The Poetry of Gaius Valerius Catullus/109

Text And Translation Meter - Elegiac distych LineLatin textEnglish Translation1Iucundum, mea vita, mihi proponis amoremMy life, you promise me that this love2hunc nostrum inter nos perpetuumque fore.of ours, among us, will be pleasant and everlasting.3Di magni, facite ut vere promittere possit,Great gods, make it that she is able to promise truly,4atque id sincere dicat et ex animo,And that she may say it sincerely and from her heart,5ut liceat nobis tota perducere vitaThat we might be allowed to extend6aeternum hoc sanctae foedus amicitiae.This life-long pact of holy-friendship our whole life. Connotations of the Text This is the poem Catullus himself chose as the 109th segment of his published set of poems. It is addressed to Catullus's mistress Lesbia. This poem joins the ranks of the many others that demonstrate his conflicting feelings for Lesbia. Line 1 mea vita - lit. my life This translates literally to "my life" but a more natural English translation would be "my love" or "my dear". It pertains to the common cliché that one's love becomes their whole life - and is as relevant today as in the time of Catullus. Vocabulary Line 2 fore - the future infinitive of the verb to be, sometimes seen as "futurum esse" lit: to be about to be. Line 5 liceat - an impersonal verb that requires a dative. "liceat nobis" literally translates as "it may be permissable for us". Line 6 foedus, -eris; n - pact; bond; treaty External Links Catullus 109 Translation of Catullus 109 Catullus 109 Another Translation of Catullus 109