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 C:VAL: CATVLLVS 
 
 \|iii() rHk'ifin ;uitii| nail) curiif sonatus vrroiu-nsi superpos i I ;i i \\.
 
 THE 
 
 POEMS 
 
 O F 
 
 CAIUS VALERIUS 
 
 IN ENGLISH PERSE: 
 
 WITH THE LATIN TEXT REVISED, AND CLASSICAL NOTES. 
 PREFIXED ARE ZNCRAVINCS OF 
 
 CATULLUS, AND HIS FRIEND CORNELIUS NEPOS 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 Ut piftura, poesis : erit quae, si propius stes, 
 Te capiat magis; et quaedam, si longius abstes : 
 
 Hsc amat obscurum; volet base sub luce videri 
 
 HORAT. Art. Poet, 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 fRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD. 
 
 M DCC XCV.
 
 [ V ] Stack 
 
 JUMX 
 
 5 
 
 o<*3 
 
 THE 
 
 PR E F A C E. 
 
 IT is apprehended, notwithstanding several of the 
 poems of Catullus have already appeared in 'an Eng- 
 lish dress, yet, that hitherto we have had no com- 
 plete translation of that Roman classic. From 
 whence such a circumstance should arise, it is im- 
 possible to conjecture, because, though he has un- 
 doubtedly many difficult and obscure passages, there 
 are still certain determined beauties, which must 
 always have recommended him to the notice of the 
 learned. 
 
 The largest English colle&itin, I meet with, is in 
 the translation of an old romance, written by Mons. 
 de la Chapelle, and entitled, Amours de Catulle : some 
 of the principal Carmina of Catullus, with a few 
 other poems from different writers, are so put to- 
 gether, as to form, in the author's own words, " a 
 " train of historical conjectures." 
 
 a 3 The 
 
 + 2067082
 
 VI THE PREFACE. 
 
 The French, indeed, have produced two entire 
 translations of his works ; the one, near a century 
 and a half ago, by the Abbe de Marollesj and the 
 other, a very few years since, by the Marquis de 
 Pezai, author of the Soirees Helve tiennes-, in both 
 which, we are rather to praise the attempt, than to 
 congratulate them on their successful execution of 
 it: the Marquis de Pezai, in particular, is more 
 deficient than I should have expedted; for not to 
 mention his notes, which are too frequently mere 
 jeux d'esprit, and his inelegant disposition of the 
 poems themselves ; there are many pieces, in which 
 he only preserves the original text, without adding 
 a syllable of translation to render them somewhat 
 satisfactory and intelligent. Tt is also further re- 
 markable, after boasting so much in his preliminary 
 discourse of the superiority of a verse translation 
 over one in prose, that he should be content to 
 translate Catullus in the way which he himself ac- 
 knowledges is the least likely to do his author jus- 
 tice ; for he well observes, that a prose translation is 
 only a copy in black and white ; whereas a poetical 
 translation shews the pi&ure in all its brilliancy of 
 colouring. 
 
 There
 
 THE PREFACE. VJ1 
 
 There are two versions of this Poet in Italian, 
 which I think are by no means unsuccessful ; the 
 one is by Parmindo Ibichense, and is found in a 
 voluminous work, published at Milan, 1731, of all 
 the Latin poets with translations; the other, by the 
 Abate Raffaele, came out 1776. 
 
 Catullus has had some very able editors, and com- 
 mentators : the most ancient I am acquainted with is 
 i 
 Antonius Parthenius Lacisius; although there are 
 
 many more ancient, whose editions, by reason of 
 their rarity, I have never seen : the principal of these 
 are Guarinus of Verona, and Calphurnius of Vicen- 
 za. The edition of Parthenius is valuable, and the 
 comment has merit : it was printed in folio, at Ve- 
 nice, 1488 : he places our author, contrary to other 
 editors, between the two poets which generally ac- 
 company him, Tibullus and Propertius: the only 
 edition besides, in which I have seen the same ar- 
 rangement observed, is that printed at Venice, in 
 folio, by Symon Bevilaqua, 1493. The editors, and 
 commentators, after Parthenius-are, Philippus Bero- 
 aldus, Palladius Fuscus, Theodorus Beza, Jo. JLi- 
 vineius, Passeratius, Rob. Titius, Achilles Statius, 
 Antonius Muretus, Jos. Scaliger, Janus Douza, 
 
 a 4 Conradc
 
 VUl THE PREFACE. 
 
 Conrade Vorstius, Theod. Marcilius, Vidlor Gcse- 
 linus, Janus Gebhardus, Gabbema, Theod. Pulman- 
 nus Craneburgius, Morellius, Hieron. Avantius, 
 Graevius, Isaac Vossius, Philip. Silvius, Jo. Franc. 
 Corradinus, Doeringius, with a few others of infe- 
 rior note. I shall not make any strictures on their 
 several merits ; but will only remark, that Vossius 
 is always learned, often ingenious, sometimes whim- 
 sical; and that Silvius the Delphin editor has fre- 
 quently misunderstood, or misconstrued his author. 
 But chief of Catullian commentators is Jo. Antonius 
 Vulpius, who published at Padua, 1737, a beautiful 
 quarto edition of Catullus, with Tibullus and Pro- 
 pertius in corresponding volumes. His notes are co- 
 pious, elegant, and full of taste ; but his text is not 
 always happily chosen. 
 
 The reader of classic curiosity may like to be in- 
 formed, that till the fifteenth century few copies of 
 Catullus existed: many manuscripts of our author 
 were then produced; and the press, which at that 
 aera began to acquire celebrity, multiplied the la- 
 bours of the pen. According to Matthzeus Palme- 
 rius, an ancient manuscript of Catullus was brought 
 to light in the year 1425, which first made this poet 
 
 better
 
 THE TREFACE. 1* 
 
 better known to the literati ; it appeared to have been 
 executed in Gaul, and was carried to Verona, where 
 Baptista Guarinus, the fon, one of the very early com- 
 mentators of Catullus, became acquainted with it: 
 he is said to have written a singular epigram on this 
 manuscript rinding its way to the birth-place of our 
 bard, which epigram in point of construction has 
 occasioned some learned disputes. 
 
 To enumerate the various editions of Catullus 
 would be unnecessarily tedious; but I will just men- 
 tion some of very early date, prior to that of Parthe- 
 nius, now become so scarce, that they are almost 
 unknown. Harwood in his view of classic editions 
 does not mention that of 1481, though he does the 
 prior editions ; and he gives a considerable list of 
 those subsequent ; yet there are very many unnoticed 
 by him. 
 
 Catullus, with Tibullus, Propertius, and the Syl- 
 vas of Statius, 1472 ; finely printed in folio, without 
 the name of the printer, or place where edited. 
 
 Catullus, printed at Parma, by Stephanus Coral* 
 lus, 1473, in folio. It is the first edition of this 
 author ever printed singly. 
 
 Catullus,
 
 X THE PREFACE* 
 
 Catullus, with Tibullus, Propertius, and the Syf- 
 vse of Statius ; revised by Guarinus of Verona ; print- 
 ed at Venice, by John of Colonia, and John Man- 
 then of Ghersemj 1475, in folio. 
 
 Catullus, with Tibullus, and Propertius ; print- 
 ed at Reggio, by Prosp. Odoardus, and Albertus 
 Mazalus, 1481, in folio. There is also another edi- 
 tion printed in the same year at Vicenza, by Jo. Re- 
 nensis, and Dionys. Berthocus, with the Sylvae of 
 Statius added. The editor is Calphurnius. 
 
 In the selection of my Latin text, I have chiefly 
 followed the older readings of Catullus; as best con- 
 veying, in my opinion, the author's real meaning. 
 
 With regard to the notes, they are for the most 
 part my own; at the same time, I do not scruple to 
 confess that I have availed myself of every intelli- 
 gence the researches of his several commentators 
 could possibly afford. 
 
 Those indecencies occurring so frequently in our 
 poet, which I have constantly preserved in the ori- 
 ginal, and ventured in some way to translate, may be 
 
 thought
 
 THE PREFACE. XI 
 
 thought to require apology ; for I have given the 
 whole of Catullus without reserve. The chaste 
 reader might think them oest omitted; but the in- 
 quisitive scholar might wish to be acquainted even 
 with the ribaldry, and broad lampoon of Roman 
 times. 
 
 When an ancient classic is translated, and ex- 
 plained, the work may be considered as forming a 
 link in the chain of history: history should not be 
 falsified, we ought therefore to translate him some- 
 what fairly; and when he gives us the manners of 
 his own day, however disgusting to our sensations, 
 and repugnant to our natures they may oftentimes 
 prove, we must not in translation suppress, or even 
 too much gloss them over, through a fastidious re- 
 gard to delicacy. I have endeavoured throughout 
 the work to convey our poet's meaning in its fullest 
 extent, without overstepping the modesty of lan- 
 guage. 
 
 It is singular, that Italy, which has afforded au- 
 thentic likenesses of more ancient poets, cannot, I 
 believe, among all its choice hoards of antiquity, 
 furnish any similitude of Catullus; and I have twice 
 
 made
 
 Xil THE PREFACE. 
 
 made it an object of research, in going over that 
 classic ground; if we except the statue which stands, 
 with a few more, over the Palazzo di Consiglio, or 
 Council-house at Verona; the originality of which 
 has however been doubted: some aver that it is an- 
 tique ; while some say, that it is a modern produc- 
 tion, made only to commemorate, with the other 
 statues, one of those celebrated characters to which 
 Verona gave birth. But be this as it may, it is the 
 only representation of Ca.ullus extant, I have there- 
 fore given an engraved copy of it, as well as of his 
 friend Cornelius Nepos, whose statue is one of 
 those that accompany him. 
 
 If it can stamp any merit on the present work to 
 say, that it has been kept the period which Horace 
 prescribes j that merit, and more it may claim. It 
 is ten years since the translation was made, during 
 which time, it has been taken up, and retouched at 
 intervals. Perhaps I may be wrong to acknowledge 
 this; as the world might expect, and not without 
 reason, a more perfect performance. Still I have to 
 hope, that it may prove in a degree acceptable, as 
 it is; till some English pen, more able, shall do full 
 justice to the worth of Catullus. 
 
 THE
 
 T H I 
 
 LIFE 
 
 o t 
 
 CATULLUS. 
 
 1 HE prasnomen of Valerius Catullus has been a 
 subject of much controversy: Joseph Scaliger gives 
 him that of Quintus, on the slender authority of a 
 mutilated passage in one poem% where some edi- 
 tors have supplied the word Quintus ; he has also 
 the sanction of an old codex which Jacobus Cujacius 
 shewed him; and J. Harduin confirms his opinion, 
 by asserting, in his edition of Pliny's Natural His- 
 tory, that every manuscript has Quintus. ^Deceived 
 by a similarity of name, writers have possibly con- 
 founded our Catullus with the poet Catulus, whose 
 prasnomen Quintus they have mistakenly applied to 
 him. The generality, and the most learned of our 
 Poet's editors call him Caius. But Apuleius, prior 
 
 * 64. Lin. 12. 
 
 to
 
 XIV THE LIFE OF CATULLUS. 
 
 to all editions of our author, wrote a very able apo- 
 logy for the sportive licence of some poems of 
 Caius Valerius Catullus. 
 
 From the testimony of Ovid b , Pliny c the elder, 
 Martial*, Ausonius 6 , Macrobius f , and, indeed, of 
 himself, when he addresses the Peninsula of Sirmio 8 , 
 on his safe return home from Bithynia, we may con- 
 clude that Catullus was a Veronese. Some contend, 
 without a reason, that Sirmio was his birth-place; 
 but the mention he makes of it gives us no room to 
 discredit Eusebius, who expressly says, that it was 
 Verona. The whole Peninsula was probably his 
 paternal estate, and his abode in later life. Accord- 
 ing to the chronicle of St. Jerome, he was born in the 
 second year of the 173 Olympiad, A. U. C. 667. in 
 the consulate of Luc. Cornelius Cinna, and of Cn. 
 Oclaviusj or 85 years before Christ. At this period, 
 Terentius Varro flourished at Rome. Some make 
 Sallust his cotemporary, others say that he was prior 
 to Catullus. Virgil too lived in our poet's days, but 
 was seventeen years younger than him, being born, 
 
 b Ovid. Amor. Eleg. 15. Lib. 3. c Plin. Hist. Nat. Cap. 6. Lit. 36. 
 
 d Mart. Epig. 103. Lib. 10. Epig. 195. Lib. 14. 
 
 e Ausonius, Drepan. Pacat. Latin. Idyl. 7. 
 
 f Macrob. Saturn. Cap. i. Lib. ^. g Carm. 28. 
 
 says
 
 THE LIFE OF CATULLUS. XV 
 
 says St. Jerome, in the third year of the 177 Olym- 
 piad, A. U. C. 684. Cn. Pompeius Magnus, and 
 M. Licinius Crassus, COSS. 
 
 Great have been the disputes among the learned, 
 whether Catullus sent his poem on JLesbia's sparrow 
 to Virgil; as the epigram of Martial*, Sic forsan 
 tener, &c. would seem to imply. Petrus Crinitus* 
 imagines that he did; for which Lilius Gregorius 
 Gyraldus reprehends him, on the ground that Vir- 
 gil must have been too young to value the poetic 
 present, and that the word forsan entirely destroys 
 the plausibility of his conjecture. But if we sup- 
 pose that Catullus, who died at the age of forty, 
 wrote the poem in question at the age of thirty, or 
 thirty-five, Virgil then was thirteen, or eighteen, 
 when he surely must have had a relish for the lighter 
 kinds of poetry at least. Crinitus, indeed, by say- 
 ing that Catullus died at the age of thirty, invali- 
 dates his own assertion; for, unless Catullus wrote 
 the poem a short time before his death, Virgil must 
 have been very young indeed. 
 
 h Mart. Epig. 14. Lib. 4. 
 i Pet. Crinit. /* Vita Catulli, 
 
 Valerius
 
 XVI THE LIFE OF CATULLUS. 
 
 Valerius, the father of Catullus, was a citizen of 
 consideration; and it would appear, from Sueto- 
 nius, that Julius Csesar greatly frequented his 
 house k . 
 
 Our poet was introduced to notice at Rome very 
 early in life by Manlius Torquatus, of a patrician 
 family, whose marriage with Julia Aurunculeia he 
 celebrates in a lovely epithalamium, and to whom 
 he writes an epistle highly commended by Muretus 1 . 
 The company and conversation of the men of ge- 
 nius in that age, with whom we find he there asso- 
 ciated, must have greatly improved his natural parts; 
 and the suavity of his manners, the brilliancy of his 
 wit, together with his great learning, acquired him 
 many friends; chief of whom is Cornelius Nepos, 
 a personage of high birth, and profound erudition; 
 to him he dedicates his poems m . Then follow Fa- 
 bullus, and Verannius whom he sometimes fami- 
 liarly calls Veranniolus, in his favourite stile of di- 
 minutives : Aurelius, and Furius; the first was a 
 miser, whom he jocosely names the father of fasting"; 
 
 k Sueton. In Julio, Cap. 73. 1 Carm. 6$. 
 m Carm. i. n Carm. 18. 
 
 the
 
 THE LIFE OF CATULLUS. Xvil 
 
 the other was a beggar, who possessed neither ser- 
 vant or furniture : Licinius Calvus, a famous orator 
 and poet? ; ancient writers have generally conne&ed 
 him with Catullus, who makes the most tender 
 mention of his friend's amiable mistress Quintilia 1 : 
 Alphenus Varus, a lawyer : Cinna', the author of 
 Smyrna : Cornificius', who, as some pretend, wrote 
 the four books of rhetoric to Herennius : Hortalus, 
 a moderate poet, on whose account Catullus trans- 
 lated into Latin the poem" on Berenice's hair from the 
 Greek; apologizing for his delay in a poetical epistle v , 
 which precedes it : Cato the scholiast*, not to be ' 
 confounded with the severe Utican: Caslius, a Ve- 
 ronese" ; but, from the tenor of the pieces that men- 
 tion him, he seems to have been an acquaintance in 
 Rome : Camerius, an unknown personage 7 , who 
 appears to have been a successful gallant : Flavius'% 
 a similar character : Septimius, alike unknown", but 
 whose tenderness for his fair Acme will live for ever 
 
 o Carm. 20. 
 
 p Plin. Epist. 16. Lib. i. pist. 27. Lib.s^ 
 
 q Carm. 91. r Carm. 27. s Carm. 90. 
 
 t Carm. 3$. n Carm. 63. v Ca#m.6i. 
 
 w Suetonius de clans Grammatifit, Cap, jr. 
 x Carmina 55, & 95. y Cairn, ji. 
 
 7, Carm. 6, a Carm. 4*. 
 
 VOL. I. b in
 
 XVlll THE LIFE OF CATULLUS. 
 
 in the elegant verse of Catullus : Csecihus, who 
 wrote a poem on the Mater Deorurn b , and possibly 
 was of New Comun; therefore their friendship 
 might have commenced when our poet lived at Sir- 
 mio : last, and most respectable, was M. T. Cicero, 
 who is said to have highly valued him ; that he 
 pleaded some cause for him, or rendered him some 
 essential service in the Forum of which we are to- 
 tally ignorant, is probable, from the elegant little 
 epigram which contains his thanks. Marrucinus 
 Asinius ought perhaps to be enumerated ; he 
 appears to have been an unlucky jesting boy j , and 
 brother to Asinius Pollio, a well-known character j 
 eloquent himself, Pollio was a foe to the eloquence 
 of others'; he particularly despised Cicero, and even 
 treated his memory with disrespect, as well as that 
 of Catullus f , who seemed, when living, to have 
 esteemed him, although the enemy of Tully. 
 
 The loves of the poet of Verona, which Ovid 
 asserts were various 8 , are proclaimed by his several 
 amatory productions, equal in renown to the epic 
 
 b Carm. 32. t Carm. 46. d Carm. 12. 
 
 c Quintilian, Cap. 8. Lit. i. Seneca, Epist. 100. 
 
 t" Vulpius, In Vita Catulli. g Ovid, Trjst. Lib. j. 
 
 labours
 
 THE LIFE OF CATULLUS. XIX 
 
 labours of the Mantuan bard. He was chiefly at- 
 tached to CIodia h , whom he celebrated under the 
 name of Lesbia ; in honour perhaps of the Les- 
 bian poetess Sappho, whose writings were his de- 
 light: she was frail, but possessed the whole beauty 
 of her sex ; and she was probably a gay sprightly 
 fair, from the comparison he draws between her and 
 the inanimate Quintilia*, who might be a celebrated 
 beauty of a different cast. Some suppose Lesbia 
 sister to the infamous Clodius. Hypsithilla k , and 
 Aufilena, both Veronese ladies, also greatly shared 
 his affections; the latter, a meritricious jilt 1 , and 
 addicted to incestuous pleasures, incurred the poetic 
 castigation of her bard m , whom the happy Quin- 
 tius rivalled in her affections". I could wish that 
 the history of his amours ended here; but truth 
 obliges us to acknowledge his minion Juventius. 
 
 What rank Catullus held among the wealthy ad- 
 mits of inquiry. In his early days he might expe- 
 rience poverty; in later life, perhaps after his father's 
 decease, he was affluent. On the one hand, he 
 
 h Apuleius, Orat. Claud. Max. i Carm. 83. 
 
 k Carm. 29. 1 Carm. 105. m Carm. 106. 
 
 n Carm. 95. 
 
 b 2 frankly
 
 XX THE LIFE OF CATULLUS. 
 
 frankly confesses the emptiness of his purse*; an<J 
 he followed Memmius when prastor into Bithynia, 
 it would seem, with the hopes of gain : his em- 
 ploy, though doubtless creditable and important, 
 produced no profit; by reason of the praetor's avi- 
 dity, and inattention to the interests of his suite p ~ 
 he could not even afford bearers to his old travel- 
 ling couch q : nay, so needy was he, that we find he 
 was once obliged to pawn his country seat 1 ". On the 
 other hand,, having a country seat argues that he 
 was not poor from his station in life : he had more- 
 over a farm in the Tiburtine territory 5 : he did not 
 scruple to call himself the lord of Sirmio' i he navi- 
 gated the seas in his own vessel : he gratified his 
 taste and inclinations, gave entertainments, indulged 
 in love, and employed procurers for his amorous 
 pleasures": he lived on terms of friendship with the 
 greati; hence his extravagancies ; and hence his con- 
 sequent distresses, which might have occasioned his 
 intimacy with so many law characters*. 
 
 o Carm. 13. p Carm. 10. q Carm. 10. 
 
 r Carm. 23. s Carm. 41. t Carm. 2*. 
 
 u Carm, 98. v Vulpius, In Ylta CatuUi. 
 
 If
 
 THE LIFE OF CATULLUS, XXI 
 
 If he was of a dissipated turn ; he was neverthe- 
 less grateful, and affectionate. That elegant com- 
 position on the nuptials of his patron Manlius evin- 
 ces this : and, in his epistle to the same, a strain 
 of tenderness rims throughout that inchants; 
 he there apologizes for has deficiency in friendly 
 offices and poetic offerings, by reason of his grief 
 for the loss of his brother ; and his apostrophe to 
 that brother, in the same epistle, is exquisite. The 
 few lines* he composed, on performing obsequies 
 at his tomb on the Rhcctean coast, breathe the purest 
 fraternal regard. It appears, that while Catullus was 
 on his expedition with Memmius, his brother died 
 untimely" in the Troad province ; and was buried 
 on the promontory of Rhoeteum, once celebrated 
 for the sepulchre of Ajax Telamon. Returning 
 from Bithynia into Italy, he necessarily passed 
 Rhoeteum; where, respecting his brother's memory, 
 he stopped at his tomb, and offered due oblations^. 
 
 The learned character of Catullus is acknowledged 
 
 *. 
 by writers both ancient, and modern. Tibullus% 
 
 w Carm. 96. x Carm. 62. & 65. y Carm. 96. 
 
 z Tibul. Elfg, 6. Lib. 3. 
 
 b 3 Ovid,
 
 XX11 THE LIFE OF CATULLUS. 
 
 OvicU, and Martial b give him the appellation of 
 doflus, the latter of whom allows his vast superiority 
 in epigrammatic composition . Cornelius Nepos 
 thought his poetic trifles of some value d ; and Pom- 
 peius Saturninus, with Sentius Augurinus, as we 
 learn from Pliny the younger 6 , acquired merit by 
 imitating him. The erudite J. C. Scaliger alone 
 scrupled his pretensions to being learned, and af- 
 firmed that his works contained whatever was vul- 
 gar'; but he afterwards changed opinion, pronounc- 
 ing his galliambic poem a moft noble composition, 
 and his epithalamium on the marriage of Peleus and 
 Thetis a near approach to the divinity of the /Eneid. 
 On what account he more particularly obtained the 
 epithet doRus is uncertain, perhaps from being re- 
 markably versed in the Greek tongue, as polite an 
 accomplishment in his day as a knowledge of the 
 French language is in ours; we know how neatly 
 he has rendered that sweet little ode of the poetess 
 Sappho*, and an elegy of Callimachus h ; indeed all 
 
 a Ovid. Amor. Eleg. 9. Lib. 3. b Mart. Epig. 6j. Lib. i. 
 
 c Mart. Epig. 78. Lib. 10. d Carm. i. 
 
 e Plinius, Epist. 16. Lib. i. & Epist.i-j. Lib. 4. 
 
 f Poftices, Cap. 6. Lib. 6. 
 
 g Carm. 4?- h Carm. 63, 
 
 his
 
 THE LIFE OF CATULLUS. XX111 
 
 his compositions appear formed on the Greek model: 
 perhaps it was from the various metres in which he 
 wrote his poems -. or, it might be from some pecu- 
 liar literary talent that we are unacquainted with. 
 In like manner Lucretius was called carus ; probably 
 from the sweetness either of his disposition, or of his 
 verse ; probably from some endearing qualification. 
 
 Strength and simplicity, elegance and perspicuity 
 mark the stile of Catullus. To his lines the elder 
 Pliny attributes an occasional harshness 1 , and the 
 younger Pliny a negligence*; but this inequality, 
 like discord in musick, or the bold contrasting 
 shadow in painting, often constitutes beauty. In 
 the voluptuousness of amatory verse he excelled ; 
 in the galliambic he was unique; but a clean well- 
 pointed satire was his fort, which he applied fearless, 
 without distinction of persons: the monarch him- 
 self often felt the severity of his song, and did 
 not resent it. When Czesar was on a visit at the 
 house of Cicero, who records the circumstance in 
 an epistle to his friend Atticus; that poem, an 
 eternal stain on his reputation, wherein our bard 
 
 i Plin. Hist. Nat. Prffat. k Plin. Epist. 16. Lib. i. 
 
 b 4 censures
 
 XXIV THE LIFE OF CATULLUS. 
 
 censures the emperor's ill-applied liberality 1 towards 
 his dissolute favourite Mamurra, was shewn him 
 while he was at the bath, as the topic of public con- 
 versation : Caesar affected to disregard it; and, 
 either to display an ostentatious moderation, or to 
 conceal his indignation, he accepted the submis- 
 sion of Catullus, and soon after invited him to sup- 
 per: he also continued to make a home of his fa- 
 ther's house as usual m . 
 
 Next toCaesar,and to Mamurra whose sumptuous 
 possessions proclaimed his ravages in Transalpine 
 Gaul better than all the verse of Catullus", the prin- 
 cipal objects of his satire were Gellius , Gallus?, 
 VecHus q , Ravidus r , Cominius 5 , Nonius Struma', 
 and Vatinius ; persons he thoroughly hated. Mem- 
 inius , the avaritious praetor whom he attended into 
 Bithynia, of course does not escape it. He ridicules 
 the incontinent, foul-breathed yEmilius v . He plays 
 upon Volusius w , a wretched writer of annals; Eg- 
 
 1 Carm. 16. and its first note. 
 
 m Suetonius, In Julio, Cap. 73. 
 
 n Plin. Hist. Nat. Cap. 6. Lit. 36. o Carm. 71. & far. 
 
 p Carm. 75. q Carm. 93. r Carm.-tf. 
 
 t Carm. 103. t Carm. 49. & seq. u Carmina 10.45. 44- 
 
 v Carm. 91. w Carm. 33. 
 
 natius,
 
 THE LIFE OF CATULLUS. XXV 
 
 natius*, his execrable poetic rival ; Suffenus^, a con- 
 ceited scribbler, with whom he includes Caesius, and 
 Aquinius, those literary pests ; lastly the weak ora- 
 tor Sextius z , at the recital of whose cold composi- 
 tions he laughingly says that he took cold himself. 
 
 Catullus makes satirical mention of other cha- 
 racters less consequential, and less conspicuous in 
 his poetry: namely Sulla, a grammarian*; the pomp- 
 ous poet Antimachus b j Arrius , a violent aspira- 
 tor of words, whose uncle Liber, it seems, was the 
 same; Fuffitius, an old secretary of Cesar's, toge- 
 ther with Otho, and Libo whose dirty feer are no- 
 ticed 4 ; Porcius, and Socration 6 , tools of the despoil- 
 ing praetor Cn. Calpurnius Piso; the fetid Virro f , if 
 such be the real name of the person intended ; Rufus, 
 who had a similar infirmity 8 , and was most probably 
 M. Cselius Rufus the orator; Silo, a pander"; Vi- 
 bennius and his son' 1 , the one a thief, the other un- 
 naturally infamous; the lascivious Aufilenus k , bro- 
 
 X Carm. 26. 
 
 y Carm. 19. 
 
 z Carm. 41. 
 
 a Carnt. 14. 
 
 b Carm. 90. 
 
 c Carm. 81. 
 
 d Carm. 51. 
 
 e Carm. 44. 
 
 f Carm. 68. 
 
 g Carm. 66. 
 
 h Carm. 98. 
 
 i Carm. 30. 
 
 k Carm. 95. 
 
 
 
 ther
 
 XXVI THE LIFE OF CATULLUS. 
 
 ther of our poet's mistress Aufilena; Rufa of Bo- 
 nonia 1 , wife of Menenus, and the mistress of Ru- 
 fulus; Posthumia m , a lady of bacchanalian fame; 
 Balbus; Posthumius; and other obscure characters 
 mentioned in the poem to a harlot's door". 
 
 Scholiasts are divided, in what class of poets 
 Catullus ought to rank. Quintilian, and Dio- 
 medes the grammarian place him among the 
 ambic: it is certain, that his iambic poetry ac- 
 quired renown before the time of Horace, who ne- 
 vertheless boasts of having first written Latin iam- 
 bics : St. Jerome numbers him among the lyric 
 poets; and others among the epigrammatists. But 
 perhaps to none of these in particular does Catullus 
 properly belong: it is probable that he wrote many 
 poems, whose nature even is unknown to us, of 
 which we are deprived by time and accident. Speak- 
 ing of himself when young, he says, mult a satis lusiv, 
 whence we may infer, that his muse disported in 
 various kinds of poetry. Pliny the elder intimatesi, 
 that he had composed something on incantations, of 
 
 1 Carm. 56. m Carm. 28. n Carm. 64. 
 
 o Horat. Epist. 19. Lib. i. p Carm. 65. 
 
 Plin. Hist. Nat. Cap. 2. Lit. 18. 
 
 which
 
 THE LIFE OF CATULLUS. XXVil 
 
 which there are no remains. Terentianus Maurus 
 tells us, that he wrote an ithyphallic poem, now lost j 
 quoting a specimen of his Priapeian manner 1 -. 
 
 The poems transmitted to us, and generally re- 
 ceived as belonging to Catullus, although some 
 unbelieving disputants would doubt the originality 
 of them all, have been divided by many of his 
 commentators into three classes: i. the lyric, 2. 
 the heroic and elegiac, 3. the epigrammatic. How 
 far this division is just I will not contend. 
 
 Of the poems attributed to Catullus, I greatly 
 doubt whether the Pervigilium Veneris be genuine, 
 for reasons given in my notes to it. Lilius Grego- 
 rius Gyraldus says, that he never saw the Pervigilium 
 Veneris^ or Catullus's Poem on the Spring ; yet he cites 
 no authority for calling it Catullus's: he had heard 
 it was among the manuscripts of Aldus Manutius: 
 Erasmus- confirms this; and Jo. Pierius Valerianus 
 quotes the piece in his notes on Virgil. The three 
 Priapeian poems which follow, placed by most edi- 
 tors after Carm. 17, for what good reason I know 
 not, must, from manner and stile, belong to Ca- 
 
 r See Poems which some attribute to Catullus, Po. 2. 
 
 tullus j
 
 XXV111 THE LIFE OF CATULLUS. 
 
 tullus; they have nearly all the corre&ness of the 
 Pbafe/us*, which is composed of pure iambics ; and 
 Virgil copies some parts of them in his eclogues : 
 Virgil was certainly an imitator of our poet; so was 
 Persius. The word ostreosior, in the first Priapeian 
 poem, sufficiently proclaims its author, who de- 
 lighted in such comparatives. That elegant little 
 poem, entitled Ceiris, usually ascribed to Virgil, has 
 by many been given to Catullus, particularly by one 
 writer who has warmly defended his claim to it 1 . 
 
 Catullus died some years after the age of forty, 
 as Vulpius in his comments on Carmina 50. & 108. 
 satisfactorily proves; however contradictory to Eu- 
 sebius, who in his chronicle affirms, that he died at 
 the age of thirty, and much about the time that 
 Virgil was a student at Cremona. 
 
 s Carm. 4. 
 
 t Raphael Eglinus Iconius Tigurinus in Vi*dic'iis Ctirit Catulli. 
 <*<* adversut Jos. Scaligerum. 
 
 THE
 
 [ xxix ] 
 
 TH E 
 
 METRES 
 
 OF 
 
 CATULLUS. 
 
 IN the several poems of Catullus fourteen different 
 kinds of metre occur, subject now and then to the 
 usual metrical liberties. 
 
 I. 
 
 The PHAL^ECIAN HENDECASYLLABUS, which is 
 the most frequent ; for Catullus has thirty-nine 
 poems in this measure. Example : 
 
 Quoi do I no It ft \ dum nff j iium It \ belliim. 
 II. 
 
 The pure IAMBIC TRIMETER: Ex. 
 
 Alt \fuis \ se no. \ 'Vmm \ celer \ rrmut. 
 
 The mixt iambic occurs in Carm. 52. 
 
 III. The
 
 XXX THE METRES OF CATULLUS. 
 
 III. 
 
 The CHOLIAMBIC ; differing from the mixt iam- 
 bic in the two last feet, the one of which is never 
 any other than an iambic, and the last always a 
 spondee: Ex. 
 
 Pulse \ re quon \ dam can \ did! \ tibi \ soles. 
 
 IV. 
 
 The SAPPHIC : Ex. 
 
 Si*ve in \ txtre \ mos pi-nt \ trabit \ indos. 
 
 V. 
 
 The ADONIC, which forms the fourth, or con- 
 cluding line of every Sapphic stanza : Ex. 
 
 Tunditur | unda. 
 
 VI. 
 
 The TROCHAIC, or ANTISPASTUS: Ex. 
 
 Quemdam \ munici \ pern mtum \ de tu \ o *Vo/o \ ponte. 
 
 vii. ; 
 
 The IAMBIC TETRAMETER : Ex. 
 
 Remit | te pal \ I turn \ mibl \ meum \ quod in \ vola..] stt. 
 
 VIII. 
 The CHORIAMBIC : Ex. 
 
 Pint as | Jrrftafer \ et nebulas \ aerias \ slnis. 
 
 IX. The
 
 THE METRES OF CATULLUS. XXXI 
 
 IX. 
 
 The PSEUDO-PHALJECIAN : Ex. 
 
 Fernet \ las om \ ties a \ mice \ prendi. 
 
 Like other ancient poets, Catullus has many harsh 
 lines in this measure. 
 
 X. 
 
 The GLYCONIAN: Ex. 
 
 Jam ser \ wire Tba \ lassie. 
 
 XI. 
 
 The PHERECRATIAN : Ex. 
 
 Exer | cete ju \ vent am, 
 
 Catullus has two instances, where it is joined 
 with the preceding. See Carmina 31. & 58. 
 
 XII. 
 
 The HEXAMETER : Ex. 
 
 | qutf sjl | <v<e cin \ gunt super \ impeti j dentes, 
 
 This verse alternated with the Pentameter is the 
 measure Catullus has invariably used, from Carmen 
 62. to the conclusion of his poems. 
 
 XIII. The
 
 XXX11 THE METRES OF CATULLUS. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 The elegiac PENTAMETER. In this measure, 
 which needs no illustration, Catullus has frequently 
 a harsh line. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 The GALLIAMBIC. It was in this metre the 
 Galke,Qr priestesses ofCybele are said to have sung; 
 hence the name. It is composed of six feet : the 
 first is generally an anapaest, but sometimes a spon- 
 dee, or tribrachys; the second almost always an iam- 
 bic, seldom an anapaest, tribrachys, or dactyle; the 
 third an iambic, now and then a spondee; the fourth 
 a dactyle, or spondee ; the fifth most commonly a 
 dactyle, though not infrequently an amphimacer, or 
 a spondee ; the sixth, and last, is an anapaest, but 
 sometimes an iambic preceded by an amphimacer. 
 
 The following examples may serve to elucidate 
 such a singular versification, on which Petrus Viclo- 
 rius has treated very learnedly in his Var. Lett. Cap. 
 1 2. Lib. ii. In this measure, most probably of Gre- 
 cian origin, Catullus has no other poem than the 
 Atys, which may be a translation from the Greek.
 
 THE METRES OF CATULLUS. XXX111 
 
 Pepufit | yue no \ &is urn \ bras <u?ge \ tls soni \ 
 Tibi \ cen ub'i \ canjt \ Pbryx cur \ vo grave \ f alamo. 
 Ibi ma | ria va \ sta vj \ sens lacri \ mantibus \ Sculls. 
 P atria \ o me a \ ere a \ trlx pair? J a omea \ genetrlx. 
 Abtro \foro \ pafe \ stra stadi \ o et gy \ mndsiis. 
 Ibijun I flajuga \ resol j vens Cybt \ fe // o \ nibus. 
 Alie \ na qua \ peten \ tes utlut \ exsules J loca- 
 Itaque ut \ domum \ Qybel \ les teti \ gere las \ suite. 
 
 VOL. I. C ANCIENT
 
 XXXIV ANCIENT WRITERS WHO 
 
 ANCIENT WRITERS, 
 
 WHO MAKE MENTION OF 
 
 CATULLUS. 
 
 CORNELIUS NEPOS. Life of T. Pomponius 
 Atticus; Chap. 12. 
 
 HORACE. Satire 10. Book i. 
 TIBULLUS. Elegy 6. Book 3. 
 PROPERTIUS. Elegy 19 & 25. Book 2. 
 
 OVID. Amor. Elegy 9 & 15. Book 3. Tristia 
 Verse 427. Book 2. 
 
 VELLEIUS PATERCULUS. Roman Hiflory; 
 Chapter 36. Book 2. 
 
 MARCUS A. SENECA, the rhetorician. Contro- 
 vers. 19. 
 
 Lucius A. SENECA, the philosopher. In Apoco- 
 locyntosi Claudii Caaaris. 
 
 c 2 PLINY
 
 MAKE MENTION OF CATULLUS. XXXV 
 
 PLINY THE ELDER. Natural History; Preface 
 
 Chapter 2. Book 28. Chap. 6 & 21. Book 36, 
 
 Chap. 6. Book 37. 
 
 PLINY THE YOUNGER. Epistle 16. Book i. 
 Epistle 14. Book 4. 
 
 SENTIUS AUGURINUS. (As quoted by Pliny the 
 younger ; Epistle 627. Book 4.) 
 
 CORNELIUS TACITUS. Annals; Book 4. 
 
 JUVENAL. Satire 6. Verse 7. 
 
 SUETONIUS. Life of Julius Cassar; Chap. 73. 
 
 QUINTILIAN. Institutes of Oratory; Chap. 5 
 & 10. Book i. Chap. 3. Book 6. Chap. 3 & 4. 
 Book 9. Chap. i. Book 10. Chap, i & 3. Book n. 
 
 MARTIAL. Epigrams; Epistle to the reader 
 Epig. 62. Book i. Epig. 71. Book 2. Epig. 14. 
 Book 4. Epig. 5. Book 5. Epig. 14. Book 7. 
 Epig. 73. Book 8. Epig. 78 & 103. Book 10. 
 Epig. 44. Book 12. Epig. 77, 100 & 195. Book 14, 
 
 AULUS GELLIUS. Attic Nights ; Chap, 20. 
 Book 7. Chap. 9. Book 19. 
 
 AUSONIUS. Drepanio Pacato Latins. 
 MACROBIUS. Saturnalia; Chap. I. Book 2. 
 
 Lucius APULEIUS. In Apohgia* 
 
 SlDONlUS
 
 XXXVi ANCIENT WRITERS, &C. 
 
 SIDONIUS APOLLINARIS. Epistle 10. Book 2. 
 
 SEVERINUS BOETHIUS. Consolation of Philoso- 
 phy, Pros. 4. Book 3. 
 
 DIOMEDES, the grammarian. On the Iambic; 
 Chap. 6. Book 3. 
 
 TERENTIANUS MAURUS. Treatise on letters, 
 syllables, feet, and metres; speaking of the Pha- 
 fcecian hendecasyllabus : Ver. 838 & 1031.
 
 CATULLUS. 
 
 VQL. I. 
 
 B
 
 C. VALERII CATULLI 
 
 AD 
 
 CORNELIUM NEPOTEM 
 
 C A RM I N A. , 
 
 CARMEN. I. 
 
 IS V ft 
 DEDICATIO. 
 
 CjUOI dono lepidum novum libellum, 
 Arida modo pumice expolitum ? 
 Cornell, tibi. namque tu solebas 
 Meas esse aliquid putare nugas 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 >uot dono, &c.] Cornelius Nepos, to whom this little prcfa. 
 tory poem is addressed, was a learned historian of Catullus's time, 
 and his countryman by birth ; though some writers contend, that 
 it was not C. Nepos to whom Catullus dedicated his book, but to 
 some other Cornelius : there is however a poem in Ausonius, 
 from which it evidently appears, that it was dedicated to Cor- 
 nelius Nepos, whom Ausonius terms Gallus t though Pliny calls 
 him a Padua n. 
 
 Cut dono lepidum novum libellum, 
 
 yeronemis ait poeta quondam : 
 
 Inventoque dedit statim Nfpoti. 
 
 At nos inlepidum, rudem libellum 
 
 Credimus gremio cut fovendum f 
 
 Invent, ( trepid* sllete nugfl) 
 
 "Nee dofJum minus, ft magis benignum t 
 
 S^uam quern Gallia pr<tbuit Catullo. 
 
 AUSOM. Idjl. 7.
 
 t 3 3 
 
 TH E 
 
 POEMS 
 
 o r 
 
 C. VALERIUS CATULLUS, 
 
 DtDlCATSD TO 
 
 CORNELIUS KEPOS. 
 POEM I. 
 
 OR TH* 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 \VlTH pumice dry just polish'd fine, 
 To whom present this book of mine ; 
 
 This little volume smart, and new ? 
 
 Cornelius, I will give it you : 
 
 For then you oft were wont to say 5 
 
 Some trifling merit had my lay; 
 
 >uoi is a word, which Catullus, and many other Roman poets, 
 used for cui. Some MSS. have quin, which is certainly a very 
 corrupt reading. 
 
 Arida modd pumice.] The ancients were accustomed to smooth 
 the parchments they wrote upon, with pumice-stone, the better to 
 receive the ink ; the outside of their sheets was likewise so smooth- 
 ed; and often, for ornament's sake, stained with some gaudy co- 
 lour. Thus Pliny on the pumice : Pumicum usus est in forporibus 
 ItevigandiSy atque etiam libris. Any highly-finished composition 
 was therefore said to be, pumice expolitum ; which is the sense of 
 Catullus. Many will have pumex masculine, and write arido pu- 
 mice. 
 
 B 2 OmKt
 
 4 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 2. 
 
 Jam turn, quum ausus es imus Italorum 5 
 
 Omne asvum tribus explicare chartis, 
 
 Doftis, Jupiter ! et laboriosis. 
 
 Quare habe tibi quicquid hoc libelli et, 
 
 Qualecunque: quod, 6 patrona Virgo, 
 
 Plus uno maneat perenne seclo. 10 
 
 AD PASSEREM LESBI^. 11. 
 PASSER delicise mese puelke, 
 Quicum ludere, quern in sinu tenere, 
 
 Omne a<vum tribus, &c.] The work here alluded to, though 
 now lost, according to Gerard Vossius in his life of Nepos, traced 
 back the heathen mythology to its earliest date; and, from his 
 opinion, that it was divided into the fabulous, obscure, and 
 historical, many commentators have supposed, that the word tri- 
 bus related to this division of the subject : others think, that the 
 work was comprised in three volumes, and that Catullus praises 
 his friend Cornelius, for bringing so large a work into so small 
 a compass : while others would contend, that the poet meant it 
 was written in a few volumes, without any determinate number; 
 three being a word expressive of paucity with the Romans, as 
 two or three is with us. So Catullus, in Cam. 76. 
 Si trla natorum suavia referent. 
 
 patrona f^irgo."] Pallas is so called, from being the protec- 
 tress of the fine arts; and our poet could not have addressed him- 
 self to a more proper person, to request the preservation of his 
 verses : Horace says it is impossible to excel in any thing, with- 
 out her influence and protection: 
 
 Tu nibil invitd dices, facies<ve Minerva. 
 
 Hoa. An, Poet. v. 385. 
 
 Some
 
 PO. 2. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 5 
 
 When, chief of Italy's learn'd train, 
 
 You dar'd in three small tracts explain, 
 
 Gods ! how laborious and how sage, 
 
 The history of ev'ry age. 10 
 
 Whatever then its value be, 
 
 Accept this little book from me ; 
 
 And, o protecting Virgin, deign 
 
 It may for centuries remain ! 
 
 TO LESBIA's SPARROW. H. 
 
 DEAR sparrow! the pride of my maid, 
 With whom she in sport often plays ; 
 
 Whom oft, on her snowy breast laid, 
 She toys with a thousand fond ways; 
 
 Some read patrlma Virgo, alluding to Minerva's birth; this I 
 think is foreign to the purpose for which she is here introduced. 
 Others read patroa Virgo\ from her being the natural guardian of 
 Rome, as ranking among the dii patrii; and because she was rec- 
 koned the express image of her father Jupiter. 
 
 H. 
 
 However differently writers may have conjectured, in deter- 
 mining the merit of this, and the following little poem; yet are 
 they all agreed, in the highest commendation of their wit, and 
 beauty. Politianus, Turnebus, and others, affecl, that a libidi- 
 nous, vein of pleasantry is conveyed, through the several passages 
 of each; but for my part, I confess, that I by no means see any 
 
 g 9 positive
 
 6 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 2, 
 
 Quoi primum digitum dare adpetenti, 
 
 Et acres solet incitare morsus: 
 
 Quum desiderio meo nitenti 5 
 
 Carum nescio quid lubet jocari, 
 
 Ut solatiolum sui doloris 
 Credo, ut turn gravis acquiescat ardor : 
 Tecum ludere, sicut ipsa, posse, 
 Et tristes animi levare curas, 10 
 
 Tarn gratum est mihi, quam ferunt puellse 
 Pernici aureplum fuisse malum, 
 Quod zonam soluit diu ligatam. 
 
 positive grounds for such assertion; and where a composition, 
 without some manifest injury to the text, will bear a good and 
 commendable sense; it is the safest way, I am sure it is the most 
 candid, to give it, as in the present instance, such interpretation. 
 Primum digitum.] The tip of the finger; or, as Vulpios ex- 
 presses it, extremam digiti partem. So Plautus : 
 
 Sic hoc digit ulis duobus sumebas primoribus? 
 
 PLAUT. Bacchid. Ac. 4. Sc. 4. 
 
 Puella pernici.] Atalanta, remarkable for her swiftness, would 
 receive no one for a husband, except he could excel her in the 
 race: Hippomenes undertook it, and won her; for in running 
 he dropped a golden apple, given him by Venus ; which alluring 
 the maid, she stooped to pick it up, and was distanced. See her 
 story in Ovid, Metam. 10. 
 
 Dtclinat cursus, aurumque 'volubile tellit. 
 
 She turns her steps, and grasps the rolling gold. 
 
 Quod zonam sol<vit, &c.] Virgins wore a gifdle, generally of 
 wool, for wool by the ancients was supposed to excite love, which 
 the bridegroom the first night unbound in bed. Thus Festus: 
 (jingulo nova nupta pruecingebatur, quod vir in lecjo solvebat. 
 
 Thi
 
 PO. 2. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 7 
 
 \ " 
 
 To whom, as you woo that blest seat, 5 
 
 The tip of her finger she'll move ; 
 Well pleas'd thy sharp bites to create, 
 
 The bites of sweet passion and love : 
 
 For thus, when alone, does my fair 
 
 Gay scenes of new pleasure devise; 10 
 
 Thus sooth of her bosom the care, 
 
 Thus cool her fierce heats as they rise : 
 
 O, my sparrow, could I but with thee, 
 
 Like her, my solicitudes ease ! 
 As grateful most sure it would be, 1 5 
 
 As much my poor heart would it please ; 
 
 As pleas'd the swift Virgin of yore 
 
 The apple of gold, that untied 
 Her zone, which so long time she wore ; 
 
 And made her, unwilling, a bride. 20 
 
 This custom is of Greek origin, and was first instituted by Ly- 
 curgus. Moschus, among various other Greek writers, records 
 it in the story of Jupiter and Europa. Idyl. a. 
 
 At/crs <5e 01 
 
 Jove strait assum'd another form and air ; 
 
 And loos'd her zone. FAWKES. 
 
 Mons. Rigoley de Juvigny, has very prettily imitated this poem 
 of Catullus in French. 
 
 8 4 Suamque
 
 8 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 3. 
 
 LUCTUS IN MORTE PASSERIS. HI. 
 
 LUGETE, 6 Veneres, Cupidinesque, 
 Et quantum est hominum venustiorum. 
 Passer mortuus est mese puellse, 
 Passer delicise mea? puella?, 
 
 Quern plus ilia oculis snis amabat : 5 
 
 Nam mellitus erat, suamque norat 
 Ipsa tarn bene quam puella matrem : 
 Nee sese a gremio illius movebat ; 
 Sed circumsiliens modo hue, modo illuc, 
 Ad solam dominam usque pipilabat. 10 
 
 Qui nunc it per iter tenebricosum 
 Illuc, unde negant redire quenquam. 
 At vobis male sit, malse tenebras 
 Orci, quze omnia bella devoratisj 
 Tarn bellum mihi passerem abstulistis. 15 
 
 HI. 
 
 Suamque norat, Sec.'] Thte elegant simplicity of this thought 
 cannot have sufficient justice done it, in translation. 
 
 Pipilabat.'] Or, as some write, pipia&at, is a word very hap- 
 pily chosen from its sound. 
 
 Unde negant redire quenquam.] Vulpius's observation on this 
 passage is remarkable : " So vain," says he, " were these poets, 
 " that they maintained the souls even of their birds, when they 
 " departed this life, were admitted to Elysium." Ovid, Amor. ^. 
 
 Eleg.
 
 PO. 3. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 9 
 
 A LAMENTATION ON THE SPARROW'S DEATH, in. 
 
 MOURN all ye Loves ! ye Graces mourn ! 
 My Lesbia's fav'rite sparrow's gone ! 
 Ye men for wit, for tafte, preferr'd, 
 Lament my girl's departed bird ! 
 That sparrow, than her eyes more dear, 5 
 
 Which oft has charm'd her list'ning ear; 
 Which knew her, as the infant knows 
 The breast, from whence its being flows ; 
 Which, hopping in amusive sport, 
 At her lov'd side would pay its court; 10 
 
 And, seated on her bosom's throne, 
 Would pipe to her, and her alone: 
 Poor bird ! who now that darksome bourn 
 Hast pass'd, whence none can e'er return : 
 Perish ye shades of Stygian gloom, 15 
 
 Which all that's elegant consume ! 
 'Twas you, detested be the day ! 
 Who snatch'd our charming bird away; 
 
 Eleg. 6. mentioning the death of a parrot, has the same idea: and 
 one would almost be persuaded, that our Shakespeare had an eye 
 to this passage of Catullus, when he wrote : 
 
 That undiscover'd country, from whose bourn 
 No traveller returns. 
 
 SHAK. Hamlet, Aft 3. 
 
 Flendo
 
 10 CATULLI CARM1NA. . CA. 4. 
 
 O faclum male! 6 miselle passer! 
 Tua nunc opera meae puellse 
 Flendo turgiduli rubent ocelli. 
 
 PHASELI LAUS. iv. 
 
 PHASELUS ille, quern videtis, hospites, 
 Ait fuisse navium celerrimus ; 
 Neque ullius natantis impetum trabis 
 Nequisse praeterire, sive palmulis 
 Opus foret volare, sive linteo. 5 
 
 Et hoc negat minacis Adriatic! 
 Negare litus, insulasve Cycladas. 
 
 Flendo turgidulty &c.] Martial thus commemorates the fair 
 Lesbia's sorrow : 
 
 Non quales teneri floravit arnica Catulli 
 Lesb'tOy nequitiis passeris orba sui. 
 
 MART. Epig. 13. Lib. 7. 
 
 I.esbia, for whom the soft Catullus sigh'd, 
 Wept not such loves, when her gay sparrow died. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Catullus writes this poem upon his vessel, in which he had 
 made a long voyage, from Bithynia, to the little town of Sirmio, 
 upon the lake Benacus, now called Logo dl Garda, in Cisalpine 
 Gaul, where he had a family country-seat : and it is conceived in 
 such fine turns of Grecian eloquence; that if his appellation of 
 doftus was less justified by his other compositions, this alone 
 would entitle him to it. V u LP i u s . 
 
 Minadt
 
 PO. 4. POEMS OF CATULLUS. II 
 
 O hapless bird ! o fatal deed ! 
 
 That makes my Lesbia's bosom bleed ; 20 
 
 And, her eyes swoll'n with many a tear, 
 
 Bids the red streak of grief appear. 
 
 IN PRAISE OF HIS PINNACE, iv. 
 
 THAT little pinnace, which you see, 
 Was once the glory of the sea ; 
 That little bark, my friends, has vied 
 With ev'ry bark that cleaves the tide ; 
 Whether by nimble oars convey'd, 5 
 
 Whether by swelling canvas sped: 
 This Adria's threatning shore, it says, 
 Denies not, nor the Cyclades, 
 
 Minacis Adriatici.] The fury of the Adriatic sea is noted by 
 many writers; thus Horace: 
 
 Improbo 
 
 Iracundior Adria. HOR. Od. 9. Lib. 3- 
 
 More angry than the Adrian sea. 
 
 Litus. ] There is a peculiar propriety in this word ; because the 
 ancients, in navigating, usually coasted along; and seldom ven- 
 tured on the open sea. 
 
 Insulasve Cycladas.'] These are a round cluster of fifty-three 
 small islands in the .dSgean sea; hence their name, from xwxXo< 
 a circle. 
 
 Rbodumve
 
 12, CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 4. 
 
 Rhodumve nobilem, horridamve Thraciam, 
 
 Propontida, trucemve Ponticum sinum; 
 
 Ubi iste, post phaselus, antea fuit 10 
 
 Comata sylva: nam Cytorio in jugo 
 
 Loquente ssepe sibilum edidit coma. 
 
 Amastri Pontica, et Cytore buxifer, 
 
 Tibi hzec fuisse, et esse cognitissima 
 
 Ait phaselus: ultima ex origine ,15 
 
 Tuo stetisse dicit in cacumine; 
 
 Tuo imbuisse palmulas in sequore ; 
 
 Et inde tot per impotentia freta 
 
 Herum tulisse, laeva, sive dextera 
 
 Rbodumve nobilem, &c.] Rhodes was an island in the Carpa- 
 thian sea, near Caria, famous for that Colossus which stood at the 
 mouth of the harbour, and for its traffic ; but Catullus's epithet 
 of nobilis, and Horace's of clara, Lib. i. Od. 3. are more parti- 
 cularly applicable, from its grandeur, opulence, and naval strength. 
 Rhodes is celebrated in history, for the part she took in the war 
 against the Persians by sea, and afterwards for combating singly the 
 whole force of Athens, even in the fulness of its power, and com- 
 manded by the fortunate Pericles. See Thucydides. Thrace 
 was as remarkable for its extreme cold, and the ferocity of its in- 
 habitants. 
 
 Propontida, &c.] The Propontis is that sea between the Hel- 
 lespont, and the Thracian Bosphorus. The Pontic sea was 
 what we generally call the Euxine gulf, which is represented as 
 stormy, and dreadful, by Pliny, Lib. 6. The description of the 
 passage of the Argonauts through this sea, by Apollonius Rho- 
 
 dius, is very curious. 
 
 
 
 Cytorio
 
 PO. 4. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 13 
 
 jf 
 
 Fam'd Rhodes, cold Thracia's horrid sea, 
 Propontis, nor the Euxine bay, 10 
 
 Along whose angry coast once stood 
 That very bark, a verdant wood, 
 Soft breathing from Cytorus' steep 
 Its leafy murmurs to the deep. 
 
 It says, Amastris, Pontic town ! 1 5 
 
 That you these well-known truths will own; 
 And you, Cytorus, fam'd afar 
 For the green woods of box you bear: 
 Says, that you nurs'd its masts so fair, 
 And saw their green tops wave in air; 20 
 
 Saw it, beside your friendly shores, 
 First dare to dip its little oars; 
 Whence ploughing its tempestuous way, 
 It brought me safe thro' many a sea; 
 
 Cytorio in jugOy &c.~] Cytorus was a mountain in Paphlagonia, 
 in Asia Minor; near which stood Amastris, now Famastro, almost 
 close to the Euxine sea: Virgil mentions this mountain as famous 
 for its box trees : 
 
 Et juwat undantem buxo speflare Cytorum. 
 And sweet to view Cytorus wave with box. 
 
 VIRG. Gear, a. 
 
 The poet here applies the same metaphor to trees, as Horace 
 afterwards applied to the waters of Blandusia: 
 
 unde loquaces 
 
 Lympba desiliunt tu<z. HOR. Od. 13. Lib. 3. 
 
 From whence thy prattling waters fall. 
 
 Incidintt
 
 H CATULLI CARMINA, CA. 5. 
 
 Vocaret aura, sive utrumque Jupiter 20 
 
 Simul secundus incidisset in pedem : 
 
 Neque ujla vota litoralibus deis 
 
 Sibi esse facta, quum veniret a mare 
 
 Novissimo hunc ad usque limpidum lacum. 
 
 Sed hsec prius fuere : nunc recondita 25 
 
 Senet quiete, seque dedicat tibi 
 
 Gemelle Castor, et gemelle Castoris. 
 
 AD LESBIAM. v. 
 
 VIVAMUS, mea Lesbia, atque amemus, 
 Rumoresque senum severiorum 
 
 Incidisset in pedem.] The lower corners of the sail were called 
 pedes ; when the sail was therefore distended by a full gale, both 
 corners were equally stretched. Jupiter, by synecdoche, is here 
 put for the wind. See Apollonius, Argonaut i. who has nearly 
 the same words with Catullus. 
 
 Limpidum lacum.] The lake Benacus, of which see a further 
 account in the notes to Garm. 28. 
 
 Litoralibus Deis.] Who the di'i litorales precisely were, it is 
 impossible to determine; every person building his little fane, by 
 the sea-side, to the deity he respefled most. 
 
 Gemelle Castor, &c.] When Castor and Pollux, with the other 
 Argonauts, were endangered by a storm, the mariners perceived 
 a lambent fire play about the heads of those two heroes; a calm 
 immediately ensued : and when they died, they were supposed to 
 be converted into stars, whose appearance was ever afterwards 
 esteemed propitious to navigators. Thus Horace: 
 
 Clarum
 
 PO. 5. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 1$ 
 
 Alike, if driv'n by side-long gales, 25 
 
 Or fav'ring Jove swell'd full the sails : 
 
 And tho' no guardian god it pray'd, 
 
 Nor e'er one vow distressful made ; 
 
 Yet, ocean's utmost billows past, 
 
 It reach'd this limpid lake at last. 30 
 
 Such were its toils in days of yore, 
 But here laid up it rests secure ; 
 And waxing old, Twin-brothers, now 
 It dedicates itself to you. 
 
 TO LESBIA. v. 
 
 LET's live, and love, my darling fair ! 
 And not a single farthing care 
 For age's babbling spite ; 
 
 Clarum Tyndaridae sidus ab Infimis 
 
 Stuassas eripiunt aquoribus rates. HOR. Gd. 9. Lib. 4. 
 And the Twin-stars have pow'r to save 
 The shatter'd vessel from the gulphy wave. FRANCIS. 
 And more particularly : 
 
 Sic te di<va potens Cyprt, 
 
 Sicfratres Helena, lucida sidera. HOR. Od. 3. Lib. i. 
 So may the Cyprian queen dvine, 
 And the Twin-stars with saving lustre shine! FRANCIS. 
 
 v. 
 
 This poem has perhaps undergone a greater variety of versions, 
 thaji any poem, in whatever tongue j scarcely a collection of 
 
 English
 
 l6 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 5. 
 
 Omnes unius aestimemus assis. 
 
 Soles occidere, et redire possunt: 
 
 Nobis, cum semel occidit brevis lux, 5 
 
 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 millia multa fecerimus, 10 
 
 Conturbabimus ilia, ne sciamus, 
 
 Aut ne quis malus invidere possit, 
 
 Cum tantum sciat esse basiorum. 
 
 English poetry can be found without it; but the neatest imitation 
 of it, in our language, that I am acquainted with, is Dr. Lang- 
 home's, in his Effusions of Fancy and Friendship. Vol. \. Let. z. 
 It has likewise been very happily imitated in French; by Pellison, 
 Juvigny, and Dorat. 
 
 Si rnea Lesbia.~\ Catullus is supposed to celebrate his 
 mistress Clodia, under the name of Lesbia; as Tibullus's mistress, 
 Plania, was by him called Delia, in his Elegies. 
 
 Unius astimemus assis. ] We seem to have adopted, from this 
 Latin expression, one of our common English phrases; namely, 
 that of not caring a farthing for any thing. 
 
 Nox est ffrpetua, &c.] In like manner Propertius: 
 
 Dum nos fata sinunt, oculos satiemus amore; 
 Nox tibi longa i>enit y ne-c reditura dies. 
 
 PROPER, Eleg. 15. Lib. i. 
 
 While
 
 PO. 5. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 1J 
 
 Yon suns that set again shall rise; 
 But, when our transient meteor dies, 5 
 
 We sleep in endless night: 
 
 Then first a thousand kisses give, 
 An hundred let me next receive, 
 
 Another thousand yet ; 
 
 To these a second hundred join, 10 
 
 Still be another thousand mine, 
 
 An hundred then repeat: 
 
 Such countless thousands let there be* 
 Sweetly confus'd ; that even we 
 
 May know not the amount ; i j 
 
 That envy, so immense a store 
 Beholding, may not have the pow'r 
 
 Each various kiss to count. 
 
 While fate permits, with love we'll sate our eyes; 
 Life's sun shall set, ah, never more to rise! 
 
 Da mi basia, &c.] Such amorous thirst for kissing is prettily 
 alluded to by Joannes Secundus, in his book of kisses : 
 Da ml baria centum, 
 
 Da tot basia, quot dedit 
 Vati multi<volo Lesbia, quot tulit. 
 
 Jo. SEC. Bas. 16.
 
 l8 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6. 
 
 AD FLAVIUM. 6. 
 
 FLA VI, delicias tuas Catullo, 
 Ni sine illepidae, atque inelegances, 
 Velles dicere, nee tacere posses. 
 Verum nescio quid febriculosi 
 Scorti diligis : hoc pudet fateri. 5 
 
 Nam, te non viduas jacere nodes, 
 Nequicquam taciturn cubile clamat, 
 Sertis, ac Syrio fragrans olivo ; 
 Pulvinusque pereque et hie, et illic 
 Attritus, tremulique quassa lecti 10 
 
 Argutatio, inambulatioque. 
 Nam ni istapte, valet nihil tacere. 
 Cui non jam latera exfututa pandant 
 
 VI. 
 
 Flaw, &C-3 Who this Flavius was commentators are not 
 agreed; whether the Flavius mentioned by Horace, Sat. 6. Lib. j. 
 or the one Cicero speaks of, in his first epistle to his brother. 
 
 Syria fragrans o/wo.] Some say this is the spikenard, and the 
 same with the Syrian malobathrum. 
 
 Coronatus nilentes 
 Malobatbro Syria capillos. 
 
 HOR. Od. 7. Lib. 2. 
 
 Crowning my locks, that shone with Syrian nard. 
 But any rich odour was termed Syrian, with the Romans, who 
 were extravagantly fond of perfumes; and used them, according 
 to Vulpius, as provocatives to venery. 
 
 Nam
 
 J0. 6t POEMS OF CATULLUS, 19 
 
 TO FLAVIUS. vi. 
 
 WAS nor the girl, you now embrace, 
 Devoid of elegance, and grace ; 
 Flavius would to Catullus tell 
 Those loves, he could not long conceal : 
 But my good friend, I'm much afraid, $ 
 
 To some hot-blooded, vulgar jade, 
 Some wanton, he must blush to name, 
 Now flies, to quench his am'rous flame : 
 For know; thy couch, beyond dispute, 
 That now remains no longer mute, 10 
 
 That now so clamorous is grown, 
 Proclaims you do not lie alone : 
 Too well the Syrian oil's perfume j 
 The flow'ry wreaths, that scent thy room j 
 The creakings of thy tell-tale bed; 15 
 
 The twofold print, you both have made, 
 With equal pressure, here and there ; 
 A partner of the night declare : 
 Did not some worthless wench prevail, 
 To me thon wouldst thy bliss reveal; 20 
 
 Nam ntistapte, &c.] Catullus tells his friend that, though he 
 is silent, yet his drooping, weakened frame declares his lustful 
 excesses. 
 
 C 2 Laser*
 
 2O CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 7. 
 
 Nodhi quid facias ineptiarum ? 
 
 Quare quicquid habes boni, malique, 15 
 
 Die nobis, volo te, ac tuos amores 
 
 Ad coelum lepido vocare versu. 
 
 AD LESBIAM. VH. 
 
 QUJERIS, quot mihi basiationes 
 Tuas, Lesbia, sint satis, superque? 
 Quam magnus numerus Libyssas arenas 
 Laserpiciferis jacet Cyrenis, 
 Oraclum Jovis inter asstuosi, 
 Et Batti veteris. sacrum sepulcrumj 
 
 VII. 
 
 Laserpiciferis jacet Cyrenis.] Cyrene was a city in Lybia, mak- 
 ing one of the Pentapolis famous for lase r t which was the juice or 
 gum of a plant like the ferula, by the Latins called laserplttum, 
 by the Greeks silphium. That kind, which was most esteemed, 
 came from Cyrene, where it seems it was worn out in Pliny's time, 
 for he tells us only one stalk was found in his memory, which was 
 sent to Nero; he adds, that for a long time they had no other im- 
 ported to them, but what came from Persia, Media, and Armenia, 
 where it grew in abundance, but much inferior to the Cyrenean, 
 and adulterated with gum, sagapenum, and bean-meal. See Pliny, 
 Nat. Hist. Lib. 19. Cap. 3. Some of the moderns take this for 
 assa-foetida; others, among whom is Dr. Lister, think it a diffe- 
 rent thing, and unknown now. See the description of it in Dios- 
 corides, Lib. 3. Cap. 500. 
 
 G REIVE. Translation of Celsus. 
 
 Oracu-
 
 PO. 7. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 21 
 
 So lank thy sides, who does not guess 
 
 At thy absurd, thy loose excess ! 
 
 But whatsoe'er thy mistress be, 
 
 Or fair, or foul, impart to me, 
 
 Who, in gay numbers to the skies 25 
 
 Would lift thee, Flavius, and thy joys. 
 
 TO LESBIA. vii. 
 
 HOW many amply will suffice 
 
 Of kisses ? Lesbia, you demand 
 
 Count ev'ry Lybian sand that lies 
 
 Along Gyrene's gum-clad strand; 
 
 ' 
 
 From where hot Jove his gorgeous dome 5 
 
 Uplifts, amid the sultry waste ; 
 To where, within his sacred tomb, 
 
 The relics of old Battus rest: 
 
 Oraculum Jo<vis, &c. ] This temple of Jupiter Ammon was said 
 to be built by Bacchus ; and has, by some, been reckoned among 
 the seven wonders of the world. See Lucan, Lib. 9. Q^Curtius, 
 Lib. 4. and Herodotus, Lib. 2. Jupiter is here called <?stuosus\ 
 on account of the heaps of burning sand, which overspread the 
 country of Gyrene like waves. 
 
 Batti stpulcrum.] Catullus here opposes the sepulchre of Bat- 
 tus to the temple of Jupiter Ammon ; as it was held peculiarly 
 
 C 3 sacred.
 
 22 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 8. 
 
 Aut quam sidera multa, quum tacet nox, 
 
 Furtivos hominum vident amores : 
 
 Tam te basia multa basiare 
 
 Vesano satis, et super Catullo est ; 10 
 
 Que nee pernumerare curiosi 
 
 Possint, nee mala fascinare lingua. 
 
 AD SEIPSUM. vui. 
 
 MISER Catulle, desinas ineptirc, 
 Et quod vides perisse, perditum ducas. 
 
 sacred. Battus was the royal founder of Cyrene, and father of 
 Callimachus, who thus mentions him, in his hymn to Apollo r 
 
 And Phoebus my rich towns to Battus shew'd. 
 Battus seems also to have been a general name for the kings of Ly- 
 bia: according to Vossius, the temple of Jupiter Ammon, and 
 Battus's tomb, were at least four hundred miles distant. The 
 foundation of Cyrene, and its revolutions when an infant city, are 
 curiously related by Herodotus. 
 
 Mala fascinare lingua. ] The ancients had a strange notion, 
 that their possessions were secured from witchcraft, provided they 
 could not be counted ; and therefore Catullus, in his fifth Carmen^ 
 as well as in the present, requests that Lesbia's kisses might be 
 numberless. The French have an old adage, very much to the 
 same purpose. Brebis compteele loup la mange. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 This is among the most elegant, and tender of Catullus's com- 
 positions; he recalls to mind the days of mutual endearment, 
 
 which
 
 PO. 8. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 23 
 
 Or count the stars yon heav'ns display, 
 
 When silence wraps the gloom of night j 10 
 Those stars unnumber'd, that survey 
 
 The furtive lover's soft delight ! 
 
 So many amply will suffice 
 
 Of kisses thy fond poet's want : 
 No spy can then compute our joys, 15 
 
 No mutter'd magic can inchant. 
 
 TO HIMSELF, vm. 
 
 WRETCHED Catullus! cease this madness; 
 
 And what is lost e'en think it gone; 
 Think too, in spite of folly's sadness, 
 
 How thy white days once brightly shone ; 
 
 What time, where'er the nymph would lead thee, 5 
 Never shall maid like passion know ! 
 
 Fast as thy fondest haste could speed thee, 
 Thou frequent didst delight to go: 
 
 which he, and his mistress had spent together ; but the fair one 
 now proving false, he determines to leave her, which he thinks 
 will at least cause her some regret. 
 
 Candidt
 
 24 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 8. 
 
 Fulsere quondam candidi tibi soles, 
 
 Quum ventitabas, quo puella ducebat 
 
 Amata nobis, quantum amabitur nulla. 5 
 
 Ibi ilia multa tarn jocosa fiebant, 
 
 Quse tu volebas, nee puella nolebat. 
 
 Fulsere vere candidi tibi soles. 
 
 Nunc jam ilia non vult, tu quoque, impotens, ne sis: 
 
 Nee quas fugit, sectare, nee miser vive : 10 
 
 Sed obstinata mente perfer, obdura. 
 
 Vale, puella; jam Catullus obdu rat: 
 
 Nee te requiret, nee rogabit invitam. 
 
 At tu dolebis, cum rogaberis nullam, 
 
 Scelesta, noctem. Quse tibi manet vita? 15 
 
 Quis nunc te adibit? quoi videberis bella? 
 
 Quern nunc amabis ? quojus esse diceris ? 
 
 Candidi soles."] Alluding to the custom the ancients had, of 
 marking their happy days with white stones, and their unhappy 
 ones with black; which they threw into an urn, and preserved; 
 that at the close of life, they might judge of their proportions of 
 joy and sorrow in this world. See Pliny, Lib. n. 
 
 So likewise Persius to his friend on his birth-day: 
 
 Hunc Macrine diem numera meliore lapillo, 
 >ui tibi labentes afponet candidus annot. 
 
 There,
 
 PO. 8. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 2 
 
 There, many a tender jest inventing, 
 
 What pleasures waited on thy call ! 10 
 
 Whilst, nor refusing, nor consenting, 
 
 The blushing fair permitted alk 
 
 : * 
 O, then indeed most bright, most glorious, 
 
 Shone the white lustre of each day ! 
 But now, that her neglecYs notorious, 15 
 
 Her scorn do thou with scorn repay. 
 
 Follow not one, who shuns thee coldly j 
 
 Nor longer bear a life of pain : 
 Be firm, obdurate, suffer boldly; 
 
 'Tis but to leave her, and disdain, 20 
 
 Mistress, farewell ! now nought can move him, 
 
 Catullus hardens into hate: 
 Nor will he want thee more to love him, 
 
 Nor more a thankless girl intreat. 
 
 But how, thou false-one ! will thy nature 25 
 
 Support this just return of slight ? 
 How wilt thou grieve, when not a creature 
 
 Shall ask thee for a single night? 
 
 How wilt thou live ? who now support thee ? 
 
 Who now be with thy charms inflam'd ? 30 
 t youth shall now with bliss transport thee ? 
 Whose now, alas ! shah thou be nam'd ?
 
 26 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. p. 
 
 Quern basiabis ? quoi labella mordebis? 
 At tu, Catulle, obstinatus obdura. 
 
 AD VERANNIUM. ix. 
 
 VERANNI, omnibus e meis amicis 
 Antistans mihi millibus trecentisj 
 Venistine domum ad tuos penates, 
 Fratresque unanimos, tuamque matrem? 
 Venisti ? 6 mihi nuncii beati ! 
 Visam te incolumem, audiamque Iberum 
 Narrantem loca, fadla, nationes, 
 Ut mos est tuus : applicansque collum, 
 
 >uoi labella mordebls?] This has ever been one of the delights 
 ef love. Thus Horace : 
 
 Sive puer furens 
 Impressit memorem dente labris notam. 
 
 HOR. Qd. 13. Lib. i. 
 Or on thy lips the fierce, fond boy 
 Marks with his teeth the furious joy. FRANCIS. 
 
 Flora, the celebrated Roman courtesan, according to Plutarch, 
 spoke highly in praise of her lover Cnaeus Pompeius; because he 
 was particularly addicted to this amorous dalliance, 
 
 MURETUS. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Catullus congratulates his friend Verannius, on his return from 
 Spain; whither he, and Fabullus, had gone, with Caius Piso ; 
 who was sent there, as Quaestor for the Praetor. See Carm. 25. 
 Horace seems to have kept this poem in view, when he addresses 
 
 his
 
 PO. 9. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 2J 
 
 Whom shall thy wanton kisses smother? 
 
 Whose lips thy trembling bites indent ? 
 Hold, hold, Catullus! wretched lover ! 35 
 
 TJiou must be stubborn, and content. 
 
 TO VERANNIUS. ix, 
 
 VERANNIUS, of all friends I love, 
 Tho' infinite that number prove, 
 
 The chiefest, and the best ; 
 To thy fond brothers, to thy gods, 
 Thy mother, and thy sweet abodes, 5 
 
 Art thou return'd at last ? 
 
 O, dearest of all news to me ! 
 And shall I then delighted see 
 
 Verannius safe again ? 
 
 Hear him, I know his custom well, 10 
 
 Of Spain in graceful language tell, 
 
 Its manners, laws, and men ? 
 
 his friend, Pomponius Numida, upon a similar occasion. See HOR. 
 Od. ^6. Lib. i. 
 
 Iberum.~\ Spain in general was poetically called Iberia; from 
 the river Iberus, arising in the Asturias, and disemboguing itself 
 intg the Mediterranean sea. See Pliny, Cap. 3. Lib. 3. 
 
 Oculosque
 
 28 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. IO. 
 
 Jucundum os, oculosque suaviabor. 
 
 O, quantum est hominnm beatiorum, 10 
 
 Quid me lastius est, beatiusve? 
 
 DE VARI SCORTO. x. 
 
 VARUS me meus ad suos amores 
 Visum duxerat e foro otiosum : 
 Scortillum, ut mihi turn repente visum est, 
 Non sane illepidum, nee invenustum. 
 Hue ut venimus, incidere nobis . 5 
 
 Sermones varii : in quibus, quid esset 
 Jam Bithynia, quomodo se haberet, 
 
 Oculosque suaviabor.] It was a custom with the ancients, which 
 we particularly have retained to this day; to kiss any one upon a 
 first introduction, or after a long absence : Erasmus, who being 
 a Dutchman, was unused to such ceremony, has somewhere a very 
 pleasant observation upon it ; and expresses himself by no means 
 displeased with it. 
 
 x. 
 
 Farus me meus, &c.} Some have pretended, that the Varus 
 here alluded to, was Qumtilius Varus; who was slain, in Ger- 
 many, with his three legions. See Virgil, Eft. 9. But Scaliger very 
 justly remarks, that this slaughter did not happen, till at least 57 
 years after Catullus's death : Vossius conjectures that it was Al- 
 phenus Varus, for an account of whom, see Carm. 27. 
 
 Quid esset jam Bitbynia."] Catullus was in some department of 
 business, under C. Memmius Gemellus, the provincial Praetor of 
 
 Bithynia ;
 
 PO. IO. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 29 
 
 Once more I shall his neck embrace ; 
 Once more his eyes, his chearful face, 
 
 With hearty welcome kiss ! 1 5 
 
 Happiest of mortals sure am 1 ! 
 Who can with me in pleasure vie, 
 
 Who rival me in bliss ? 
 
 ON VARUS's MISTRESS, x. 
 
 AS from the forum, t'other day, 
 I chanc'd in idle mood to stray 
 With Varus; nothing else would do, 
 But to his mistress we must go ; 
 A wench, who, at a glance, methought, 
 
 Was neither ugly, or untaught. 
 
 On various things, of this and that, 
 We first indifferently chat ; 
 And then she begg'd me to relate 
 What was Bithynia's present state, 10 
 
 Bithynia; and the same, to whom Lucretius dedicates his two 
 books; Aulus Gellius mentions him, as a learned character; he 
 was naturally avaricious, extravagant, libidinous; and being ac- 
 cused of bribery, though he had Cicero to plead in his defence, 
 he was found guilty, and banished into Greece. 
 
 JEre.
 
 3<> CATULLI CARMINA. CA. IO* 
 
 Et quantum mihi pfofuisset aere. 
 
 Respond!, id quod erat : nihilmct ipsis 
 
 Nee prjetoribus esse, nee cohorti, 10 
 
 Cur quisquam caput undius referret : 
 
 Pnesertim quibus esset irrumator 
 
 Prsetor, nee faceret pili cohortem. 
 
 At certe tamen, inquiit, quod illic 
 
 Naturil dicitur esse, comparasti 15 
 
 Ad leflicam homines. Ego, ut puellse 
 
 Unum me facerem beatiorum, 
 
 
 
 Non, inquam, mihi tarn fuit maligne, 
 Ut, provincia quod mala incidisset, 
 
 All money was called as, till the time of Servius Tul. 
 lius, who first stamped upon it the figures of cattle, pecus; when 
 it was afterwards called pecunia. 
 
 Caput unfiius referret.] This is a metaphorical expression for 
 becoming rich, as the opulent only perfumed their hair; to which 
 purpose Lucilius : 
 
 Hi quos dwit'ue producunt, et caput ungunt. 
 
 Those who heap wealth, and scent their breathing locks. 
 
 Pr<rtor.~] The Praetors tried causes, both civil and criminal; 
 distributing justice, in the same manner as the judges of our 
 days: their numerous retinue of servants, and officers, is de- 
 scribed by Cicero, in his first epistle to his brother Quintius. 
 
 Ad lefilcam homines.] It was customary with the better kind of 
 Romans, in travelling, to be carried on litters with beds, by six 
 
 or
 
 PO. IO. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 3! 
 
 What was its worth, and what my share 
 Of profit from employment there. 
 
 I said that (which was truth most plain) 
 Nor I, nor Praetors, nor our train, 
 Had scrap'd so much, that there was need 15 
 
 Of unguents for a single head: 
 For, where the chief to a degree 
 
 Was worthless, and a debauchee, 
 
 i 
 
 His retinue would be forgot, 
 
 Nor ever gain a single jot. 20 
 
 " Yet sure" cries she " for I have heard, 
 " 'Twas there the custom first appear'd, 
 " Of sturdy knaves you got, no doubt, 
 " Plenty to bear your couch about." 
 
 I answer'd: that the slut, I own, 25 
 
 Might take me for a lucky one : 
 " However mean the province be, , 
 " Fortune at least was kind to me: 
 
 or eight men, bajull or lefticarli ; in which they were conveyed 
 over mountains, where carriages could not pass : this invention, 
 as well as that of the litter, was introduced at Rome from Bithy- 
 nia. Thus Cicero, 5. in Verrem: Nam ut mos fuit Bitkynix, regibus 
 leftica oflapboro ferebatur. Juvenal, in his satires, particularly 
 inveighs against this effeminate luxury.
 
 g4 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. lO 
 
 Non possem octo homines parare redos. 20 
 
 At mi nullus erat nee hie, nee illic, 
 Fra&um qui veteris pedem grabati 
 In collo sibi collocare posset. 
 Hie ilia, ut decuit ciiicediorem, 
 
 f 
 
 Quasso, inquit, mihi, mi Catulle, paulum 25 
 
 Jstos commoda, nam volo ad Serapin 
 
 Deferri. Mane me, inquii puellae: 
 
 Istud, quod modo dixeram me habere, 
 
 Fugit me ratio, meus sodalis 
 
 Cinna est Caius, is sibi paravit. 30 
 
 Verumne illius, an mei, quid ad me ? 
 
 Utor tarn bene, quam mihi pararim. 
 
 ReIos.~] Litter-bearers were chosen from among the straitest, 
 and best made men ; as is evident, not only on Catullus's autho- 
 rity, but likewise as Suetonius declares, in Cxsare, Cap. 47, where 
 he mentions having bought, servitia refliora politioraque immense 
 pretio, et cujus ipsum quoque puderet, sic ut rationibus <vetaret in- 
 ferri. Vossius. 
 
 Ad Serapin deferri. ] The girl, jeeringly asking for these same 
 Icfticar'ii, which she justly supposes to exist only in Catullus's 
 brain, says ; that she would fain be carried by them to the temple 
 of Serapis, which was a good way distant : for, in Catullus's time, 
 this Egyptian deity Serapis, whose temple was the same with that 
 of Isis, had no place of worship within the walls of Rome ; but, 
 as Scaliger observes, it stood in the suburbs. See Dio, Lib. 4. 
 This temple was not only resorted to for health, of which Serapis 
 
 was
 
 PO. 10. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 33 
 
 " Eight men, as straight as they were tall, 
 
 " Attended daily at my call." 30 
 
 Tho" not a shoulder, by the by, 
 
 For my old crippled couch had I. 
 
 Then with a harlot's usual cant, 
 Quick she return'd this saucy taunt: 
 " My dear Catullus, prithee, tell us; 35 
 
 " Couldst thou not lend me these same fellows? 
 " I have a word or two to say 
 " At Serapis's fane, to-day." 
 
 " Hold, child!" cries I, " I had forgot, 
 " And prattled of I knew not what: 40 
 
 "' These fellows to my friend belong, 
 " To Caius Cinna; I was wrong: 
 " Think them not mine, I do beseech; 
 " It was my colleague purchased each : 
 
 was a tutelary deity ; but likewise for libidinous purposes, as Ju- 
 venal testifies : 
 
 Jamque expeflatur in horns, 
 Aut apud Isiacce fotius sacrarla lente. 
 
 Juv. Sat. 6. 
 
 To public gardens now she'll bend her way, 
 Or to the fane of lustful Isis stray. 
 
 Cinna est Caius. ] Cinna is the same who wrote the poem Smyr 
 na, mentioned by Catullus, Carm. 90. We also find him noticed 
 by Ovid, 7"m/, 2. in his list of amatory authors; and his epigrams 
 are cited by Nonius. 
 
 Fur: 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. II. 
 
 Sed tu insulsa male, et molesta vivis, 
 Per quam non licet esse negligentem. 
 
 AD FURIUM ET AURELIUM. xi. 
 
 FURI, et Aureli, comites Catulli ; 
 Sive in extremes penetrabit Indos, 
 Litus ut longe resonante Eoa 
 
 Tunditur unda: 
 
 Sive in Hyrcanos, Arabasque mollcs, 
 Seu Sacas, sagittiferosque Parthos, 
 Sive qua septemgeminus colorat 
 Nilus: 
 
 II. 
 
 Furl et Aureli.'} This Furius, whose cognomen was Bibaculus, 
 Qumtilian numbers among the Iambic poets: and Aurelius wa 
 most probably L. Aurelius Cotta, the Praetor, whom Catullus 
 again mentions, Carm. ij.andiS. 
 
 Eoa."] The Eastern ocean acquired this epithet, from w?, the 
 morning. 
 
 Arabasque malles.] The Arabians were termed molles ; either 
 from their voluptuous effeminacy, or from the temperature of their 
 climate. Thus Tibullus : 
 
 Urantur adores 
 Quos tener ? terra divite mlttlt Arabs. 
 
 TIB. Etfg. *. Lib. v. 
 
 With blazing odours be your altars fraught, 
 From the soft Arab's wealthy region brought. 
 
 Seu
 
 PO. II. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 35 
 
 " But whether his, or mine; what then ? 45 
 
 " I use, as if I'd bought the men 
 
 " Ah, you're a sharp one; and, I swear, 
 " Who talks with you must talk with care I" 
 
 TO FURIUS, AND AURELIUS. xi. 
 
 MY Furius, my Aurelius dear, 
 
 Ye faithful friends, Catullus loves I 
 
 Ye, who his fortunes still would share; 
 Whether to farthest Ind he roves, 
 
 Where the loud Eastern billows roar, 5 
 
 And lash the hoarse-resounding shore; 
 
 Whether he treads Hircanian ground ; 
 
 Or seeks the gentle Arab's home; 
 The Parthians, for the dart renown'd ; 
 
 Or mid the Sacse's doom'd to roam ; 10 
 
 Or where, discolouring all the sea, 
 The sev'n-mouth'd Nile directs its way; 
 
 Seu Sacas, &c.] The Sacae were a people of Asiatic Scythia : 
 and the Parthians were noted for their skilful use of the dart in 
 war, which they shot behind them, as they rode swiftly away, pre- 
 tending flight. See Hor. Od. 13. Lib. z. 
 
 Septemgeminus Nilus.'] The seven channels of the Nile have 
 been ever memorable. Thus Virgil : 
 
 D2, Et
 
 3 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. II. 
 
 Sive trans altas gradietur Alpes, 
 
 Csesaris visens monumenta magni, 10 
 
 Gallicum Rhenum, horribilesque ulti- 
 
 mosque Britannos : 
 
 Omnia base, quaecunque feret voluntas 
 Ccelitum, tentare simul parati, 
 Pauca nunciate mea? puellse 15 
 
 Non bona di<5V.a; 
 
 Cum suis vivat, valeatque moechis, 
 Quos simul complexa tenet trecentos, 
 Nullum amans vere, sed identidem omnium 
 
 Ilia rumpens. 20 
 
 Nee meum respeftet, ut ante, amorem ; 
 
 Et septemgemini turbant trepida ostia Nili. 
 
 VIRG. jEncid. 6. 
 
 Nile hears the shout, and shakes its seven-fold flood. 
 
 PITT. 
 
 Cf saris <visfns t &c.] Gaul abounded with trophies to Caesar; 
 many ruins of which are at this day extant, in the south of France. 
 
 Horribilesque ultimosque Britannos.] The following passage from 
 Caesar's Commentaries, Lit. 5. Cap. 14. will best explain, says 
 Vulpius, the first epithet. Omnes vero se Britanni vitro tnficiunt, 
 quod cxruleum efficit colorem ; atque hoc borribiliore sunt in pugna 
 adspefiu. It is needless to remark, that our island was supposed 
 to be the extreme part of the world. Thus Horace : 
 Serves iturum C&sarem in ultimas 
 Qrbis Britannos. 
 
 HOR. Od. 35. Lib. i. 
 
 PropU
 
 PO. II. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 37 
 
 Whether o'er Alpine heights he goes, 
 
 Csesar's proud trophies to survey ; 
 Or, where, the Rhine thro' Gallia flows, 15 
 
 His devious footsteps chance to stray ; 
 Or, where, dissever'd from the world, 
 Rude Britain's savage sons are hurl'd: 
 
 Ye, who to wander would agree, 
 
 O'er all these countries, with your friend; 20 
 Where'er the deities decree 
 
 My lot, resolv'd your aid to lend ; 
 O, to the too lascivious fair, 
 These few, unwelcome tidings bear! 
 
