another Translation of Catullus 14