 Tell her, with her aduh'rous fry 23 
 
 To live, and, as she may, be blest ; 
 
 Yet, to her arms tho' hundreds fly, 
 
 Hold none far dearer than the rest ; 
 
 But wear each lover's strength away, 
 
 In brutal lust, in joyless play: 30 
 
 Bid her my flame regard no more, 
 
 A flame, that once unrivall'd shone ! 
 
 Propitious guard the Prince, who bold explores 
 His vent'rous way to farthest Britain's shores. 
 
 FRANCIS.
 
 38 -CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 12. 
 
 Qui illius culpa cecidit, velut prati 
 Ukimi flosj prsetereunte postquam 
 Tadus aratro est. 
 
 AD ASINIUM. xii. 
 
 MARRUCINE Asini, manu sinistra 
 Non belle uteris in joco, atque vino. 
 Tollis lintea negligentiorum. 
 Hoc salsum esse putas ? fugit te, inepte, 
 Quamvis sordida res, et invenusta est. 5 
 
 Non credis mihi ? crede Pollioni 
 Fratri, qui tua furta vel talento 
 Mutari velit : est enim leporum 
 Disertus puer, ac facetiarum. 
 
 Velut prati, &c.] This is a beautiful comparison, to express 
 the extinction of his love. In like manner an Italian poet: 
 Come purpureo fior languendo more, 
 Cbe'l vomere al passar taglialo lassa. 
 
 ARIOST. Lib. 18. 
 
 xn. 
 
 Of this Marrucinus Asinius we know nothing very satisfactory : 
 Vossius says, he was the brother of Asinius Pollio, whose eloquence 
 Quintillian ranks next to that of Cicero: there is also a Marru- 
 cinus Asinius, mentioned by Livy, Epit. Lib. 73. but he does 
 not seem to be the person here alluded to : Scaliger contends, 
 that Marrucinus in this place is put only by way of contempt, 
 implying aowo9irro{ xai /*ir ; but Vossius has very learnedly 
 
 refuted
 
 1>O. 12. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 39 
 
 *Tis by her guilr, her folly, o'er; 
 
 For ever like some flow'ret gone, 
 Which, springing on the meadow's side, 35 
 
 Felt the share's iron touch, and died. 
 
 TO ASINIUS. xir. 
 WHEN, Asinius, with micth, and good wine, 
 
 you're elate ; 
 
 You employ your left hand with a freedom too great ; 
 For let any one careless his head turn away, 
 In a trice on his napkin your fingers you lay. 
 Do you think this is wit? silly boy, not to know 5 
 How unworthy this trick, how indecently low ! 
 You doubt me ? if so, trust to Pollio your brother ; 
 Who, could he but shift your mean frauds to another, 
 Would bestow in exchange a whole talent at least : 
 Yet what youth better knows how to laugh, or to jest? 
 
 refuted so vague an opinion. It was the custom with the Roman'3 
 at supper, their principal meal, to make use, as we do, of nap- 
 kins; and Marrucinus was jestingly wont to steal them away; the 
 loss of which, considering the recumbent posture in which they 
 eat, must have occasioned the guests, every now and then, some 
 inconvenience and confusion. 
 
 Manu sinistra.] Sinister is here put for thievish, as Ixws is 
 in Plautus: Vis altera est,furtijica Ixwa. Plaut. in Per. 
 
 ACHILLES STATIUS. 
 D 4 Mnemosynum.
 
 4O CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 13. 
 
 Quare aut hendecasyllabos trecentos 10 
 
 Expecla, aut mihi linteum remitte : 
 
 Quod me non movet sestimadone ; 
 
 Verum est /xv^/xoV/wov mei sodalis. 
 
 Nam sudaria Setabe ex Ibera, 
 
 Miserunt mihi muneri Fabullus, 15 
 
 Et Verannius : hoc amem necesse est, 
 
 Ut Veranniolum meum, et Fabullum. 
 
 AD FABULLUM. xnr. 
 
 COENABIS bene, mi Fabulle, apud me 
 Faucis, si tibi di favent, diebus; 
 Si tecum attuleris bonam, atque magnam 
 Ccenam, non sine Candida puella, 
 Et vino, et sale et omnibus cachinnis. 5 
 
 Mnemosynum.'] /xmjt*a<rwor, or what we vulgarly call a keep. sake ; 
 or pledge of friendship, by which, says Vulpius, we are more 
 frequently put in mind of an absent, or a dead friend. 
 
 Sudaria Setabe ex Ibera.] Setabis was a city of Spain, upon the 
 river Tarracon, famous for the fine cloth manufactured there. 
 Thus Silius Italicus : 
 
 Setabis et telas Arabum sprcvisse superba, 
 Et Pelusiaco filum componere linum. 
 
 SIL. ITAL. Lib. 3. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Catullus invites his friend to a chearful repast; and, because 
 he cannot afford it himself, he proposes that Fabullus should 
 
 bring
 
 PO. 13. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 4! 
 
 Then without further trouble ray napkin restore, 
 Or expecl me to send you lampoons by the score. 
 Not on worth that's intrinsic its merit depends, 
 But a keep-sake it was from some intimate friends ; 
 For Fabullus, Verannius, in Spain having met, 15 
 Of Setabian fine napkins they sent me a set : 
 Then of course highly valued the present must be; 
 As Verannius, Fabullus are valued by me. 
 
 TO FABULLUS. xm. 
 
 FABULLUS, if the gods agree, 
 So mightily to favour thee ; 
 Thou shah, ere many days be spent, 
 Sup with me to thy heart's content : 
 But do thyself provide the treat, 5 
 
 Of which we sumptuously may eat ; - 
 Bring thy fair mistress, bring thy wine, 
 Loud laughter, and each jest of thine; 
 
 bring the provision along with him ; promising, by way of return, 
 that he would repeat some of his amatorial verses ; and as every 
 entertainment was furnished with perfumes, so that he would treat 
 him with such unguents, metaphorically meaning such sweet de- 
 scriptions of his mistress, as would amply content, and exquisitely 
 delight him. Horace has an ode precisely on this idea. 
 
 Plenus
 
 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 13. 
 
 Hasc si, inquam, attuleris, venuste noster, 
 
 Ccenabis bene : nam tui Catulli 
 
 Plenus sacculus est aranearum. 
 
 Sed contra accipies meos amores : 
 
 Seu quid suavius, elegantiusve est. 10 
 
 Nam unguentum dabo, quod meze puellae 
 
 Donarunt Veneres, Cupidinesque : 
 
 Quod tu cum olfacies, deos rogabis, 
 
 Totum ut te faciant, Fabulle, nasum. 
 
 Plenus aranearum.'] A proverbial expression, marking poverty, 
 which is found in many authors. Thus Afranius apud Fest. 
 
 Tamne arcula tua plena est aranearum ? 
 
 Unguentum dabo.~\ Both Greeks, and Romans used perfumes, 
 and garlands of sweet flowers, at their entertainments ; Anacreon 
 often called for rosy wreaths over his cups ; and Martial, and Ho- 
 race abound in passages, alluding to this custom; of the latter 
 poet take the following" beautiful example : 
 
 Cur non sub alt a vel platano, vel bac 
 Pinu jacentes sic lemere, et rosa 
 Canos odorati capillos, 
 
 Dum licet, Assyriaque nardo 
 Potamus unftj? Dissipat E'vius 
 Curas edaccs. HOR. Od.n. Lit. s. 
 
 Thus beneath the lofty shade, 
 Thus in careless freedom laid, 
 While Assyrian essence sheds 
 Liquid fragrance on our heads, 
 While we lie with roses crown'd, 
 Let the chearful bowl go round : 
 
 Bacchus
 
 PO. 13. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 43 
 
 Let these, my merry soul, be sent j 
 
 Then sup unto thy heart's content : 10 
 
 For thy poor poet's purse with nought 
 
 But spider's worthless webs is fraught. 
 
 Thy treats, however, I'll repay 
 With my most soft, voluptuous lay; 
 Or, if ought softer, sweeter be, 1 5 
 
 That shall Catullus give to thee : 
 Thou shalt have unguents in my song, 
 Such as to Venus self belong, 
 Such as the Loves, and Graces shed 
 O'er the bright ringlets of my maid ; 20 
 
 Such as, once smelt to, thou shalt say ; 
 " Make me all nose, ye gods, I pray !" 
 
 Bacchus can our cares controul, 
 
 Cares that prey upon the soul. FRANCIS. 
 
 Totum ut tefaciant, Sec. ] The author of that celebrated French 
 work, La maniere de bien Denser dans les outrages d'esprit, cites 
 this passage, as a happy instance of the naivete of Catullus. Mar- 
 tial has a similar expression, addrest to a detractor : 
 
 Nasutus sis usque llcet^ sis deniquc nasus. 
 
 MART. Epig. . Lib. 13. 
 
 Milton would seem to have borrowed this idea, and applied it to 
 another sense, in his Comus, when he says; " I was all ear." 
 
 Cornelius
 
 44 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 14. 
 
 AD CALVUM LICINIUM. xiv. 
 
 NI te plus oculis rneis amarem, 
 Jucundissime Calve, munere isto 
 Odissem te odio Vatiniano. 
 Nam quid feci ego, quidve sum locutus, 
 Cur me tot male perderes poetis ? 5 
 
 Isti di mala multa dent client!, 
 Qui tantum tibi misit impiorum. 
 Quod si, ut suspicor, hoc novum, ac repertum 
 Munus dat tibi Sulla literator; 
 Non est mi male, sed bene, ac beate, 10 
 
 Quod non dispereunt tui labores. 
 Di magni, horribilem, et sacrum libellum! 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Cornelius Licinius Calvus, a celebrated orator, and poet, men- 
 tioned by Qiiintilian, sent to Catullus, in the Saturnalia, a collec- 
 tion of a few despicable poets : for it was customary, at this festi- 
 val, for friends to send presents to each other; servants took 
 mirthful liberties with their masters; no war was proclaimed; 
 no criminal executed ; in short, people endeavoured, at this time, 
 to revive the famed golden age, under the reign of Saturn. The 
 Saturnalia were celebrated in December, during five, or seven days. 
 See Macrob. Saturn. Cap. 7. Lib. i. 
 
 Odio Vatiniano.] Vatinian hate became a proverb ; from Vati- 
 nius, noted for his scurrility; he was more particularly the enemy 
 of Cicero, who thus mentions him : Odio enim tui in quo etsi omnet 
 propter tuum in me see/us super are debeo, tamcn ab omnibus i/incor 
 &c. And we must also further observe, that Calvus had pub- 
 lickly accused Vatinius of bribery. 
 
 Ctienti,
 
 PO. 14. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 45 
 
 TO LICINIUS CALVUS. xiv. 
 
 Dlt) I not, pleasant Calvus, prize 
 Thy friendship dearer than mine eyes ; 
 For that same present brought me late, 
 I'd hate thee with Vatinian hate. 
 What have I done, or said, to be 5 
 
 Teaz'd with such loads of poetry ? 
 Heav'n pay that client's impudence, 
 Who sent thee knaves so void of sense ! 
 But if, as I suspect, it be 
 
 The scholiast Sulla gave this fee 10 
 
 Of new invention ; it excites 
 My anger less than it delights: 
 For I myself should think it hard, 
 Had not thy pains their full reward. 
 O, what a book ! gods, how accurs'd! 15 
 
 That thou upon the very first 
 
 Client ;.] As the poor, in the Saturnalia, made presents to the 
 rich; so also did clients to their advocates ; and books were, very 
 frequently, amongst the number of their gifts. VULPIUS. 
 
 Sulla literaror.] The learned have conjeclured, that this per- 
 son was L. Cornelius Epicadus, the grammarian, and the freed- 
 man of L. Sylla, or Sulla ; who, in consequence of such manu- 
 mission, took upon him, as usual, the cognomen of his patron.
 
 46 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 15. 
 
 Quern tu scilicet ad tuum Catullum 
 
 Misti, continuo ut die periret, 
 
 Saturnalibus, optimo dierum. 15 
 
 Non, non hoc tibi, salse, sic abibit. 
 
 Nam si luxerit, ad librariorum 
 
 Curram scrinia : Csesios, Aquinios, 
 
 Suffenum, omnia colligam venena, 
 
 Ac te his suppliciis remunerabor. 20 
 
 Vos hinc interea valete, abite 
 
 Illuc, unde malum pedem tulistis, 
 
 Secli incommoda, pessimi poetac. 
 
 AD AURELIUM. xv. 
 
 COMMENDO tibi me, ac meos amores, 
 Aureli. veniam peto pudentem, 
 Ut, si quicquam animo tuo cupisti, 
 Quod castum expeteres, et integellum, 
 Conserves puerum mihi pud ice : 5 
 
 Ctcsios, Jtquinios, &c.] Caesius, and Aquinius seem to have 
 been two despicable poets of those times j and Suftenus is again 
 satyrized as such, in Carm. 19. 
 
 Venena.] This singular expression is here put for execrable 
 verse in general ; they poisoning, as it were, the ears of the more 
 elegant, and learned. 
 
 Catullus
 
 PO. 15. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 47 
 
 Of all our feasts, on Saturn's days, 
 Couldst send me these devoted lays. 
 
 But trust me, wag, thou shalt not hence 
 Unpunish'd go for this offence : 
 Let but the morn appear, I'll run 
 To ev'ry bdok-stall in the town; 
 Csesius, Aquinius I'll explore, 
 Suffenus, and a thousand more; 
 Whose poison, in each silly line, 20 
 
 Shall be a fair return for thine. 
 
 Mean while, vile bards, our age's shame-, 
 Haste whence in evil hour you came ! 
 
 TO AURELIUS. xv. 
 
 MYSELF and my best loves to thee, 
 Tis a small boon of modesty, 
 
 Aurelius, I commend; 
 Then spare, altho' thy pamper'd taste 
 May long for what is fresh and chaste, 
 
 The favourite of thy friend ! 
 
 XV. 
 
 Catullus confides to his libidinous friend Aurelius, the care of 
 favourite, whom he begs of him not to seduce. 
 
 Sun
 
 48 CATULLI CARM1NA. . CA. 15. 
 
 Non dico a populo; nihil veremur 
 
 Istos, qui in platea modo hue, modo illuc 
 
 In re praetereunt sua occupati: 
 
 Verum a te metuo, tuoque pene 
 
 Infesto pueris bonis, malisque: 10 
 
 Quern tu qualubet, ut lubet, moveto 
 
 Quantum vis, ubi erit foris, paratum. 
 
 Hunc unum excipio, ut puto, pudenter. 
 
 Quod si te mala mens, furorque vecors 
 
 In tantam impulerit, sceleste, culpam, 15 
 
 Ut nostrum insidiis caput lacessas; 
 
 Ah turn te miserum, malique fati ! 
 
 Quern attractis pedibus, patente porta, 
 
 Percurrent raphanique, mugilesque. 
 
 Sua occupati, ] Vulpius observes, that people engaged in bu- 
 oines, have not time for amorous connexions ; and that they are 
 peculiar chiefly to the indolent. So Ovid to this purpose : 
 
 Ce dit amor rebus ; res age, tutus cris. OVID. Rented. Amor . 
 Love yields to business ; if employ'd, you're safe. 
 Patente porta.] Implying; the door of your house being open, 
 that every passenger may behold your punishment. Others interpret 
 differently, referring to the punishment itself. 
 
 Percurrent raphanique t mugilesque. ] Allusion is here made to 
 a mode of punishing adulterers, first instituted among the Athe- 
 nians. Fake the words of the annotator Muretus: Deprehensos 
 quadrupedes constituebant, ac violenter partibus posterioribus expi- 
 lat'iSy per podicem, tumrno cum cruciatu, grandiores raphanos out 
 mugilcs immittebant. Thus Juvenal 
 
 >uosdam machos et mugilis intrat. JUVEN. Sat. 10. 
 
 It
 
 PO. 15. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 49 
 
 I mean not from the harmless throng, 
 Who busy walk the streets along, 
 
 Intent on sordid pelf; 
 
 But, from thy passion's rampant rage, 10 
 
 That dares both old, and young engage; 
 
 From thy lascivious self! 
 
 Let this one single instance be 
 Of thy surprising chastity; - 
 
 When gone, indulge thy flame; 15 
 
 But should thy lustful heat now dare 
 To wound me where I least can bear, 
 
 And cloath my head with shame; 
 
 Soon may the punishment, prepared 
 
 For such offence, be thy reward ; 20 
 
 Expos'd to public view, 
 O, may thy legs be fitly tied, 
 Radish and mullets then applied 
 
 Inflict the torture due ! 
 
 It appears from an epigram in the Anthelogia, which Vossius 
 quotes, that Alcaeus, the comic writer, died under this very pu- 
 nition : 
 
 Lo here Alcaeus sleeps ; whom earth's green child, 
 The broad-leav'd radish, lust's avenger, kill'd. 
 VOL. I. E Ptd'icabo,
 
 O CATULLI CARMINA. CA. l6. 
 
 AD AURELIUM ET FURIUM. xvi. 
 
 P^EDICABO ego vos, et irrumabo, 
 Aureli pathice, et cinasde Furi : 
 Qui me ex versiculis meis putastis, 
 Quod sint molliculi, parum pudicum. 
 Nam castum esse decet pium poe'tam 5 
 
 Ipsum; versiculos nihil necesse est: 
 Qui turn denique habent salem, ac leporem, 
 Si sint molliculi, ac parum pudici* 
 Et quod pruriat incitare possunt, 
 Non dico pueris, sed his pilosis, 10 
 
 Qui duros nequeunt movere lumbos. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Picdicabo, &c.] This is a satirical menace of Catullus's, in- 
 tended jestingly to upbraid his friends with their concupiscence. 
 And here it will not be improper to remark, that the present may 
 serve as some apology for most of the more indecent Carmina, 
 where the obscenity frequently lies more in the words, than in the 
 sense. See Lucius Apulaeius on the subject of this poem, in Apo- 
 logia. 
 
 Nam castum esse, &c.~] The grave, and sententious Pliny has 
 a reference to this passage, not a little remarkable: he is sending 
 to his friend Paternus a collection of his verses; and apologizing 
 for some, w tiich he perhaps might think too wanton, fpetulantioraj 
 he desires him to remember, that far greater writers than himself 
 had used expressions still more warm, and undisguised; quee nos 
 refugimus, (says he) non quia severiores, unde enim, sed quia timi- 
 dior r sumus : scimus alioqui hujus opusculi illam esse verissimam 
 ffgem <juam Catullus expressit : 
 
 Nam castum esse decet pium. poetam, &c. 
 
 Versiculos
 
 PO. l6. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 51 
 
 TO AURELIUS, AND FURIUS. xvi. 
 
 I'LL treat you as 'tis meet, I swear, 
 Lascivious monsters as ye are ! 
 Aurelius, Furius ! who arraign 
 And judge me by my wanton strain. 
 The learned poet, I agree, 5 
 
 Should in himself quite decent be: 
 
 "f 
 
 But what has decency to do 
 
 With his rich hoard of numbers too ? 
 
 Which then have truest wit and sense, 
 
 When season'd with sweet impudence ; 10 
 
 When they not only can excite 
 
 Your prurient boys to salt delight ; 
 
 VenicultK nihil necesse est,~\ Thus Ovid, tathe same purpose: 
 Crede mibl, distant mores a carmine nostri; 
 Vita <uerecunda est, musa jocosa, mihi. 
 
 OVID. Trist. 2. 
 
 Think not my manners with my song agree ; 
 Spotless my life, tho' wanton is my lay. 
 
 Habent salem, &c.] Martial says the same thing to Cornelius; 
 Lex bcec carminibus data estjocosis, 
 Ne possint, nisi pruriant, juvare: 
 Quare, deposita se<veritate, 
 Parcas lusibus, et jocis, rogamus ; 
 
 Nee castrare veils meos tibellos. MART. Epig. 36. Lib. j. 
 Much licence is to epigrams allow'd; 
 Unless they're smutty, few believe them good : 
 Be less severe, then, to my sportive strains j 
 Nor mutilate the song, where pleasure reigns. 
 
 E Malt
 
 2 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 17. 
 
 i 
 
 Vos, quod millia multa basiorum 
 
 Legistis, male me marem putastis : 
 
 Siqua forte mearum ineptiarum 
 
 Le&ores eritis, manusque vestras 15 
 
 Non horrebitis admovere nobis : 
 
 Pzedicabo ego vos, et irrumabo. 
 
 AD COLONIAM. xvn. 
 
 O COLONIA, quse cupis ponte ludere longo, 
 Et salire paratum habes; sed vereris inepta 
 Crura ponticuli asculis stantis, irredivivus 
 Ne supinus eat, cavaque in palude recumbat: 
 Sic tibi bonus ex tua pons libidine fiat, 5 
 
 Male me marem putastis.] As though he had said ; you think 
 me womanish: strength being the attribute of males. 
 
 MURETUS. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 O Colonia.-] The town, here meant by Colonia, is uncertain; 
 Scaliger asserts, it was Comum, or as it was afterwards called, 
 when made a colony by J. Caesar, Novum Comura, at present 
 Como ; it was situated on the lake Larius, now called Lago dl Como, 
 the largest lake in Italy, and famous for its wild-fowl : some con- 
 tend, that it was a town near Verona ; and others, that Mantua is 
 alluded to. The whole of this poem is evidently written, in de- 
 rision of some old fellow of Colonia, who had married a young 
 girl. 
 
 Ponte.
 
 PO. 17. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 53 
 
 But when your greybeards too they move, 
 Unpliant in the feats of love. 
 
 And yet, because my songs of bliss 15 
 
 Are sprinkled o'er with many a kiss, 
 You censure; and, forsooth, conclude 
 That I'm effeminately lewd. 
 But mark; if e'er you should peruse 
 The wand'rings of my sportive muse, 20 
 
 If haply o'er my luscious page 
 Your hands should rove in lustful rage; 
 I'll treat you as 'tis meet, I swear, 
 Lascivious monsters as ye are ', 
 
 TO THE TOWN OR COLONIA. xvn. 
 
 THAT nigh your town a length of bridge may 
 
 bend, 
 
 Where willing dance, and pastime shall extend 
 Their joyous ranks, Colonia, is your pray'r! 
 For now the tott'ring structure much you fear, 
 Lest its weak legs irreparably fall, 5 
 
 And the deep pool should bury piers and all. 
 
 Ponte.~\ It was a custom with the antients, and which still con- 
 tinues in many places in Europe, to have their public spectacles 
 exhibited on the town bridge. 
 
 E 3 SaKsubsuli.
 
 54 CATULLI CARIVflNA. CA. 1J 
 
 In quo vel Salisubsuli sacra suscipiantur; 
 Munus hoc mihi maximi da, Colonia, risus. 
 Quendam municipem meum de tuo volo ponte 
 Ire przecipitem in lutum, per caputque, pedesque: 
 Verum totius ut lacus, putidasque paludis i 
 
 Lividissima, maximeque est profunda vorago. 
 Insulsissimus est homo, nee sapit pueri instar 
 Bimuli, tremula patris dormientis in ulna: 
 Qiioi cum sit viridissimo nupta flore puella, 
 
 Salisubsuli. ] Perhaps there is not a word in all Catullus, which 
 has been more differently interpreted than this : Parthenius reads ; 
 In quo vel Salii *vel Subsalil sacra susclpiant ; making the Subsalli 
 the servants of the Salii, or priests of Mars; but he confesses he 
 never met with such word, and therefore in fa<ft he leaves the 
 passage as he found it: Muretus is of opinion, and after him Sca- 
 liger, that Salisubsuli was the genitive case of Salisubsulus, a name 
 of Mars ; and he quotes this verse of Pacuvius, for his authority : 
 
 Pro Imperlo sic Salisubsulus vestro excubet. 
 
 But Vossius laughs both at the conjecture, and quotation, as a 
 p!e*asant imposture; declaring with a degree of confidence, in 
 which he is followed by Vulpius, that the line should be read 
 thus : In quo <vel Salii ipsulis sacra susciplunto. But, notwith- 
 standing the two last great authorities, I am inclined to side with 
 Muretus ; not only because Salisubsuli appears to have been the 
 oldest reading, upon MS. authority ; but because, we learn that 
 the Salli, so called a sallendo, and instituted by Numa, were pro- 
 perly the priests of Mars, who from them, says he, took the name 
 of Salisubsulus: their great feast, in honour of their deity, was in 
 the month of March; when they danced along the streets, car- 
 rying the sacred ancilla in procession; and demonstrating great 
 
 strength.
 
 tO. 17* FOEMS OF CATULLUS. 55 
 
 Soon to your wish be built a bridge so stout, 
 E'en Salii there might hold their ritual rout. 
 Then, o Colonia ! I'll request of thee 
 One mirthful boon, but mirthful most to me. 10 
 Fain from your height a freed man of this town, 
 Tied neck and heels, I'd in your sludge have thrown, 
 Just where the bog is deepest, I desire, 
 Where the green scum betrays the filthiest mire ; 
 Ideot all o'erj a child of two years' age, 15 
 
 Rock'd in its parents* arms, is far more sage ; 
 
 strength, and agility, by the various, and graceful turns of their 
 bodies: Virgil mentions them under the same name of Salii, a* 
 dancing at the rites of Hercules : 
 
 Turn Salii ad cantus ineensa altaria circum 
 Papules adsunt ewinffi tempera ramis. 
 
 VIRQ. neid. 8. 
 
 Round blazing altars to brisk music's sound 
 The Salii dance, their brows with poplar crown'd. 
 
 Munus hoc mibi.] Among other sports exhibited upon your 
 bridge, such as those of gladiators, of fighting wild beasts, Sec. 
 let the trick played upon this dolt make one. 
 
 ACHILLES STATIUS. 
 
 Per caputque pedesque.] How very similar to the common 
 English phrase ; of tying, or throwing a person, neck and heels. 
 
 Bimu!i.] For bimus, two years old. In these diminutives Ca. 
 tullus delights exceedingly. 
 
 E 4 Asservanda
 
 56 ^.CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 17. 
 
 Ut puella tenellulo delicatior hoedo, 15 
 
 Asservanda nigerrimis diligentifcs uvis,' 
 Ludere hanc sinit, ut lubet; nee pili facit uni ; 
 Nee se sublevat ex sua parte ; sed velut alnus 
 In fossa Liguri jacet subpernata securi, 
 Tantundem omnia sentiens, quam si nulla sit usquam. 
 Talis iste meus stupor nil videt, nihil audit : 
 Ipse quis sit, utrum sit, an non sit, id quoque nescit. 
 Nunc eum volo de tuo ponte mittere pronum, 
 Si pote stolidum repente excitare veternum, 
 Et supinum animum in gravi derelinquere coeno, 25 
 Ferream ut soleam tenaci in voragine mula. 
 
 Asservanda nigerrimis, &c. ] This is a very happy comparison : 
 the ripe beauties of a grown girl, and the full juicy grape ready 
 to be prest, convey similar ideas; and are equally tempting to the 
 spdiler. 
 
 In fossa Liguri, &c.] However the sense, and the reading of 
 this passage may have been distorted by commentators; I think 
 the meaning evident. The Ligurians being situated near the 
 woody Appenines, they were more particularly expert at the fall- 
 ing of timber ; and indeed they greatly cultivated the commerce 
 of wood with their neighbours, according to the testimony of Ju- 
 lius Capitolinus, in Pertinacc, Cap. t. 
 
 Si pote, &c.] All the old MSS. have Sipotfst olidum; but Vic- 
 torius very judiciously altered it, for, Si pote stolidum. 
 
 Ferream,
 
 PO. 17* POEMS OF CATULLUS. 57 
 
 Still he to wed a damsel could presume 
 
 Of buxom beauty in its earliest bloom, 
 
 Dainty as wanton kid; a youthful fair, 
 
 That like the ripen'd vintage needs our care ; 20 
 
 This fair he suffers as she lists to sport; 
 
 Nor, rous'd to rapture, heeds one jot her court : 
 
 But by the axe as fell'd some alder lies, 
 
 And in Ligurian delve inglorious dies ; 
 
 E'en so he just perceives the blessing near, 15 
 
 Yet disregards it as tho* nought were there : 
 
 This dolt nor hears, nor sees ; and has forgot 
 
 Who, what he is, if he exists or not. 
 
 Then from your bridge I'd have him headlong 
 
 thrown ; 
 
 The fall may haply move the languid drone : 30 
 He in thick mud might leave his torpid soul, 
 As in stiff sloughs her iron shoe the mule. 
 
 Ferream ut soleam, &c.] That the custom of shoeing horses 
 with metal is of" ancient date, has been adduced from different 
 authorities; particularly from Xenophon, Artemidorus, and Ho. 
 mer; the latter of whom terms horses, xftfaoiroSoK; ; though per- 
 haps brazen footed is only a poetical metaphor. The shoes of all 
 animals, among the ancients, were not nailed like ours, but rather 
 bound on ; and consequently were very liable to slip off. There 
 is a most ingenious note, on this subject, in Dr. Lowth's translation 
 of Isaiah, Page $2, sec. Edit. 
 
 Catolius
 
 5 CATULLI CARMIWA. CA. I#. 
 
 AD AURELIUM. XYIII. 
 
 AURELI, pater esuritionum, 
 Non harum modo, sed quot aut fuerunt, 
 Aut sunt, aut aliis erunt in annis ; 
 Paedicare cupis meos amores, 
 
 Nee clam : nam simul es, jocaris una, 5 
 
 Haeres ad latus, omnia experiris. 
 Frustra: nam insidias mihi instruentem 
 Tangam te prius irrumatione. 
 Atqui, si id faceres satur, tacerem: 
 Nunc ipsum id doleo, quod esurire 10 
 
 Meus jam puer, et sitire discet. 
 Quare desine, dum licet pudico; 
 Ne finem facias, sed irrumatus. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Catullus makes a similar threat, by way of upbraiding Aurelius 
 with his lust, as in Carm. 16. 'Tis the same as saying: I'll pay 
 you in your oiun coin', if you attempt to seduce from me, by your ar- 
 tifices , my young favourite. Aurelius appears to have been no less 
 a miser, than a letcher. 
 
 Pater esuritionum.] The giver of a feast was called the father, 
 or lord of it ; Horace has ccen<e pater ; Cicero, dominus epuli; and 
 Nonius, dominut convwii. Catullus here applies the word pater 
 ironically. 
 
 Discet.
 
 PO. l8. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 59 
 
 TO AURELIUS. xviii. 
 
 AURELTUS, father of the treat, 
 Where hunger finds not ought to eat; 
 Such fasting treats were ne'er of yore, 
 Nor are, nor ever will be more; 
 Thy lustful thoughts too freely rove, 5 
 
 Fain wouldst thou tempt my pretty love, 
 Nor mak'st a secret of the thing, 
 But to my charmer's side dost cling, 
 Dost boldly impudently toy, 
 
 And every wanton art employ; i.o 
 
 Yet, vain shall prove thy base intent, 
 For e'en my guilt should thine prevent: 
 Wert thou high fed, all this I'd bear; 
 But that the one I hold most dear 
 Should learn to hunger, and to thirst, 15 
 
 So moves my choler, that 'twill burst. 
 Then hold, while thou canst honest be ; 
 If not, I'll do a deed for thee. 
 
 Discet.] Vulpius observes, that this is a word of great force 
 here. Catullus says : " What a pity, that thou, Aurelius, 
 41 who art a very adept in the art of living sparingly, magister 
 " esuriendi et sitiendi, shouldst teach my beloved to starve!" 
 
 Suffenus
 
 60 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 19. 
 
 AD VARUM. xix. 
 
 SUFFENUS iste, Vare, quern probe nosti, 
 Homo est venustus, et dicax, et urbanus, 
 Idemque longe plurimos facit versus. 
 Puto esse ego illi millia aut decem, aut plura 
 Perscripta; nee sic, ut fit, in palimpsesto 5 
 
 Relata: chartse regi^, novi libri, 
 Novi umbilici, lora rubra, membrana 
 Direcla plumbo, et pumice omnia asquata. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Suffenus iste. ] Many affirm, that this Suffenus is the same with 
 the Suffenas mentioned by Pliny : Fulvius Ursinus speaks of a 
 Sextius Nonius Suffenas, a Praetor, who instituted some public 
 sports ; and he adds, that it was probably the same mentioned by 
 Catullus. 
 
 In palimpsesto. ] The palimpseslum was a kind of coarse paper, 
 which the Romans wrote the rough copy of any composition upon. 
 Cicero makes the following mention of a correspondent's frugality, 
 who wrote to him upon such paper: Nam quod in palimpsesto ; 
 laudo equidem parsimoniam ; sed miror, quid in ilia chartula fuerit, 
 quod delere maluer'is; nisi forte tuas formulas : non enim puto te meas 
 epistolas delere, ut reponas tuas. Royal paper, with the Romans, 
 as with us, meant a superior sort ; in which sense they likewise 
 used the words Hieratica, and Augusta. 
 
 Novi libri, &c. &c.] I am inclined to think, with Achilles 
 Statius, that liber here means the involucrum, or wrapper of the 
 book, which was woven of the fibrous bark of some tree ; and 
 from hence, the name liter was given to the book itself; for 
 before the Romans discovered the use of parchment, and paper, 
 they wrote upon a substance so formed. What the umbilicus was 
 
 has
 
 PO. 19. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 6l 
 
 TO VARUS. xix. , 
 
 SUFFENUS, that wretch whom my Varus well 
 
 knows, 
 
 So pretty, so prating, so over polite, 
 Has a genius for verse, that incessantly flows; 
 
 Has a muse which ten thousand fine things can 
 indite: 
 
 His paper is royal, not common, or bad; 5 
 
 His wrappers, his bosses, are totally new; 
 
 His sheets, smoothed by pumice, are all rul'd with 
 
 lead, 
 And bound with a ribband of rose-colour'd hue- 
 
 has been much disputed ; some say it was one of the cornua, (men- 
 tioned by Tibullus, ELeg. i. Lib. 3.) or ornamented ends of the 
 cylinder, round which the book was rolled; for the Romans had 
 very few libri quadrati ; their books generally consisted of sheets 
 of parchment, cemented to each other, and rolled round a piece 
 of wood: others say, that the umbilicus was a flourish, or some 
 such ornament, answering to our tail-piece, and the FrenchJIeuron, 
 or cul-de-lampe : many affirm, that it was a boss at the end of the 
 parchment, which, when the book was rolled up, made a showy 
 appearance the whole length of the cylinder; and this last opi- 
 ,nion I own I prefer; hence the expression used by Horace, Epad* 
 14. and others; ad umbll'uum ducere, to finish a work. Books 
 also were tied up with thongs of stained leather, lora ; and, in 
 order to write straight, the Romans, as we do, ruled lines with lead j 
 Mack- lead pencils being of very ancient date. The use of the 
 pumice has been mentioned before. See Carm. i. 
 
 Man 1 1 en
 
 62 CATULLT CARMINA. CA. 2O. 
 
 Hasc quum legas, turn bellus ille, et urbanus 
 
 Suffenus, unus caprimulgus, aut fossor 10 
 
 Rursus videtur; tantum abhorret, ac rautat. 
 
 Hoc quid putemus esse? qui modo scurra, 
 
 Aut si quid hac re tritius, videbatur, 
 
 Idem inficeto, est inficetior rure, 
 
 Simul poemata attigit: neque idem unquam 15 
 
 >Eque est beatus, ac poe'ma quum scribit : 
 
 Tarn gaudet in se, tamqne se ipse miratur. 
 
 Nimirum idem omnes fallimur; neque est quisquam > 
 
 Quern non in aliqua re videre Suffenum 
 
 Possis. suus quoique adtributus est error; 20 
 
 Sed non videmus, manticae quid in tergo est. 
 
 AD FURIUM. xx. 
 
 FURI, quoi neque servus est, neque area, 
 Nee cimex, neque araneus, neque ignis ; 
 
 Mantica quid in tergo est.] This refers to the well known fable 
 of Phzedrus, Fab. 9. Lib. 4. who says; that Jupiter gave man 
 two satchels j in the one he put his own faults, which, hanging 
 behind, was out of sight ; and in the other he put the faults of his 
 neighbours, which, hanging before, was always in sight. 
 
 xx. 
 
 Furi, quo! neque servus, 8cc.~\ This is Furius of Pisaurus, al- 
 luded to in the subsequent, and 78. Carm. whom Catullus thus 
 satirizes in a vein of pleasantry somewhat too coarse. To have 
 neither slave, nor chest; neque servus t neque area, was proverb- 
 ially expressive of poverty; as in the next Carmen. See also 
 Horace, Juvenal, and others. 
 
 Nee
 
 PO. 20. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 63 
 
 Yet read this Suffenus; and soon will you find, 
 
 The strains of this coxcomb, so gaudy, so trim, 
 
 More worthy the muse of some goatherd or hind ; 10 
 So much do they differ from what they would 
 seem ! 
 
 Whence comes it; that he, who an arrant buffoon, 
 Or what is more hackney'd, if ought can be more, 
 
 Who stupider far than the stupidest clown, 
 
 Should dare the sweet measure of numbers ex- 
 plore ? 15 
 
 Should in his own fancy such learning possess, 
 As most to be happy whenever he writes; 
 
 And, vain of his taste to the utmost excess, 
 
 Enjoy in himself the most perfecl delights ? 
 
 Yet all to such errors are prone, I believe ; 20 
 
 Each man in himself a Suffenus may find : 
 
 The failings of others we quickly perceive, 
 But carry our own imperfections behind. 
 
 TO FURIUS. xx. 
 
 NOR menial slave, nor coffer strong, 
 Nor blazing hearth to thee belong; 
 
 Necfimex, neque araaeus.] This is highly pifturesque; the 
 poet says ; that even the common vermin, ivhich abound in every poor 
 
 man's
 
 64 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 2O. 
 
 Verum est et pater, et noverca, quorum 
 
 Dentes vel silicem comesse possunt; 
 
 Est pulchre tibi cum tuo parente, 
 
 Et cum conjuge lignea parent! s. 5 
 
 Nee mirum : bene nam valetis omnes, 
 
 Pulchre concoquitis, nihil timetis, 
 
 Non incendia, non graves ruinas, 
 
 Non facta impia, non dolos veneni, 10 
 
 Non casus alios periculorum. 
 
 Atqui corpora sicciora cornu, 
 
 Aut si quid magis aridum est, habetis, 
 
 Sole, et frigore, et,esuritione. 
 
 Quare non tibi sit bene, ac beate? 15 
 
 A te sudor abest, abcst saliva, 
 
 man's bouse, could not find enough in Furius'sfor their support. Our 
 Churchill, in the same strain of poetry, describing the barrenness 
 of Scotland, humorously declares, it was so devoid of sustenance 
 that, 
 
 In three hours a grashopper must die. 
 
 Prophecy of Famine. 
 
 Conjuge lignfa."] Thus Lucretius: 
 
 Nervosa, et lignea Dorcas. 
 
 LUCR. Lit. 4. 
 
 The epithet ligneus arises, from the similitude there is between 
 shrivelled, emaciated people; and wooden statues, which can 
 never be cut, but when the wood is dry. Vulpius observes, that 
 
 men
 
 PQ. 2O. POEMS OF CATULLU5. 65 
 
 Not e'en a spider, or a louse, 
 
 Can live within thy famish'd house: 
 
 Yet does my Furius, to his cost, 5 
 
 A father, and a stepdame boast j 
 
 So hungry, so extremely thin, 
 
 Their teeth a very flint would skin ; 
 
 And, such thy sire, so lean his wife, 
 
 You needs must lead a pleasant life: 10 
 
 What wonder ? when, beyond a question, 
 
 You all are blest with good digestion ; 
 
 Have nought to fear, nor fire, nor losses, 
 
 Nor impious deeds, nor pois'nous doses; 
 
 Nor all the dangers, which await 15 
 
 The wretchedness of human state. 
 
 Your harden'd bodies drier are 
 Than horn, or ought that's drier far; 
 And, nurs'd by hunger, cold, and heat, 
 HQW can your bliss but be cqmpleat ? 20. 
 
 men were not only called ligneos ; when they were little else than 
 skin and bones, aridos, made confeffts, vixque osslbus hierentes; 
 but also, when they were stupid, and slow, ad motum dunorts. 
 We, in like manner, call a dull inactive person, a log, block t or 
 blockhead. 
 
 JNibil ti metis.] These conveniencies attending poverty are like- 
 wise noticed by Horace, Sat. i. Lib. i. and by Juvenal, Sat. 14. 
 
 VOL. I. F Purlor
 
 66 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 21, 
 
 Muccusque, et mala pituita nasi. 
 
 Hanc ad munditiem adde mundiorem, 
 
 Quod culus tibi purior salillo est, 
 
 Nee toto decies cacas in anno; 20 
 
 Atque id durius est faba", et lapillis : 
 
 Quod tu si manibus teras, fricesque, 
 
 Non unquam digitum inquinare possis. 
 
 Hsec tu commoda tarn beata, Furi, 
 
 Noli spernere, nee putare parvi ; 25 
 
 Et sestertia, qua soles, precari 
 
 Centum desine : nam sat es beatus, 
 
 AD AMOREM SUUM. xxi. 
 O QUI flosculus es Juventiorum, 
 Non horum modo, sed quot aut fuerunt, 
 Aut posthac aliis erunt in annis; 
 
 Purior salillo.] Every Roman of condition had his silver salt, 
 cellar ; the ancients looked upon salt as divine, indeed Homer so 
 calls it ; and they regarded it as a bad omen, if they chanced to eat 
 a meal without it : the force of the words paternum, and splendet, 
 in the following passage from Horace, points out the custom of 
 transmitting this utensil to posterity; and the extreme care with 
 which it was kept clean, and bright : 
 
 Vwilur -par-vo bent, cut paternum 
 Splendet in mensa tenui salillum. 
 
 HoR. Od. 1 6. Lib. 3. 
 
 He's blest with little ; on whose thrifty board 
 That salt-box shines, which call'd his father lord. 
 
 CREECH. 
 jfuvcntlorttmi
 
 PO. ll. POEMS OF CATULLUS* 67 
 
 From you no sweat, no spittle flows; 
 
 No rheum, no snivel from your noses 
 
 Besides; one cleanliness superior 
 
 To all you boast; that your posterior 
 
 Is so exceeding trim, and sweet;- 25 
 
 A saltcellar's not half so neat: 
 
 Scarce ten times in the year you vent 
 
 Your indurated excrement; 
 
 So indurated ne'er was known 
 
 Or shrivell'd bean, or hardest stone j 30 
 
 Which, rubb'd, and crumbled o'er and o'er, 
 
 Would leave the finger as before. 
 
 Then hold not cheap, nor yet despise 
 Blessings, my Furius, you should prize; 
 Nor, as you're wont, ask more of heav'n ; 35 
 
 To thee enough's already giv'n ! 
 
 TO HIS FAVOURITE, xxi. 
 
 O LOVELIEST of Juventian bloom ! 
 
 Thou bud with early beauty grac'd ! 
 Unequall'd by the age to come, 
 
 Or by the present, or the past ! 
 
 XXI. 
 
 yuventiorum.] The Juventii, though originally plebeian, were 
 afterwards one of the first families in Rome; some of whom filled 
 the most important offices of the state, according to Livy, Pliny, 
 and others. See Life of Catullus, pag. xix. 
 
 F a Isti.
 
 68 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 24. 
 
 Mallcm divitias mihi dedisses 
 
 Isti, quoi neque servus est, neque area: 5 
 
 Quam sic te sineres ab illo amari. 
 
 Qui ? non est homo bellus ? inquies, est i 
 
 Sed bello huic neque servus est, neque area. 
 
 Hoc tu quam lubet abjice, elevaque : 
 
 Kec servum tamen ille habet, neque arcam. 10 
 
 AD THALLUM. xxir. 
 
 Thalle, mollior cuniculi capillo, 
 Vel anseris medullula, vel imula oricilla, 
 Vel pene languido senis, situque araneoso ; 
 
 /J//.] Furius, mentioned in the preceding Carmen, seems to 
 be here alluded to. 
 
 Malletn divitias , &c.] Many read deHt'ias, making a sense far 
 less eligible. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 Of this Thallus, whom Catullus thus jocosely threatens, for 
 stealing his cloak, &c. we are entirely ignorant. Vulpius conjec- 
 tures, it is a name applied, from derivation only, to some young 
 man, or stripling ; SoMo? implying the young shoot, or scion of a 
 tree. In like manner are derived the names of Phyllis from 
 (pi^XXor, a leaf\ Chloe from yja*, grass ; and Chloris from %>*>(>ls, 
 green. 
 
 Imula orictlia. ] Oncitta is here put, in Catullus's favourite style 
 of diminutives, for auricilta, a little ear. The tip of the ear has 
 mlways been noticed, for its exceeding softness. Thus Gicero> ad 
 
 . Fr'at.
 
 PO. 22, POEMS OF CATULLUS. 69 
 
 O, hadst thou giv'n but paltry pelf 5 
 
 To him, who wants both slave, and chest ; 
 
 I had not griev'd ! But, that thyself 
 
 By yon lewd wretch should be possest ! 
 
 You'll cry, " he's handsome!" so he may; 
 
 Still that he's poor, you needs must grant: 10 
 Reject, extenuate all I say; 
 
 Both slave, and chest he's doom'd to want ! 
 
 TO THALLUS. xxn. 
 
 VOLUPTUOUS Thallus; soft, I own, 
 As rabbit's fur, as cygnet's down; 
 Soft as the tip of softest ear; 
 As flimsy age, or spider's silken snare ! 
 
 f>. Frat. Lib, 2. Tu quemadmodum me censes oportere esse In Rep. 
 et in nostris inimicitiis, ita et esse etfore auricula infima scito molli~ 
 orem. Some read, hinnula molticella; Muretus, and others, have, 
 binnula tenella ; but Scaliger very justly insists upon the old text, 
 irnuld oricilla. 
 
 Situque araneoso.'] Catullus seems to mean, in this place, spi- 
 ders' webs; to which he very elegantly compares the soft, and 
 slender figure of a young man. Thus likewise Tibullus, Carm. ad 
 Priap. 
 
 Araneosus obsidet fores situs. VULPIUS; 
 
 F 3 Cum
 
 * CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 22, 
 
 Idemque Thalle turbida rapacior procella, 
 Cum dira maris hyems avis ostendit oscitantes, 5 
 Remitte pallium mihi meum, quod involasti, 
 Sudariumque Setabum, catagraphosque Thynos, 
 Inepte, quse palam soles habere tanquam avita, 
 Quae nunc tuis ab unguibus regltuina, et remitte: 
 Ne laneum latusculum, natesque mollicellas 10 
 Inusta turpiter tibi flagella conscribilleat ; 
 Et insolenter asstues, velut minuta magno 
 Deprensa navis in mari, vesaniente vcnto. 
 
 Cum dira marls.'} This reading, I should apprehend, makes the 
 most plain, easy sense; the Birds alluded to are the/w/;W, orlari, 
 our sea-fowl, or gulls ; which, when a storm approaches, flock to 
 the shore, with loud screams. The word oscitans, i. e. forebod- 
 ing, has here the same meaning, as in Horace : 
 
 Antequam stantes reprtat falujes 
 Imbrium di'vina a<vis imminentum, 
 Oscinem corvum prece suscitabo 
 Soils ab or/a. 
 
 HOR. Od. 27. Lib. 3. 
 
 And bid the chaunting raven rise, 
 When Phcebus gilds his orient skies ; 
 Ere speeds the shower-boding crow 
 To lakes, whose languid waters cease to flow. 
 
 FRANCIS. 
 
 Scaliger reads, Cum de via mullet alites, &c. meaning, 'when some 
 female sage, oriulzard,from the flight of these birds, is conscious of 
 the approaching storm : Muretus, Achilles Statius, and others, read 
 diva mulier, which they variously, and as ridiculously interpret, 
 but it should seem, without foundation. 
 
 Catagra-
 
 PO. 22. POEMS OF CATULLUS. '/I 
 
 Yet more rapacious than the sea, 5 
 
 Which, vex'd with storms, sweeps all away ; 
 Whilst boding birds, with dismal cry, 
 O'er the tempestuous, wintry billows fly. 
 
 My cloak thou shalt return, I vowl 
 My fine Setabian napkin too ; 10 
 
 My tablets, from the Thynian coast; 
 All which, as lineal wealth, vain fool, you boast 1 
 
 Unglue thy hands, my things restore! 
 Lest thy soft breech, and sides made sore 
 With unaccustom'd stripes, you rave; 15 
 Lash'd, like some skiff that dares wild ocean's wave. 
 
 Catagraphosque ttynos.] These words have been differently 
 explained : Salmasius conjectures, that these were small rings with 
 seals, from the following passage in Isodorus, Cap, 32. Lib. 19. 
 Nee quos Tbynia lima perpolivit 
 Annellos. 
 
 Nor little rings which Thynian files have wrought. 
 
 Muretus, and Achilles Statins, altering the text to catagraphonque 
 iinum, interpret them, cloth 'variously piftured : others suppose, 
 from Pliny, Cap. 8. Lib. 35. that they meant certain profiles, or 
 images : but Vossius says, to whom Vulpius in this instance seems 
 to accede, that they were tablets, or pocket memorandum-books, 
 painted of different colours, and for which Thynia was very re- 
 markable. For an account of Thynia, see Carm. 28. 
 
 F 4 Our
 
 72 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 24. 
 
 AD FURIUM. xxiii. 
 
 FURI, villula nostra non ad Austri 
 Flatus opposita est, nee ad Favoni, 
 Nee szevi Boreas, aut Apeliotse; 
 Verum ad millia quindecim, et ducentos. 
 O ventum horribilem, atque pestilentem ! 5 
 
 AD POCILLATOREM PUERUM. xxiv. 
 
 MINISTER vetuli puer Falerni, 
 Inger mi calices amariores, 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 Our poet here plays upon the word opponere, to oppose, which 
 also signifies to pa-iun; and in this consists the pun : he tells Fu- 
 rius, that his house was not opposed to such, or such particular 
 winds ; but to that wind, or sum of money he had pawned it for. 
 Muretus, after Parthenius, reads villula vestra, alluding to the 
 poverty of Furius ; of which we have had examples, in Carm. 20 
 et seq. but Vulpius observes, that Furius was too poor, either to 
 have a villa, or credit sufficient to obtain money upon pledge. 
 
 Millia quindecim et ducentos.'] According to the calculation of 
 Vossius, the sum, borrowed would amount to about 95 pounds ster- 
 ling. 
 
 xxiv. 
 
 Falerni.'] Falernian wine is so called, from a territory of that 
 name in Campania, by some supposed the present Monte Massif o ; 
 but the very spot, where the ancient Falernian grew, is by no means 
 ascertained; perhaps the soil is worn out, producing now a very in- 
 ferior kind of grape; which is a circumstance that frequently hap- 
 pens, within the memory of one man, as I have been informed by 
 
 the
 
 PO. 24. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 73 
 
 TO FURIUS. xxin, 
 
 TO what wind expos'd, you cry, 
 Furius, does my villa lie? 
 Neither to the Southern gale, 
 Neither does the West prevail, 
 Neither to the Northern blast, 5 
 
 Nor to sunny-bosom'd East : 
 But, for an enormous sum 
 Lies in pawn my pleasant home : 
 To that wind expos'd it lies j 
 Wind of plagues, and miseries! 10 
 
 / 
 
 TO HIS YOUNG CUP-BEARER, xxiv. 
 
 WITH Falernian,that's oid, let the goblet be crown'd; 
 Bring it hither, sweet boy, be the bitter draught 
 mine ! 
 
 the peasants of wine countries. Falernian is greatly noted, as a 
 superior wine, by many writers ; and seems to have been the very 
 Hippocrene of Horace, and Martial. 
 
 Amar\ores.~\ The ancients set agrea^value upon their wine, 
 when it had a bitter flavour arising from age; this is remarked by 
 Cicero, in Brut, and Pliny, Lib. 13. says, fina primo dulcia auste - 
 rltatem annls accipiunt, ct riibra fiunt. Parthenius is of opinion, 
 that these cups were called amariores; on account of their large- 
 ness, and the difficulty there was to finish them at one draught. 
 
 Postbu-
 
 74 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 25, 
 
 Ut lex Posthumias jubet magistra?, 
 
 Ebriosa acina ebriosioris. 
 
 At vos, quo lubet, hinc abite, lymphse, 5 
 
 Vini pernicies, et ad severos 
 
 Migrate: hie merus est Thyonianus. 
 
 AD VERANNIUM ET FABULLUM. xxv. 
 
 PISONIS comites, cohors inanis, 
 Aptis sarcinulis, et expeditis, 
 Veranni optime, tuque mi Fabulle, 
 Quid rerurn geritis? satisne cum isto 
 
 Postbumi* jubet magistr*.] This lady of Catullus's time is, I 
 believe, no where else upon record ; she was a drunken character, 
 whom Catullus, with his usual satyric vein, here takes occasion to 
 lash : the Romans, as. well as the Grecians, at their drinking- 
 bouts, had a toast-master ; who was chosen by the best throw of 
 the taliy or tessera ; and whom they styled, according to Varro, 
 modimperator ; or, according to Horace, rex f uini f or arbiter bibendi. 
 See Horace, Od. 4. Lib. i. and OJ. 7. Lib. a. 
 
 Ebrios&acina.'] Thus Pliny, Hist. Nat. Lib. 15. Conduntvretmusto 
 uvte, ipsteque <vino suo inebriantur. See likewise Aulus Gellius, 
 
 Cap. ao. Lib. 7. 
 
 
 
 Merus est Ibyonianus.] Bacchus was called Thyoneus, from 
 Thyone, a title of his mother Semele; or more probably from 
 Su> to rave and rant like a drunkard. 
 
 Pisonis.
 
 PO. 25. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 75 
 
 Our toast-mistress,Posthumia,bids bumpers go round; 
 Whose tight skin, like the grape's, is distended with 
 wine. 
 
 O, thou clear fountain-wave, be thou banish'd far 
 hence ! 
 
 Of the heart-chearing juice thou wert ever the bane; 
 Go, and drench the morose, who call soberness sense; 
 
 Here Thyonian alone, pure Thyonian shall reign ! 
 
 TO VERANNIUS, AND FABULLUS. xxv. 
 
 YE, who belong to Piso's train, 
 Who dance attendance still, in vain; 
 Verannius, and Fabullus dear! 
 Whose scanty baggage, pack'd with care, 
 Makes, in good truth, a flaming show; 
 Tell me, what you're about to do? 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Pisonis.'} Cnseus Calpurnius Piso was a Roman, of a very de- 
 bauched, and desperate character ; remarkable for his extreme in- 
 solence, and poverty; he was sent, by the senate, as Quaestor for 
 the Praetor, into Spain, merely to get rid of him : and Verannius, 
 and Fabullus, attended him thither, as Catullus had attended 
 Memmius to Bithynia. 
 
 Aptis sarcinulh.~\ The poet mirthfully taxes his friends with 
 poverty, from the slender appearance of their baggage.
 
 76 CATULLI CARMINA. ' CA. 25. 
 
 Vappa, frigoraque, et famem tulistis? 5 
 
 Ecquidnam in tabulis patet lucelli 
 
 Expensum? ut mihi, qui meum secutus 
 
 Pratorem, refero datum lucello : 
 
 O Memmi, bene me, ac diu supinum 
 
 Tota ista trabe lentus irrumasti. 10 
 
 Sed, quantum video, pari fuistis 
 
 Casu j nam nihilo minore verpa 
 
 Farti estis. pete nobiles amicos. 
 
 At vobis mala multa di deasque 
 
 Dent, opprobria Romuli, Remique. 15 
 
 Vappa.'} A cant word for a degenerate knave; taken from 
 wine, that is said to be vapid, when harsh or flat. Thus Persius, 
 Sat. S . 
 
 Vappa et lippus, et In tenui farraglne mendax* 
 
 Patet lucelli expensum."] The Romans kept their accounts much 
 in the same manner as we do; they had their separate articles of 
 received, and paid; and, in this passage, Catullus asks his friends; 
 if, in posting their books, they were not often obliged instead of 
 the word gain, to enter loss? just as it happened to himself, when 
 he attended Memmius; for on drawing his balance, he was fre- 
 quently compelled to write datum, i. e. given so much out of my oivn 
 pocket. If the reader, wishes to search deeply into ancient arith- 
 metic ; he may turn to Gronovius, de Pccun. vet. Lib. 3. Cap. 17. 
 
 O Memmi.] Memmius was just such another avaricious, lustful 
 character, as Piso. See Carm. 10. Some editors begin a fresh 
 Carmen from this line, O Memmi, &c. whereas it is only a strong 
 apostrophe to Memmius, full of indignation. 
 
 Tota
 
 PO. 25. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 77 
 
 Chuse you ought more of cold to bear, 
 And want, with that extortioner? 
 Say, in each book, your reck'nings ended, 
 What profits are put down expended ? IP 
 
 When I accompanied my Praetor, 
 My 'books for ever prov'd him debtor. 
 Notorious Memmius, I have not 
 Thy vile, oppressive deeds forgot! 
 And you, my lads, if right I see, 15 
 
 Suffered by like rapacity j 
 Hard case ! for ye had all to do 
 With such another skin-flint jew. 
 Is this to have a noble friend ? 
 Then may the curse of heav'n attend 20 
 
 Such Roman nobles, who disgrace 
 With foulest deeds the Roman race ! 
 
 Totd istu trabe.~\ Vossius insists, that no real obscenity is here 
 meant; but the words, he supposes, are intended merely to ex- 
 press a resentment for some injury received ; and his expressions 
 are wrapped up in terms of obscene ribaldry. 
 
 Mobiles amicos.] Catullus inveighs against the debauchery of 
 the Roman nobility, and of the magistracy in particular; who 
 chose their officers, too frequently, from the very dregs of the 
 people. To the same purpose is the following, and 53 Carm. 
 
 This
 
 ?8 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 26. 
 
 AD CJESAREM DE MAMURRA. xxvr. 
 QUIS hoc potest videre, quis potest pati, 
 Nisi impudicus, et vorax, et aleo, 
 Mamurram habere quod comata Gallia 
 Habebat unfti, et ultima Britannia? 
 Cinsede Romule, base videbis, et feres ? 5 
 
 Es impudicus, et vorax, et aleo. 
 Et ille nunc superbus, et superfluens 
 Perambulabit omnium cubilia, 
 Ut albulus columbus, aut Adoneus? 
 Cinzede Romule, hxc videbis, et feres? 10 
 
 Es impudicus, et vorax, et aleo. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 This is the first poem, wherein we find that remarkable freedom, 
 with which Catullus treated the highest character in Rome; and 
 it is a question, which is most extraordinary ; the moderation of 
 Caesar, who forgave; or the boldness of the satyrist, who could 
 urge such unwelcome truths. The learned writer of Cicero's life 
 has a passage, which particularly mentions this very Carmen. Vide 
 Epist. ad Attic. 13. 5z. Caesar it seems dined by appointment at 
 Cicero's villa ; and, during his bathing, some one read to him the 
 verses of Catullus on Mamurra; at which, says TuI1y, he did not 
 so much as change countenance: Dr. Middleton adds very judi- 
 ciously, that the verses were not produced by Cicero; but by some 
 of Caesar's friends, who attended him, and who knew his desire to 
 see every thing that was published against him. 
 
 Mamurram.'} Mamurra Formianus was a Roman knight, born 
 at Formise, an ancient city of the Laestrigones, and near to which 
 Cicero had his favourite country seat; he was highly esteemed by 
 Julius Caesar, who supported him in the most luxurious extrava- 
 gancies;
 
 PO. 26. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 79 
 
 TO CJESAR, ON MAMURRA. xxvi. 
 
 SHALL utmost Britain, fine-hair'd Gaul, 
 
 Mamurra's be, with wealth replete ? 
 He, who views this unmov'd, is all 
 
 That's squandering, lewd, extortionate: 
 This, vicious Caesar, wilt thou see, and bear ? 5 
 O lewd, o squandering, extortioner! 
 
 Shall he extravagant, and vain, 
 
 From bed to bed licentious rove; 
 Like the white dove of Paphos' queen, 
 
 Or young Adonis form'd for love: 10 
 
 This, vicious Caesar, wilt thou see, and bear ? 
 O lewd, o squandering, extortioner ! 
 
 gancies ; and, when he went into Gaul, made him general of the 
 artillery, pr#Jeftumfabrutn\ a very lucrative employ. Pliny ob- 
 serves, Cap. 6. Lib. 36. that Mamurra was the first man at Rome, 
 who incrusted his house with marble, and made all his pillars of 
 solid marble. 
 
 Comata Gallia. 3 The whole of Transalpine Gaul was so termed ; 
 either from the country being much wooded; or, according to 
 Strabo, Geograph. Lib. 4. whose opinion we follow, from the inha- 
 bitants paying singular attention to their hair : jrayijpogSfl-i $i xat 
 Ko/xofopSo-t. Sagaferunt, et comam alunt. VuLP. 
 
 Cinxde Romulc.'] Meaning Caesar. Muretus observes, that this 
 was a title bestowed upon all those, whose manners were unworthy 
 the virtues of Romulus. 
 
 Ut albulus columbus.] The dove of Venus is here alluded to; 
 indeed many write, Ut albulus columbitius Dion f us. 
 
 Unice.
 
 So CATULI,! CARMINA. CA, 26. 
 
 Eonc nomine, Imperator unice, 
 
 Fuisti in ultima Occidentis insula ; 
 
 Ut ista vostra diffututa mentula 
 
 Ducenties comesset, aut trecenties? 15 
 
 Quidest? alid? sinistra liberalitas. 
 
 Parum expatravit? an parum helluatus est? 
 
 Paterna prima lancinata sunt bonaj 
 
 Secunda prada Pontica; inde tertia 
 
 Ibera, quam scit amnis aurifer Tagus. 20 
 
 Hunc Gallias timent, timent Britanniae. 
 
 Quid hunc, malum, fovetis? aut quid hie potest, 
 
 Unice. 3 This appellation is here used by the poet ironically j 
 though it was what Caesar, in its best, and fullest sense, had a 
 title to. VULPIUS. 
 
 Ultima Occidentis insula.^ That is Britain, which Caesar con- 
 quered, and which, by some, was supposed to be the ultima Thule 
 of the ancients. 
 
 Diffututa mentula.'} A worn-out voluptuary : mentula is a cant 
 word, which Catullus frequently uses for a libidinous person, and 
 particularly for this Mamurra. 
 
 frxda Pont'ua.'] Vulpius asserts, that these words have no 
 relation to the spoils taken from Pharnaces king of Pontus, as is 
 generally imagined ; but that they are another severe attack upon 
 Caesar's debaucheries; Csesar, when he was a young man, having 
 entered into an infamous familiarity with M. Thermus, the Prastor 
 of Nichomedes, king of Bithynia; from which connection he de- 
 rived some advantages. 
 
 Aurjfer
 
 10. 26. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 8l 
 
 Sa}% chief of monarchs, did thy sword 
 
 Visit the last of Western isles; 
 That thy drain'd minion might afford 13 
 
 To riot in excess of spoils ? 
 Wert thou for this so prodigal j that he, 
 Nurs'd by thy lust, might sate his gluttony ? 
 
 First thy own private funds he spent, 
 
 Then the lewd gains of Pontic lands, 20 
 Next all Iberia's treasures went, 
 
 And Tagus with its golden sands : 
 Now trembling Gaul beholds the plund'rer near, 
 And Britain's destin'd land now shakes with fear ! 
 
 Then to thy fost'ring breast why lay 25 
 
 That wretch, who but devours the state ? 
 
 Aurifer Tagus.] Catullus poetically calls upon the Tagits, to 
 witness the riches, which Caesar had obtained by his wars in Spain j 
 the golden sands of this river are well known, among poets. 
 Thus Juvenal : 
 
 Tanti tibi non sit opaci 
 
 Omnls arena Tagi t quodque in mare 'vol'ultur aurum, 
 Ut somno careas. Juv. Sat. 3. 
 
 But let not all the gold which Tagus hides, 
 And pays the sea in tributary tides, 
 Be bribe sufficient to corrupt the breast, 
 Or violate with dreams thy peaceful rest. 
 
 DRYDEN. 
 
 VOL. I. G Socer
 
 82 CATULLl CARMINA. CA. 27. 
 
 Nisi un6ta devorare patrimonia? 
 Eone nomine, Imperator unice, 
 Socer, generque, perdidistis omnia? 25 
 
 AD ALPHENUM. xxvn. 
 
 ALPHENE irnmemor, atque unanimis false so- 
 
 dalibus ; 
 
 Jam te nil miseret, dure, tui dulcis amiculi. 
 Jam me prodere, jam non dubitas fallere, perfide. 
 Nee facVa impia fallacum hominum coelicolis placent, 
 Quze tu negligis, ac me miserum deseris in mails. 5 
 Eheu, quid faciant dehinc homines, quoive habeant 
 
 fidem ? 
 
 Socer t generque.] These expressions certainly allude to the al- 
 liance there was between Caesar, and Pompey ; Pompey having 
 married Caesar's daughter Julia : but Vossius, understanding them 
 in an obscene sense, refers them very improperly to Caesar, and 
 Mamurra. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 Alpbene."] Alphenus Varrus of Cremona is the same, in all 
 probability, with the Alphenus mentioned in Carm. 10. He was 
 originally a shoemaker; or, as others will have it, a barber; and 
 afterwards studied law with Catullus ; from whence that friend- 
 ship arose, which our poet so bitterly complains of his having 
 violated. Horace thus mentions him: 
 
 Alfenut wafer, omni 
 
 Abjefto insirumento artif, clausaque taker n A, 
 Tonsor erat. HOR. Sat. 4. Li&.i. 
 
 Alfenus,
 
 J*O. 27. POEMS OF CATULLUS* 83 
 
 Thou first of emperors, o say, 
 
 Was it for this thou wert made great? 
 That you, and Pompey, in contention, hurl'd 
 Distress, and ruin o'er th' affrighted world ? 30 
 
 TO ALPHENUS. xxvii. 
 
 FALSE, and unmindful of each social tie, 
 Alphenus pities not the friend he lov'dt 
 
 Perfidious wretch! fraud's basest arts you try; 
 Nor scruple to betray my peace, unmov'd ! 
 
 The gods detest fallacious man's misdeeds; 
 
 But this you mind not, and forsake my wrongs 
 Fell crime ! which mutual confidence impedes, 
 
 And the sweet commerce ihat to man belongs* 
 
 Alfenus, turri'd a lawyer in his pride, 
 
 His shop shut up, his razors thrown aside, 
 
 Was still a barber. FfcANCis. 
 
 Necfafta impia, &c.] This very much resembles the following 
 line of Homer : 
 
 Ovyaf pETX>t fya Scot /Aax 
 
 Celestial goodness loves not impious deeds. 
 
 G a tnducens
 
 84 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 28. 
 
 Certe tute jubebas animam tradere, inique, me 
 Inducens in amorem, quasi tuta omnia mi forent. 
 Idem nunc retrahis te, ac tua di&a omnia, faftaque 
 Ventos irrita ferre, et nebulas aereas sinis. 10 
 
 Si tu oblitus es, at di meminerunt, meminit Fides: 
 Quae te ut poeniteat postmodo fadi, faciet, tui. 
 
 AD SIRMIONEM PENINSULAM. xxvm. 
 
 PENINSULARUM, Sirmio, insularumque 
 Ocelle, quascunque in liquentibus stagnis, 
 Marique vasto fert uterque Neptunus; 
 
 Inducens in amorem.'] In like manner Tibullus : 
 
 Semper ut inducas, blandos offers mibi vultus ; 
 Post tamen es misero tristls ct asper, Amor! 
 
 TIB. Eleg. 7. Lib. i. . 
 Love still invites me" with a smiling eye; 
 Beneath his smiles what pain, and anguish lie! 
 
 GRAINGER. 
 
 Fides.] Faith had divine honours paid her by the Romans, as 
 a goddess ; and a temple was first consecrated to her, in or near the 
 Capitol, by Attilius Calatinus. Thus Cicero, de Nat. Deor. Lib. ^. 
 Ab Attilio Calatino erat Fides consecrata. 
 
 xxvin. 
 
 Pemnsularum, Sirmio, &c.] Sirmio was a little town, situated on 
 a peninsula, jutting out into the lake Benacus, now Lago di Garda. 
 MafieYus contends, from this Carmen, that Catullus was poor only 
 by comparison ; and that his wealth, especially at this place, was 
 considerable. For my own part, I cannot see any grounds for 
 such conjecture; especially as he seems to have pawned his villa 
 
 for
 
 PO. 28. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 85 
 
 Certain, you bade me yield my soul to you, 
 
 Lur'd me to love, and swore no harm was near t 10 
 
 But ah, withdrawn, each act, each faithless vow, 
 You give to passing clouds, and empty air ! 
 
 Tho' you forget; the gods in mem'ry still, 
 
 And chief vindictive Faith, your fault shall hold ; 
 
 She, who with late remorse your breast will fill, 15 
 And make you in despair such guilt behold ! 
 
 TO THE PENINSULA OF SIRMIO. xxvm. 
 
 SIRMIO! of ev'ry isle the pride, 
 
 Of all peninsulas the boast ; 
 Whether, old Neptune's briny tide 
 
 Surrounds their billow-beaten coast ; 
 Or, their calm shores the godhead laves 5 
 
 With the fresh lake's translucent waves: 
 
 for so small a sum as 95!. sterling. See Carm. 23. in .which in- 
 deed if we read 'villula 'vestra^ it does away the poverty of Catul- 
 lus, and transfers it to Furius. 
 
 UterqueNeptunus.] Muretus, and Achilles Statius are of opinion, 
 that this alludes to the two seas, which wash Italy ; -viz. the mare 
 superum, or Adriatic sea; and the mare inferum, or Tyrrhene sea: 
 but others conjecture, with greater probability, that a distinction 
 is here made, between the fresh waier of lakes and rivers, and 
 salt water in general; Neptune being the god who presides over 
 both. 
 
 G 3 Tkynlam
 
 86 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 28. 
 
 Quam te libenter, quamque lastus inviso ! 
 
 Vix mi ipse credens Thyniam, atque Bithynos 5 
 
 Liquisse campos, et videre te in tuto. 
 
 O quid solutis est beatius curis? 
 
 Cum mens onus reponit, ac peregrino 
 
 Lahore fessi venimus larem ad nostrum, 
 
 Desideratoque acquiescimus leflo. 10 
 
 Hoc est, quod unum est pro laboribus tantis. 
 
 Salve, 6 venusta Sirmio, atque hero gaude: 
 
 Gaudete vosque, Lydiae lacus undas ; 
 
 Ridete quidquid est domi cachinqorum. 
 
 Ibyniam atque Bithynos, &c.] The Bithynians were a very in- 
 >genious and flourishing people; who possessed the whole of that 
 country, lying betweeq the Bosphorus, and the river Rhebas 
 which falls into the Euxine sea. The Thynians bordered close 
 Upon them, extending their country as far as the river Gales: 
 they obtained their names, says the historian, Eustathius (in Di- 
 onys.J of Tbyni, and Bithyni; from Thynus, and Bithynus, the 
 two sons of Phineus: Claudian, not sufficiently attending to this 
 geographical distinction, has made Thynia, and Bithynia, one and 
 the same place : 
 
 Tbyni Tbraces erant, qu<e nunc Bitbynia fcrtur. 
 
 CLAUD, i* Eutroj>. 2. 
 
 Laboribui tantis. ] Alluding to the ill success of his fortunes, 
 under the avaricious Memmius. See Carm. 25. 
 
 Lydite Incus undue. ] Vulpius, reprobating the conjeftures of 
 Scaliger, who reads Ludif, and of Vossius, who reads Larite, in- 
 sists upon the old reading of Lyd'ue undue; the waters of the lake 
 
 Benacus
 
 PO. 28. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 87 
 
 O, Sirmio, with what joy I view, 
 
 How pleas'd behold thy lands again ! ' 
 
 Scarce can I deem the blessing true, 
 
 Scarce think I've left Bithynia's plain ! 10 
 
 Left Thynia's close-adjoining shore ; 
 
 The danger of the journey o'er ! 
 
 O, what so sweet as cares redress'd ! 
 
 When the tir'd mind lays down its load; 
 When, with each foreign toil oppress'd, 15 
 
 We reach at length our own abode ; 
 On our own wish'd-for couch recline, 
 And taste the bliss of sleep divine ! 
 
 At least this sweet, this dear reward, 
 
 If only this, my toils have found 20 
 
 O, beauteous Sirmio, greet thy lord ! 
 
 Ye Lydian waves, with joy resound ! 
 Let all things, I can reckon mine, 
 In one loud shout of welcome join ! 
 
 Benacus being termed Lydian, from fts lying in the territory of 
 Verona: Verona, says he, belonged to the Rhaeti; the Rhaeti 
 sprang from the Tuscans, and the Tuscans from the Lydians; he 
 then adds, that it was in the very spirit of poetry, to trace out such" 
 connexions; and that his success in these researches, greatly en- 
 titled Catullus to the appellation of doflus, or learned. 
 
 04 Hypsitbilla,
 
 CATITLLI CARMINA, CA. 2p. 
 
 AD HYPSITHILLA. xxix. 
 
 AMABO, mea dulcis HypsithilU, 
 Meas deliciae, mei lepores, 
 Jube ad te veniam meridiatum, 
 Quod si jusseris, illud adjuvato, 
 Ne quis liminis obseret tabellam, ^ 
 
 Neu tibi lubeat foras abire: 
 Sed domi maneas ; paresque nobis 
 Novem continuas fututiones. 
 Verum si quid ages, statim jubeto: 
 Nam pransus jaceo, et satur supinus jo 
 
 Pertundo tunjcamque, palliutnque. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 Hypsttbilla.] Scaliger thinks, this word is a dimijnitive o 
 sithea] Vossius writes Hispitilla, and Turnebus Hospitilla. 
 
 Pransus. ] The usual meal with the Romans was their caena, 
 which was commonly taken at sun-set; but they, who were infirm, 
 eat a frugal morsel about noon, which was called prandium : the 
 effeminate, and voluptuous, taking advantage of this custom, soon 
 changed the nature of its institution; and made it a scene of de- 
 bauchery. There is a beautiful passage in Pl^utus, which will set 
 this, matter in a very clear light : 
 
 Prandium m'M uxor perbonum dedit. 
 
 Nunc dormitum me jubet ire. minims* 
 
 Non mihiforte visum illico fuit, 
 
 Melius quam prandium, quam solitum, dedit.
 
 PO. 29.^ POEMS OF CATULLUS. 89 
 
 TO HYPS1THILLA. xxjx. 
 
 MY love, my Hypsithilla dear, 
 Joy of my soul, my fondest care ! 
 I prithee grant this little boon, 
 That I may visit thee at noon ; 
 Which done, I further would intreat, 5 
 
 That none presume to bar the gate ; 
 And that yourself, when I shall come, 
 Urge no pretence to leave your home ; 
 But be content to stay, and prove 
 The raptures of unbounded love : jo 
 
 Is it agreed ? then quickly say, 
 Haste, my Catullus, haste away ! - 
 Supine I lie, and, with my meal 
 Pamper 'd, ready to burst I feel. 
 
 Voluit in cubiculum me abducere anus. 
 Nan bonus somnus est de prandio. apage. 
 
 PLAUT. Mostellaria t Ac. 3. Sc. z. 
 
 Ptrtundo, &c.] The Greeks, with great elegance, say; 7Ao 
 The following epigram from Martial may be here adduced: 
 
 O quoties rigida puhabis pallia <vena, 
 Sis gravior Curio t Fabricioque licet. 
 
 MAR. Eplg. 16. Lib. n. 
 
 We
 
 9O CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 31 
 
 AD VIBENNIOS. xxx. 
 
 O FURUM optime balneariorum, 
 Vibenni pater, et cinzede fill: 
 Nam dextra pater inquinatiore, 
 Culo filius est voraciore. 
 Cur non exilium, malasque in oras 
 Ids? quandoquidem patris rapinae 
 Notae sunt populo; et nates pilosas, 
 Fili, non potes asse venditare. 
 
 CARMEN AD DIANAM. xxxi. 
 
 DIANjE sumus in fide 
 Puellze, et pueri integri: 
 
 XXX. 
 
 We can have but little desire to trace the family of the Viben-, 
 nii ; when we find, in this instance, that the father was a paltry 
 thief, and the son something still more odious : the name however 
 is mentioned by Gruterus, Pag - 706. Inscrlpt. 5. though we may 
 reasonably conclude, they were of no rank, or distinction at Rome. 
 It was a very common thing to steal cloaths from the public baths. 
 See Petronius, Satyric. Seneca, Epist. 56. and others. The peo- 
 ple who committed such offences were styled, fares balnearll. 
 
 xxx), 
 
 Scaliger would persuade us, that this ode was written on the 
 same occasion with the famous Carmen Seculare of Horace; but a 
 ljtt}e attention to chronology will shew us the improbability of 
 
 such
 
 PO. 31. POEMS OP CATULLUS. 9! 
 
 ON THE VIBENNII. xxx. 
 
 OLD Vibennius, of all the bath thieves thou first 
 
 thief! 
 
 Of all monsters in lust, young Vibennius, thou chief! 
 This is gifted with hands that are ever rapacious, 
 That is gifted with parts that are full as voracious ; 
 Then, o why don't ye both into banishment go, 5 
 And deservedly wander in deserts of woe ? 
 Not a soul but the father's mean rapines must tell; 
 And thou, son, canst no longer thy infamy sell. 
 
 AN ODE TO DIANA, xxxi. 
 
 VIRGINS, and youths of spotless fame, 
 
 Diana is our guardian queen! 
 .Raise to Diana's sacred name, 
 Ye spotless youths, ye virgins, raise the strain! 
 
 such conjecture : Catullus was born A. U. C. 667. and Horace 
 perhaps wrote his poem, which by the by is the only one extant 
 upon the subjeft, A. U. C. 736. so that, according to Scaliger, 
 Catullus must have lived upwards of 69 years; which is in no de- 
 gree probable. (See Life of Catullus.) Vossius, correcting this 
 mistake, falls into another; for he tells us, that Catullus died 
 A. U. C. 702. or, as he afterwards says, 704. or 705. whereas it is 
 certain, from the testimony of Cicero, that our poet was alive in 
 708. (See Carm. 26.) For my own part, I am much inclined to 
 
 believe
 
 92. CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 31. 
 
 Dianam pueri integri, 
 Puellaeque canamus. 
 
 O Latonia, maximi 5 
 
 . Magna progenies Jovis, 
 Quam mater prope Deliam 
 Deposivit olivam ; 
 
 Montium domina ut fores, 
 Sylvarumque virentium, 10 
 
 Saltuumque reconditorum, 
 Amniumque sonantum. 
 
 Tu Lucina dolentibus 
 Juno dida puerperis; 
 
 Tu potens Trivia, et notho es 15 
 
 Di&a lumine Luna: 
 
 believe, that the ode in question was never intended for a Secular 
 Ode; as well because we have no passage in any history, which 
 shews us to what aera we may affix it; as also that we must have 
 lost several component parts, which were necessary for making it 
 a Carmen adequate to the supposed occasion. The fact I take to 
 be this: Catullus composed his ode on some particular festival 
 peculiar to Diana: since, had it been intended as a Carmen Secu- 
 lore, he would have addressed it to Apollo likewise. For a full 
 account of the Ludi Secvlares, the reader may consult Francis's 
 valuable translation of Horace, with his learned, and judicious 
 notes. 
 
 Puerl integri, &c.~] This ode, like a Secular Ode, appears to 
 have been sung by boys, and girls, of noble birth, and virtuou* 
 character i such being supposed particularly acceptable to Diana. 
 
 Frofe
 
 PO. 31. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 93 
 
 O, hail, thou fair Latonian maid ! 5 
 
 Great progeny of mighty Jove ! 
 Thou, whom thy careful mother laid 
 Beneath the olive's shade, in Delos' grove ! 
 
 That thou mightst stretch thy wide domain 
 
 O'er mountains, and o'er verdant woods ; 10 
 O'er forests of dark foliage reign; 
 Reign mighty sov'reign of the sounding floods ! 
 
 In childbed throes, thou art implor'd 
 
 By Juno's, and Lucina's name; 
 By potent Trivia's too ador'd; 15 
 
 By Luna's also, from thy borrowed beam. 
 
 Prepe Deliam oli'vam.'] The story of Diana's birth is differently 
 related ; some say, that she was born in the groves of Ortygia ; 
 and that Apollo only was born in Delos : but the fable generally 
 goes, that Latona was brought to bed of both, on that island; it 
 is likewise doubted, whether it was not the palm-tree, instead of 
 the olive, under which Diana was laid ; Catullus says, prope oli- 
 'vam ; though it is certain we have a tradition, that the palm-tree 
 assists labour. 
 
 Montlum domina,~\ In like manner Horace : 
 Montium custoj, nemorumque <virgo. 
 
 HOR. Od. 22. Lib. 3. 
 Of groves, and mountains, guardian maid. 
 
 FRANCIS. 
 
 Notbo s, &c.] The ancients knew that the moon shone with 
 borrowed light; and therefore, according to Festus, often em* 
 blematically fabled her car to be drawn by mules, animals that have 
 their origin from a species different from themselves. 
 
 Ruftica
 
 94 CATULLI CARM1NA* CA. 32. 
 
 , Tu cursu, dea, menstruo 
 
 Metiens iter annuum, 
 
 Rustica agricolse bonis 
 
 Tedla frugibus exples. 26 
 
 Sis quocunque tibi placet 
 Sanfta nomine, Romulique 
 Ancique, ut solira es, bona 
 Sospites ope gentem. 
 
 C^CILIUM INVlTAT. xxxn. 
 
 tenero, meo sodali, 
 Velim Caecilto, papyre, dicas ; 
 Veronam veniat, Novi relinquens 
 
 Rustica agricclte, &c.] Thus Callimachus, in his hymn to Di- 
 
 ana : 
 
 Ki i>(/K tv ii.li u^a^a. p' 
 
 But they, who with thy smiles are happy made, 
 Shall crop the teeming earth's luxuriant blade. 
 The Greeks, and Asiatics thought Diana, and Ceres the same. 
 
 Antique.] Many editions have Antique; but Scaliger justly 
 restored the old reading Antique: Ancus was the fourth king of 
 Rome. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 Poet te tenero. ] From hence it appears, that this Czcilius was 
 either a lyric, or an elegiac poet; because they, who wrote in 
 
 such
 
 PO. 32. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 95 
 
 Thou, goddess, each revolving year 
 
 Dost measure, with thy monthly round ; 
 And with large harvests, by thy care, 
 The peasant's rustic shed is amply crown'd. 20 
 
 O, thou, whatever name thine ear 
 
 Best deigns to like, be sacred still! 
 Still be it thine, protectress dear, 
 The Roman race to guard from ev'ry ill ! 
 
 AN INVITATION TO C^CILIUS. xxxir. 
 
 PAPER fly, this message bear 
 Unto my Cascilius dear ! 
 Bear it, instant, from thy lord 
 To his tender, fellow bard; 
 Say, he must forsake his home, ~ 
 
 And to sweet Verona come, 
 
 such style, were called teneri: the pentameter verse used in elegies 
 being soft, and gentle ; and the subjects such, as are wholly unfit 
 for the majesty of heroic composition. VULPIUS. 
 
 Caecilius was a very common name among the Ro- 
 mans; who the particular person was, mentioned in this Carmen, 
 is uncertain : Qmntilian takes notice of a Caecilius, a comic poet, 
 whom Cicero styles, mollem latinitatis auftorem\ but he lived many 
 years, before Catullus's time. 
 
 Comi
 
 96 CATtfill CARMINA. CA. $2. 
 
 Comi moenia, Lariumque litus. 
 
 Nam quasdam volo cogitationes j 
 
 Amici accipiat sui, meique. 
 
 Quare, si sapiet, viam vorabit; 
 
 Quamvis Candida millies puella 
 
 Euntem revocer, manusque collo 
 
 Ambas injiciens roget morari : 10 
 
 Quje nunc, si mihi vera mmciantur, 
 
 Ilium deperit impotente amore. 
 
 Nam quo tempore legit inchoatam 
 
 Dindymi dominam ; ex eo misellx 
 
 Ignes interiorem edunt medullam. i j 
 
 Comi mcenia.J See the first note to Cdrm. 17. 
 
 Viam 'vorabit.'\ The strength, and beauty of this expression is 
 wonderful. Shakespeare has exaftly the same : 
 
 He seem'd in swiftness to devour the way. 
 
 SHAK. Henry 4. Part sec. Afli. 
 
 And Job, speaking of a horse, says, in the true majesty of Eastern 
 metaphor : He sivalloivetb the ground -with fierceness, and rage ; 
 neither belie'veth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. For the 
 whole of this noble description, see JOB, Chap. 39. <u. 19. &c. 
 
 Nam quo tempore, &c.] Swift, it is most likely, had in view 
 this little poem of Catullus ; when he penned the following lines: 
 Cadenus many things had writ: 
 Vanessa much esteem'd his wit, 
 And call'd for his poetic works: 
 Mean time the boy in secret lurks, 
 And, while the book was in her hand, 
 The urchin from his private stand 
 
 Took
 
 PO. 32. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 97 
 
 Comum's new-built walls forsake, 
 
 With the shores of Larius* lake ! 
 
 Say, I wish he would attend 
 
 Certain counsels of our friend j 10 
 
 Then, if he be wise, I'm sure 
 
 He'll the very road devour! 
 
 Tho* his nymph, in beauty bright, 
 
 Call him oft, and stop his flight ; 
 
 Circle oft his neck, and pray. 15 
 
 Yet a little while he'd stay ! 
 
 Charming nymph, if true I hear, 
 
 Who regards him passing dear! 
 
 For the moment that the maid 
 
 Cybele's fam'd story read, 20 
 
 In her lover's language drest -, 
 
 Passion seiz'd her inmost breast : 
 
 Took aim, and shot with all his strength 
 A dart of such prodigious length, 
 It pierc'd the feeble volume through, 
 And deep tranfix'd her bosom too. 
 Some lines, more moving than the rest, 
 Stuck to the point that pierc'd her breast, 
 And, borne directly to the heart, 
 With pains unknown, increas'd her smart. 
 
 SWIFT. Cadenus and Vanessa. 
 
 Inchoatam.] Csecilius had compleated (for such here is the 
 meaning of the word inchoatam) a poem, in honour of Cybele; 
 and, from the manner in which Catullus speaks of it, we have 
 reason to regret its loss. 
 
 VOL. I. H Ignosco
 
 98 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 33. 
 
 Ignoscotibi; Sapphica, puella, 
 Musa dodlior est; enim venuste 
 Magna Ca^cilio inchoata mater. 
 
 IN ANNALES VOLUSII. xxxni. 
 
 ANNALES Volusi, cacata charta, 
 Votum solvite pro mea puella. 
 Nam santflce Veneri, Cupidinique 
 Vovit, si sibi restitutus essem, 
 Desissemque truces vibrare iambos, 5 
 
 Eledtissima pessimi poetae 
 Scripta tardipedi deo daturam 
 
 Ignosco tiki, &c.] This passage has always been so pointed, as 
 to make the word doclior refer to puella ; but I confess, unless 
 there was some reason for supposing Caecilius' mistress worthy of 
 the compliment, of which we find none, that I should be inclined 
 to give it to Caecilius himself; making the stop after the verb est t 
 and interpreting the passage thus : I forgive tbee, o girl, because 
 tby Ctecilius is more learned even than the Sapphic muse : and then 
 follows the reason, enim venuste, &c. 
 
 xxxni. 
 
 Volusius was a sorry poet of Padua, whom Catullus lashes, in 
 this mirthful fiction, for writing certain execrable annals, as he 
 pretended, after the manner of Ennius. 
 
 Truces vibrare iambos. ] The Iambic verse was a measure es- 
 teemed by the ancients, as particularly adapted to satire, and re- 
 proach. Thus Horace : 
 
 Arcbilocbum proprio rabies armavit iambo. HOR. Ar.Poet. 
 Archilochus, with fierce resentment warm'd, 
 Was with his own severe iambics arm'd. FRANCIS. 
 
 Catullus has the same idea, in his 37th Carmen to Ravidus. 
 
 Tardipedi
 
 PO. 33. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 99 
 
 Nymph ! I pardon thee for this ; 
 
 Sappho's lyre's less learn'd than his j 
 
 Well, I own it, hath his tongue 25 
 
 Cybele-'s fam'd story sung. 
 
 ON THE ANNALS OF VOLUSIUS. xxxin. 
 
 COME forth, each vile, historic page, 
 Born of Volusius' scribbling rage; 
 
 Fulfil my nymph's gay promise now ! 
 For, to the sacred Queen of joy, 
 And to her soul-subduing Boy, 
 
 She offer'd up this playful vow : 
 
 That if again I'd wear her chain ; 
 And cease my fierce Iambic strain ; 
 She'd give unto the limping God 
 
 Tardlpedi deo.~] The hobbling god Vulcan, who, being turned 
 out of heaven for his ugliness, broke his thigh in the fall : he is 
 here put, by a very common figure, for the fire over which he 
 presided. Tibullus has the same expression : 
 
 Ilia n>ellm rapida Vulcanus carmina flartima 
 
 Torreat. TIB. Eleg. 10. Lib. i. 
 
 Let Vulcan burn the song with rapid flames. 
 
 Muretus has a note upon this passage, too remarkable to be 
 omitted; he says, that Vulcan was called tardipe-s; quod fldmma 
 trepldo surtum motu tendeni quasi claudicare vldeat^r. 
 
 H 2 In f elicit us
 
 100 CATULLI CARM1NA.* CA. 33. 
 
 Infelicibus ustulanda lignis. 
 
 Et h&c pessima se puella vidit 
 
 Jocose et lepide vovere divis. 10 
 
 Nunc 6 coeruleo creata ponto, 
 
 Quae san&um Idalium, Syrosque apertos, 
 
 Quaeque Ancona, Cnidumque arundinosam 
 
 Infelicibus lignis. ] The Romans, ever superstitious, were in 
 nothing mofe so, than in the uses to which they religiously applied 
 certain woods ; some of which they called ligna felicla, and others 
 ligna infelicia: when they burnt any thing bad, or ill-omen'd; 
 they made use of such trees, as were supposed to be under the 
 protection inferorum deorum a<vertentiumque ', as the black fig, the 
 holly, and all kinds of thorny shrubs: on the other hand, the 
 white fig, the pear, the apple, the vine, and many other trees, 
 which were valuable for their productions, they used on joyous, 
 and fortunate events : for, according to Cato, felices arbores sunt 
 qua frutJum ferunt, infelices qua non ferunt. The reader may 
 consult, upon this subject, Macrob. Saturn. Cap. 16. Lib. 2. 
 
 Pessima puella. ] An expression of endearment. In like manner 
 Antipho addresses Chaerea, in Terence: 
 
 Turn equidem tstuc os tuum impudens <vidcre nimidm vellem, 
 Qjfi esset status, fiabellulum tenere te asinum tantum. 
 
 TER. Eunuch. Sc. 5. Ac. 3. 
 
 Amid enim jocls libcrioribus uti inter se consueverunt, qui si ex ini- 
 inici, aut etiamfamiliaris ore prodirent, conlumelix baberentur. 
 
 VULPIUS. 
 
 Syr6squt apertos.] The poet is here enumerating the diffe- 
 rent places wbere Venus was chiefly worshipped; and, having 
 mentioned the shades of Idalium, he next adds her Syrian vota- 
 ries : Ascalon, in Syria Palestine, a country particularly open, 
 being the first city which had a public building in honour of the 
 goddess ; and which, according to Herodotus, in his Chio, was 
 the pattern of the several other famous buildings, that were 
 erected afterwards. 
 
 Cnidumque
 
 PO. 33. POEMS OF CATULLUS. IOI 
 
 The worst of poets that e'er wrote; 10 
 
 Whose works she'd to the flames devote, - 
 Flames kindled with ill-omen'd wood ! 
 
 And well the saucy wanton knew, 
 She could not keep her oath so true, 
 
 As when this merry choice she made : 1 5 
 
 Then, o great queen, absolve the fair; 
 If jest, if laughter be thy care; 
 
 And note the debt, as duly paid: 
 
 Thou, Ocean's offspring; who art seen 
 
 O'er holy Ida's groves to reign, 20 
 
 -Where first thy rustic fanes were known; 
 O'er Syria's regions, where the eye 
 No distant boundary can spy; 
 
 O'er Ancon, love's devoted town ! 
 
 Thou ! who delightest oft to tread 25 
 
 Where reedy Cnidus lifts her head; 
 
 Cnidumque arund'inosam."] Ovid, in his Metamorphoses, Lib. 
 10. calls Cnidus pise osa-, Catullus is perhaps the only poet, who 
 terms it arundinosa ; however the epithet is justified by an admi- 
 rable prose writer, Pliny; who, Cap. 36. Lib. 16. mentions the 
 excellency of Cnidian reeds. 
 
 H 3 Amatbunta,
 
 IO2 CATtfLLI CARM1NA. CA. 34. 
 
 Colis, quaeque Amathunta, quaeque Golgos, 
 
 Quaeque Dyrrachium, Adrian tabernam ; 15 
 
 Acceptum face, redditumque votum, 
 
 Si non illepidum, neque invenustum est. 
 
 At vos interea venite in ignem 
 
 Pleni ruris, et inficetiarum, 
 
 Annales Volusi, cacata charta. 20 
 
 AD CONTUBERNALES. xxxiv. 
 
 SALAX taberna, vosque contubernales, 
 A pileatis nona fratribus pila, 
 
 Amathunta, quteque Golgos.] As Ancona, mentioned in the 
 preceding verse, was the metropolis of Picenum, in Italy; so 
 Amathus, and Golgos, were cities in the island of Cyprus, alike 
 partial to the sacrifices of Venus. 
 
 Adri<e tabernam.'} Dyrrachium was so called from its being 
 the principal commercial town of all Macedonia, situated close 
 upon the Adriatic. See .Lilian. Var. Cap. 17. Lib. 13. In like 
 manner, Sicily, on account of its fruitfulness in grain, was called 
 borreum Romanorum, the granary of the Romans. 
 
 Acceptum face, &c.] That is, solve me voti religiose ; a meta-y 
 phor taken from a book-debt, duly entered as discharged. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 Salax taberna. ] Taverns, and shops, in Rome, were distin- 
 guished by pillars, projecting into the streets, the better to catch 
 the eye of the passenger, as sign-posts of inns do with us, now: 
 the tavern in question was a house of ill-fame, similar to what we 
 call a bagnio; and we are told, it was the ninth column, or sign- 
 post, from the temple of Castor and Pollux. 
 
 Contubernales.] This word, which in general claims the same 
 signification with socius, an intimate, or fellow-companion, has 
 
 here
 
 PO. 34. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 103 
 
 Where Amathus with Golgos vies ; 
 Or where, upon Dyrrachium's shores, 
 Wild Adria treasures up her stores 
 
 Of billowy storms, that vex the skies. 30 
 
 And sure, bright queen, thou wilt allow . 
 Sweetly facetious was the vow ! 
 
 Then come, and to the flames retire, 
 Instant, each vile historic page, 
 Born of Volusius' scribbling rage, . 35 
 
 Without one spark of wit, or fire ! 
 
 TO THE FREQUENTERS OF A CERTAIN TAVERN, 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 O, THOU brothel most lewd, and you letcherous 
 
 host, 
 
 From the cap-honour'd Brothers who hold the ninth 
 post! 
 
 here a meaning singularly its own : Catullus's mistress had, it 
 seems, run away from him to a common brothel ; before which, 
 it was the custom not only for the women, but even for the men 
 to sit down, and offer themselves for prostitution ; and from such 
 connexion with some particular tavern, the people, qui sedebant, 
 were called contubernales. 
 
 Pileatis.] The twin-brothers acquired this epithet; either be- 
 cause they were produced from an egg, the shell of which being 
 equally divided, each half bears some resemblance to a cap; or 
 because the pileus was a badge, not only of liberty, but also of great 
 reputation, and renown. VULPIUS. 
 
 H 4 Scipionibus.
 
 104 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 34. 
 
 Solis putatis esse mentulas vobis ? 
 
 Solis licere quicquid est puellarum 
 
 Confutuere, et putare cseteros hircos ? 5 
 
 An, continenter quod sodetis insulsi 
 
 Centum, aut ducenti, non putatis ausurum 
 
 Me una dncentos irrumare sessores ? 
 
 Atqui putate : namque totius vobis 
 
 Frontem taberna? scipionibus scribam. K> 
 
 Puella nam mea, quae meo sinu fugit, 
 
 Amata tantum, quantum amabitur nulla, 
 
 Pro qua mihi sunt magna bella pugnata, 
 
 Consedit istic. hanc boni, beatique 
 
 Omnes amatis; et quidem, quod indignum est, 15 
 
 Omnes pusilli, et semitarii moechi. 
 
 Scipionibus scribam.] It was a custom with the ancients; to 
 scribble something satirical upon the doors, and walls of those they 
 would defame, with burnt wood, or chalk. To this effect Plautus : 
 Impleantur me <e fores elogiorum carbonibus. 
 
 PLAUT. Mercator. 5V. 3. Ac.*. 
 
 And Ovid, Eleg. i. Lib. 3. says, that lovers also wrote their amo- 
 rous complaints, in the same manner. Vossius reads, but without 
 any amendment of the text, sopionibus ; that is, carbonibus extinc- 
 tis, aut sop it is. 
 
 Bella pugnata.] This is a very elegant, and classic expression. 
 So Horace : 
 
 N arras, et genus jEaci, 
 
 Et pugnata sacro bella sub Illo. 
 
 HOR. OJ. 19. Lib. 3. 
 You sing; and how th' .ffiacides engag'd, 
 What wars were under sacred Ilion wag'd. 
 
 Consedi*
 
 PO. 34. POEMS OF CAf CTLLITS. IO$ 
 
 Do you think that you only have passions, and pow'r; 
 Thus to mingle with wantons, and spend the soft 
 
 hour ? 
 
 That no girl, be she dwarfish, tall, snowy, or brown; 
 Each soul else a rank goat ; but must kiss you alone ? 
 What j because a good hundred at least, if not two, 
 You for ever sit down at the door of your stew ; 
 Do you fancy, you fools, as resentment may call, 
 I'll not venture one stroke, and let fly at you all ? 10 
 O, in faith, but I will ! and 'twere serving you right, 
 With my stick, duly burnt, o'er your brothel to write: 
 Since my girl, whom these arms could no longer 
 
 detain ; 
 
 So belov'd, that none e'er shall be so lov'd again ; 
 For whose sake in a thousand mad riots I've bled; 
 Hath with you ta'en her place, both to board and to 
 
 bed: 
 
 And you love her, forsooth ; you sweet, delicate souls ! 
 O, 'tis shameful, you wretches, fit only for trulls ! 
 
 Consedit istlc.~\ That is; she sat down upon the same infamous 
 bench with the c ontube male s ; whom he calls, in the very same 
 line, and in the true spirit of irony ; 6oni, beatlque. 
 
 Semitarii maechi.'] Whoremongers; who take up with common 
 women, that offer themselves at every corner of the streets for a 
 mere trifle. VULPIOS. 
 
 A 
 
 De
 
 1O6 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 35. 
 
 Tu prseter omnes une de capillatis 
 
 Cuniculosse Celtiberice fili, 20 
 
 Egnatl, opaca quern bonutn facit barba, 
 
 Et dens Ibera defricatus urina. 
 
 AD CORNIFICIUM. xxxy. 
 
 MALE est, Cornifici, tuo Catullo; 
 Male est mehercule, et laboriose : 
 Magisque, et magis, in dies et horas. 
 
 De capilfatis, &c.] These people were originally descended 
 from the Gauls; but coming to settle in Spain, they obtained, ac- 
 cording to Lucan, the compound appellation of Celtiberians; 
 
 profugique a gen:e <vctustd 
 
 Gallorunt Celtue miscentes nomen Iberis. 
 
 LUCAN. Lib. 4. 
 
 The Celtae too, from ancient Gauls who came, 
 And mingled with Iberian tribes their name. 
 They took great delight in wearing long beards, and were parti- 
 cularly delicate in the management of their hair. 
 
 Curiiculoste."] Rabbits, in those days, were almost peculiar to 
 that part of Spain ; and therefore Catullus very properly describes 
 it, by the production for which it was chiefly remarkable Mr. 
 Addison shews us, on the reverse of a coin of Adrian's, the figure 
 of Hispania, with an olive branch in her hand, and a rabbit sitting! 
 at her feet. See his Dialogues upon Medals , Series 3. 
 
 Ibera urina.] We are assured by Strabo, Lib. 3. that this filthy 
 custom prevailed greatly in Spain : teeth were not only washed 
 with stale urine, the acid of which must necessarily render them 
 white; but they were also rubbed with a powder of calcined hu- 
 man excrement. Persons sometimes even bathed their whole bo- 
 dies in urine. 
 
 Our
 
 PO. 35. POEMS OF CATULL17S. 107 
 
 But of all the lewd, infamous posse, I vow, 
 The most lewd, the most worthless, Egnatius, art 
 thou ! 20 
 
 Celtiberia's soft son, for long tresses renown'd ; 
 Celtiberia, the country where rabbits abound ; 
 Of thy bushy, black beard who canst only be vain, 
 And thy teeth nicely polish'd with urine of Spain. 
 
 <;, TO CORNIFICIUSi xxxv. 
 
 HARD, Cornificius, I declare, 
 Hard is the lot I'm doom'd to bear! 
 And ev'ry day, and ev'ry hour, 
 I live but to endure the more! 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 Our poet, in this charming little Carmen, upbraids his friend for 
 his negleft of him under some particular distress. The abrupt 
 brevity with which he writes strongly expresses his feelings. 
 
 >uod minimum, &c.] It should appear from hence that Cor- 
 nificius, who had a sister Cornificia, was a poet of no mean abili- 
 ties. Ovid mentions him in his Tristia, Lib. 2. 
 
 Cinna quoque hie comes est, Cinnaque procacior anser, 
 
 Et le*ve Cornifici, parque Catonis opus. 
 
 But none of his works are now extant. He was much noticed by 
 Augustus; was cotemporary with Virgil; and, we are told, his 
 rival in literary fame. Some have pretended that he was the Qujn- 
 tus Cornificius whom Cicero frequently wrote to as governor of 
 Africa ; but we find no single passage in any of his letters to au- 
 thorize such conjecture. 
 
 Sic
 
 108 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 36. 
 
 Irascor tibi : sic meos amores ? 
 
 Quern tu, quod minimum facillimumque est, 5 
 
 Qua solatus es adlocutione? 
 
 Paulum quidlibet adlocutionis, 
 
 Mcestius lacrymis Simonideis. 
 
 IN EGNATIUM. xxxvi. 
 
 EGNATIUS, quod candidos habet dentes, 
 Renidet usquequaque: seu ad rei ventum est 
 Subsellium, cum orator excitat fletum, 
 Renidet ille : seu pii ad jrogum fill 
 &,~ ~ 
 
 Sic meos amores.] Muretus insists, that something is want- 
 ing after these words, toconneft what immediately follows. Fojr 
 my own part, I can conceive nothing more perfeft than the text as 
 it now stands; or more truly correspondent with that impatient 
 grief, which is the leading feature of the whole piece. 
 
 Lacrymis Simonideis.] Simonides, according to C^uintilian, was 
 an eminent poet of Ceos. He exercised his talents in divers kinds 
 of verse ; but was most remarkable for his elegies, in which there 
 was such a soft and meaning sweetness, that Catullus very elegant- 
 ly stiles them lacryma. Horace, amongst other writers, makes 
 this honourable mention of his compositions. 
 Ce<e retrafles munera ncenits. 
 
 HOR. Od. i. Lib. a. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 Egnatius.] This is the same Celtiberian coxcomb, whom our 
 poet so severely lashes in his 34th Carmen. And we would here just 
 remark to the coxcombs of our own days; that it was not because 
 he kept his teeth white, but because he was for ever shewing that 
 they were so, that Catullus treats him with such just contempt. 
 
 Renidet.
 
 PO. 36. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 109 
 
 My injur'd heart indignant burns; 5 
 
 Why meets my love such cold returns ? 
 
 Say, tho' thy words can sweetly flow, 
 
 Have they once sooth'd my bosom's woe ? 
 
 Words, moving as those tearful lays 
 
 Which sang the sad Simonides]! 10 
 
 UPON EGNATIVS. xxxvi. 
 
 BECAUSE Egnatius' teeth are nicely white; 
 To grin, and shew them, is his sole delight. 
 If haply at some trial he appear, 
 Where eloquence commands the gushing tear; 
 
 He grins If, at the pile, her duteous son 5 
 
 The childless mother weeps, for ever gone ; 
 
 ReniJet.'} Nothing can be more happily chosen than this word, 
 which implies a gentle separation of the lips, with a small degree 
 of smile : modico risu labla diducere. The Greeks had the same 
 idea when they wrote i*,n%ui> viropiha.* ; molliter seu leniter ridere, 
 subridere. 
 
 Subsellium.'] According to Paullus Manutius; the .Romans in 
 their courts of justice had their subsellia, or benches; one for the 
 judges, another for the accused, and another for the accusers. 
 Hence Tully's expression, in his oration for Flaccus: ex accusato. 
 rum subsellii; surgere, to stand up for the prosecution. 
 
 Si pit ad rogumfiH, &c.J There is not a word in this passage 
 but what has its peculiar force and beauty. It is the mother who 
 bewails her child, it is an */v child, that child is a son, that son 
 was dutiful ; and the moment of her distress (in which Egnatius 
 
 laughs,
 
 110 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 36. 
 
 Lugetur, orba quum flet unicum mater, 5 
 
 Renidet ille: quicquid est, ubicumque est, 
 
 Quodcumque agit, renidet. hunc habet morbum, 
 
 Neque elegantem, ut arbitror, neque urbanum. 
 
 Quare monendus es mihi, bone Egnati; 
 
 Si urbanus esses, aut Sabinus, aut Tiburs, 10 
 
 Aut porcus Umber, aut obesus Etruscus, 
 
 Aut Lanuvinus ater, atque denratus, 
 
 Aut Transpadanus, ut meos quoque attingam, 
 
 Aut quilibet, qui puriter lavit denies; 
 
 Tamen renidere usquequaque te nollem : i ; 
 
 laughs, thinking only on the fineness of his teeth) is when she 
 beholds the body of her offspring devoured by the funeral flames. 
 
 MuRETUS. 
 
 Hunc babet morbum.'} Certain failings are elegantly called morbi. 
 Thus Cicero, in Verrem^ says : Venio nunc ad istius, quemadmodum 
 ipse appellat, studium ; ut amlcl ejus, morbum, et insaniam ; ut 
 Siculi latrocinium. 
 
 MURETUS. 
 
 Urbanus.] Is here put by way of eminence, for a Roman; and 
 so urbs t for the same reason, stood frequently for Rome. 
 
 VULPIUS. 
 
 Portus Umhfr,~\ Some read par(us, but the vulgar reading is 
 certainly the best: for the Umbrians not only lived in a country 
 ' very rich and plentiful, but it was their maxim to enjoy themselves 
 to the utmost. " Nusquam generosior olcte liquor* Et hoc quoque 
 ccrtamen human* uoluptatis tenuerunt Ord, Grteci, Umbri, Tasci, 
 Campani." PLINIUS. Hist. Nat. Lib.$. Cap. 5. 
 
 Obesus Etruscus. ] Vulpius informs us, that the Etrurians were 
 called obes'iy greasy, from the filthiness of their sacrifices, in which 
 
 they
 
 PO. 36. POEMS OF CATULLUS. Ill 
 
 He grins In short, vvhate'er the time, or place, 
 
 Do as he may, the grin still marks his face: 
 
 J Tis his disease; and, speaking as I feel, 
 
 We cannot call it decent, or genteel. 10 
 
 Then, good Egnatius, list to what I sing: 
 
 Didst thou from Roman, or from Sabine spring, 
 
 From Tiburine, or Umbrian highly fed; 
 
 Or with Etrurians greasy wert thou bred; 
 
 Wert thou descended of Lanuvian race, 15 
 
 Remark'd alike for teeth, and swarthy face; 
 
 Or that my native land may mention claim 
 
 Wert thou like me of Transpadanian name; 
 
 Wert thou a son of any region, where 
 
 Teeth are kept clean with water that is fair; 20 
 
 they were known very much to have delighted. We have this 
 mention made of them in Virgil, Georg. 2. 
 
 Inflabit cum pinguis ebur Tyrrhenus ad aras. 
 
 When fat Etrurians at your altars pipe. 
 
 Lanu<vlnus ater.~\ The Lanuvians, according to Vossius, had 
 a singular prominency of teeth and mouth, resembling a bird's 
 beak; and we read of many nations now among the Indians, who 
 are remarkable for the same distinftion. Ater refers to the swar- 
 thiness of their complexions; owing to severe exercise and fatigue: 
 for the Lanuvians were hardy, even to a proverb, especially in 
 war. 
 
 Transpadanus.] The Transpadanian region lay between the Alps 
 and Apennines, on the other side of the river Po. In this region 
 stood Verona, where Catullus was born. 
 
 Nam
 
 112 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 37. 
 
 Nam risu inepto res incptior nulla est. 
 
 Nunc Celtiber in Celtiberia terra 
 
 Quod quisque minxit, hoc solet sibi mane 
 
 Dentem, atque russam defricare gingivam: 
 
 Ut quo iste vester expolitior dens est, 20 
 
 Hoc te amplius bibisse prsedicet loti. 
 
 AD RAVIDUM. xxxvu. 
 
 QtLENAM te mala mens, miselle Ravide, 
 Agit praecipitem in meos iambos ? 
 Quis Deus tibi non bene advocatus 
 Vecordem parat excitare rixam ? 
 Anne ut pervenias in ora vulgi ? 5 
 
 Quid vis? qualubet esse notus optas ? 
 
 Nam risu inepto, &c.] Such laughter as our poet alludes to is 
 named by the Greeks, xo yiXarra, /**>gor ytXwra. 
 
 Nunc Celtiber.] See the last note to Carmen 34. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 Ravidf.] We are not in the least acquainted with this charac- 
 ter, who shall continue to be despised, Catullus says, as long as 
 his verses continue to be read. Some have conjectured that Ra- 
 vidus was not a proper name, but only an appellative, meaning 
 that the person, whom our poet threatens, had a fierce look like 
 that of a wild beast. " Ra<vidi enim oculi (says Vulpius) diceban- 
 tl tur qui crant ravo colore, medio scilicet inter fiavum ft c&sium." 
 
 Dfus non bene advocatus.] The Romans had a belief that the 
 deities, when incensed through any just cause, as neglect of worship, 
 
 or
 
 PO. 37. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 E'en then that ceaseless ill-tim'd grin forego: 
 A silly laugh's the silliest thing I know: 
 But, Celtiberian! in that country born, 
 Where what you make at night you ev'ry morn 
 Rub on your teeth, and scarlet gums ; for you 25 
 To smirk and smile, but proves this scandal true: 
 The more your teeth are polish'd white and fine, 
 The more you've only swilPd of filthy brine. 
 
 TO RAVIDIUS. xxxvu. 
 
 SAY, wretched Ravidus, what evil hour 
 Urg'd thee to dare my fierce Iambics' pow'r ? , 
 What god, with ill advice, could tempt thy rage 
 Such foolish, such unequal strife to wage? 
 Was it, at any hazard, to be known; 5 
 
 To be the talk, and wonder of the town ? 
 
 or the like, put hurtful counsels into men's heads, and made them 
 the authors of their own misfortunes. Thus Cicero, in his ora- 
 tion, pro Milone, " Dli immortales mentem dederunt illi perdito ac 
 *' furioso, ut ill'ifaceret insidias ; aliter perire pestis ilia nonpoterat." 
 And thus Homer to the same purpose, Iliad 17. *ver. 469. 
 
 AvTOfAtbot, TI? TCI rv Star rr,xt$iat |3ttXt)i> 
 
 E rr&tffffHi eSwt, KOU ii-iforo "tphatc cr6?,a-. 
 
 What god, Automedon, thy soul inclin'd 
 
 To vain intents, and warp'd thy wholesome mind? 
 
 VOL. I. I Lng&
 
 114 CATULLI CARMINA. CA, 38. 
 
 Eris -, quandoquidem meos amores 
 Cum longa voluisti amare pcena. 
 
 DE AMIGA MAMURR^:. xxxvm. 
 
 ANNE sana puella defututa 
 Tota, millia me decem poposcit ? 
 Ista turpiculo puella naso, 
 Decoctoris arnica Formiani ? 
 
 Propinqui, quibus est puella curse, 5 
 
 Amicos, medicosque convocate. 
 Non est sana puella, nee rogate, 
 Qualis sit. solet hasc imaginosum. 
 
 Long a paend. ] This is not the first time that we find Catullus 
 stamping, as it were, a degree of immortality upon his poetic 
 labours. He even sets out with the same idea; begging of Mi- 
 nerva, that his work " plus uno maneat perenne s<edo!" 
 xxxvm. 
 
 Anne sana.] There are few lines in Catullus which have un- 
 dergone a greater variety of criticism than this; each commen- 
 tator has freely altered it according to his own opinion. The Va- 
 riorum, and the Delphin editions read Acme, making it the proper 
 name of Mamurra's mistress : but as there is no authority from 
 any other writer for such conjecture, we wish to follow that read- 
 ing which seems most connected with the whole of the Carmen, 
 Perhaps the first and seventh lines, as they now stand, will ap- 
 pear to throw a light upon each other, yet unfavourable to such 
 intention. 
 
 Millia decem.] That is, decem millia scstertium nummorum; 
 which, according to our valuation of money, amounts to about 
 two hundred and fifty pounds. 
 
 Turpicult
 
 PO. 38. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 115 
 
 Thou shah and, wanting to supplant my flame, 
 
 Each future age shall hold thee up to shame. 
 
 ON MAMURRA's MISTRESS, xxxvin. 
 
 IS that hackney'd lewd jade in her senses, or not, 
 Who can ask me a brace of cool hundreds, and 
 more ? 
 
 Even she, who a nose truly filthy has got, 
 
 The wealth-wasting Mamurra's insatiable whore ! 
 
 O ye kinsmen, who legally watch o'er the fair, 5 
 Call her friends, call physicians ; the girl is in- 
 sane ! 
 
 Nor inquire of what sort is her phrenzy j I swear 
 'Tis the old one of whims, and strange freaks in 
 the brain. 
 
 Turpiculo naso.] This expression is intended to convey an idea 
 not over delicate. The sort of nose alluded to is such as sheep, 
 or goats have. A passage in Lucretius, Lib. 4. Ver. 1162. will 
 best serve as its comment. 
 
 Solet htec imaginosum.] Muretus interprets these words thus: 
 " She has never been used to consult her mirror, otherwise she 
 f( Would be conscious of her own deformity." But the true mean- 
 ing is : She raves, her mind is disordered by a phantasma." 
 To be thus distempered is sometimes called c orybantiare ; from the 
 Corybantft, frantic priests of Bacchus. 
 
 I 3 Pugillaria.
 
 Il6 , CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 39. 
 
 IN MOECHAM. xxxix. 
 
 ADESTE hendecasyllabi, quot estis 
 Omnes undique, quotquot estis omnes. 
 Jocum me putat esse mcecha turpis, 
 Et negat mihi vestra reddicuram 
 Pugillaria: si pati potestis, 5 
 
 - Persequamur earn, et reflagitemus. 
 Quae sit, qujeritis ? ilia, quam videtis 
 Turpe incedere, mimice, ac moleste 
 Ridentem catuli ore Gallicani. 
 Circumsistite earn, et reflagitate; 10 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 Pugillaria.] These' were tables of ivory, or wood, thinly co- 
 vered over with wax, the writing upon which could be erased, and 
 scratched in again, at pleasure ; upon these Catullus framed the 
 numbers which in this poem he addresses, viz. his bendecasyllabi t 
 or phaltfdi, so called from Phalaecus, their inventor, in which 
 species of poetry our poet chiefly excelled. Some wanton girl, it 
 seems, had jestingly stolen away his poetical notes, or his pugilla- 
 ria. 
 
 Mimic*.] Affeftedly; though Muretus, and others read myr- 
 mice, i. e. with a slow pace, like that of a pismire. So Plautus, 
 in Mencrcb. \\asformidnium gradum. 
 
 Catuli ore GaUicani.] To laugh like a Gallic beagle means, to 
 laugh loudly, and with a very wide mouth; Gallic beagles were 
 esteemed the keenest-scented by the Romans. Thus Ovid, in the 
 story of Apollo and Daphne : 
 
 Ut
 
 PO. 39. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 ON A HARLOT, xxxix, " 
 
 FROM any place, to any size, 
 
 Hither, Phalascian numbers, come ! 
 Yon harlot jeers me; and denies 
 
 To bring your valued tablets home. 
 Can you such theft with patience bear? 5 
 
 Quick let us seek, and urge the fair ! 
 
 Ask you, what fair? That stage-bred queen, 
 Who walks with such affected pride ! 
 
 Whose mouth, whene'er she laughs, is seen 
 
 Like Gallic beagle's, vast and wide. 10 
 
 Round her, Phalxcian numbers, throng ; 
 
 And press, and urge her with your song ! 
 
 Ut cants in vacua leporem cum Gallicus arvo 
 Vidit t et bic prcedam pedibus petit, ille salutem. 
 
 OVID. Metam. i. 
 
 As when the Gallic beagle, slipt from far, 
 Bounds o'er the glebe to course the fearful hare j 
 She in her speed does all her safety lay, 
 And he with double speed pursues the prey. 
 
 DRYDEN. 
 See likewise Pliny, Cap, 40. Lib. 8. 
 
 I 3
 
 Il8 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 40. 
 
 Mcecha putida, redde codicillos, 
 
 Redde, putida mcecha, codicillos. 
 
 Non assis facis ? 6 lutum, lupanar, 
 
 Aut si perditius potest quid esse ! 
 
 Sed non est tamen hoc satis putandum. 15 
 
 Quod si non aliud potest, ruborem 
 
 Ferreo canis exprimamus ore. 
 
 Conclamate iterum altiore voce ; 
 
 Mcecha putida, redde codicillos, 
 
 Redde, putida moecha, codicillos. 20 
 
 Sed nil proficimus ; nihil movetur. 
 
 Mutanda est ratio, modusque vobis, 
 
 Si quid proficere amplius potestis. 
 
 Pudica, et proba redde codicillos. 
 
 AD AMICAM FORMIANI. XL. 
 
 SALVE, nee nimio puella naso, 
 Nee bello pede, nee nigris ocellis, 
 
 Codicillos.] Tablets, or memorandum-books, were called codi- 
 eilli, till the reign of Augustus; when the lawyers first taught 
 them to signify the written testament of any person. 
 
 SILVIUS. 
 
 Ferreo, &c.] The Latins said, osferreum, "iron face;" as we now 
 say, " brazen face ;" they likewise used durus in the same sense. 
 Thus Ovid; duripuer oris, ft audax : the Greeks in a similar man- 
 ner expressed the os ferreum, according to Aristophanes, ) 
 
 C-lJ$* 
 
 In
 
 PO. 40. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 11,9 
 
 " Restore the tablets, filthy jade! 
 
 " The tablets, filthy jade, restore ! 
 " Dost thou not value what is said? 15 
 
 " O lump of dirt, o common whore! 
 " O any thing, if ought can be 
 " More sunk, more lost in infamy!" 
 
 Nor yet enough that taunting strain ! 
 
 Since nothing else we can procure, 20 
 
 At least her cheeks with red let's stain, 
 
 Her iron cheeks ne'er stain'd before. 
 Again lift up your voice on high ; 
 And louder, and still louder cry! 
 
 " Restore the tablets, filthy jade ! 25 
 
 " The tablets, filthy jade, restore!" 
 Alas, we fail ! she will not heed 
 
 Some other way we must implore. 
 Perhaps with this we shall persuade : 
 " Restore them, chaste, and virtuous maid !" 30 
 
 TO FORMIAN's MISTRESS. XL. 
 HAIL to thee, girl, altho' thy nose 
 Be not of largest size j 
 
 XL. 
 
 In .this poem, which alludes to the same Acme mentioned in 
 Carm. 38. our poet negatively enumerates the beauties of the prin- 
 
 I 4 , opal
 
 I2O CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 40. 
 
 Nec longis digitis, nee ore sicco, 
 
 Nee sane nimis elegante lingua, 
 
 Decoctoris arnica Formiani. 5 
 
 Ten* provincia narrat esse bellam ? 
 
 Tecum Lesbia nostra comparator? 
 
 O seclurn insipiens, et inficetum ! 
 
 cipal features of the face, according to the taste of the Romans; 
 they loved that large prominent nose, which we now call the 
 Roman nose; though, if like many editors we read rninhno, the 
 sense, in my opinion, would be just the reverse. A small foot, 
 according to Ovid, was another beauty : 
 
 Pes erat exiguvs, pedis bxc aftissima forma est. 
 
 OVID. Amor. L. i. 
 
 The foot was small, for smallness suits the feet. 
 
 Dark eyes, and eye-brows were likewise to be admired. Thu 
 Horace : 
 
 Et Lycum nigr'u oculis, nigroque 
 Crine decorum. 
 
 HOR. Od. 31. Lib. i. 
 
 And Lycus beauteous past compare, 
 With jetty eye, and raven hair. 
 
 Juvenal says, that those, whose eye-brows were not naturally dark, 
 
 made them so by art : 
 
 Hie supercilium madida fuliglne tlnftum 
 Obliqud produdt acu : pingitque trementes 
 Attollcns oculos. Juv. Sa/. a. 
 
 He with moist soot the well-arch'd eye-brows made, 
 Which gave the trembling eyes a deeper shade. 
 
 Nor were long fingers less pleasing; witness Propertius, mention- 
 ing his Cynthia : 
 
 Fulva
 
 PO. 40. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 121 
 
 Altho' thy foot no beauty shows ; 
 No jetty black thine eyes : 
 
 Altho' thy fingers be not long ; 5 
 
 Thy lips not over dry ; 
 Not over eloquent thy tongue; 
 
 Yet hail, lewd Formian's joy ! 
 
 And does the province call thee fair ? 
 
 Must Lesbia yield to thee? 10 
 
 O age of fools beyond compare ! 
 
 O rank stupidity ! 
 
 Fulva coma est, longteqtte manus, et maxima toto 
 Corpore, et incedit <vel Jove digna soror. 
 
 PROPER. Eleg. 2. Lib. . 
 
 Bright were her locks, slender her hands, and frame; 
 Stately she mov'd, like heav'n's imperial dame. 
 
 Too moist a mouth was equally offensive with too filthy a nose. 
 Juvenal thus commemorates the last : 
 
 Jam gra*uls es nobis, et stfpe emungeris, exl 
 Ocyus t et propera j sicco venit alter a tiaso. 
 
 Juv. Sat. 6. 
 
 Much does th' excretion of thy nose offend ; 
 
 Hence, and go cleanse the sniv'ling thing, my friend! 
 
 Those who would see poetic descriptions of perfect beauty, ac- 
 cording to the Greeks, may turn to Anacreon ; Od. 28. & 29. 
 
 Ten 1 provinc^a, &c.] Meaning the Transpadanian province.
 
 122 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 41. 
 
 AD FUNDUM. XLI. 
 
 O FUNDE noster, seu Sabine, seu Tiburs, 
 Nam te esse Tiburtem autuinant, quibus non est 
 Cordi Catullum Izedere : at quibus cordi est, 
 Quovis Sabinum pignore esse contendunt. 
 Sed seu Sabine, sive verius Tiburs, 5 
 
 Fui libenter in tua suburbana 
 Villa, malamque pedlore expuli tussim : 
 Non immerenti quam mihi meus venter, 
 Dum sumptuosas appeto, dedit, coenas. 
 Nam Sextianus dum volo esse conviva, 10 
 
 Orationem in Antium petitorem 
 
 XLI. 
 
 Te esse Tiburtem.] Catullus's villa stood upon the confines both 
 of the Tiburtine, and of the Sabine territory j he would rather, 
 however, have it thought to stand wholly upon the Tiburtine ; 
 either because it did not pay a military mulft as the Sabine did, or 
 because it was more remarkably pleasant. Horace wishes to end 
 his days in so sweet a spot : 
 
 Tibur Argeo posituta colono 
 
 Sit me* sedes utinam senefJx! 
 
 Hie terraruxt mibi prxtcr tmnes 
 
 Angulus ridet. HOR. Qd. 6. Lib. ^. 
 
 May Tibur to my latest hours 
 
 Afford a kind, and calm retreat ! 
 
 Of this wide globe's extended shores 
 
 To me no spot can smile so sweet.
 
 PO. 41. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 TO HIS FARM. XLI. 
 
 HAIL, my sweet farm, where'er allow'd to stand, 
 Whether on Sabine, or on Tybur's land ! 
 Those call thee Tybur's who would sooth my pride, 
 While some will bet thou'rt on the Sabine side ; 
 But Sabine, or if rather Tybur's ground, 5 
 
 Still thy retreat with roseate health was crown'd ; 
 Thy rural calm made all my moments gay, 
 And kindly chas'd my lab'ring cough away ; 
 That lab'ring cough which, as I madly chose 
 The highest meats, from late intemp'rance rose: 10 
 For when I sate a guest at Sextius' board, 
 And his oration against Antium heard, 
 
 ^uam mibi mcus venter.] This is the reading of Faernus, and 
 and generally accepted. Many read, quam mihi niens 'vertitur^ or 
 iieretur, orfertur. 
 
 Sextianus.'] This Sextius ; who invited Catullus to supper, 
 that he might read his oration to him, when our poet committed a 
 debauch, as is evident from the word peccatum, and took cold ; is 
 supposed to be the same Sextius, a Roman knight, mentioned by 
 Cicero. It was the custom with the rich men of Rome, who 
 pretended to genius, to invite their parasites to supper; when they 
 read their compositions to them. Horace laughs at this more than 
 once; so does Juvenal. 
 
 Antium petitorem."] Aldus's edition has Aftium; but I think, 
 with Vossius, that this is the C. Antius Restio, whom Macrobius 
 records to have made a sumptuary law for suppresiing of luxury, 
 
 after
 
 124 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 42. 
 
 Plenam veneni, et pestilentise legit : 
 
 Hie me gravcdo frigida, et frequens tussis 
 
 Quassavit, usquedum in tuum sinum fugi, 
 
 Et me procuravi ocimoque, et urtica. 15 
 
 Quare refectus maximas tibi grates 
 
 Ago, meum quod non es uka peccatum. 
 
 Nee deprecor jam, si nefaria scripta 
 
 Sexti recepso, quin gravedinem, et tussim 
 
 Non mi, sed ipsi Sextio ferat frigus ; 20 
 
 Qui tune vocat me, cum malum legit Hbrum. 
 
 DE ACME ET SEPTIM1O. XLTI. 
 
 ACMEN Septimius suos amores 
 Tenens in gremio, Mea, inquit, Acme, 
 
 after which he never supped from home. Appianus mentions him, 
 de Bel. Civ. Lib. 4. petitorem means a plaintiff, a petendo magis- 
 tratum. 
 
 Ocimoque et urtica.] Pliny, Cap. 13. Lib. 20. mentions the 
 medical quality of basil prepared with vinegar; and in Lib. az. like- 
 wise speaks of the nettle : with regard to the latter, C. Celsus, 
 Lib. 4. on curing a cough, says, " that the food should be of a 
 ' soft, lenient nature ; as mallows, and nettles." Many read 
 otio, &c. rest, they say, being a better remedy for a cough than 
 basil. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 This, in my opinion, is one of the loveliest little poems, that ever 
 graced the Roman language : the hero of it we are not well ac- 
 quainted
 
 PO. 42. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 125 
 
 With base invecYives, and coarse language fraught; 
 
 Then the vile cold, the teazing rheum I caught: 
 
 These for a time distemper'd all my frame ; 1 5 
 
 Till to thy shades, o pleasant farm, I came ! 
 
 Where basil lent its salutary aid, 
 
 And balmy nettles the disease allay'd : 
 
 I thank thee then, to health at length restored; 
 
 Relief, not punishment, thy haunts afford : 20 
 
 But; if again such wretched stuff I heed, 
 
 Let colds, let rheums attack my guilty head ! 
 
 Nor mine alone : may Sextius also know 
 
 What evils from his frigid labours flow ! 
 
 Vain, silly Sextius ! who, whate'er he writes, 25 
 
 Still sends for me, and the dull work recites. 
 
 ON ACME, AND SEPTIMIUS. XLII. 
 
 AS panting on Septimius' breast, 
 
 Dissolv'd in amorous joy, 
 His Acme lay supremely blest; 
 
 Thus spoke the happy boy: 
 
 quainted with; there were many families of the Septimii ; Achilles 
 Statius conjectures him to be the poet, who is thus spoken of by 
 Terentianus : Hoc de Septimii potes juntfis noscere versibus, Gerit- 
 que intus in opptdum Anbelos panofrte greges. Roman monuments 
 shew many of the name of Acme. Ambros. Lillius records one; 
 
 SERGIA.
 
 126 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 42. 
 
 Ni te perdite amo, atque amare porro 
 
 Omnes sum assidue paratus annos, 
 
 Quantum qui pote plurimum perire; 5 
 
 Solus in Libya, Indiaque tosta, 
 
 Cassio veniam obvius leoni. 
 
 Hoc ut dixit ; Amor, sinister ante, 
 
 Dextram sternuit approbationem. 
 
 At Acme leviter caput refleftens, 10 
 
 SERGIA. ACME. An old monumental inscription, found manf 
 years ago in the garden of Cardinal Sfortia at Rome, mentions 
 an Acme : 
 
 L. SAVFEIVS. A. 
 SAVFEIA. L. L. ACME. 
 VXSOR. 
 
 Here implies having eyes of a greenish brightness, as 
 cats, tygers, lions, and the generality of beasts of prey : casius is 
 much the same with the Greek glaucus; whence Minerva, who 
 had such eyes, was called Glaucofis. 
 
 r t sinister, &c.] I much approve, and have adopted Vos- 
 sius's emendation of this passage, which he thus interprets : 
 " Love, unpropitious before, now proved himself propitious, by 
 c sneezing from the right j" which was esteemed a good omen, 
 according to many writers, as Aristophanes, and Plutarch; the 
 latter of whom, in Tbemistocle, says, that before a naval battle it 
 was a sign of conquest. Many write, Amor sinistra t ut ante dextra, 
 sternuit approbatione, i. e. " Love sneezed both to right and left:" 
 some only place a comma after ante ; and some make use of the ac- 
 cusative instead of the ablative case : others read, Amor sinistra 
 ante dextram sternuit approbationem; construing dextram, prospe- 
 ram\ meaning, " Love from the left sneezed prosperous approba- 
 ' tion;" for left-handed means happy-omened, according to some 
 
 writers.
 
 PO. 42. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 12J 
 
 " O Acme, if that from my soul 5 
 
 " I doat not upon thee; 
 " Content, while years on years shall roll, 
 " Thine, only thine to be ! 
 
 " May I, no friend, no succour near, 
 
 " Some green-ey'd lion meet, 10 
 
 " Midst Lybia's sandy regions drear, 
 
 " Midst India's scorching heat!" 
 
 The God of love, at length content, 
 
 Drew forth his golden dart ; 
 And sneezing, from the right, consent, 15 
 
 It sunk in Acme's heart. 
 
 Gently she rais'd her bending head; 
 
 And, ripe in dewy bliss, 
 Her lips upon his eye-lids laid, 
 
 Then breath'd a madd'ning kiss: 2.0 
 
 writers. Thus Cicero, de Leg. Is a<ve sinzstra diflus populi ma- 
 glster est. Scaliger, instead of ut ante, writes inante; and others 
 amanti. In how sacred a light the ancients regarded sneezing is 
 evident from Theocritus, Idyllium 18. and Homer,- Iliad 7. & 
 Odyssey 14. Propertius thus mentions this augury : 
 Arlduf argutum tternuit omen Amor. 
 
 PROPER. Eleg. 3. Lib. i. 
 
 Bin*
 
 128 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 42. 
 
 Et dulcis pueri ebrios ocellos 
 
 Illo purpureo ore suaviata, 
 
 Sic, inquit, mea vita Septimille, 
 
 Huic uni domino usque serviamus, 
 
 Ut multo mihi major, acriorque 15 
 
 Ignis mollibus ardet in medullis. 
 
 Hoc ut dixit; Amor, sinister ante, 
 
 Dextram sternuit approbationem. 
 
 Nunc ab auspicio bono profecti, 
 
 Mutuis animis amant, amantur. 20 
 
 Unam Septimius misellus Acmen 
 
 Mavult, quam Syrias, Britanniasque: 
 
 Uno in Septimio fidelis Acme 
 
 Facit delicias, libidinesque. 
 
 Ebnos ocfllos Illo purpureo ore, &c.] Thus Anacreon: apnd 
 Hepbxst. % 
 
 And thus likewise Simonides, apud Athenaum. 
 
 Syrias, Britanniasque.^ These two words have a peculiar force 
 in this place ; Syria was supposed to be the center of the world, 
 and Britain the extreme part of it; therefore Catullus means to 
 say, that Acme was dearer to Septimius, than all that lay between 
 these two countries. The Romans, for the stronger expression, 
 often spoke of their colonies in the plural number; as in Proper- 
 tius : 
 
 Die alias iterum nawiget lllynas. 
 
 PROPER. Eleg.i6. Lib. 2. 
 
 Muretus,
 
 PO. 42. POEMS OF CATULLUS. I2p 
 
 When thus " Septimius. charming youth, 
 
 " Let us one master own ! 
 " 'Tis Love who sees, who knows our truth; 
 
 " Be Love our god alone ! 
 
 " With all his rage, his sweetest wants, 25 
 
 " My trembling bosom dies; 
 ** E'en than thine own more fierce it pants, 
 
 " More fondly warm my sighs!" 
 
 The God of Love, once more content, 
 
 Drew forth his golden dart ; 30 
 
 And sneezing, from the right, consent, 
 Deep pierc'd Septimius' heart. 
 
 Pleas'd with the happy omen, both 
 
 Now weave one roseate chain ; 
 Septimius vows eternal truth, 35 
 
 And Acme vows again. 
 
 He to proud Rome's extended sway 
 
 His faithful maid prefers ; 
 And she, the partial debt to pay, 
 
 An equal flame avers. 40 
 
 VOL. i. K
 
 130 CAT17LLI CARMINA. CA. 43. 
 
 Quis ullos homines beatiores 25 
 
 Vidit ? quis Venerem auspicatiorem ? 
 
 VALE DIGIT BITHYNI^:. XLIH. 
 
 JAM ver egelidos refert tepores, 
 Jam coeli furor asquinoctialis 
 Jucundis Zephyri silescit auris. 
 Linquantur Phrygii, Catulle, campi 
 Nicaeaeque ager uber sestuosze; 5 
 
 Ad claras Asiae volemus urbes. 
 Jam mens prastrepidans avet vagari : 
 Jam laeti studio pedes vigescunt. 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 Muretus, differing from Scaliger, justly concludes, that Ca- 
 tullus wrote this poem when in Bithynia with Memmius; from 
 which place, it is generally agreed, that he went to Troy, upon 
 his brother's death. See Carm. 96. but Vossius thinks it could 
 not be upon this occasion, otherwise he would have written in a 
 less mithful strain. 
 
 Cali furor (equinofiialls.] During the vernal equinox the wea- 
 ther is generally tempestuous; but a west wind always precedes, 
 and succeeds, this equinox ; that which precedes is an unpleasant 
 breeze; but that which succeeds is soft, and pleasing. 
 
 Vossius. 
 
 Linquantur Pbrygii, &c.] Achilles Statius says; as Phrygia is 
 in Asia, how can Catullus leave Phrygia to go into Asia ? he there- 
 fore reads, Liqu^ntur Pbrygii, Sec. " the Phrygian plains thaw, 
 their frost is dissolved:" but Silvius informs us, that the Bi- 
 thynians were often called Phrygians ; Phrygia being a country of 
 Asia Minor, divided into greater and lesser, bordering upon Caria, 
 
 Lydia,
 
 PO. AS. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 121 
 
 l *J +J 
 
 Then tell me, swains, if ever fair 
 
 A softer passion mov'd ? 
 And, o, ye nymphs, alike declare 
 
 If ever youth so lov'd ? 
 
 HE TAKES LEAVE OF BITHYNIA. XLIII. 
 
 NOW the rosy-bosom'd spring, 
 
 Smiling, wafts its tepid gales ; 
 Mild Favonius spreads his wing, 
 
 And o'er stormy skies prevails: 
 
 Warm Nicasa's fertile soil, c 
 
 3 
 
 Phrygia's fields I now forsake; 
 Where proud Asia's cities smile, 
 I my distant journey take : 
 
 Lydia, Mysia, and Bithynia; which last, as well as part of Phry- 
 gia, Vossius says, was not in Asia Proper. I would wish to make 
 the sense clear, by writing the line thus; Linquantur 7bynii, Ca- 
 tullc, campl ; but as I have no authority to support such reading, 
 I will not hazard it. 
 
 Nic<Eaeque.~\ Nicea, once the capital of Bithynia, was situate 
 on the lake Ascanius ; it was formerly called Antigonia, from 
 Antigonus its founder : it also has been named Olbia, from its ex- 
 treme fertility. See Pliny, Lib. 5. and Strabo, Lib. 12. 
 
 Ad claras Asi(e y &c.] Among these celebrated towns of Asia 
 Minor, Troy is included; though there were but four very princi- 
 pal ones; Ephesus, Smyrna, Colophon,' and Miletus; which Pro- 
 pertius stiles, the Quadriga Asia. 
 
 K 2 > Diver see
 
 132, CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 44. 
 
 O dulces comitum valete ccetus, 
 
 Longe quos simul a domo profe&os, 10 
 
 Diverse vario via^ reportant. 
 
 AD PORCIUM, ET SOCRATIONEM. xuv. 
 
 PORCI, et Socration, duae sinistrse 
 Pisonis scabies, farnesque Memmij 
 Vos Veranniolo meo, et Fabullo 
 Verpus prasposuit Priapus ille ? 
 Vos convivia lauta, sumptuose 5 
 
 De die facitis; mei sodales 
 Quserunt in trivio vocationes ? 
 
 Divers* vario.'] Many read, varie; i. e. going to your homes 
 variously, not all at the same time, or by the same roads : others 
 read diverse <vari<e t Sec. which makes but little alteration in the 
 senfe. The companions our poet alludes to were those in office 
 under Memmius. 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 Porci, et Socration. ] This Porcius is perhaps the same mentioned 
 by Cicero, Oral, pro Fonteio, in the following words : Credimum 
 Porcium et Nummium ternos vifloriatos, Socration we know no- 
 thing of; Muretus conjectures, he might be a freed bondman of 
 the Greeks; the other characters in this Carm. have been all 
 mentioned before. 
 
 Memml.] Some read Mundi, with Vossius, who says there 
 were many of this cognomen; and instances Decius Mundus, who, 
 according to Josephus, debauched Paulina in the temple of Sera- 
 pis. Several of the old MSS. have Myndi, and Mandi. 
 
 Perpus.
 
 PO. 44, POEMS OP CATULLUS. 133 
 
 Fain my swift feet would pursue 
 
 Paths, to which fond fancy roams j 10 
 
 Sweet companions all, adieu, 
 
 Wand'ring from your various homes! 
 
 TO PORCIUS, AND SOCRATION. XLIV. 
 
 O, SOCRATION, and Porcius of Piso the tools; 
 Scurvy, half-famish'd knaves, whom the vile Mem- 
 
 mius rules ! 
 That mean circumcis'd wretch, who your friendship 
 
 will prize ; 
 
 And yet scorn my Verannius, Fabullus despise : 
 They are forc'd in the streets to look out for their 
 
 meal, 5 
 
 While betimes ev'ry day you at table regale ! 
 
 Verpus.~\ Is properly one circumcised. Thus Martial: De- 
 lapsa est misero fibula vcrpus eraf. 
 
 De die.~\ The Romans had no regular meal, except their sup- 
 per, which the sober eat about sunrset; whereas the voluptuous 
 began their repast early, so soon as our four, five, or six in the 
 evening, that they might lengthen the entertainment. Horace 
 mentions an epicure, who thus breaks into the solid day: 
 Nee partem solido demere de die 
 Spernit. HOR. Od. i. Lib. i. 
 
 Nor does he scorn with wine, and play, 
 To depredate the solid day. 
 
 In trivia, &c.] That is ; they lounge in the most public places, 
 as where three streets meet, in hopes of finding some friend who 
 may ask them to supper. See Carm. 55. 
 
 3 If
 
 134 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 46. 
 
 AD AMOREM SUUM. XLV. 
 
 MELLITOS oculos tuos, Juventi, 
 Si quis me sinat usque basiare, 
 Usque ad miUia basiem trecenta, 
 Nee unquam inde ero satur futurus: 
 Non, si densior aridis aristis 
 
 Sit nostrse seges osculationis. 
 
 AD M. TULLIUM CICERONEM. XLVI. 
 
 DISSERTISSIME Romuli nepotum, 
 Quot sunt, quotque fuere, Marce Tulli, 
 Quotque post aliis erunt in annisj 
 Gratias tibi maximas Catullus 
 Agit, pessimus omnium poe'taj 5 
 
 Tanto pessimus omnium poeta, 
 Quanto tu optimus omnium patronus. 
 
 XLV. 
 
 If we suppose the present composition addressed to our poet's 
 favourite Lesbia, it is elegantly gallant : but it has however the 
 same reference as Carm. n. 
 
 Nee unquam, &c. ] This line is variously read ; as, Nee unquam 
 saturum inde cor futurum est. Nee ml unquam videor satur futu- 
 rus. Nee nunquam inde cor satur, or safer futurus. 
 
 Seges osculationis.'] A beautiful metaphor, and similar to Vir- 
 gil's telorum seges. 
 
 The*
 
 PO. 46. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 135 
 
 TO HIS FAVOURITE. XLV. 
 FREELY were I allow 'd to kiss 
 
 Those honied, those delicious eyes ; 
 No numbers would complete my bliss, 
 Not show'rs of kisses would suffice : 
 Though richer harvests of each kiss were born 5 
 Than shows the richest field of sun- burnt corn. 
 
 TO M. TULLY CICERO. XLVI. 
 
 O, THOU most eloquent of Roman race ! 
 None like thyself our age at present grace ! 
 None like thee, Tully, ere have challeng'd praise! 
 Nor shall thy equal live in future days! 
 Catullus thanks thee, thanks thee o'er again, 5 
 
 Catullus least of all th* inspired train ! 
 Of all th* inspired train as much the least, 
 As thou of all Rome's advocates art best ! 
 
 XLVI. 
 
 These lines were written upon some circumstance we are unac- 
 quainted with, wherein the oratory of Cicero stood Catullus in 
 great stead ; for such here is the force of the wordpatronus ; which 
 does not so properly signify a patron, one by whom we are coun- 
 tenanced ; as an orator, one who pleads our cause. Some contend 
 that the point in question was the dispute about our poet's villa ; 
 whether it stood on Sabine, or Tiburtine ground. See Carm, 41. 
 But Muretus says, that such a supposition only betrays ignorance. 
 
 Omnium patronus.] This seems to have been a general title of 
 Cicero's. Thus Aulus Caecinna, writing to him, says, Epist. 7. 
 
 K 4 Lib.
 
 136 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA, 47. 
 
 AD LICINIUM. XLVII. 
 HESTERNO, Licini, die otiosi 
 Multum lusimus in meis tabellis, 
 Ut convenerat esse : delicatos 
 Scribens versiculos uterque nostrum, * 
 Ludebat numero modo hoc, modo illoc, 5 
 
 Reddens mutua per jocum, atque vinum. 
 Atque illinc abii, tuo lepore 
 Incensus, Licini, facetiisque, 
 Ut nee me miserum cibus juvaret, 
 Nee somnus tegeret quiete ocellos ; 10 
 
 Sed toto indomitus furore leclo 
 Versarer, cupiens videre lucem, 
 Ut tecum loquerer, simulque ut essem. 
 At defessa labore membra postquam 
 Semimortua leftulo jacebant, ",' " 15 
 
 Hoc, jucunde, tibi poema feci, 
 Ex quo perspiceres meum dolorem. 
 
 Lib. 1. Ubi bof omnium pat ronus fads, quid me veterem tuum t nunc 
 omnium clientcm sentire oportet. Lucius Antonius, brother of 
 Marcus Antonius, is rallied by Cicero, because he would afFeft 
 praise with this title. SILVIUS. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 The present poem is addressed to the same Licinius.as mentioned 
 in Carm. 14. Our poet, and his friend amused themselves in play- 
 fully writing little poetic jeux-d' esprit upon some such tablets, as tl-5 
 
 pugillarift
 
 Pb. 47. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 137 
 
 TO LICINIUS. XLVII. 
 
 THOU know'st, Licinius, yesterday, 
 To pass our leisure hours away, 
 We both upon my tablets writ 
 Our flashes of amusive wit ; 
 
 To this, to that, we chang'd the strain, ' $ 
 
 As mirth, and wine inspir'd our vein : 
 But, o ! I found, when forc'd to part, 
 Thy jesting had so won my heart ; 
 That food to me was nauseous grown, 
 And sleep my watchful eyes had flown ; 10 
 
 Restless, and sad I pass'd the night, 
 Wishing once more to view the light; 
 That I my visit might repeat, 
 And dwell on sounds so silver sweet: 
 But, as my weaned limbs were laid, 15 
 
 Half lifeless, on my hated bed ; 
 I wrote these lines, which might reveal 
 The grief I from thy absence feel. 
 
 pugillarla coated with wax, mentioned in Carm. 39. upon which 
 they were scratched in, and erased at pleasure. 
 
 Delicatos.] This means, beyond a doubt, " mirthful, refinedly 
 witty." But Festus attempts to give it a different sense ; these are 
 his words : Delicata dicebant d'ns consecrata, qute nunc dedicata\ 
 unde adbuc manet delicatus : delicare autem prnprie est, dicendo de- 
 ferre : interpreting, that Catullus and his friend had " dedicated" 
 the day to mirth. 
 
 Ocelle.
 
 138 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 4$, 
 
 Nunc audax cave sis, precesque nostras, 
 Oramus, cave despuas, ocelle! 
 Ne pcenas Nemesis reposcat a te, 20 
 
 Est vehemens dea ; Izedere hanc caveto. 
 
 AD LESBIAM. XLVIII. 
 ILLE mi par esse deo videtur, 
 
 A 
 
 Ille, si fas est, superare divos, 
 Qui sedens adversus identidem te 
 Spe&at, et audit 
 
 Ocelle.] An elegant apostrophe of endearment; Plautus in 
 particular often uses it. Some editions have ocello implying con- 
 tempt of look. 
 
 
 
 Nemesis.] This avenger of crimes is well known in fable: she 
 is more than once called, by Catullus, Rbamnusia virgt; hav- 
 ing a temple in Rhamiuis, a town of Attica. See Strabo, Lib. 9, 
 Plutarch, in Tbeseo, and Pliny, Cap. a. Lib. 28. 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to inform the classical reader, that this 
 Carmen is a translation of the celebrated Greek ode of Sappho's, 
 preserved to us by the rhetorician Longinus ; the beauties of 
 which I shall not dwell upon ; many commentators have al- 
 ready pointed out, how artfully the Lesbian muse enumerates all 
 the effefts of violent love on the human frame : every one knows 
 the story, in Plutarch, of the physician Erasistratus discovering, 
 by the symptoms Sappho mentions, the love of Antiochus for his 
 mother-in-law Stratonice. This elegant, and literal translation of 
 Catullus's is free from a fault, which a remarkable English trans- 
 lator, and as remarkable a French one, have committed ; I mean 
 
 Phillips,
 
 PO. 48. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 139 
 
 Then, o, sweet friend, thy pride refrain ; 
 
 Nor let my suit incur disdain; 20 
 
 Lest Nemesis my wrongs repair ; 
 
 To rouze that angry pow'r forbear. 
 
 TO LESBIA. XLVIII. 
 
 LIKE some god appears to me, 
 More than god ! if it be meet, 
 
 Him, who, seated facing thee, 
 Sees, and hears thy laughter sweet. 
 
 Phillips, and Boileau ; the Latin translator expresses nothing of 
 that tenderness, which the English and French versificators in- 
 judiciously do; for Sappho wrote her lines in an excess of amorous 
 rage, not of softness. See Addison's critique upon this ode, Spec . 
 tator, N 229. Upon what occasion Catullus translated the piece, 
 we are not informed ; nor why he did not translate the last exqui- 
 site stanza of Sappho's; but substituted one so paltry, and uncon- 
 nected in its stead. However, Achilles Statius, and Joannes Dousa 
 th? younger, have each endeavoured to repair this fault of Catul. 
 Jus's, in the following stanzas : 
 
 Sudor it late gelidus trementi 
 Artubui tolls, violamque <vincit 
 Insidens pallor, moriens nee auras 
 
 Ducere possum. A. STATIUS. 
 
 Frigidus sudorfluit, horror artus 
 Pallidos berbd magis it per omnes t 
 Et pati mortem <videor morans in 
 
 Limine mortis, J. DOUSA, Fit: 
 
 The
 
 140 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 48. 
 
 Dulce ridentem, misero quod omnes 5 
 
 Eripit sensus mihi : nam, simul te, 
 Lesbia, aspexi, nihil est super mi 
 
 Lingua sed torpet ; tenuis sub artus 
 Flamma demanat ; sonitu suopte 13 
 
 Tintinant aures ; gemina teguntur 
 Lumina nocte. 
 
 Otium, Catulle, tibi molestum est : 
 Otio exsultas, nimiumque gaudes. 
 Otium et reges prius, et beatas i $ 
 
 Perdidit urbes. 
 
 The Adonic line in the second stanza is deficient in Catullus, 
 which Parthenius has boldly supplied by the words, Styod loquar, 
 amens. Vulpius informs us, that in some MSS. found at a library 
 of Verona, the supplied Adonic, and the preceding line, stand 
 thus: 
 
 Lesbia, 'asptxl nibil est sufrema 
 
 face locuta. 
 
 / 
 
 Horace has imitated the first stanza of this ode, at the end of 
 Od. 23. Lib. i. 
 
 Otium, Catulle.'] The following interpretation, according to 
 Silvius, may help to conneft this obscure stanza with the forego- 
 ing part of the poem. Catullus says: " Happy, o Lesbia! is the 
 " youth, who near thee spends his amorous moments in soft, vo- 
 
 luptuous
 
 PO. 48. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 This from me, a wretch subdu'd, 
 
 Ravish'd ev'ry sense away: 
 For thee, Lesbia, as I view'd ; 
 
 Nought my torpid tongue could say; 
 
 Mute it grows - my limbs around 
 
 Subtile fire with swiftness spreads j 10 
 
 Ring mine ears with their own sound ; 
 
 All mine eyes a night o'ershades. 
 
 Sloth, Catullus, is thy bane, 
 
 Sloth too wantonly enjoy'd ! 
 Sloth has oft the monarch's reign, 15 
 
 Prosperous cities has destroy'd. 
 
 " luptuous indolence." But the poet, on a sudden correcting 
 himself, exclaims ; " yet that indolence has too often proved fatal 
 " even to kings, and empires!" which truth is confirmed by times 
 both ancient, and modern. Justin has the following passage : 
 S^uos ante Cyrum in<victos bella prastiterant, in luxuriant lapsof 
 otium et desidia superavit. Ovid writes too in the same straio 
 with Catullus : 
 
 >U(eritis Mglstus quare sitfaflus adulter? 
 In promptu causa est, desidiosus erat. 
 
 OVID. RemeJ. Amor. Lib. \. 
 
 Why did intemp'rate lust ^Egistus seize ? 
 The cause is plain, he lov'd voluptuous ease. 
 
 Catullus,
 
 142 CATULLI CARMIKA. CA. 50* 
 
 AD SE1PSUM, DE S. NONIO, ET VATINIO. XLIX. 
 
 QUID est, Catulle, quid moraris emori ? 
 Sella in cunili Struma Nonius sedet: 
 Per consulatum pejerat Vatinius. 
 Quid est, Catulle, quid moraris emori ? 
 
 DE CALVO. L. 
 
 RISI nescio quern modo in corona, 
 Qui, cum miriflce Vatiniana 
 Meus crimina Calvus explicasset, 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 Catullus, speaking to himself, says: " Do not despair of being 
 " one time or other a great man, since two such worthless charac- 
 * ters have been so exalted." 
 
 Sella in curuli.] Of the higher order of magistrates, there were 
 some, who, being drawn officially in a car with an ivory seat, were 
 called curnles ; all the Consuls were curules of course. 
 
 Struma Nonius."] This was a son of the Senator Nonius, ba- 
 nished by Antonius, that he might obtain his opal, valued at 
 20,000 H-S: both father, and son are thus mentioned by Pliny, 
 Cap. 6. Lib. 37. Si quidem ex tat hodieque bujus generis gemma, 
 propter quam ab Antonio prose riptus Nonius Senator est, jilius Struma 
 Nonii ejus, quern Catullus po'i-ta in sella curuli visum indigne tulit. 
 See likewise Bocthius, Consol. Philos. and Cicero ad Attic. Lib. 7. 
 
 Vatinius.} P. Vatinius, who was Consul at the same time with 
 Q^Fusius Calcnus, has been mentioned before. 
 
 I*
 
 PO. 50. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 143 
 
 TO HIMSELF, ON S. NONIUS, AND VATINIUS. XLIX 
 
 CATULLUS, prithee, tell me why 
 You thus despair, and wish to die ? 
 See Nonius seated in the chair; 
 
 That perjur'd wretch Vatinius see, 
 Because thro* thick and thin he'd swear, 5 
 
 Rais'd to a Consul's high degree ! 
 Then, dear Catullus, tell me why 
 You thus despair, and wish to die ? 
 
 ON CALVUS. L. 
 
 IN the Forum, one day, I was laughing aloud ; 
 Little Calvus to hear, in the midst of a crowd, 
 Against all the base deeds of Vatinius exclaim; 
 And so picture, with voluble phrase, his ill- fame : 
 
 L. 
 
 In corona."] So the crowd wa? used to be called that flocked to 
 the Forum. Thus Cicero: Non e mm corona c oncessus <uester cinftui 
 est, ut solebat. MURETUS. 
 
 Calvus.'} A noted orator, who accused Vatinius before the 
 Roman senate. Both Q^nntilian, and Cicero, speak highly of hi;> 
 judgment, and learning ; he was of a remarkable small stature, 
 which Seneca, and many others mention, particularly Ovid: 
 Par fu'it fxigui, similisque licentla Cal<vi. 
 
 OVID. Trist. 2. 
 
 Salaputium
 
 44 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 51. 
 
 Admirans ait haec, manusque tollens ; 
 
 Di magni, salaputium disertum ! 5 
 
 : r. 
 
 OTHONIS caput oppido pusillum, 
 Heri rustici, semilauta crura. 
 Subtile et leve peditum Libonis. 
 Sed non omnia displicere vellem 
 Tibi, et Fuffitio seni reco&o. 
 
 Salaputium disertum.] The sting of the epigram consists in the 
 contrast of these two words; as though one would say, " thou 
 " learned little puppet!" salaputium was a word nurses used to 
 children, when they fondled them. Some read solepachium, from 
 oAo$, and "t^yy^ : a man no bigger than one's arm ; or ridiculously, 
 a dwarf. Numbers read salicippium, from jumping upon a stool ; 
 as they say Calvus did, that he might be more conspicuous; and 
 indeed they support their opinion by a passage in Seneca, who 
 particularly records this harangue, and Catullus's calling our 
 Calvus, salicippium disertum. See Senec. Controvert. 19. Lib. 3. 
 
 SlLVIUS. 
 
 LI. 
 
 These are perhaps some of the most obscure lines in Catullus ; 
 and have been more distorted, and altered by commentators, than 
 any others. Muretus observes, that they are mere mangled frag- 
 ments, not to be understood by any but a Sybil. 
 
 Otbonis."] This possibly was L. Roscius Otho, who, as well as. 
 Libo, and Fuffitius, was one of Caesar's principal secretaries; and 
 who, when Cicero was Consul, framed a most ridiculous theatral 
 law, which gave the knights fourteen separate benches in the 
 
 Circus ;
 
 PO. 51. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 145 
 
 When, with uplifted hands, a sly wag archly cries; 
 " What vast wit, ye great Gods, in a small compass 
 "lies!" 
 
 TO CJESAR. LI. 
 
 MAYST thou, tho' fond of all the vicious tribe, 
 May old Fuffitius too, thy hackney 'd scribe, 
 At least detest vile Otho's shallow brain, 
 That vulgar upstart of the rabble train ! 
 May stinking Libo your displeasure share, TJ 
 Whose unbath'd feet the filthy brute declare ! 
 
 Circus ; where all the knights observed a precedency of place, in 
 proportion to the antiquity of their title. Juvenal, Sat. 3. as well 
 as Horace, Epod. 4. & Epist. i. Lib. i. mentions both the law, 
 and the law-giver. 
 
 Hen rustlci.] This is certainly the just text; meaning a lord of 
 low birth; for Catullus has before lashed Caesar, for placing im- 
 proper persons in high station at his court. See the three last 
 lines, and note of Carm. 25. Scaliger writes Peri, i. e. perdite 
 ama, making quite a different sense; and Turnebus would write 
 the line : Heri rustica et armilausa curia, 
 
 Libonis.] Who this dirty Libo was has not been conjectured; 
 there were various families of the Libones. 
 
 Fuffitio sent recofto.] Fuffitius is another unknown character ; 
 he is called recoftus, in Horace's sense of the word, i. e. deep- 
 skilled in the chicanery of the law : for when the Quinqueviri, or 
 notaries, who attended the Proconsuls into their provinces, re- 
 turned home, they generally sold their secretariships ; but if 
 
 VOL. I. L the X
 
 146 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 52, 
 
 Irascere iterum meis iambis 
 Immerentibus, unice Imperator. 
 
 AD CAMERIUM. LII. 
 
 ORAMUS, si forte non molestum est, 
 Demonstres, ubi sunt tuas latebras. 
 Te qucesivimus in minore campo, 
 Te in circo, te in omnibus libellis, 
 Te in templo superi Jovis sacrato, 
 In Magni simul ambulatione. 
 
 they went out in office again, they were called coftl; if frequently, 
 recocJi. These are Horace's words : 
 
 Plerumque recoflus 
 Scriba ex quinqueviro corvum deludet hiantem. 
 
 HOR. Sat. 5. Lib. a. 
 A season'd scriv'ner, bred in office low, 
 Full often dupes, and mocks the gaping crow. 
 
 FRANCIS. 
 
 After this line of Catullus's, T/W, et Fuffitlo, &c. there is a hiatus ; 
 in reference to which, among some old manuscript notes upon 
 Catullus, which I possess, is the following: " At non effugies meos 
 11 lambos:" " tic versus a Porpbyrione ad Horatium laudatus y for- 
 ' san hie collocandus." 
 
 Irascere iterum.'} Alluding to the various satires Catullus wrote, 
 previous to this, upon Caesar, who was highly offended with our 
 poet's muse, according to the testimony of Suetonius. Cap. 73. 
 
 LII. 
 
 Some have ridiculously supposed, that a severe libel was meant, 
 in these elegantly mirthful lines, upon Caesar, disguised under the 
 
 title
 
 PO. 52. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 147 
 
 Fume on, proud Monarch, as thou read'stthis strain ; 
 It breathes but truth ; then fume, and read again ! 
 
 TO CAMERIUS. Lir. 
 
 IF not a secret, tell me, pray, 
 Where 'tis thou hid'st thyself all day ? 
 I sought thee first, but sought in vain^- 
 Upon the lesser martial Plain ; 
 Next to the Circus did I run; 5 
 
 Call'd at each book-shop in the town ; 
 Then to the Capitol did go ; 
 And then to Pompey's Portico : 
 
 title of Camerius; a name, by which we certainly know not who 
 is meant. 
 
 Tute latehr<f.~] Some editions have tenebra; and many 
 the Greek \itrxfu, which, according to Pausanias, in Lacon. Cap, 
 14, & 15. were public porticos, generally ornamented with paint- 
 ings, answering the purposes of our coffee-houses, and exchanges ; 
 where people met to converse with their friends, either for amuse- 
 ment, or upon business. 
 
 In minor e campo.~] The Campus Coelius is alluded to, where the 
 Circensian games were held ; when the usual place, the Campus 
 Martius, was deluged by the overflowing of the Tiber. To which 
 purpose Ovid : 
 
 Ccel'iui acclplet pulverulentus equos. 
 
 OVID. Fast. Lib. 3. 
 
 Libellis.] Many read Jabellis; referring to the therm*, places 
 of public resort; but book-shops is the prevailing construction. 
 
 L 2 r u ltu
 
 148 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 52 
 
 
 
 Femellas omnes amice prendi ; 
 
 Quas vultu vidi tamen sereno, 
 
 Has vel te sic ipse flagitabam, 
 
 Camerium mihi, pessimas puelke. 10' 
 
 Quaedam inquit nudum sinum reducens, 
 
 En hie in roseis latet papillis: 
 
 Sed te quserere jam Herculis labos est. 
 
 Tanto te in fastu negas, amice. 
 
 Die nobisjubi sis futurus: ede hoc 15 
 
 Audafter, committe, crede luci. 
 
 Num te la&eolse tenent puelke ? 
 
 Si linguam clause tenes in ore, 
 
 Frudus projicies amoris omnes : 
 
 Verbosa gaudet Venus loquela. . 20 
 
 Vel, si vis, licet obseres palatum, 
 
 Dum vestri sim particeps amoris. 
 
 Vultu <vidl tamen sereno.'} Meaning: that the lovely tranqui- 
 lity of every female countenance convinced me you were safe; for, 
 if any accident had happened to you, all the women in the city 
 must have had grief pictured on their faces. 
 
 En bic in roseis, &c.] A lovely thought; which seems to have 
 been happily imitated by an Italian poet, in his allusion to the first 
 Idylliumof Moschus. 
 
 UJito A3, Citerea, 
 Cbe del tuo grembo fore 
 Fttggit'fvo il tuofiglio, a te si cela ; 
 
 E promesso
 
 PO. 52. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 149 
 
 To each gay damsel I could meet, 
 
 Who smil'd methought serenely sweet, io 
 
 I cry'd; " O, tell, my wanton fair, 
 
 " Where's my Camerius, tell me where ?" 
 
 One, more lascivious than the rest, 
 
 Whom I thro* accident addrest, 
 
 Baring her beauteous bosom, said; 15 
 
 * 6 Lo, in this rosy heav'n he's hid !" 
 
 And, thus conceal'd, to find thee, sure 
 
 Would be Herculean toil, or more ; 
 
 For, proudly lodg'd, you would pretend 
 
 You did not hear your bawling friend : 20 
 
 Then, prithee, gentle youth, avow 
 
 What snowy girl detains you now : 
 
 For what avails the silent kiss ? 
 
 To speak one's love is half the bliss ! 
 
 Impart then all thy joys to me ; 25 
 
 With others keep strict secrecy : 
 
 E promesso bal baciar cbi te'l ri<vela : 
 
 Non languir, bella Dea, 
 
 Se <uai cercando Amtre ; 
 
 Noi'l cercar, dammi il bacio, io I'bo nel core. 
 
 MARINI. 
 
 Venus loqueld.] Tibullus is of a contrary opinion, he says; 
 cflari i>ult jua furta Penur. Elfg. a. Lib. . 
 
 L 3 Nsn
 
 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 53. 
 
 Non custos si fingar ille Cretum, 
 
 Non si Pegaseo ferar volatu, 
 
 Non Ladas si ego, pennipesve Perseus; 25 
 
 Non Rhesi niveze citasque bigse: 
 
 Adde hue plumipedes, volatilesque, 
 
 Ventorumque simul require cursum, 
 
 Quos junftos, Cameri, mihi dicares: 
 
 Defessus tamen omnibus medullis, 30 
 
 Et multis languoribus peresus 
 
 Essem, te, mi amice, quseritando. 
 
 AD CATONEM. LIII. 
 
 O REM ridiculam, Cato, et jocosam, 
 Dignamque auribus, et tuo cachinno : 
 Ride, quicquid amas, Cato, Catullum; 
 Res est ridicula, et nimis jocosa. 
 
 Non custos, &c.] These various allusions to heathen fable the 
 classical reader must be well acquainted with; but I would just 
 remark, that the exemplar Mediolanense has Cy deque bigtf, alluding 
 to the chariot of Medea, who was born in the town of Cyta ; and 
 that some refer plumipedes not to Zethes and Calais, the winged 
 sons of Boreas, but to birds in general. 
 
 LIII. 
 
 Cato.~\ This was not Cato of Utica; but most probably Vale- 
 rius Cato, the grammarian, and poet, who wrote the Dir<e; he is 
 spoken of by Suetonius; and Bibaculus thus mentions him: 
 
 Cato Grammaticus, Latlna Siren. 
 Thus too Ovid: 
 
 Et lew Cornifci, parque Catonis opus. Achilles
 
 PO. 53. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 Else ; tho' like Micion's offspring T, 
 
 Or Pegasus, could vent'rous fly ; 
 
 Tho', in my pace, I should exceed 
 
 Ladas, or Perseus' winged speed ; 30 
 
 Tho' Rhesus* milk-white steeds should be, 
 
 In swiftness, far surpass'd by me j 
 
 Tho' Boreas' sons, that wing the air, 
 
 Should not, in flight, with me compare ; 
 
 Tho' nimbler than the nimble wind, 35 
 
 E'en than the north, and east combin'd -, 
 
 Yet should I feel my strength decay, 
 
 And waste my wearied life away ; 
 
 In traversing the mazy round, 
 
 To learn where thou art to be found ? 40 
 
 TO CATO. LIU. 
 
 'TIS ridiculous, Cato, 'tis really droll ; 
 When you hear it, I'm sure you will laugh from 
 
 your soul: 
 
 Cato laugh ! if to thee thy Catullus is dear ; 
 For 'tis droll, and ridiculous past all compare: 
 
 Achilles Statius says, the aera does not correspond; otherwise he 
 should suppose him the same mirthful charadler, mentioned by 
 Macrobius, Saturn. 2. M. etiam Cato t Hie Ctnsorius, argute j. 
 can sol it us tit. 
 
 L 4 Trusantem*
 
 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 54. 
 
 Deprcndi modo pupulum puelke 5 
 
 Trusantem ; hunc ego, si placet Dionae, 
 Pro telo rigida mea cecidi. 
 
 IN MAMURRAM ET C^SAREM. LIV. 
 
 PULCHRE convenit improbis cinaedis 
 Mamurrse pathicoque, Cassarique ; 
 Nee mirum: macula? pares utrisque, 
 Urbana altera, et ilia Formiana, 
 Jmpressae resident, nee eluentur. 5 
 
 Morbosi pariter, gemelli utrique, 
 Uno in lectulo, erudituli ambo: 
 Non hie, quam ille, magls vorax adulter : 
 
 Trusantem.] Many read c rissantem ; but Silvius says, this is a 
 word that can only apply to one sex, trusantem must evidently 
 apply to the other. 
 
 Pro telo.] Alluding to the custom of punishing adulterers by 
 transfixing them with darts; the double-entendre of telo is evi- 
 dent, and makes clear the apology to Venus. Vossius, and many- 
 others, read Protfft adverbially. Apuleius relates something 
 similar to this. Lib. 9. 
 
 LIV. 
 
 Urbana altera, et ilia Formiana.] Caesar committed his ex- 
 cesses in Rome, Mamurra at Formiae, the respective residence of 
 each. 
 
 Ctfsarique.] Catullus was not the only poet who dared to cen- 
 sure the emperor Caesar; Bibaculus took the same liberty, as we 
 are informed by Tacitus; Lib. 4. Carmina Bibaculi, et CatulH rt- 
 ferta contumeliis Ctesarum leguntur; sed ipse divus Julius, et ipse
 
 po. 54. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 153 
 
 The fad is, that this moment I caught my young 
 blade 5 
 
 Just attempting to rifle an innocent maid ; 
 Then, sweet Venus, if thou wilt not take it amiss, 
 I'll find out the shaft that shall wound him for this ! 
 
 ON MAMURRA, AND CLESAR. LIV. 
 
 NO debauchees were better pair'd 
 Than vile Mamuira, and his lord ! 
 
 Nor can we think it strange ; 
 The Roman's, and the Formian's name, 
 With equal infamy, and shame 
 
 Deep-stampt, no time can change. 
 
 Vicious alike, one couch they press ; 
 A little learning both possess ; 
 Both rank adulterers are ; 
 
 divus Augustus, et tulere ista, et retiquere ; baud facile dixerjm 
 moderatione magis, an sapientia] namque spreta exolescunt, si iras- 
 tare, agnlta 'videntur. 
 
 Gemelll utrique.'] In like manner Horace : 
 
 Par nobile fratrum t 
 Nequltie el nugis, pravorum et amore gemellum. 
 
 HOR. Sat. j. Lib. a. 
 
 A noble pair of brothers, twins, in truth, 
 In all th' excesses, trifles, crimes of youth. 
 
 FRANCIS. 
 
 Cali.
 
 1^4 CATULLI GARMIKA. CA. 56. 
 
 Rivales socii puellularum. 
 
 Pulchre convenit improbis cinsedis. 10 
 
 AD CMLIUM DE LESBIA. LV. 
 C^ELI, Lesbia nostra, Lesbia ilia, 
 Ilia Lesbia, quam Catullus unam 
 Plus quam se, atque suos amavit omnes, 
 Nunc in quadriviis, et angiportis, 
 Glubit magnanimos Remi nepotes. 5 
 
 DE RUFA. LVI. 
 
 BONONIENSIS Rufa Rufulum fallit, 
 Uxor Meni? ssepe quam in sepulcretis 
 
 IV. 
 
 Cteli.] This is the same with Caelius Rufus, Catullus's rival in 
 the affeflions of Lesbia, or Clodia, according to Achilles Statins : 
 Plutarch calls her Quadrantari^; she was debauched by her own 
 brother, Publius Clodius ; afterwards she became the mistress of 
 Catullus, and lastly the common strumpet of Rome. 
 
 In quadriviis, et angiportis.] That is, in the public streets, which 
 the meanest trulls frequent. Thus Horace: Qd. 35. Lib. i. fle- 
 bis in solo Ifvis angiportu. 
 
 Glubit. ] Varro, de Re rustica, Cap. 48 Lib. \. explains the 
 word glubere, as applied to the husking of grain : Ausonius, 
 Epig. 71. uses it in the same sense with Catullus. 
 
 Magnanimos.] An ironical expression, meaning the degenerate 
 Sons of Rome. 
 
 LVI. 
 
 Rufa Rufulum fallit.] These are both unknown characters; 
 but the meaning of this fragment of an epigram is: " Can Rufa, 
 
 that
 
 po. 56. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 155 
 
 No debauchees were better pair'd 10 
 
 Than vile Mamurra, and his lord ! 
 Twin rivals of the fair. 
 
 TO C^LIUS ON LESBIA. LV. 
 
 THINK, o my Caslius, what disgrace! 
 
 jLesbia, yes Lesbia, favourite fair ! 
 
 She whom Catullus held more dear 
 E'en than himself, and all his race, 
 
 Now in vile lanes, and common roads, 
 
 Strips to the skin Rome's demi-gods ? 
 
 ON RUFA. LVI. 
 
 CAN that wretch of Bononia, can Rufa, mean 
 
 soul ! 
 Can that vile wife of Menius, Rufulus cajole ? 
 
 " that harlot who was once reduced to extreme want, be so raised 
 f* in the world by her infamy, as to cozen the consequential Ru- 
 " fulus?" Many read/<s//a/, from an obsolete word failure j 
 others read fellat, in an obscene sense. 
 
 Uxor Men!. ] Some editors write Meneni, but the spendthrift 
 Menius seems to be a very apt character in this place. Horace 
 thus mentions him : 
 
 Menius, ut rebus maternis atque paternis 
 
 Fortiter absumptis, Sec. HOR. Eplst. 15. Lib. i. 
 
 When Menius all his patrimony spent, &c. 
 
 Rapert
 
 156 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 57. 
 
 Vidistis ipso rapere de rogo ccenam, 
 
 Cum devolutum ex igne prosequens panem, 
 
 Ab semiraso tunderetur ustore ? ; 
 
 * * * LVII. 
 
 NUM te leaena montibus Libyssinis, 
 Aut Scylla latrans infima inguinum parte, 
 Tarn mente dura procreavit, ac tetra, 
 Ut supplicis vocem in novissimo casu 
 Contemtam haberes ? 6 nimis fero corde ! 
 
 Rapere de rogo comam.] The indigent, such as half-starved 
 women of pleasure, would attend at funerals, to pick up parts of 
 the silicernium, or funeral supper, consisting of meat, bread, &c. 
 laid on the pile, and burnt with the body; which the ghost of 
 the deceased was supposed to eat: none therefore but the poor, 
 who were compelled by hunger, would touch the sacred food; 
 doing which, argued distress, even to a proverb. Thus Ovid : 
 
 Raptaque de tepidis folligit essa rogis. 
 
 And again : 
 
 Is prtfdam medio raptor ab igne petit. 
 
 Semiraso tunderetur ustore.] The ustorfs, or bustuarii, were 
 those men who attended the funeral pile, driving off the crowd, 
 &c. they wore something more of a beard than usual, so did all 
 such who were destined to any mean public offices, as working at 
 mills, rowing of gallics, or bearing away dead bodies ; those who 
 had this last employ were termed vespiliones. 
 
 This
 
 PO. 57. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 She, who haunted each burying-place, merely to steal 
 From the pile that was burning her infamous meal ; 
 Who, from funeral flames as collecting her meat, 5 
 By the low-liv'd, half-shav'd body-burners was beat? 
 
 LVII. 
 
 WHENCE sprang that savage, that unfeeling 
 
 mind ? 
 
 Art thou some offspring of the lion kind, 
 On scorching Lybia's thirsty mountains bom ; 
 Or from the womb of barking Scylla torn ? 
 That thus thou'rt deaf to all my urgent woes ; 5 
 O, heart too harden'd, that no pity knows! 
 
 LVII. 
 
 This is a fragment more probably of some poem, than of an 
 epigram ; it bears no small resemblance to a part of Ariadne's 
 complaint, in Catullus's poem on the nuptials of Peleus and The- 
 tis ; line 154. & seq. which thoughts Pope, in his third pastoral, 
 has expressed in similar language, after Virgil. It is hardly ne- 
 cessary to inform the classic reader, that Lybia was celebrated for 
 lions; and that Scylla, the daughter of Phorcus, by the magic of 
 her rival Circe, had the lower part of her body changed into dogs' 
 heads; grieved at which, she flung herself into the sea, and was 
 transformed into a rock. 
 
 The
 
 158 . CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 58. 
 
 ]ULIM ET MANLII EPITHALAMIUM. LVIII. 
 
 COLLIS 6 Heliconii 
 Cultor, Uranise genus, 
 Qui rapis teneram ad virum 
 Virginem, 6 Hymensee Hymen, 
 Hymen 6 Hymensee; 5 
 
 LVIII. 
 
 The Epithalamium was a poem sung by youths, or virgins, or 
 both ; when the bride was brought to the bridegroom, and placed 
 in the tkalamum, or bridal bed; hence the name, from 'nrl, and 
 SoAaj&os : wherefore Achilles Statins, and others contend, that 
 this poem of Catullus's should rather be called a Hymenaeum, after 
 the example of the poet Ticida. Apollo was said to have written 
 the first Epithalamium, among the Greeks, on the marriage of 
 Peleus and Thetis ; and the most ancient in Latin, that we know 
 of, is this of our poet. The i8th Idyllium of Theocritus, imi- 
 tated, as some pretend, from Stesichorus, is a beautiful Greek 
 Epithalamium, inscribed to Helen ; and supposed to be sung by 
 twelve Spartan girls; the English commentator upon which ob- 
 serves, there were two sorts of bridal poem ; one sung in the even- 
 ing, called Koipirixor ; and the other in the morning, named 
 EytTx.oir. Solomon's song might be instanced as a most ancient 
 Epithalamium, which Theocritus is supposed to have seen while in 
 Egypt. 
 
 I might here add, that the present Epithalamium has been in 
 great part rendered into old English, with much simplicity and 
 truth, by Henry Peacham, Master of Arts, printed by John 
 Holme. 1613. 
 
 Julia, or Junia as it stands in many editions, is a person of whom 
 we can learn nothing satisfactory, or authentic. Aurunculeia ap- 
 pears
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 159 
 
 THE EPITHALAMIUM OF JULIA, AND MANLIUS. 
 LVIH. 
 
 CHILD of Urania, in the shade 
 Of Helicon who joy'st to rove ; 
 
 To snatch the modest-blushing maid 
 
 To the fond youth, who dies for love j 
 
 God of the tender nuptial tie ; 
 
 O, hither, sacred Hymen, fly ! 
 
 pears to have been her family name : it is a name that to history 
 has furnished many nobles, curule magistrates, and praetors. But 
 Manlius, of the illustrious line of the Torquati, mentioned by 
 Livy, Suetonius, and others, is a well-known character;- his 
 friendship our poet commemorates in another poem. 
 
 Heliconii Cultor.] Hymen was the son of Bacchus, and Venus 
 Urania, or the celestial Venus, born in Attica, who rescued vir 
 gins carried away by thieves; though, from Catullus's introduction 
 of Helico*n, many suppose Hymen the son of Apollo, and the 
 muse Urania. 
 
 S Hymenxe Hymen.] This, or Ttatasiius, Thalassio, was a com- 
 mon expression of invocation, sung, by Avay of chorus, at the wed- 
 ding-feast, which was always accompanied with musick. 
 
 Cinge Tempora, &c.] Theocritus, in his epitaph on the death 
 of Adonis, in like manner describes this deity decorated with 
 flowers, and bearing a torch. 
 
 \a.i*.7roiox 9r*o-a \ir\ ^A'ai^ i</.f>ai<S>- 
 <&- ijiiWiTaton yaiA^jo*. 
 
 Sua<vr
 
 l6o CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 58. 
 
 Cinge tempora floribus 
 Suave-olentis amaraci : 
 Flammeum cape : laetus hue 
 Hue veni, niveo gerens 
 Luteum pede soccum: 10 
 
 Excitusque hilari die, 
 Nuptialia concinens 
 Voce carmina tinnula, 
 Pelle humum pedibus : manu 
 Spineam quate tedam. 15 
 
 Suave -olent Is amaraci.] Catullus perhaps was not the first 
 who crowned Hymen with marjoram ; many ancient poets crown 
 him with roses ; and all give him the yellow sock. Thejlammeum, 
 of a saffron, or flame-colour, the wedding-colour of the ancients, 
 which the bride put on before she proceeded in form to her hus- 
 band's home, is well-known. See Juvenal, Sat. 10. and Severus 
 Sulpicius, in Nerone 2. To explain the marriage procession at one 
 view ; I would refer my reader to that lovely plate in Bryant's Hea- 
 then Mythology, representing the wedding of Psyche, copied 
 from an antique gem. But the celebrated fresco painting of the 
 Aldobrandini wedding perhaps more fully elucidates the mar- 
 riage ceremony of the ancients: Winkelmann has indeed connected 
 it, in an explanatory way, with Catullus's poem on the marriage 
 of Peleus and Thetis. See his Monument, inedit. page 60. Many 
 good engravings of this fresco are extant : it was found in the baths 
 of Titus, and has its name, from being preserved in a garden 
 pavilion of the Aldobrandini palace at Rome. In this piece, the 
 bride is seated veiled on a bed: the pronuba, or bridemaid, seems 
 to solace her: the bridegroom sits at the foot of the bed, crowned 
 with a garland of vine branches : opposite the bride is a woman 
 resting on a pillar, supplying a vase with perfumes, or perhaps 
 
 with
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. l6l 
 
 Come, laughing boy; thy flowing hair 
 With fragrant marjoram adorn; 
 
 Thy saffron veil with speed prepare, 
 
 That veil by brides in marriage worn ! 10 
 
 And let thy yellow sandals glow 
 
 On thy bright feet that vie with snow ! 
 
 O, rous'd by this auspicious day, 
 
 Prepare the hymeneal song, 
 Beat the firm ground in measures gay, 15 
 
 And carol sweet with silver tongue ! 
 Then, brandishing thy torch in air, 
 Bless with its flame the happy pair ! 
 
 with mystic herbs to prevent spells : a priestess has her hand in 
 the lustral water ; she has two attendants. The other side shews 
 a woman playing on a lyre : to the left is the regina sacrorum, with 
 her radiated crown; also another woman, making libations on an 
 altar in a vessel of purification. Spence, in his Polymetis, Dialogue 
 8. conjectures this to have been an imitation of that fine picture 
 by Echion, which Pliny mentions, Cap. 35. Lib. 10. wherein is 
 represented a woman lighting to the nuptial bed a young bride 
 who modestly follows. 
 
 Nuptiala concinens.~] Not only the nuptial song, but the dance, 
 or $xp<rlr, is recorded by Apollonius, Argonaut. Lib. 4. 
 
 Spineam quate tedam.'} The torches, carried before the bride 
 by boys, were constantly five in number. See Plutarch, >uest. 
 Rom. 2. and were made of some resinous wood, as fir ; therefore 
 many write Pineam, &c. but they were as often made of the Spin?a t 
 a kind of vine, according to Pliny, Cap. 16. Lib. 18. Spina nufti- 
 arum facibus auspicatissima, quoniam inde fecerunt pastorcs qui 
 Sabinas rapuerunt. 
 
 VOL. I. M Bo a
 
 l62 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 58. 
 
 Namque Julia Manlio, 
 Qualis Idalium colens 
 Venit ad Phrygium Venus 
 Judicem, bona cum bona 
 Nubit alite virgo; 20 
 
 Floridis velut enitens 
 Myrtus Asia ramulis, 
 Quos Hamadryades dea? 
 Ludicrum sibi roscido 
 Nutriunt humore. 25 
 
 Quare age, hue aditum ferens 
 Perge linquere Thespize 
 Rupis Aonios specus, 
 Lympha quos super irrigat 
 Frigerans Aganippe; 30 
 
 Bona cum bona, &c.] Various were the omens observed at wed- 
 dings; such as that mentioned in the 34th stanza of this poem, 
 and that of the month when marriages should be celebrated. 
 Ovid says, the most likely season was just after the ides of June: 
 Tune mihi post sacras monstratur Junius idus : 
 
 Utilis er nuptiis, utilis esse viris. OVID. Fast. 2. 
 
 But perhaps Catullus more particularly refers to those omens, 
 which were taken by the Auspices, and began the nuptial solem- 
 nities. Thus Cicero, in Or at. pro Cluent. Nub'tt genera socrtrs 
 nullls auspicious, nullis aucloribus, funestis ominibus omnium. 
 
 Myrtus Asia."] That marshy trail of land called Asia, near 
 mount Tmolus, and the river Caystrus, was said to be as famous 
 for its myrtles, as for its cranes. See Virgil, Georg. \. and Mneid '. 7. 
 
 Achilla
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 163 
 
 As once, of beauty justly vain, 
 
 The lovely queen of Paphian shades 20 
 Came conscious to the Phrygian swain ; 
 
 So, lovely Julia Manlius weds: 
 And omens fair conspire to prove, 
 How pure their bliss, how vast their love. 
 
 Not less majestic seems the maid 25 
 
 Than myrtles, that on Asian ground 
 
 Their graceful branches proudly spread, 
 
 Branches, with blossom'd beauty crown'd ! 
 
 On which the Hamadryads throw, 
 
 In frolic sport, their fost'ring dew. 30 
 
 Then come, o come, indulgent pow'r, 
 
 Here for awhile direct thy feet ! 
 Forsaking each Aonian bow'r, 
 
 Of Thespia's rock, thy lov'd retreat ! 
 Which, with its cool refreshing waves, 35 
 
 The silver Aganippe laves. 
 
 Achilles Statius, however, idly supposes, that this passage refers to 
 the myrtles of Apulia in Italy; which country, according to Vi- 
 bius, was peopled from Asia Proper. 
 
 Hamadryades.] Vossius says, here imply the particular guar- 
 dians of myrtles, not of oaks, as they are generally supposed, there 
 being no oaks in the moor of Asia; and he interprets Ludicrum^ 
 i. e. in Ludicrum, substantively ; meaning a bathing-place. 
 
 M 2 Integra
 
 164 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 58. 
 
 Ac domum dominam voca 
 Conjugis cupidam novi, 
 Mentem amore revinciens, 
 Ut tenax hedera hue, et hue 
 Arborem implicat errans. 35 
 
 Vos item simul integrse 
 Virgines, quibus advenit 
 Par dies, agite, in modum 
 Dicite ; 6 Hymenaee Hymen, 
 Hymen 6 Hymenzee: * AO 
 
 Ut lubentius audiens, 
 Se citarier ad suum 
 Munus, hue aditum ferat 
 Dux bonae Veneris, boni 
 Conjugator amoris. 45 
 
 Quis deus magis ah magis 
 Est petendus amantibus? 
 Quern colent homines magis 
 
 Integra Virgines. ~\ The poet here addresses the virgins who, 
 according to Hieronymus, in Cantic. Canticor. formed the chorus, 
 or drama, as it was called ; they were such only whose fathers and 
 mothers were living, and who had sung at the secular games: Ca- 
 tullus encourages them by saying, that they would soon in their 
 turns be wedded ; as Horace does, in the Carmen scculare. 
 
 Zonula
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 165 
 
 O, hither call the wishful bride, 
 
 Well-pleas'd with wedlock's new controul, 
 Lead her to him for whom she sigh'd; 
 
 And twine with love her tender soul ! 40 
 As ivy, with fantastic sprays, 
 Twines round its tree in many a maze. 
 
 Ye virgins truly chaste, to whom 
 
 Like days of future bliss belong, 
 
 With the same hopes whose cheeks shall bloom, 
 O, join the hymeneal song ! 
 
 God of the tender nuptial tie; 
 
 O, hither, sacred Hymen, fly ! 
 
 For, thus invok'd, he sure will lend 
 
 A willing ear j will haste away, j;o 
 
 His mystic ritual to attend ; 
 
 And hither come without delay : 
 Come, the kind friend of love ! who binds 
 Fond hearts, and sympathetic minds. 
 
 Is there a deity above, 55 
 
 Whom more propitious, ye adore ? 
 
 O say, all ye who fondly love ! 
 
 Is there a god we worship more?
 
 l66 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 58. 
 
 Coelitum? 6 Hymenaee Hymen, 
 
 Hymen 6 Hymenzee. 50 
 
 Te suis tremulis parens 
 Invocat: tibi virgines 
 Zonula solvunt sinus: 
 Te timens cupida novos 
 Captat aure maritos: 55 
 
 Tu fero juveni in manus 
 Floridam ipse puellulam 
 Matris e gremio suze 
 Dedis. 6 Hymenaee Hymen, 
 Hymen 6 Hymenee. 60 
 
 Nil potest sine te Venus, 
 Fama quod bona comprobet, 
 
 Zonula solvunt sinus.'] See the last note to Carm. 2. 
 
 Novos captat, &c.] Many read nonius maritus; and others, for 
 timens, more obscenely write lumens; but the text I have adopted 
 I hope is best, and that I have given it its due force in my transla- 
 tion. 
 
 Tu fero juveni, &c.] This is beautifully imitated, in the epi- 
 thalamium of a modern Latin poet : 
 
 Nee qui fioridulas Hymen puellas, 
 Raptas f gremio tenace marrum t 
 
 Involvit
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 167 
 
 God of the tender nuptial tie ; 
 
 O, hither, sacred Hymen, fly ! 60 
 
 Thee anxious parents chief intreat, 
 
 With bliss each darling child to crown ; 
 
 And virgins, in some sweet retreat, 
 To thee unloose the magic zone: 
 
 To thee the bride, with list'ning fears, 65 
 
 Sighs, as the bridegroom's step she hears. 
 
 That bride in florid beauty gay, 
 
 Who, from her mother's bosom torn 
 
 By thee, impatient of delay, 
 
 To the rapacious youth is borne ; 70 
 
 O, Hymen ! source of ev'ryjoy ; 
 
 God of the sacred nuptial tie ! 
 
 To am'rous pairs tho' Venus proves 
 Indulgent; yet nor honest fame, 
 
 Involvit cupidis viri lacertis, 
 
 Rupis incola fioriger canorte. JOAN. SfiCUN. 
 
 Hymen, crown'd with od'rous flow'rs, 
 Tenant of th' Aonian bow'rs; 
 Who from fond, maternal arms 
 Tears the nymph of blooming charms, 
 And consigns each modest grace 
 To the lover's fierce embrace ! 
 M4
 
 l68 CATULLI CARMINA. A. 58. 
 
 Commodi capere : at potest, 
 
 Te volente. quis huic deo 
 
 Compararier ausit ? 65 
 
 Nulla quit sine te domus 
 Liberos dare, nee parens 
 Stirpe jungier: at potest, 
 Te volente. quis huic deo 
 Compararier ausit ? 70 
 
 Quae tuis careat sacris, 
 Non queat dare presides 
 Terra finibus : at queat 
 Te volente. quis huic deo 
 Compararier ausit ? 75 
 
 Claustra pandite januse : 
 Virgo adest. viden', ut faces 
 Splendidas quatiunt comas ? 
 
 S^utc tuis careat, &c.] Scaliger justly wonders, why this passage 
 has so much puzzled commentators ; every one knows that those 
 of illegitimate birth were excluded from any magisterial employ, 
 during the commonwealth; but this, and many other customs, 
 were abolished under the Caesars. Witness the following passage 
 from Pliny : Prafueratpro'vinci* ^utesior unusex candidates, in quern 
 Oea, ci<vitas amplissima, reditus egrtgia constitutions funda<uerat. 
 Hoc Senatui allegandum putasti. Cur enim te Principe, qui generis 
 tui claritatem *virtute superasti, detenor esset conditio eorum, qui 
 
 posteros
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 169 
 
 Nor honour wait their fruitful loves ; 75 
 
 Unless thou sanctifiest the flame : 
 Then of all pow'rs, what power shall dare 
 With matchless Hymen to compare ? 
 
 No sire of noble birth can grace 
 
 Posterity with boasted name, So 
 
 No heritage can bless his race; 
 
 Unless thou sanclifiest his flame: 
 Then of all pow'rs, what pow'r shall dare 
 With matchless Hymen to compare ? 
 
 If not beneath thy influence born, 85 
 
 None e'er can subject people sway ; 
 
 But subject people will not scorn 
 A genuine offspring to obey: 
 
 Then of all pow'rs, what pow'r shall dare 
 
 With matchless Hymen to compare? 90 
 
 i 
 
 Wide, wide, ye portals, now unfold ; 
 
 The long-expected maid is near ; 
 See, with what rays of glitt'ring gold 
 The torches stream along the air : 
 
 pateros babere noblles merentur, quam eorum qul parentes kabuh- 
 ffn'- Vossius. 
 
 Splcndidas quatlunt comas.] A lovely expression. See the notes 
 to the third stanza. 
 
 Ablt
 
 I7O CATULLl CARM1NA. CA. 58. 
 
 Sed moraris, abit dies ; 
 
 Prodeas, nova nupta. 80 
 
 Tardet ingenuus pudor, 
 Quse ramen magis audiens 
 Flet, quod ire necesse sit. 
 Sed moraris, abit dies ; 
 Prodeas, nova nupta. fv . : . 85 
 
 Flere desine : non tibi, 
 Aurunculeia, periculum est. 
 Ne qua femina pulchrior 
 Clarum ab Oceano diem 
 Viderit venientem : 90 
 
 Talis in vario solec 
 Divitis domini hortulo 
 
 Abit dies; prodeas, &c.] This introduction of what Shake- 
 speare calls, " the love-performing night," is I think surpassed 
 by Secundus's beautiful lines : 
 
 Condit Cynthius ora } condit ora ; 
 
 Seque gurgite perluens Ibero, 
 
 Cedit noflivagie locum Sorori. Jo. SEC. Epitbal, 
 
 Phoebus in Iberian waves 
 Now his flaming axle laves ; 
 And resigns the azure reign 
 Of yon vast, aethereal plain 
 To his gentle sister's care, 
 Phoebe, nightly-wand'ring fair! 
 
 Aurunculeia.
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 Come beauteous bride, o come away 
 The waining light rebukes thy stay, 
 
 But shame ingenuous will retard 
 
 Her steps, tears bathe her blushing charms; 
 To think the awful pomp's prepar'd, 
 
 That yields her to a husband's arms : 100 
 Come, beauteous bride, o, come away ! 
 The waining light rebukes thy stay. 
 
 Cease thy vain terrors, nor bedew 
 
 With fruitless tears those radiant eyes: 
 
 Ne'er shall a nymph so lovely view 105 
 
 The day from ocean's bosom rise, 
 
 As thou, Aurunculeia's pride, 
 
 To worthiest, noblest blood allied. 
 
 Fair as the hyacinth, which grows 
 
 Superior to the varied blooms, no 
 
 Aurunculeia .] Some editions have Herculeia, and Arculeia ; but 
 Aurunculeius, most commentators agree with Scaliger, was the 
 cognomen of the Cotta family, from which descended Julia, 
 so called from adoption. Others say, Aurunculeia means a native 
 of the city Aurunca. 
 
 Divitis dom'tni bortulo.] This implies merely a well-cultivated 
 garden, such as would belong to a rich man ; where flowers must 
 blow with superior colour, and strength. 
 
 O cubilt,
 
 I7 2 CATULLt CARMINA. CA. 58. 
 
 Stare flos hyacinthinus. 
 Sed moraris, abit dies j 
 Prodeas, nova nupta. 95 
 
 Prodeas, nova nupta, sis : 
 (Jam videtur) ut audias 
 Nostra verba. viden' ? faces 
 Aureas quatiunt comas. 
 Prodeas, nova nupta. 100 
 
 Non tuus levis in mala 
 Deditus vir adultera, 
 Proca turpia persequens, 
 A tuis teneris volet 
 Secubare papillis : 105 
 
 Lenta qui velut assitas 
 Vitis implicat arbores, 
 Implicabitur in tuum 
 Complexum. sed abit dies; 
 Prodeas, nova nupta. no 
 
 * * 
 
 * * * 
 
 * * *
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. iy^ 
 
 In cultur'd gardens that disclose 
 
 Their motley hues, their rich perfumes: 
 Come, beauteous bride, o come away ! 
 The waining light rebukes thy stay. 
 
 O, bride so newly plighted, come! 115 
 
 (See, at our voice the bride appears !) 
 
 O list ! Behold, how thro* the gloom 
 
 The torches shake their golden hairs ! ' 
 
 Lo, the sun beams with fainter ray; 
 
 Come, beauteous bride, o come away! 120 
 
 No lawless libertine, that roves 
 
 To raptures fraught with foul disgrace, 
 
 That riots in adult'rous loves, 
 
 Now woos thee to his fond embrace ; 
 
 None, that apart could wish to rest 125 
 
 From the soft pillow of thy breast. 
 
 As cling the tendrils of the vine, 
 Enamour'd of its husband tree ; 
 
 So shall the youth thy frame entwine, 
 
 So shall his arms encircle thee : 130 
 
 Lo, the sun beams with fainter ray; 
 
 Come, beauteous bride, o come away !
 
 174 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 58. 
 
 O cubile, quot (6 nimis 
 
 Candido pcde leduli) 115 
 
 Quse tuo veniunt hero, 
 Quanta gaudia, qua? vaga 
 Nofte, quse media die 
 Gaudeat ! sed abit dies; 
 Prodeas, nova nupta. 120 
 
 Tollite, 6 pueri, faces, 
 Flammeum video venire. 
 Ite, concinite in modum, 
 lo Hymen Hymenaee io, 
 lo Hymen Hymenase. 125 
 
 Nee diu taceat procax 
 Fescennina locutio ; 
 
 O cubile, &C-3 This fragment of a stanza, a portion of which 
 is lost, has been mangled and altered innumerable ways by diffe- 
 rent editors; but I have fixed upon what I thought was the clear- 
 est text. Many construe candido, "happy," in a metaphorical sense. 
 See the note to Carm. 8. Others more reasonably think it means 
 ivory ; for that the ancients used it in decorating their beds is evi- 
 dent, from the testimony of many writers, as well as from our 
 poet's description of Thetis's bed, in Carm. 61 . 
 
 Media die. ] See the note upon the word meri/iiatum, in Cam. 29. 
 
 Flammeum 'video venire ."] Meaning the bride decorated with 
 ihcflainmeum. How beautifully enthusiastic is this sudden excla- 
 mation
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 175 
 
 O, happy bed, upheld in bliss ! 
 
 O, couches of soft pleasure, hail ! 
 Receive your lord what joys like his, 135 
 
 Can the mid-day, or night reveal? 
 Lo, the sun beams with fainter ray; 
 Come, beauteous bride, o come away ! 
 
 Hither, ye boys, your torches bring ; 
 
 She comes, in saffron veil array 'd; 140 
 
 She comes ! ye boys your pseans sing; 
 
 Go, and with transport greet the maid ! 
 God of the tender nuptial tie ; 
 O, hither, sacred Hymen, fly! 
 
 Soon shall the wanton song be heard ; 145 
 
 And thou, that hast so frequent crown 'd 
 
 mation of the poet's, supposing that he sees the nuptial proces- 
 sion advance. Achilles Statius says, the chorus ought to be writ- 
 ten, 
 
 Hymen o Hymen tee io ! 
 
 Hymen o Hymenxcf 
 
 Fescenntna locutio. ] It was usual, for the mirthful friends of the 
 new-married couple to sing obscene verses, which were tolerated 
 on this occasion, and called Fescennine, from having their origin 
 in Fescennia, a town of Campania; though Festus says, they were 
 so termed, from their tendency to drive away noxious spells, fas- 
 cina, which the envious might have used to destroy the conjugal 
 bliss. Claudian thus records the Fescennine verse, in Epithat. 
 Honor, et Mar. 
 
 Permhsisqite
 
 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 58. 
 
 Nec nuces pueris neget 
 
 Desertum domini audiens 
 
 Concubinus amorem. 130 
 
 Da nuces pueris, iners 
 Concubine: satis diu 
 Lusisti nucibus: lubet 
 Jam servire Thalassio. 
 Concubine, nuces da. 135 
 
 Sordebam tibi, villice 
 Concubine, hodie atque heri. 
 
 Permissisque jocis turba licentlor 
 
 Exultet tetricis llbera legibus. 
 And thus Seneca, in Medea : 
 
 Festa dicax fundat convicia Fescenninut. 
 
 Nec nucet pueris, &c.] This custom of throwing nuts, such as 
 walnuts, or almonds, is of Athenian origin ; some say it was 
 meant to divert the attention from the raptures of the bride and 
 bridegroom, when in bed, by the noise they, and the scrambling 
 boys, made on the floor. Servius Varro says, it implied a wish, 
 that the bride might become a matron like Juno, wife of Jove, 
 nuts being under the tutelage of Jupiter; but the most probable 
 opinion is, that it imported the renouncing of childhood, for chil- 
 dren had many games with nuts, and hence nucibus rtliftis became 
 proverbial. Thus Persius: 
 
 Et nucibus facimus qutccumque relifiis. 
 
 PERS. Sat. i. 
 
 Virgil gives the offic e of throwing the nuts to the husband him- 
 self. 
 
 Sparge mar it e nutts. VlRC. Eel. S. 
 
 This
 
 PQ. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 The passions of thy lustful lord, 
 
 Throw to the boys thy nuts around : 
 For see, thy master, virtuous grown, 
 Disdains such worthless love to own. 150 
 
 Throw to the boys, thou loit'rer, throw 
 Thy mystic nuts ; no more delay ! 
 
 Each childish prank at length forego; 
 Thalassus now exerts his sway ; 
 
 Hear, how his name our hymns resound} 155 
 
 Then throw thy mystic nuts around! 
 
 Late have I prov'd thy jealous pride, 
 Thou steward of thy lord's affairs ; 
 
 This favours the last conjefture, and I think Catullus's satis dm 
 iusisti nucibus confirms it. 
 
 Tbalassio.] The same with Hymentee, from Thalassus, who, 
 according to Martial, Epig . 42. Lib. 12. was the god of marriage. 
 Festus says it was a word by which women were called to spin; 
 hence used in marriage, as a warning to the bride to be a good 
 housewife. Livy, Lib. j. mentioning the rape of the Sabine wo- 
 men, has the following passage upon this word: Virgo una long* 
 ante alias specie, et pulchritudine insignis, a globo cujusdam Tba- 
 lassii rapta fuerit; multisque sciscitantibus quinam earn ferrcnt, tie 
 quis earn violaret, Thalassioferri clamitatum. 
 
 Sordebam tibi, &c.] This stanza I interpret thus. The poet 
 
 says : I was lately despised by thee, because my friendship with 
 
 41 Manlius excited thy jealousy ; thou who wast so great a favour- 
 
 VOL. I. N " ite
 
 178 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. $8. 
 
 Nunc tuum cinerarius 
 
 Tondec os. miser, ah miser 
 
 Cancubine! nuces da, 140 
 
 Diceris male te a tuis 
 Unguentate glabris marite 
 Abstinere; sed abstine. 
 lo Hymen Hymensee io, 
 lo Hymen Hymenase. 145 
 
 Scimus base tibi, que licent, 
 Sola cognita : sed marito 
 
 " ite with thy master, that thou didst govern his whole house, wast 
 " his vilUcus, art now renounced by him, being only fit to throw 
 " the nuts at his wedding." Vulpius moreover observes: Veteres 
 Mil pullipremenes totlus rel familiaris administrationem y infamis 
 patjenti<e premium, exoletis suit assignors consueverant. IJtestatur 
 Plautus Casin. Ac. 2. $c. 8. Scaliger, and many others wrong- 
 fully interpret e villice t " rustic." Hodie atque beri t means " lately ;" 
 a Greek adage, x^*> y - M 
 
 Cinerarias.'] The word, peculiarly signifying a lady's hair- 
 dresser, or tireman, is exceedingly apt in this place; as the office 
 here assigned to the bride's tireman would seem more particularly 
 to belong to him ; for Muretus says: Cin<edi tondebantur, uxorcs 
 ducentibus deminis^ quod interdum munus nova ipste nupt* obibant. 
 He then quotes Martial, Epig. 78. Lib. n. for authority : Tondebit 
 pucros jam nova nupta tuos. Varro, Lib. 4. tells us, these cine- 
 rarii were so called, from heating their calamistra, or crisp- 
 ing-irons, in the ashes, cinercs\ or, according to Cato, and Va- 
 lerius Maxiiuus, Lib. 2. from powdering the hair with a yel- 
 
 low
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 179 
 
 But lo, the tireman of the bride 
 
 To smooth thy rough'ning chin prepares ! 160 
 Wretch, who art now disgustful found, 
 
 Throw, throw thy mystic nuts around! 
 
 Yet soft licentious loves, 'tis said, 
 Allure thee still j but o forbear, 
 
 Thou essenc'd bridegroom, to degrade 165 
 
 Thy partial, thy deserving fair! 
 
 Sing Hymen, source of all our joys ; 
 
 Sing the sweet God of nuptial ties ! 
 
 Those raptures passion might allow, 
 
 Ere link'd in wedlock's pleasing chain, 1 70 
 
 low dust, or ash, finis, tp give it a brightness; powder of orris, 
 and even gold dust was sometimes used by the luxurious, 
 according to Josephus. The antiquity of powder, and poma- 
 tum is evident, from Pliny, Cap, 12. Lit. 28. Prodest et sapo, 
 Gallorum hoc inventum rutilandis capillis; fit ex sewo et cinere\ op- 
 timus fagino et caprino, duobus modis spissus ac liquidus. The ci- 
 nerarii were likewise called ciniflones ; either frem blowing the 
 ashes to heat their irons, or from the custom of blowing powder 
 on the hair. 
 
 Unguentate.] A metaphorical expression, implying weak, effe- 
 minate ; for such only among men used perfumes. Aulus GeU 
 lius, Cap. 12. Lib. 7. mentions a fribble of this stamp. Nam tfui 
 quotidie unguentatus adversum speculum ornetur, cujus supercili* 
 taduntur, qui barb.a vulsafeminibusque subvulsis ambulet, &c. 
 
 N 2 Cave
 
 l8o CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 58. 
 
 Ista non eadem licent. 
 
 lo Hymen Hymensee io, 
 
 lo Hymen Hymenase. 150 
 
 Nupta tu quoque, quae tuus 
 Vir petet, cave ne neges j 
 Ne petitum aliunde eat. 
 Io Hymen Hymensee io, 
 Io Hymen Hymenae. 155 
 
 En tibi domus ut poterts, 
 Et beata viri tui ! 
 Quse seni tibi serviet : 
 (Io Hymen Hymenaee io, 
 Io Hymen Hymenase.) 160 
 
 Usque dum tremulum movens 
 Cana tempus anilitas 
 
 Cave ne neges.] This stanza is supposed to allude to the cus- 
 tom, instituted by Solon, of the bride eating a quince, or apple, 
 with her husband, before she gave herself to his embrace ; to de- 
 note that every word henceforth, proceeding from his mouth, 
 would be grateful to her as that fruit; and that she would be 
 complying, lest she should alienate from herself his affeiSlions t 
 but I own I think the allusion very far-fetched. SILVI.US. 
 
 Qua se ni tlbi, &c.] This line has been variously distorted by 
 different editors : I have preserved the reading of Achilles Sta- 
 
 tius.
 
 10. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS* l8t 
 
 'Tis certain ill befit thee now ; 
 
 The marriage-bed such raptures stain : 
 Sing Hymen, source of all our joys; 
 Sing the sweet God of nuptial ties ! 
 
 And ever, beauteous bride, beware 175 
 
 Thy husband's wishes to refuse ; 
 
 Lest, courted by some kinder fair, 
 
 He gives to her thy am'rous dues : 
 
 Sing Hymen, source of all our joys ; 
 
 Sing the sweet God of nuptial ties ! 1 80 
 
 Lo, thine are honour, wealth, and fame; 
 
 For these attend thy potent lord ; 
 These shall add lustre to thy name, 
 
 Shall comfort to thy life afford : 
 Sing Hymen, source of all our joys; 185 
 
 Sing the sweet God of nuptial ties ! 
 
 Thus shalt thou long in love be blest, 
 
 Till age with trembling head shall call, 
 
 tius, as the most simple, and elegant; A. Maffeus has, Qu<g tibi t 
 sine, fervit; others read, Qute tibi sine fine erlt ; and Vossius, per- 
 haps not improperly, writes, Quo tibicine serviat. Julia, in this 
 stanza, is congratulated on her noble alliance. 
 
 N 3 Omnia
 
 CATULLI CARMINA* CA. 58. 
 
 Omnia omnibus annuit. 
 
 lo Hymen Hymenaee io, 
 
 lo Hymen Hymenaee. 165 
 
 Transfer omine cum bono 
 
 Limen aureolos pedes, 
 
 Rasilemque subi forem. 
 
 Io Hymen Hymenaee io, 
 
 Io Hymen Hymensee. 170 
 
 Aspice, intus ut accubans 
 Vir tuus Tyrio in toro 
 Totus immineat tibi. 
 Io Hymen Hymenaee io, 
 Io Hymen Hymenaee. 
 
 Omnia omnibus annuit.] A whimsical conceit, in my opinion, 
 to express old age ; which, causing the head to tremble, gives to 
 every objet a tremulous appearance. 
 
 Transfer omine, &c.] The bride, entering her husband's house, 
 
 was lifted over the threshold, that she might not touch it; for 
 
 this various reasons have been assigned ; the most plausible of 
 
 which are, that it was either because the threshold was sacred to 
 
 Vesta, the goddess of chastity, who might be offended at her nup- 
 
 tials ; or, because she should avoid touching any spell, which some 
 
 envious rival might have secretly laid there. Thus Ovid, upon 
 
 another occasion, mentions touching the threshold as a bad omen. 
 
 Missaforas iterum limen transirc memento 
 
 Cautius, atquc alte sobria ferrc pedem. 
 
 OVID. Amor. Lib. i. 
 Sea
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 183 
 
 Old age in snowy ringlets drest, 
 
 That seems to nod assent to all: 190 
 
 Sing Hymen, source of all our joys j 
 Sing the sweet God of nuptial ties ! 
 
 Enter, thou happy-omen'd fair ! 
 
 The gate with polish 'd labour bright; 
 And o'er the untouch'd threshold bear 195 
 
 Thy glitt'ring feet of golden light: 
 Sing Hymen, source of all our joys; 
 Sing the sweet God of nuptial ties ' 
 
 Lo, on his purple couch reclin'd, 
 
 How hangs the bridegroom o'er thy charms ; 
 And, as warm wishes fire his mind, 
 
 How oft he calls thee to his arms ! 
 Sing Hymen, source of all our joys, 
 Sing the sweet God of nuptial ties ! 
 
 Sent out again, pray walk with sober care ; 
 And of the threshold let thy feet beware. 
 
 Aspice, intus, &c.] This is the constant reading of the oldest 
 MSS. and certainly the just one ; though Scaligcr writes imus, in- 
 terpreting, in interiore left: sponda, which contradicls the word 
 immineat. Achilles Statius observes, that the parallel Greek 
 word has nearly a similar force in the following Sapphic line : 
 
 F u|3gc$ i^trai icr- A^H. 
 Vossius reads unus t meaning solus; the bride not being yet in bed. 
 
 , . N 4, Prxtextate.
 
 184 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 58. 
 
 Illi non minus, ac tibi 
 Peftore uritur intimo 
 Flamma, sed penite magis. 
 lo Hymen Hymenaee io, 
 lo Hymen Hymenaee. 180 
 
 Mitte brachiolum teres, 
 
 Praetextate, puelluke; 
 i 
 
 Jam cubile adeat viri. 
 
 Io Hymen Hymenase io, 
 
 Io Hymen Hymenaee. 185 
 
 Vos bonae senibus viris 
 Cognitas bene feminae, 
 Collocate puellulam. 
 Io Hymen Hymenaee io, 
 Io Hymen Hymenaee. 1 90 
 
 Pr<etextate.'] The poet here addresses the boy, or paranym- 
 pbus, whose particular province it was to wait on the bride, and 
 attend her to the genial bed : he was chosen of noble birth ; 
 therefore wore the prxtexta, or garb bordered with purple ; and 
 was one whose parents were living. Festus" says, there were al- 
 ways three attendant paranymphi ; one to precede the bride with a 
 flambeau, and two others to support her. 
 
 Adeat viri.'] Many read a Jean t, alluding to the chorus of vir- 
 gins; and some make viri the nominative case, in reference to the 
 five youths who bore the torches. 
 
 Pot
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 Like thee he burns, and wild desires 205 
 
 Thro' all his inmost bosom roll ; 
 
 Nay, more than equal to thy fires 
 
 Glows the fierce fever of his soul : 
 
 Sing Hymen, source of all our joys; 
 
 Sing the sweet God of nuptial ties! 210 
 
 Thou youth, in purple garb array'd, 
 
 Who chief dost on the bride attend, 
 
 Lend her thine arm's supporting aid, 
 The throne of rapture to ascend: 
 
 Sing Hymen, source of all our joys; 215 
 
 Sing the sweet God of nuptial ties ! 
 
 Ye matrons of experienc'd age, 
 
 To your first husbands ever true, 
 
 Whose hearts no second loves engage, 
 
 Compose the maid in order due : 220 
 
 Sing Hymen, source of all our joys; 
 
 Sing the sweet God of nuptial ties ! 
 
 Vos bonte sinibus, &c.] It was customary for the bride to be put 
 to bed by a number of good old dames, who had been but once 
 wedded, such being supposed as most virtuous ; for a second mar- 
 riage with the Romans was next to criminal. Thus Virgil: 
 Huic uniforsan potui succumbere culp&. 
 
 VIRG. jn. 4. 
 
 yam
 
 l86 CATULLl CARM1NA. CA. 58. 
 
 Jam licet venias, marker 
 Uxor in thalamo est tibi 
 Ore floridulo nitens, 
 Alba parthenice velut, 
 Luteumve papaver. 195 
 
 yam licet vcnias.] This passage, I think, clears up a point that 
 has been controverted ; whether the bride, or bridegroom first 
 entered the nuptial bed. The present custom prevailed in ancient 
 times; it was the bride. 
 
 Alba partbenice .] What plant the partbenice was, has not yet 
 been truly ascertained; it is supposed to be the same with the par- 
 tbenis, partbtnium, or partbenion ; which some dictionaries render 
 pellitory ; others bastard-feverfew, a species of the matricaria. 
 Dioscorides mentions this plant, Cap. 146. Lib. 3. Pliny, Cap. 7. 
 Lib. 25. says, the partbenis is the same with the artenisia, our 
 mug-ivort, a kind of soutbern-iuood with purple blossoms: but in 
 Cap. 30. Lib. 21. he tells us, that the partbenium, so named from 
 the virgin Minerva, is by some called leucanthen ; that it grows 
 in garden borders, ha:> a white flower, a fetid smell, and a bitter 
 Havour ; this answers exaftly to the parthenium, or chamomile, a 
 species of the matricaria ; which Gerard, Parkinson, Ray, and 
 Bauhine term matricaria -vulgaris ; it also very nearly corresponds 
 with Tournfort's leucantbemum, and Linnaeus's chrysanthemum 
 with white rays, or ox-eyed daisy: from these circumstances then, 
 I conjecture Catullus's partbenice to be, a species of white chamo- 
 mile, or the daisy. A celebrated oriental scholar informs me, 
 that the Greek partbenion, is the Arabian okbawan, and Persian 
 copel; it has the scent of camphor, says Al beithur, whence the 
 Arabs give it also the name of the camphor-plant. Mr. Richard- 
 son, among other interpretations of the okbaivan, renders it cba- 
 momile, and corn- marigold; which seems to favour my conjecture. 
 
 Luteumve papave r. ] Silvius tells us, that the ancients counted 
 three kinds of poppy; the black, white, and yellow : this last was 
 most probably the papaver cambricum (yellow poppy) of Linnaeus, 
 
 or
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 187 
 
 Now, fervent bridegroom, mayst thou come j 
 Thy bride now prints the genial bed, 
 
 O'er whose warm cheek a brighter bloom 225 
 Is mid the circling fairness spread: 
 
 So white parthenium to the view 
 
 Shews, midst the poppy's glowing hue. 
 
 or the cbelidonium glauc'ium (yellow horned poppy) if (he meaning 
 of our poet be, as the commentator Parthenius says it is, that the 
 fair complexion of the bride looks as beautiful through her yellow 
 marriage veil, as the white blossom of the parthenium does beside 
 the yellow poppy ; an interpretation which ingeniously accounts 
 for the mention of the yellow poppy, but which I cannot think 
 just. When the bride is in bed, (uxor In thalamo est J we must 
 suppose \htjlammeum t or veil thrown aside: there is then no apt- 
 ness in the comparison, which evidently relates to her blooming 
 countenance (os floridulum) : I should rather think luteus was 
 meant to express a colour bordering on red. We are very igno- 
 rant of the true meaning of Latin words that have a reference to 
 colours. Tibullus has a similar elegant comparison : 
 
 Candor erat, qualem prtefert Latonia Luna: 
 Et color in ni<veo corpore purpureus. 
 
 Ut ju-ven'i primum virgo dedutta marito 
 Inficitur teneras ore rubente genas. 
 
 Ut quum contexunt amaranthis alba puellte 
 Lilia : ut autumno Candida mala rubent. 
 
 TIB. Eleg. 4. Lib.-*,. 
 
 As white as thine, fair Luna, was his skin, 
 
 So vein'd with azure, and as smoothly thin ; 
 
 So soft a blush vermilion'd o'er his face, 
 
 As when a maid first melts in man's embrace ; 
 
 Or when the fair with curious art unite 
 
 The purple amaranth, and lilly white. 
 
 A bloom like his, when ting'd by Autumn's pride, 
 
 Reddens the apple on the sunny side. GRAINGER. 
 
 Palam t
 
 ' 
 
 l88 CATULLI CARMIKA. CA. 58. 
 
 At, marite, (tta me juvent 
 Coelites,) nihilominus 
 Pulcher es ; neque te Venus 
 Negligit. sed abit dies ; 
 Perge, ne remorare. 200 
 
 Non diu remoratus es. 
 Jam venis. bona te Venus 
 Juverit, quoniam palam, 
 Quod cupis, capis, et bonum 
 Non abscondis amorem. 205 
 
 Ille pulvis Erythrsei 
 Siderumque micantium 
 Subducat numerum prius, 
 Qui vestri numerate vult 
 Multa millia ludi. 210 
 
 Palam, quod cupis, capis.] Marriages were solemnized openly ; 
 that is, they constituted public festivals among the friends, and 
 neighbours of the new-married couple. Thus elegantly the au- 
 thor above-quoted to this purpose : 
 
 Felices elim, Venerl quumfertur aperte 
 Servire xternos non puduissf deos. 
 
 TIB. Eleg. 3. Lib. a. 
 
 Thrice happy days, when Love almighty sway'd, 
 And openly the gods his will obey'd! 
 
 GRAINGER. 
 
 Pulvis
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 189 
 
 Nor, beauteous youth, is thy sweet face 
 
 (May heav'n protect me as I swear!) 230 
 
 Less gifted with enchanting grace ; 
 Thou too art Cytherea's care : 
 
 Lo, the sun beams with fainter ray; 
 
 Come youth, o come without delay! 
 
 Thou com'st, nor hast thou long delay'd ; 2,35 
 
 May Venus then propitious prove! 
 For now to every eye betray'd 
 
 Stands the known object of thy love: 
 t 
 
 Nor, as the gath'ring rumours fly, 
 
 Dost thou the honest flame deny. 240 
 
 He, who your various sports would count, 
 Your thousands of delights explore, 
 
 Must number first the sands' amount 
 That spread the Erythraean shore ; 
 
 Must number every spark of light {:V 245 
 
 That frets the azure vault of night. 
 
 Pul-vis Erytbreei.'] Meaning the sands on the shore of the Ery- 
 thraean, or ancient Red sea : this passage has perplexed many in- 
 terpreters; some read enthei, alluding to the inspired priests of 
 Bellona, who raised a great dust in their frantic rites; many have 
 ii; others write Eritei, and Ericei; Vossius would read Ery- 
 ii. The whole stanza bears no small resemblance to Carm. 7. 
 
 Lvdite,
 
 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 58. 
 
 Ludite, ut lubet, et brevi 
 Laberos date : non decet 
 Tarn vetus sine liberis 
 Nomen esse j sed indidem 
 Semper ingenerari. 215 
 
 Torquatus, volo, parvulus 
 Matris e gremio suas 
 Porrigens teneras manus, 
 Dulce rideat ad patrem, 
 Semihiante labello. 220 
 
 Ludite, at lubet, &c.3 This passage has been very closely imi- 
 tated in a modern Latin epithalamium : 
 
 Sudate ut llbet ; et diesque longas, 
 NoSesque exlglte impotente lusu: 
 Et brevi date liberosque Juices, 
 Et longo ordine blandulos nepotes. 
 
 Jo. SEC UN. Epitb. 
 
 Urge, then urge your dear delights 
 Thro* fond days, and fonder nights ! 
 Still repeat the warm embrace, 
 Forming many a beauteous race ! 
 From each race, to glad your eyes, 
 May successive offsprings rise ! 
 
 Torquatus, vole, parvulus, &c.] This stanza throughout is 
 exquisite, and must elude the utmost efforts of translation. In 
 like manner Virgil : 
 
 Si quls mlbi parvulus auld 
 Luderet &neat I VIRG. &nc\d. 4. 
 
 If
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 19! 
 
 Your am'rous sports, still, still pursue; 
 
 Crown'd may they be with fair increase ! 
 From thee thrice-honour'd youth 'tis due, 
 
 To eternize thy boasted race; 250 
 
 That boasted race which ne'er shall die, 
 While thus in lusty sports ye vie. 
 
 And soon, to be completely blest, 
 
 Soon may a young Torquatus rise ! 
 
 Who, hanging on his mother's breast, 255 
 
 To his known sire shall turn his eyes, 
 
 Out-stretch his infant arms awhile, 
 
 Half-ope his little lips, and smile. 
 
 If in my regal hall I could survey 
 
 Some princely boy, some young ^Eneas play! 
 
 PITT. 
 
 For children to smile at their parent was esteemed a good token, 
 and the strongest test of their legitimacy. Again to this purpose 
 Maro's muse ; though a modern translator of Virgil gives the line 
 a very different turn : 
 
 Incipe, parve puer, risu cognoscere matreml 
 
 VIRC. Eel. 4. 
 
 Sweet babe, thy mother by thy smile confess! 
 
 Semlhlante lobelia.] I could execrate such commentators, as 
 Hieronymus Avantius, and others ; who distort this lovely line, bf 
 coldly writing, Sed micante t or Sed mihl ante labcllo. 
 
 Sit
 
 192 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 58. 
 
 Sit suo similis patri 
 Manlio, et facile insciis 
 
 Noscitetur ab omnibus, 
 
 Et pudicitiam suse 
 
 Matris indicet ore. 225 
 
 Talis illius a bona 
 Matre laus genus approbet, 
 Qualis unica ab optima 
 Matre Telemacho manet 
 Fama Penelopeo. 230 
 
 Claudite ostia virgines, 
 Lusimus satis, at boni 
 Conjuges bene vivite, et 
 Munere assiduo yalentem 
 Exercete juventam. . 235 
 
 Sit suo similis patrj.~\ Thus Statius, in Epithal. Stel. and Vio- 
 
 iavtil : 
 
 Multum de patre decorit 
 
 Plus de matre capis. 
 
 And Horace likewise, in a similar strain : Od. 5. Lit. 4. 
 Laudantur simili prole puerper*. 
 
 PuJieitiam su<e matris.'] Having children like the father, was 
 ever esteemed the strongest proof of female chastity; in this the 
 ancients were particularly observant ; witness Martial : 
 En tibi t gui patrii signatur imagine 'Vullus, 
 Testis maternte nata pudiciti*. 
 
 MART. Epig. 27. Lib. 6. 
 
 Claudite
 
 PO. 58. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 In ev'ry feature of his face, 
 
 O, may the boy like Manlius shine ! 260 
 That even strangers, as they trace 
 
 Each well-known mark, may stamp him thine! 
 May, from his lineal look, declare 
 How chaste thy consort, and how fair! 
 
 Nor less exalted be the praise 265 
 
 From his dear mother's worth acquir'd, 
 
 Than that which made, in ancient days, 
 The good Telemachus admired ; 
 
 Whose virtues, and unblemish'd name, 
 
 Held up Penelope to fame ! 270 
 
 Now close the doors, ye virgins fair ; 
 
 Enough in sport have we pursu'd : 
 And o, ye soul-according pair, 
 
 Be love by death alone subdu'd ! 
 Let not your youthful vigour sleep, 275 
 
 But one eternal vigil keep ! 
 
 Claudlte ostia virgines.'] The virgins, who were the last acU 
 mitted to the presence of the happy pair, having finished their 
 Kojpsnxoir, or evening congratulation, retire, closing the door of 
 the chamber. Theocritus concludes his epifchalamium on Helen 
 much in the same manner ; and Statius, at the end of his on Stella, 
 and Violantilla, addresses the young couple in a similar strain : 
 Exerce for mam, et fitgientibus titere donis. 
 
 Ergo age, junge thoros, atque otia deme ju'venta. 
 VOL. I. O Achilles
 
 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 59. 
 
 CARMEN NUPTIALE. LIX. 
 
 JUVENES. 
 
 VESPER adest, juvenes, consurgitej Vesper O- 
 
 lympo 
 
 Exspedtata diu vix tandem lumina tollit. 
 Surgere jam tempus, jam pingues linquere mensas ; 
 Jam veniet virgo, jam dicetur Hymenseus. 
 Hymen 6 Hymenase, Hymen ades 6 Hymenase. 5 
 
 Achilles Statius conjectures, that this poem was made, as the 
 former, upon the marriage of Julia and Manlius; telling us, it 
 was no uncommon thing for poets to write several epltbalamla 
 on the same persons; and instances Claudian, who composed 
 many on the nuptials of Honorius and Maria: however this is 
 only suppositious. Many editors, particularly among the French, 
 make this piece the principal part of the eplthalamium on Julia 
 and Manlius, bringing in the preceding Carmen by way of cho- 
 rus ; and suppose it to be sung by the youths, and virgins together. 
 
 Pesper adest.] The star of evening, the same with yesperugo, 
 Hesperus, Lucifer, Phosphorus, and the Greek <J>c^o', is intro- 
 duced by most poets in the bridal song. Thus Claudian, in Epitb. 
 Honor, et Mar. 
 
 Attollens tbalamis Idalium jubar 
 
 Diltflus Veneri nascitur Hesperus. 
 
 And thus Joannes Secundus, in his lovely epithalamiiun : 
 Et, quo gratior baud relucet ignis 
 Conjunftis animis amort' dulci t 
 Producit caput, ernicatque ccelo 
 Duflor Hesperus aurece caterifte.
 
 PO. 59* POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 A NUPTIAI, SONG. Lix. 
 
 YOUTHS. 
 
 NOW Hesper gilds the dusky brow of night ; 
 Rise, tuneful youths ; the long-expected light 
 Beams with soft radiance from yon vaulted skies, 
 *Tis Hesper beams ; ye tuneful youths arise : 
 The festive board employs your care too long ; 
 The virgin comes ; begin the bridal song. 
 Come, sacred Hymen, source of all our joys; 
 O, Hymen come, sweet God of nuptial ties ! 
 
 Rising Hesper now behold, 
 
 Glitt'ring from his throne of gold, 
 
 Leading on the host of night 
 
 Silent o'er yon spangled height; 
 
 Hesper, whose soft radiance proves 
 
 Grateful to the soul that loves! 
 
 Varro tells us, that the rising of this star was the signal for con- 
 ducting the bride in procession to the bridegroom's house. 
 
 Pingues tinquere mensas.'] By this it would appear, that the 
 wedding feast was held early in the day, according to Roman lux- 
 ury; but then the bride and bridegroom could not eat together: 
 now Kennet, in his Roman antiquities, tells us, that it was after 
 the bride was led to her husband's home, that they began the 
 nuptial entertainment. 
 
 Hymen 6 Hymenxe, &c.] Both youths, and virgins are supposed 
 to sing in chorus this intercalary line, similar to one in Helen's 
 epithalamium by Theocritus : 
 
 O, Hymen, Hymen at this match rejoice! 
 
 FAWKES. 
 O a Ceraiti:
 
 196 CATULLI CARMtNA. CA. 59. 
 
 PUELL.S:. 
 
 Cernitis, innuptse, juvenes ? consurgite contra. 
 Nimirum Oetseos ostendit No&ifer ignes. 
 Sic certe ; viden' ut perniciter exsiluere ? 
 Non temere exsiluere ; canent quod vincere par est. 
 Hymen 6 Hy menace, Hymen ades 6 Hymenaee. 10 
 
 JUVENES. 
 
 Non facilis nobis, zequales, palma parata est. 
 Aspicite, innuptse secum ut meditata requirant. 
 Non frustrameditantur: habent memorabile quod sit. 
 Nos alio mentes, alio divisimus aures : 
 
 Cernitis, innupfie, &c.] The emulation between the youths, and 
 virgins, which our poet seems to excite, is a very happy fiction ; 
 and gives a spirited effe<5l to the whole piece. 
 
 Nimirum Oet<eos, &c.] This line is variously read: some edi- 
 tions have, Oetteas obtendit Noftifer umbras : Scaliger has, Oceano 
 se ostendit lioflifer imbre : others have, Eoos Imbres: Silvius 
 writes, jEtbereos ignes : and many have, Umentes Imbres. The text 
 I have fixt upon seems the most poetical, and the truest: Oeta 
 was a mountain of Thessaly, where it was poetically said, that 
 Hesperus, and all the stars set. Thus Virgil: 
 
 Tlbl desert t Hesperus Oetam. VIRG. Eel. 8. 
 
 For thee bright Hesper Oeta's summit leaves. 
 Noflifer is here a happy expression for Hesperus. In like manner 
 Clpurnius : 
 
 Frlgldus asl'mas impellit Noflifer boras. 
 
 Cool Hesper drives the burning hours away. 
 Palma parata est.'] A metaphorical expression for victory. In 
 war victors were crowned with palm, for which Plutarch assigns 
 the following reason: In certaminibus falmam signum esse ptacuit
 
 PO. 59. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 197 
 
 VIRGINS. 
 
 Rise, virgins rise; behold the youths are nigh; 
 With theirs, ye virgins, let our numbers vie: 10 
 Lo ! Hesper glitters from the azure plain, 
 And leads o'er Oeta's top his starry train: 
 Quick rise the youths; and hark, the song they raise: 
 Surpass that song, ye virgins, with your lays. 
 Come, sacred Hymen, source of all our joys; 15 
 O, Hymen come, sweet God of nuptial ties ! 
 
 YOUTHS. 
 
 Think not, my lov'd associates, ye shall find 
 An easy triumph to your task assign'd: 
 Mark how the virgins muse, nor muse in vain; 
 E'en now they meditate some nobler strain; 20 
 While we, unmindful of our votive lays, 
 In silent rapture on their beauties gaze : 
 
 lte^ quonlam ejusmodi lign'i ingen'ium est t ut urgentlbus opprj* 
 mcntibusque non cedat. 
 
 Habent memorabile quod sit. ~\ Many of the more modern edi 
 tions, immediately after this line, introduce the following; which 
 is generally supposed to be spurious : 
 
 Nee mirum ; tola penitus qu<r mente laborent. 
 Nos alib mentes, &c.] Meaning; the beauty, and harmony of 
 the virgins so engage our attention, that we neglecl: the duties of 
 song, and shall certainly be vanquished in the melodious strife. 
 Ovid has a similar phrase: 
 
 Sefla bipartito cum metis discurrit utroque, 
 
 Altenus -vires subtrabit alter Amor. OVID. Remed. Amor, 
 - O 3 Crudeliyr
 
 598 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 59. 
 
 Jure igitur vincemur. amat vi&oria curam. 15 
 
 Quare nunc animos saltern committite vestros : 
 Dicere jam incipient, jam respondere decebit. 
 Hymen 6 Hymenase, Hymen ades 6 Hymenase. 
 
 PUELL/E. 
 
 Hespere, qui coelo fertur crudelior ignis ? 
 Qui gnatam possis complexu avellere matris, zo 
 Complexu matris retinentem avellere gnatam, 
 Et juveni ardenti castam donare puellam. 
 Quid faciant hostes capta crudelius urbe ? 
 Hymen 6 Hymenase, Hymen ades 6 Hymenzee. 
 
 JUVEKES. 
 
 Hespere, qui ccelo lucet jucundior ignis ? 25 
 Qui desponsa tua firmes connubia flamma, 
 
 Crudelior ignis.'] These words, similar to a stanza in the pre- 
 ceding poem ; Tu fero jweni t &c. are admirable in the mouths 
 of the reluftant virgins, who sorrow for the loss of their compa- 
 nion now a bridr. 
 
 Jucundior ignis.] This joy of the youths, contrasted with the 
 grief of the virgins, in the foregoing lines, has a beautiful effeft. 
 See Homer to the same purport : 
 
 Hesper, esteem'd the choicest star of heav'n. 
 And in like manner Virgil, JEneid 8. 
 
 Quern Venus ante alias astrorum diligit ignes. 
 Of all heav'n's fires to Venus most 'tis dear. 
 
 Ntt
 
 PO. 59. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 199 
 
 Then justly shall the virgins conquest boast, 
 For conquest favours those who labour most : 
 Be bold, fond youths ; be song your chief concern : 
 The virgins sing ; fond youths, the lay return. 
 Come, sacred Hymen, source of all our joys ; 
 O, Hymen come, sweet God of nuptial ties \ 
 
 VIRGINS. 
 
 O, Hesperus, what star thro' heav'n can shine 
 With more malignant rays, fell star ! than thine ? 
 Thou, who dost tear the maid of blooming grace 
 From the fond mother's ling'ring close embrace, 
 And to the ardent youth's impatient arms 
 Dost yield with savage joy her virgin charms : 
 Say, what more cruel can the victors do, 35 
 
 Whose lusts pollute the cities they subdue ? 
 Come, sacred Hymen, source of all our joys; 
 O, Hymen come, sweet God of nuptial ties ! 
 
 YOUTHS. 
 
 O, Hesperus, what star thro' heav'n can shine 
 With rays more chearful, welcome star! than thine ? 
 Thou, mildly bright, who dost aloud proclaim 
 The parent's promise, and the lover's flame; 
 
 4
 
 200 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 59. 
 
 Quas pepigere viri, pepigerunt ante parentes, 
 Nee junxere prius, quam se tuus extulit ardor. 
 Quid datur a divis felici optatius bora ? 
 Hymen 6 Hymenzee, Hymen ades 6 Hymenaee ! 30 
 
 PUELL.S. 
 
 Hesperus, ah ! nobis, asquales, abstulit imam. 
 
 ********** 
 
 Namque tuo adventu vigilat custodia ; semper 
 Nodle latent fures, quos idem saepe revertens, 
 Hespere, mutato comprendis nomine eosdem. 35 
 
 Nee junxere prius, &c.] See the end of the second note to this 
 Carmen. 
 
 Hesperus, ab! nobis, &c.] After this line, which is variously 
 read, as, e nobis tequales, and, e nostris tfqualibus, there is an evi- 
 dent hiatus, from the Namque in the next line; there is likewise 
 another at the end of the virgins part, which however is not per- 
 ceptible in translation, if we add the chorus. 
 
 Latent fures. ] Meaning lovers ; for amorous joys are by almost 
 every Latin poet called furta, as lovers are fures. See Ovid, in 
 various places; and Catullus, Carm. 7. 
 
 Mutato comprendis nomine.] The same planet, that at night is 
 called Hesperus, in the morning is called Phosphorus, or Lucifer ; 
 as it is the first star that rises, so it is the last that leaves the skies. 
 In like manner Horace, Qd. 9. Lib. a.
 
 PO. 59. POEMS OF CATfLLUS. 2OI 
 
 For, till thy blaze illumes the cope of night, 
 Love bids us to delay the wish'd delight : 
 Say, what more blissful can the gods bestow, 45 
 Than the fond hour that crowns each am'rous vow? 
 Come, sacred Hymen, source of all our joys ; 
 O, Hymen come, sweet God of nuptial ties ! 
 
 VIRGINS. 
 
 Mourn, my compeers ; ah, mourn the fatal day 
 When Hesperus rude snatch 'd our friend away ! 50 
 Love's guard is set, whene'er thy beams appear; 
 And, screen'd by night, tho' spoilers seek the fairj 
 Yet thy bright rays the furtive youths surprize, 
 When, with chang'd name, thou gild'st the morning 
 
 skies. 
 
 Come, sacred Hymen, source of all our joys; 55 
 Q, Hymen come, sweet God of nuptial ties! 
 
 Nee tibi vespero 
 Surgente decedunt amores. 
 
 And Columella : 
 
 Auf ore corusco 
 Hesperus, Eoo remeat cum Lucifer orto. 
 
 Milton mentions the duplicity of this luminary: 
 
 If better thou belong not to the dawn, 
 Sure pledge of rising day I 
 
 Ut
 
 2O1 CATUiLI CARMINA. CA. 59. 
 
 JUVENES. 
 
 At lubet innuptis ficto te carpere questu. 
 Quid turn si carpunt, tacita quern mente requirunt? 
 Hymen 6 Hymensee, Hymen ades 6 Hymenaee. 
 
 FUELLJE. 
 
 Ut flos in septis secretus nascitur hortis, 40 
 
 Ignotus pecori, nullo contusus aratro, 
 Quern mulcent aurae, fir-mat sol, educat imber, 
 Multi ilium pueri, multze optavere puellae : 
 Idem cum tenui carptus defloruit ungui, 
 Nulli ilium pueri, nullas optavere puelke : 45 
 
 Sic virgo dum intacta manet, turn cara suis, sed 
 Cum castum amisit pollute corpore florem, 
 Nee pueris jucunda manet, nee cara puellis. 
 Hymen 6 Hymensee, Hymen ades 6 Hymenaee. 
 
 Utfios in septis, &c.] This is a most beautiful comparison, and 
 drest in the most poetic language. Columella has one similar to 
 the beginning of it: 
 
 Tails bumum <vel parletlbus vel strplbus hortis 
 Claudatur, neu sit pecorl, neu sit pervlafurt. 
 
 Ariosto, Canto i, has closely imitated it. So has Pope in his 
 Dunciad. 
 
 Multi ilium pueri , &c.] If we turn to Ovid, we shall find 
 nearly the same words : 
 
 Multi ilium juvenesy mult* optai<ere pittll<e ; 
 
 Sed
 
 PO. 59. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 YOUTHS. 
 
 O, heed not, Hesper, this pretended rage, 
 This sportive war which virgins love to wage ! 
 Enough for thee, that with a silent sigh 
 They call thee oft their friend, and wish thee nigh. 
 Come, sacred Hymen, source of all our joys; 
 O, Hymen come, sweet God of nuptial ties ! 
 
 VIRGINS. 
 
 As, in a garden fenc'd with skilful care, 
 By herds uncropt, unwounded by the share, 
 Some latent fiow'r displays its blushing hues ; 65 
 Which, while it drinks pure gales, and fost'ring dews, 
 Drinks the strong sunshine that its bosom warms, 
 Each longing youth, each longing maid it charms ; 
 But, from the tender stem once pluckt, it fades, 
 And charms no more the longing youths and maids: 
 So, while the nymph her fiow'r untouch'd retains, 
 Her sex's dearest pride she still remains ; 
 But, from that nymph if one chaste bud be torn, 
 Both youth and maid her worthless beauty scorn. 
 Come, sacred Hymen, source of all our joys; 75 
 O, Hymen come, sweet God of nuptial ties ! 
 
 Sedfuit in tenera tarn dura superbia forma, 
 Nulli ilium juvenes, null* optavere puella. 
 
 OVID. Metam. 3. 
 
 Ut
 
 2O4 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 59. 
 
 JUVENES. 
 
 Ut vidua in nudo vitis qua? nascitur arvo, 50 
 Nunquam se extollit, nunquam mitem educat uvam, 
 Sed tenerum prono defleftens pondere corpus, 
 Jam jam contingit summum radice flagellum, 
 Hanc nulli agricolae, nulli accoluere juvenci : 
 At si forte eadem est ulmo conjunfta marito, 55 
 Multi illam agricolae, multi accoluere juvenci: 
 Sic virgo, dum intafta manet, dum inculta senescit. 
 Quum par connubium maturo tempore adepta est, 
 Cara viro magis, et minus est invisa parenti. 
 
 At tu ne pugna cum tali conjuge virgo. 60 
 
 Non sequum est pugnare, pater cui tradidir ipse, 
 Ipse pater cum matre, quibus parere necesse est. 
 Virginitas non tota tua est; ex parte parentum est : 
 
 Ut vidua in nudo t &C-3 This simile of the unpropped vine, 
 which the youths sing, is a lovely counterpart to the preceding 
 one, spoken by the virgins; the introduction of which is an ad- 
 mirable effort of our poet's genius. 
 
 ffuUi accoluere juvenci.'] I am astonished at those who, like 
 Silvius, interpret juvenci t boves ; we cannot I think make sense, 
 unless we understand juveaes. 
 
 Ulmo conjunfla marito.] This mode of expression is common 
 both in prose, and poetry. Thus Pliny, Cap. i. Lib. 14. Jam in 
 agro Camfano populis nubunt vites, maritosque complex*, atque per 
 ramof earum procacibus bracbiif, geniculato cursu scandentes cacu- 
 mina equant. To this purpose likewise Horace : 
 Ergo out adulta vitium propagine 
 
 Alias marital populos. HOR. Epod. 2. 
 
 Sometimes his marriageable vines 
 Round bridegroom poplars tall he twines. Virgi.
 
 PO. 59. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 205 
 
 YOUTHS. 
 
 * As unsustain'd some vine in desert fields 
 Nor lifts its head, nor purple fruitage yields; 
 But, bending down with weight, on earth it throws 
 The drooping honours of its languid boughs, 80 
 Whose tender shoots in wild luxuriance spread, 
 And level with their parent root are laid ; 
 By lab'ring hinds that vine neglected lies, 
 And youthful villagers the plant despise : 
 But, if a kinder fate should bless the vine, 85 
 
 And round some wedded elm it chance to twine; 
 Not then neglected by the hind it lies, 
 Nor does the villager the plant despise: 
 So the chaste maid, grown old, ere wedlock's chain 
 Has link'd her fate, is scorn'd by ev'ry swain ; 90 
 But, if in wedlock's chain she's timely bound, 
 Her lover's hope, her parent's wish is crovvn'd. 
 
 Then, o, resist not, when thou'rt urg'd to prove, 
 Sweet nymph, the transports of connubial love ! 
 Well it becomes thee, duteous to receive 95 
 
 Whate'er thy parents may vouchsafe to give. 
 
 Pirginjtas non tota tua at. ] The young Roman maids could by 
 no means aft for themselves ; they were more particularly, than in 
 the present age, under the guardianship of their relations. Thus 
 Livy, Lib. 34. Majores nostri nullam ne prii<atam quidem rem agere 
 feminas sine auflore i<oluerunt t in manu esse parentumyfralrftm, 'vi- 
 rorum, Thus Menander : 
 
 AM* vya,rr^ KTW' efyu&r 7TT. And
 
 2O6 CATULLI CARMl'NA. CA. 60. 
 
 Tertia pars patri data, pars data tertia matri, 
 Tertia sola tua <est : noli pugnare duobus, 65 
 
 Qui genero sua jura simul cum dote dederunt. 
 Hymen 6 Hymenaee, Hymen ades 6 Hymensee. 
 
 DE ATY. LX. 
 
 SUPER alta ve&us Atys celeri rate maria, 
 Phrygium nemus citato cupide pede tetigit, 
 
 And again : 
 
 This division of virginity seems but a poor poetic conceit. For an 
 account of the dos, or marriage portion, see Varro, Lib. 5. 
 
 LX. 
 
 This very singular poem, which some ignorantly pretend is the 
 same written by Caecilius, and alluded to in Carm. 32. is composed 
 in Galliambics, so called from Galli (priests of Cybele, who were 
 said to use this kind of verse in their sacred songs,) and iam- 
 bicus: the metre usually consists of an anapest, or spondee ; then 
 two iambics, with a long cataleclic syllable; to which are again 
 added an anapest, and two iambics; as, Vice veris et Favont glades 
 resolvitur; sometimes, that the verse may run more rapidly, atri- 
 bracus is put in the last foot, for an iambic ; as, Super alta I'eftus 
 Atys celeri rate maria. Hephaestion, Terentianus, Diomedes, and 
 various grammarians treat of this species of verse. Mr. William 
 Walsh, in his preface to Virgil's pastorals, speaking of the bar- 
 barism of rhyming hexameters, which, he says, Virgil held in ab- 
 horrence, adds; that " the French cannot imitate those wonder- 
 " ful spondees of Pythagoras ; nor those swift numbers of the 
 " priests of Cybele, which had the force to enrage the most sedate 
 " tempers ; nor can any modern put into his own language the 
 " energy of that single poem of Catullus : Super alta <veclus Atys> 
 " &c." Mr. Gibbon too, in his Decline and Fall sf the Roman 
 Empire, gives a most respectable suffrags in favour of the present 
 
 composition.
 
 FO, 6O. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 207 
 
 Not wholly thine thy chastity, my fair; 
 Thy father, and thy mother claim a share ; 
 Each a third part, one only third thine own ; 
 Then how resist, where two contend with one? 100 
 And surely they, who gave thy portion due, 
 May give their interest in thy beauty too. 
 Come, sacred Hymen, source of all our joys; 
 O, Hymen come, sweet God of nuptial ties ! 
 
 ON ATYS. LX. 
 
 HIGH o'er t,he waves,toPhrygia's wood-hung shore 
 A rapid bark th' impatient Atys bore; 
 
 composition. Speaking of the allegorizing spirit of the later 
 Platonists, who constantly inwove philosophic fable with their 
 polytheistical mythology, he says : " But all the allegories, which 
 " ever issued from the Platonic school, are not worth this short 
 " poem of Catullus. The transition of Atys, from the wildest 
 " enthusiasm to sober pathetic complaint, for his irretrievable 
 " loss, must inspire a man with pity, an eunuch with despair." 
 GIBBON. Vol. i. Chap. 23. Note 1$. 
 
 Catullus recounts the history of the beautiful Atys, beloved by 
 Cybele, differently from any other author. See his history in 
 Ovid, Fast. 4. and Metam. 10. Servius, JN. 8. Diodorus Sicu- 
 lus, Cap. 5. Lib. 3. Lucian, de I>ea Syra, affirms, that Atys was 
 castrated by Cybele herself; and at last turned into a pine, which 
 is sacred to that goddess : but this fabulous Atys must not be con- 
 founded with a true Atys, born dumb, son of Craesusking of Lydia. 
 
 Pbrygium nemus.~\ Meaning, in that part of Ida, where stands^ 
 the mountain Dindymus, so called from its two tops, on which 
 Cybele, or Dindymene was more particularly worshipped in Phry- 
 gia; all of which was sacred to her.
 
 2O8 CATULL1 CARM1NA. CA. 60. 
 
 Adiitque opaca sylvis rcdimita loca dese: 
 Stimulates ubi furenti rabie, vagus animi 
 Devolvit ilia acuto sibi pondera silice. 5 
 
 Itaque ut reli&a sensit sibi membra sine viro, 
 Et jam recente terne sola sanguine maculans, 
 Niveis cirata cepit manibus leve tympanum, 
 Tympanum, tubam, Cybelle, tua, rnater, initia: 
 
 Devolvit, &c.] This word alludes to the convoluted texture of 
 the parts, which, the poet says, Atys unrolled, as it were, by se- 
 vering them ; when their threads, he supposes, would naturally 
 develop. The instrument employed for this rash purpose seems 
 to have been the knife, used by the antient Jews for emasculation 
 and circumcision, which was always of some hard stone. See Ex- 
 odus, Chap. 4. *ve r. 25. The priests of Cybele were always fe- 
 males, or eunuchs, which were esteemed the same. Thus Ovid, 
 speaking of this very Atys: 
 
 Ille etlam saxo corpus laniavit acuto 
 
 Testa. OVID. Fast. 4. 
 
 And in like manner Juvenal mentions the high-priest of Bellona; 
 Mollia qui rupta secuit geniialia testa. 
 
 Juv. Sat. 6. 
 
 Citata cepit. ] Catullus now makes Atys a female, being de- 
 prived of manhood, I have hazarded this change of sex in the 
 translation. 
 
 Tympanum, tubam, &c.] If, according to the interpretation of 
 Vossius, adopted by Vulpius, the meaning of the words be : " The 
 < tympanum, which supplies the place of the tuba, or which is 
 " the tuba, at the sacrifices of Cybele ;" observing, on authority, 
 that the tuba was never used at her sacrifices : I then cannot con- 
 ceive the propriety of the plural word initia. Besides, it seems 
 strange that one instrument should supply the place of another so 
 totally different. The tympanum, timbrel, or drum, was a thin 
 
 leather,
 
 PO. 60. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 2Op 
 
 Where Cybele's deep groves, and glooms profound 
 Circle with awful shade the hallow'd ground : 
 There, reft of reason, and by madness sway'd, 5 
 Man's rav'ling weights he lopp'd with flinty blade. 
 
 Now, when his limbs despoil'd of sex he found, 
 Saw the fresh life-blood trickling stain the ground; 
 Then, female stampt, her soul by conflicts rais'd, 
 With snowy hands the timbrel light she seiz'd, 10 
 The timbrel sacred with the trump to thee, 
 At thy dread rites, maternal Cybele ! 
 And, as the loud drum her soft fingers struck, 
 Thus to her mates in song she trembling spoke. 
 
 leather, or parchment, stretched on a circle of iron, or wood; 
 hence called terga cava tauri: from its orbicular form it was sa- 
 cred to Cybele, the mother of the round earth ; though more 
 probably, because she is said to have invented it. Vossius deduces 
 it from the Hebrew copb ; but it was perhaps of Syrian origin ; for, 
 according to Juvenal, the Romans had it from Syria : 
 Jampridem Syrus in Tiberim defiuxit Orontes 
 Et linguam et mores, et cum tibiclne chordas 
 Obliquas, nee non gentilia tympana secum 
 Vexit. Juy. Sat. 3. 
 
 Of late the Syrians left Orontes' home, 
 To sport on Tiber's banks, and visit Rome; 
 Where they their customs, and their language taught; 
 The slant-strung harp, the fife, the timbrel brought. 
 The tuba is supposed to be the common trumpet, of a deep base 
 tone, which we now use in martial, and solemn musick: the same 
 instruments were employed in the rites of Bacchus, as in those of 
 Cybele. See Euripides, in Bac. and Strabo, Lib. 10. Lucretius, to 
 VOL. I. P whom
 
 2IO CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6<5. 
 
 Quatiensque terga tauri teneris cava digitis, 10 
 
 Canere h^c suis adorta est tremebunda comitibus ; 
 
 Agite, ite ad alta, Gallae, Cybeles nemora simul, 
 
 Simul ite, Dindymena^ dominas vaga pecora ; 
 
 AHena qu<e petentes, velut exsules, loca 
 
 Sedtam meam exsecutae, duce me, mihi comites 15 
 
 Rapidum salum tulistis, truculentaque pelagi, 
 
 Et corpus evirastis Veneris nimio odio, 
 
 Hilarate excitatis erroribus animum: 
 
 Mora tarda mente cedat: simul ite; sequimini 
 
 whom I would refer my reader for a particular account of the god- 
 dess, and her mystic solemnities, reckons up the four instruments, 
 which form the initia, or sacred utensils of Cybele; though some 
 understand by initia, the playthings with which the deity amused 
 herself in her infancy : 
 
 Tympana tenta sonant palmis, et cymbala circum 
 Concava, raucisonoque minantur cornua cantu, 
 Et Phrygio stimulat numero cava tibia mentes, 
 Telaque prxportant violenti signa furoris. 
 
 LUCRET. Lib. z. 
 
 The timbrels beaten by their hands resound, 
 And hollow cymbals fill the void around; 
 The threat'ning horn its hoarser musick winds, 
 The pipe with Phrygian measure stings their minds ; 
 And now the rout with violence engage, 
 Portend their weapons, and express their rage. 
 
 DUNKIN. 
 
 Vaga pecora. ] The Gall* are named vaga pecora, from Gal - 
 lus, a river in Phrygia, whose waters rendered people insane, ac- 
 cording
 
 10. 60. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 " Come on, ye priestess train, to yon high groves j 
 " Together speed where your own goddess roves ; 
 " Together speed where she delights to reign, 
 *' Ye wand'ring herds of Dindymene's train ; 
 " Ye, who, like exiles to a foreign home, 
 " Following my sed, led on by me, could roam j 20 
 " Ye, who through ocean's storms have plough'd 
 
 " your way, 
 
 " And vanquish'd ev'ry danger of the sea; 
 " Ye, who to Venus too much hatred bore, 
 " And man's chief boast from your vile bodies tore, 
 " Come on ! and, as your desperate crimes excite, 25 
 " Let your souls riot in the strange delight: 
 " O, stop not, think not of a dull delay; 
 " But thither haste where Atys points the way ! 
 
 cording to Ovid, Fast. 4. Muretus says, from being but brutes, on 
 account of castration. But Vossius asserts, it is by reason of their 
 carrying their goddess on their backs, like horses, asses, or any 
 fecus; as is evident from antique sculptures. 
 
 Peneris nimio odio.J That is ; regardless of the tender offices 
 of love, for which nature designed you. 
 
 Hilaratc, &c.] This line, which has been variously altered and 
 read, I would interpret thus : ' Being roused to madness at the 
 ' recollection of your guilty folly, in suffering castration; indulge 
 " that madness, till it even provokes joy; and thus endeavour to 
 " make your misfortunes a source of happiness." 
 
 P a Uki
 
 212 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 60. 
 
 Phrygiam ad domum Cybelles, Phrygia ad nemora 
 Deze: 20. 
 
 Ubi cymbalum sonat vox, ubi tympana reboant, 
 Tibicen ubi canit Phryx curvo grave calamo, 
 Ubi capita Masnades vi jaciunt hederigera?, 
 Ubi sacra san&a acutis ululatibus agitant, 
 Ubi suevit ilia divse volitare vaga cohors; 25 
 
 Quo nos decet citatis celerare tripudiis. 
 Simul hc comitibus Atys cecinit nova mulier, 
 Thiasus repente linguis trepidantibus ululat, 
 Leve tympanum remugit, cava cymbala recrepant, 
 
 Ubi cymbalum, &c.] The ancient cymbals were like ours of 
 brass, and concave; they were therefore called acetabula by Cas- 
 siodorus, and Isodorus; Xenophon compares them to a horse's 
 hoof hollowed ; they were struck together in the same manner as 
 at present. The Phrygian pipe, said to be invented by the satyr 
 Marsyas, is the most ancient musical instrument of the Greeks, 
 except the pipe of Pan composed of many reeds ; Mons. de la 
 Grange tells us, it was of a deep tone, grave, between the Lydian, 
 and Dorian pipe. 
 
 Curvo grave calamo.] In like manner Tibullus : Pbrygio tibia 
 curva sono. Eleg. i. Lib. 2. The Phrygian pipe was a constant 
 instrument at sacred festivals, and sacrifices. Virgil. yC. 9. i;fr. 618. 
 calls it biforem, from its, form. Servius, speaking of this pipe, 
 says: Tibia Pbrygia dextra unum foramen habet, sinistra duo; quo- 
 rum unum acutum sonum babet, alterum gravfm. Casp. Bartholin. 
 de Tibiis, Lib. i. Cap. 5. tells us, that the Phrygian pipe was not 
 really formed -ef a curved reed; but that it had a curved horn, 
 or curved brazen end affixed to it, which rendered the sound 
 deeper. 
 
 M f nodes.
 
 PO. 60. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 213 
 
 " Haste to yon Phrygian fane, yon Phrygian wood, 
 " Where cymbals ring, where timbrels roar aloud, 30 
 " The deep curv'd pipe where Phrygian minstrels 
 
 " blow, 
 
 " Where Msenades toss fierce their ivied brow, 
 " Where in shrill screams their solemn rites they 
 
 "pay, .;.-;-, 
 
 " Where the dread deity's mad numbers stray 34 
 " With wonted step; there, there must we advance, 
 " And bounding high in mystic measures dance," 
 
 Thus Atys, thus the new-made female sung 
 To all her mates; and strait with quiv'ring tongue 
 The chorus howls, the light-pois'd timbrels roar, 
 And double din from hollow cymbals pour ; 40 ' 
 
 M<enadcs.~\ These priests of Bacchus, and Cybele, are well- 
 known. Strabo gives a long account of them. This mention of 
 their cries is similar to a passage in an ancient hymn to the god- 
 dess Rhea : 
 
 Ot/gtenr ri jig5, SWJTWX t 
 
 Nova mutter. ] Many write nota ; and others, rather more pro- 
 per\y,notba. The lines that succeed are admirably descriptive of the 
 horror produced from such a set of beings, and their clamorous 
 instruments; the madness of Atys, which so exhausted his frame 
 as to throw him asleep near his goddess's fane, only to awake to a 
 sober recollection of his misery, greatly marks the poet. 
 
 P 3
 
 214 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 60. 
 
 Viridem citus adit Idam properante pede chorus. 30 
 Furibunda simul, anhelans, vaga vadit, animo egens, 
 Comitata tympano Atys, per opaca nemora dux, 
 Veluti juvenca vitans onus indomita jugi. 
 Rapidas ducem sequuntur Gallse pede propero, 
 Itaque, ut domum Cybelles tetigere lassulae 35 
 
 Nimio e labore somnum capiunt sine Gerere. 
 Piger his labante languore oculos sopor operit, 
 Abit in quiete molli rabidus furor animi. 
 Sed ubi oris aurei Sol radiantibus oculis 
 Lustravit jethera album, sola dura, mare ferum, 40 
 Pepulitque noftis umbras vegetis sonipedibus, 
 Ibi Somnus excitum Atyn fugiens citus abiitj 
 Fugientem eum excepit dea Pasithea sinu. 
 
 Vegetis sonipedibus. ] Virgil uses this fine epithet more than 
 once; and Gray, in his Ode on the Progress of Poetry, has im- 
 proved upon it : 
 
 Two coursers of etherial race, 
 
 With necks in thunder cloath'd, and long-resounding pace. 
 Pasitbea sinu.~\ Catullus could not have expressed more poeti- 
 cally Atys' waking, than by saying, that Somnus, the god of sleep, 
 flew from him to his wife Pasithae, whom he procured by the 
 intervention of Juno. Thus Homer, Iliad 14. 
 
 AXX' t& xyu * TCI /a.^ui piety 6ietoTigoui> 
 Ai'tra; QTnitfjutM, x.au ffw xixXTtdai ctxomr, 
 II c&w, { ate;* iutlf tat rjU,T Traxra. 
 
 Which Pope thus turns into English: 
 
 For know, thy lov'd one shall be ever thine, 
 The youngest Grace, Pasithae the divine. 
 
 Vpssius does not seem to be aware of this allusion ; for he says, 
 Pasithae is happily introduced, the Graces being supposed to sooth 
 
 care.
 
 PO. 60. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 Then the mad choir, with sacred rage possess'd, 
 Up Ida's verdant steep impetuous pass'd. 
 Lo, with her timbrel, e'en thro' thickest shades, 
 Wild, trembling, lost, the breathless Atys leacls ! 
 So furious flies the heifer yet unbroke, 45 
 
 When first her neck disdains the galling yoke: 
 With rapid step the priestess train pursue, 
 Following their leader ; till the wearied crew, 
 Soon as they reach'd to Cybele's sad home, 
 Fasting, in slumber sunk, with toil overcome; 50 
 Sound sleep with stealing langour weighs their eyes, 
 And the soul's frenzy in a soft calm dies. 
 
 Scarce had the sun in majesty of light 
 O'er the pure regions of ethereal white, 
 O'er earth's firm globe, and o'er the billowy sea, 55 
 Darted his golden look, his visual ray ; 
 Scarce his loud-sounding footed steeds had driv'n 
 Each shade reluctant from the vault of heav'n ; 
 When, waken'd by the drowsy God who fled 
 On hasty wing to seek PasithaeV bed, 60 
 
 Atys arose ; breaking her balmy rest ; 
 Altho' insensate, yet of sense possess'd. 
 
 care. Some read Pasitbeo sinu, as though one would say, Cybe - 
 lean, a bosom that contained all the Gods; Pasithea being a name 
 of the Mater Deorum. 
 
 P 4 Rablda
 
 2l6 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 60. 
 
 Ita de quiete molli rabida sine rabie, 
 Simul ipsa pe&ore Atys sua fafta recoluit, 45 
 
 Liquidaque mente vidit sin queis, ubique foret; 
 Animo aestuante rursum, redimm ad vada retulit. 
 Ibi maria vasta visens lacrymantibus oculis, 
 Patriam allocuta moesta est ita voce miseriter; 
 Patria 6 mea creatrix, patria 6 mea genetrix, 50 
 Ego quam miser relinquens, dominos ut herifugse 
 Famuli sclent, ad Idae tetuli nemora pedem j 
 Ut apnd nivem, et ferarum gelida stabula forem, 
 Et ut omnia earum adirem, fnribunda, latibula: 
 Ubinam, aut quibus locis te positam, patria, rear ? 
 Cupit ipsa pupula ad te sibi dirigere aciem, 56 
 Rabie fera carens dum breve tempus animus est. 
 Egone a mea remota base ferar in nemora domo? 
 Patria, bonis, amicis, genitoribus abero? 
 Abero foro, palasstra, stadio, et gymnasiis ? 60 
 
 Rabida sine rabie. ] This expression is somewhat Shakesperian. 
 Tho' this be madness, yet there's method in't. 
 
 SHAK. Hamlet. Aft 2. Scent 2. 
 
 Sine gutis.] More particularly aliuding to the loss from emascu- 
 lation. 
 
 Egone a mea remota, &c.] Similar to this is the complaint of 
 Hippolytus, in Euripides : 
 
 AM jc*fTa) woXi; y.ctl you, &C. 
 
 Abero foro, &c.] Atys here enumerates the various diversions 
 he once frequented ; as the theatre, the amusements of the Forum, 
 the exercises in the palxstra, the races in the stadium, and other 
 
 sports. 
 
 Decur
 
 PO. 60. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 Revolving in her mind those acts she'd done, 
 And, calmly conscious of her treasures gone, 
 Conscious on what ill-fated coast she stood, 65 
 Again fresh frenzy stirr'd her fever'd blood; 
 Quick to the shore she measur'd back her flight, 
 Far o'er the white waves cast her aching sight, 
 And, as the tears in scalding torrents ran, 
 Thus to her country sorrowing she began. 70 
 
 " Dear, parent soil ! from whence I've dar'd to roam, 
 " Like some poor slave that flies his master's home; 
 " Wretch that I am! have madly dar'd to go 
 " Where lurid forests frown on Ida's brow, 
 " Mid snows, and where fierce beasts in dampness 
 " dwell, 75 
 
 " Seeking, infuriate, each wild monster's cell: 
 " O, where dost thou, my native country, lie? 
 " Thee in what distant spot shall fancy spy ? 
 " Fain, for that little space from madness free, 
 " Would mine eyes fix their straining balls on thee: 
 " O lost, o banish'd from my pleasing home] 
 " These foreign woods must I for ever roam ? 
 " Quit all I haVe, my friends, my natal earth, 
 " Distant from those who gave my being birth ? 
 " No more the Circus, or the Forum grace, 85 
 " Vie in the ring, or urge the doubtful race ?
 
 l8 , CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 60. 
 
 Miser ah miser, querendum est etiam atque etiam, 
 
 anime. 
 Quod enim genus figurae est, ego non quod habu- 
 
 erim ? 
 
 Ego mulier, ego adolescens, ego ephebus, ego puer, 
 Ego gymnasii fui flos, ego eram decws olei : 
 Mihi janua frequentes, mihi limina tepida, 65 
 
 Mihi floridis corollis redimita domus erat, 
 Linquendum ubi esset orto mihi Sole cubiculum. 
 Egone deum ministra, et Cybeles famula ferar? 
 Ego Msenas, ego mei pars, ego vir sterilis ero? 
 
 Decus olei.] An expression arising from the custom of anoint- 
 ing the body with oil before wrestling. Thus Virgil, Mneid. 3. 
 Exercent patrias, oleo labente, palxstras. 
 All bright in suppling oil, my friends employ 
 Their limbs in wrestling. PITT. 
 
 Limina tepida."] Tepidus here metaphorically implies friendly ; 
 as we say now, " a warm house :" in like manner Gicero, Phillip. 2. 
 Calebant in interiore tedium parte totius reipublica nundinte. 
 
 Floridis corollis.] A figurative expression for having many 
 admirers. Roman gallantry taught the lover to hang, in the night, 
 wreaths of flowers on the door of his beloved objecl:. Theocritus, 
 Idyl. 2. mentions this custom. Tibullus thus records it : 
 Tf meminisse decet qu<e plurima voce peregi 
 Supplice, cum posti florea serta daretn. 
 
 TIB. Elfg. 2. Lib. i. 
 Then recollect my many wreaths of yore, 
 How oft you've seen me weep, insensate door! 
 
 GRAINGER. 
 
 And
 
 PO. 60. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 " Ah wretched soul ! ah wretched in extreme! 
 
 " What boundless pity do thy sorrows claim! 
 
 " Did I not ev'ry various form assume; 
 
 " Boy, stripling, youth, and female too become? 90 
 
 " In all the sports I once conspicuous shone, 
 
 " From ev'ry wrestler ev'ry prize I won: 
 
 " When with the rising sun I left my bed, 
 
 " What suppliant numbers round my gates were 
 
 " spread ! 
 " My welcome house was fill'd with friendship's 
 
 " throng, 95 
 
 " And on my door love's votive garlands hung! 
 " Shall I of gods the humble handmaid be ; 
 '* The tame, the abject tool of Cybele ? 
 " Be rank'd with Mcenades, and only boast 
 " Half of myself, a man with manhood lost ? 100 
 
 And likewise Lucretius: 
 
 At lacrimans exdusus amator limina stepe 
 Floribus, et sertis operit, postesque superbot 
 Ungit amaracyno, et foribus miser ofculajigit. 
 
 LUCRET. Lib. 4. 
 
 Meantime excluded, and expos'd to cold, 
 The whining lover stands before the gates, 
 And there with humble adoration waits; 
 Crowning with flow'rs the threshold and the floor. 
 And printing kisses on th' obdurate door. 
 
 DRYDEH. 
 
 Pkrygl*
 
 220 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 60. 
 
 Ego viridis algida Idas nive amidla loca colam? 70 
 Ego vitam again sub altis Phrygise columinibus, 
 Ubi cerva sylvicultrix, ubi aper nemorivagus? 
 Jam jam dolet, quod egi jam jamque pcenitet. 
 Roseis ut huic labellis palans sonitus abit, 
 Geminas deorum ad aures nova nuncia refcrens; 75 
 Ibi juncta juga resolveris Cybele leonibus, 
 Laevumque pecoris hostem stimulans, ita loquitur; 
 Agedum, inquit, age ferox, i, face ut hinc furoribus, 
 Face ut hinc furoris idlu reditum in nemora ferat, 
 Mea liber ah nimis qui fugere imperia cupit: 80 
 Age, caede terga cauda, tua verbera patere : 
 
 Pbrygite columinibus. "] Turnebus, by columina, understands the 
 trees on the tops of the Phrygian rhountains; which Scaliger re- 
 prehends, interpreting coiumina, the mountains themselves, that 
 seem to be the columns, or props of the heavens: Vossius, 
 however, supports Turnebus's opinion, 'and says; if Atys dwelt 
 sub Pbrygite columinibus, or montibus ; how could he talk of living 
 on snow-clad Ida, in the preceding line ? for the foot of these 
 mountains forms a rich pasturage, never touched by snow. But I 
 must confess, the criticism is too fine-drawn to be admitted in 
 poetry. 
 
 Leonibut.] Cybele's chariot was represented drawn by lions, 
 to shew the superior influence of the Magna Mater over all crea- 
 tion, by taming to the yoke the fiercest animal in it. It is feigned 
 that Hippomenes and Atalanta were transformed into Cybele's 
 lions. 
 
 Lavumque pecoris bostem.] Why Cybele shpuld in preference 
 chuse the lion from the left side of her car, to pursue Atys ; and 
 
 why,
 
 PO. 60. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 2.ZI 
 
 " On verdant Ida capt with chill frost stay? 
 " Beneath these Phrygian heights waste life away? 
 " Where bounds the fleet stag thro' its native shades, 
 " Where prowls the restless boar mid fearful glades. 
 " Ah no ! ah no! I mourn for what is past ; 105 
 " And shame, repentant shame succeeds at last !" 
 
 Such from her rosy lips the sounds that flew; 
 Sounds, to the gods which bore these tidings new; 
 Sounds, which when heard by Cybele from far, 
 Quick she unyok'd her lions from their car ; no 
 And to the left hand beast, of herds the dread, 
 Provoking with wild fury, thus she said. 
 
 " Fly, monster, fly! and to these haunts again 
 " Chase the bold slave who scorns my potent reign: 
 " Go, lashing with strong tail thy flanks around; 
 " Let blow succeeding blow responsive sound ; 
 
 why, as it should seem, this was more particularly fierce, and the 
 foe of cattle, it is difficult to conjecture. Parthenius, in his com- 
 ment, has the following words : Levum bostem : leanpm qua olim 
 fuit dee inimica ; quum ejus sacrum una cum Hippomene incesta'uit. 
 The left-hand beast was possibly supposed that into which the 
 nimble-footed Atalanta was transformed; therefore, from its native 
 swiftness, more proper for pursuit. 
 
 Cade terga cauda.] Beasts of prey, it has been observed, lash 
 themselves very violently with their tails, when enraged; inso- 
 much that they roar, seemingly with the pain they cause them- 
 selves.
 
 222 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 60. 
 
 Face cunda mugienti fremitu loca retonent: 
 Rutilam ferox torosa cervice quate jubam. 
 Ait ha?c minax Cybelle, religatque juga manu. 
 Ferus ipse sese adhortans rapidum incitat animum: 
 Vadit, fremit, refringit virguka pcde vago. 86 
 
 At ubi humida albicantis loca litoris adiit, 
 Tenerumque vidit Atyn prope marmora pelagi ; 
 Facit impetum: ille demens fugit in nemora fera: 
 Ibi semper omne vitae spatium famula fuit. 90 
 
 Dea magna, dea Cybelle, Dindymi dea, domina, 
 Procul a mea tuus sit furor omnis, hera, domo: 
 Alios age incitatos, alios age rabidos. 
 
 F1XIS PR1MI TOMI.
 
 PO. 60. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 223 
 
 " Let dreadful echoes bellow back thy pain ; 
 
 " And shake with sinewy neck thy yellow mane." 
 
 The goddess threat'ning spoke : with vengeful 
 
 hands 
 
 Then quick unloos'd her desp'rate lion's bands ; 120 
 The desp'rate lion, at her awful word, 
 Feels his hot blood with indignation stirr'd ; 
 He starts, he roars ; with well-collected force 
 Uproots each sapling in his devious course ; 
 And, reaching where the white waves bathe the 
 
 strand, 125 
 
 Sees nigh the marble sea young Atys stand, 
 Then onward springs; whilst, vanquish'd by surprise, 
 Back to her woods of savage gloom she flies ; 
 And there for ever, ever doom'd to stay, 
 
 In bondage vile she lingers life away. 130 
 
 
 
 O, mighty Cybele ! o, first of pow'rs ! 
 O, sovereign queen, whom Dindymus adores ! 
 Far from my mansion all thy fury turn: 
 Souls more intemp'rate fire, souls more impassion'd 
 burn! 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
 
 ERRATA IN VOL. I. 
 PAGE xxvi. Life LINE 9. For ambic read iambic. 
 
 . 4. Notes 13. For natorum read notoruml 
 
 POEM 10. i. For forum read Forum. 
 
 12. 13. For /xvvj/xo'inwov read [ivwd 
 
 PAGE 40. Notes i. The fame. 
 
 46. ' 3. For satyrized read satirized. 
 
 . i . 5. For verse read verses. 
 
 1 1 . For freed man read freedman. 
 
 2 1 . After ceaseless put a comma. 
 
 TITLE For RAVIDIUS read RAVIDUS. 
 
 LINE 12. For Antium read Antius. 
 
 Notes i. Dele and. 
 
 . 6. For Nicea read Nicasa. 
 
 33. Dele the comma afterbo\v'r. 
 
 96 & 102. For waining read waning. 
 
 PAGE 206. Notes 13. For tribracus re ad tribrachus. 
 
 .. ao8. n. Dele Tefta, and put a period after 
 
 acuto. 
 
 POEM 60. 40. For from read the.
 
 KJL: N E POS, 
 
 AII t Lrpin in curia- senatua reroxierni sxiperpositaiu.
 
 THE 
 
 POEMS 
 
 OF 
 
 CAIUS VALERIUS 
 
 CATULLU S, 
 
 IN ENGLISH VERSE: 
 
 WITH THE LATIN TEXT REVISED, ANP CLASSICAL NOTES. 
 PREFIXED ARE ENGRAVINGS OF 
 
 CATULLUS, AND HIS FRIEND CORNELIUS NEPOS. 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 Ut piclura, poesis: erit quae, si propius stes, 
 Te capiat magis; et quaedam, si longius abstes : 
 
 Haec amat obscurum; volet hrec sub luce videri 
 
 HORAT. An. Poet. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTFD ros T, JOHNSON, ST. PAUT/S CHV-RCH-Y ARD. 
 
 ? ace .x c r.
 
 CATULLUS. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 B
 
 C. VALERII CATULU 
 
 A D 
 
 CORNELIUM NEPOTEM 
 
 C A RM I N A. 
 
 DE NUPTIIS PELEI ET THETIDOS. LXI. 
 
 1 ELI A CO quondam prognatae vertice pinus 
 Dicuntur liquidas Neptuni nasse per undas 
 
 LXI. 
 
 Our bard intending to celebrate the marriage" of Peleus and The- 
 tis in this poem, which has therefore by some been accounted 
 an epithalamium, though wrongfully, as it wants the chorus of 
 virgins, ingeniously introduces the subjeft by an elegant mention 
 of the famous story of the Argonauts : hence many of the older 
 editors style the piece Argonautica, after the manner of Orpheus. 
 Catullus, describing the nuptial bed, takes occasion to recount the 
 story of Theseus and Ariadne, in a beautiful, though long episode, 
 which takes up more than one half of the poem. This, in my 
 opinion, is its only fault, yet a glorious one, for their loves are 
 admirably told. Lastly, the poet, resuming his subject, brings 
 in the Fates chaunting a kind of hymeneal congratulatory song; 
 which imagery has an admirable; and striking effecl:. Achilles 
 Statius informs us, that the scholiast of Lycophron asserts, that 
 Catullus composed this Carmen in imitation of Hesiod, and of 
 Agamestor the Pharsalian, who is said to have written the first epi- 
 thalamium on Peleus and Thetis; but Vossius, not unreasonably, con- 
 jectures, that our bard has copied this, as well as the 59th Carmen^ 
 from Sappho, in whose writings he took delight; witness his trans-' 
 lation of her little Ode, preserved to us by Longinus ; for that the 
 Lesbian Muse did compose a book of epitbalamia is certain, from 
 the testimony of Dionysius Halicarnasseus, and also of Servius. 
 
 Peliaco.
 
 [ 3 ] 
 
 THE 
 
 POEMS 
 
 F 
 
 C. VALERIUS CATULLUS, 
 
 V 
 
 DEDICATED TO 
 
 CORNELIUS NEPOS. 
 ON THE NUPTIALS OF PELEUS, AND THETIS. LXI- 
 
 WHEN Argos' sons, the golden fleece to gain 
 That hung in Colchis, dar'd the briny main 
 In a swift vessel, and, the azure sea 
 Cleaving with oars, urg'd on their rapid way ; 
 Then the tall pines, that grew on Pelion's steep, ' 5 
 First learn'd to float along the watery deep, 
 
 Peliaco."] Beneath the mountain Pelion, in Thessaly, the first 
 ship is said to have been built, which was the Argo ; according to 
 Cifero, ^ Tuscul. Lib. i. it certainly had its name from carrying 
 the Argonauts, though various other reasons have been assigned. 
 See Pliny, Cap. 8. Lib. 4. and Diodorus, Cap. 4. Lib. 4. 
 
 Pinus.] The pine was ever esteemed excellent in ship-build- 
 ing, more particularly for the masts. Thus Virgil: 
 
 Dant utile lignum 
 
 Navigiis pinus. VIRG. Ceorg. i. 
 
 They yield the pine, for ships a useful wood. 
 But the generality of the Greek poets say, that the Argo was 
 built of the oaks of Dodona, which whispered the oracles of Jove. 
 Hence it was named, by Lycophron, in Cassand. TW XaAuOgon ulucnv; 
 ->thd Valerius Flaccus, in like manner, calls \\fat\dicam ratem. 
 
 B 2 Pbasidos
 
 4 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Phasidos ad fluctus, et fines ^etasos : 
 Cum lecti juvenes, Argivas robora pubis, 
 Auratam optantes Colchis avertere pellem, 5 
 
 Ausi sunt vada salsa cita decurrere puppi, 
 Casrula verrentes abiegnis aequora palmis: 
 Diva quibus rednens in summis urbibus arces 
 .Ipsa levi fecit volitantem flamine currum, 
 Pinea conjungens inflexa? texta carinse. 10 
 
 Ilia rudem cursu prima imbuit Amphitriten : 
 Quas simul ac rostro ventosum proscidit aequor, 
 
 P basidos adjlu&us, &c.] The Phasis was a river, running from 
 the mountains of Armenia to the Euxine sea ; it bathed the south- 
 ern part of the Asiatic region Colchis, where reigned ^Eetes, fa- 
 ther of Medea who fell in love with Jason son of ^son, when 
 he came thither with forty-nine Argive youths, in his ship Argo, 
 to bring away the golden fleece : he obtained it by her magic, that 
 lulled to sleep the monsters which guarded it. The celebrated 
 Argonautic poem of Apollonius Rhodius.must here occur to every 
 classic reader; and the admirable modern tragedy, written on this 
 subject by the ingenious Mr. Glover, is well known. 
 
 Pellem.~\ This celebrated golden fleece was the hide of a ram 
 given to Phryxus, son of Athamas the Boeotian by his mother 
 Nephele ; she dying, Athamas married Ino, who bore a hatred 
 to Phryxus ; he and his sister Helle, fearing the malice of their 
 step-mother, got upon this ram to swim to Colchis, and gain the 
 protection of ^etes; Helle, passing the Hellespont, was drowned, 
 hence the name of that sea , but Phryxus arrived safe, who there- 
 fore sacrificed his ram to Jupiter or Mars ; and they placed it 
 among the constellations. See Ovid, Metam. 7. The hide was 
 hung up in a grove sacred to these deities, and guarded by brazen- 
 footed bulls who breathed fire, and by a fierce dragon. The story 
 may be found more fully in Apollonius Rhodius, and Diodoriis 
 
 Siculus,
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. Jj 
 
 Far as where Phasis rolls its copious waves, 
 And the wide realms of old ./Eetes laves : 
 Th' inventive Goddess, whose imperial throne 
 From the proud citadel o'erlooks the town, 10 
 
 First bade the ship each varying blast obey, 
 And curv'd to floating hulks th' obedient tree ; 
 Fair Amphytrite's crystal bosom taught 
 To bear the work her magic hands had wrought : 
 Scarce its swift prow through the cleav'd ocean flew; 
 And, vext with oars, the billows whiter grew; 
 
 Siculus, among the Greeks; or in Ovid, and Valerius Flaccus, 
 among the Latins; it is recorded also by a variety of ancient poets. 
 
 Diva quibus retinens, &c.] The citadels of towns, forming their 
 chief defence, were more particularly under the tutelage of Pallas, 
 to whom they were all consecrated; she being a martial deity. 
 Thus Virgil : 
 
 Pal/as quas condidit arces 
 
 Ipsa colat. VIRG. Ed. a. 
 
 Let Pallas dwell in citadels she builds. 
 
 Ipsa levifacit, &c.] Minerva was said to have invented navi- 
 gation, and constructed the first ship Argo, which our poet ele- 
 gantly calls <volitantem currum ; supposing that a name was not yet 
 found for this new piece of mechanism, the nearest resemblance 
 to which was a chariot. Thus Lucretius : 
 
 Inde lacessitum prlmo mare, cum rudis Argos 
 Miscuit ignotas temerato littore gentes. 
 
 Luc RET. Lib. 6. 
 
 Rostra.'] Piseus, according to Pliny, first designed the rostrum, 
 stem, or beak of a ship ; so called from its resemblance to a bird's 
 beak. 
 
 B 3 Nereides.
 
 6 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Tortaque remigio spumis incanuit unda, 
 Emersere feri candenti e gurgite vultus 
 ^Equoreas monstrum Nereides admirantes: 15 
 
 Illaque atque alia viderunt luce marinas 
 Mortales oculi nudato corpore Nymphas, 
 Nutricum tenus exstantes e gurgite cano. 
 Turn Thetidis Peleus incensus fertur amore, 
 Turn Thetis humanos non despexit hymenseos, 20 
 Turn Thetidi pater ipse jugandum Pelea sensit. 
 O nimis optato seclorum tempore nati 
 Heroes, salvete, deum genus; 6 bona mater! 
 Vos ego sa?pe meo vos carmine compellabo : 
 Teque adeo eximie tedis felicibus au6Ve 25 
 
 Thessalise columen Peleu, quoi Jupiter ipse, 
 
 Nere'tdes.'] These daughters of Nereus and Doris, usually con- 
 cealed in their watery abodes, rising to see the floating wonder during 
 several days, is a classic piece of machinery happily introduced. 
 Apollonius, in like manner, assembles the gods and nymphs of 
 Pelion to behold the Argo : 
 
 Nra, Arc. 
 
 Nutricum tenus.] An elegant expression. Aldus's edition has 
 Jam crurum tenus, which is the reading of Achilles Statius. 
 
 Turn Thetidis Peleus, &c.] Thetis was descended from Tethys, 
 the daughter of Coelus and Terra, sister and wife of Oceanus, 
 who had by her the Nereid Doris, she married Nereus; and from 
 them sprang Thetis, Catullus's heroine, who espoused Peleus son 
 of .fliacus and /Egina, grandson of Jupiter, and father of Achilles. 
 
 Vossius
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 7 
 
 Than rose the Nereids from the foamy tide, 
 
 To see this wonder o'er their dwellings ride : 
 
 Daily th' enormous structure they beheld, 
 
 To mortal eyes their naked frames reveaFd j 20 
 
 And full to view, emerging from the flood, 
 
 Their swelling breasts and shapes half-human stood: 
 
 For Thetis then, 'tis said, young Peleus burn'd; 
 
 His mortal flame fond Thetis then returned ; 
 
 Then too her sire consented they should -wed, 25 
 
 Convinc'd that Peleus well deserv'd the maid. 
 
 Hail, Argive heroes, born in happier days ! . 
 Hail, bark maternal, thou shalt share my praise ! 
 Oft Pll invoke ye ; oft invoke e'en thee, 
 O Peleus, 'bulwark of great Thessaly ! 30 
 
 Peleus, thrice blest in wedlock's sacred ties ! 
 Peleus, to whom the thund'rer of the skies, 
 
 Vossius here observes, that the date of this marriage does not 
 correspond with historical relations. Some say, that Peleus could 
 not have married Thetis till after the expedition of the Argonauts, 
 for he was one of them; others, that he married her before; for 
 Valerius Flaccus relates the story of Thetis's bed being painted, 
 by way of ornament, in the ship Argo. 
 
 6 bona mater!'] The ship Argo was so called, from containing 
 the Argonautx, as it were, in her womb, or body. MURETUS. 
 
 %o/ jfupite r ipse.] Jove was enamoured with Thetis; but it 
 was predicted by Proteus, that a hero should spring from their 
 embraces, who might rise superior to Jupiter, and usurp the em- 
 
 B 4 pire
 
 8 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Ipse suos divum genitor concessit amores. 
 Tene Thetis tenuit pulcherrima Neptunine ? 
 Tene suam Tethys concessit ducere neptem ? 
 Oceanusque, mari totum qui ampleditur orbem ? 30 
 Quae simul optatae finite tempore luces 
 Advenere, domum conventu tota frequentat 
 Thessalia j oppletur laetanti regia ccetu : 
 Dona ferunt : pre se declarant gaudia vultu. 
 Deseritur Scyros; linquunt Phthiotica Tcmpe, 35 
 
 pire of the skies; the god therefore prudently conquered his pas- 
 sion, and consented to Peleus marrying her. See the story in 
 Apollodorus. To this purpose likewise Ovid : 
 
 ffempe senex Tbetidi frotheus prxdixerat udee \ 
 Concipe, mater eris ju'venis, qui fortibus armis 
 AEla patris vincet, majorque vocabitur illo. 
 Ergo ne quidquam mundus Jove majus haberet : 
 Quam'vis baud tepidos sub peftore senserat ignes 
 Jupiter, tequore* Tbetidis connubia fugit, 
 Inque sua jEaciden snccedere *vota nepotem 
 Jussit, et amplexus in virginis ire marina. 
 
 OVID. Metam. n. 
 
 For Proteus thus to virgin Thetis said ; 
 " Fair Goddess of the waves, consent to wed, 
 " And take some sprightly lover to your bed! 
 .*' A son you'll have, the terror of the field, 
 ." To whom in fame and pow'r his sire shall yield." 
 Jove, who ador'd the nymph with boundless love, 
 Did from his breast the dang'rous flame remove : 
 He knew the Fates ; nor car'd to raise up one, 
 Whose fame and greatness should eclipse his own : 
 On happy Peleus he bestow'd her charms, 
 And bless'd his grandson in the Goddess' arms. 
 
 CROXALL- 
 Pulcherrima 
 
 \
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 9 
 
 Immortal Jove, indulgently transferred 
 
 The beauteous object that himself ador'd ! 
 
 Does Thetis, fairest of those nymphs in charms 35 
 
 From Neptune sprung, now fold thee in her arms? 
 
 Does friendly Tethys, and old Ocean too, 
 
 Who girds this globe, on thee their child bestow ? 
 
 At length love's long- expected hours are come, 
 All Thessaly frequents thy blissful home : 40 
 
 See, drest in smiles, what joyous numbers wait 
 With cosdy gifts, and throng thy palace gate ! 
 See, in Pharsalus how the crowds prevail, 
 Forsaking Scyros, Phthian Tempe's vale, 
 
 Pulcberrima Nfptunine.'] In like manner Theocritus, and Cal- 
 limachus; cJxeamn. Similar too is the expression of Virgil : Ncrlne 
 Galatea. 
 
 Ltetanti regia ca?tu.~\ Thus likewise the poet Statius, TbebaiJ. 
 
 Diffuderat Argos 
 
 EfXpeffata difs, laito regalia c&tu 
 Atria compleniur. 
 
 Scyros. ] An island in the .Lgean sea nfar the Thessalian shore, 
 formerly called Phoenice, where some contend that Homer was 
 buried, See Strabo, Lib. 9. and Pliny, Lib. 4. 
 
 Pbtbiotica Tempe.~\ Tempe, so famous in poetry, the richest 
 spot in all Thessaly, surrounded by thick, forests, and bathed by 
 the river Peneus, is called Phthjotica, from Piithia, a neighbouring 
 town. 
 
 Grajugenasque
 
 10 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Grajugenasque domos, ac moenia Larisssea : 
 
 Pharsalum coeunt, Pharsalia tedla frequentant. 
 
 Rura colit nemo; mollescunt colla juvencis^ 
 
 Non humilis curvis purgatur vinea rastrisj 
 
 Non glebam prono convellit vomere taurus; 40 
 
 Non falx attenuat frondatorum arboris umbram; 
 
 Squalida desertis robigo infertur aratris. 
 
 Ipsius at sedes, quacunque opulenta recessit 
 
 Regia, fulgenti splendent auro, atque argcntor 
 
 Candet ebur soliis; collucenc pocula mensis : 45 
 
 Tota domus gaudet regali splendida gaza. 
 
 Pulvinar vero divae geniale locatur 
 
 Sedibus in mediis, Indo quod dente politum 
 
 Tinda tegit roseo conchylis purpura fuco. 
 
 Haec vestis priscis hominum variata figuris, 50 
 
 Heroum mira virtutes indicat arte. 
 
 Grajugenasquf, &c. J Scaliger would read Grajugenumque, others 
 Gravinonisque, Graninonisque, Critonisque, and Gritonisque. So for 
 Larlsseea many editions have dlacrissa, Alacrlssxa^ and some #/- 
 tfttis alarissa. 
 
 Pbarsalum.} The capital town of Pharsalia, bathed by the 
 river Enipeus; here the palace of Peleus stood. See Strabo, Lib. 
 8. and 9. In Pharsalia was fought the famous battle between- 
 Caesar and Pompey. See Lucan. The poetically descriptive lines 
 that follow are very similar to some in Virgil, Ed. 4. 
 
 Pulvinar.] Though this word properly signifies a bolster, or 
 small cushion, on which the Romans placed their sacred images ; 
 yet it often, as in this passage, implies the whole nuptial bed ; upon 
 
 which
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. *. II' 
 
 Each Grecian city, and Larissa's wall! 45 
 
 Pharsalia's dwellings now assemble all! 
 
 No hind now cultures the neglected soil, 
 
 With neck relax'd the steer foregoes its toil, 
 
 No rake now weeds the vineyard's humble bough, 
 
 No bullock drags o'er furrow'd glebe the plough, 50 
 
 No hook molests the too luxuriant shade, 
 
 And with corroding rust the share's o'erspread. 
 
 What princely wealth round Peleus we behold ! 
 In bright profusion silver vies with gold; 
 What iv'ry seats! what goblets deck the board \ $$ 
 
 All, all proclaims the splendour of its lord! 
 
 / 
 
 Full in the center of the mansion plac'd, 
 Is seen that genial bed the goddess graced; 
 That bed the murex stains with blushing dye, 
 And rich inlaid with Indian ivory; 6d 
 
 On whose gay covering, wrought with art, are told 
 Valour's bright deeds, and heroes fam'd of old! 
 
 which see Hieronym. in Epist. ad Demetriad. it was covered with, 
 a quilt, as the bed of our times, which in the present instance was 
 purpje. 
 
 Conchylis.] Every classic reader is acquainted with the murex , 
 a shell-fish whose juice yields a purple dye. Vossius has a note of 
 some pages upon this. See Pliny, Cap, 36. Lib. 9.
 
 12 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Namque fluentisono prospe&ans litore Dix 
 Thesea cedentem celeri cum classe tuetur 
 Indomitos in corde gerens Ariadna furores : 
 Necdum etiam seseque sui turn creddidit esse; 55 
 Utpote fallaci quae turn primum excita somno 
 Desertam in sola miseram se cernit arena. 
 Immemor at juvenis fugiens pellit vada remis, 
 Irrita ventosae linquens promissa procelke. 
 Quern procul ex alga moestis Minois ocellis, 60 
 Saxea ut effigies bacchantis prospicit Evoe, 
 Prospicit, et magnis curarum fluctuat undis; 
 Non flavo retinens subtilem vertice mitram, 
 .Non contecta levi velatum pedlus amictu, 
 Non tereti strophio luftantes vincta papillas : 65 
 
 Namque fluentisono, &c.] Here begins the much-admired epi- 
 sode of Theseus and Ariadne : Theseus returning home to Athens 
 from Crete, where he had slain the Minotaur, by the assistance 
 of Ariadne king Minos' daughter, whom he had seduced ; she 
 followed him as far as the island of Naxos, one of the .fligean Cy- 
 clades, when he ungratefully left her as she was asleep. Bac- 
 chus happening to land at Naxos, returning from his Indian ex- 
 pedition, saw with pity the forsaken fair, married her, and pre- 
 sented her with a diadem, which was afterwards converted into a 
 constellation, called Gnosia corona. See her story more at length 
 in Hyginus, Fab. 42 and 43. 
 
 Eva.] An exclamation used by the Bacchanalians in their 
 frantic ceremonies. Ovid, in his beautiful epistle of Ariadne to 
 Theseus, has some lines to this purpose : 
 
 Aut ego dtffusis errant sola capilfis, 
 
 ^ualis ob Ogygio concita Baccha Deo. 
 
 Aut mare'prospiciens in saxofrigida sedi; 
 
 Quamque lapis sedes, tarn lapis ipsaftti. , The
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 13 
 
 There Ariadne, rack'd with am'rous pains, 
 On Naxos' billow-beaten shore complains ; 
 And eyes the rapid bark, that bears away 65 
 
 Her perjur'd Theseus o'er the distant sea: 
 Tho' golden sleep no more her sense deceives, 
 She scarce the horror of the scene believes ; 
 Scarce thinks herself the wretch which now she stands, 
 A hapless wretch, forsook in desert lands ! 70 
 
 See, sped with oars, the youth regardless goes; 
 And the wild winds disperse his faithless vows ! 
 While Minos' daughter views his flight from far* 
 And bathes the reedy strand with many a tear: 
 Now like a frantick bacchanal she raves, 75 
 
 And her fond soul is toss'd on sorrow's waves ! 
 No slender fillet binds her yellow head, 
 No shadowing veil is o'er her bosom spread, 
 No modest zone confines its tumid pride, 
 Or longer strives its struggling charms to hide ; 80 
 
 The lonely beach, with -streaming hair, I trod, 
 Like a mad priestess of th' Ogygian god ; 
 Or from some rock survey'd the foamy sea, 
 While cold and senseless as that rock I lay. 
 Mitram.] The mitra was a band, worn by women round the 
 hair. Suidas calls such ornaments ^r^cn;, which, he says, were 
 generally purple ; they were in use more particularly among the 
 Lydians, and Phrygians. See Servius, jn. 4. 
 
 Stropbio luflantes, &c.] The strophium was a broad belt gird- 
 ing, and confining the breasts half way. Isidorus, Cap. 33. 
 
 Lib.
 
 14 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Omnia quae toto delapsa e corpore passim 
 
 Ipsius ante pedes fludtus sails allidebat. 
 
 Sed neque turn mitrae, neque turn fluitantis amictus 
 
 Ilia vicem curans, toto ex te peftore, Theseu, 
 
 Toto ammo, tota prodebat perdita mente. 70 
 
 Ah misera! assiduis quam luftibus externavit 
 
 Spinosas Erycina serens in peclore curas. 
 
 Ilia tempestate ferox, et tempore Theseus 
 
 Egressus curvis e litoribus Pirai, 
 
 Attigit injusti regis Gortynia tedla. 75 
 
 Nam perhibenc olim crudeli peste coadam 
 
 Androgeoneas poenas exsolvere caedis, 
 
 Lib. 19. tells us, it was often of gold studded with gems. Thus 
 Nonius Marcellus upon the stropbium : Fascia brei>is est quoe 
 'uirginalem tumorem cobibet papillarum. Many read latlantes, 
 which, though not improper, does ,not convey the forcible idea of 
 lutfantes. 
 
 ? litoribus Pirxi.] The Piraeus, Hi'^ai>, and Ht^eunr, was 
 the most remarkable port of Athens. See Pliny, Cap. 7. Lib. 4. 
 But Muretus rightly says, Piraeus is only put by a poetic licence 
 for the Phaleron, another Attic port ; as it was from thence that 
 Theseus sailed, according to Pausanias, and Diodorus, Lib. 2. 
 
 Goriynla tcfia.~\ Gortyn, or Gortyna, was a city of Crete, 
 which the river Lethaeus, or Letor bathes ; here Dedalus built the 
 labyrinth which kept the Minotaur, by order of Minos, who is 
 therefore called unjust. See Pliny, Cap. 12. Lib. 4. and Strabo, 
 Lib. 10. 
 
 Androgeone<e t &c.] Androgeus, the eldest son of Minos, was 
 slain by the Athenians, and Megarians, who were jealous of his 
 
 skill
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS, 15 
 
 But each gay ornament her beauty wore, 
 Wet with the surge, lies scattered on the shore : 
 Not then the fillet, which her !Qvks should bind, 
 Not then her garb, the sport of waves and wind, 
 
 Employ her thought thou, Theseus, thou alone, 
 
 Reign'st the proud tyrant of her bosom's throne ! 86 
 
 Ill-fated fair! whom Venus doom'd to prove 
 
 The thorny cares, and agonies of love; 
 
 What time from his Piraeus Theseus fled, 
 
 And sought the isle thy cruel father sway'd. 90 
 
 For ancient stories tell, that Athens, driv'n 
 By wasting plagues, and vengeance sent from heav'n, 
 To the fell Minotaur a tribute paid 
 Of many a chosen youth, and blooming maid ; 
 Oft bled the fairest of fair beauty's train, 9^ 
 
 A sad atonement for Androgeus slain : 
 
 skill in arms ; Minos, to revenge his son's death, waged war with 
 them, and killed the Megarian king Nisus. The Athenians were 
 now afflidled with plague, and famine ; and the oracle informed 
 them this would not cease, unless they sent every year, to be de- 
 voured by the Minotaur, seven youths, and as many virgins, who 
 were chosen by lot : the fourth year the lot fell upon Theseus, 
 who resolved to destroy this monster, which he effected. See the 
 story in Plutarch, Diodorus, and Eusebius. Thus too Ovid : 
 Bella parat Minos, qui quanquam milite, quanquam 
 Classe <vale t > pairia tamen estfortissimus ira, 
 Androgeique necem justis ulc hfiiur armis.' 
 
 OVID. Metam. 7. 
 
 Now
 
 l6 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Eleclos juvenes, simul et decus innuptarum 
 Cecropiam solitam esse dapem dare Minotauro. 
 Queis angusta mails cum mccnia vexarentur, 80 
 Ipse suum Theseus pro caris corpus Athenis 
 Projicere optavit potius, quam talia Cretam 
 Funera Cecropise ne funera portarentur. 
 Atque ita nave levi nitens, ac lenibus auris, 
 Magnanimum ad Minoa venit, sedesque superbas. 
 Hunc simul ac cupido conspexit lumine virgo 
 Regia, quam suaves exspirans castus odores 
 JLectulus, in molli complexu matris alebat: 
 Quales Eurotae progignunt flumina myrtos, 
 Aurave distinftos educit verna colores. 90 
 
 Non prius ex illo flagrantia declinavit 
 Lumina, quam cun&o concepit peftore flammam 
 Funditus, atque imis exarsit tota medullis. 
 
 Now Minos, urg'd with a fond father's love, 
 Tho' weak his fleets, as weak his armies prove, 
 Prepares for war ; and, nerv'd with pious rage, 
 For slain Androgeus durst whole hosts engage. 
 
 Minotauro.'] This monster, half man and half bull, was con- 
 ceived by Pasiphae, wife of Minos, who lusted for a bull, or, as 
 some say, for a domestic named Taurus. It is related that Dedalus 
 connived at the queen's passion, and assisted her in it. 
 
 Funera Cecropi* ne funera, &c.] A figurative expression after 
 e Greek, a^u^at bufot, aya^xaj //<<* ; and in like manner Cicero ; 
 
 the 
 
 tnsepultam sepulturam. 
 
 Nave
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. IJ 
 
 While Attica thus groan'd, with ills opprest; 
 
 His country's wrongs enflam'd brave Theseus' breast ; 
 
 Instant his gen'rous soul resolv'd to save 
 
 Cecrops' great offspring from a timeless grave: 100 
 
 He climbs the rapid bark : from cloudless skies 
 
 Soft blow the gales, and swift the vessel flies; 
 Soon he arrives, where o'er th' imperial town 
 The stately tow'rs of potent Minos frown : 
 There first it was the royal Virgin view'd 105 
 
 The Hero's charms, there love her heart subdu'd; 
 She, who as yet, within her fragrant bed, 
 Close by a mother's side was chastely laid ; 
 So, near Eurotas, myrtles breathe perfume; 
 So, fann'd by vernal airs, fresh flow'rets bloom: no 
 Her modest eyes, that shot a trembling gleam, 
 Now bent on earth, betray'd her am'rous flame ; 
 Fond tumults now disturb'd her tender thought, 
 And all her soul the soft infection caught ! 
 
 Nave le<ui mtens, ] Perhaps this line might be well paraphrased 
 by the following passage from Gray : 
 
 Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyr blows, 
 
 While proudly riding o'er the azure realm 
 In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes ; 
 
 Youth on the prow, and pleasure at the helm. The Bard, 
 
 Quales Eurot<e, &c.] The Eurotas was a river of Sparta, whos 
 
 banks abounded with myrtle and laurel. See Virgil, Eclog. 6. 
 
 arid the note to the 5th stanza of the j8th Carmen^ which has a 
 
 similar comparison. 
 
 VOL. U. C Sanfle
 
 l8 CATtTLLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Heu misere exagitans immiti corde furores 
 Sandtc puer, curis hominum qui gaudia misces; 95 
 Quaeque regis Golgos, quaeque Idalium frondosum, 
 Qualibus inccnsam jaftastis mente puellam 
 Fluctibus, in flavo saepe hospite suspirantem ! 
 Quantos ilia tulit languenti corde timores ! 
 Quantum saspe magis fulgore expalluit auri! 100 
 Cum saevum cupiens contra contendere monstrum, 
 Aut mortem oppeteret Theseus, aut pramia laudis: 
 Non ingrata, tamen fmstra, munuscula divis 
 Promittens, tacito suspendit vota labello. 
 Nam velut in summo quatientem brachiaTauro 105 
 
 Sanflepuer, &c.} This has been happily imitated by a modern 
 Latin poet. 
 
 Curis gaudia delicata mistent, 
 Penna splfnjidus aured Cufiefo. 
 
 JOAN. SECUN. Epltbat. 
 Cupid, golden -winged boy, 
 Mingling care with tender joy. 
 
 Golgos. 3 A town of Cyprus ; but many editions have Colchos. 
 See a note to Carm. 33. 
 
 Fulgore expalluit auri.] I would not hazard this simile in trans- 
 lation. For its propriety in the Latin, see a note to Carm. 7g. 
 
 Tacito, &c.] Here are four words, which are beautifully ex- 
 pressive; Ariadne dared not openly wish success to Theseus : the 
 Minotaur was her own brother. 
 
 Taura.] The mountain Taurus stretches from east to west 
 through all Asia, which it divides ; and, from the divers countries 
 it passes, acquires various names, as Imaus, Caucasus, &c. See 
 Pliny, Cap. 27. Lib. 5. Strabo, Lib. 2. and Pomponius Mela, 
 
 Lib.
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 19 
 
 O, infant God, proud tyrant of the breast, 115 
 Who lov'st with cares man's pleasures to molest ! 
 And Thou, the fairest of celestial pow'rs, 
 Who reign'st o'er Golgos, and Idalia's bow'rs ! 
 How did ye both the nymph's fierce pangs deride, 
 When for her golden-tressed guest she sigh'd ! 120 
 What terrors did her trembling heart invade ; 
 How on her cheek the transient roses fade ; 
 When with the monster Theseus dar'd to vie, 
 Resolv'd to conquer, or resolv'd to die ! 
 What prayers did then the anxious fair bestow, 125 
 And on her lips how hung each silent vow! 
 Vows which, tho* grateful to th* immortal train, 
 Were duly form'd, yet form'd, alas, in vain ! 
 
 As when a whirlwind, with collected force, 
 To Taurus' top directs its furious course j 130 
 
 Lib. i . The simile is perhaps taken from Homer, Iliad, 16. where 
 he describes the fall of Sarpedon slain by Patroclus. Horace too 
 has copied it : 
 
 ///<?, mordaci ijelut ifiaferro 
 Ptnus, aut impulsa cupressui Euro t 
 Proddit fate, posuitque collum in 
 
 Pulvere Teucro. 
 
 HOR. OJ. 6. i*. 4 . 
 The cypress, when by storms impell'd, 
 Or pine, by biting axes fell'd, 
 
 Low bends the tow'ring head; 
 
 C2 ^
 
 20 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Quercum, aut conigeram sudanti corpore pinum, 
 Indomitus turbo contorquens flamine robur 
 Emit; ilia procul radicibus exturbata 
 Prona cadit, late quaecumvis obvia frangens : 
 Sic domito sajvum prosternit corpore Theseus 1 10 
 Nequicquam vanis jaclantem cornua ventis. 
 Inde pedem sospes multa cum laude reflexit, 
 Errabunda regens tenui vestigia filo, 
 Ne labyrintheis e flexibus egredientem 
 Tecbi frustraretur inobservabilis error. 115 
 
 Sed, quid ego, a primo digressus carmine, plura 
 Commemorem? ut linquens genitoris filia vultum, 
 Ut consanguine^ complexum, ut denique matris, 
 Quas misera, ah! fieret gnatae deperdita fletu, 
 Omnibus his Thesei dulcem praeferret amorem ? 120 
 Aut ut vidta ratis spumosa ad litora Diae ? 
 Aut ut earn tristi devin&am lumina somno 
 Liquerit immemori discedens pedtore conjux? 
 
 So falling on th' ensanguin'd plain, 
 By your unerring arrow slain, 
 
 His mighty bulk the hero spread. 
 
 FRANCIS. 
 
 Ne labyrintbets, &c.] The clew, which Ariadne secretly gave 
 to Theseus, to reconduft him out of the labyrinth where the Mi- 
 notaur was kept, is a circumstance well-known in Ariadne's story. 
 Pliny, Cap. 13. Lib. 36. informs us, there were four remarkable 
 labyrinth^ in the world; the first was in ./Egypt, built, as some 
 say, by king Petesuchus, or Tithoes ; the second, the labyrinth in 
 
 question ;
 
 PO. 6l, POEMS OF CATULLUS. 21 
 
 Thence the big oak's broad-spreading branches tears* 
 Or weeping pine that conick fruitage bears; 
 And, as it falls impetuous to the ground, 
 The massive trunk spreads wasting ruin round: 
 So prostrate fell this beast, by Theseus slain, 135 
 Whose horns terrifick beat the wind in vain. 
 Safe from the contest, crown'd with praises due, 
 Return'd the hero; and the slender clew, 
 Prepared in secret by th' enamour'd maid, 
 Thro' the curv'd labyrinth his steps conveyed. 140 
 
 But why, departing from my former theme, 
 Tell how the fair, subdu'd by passion's flame, 
 With Theseus fled a father's doating sight, 
 And a lov'd sister, once her sole delight ; 
 Fled a fond mother, who, in frenzy wild, 145 
 
 With floods of woe bewail'd her wand'ring child? 
 Why tell, how once to Naxos' surgy shore 
 This fugitive the swift-wing'd vessel bore ; 
 Or how th' obdurate youth forsook her charms, 
 While sleep yet lock'd her in his silken arms? 150 
 
 question ; the third was in the island of Lemnos ; and the fourth 
 in Italy, built as a burial-place by Porsena, an Etrurian monarch. 
 
 Consanguine^.] Alluding to her sister Phaedra, whose inces- 
 tuous loves with Hippolitus are recorded by Ovid, Fast. 6. Some 
 read, consanguineum adje&ively, others consanguineorum. 
 
 C 3 Prcfurrert
 
 2.2 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Ssepe illam perhibent ardenti corde furentem 
 Clarisonas imo fudisse e pectore voces: 125 
 
 Ac turn prasruptos tristem conscendere montes, 
 Unde aciem in pelagi vastos protenderet sestus : 
 Turn tremuli sails adversas procurrere in undas 
 Mollia nudatse tollentem tegmina surze: 
 Atque hec extremis mcestam dixisse querelis, 130 
 Frigidulos udo smgultus ore cientem : 
 Siccine me patriis aveftam, perfide, ab oris, 
 Perfide, deserto liquisti in litore, Theseu? 
 Siccine discedens neglefto numine divum 
 Immemor, ah! devota domum perjuria portas? 135 
 Nuliane res potuit crudelis fleflere mentis 
 Consilium? tibi nulla fuit dementia prsesto, 
 Immite ut nostri vellet mitescere pedus? 
 At non hzec quondam nobis promissa dedisti 
 Voce; mihi non ha?c miseras sperare jubebas j 140 
 Sed connubia laeta, sed optatos hymenseos i 
 
 Procurrere in undas, &c.] The English annotator on Tibullus 
 remarks, that this passage of our author is a fine stroke of ge- 
 nius; he represents Ariadne running into the sea, as though to catch 
 Theseus, who was sailing off. The cothurni are meant by tegmina 
 sura, which were generally purple; as Scaliger proves from cer- 
 tain passages of the ancients. 
 
 Siccine me patrirs, &c.j The classical reader may be pleased 
 in comparing this complaint of Ariadne's with Ovid's lovely 
 epistle, Arlad. ad Thes. who has Catullus's words, frequently 
 almost verbatim. Many for ab oris read ab arts. 
 
 Sed
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 23 
 
 Oft, they relate, with burning grief opprest, 
 The shriek loud-sounding issued from her breast; 
 Oft to the craggy cliffs enrag'd she'd fly, ' 
 O'er the wide waste of waters bend her eye ; 
 Then to the shore direct her rapid way, 15*5 
 
 Cast her bar'd feet's soft coverings away ; 
 At length in sweetly-plaintive accent cry, 
 While her moist lips breath'd many a chilling sigh : 
 " Thus do'st thou leave me, from my country torn, 
 " Perfidious Theseus, on this coast forlorn ? 160 
 " Thus, in contempt of yon attesting skies, 
 ** Bear back with thee thy impious perjuries ? 
 " Could no remembrance of our former love 
 " Thy savage purpose, base barbarian, move? 
 " Were no remains of pity left behind, 165 
 
 " To sooth the various tortures of my mind ? 
 " Not such the vows that trembled on thy tongue, 
 " When on thy words persuasive rapture hung; 
 " Not woes like these, but wedlock's fond delights 
 " You bade me hope, and hymeneal rites ! 170 
 
 Sed connubla fata, &c.] In like manner Virgil : 
 Per connubla noitra, per inarptos hymen<eas* 
 
 VIRG. JEn. 4. 
 
 By those late solemn nuptial bands I plead, 
 By those first pleasures of the bridal bed. 
 
 PITT. 
 C 4 Nulla
 
 24 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Quae cun<fta aerii discerpunt irrita venti. 
 
 Jam jam nulla viro jirranti femina credat, 
 
 Nulla viri sparer sermones esse fideles: 
 
 Qui, dum aliquid cupiens animus prsegestit apisci, 
 
 Nil metuunt jurare, nihil promittere parcunt ; 146 
 
 Scd simul ac cupidse mentis satiata libido est, 
 
 Difta nihil metuere, nihil perjuria curant. 
 
 Certe ego te in medio versantem turbine lethi 
 
 Eripui, et potius germanum amittere crevi, 150 
 
 Quam tibi fallaci supremo in tempore deessem. 
 
 Pro quo dilaceranda feris dabor, alitibusque 
 
 Prasda, neque injeda tumulabor mortua terra. 
 
 Quasnam te genuit sola sub rupe leaena? 
 
 Quod mare conceptum spumantibus exspuit undis? 
 
 Quae Syrtis, quse Scylla vorax, quae vasta Charyb- 
 
 dis, 
 Talia qui reddis pro dulci pramia vita ? 
 
 ffulla 'viri speret, &c.] Propertius says the same thing t 
 Expertus dico y nemo est in amore jidelis. 
 
 PROPER. Eleg. 34. Lib. a. 
 Experience warns rne none are true in love. 
 
 Nibil perjuria curant.] Thus too Tibullus : 
 Ne jurare time, Vencris perjuria venti 
 Irrita per terras, etfreta summaferunt. 
 
 TIB. Eleg. 4. Lib. i. 
 
 Nor
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 2$ 
 
 ** Now each gay dream is vanish'd into air; 
 
 " Hear this, and wisdom learn, ye witless fair ! 
 
 " Ne'er let false man with empty oaths deceive, 
 
 " No protestations of the sex believe ! 
 
 <c Is there a wish their ardent souls would gain ; 175 
 
 " They swear, they promise, and at length obtain ; 
 
 " The wish obtain'd, they fearless break their word, 
 
 " Nor plighted faith, nor solemn vows regard: 
 
 " 'Twas I who deign'd thy fleeting soul to save, 
 
 " Just sunk in Lethe's dark oblivious wave; 180 
 
 te To thine I sacrific'd a brother's life, 
 
 " When danger threaten'd in the dreadful strife : 
 
 " Must I for this a corse unburied lay; 
 
 " To rav'nous birds, to prowling beasts a prey ? 
 
 " Some savage lioness in rocky caves 185 
 
 " Nurs'd thy fierceyouth, or ocean's boist'rous waves; 
 
 " Mid Lybia's burning sands thou sure wert born; 
 
 " From stormy Scylla, or Charybdis torn ; - 
 
 " That thus thy scorn, thy cruel scorn repays 
 
 " The partial tenderness which spar'd thy days! 190 
 
 Nor aw'd by conscience meanly dread to swear j 
 Love-oaths, unratified, wild tempests bear 
 
 GRANGER. 
 
 Quasnam ttgcnuit, &c.] See the note to Carrn. 57.
 
 26 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Si tibi non cordi fuerant connubia nostra, 
 Seva quod horrebas prisci praecepta parentis ; 
 Attamen in vestras potuisti ducere sedes, 160 
 
 Quae tibi jucundo famularer serva labore, 
 Candida permulcens liquidis vestigia lymphis, 
 Purpureave tuum consternens veste cubile. 
 Sed quid ego ignaris nequicquam conqueror auris, 
 Externata malo, quae nullis sensibus auctae, 163 
 Nee missas audire queunt, nee reddere voces ? 
 Ille autem prope jam mediis versatur in undis ; 
 Nee quisquam apparet vacua mortalis in alga. 
 Sic nimis insultans extremo tempore saeva 
 Fors etiam nostris invidit questibus aures. 170 
 
 Jupiter omnipotens, utinam nee tempore primo 
 Cnosia Cecropiae tetigissent litora puppes ; 
 
 S<e<va qubJ borrebas, &c.J Others put a different construction 
 upon this passage to that in my translation ; alluding, by prisci 
 farentis, to Cecrops, the first king of Athens, who instituted the 
 marriage laws (fntcefuj ; which Theseus regarded as cruel 
 fstevaj because he despised matrimony. But the other inter- 
 pretation, referring to the cruelty of Mines in suffering the sacri- 
 fices to the Minotaur, I think more applicable. 
 
 Candida per mule f MS, &c.] The amorous condescension of A- 
 riadne, in these two lines, is exquisitely beautiful ; it reminds me 
 of the faithful Emma, in Prior: 
 
 With humble duty, and officious haste, 
 I'll cull the fikrthest mead for thy repast ; 
 The choicest herbs I to thy board will bring; 
 And draw thy water from the freshest spring : 
 
 And
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 27 
 
 " What tho* my sire, whom crime and bloodshed 
 
 " stain, 
 
 " Provok'd thy soul to spurn sweet Hymen's chain; 
 " Thou might'st at least have suffer'd me to come, 
 " An humble handmaic^, to thy native home; 
 " There I'd have wash'd thy snowy feet, and spread 
 " The crimson covering on thy honour'd bed. 196 
 
 " Fool that I am ! but madness turns my brain, 
 " To senseless winds thus vainly to complain; 
 " Vainly to think that they could hear me mourn, 
 " Or pitying accents to my sighs return ! 200 
 
 " Ah, now far hence he flies, on ocean tost! 
 "No human form is seen along this coast f 
 " No wretch like me, my sorrowing tale to hear! 
 " Why, fortune, thus insult my keen despair? 
 " O, had it been imperial Jove's command, 205 
 *' That Attic ships had ne'er seen Cretan land ; 
 
 And when at night, with weary toil opprest, 
 Soft slumbers thou enjoy'st, and wholesome rest; 
 Watchful I'll guard thee, and with midnight pray'r 
 Weary the gods to keep thee in their care ; 
 And joyous ask, at morn's returning ray, 
 If thou hast health, and I may bless the day. 
 
 Henry and Emma, 
 
 Utinam nee tempore, &c.J This is evidently borrowed from the 
 prologue to a weil-known tragedy in Euripides. Similar is Dido's 
 complaint, in Virgil : 
 
 Felix
 
 28 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6.1. 
 
 Indomito nee dira ferens stipendia tauro 
 Perfidus in Cretam religasset navita funem ; 
 Nee raalus hie, celans dulci crudelia forma 1 75 
 Consilia, in nostris requiesset sedibus hospes, 
 Nam quo me referam ? quaji spe perdita nitar ? 
 Idomeniosne petam montes? ah! gurghe lato 
 Discernens Pomi truculentum ubi dividit aquor? 
 An patris auxilium sperem ? quemne ipsa reliqui 
 Respersum juvenem fraterna casde seeuta ? 1 8 1 
 Conjugis an fido consoler memet amore ! 
 Qui refugit lentos incurvans gurgite remos ? 
 Prateream litus ? nullo sola insula teclo : 
 Nee patet egressus pelagi cingentibus undis. 185 
 Nulla fugse ratio, nulla spes : omnia muta, 
 Omnia sunt deserta, ostentant omnia lethum. 
 ^lon tamen ante mihi languescent lumina morte, 
 
 Fetix bfu nimivmfelix, si littora tantmm 
 ffuaquam Dardanitt tetigissent nostra faring. 
 
 VIRG. JEn. 4. 
 
 Happy, thrice happy, if the Dardan band 
 Had never touch'd upon the Libyan land. PITT. 
 
 Idomeniosne petam montes.] The Cretan mountains are so called 
 from Jdomeneus, a famous king of Crete. Many editions have 
 Idxosne, saying, that Ida is put by way of eminence; being the lof- 
 tiest mountain in Crete, according to Strabo, Lilt. 10. and Pliny, 
 Lib. 4. Some read Isthrnoneos, because Crete had several istbmi; 
 Vossius writes Istbmon eosne petam montes, perhaps alluding to the 
 Peloponnesian Isthmu>, which divides the ^Egean from the Ionian 
 sea. 
 
 Non
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 2 
 
 " That the fam'd bark, which bore the prize away 
 " From the fierce bull, had never plough'd the sea ; 
 " And that the youth, who smil'd such sweet deceit, 
 " Had never enter'd Minos' royal gate ! 210 
 
 " Where shall I wander, what fond hopes remain ? 
 " Say, shall I seek my native soil again ? 
 " But o, how horrid is yon gulf, how wide, 
 " Whose waters from this shore my. soil divide ! 
 " Say, shall I court that father, whom I fled, 215 
 " A murd'rer stain'd with brother's blood to wed ? 
 " Or faith, or comfort, from that husband prove, 
 *' Who chides each loit'ring oar, and flies his love ? 
 " Shall I, unhous'd, on this lone island stray, 
 " Confin'd, and circled by the beating sea? 220 
 " No means of flight, no gleam of hope I spy; 
 " Tis mute, 'tis desert all, and death seems nigh ! 
 
 " Yet ere one long, long sleep shall seal these eyes; 
 " Ere from this wearied frame my spirit flies ! 
 
 Noa tamtn ante, &c.] The solemn turn given to Ariadne's 
 speech, after her fit of frantic despair, is a happy instance of the 
 sublime in poetry; the following invocation of Dido'-s has so great 
 an affinity with Ariadne's speech, that I cannot forbear setting it 
 down, for the sake of comparison : 
 
 Sol qui terrarum flammis opera omnla lustras, 
 Tuque harum interpret curarum, et conscia jfuno, 
 Nolurnisq:te Hecate triviis ululata per urbes, 
 
 Et
 
 30 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Nec prius a fesso secedent corpore sensus, 
 Quam justam a divis exposcam prodita mulctam, 190 
 Ccelestumque fidem postrema comprecer hora. 
 Quare fadla virum mulctantes vindice poena 
 Eumenides, quibus anguineo redimita capillo 
 Frons exspirantis prseportat pectoris iras, 
 Hue hue adventate, meas audite querelas, 195 
 
 Quas ego, vse misers, extremis proferre medullis 
 Cogor inops, ardens, amenti casca furore. 
 Qua? quoniam vere nascuntur pectore ab imo, 
 . Vos nolite pati nostrum vanescere luclum ; 
 Sed quali solam Theseus me mente reliquit, 200 
 Tali mente, deae, funestet seque suosque. 
 Has postquam moesto profudit pediore voces, 
 Supplicium ssevis exposcens anxia fadlis ; 
 Annuit invifto ccelestum numine re6tor, 
 Quo tune et tellus, atque horrida contremuerunt 205 
 
 Et dirtp ultrices, et Dii morlentls Elistc ; 
 
 Acciplte bac t meritumque mails advertite numen, 
 
 Et nostras audite preces. VIRG. ><?;</. 4. 
 
 Thou glorious sun ! whose piercing eyes survey 
 
 These worlds terrestrial in thy fiery way; 
 
 And thou, o Juno! bend thy awful head, 
 
 Great queen, and guardian of the bridal bed ; 
 
 Hear thou, dire Hecate! from hell profound, 
 
 Whose rites nocturnal through the streets resound, 
 
 Hear, all ye furies, fiends, and gods, who wait 
 
 To pay due vengeance for Eliza's fate \ PITT. 
 
 Eumenides.
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLITS. 3! 
 
 " I'll pray for vengeance on a perjur'd love, - 225 
 " With my last breath conjure the pow'rs above! 
 " And you, Eumenides, with snaky hair, 
 " Who for men's crimes due chastisements prepare; 
 " Whose inward rage sits pictur'd on your brows ; 
 " O, hither come, and listen to my woes! 230 
 
 " Woes pour'd in torture from my inmost soul, 
 *' Where burning phrenzy, and wild tumult roll! 
 " Rack'd is this breast with no fictitious pain; 
 " Then hear my pray'r, just maids, nor hear in vain ! 
 " And grant that Theseus, and his race may share 
 " Such fate accurst, as now I'm doom'd to bear!" 
 
 Thus the wrong'd fair her fervent suit preferred, 
 Vindictive anger breath'd in ev'ry word ; 
 When strait the potent Ruler of the gods 
 From the firm throne of high Olympus nods ; 240 
 Now shakes the solid globe, the frighted main; 
 Forc'd from their spheres, now shoot the starry train; 
 
 Eumenides.] The Furies are well known in fable. Snaky-trested 
 is an epithet Greek writers frequently apply to them. 
 
 Annuit, &c,] This imagery is great, and the convulsions of 
 nature strike the reader with awe. Thus Homer, piya.$ '&*}*& 
 BA^/ATTOK ; and likewise Virgil, JEn. 9. 
 
 Annuity ft totum nutu tr erne fecit Olympum. 
 Heav'n shook with awe at his imperial nod. 
 
 LAUDERDALE. 
 Many, less elegantly, read invito for invlflo, 
 
 JEgftts,
 
 32 CATULU CARMINA. CA. 6l, 
 
 u3quora, concussitque micantia sidera mundus. 
 Ipse autem czca mentem caligine Theseus 
 Consitus, oblito dimisit peclore cun&a, 
 Quz mandata prius constant! mente tenebat: 
 Dulcia nee moesto sustollens signa parent!, 210 
 Sospitem, et ereptum se ostendit visere portum. 
 Namque ferunt, olim classi cum moenia divae 
 Linquentem gnatum ventis concrederet JEgeus, 
 Taiia complexura juveni mandata dedisse ; 
 Gnate mihi longa jucundior unice vita, 215 
 
 Gnate, ego quern in dubios cogor dimittere casus, 
 Reddite in extremae nuper mihi fine senecta? ; 
 Quandoquidem fortuna mea, ac tua fervida virtus 
 Eripit invito mihi te, quoi languida nondum 
 Lumina sunt gnati cara saturata figura; 220 
 
 Non ego te gaudens lastanti pedtore mittam, 
 Nee te ferre sinam fortunae signa secundae: 
 Sed primum multas expromam mente querelas, 
 Canitiem terra, atque infuso pulvere foedans j 
 Jnde infe<5ta vago suspendam lintea malo, 225 
 
 Was king of Athens, son of Pandion, and father of 
 Theseus by ^thra. Theseus was educated, by his grandfather 
 Pitheus, in the town of Troezene, according to Diodorus, and 
 Plutarch; he was not allowed to return to his father at Athens, 
 till he had performed some great martial exploit. 
 
 Carbasus.
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 33 
 
 \yhile a dark mist, with black oblivion fraught, 
 
 Obscures awhile the hero's absent thought; 
 
 Who now forgets those mandates, late imprest , 245 
 
 By fond obedience on his filial breast ; 
 
 Forgets the joyous signals to display, 
 
 As safe to port he ploughs his conqu'ring way. 
 
 For, when ^Egeus to the fav'ring wind, 
 In the fam'd bark, his valiant son consign'd; 250 
 Leaving Minerva's sacred walls, 'tis said, 
 These strict injunctions on the youth he laid: 
 " My lov'd, my only child, than life more dear, 
 " But just restored my drooping age to chear! 
 " To distant climes, alas, compell'd to fly, 255 
 " In bold pursuit of dubious victory 1 
 " Now valour calls, and fortune's stern decree 
 " Tears thee, sweet youth, from happiness and me ! 
 '* From a fond father's too reluctant arms, 
 *' Whose eyes insatiate still devour thy charms! 260 
 < e No longer pleasure o'er this heart prevails^ 
 " Then, o, depart not, born by snowy sails! 
 " But, since fell anguish soon must pierce my soul, 
 " And in the dust these hoary honours roll! 
 
 VOL, II. D
 
 34 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Nostros ut iluctus, nostraeque incendia mentis^, 
 Carbasus obscura dicat ferrugine Ibera. 
 Quod tibi si sancYi concesserit incola Itoni, 
 (Quas nostrum genus, ac sedes defendere sueta 
 Annuit) ut tauri respergas sanguine dextram; 230 
 Turn vero facito, ut memori tibi condita corde 
 Hzec vigeant mandata, nee ulla obliteret astas. 
 Ut, simul ac nostros invisent lumina colles, 
 Funestam antennas deponant undique vestem, 
 Candidaque intorti sustollant vela rudentes; 235 
 Quamprimum cernens ut keta gaudia mente 
 Agnoscam, cum te reducem aetas prospera sistet. 
 Hsec mandata prius constanti mente tenentem 
 Thesea, ceu pulse ventorum flamine nubes 
 Ae'rium nivei montis liquere cacumen. 240 
 
 At pater, ut summa prospeclum ex arce petebat, 
 Anxia in assiduos absumens Inmina fletus, 
 Cum primurn inflati conspexit Ijntea veli, 
 
 Carbasus.] The Romans had their best sails from Spain, which 
 was famous for cloth in general. See the last note to Carm. 12. 
 White denoted prosperity; black, adversity ; the ancients were very 
 superstitious with regard to colours. See a note to Carm. 8. 
 
 Incola Itoni.] Minerva was particularly worshipped at Itone, a 
 town of Bceotia, where one of the most ancient of her temples 
 stood j hence Apollonius calls her Itonida, or Itoniada. There 
 is likewise a Boeotian mountain, and city in Thessaly, named Itone, 
 sacred to Pallas. See Lilius Gyraldus, Syntagmat. 1 1, and Strabo, 
 Lib. 9. 
 
 Sedes
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 35 
 
 " To your proud masts, as mournful emblems, tie 
 
 " Sails deeply ting'd with dark Iberian dye: 266 
 
 " Then should her aid Itone's Goddess lend, 
 
 " (Still to our country, and our throne a friend) 
 
 " With strength superior thy right arm endue, 
 
 " And in the monster's blood that arm imbrue; 270 
 
 " O, be observant of this last behest, 
 
 " Nor e'er let time erase it from thy breast! 
 
 " Soon as to view the Attic hills appear, 
 
 " From the high yards their sable garments tear; 
 
 " And in their room, by wreathing cords confin'd, 
 
 " Spread thy white canvas to the prosp'rous wind; 
 
 " That far, far off thy sire's attentive eye 
 
 " Thy wish'd success with rapture may descry I" 
 
 As from a mountain's snowy tp are driv'n 
 The rolling clouds, by the rude blasts of heav'n; 280 
 So from the mem'ry of lost Theseus fled 
 Those dictates, which before his reason sway'd ; 
 But now his father from the ramparts' height, 
 All baxh'd in tears, dire&s his eager sight; 
 
 Sedes defenders sueta.] It is hardly necessary to remark, that 
 Minerva was more immediately the tutelary deity of Athens. 
 Many editors for sueta, read freti, and frttis; Vossius writes 
 Erecbthei. 
 
 Da At
 
 36 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Prascipitem sese scopulorum e vertice jecit, 
 Amissum credens immiti Thesea fato. 245 
 
 Sic funesta domus ingressus tecta paterna 
 Morte, ferox Theseus, qualem Mino'idi luctum 
 Attulerat mente immemori, talem ipse recepit. 
 Quas tamen aspectans cedentem moesta carinam, 
 Multiplices animo volvebat saucia curas. 250 
 
 At parte ex alia florens volitabat lacchus, 
 Cum thiaso Satyrorum, et Nysigenis Silenis, 
 Te quasrens, Ariadna, tuoque incensus amore: 
 Qui turn alacres passim lymphata mente furebantj 
 Evoe bacchantes, evce capita infledentes. 255 
 
 Horum pars tecta quatiebant cuspide thyrsos: 
 
 At parte ex alia, &c.] Thestragula, or coverlid, perhaps had two 
 compartments, containing Ariadne's history ; this last described 
 her apotheosis, we will suppose. The amorous passion of Bacchus, 
 or lacchus as he is called, from the noise which drunkenness oc- 
 casions, has been mentioned in the first note to this episode ; and it 
 is more fu% related by Diodorus, Cap. iz. Lib. 5. his attendants, 
 and their occupations, are admirably pictured here. The satyrs 
 are well-known fabulous beings ; though, according to Pliny, Lib. 1 . 
 there were some real, inhabitants of the mountains of India : the 
 ancient satyrs were called siltni, from Silenus the old tutor of Bac- 
 chus, who educated him in the Arabian town Nysa, which Di*- 
 dorus, Lib. 4. says gave birth to most of the sileni. Thus Ovid : 
 
 Perjuga per sylvas dumosaque saxa <vagatur 
 
 Nysigenum, western ritu succinfla Dian<e. 
 
 Eva bacchantes.] The word bacchari means, to celebrate the 
 rites of Bacchus, by loud vociferations, and frantic aclions; ex- 
 claiming, E<uee, Eva! 
 
 Ihjrsos"
 
 po. 61. poaMs OF' CATULLUS. 37 
 
 O'er the wide sea, distended by the gale, 285 
 
 He spies, with dread amaze, the lurid sail ; 
 And now, convinced his darling son was slain, 
 Frantic he plunges in the roaring main. 
 Thus, when his native roof the hero sought, 
 A father's death distracted all his thought; 290 
 And soon, too soon he felt that same despair 
 Which late he taught the Cretan maid to bear ! 
 Whose lingering looks his distant bark pursu'd, 
 While wasting cares her tender breast subdu'd. 
 
 Still other scenes adorn'd the quilt, that spread 295 
 Its storied surface on fair Thetis' bed: 
 Here the fresh-blooming Bacchus was portray'd, 
 Who fondly flew to Ariadne's aid; 
 Silenus led gay Nysa's train along, 
 And round the god brisk danc'd the satyr throng, 
 Who hymn'd his name as frantic zeal inspir'd, 301 
 And toss'd their heads with madding fury fir'd; 
 Some shook the ivied thyrsus which they bore ; 
 Some the raw limbs from mangled heifers tore; 
 
 Tbyrsos."] Macrobius explains the thyrsus , or ivy-wreathed 
 spear, in his Saturnalia, Cap. 19. Lib. i. And in Lib. 7. he has 
 the following passage upon it : Liber pater thyrsa ferit per obitqua- 
 lionem circumfuste bedera latente mucrone; quia non ila frofiteri 
 eportet in tonvi'vio censorem, ut palam <vitia castiget. 
 
 D 3 Raptabant
 
 $8 CATUtLI CARMIJJA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Pars e divUlso raptabant membra juvenco: 
 
 Pars sese tortis serpentibus incingebant: 
 
 Pars obscura cavis celebrabant orgia cistis, 
 
 Orgia, quse frustra cupiunt audire profani: 260 
 
 Plangebant alii proceris tympana palmis, 
 
 Aut tereti tenues tinnitus sere ciebant: 
 
 Multi raucisonis efflabant cornua bombis, 
 
 Barbaraque horribili stridebat tibia cantu. 
 
 Raptabant membra ju'venco.'} This custom, of the bacchanals 
 tearing, and eating raw every kind of animal they could meet 
 with, is mentioned by Ovid, in the story of Pentheus, Metam. 3. 
 and thus too Euripides : 
 
 Ki 
 
 Wreathing their bodies, and even binding their hair with ser- 
 pents, in their rites, is another ceremony recorded by many writers, 
 as Plutarch, Euripides, and others. Thus Horace: 
 
 7w separatis u*v\dus i?i jugis 
 Uodo coerces wiperino 
 Bistonidum sine fraude crln^s, 
 
 HOR. Od. 19. Lib. i. 
 
 And o'er the pathless mountain's height, 
 Her head with horrid snakes enroll'd, 
 Which harmless writhe their angry fold, 
 
 Thy raptur'd priestess speeds her flight. 
 
 FRANCIS. 
 
 Vossius, who has a very long and learned note upon this subjeft, 
 remarks, that no satisfaftory reason has been given for the cus- 
 
 tom;
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 39 
 
 With wreathing serpents some their waists intwin'dj 
 With hallow'd stores in ozier caskets shrin'd, 306 
 Some mystick rites perform'd, with solemn show, 
 Rites the profane in vain desire to know; 
 These struck the drum, whose thunder shook the 
 
 ground ; 
 
 Those with loud din bade brazen cymbals sound -, 
 While others joy'd the clam'rous horn to wind; 311 
 And Phrygian fifes the horrid concert join'd. 
 
 torn ; but, since the days of Vossius, a learned author, Bryant, 
 Ant. Mythol. very speciously remarks, that this was one of the 
 sacred remains of the ancient barbarity of Greece. The baccha- 
 nals had likewise whips made of serpents, with which they lashed 
 themselves to madness. 
 
 Orgia cistis.] Muretus tells us, that all obscure rites were 
 called orgia, among the Greeks. Venus had her orgies, according 
 to Hephaestion ; but Silvius says, orgia is a word chiefly applied to 
 the bacchic rites, and here implies the utensils used in sacrifices, 
 and other mysteries, which were preserved in wicker coffers. See 
 Orpheus' Hymn to Ceres ; see also Dionysius. To this Tibullus 
 likewise alludes: 
 
 Et le<vis occultis conscla cista sacris. 
 
 TIB. Eleg.i. Lib. i. 
 
 Flange bant alii, &c.] In the notes on Atys is an account of 
 these instruments, used also at the rites of Cybele. 
 
 Barbaraque, &c.] The Phrygians first invented the curved 
 pipe, as is evident from a line in the preceding Carmen : Tiblccn 
 ubi canit, Sec. The Greeks originally called all foreign nations 
 barbarous ; and the Phrygian being perhaps their only foreign pipe, 
 acquired the epithet barbarus. 
 
 D 4 Hie
 
 4O CATULLl CARM1NA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Talibus amplified vestis decorata figuris, 265 
 
 Pulvinar complexa suo velabat amictu. 
 Quae postquam cupide speclando Thessala pubes 
 Expleta est, sanctis coepit decedere divis. 
 Hie qualis flatu placidum mare matutino 
 Horrificans Zephyrus proclives incitat undas, 270 
 Aurora exofiente, vagi sub lumina solis; 
 Quae tarde primum dementi flamine pulsa? 
 Procedunt, leviterque sonant plangore cachinni ; 
 Post, vento crescente, magls magis increbrescunt, 
 Purpureaque procul nantes a luce refulgent: 275 
 Sic turn vestibuli linquentes regia tefta, 
 Ad se quisque vago passim pede discedebant. 
 Quorum post abitum, princeps e vertice Peli 
 Advenit Chiron portans sylvestria dona. 
 Nam quotcunque ferunt campi, quos Thessala 
 magnis 280 
 
 Montibus ora creat, quos propter flu minis undas 
 
 Hie qualis flatu, &c."] This simile is highly poetic, but I do 
 not think it very applicable; and here let me just remark, 
 that Catullus is not the most happy in his comparisons. The 
 principal subjedl is now resumed ; and, however long the in- 
 terrijption, every reader must be delighted with the tender tale of 
 Ariadne. 
 
 Advenit Cbirdn.'] The imagery of the water deities coming to 
 congratulate the fair offspring of old Ocean, on her nuptials, has 
 
 a fine
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 41 
 
 Such were the tales this costly bed display'd, 
 Which all Thessalia's eager youth survey'd ; 
 And when enough their sated eyes admir'd, 315 
 Heav'n's throng approach'd, the mortal throng re- 
 tir'd. 
 
 As when Aurora gilds the morning skies, 
 O'er the smooth main the light-wing'd Zephyr flies, 
 With early breath just curls the wat'ry way, 
 While on its waves the quiv'ring sunbeams play, 320 
 Waves ! scarcely heard on the faint-sounding coast, 
 Whose gentle murmurs in the gale ire lost; 
 The wind increas'd, then loud the billows roar, 
 And furious from the red horizon pour: 
 So from the royal portal rush'd the crowd, 325 
 
 And to his home each took a various road. 
 
 These now dispers'd ; the centaur Chiron brings, 
 From Pelion's brow, his rural offerings : 
 All the bright blooms that paint th* enamell'd field; 
 All that the rich Thessalian mountains yield ; 330 
 
 a fine effect. Ghiron, half man and half horse, born of Saturn 
 and Philyra, precedes them ; he was afterwards preceptor to The- 
 tis' son, Achilles; an^some make him the father of Thetis. See 
 Apollodorys, Lib, 3.
 
 4Z CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Aura parit flores tepidi fcecunda Favoni, 
 Hos indisrin&is plexos tulic ipse corollis, 
 Queis permulsa domus jucundo risit odore. 
 Confestim Peneos adest, viridantia Tempe, 285 
 Tempe, quae sylve cingunt superimpendentes, 
 Nessonidum linquens claris celebranda chords: 
 Non vacuus, namque ille tulit radicitus altas 
 Fagos, ac redto proceras stipite laurus, 
 Non sine nutanti platano, lentaque sorore 290 
 
 Flammati Phaethomis, et aeria cupressu. 
 Haec circum sedes late contexta locavit, 
 Vestibulum ut molli velatum fronde vireret. 
 
 Pffteos adest.'] The Thessalian river Peneus, whose banks 
 abound with those trees which its deity brings, rises from the 
 tuneful Pindus ; and, flowing between the woody mountains of 
 Ossa and Olympus, before it empties itself into the sea, bathes the 
 fertile valley of Tempe, which we have mentioned at the begin- 
 ning of this poem. 
 
 Nesson'oHm.] So I would read with Silvius, thongh the more 
 general reading is Nerfidum. Vossius, who is fond of obscure and 
 difficult words, writes : 
 
 Xjniasi et linquens Doris celebranda cboreis 
 Baebiados, 
 
 Vulpius adopts this reading; but Scaliger says, the most ancient 
 texts have Minosia linquens Doris, &c. However Nessonidum is 
 certainly the most proper, from Nessos, Nessen, or Nessonis, a 
 marsh very near Tempe, and Peneus. See Strabo, Lib, 9. The 
 Nerfidtt belong to the sea, consequently 0e very remote from 
 the present scene of action. 
 
 Fronde
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 43 
 
 Each flow'r that on the stream's fair border grows, 
 O'er which the breath of mild Favonius blows, 
 In gay profusion grace the blushing wreaths; 
 And vernal sweets the laughing palace breathes. 
 
 From Tempe's vale next ancient Peneus came, 
 That fertile vale immortaliz'd in fame ! 336 
 
 Where Nessos' blue-eyed nymphs delight to rove, 
 Tempe o'erhung with many a circling grove ! 
 The bay's aspiring, and strait trunk he brought; 
 Th' uprooted beech, with stately branches fraught; 
 The plane, whose foliage spreads a trembling shade; 
 The cypress tall, that lifts to heav'n its head ; 
 And the fam'd tree, that wept, with sister love, 
 The youth destroy'd by the red bolts of Jove: 
 All these he amply wove around the throne, 345 
 And varying greens in the gay covert shone. 
 
 Fronde 'vireret, &c.] Every part of the bridegroom's house, 
 and particularly the door, was decorated with flowers, and boughs, 
 upon the nuptial day. Thus Virgil, jEneid 4. 
 Varits florentla limina sertis. 
 
 And Ovid. Fast. 4. 
 
 Et tegat ornatas longa corona fores. 
 
 Plutarch, in Erotica, says, that olive and ivy were particularly 
 used for this purpose. SILVIUS. 
 
 Pttris
 
 44 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Post htmc consequitur solerti corde Prometheus, 
 Extenuata gerens veteris vestigia pociice; 295 
 
 Quam quondam, silici restrictus membra catena, 
 Persolvit, pendens e verticibus prasruptis. 
 Inde pater divum sancta cum conjuge, gnatisque 
 Advenit ccelo, te solum, Phoebe, relinquens, 
 Unigenamque simul cultricem montibus Idse: 300 
 Pelea nam tecum pariter soror aspernata est, 
 Nee Thetidis tedas voluit celebrare jugales. 
 Qui postquam niveos flexerunt sedibus artus, 
 Large multiplici constructs sunt dape mensse. 
 
 Veteris vestigia p&n<e.] Prometheus, the son of Japetus and 
 Themis, or Terra, was supposed to retain the marks of those chains 
 upon his body, with which he was bound to the rock Caucasus, as 
 a token of Jove's displeasure, for having stolen a spark of fire from 
 heaven, to animate his image ; he was delivered by Hercules, who 
 slew the vulture that preyed upon his liver. By the words, pen- 
 dens e verticibus prtcruptis, Catullus probably would imply, that 
 he was chained to some overhanging point of rock, where he 
 would be more exposed, and the dizzy height more intolerable. 
 Prometheus, by reason of his ingenuity, was accounted a divinity, 
 therefore introduced here by our poet, ^schylus calls him 
 ffvyytt* Seer. See his story in Apollonius, Lib. 2. and Valerius 
 Flaccus, Lib. 5. 
 
 Tt solum, Phoebe, &c.] Apollo and Diana were absent from the 
 rejoicings, because they both hated the pair. Diana, being the 
 goddess of chastity, was averse to all marriages ; and Apollo, it is 
 said, sung an epithalamium on their nuptials, predicting many 
 misfortunes to Peleub, particularly, that through him his son 
 Achilles should fall, which he did ; for Paris, in the temple of 
 
 Apollo,
 
 PO. 6l POEMS OF CATULLUS. 45 
 
 Prometheus followed with inventive brain, 
 Who still bore marks of heav'n-inflicled pain ; 
 For once his limbs in tort'ring chains were slung, 
 And high in air from the rude cliff he hung. 350 
 
 Then, with his Queen, the Father of the gods 
 Came down from high Olympus' bright abodes; 
 Came down, with all th' attending deities j 
 Phoebus alone remain'd amid the skies 
 With one lov'd Sister, who delights to rove, 355 
 A sylvan huntress, in green Ida's grove ; 
 These both alike the bride and bridegroom scorn'd, 
 And both alike their hymeneals spurn'd. 
 
 Soon as heav'n's glitt'ring synod took their seats, 
 The lavish board was crown'd with nuptial cates: 360 
 
 Apollo, lurking behind the image of the god, secretly shot an 
 arrow at Achilles, who came thither to marry Polyxena, and 
 wounded him mortally in his only vulnerable part, the heel. JEs- 
 chylus enlarges upon this subject, recording the perfidy of Apollo, 
 and the complaints of Thetis. 
 
 Cultricem montibus Ida.] Vossius writes Idri y meaning a moun- 
 tain of Caria, which had many towns sacred to Diana, as Hecate- 
 sia, Chrysaoria, and others ; but we had better allude to the Idaean, 
 or Cretan mountains ; for in Crete Diana was particularly worship. 
 ped. Witness Ovid, in Fastis: 
 
 Pallada Cecropidx, Mino'ja turba Dianam, 
 
 P arete.
 
 46 CAT17LLI CARM1NA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Cum interea infirmo quatientes corpora motu, 305 
 
 Veridicos Parcae cccperunt edere cantus. 
 
 His corpus tremulum complectens undique vestis 
 
 Candida purpurea talos incinxerat ora : 
 
 At roseo niveae residebant vertice vittae, 
 
 j^Eternumque manus carpebant rite laborem: 310 
 
 Lava colum molli lana retinebat amiclum; 
 
 Dextera turn leviter deducens fila supinis 
 
 Formabat digitis: turn prono in pollice torquens, 
 
 Libratum tereti versabat turbine fusum: 
 
 Atque ita decerpens sequabat semper opus dens ; 3 1 5 
 
 Laneaque aridulis hasrebant morsa labellis, 
 
 Qua? prius in leni fuerant exstantia filo : 
 
 Ante pedes autem candentis mollia lana; 
 
 Vellera virgati custodibant calathisci. 
 
 Hae turn clarisona pellentes vellera voce, 320 
 
 Talia divino fuderunt carmine fata, 
 
 Carmine, perfidiae quod post nulla arguet astas. 
 
 Parc<t.~\ This introduction of the three fatal Sisters, who sing a 
 kind of epithalamium, (which Vossius divides into parts, as sung 
 separately, by Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos,) gives a sublime 
 dignity to the piece : their attire, such as belonged to the Roman 
 matron, is happily described. Plato clothes them in white ; but 
 our poet, I believe, is the only one who has particularly dwelt 
 upon their dress. 
 
 Prono
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OP' CATULLUS. 47 
 
 Then, as their aged frames they feebly shook, 
 The Destinies in song prophetic spoke. 
 
 A snowy garb their trembling limbs o'erspread, 
 Whose glowing border blush'd a vivid red ; 
 Their rosy- breathing locks white fillets bound ; 365 
 Their wither'd hands eternal labours crown'd; 
 The left a distaff held with wool array'd; 
 The right with upturn'd fingers drew the thread, 
 And as the thumb bent downward wreath'd the clew, 
 In rapid rounds the whirring spindle flew: 370 
 
 Oft with their teeth they smoothed the slender twine, 
 When shreds superfluous clogg'd the work divine ; 
 And each obstruction, that around it clung, 
 On their pale lips of shrivelled coldness hung: 
 In ozier baskets at their feet were thrown 375 
 
 The silver fleeces, soft as tenderest down : 
 Swift as they spun, they rais'd the solemn strain, 
 Whose truths rever'd thro' ages shall remain. 
 
 Prono in pollice torquens, &c.] Tibullus has a similar descrip- 
 tion : 
 
 Fusus et apposito pollice versat opuf. 
 
 TIB. Eleg. i. Lib. i. 
 
 Laneaque arldutis, &c.] The mention of this trifling circum- 
 stance is exquisite ; it is painting nature : we see three aged ma- 
 trons spin, biting every now and then the knots in the wool, to 
 make the thread run smooth, which leaves straggling fragments 
 sticking upon their dry lips. 
 
 Emathi*.
 
 48 CATULU CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 O decus eximium, magnis virtutibus augens, 
 Emathise coin men Peleu, clarissime natu : 
 Accipe, quod Iseta tibi pandunt luce sorores, 325 
 Veridicum oraclum: et vos, qua fata sequuntur, 
 Currite ducentes subtemina, currite fusi. 
 
 Adveniet tibi jam portans optata maritis 
 Hesperus: adveniet fausto cum sidere conjux, 
 Quas tibi flexanimo mentem perfundat amore, 330 
 Languidulosque paret tecum conjungere somnos, 
 Levia substernens robusto brachia collo. 
 Currite ducentes subtemina, currite fusi. 
 
 Nulla domus tales unquam contexit amores ; 
 Nullus amor tali conjunxit foedere amantes; 335 
 Qualis adest Thetidi, qualis concordia Peleo. 
 Currite ducentes subtemina, currite fusi. 
 
 Emaibi(e.~\ A country comprehending all Thessaly and Mace, 
 donia. 
 
 Currite ducentes, &c.] Macrobius, Saturnal. 6. contrasts this 
 intercalary line with the following in Virgil, Eclog. 4. 
 Talia stecla suis dixerunt currite fusis. 
 
 The Sisters to their spindles said: Succeed 
 ' Ye happy years, for thus hath fate decreed!" 
 
 WARTON.
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 49 
 
 " O, thou, to virtue and to heav'n allied, 
 " Illustrious Peleus, great Thessalia's pride ! 380 
 '* Hear, mortal, hear, in this auspicious day, 
 " Th' eventful words the direful Sisters say ! 
 " And you, ye spindles, our dread voice attend ; 
 " You, on whose course the fates of men depend! 
 " Move quick, ye never-ceasing spindles, move ; 385 
 " And draw the lengthening thread of life, and love ! 
 
 " Soon shall bright Hesper gild the front of night; 
 " Shall with him bring the husband's wish'd delight; 
 " Shall with him bring that brighter star, thy bride, 
 " Who o'er thy soul shall pour sweet rapture's tide; 
 " And, sleeping by thy side with languid charms, 391 
 " Fold round thy manly neck her silken arms. 
 " Move quick, ye never-ceasing spindles, move; 
 " And draw the length'ning thread of life, and love ! 
 
 " No mansion, sure, e'er witness'd equal bliss, 395 
 " Nor smil'd sweet Hymen on a flame like this! 
 " With ardent passion beauteous Thetis burns, 
 " And fonder passion her dear youth returns! 
 " Move quick, ye never-ceasing spindles, move ; 
 " And draw the length'ning thread of life, and love ! 
 
 VOL. II. E
 
 5<3 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Nascetur vobis expers terroris Achilles, 
 Hostibus haud tergo, sed forti pe&ore notus: 
 Qui persaspe vago victor certamine cursus 340 
 
 Flammea praevertet celeris vestigia cervae. 
 Currire ducentes subtemina, currite fusi. 
 
 Non illi quisquam bello se conferee heros, 
 Cum Phrygii Teucro manabunt sanguine rivi, 
 Tro'icaque obsidens longinquo moenia bello 345 
 Perjuri Pelopis vastabit tertius haeres. 
 Currite ducentes subtemina, currite fusi. 
 
 Illius egregias virtu tes, claraque fafta 
 Ssepe fatebuntur gnatorum in funere matres, 
 Cum cinere incanos solvent a vertice crines, 350 
 Putridaque infirmis variabunt pe<5tora palmis. 
 Currite ducentes subtemina, currite fusi. 
 
 >ui persxpt i>ago, &c.] Catullus seems to have had an eye to 
 that beautiful description in Euripides, from the Iphigeniain Au- 
 lis, where Achilles is painted as exercising himself in the race on 
 the sea shore. 
 
 Cum Pbrygii, &c.] Alluding to the two Trojan rivers, Xan- 
 thus, and Siniois, which were often stained with the blood of 
 Dion's heroes, during their wars with the Greeks. 
 
 Tertius b<eres.~\ Agamemnon is meant, the general of the 
 Grecians, at the siege of Troy: the three heirs of Pelops were 
 his two sons Atreus, and Thyestes ; the third was Agamemnon. 
 Pelops is termed perjured, because he did not keep his word with 
 
 Myrtillus,
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 5! 
 
 " The dread Achilles shall of you be born, 401 
 " Who foes will face, but ne'er from foes will turn ; 
 " Who, still a vidtor in the rapid race, 
 " Will shame the fleet stag with his fiery pace. 
 " Move quick, ye never-ceasing spindles, move; 
 " And draw the length'ning thread of life, and love 1 
 
 " With him no hero shall in fight compare, 
 " When Phrygia's floods shall blush with crimson 
 
 " war; 
 
 " When the third heir of perjur'd Pelops' line 
 " Shall raze, with ceaseless siege, Troy's towers di- 
 
 " vine, 410 
 
 " Move quick, ye never-ceasing spindles, move; 
 " And draw the length'ning thread of life, and love ! 
 
 " Full many a mother o'er her children's bier 
 "His valiant feats, his prowess shall declare ; 
 " Rending her locks in whitening ashes drest, 415 
 " Striking with feeble hand her livid breast 1 
 " Move quick, ye never-ceasing spindles, move; 
 " And draw the length'ning thread of life, and love ! 
 
 Myrtillus, the charioteer of Oenomaus, Pelops' father-in-law, 
 whom he engaged to kill his master; Myrtillus effected it, and 
 Pelops, for his pains, threw him into the Mgtan sea; a part of 
 which is therefore called, mare Myrtoum. 
 
 E 2 Unda
 
 52 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Namque velut densas prosternens cultor aristas, 
 Sole sub ardenti flaventia demetit arvaj 
 Trojugenum infesto prosternet corpora ferro. 355 
 
 Currite ducentes subtemina, currite fusi, 
 
 / 
 
 Testis erit magnis virtutibus unda Scamandri, 
 Quae passim rapido diffunditur Hellesponto : 
 Quoius iter cassis angustans corporum acervis, 
 Aha tepefaciet permista flumina czede. 360 
 
 Currite ducentes subtemina, currite fusi. 
 
 Denique testis erit morti quoque reddita prseda, 
 Cum teres excelso coacervatum aggere bustum 
 Excipiet niveos pcrculsae virginis artus. 
 Currite ducentes subtemina, currite fusi. 365 
 
 Nam, simul ac fessis dederit fors copiam Achivis 
 Urbis Dardanize Neptunia solvere vincla, 
 
 Unda Seamandri."] Scamander, and Xanthus are the same : Ca- 
 tullus here seems to allude to the fable, which Homer relates, in 
 Iliad xi. 
 
 Redditaprteda.] Alluding to Polyxena, who was to have been 
 Achilles' wife; but when he was slain by Paris, and Troy was 
 conquered, this lady fell into the hands of Neoptolemus, or Pyrrhus 
 son of Achilles, who slew her at his father's tomb, by the command 
 of his ghost. See Euripides, Hecub. and Ovid, Metam. 13. 
 
 Urbis Dardania."] Neptune, and Apollo were said to have jointly 
 built the walls of Troy, for king Laomedon. 
 
 Ctrcumdare
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 53 
 
 " Beneath some reaper's hook as falls the grain, 
 " When autumn yellows o'er the teeming plain; 420 
 ** So Ilion's heroes shall his fury feel, 
 " And fall in crowds beneath his vengeful steel. 
 " Move quick, ye never-ceasing spindles, move; 
 " And draw the lengthening thread of life, and love ! 
 
 " His godlike daring shall Scamander know, 
 " As to the Hellespont his waters flow, 426 
 
 " Whose narrow'd waves, choak'd up with heaps of 
 
 " slain, 
 
 " Shall, warm with blood, run purple to the main* 
 " Move quick, ye never-ceasing spindles, move; 
 " And draw the lengthening thread of life, and love ! 
 
 " And thou, fair Virgin, death's devotecj prey ! 
 " Who on thy lover's funeral pile must lay; 
 " To sooth whose ghost thy snowy limbs, must bleed 1 
 " E'en thou shalt witness ev'ry martial deed. 
 " Move quick, ye never-ceasing spindles, move; 
 " And draw the length'nin-g thread of life, and love ! 
 
 " For, to the war-worn Greeks when fate shall yield 
 " The Dardan walls, which Neptune deign'd to 
 " build : 
 
 E 3
 
 54 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Alta Polyxenia madefient casde sepulcra: 
 Quse, velut ancipiti succumbens vidima ferro, 
 Projiciet truncum submisso poplite corpus. 370 
 Currite ducentes subtemina, currite fusi. 
 
 Quare agite optatos animi conjungite amores, 
 Accipiat conjux felici fcedere divam, 
 Dedatur cupido jamdudum nupta marito. 
 Currite ducentes subtemina, currite fusi. 375 
 
 Non illam nutrix orienti luce revisens, 
 Hesterno collum poterit circumdare filo. 
 Currite ducentes subtemina, currite fusi. 
 
 Anxia nee mater discordis moesta puellce 
 Sccubitu, caros mittet sperare nepotes. 380 
 
 Currite ducentes subtemina, currite fusi. 
 
 Circumdare filo. ] That is, may you to-morrow prove that you 
 are no longer a virgin ; for the ancients had an idea that the neck 
 swelled after venery; perhaps from the supposed descent of the 
 procreative fluid, which they thought lodged in the brain. See 
 Hippocrates, and Aristotle upon this subject. The bride had there- 
 fore her neck measured on her wedding night, and again in the 
 morning, to prove her past virginity, and present womanhood. 
 Cajpurnius records this superstition : 
 
 Sed postquam Donacen dun clausere parentis, 
 Quod non tarn tenuijilo de voce sonaret, 
 Solicituique foret linguae sonus, improba cervix 
 Suffususque rubor crebro, vcnteque tumentcs. 
 
 Anxl*
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 55 
 
 " Then 'tis, Polixena, thy hapless doom, 
 
 " With thy pure blood to stain the high-rais'dtomb; 
 
 " And, wilful bending to the murd'rous blade, 441 
 
 " Fall a chaste vidtim to Achilles' shade. 
 
 " Move quick, ye never-ceasing spindles, move; 
 
 " And draw the length'ning thread of life, and love ! 
 
 " Haste then, fond bridegroom; haste, thou fon- 
 " der bride; 445 
 
 " Now shall your souls in wedlock's bands be tied ! 
 " Now shall blest Peleus fold the nymph divine, 
 " Now, fervent Thetis, shall the youth be thine ! 
 " Move quick, ye never-ceasing spindles, move; 
 " And draw the length'ning thread of life, and love ! 
 
 " May her nurse find,when next the dawn shall break, 
 " The wonted band too small to gird her neck ! 
 " Move quick, ye never-ceasing spindles, move; 
 " And draw the length'ning thread of life, and love ! 
 
 " May discord ne'er dissolve her nuptial ties, 455 
 " But many a grandchild greet her mother's eyes ! 
 " Move quick, ye never-ceasing spindles, move ; 
 16 And draw the length'ning thread of life, and love !" 
 
 Anxia nee mater y &c.] These two lines have much meaning, 
 although at first reading they seem rather obscure. TThe poet 
 
 E 4 wishes,
 
 56 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Talia prsefantes quondam, felicia Pelei 
 Carmina divino cecinerunt omine Parcas. 
 Praesentes namque ante domos invisere castas 
 Heroum, et sese mortal! ostendere coetu 385 
 
 Ccelicola?, nondum spreta pietate, solebant. 
 Ssepe pater divum templo in fulgente revisens, 
 Annua dum festis venissent sacra diebus, 
 Conspexit terra centum procurrere currus. 
 Saspe vagus Liber Parnassi vertice summo 390 
 
 Thyadas effusis evantes crinibus egit, 
 
 wishes, that no discord may ever separate Peleus and Thetis, so 
 as to deprive the mother of Thetis seeing a pleasing race of grand- 
 children, to cherish her old age. 
 
 Annua dum festis, &c.] This is a passage upon which com- 
 mentators differ: many refer to the Olympic games, celebrated in 
 Elis, near the banks of Alpheus ; which Guarinus says is improper, 
 they being celebrated every fifth year only; he therefore conjec- 
 tures that some annual Cretan games are alluded to, Crete claim- 
 ing the honour of Jupiter's birth : indeed some few editions for 
 centum have Cretum. It has been conjeftured, that, in the early 
 ages, these Olympic games were annual, afterwards triennial, 
 and lastly quinquennial: but Pausanias, in Elid. Par. \. Cap. 7. 
 says ; Hercules, the Idacan Daftylus, originally instituted the 
 Olympic games quinquennial, because the Idaean Daclyli consisted 
 of five brothers. Others affirm, that the Circensian games are 
 meant; where, according to Servius,five and twenty chariot matches 
 were run, four chariots to each match, making in all an hundred: 
 to which, purpose Virgil, Georg. 3. 
 
 Centum quadrijugos agitabo ad littora currus. 
 I'll lash an hundred cars, like chiefs of yore, 
 By four-yok'd horses whirl'd along the sounding shore. 
 
 WARTON. 
 Green,
 
 PO. 6l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. $J 
 
 So sang the Fates, whose happy-omen'd song 
 Foretold what joys to Peleus should belong: 460 
 Thus too, when virtue was rever'd on earth, 
 E'en gods conferr'd with those of mortal birth j 
 To heroes' mansions, stampt with pious fame, 
 Th' august assembly of celestials came ; 
 Heav'n's potent King oft left the starry courts, 465 
 To grace his fane, and view his annual sports, 
 Where, eager to attain the destin'd goal, 
 On festive days, an hundred chariots roll; 
 Bacchus would oft repair from tuneful height, 
 His Thyades with scatter'd locks excite ; 470 
 
 Green, red, white, and blue, were the colours which each con- 
 tending party generally wore. 
 
 Sape vagus Liber, &c.] Of the two summits of Parnassus, one 
 was sacred to Apollo, the other to Bacchus; and at the neigh- 
 bouring city of Delphos, the umbilicus orbis of the ancients, famous 
 for the oracle of Apollo, the God of wine was also adored. Thus 
 Lucan, Lib. 5. 
 
 Hesperio tantum, quantum semotus EDO 
 Cardinf, Parnassus gcmino petit tethera colle : 
 Mons Phabo Bromioque sacer, cui numine misto 
 Delpbica Tbebana referunt Trieterica Bacch#. 
 
 Between the ruddy west, and eastern skies, 
 In the mid earth, Parnassus' tops arise; 
 To Phoebus, and the chearful God of wine, 
 Sacred in common stands the Hill divine. 
 
 ROWE. 
 
 Tritonls
 
 58 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 6l. 
 
 Cum Delphi tota certatim ex urbe ruentes 
 Acciperent Izeti divum fumantibus aris. 
 Saepe in lethifero belli certamine Mayors, 
 Aut rapidi Tritonis hera, aut Rhamnusia virgo 395 
 Armatas hominum est prassens hortata catervas. 
 Sed postquam tellus scelere est imbuta nefando, 
 Justitiamque omnes cupida de mente fugarunt; 
 Perfudere manus fraterno sanguine fratres ; 
 Destitit extindos gnatus lugere parentesj 400 
 
 Optavit genitor primaevi fun era gnati, 
 Liber ut innuptas poteretur flore novercae ; 
 Ignato mater substernens se impia gnato, 
 Impia non verita est divos scelerare penates ; 
 Omnia fanda, nefanda, malo permista furore 405 
 Justificam nobis mentem avertere deorum, 
 Quare nee tales dignantur visere coetus,, 
 Nee se contingi patiuntur lumine claro. 
 
 TrftiHtis hera, &c.J Pallas was educated, it is said, on the bank* 
 of the Lybian lake Triton ; hence she is called Tritonia. Nemesis 
 has been mentioned in the notes to Carm. 47. 
 
 fettatfs.] Many editions have parentes, which I do not think 
 makes such good sense. There are commentators who say, that 
 this, and the preceding line refer to the well-known story of Oe- 
 dipus and Jocasta ; but I rather conceive that a general allusion is 
 intended. 
 
 Square
 
 PO. 6l. POEM**t)F CATULLUS. 59 
 
 While the glad Delphians their abodes forsook, 
 To hail the pow'r, and bade their altars smoke ! 
 Oft did stern Mars who walks th' embattled field, 
 Oft did Minerva with her Gorgon shield, 
 Oft virgin Nemesis the combat share, 475 
 
 And lead themselves their armed hosts to war. 
 
 But, when fell crimes this impious soil o'erspread; 
 When lawless passions rul'd in reason's stead j 
 When brothers' hands were drench'd in brothers* 
 
 blood ; 
 
 And parents' biers no filial tears bedew'd ; 480 
 
 When the base father spurn'd his first-born heir, 
 That some gay step-dame might his fortunes share ; 
 When a son's bed th' incestuous mother stain'd, 
 And daringly her houshold gods profan'd; 
 When vice, as virtue, was esteem'd by men; 485 
 Then deities no longer grac'd this scene, 
 From earth's vile throng to their own heav'ns with- 
 drew, 
 And never more appear'd to mortal view. 
 
 Quare nee talts, &rc.] This elegant mention of the golden age, 
 when gods associated with men, before their crimes rendered them 
 unworthy of divine favour, is very happily introduced ; and closes 
 the poem with becoming solemnity, 
 
 Hortalus
 
 
 60 CATULLI CARINA. CA. 62. 
 
 AD HORTALUM. LXII. 
 
 ETSl me assiduo confe&um cura dolorc 
 Sevocat a dodtis, Hortale, virginibus: 
 
 Nee potis est dulces Musarum expromere foetus 
 Mens animi ; tantis flu&uat ipsa mails : 
 
 Namque mei nuper Lethseo gurgite fratris 5 
 
 Pallidulum manans alluit unda pedem; 
 
 Tro'ia Rhocteo quern subter litore tellus 
 
 Ereptum nostris obterit ex oculis. 
 
 ***#*****#*# 
 
 Nunquam ego te, vita frater amabilior, 10 
 
 Aspiciam posthac ? at certe semper amabo, 
 
 Semper mcesta tua carmina morte legam : 
 Qualia sub densis ramorum concinit umbris 
 
 Daulias, absumpti fata gemens Ityli. 
 
 LXII. 
 
 Hortalus had requested of his friend Catullus, to send him a 
 translation of Callimachus' celebrated poem on Berenice's hair; 
 which he at length did ; apologizing for his tardiness, by reason 
 of his grief at his brother's death. Who this Hortalus was, has 
 not been satisfactorily ascertained : some suppose him to be the 
 same with the poet Hortensius, mentioned by Tacitus, and Suetonius. 
 
 Mens animi. ~\ A singular, though elegant latinism. In like 
 manner Lucretius : 
 
 Dcnique cur animi nunquam mens consiliumque 
 Gignitur in capite. Luc RET. Lib. 3- 
 
 Rharteo ] Rhoeteum, where the brother of Catullus was buried, is 
 a Trojan promontory, famous for the sepulchre of Ajax, as Sigaeum 
 was for that of Achilles. Ex
 
 PO. 62. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 6l 
 
 TO HORTALUS. LXII. 
 
 O, HORTALUS ! with wasting cares opprest, 
 I live sequester'd from the tuneful Nine ; 
 
 Nor can the Muse, while sorrow racks my breast, 
 Prompt the gay thought, or form the flowing line. 
 
 I a fond brother's heart-felt loss deplore, 5 
 
 Whose clay-cold feet dark Lethe's waters lave; 
 
 Beside fam'd Rhceteum, on the Trojan shore, 
 Rest his cold relicks in the peaceful grave. 
 
 E'en than my life, o brother, dearer far ! 
 
 Say, never shall I view thy form again? 10 
 
 In love at least thou wilt be always dear; 
 
 Still shalt thou live in sorrow's tender strain. 
 
 Still will I sing thee, as the bird of eve 
 
 Sings sweetly-lorn upon her tufted seat; 15 
 
 Mid shades of darkest foliage pleas'd to grieve, 
 To mourn unhappy Itys' barb'rous fate ! 
 
 Ex oculis.] After these words there is an evident hiatus, which 
 some editions fill up with the following spurious line: 
 
 Alloquar? audierone unquam tua faff a loquentem? 
 >ualia sub densh t &c.] Similar to this is the following passage 
 in Virgil : 
 
 Quails popule a mcerens Philomela sub umbra, &C. 
 
 And
 
 62 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 62. 
 
 Sed tamen in tantis mccroribus, Hortale, mitto 15 
 
 Haec excerpta tibt carmina Battiadse: 
 Ne tua didta vagis nequicquam credita vends 
 
 Effluxisse meo forte putes animo: 
 Ut missum sponsi furtivo munere malum 
 
 Procurrit casto virginis e gremio, 20 
 
 Quod misers oblitce molli sub veste locatum, 
 
 Dum adventu matrls prosilit, excutitur, 
 Atque illud prono prasceps agitur decursu: 
 
 Huic manat tristi conscius ore rubor. 
 
 And a modern English poet has elegantly copied the Latin bard, in 
 the following stanza on the death of his Constantia : 
 
 So may the Muse, that loves to grieve, 
 
 Her strains into my breast instil,; 
 Melodious as the bird of eve, 
 
 In Maro's lays that murmur still! 
 
 LANGHORNE. 
 
 Ovid, Metam. 6. relates the story of Philomel, called Daulias, 
 from the Attic region Daulia, and the unfortunate boy Itylus or 
 Itys, who must not however be confounded with Itylus, son of 
 Zethus and Mdon. See Homer, Odyss. 19. 
 
 Battiad*.'] Callimachus, librarian to the Ptolemies, was a 
 descendant of Battus, the royal founder of Cyrene. See Strabo, 
 Lib. 17. and Aulus Gellius, Lib. 7. also the notes to Carm. 7.
 
 PO. 62. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 63 
 
 Yet, midst my woes, I send this Roman song, 
 Anxious to grant my friend his least desire, 
 
 Which erst the Bard, from ancient Battus sprung, 
 Warbled melodious on the Grecian lyre: 20 
 
 Lest Hortalus should deem his lov'd behest 
 Escap'd the mem'ry of his willing slave : 
 
 As from some modest virgin's secret breast 
 Escapes the apple her kind lover gave, 
 
 Which there in fond forgetfulness she laid ; 25 
 
 Till, all abrupt, her witless mother came ; 
 
 When, starting back, the falling gift betray'd 
 Her hidden love, while blushes spoke her shame. 
 
 Vt mlssum sponsi, &c.] This is a comparison, not less beautiful 
 than singular. Vossius tells us, that presenting an apple to a virgin 
 had an obscene signification, as well among the Greeks as Romans; 
 and instances Paulinus, who was murdered on account of the apple 
 sent by the empress Eudocia. See, relative to this subject, the 
 Chronic. Alexandrin. and various Byzantine writers. Festus, upon 
 this simile, says, that the infidelity of woman's bosom is prover. 
 bial ; for she forgets whatever she places there. 
 
 Thin
 
 64 CATtfLLI CARMINA. CA. 63. 
 
 COMA BERENICES. Lxm. 
 (COMA LOQJTITUR.) 
 
 OMNIA qui magni despexit lumina mundi, 
 
 Qui stellarum onus comperit, atque obitus : 
 Flammeus ut rapidi soils nitor obscuretur, 
 
 Ut cedant certis sidera temporibus, 
 Ut Triviam furtim sub Latmia saxa relegans 5 
 
 Dulcis amor gyro devocet aerio: 
 Idem me ille Conon coelesti lumine vidit 
 
 E Bereniceo vertice cassariem, 
 Fulgentem clare: quam mukis ilia deorum, 
 
 Levia protendens brachia, pollicita est, 10 
 
 LXIII. 
 
 This poem, which is referred to in the preceding Carmen, 
 and which Catullus translated from the Greek of Callimachus, is 
 generally allowed to be the least elegant of his compositions. It 
 may not be improper to give my reader a short sketch of the story 
 upon which the original was written, as Hyginus relates it, in his 
 book, de Signis Ctflestibus, where he speaks of the lion. See also 
 Solinus, Cap. 29. Ptolomaeus Evergetes, son of Ptolomaeus Phila- 
 delphus king of Egypt, marrying, as the ./Egyptian laws allowed, 
 his own sister Berenice, or Beronice, was, a few days after his 
 nuptials, obliged to go upon a martial expedition against the Sy- 
 rians, or Assyrians as Catullus poetically calls them; and, that her 
 husband might be successful, Berenice vowed to sacrifice a lock of 
 her beautiful hair to Venus. Ptolomaeus returned a conqueror, 
 and his wife accordingly hung up her hair in the temple of Venus, 
 which the next day was gone : Conon, a noted mathematician, to 
 flatter the king, who was fond of the science of astronomy, pre- 
 tended that it was carried to the skies, and converted into a con- 
 stellation. For an account of Conon, see Hyginus, and Seneca, 
 
 Lib.
 
 PO. 63. POEMS OF CATULLUS, 65 
 
 BERENICE'S HAIR. LXIII. 
 (THE HAIR SPEAKS.) 
 
 THE man, who watch'd each orb that gilds the 
 
 skies; 
 
 That knew why planets set, and why they rise ; 
 Could tell what cause obscures the solar blaze ; 
 Why stars, in certain seasons, hide their rays; 
 Why, under Latmos' peak, the silver Queen 5 
 Steals to her loves, and quits the blue serene ; 
 That very Conon, from yon spangled height, 
 Has oft beheld me mid the host of night; 
 Beheld me stream along the liquid air, 
 A radiant lock of Berenice's hair; 10 
 
 Lib. 6. ^uast. Nat. The beginning of this poem is found in 
 Theon, the scholiast of Aratus, who notices some few stars scat- 
 tered near the sign virgo, which are called Berenice's hair. Pri- 
 deaux, in his Connexions, gives a very different account of Bere- 
 nice, which Rollin copied almost verbatim. 
 
 Lamina mundi."] Many read, munera mundi; and Vossius writes, 
 mxnia mundi, similar to Luctetlus'sjlammantia mania mundi, which 
 our poet Gray imitates by his " flaming bounds of place and time." 
 
 Ut Triviam, &c.] The triple goddess, Diana, Hecate, or Luna, 
 whose three faces Virgil records, trla Virginis ora Diana, fell in 
 love with Endymion, whom she persuaded Jupiter to throw into a. 
 perpetual sleep under mount Latmos, that she might for ever em- 
 brace him there. Hence, to sleep Endymion's sleep, became a 
 Greek proverb for the ina&ive and drowsy. 
 
 Pollidta est.~\ Another Latin classic also records the custom 
 of consecrating a lock of hair, by way of vow. 
 
 VOL. II. F . HL
 
 66 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 63. 
 
 Qua rex tempestate novo auftus Hymenxo, 
 
 Vastatum fines iverat Assyrios, 
 Dulcia nofturnae portans vestigia rixse, 
 
 Quam de virgineis gesserat exuviis. 
 Estne novis nuptis odio Venus? anne parentum 15 
 
 Frustrantur falsis gaudia lacrymulis, 
 Ubertim thalami quas intra limina fundunt ? 
 
 Non, ita me divi, vera gemunt, juverint 
 Id mea me multis docuit regina querelis, 
 
 Invisente novo prcelio torva viro. 20 
 
 At tu non orbum luxti deserta cubile, 
 
 Sed fratris cari flebile discidium. 
 Quam penitus moestas exedit cura medullas ! 
 
 Ut tibi tune toto pedore sollicitse 
 Sensibus ereptis mens excidit ! atqui ego certe 25 
 
 Cognoram a parva virgine magnanimam. 
 
 Hie more parentum 
 
 Jasides thalamos, ubi casta adolesceret <etas 
 Virgineas libare comas, primosque solebat 
 Excusare faros. STATIUS. 
 
 Hei'e (so long custom has ordain'd) are led 
 The nymphs, when ripen'd for the marriage-bed ; 
 And, for the frailty of the sex atone, 
 With maiden ringlets on the altar thrown. LEWIS. 
 
 Non, ita me divi, &c.]. The hair, which is the speaking person- 
 age, if I may be allowed the expression, throughout the whole 
 poem, here tells us a well-known truth; that women are in gene- 
 ral little averse to marriage. Berenice lamented exceedingly the 
 loss of her new husband; yet, says the hair, fraternal love had no 
 
 small
 
 PO. 63. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 67 
 
 Which the fond queen, with hands uplifted, vow'd 
 
 A welcome off'ring to each fav'ring god, \ 
 
 When to the conquest of Assyria's land 
 
 Her raptur'd consort led his martial band, 
 
 And, proud of virgin spoils, he bore away 15 
 
 The blushing trophies of the am'rous fray. 
 
 * But, is it, Venus, with unfeigned hate 
 
 That tender brides lament their bridal state? 
 
 Their parents' dawning hopes with grief to wound, 
 
 Do not false tears bedew the bed around? 20 
 
 So may Jove help me, as I here protest 
 
 That sorrow's feign'd which wets their throbbing breast ! 
 
 My queen's sad plaints can vouch this solemn truth, 
 
 When war, unpitying, calPd away the youth: 
 
 She wept; but not a husband did she mourn; 25 
 
 She joy'd in him;- she wept a brother gone. 
 
 A brother's loss her inmost soul subdu'd; 
 
 Him, only him, her frantic mind pursu'd; 
 
 And yet, for well I know thy earliest year, 
 
 I thought thee, Berenice, manlier far. 30 
 
 small share in her sorrow; for her husband was likewise her bro- 
 ther. Seneca has a line not inapplicable to our subject: 
 Felices nuptx, moriar, nisi nubere dulce cst! 
 Fond brides, I'll die, if 'tis not sweet to wed I 
 Magnffnimam~] Hyginus tells us, -that many, with Callima- 
 chus, agree in Berenice's courage ; she was used to break horses 
 
 Fz for
 
 68 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 63. 
 
 Anne bonum oblita es facinus, quo regium adepta cs 
 
 Conjugium, quo non fortius ausit alis? 
 Sed turn mocsta virum mittens, qua verba locuta es ! 
 
 Jupiter, ut tersti lumina saepe manu ! 30 
 
 Quis te mutavit tantus deus ? an quod amantes 
 
 Non longe a caro corpore abesse volunt? 
 At quae ibi, proh, cun&is pro dulci conjuge divis 
 
 Non sine taurino sanguine pollicita es! 
 Si reditum retulisset is, aut in tempore longo 55 
 
 Captam Asiam ^Egypti finibus adjiceret. 
 Queis ego pro fadis coelesti reddita coetu, 
 
 Pristina vota novo munere dissoluo. 
 Invita, 6 regina, tuo de vertice cessi, 
 
 Invitaj adjuro teque tuumque caput: 40 
 
 Digna ferat, quod si quis inaniter adjurarit. 
 
 Sed qui se ferro postulet esse parem? 
 
 for the Olympic races, and perform various martial feats : one par- 
 ticularly is recorded, to which Catullus seemingly alludes. Her 
 father, being surrounded by enemies, was in imminent danger; 
 Berenice, perceiving it, sprang upon a horse, rushed through the 
 foe, whom she put to flight, or slew; rescued her father; and, fer 
 this glorious action, her brother married her. 
 
 Qufs te mutavit, &c.] The hair now reproaches its mistress 
 with her extreme grief, which is thought rather too womanish for 
 so illustrious a character. 
 
 Sed qui se ferro, &c.] This has been very happily imitated by 
 Pope, in his Rape of the Lock, when the lovely Belinda's hair, 
 like Berenice's, felt the power of steel : 
 
 What
 
 PO. 63. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 69 
 
 Hast thou forgot that deed, surpass'd by none, 
 Which gain'd a husband's love, which gain'd a throne ? 
 And when thyself, to his best honour true, 
 Bade thy lov'd warrior take his last adieu ; 
 While thy fair hand wip'd off the frequent tear, 35 
 Ye gods, what noble language did I hear? 
 Then say, to all things but thy brother blind, 
 What pow'r hath chang'd the firmness of thy mind ? 
 Perhaps 'tis nature's fault, who thinks it wrong 
 That souls congenial should be absent long : 40 
 Hence bullocks bled, hence frequent vows preferr'd, 
 That each kind deity might watch thy lord, 
 Speed his return, with triumph crown his stay, 
 And subjed Asian realms to Egypt's sway : 
 This once obtain'd, amid the stars I shine, 45 
 
 Absolving all thy oaths, a new made sign ! 
 But, by that head, by thy bright self I swear, 
 'Twas with regret I left a seat so fair; 
 And let no mortal this fond truth deny, 
 Or may just heav'n reward his perjury ! 50 
 
 Say, who can steel's resistless force withstand ? 
 The loftiest mount of Macedonia's land 
 
 What time would spare, from steel receives its date, 
 
 And monuments like men submit to fate ! 
 
 Steel could the labours of the Gods destroy, 
 
 And strike to dust th' imperial tow'rs of Troy; $tee j
 
 70 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 63. 
 
 llle quoque eversus mons est, quern maximum4n oris 
 
 Progenies Thyas clara supervehitur, 
 Cum Medi properare novum mare, cumquejuventus 
 
 Per medium classi barbara navit Athon. 46 
 
 Quid faciant crines, cum ferro talia cedant? 
 
 Jupiter, ut Chalybum omne genus pereat; 
 
 Steel could the works of mortal pride confound, 
 And hew triumphal arches to the ground : 
 What wonder, then, fair nymph ! thy hairs should feel 
 The conquering force of unres ; sted steel ? Canto 3. 
 
 Eversus mons est t &c.] This passage has been variously read, 
 and as variously explained. Mount Athos in Macedonia is alluded 
 to, that was cut through by the Persian army under Xerxes. Many 
 for maximum in oris, read maximum in orbe\ others maximl natu, 
 Sec. meaning the inhabitants of the summit of mount Athos. 
 The clara progenies, as the most probable conjecture, I refer to the 
 Macedonians writing Tby<e\ for Stephanus and Solinus say, that 
 Thya was the daughter of Deucalion, upon whom Jupiter begot 
 Macedo, a yoqth who gave the name to Macedonia; though others 
 will have Macedo to be the offspring of Osiris: but the clara pro- 
 genies might be made to refer to the Medes, if we wrote The* ; for 
 it is easy to deduce the origin of the Medes and Persians from 
 Thea, or Theia, who married her own brother Hyperion. The 
 ancient reading Phthiee every one must surely disapprove ; though 
 many commentators, as Turnebus, and Muretus, have vainly en- 
 deavoured to torture the passage to a degree of sense: some of 
 them lift mount Athos from its native spot to the confines of Thes- 
 saly, or Phthia, to justify the reading; an exploit surely greater 
 than that of Xerxes. May not Thessaly have been confounded 
 with Macedonia, from the word Emathia, which comprehends 
 both countries ? Vossius thinks we might read Progenies Clytite 
 clara ; alluding to Medea, the daughter of /Eetes,and Clytia, from 
 whom some fabulists say the Medes derived their name. Clytx 
 might not be an improper reading; for, according to Pliny and 
 
 Livy, the Clytae were a people near mount Athos. 
 
 Per
 
 PO. 63. POEMS OF CATULLUS. Jl 
 
 Was bow'd by steel ; whilst onward to the shore 
 Thya's fam'd sons the rushing billows bore ; 
 Whilst youthful Medes dar'd the new-bursting flood, 
 And foreign vessels rode where Athos stood. 56 
 Then since fell steel can things like these subdue, 
 What could weak hairs against its fury do ? 
 O, may Jove's dreaded curse, and endless hate 
 The impious race of Chalybes await ! 60 
 
 Per medium classi, &c.] The expedition of the Persian mo- 
 narch, whose army consisted of Medians, a word nearly synoni- 
 mous with Persians, and his cutting a passage through mount 
 Athos, now called, by reason of its numerous monasteries, Agios 
 Ores, or Monte Santo, may be found amply described by Herodo- 
 tus, Pliny, Justin, Probus, and a variety of other writers. Cicero 
 likewise mentions it : Cum tantis dassibus, tantisque equestribus et 
 pedestribus copiis, Hellespontojunfto, Atbone perfosso, maria ambu- 
 lavisset. And in like manner Claudian, speaking of Xerxes : 
 
 Cum classibus iret, 
 Per scapulas. 
 
 Jupiter, utCbalybum, &c.] This is undoubtedly the. true text. 
 The Cbalybes, a people of Scythia, or rather of Asia Minor, near 
 the river Thermodon, are so called, from Chalybs the son of Mars, 
 who first found out the use of iron, .^ischylus calls Scythia, 
 stl'aa c-t&jgo/x^roga. Thus Virgil : 
 
 India mittit ebur, mittunt sua tbura Sabei 
 
 At Cbalybes nudiferrum. VIRG. Georg. j. 
 
 Ind yields us ivory, and Arabia gums, 
 
 From naked Chalybes our iron comes. 
 
 Angelus Pontanus was the first who restored thris verse in Catul- 
 lus. Many for Cbalibum write Celitum\ others sicflicum; and 
 Vossius has celtum, from celtis, which he says is a sculptor's steel 
 instrument. We know now that the celtes of the ancients were 
 spear-heads. See Borlase's Antiquities of Cornwall. 
 
 F 4 Abrupt*
 
 7-2 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 63. 
 
 Et qui principle sub terra quaerere venas 
 
 Institit, ac ferri fingere duritiem. 50 
 
 Abruptze paulo ante comas mea fata sorores 
 
 Lugebant, cum se Memnonis ^Ethiopis 
 Unigena, impellens nutantibus aera pennis, 
 
 Obtulit Arsinoes Chlorides ales equus: 
 Isque per asthereas me tol'^ns advolat umbras, 55 
 
 Et Veneris casto collocat in gremio. 
 Ipsa suum Zephyritis eo famulum legarat, 
 
 Grata Canopeis incola litoribus; 
 Scilicet in vario ne solurn lumine coeli 
 
 Aut Ariadneis aurea temporibus 60 
 
 Fixa corona foret ; sed nos quoque fulgeremus 
 
 Devotas flavi verticis exuvia?. 
 
 Abrupt* paulb ante. Sec. ] In like manner Pope : 
 The sister lock now sits uncouth, alone, 
 And in its fellow's fate foresees its own. 
 
 Rape of the Lock, Canto 4. 
 
 Ciim se Memnonis, &c.] No passage in our poet has puzzled 
 commentators more than this. Some contend, that the ales equus 
 alludes to Pegasus, who, they ignorantly say, was Memnon's only 
 brother, and son of Aurora; and that Aurora made a present of 
 this horse to Jupiter: others, more reasonably, understand by ales 
 equus, Zephyrus, who is so stiled by many writers. Aurora, mo- 
 ther of Memnon, was likewise the mother of the Winds ; as Hesiod 
 writes, in Tbeogn. 
 
 'w o H< w/p.01; Tixe xagTE^oS^oK 
 
 Z/^f^o*, BojiV, &c. 
 However, whether it was Pegasus, or Zephyrus, that carried 
 away the hair from Arsinoe, a town of Cyrene, where, according 
 to Pliny, Cap. 5. Lib. 5. Venus had a temple, we find it was, at the 
 
 instance
 
 PO. 63. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 73 
 
 
 
 They who first dar'd explore the hated earth, 
 And gave to harden'd steel its fatal birth. 
 
 My sister locks ne'er ceas'd my loss to mourn : 
 What time the offspring of the roseate Morn, 
 The light- wing'd Zephyrus, by Flora lov'd, 65 
 O'er fields of -air on trembling pinions mov'dj 
 Swift to Arsinoe urg'd his rapid flight, 
 And thence convey'd me thro' the gloom of night, 
 To these bright realms of sether pure convey'd, 
 Then in the bosom of chaste Venus laid: 70 
 
 For, such the mandate to her am'rous slave 
 Which, on Canopus' banks, young Flora gave; 
 That not distinguish'd in the heav'ns alone 
 Should shine refulgent Ariadne's crown ; 
 But that the yellow tresses of my fair, 75 
 
 Sacred to love, might gild th' illumin'd air. 
 
 instance of Flora, Zephyritis, which Silvius, and some others 
 improperly construe Venus, because she had a fane on Zephyrium, 
 an Egyptian promontory. See Strabo, Lib. 9. But Flora, who 
 might be supposed to dwell on the flowery borders of Canopus, a 
 town watered by the fruitful Nile, is the best construction; for 
 Zephyrus was her servile lover, her famulus ; therefore the poet 
 happily feigns, that Flora sent him upon the errand of carrying 
 the hair away by night (for we may justly suppose it blown away 
 by some accidental blast) from the temple of Venus, to convey it 
 to the goddess herself in the skies ; meaning the Venus Urania, or 
 the chaste celestial Venus ; because Berenice's love was spotless. 
 
 Aut Arladneis, &c.] See the first note to the episode of Ariadne 
 ^nd Theseus, in the preceding Carmen 
 
 Virginia
 
 74 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 63. 
 
 Vividulo afflatu cedentem ad templa deum, me 
 
 Sidus in antiquis diva novum posuit. 
 Virginis et saevi contingens namque Leonis 65 
 
 Lumina, Callisto juxta Lycaonida 
 Vertor in occasum, tardum dux ante Booten, 
 
 Qui vix sero alto mergitur Oceano. 
 Sed, quanquam me nodte premunt vestigia divum, 
 
 Luce autem cans Tethyi restituor, 70 
 
 (Pace tua fari haec licear, Rhamnusia virgo, 
 
 Namque ego non ullo vera timore tegam, 
 Non, si me infestis discerpant sidera dictis, 
 
 Condita quin veri pedtoris evoliiam) 
 Non his tarn lastor rebus, quam me abfore semper, 
 
 Abfore me a dominse vertice discrucior: 76 
 
 Quicum ego, (cum virgo quondam fuit, omnibus 
 expers 
 
 Unguentis,) una millia multa bibi. 
 Nunc vos, optato quas junxit lumine teda, 
 
 Non prius unanimis corpora conjugibus 80 
 
 Pirginis et stfvi, &c.} Catullus here ascertains the spot where 
 Berenice's hair is fixt, by the neighbouring constellations, which 
 are easily found on the celestial globe. Bootes, or Arfturus, or 
 Arclophylax, is the last star that bathes itself in the ocean. 
 
 Expers Unguentis.] Virgins of strict chastity never anointed 
 themselves with any perfumed unguent, but used simple oil. Cal- 
 Hmachus represents Pallas, and Diana rejefting perfumed oils;
 
 PO. 63. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 75 
 
 Me, bath'd with parting tears, the goddess hung 
 A novel star the ancient stars among ; 
 Not far remov'd from fair Calisto's beam, 
 I near the Virgin, near the Lion gleam ; 80 
 
 And reach the west, long ere Bootes laves 
 His loit'ring axle in the briny waves : 
 Tho' trod each night beneath the gods' proud feet, 
 Each morn I fly to Tethys' cool retreat. 
 But let me, Nemesis, this truth reveal ; 85 
 
 For truth no fear shall urge me to conceal ; 
 Even tho' each star, with malediction loud, 
 Should warn me not to whisper it abroad: 
 Know then, such honours have no charms for me, 
 Since, o lov'd mistress, I'm remov'd from thee ! 90 
 I, oh whom once unnumber'd sweets were shed, 
 Sweets that ne'er dew'd thee when a blooming maid. 
 
 And you, young brides, whom wish'd delights 
 
 employ, 
 Whom Hymen's torch now lights to wedded joy ! 
 
 nor did such virgins wear garlands of sweet flowers for their hair, 
 but plainer wreaths, till they were married : however they were 
 allowed to perfume themselves with myrrh, cinnamon, or any 
 such simple sweet ; but not with perfumes composed of a variety of 
 odours. Vossius. 
 
 Fester
 
 ?6 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 63. 
 
 Tradite, nudantes rejefta veste papillas, 
 
 Quam jucunda mihi munera libet onyx ; 
 Vester onyx, casto petitis quas jura cubili: 
 
 Sed quze se impuro dedit adulterio, 
 Illius, ah, mala dona levis bibat irrita pulvis ! 85 
 
 Namque ego ab indignis prasmia nulla peto. 
 Sed magis, 6 nuptse, semper Concordia, vestras 
 
 Semper Amor sedes incolat assiduus. 
 Tu vero, regina, tuens cum sidera, divam 
 
 Placabis festis luminibus Venerem; 90 
 
 Sanguinis expertem non votis esse tuam me, 
 
 Sed potius largis affice muneribus. 
 
 Pester onyx, &c.] The whole of this line some, more obscenely, 
 write thus: Vester onyx casto quatitis qua jura cubili. Of the 
 Arabian stone, called onyx, the ancients cut many little vases for 
 drinking out of, and other purposes; but some more particu- 
 larly for keeping essences, and ointments. Thus Pliny, Cap. S. 
 Lib. 36. Hunc aliqui lapidem alabastriten 'vacant quern cavant ad 
 vasa ungufntaria, quoniam optime servare incorrupta dicitur. Thus 
 too Propertius, Eleg. 13. Lib. 2. 
 
 Cum dabittir Syria munere plenus onyx. 
 
 There is also a gem called onyx, whose colour was said to resemble 
 that of human finger-nails. 
 
 Semper Concordia, &c.] This is similar to Martial: 
 
 Candida perpetuo reside, Concordia, lefio, 
 
 Tamque part semper sit Venus tfquajugo. 
 
 DHigat ilia senem quondam : sed ft ipsa marito, 
 
 Tune quoque cumfuerit, non niideatur anus. 
 
 MART. Epig. 13. Lib. 4. 
 
 O, may bland Concord ever guard their bed; 
 
 Long on the pair her gifts may Venus shed! 
 
 O'er
 
 PO. 63. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 77 
 
 Let not your husbands press your latent charms, 95 
 
 Nor bare your bosoms to their circling arms; 
 
 Ere to my beams the onyx vase shall pour, 
 
 A due libation from its perfum'd store ; 
 
 Such as alone the virtuous fair bestow 
 
 Who keep inviolate their nuptial vow: 100 
 
 For learn, those vile libations I disdain, 
 
 Where lawless deeds the marriage bed profane; 
 
 Let these neglected on the earth be thrown; 
 
 I scorn the giver, and the gift disown. 
 
 With you, chaste brides, may concord ever dwell; 
 O'er your pure lives may tenderest bliss prevail ! 
 And thou, fair princess, lifting thy sweet eyes 
 To the bright orbs that gild these sapphire skies, 
 With solemn rites invoke love's pitying Queen ; 
 No bleeding victim must her altar stain ; no 
 
 With vows implore my wish'd return to thee; 
 With costly ofFrings bribe the deity ! 
 
 O'er his white head when age has shower'd its snow, 
 Still may her breast with wonted passion glow; 
 And may she seem when youth and beauty flies, 
 Still young, still beauteous in her husband's eyes ! 
 
 Sanguinis expertem, &c.] It was criminal to sacrifice any living 
 animal upon the altar of the Paphian Venus j nothing but frank- 
 incense, and garlands of flowers were placed upon it. To this pur- 
 pose Virgil:
 
 78 CA.TULLI CARMINA. CA. 64. 
 
 Sidera cur retinent? utinam coma regia fiam, 
 Proximtis Hydrochoi fulgeret Oarion. 
 
 AD JANUAM MOECHAE CUJUSDAM. LXJV. 
 
 VIATOR. 
 
 O DULCI jucunda viro, jucunda parenti, 
 
 Salve, teque bona Jupiter auctet ope, 
 Janua: quam Balbo dicunt servisse benigne 
 
 Olim, cum sedes ipse senex tenuit: 
 Quamque ferunt rursus voto servisse maligno, 
 
 Postquam est porrefto fafta marita sene. 
 Die agedum nobis, qnare mutata feraris 
 
 In dominum veterem deseruisse fidem. 
 
 Ipsa Paphum sublimis abit, sedesque revisit 
 
 Lteta suas, ubi templum illi centumque Sab#o 
 
 Tbure calent ara, sertisque recentibus halant. VIRG. jn. j 
 
 Thro' air sublime the Queen of love retreats 
 
 To Paphos' stately tow'rs, and blissful seats ; 
 
 Where to her name an hundred altars rise, 
 
 And gums, and flow'ry wreaths, perfume the skies. PITT. 
 
 Proximus Hydrochoi, &c.] Many read the line, Proximus Arc- 
 turo luceat Erygone : for, say they, Aquarius and Orion are widely 
 distant from each other, which is true, therefore proximus is im- 
 proper. But I take this to be the explication of the passage : 
 Provided I can but be placed again upon, the bead of my loved Be- 
 renice, I care not, though the nuhole order of nature nvere subverted ; 
 let the stars at the greasest distance from each other, as Orion and 
 Aquarius, meet \ let all heaven shine as it pleases! SILVIUS. 
 
 There
 
 PO. 64. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 79 
 
 Ye envious planets, why my flight detain ? 
 O, let me grace that royal head again ! 
 Then may Orion with Aquarius shine; 115 
 
 Beam as ye list, proud stars, I'll not repine! 
 
 TO A CERTAIN HARLOT'S DOOR. LXIV. 
 
 PASSENGER. 
 
 HAIL, door, to husband and to father dear ! 
 And may Jove make thee his peculiar care ! 
 Thou who, when Balbus liv'd, if fame say true, 
 Wast wont a thousand sorry things to do ; 
 And, when they carried forth the good old man, 5 
 For the new bride who didst them o'er again ; 
 Say, how have people this strange notion got, 
 As if thy former faith thou hadst forgot ? 
 
 LXIV. 
 
 There is no piece in Catullus, with regard to which we are left 
 so much in the dark, as the present poetical dialogue. Who this 
 infamous woman of the house was, who Balbus, Caecilius, the 
 impotent son, the too-officious father, and the other personages 
 were, we cannot tell ; and hardly have we any grounds for conjec- 
 ture ; therefore the sting of the satyr, which seems to be intended, 
 is quite lost to us. 
 
 Porreflo.] Catullus seems to allude here to the coltocatio, or the 
 custom of laying the dead body at the threshold of the house ; 
 performed always by the nearest relation ; in doing which, care 
 was taken to place the feet outward from the door. Thus Sueto- 
 nius, in Augusto : A Bovillis Equester ordo suscepit, urbique intulit, 
 atque in vestibule domus collocavit.
 
 80 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 64. 
 
 JANUA. 
 
 Non (ita Cascilio placeam, quoi tradita nunc sum) 
 Culpa mea est, quanquam dicitur esse mea. 10 
 
 Nee peccatum a me quisquam pote dicere quicquam : 
 Verum isti populo janua quidque facit: 
 
 Qum quacumque aliquid reperitur non bene factum, 
 Ad me omnes clamant ; Janua, culpa tua est. 
 
 VIATOR. 
 
 Non istuc satis est nno te dicere verbo, 15 
 
 Sed facere, ut quivis sentiat, et videat. 
 
 JANVA. 
 
 Qui possim ? nemo quasrit, nee scire laborat. 
 
 VIATOR. 
 
 Nos volumus : nobis dicere ne dubita. 
 
 o.] This Caecilius, of whom the gate speaks, Turnebus 
 conjectures to be Caecilius Metellus the Consul, who married 
 Clodia, supposed to be the Lesbia of Catullus, and the strumpet 
 in question ; others refer to Caecilius, mentioned in Carm. 32. 
 Propertius makes a gate complain, much in the same strain, of its 
 mistress's lusts, in Eleg. 16. Lib. i. 
 
 Perum isti populo, &c.] This line, which supplies a lost pen- 
 tametre, and is spurious, however written, has various readings : 
 
 Vcrum
 
 PO. 64. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 8l 
 
 DOOR. 
 
 So may Caecilius help me, whom I now 
 
 Must own my master, as I truly vow! IO 
 
 Be the offences talk'd of great, or small ; 
 
 Still I am free, and. ignorant of all : 
 
 I boldly dare the worst that can be said ; 
 
 And yet, what charges to my fault are laid ! 
 
 No deed so infamous, but strait they cry, 15 
 
 " Fy, wicked door! this is your doing, fy!" 
 
 PASSENGER. 
 
 This downright, bold assertion ne'er will do; 
 You must speak plainer, and convince us too. 
 
 DOOR. 
 
 I would; but how, when no one wants to know ? 
 
 I*..'.. PASSENGER, 
 
 I want ; collect your facts, and tell them now. 20 
 
 Verum iiti populi janua qui te faclt, 
 Verum istl populi nalnja, Quinte, focit. 
 Verum isttec potius janitor ipse facit. 
 Verum istis me auftorem esse facit popular. 
 Verum Isti populo di mala multaferant. 
 
 VOL. II. G
 
 82 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 64. 
 
 JAKUA. 
 
 Primum igitur, virgo quod fertur tradita nobis, 
 
 Falsum est: nonque illam vir prior attigerat, 20 
 Languidior tenera quoi pendens sicula beta, 
 
 Nunquam se mediam sustulit ad tunicam: 
 Sed pater ipsius gnati violasse cubile 
 
 DicitUr, et miseram conscelerasse domum: 
 Sive quod irnpia mens casco flagrabat amore ; 25 
 
 Seu quod iners sterili semine gnatus erat, 
 Et quasrendum aliunde foret nervosius illud, 
 
 Quod posset zonam solvere virgineam. 
 
 VIATOR. 
 
 Egregiam narras mira pietate parentem, 
 
 Qui ipse sui gnati minxerit in gremium. 30 
 
 Virgo quid fertur, &c.] The door says, that its unknown mis- 
 tress came not into the house chaste, for she was polluted before, 
 as it relates, by her husband's father. This does not correspond 
 with any thing we know of Catullus's Clodia, or Lesbia, who, it is 
 said, was debauched by her own brother, P. Clodius. See 
 Carm. 55. 
 
 Languidior , &c.] This expression, here obscenely applied, is 
 proverbial, from the flagging of the leaves of beet; hence the 
 Latin word batizare, to droop, (oVn TB T&ra9) used by Sueto- 
 nius, in Augusta. See Pliny, on this plant, Cap. 13. Lib. 9. 
 
 Zonam solvere.] See the last note to Carm. 2. 
 
 Minxerit
 
 PQ. 64. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 83 
 
 DOOR. 
 
 First, then, I will deny, for so 'tis thought, 
 That a young virgin to my charge was brought j 
 Not that her husband, with ungovern'd flame, 
 Had stolen, in hasty joy, that sacred name; 
 So vile his manhood, and so cold his blood, 25 
 Poor, languid tool ! he could not, if he wou'd: 
 But his own father, 'tis expressly said, 
 Had stain'd the honours of his nuptial bed ; 
 Whether, because to virtue's image blind, 
 Thick clouds of lust had darken'd all his mind; 30 
 Or, conscious of his son's unfruitful seed, 
 He thought some abler man should do the deed. 
 
 PASSENGER. 
 
 A pious deed, in truth; and nobly done- 
 A father makes a cuckold of his son ! 
 
 Minxerit in gremium.] Horace uses the word mingere in the 
 same sense: 
 
 Dicitur ut forma melioris melat eodem. 
 
 HOR. Sat^ 7. Lit. 2. 
 And in like manner Persius : 
 
 Patricite imme'iat e vul f o<f. 
 Pliny more than once uses the word urlna pro semine, 
 
 . G 2
 
 84 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 64. 
 
 
 
 JANUA. 
 
 Atqui non solum hoc se dicit cognitum habere 
 
 Brixia Chinaeae supposita specuhe, 
 Flavus quam molli percurrit flumine Mela, 
 
 Brixia, Veronse mater amata meae : 
 Sed de Posthumio, et Cornell narrat amorc, 3$ 
 
 Cum quibus ilia malum fecit adulterium. 
 Dixerit hie aliquis j Qiii tu isthsec, Janua, nosti, 
 
 Quoi nunquam domini limine abesse licet, 
 Nee populum auscultare; sed huic suffixa tigillo 
 
 Tantum operire soles, aut aperire domum ? 40 
 Saspe illam audivi furtiva voce loquentem 
 
 Solam cum ancillis base sua flagitia, 
 Nomine dicentem, quos diximus j utpote quae mi 
 
 Speraret nee linguam esse, nee auriculam. 
 
 Brixia Cbine*, &c.] Brixia, or Brescia, was a town of Cisal- 
 pine Gaul, or Lombardy, bathed by the river Mela, and situate at 
 the foot of the mountain Chinaeus, or Chinaea, which our poet 
 calls specula, from the extensive prospefl it commanded. Of this 
 mountain I can find no mention elsewhere : many editors read Ci- 
 conitf for Cbinete. Vossius, perhaps not improperly, has Cycnee t 
 from Cycnus, a mountain near Brixia, deriving its name from Cyc- 
 nus, a Ligurian king, who was converted into a swan near this 
 place. See the story in Ovid, Me tarn. 7. 
 
 Brixia, Verona mater. "\ Brescia was called the mother of 
 Verona; most probably from the Veronese being originally a 
 colony of the Brescians; or because Brescia was the metropolis 
 of the Coenomani, a people mentioned by Livy, Pliny, and others, 
 in whose territory Verona stood. 
 
 Postbumio
 
 PO. 64. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 85 
 
 DOOR. 
 
 Nor was this all that conscious Brixia knew ; 35 
 Sweet mother of the country where I grew 
 In earliest youth ! who, from Chinzea's height, 
 Sees boundless landscapes burst upon the sight ; 
 Brixia! whose sides the yellow Mela laves 
 With the calm current of its gentle waves: 40 
 
 She also knows what bliss Posthumius prov'd; 
 And how, in triumph, gay Cornelius lov'd ; 
 With both of whom, so wanton was the fair, 
 She did not blush her choicest gifts to share. 
 " But how (you'll ask) could you, a senseless door, 
 " These secrets, and these mysteries explore ; 46 
 " Who never from your master's threshold stirr'd, 
 " Nor what the people talk'd of ever heard; 
 " Content upon your hinges to remain, 
 " To ope, and shut, and then to ope again." 50 
 Learn, that full oft I've heard the whisp'ring fair, 
 Who ne'er suspected I had tongue, or ear, 
 To her own slaves her shameful adlions tell, 
 And speak the very names I now reveal. 
 
 Postbumio, et Cornel}, &c.] Some conjefture this Posthumius 
 to be the one mentioned by Lucilius, apud Nonium Marcell. The 
 Postbumii, and Cornelii of antiquity are innumerable. 
 
 Cum ancillis.~\ Many editors have consiliis ; Maffeus reads ccn- 
 ciliis ; and Manutius conscioiis ; Vossius writes Cedliis, alluding 
 
 G 3 to
 
 86 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 65. 
 
 Pneterea addebat quemdam, quern dicere nolo 45 
 
 Nomine, ne tollat rubra supercilia. 
 Longus homo est, magnas quoi litcs intulit olim 
 
 Falsum mendaci ventre puerperium. 
 
 AD MANLIUM. LXV. 
 
 QUOD mihi fortuna, casiique oppressus acerbo, 
 Conscriptum hoc lacrymis mittis epistolium; 
 
 to Caecilius Metellus, before mentioned, and his whole family, all 
 of wfhom, he says, are recorded in history for their lasciviousness: 
 but ancillis is certainly the most apt reading. Ovid, Tibullus, 
 Propertius, and a variety of other writers, mention the intriguing 
 qualities of the ancill<e, or waiting-maids of the ancients. 
 
 Rubra supercilia.] An elegant Latinism, to express anger, 
 which would not bear a. literal translation. In like manner Pe- 
 tronius: Postquam se amari fensit supercilium altius sustulit. 
 
 Longus homo tit, &c.] I could never find any satisfactory com- 
 ment on these two lines, among the variety of annotators I have 
 consulted. Longus, we are informed by Dousa, is here put, as 
 fwyaK is by Aristophanes, for stolidus, bardus ; silly, witless : and 
 Achilles Statius only observes, what is obvious to every one, viz. 
 that illegitimacy often causes many family law- suits. 
 
 LXV. 
 
 The purport of this poem is to console Manlius for the loss ot 
 his wife Julia, whose epithalamium Catullus wrote in Carm. 58. 
 It appears that Manlius had requested of our bard some of his 
 gay, poetic productions, to amuse him; but Catullus excuses him- 
 ielf on account of his own grief, occasioned by his brother's 
 
 death,
 
 PO. 65. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 87 
 
 One more she mention'd, whom I will not speak, 55 
 Lest warm displeasure flush his angry cheek: 
 Thus far I'll tell thee; he's an awkward brute, 
 Whose spurious birth once caus'd no small dispute. 
 
 TO MANLIUS. LXV. 
 
 YES ! that thou hold'st me to thy mem'ry dear, 
 When dark misfortune hangs upon thy brow; 
 
 And, tho' each word be written with a'tear, 
 Still that to me thou bid'st those sorrows flowj 
 
 death, which throws him into a similar desponding state with 
 Manlius; as well as by reason of having left his lively poems, 
 and other books at Rome, where he had now fixed his home. 
 Lastly, he expresses his gratitude to Manlius, and concludes 
 with kind wishes. 
 
 I cannot coincide in opinion with Muretus, who affirms, that 
 this 'is one of the finest elegies, and that its diftion is the purest, 
 of any in the Latin language ; he likewise says, that he is con- 
 vinced, from this specimen, that elegiac poetry was Catullus's 
 excellence ; and that, had he cultivated his talent, he would have 
 shone superior in elegy. Our poet certainly succeeded most in the 
 bendecasyllabi. 
 
 Lacrymis mittis epistolium.'] Pope has something similar to this, 
 in his pathetic poem of Eloisa to Abelard: 
 
 Line after line my gushing eyes o'erftow, 
 Led thro' a sad variety of woe ! 
 
 G 4 Naufragum
 
 8 CATtJLLI CARMINA. CA. 65. 
 
 Naufragum ut ejedum spumantibus asquoris undis 
 
 Sublevem, et a mortis limine restituam; 
 Quern neque sancta Venus moili requiescere somna 
 
 Desertum in leclo coslibe perpetitur; < 6 
 
 Nee veterum dulci scriptorum carmine Muss 
 
 Oblectant, cum mens anxia pervigilet j 
 Id gratum est mihi, me quoniam tibi ducis amicum ; 
 
 Muneraque et Musarum hinc petis, et Veneris. 10 
 Sed, ttbi ne mea sint ignota incommoda, Manli, 
 
 Neu me odisse putes hospitis officium; 
 Accipe queis merser fortune fludtibus ipse, 
 
 Ne amplius a misero dona beata petas. 
 Tempore quo primum vestis mihi tradita pura est, 
 
 Jucundum cum astas florida vir ageret, 16 
 
 Multa satis lusi : non est dea nescia nostri, 
 
 Qux dulcem curis miscet amaritiem. 
 
 Jfaufragum ut ejeftum, &c.] This is a beautiful metaphor, and 
 has a singularly fine effect here. 
 
 Jj/le3o ccelibe.] In like manner Sophocles, In Trac biniis : 
 
 JLl/$Vi&u>H tltct.s r'att uvfyvTo:;. 
 
 y'fsris t &c.'] The toga pura, or i>irilis, which tra^ plain, and 
 without any purple ornament, as most other toga; had, was the 
 dress of ordinary persons in their private occupations; and of 
 youths in general, when they arrived to the age of sixteen, or se- 
 venteen ; at which time they were thought fit for public employ, 
 and regarded as men. 
 
 S^ute dulcem curis, &c.] This attribute of the Cyprian deity 
 has been mentioned by almost every poet. Thus Plautus: 
 Namqut, fcasfor, amor et melle et felle est fecundisstmus! 
 
 The
 
 PO. 65. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 89 
 
 From the rough billows of the vexed sea 5 
 
 Bid'st me thy danger'd bark consoling lead, 
 
 Spy out each gleam of hope's enliv'ning ray, 
 And snatch thee from the mansions of the dead} 
 
 Thee, on thy widow'd couch whom Venus sees, 
 Yet, trouble's surest balm, sweet rest denies; 10 
 
 Whom not a Muse with ancient lore can please, 
 Doom'd to the anxious care that never dies ; 
 
 Yes, this I own it fills my heart with joy ! 
 
 With joy I hear thy partial, fond desire ; 
 That sportive with the Muses I would toy, 15 
 
 And thy dejected soul with mirth inspire: 
 
 But, that my loss thou mightst for certain know, 
 That I no thankless guest may seem to be; 
 
 Learn, Manlius, how I'm plung'd in floods of woe; 
 Nor hope for pleasure from a wretch like me ! 20 
 
 When manhood's vest that boasts no blushing hue 
 I first put on, in life's fresh- bloom ing spring: 
 
 Then the delicious pangs of love I knew; 
 Of rapture much, and various did I sing. 
 
 The allusion to the same conceit in Anacreon, Ode 45. is very 
 beautiful ; where Venus dips her son's darts in honey, as fast as 
 Vulcan forges them, and Cupid afterwards dips them in gall. See 
 also our poet, Carm. 61. Z. 95. Verontt
 
 pO CATULL1 CARM1NA. CA. 65. 
 
 Sed totum hoc studium. luctu fraterna mihi mors 
 
 Abscidit. 6 misero frater adempte mihi ! 20 
 
 Tu mea tu moriens fregisti commoda, frater: 
 
 Tecum una tota est nostra sepulta domus: 
 Omnia tecum una perierunt gaudia nostra, 
 
 Quse tuus in vita dulcis alebat amor. 
 Cujus ego in interitu tota de mente fugavi 25 
 
 Haec studia, atque omnes delicias animi. 
 Quare quod scribis, Verona turpe Catullo 
 
 Esse, quod hie quisquis de meliore nota 
 Frigida deserto tepefecit membra cubili ; 
 
 Id, Manli, non est turpe, magis miserum est. 30 
 Ignosces igitur, si, quas mihi luctus ademit, 
 
 Hsec tibi non tribuo munera, cum nequeo. 
 Nam quod scriptorum non magna est copia apud me, 
 
 Hoc fit, quod Romas vivimus: ilia domus, 
 Ilia mihi sedes, illic mea carpitur aetas : 35 
 
 Hue una e multis capsula me sequitur. 
 
 Wertna turpe Catulla, &c.} Manlius, who wished for Catullus's 
 company at Rome, persuasively reproached him with his stay at 
 Verona, asking him, what he could do there; since no woman 
 in that place could be found sufficiently handsome to engage his 
 affecYions, Rome being the mart for beauty ? But Catullus says, 
 the affairs of his brother, who was lately dead, detain him at Ve- 
 rona; therefore he rather deserves pity than reproach.
 
 po. 65. POEMS OF CATULLUS'. 91 
 
 But, o, my much-lov'd brother, since thou'rt dead, 
 No more my leisure these gay trifles grace ! 26 
 
 With thee the train of rosy pleasures fled, 
 With thee too fled the glories of our race ! 
 
 Perish'd with thee ^.re all those dear delights, 
 
 Nurs'd by thy tender friendship's holy flame ; 30 
 
 Each fav'rite study now no more invites, 
 No more of rapture's softest bliss I dream: 
 
 Then cease to chide my unavailing stay ; 
 
 'Tis true Verona boasts no frolic fair, 
 To waste in blandishments the nights away 35 
 
 'Tis grief detains thy lov'd Catullus here! 
 
 And, o, forgive me, if, in sorrow's gloom, 
 
 I still delay the tribute of my strains ! 
 Delay a gift I cannot grant, since Rome 
 
 My little hoard of learned wealth contains: 40 
 
 v 
 
 But one small book of all my letter'd store 
 
 From Rome I brought, from Rome, my chiefest 
 pride ! 
 
 My fav'rite dwelling, that I most adore, 
 
 Where in soft lapse my silver moments glide !
 
 92 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 65. 
 
 Quod cum ita sit, nolim statuas me mente maligna 
 
 Id facere, aut animo non satis ingenuo : 
 Quod tibi non utriusque petiti copia fa&a est: 
 
 Ultro ego deferrem, copia si qua foret. 40 
 
 Non possum reticere, deae, qua Manlius in re 
 
 Juverit, aut quantis juverit officiis; 
 Ne fugiens seclis obliviscentibus setas 
 
 Illius hoc cseca nocte tegat studium : 
 Sed dicam vobis; vos porro dicite multis 45 
 
 Millibus, et facite haec charta loquatur anus. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Notescatque magis mortuus, atque magis: 
 Ne tenuem texens sublimis aranea telam 
 
 Deserto in Manli nomine opus faciat. 50 
 
 Qua Manlius in re, Sec. ] Some read, quam salius in re ; but 
 Scaliger writes, quam Alius in re; saying, that Alius was either a 
 cognomen, or name by adoption, of Manlius. 
 
 Ne fugiens seclis, &c.] The poet's sudden address to the Muses, 
 to preserve the memory of Manlius's kindness, is very elegantly 
 introduced here ; nor could he have hit upon a more happy expe- 
 dient to immortalize it. To this purpose Tibullus : 
 
 Qucm referent Musa, vi'vet, dum robora tellus t 
 Dum cttlum Stellas, dum *vebft amnis aquas. 
 
 TIB. Eleg. 4. Lib. i. 
 
 While stars with nightly radiance gild the pole, 
 Earth boasts her oaks, or mighty waters roll ; 
 The fair, whose beauty poets deign to praise, 
 Shall bloom uninjur'd in poetic lays. GRAINGER. 
 
 And likewise Theocritus : 
 
 At rare &o? xti^cuq ft-i^H cl\\i oot jbZ;, 
 
 $, vptut arya&ut xXict outyui. THEOC. Idyl. 16. 
 
 It
 
 PO. 65. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 93 
 
 O, deem not then, that this ingenuous breast 45 
 Can harbour ought that merits thy dispraise ! 
 
 Fain would I grant thee ev'ry fond request; 
 But want the pow'r, and not the will to please. 
 
 Yes ; I'll to you, ye sacred Nine, reveal 
 
 All that to Manlius, and his zeal I owe ; 50 
 
 Nor ever let oblivion's shade conceal 
 
 Those deeds, that shine with friendship's bright- 
 est glow* 
 
 Hear this, and tell it to some future age: 
 
 Long may his praise in these poor annals live; 
 
 And where the name of Manlius decks my page, 55 
 There its base web let no vile spider weave. 
 
 It fits the Muse's tongue, the poet's 
 To praise th' immortal gods, and famous men. FAWKES. 
 Loquatur anus. ] After this line an hexametre is wanting, which 
 many editors thus supply : 
 
 Omnibus inyue loch tclebretur fama sepulti. 
 And others thus : 
 
 Omnibus et tri-viis <vulgetur fabula passim. 
 
 The first of these interpolations, Scaliger says, is the production 
 of Marullus, Pontanus Carinus, or some such daring annotator ; 
 the latter, Vossius thinks, is supplied by one Florus Seneca, who 
 some suppose to be the author of the Per-vigilium Veneris. 
 
 ffe tenuem texens, &c.] This thought is beautiful, and perhaps 
 original. Many for Deserto in Manlt, write, In deserto Alt, as in 
 the preceding note ; which Vossius allows to be the constant 
 reading of the older texts, though he does not adopt it.
 
 94- CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 65. 
 
 Nam mihi quam dederit duplex Amathusia curam, 
 
 Scitis, et in quo me torruerit genere ; 
 Cum tantum arderem, quantum Trinacria rupes, 
 
 Lymphaque in Oetaeis Malia Thermopylis ; 
 Moesta neque assiduo tabescere lumina fletu 55 
 
 Cessarent, tristique imbre madere gense. 
 Qualis in aerii pellucens vertice mentis 
 
 Rivus, muscoso prosilit e lapide ; 
 Qui cum de prona praeceps est valle volutus, 
 
 Per medium densi transit iter populi, 60 
 
 Duke viatori lasso in sudore levamen, 
 
 Cum gravis exustos <estus hiulcat agros : 
 
 Duplex Amatkusia.'] Venus, adored at Amathus, a city of Cy- 
 prus, is stiled'duplex ; either because there were supposed to be two 
 Venuses, the celestial a^avwt* presiding over chaste loves, and 
 the terrestrial Tran&jp.on presiding over impure ones ; or, because of 
 her wiles ; Horace uses the word in this last sense : 
 
 Nee cur sits dupllcis per mare Ufyssis. 
 
 HOR. Od. 6. Lib. i. 
 
 Trinacria rupes.'] Mount JEtna in Sicily is here meant, which 
 was called Trinacria from its three rocky promontories, Pachy- 
 nus, Pelorus, and Lilybseum. To this purpose Ovid, in Fastis : 
 
 Terra tritus scopulis <vastumprorumpit in tequor. 
 
 See Pliny, Cap. 109. Lib. 2. and Cap. 7. Lib. 3. Likewise Strabo, 
 Lib. 6. 
 
 Oetais Malia Tbermopylis.'] At the foot of the Thessalian 
 Oeta as it verges to the gulf of Malia, over against Euboea, is a 
 small valley, where are some hot springs, once sacred to Hercules ; 
 
 near
 
 PO: 65: POEMS OF CATULLUS. 95 
 
 How burnt this bosom you, chaste Muses, knovvj 
 How oft with love's sweet agonies it sigh'd ; 
 
 Burnt like fierce ^Etna, or the baths that flow 
 From Maiia's fount near Oeta's scorching side. 60 
 
 Nor ceas'd these eyes to pour the frequent 
 Till with dim feeble light they weaker grew ; 
 
 Nor ceas'd my cheeks a moment to appear 
 Without the copious flow of sorrow's dew: 
 
 As the clear stream} sparkling in airy height, 6r 
 To vales below leaps from its mossy stone, 
 
 Bathes public ways, chears the toil'd traveller's sight, 
 Who thirsts, when earth is cleft by the hot sun: 
 
 near their sources was built a strong wall by the Phocians, to de- 
 fend them against the incursions of the Thessalians. The gates 
 there built are called by the Greeks, 7rt;X; and by reason of its 
 waters the place is named Thermopylae. See Livy, de Bel. Mace- 
 'ion. Strabo, Lib, 9. and Herodotus, Lib. 6. Vossius reads Dau- 
 lla for Malta, from Daulis, a city of Phocis, falsely placed by 
 him at the foot of Oeta; and Jacobus Taurellus writes Lamia, 
 meaning the Lamian gulf, from Lamia, a town of Thessaly, which 
 had warm springs, according to Pausanias, in Attic, Cap. 4. 
 
 >uaHs ih derii, &c.] Here follow twb lovely comparisons : the 
 first, like the second, I cannot but consider, as referring to the 
 kindnesses of Manlius in the subsequent lines; although some 
 editors, from their punctuation of the Latin text, would seem to 
 make it refer to the poet's tears in the preceding lines ; but then 
 it is surely inapplicable. The mention of Castor and Pollux, at 
 the end of the second, is explained by the last note to Carm, 4. 
 
 CommunfS
 
 96 CATVLLI CARMIKA. CA. 65. 
 
 Ac velut in nigro jactatis turbine nautu 
 
 Lenius aspirans aura, secunda venit, 
 Jam prece Pollucis, jam Castoris imploratl ; $ 
 
 Tale fuit nobis Manlius auxilium. 
 Is clausum lato patefecit limite campurn; 
 
 Isque domum nobis, isque de^dit dominam, 
 Ad quam communes exerceremus amores: 
 
 Quo mea se molli Candida diva pede. 70 
 
 Intulit, et trito fulgentem in limine plantain 
 
 Innixa arguta constituit solea: 
 Gonjugis ut quondam flagrans advcnit amore 
 
 Protesilaeam Laodamia domum 
 
 Communes exereeremus air.ares.] Such as could maintain friend, 
 ship with their rivals in love were esteemed courteous, and ac- 
 corampdating in the extreme. Thus PJautus, Sticb*., 4e. 5. Sc. 4, 
 
 Htecfacet'ta > st t airfare inter se rivales duos ; 
 
 Ung cantharo potare, et unum jcortum Jttcere. 
 
 Hoc memorabil' est : ego tu sum, tu et eg*.' ttni ttnlmi sumus .* 
 
 Unatn amicam amamus am&a: mecum u&t est, tecum est tamen. 
 
 Tecvm ubi autem est t meeum ibi autcm est : neuter tttri invidet. 
 
 VULPIUS. 
 
 Arguta nstltuit solea. ] Many here construe argutd, by exigita ; 
 4 small foot being esteemed a beauty, according to Ovid. See the 
 notes to Carm. 40. So a small head is a beauty in the horse, in which 
 sense Virgil, Gw*^. 3. uses the word ergutus; but Ctullus certain! y 
 refers to the noise of the shoe, grateful to th lover's ar, a$ it 
 argued his mistress not far distant. The " vocal heel" is men* 
 tioned in English poetry, by Phillips. Splendid Shilling. The 
 Boeotian shoe made of wood, with nails, the better to tread the 
 grapes, was particularly noisy. To this sort Theocritus alludes, 
 Idyl. 7. 
 
 Say,
 
 FO. 65. PQEM8 OF CATULLUS. 97 
 
 As to the mariner, long tx>ss'<l by storms, 
 
 Is the soft gale that all propitious blows; 70 
 
 When no black cloud the face of heav'n cfcforms, 
 And the Twin,-brothers hear the wretch's vows: 
 
 [| . 1 ,\, ',...' I V . . .. .'- " * 
 
 Such were to. me those gifts, with lib'ral hand, 
 Which Manlius shower'd he gave my sweet 
 abode, 
 
 Enlarg'd the scanty limits of my land, 7$ 
 
 On me the nymph, who shar'd our love, bestow'd. 
 
 'Ah, happy spot! by soft delights endear'd, 
 
 Where late with snowy feet my goddess rov'd; 
 
 How oft with joy her vocal step I heard, 
 
 As o'er the threshold's well-known bound she 
 mov'd. 80 
 
 Just so the fond Laodamia flew, 
 Soft- sighing, to her husband's wish'd abodes ; 
 
 Say, does the proffer'd feast your haste excite, 
 
 pr to the wine- press some old friend invite ? 
 
 For such your speed, the pebbles on the ground, 
 
 Dash'd by your clogs, at ev'ry step resound I FAWKES* 
 
 Conjugis ut quondam, Sec.'} Catullus here means to paint the 
 excess of his love, by saying it surpassed Laodamia's, who, fired 
 with amorous impatience, went to her husband's home before she 
 had made due sacrifices tq the gods j they therefore punished her 
 
 VOL. II. H
 
 $8 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 65; 
 
 Acceptam frustra, nondum cum sanguine sacro 75 
 
 Hostia ccelestes pacificasset heros. 
 Nihil mihi tarn valde placeat, Rhamnusia virgo, 
 
 Quod temere invitis suscipiatur heris : 
 Quam jejuna pium desideret ara cruorenij 
 
 Dofta est amisso Laodamia virO; 80 
 
 Conjugis ante coadta nova dimittere collum; 
 
 Quam veniens una atque altera rursus hyems 
 Noctibus in longis avidum saturasset amorenv 
 
 Posset ut abrupto vivere conjugio: 
 Quod scibant Parcse non longo tempore abesse, 85 
 
 Si miles muros isset ad Iliacos: 
 Nam turn, Helenas raptu, primores Argivorum 
 
 Coeperat ad sese Troia ciere viros, 
 
 negleSl, by cilffering her spouse Protesilaus, son of Iphiclus, to 
 t>e the first slain by Heftor, in the Trojan war. Thus Ovid, 
 
 Me tarn. 12. 
 
 Heflorea primus fa tali ter bast a 
 
 Protesilae cadis ! 
 
 See Homer, Iliad 2. Laodamia afterwards wished to see her IMIF- 
 band's ghost ; embracing which, she perished. 
 
 Quam jejuna pium, &c.] Ovid elegantly alludes to this in hi> 
 beautiful epistle of Laodamia's : 
 
 Excutior sontrtb, simutacraque noflis adoro, 
 
 Nullii caret fumo Thessalis ara meo. 
 Thura damus tacrimasque super, qux sparsa reluccnt: 
 
 Ut soli't a fuso surgercf.am.ma mcro. 
 Sudden I wake, but hug night's golden dream ; 
 Duly I feed each Grecian altar's flame ; 
 Incense and tears I flied, which brightly shine, 
 As thro' the blaze kindled with wonted wine.
 
 PO. 65. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 99 
 
 Rash haste! for none the bleeding victim slew, 
 None had with rites appeas'd th' offended gods. 
 
 For me, dread Nemesis, thou awful maid! 85 
 
 Unless each pow'r invok'd propitious smiles ; 
 
 O never, by impetuous passion led, 
 
 May I too freely tempt love's fatal wiles ! 
 
 That thirsty altars hallow'd blood demand, 
 
 Laodamia's loss proclaims too true ; 90 
 
 What time, as he prepar'd for foreign land, 
 
 From her lov'd husband's neck her arms she drew; 
 
 Ere two long winters of unsated love 
 . Had bade wild rapture flow with cooler tide ; 
 Had taught her, with less agony to prove 95 
 
 The sad condition of a widow'd bride: 
 
 And, that such moment was not distant far, 
 
 If unto Ilion's walls her hero went, 
 The Fates well knew; who each bold Greek to war, 
 
 In Helen's cause/gainst Troy, proud Troy, had sent: 
 
 Una atque altera, &C.J It appears, from this passage, that Lao- 
 damia was married two years to Protesilaus, before he went among 
 the other Grecian generals to the siege of Troy. 
 
 Helena raptu.~\ The carrying away of Helen, by Paris, from 
 her husband Menelaus, causing the famous ten years Trojan war, 
 is a well-known story. Propertius has a similar reference to it : 
 
 H 2. Ottwi
 
 100 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 65. 
 
 Troia nefas, commune sepulchrum Asia; Europaeque, 
 
 Troia virum et virtutum omnium acerba cinis ; 90 
 Quze nempe et nostro lethum miserable fratri 
 
 Attulit. hei misero frater adempte mihi ! 
 Hei misero fratri jucundum lumen ademptum ! 
 
 Tecum una tota est nostra sepulta domus : 
 Omnia recum una perierunt gaudia nostra, 95 
 
 Qua? tuus in vita dulcis alebat amor. 
 Quern nunc tain longe non inter nota sepulcra, 
 
 Nee prope cognatos compositum cineres, 
 Sed Troia obsccena, Troia infelice sepultum 
 
 Detinet extremo terra aliena solo. 100 
 
 Ad quam turn properans fertur undeundique pubes 
 
 Gneca penetrales deseruere focos; 
 Ne Paris abducta gavisus libera moecha 
 
 Otia pacato degeret in thalamo. 
 Quo tibi cum casu, pulcherrima Laodamia, 105 
 
 Ereptum est vita dulcius, atque anima 
 
 Olim mirabar qubd tanti ad Pergama belli 
 Europts atque Asice causa puella fuit. 
 
 PROPERT. Eleg. 3. Lib. 2. 
 
 Late have I wonder'd how one fatal fair 
 
 Could half the world with Troy involve in war. 
 
 Our poet, after this little digression to Laodamia's story, rakes 
 occasion again to lament the loss of his brother, who was buried 
 at Rhceteum, nearly in the same words as at the beginning of the 
 
 poem ;
 
 PO. 65. POEMS OF CATULLUS. -IOI 
 
 Accursed Troy, of Europe's sons the grave, 101 
 Of Asia's noblest chiefs the common tomb ! 
 
 Where sleep the ashes of the wise, and brave ; 
 Where a lov'd brother met an early doom ! 
 
 Ah, long-lost brother, whom I yet bewail ! 105 
 
 With thee the glories of our race are o'er; 
 
 And each fond hope, that in life's tearful vale 
 Thy tender friendship cherish'd, is no more ! 
 
 No kindred urn thy honour'd ashes boast ; 
 
 Beside no lov'd relation art thou laid ; no 
 
 On Troy's ill-fated, Troy's detested coast, 
 
 Far from thy country, sleeps thy hapless shade ! 
 
 'Twas there, forsaking ev'ry houshold god, 
 
 The Grecian youths with vengeful ardour fled ; 
 That Paris, of his gay adult'ress proud, 115 
 
 Might not in quiet press the genial bed. 
 
 Then too, Laodamia, beauteous fair ! 
 
 Fell thy soul's lord, most honour'd, and most dear ! 
 
 poem; and he then inweaves many classical tales rather foreign to 
 the subject. 
 
 H 3 Barathrum.
 
 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 65. 
 
 Conjugium ; tanto te absorbens vortice amoris 
 
 ^Estus in abruptum detulerat barathrum: 
 Quale ferunt Graii Pheneum prope Cyllenseum 
 
 Siccari emulsa pingue palude solum: 1 10 
 
 Quod quondam cassis mentis fodisse medullis 
 
 Audet falsiparens Amphitryoniades, 
 Tempore quo certa Stymphalia monstra sagitta 
 
 Perculit imperio deterioris heri; 
 Pluribus ut coeli tereretur janua divis, * V : 1 15 
 
 Hebe nee longa virginitate foret. 
 
 Barathrum.'] Was a prison or dungeon, at Athens, so named ; 
 similar to the' Spartan Cteada, mentioned by Apollonius Rhodius, 
 Cap. 8. Lib. 17. but Festus says, it is a word used for any abyss, 
 as in the present instance. Comparing the immensity of Laoda- 
 mia's wild passion to the deep marsh cleansed by Hercules, is per- 
 haps somewhat ridiculous; and seems intended merely to intro- 
 duce the fable of this toil, 
 
 Pbeneum prope Cyllenxum, Arc.] Though the older readings 
 have Peneum, which was also a Peloponnesian fiver of Elis, ac- 
 cording to the authority of Diodorus, Lib. 5. and of Strabo, Lib. 8. 
 who says, In medio Cbelonat*, et Cyllene spatio Peneus effunditur ; 
 yet I adopt, with Vossius, the alteration of Stephanus, who writes 
 Pbeneum, an Arcadian lake, situated exactly as Catullus mentions. 
 Pausanias, in Arcad. Cap. 14. informs us, that at the bottom of the 
 mountains Orexis, and Sciathis, near Pheneus, are vast trenches, 
 which seem the drain of the neighbouring countries, and were 
 supposed to have been made by Hercules; to these, or some such, 
 it is most probable Catullus alludes; but the particular mountain 
 he cut through we cannot ascertain. This mention of a mountain 
 has led Muretus, and others, to refer to the Thessalian Peneus, in 
 order to drain a marsh, near which, they say, Hercules cut through 
 
 O?sa,
 
 PO. 65. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 Hence, in the deepest abyss of despair 
 For ever plung'd, thou shedst th' eternal teat. 120 
 
 Less deep that gulfy marsh, well known to fame, 
 Where once Cyllenean Pheneus pour'd its wave; 
 
 Till Hercules to change its current came, 
 And dar'd the mountain to its inmost cleave. 
 
 'Twas then, so malice bade, his arrows slew 125 
 The monsters hov'ring fell Stymphalus round; 
 
 For which Olympus was his glorious due, 
 
 And Hebe's virgin charms the labour crown'd : 
 
 Ossa, and Olympus, that were before joined. But the epithet Cylle- 
 nteum must confound such commentators; for the only Cyllene we 
 know of stood in Arcadia. The peculiar qualities of the Phenean 
 waters are mentioned by Ovid, Metam. 15. If we read Peneum 
 Cyllenaum^ we might, perhaps not improperly, allude to the 
 cleansing of the stables of Augeas, king of Elis. 
 
 Falsiparens Amphitryonlades.'] Hercules is so called, from be- 
 ing the reputed son of Amphitryon, whose wife, Alcmena, con- 
 ceived him from the secret embraces of Jupiter. Juno, who bore 
 a hatred to Hercules, by the means of Eurysthaeus subjected him 
 to the toils he undertook, with an intent to destroy him ; but she 
 was at last reconciled to him, and gave him in marriage Hebe, the 
 goddess of youth. 
 
 Stympkalia monstra, &c.] This alludes to one of the twelve 
 more noted labours of Hercules, who was ordered by Eurysthaeus, 
 king of Mycenae, to go to the lake Stymphalus, in Arcadia, and 
 kill its Stymphalides, or Harpies, birds which fed upon human 
 
 H 4 flesh,
 
 IO4 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 65. 
 
 Sed tuus altus amor barathro fuit altior illo, 
 
 Quod divum domitum ferre jugum docuit. 
 Nam neque tarn carum confefto aetate parent! 
 
 Una caput seri gnata nepotis alit; 120 
 
 Qui cum divitiis vix tandem inventus avitis 
 
 Nomen testatas intulit in tabulas, 
 Impia derisi gentilis gaudia tollens, 
 
 Suscitat a cano vulturium capite. 
 Nee tantum niveo gavisa est ulla columbo 125 
 
 Compar, quae multo dicitur improbius 
 Oscula mordenti semper decerpere rostro; 
 
 Quanquam prsecipue multivola est mulier. 
 Sed tu olim magnos vicisti sola furores, 
 
 Ut semel es flavo conciliata viro. 130 
 
 Aut nihil aut paulo quoi turn concedere digna 
 
 Lux mea se nostrum contulit in gremium: 
 
 flesh, shaped somewhat like the Ibis, and about the size of a 
 crane : their numbers, it is said, often darkened the sun. See 
 Apollonius, Scbol. Argon. 2. and Lucretius, Lib. j. Thus Petro- 
 nius: 
 
 Tales Herculed Stymphalidas arte coaclas 
 Ad coelum fugisse rear, pennaque fluentes 
 Harpylas cum Pbineo maduere veneno 
 Fallaces epulne. 
 
 Such were the birds Alcides* art subdued, 
 
 Which wing'd, if right I ween, to heav'n their way; 
 
 The Harpies such, which on the poison'd food 
 Of cheated Phineus ever wont to prey.
 
 PO. 65. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 105 
 
 And yet that dreary waste, that black -profound, 
 Which bade the servant god new toils subdue, 
 
 Not half so deep, as thy deep love was found ; 131 
 Thy love, Laodamia, vast as true! 
 
 FOF e'en the grandson of declining age, 
 
 Whom without hope an only daughter bore, 
 
 Could not his grandsire's thoughts more fond engage, 
 Could not, than him thou weep'st, be valued more ! 
 
 That long-expecled child, the witness'd heir 
 
 Of his rich ancestors' superb domain ; 
 Who drives the kindred crew, like vultures, far 
 
 From the white head, they scornful watch'd in vain : 
 
 i 
 
 No, not the dove, who, with her snowy mate 141 
 Delighted, oft provokes the billing kiss, 
 
 Could reach Laodamia's rapt'rous state 
 
 But women, well 'tis known, excel in bliss: 
 
 And thou; when to thy yellow-tressed boy 145 
 Thou cam'st, in bridal haste, with op'ning arms; 
 
 Didst rival all, who ever lov'd, in joy, 
 As much as thou didst rival all in charms :
 
 106 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 65. 
 
 Quam circumcursans hinc illinc sxpe Cupido 
 
 Fulgebat crocina candidus in tunica. 
 Quas tamen etsi uno non est contenta Catullo, 135 
 
 Kara verecundse furta feremus here ; 
 Ne nimium simus stultorum more molesti. 
 
 Ssepe etiam Juno maxima coelicolum 
 Conjugis in culpa flagravit quotidiana, 
 
 Noscens omnivoli plurima furta Jovis. 140 
 
 Atqui nee divis homines componier asquum est: 
 
 Ingratum tremuli tolle parentis onus. 
 
 Quam circumcursans, &c.] These two lines are truly elegant, 
 and would seem Horatian : 
 
 Eryc'ma ridens, 
 >uam yocus circumvolat, et Cupido! 
 
 HOR. Od. a. Lib. i. 
 Laughter-loving dame ; 
 
 Round whom gay Jocus, and the God of love, 
 Wave the light-wing, and hov'ring playful rove ! 
 
 FRANCIS. 
 
 Stultorum more,"] This is connefted with the communes amores, 
 which I have before commented upon : If such a deity as Juno, 
 says he, can put up ivitb her husband's infidelity, 1 surety may ivilb 
 my mistress's ; exclaiming much in the same strain with our Shake- 
 speare : 
 
 At lover's perjuries they say Jove laughs. 
 
 Propertius was well convinced, that constancy was not the virtue 
 of womankind: 
 
 Tu priits et flu ft us poteris siccare marinas, 
 
 Altaque mortali deligere astra manu, 
 ^uamfacere ut nostra nolint peccare puefff. 
 
 PROPERT. Eleg. 32. Lib. 2. 
 
 When
 
 PO. 65. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 10J 
 
 Yet quite, or near as beauteous was my maid, 
 When to this happy breast she fondly fled ; 1 50 
 
 While love's fair God, in saffron vest array'd, 
 His sportive wing, oft hov'ring o'er her, spread. 
 
 And, tho* sometimes she chance to steal away, 
 Cheating, with subtle thefts, Catullus' love ; 
 
 Heed not, if duly cautious she but stray: 155 
 
 Fools only rail at ills they can't remove : 
 
 E'en Juno, potent empress of the sky, 
 
 Is forc'd, indignant, a false spouse to bear; 
 
 For oft enamour'd Jove descends from high, 
 
 To hold gay dalliance with an earth-born fair: 160 
 
 Since gods are thus to perfidy inclin'd, 
 
 (But such compare is haply deem'd profane) 
 
 I'll not repine, if, when the wanton's kind, 
 No prying parent shall our joys restrain. 
 
 When our lewd fair their chastity maintain, 
 Then mayst thou hope to dry th' exhaustless main; 
 Mayst hope to tear from yonder crystal height 
 The golden fires that gild the gloom of night. 
 Ingratum tremuli, &c.] Muretus thinks this line is spurious; 
 and says, with other commentators, that he cannot apply any sense 
 to it. Scaliger ingeniously enough attempts it ; and I have adopted 
 his interpretation, which is to this purpose : I care not <u>bo caresset 
 my mistress, so that, nvhen I caress hcr y I am not interrupted by her 
 100 officious father. Sett
 
 1O8 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 65. 
 
 Nec tamen ilia mihi dextra dedudta paterna 
 
 Fragrantem Assyrio venit odore domum; 
 Sed furtiva dedit mira munuscula nocte 145 
 
 Ipsius ex ipso dempta viri gremio. 
 Quare illud satis est, si nobis id datur unis, 
 
 Quo lapide ilia diem candidiore notet. 
 Hoc tibi quod potui confe<5tum carmine munus 
 
 Pro multis, Manli, redditur officiis; 150 
 
 Ne vestrum scabra tangat rubigine nomen 
 
 Haec atque ilia dies, atque alia, atque alia. 
 Hue addent divi quam plurima, quze Themis olim 
 
 Aritiquis solita est munera ferre piis. 
 
 Sed furtive, &c.] This is another obscure passage; as it refers 
 to some circumstance we are not acquainted with in the story of 
 Catullus and Lesbia, to whom Muretus thinks the allusion is 
 meant. It would appear, that Lesbia ran away from her husband 
 to Catullus; who therefore says, that he did not receive her with 
 the usual forms of marriage, such as accepting her from a parent's 
 hand, and previously perfuming his house. 
 
 Quo lapide, Sic.] See a note in Carm. g. upon this custom ; which 
 some say originated from the Thracians, others from the Cretans. 
 Hue addent divi, &c.] This reference to the golden age, and 
 the reign of Themis, or Justice, whom Festus calls a deity, is 
 happily introduced here. Virgil writes much in the same strain : 
 Dii tibi si qua pios respefiant numina si quid 
 Usquam justitiee est, et mens sibi conscia refli, 
 frxmia dignaferant. VIRG. ^Eaeid. i. 
 
 But the good Gods, with blessings, shall repay 
 Your bounteous deeds, the Gods, and only they ; 
 If pious afts, if justice they regard; 
 
 And your clear conscience stands its own reward. PITT. 
 
 Sith
 
 PO. 65. POEMS OF CATULLtfS. 
 
 Besides, why wonder at thy charmer's feats? 165 
 No father chastely brought her to thy home ; 
 
 For her thou hadst prepar'd no costly treats, 
 No Syrian unguents shed their rich perfume: 
 
 But all in haste, while night stood silent by, 
 E'en from her husband's breast, in happy hour, 
 
 Did the kind nymph to her Catullus fly; 171 
 
 And give him joys, he never knew before ! 
 
 Enough for me, in that triumphant day, 
 O, day most worthy of the whitest stone ! 
 
 When on my couch she deigns her charms to lay, 
 If then she lays them on my couch alone. 176 
 
 Such is the strain, o JVTanlius ! which to thee 
 My feeble muse has strove in grief to raise ; 
 
 O, worthy of thy goodness may it be ! 
 
 Thy goodness, which exceeds the bounds of praise ! 
 
 That goodness, which no space, no length of time 
 Shall from my grateful mem'ry ever wear; 
 
 Resolv'd, tho' age with cank'ring rust combine, 
 Still that thy name shall live for ever there ! 
 
 Yet more may heav'n to thee such blessings give, 
 As Themis on the good, and wise bestow'd! 186
 
 HO GATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 66 
 
 Skis felices et tti simul, et tua vita, 15^ 
 
 Et domus, ipse in qua lusimus et domina; 
 
 Et qui principio nobis te tradidit a quo 
 Sunt primo nobis omnia nata bona; 
 
 Et longe ante omnes mihi quze me carior ipso est, 
 Lux mea; qua viva vivere dulce mihi est. 160 
 
 AD RUFUM. LXVI. 
 
 NOLI admirari, quare tibi femina nulla, 
 Rufe, velit tenernm supposuisse femur* 
 
 Non illam rara labefades munere vestis, 
 Aut perluciduli deliciis lapidis. 
 
 Lsedit te quasdam mala fabula, qua tibi fertur 5 
 Valle sub alarum trux habitare caper. 
 
 Sitis felices.] A common expression among the Romans for 
 bidding adieu. Thus Virgil, JEn. i. 
 
 Sitfelix, nostrumque /eves quacumque laborem I 
 And thus too Tibullus, Eleg. 6. Lib'. 3. 
 
 Sis felix t et sint Candida fata tua ! 
 
 Et qui principio nobis, &c.} Who this friend was, that first in- 
 troduced Catullus to the knowledge of Manlius, we do not know ; 
 that such a person is meant, I doubt not, as the readings of all the 
 old texts justify the interpretation. ButVossius, and others, al- 
 lude to Manlius in particular, and the enlarged estate he gave Ca- 
 tullus, which this poem mentioned before in the line, Is clausum 
 lato, Sec. therefore they read, 
 
 Et qui principio nobis terram dedit, auflore 
 A quo primo sunt omnia nata bona. 
 
 Achilles
 
 PO. 66. POEMS OF CATULLUS. Ill 
 
 Long may my friend, and all he values, live ; 
 Long live his mistress, and our gay abode \ 
 
 Blest be the man, by whose indulgent care 
 
 I first the friendship of my Manlius gain'd! 190 
 
 And doubly blest be that enchanting fair, 
 By whose lov'd life alone my life's sustain'd! 
 
 TO RUFUS. LXVI. 
 
 NAY, wonder not, that no gay nymph will twine 
 In am'rous folds her tender frame with thine ! 
 Nor think the costly vest, the gem's proud glare, 
 Proffer'd by thee, will ever tempt the fair ! 
 A sorry tale they tell; that thou hast got 5 
 
 Under thy arms a vile, and filthy goat: 
 
 LXVI. 
 
 Achilles Statius conjectures, that M. Caelius Rufus is here 
 meant ; whom Catullus addresses under the name of Caelius only, 
 in Carm. 55. Pliny thus mentions him, M. Callus Rufus, et 
 C. Licinius Calvus eadem die geniti sunt ; oratores quidem ambo, sed 
 tamen dispart eventu. Hist. Nat. Cap. 49. Lib. 6. Cicero has 
 an oration, and some epistles relative to him, wherein he often calls 
 him Rufus only. 
 
 Sub alarum, &c.] Many would join these two words, and 
 form one; which, however, is not authorized by any ancient 
 writer. The Spaniards, it is true, say sobaco, the armpit; but this 
 does not justify a new Latin coinage of any similar word : the 
 
 smell,
 
 112 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 67. 
 
 Hunc metuunt omnes: neque mirumj nam mala 
 valde est 
 
 Bestia, nee quicum bclla puella cubet. 
 Quare aut cradelem nasorum interface pestem, 
 
 Aut admirari desine, cur fugiunr. 10 
 
 DE INCONSTANTIA FEMINEI AMORIS. LXVU. 
 
 NULLI se dicit mulier mea nubere malle, 
 Quam mihi ; non si se Jupiter ipse petat. 
 
 Dicit: sed mulier cupido quod dicit amanti, 
 In vento, et rapida scribere oportet aqua. 
 
 smell, alluded to in this line, has often been compared to that of a 
 goat; it is called by the Greeks, rpzyt>; and by the Latins, ca- 
 prum, capram, and bircum. Thus Horace, Epod. 12. 
 
 Namque sagacius unus odoror 
 Polypus, an gravis birsutii cubet h'trcus in alls. 
 This tetterous complaint, if I may use the expression, is peculiar 
 to warm countries; we scarce know any thing of it in our north- 
 ern climate. 
 
 Bestia.~\ Plautus takes this word in a similar sense, Bacfbid. 
 Magis illeflum tuum, quam leflum, metuo, mala es bestia. 
 And again in another place : 
 
 Tene sis me arfle, mea 'voluptas; male ego metuo mil'vios: 
 Mala ilia bestia est, ne forte me auferat pullum tuum. 
 Intcrfice pestem.~\ A metaphorical expression, taken from animal 
 life ; when we destroy an animal, we are said to slay it. Virgil 
 has, Inierficere messes ; Apulei'us, Interfcere 'virginitatem. 
 
 LXVII. 
 
 Non si se Jupiter, &c.] Catullus says the same thing in Carm. 
 69. and Ovid elegantly expresses this thought, as well as a variety 
 of other amorous poets, in his lovely epistle, from Phaedra to Hip- 
 politus : si
 
 PO. 67. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 1 13 
 
 Hence females fly; nor strange for never, sure, 
 Can the sweet maid a beast in bed endure. 
 Then, Rufus, first that noxious pest destroy ; 
 Or cease to wonder why the nymphs are coy. 10 
 
 ON THE INCONSTANCY OF WOMAN'S LOVE. LXVIU 
 
 MY nymph averr'd, that mine alone 
 
 She'd be, and Jove himself despise ; 
 Tho* courted to partake his throne, 
 
 And reign the empress of the skies ! 
 
 Thus did the flatt'rer fondly swear j 5 
 
 But what, alas, are woman's vows ? 
 Fit to be written but on air, 
 
 Or on the stream that swiftly flows ! 
 
 Si mlbi concedat Juno fratremque virumque, 
 
 Hippolitum videor pr<epositura Jovl, 
 
 And now should Juno yield her Jove to me, 
 
 I'd quit that Jove, Hippolitus, for thee. OTWAY. 
 
 Diclt: sed mutter, &c.] The following distich of Callimachus 
 here seems to be imitated : 
 
 ifyceaEf oXXa. Xiywt* c&a&tot, raj IWT 
 Ogxu; U.TJ $vifm zctr If a&a,iaSTuv, 
 He swore, indeed, o goddess ! but, 'tis said, 
 No lovers' vows celestial ears pervade. 
 
 In vento, &c.] Our poet very happily makes choice of two of 
 the most fluid things in nature, air and water, consequently the 
 
 VOL. II. I least
 
 114 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 69. 
 
 AD VIRRONEM. LXVIII. 
 
 SI quoi Virro sacer alarum obstitit hircus, 
 Aut si quern merito tarda podagra secat; 
 
 JEmulus iste tuus, qui vestrum exercet amorem, 
 Mirifice est a te nadlus utrumque malum. 
 
 Nam quoties futuit, toties ulciscitur ambos, 5 
 
 Illam affligit odore, ipse perit podagra. 
 
 AD LESBIAM. LXIX. 
 
 DICEBAS quondam, solum te nosse Catullum, 
 Lesbia, nee, pras me, velle tenere Jovem. 
 
 Dilexi turn te, non tantum ut vulgus amicam, 
 Sed pater ut gnatos-diligit, et generos. 
 
 least liable to retain an impression, to express, in the highest 
 degree, the uncertainty of a female mind: the phrase is truly 
 Grecian, ; v$v% yo^. Propertius speaks in a like strain : 
 Qyidquid jurarunt ventus et undo, rapit. 
 The winds, and waves bear all their oaths away. 
 
 PROPER. Eltg. 28. L. 3. 
 LXVIII. 
 
 Si $uoi Virro, &c.~] Many suppose the personage here addrest 
 to be the same with Varus, mentioned in Carm. 10. Vossius says 
 it is an invented word, very apt in this place, being derived from 
 #9j, @tff9S, and /3/:'j:o{. Aldus's edition, which has sanctioned a 
 number of others, begins the line with, Si cui jure bono; others 
 write, Si qua Virro t &c. 
 
 Tarda podagra secat ] This is certainly the just reading, though 
 some write necat t for secat. Martial similarly uses the word se- 
 
 care %
 
 PO. 69. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 115 
 
 TO VIRRO. LXVIII. 
 
 IF gouty pangs, or a rank goatish smell, 
 Did ever with poor mortal justly dwell ; 
 Thy rival, Virro, to console thy care, 
 Hath got of each disease an ample share : 
 For, when in hot embrace the lovers burn, 5 
 
 She's choak'd with stench, and he with gout is torn. 
 
 TO LESBIA. LXIX. 
 
 ONCE Lesbia vow'd, she would Catullus wed, 
 And scorn for him the blissful arms of Jove : 
 
 Then did my flame the lover's flame exceed ; 
 'Twas fond, 'twas tender as a parent's love ! 
 
 c&re, thus: podagra cbjragraque secatur Caiut. The gout is 
 termed tarda, from occasioning lameness, according to Silvius ; 
 but perhaps it may be from the disease usually coming on late in 
 life. 
 
 jEmulus iste tuus."] Alluding to the Rufus, in Carm. 66. 
 
 Mirifice, &c.] This passage is variously written. Muretus has, 
 Mirifico est testu; Vossius, Mirifice est, ac tu; and many join the 
 ac and the tu, reading, Mirifict fst aflu. 
 
 Perit podagra.'] Libidinous excesses have ever been thought 
 to produce gout ; which disease, according to Hippocrates, Apbor. 6. 
 Sec. 6. the chaste must be free from 5 yet many instances occur, 
 which would contradict the assertion of this father of physic. 
 
 LXIX. 
 
 This Carmen is written in the same strain with the 67th, and 
 has had many English versificators : its epigrammatic turn lies in 
 
 I 2 the 
 
 ' , I
 
 Il6 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 70. 
 
 Nunc te cognovi. quare, etsi impensius uror, 5 
 
 Multo mi tamen es vilior, et levior. 
 Qui potis est? inquis. Quod amantem injuria tails 
 
 Cogit amare magis, sed bene velle minus. 
 
 IN INGRATUM. LXX. 
 
 DESINE de quoquam quicquam bene velle mereri, 
 Aut aliquem fieri posse putare pium. 
 
 Omnia sunt ingrata: nihii fecisse benigne est: 
 Imo eiiam tasdet, statque magisque magis. 
 
 Ut mihi, quern nemo gravius, nee acerbius urget, 5 
 Quam modo qui me unum, atque unicum ami- 
 cum habuit. 
 
 the distinction of sense between the words amare, and bene velle : 
 the first, Silvius tells us, implies, to rage with that perturbation of 
 mind, we call love ; but the latter means, that Platonic affeftion 
 which arises from a calm use of the will, and right reason: 
 hence Cicero, in his >u<zst. Tuscul. 4. Voluntas est qua, qui 
 desiderat, cum recla rations des'iderat: therefore Catullus says, 
 that Lesbia's infidelities make him more ardently wish for her, 
 because his jealousy is piqued; and such infidelities prove that her 
 beauty is esteemed, and sought after ; but at the same time they 
 give him a worse opinion of her heart, and diminish that pure, 
 chaste regard, which rather resembled the tenderness of consan- 
 guinity, than the ebullition of amorous passion. Many editor* 
 would read, with Achilles Statius, at the end of this Carmen, the 
 four last lines of the 7*d. Nunc est mens adducla tud, &c. 
 
 LXX. 
 
 The ingratitude of mankind has been, in every age, a theme on 
 which the discontented have dwelt j but no one has made more 
 
 numerous
 
 PO. 70. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 117 
 
 I know thee now; and, tho' more fierce Iburn, 5 
 Yet I thy charms more cheap, more worthless 
 deem! 
 
 4<i How so ?" thou sayst 'Tis that, perfidious grown^ 
 Thou'rt more seducing, but of less esteem. 
 
 ON AN UNGRATEFUL PERSON. LXX. 
 
 HOPE not, one plain, one honest mind, 
 To act the upright part, you'll find 
 
 Amid life's various crew: 
 The world's ungrateful; worth a name, 
 That rather meets with certain shame, 5 
 
 Than its own proper due! 
 By all, but chief by me, this truth is prov'd, 
 Who suffer most, where most J once was lov'dl 
 
 numerous, and at the same time more poetic complaiats upon this 
 subject, than the querulous bard of Vaucluse. Who it was that 
 gave Catullus reason to burst out into this strain of inveftive, has 
 not been truly ascertained. Many, with probability, conje&ure it 
 was the Alphenus mentioned in Carm. 27. 
 
 Omnia sunt in grata.] By omnia, "all things," is implied the 
 world in general ; the poet, for the greater energy, uses this mode 
 of expression, as though he would say, that ingratitude extends 
 even to the inanimate creation. 
 
 1ml etiam t<edet, &c.) Vossius, though he does not adopt, con- 
 sents to the reading of Achilles Statins, thus: 
 
 Imti etiam ttsdetjedet obestque magij, 
 
 I 3 Cicero
 
 Il8 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 72 
 
 IN GELLIUM. LXXI. 
 
 GELLIUS audierat, patruum objurgare solere, 
 
 Si quis delicias diceret, aut faceret. 
 Hoc ne ipsi accideret, patrui perdespuit ipsam 
 
 Uxorem, et patruum reddidit Harpocratem. 
 Quod voluit, fecit: nam quamvis irrumet ipsurn 5 
 
 Nunc patruum, verbum non faciet patruus^ 
 
 AD LESBIAM. Lxy.it. 
 
 NULLA potest mulier tantum se dicere amatarri 
 Vere, quantum a me, Lesbia, amata mea es. 
 
 Nulla fides ullo fuit unquam focdere tanta, 
 Quanta in amore tuo ex parte reperta mea est. 
 
 LXXI. 
 
 Cicero lashes this very Gellius, in Oratione pro Sextlo ; and> in 
 his Vatiniari Oration, he calls him seditiosorum bominum nutnculam. 
 See some account of Gellius, and his family, in Livy, Eplt. Lib. 96. 
 
 Perdespuit.] The generality of editions have perdepsuit^ a 
 reading unnecessarily obscene. 
 
 ffarpccratem.] Is here put for silent; from Harpocrates, the 
 puerile deity of silence, particularly worshipped by the Egyp- 
 tians, whose image, with one finger at his mouth, stood in the tem- 
 ples of Serapis, or Osiris, and Isis. See D. Augustinus, de Ci- 
 vitat. Dei, Lib. 16. and Ovid. Metam. 9. 
 
 Quod voluit, fecit.] He obtained what he wished, namely, to 
 avoid the rebukes of his uncle. VULPIUS. 
 
 Irrumet.] Thus the Paduan commentator : Etiamsi patruum de- 
 spicatui ac ludibrio penitus babeat. The word irrumare he inter- 
 prets,
 
 PO. 72* POEMS OF CATULLUS. 119 
 
 I 
 
 ON GELLIUS. LXXI. 
 
 GELLIUS had frequently been told, 
 His uncle us'd to rave, and scold ; 
 If any of his friends should be 
 Doing, or talking wantonly : 
 
 He, to avoid reproof, and strife, 5 
 
 Affects to flout his uncle's wife; 
 His uncle silent, and his friend 
 Thus made, Gellius had gain'd his end; 
 Who now this very uncle jeers, 
 And not one word of censure fears. TO 
 
 i 
 
 TO LESBIA. LXXII. 
 
 NO nymph, amid the much-lov'd few, 
 
 Is lov'd, as thou art lov'd by me : 
 No love was e'er so fond, so true, 
 
 As my fond love, sweet maid, for thee ! 
 
 prets, in more places than one, by Jloccifacere, pro nlb'ilo babere^ 
 but upon what authority does not appear ; however, as it makes 
 the most decent sense, I have here adopted his interpretation. 
 The French, and Italians use at this day similar obscene vulgar- 
 isms, to express contempt, or disesteem. 
 
 LXXII. 
 
 Many make two separate Carmina of this one ; beginning the 
 second from Nunc est metis addufla tud, clc. The best comment 
 n these lines is the 6gth Carmen t with its note. 
 
 I 4 Omnict
 
 120 CATULLI CARMINA, CA. 73. 
 
 Nunc cst mens adduda tua, mea Lesbia, culpa, 5 
 Atque ita se officio perdidit ipsa pjo: 
 
 Ut jam nee bene vellc queam tibi, si optima fias, 
 Nee desistere amare, omnia si facias. 
 
 AD SEIPSUM. txxm. 
 SI qua recordanti bene fada priora voluptas 
 
 Est homini, cum se cogitat esse pium ; 
 Nee sandam violasse fidem, nee fcedere in ullq 
 
 Divum ad fallendos numine abusum homines; 
 Multa parata manent in longa aetate, Catulle, 5 
 
 Ex hoc ingrato gaudia amore tibi. 
 Nam quaecunque homines bene quoiquam aut di- 
 cere possunt, 
 
 Aut facere: haec a te didaque, fadaque sunt. 
 Omnia quae ingrats perierunt credita mend. 
 
 Quare jam te cur amplius excrucies ? lo 
 
 Omnia si facial.] Although you should do every thing in your 
 power to efface from my heart the love I bear you, by loading me 
 with new injuries. Omnia facere, means, " to leave no stone 
 unturned." Vutrius. 
 
 LXXUI. 
 
 Catullus in this poem consoles himself with reflecting on the in- 
 tegrity of his conduct towards the faithless Lesbia : he then de- 
 termines to conquer his passion, and implores the assistance of 
 heaven to effect his purpose. 
 
 Pium.] Silvius informs us, that the force of this word implies 
 " filial piety, having behaved well to our parents." In
 
 PO. 73. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 121 
 
 Yes, e'en thy faults, bewitching fair ! 5 
 
 With such delights my soul possess; 
 
 That whether faithless, or sincere, 
 I cannot love thee more, nor less ! 
 
 TO HIMSELF. LXXIII. 
 
 IF to the conscious mind it yields delight 
 
 Each action past of virtue to revise, 
 To guard inviolate that faith we plight, 
 
 Nor ever with false lip to vouch the skies; 
 
 What bliss thy ill-starr'd passion will repay ! 5 
 
 What years of rapture yet remain in store ! 
 
 Since all that love could do, that tongue could say, 
 Catullus fondly did, and fondly swore ! 
 
 And yet no traces of such wondrous love 
 
 In Lesbia's false, ungrateful breast are found; 10 
 
 Then wherefore droop ? be firm ; and quick remove 
 From her, whom heav'n forbids thy peace to wound! 
 
 In longa atate.~\ Vossius on this passage remarks, that Icnga 
 here signifies, long through tediousness of time, which passed 
 heavily away while Lesbia was cruel. But the more simple and 
 ready construction of the passage is, Many blessings a-ii'ait you for 
 a length of future days.
 
 122 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 73. 
 
 Quin te animo offirmas, teque istinc usque reducis, 
 
 Et, dis invitis, desinis esse miser ? 
 Difficile est longum subito deponere amorem. 
 
 Difficile est : verum hoc, qua lubet, efficias. 
 Una salus ha&c est, hoc est tibi pervincendum. 15 
 
 Hoc facies, sive id non pote, sive pote. 
 O di, si vestrum est misereri, aut si quibus unquam 
 
 Extrema jam ipsa in morte tulistis opem ; 
 Me miserum aspicite: et, si vitam puriter egi, 
 
 Eripite hanc pestem, perniciemque mihi, 20 
 Quse mihi subrepens imos, ut torpor, in artus 
 
 Expulit ex omni pedlore laetitias. 
 Non jam illud quaere, contra ut me diligat ilia, 
 
 Aut, quod non potis est, esse pudica velit. 
 Ipse valere opto, et tetrum hunc deponere morbum. 
 
 O di, reddite mi hoc pro pietate mea. 26 
 
 i$uin te animo, &c.] This line is variously read, as: 
 Quin tu ammo affirmans atque instrufJoque reducis. 
 This is the oldest text. But Scaliger would read interrogatively, 
 thus: 
 
 >uin tu animu offirmas itaque Instruftoque reducis ? 
 Desinis esse miser. ] Thus Ovid, de Remed. Amor. 
 Nee curandus adest, odio qui fin'it amorem t 
 
 Aut amat, aut <egre desinit esse miser. 
 
 Sive id non pote, &c3 A proverbial expression, meaning, 
 whether difficult, or not. *Em tiviciTcv, S'JTE atiwatrot ir. Pote, means, 
 what is possible; non pote, what is impossible. 
 
 Eripite hanc pestem.] The ancients applied the word ptstis alike 
 to things animate, or inanimate. Thus Sallust : Et si pestis certa 
 
 adfssft
 
 fO. 73. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 123 
 
 At once to quench an ancient flame, I own, 
 Is truly hard; but still no efforts spare j 
 
 On this thy peace depends, on this alone; 15 
 
 Then possible, or not, o conquer there ! 
 
 And you, just gods; if with a pitying eye 
 Ye ever deign'd man's countless ills to see, 
 
 Or stay'd in death's last hour the parting sigh; 
 Look down benignant on a wretch like me ! 20 
 
 If pure my life, if free from guilty stains, 
 The poison rankling in this heart destroy; 
 
 Whose torpor chills the current of my veins, 
 And chases from my breast each sprightly joy. 
 
 I ask not her my passion to repay, 25 
 
 Or (which were vain) her chastity to guard ; 
 
 O, heal my wounds, love's burning pangs allay ! 
 Thus, ye kind gods, my piety reward! 
 
 adesset mansurum potius, &c. So Virgil calls fire, with regard to 
 ships : Seriiatx a peste carinx ; that is, " vessels saved from the 
 flames." 
 
 Contra ut me diligat, &c.] " That she should love me again." 
 In like manner Plautus: Amphit. Ac. z. Sc. ^. >u<? me amat, 
 quam contra amo. Contra here means a,po$ctiu<;. So in the fol- 
 lowing lines, in Priap. 
 
 Quare Mlud satis est, si te permittis amari t 
 Non contra t ut sit amor mutuus inde nribi. 
 
 VULP, et ACHILL. STAT. 
 Catullus
 
 t24 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 74. 
 
 AD RUFUM. LXXIV. 
 
 RUFE, mihi frustra, ac nequicquam cognite amice : 
 
 Frustra? imo magno cum pretio, atque malo. 
 Siccine subrepsti mi, atque intestina perurens 
 
 Mi misero eripuisti omnia nostra bona? 
 Eripuisti. heu heu nostrae crudele venenum 5 
 
 Vitae, heu heu nostrse pestis amicitiae ! 
 Sed nunc id doleo, quod purse pura puellze 
 
 Suavia comminxit spurca saliva tua. 
 Verum id non impune feres: nam te omnia ssecla 
 
 Nocent, et qui sis, fama loquetur anus. 10 
 
 LXXIV. 
 
 Catullus complains of the goatish, fetid Rufus, before men- 
 tioned, having seduced his mistress from him ; for which he 
 threatens to make him notorious in his verses ; much in the 
 same strain as he menaces Ravidus, in Carm. 37. though some 
 refer these lines to the Alphenus of Carm. 27. here disguised un- 
 der the name of Rufus. Many editors, with Achilles Statius, and 
 Vossius, very unadvisedly add the four last lines, Scd nunc id doleo, 
 &c. to the subsequent Carmen. For cognite amice, Aldus's edition, 
 with some others, has credite amice ; and for pestis, in the sixth 
 line, many of the old MSS. have peflus. 
 
 Suavia eomminxit, &c.J This habit, which the filthy 
 adopts, is mentioned by Lucretius: 
 
 Jungunt
 
 PO. 74. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 125 
 
 TO RUFUS. LXXIV. 
 
 I THOUGHT thee once my dearest friend, 
 But, to my cost, 'twas false, I found ! 
 
 Didst thou that false esteem pretend, 
 Only to strike a deeper wound ? 
 
 Didst rob me of what most I prize, 5 
 
 Foe to my peace, thou bane of social ties ! 
 
 I die with envy at thy bliss ; 
 
 That the sweet maid should let thee sip, 
 In many a filthy slabb'ring kiss, 
 
 The balmy sweetness of her lip! 10 
 
 But vengeance shall o'ertake thy crime, 
 And thou shalt live abhorr'd to latest time ! 
 
 Jungunt salivas 
 Oris, et inspirant pressantes dentibus or a. 
 
 LUCRET. Lib. 4. 
 
 fama loquetur anus.] In like manner Martial : 
 Unum pro cuntfisfama loquatur oput. 
 
 This
 
 I6 CATULLI CARMfttA. CA. 76^ 
 
 DE GALLO. ixxv. 
 
 CALLUS habet fratres, quorum est lepidissima 
 conjux 
 
 Alterius; lepidus films aherius. 
 Callus homo est bellus; nam dulces jungit amores, 
 
 Cum puero ut bello bella puella cubet. 
 Callus homo est stultus, nee se videt esse maritum, 
 
 Qui patruus patrui monstret adulterium. 
 
 IN GELLIUM. LXXVI. 
 
 GELLIUS est pulcher : quidni ? quern Lesbia malit, 
 Quam te cum tota gente, Catulle, tua. 
 
 LXXV. 
 
 This Callus, and his libidinous family, are all unknown cha- 
 raclers. The Gatti of antiquity are very numerous. Achilles 
 Statius says, that the name is spelt indifferently, with one or two 
 Is; he has seen on the old brass coin of Anton. Augustin. Episc. 
 llerden. GALVS. APRONIVS, and GALVS. MESSALLA; 
 also in a very old manuscript of Virgil, PAVC A MEO GALLO. 
 
 Homo est bellus.] The epithet bellus, we are told, is applied to 
 those servile beings who can accommodate themselves to every 
 disposition. Aristotle calls such men, Lib. 3. de morib. apeVxaj. 
 And thus Martial : 
 
 Bellus homo atquc idem magnus vis, Cotta, wider!; 
 Sed qui bellus homo est, Cotta, pmillus homo est. 
 Parthenius says, that bellus is here put ironically for benignus. 
 Bellus homo, in this place, I believe, means a coxcomb.
 
 tO. 76. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 12] 
 
 ON CALLUS. LXXV. 
 
 TWO brothers has Callus : the one 
 
 Boasts a wife, most seducingly fair ; 
 The other is blest with a son, 
 
 As seducing, in person and air: 
 
 Now Gallus, so weak, so gallant, 5 
 
 Would the beautiful stripling persuade 
 
 To make a bold push at his aunt, 
 
 And entice the sweet thing to his bed : 
 
 But Gallus must surely want thought; 
 
 For, since married, methinks it should strike, 10 
 That nephews, so charmingly taught, 
 
 Will cornute ev'ry uncle alike. 
 
 ON GELLIUS. LXXVI. 
 
 GELLIUS is handsome Well; I know it; 
 
 And to my cost I also know, 
 That Lesbia to her once-lov'd poet, 
 
 And all his race, prefers this beau. 
 
 LXXVI. 
 
 Many, for Geilius, read Lesbius ; conjefturing that P. Clodius, 
 Lesbia's brother, who debauched her himself, as well as his other 
 
 sisters,
 
 128 CATCLLI CARMINA. CA. 77. 
 
 Sed tamen hie pulcher vendat cum gente Catullum, 
 Si tria note-rum suavia repererit. 
 
 AD GELLIUM. LXXVII. 
 
 QUID dicam, Gelli, quare rosea ista labella 
 
 Hiberna fiant candidiora nive, 
 Mane domo cum exis, et cum te odtava quiete 
 
 E molli longo suscitat hora die ? 
 Nescio quid certe est. an vere fama susurrat 5 
 
 Grandia te medii tenta vorare viri ? 
 
 sisters, is intended. Pulcher, say they, was a cognomen given to all 
 the family of the Clodii; upon which word Catullus here mirth- 
 fully plays. 
 
 Sed tamen blc pulcher, &c.] The sense of the poet is, that 
 however handsome he may be, no one will salute him ; that is, 
 every one shuns him, on account of his turpitude. By the word 
 vendat, Catullus seems to allude to the old custom of publickly 
 selling a family, who were guilty of any very flagrant crimes^ 
 
 MURETUS. 
 
 Si tria notorum, &c.] Many read amatorum; Vossius natorum, 
 for nati meant, nobly born; implying, that people of better con- 
 dition avoided Gellius. Tria is expressive of paucity. 
 
 LXXVII. 
 
 Cum te oflava quiete, &c.] We have before mentioned the 
 custom with the Romans of going to rest about noon, in C.arm. 29. 
 when amorous appointments were frequently held : hence the ob- 
 scenity of the word mcrlJiatus, which maybe applied, in the pre- 
 sent instance, to Gellius. Concluding then, that he went to his 
 pleasurable couch at noon, we will suppose that he arose at the 
 offava bora of the Romans, which answered to our two o'clock. 
 This is probable enough ; though some pretend, that by otfava 
 
 bora
 
 !>O. 77. POEMS Of CATULLUS. 129 
 
 Yet will I give the fop permission, 5 
 
 Catullus, and his race to sell, 
 If any three of good condition 
 
 E'en once salute, or wish him well. 
 
 TO GELLIUS. LXXVII. 
 
 WHENCE can those lips, that far out-sham'd 
 
 the rose, 
 
 Assume a paleness like the wintry snows ; 
 When from his home each morning Gellius flies, 
 Or when at two in summer noons he'll rise? 
 Fame whispers then, (but does she whisper right?) 
 " Too much diou revel'st in obscene delight. " 6 
 
 bora is meant the eight hour from his lying down ; but we cannot,, 
 surely, imagine that the voluptuous Gellius would rest from noon 
 till eight o'clock, in the evening, and omit till that time his princi- 
 pal meal, or < na, which the luxurious always made early. See a 
 note to Carm.44. By longo die, is intended the summer season, 
 when afternoon slumbers are more particularly grateful. Some 
 editions have, Et mollis, Sec. but this makes a very indifferent 
 sense, if any ; molli, as Vossius justly remarks, should be con- 
 strued with quiet e. 
 
 Tenta, &c.] Thus Diomedes, the grammarian, upon this 
 word : Et quia cacopbaton <uidelur deorum 'vehiculum tensum dixe- 
 funt^ non tentum, ne <vert>um turpe sonaret in tacris. The Greeks 
 make use of a like immodest phrase : 
 
 AXX a/; ImTafASs? (pug f/,|3XE7r. 
 Vlri.] Similar is the expression of Martial ; 
 Lambebat medios improba lingua -vires, 
 VOL. II. K
 
 130 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 78. 
 
 Sic certe. clamant Virronis rupta miselli 
 Ilia, e{ emulso labja np.tata sero, 
 
 AD AMOREM SUUM. LXXVIII. 
 NEMO'NE in tanto potuit populo esse, Juventi, 
 
 Bellus homo, quern tu diligere inciperes ; 
 Przeterquam iste tuus moribunda a sede Pisaurj 
 
 Hospes, inaurata pallidior statua ? 
 Qui tibi nunc cordi est, quern tu praponere nobis ^ 
 
 Audes. ah nescis, quod facinus facias ! 
 
 rirrojtis.'] Vossius, aqd others read Viftoris ; some have Unc- 
 torls. 
 
 Ilia, et etitulso, &c.] Lucretius uses the word mulgere in the 
 same sense : 
 
 Et fommiseenJo semen cum forte 'virile 
 Femineum mulxit subita <vi, corripuitque. 
 
 Luc RET. Lib. 4. 
 
 LXXVIII. 
 
 The person whom Catullus thus reproaches is the same alluded 
 to in Carolina xi, and 45. 
 
 a sfdf Pisaurl."] Pisaurus, or Pisurum, a town of Umbria, de- 
 riving its name from the river that runs by it, was remarkable for 
 the insalubrity of its air ; hence the epithet moribundus, Vossius 
 says it is the same with Lucan's Isaurus.
 
 BO. 78. BOEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 Fame whispers right; for thy parch'd lips must shew 
 Thy lustful flame ; nay, Virro tells it too. 
 
 TO fttS FAVOURITE. 
 
 CAN none, of all the Roman race, 
 Engage your heart ? And shall alone 
 
 Be folded in your fond embrace 
 One of Pisaurus* sickly town } 
 
 That wretch, whom you so much prefer, 
 
 Is sallow as a gilded bust: 
 But, o sweet fav-rite, have a care ! 
 
 You little know to whom you trust. 
 
 tS pallldior statuS. ] Gold, say they, is naturally pale : 
 Piogenes, being asked the reason of this, replied; " that the 
 M number of those who continqaljy laid in wait for it might well 
 ' make it grow pale with terror." Silius Jtalicus mentions the 
 yVsturians being pale as the gold they dig: 
 
 Se d scelerum caussas aperit Deus, Astur tpvarttf 
 Visceribus lacera tclluris mergitur imis, 
 Et redit infelix ejfosso concolor auro. 
 
 Catullus has before used this simile, in Carm. 61. Qyanto $<efi 
 is, &c.
 
 132 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 80. 
 
 At) QUINTIUM. LXXIX. 
 
 QpINTI, si tibi vis oculos debere Catullum, 
 
 Aut aliud, si quid carius est oculis; 
 Eripere ei noli, muho quod carius illi 
 
 Est oculis, seu quid carius est oculis. 
 
 DE LESBIjfc MARITO. LXXX. 
 LESBIA mi, prseseme viro, mala plurima dicit: 
 
 Hoc illi fatuo maxima laetitia est. 
 Mule, nihil sends, si nostri oblita taceret, 
 
 Sana esset: quod nunc gannit, et obloquitur, 
 Non solum meminit; sed, quas multo acrior est res, 
 
 Irata est: hoc est, uritur, et loquitur. 
 
 LXXIX. 
 
 We are entirely ignorant of the Quintius mentioned in this lit- 
 tie piece, which is written exaftly in the csncttti style of Italian 
 wit : Petrarch has numerous passages similar to it. Dear as one's 
 eyes, is a familiar expression of our time, and is perhaps common 
 in most languages. 
 
 LXXX. 
 
 The sage Muretus comments most philosophically upon the sub* 
 jett of this Carmen. The fallaciousness of appearances is a very 
 antiquated theme indeed. 
 
 Mule.~\ The Latins used this word for a dolt, as we now say, 
 " a stupid ass." Many editions have Mulle, and Mullum; others 
 Nulle, and Nvllvm. So in the following line, for Sana, some have 
 :a, Sannia, and Sanna, 
 
 Gannit.
 
 PO. 80. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 133 
 
 TO QUINTIUS. LXXIX. 
 
 WOULDST thou, my gentle Quintius, that in thee 
 These very eyes should their preserver know; 
 
 Or, if ought dearer than these eyes can be, 
 That to thyself I should the blessing owe : 
 
 Then steal not her who, dearer than these eyes, 5 
 
 Is dearer than the dearest thing I prize ! 
 
 ON LESBIA'S HUSBAND. LXXX. 
 
 WHEN her husband is by, Lesbia rails at me sore ; 
 
 And he chuckles to think how she scolds me. 
 Thou dull ass ! not to see, that her silence would 
 more 
 
 Prove how little she thinks of, or holds me. 
 
 By these scoffs, and these flouts, I not only can find 
 That I long on her thoughts have been feeding; 
 
 But, what's more, that she's vext, and to speak my 
 
 whole mind, 
 That strong love in the storm lies a breeding. 
 
 Gannit.] The word gannire is here metaphorically put for 
 scolding, or growling as a dog. Others read garrit, the word 
 garrire meaning to chatter, and prate clamorously, as a bird. 
 
 K 3 This
 
 134 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 8l. 
 
 DE ARRIO. LXXXI. 
 
 CHOMMODA dicebat, siquando commoda vellet 
 
 Dicere, et hinsidias Arrius insidias. 
 Et turn mirifice sperabat se esse locutum, 
 
 Cum, quantum poterat, dixerat hinsidias. 
 Credo, sic mater, sic Liber avunculus ejus, 5 
 
 Sic maternus avus dixerat, atque avia. 
 Hoc misso in Syriam, requierant omnibus aures, 
 
 Audibant eadem hzec leniter, et leviter. 
 
 LXXXI. 
 
 This epigram was meant to satirize one Arrius, who had a pe- 
 culiar manner of aspirating certain words, as though an b was 
 placed before the vowels, This is the case with many provin- 
 cial dialects in our language; it may be remarked in the Hiber- 
 nian. The instances Catullus gives are in the three words, 
 ebommoda, hinsidias, and Hionios, for commoda, insidias, and 
 lonios. For a further account of this epigram, the curious reader 
 may consult Angelus Politianus, Cap. 19. Lib. Miscellan. and Sca- 
 liger, De Causis Lingua, Lat. Cap. 45. Lib. i. Quintilian records 
 this very epigram of Catullus, Institut. Orat. Lib. i . Who Ar- 
 rius was, or of what country, is not clearly ascertained ; there 
 were many families of that name. Pedianus, in his argument on 
 Ciceronian declamation, mentions one C^uintius Arrius. Some- 
 few editions have Arclius, and Aclitis. 
 
 Sic mater, &c.] There are editors who do not scruple to write 
 these two lines thus : 
 
 Credo sic mather, sic Liber Ha<vunculus eii est, 
 Sic Matbernus, Havus dixerit, atque Havia. 
 
 Liber.] The whole family of Arrius had this mode of pronun- 
 ciation we find. If we may believe Tertullian, de Anima, Liber 
 
 was
 
 PO. 8l. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 135 
 
 ON ARRIUS. LXXXI. 
 
 WHEN Arrius would commodious say, 
 Chornmodious always was his way ; 
 And when insidious he would name, 
 Strait from his lips hinsidious came : 
 Nay more, he thought, with that strong swell, 5 
 He spoke himidious wondrous well. 
 His uncle Liber, and his mother, 
 I doubt not, so address'd each other; 
 And that his grandsire, and grandame, 
 By female line, did just the same. 10 
 
 When Arrius was to Syria sent, 
 Each wearied ear became content : 
 But now no more these words displease, 
 Pronounc'd with neatness, and with ease ; 
 
 was a name peculiar to all such as were born by the Caesarian ope- 
 ration. But Passeratius thinks that Liber means being born a 
 bastard : be this as it may, it was certainly a very frequent cog- 
 nomen. 
 
 HSc mitio in Syriam.] Arrius was sent into Syria, upon some 
 mission, by the senate. If this was the same with Q^ Arrius, 
 spoken of by Pedianus, he perhaps went to that colony as praetor; 
 for we are informed that he did serve a praetorship : the Syrians 
 were not offended at his" aspiration, it being natural to them. We 
 lose much of the force of this epigram, by not having a perfect 
 'knowledge of the Roman pronunciation. 
 
 K 4 lonios
 
 136 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 83. 
 
 Nec sibi postilla metuebant talia verba, 
 
 Cum subito affertur nuncius horribilis; 10 
 
 lonios flu&us, postquam illuc Arrius isset, 
 Jam non lonios esse, sed Hionios. 
 
 DE AMORE SUO. LXXXII. 
 
 ODI, et amo. quare id faciam fortasse requiris. 
 Nescio : sed fieri sentio, et excrucior. 
 
 DE QUINTIA ET LESBIA. LXXXIII. 
 
 QUINTIA Formosa est multis j mihi Candida, longa, 
 Refta est. hoc ego: sic singula confiteor. 
 
 Totum illud, Formosa, nego. nam nulla venustas, 
 Nulla in tarn magno est corpore mica salis. 
 
 lonios fluftus.] The Grecians divided this sea into the Sicilian, 
 and Cretan, according to Pliny, Cap. 2. Lib. 4. but Servius, 
 JEneid. 3. says it was divided into the Adriatic, Achaic, Epiro- 
 tic, and Sicilian. 
 
 LXXXII. 
 
 Catullus means to express, that he hates the manners of his 
 mistress, though he admires her personal beauties. Joannes Se- 
 cundus says much the same thing of his Neaera .- 
 
 Lum'na ml atque animum cepit tua Candida forma ; 
 
 Moribus offendor, torva Nt<era, tuts. Jo. SECUN. Epig. 22. 
 And Martial has some lines very similar indeed : 
 Non amo te t Sabidi, nee possum ditere quare ; 
 
 Hoc tantum possum dice re y non amo te. MART.^. i$.Lib. i. 
 
 This
 
 PO. 83. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 Of aspiration no one thought; 15 
 
 When sudden this dread news was brought, 
 
 That Arrius was return'd, and, strange ! 
 
 Had dar'd th* Ionian sea to change ; 
 
 For 'twas no more th' Ionian sea, 
 
 But the Hionian, from that day. 20 
 
 ON HIS LOVE. LXXXII. 
 
 THO' I hate, yet I love ! you'll perhaps ask me, 
 
 how? 
 I can't tell; but I'm vext, and I feel that I do. 
 
 ON QUINTIA AND LESBIA. LXXXIII. 
 
 QUINTIA is handsome, people cry 
 
 I own she's fair, she's tall, she's strait; 
 
 But that she's handsome I deny; 
 She wants a certain something yet. 
 
 LXXXIII. 
 
 This is a very elegant comparison that Catullus draws between 
 his mistress, andQuintia; the latter of whom, with all her beauty, 
 wanted what a certain noble writer of the present age has much 
 dwelt upon, the graces ; or what the French so happily express 
 by their je ne sais quoi. The following passage from Quintilian, 
 Cap. 3. Lib. 6. may perhaps be the best, comment upon this Car- 
 men. Salsum in consuetudine pro ridiculo tantum ace ipimus : natura 
 non utlque hoc est : quanquam et ridicule oporteat esse salsa. Nam 
 et Cicero, omne quod salsum sit, ait esse Atticorum. Non quia sunt 
 
 maximf
 
 138 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 84. 
 
 Lesbia formosa est ; quze cum pulcherrima tota est. 
 Turn omnibus una omnes surripuit Veneres. 
 
 AD GELLIUM. LXXXIV. 
 
 QUID facie is, Gelli, qui cum matre atque sorore 
 
 Prurit, et abjectis pervigilat tunicis ? 
 Quid facit is, patruum qui non sinit esse maritum? 
 
 Ecquid scis, quantum suscipiat sceleris? 
 Suscipit, 6 Gelli, quantum non ultima Tethys, 5 
 
 Non genitor Nympharum abluit Occanus. 
 Nam nihilest quicquam sceleris, quod prodeat ultra, 
 
 Non si demisso se ipse voret capita. 
 
 maxime ad rlsum compositi. Et Catullus cum dicit \ " Nulla In tarn 
 ' magno at corpore mica salts :" hoc dlcit nikil in corpore ejus esse 
 rldiculum . 
 
 LXXXIV. 
 
 The licentious Ge,llius is no where so strongly characterized as 
 in this satire. The fifth and sixth lines seem to allude to a suppo- 
 sition, that the sea had a power of cleansing away all mortal sin ; 
 for which idea I would refer my reader to Cicero, Orat. pro Scxt. 
 Rose. And to this purpose Euripides : -v 
 
 The ocean washes human crimes away. 
 
 The last line, some commentators say, implies suicide; others con- 
 jecture that a different vice is meant. 
 
 This
 
 PO. 84. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 139 
 
 In her whole form no graces play, 5 
 
 No spark of animation warms: 
 But Lesbia, handsome ev'ry way, 
 
 Robs all her sex of all their charms. 
 
 TO GELLIUS. LXXXIV. 
 
 GELL1US, what must that fellow Reserve who 
 contrives 
 
 With his mother, and sister to waste day and night, 
 Having thrown by his vest; or who basely deprives 
 
 His own uncle of ev'ry dear conjugal right ? 
 
 Dost thou know the extent of hi,s baseness, I say? 5 
 'Tis so great, that both Tethys, aqd Ocean in vain, 
 
 With their children the Nymphs, were each billow 
 
 a sea, 
 Would attempt to wash out the indelible stain! 
 
 'Tis sd great, 'tis a crime of such matchless offence ! 
 That the wretch of all wretches is scarce more to 
 blame, 10 
 
 Who, deaf to the dictates of nature and sense^ 
 Lays his hand on himself, and bows down to his 
 shame.
 
 14 CATULLI CARMINAT CA. 86. 
 
 IN GELLIUM. L.xxxr. 
 
 GELLIUS est tenuis ; quidni? quoi tam bona mater, 
 Tamque valens vivat, tamque venusta soror, 
 
 Tamque bonus patruus, tamque omnia plena puellis 
 Cognatis. quare is desinat esse macer? 
 
 Qui utnihil attingit, nisi quod fas tangere non est, 5 
 Quantumvis quare sit macer, invenies. 
 
 IN EUNDEM. txxxvr. 
 NASCATUR magus ex Gelli, matrisque nefando 
 
 Conjugro, et discat Persicum aruspicium. 
 Nam magus ex matre et gnato gignatur oportet, 
 
 Si vera est Persanim impta religio : 
 
 LXXXV. 
 
 The good condition, and number of the relations of Gellius 
 are assigned as the causes of his macilency ; whether by depriving 
 him of his family fortunes, or by other means, we will not deter- 
 mine, or inquire: we must only remember, that Gellius was an 
 adulterer of the most infamous kind. Thus Propertius, on the 
 amorous disposition peculiar to those of a spare make: 
 Sed tibl si exiles <v\deor tenuatui in artus, 
 
 Falleris: baud unquam est ciilta labors Venus: 
 Perconterf, licet-, s<ep} est experta puella 
 Gffieittm tota nofte valere meum. 
 
 PROPER. Eleg. za. Lib. 2. 
 What tho' my slender shape enervate seem, 
 Think not that vigour flies my meager frame ; 
 At Venus' rites I ne'er was known to fail, 
 Th' experienc'd fair can this dear truth reveal. 
 
 Nam
 
 PO* 86. POEMS OF CATULLtfS. 14! 
 
 ON GELLIUS. LXXXV. 
 IF Gellius wastes, 'tis understood 
 His buxom mother's health is good, 
 His sister sportive, uncle sound, 
 His female cousins too abound : 
 By such connexions, to be sure, 
 Gellius is kept extremely poor: 
 Doing what ought not to be done, 
 No wonder he's that skeleton ! 
 
 ON THE SAME. Lxxxvl. 
 
 FROM Gellius, and his parents' guilt shall rise 
 A sage, deep-vers'd in Eastern sacrifice ; 
 For, as from Persian oracles we learn, 
 Of son, and mother must the sage be born : 
 
 LXXXVI. 
 
 Nam magus ex matre. Sec.] The Persian religion tolerated a 
 union with the neareft of kindred; and, according to Xanthus, 
 in Magicis, the loves of a son, and mother could alone produce the 
 Persian magus p which Silvius tells us is the same with the Gre- 
 cian philosopher, the Gallic druid, the Egyptian prophet, and 
 ur sage. See the Greek historian, Clemens, Lib. 3. The history 
 of these learned people is treated of by Caelius Rhodiginus, Cap. 
 18. Lib. 10. Strabo tells us, that, according to ancient custom, the 
 Magi always cohabited with their mothers; hence we learn from 
 
 Eusebiur
 
 142- CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 87. 
 
 Gnatus ut accepto veneretur carmine divos, 5 
 
 Omentum in flamma pingue liquefaciens. 
 
 AD GELLIUM. LXXXVII. 
 
 NON ideo, Gelli, sperabam te mihi fidum 
 
 In misero hoc nostro perdito amore fore, 
 Quod te cognossem hene, constantemque putarem 
 
 Aut posse a turpi mentem inhibere probro: 
 Sed neque quod matrem, nee germanam csse vide- 
 bam 5 
 
 Hanc tibi, quoius me magnus edebat amor. 
 Et quamvis tecum multo conjungerer usu, 
 
 Non satis id causas credideram esse tibi. 
 Tu satis id duxtij tantum tibi gaudium in omni 
 
 Culpa est, in quacunque est aliquid sceleris. 10 
 
 Eusebius that they were hated, and despised by other nations. 
 
 ^Aican informs us, that the Parthian kings were thus born: 
 Parthorum domlnus qucties sic sanguine misto 
 Nascitur Arsacides : cut fas implere parentem. 
 
 MURETUS, & PARTHENIUS. 
 
 Omcntum, &c.] The sages were used to draw omens from the 
 entrails of sacrificed beasts, as they were burning; but more par- 
 ticularly from the omentum, or cawl, that apron of fat which co- 
 vers the abdominal viscera. Singing likewise constituted a part 
 of the worship of the magi ; they began, and ended the day with 
 song. See Strabo, Lib. 17. A pretty detail of their religious ce- 
 remonies maybe found hi Ramsay's Cyrus. 
 
 Another
 
 P0 87. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 143 
 
 Soon, for the gods, the solemn song he'll frame, 5 
 And cast the entrails in the mystic flame. 
 
 TO GELLIUS. LXXXVII. 
 
 NOT that I thought you'd faithful prove, 
 
 Gellius ! to my ill-starr'd love, 
 For well your treachery I knew; 
 
 But, that no wanton sister she, > 
 
 No mother, for your lust could be, 5 
 
 My soul's sweet ruin I consign'd to you. 
 
 Nay, tho' you are my ancient friend, 
 
 1 durst not on your faith depend; 
 For 'tis with you a maxim grown, 
 
 The more a deed be base and vile, 10 
 
 Unworthy of pursuit or toil,, 
 With readier joy to make that deed your own. 
 
 LXXXVII. 
 
 Another satire, reproaching Gellius with his unnatural lusts, 
 with his perfidious friendship, and, indeed, with his general in- 
 famy of character. Muretus has a very long, and dull commefit 
 upon this Carmen likewise. 
 
 Edebat amor.'] Virgil, who frequently imitates Catullus, says : 
 
 Hie quos durus amor crudcli tabe peredit. 
 And again, in another place : 
 
 Est mollis flamma medullas.
 
 144 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 89. 
 
 DE LESBIA. LXXXVIII. 
 
 LESBIA mi dicit semper male, nee tacet unquam 
 De me: dispeream, me nisi Lesbia amat: 
 
 Quo signo? quasi non totidem mox deprecor illam 
 Assidue j verum dispeream, nisi amo. 
 
 AD C^SAREM. LXXXIX. 
 
 NIL nimium studeo, Czesar, tibi velle placere ; 
 Nee scire, utrum sis albus, an ater homo: 
 
 LXXXVIII. 
 
 This smart little epigram is written, and stopped variously, by 
 various editors ; but, however, not so materially as to alter the 
 sense. It is written in the same spirit, and the subject is the same 
 with Carm. 80. Propertius has some lines expressive of Catullus's 
 conceit : 
 
 Nimirum *veri dantur mibi signa caloris 
 Nam sine amore gra*vi famina nulla dolet. 
 
 PROPER. Eleg. 8. Lib. 3. 
 These must the ardour of thy passion prove ; 
 For women most complain, when most they love. 
 But the whole of this epigram has been elegantly paraphrased, in 
 French, by the celebrated Comte de Bussy-Rabutin : 
 Philis dis le diable de moi : 
 De son amour, et de sa foi 
 C'est une preuve assez nouvelle : 
 Ce qui me fait croire pourtant 
 Qu'elle m'aime .effedlivement ; 
 C'est que je dis le diable d'elle, 
 Et que je 1'aime eperdument. 
 Our Swift too has very happily imitated it. 
 
 A great
 
 PO. 89. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 145 
 
 ON LESBIA. LXXXVIII. 
 
 LESBIA rails without ceasing at me the whole day; 
 And yet, hang me, if Lesbia don't love me sin- 
 cerely : 
 ff How d'you know it?" you cry; why, 'tis just my 
 
 own way j 
 Tho' I rail without ceasing, I still love her dearly ! 
 
 TO CAESAR. LXXXIX. 
 
 SO little I for Csesar care, 
 
 Whatever his complexion be ; 
 That whether dark, or whether fair, 
 
 I vow 'tis all the same to me ! 
 
 LXXXIX. 
 
 Most of the modern editors divide these two distichs, and make- 
 distinct carmina of them ; yet I think they may with equal pro- 
 priety stand separate, or conne&ed. If connected, the transition 
 of the satire from Caesar to Mamurra is very natural to the poet, 
 who has so often lashed both in one and the same piece. 
 
 Ut rum sis albus, a H ater homo."] Quintilian, Lib. n. Cap. i. 
 records this passage of Catullus, without naming him as the au- 
 thor : Nfgat, se magnifacere aliquis poetarum, utrum Ctzsar ater y 
 an albus homo sit : insania. ferte, ut idem Cxsar de illo dixerit ; 
 arrogantia fit. And thus Cicero, in his second Philippic : Et 
 quidem vide quam te amarit is, qui albus aterne fverit ignorans fra- 
 tris filium pr#teriit. 
 
 VOL. II. Mentula
 
 14-6 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 90. 
 
 Mentula moechatur, moechatur mentula certe, 
 Hoc est quod dicunt, ipsa olera olla legit. 
 
 DE SMYRNA CINNvE POETJE. xc. 
 
 SMYRNA mei Cinnas nonam post denique messem 
 Quam coepta est, nonamque edita post hyemem, 
 Millia cum interea quingenta Hortensius uno 
 
 Mentula mcecbatur, &c.] Achilles Statics says, that this distich 
 is meant as an apology for adultery ; interpreting thus : " It is the 
 " flesh that is guilty, and not I who am guilty ; so it is the pot 
 " that robs the garden, and not the thief who steals the pot- 
 " herbs." Vulpius calls this interpretation, explicatio simplex et 
 minime contorta. But I prefer the allusion to Mamurra Formi- 
 anus. Mentula is a scurrilous term, which our poet has applied 
 in many places to him. See Carmina 26. 109. and no. Nor does 
 it seem necessary to have recourse to obscenity for the construc- 
 tion of this satire, which would stigmatize the concupiscence of 
 Mamurra, who was so pampered by Caesar's bounty, that, to use 
 Vulpius's words, injcfJa devorabat tanquam olla quadam. Such 
 being the sense, Carm. 26. will form the best comment. 
 
 Ipsa olera ella legit.'] This might have been a cant proverb 
 of the day, which contained a meaning we are now totally unac- 
 quainted with. The interpretation of Parthenius is ingenious, 
 and may serve as another exposition of this singular epigrammatic 
 distich : " A libidinous man is apt in adultery, as a vessel is suited 
 " to hold its contents." Ut olla colligit ac comprebendit olera, 
 sic meecbus mtccbas colligit et captat. Ac, ut olera conveniunt oll<f, 
 sic macho conveniunt semper adult cria . 
 
 xc. 
 
 Cinna, whom we have already mentioned in Cam. 10. was nine 
 years in composing a poem called Smyrna, or Zmyrna ; which, it 
 is thought, gave rise to Horace's precept, in his Art. Poetic, of 
 
 nonumque
 
 PO. 90. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 147 
 
 His favourite so debauch'd is got, 5 
 
 Yes, so debauch'd is his rank blooc) 
 
 Folks say, he's like a kitchen pot 
 That's cramm'd with ev'ry dainty food, -i 
 
 ON CINNA's POEM ENTITLED SMYRNA, xc. 
 
 NINE summers o'er, and nine long winters too, 
 My Cinna's Smyrna bursts to public view; 
 While swift Hortensius, ere one year declines, 
 A volume writes of fifty thousand lines. 
 
 nonumque prematur in annum. Scaliger conjectures, that the sub- 
 ject of this poem might have been the incestuous loves of Myr- 
 *ha, from a line which Priscianus, Lib. 6. has preserved us: 
 
 At scelus incesto Cinyrae crescebant in aliio: 
 As well as from the following epigram : 
 
 Uni Castritio se nubere Smyrna probavit: 
 Desinite indcfli conjugio bane petere. 
 
 Soli Castritio se dixit nubere <velle 
 
 Intima cui soli nota sua ext'iterint. 
 
 Viclorius, who informs us that this Cinna was slain through mis- 
 take by the populace, in the riot which Antony excited among the 
 murderers of Caesar, adduces two more lines of the poem Smyrna, 
 taken from Servius. They are these : 
 
 Te matutinus flentem conspexit Eous : 
 
 Et flentem paulo <vidit post Hesperus idem. 
 
 Quintilian, Lib. 10. mentions this nine years' labour of Cinna's j 
 and at the same time tells us, that Isocrates was ten years in com- 
 posing a panegyric. 
 
 Hortensius. ] The noted orator of this name, remarkable for 
 his graceful action, mentioned by Valerius Maximus, is perhaps 
 
 L ^ hen;
 
 148 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 90. 
 
 Smyrna cavas Atracis penitus mittetur ad undas. 5 
 Smyrnam incana din secula pervoliient. 
 
 At Volusi annales Paduarri morientur ad ipsam, 
 Et laxas scombris sa?pe dabunt tunicas. 
 
 Parva mei mihi sunt cordi monimema laboris. 
 At populus tumido gaudeat Antimacho. 10 
 
 here alluded to. After this line a pentameter is wanting, which 
 Parthenius thus supplies, reading, in the first line, Vilia for Millia: 
 
 In pede starts fxo cartnina rucJat hians. 
 
 Atracis.] Atrax was a town, and river of Thessaly, which Pliny 
 mentions, Cap. 2. and 8. Lib. 4. It is here made use of merely 
 to express distance, as though the poet would say, " The most 
 " distant climes shall read Smyrna." Many editions have Atacis, 
 and A the sis. 
 
 At Volusi annales, &c.] The annals of Volusius, a poet of Pa- 
 dua, have been mentioned in Carm. 33. And here I may remark, 
 that the remainder of this line is spurious, as well as the word 
 laboris, two lines further. Muretus would amend the hiatus, by 
 writing, Pata<vi morientur ad urbcm : Vossius writes, Aduam mo- 
 rientur ad ipsum : and Scaliger has Apuam t which may allude ei- 
 ther to a town in Liguria, or a small fish, the same with Apbva t 
 the anchovy, of which Pliny speaks, Cap. 31. Lib. 8. 
 
 Scombris s&pe dabunt tunicas.] It was no uncommon thing to 
 threaten bad poets with this punishment. Thus Martial : 
 
 Scombris tunicas dabis molestas. 
 
 And
 
 PO. 90. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 149 
 
 Where the deep waves of distant Atrax run, 5 
 
 There shall sweet Smyrna's tuneful fame be known; 
 
 Smyrna shall live thro' each succeeding age ; 
 
 While, poor Volusius ! thy historic page 
 
 In ev'ry fish-stall of the town shall lie, 
 
 To wrap up herrings, and in Padua die: 10 
 
 Me the few labours of my Cinna please; 
 
 Let vulgar souls admire Antimachus' swoln lays. 
 
 And likewise Persius : 
 
 Nee scombros metuentia carmina, nee thus. 
 
 Some suppose the scombrus, or scomber, the herring, others the 
 mackerel. 
 
 Antlmacbo. ] A Greek epic poet, and grammarian, of Colophon 
 in Ionia, is meant, who wrote four and twenty volumes upon the 
 Theban war before he mentioned the siege of Thebes. He is 
 spoken of with praise by Suidas, and Quintilian, Institut. Orat. 
 Lib. 10. It is related, that reading his Thebaid one day to some 
 friends, they all grew tired, and slunk away, excep't Plato, to 
 whom the poet said: " I will continue to read, for Plato is of him- 
 " self an audience." He is stiled tumidus, either on account of 
 the bulk of his work, or of its bombast diftion. Some annotators 
 think, that Volusius is intended by Antimachus, from his resem- 
 blance to him in garrulity. Martial has a similar expression to 
 that which concludes this Carmen: 
 
 Scribal carmina circuits Pal<emon t 
 Me dofiis ju*vat auribus placere. 
 
 L 3 These
 
 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 91. 
 
 AD CALVUM DE QUINTILIA. xci. 
 
 SI quicquam mutis gratum acceptnmve sepulcris 
 Accidere a nostro, Calve, dolore potest, 
 
 Cum desiderio veteres renovamus amores, 
 Atque olim missas flemus amicitias; 
 
 Certe non tamo mors immatura dolori est 
 Quintilise, quantum gaudet amore tuo. 
 
 XCI. 
 
 These lines are truly tender and elegant ; the thought they con- 
 tain is original, and exquisite : the poet says, " that the shade of 
 " Qinntilia must be more pleased with the genuine grief of Calvus, 
 " than she herself could have been with a greater length of life." 
 This Calvus is supposed to be the same with Calvus Licinius, the 
 orator, addressed in Carm. 14. and whom Ovid mentions as the 
 friend of our poet, in his lovely elegy on the death of Tibullus. 
 Propertius records the muse of Calvus bewailing Qumtilia, or 
 Qmnftilia, who is rather an obscure character: 
 
 H<tc etiam doftl confessa est pagina Cal-vi, 
 Cum caneret miserafunera ^uintilitx. 
 
 PROPER. Eleg. 34. Lib. 2. 
 
 So melting strains soft flow'd from Calvus' tongue, 
 When sad Quintilia's timeless grave he sung. 
 
 Mutis gratum, &c.} The silence of the tomb is a poetic idea, 
 which Gray has very happily touched upon, in his elegy. 
 Can storied urn, or animated bust 
 
 Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? 
 Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust, 
 Or Flatt'ry sooth the dull, cold ear of Death ? 
 
 Mors
 
 0. 91. POEMS OF CATULLtJSi 
 
 TO CALVUS, ON OJQINTILIA. xci. 
 
 IF ever to the dumb* sepulchral urn 
 
 The tribute of a tear could grateful prove; 
 
 What time each recollected scene we mourn, 
 Each deed of ancient friendship, and of love : 
 
 Less sure, fond youth, must thy Quintilia grieve 5 
 That she by death's cold hand untimely fell; 
 
 Than joys her parted spirit to perceive 
 
 How much her Calvus lov'd her, and how well 1 
 
 Mors imniatura.] Immature death, says a learned scholiast, 
 means dying before time appointed by nature, fate, or fortune; 
 for these three influence human life. According to Servius, nature 
 terminates it in one hundred and twenty solstitial years; fate in 
 ninety-nine years, that is, in three Saturnal courses, unless any 
 friendly planet impedes the progress of Saturn^ as Horace men-* 
 tions ; 
 
 Te Jo<vis imp'tb 
 Tutela Saturno refulgent 
 
 Erlpuit, valuer isque fait 
 Tardavit alas. HdaAT. Od. 17. /. i. 
 
 Thee Jove's bright influence snatch'd away 
 From baleful Saturn's impious ray$ 
 And stopt the rapid wings of Fate. 
 
 FRANCIS. 
 
 Fortune puts a period to our existence variously, by accidental cir- 
 cumstances, as fire, shipwreck, poison, &c;
 
 I5 2 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 92. 
 
 DE JEMILIO. 
 
 NON, ita me di ament, quicquam referrc putavi, 
 
 Utrumne os, an culum olfaccrem yEmilio. 
 Nil immundius hoc, nihiloque immundius illud. 
 . Verum etiam culus mundior et melior, 
 Nam sine dentibus cst; hoc dentes sesquipedales, 5 
 
 Gingivas vero ploxemi habet veteris. 
 Pmerea ri<flum, qualem defessus in sestu 
 
 Meientis mulas cunnus habere solet. 
 Hie futuit mulras, et se facit esse venustum, 
 
 Et non pistrino traditur, atque asino? 10 
 
 Quern siqua attingit, non illam posse putemus 
 
 ./Egroti culum lingere carnificis? 
 
 XCII. 
 
 \Ve are "unacquainted with this .flimilius, whom commentators 
 seem to think of no mean condition: the conjectures of Parthe- 
 nius respecting him are unwarrantable : be who he may ; vanity, 
 and odium attach to his character. 
 
 Ploxemi. ] Quintilian informs us, Institut. Orat. Lib. i. that 
 the word ploxemum was a Paduan provincial word: it is not clear 
 what it meant; some think a wicker vehicle, or tumbrel, from 
 wXo|i, because it was woven as it were with oziers Festus 
 thinks it meant a worm-eaten coffer, which is the most apt con- 
 struction for the comparison to which it is applied. 
 
 Defessus in astu, &c.] Few are ignorant of what Scaliger here 
 gravely tells us: fessimuli strigare solent, ut mtiant. Vossius reads, 
 dejissus, in a different sense. 
 
 Asino. ] That the Roman mills were generally worked by asses, 
 Oiules, or men, we know, dsinus, by synecdoche, often implies 
 the whole mill. Xenophon uses the word 'Ow?, for the mill-stone, 
 
 which
 
 PO. 92. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 153 
 
 ON yEMILIUS. xcil. 
 
 
 
 BY all that's sacred, I declare, 
 I'm doubtful which I should prefer ; 
 Whether, ^Emilius, I would chuse 
 Thy odious mouth, to feast my nose, 
 Or that more odious part which shame 5 
 
 Forbids me in my verse to name! 
 Neither is over clean at best ; 
 But if I must, I'd take the last ; 
 Its toothless, sure ; whereas, you know, 
 Thy mouth has tusks a yard, or so; 10 
 
 Has gums so full of holes, and stink, 
 'Twas a worm-eaten chest you'd think j 
 And then its width! which to my mind 
 Brings some toil'd she-mule, oft inclin'd 
 To stale ; when, chaf'd by summer heats 15 
 
 The brine's lax aperture dilates: 
 Yet to the nymphs this homely swain 
 Makes love, and of his form i.s vain : 
 O, worthier, sure, a lash to feel, 
 And work with asses at the mill ! 20 
 
 Who'd kiss that wretch might kiss, I swear, 
 A pale-fac'd hangman you Jtnow where! 
 
 which Vossius more particularly called the asinus. However this 
 be, traders asins T.eans, ' to be condemned to the mill."
 
 154 CATULLI CARMINA. CA, 93, 
 
 AD VECTIUM. xcin. 
 
 IN te, si in quenquam, dici pote, putide Vefti, 
 
 Id quod verbosis dicitur, et fatuis: 
 Jsta cum lingua, si usus veniat tibi, possis 
 
 Cujos, et crepidas lingere carbatinas. 
 Si nos omnino vis omnes perdere, Vefli, 5 
 
 Dicas ; omnino, quod cupis, efficies. 
 
 JEgrott, &c.j Executioners were at all times regarded as th 
 most odious of wretches ; but Catullus would give force to the 
 odium by painting one of sickly countenance, from his dangerous 
 unwholsome employ among the criminal, and perhaps diseased 
 of ^prisons. The bearers of dead bodies, and executioners, are 
 mentioned with disgust by Martial, Lib. 2. Epig. 61. 
 
 Postquam tristt caput fastidia i/fspillonum, 
 Et miseri meruit tce.dia earnificif. 
 
 Achilles Statius reads Argoti^ as a proper name. 
 
 xcin. 
 
 This epigram has a ddUble sense, alluding both to the fetid 
 breath, and vile language of the speaker. The poet says to him; 
 " if you would wish either to poison or defame, you have only to 
 *' open your mouth;" meaning, perhaps, that the poison of his 
 discourse had even tainted his breath. Veftius is an unknown 
 character. Many write Vetti, Vettium t Vettiam. Scaliger thinks, 
 that by Veflius, Vatinius is alluded to, mentioned in Carm. 14. 
 
 In te, si in quenquam, &c.] Terence says something similar 
 In Heautontimor.
 
 *6. 93. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 155 
 
 TO VECTIUS. xcijr. 
 
 FOUL-MOUTH'D Veftius ! did any deserve the 
 
 disdain 
 
 To conceit, and to talkative ignorance due, 
 Tis thyself; whose rank tongue's only fit to lick 
 
 clean 
 The most filthy of parts, OF some hind's stinking 
 
 shoe. 
 If thou'rt anxious to blast ev'ry friend thou mayst 
 
 meet; 5 
 
 Do but open thy lips, and the wish is compleat! 
 
 In me quidvis barum rerum csnvenit 
 Qu<e difta sunt in stultum. 
 
 Crspidas lingere carbatinas.] This passage has had comments 
 equally numerous, and various. Vossius has one very learned, 
 and says, that no one explains the carbatinte, carpatina, or carba- 
 ;in& as Suidas writes it, better than Xenophon, who tells us, they 
 were worn by peasants, and fabricated of raw hides ; hence their 
 intolerable smell ; they might moreover be esteemed filthy from 
 the occupations of their wearers, as Vulpius observes, luto ac 
 jumentorum stercore illiti. According to Suidas, and Pollux, the 
 Carians invented them; and Aristotle, de Animal. Lib. 2. in- 
 forms us, that camels were shod with the carbat'ma. The ere-, 
 pida were another kind of rustic slipper; perhaps so called, from 
 the noise they made. See a note on the Boeotian shoe, in Carm. 
 6$. Lin. 71. 
 
 This
 
 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 94. 
 
 AD AMOREM SUUM. xciv. 
 SURRIPUI tibi, dum ludis, mellite Juventi, 
 
 Suaviolum dulci dulcius ambrosia. 
 Verum id non impune tuli: namque amplius horam 
 
 Suffixum in summd me memini esse cruce; 
 Dum tibi me purgo, nee .possum fletibus ullis 5 
 
 Tamillum vestra; demcre ssevitije. 
 Nam simul id fadum est, multis diluta labella 
 
 Guttis abstersi$ti omnibus articulis: 
 Ne quicquam nostro contradum ex ore manerer, 
 
 Tanqua.m comrflincfce spurca saliva iupze. 10 
 
 XCIV. 
 
 This little piece, which we will suppose addrest to $ome amiable 
 fair, is a delicate composition, well deserving the epithet venustus, 
 given it by several commentators. It has however the same refer- 
 ence as Carmina 21 1 45, Sc 78. 
 
 Me memini esse cruce. ] A metaphor deduced from the ancient 
 punishment of extending criminals on a cross ; hence most pro- 
 bably is derived our English word, " excruciate." Manilius, 
 in 5, Astro, makes a similar use of it : 
 
 At simul infesti ventum est ad littora Ponti, 
 Mollia per duras panduntur bracbia cautes. 
 Astrinxere pedes scopulis, injeflaque r uincla t 
 Et cruce virginea tnoritura puella pependit. 
 
 Abstersisti, &c-3 This is not unlike the disdain of Eunica, in 
 the aoth Idyllium of Theocritus, when she was kist by a rude 
 neatherd, who makes the following complaint of his fair tyrant : 
 
 Thus
 
 PO. 94. POEMS OF CATULLUS. itf 
 
 TO HIS FAVOURITE, xciv. 
 
 IT happen'd in sport, I remember it well, 
 
 As together we pleasingly strove ; 
 I chanc'd from your lips the fweet nectar to steal ; 
 
 It was sweet as the nectar of Jove ! 
 
 But to punish my theft, a full hour or more 5 
 
 On the rack of despair I was laid ; 
 In vain did I weep, and protest, and implore j 
 
 'Twas in vain to thy pity to plead. 
 
 Nay, scarce had I touched that dear mouth, when 
 behold, 
 
 Lest one atom of mine should remain, 10 
 
 With water as much as each hand could well hold 
 
 How you wash'd it again, and again ! 
 
 Had some nasty wanton bedaub'd you with slime, 
 Sure you could not have shewn more affright: 
 
 Thus spoke the pert hussey, and view'd me all round 
 With an eye of disdain, and thrice spit on the ground, 
 Look'd proud of her charms, with an insolent sneer, 
 And sent me away with a flea in my ear, FAWKES. 
 
 Comminftrt.'} Many read commixtce, and conjunflte-^ but the 
 old text is certainly the most proper. See a note upon the word 
 mingere, in Carm. 64. 
 
 Lup/e.] A_n infamous, fetid harlot, is called lupa, (a she-wolf,) 
 from the ravenousness of the wolf answering to the rapacious 
 
 disposition
 
 IfS CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 95. 
 
 Pra?terea infesto miserum me tradere amori 
 Non cessasti, omnique excruciare modo: 
 
 Ut mi ex ambrosia mutatum jam foret illud 
 Suaviolum, tristi tristius hellebore. 
 
 Quam quoniam pocnam misero proponis amori, 15 
 Non unquam posthac basia surripiam. 
 
 DE CMLIO BT QUINTIO. xcv. 
 
 C/ELIUS Aufilenum, et Quintius Aufilenam, 
 Flos Veronensium depereunt juvenum ; 
 
 Hie fratrem, ille sororem: hoc est,quod dicicur, illud 
 Fraternum vere dulce sodalitium. 
 
 disposition of the generality of courtezans: But Servius, JEn. 3. 
 assigns a much more improper and filthy reason. 
 
 Tristi tristius belleboro. ] Similar are the following proverbial 
 Greek lines: 
 
 ASo TO /3m In, T*? til biyet, otXX' oracr SUTTI 
 XXxo>, 
 
 XCV. 
 
 Parthenius informs us, that Caelius, and Qnintitis were really 
 brothers ; but Muretus, Silvius, and other annotators, justly observe 
 that the worAfrater is only meant to express extreme intimacy : our 
 language, as well as the Latin, can furnish innumerable instances 
 of this kind. Caelius, or Ccelius as it is read in the older MSS. 
 was perhaps the same person who is addrest in Carm. 55. and 66. 
 although many read Gellius. Aufilenus, and his sister Aufi- 
 lena, are certainly very obscure characters; so is Q.i_iintius,\vhohas 
 
 occurred
 
 PO. 95. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 O, cruel, why punish for ever my crime? 15 
 
 Why for ever my passion thus slight ? 
 
 Sweet kiss of ambrosia, how alter'd, how lost! 
 
 Not more bitter sad hellebore now ; 
 But since thou such trouble, such anguish hast cost, 
 
 I will ne'er steal another, I vow 1 20 
 
 ON (LEL1US, AND QUINTIUS. xcv. 
 
 (LELIUS holds Aufilenus dear, 
 
 For Aufilena Quintius sighs, 
 Both, of Verona's youths most fair, 
 
 Experience strong affection's ties : 
 This likes the sister, that the brother; 
 Rare fellowship with one another! 5 
 
 occurred before in Carm. 79. and might be the brother of 
 Quintia, mentioned in Carm. 83. But Achilles Statins conjec- 
 tures, that for Aufilenus, and Aufilena, we ought to read Aufidc- 
 nus, and Aufidena ; having the authority of an old monumental 
 inscription he met with for the latter, but having none for the 
 former. 
 
 JVN 7 ONI. 
 
 1VLIJE. 
 
 AVFIDEN^. 
 
 CAPITOLIN./E. 
 
 SACRVM. 
 
 Muretus says, it is clear why Catullus should favour the affeclion 
 of Czlius; for he was not his rival in the favours ot Aufilena, but 
 
 Qjaintius
 
 l6o CATULLI CARMINA* CA. 96. 
 
 Quoi faveam potius ? Coeli, tibi. natn tua nobis 5 
 
 Perspedta exigitur unica amicitia, 
 Cum vesana meas torreret flamma medullas. 
 
 Sis felix, Geli, sis in amore potens. 
 
 "DE INFERIIS AD FRATRIS TUMULUM. xcvi. 
 
 MULTAS per gentes, et multa per sequora veftus 
 Advenio has miseras, frater, ad inferias ; 
 
 Ut te postremo donarem munere mortis, 
 Et mutum nequicquam alloquerer cinerem ; 
 
 Qiuntius was : that Catullus entertained a passion for Aufilena is 
 evident from Carm. 105. There is a sneer intended by the lllud 
 fraternum, &c. which the intelligent reader must perceive. For 
 Perspefta exigitur, in the sixth line, many read, Perfefta est igi- 
 tur, &c. 
 
 xcvi. 
 
 The notes upon Carm. 43. 62. and a passage in the 65th. will 
 sufficiently explain the subject upon which this poem was written. 
 Perhaps the journey alluded to in Carm. 43. is here meant. 
 
 Advenio.] Silvius, and some other editors, think that Advent 
 would be a more elegant reading. 
 
 Infcrias.] The infcrix were sacrifices offered the last thing in 
 funerals, to please the manes of the deceased; they consisted of 
 the blood of victims, milk, wine, unguents, flowers, and water ; 
 when the last alone was offered, the ceremony was called arferia, 
 or arferial, according to Festus. Virgil records the offering of 
 milk, and blood ; Propertius mentions that of odours, and garlands : 
 Inferimus tepido spumantia cymbia lafle, 
 Sanguinis et sacri pateras, &c. VIRGIL. JEneid. 3. 
 
 Warm milk and sacred blood in bowls we brought, 
 To lure the spirit with the mingled draught. PITT. 
 
 Afferet
 
 PO. 96. POEMS OF CATULLUS. l6l 
 
 But which my good wish chiefly claims? 
 
 Believe me, Cadius^ it is you ; 
 When rag'd this breast with wildest flames, 
 
 I found thy valued friendship true : 10 
 
 Then, Ctelius, happy be, possessing 
 Love's utmost joy, and friendship's blessing ! 
 
 ON THE FUNERAL CEREMONIES AT HIS BROTHER'S 
 TOMB. xcvi. 
 
 THRO' various realms, o'er various seas I come, 
 To see that each due sacrifice be paid, 
 
 To bring my last sad off'ring to thy tomb, 
 And thy mute dust invoke, fraternal shade ! 
 
 Yes, hapless brother ! since the hand of fate 5 
 
 Hath snatch'd thee ever from my longing sight ; 
 
 Afferet hue ungucnta mihi t seriisque sepulcbrum 
 Ornabit custot ad mea busta stdens* 
 
 PROPER.T. Eleg. 14. Lib. 3, 
 Sure its fair guardian shall around my tomb 
 Hang flow'ry wreaths, and lavish choice perfume. 
 
 Postremo donarem rnunere.] Ovid, in like manner, terms these 
 rites the last presents due to the dead: 
 
 Htc certe mambus fugientes pressit ocellos, 
 Mater, et in cineres ultima dona dedit. 
 
 OVID. Amor. Eleg. 9. Lib. 3. 
 On his clos'd eyes a mother's hand was laid, 
 A mother's hand here the last duty paid. 
 
 VOL. II. M A "
 
 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 97* 
 
 Quandoquidem fortuna mihi te te abstulit ipsum : 5 
 Heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi ! 
 
 Nunc tamen interea prisco qua* more parentum 
 Tradita sunt tristes munera ad inferias, 
 
 Accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu ; 
 
 Atque in perpetuum, frater, ave, atque vale. 19 
 
 AD CORNELIUM. xcvii. 
 
 SI quicquam tacito commissum est fido ab amico, 
 Quoius sit penitus nota fides animi ; 
 
 An old monumental inscription, found in Spain, likewise testified 
 the same thing : 
 
 C. JVL. FABIAN. 
 
 ANN. XIX. 
 
 FABIA. PAVLA. 
 
 AMITA. 
 
 MVNVS. 
 
 SVPREMVM. 
 
 Et mutum, Sec."] The remark of Seneca is not inapplicable^. 
 here: magnum solatium est appellare stepiits rtomina non responsura* 
 NOK are the following lines from Tibullus : 
 
 Illius ad tumulumfugiam, supplexqve sedebo, 
 Et mea cum mute fata querar cinere. 
 
 TiBUL. Eleg.l. Lib. i. 
 I'll seek the tomb where her cold relics lie, 
 And heave, in silent woe, a suppliant sigh. 
 
 e, atque vale.'] Such was the exclamation the ancients used 
 when they concluded their funeral honours. To this purpose 
 Virgil . 
 
 Salve
 
 PO. 97. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 163 
 
 As us'd our ancestors, in solemn state 
 
 I'll bring each mystic gift, each fun'ral rite: 
 
 With many a tear I will the ground bedew 
 
 Spirit of him I lov'd, those tears receive ! 10 
 
 Spirit of him I valued most, adieu ! 
 
 Adieu to him who sleeps in yonder grave ! 
 
 TO CORNELIUS, xcvn. 
 
 IF to a friend, that long is tried, 
 A friend his secret might entrust ; 
 
 Cornelius may in me confide j 
 'Tis my religion to be just: 
 
 Salve sternum, mihl maxirhe Pallft, 
 JEte rnumque vale . VIRG. 
 
 Pallas, to thee a long, a last farewell ! 
 
 And such adieus they engraved on their tomb-stones; witness the 
 following antique inscription, as an instance ; thousands of which 
 are to be found : 
 
 VALE. EX. SALVE. ANIMA. O. OPPIJE. 
 
 FELICISS. NOSS. EO. ORDINE. QVO. 
 
 NATVRA. PERMISERIT. TE. SEQVEMVR. 
 
 VALE. MATER. DVLCISSIMA. 
 
 XCVII. 
 
 No commentator tells us who was the Cornelius here intended. 
 I conjecture it was C. Nepos, to whom Catullus addresses his 
 trhole book of poems. The subject which occasioned this asseve- 
 
 M a ration
 
 164 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 99. 
 
 Meque esse invenies illorum jure sacratum, 
 Cornell, et fa&um me esse puta Harpocratem. 
 
 AD SILONEM. xcvin. 
 
 AUT sodes mihi redde decem $estertia, Silo, 
 Deinde esto quamvis ssevus et indomitus: 
 
 Aut, si te nummi dele&ant, desine quzeso 
 Leno esse, atque idem saevus et indomitus. 
 
 AD QUENDAM DE LESBIA. xcix. 
 
 CREDIS, me potuisse mese maledicere vitas, 
 Ambobus mihi quse carior est oculis ? 
 
 ration of secrecy is equally unknown. For an account of Harpo- 
 crates, see the notes to Carm. 71. The beginning of the third 
 line Vossius reads, Me xque invenies, &c. 
 
 xcvni. 
 
 It appears that Catullus had given a sum of money to the pan- 
 der Silo, a character we are ignorant of, to procure him a mis- 
 tress; he did not perform his engagement, but kept the money, and 
 abused our sinning bard, when he reproached him with the cheat. 
 Many editors read Syllo, or Sillo. Faernus for decent, reads duo; 
 wittily thinking ten sestertia too enormous a sum: and fior nummi f 
 some, very injudiciously, write nimium. 
 
 xcix. 
 
 Catullus here complains of one of his rivals, who, with a cer- 
 tain Tappo, endeavoured to set Lesbia and him at variance, by 
 
 raising
 
 PO. 99. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 165 
 
 . 
 
 I, like Harpocrates, conceal 5 
 
 That, which I ought not to reveal. 
 
 TO SILO, xcvnr; 
 NAY, come, prithee, Silo, my money restore ; 
 
 And then be as surly, and rude as you please : 
 Or if, like a rogue, you'll not part with the ore; 
 At least leave off pimping, and mend your vile 
 ways. 
 
 TO A CERTAIN PERSON, CONCERNING LESBIA. xcix. 
 
 THINK'ST thou, I'd rail at her I prize, 
 The nymph that's dearer than these eyes ? 
 I ne'er had any cause, I vow! 
 
 raising scandalous reports. The last line is variously read. Mu- 
 retus, and many others have, cum caupone; interpreting, that this 
 rival was a frequenter of taverns, and chattered too freely with 
 his landlord. Vossius writes the line, Sed tua, Coponi, omina, 
 nostra facts; alluding to a certain Coponius, of whom he gives 
 some unsatisfactory account in a Latin quotation. There are 
 those who read the line, Sed tu cuncla pone, or Sed tuta pone, &c. 
 Others alter it, Sed dum cuncJa probas, omnia monstra facts. A- 
 chilles Statius would amend it thus : Sed tu cum turpi ore omnia 
 monstra facts. But I coincide with the opinion of Scaliger, and 
 Silvius, that Tappone is the just text : Tappo was the cognomen of 
 the families of the Valerii, and Vilii. See T. Livius, Lib. 25. 29. 
 and 35. 
 
 M 3 Omnia
 
 l66 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. IOI. 
 
 Non potui ; nee si possem, tarn perdite amarem : 
 Sed tu cum Tappone omnia monstra facis. 
 
 IN MAMURRAM. c. 
 
 MENTULA conatur Pimpteum scandere mon- 
 
 tem, 
 Musse furcillis prsecipitem ejiciunt. 
 
 DE PRjECON. ci. 
 
 CUM puero bello przeconem qui videt esse, 
 Quid credat, nisi se vendere discupere? 
 
 Omnia monstra fads.] The expression means, " to fcandalize," 
 alfo " to embellifh truth too much." 
 
 c. 
 
 This epigram is generally allowed to be written upon Ma- 
 murra Formianus, who would fain dabble in poetry : therefore the 
 Muses, rejecting so despicable a votary, throw him down, in his 
 attempt to scale Pimpla, a mountain of Thrace, or, as others con- 
 tend, of Bceotia, near Helicon, consecrated to the nine Sisters. 
 See Horace, Od. 26. Lib. i. and Statius, Sil<v . Lib. 4. There are 
 not wanting commentators, who give a very obscene turn to this 
 Carmen. 
 
 Two
 
 PO. 101. POEMS OF CATULLUS. .167 
 
 Or, if I had, my ardent love 
 
 Too strong an obstacle would prove 
 
 But Tappo's sland'rous ; so art thou ! 
 
 ON MAMURRA. C. 
 LO ! Formian, in his daring flight, 
 
 Would soar to Pimpla's tuneful brow; 
 But, with their pitchforks, from the height 
 
 The Muses chuck him down below. 
 
 ON AN AUCTIONEER, ci. 
 WHEN along with a sly auctioneer 
 
 Such a dainty, young thing we behold; 
 To the world it must surely appear, 
 
 That its beauty is meant to be sold. 
 
 CI. 
 
 Two particular characters are here seemingly alluded to by our 
 poet : the one, the auctioneer, we are totally ignorant of ; but the 
 other is daringly identified by a few of the older editions, which 
 for puero have the proper name Obello. The Romans had cer- 
 tain merchants, whom they termed mangones, that dealt in slaves, 
 and such human traffic. To this purpose Martial : 
 Milliapro puero centum me mango poposcit. 
 
 MART. Epig. 59. Lib. i. 
 
 M 4 Catullus
 
 l68 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. IO2. 
 
 AD LESBIAM. en. 
 SI quicquam cupidoque, optantique obtigit unquam 
 
 Insperanti, hoc est gratum animo proprie. 
 Quare hoc est gratum, nobis quoque carius auro; 
 
 Quod te restituis, Lesbia, mi cupido. 
 Rcstituis cupido, atque insperanti ipsa refers te 5 
 
 Nobis, 6 lucem candidiore nota I 
 Quis me uno vivit felicior, aut magis est me 
 
 Optandus vita, dicere quis poterit ? 
 
 cir. 
 
 Catullus here congratulates himself, in a very elegant strain, 
 on his reconciliation with his mistresss } which, he says, was the 
 more sweet for being unex petted. 
 
 Si quicquam, &c.} Many editors begin the line with, Si quid- 
 quid^ and for ebtigit % read obtulit. 
 
 Carius auro.~\ This expression is in a manner proverbial. 
 ThusTibullus: 
 
 Carter est auro juvenis, cui Itpv'ia fulgent 
 Ora, nee amplexus aspera barba terit. 
 
 TIB. Eleg.y. Lib. i. 
 
 See youth vermilions o'er his beardless face! 
 Can riches eqiul such a boy's embrace ? 
 
 GRAINGER: 
 
 Insperanti ipsa refers, &c.] Though Lesbia had been unfaith- 
 ful, yet she was dear to her poet, and he fondly received her 
 again. The bard before cited beautifully expresses the same sen- 
 timent : 
 
 Pcrfida,
 
 PO. 102. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 TO LESBIA. cn. 
 
 IF joys unlook'd for can delight impart, 
 And win with sweet surprize the wishful heartj 
 Then far beyond what gold's vain idol grants 
 Is thy Catullus blest in all he wants: 
 Blest, that his Lesbia to these longing arms 5 
 
 Restores the treasures of her boundless charms! 
 Restores them, when he thought the blessing gone! 
 O day, distinguished by a whiter stone ! 
 Then who can say his life is happier spent j 
 Or who is more enrich'd, or more content? 10 
 
 Perfida, nee merito nobis inimica merenti ; 
 Perfija, sed quamvis pcrfida, cflra tamen. 
 
 TIB. Eleg. 6. Lib. 3. 
 O, let my passion fix thy faithless heart; 
 For still I love thee, faithless as thou art 1 
 
 GRAIN Y GEJL. 
 
 Propertius uses the word referre in a similar sense : 
 Sic mihi te referas le<vis, ui non altera nostro 
 Limine formosos intulit ulla pedes. 
 
 PROPER. Eleg. 18. Lib. i. 
 If my fond heart to thee perfidious prove; 
 So mayst thou spurn me, so rejeft my love! 
 
 6 lucem candidiore nota!~\ See a note upon this Subjeft 11^ 
 Carm. 8. 
 
 Aut magis, &c.] Most of the MSS. perhaps with propriety, 
 read : 
 
 aut magis ml esse 
 Optandum in vita, &c.
 
 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 103. 
 
 AD COMINIUM. cm. 
 
 SI, Comini, populi arbitrio tua cana seneclus 
 
 Spurcata impuris moribus intereat ; 
 Non equidem dubito, quin primum inimica bono- 
 rum 
 
 Lingua exsefta avido sit data vulturio ; 
 Effossos oculos voret atro gutture corvus, 5 
 
 Intesdna canes, csetera membra lupi. 
 
 cm. 
 
 Si, Cominiy &c.} This is the emendation of Hieronymus 
 Avantius ; for all the old texts have Sic bomini, or Sic borum. 
 Achilles Statius has written, Siconi arbitria. However, Lipsius 
 informs us that this Cominius, who was universally hated, was a 
 wrangling fellow of the Forum, who criminally accused every 
 virtuous character. Cicero, and Asconius mention him, in Orat . 
 fro Cornel, and pro Cluent. A<vit. The following lines from Ovid, 
 in Ibin, may not be inapplicable to the horrid punishments, of 
 which Catullus says this wretch was deserving: 
 
 Sive per immensas jacJabar naufragus undas, 
 
 Nostraque longinquus 'viscera piscis edet, 
 Si<ve peregrine carpent mea membra f volucres t 
 rgeo tingent sanguine rostra lupi: 

 
 PO. 103. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 17,! 
 
 TO COMINIUS. cm. 
 
 COMINIUS, were thy hoary age, 
 
 Which deeds of foulest baseness stain, 
 Submitted to the public rage; 
 This horrid punishment they'd sure ordain ! 
 
 Thy tongue, that virtue oft belies, 5 
 
 Pluck'd out, should hungry vultures share; 
 The crow's black beak dig out thine eyes; 
 Thy bowels dogs, and wolves thy carcass tear. 
 
 i 
 
 Ipstf tefugient, quee carpunt omnia, flanun<e t 
 
 Respuet invisum justa cadaver humus. 
 Unguibus et rostra tardus trabet ilia vultur, 
 
 Et scindent a*viJi perfida corda canes. 
 
 Whether I'm wreck'd on Ocean's boundless waste, 
 And distant finny tribes my entrails gnaw ; 
 
 Whether wild birds shall on my limbs repast, 
 Or with my gore the wolf distain his jaw. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Thy corse may no consuming pyre befriend, 
 Thy hated bones just earth rejecT: with scorn, 
 
 With beak and claws thy loins slow vultures rend, 
 And thy base heart by greedy dogs be torn! 
 
 The
 
 172 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 
 
 AD LESBIAM. civ. 
 
 JUCUNDUM, mea vita, mihi proponis amorem 
 Hunc nostrum inter nos, perpetuumque fore. 
 
 Di magni, facite, ut vere promittere possit, 
 Atque id sincere dicat, et ex animo : 
 
 Ut liceat nobis tota producere vita 5 
 
 Alternum hoc sandtse foedus amicitias. 
 
 AD AUFILENAM. cv. 
 AUFILENA, bonze semper laudantur arnica?, 
 
 Accipiunt pretium, qua? facere instituunt. 
 Tu quod promisti mihi, quod mentita, Jnimica es, 
 
 Quod nee das, et fers sa?pe, facis facinus. 
 Aut facere ingenuas est, aut non promisse pudicae, 5 
 
 Aufilena, fuit. sed data corripere 
 Fraudando, efficitur plusquam meretricis avara?, 
 
 Quse sese toto corpore prostituit. 
 
 CIV. 
 
 The present Carmen, which is perhaps one of the prettiest little 
 amatory compositions in Catullus, has been frequently attempted 
 in English. It needs no comment, except we remark that, in the 
 last line, JEternum is often written for Alternum. 
 
 cv. 
 
 To explain the whole epigram at once, it is sufficient to say, 
 that this Aufilena, unknown in history, appears to have been a 
 jilting jade, who received money beforehand, for favours which 
 she promised, but never granted. $>ued
 
 PO. 105. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 173 
 
 TO LESBIA. civ. 
 
 YOU ask, my soul, that this our mutual love 
 In fondness, as duration, might excel: 
 
 Great gods direft that she but constant prove, 
 And that she speaks but true, who speaks so well ! 
 
 Then, gently bound in friendship's holy tie, 5 
 
 We'll both together live, together die ! 
 
 TO AUFILENA. cv. 
 THE mistress, that's honest, will always lay down 
 
 The thing she is paid for; and praise is her due: 
 To jilt, and yet take a full price, it is known, 
 
 Can only be done, Aufilena, by you. 
 
 A girl shoujd not promise at all, if she's wise; 5 
 But having once said, she should keep to her word.' 
 
 For she, who each whimsical lover supplies, 
 
 To one, that by bilking grows rich, is preferr'd. 
 
 >uod nee das, &c.} The word dare has here a singular obscene 
 sense in the Latin, as wa%exjH has in the Greek. 
 
 Efficitur."] Many editions have efficlt, and effeclt. 
 
 Toto eorpore prostituit,] Some commentators think, that this 
 alludes to such women, who not only submit to usual prostitution, 
 but are every way subservient to the lascivious caprice of depraved 
 appetites. Vossius seems to incline to such an interpretation. 
 
 Catullus
 
 174 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 107. 
 
 AD EANDEM. cvi. 
 
 AUFILENA, viro contentam vivere solo 
 
 Nuptarum laus e laudibus eximiis. 
 Sed quoivis quamvis potius succumbere fas est, 
 
 Quam matrem fratres efficere ex patruo. 
 
 AD NASONEM. cvu. 
 
 MULTUS homo est, Naso, (nam tecum multus. 
 
 homo es) qui 
 Descendit ? Naso, multus es et pathicus ! 
 
 CVI. 
 
 Catullus accuses this same courtezan of incestuous commerce 
 with her uncle, which he contrasts with more lawful pleasures. 
 We may just remark, that uncles' children, and first cousins, are 
 called fratres t or fratres patrueles. Thus, in Ovid, Ajax calls 
 Achilles, who was begot by his uncle, f rater." 
 
 Prater erat t fraterna feto, &c. OVID. Metam. 13. 
 
 cvir. 
 
 This most obscure satire on Naso, an unknown character, Sea. 
 liger has reformed after the ancient readings. Its sense depends 
 on theforce of the word multus, which, according to Cicero, dc 
 Oratore, Lib. 2. would signify ineptus ; according to Plautus, 
 Menoecb. Ac. i. Sc. a. and Sallust, Cap. 86. it would mean odiosus, 
 molestus, or what the Greek terms pogrwoj. Vulpius seems to in- 
 terpret it, " of large concerns, or consequential in business ;" 
 and Salmasius, before him, would have it imply, " arrogant, mo- 
 rose;" but well observing, that a person possessing any quality in 
 the extreme may be called multus. Therefore the comprehensive 
 
 word
 
 PO. 107. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 175 
 
 TO THE SAME. cvr. 
 WITH only one fond spouse to live content, 
 
 O Aufilena! best becomes the bride; 
 Yet, if thou art on prostitution bent, 
 
 Go sin with those to whom thou'rt not allied -, 
 But let no uncle share thy body's shame, 5 
 
 Nor raise up children thou must blush to name. 
 
 TO NASO. cvn. 
 DOES greatness to that man belong, 
 
 (And in thy own esteem, I know, 
 Thou'rt counted great) who in lust's throng 
 Descends to all that's vile, and low ? 
 Naso, it does: for we behold in thee 
 Greatness, combin'd with lustful infamy. 
 
 word " great" is perhaps its best translation : we may be " great" 
 various ways. The meaning of the distich I conceive to be this ; 
 " Can he be consequential who lets himself down ? I know thou 
 " fanciest thyself consequential, yet thou lettest thyself down so 
 " low as to become the most odious of all characters." Achilles 
 Statius thinks that multus means longus, " tall, of large stature ;" 
 the explanation then may be, playing upon the word multus: 
 " thou art a large man, Naso, yet thou hast but a little soul j for 
 " thou canst degrade thyself by the most unnatural lust." Many 
 read moltus, in an obscene sense, a molendo, Vossius understands 
 eles<endere t as some understand the last line of Cam. 84. multus 
 
 might
 
 176 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 109. 
 
 AD CINNAM. cviu. 
 
 CONSULE Pompeio primum duo, Cinna, solebant 
 Moechi; illi fafto consule nunc iterum, 
 
 Manserunt duo: sed creverunt millia in unum 
 Singulum. fecundum semen adulterio. 
 
 IN FORMIANUM. cix. 
 FORMIANUS saltus non falso, Mentula, dives 
 
 Fertur ; qui tot res in se habet egregias : 
 Aucupia omne genus, pisces, prata, arva, ferasque. 
 
 Nequicquam; frudus sumtibus exsuperat. 
 
 might, in that case, be interpreted " addi&ed to women j" but such 
 construction is forced, and injudicious. He writes the distich : 
 Multus homo est, Naso, neque sccum multus homo qui 
 
 Descendit ? Naso, multus es et pathicus ? 
 Others write it thus: 
 
 Multus homo es, Naso, neque tecum multus homo, sed 
 
 Descendh, Naso, multus es et pathicus. 
 And the Paduan codex has : 
 
 Multus est homo naso no tecum multus homoq; 
 Destendit nan: multus es & paciens. 
 
 cvin. 
 
 Muretus, and Achilles Statius confess they do not understand 
 this epigram, It has been supposed a satire upon Czsar, and his 
 favourite Mamurra. We will just remark, that Pompey began his 
 first consulship with Licinius Crassus, A. U. C. 684.. and the fol- 
 lowing year Csecilius Metellus was Consul, who would be a very 
 apt character in this place. See a note to Carm. 64. Some editions 
 for Mafcbi have Mccebilia: Passeratius would write Moecbulei. 
 
 This
 
 PO. 109. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 177 
 
 TO CINNA. CVill. 
 
 WHEN first as Consul Pompey sate, 
 
 But two adulterers were known : 
 And, when again the reins of state 
 
 He held, 'twas two, and two alone. 
 
 Whereas, so alter'd is the case, 5 
 
 For one we now a thousand find 
 
 O, how prolific the embrace 
 Of men to letchery inclin'd ! 
 
 ON PORMIANUS. cix. 
 THAT lustful Formian's wealth is great, 
 And that he boasts a large estate, 
 
 I freely can allow; 
 
 That in fine lawns, and fertile grounds, 
 Fowl, fish, and cattle, he abounds, 5 
 
 Beyond dispute is true: 
 
 ClX. 
 
 This epigram is meant to lash the debauched Mamurra Formi- 
 anus ; whose vast wealth, lavished on him by his royal master, and 
 whose extreme extravagance, which rendered him poor in the 
 midst of affluence, are recorded in Carm. 26. A great num- 
 ber of editors, for Formianus saltys, read Firmano saltu, &c. in- 
 deed the Firmani were a people of Italy, near Ancona, inhabitants 
 of the ancient city Firmum, now Fermo, 
 
 VOL. II. N
 
 178 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. IIO. 
 
 Quare concede sit dives, dum omnia desint. 5 
 
 Saltum laudemus, dum taTnen ipse egeat. 
 
 IN EUNDEM. ex. 
 
 MENTULA habet justa triginta jugera prati, 
 
 Quadraginta arvi : czetera sunt maria. 
 Cur non divitiis Croesum superare potis sit, 
 
 Uno qui in saltu tot bona possideat ? 
 Prata, arva, ingentes sylvas, saltusque, paludesque 5 
 
 Usque ad Hyperboreos, et mare ad Oceanum. 
 Omnia magnaheec sunt; tamenipseestmaximusultor, 
 
 Non homo, sed vere mentula magna, minax. 
 
 ex. 
 
 The same character is intended in this Carmen as in the pre- 
 ceding, and the idea of the piece is exactly similar. 
 
 Maria.'] A metaphorical expression for infinite wealth, as in 
 the Greek, SA<w* xgvaS. To the same purpose Callimachus : 
 Oli (piXf'w TO? aoioor or oJj o<ra, l jrol&' aslJa. 
 
 Divitiis Crcesum.~\ Rich as Croesus, is a proverb even in our 
 language. If the reader is curious to learn particularly the his- 
 tory of this king of Lydia, he may find it fully in Herodotus. 
 
 Hyperboreos .] These were a people of the extremest part of 
 Scythia. Strabo, Lib. i. calls all the northern tribes Hyperbore- 
 ans. See Pliny upon this subject, Hist. Nat. Lib. 4. Others sup- 
 posed them a nation peculiarly happy, dwelling beyond the known 
 northern mountains. Vossius writes Typerboreos. 
 
 Maxima; ultor."] Many read, adjectively, ultrt, or ultra, making 
 quite a different sense. Scaliger, very erroneously, has lustro, Vir- 
 gil calls Hercules, maximum ultorem : 
 
 Nam
 
 PQ. 110. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 179 
 
 In vain for with an idle hand 
 
 The fruits his various lands command 
 
 He squanders, and is poor : 
 
 We'll call him, therefore, if you will, 10 . 
 
 Great, wealthy, rich; provided still 
 
 It be a name no more ! 
 
 ON THE SAME. ex. 
 
 FORMIANUS, that vile debauchee, is possest 
 Of a good thirty acres of meadow at least, 
 With some full forty more, all in arable lands ; 
 Nay, whole oceans of fortune the letcher commands. 
 With the wealth of rich Croesus his wealth surely vies; 
 So immensely extended his opulence lies : 
 His huge forests, his moors, with grove, pasture, 
 
 and plain, 
 Would reach furthermost Scythia, or stretch o'er the 
 
 main : 
 
 Yet this wretch, who such ample possessions can boast, 
 Is a blustering, bawdy poltron at the most. 10 
 
 Nam maximus ultor 
 
 Tergemlni nece Geiyonis y spoliisque superbus 
 Alcides aderat. VIRG. JEneld.tt. 
 
 The great avenger of all horrid crimes, 
 Godlike Alcides, came in later times, 
 Proud of the spoils of three- fold Geryon slain. 
 
 LAUDERDALE. 
 Na It
 
 180 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. III. 
 
 AD GELLIUM. cxi. 
 
 S^EPE tibi, studioso animo venanda requirens 
 Carmina, uti possem mittere Battiadse; 
 
 Queis te lenirem nobis, neu conarere 
 
 > 
 
 Telis infesto mi icere musca caput ; 
 Hunc video mihi nunc frustra sumtum esse laborem, 
 
 Gelli, nee nostras hinc valuisse preces. 6 
 
 Contra nos tela ista tua evitamus amidu. 
 
 At fixus nostris tu dabi' supplicium. 
 
 CXI. 
 
 It appears, from this Carmen, that Gellius bore a resentment to 
 Catullus upon some account; and that the poet's muse endea- 
 voured to win him to good humour, by turning into Latin for him 
 some of the poems of Callimachus, but what poems we do not 
 know ; that on Berenice's hair could not be one, as it was trans- 
 lated for Hortalus. It is evident, therefore, that Catullus did ver- 
 sify some pieces of the Grecian bard, now lost. 
 
 Musca caput.'] This is a very pretty simile, which our poet 
 uses to shew contempt for Gellius's unavailing anger. The 
 Greeks, as though proverbially, said, Mo? krypir. 
 
 Contra nos tela, Sec.'] Alluding to the lightness of the darts. 
 Thus Anacreon :
 
 PO. III. POEMS OF CATULLUS. l8l 
 
 TO GELLIUS. cxi. 
 
 I 
 
 LONG had I wish'd to send, in Roman tongue, 
 The verse which Battus' son divinely sung; 
 Send thee those strains which nicest pains require, 
 Strains that might sweetly sooth thy fruitless ire! 
 For often, like a trifling fly, enrag'd, 5 
 
 Poor idle war thou at my head hast wag'd. 
 But, Gellius, since the Muses vainly plead, 
 Since even my requests thou wilt not heed ; 
 Thy darts with this slight cov'ring I defy, 
 Whilst thou, transfixt by mine, shalt weep and die. 
 
 H. o 1 ffJlOl/ 1)TQf t 
 
 ovx. oioa oaVxToy 
 
 Qevycj @&t[Atsc, x.S^a. AN AC. Od. 43. 
 
 My honest heart nor envy bears, 
 Nor envy's poison'd arrows fears; 
 By rankling malice never stung, 
 I shun the venom-venting tongue. 
 
 FAWKES> 
 
 At fixus, &c,3 Many editors, less elegantly, read Ajfixus* 
 e, &c. 
 
 N 3 POEMS,
 
 POEMS, &c.
 
 POEM AT A 
 
 QJJ X. 
 
 C A T U L L O 
 
 QUIDAM TRIBUUNT. 
 PERVIGILIUM VENERIS. i. 
 
 amet, qu nunquam amavt; 
 Quique amavit, eras amet. 
 
 Ver povum, ver jam canorum: 
 Vere natus orbis est, 
 
 i. 
 
 This lovely piece, which might rather be termed A Hymn to 
 the Spring, than The Vigil of Venus, has been attributed to a va- 
 riety of authors, which it would be too tedious to enumerate. 
 Ausonius, I know not how justly, puts in his claim to the honour of 
 having composed it. I cannot believe that it was written by Ca- 
 tullus ; yet, having generally ranked among his pieces, I thought 
 proper to insert it here, with a translation. It was most probably 
 the production of some pen more modern than that of Catullus, 
 or even of Ausonius. However this be, Pithaeus recommends 
 the poem to the care of the literati, as being much mutilated and 
 corrupted, requiring every assistance of art to bring it to its ori- 
 ginal purity; many scholiasts have aided in restoring it. The 
 text subjoined I havechosen,as the best, from different emendations. 
 
 This Carmen has been frequently attempted in French, though 
 with very little success. Mons. 1'Abbe de Lisle, has some imita- 
 tive lines, which are happy enough ; and Mons. de Saint-Lambert, 
 in his poem of The Seasons, frequently versifies the Pervigilium 
 
 Generis,
 
 [ 185 I 
 POEMS, 
 
 WHICH SOME ATTRIBUTE 
 
 TO 
 
 CATUL LUS. 
 
 THE VIGIL OF VENUS, l. 
 
 JLET those, who never yet have lov'd, 
 
 To-morrow feel love's pain ; 
 Let those, who have the passion prov'd, 
 
 To-morrow love again ! 
 
 Lo ! where the new-born spring appears ; 5 
 
 The tuneful spring now greets our ears: 
 
 Vcneris, when he describes the spring. But Mons. Dorat, whose 
 book of Kisses is well known, and who may justly be stiled the 
 French Theocritus, has certainly transfused the spirit of this 
 piece into his poem of Le Mois de Mai, with greater judgment and 
 elegance than any other Gallic bard. 
 
 fere natus orbis est.~\ The poet conjectures, that the world wa;, 
 created in the spring ; which Virgil likewise affirms : 
 Non alias prima crescentis origine mundi 
 Illuxissv dies, aliumve habuisse tenorem 
 Crediderim: ver illud erat, ver magnus agebat 
 Orbis, et hybernis parcebant jlatibus Euri. VIRG. Georg. 2. 
 Such were the days, the season was the same, 
 When first arose this world's all-beauteous frame; 
 The sky was cloudless, balmy was the air, 
 
 spring's mild influence made young nature fair. 
 
 WARTON. 
 Panegyristes
 
 l86 CATULLI CARM1NA* CA. I. 
 
 Vere concordant Amores, 5 
 
 Vere nubunt alites, 
 Et nemus comam resolvit 
 
 De maritis imbribus. 
 Cras Amorum copulatrix, 
 
 Inter umbras arborum, 19 
 
 Implicat casas virentes 
 
 De flagello myrteo. 
 Cras Dione jura dicit, 
 
 Fulta sublimi throno. 
 
 Cras amet, qui nunquam amavit ; 15 
 
 Quique amavit, eras amet. 
 
 Tune cruore de superno, 
 Spumeo Pontus globo, 
 
 Panegyristes ad Maximiatium, to the same purport : Ofelix, bca- 
 tumque i>er novopartu! O tempus, quo meritb emnia nata esse cre- 
 danturl However, it has been a celebrated question among phi- 
 losophers, and divines, whether the world was made in the spring, 
 when all creation seems to be in embryo j or in autumn, when 
 every thing is in its fullest maturity j each opinion has been warm- 
 ly espoused. 
 
 Amor&m copulatrix. J Venus, the mother of the Loves, was 
 wont to stray over the earth, veiled in a friendly cloud, with 
 which she screened the furtive lover, and protected the timid one. 
 
 SILVIUS. 
 
 Flagelh.] Thus Isidorus, Cap. 105. Lib. 17. upon this word : 
 Summit ates vitium ac fruticum Jlagella nuticvpantur, eo quodflatu 
 agitentur. 
 
 Dlonc.
 
 PO. I. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 187 
 
 'Twas in the spring, this solid earth 
 
 Awak'd to its stupendous birth: 
 
 In spring, the Cupids all unite ; 
 
 In spring, the feather'd tribes delight 10 
 
 To woo their mates; and wedded bow'rs 
 
 Spread their green locks to bridal show'rs: 
 
 To-morrow, she who links the Loves 
 
 Shall visit these umbrageous groves ; 
 
 The myrtles' meeting tops shall join, 15 
 
 And cots of living verdure twine : 
 
 To-morrow, from her gorgeous throne, 
 
 Dione makes her edicts known. . 
 
 Let those, who never yet have lov'd, 
 
 To-morrow feel love's pain; 20 
 
 Let those, who have the passion prov'd, 
 
 To-morrow love again ! 
 
 Then, midst the pregnant billowy scene, 
 Old Ocean fram'd the wave- sprung Queen, 
 
 Dione.'] Here implies Venus herself, though Dione was pro. 
 perly the mother of Venus. 
 
 Spumeo Pontus, &c.] An old annotator says, that Venus is fa- 
 bled to have been born in the watery expanse, because an amorous 
 disposition arises from a moist temperament of body. 
 
 Bipedes
 
 l88 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. I. 
 
 Caerulas inter catervas, 
 
 Inter et bipedes equos, 20 
 
 Fecit undantem Dion en 
 
 In mantis fluctibus. 
 
 Cras amet, qui nunquam amavit ; 
 Quique amavit, eras amet. 
 
 Ipsa gemmeis purpurantem 25 
 
 Pingit annum floribus; 
 Ipsa turgentes papillas, 
 
 De Favoni spiritu, 
 Urget in toros tepentes ; 
 
 Ipsa roris lucidi, 30 
 
 Bipfdfs equos.] The horses of Neptune were bipeds; they 
 wanted their hind feet, having their fore feet only, which were 
 webbed for swimming, as those of most aquatic animals are. 
 
 Purpurantem pingit annum, &c.} A poetic expression, taken from 
 the various coloured flowers which give the fields, in spring, a 
 beauteous brilliancy ; for purpureus means bright, not that tint we 
 commonly name purple. Thus Pope, in his first Pastoral: 
 Why sit we sad, when Phosphor shines so clear, 
 And lavish Nature paints the purple year? 
 
 Ipsa turgentes papillas, &c.] The word papilla here implies a 
 rose-bud; partly from shape, and partly from the deep red of 
 the close convoluted leaves of the flower, not yet expanded, which 
 are seen through the fissures of the green calix. Thus Pliny, 
 upon the papilla of roses, Lib. 21. Cap. 4. Rosa nascltur ft germi- 
 nal
 
 PO. I. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 189 
 
 Of blood celestial, and the foam 25 
 
 Which form'd this globe's capacious womb; 
 Two-footed steeds around her play'd, 
 And azure throngs her birth survey 'd. 
 
 Let those, who never yet have lov'd, 
 
 To-morrow feel love's pain; 30 
 
 Let those, who have the passion prov'd, 
 
 To-morrow love again ! 
 
 She bids the flow'ry gems appear, 
 To decorate the purple year; 
 
 She looses to the western breeze 3 5 
 
 The tumid bosoms of the trees, 
 Urging their genial warmth to spread 
 Each branch into a tufted shade : 
 
 nat granoso cortice, quo intumescente et In wirides alabastros fttsti- 
 giato paulatim rubescens dehiscit ac sese pandit, in calycls media sui 
 eomplexa luteos apices. The word alabastrus, or alabastrum, a 
 rose-bud, from its resemblance to the generality of alabaster un- 
 guent-boxes, is peculiar to Pliny. B. Hieronymus, in Epist. 36. 
 ad Pammacbium, has the following passage upon it : >uis parturi- 
 entem rosam, et papillatum corymbum, antequam in calatbum fun- 
 datur orbis, et tola rubcntium foliorum pandatur ambitio, immatur'e 
 demessutn aquis oculis marctscere <videat ? 
 
 Urget.] Virgil uses the word trudere, in the same sense: 
 Sed trudit gemmas, et frondes explicat omnes. 
 
 VIRC. Georg. a. 
 
 t
 
 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. I 
 
 Nodlis aura quern relinquit, 
 
 Spargit humentes aquas; 
 Et micant lacrymas trementes 
 
 De caduco pondere : 
 Gutta przeceps orbe parvo 35 
 
 Sustinet casus suos. 
 In pudorem florulentae 
 
 Prodiderunt purpurae: 
 Humor ille, quern serenis 
 
 Astra rorant no&ibus, 40 
 
 Mane virgineas papillas 
 
 Solvit humenti peplo. 
 Ipsa jussit, mane ut'udse 
 
 Virgines nubent rosae ; 
 Fusas Cypris de cruore, 45 
 
 Deque Amoris osculis, 
 
 Et micant lacryma, &C.J The drops of dew are elegantly 
 termed tears; every poet in our language talks of the tears of 
 morning. 
 
 Humenti peplo. ] Placidus Lutatius, on the Thebaid of Statius, Lib. 
 jo. explains the loose garb, called peplus, or peplum \ he says: Pf- 
 plum est i>estis Candida, aureis clavis pifla, sine manicis, quod si- 
 mulacris fiebat : sed peplum primum ab Albeniensibus est in$tiiutum t 
 quod matrons suis manibus faciebant, &c. 
 
 Pirgines nubent rosx.] The poet says, that " Venus commands 
 44 her nymphs to dress, and decorate themselves with roses fresh, 
 " and steeped in the dew of night." Such is the poetic force 
 of the word nubo. LIPSIUS. 
 
 Futa
 
 PO. I. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 19! 
 
 'Tis she the glitt'ring dewdrop strews, 
 
 Which night's prolific damps diffuse ; 40 
 
 Bright shine the tears of humid light, 
 
 They tremble with their doubtful weight; 
 
 And each impending pearl, that's seen, 
 
 Can scarce its little orb sustain. 
 
 See hence, the newly-op'ning rose 45 
 
 The blush of modesty disclose ! 
 
 That moisture, which the stars dispense 
 
 Mid night's serenest influence, 
 
 From the young flow'ret's maiden breast, 
 
 At morn withdraws its dewy vest : 50 
 
 'Tis Venus bids the virgins wed, 
 
 At mom, the rose of humid red; 
 
 The rose, which Venus' self imbued 
 
 With her own pure, celestial blood ! 
 
 By Cupid's kisses it was rear'd, 55 
 
 The blaze of richest gems it shar'd, 
 
 Fuste fypris, &c.] Cypris is here the genitive case; meaniilg, 
 that the rose was bathed with the blood of Venus. Some com- 
 mentators, very wrongfully, understand that Venus sprang from 
 the blood, or red juice of the rose. Many read the passage: Fusa 
 prius de cruore, Sec. others : Faff a prius. 
 
 Deque Amoris of cults.'] Several editions have, Deque Adonis 
 95 culls. 
 
 Crat
 
 CATULLI CARMINA. cX. I. 
 
 Deque gemmis, deque flammis, 
 
 Deque soils purpuris. 
 Cras ruborem, qui latebat 
 
 Veste teftus ignea, 50 
 
 Unico, marita, nodo 
 
 Non pudebit solvere. 
 
 Cras amet, qui nunquam amavit; 
 Quique amavit, eras amet. 
 
 Ipsa nymphas diva luco 5 
 
 Jussit ire myrteo, 
 It puer comes puellis; 
 
 Nee tamen credi potest, 
 Esse Amorem feriatum, 
 
 Si sagittas vexerit. 60 
 
 Ite nymphae: posuit arma, 
 
 Feriatus est Amor: 
 Jussus est inermis ire, 
 
 Nudus ire jussus estj 
 Neu quid arcu, neu sagitta, 65 
 
 Neu quid igne laederet : 
 
 Cras ruborem, &c.] This fiction is exquisite; our poet says: 
 ' The rose, though now a virgin, and covered with the vestis 
 " ignea, or fiammeum, that is, with the calix of a warm yellow 
 ' green, shall to-morrow be wedded; her leaves shall be opened, 
 
 " or
 
 PO. I. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 193 
 
 Bright flames on all its leaves were thrown, 
 
 And solar purple o'er them shone. 
 
 To-morrow shall the bridal rose 
 
 Unbind her zone of glowing hues; 60 
 
 Nor shall it shame her, to display 
 
 Her latent crimson to the day. 
 
 Let those, who never yet have lov'd, 
 
 To-morrow feel love's pain; 
 Let those, who have the passion prov'd, 65 
 
 To-morrow love again! 
 
 J Tis she ! 'tis Venus bids her maids 
 Rove freely thro' the myrtle glades ; 
 She bids her son attend the fair, 
 Yet bids him not his quiver wear ; 70 
 
 For, were he arm'd, they sure would say, 
 Cupid intends no holiday. 
 Go, nymphs - 3 for he no weapon bears ; 
 Love to keep holiday prepares ; 
 Yes! the sweet urchin's bid to go 75 
 
 Without his arms, and naked too; 
 Lest with his torch, his bow, his darts, 
 The wily boy should harm your hearts: 
 
 " or her virginal zone untied; and she will appear in all the 
 " bloom of bridal beauty." 
 
 VOL. II. O J am
 
 194 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. I. 
 
 
 
 Sed tamen, nymphae, cavete, 
 
 Quod Cupido pulcher est ; 
 Totus est armatus idem, 
 
 Quando nudus est Amor. 7 
 
 Cras amet, qui nunquam amavit ; 
 Quique amavit, eras amet. 
 
 Compari Venus pudore 
 
 Mittit ad te virgines: 
 Una res est quam rogamus ; 75 
 
 Cede, virgo Delia, 
 Ut nemus sit incruentum 
 
 De ferinis stragibus, 
 Ipsa vellet te rogare, 
 
 Si pudicam fledleret ; 80 
 
 Ipsa vellet ut venires, 
 
 Si deceret virginem. 
 
 Jam tribus chores videres 
 Feriatos nodibus, 
 
 < 
 
 Jam tribus cboros, &c.~] The poet here alludes to the festivals 
 of Venus, which were celebrated by young girls with song, and 
 dance, in honour of the deity: they continued three nights, begin- 
 ning on the first of April, at the rising of the moon, imminente 
 luna. Thus Horace : 
 
 Jam
 
 PO. I. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 But, o ye heedless nymphs, beware ! 
 
 For youthful Cupid's passing fair ; 80 
 
 Trust me, that Love, when stript of dress, 
 
 Is arm'd in very nakedness. 
 
 Let those, who never yet have lov'd, 
 
 To-morrow feel love's pain; 
 Let those, who have the passion prov'd, 85 
 
 To-morrow love again! 
 
 o 
 
 Venus her virgins sends to thee, ' 
 Like thy chaste self in modesty; 
 By them she asks one poor request j 
 This, spotless Delia, grant at least ! 90 
 
 'Tis, that no beast, by hunter slain, 
 Shall now the bloodless forest stain : 
 Thy chastity could Venus move, 
 She'd bid thee to her feast of love j 
 And, did it suit a virgin fair, 95 
 
 Venus would wish thy presence here. 
 
 Now, seen for three successive nights, 
 The festive choirs perform their rites ; 
 
 Jam Cytberea cboros duclt Venus, imminente lutta, 
 
 Junftaque Nymphis Gratia decentes 
 Alterno terram quatiunt pede, dum graves Cyclopum 
 
 Vuhanus ardens urit officinas :
 
 CATITLLI CARMINA. CA. I, 
 
 Congreges inter catervas, 85 
 
 Ire per saltus tuos, 
 Floreas inter coronas, 
 
 Myrteas inter casas: 
 Nee Ceres, nee Bacchus absunt, % 
 
 Nee poetarum Deus ; 96 
 
 Detinent, et tota nox est 
 
 Perviglanda cantibus? 
 Regnet in sylvis Dione j 
 
 Tu recede, Delia. 
 
 Cras amet, qui nunquam amavitj 95 
 
 Quique amavit, eras amet. 
 
 tfune decet aut viridi nitidum caput tmpcdire Jwyrrs, 
 
 Autjlore, terra quern ferutit solute : 
 Nunc et in umbrosis Fauna decet immolare lucis, 
 
 S.eu poscat agtia, sJ've main h<edo. 
 
 HOR. O</. 4. Lib. j. 
 
 Now joyous thro' the verdant meads, 
 Beneath the rising moon, fair Venus leads 
 
 Her various dance ; and with her train 
 Of Nymphs, and modest Graces treads the plain j 
 
 While Vulcan's glowing breath inspires 
 The toilsome forge, and blows up all its firei: 
 
 Now crown'd with myrtle, or the flow'rs, 
 Which the glad earth from her free bosom pours, 
 
 We'll offer, in the shady grove, 
 A lamb, or kid, as Pan shall best approve. 
 
 FRANCIS, 
 
 Sannazarius
 
 PO. 1. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 197 
 
 And, link'd with many a kindred throng, 
 
 They stray thy leafy glooms among ; 100 
 
 Where flow'ry chaplets flaunt they rove, 
 
 Where myrtles form a green alcove: 
 
 Ceres, and Bacchus here are found, 
 
 With the bright God for verse renown'dj 
 
 These all the wakeful night employ 105 
 
 In chaunting sprightly strains of joy: 
 
 The woods confess Dione's sway j 
 
 Fly, Delia, then ; fly far away ! 
 
 Let those, who never yet have lov'd, 
 
 To-morrow feel love's pain ; no 
 
 Let those, who have the passion prov'd, 
 
 To-morrow love again! 
 
 Sannazarius has prettily imitated both the Roman poets, in hi 
 
 description of the Graces: 
 
 Turn manlbus siniul implicitis per graminafestas 
 Exercfnt choreas ; alias aliosque reflexus 
 Inter se latte repftunt ; nunc corpora I'ibrant 
 la saltus ; nunc tnolle latus, nunc Candida jaclant 
 Bracbia, et altcrna quatiunt vestigia plantu. 
 
 Nee Ceresi nee Bacchus absunt.~\ Hieronymus, Lib. 2. adversus 
 jfovinian. has the following applicable passage: Esus caraipm, ft 
 fotus i>ini, vcntrisque saturitas, seminarium libidinis fst, And 
 thus a comic writer : 
 
 Sine Cerere et Baccbofriget Venus. 
 
 TERENT. Eun. Aft, 4. 
 
 O 3 Adscderunt
 
 CAftfLLI CARMINA. CA. X. 
 
 Jussit Hybkeis tribunal 
 
 Stare Diva floribus ; 
 Prseses ipsa jura dicit, 
 
 Adsederunt Gratia?. 100 
 
 Hybla, totos funde flores, 
 
 Quicquid annus attulit ; 
 Hybla, florum sparge vestem, 
 
 Quantus Ennse campus est. 
 Ruris hie erunt puellae ; 1 05 
 
 Vel puelke fontium, 
 Quzeque sylvas, quasque lucos, 
 
 Quasque montes incolunt: 
 Jussit omnes adsidere 
 
 Pueri mater alitis; no 
 
 Jussit et nudo puellas 
 
 Nil Amori credere. 
 
 Adsederunt Grati*.] Phornutus says, that Venus is generally 
 represented with the Graces sitting near her, attended likewise 
 by Suada, the goddess of eloquence, and by Mercury. Apuleius 
 Metam. Lib. 2. 6. et 10. pictures the Queen of love surrounded 
 by a choir of Graces, and a multitude of obedient Cupids. 
 
 Hybla.] The choice of the place where Venus is feigned to 
 hold her court, in honour of the spring, is very happy ; every one 
 knows that Hybla was a mountain of Sicily, remarkable for its 
 abundance of flowering sweets. Hybhean honey is of high re- 
 pute.
 
 PO. I. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 199 
 
 Enthron'd amid Hyblsean sweets, 
 Her sacred dictates she repeats ; 
 And, sitting near their beauteous queen, 115 
 
 The Graces, drest in smiles, are seen. 
 O Hybla! bring thy bloomy stores, 
 Which the glad year profusely pours ; 
 Hybla ! thy flow'ry vestment spread, 
 And vie with Enna's perfum'd mead. 120 
 
 Here shall the fountain nymphs be seen, 
 The nymphs who trip the velvet green, 
 The nymphs who dwell in rural shades, 
 On steepy hills, in verdant glades: 
 Love's smiling mother then commands, 125 
 
 And seated see the beauteous bands; 
 But chief, commands each witless fair 
 Of Love, tho' naked, to beware. 
 
 Enne campus. ] The field of Enna, iii the Very heart of Sicily, 
 is celebrated by the rape of Proserpine. See the story in Ovid, 
 Metam. 5. Near this spot Ceres had a remarkable temple. 
 
 Runs hie e runt puellce, &c.] It may not be improper hereto 
 mention the various nymphs whom Venus thus generally invites: 
 the nymphs of the woods were the bryades, and Hamadtyades ; 
 those of the mountains were the Oreades, or Orestiades ; such as 
 presided over groves, and flowery vallies, were called Napate ; the 
 fair guardians of lakes, and rivers, were the Naiades ; and the 
 sea-nymphs were termed Nereides. 
 
 0.4
 
 200 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. I. 
 
 Cras amet, qui nunquam amavit j 
 Quique amavit, eras amet. 
 
 Ex recentibus virentes 115 
 
 Ducat umbras fioribus. 
 Cras erit quo primus ./Ether 
 
 Copulavit nuptias ; 
 Ut pater roris crearet 
 
 Vernis annum nubibus : 120 
 
 In sinum maritus imber 
 
 Fluxit almae conjugis ; 
 Ut foetus mixtus omnes 
 
 Aleret magno corpore. 
 Ipsa venas, atque mentem, 125 
 
 Permeante spiritu, 
 Intus occultis gubernat 
 
 Procreatrix viribus : 
 Perque coelum, perque terras, 
 
 Perque pontum subditum : 130 
 
 Pervium $ui tenorem, 
 
 Seminale tramite, 
 Imbuit j jussitque mundum 
 
 Nosse nascendi vias.
 
 PO. I. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 2OI 
 
 Let those, who never yet have lov'd, 
 
 To-morrow feel love's pain; 130 
 
 Let those, who have the passion prov'd, 
 
 To-morrow love again ! 
 
 Be ev'ry shade, that waves around, 
 With flow'rs of freshest fragrance crown'd ! 
 To-morrow is the day, which tied 135 
 
 Old jEther to his terrene bride ; 
 That he, who forms the dews of air, 
 With vernal clouds might frame the year : 
 The bridegroom show'r prolific came, 
 Impregnated his fruitful dame; 140 
 
 And hence, to grace the wide-stretch'd earth, 
 Full many an offspring wak'd to birth. 
 Her subtile spirit, unconfin'd, 
 Pervades each vein, and fires the mind : 
 Creative queen ! with latent pow'rs 145 
 
 She rules in secret nature's stores ; 
 Thro' skies, and land, and womby sea, 
 Each being owns her potent sway ; 
 Her pervious course, where'er she goes, 
 With tracks of quickening seed she strows : 150 
 She taught the world creation's laws, 
 Unfolding ev'ry hidden cause. 
 
 Laurentent
 
 2.02 CATULLI CARMlNA. CA. I* 
 
 Cras amet, qui nunquam amavit ; 135 
 
 Quique amavit, eras amet. 
 
 Ipsa Trqjanos nepotes 
 
 In Latinos transtulit ; 
 Jpsa Laurentem puellam 
 
 Conjugem riato dedit; 140 
 
 Moxque Marti de sacello 
 
 Dat pudicam virginem; 
 Romuleas ipsa fecit 
 
 Cum Sabinis nuptias; 
 Unde Ramnes, et Quirites: ^45 
 
 Proque prole posterum 
 Romuli, patrem creavit, 
 
 Et nepotem Csesarem. 
 
 Cras amet, qui nunquam amavit; 
 
 Quique amavit, eras amet. 150 
 
 Laurentem puellam. ] Lavinia, the daughter of king Latinus, 
 was so called from Laurentum, a town where her father reigned. 
 
 Moxque Marti, &c.~] Every one knows the story of Ilia, or 
 Rhea Silvia, the vestal, upon whom Mars begot Romulus, and 
 Remus, the founders of Rome. 
 
 Patrem creavit , et nepotem Casarem.'] This reading is to me 
 the only one that makes a satisfaftory sense; I have therefore 
 adopted it. Julius Caesar, with his nephew Augustus, are al- 
 luded to : and I agree with Lipsius, that the Pervjgilium Feneris, 
 
 from
 
 PO. I. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 203 
 
 Let those, who never yet have k>v'd, 
 To-morrow feel love's pain ; 
 
 Let those, who have the passion prov'd, i$$ 
 
 * 
 To-morrow love again! 
 
 Venus to Latian realms transferr'd 
 The Trojan youths, whom fate had spar'd ; 
 She to her son's embrace convey'd 
 Laurentum's high-descended maid ; 160 
 
 Thro' her did Mars a Vestal gain, 
 A Vestal spotless from the fane ! 
 'Twas she, who with the Sabine dames 
 Bade Romans quench their lusty flames ; 
 Whence Ramnes, and Quirites sprung: 165 
 
 And, that she might the race prolong, 
 Were two successive Csesars born, 
 Whose virtues did the state adorn. 
 
 Let those, who never yet have lov'd, 
 
 To-morrow feel love's pain; 170 
 
 Let those, who have the passion prov'd, 
 
 To-morrow love again ! 
 
 from this little stroke of flattery towards Augustus, might have 
 been written about the close of that emperor's reign, perhaps 
 later; not during the reign of Julius, as has been generally, but 
 wrongfully, imagined. 
 
 Tatiri
 
 204 CATULLI CARM1NA, CA. J. 
 
 Rura fecundat voluptas, 
 
 Rura Venerem sentiunt : 
 Ipse Amor puer Diones 
 
 Rure natus dicitur; 
 Hunc ager, cum parturiret 155 
 
 Ipsa, suscepit sinu ; 
 Ipsa florum delicatis 
 
 Educavit osculis. 
 
 Cras amet, qui nunquam amavit; 
 
 Quique amavit, eras amet. 160 
 
 Ecce, jam super genistas 
 
 Explicant tauri latus, 
 Quisque tutus quo tenetur 
 
 Conjugali foedere: 
 Subter umbras cum maritis 165 
 
 Ecce balantum gregem; 
 Et canoras non tacere 
 
 Diva jussit alites : 
 Jam loquaces ore rauco 
 
 Stagna cygni perstrepunt : 1 70 
 
 Tauri latus. ] Some editions have, I think less properly, agni 
 latus.
 
 PO. I. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 105 
 
 Pleasure fecundates rural scenes, 
 Conscious with them that Venus reigns: 
 Cupid, Dione's boy, they say, 175 
 
 In rural scenes first view'd the day; 
 Soon as brought forth, the child was laid 
 On the green bosom of some mead; 
 Sweetly he kiss'd each nurturing flow'r, 
 And kisses rear'd love's infant pow'r. 180 
 
 Let those, who never yet have lov'd, 
 
 To-morrow feel love's pain ; 
 Let those, who have the passion prov'd, 
 
 To-morrow love again ! 
 
 Now bulls, along the broomy plain 185 
 
 Stretching their ample sides, are seen ; 
 Each sturdy lover sure to find 
 His lowing consort ever kind: 
 With bleating brides, beneath the shade, 
 Behold the fleecy bridegrooms laid: 190 
 
 The goddess bids the feather'd train 
 Awake their soul-enliv'ning strain ; 
 And, pouring hoarser musick round, 
 With clam'rous swans the lakes resound:
 
 2.06 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. I. 
 
 Adsonat Terei puella 
 
 Subter umbram populi, 
 Ut putes motus amoris 
 
 Ore dici musico, 
 Et neges queri sororem 175 
 
 De marito barbaro. 
 Ilia cantat; nos tacemus : 
 
 Quando ver venit meum? 
 Quando faciam ut Chelidon, 
 
 Ut tacere desinam ? 180 
 
 Perdidi musam tacendo, 
 
 Nee me Phoebus respicit: 
 Sic Amyclas, cum tacerent, 
 
 Perdidit silentium. 
 
 Cras amet, qui nunquam amavit; 185 
 
 Quique amavit, eras amet. 
 
 Sie Amyclas, &c.] Amyclae was a town of Italy, between Gal- 
 eta and Terracina, built by the Spartans, whose inhabitants, be- 
 ing forbidden by Pythagoras to slay, and eat any animal, thought it 
 criminal to destroy the serpents, which abounded in the neigh- 
 bouring marshes, and which at length grew so numerous, that 
 they devoured the whole city. But this passage of Catullus 
 evidently alludes to the story of the people of Amyclae, who, 
 having been frequently terrified with false alarms of besiegers, 
 
 forbade
 
 PO. I. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 207 
 
 The poplars' shadowy groves among, 195 
 
 Tereus' sad daughter trills her song, 
 
 So sweet, so musically gay, 
 
 'Twould seem that love inspired the lay; 
 
 Such numbers we can scarce suppose 
 
 Tun'd to a sister's nuptial woes. 200 
 
 And does then Philomela sing? 
 
 While I, in silence, wait my spring; 
 
 When will it with the swallow come ? 
 
 And when shall I my song resume ? 
 
 By silence is my muse impaired, 205 
 
 Nor me will Phoebus now regard ; 
 
 Amyclae thus, as poets tell, 
 
 Kept silence, and by si^nce fell. 
 
 Let those, who never yet have lov'd, 
 
 To-morrow feel love's pain ; 210 
 
 Let those, who have the passion prov'd, 
 
 To-morrow love again ! 
 
 forbade by law that any one in future should make report of 
 danger, whatever grounds they might have for it. The be- 
 siegers at last really came, and the place was taken by surprise. 
 Hence Virgil's tacitx Amyclx, in his tenth JEntid ; and Ausoni- 
 us's proverb of Amyclat vivere, to perceive and keep silence. 
 
 This
 
 208 CATULLI CARM1NA. CA. 2. 
 
 AD HORTORUM DEUM. 11. 
 
 HUNC lucum tibi dedico, consecroque, Priapc ; 
 Qua domus tua Lampsaci est, quaque sylva, Priape. 
 Nam te prsecipue in suis urbibus colit ora 
 Hellespontia, caeteris ostreosior oris. 
 
 ii. 
 
 This little poem, and the two following, which are found in the 
 Catalecla Virgil'iana, are by most of the old scholiasts adjudged to 
 Catullus; as well, they say, by reason of the affinity of their stile 
 with his writings, as from the seeming testimony of Terentianus 
 Maurus, who affirms that Catullus did write such pieces on the 
 deity Priapus; for, after citing this first Carmen, Hunc lucum tibi 
 dedico, &c. he adds : 
 
 Et similes plures sic conscripsisse Catullum sc'imvs. 
 Many have pretended that Carulfcs translated these three pieces 
 from the lost productions of Sappho. I must confess that the 
 supposed affinity between them, and the generality of Catullus's 
 stile, is not discoverable ; but some deference is due to the as. 
 sertions of the grammarian, Terentianus Maurus. I have there- 
 fore translated these Cartnina, which undoubtedly have great me- 
 rit, and classed them with the Pervigilium Generis, as uncertain 
 poems. They are in general, though perhaps improperly, inserted 
 in the body of the work, after the i?th Carmen. Vossius, indeed, 
 gives them a separate place at the end of his edition, but he does 
 not accompany them with the Pervigilium I'eneris. 
 
 Priape.] The God of wine, and the Queen of love, it is said, 
 produced the lewd deity Priapus, who was born, and had divine 
 honours paid him, at Lampsacus, a city of Asia Minor, near the 
 
 Hellespont,
 
 t O. 2. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 209 
 
 TO THE GARDEN GOD. u. 
 
 TO thee I dedicate this sweet retreat; 
 
 Priapus, sacred be the shade to thee : 
 Whether some grove, or Lampsacus thy seat, 
 
 Detains thy steps, o sylvan deity ! 
 Thou, who in towns, that deck the shelly coast 5 
 Of much-fam'd Hellespont, art worshipp'd most. 
 
 Hellespont, between the rivers Granicus and Simois. He was sup- 
 posed the God of gardens, from that fertility which a lascivious 
 disposition indicates. Orpheus makes him the oldest of all the 
 gods, and the same with Sol and Bacchus. According to Strabo, 
 and Pliny, there was a town near the Hellespont, called Priapus, 
 from this tutelary power. 
 
 Syl<ua.] Many say, that the vine only is alluded to ; but I ra- 
 ther think, that shades in general, where a bust of Priapus 
 might stand, is meant. 
 
 Cteteris ostreesior or/j.] Silvius tells us, that all the shores of 
 the Hellespont abounded with vines, and therefore were sacred to 
 Priapus; but may riot these shores be devoted to him from the 
 oysters they produced ? The provocative quality of shell-fish has 
 been much boasted; and the word ostreosior might justify such a 
 COnje&ure. Dr. King, in his admirable burlesque poem on th 
 Art of Cookery, mirthfully remarks this circumstance: 
 
 Eat beef, or pye-crtist, if you'd serious be ; 
 
 Your shell-fish raises Venus from the sea: 
 
 For nature, that inclines to ill or good, 
 
 Still nourishes our passions by our food. 
 
 VOL. II. P Friap*
 
 210 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 3. 
 
 HORTORUM DEUS. in. 
 
 HUNC ego, juvenes, locum, villulamque palus- 
 
 trem, 
 
 Te&am vimine junceo, caricisque maniplis, 
 Quercus arida, rustica conformata securi, 
 Nutrivi: magis, et magis, ut beata quotannis. 
 Hujus nam domini colunt me, deumque salutant, 5 
 Pauperis tugurii pater, filiusque coloni: 
 Alter assidua colens diligentia, ut herba 
 Dumosa asperaque a meo sit remota sacello : 
 Alter parva ferens manu semper munera larga. 
 
 Priapus here requests of some rambling boys not to rob the gar- 
 den of a poor man, which he had guarded and cultivated with great 
 care ; but rather go to his rich neighbour, where the Priapus was 
 less solicitous to protect the produce. 
 
 Sfyercus arlda. ] The bust of this god was usually cut out of the 
 head, or standing trunk of some tree ; and a sickle was put into his 
 hand, with which he was supposed to drive away birds, and rob- 
 bers. ThusTibullus: 
 
 Sic ego: turn Bacchi respond ft rustica proles, 
 Armatui curva sic mibifalce Deus. 
 
 TIB. Eleg. 4. Lib. i. 
 
 Thus I and thus the garden Pow'r replied, 
 
 A crooked sickle glitt'ring by his side. 
 
 GRAINGER. 
 
 Priapus gives a similar description of himself in Horace : 
 
 Otim
 
 1O. 3. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 211 
 
 THE GARDEN GOD. in. 
 
 I, MY sweet youths, whom the keen axe's pow'r 
 Shap'd from some wither'd oak, have nurs'd this 
 
 bow'r; 
 
 Nurs'd the damp cot, whose rustic roof is spread 
 With fig-tree boughs, with many a shelt'ring reed j 
 And the wild woodland, each returning year, 5 
 More fruitful grew beneath my fost'ring care. 
 The humble tenants of this rude abode 
 Invoke me oft, and hail me as their god ; 
 The watchful father from my rural fane 
 Oft plucks the noifome weed, the briar profane j 10 
 And the kind son, for ever grateful, brings 
 "With lib'ral hand his humble offerings: 
 
 Ql'im truticus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum ; 
 Quumfaber, tncertus scamnum faceretne Priapum, 
 Maluit esse deum, Deus inde ego,furium aviumque 
 Maxima formido. HOR. Sat. 8. Lib, i. 
 
 In days of yore our godship stood, 
 
 A very worthless log of wood ; 
 
 The joiner doubting, or to shape us 
 
 Into a stool, or a Priapus, 
 
 At length resolv'd, for reasons wise, 
 
 Into a god to bid me rise; 
 
 And now to birds, and thieves I stand 
 
 A terror great. FRANCIS. 
 
 P *
 
 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 3. 
 
 Florido mihi ponitur pida vere corolla 10 
 
 * ' ^ 
 
 Primitu, et tenera virens spica mollis arista : 
 
 L-utex violas mihi, luteumve papaver, 
 Pallentesque cucurbitas, et suaveolentia mala, 
 Uva pampinea rubens educata sub umbra. 
 Sanguine hanc etiam mihi (sed tacebitis) aram 15 
 Barbatus Unit hirculus, cornipesque capella; 
 Pro queis omnia honoribus haec necesse Priapo 
 Prasstare, et domini hortulum, vineamque tueri. 
 Quare hinc, 6 pueri, malas abstinete rapinas : 
 Vicinus prope dives est, negligensque Priapus : 20 
 Inde sumite ; semita haec deinde vos feret ipsa. 
 
 Florida, mihi, &c.} Such were the wreaths really offered at the 
 shrine of Priapus by the Romans. 
 
 Lutes viol*.] Pliny, Cap. 19. Lib. 11. calls the winter yellow 
 gillyflower, or wall- flower, a violet j which he extols as an eme- 
 nagogue, and a diuretic. 
 
 Luteumve papaver.] The yellow poppy has been sufficiently 
 commented upon in a note to Carm. 58. Yet, after all, we are 
 but ill acquainted with the idea of colour which the ancients af- 
 fixed to the word luteus ; it is as undetermined as our poetical 
 colour purple. 
 
 Sed tacebitis, &c.] The ancients had their inferior deities, of 
 semones, as Priapus, Vertumnus, Hippona, and others, which were 
 not thought worthy of a place in heaven, like the superior deities, 
 nor of having victims sacrificed to them ; for to these they only 
 offered milk, corn, and a cake made of honey, oil, and meal, which 
 they called libum. Thus Virgil : 
 
 Sinum laftis, et b<ec tibi liba, Priape, quotannis 
 Expcftare sat est. VIRG. Eclog.-]. 
 
 If cakes, and milk are yearly giv'n to thee ; 
 'Tis all, Priapus, thou shouldst hope from me. Priapus
 
 PO. 3. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 A bloomy crown these zealous hinds prepare, 
 When spring's first blossoms glad the laughing year; 
 Plac'd on my head the blushing chaplet's seen, 15 
 And tender corn with blades of early green ; 
 Then yellow poppies, winter wall-flow'rs too, 
 Sweet-fmelling apples, gourds of pallid hue, 
 And purple clusters from the leafy vine, 
 They cull with sacred care, to vow them mine : 20 
 The kid with horny hoof for me that's slain, 
 And bearded goat, with blood my altar stain; 
 (But speak not this, lest haply it should move 
 The jealous envy of the Pow'rs above.) 
 Since by these swains such honours are bestow'd, 25 
 It sure becomes me, as their guardian god, 
 To tend their farm, their vineyard watch with care ; 
 Hence then, dear boys, nor urge your rapine here: 
 In the next orchard ampler stores abound ; 
 Priapus stands neglectful in that ground; 30 
 
 There thieve at large, for none your thefts can know; 
 The plenteous spot this very path will show. 
 
 Priapus, therefore, bids the person, to whom he speaks, not to re- 
 veal that the husbandman now and then sacrificed to him a goat, 
 or a kid; lest the celestials should be incensed at such extraor- 
 dinary honours being paid to an earthly divinity. 
 
 Aram.~\ Vossius writes arma t i. e. armaPriapi, in an obscene sense. 
 
 Hae necesse.~\ Some editions have bocnecesse; and, in the last 
 line, for b<ec t many read hue. 
 
 P 3 This
 
 214 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 4. 
 
 HORTORUM DEUS. iv. 
 
 EGO hsec, ego arte fabricata rustica, 
 Ego arida, 6 viator, ecce populus 
 Agellulum hunc, sinistra, tute quern vides, 
 Herique villulam, hortulumque pauperis 
 Tuor, malasque furis arceo manus. 5 
 
 Mihi corolla pi<ta vere ponitur: 
 Mihi rubens arista sole fervido: 
 Mihi virente dulcis uva pampino : 
 Mihique glauca duro oliva frigore. 
 Meis capella delicata pascuis 10 
 
 In urbem adulta lade portat ubera: 
 Meisque pinguis agnus ex ovilibus 
 Gravem domum remittit sere dexteram v 
 Tenerque, matre mugiente, vaccula 
 Deum profundit ante templa sanguinem. 15 
 
 IV. 
 
 The subject of this poem is nearly similar to that of the preced- 
 ing; and is treated with equal simplicity, and elegance. The va- 
 rious wreaths peculiar to each season is a truly paitoral idea. 
 
 Glauco duro oliva frigore."] Voss'us for glauca writes eofla-, 
 because olives ripen in the "winter, as he wrongfully imagines. 
 However glauca is certainly the most applicable reading, as must 
 be evident to all who have remarked the faint green tinge of 
 olive-trees. See a note on the word glaucus, the same with ctesius, 
 to Carm. 42. 
 
 Sorsum.
 
 PO. 4. POEMS OF CATUJLLUS. 2I 
 
 THE GAREN GOD. iv. 
 
 LO ! fashion'd by some rustic hand, 
 A sapless poplar-trunk I stand: 
 This lowly hut, this garden see, 
 That meadow to the left of thee ; 
 All these, their master's little wealth, 5 
 
 O traveller ! I guard from stealth. 
 Soon as the vernal season smiles, 
 I'm gaily crown'd with flow'ry spoils; 
 But yellow wreaths of ripen'd corn, 
 Mid summer heats, my brows adorn ; 10 
 
 The luscious vine's thick branches spread, 
 In blushing autumn, round my head ; 
 And, when cold blow the wintry winds, 
 My temples pale-green olive binds : 
 For this, to market oft I send 15 
 
 A goat, whose paps with milk distend $ 
 A lamb, the fattest of my fold ; 
 Which fill their master's hand with gold ; 
 And oft it is by me decreed, 
 
 That some unconscious heifer bleed, 20 
 
 While its sad mother lows in vain, 
 
 Before the god's respected fane. 
 
 / 
 
 P4
 
 l6 CATULLI CARMINA. CA. 4. 
 
 Prom', viator, hunc Deum vereberis, 
 
 Manumque sorsum habebis: hoc tibi expedit. 
 
 Parata sine arte crux est, et mentula. 
 
 Velim pol, inquis : at pol ecce, villicus 
 
 Venit ; valente cui revulsa brachio 20 
 
 Fit ista mentula apta clava dextene. 
 
 Sorsum.] Some read sursum, interpreting: " keep your hands 
 ' up; and do not hide them in your bosom, as thieves generally 
 " do." 
 
 Parata, &c.} This reading I have seen in one edition only; 
 but I think it gives the best sense, by making the crux, and the 
 mentula two distinct things. Different editors have crux arte t crux 
 
 et 
 
 I N I S.
 
 PO. 4. POEMS OF CATULLUS. 217 
 
 Then me, the garden Pow'r, revere ; 
 
 And plunder not, thou stranger, here ; 
 
 Lest the rough cross, or handy stake 25 
 
 With punishment thy crime o'ertake: 
 
 " Such punishment (sayst thou) Pd try:" 
 
 Thou wouldst? Then see the rustic nigh, 
 
 Whose sturdy arm a stake shall wield 
 
 That soon will drive thee from the field. 30 
 
 et arte, crux est arte ; and Vossius writes trux sine arte, not crux ; 
 upon which word the reader may turn to a note in Carm. 94. The 
 garden robber, when caught, was punished either by tying him 
 to a cross and exposing him, or by the cudgel. 
 
 THE END.
 
 INDEX 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PRINCIPAL PERSONS, PLACES, AND SUBJECTS, 
 
 MENTIONED IN THE 
 
 POEMS OF CATULLUS. 
 
 N. B. The references are to the Latin text. 
 
 A, 
 
 L.CHILLES, his birth prophesied by the Fates CARMEN Ixi 
 
 line 338 
 
 Greeks from Achai'a so named ... Ixi. /. 366 
 ACME, the mistress of Septimius ..---.. xlii 
 ACTRESS, reproachfully applied - - .... xxxix. /. 8 
 
 ADONIS, a beautiful youth beloved by Venus ... xxvi. /. 9 
 ADRIATIC, gulf, or sea -------- iv. /. 6 
 
 J^EE'TES, king of Colchis - .... Ixi. /. 3 
 
 king of Athens .---_-. Ixi. /. 213 
 mirthfully satirized - ------- xcii 
 
 .CITHER, white illuminated by the morning sun, Ix. /. 40. Per- 
 sonified, and first wedded, Poems by some attributed to Catullus, 
 
 i. /. 117 
 
 ETHIOPIAN, an epithet applied to Memnon - - Ixiii. /. 51 
 J^ITNA, a volcanic mountain in Sicily ----- Ixv. /. 53 
 
 AGAMEMNON, third heir of Pelops, and leader of the Greeks 
 againftTroy ------------- Ixi. /. 346 
 
 AGANIPPE, a poetic river at the foot of mount Helicon Iviii. /. 30 
 ALFHEN us, a lawyer perfidious towards to Catullus - - xxvii 
 ALTS, mountains dividing Italy from Gaul, and other countries 
 
 xi. /. 9 
 AMASTRIS,. acityof Paphlagonia - - - - - - iv. /. 13 
 
 AMATHUS, a city of Cyprus, sacred to Venus xxxiv. Ixv, /. 31 
 AMPHITRITE, wife of Neptune, figuratively put for the sea 
 
 Ixi. /. ii 
 
 AMPHITRYON, a Theban prince, father of Hercules Ixv. /. nz 
 AMYCL^E, a town of Italy, singularly destroyed by a law of si- 
 lence Poems which some attribute to Catullus - - - i./. 183 
 
 AN CON A,
 
 220 INDEX. 
 
 AKCOKA, a town of Picenum, sacred to Venu - xxxlii./. 13 
 ANGUS, fourth king of the Romans .... xxxi. /. 23 
 
 ANDROGEUS, son of Minos, and Pasiphae - - Ixi. 7.77 
 
 ANNALS, of Volusius - -- - ------ xxxiii 
 
 ANTIMACHUS, a bombast poet of Colophon - - - xc. /. 10 
 ANTIUS, C. Restio, promulgator of a sumptuary law xli. /. n 
 AONIAN, belonging to the poetic ground Aonia, or Boeotia. 
 
 Iviii. /. it 
 APELIOTES, south-east wind - - - - - - xxiii. /. 3 
 
 APPLE, a love-token, elegantly mentioned - Ixii. /. 19 
 
 AQJJARIUS, constellation -- - ------ Ixiii. /. 94 
 
 Ac*jnNius, a bad poet ------- - . xiv. /. 18 
 
 ARABIANS, effeminate _.---- . - - xi. /. 5 
 
 ARCIVES, Greeks, so called from the town Argae 
 
 Ixi. /. 4. Ixv. /. 87 
 
 ARGONAUTS, their expedition ---.-.--Ixi 
 ARIADNE, Ixi. /. 54. Her crown, a constellation - Ixiii. /. 60 
 ARRIUS, his aspiration ridiculed - ------ Ixxxi 
 
 ARSINOE, sister to Ptolemy Philadelphus, also a town of Cyrene 
 
 sacred to Venus - ..---.--. Ixiii. /. 54 
 ASIA, a quarter of the globe - xliii. /. 6. Ixiii./. 36. Ixv. /. 89 
 ASIA, a marshy traft .-__----. Iviii. /. 22 
 
 ASINIUS Marrucinus, a jesting stealer of the dinner-napkins xii 
 ASPIRATION, in pronunciation - ... ... Ixxxi 
 
 ASSES, working mills -------- - xcii. /. 10 
 
 ASSYRIA, Ixiii. 1. i a. Assyrian odours - - - Ixv. 7.144 
 ATA LANTA, alluded to - - --.--. ii./. n. lx. /. 77 
 
 ATHENS, a great city of Attica - - - - Ixi. /. 8r. & 172 
 
 ATHOS, a mountain of Macedonia ------ Ixiii. /. 46 
 
 ATRAX, a river of ^tolia, or of Thessaly - xc. /. 5 
 
 ATYS, the favourite of Cybele, his emasculation, and history lx 
 AUCTIONEER, one of particular character alluded to ci 
 
 AUFILENA, a jilting courtezan - xcv. /. i. cv. cvi 
 
 AUFILENUS, brother of Aufilena - - - - - - xcv. /. i 
 
 AURELIUS, perhaps L. Aurelius Cotta the praetor xi. xv. xvi.xviii 
 AURORA, or sun-rise, Ixi. /. 271. Alluded to, as mother of 
 
 Memnon --- -,- - - - - ... Ixiii. /. 5* 
 
 AURUNCULEIA, the cognomen of Julia - ... Iviii. /. 87 
 AUSTER, south-wind ---------- xxiii./. i 
 
 BACCHANAL,
 
 INDEX. 22t 
 
 BACCHANAL, a votary, or prieft of Bacchus - . . Ixi. /. 61 
 BACCHUS, god of wine, Ixi. /. 390. Poems tobicb some attribute 
 
 to Catullus - - - ---------- i. /. Sj 
 
 BAGGAGE, scanty, denoting poverty ..... xxv. /. * 
 
 BALBUS, an unknown character - - ... Ixiv. /. j 
 BASIL, remedy for a cough .... _ xli. /. 15 
 
 BATHS, thieves of cloaths there ----- - xxx. /. i 
 
 BATTUS, king of Cyrene - - vii. /. 5. Ixii. t. 16. cxi./. 
 BAY, tree - ...._-._ ]xi. /. ^gj 
 
 BEAGLE, Gallic ------- . xxxix". /. 9 
 
 BEAN, a simile for hardness - ... xx. /. u 
 
 BEARD dark, a beauty ------- xxxiv. /. 21 
 
 BEAUTY, negatively described - -_. . --xl 
 BED, bridal of Peleus ------ Ixi. /. 43. & seij. 
 
 BEECH, tree ----------- Ixi. /. aSj 
 
 BENACUS, lake, near Verona, xxviii. /. 13. Alluded to iv. /. 24 
 BERENICE, queen of Egypt, daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus, 
 
 and married to her brother Ptolemy Evergetes ... Ixiii 
 BIRDS, wed in the spring, Poems ivbicb some attribute to Catullus 
 
 i,1.6 
 BITHYNIA, a province of Asia Minor - - x. /. 7. xxviii./. 5 
 
 BONONIA, a town on the borders of the Rhine - - Ivi.l. i 
 BOOK, stalls, or (hops ----- xiv. /. 18. Hi. 7,4. 
 
 BOOTES, constellation ------- Ixiii. /. 67 
 
 BOREAS, north-wind -------- xxiii. /. j 
 
 BRIDE, ceremonies, and circumstances relating to her - - Iviii 
 BRITAIN, ferocious, and supposed the extremity of the weftern 
 
 world - - -..-'- - - xi. /. n. xxvi. /. 13 
 BRIXIA, a town of Cisalpine Gaul, which seems to have colonized 
 
 Verona ----- .-__ Ixiv. I. 31 
 
 BROTHER, of Catullus - - - Ixv. /. 20. xcvi. 91, & scq. 
 
 BULLS, mentioned, Poems ivbicb some attribute to Catullus i. /. i6a 
 BURIAL-PLACES, frequented by the poor for the sake of the 
 
 silicernium --------- Ivi. /. 3 
 
 CJECILIUS, a poetic friend of Catullus - - xxxii. Ixiv. /. 9 
 C^ELIUS, Catullus's rival with Lesbia. See RUFUS. - Iv, xcv 
 CAESAR, Julius, and Augustus xi. /. 10. xxvi. /. ia. li. liv. Ixxxix 
 
 Poems ivbicb some attribute to Catullus - i. /. 147 
 
 C.XSIUS, a bad poet ------ - xiv./.^iX 
 
 CALISTO,
 
 222 INDEX. 
 
 CALISTO, constellation ... - . - - Ixiii. /. 6& 
 CALLIMACHUS, poet, and historian of Cyrene Ivii. /. 16. cxi. /. a 
 CALVUS LICINIUS, an orator, and poet - - xiv. I. xci. 
 CAMERIUS, a friend of Catullus - - lii 
 
 CAMPUS MARTIUS, a place for martial exercises in Rome Hi. /. 3 
 CANOPU s, an island and town at the mouth of the Nile Ixiii. /. 58 
 CARES redressed, beautifully mentioned ... xxviii. /. 7 
 CASTOR, twin-brother of Pollux. See POLLUX, iv./. 27. Ixv. /. 65 
 CASTRATION, applied to Atys, and the priestesses of Cybele 
 
 lx./. 5, & 17 
 
 CATO, the grammarian - liii 
 
 CECROPIAN, or Athenian ... Ixi. /. 79, 83, & 172 
 CELTIBERIA, famous for its rabbits xxxiv. /. 20. xxxvi. /. 17 
 CERES, figuratively, food, lx. /. 36. Goddess of corn, Poems 
 
 ivbicb some attribute to Catullus - - - i. /. 89 
 
 CHALYBES, Scythians, who were famed for iron, and first made 
 
 steel ... Ixiii. /. 48 
 
 CHARYBDIS, a whirlpool opposite Scylla, on the Sicilian coaft 
 
 Ixi. /. 156 
 
 CHLORIS, the same with Flora - - - Ixiii. /. 54 
 
 CICERO, the advocate of Catullus - - xlvi 
 
 CIRCUS, place of public sports in Rome lii. /. 4 
 
 CNOSIAN, Cretan - - Ixi. /. 171 
 
 CODICILLI, memorandum-books ... xxxix. / n 
 COLCHIS, a province of Asia .... Ixi. /. 5 
 COLONIA, a town near Verona, New Comum xvii. /. 4 
 COMINIUS, a notorious character - - ciii 
 
 COMUM NEW, an Insubrian town - xxxii 
 
 CONON, a Greek astronomer of Samos - Ixiii. /. 7 
 
 CONSTELLATIONS various, mentioned - Ixiii./. 64, & seq. 
 CORNELIUS NEPOS, i. /. 3. Perhaps another - Ixiv. /. 34 
 CORNIFICIUS, an elegiac poet .... - xxxv 
 CORONA, a name for the crowd round a public speaker - 1. /. i 
 CRETE, the largeft of the Cyclades, it had an hundred cities 
 
 Ixi. /. 82, & 174 
 
 CROESUS, king of Lydia - - - ex. /. 3 
 
 CUPID, mentioned, xxxiii. /. 3- Ixv./. 133. Poems which some 
 
 attribute to Catullus - _...-!. war. loc. 
 CYBELE, goddess -.---- xxxii. /. 18. lx 
 
 CYCLADES,
 
 INDEX. 223 
 
 CYC LADES, islands of the /Egean sea C iv. 7.7 
 
 CYLLENE, a mountain of Arcadia ... Jxv. /. 109 
 CYMBALS, used in the rites of Cybele lx. /. 21, & 29 
 
 CYPRESS, tree -- . - - - Ixi. /. 291 
 
 CYRENE, town and region of Africa ... vii. /. 4 
 CYTORUS, a mountain of Paphlagonia, famous for box-trees 
 
 iv. /. 13 
 
 DARDANcity. See TROY. 
 
 DAULIAS, Progne so called - - Ixii. 7.14 
 
 DELIA, name of Diana, Poems 'which some attribute to Catullus 
 
 i. /. 76 
 
 DELIAN, of the island Delos, one of the Cyclades xxxi. /. 7 
 DELPHIANS, of Delphi, a town of Phocis - - Ixi. 7.392 
 DIA, Naxos, an island in the .fligean sea - Ixi. 7. 52, & 121 
 DIANA, goddess, xxxi. Despised the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis 
 
 Ixi. 7. 300. mentioned, Poems 'which some attribute to Catullus 
 
 i. 7. 76 
 
 DINDYMENE, name of Cybele - lx. 7. 13 
 
 DIKDYMUS, a mountain of Mysia minor - - lx. 7. 91 
 DIONE, name of Venus, liii. 7. 6. Poems which some attribute to 
 
 Catullus - - - - - - i. 7. 13 
 
 DOOR, personified ~ - - - - Ixiv 
 
 DRUM, used at the rites of Cybele, and Bacchus 
 
 lx- 7. 9 . Ixi. 7. 261 
 
 DYRRACHiUM,acity of Macedonia,on the Adriatic sea xxxiii. 7.15 
 EGNATIUS, a coxcomb of Celtiberia xxxiv. 7. 21. xxxvi. 7. 9 
 EGYPT, a vast country of Africa, watered by the Nile Ixiii. 7.36 
 EMATHIA. SeeTnEssALY. 
 EMPEROR, sole, or unique, reproachfully applied to Julius Ca> 
 
 sar - - - - - - - xxvi. 7. 12. li. 7. 7 
 
 EOAN, eastern - ... x j. /. 3 
 
 EPITHALAMIUM, nuptial song - - Iviii. lix. Ixi 
 
 EQJJINOCTIAL sky > - - - - xliii. /. a 
 
 ERYCINA, name of Venus - - Ixi. 7. 72 
 
 ERYTHR.SAN, or Red sea ...__ Iviii. 7. 206 
 ETRURIAN, fat, a native of Etruria, now Tuscany xxxvi. 7. n 
 EUMENIDES, the Furies . Ixi. 7. 193 
 
 EVOE, a bacchanalian exclamation - - Ixi. 7. 61, & 255 
 EUROPE, mentioned - - - . - - - Ixv. 7. 89 
 
 EUROTAS,
 
 224 INDEX. 
 
 EUROTAS, a river of Peloponnessus * Ixi. /. 8g 
 
 EXERCISES various, mentioned - Ix. /. 60 
 
 EVES, red, and swoln with weeping, iii. /. 18. Drunken with 
 Iove,xlii./. ii. Comparative of value - Ixxix. /. 2. xcix. 
 FABULLUS, a friend of Catullus xii. 1. 15. xiii. xxv. xliv. /. 3 
 FAITH, a deity - - - - ~ -. xxvii. /. n 
 
 FAIERNIAN wine - --..-, xxiv. /. i 
 FATES, Ixi. /. 306, & 383. Ixv. /. 85. Their congratulatory 
 nuptial song, &c. - - Ixi. /. 323 381 
 
 FA VON lu s, west^wind, the same with Zephyrus xxiii . /. 2. Ixi. /. 28* 
 FESCENNINE, obscene verses, permitted at weddings Iviii. /. 127 
 FIFE, Phrygian instrument - Ixi. /. 264 
 
 FLAMMEUM, or bridal veil of a yellow colour Iviii. /. 8, & seq. 
 FLAVIUS, a friend of Catullus - - - - - vi 
 
 FLEECE, golden, the object of the Argonautic expedition Ixi. /. 5 
 FLINT, a knife made of it for emasculation, and circumcision 
 
 Ix. /. S 
 
 FLOWERS, simile from one, lix. /. 40. Their kisses reared Cu- 
 pid, Poems lubicb some attribute to Catullus - - i. /. 157 
 FORMIANUS, a general of artillery, a debauched extravagant cha- 
 rafter, and the favourite of Caesar xxvi. xxxviii. xl. liv. cix. ex. 
 FORS, or Fortune - - - - - - Ixi. /. 170 
 
 FORUM, a place of legal business, and of public pleasurable re- 
 sort - - - - - - x. /. 2. Ix. /. 60 
 
 FUFFITIUS, an old scribe - - - - li. /. 5 
 
 FURIUS, perhaps Bibaculus, an Iambic poet : he was poor 
 
 xi. xvi. xx. xxiii 
 
 GALL^E, priestesses of Cybele - - - Ix. /. ia, & 34 
 
 GALLUS, the rival of Catullus; of a lascivious disposition, and 
 
 family - Ixxv 
 
 GARDEN-GOD, Priapus., Poems 'which some attribute to Catullus 
 
 ii. iii. iv 
 
 GARLANDS, hung about the house, a love-token - Ix. /. 66 
 
 GAUL, xi. /. ii. Comata, so called, either from its many woods, 
 
 or the fine hair of its natives .... xxyi. /. 3 
 
 GELLIUS, satirized by Catullus 
 
 Ixxi. Ixxvi. Ixxvii. Ixxxiv. Ixxxv. Ixxxvi. Ixxxvii. Cxi 
 GOAT, contemptuously applied - xxxiv. /. 5. Ixvi. /. 6 
 
 GOLD, expressive of paleness Ixi. /. 100, Jxxviii. 7.4- 
 
 GOLGOS,
 
 INDEX. 225 
 
 GOLCOS, a city of Cyprus - - xxxiii. /. 14. l<i. /. 96 
 GORTVNIAN, of Gortyna a city of Crete - - Ixi. 7.7^ 
 GOUT, afflicts Virro's rival Ixviii. 7. 
 
 GRACES, Feneres iii. /. x. xili. /. 12. Ixxxiii. 7. 6 
 
 GRACES, Gratia, Poems ivhich some attribute to Catullus i. A roo 
 GRAII, Greeks * - - Ixv." /. 109 
 
 GRAJUGENUS, Grecian - Ixi. /. 36 
 
 GREEKS, besiegers of Troy, the same with Graii Ixv. /. 102, & 109 
 GYMNASIUM, a place for public exercises - - Ix. 7. 60 
 HAMADRYADS, wood-nymphs ~ Iviii. /. 23 
 
 HARPOCRATES, the god of silence -. Ixxi. 7.4. xcvii. /. 4 
 HEBE, the goddess of youth - Ixv. /. 116 
 
 HELICON, a poetic mountain of Bceotia - - Iviii. /. i 
 HELLEBORE, a simile for sadness - - xciv. /. 14 
 
 HELLESPONT, a sea, Ixi. /. 358. Poems ivhich some attribute to 
 Catullus - - ii. /. 4 
 
 HENDECASYLLABI, Satirical verses - - xii. /. 10. xxxix. /. i 
 HERCULES, destroyed the Stymphalides, and wedded Hebe 
 
 Ixv. I. Hi 
 
 HESPER, the star of love lix. /. 19. 1x1.7.329 
 
 HIRCANIANS, people on the borders of the Caspian sea >i. /. 5 
 HORN, a rude musical instrument ... I K J. / p 2 g, 
 HORSES, of Neptune, bipeds, Poems which some attribute to Ca- 
 tullus - - - - - *. - i. 7. 20 
 HORTALUS, a friend of Catullus, seemingly partial to the poems 
 of Callimachus - Ixii 
 HUNGER, ironically applied to feasting ... xv jii 
 HYBLA, a flowery mountain in Sicily, Poems lublcb some attribute 
 to Catullus - - i. 7. 101 
 HYDROCHEUS. See AQJJARIUS. 
 
 HYMEN, et HYMENJEE. In various places - - Iviii. lix 
 HYMEN^EUS, the god of marriage - li x . 7.4 
 
 HYPERBOREANS, a Scythian people ... ex. 7. 6 
 HYPSITHILLA, a mistress of Catullus - xx ix 
 
 IACCHUS, a name of Bacchus Ixi. /. 151 
 
 IAMBICS, satirical verses - xxxiii. 7. 5. xxxvii. 7. a. li. 7. 6 
 IBERIAN, of Iberia, or Spain 
 
 ix. 7. 6. xii. 7. 14. xxvi. 7. 20. xxxiv. 7. 22. Ixi. /. 227 
 
 IDA, a Phrygian mountain - Ix. 7. 30, & 54 
 
 VOL. ij. Q_ IBA,
 
 226 INDEX. 
 
 IDA, a Cretan mountain --.,,- l x i. /. 300 
 ID A LIU M, a town of Cyprus, sacred to Venus 
 
 xxxiii. /. 12. Iviii. /. 17. lxi./. 96 
 
 IDOMENEUS, king of Crete - lxi. /. 178 
 
 ILION. See TROY. 
 
 INDIA, the most distant of countries with the Romans, xi. /. 2, 
 
 Hot, xlii. /.-6. Famous for ivory ... lxi. /. 48 
 
 INFERIA:, certain funeral ceremonies - xcvi 
 
 INGRATITUBE, complained of Ixx 
 
 INITIA, of Cybele, either sacred utensils, or playthings Ix. /. 9 
 
 IONIAN sea - - Ixxxi. /. is 
 
 JOVE, mentioned iv. /. 20. vii. /. 5. xxxi. /. 6. lii. /. 5. lxi. /. 26, 
 
 -& 171. Ixiv. /. 2. Ixv. /. 140. Ixvii. /. a. Ixix. /. 2 
 
 ISLANDS, several mentioned - iv. xxvi. xxviii 
 
 ITALIAN historical \\riters, C. Nepos praised as one i. /. 5 
 
 ITONJE, a ThessaVian town, sacred to Minerva - lxi. /. 228 
 
 ITYLUS, or Irys, son of Tereus king of Thrace - Ixii. /. 14 
 
 JULIA, wife of Manlius .... Iviii 
 
 JUPITER, exclamatory, i. /. 7. Ixiii. /. 30, & 48. Put for the 
 
 wind, - iv. /. 20 
 
 JUVENTIUS, the favourite of Catullus xxi. xlv. Ixxviii. xciv 
 
 KISSES, mentioned - y. vii. viii. / 18. xvi. /. 12. xlv. xciv 
 
 Poems 'which some attribute to Catullus i. /. 46, 8c 157 
 
 LABYRIXTH, of Crete - - - lxi. /. 114 
 
 LADAS, a celebrated Olympic racer - lii. /. 25 
 
 LAMBS, mentioned, Poems lub'ul some attribute to Catullus i. /. 166 
 
 LAMPSACUS, an Asian town on the Hellespont sacred to Priapus, 
 
 Poems iubicb some attribute to Catullus ~ \\.l.t, 
 
 LANUVIAN, -belonging to Lanuvium, a town of old Latium 
 
 xxxvi. I. iz 
 
 LA OD AMI A, daughter of Acastus, and wife of Protesilaus, first 
 
 slain in the Trojan wa* - Ixv. /. 74, 80, & 105 
 
 LARES, hoiuhold deities - - - - - xxviii. I. 9 
 
 LARIUS, a lake near New Comum ... xxxii. /. 4 
 
 LARTSSEAN, of Lariss*, a Thessalian town - - lxi. /. 36 
 
 LASERPITIUM, a peculiar gum * - vii. 7.4 
 
 LATINS, inhabitants of old Latium, Poems <whicb some attribute 
 
 to Catullus ~ ..... i. /. 138 
 
 LATMIAN,
 
 INDEX. 227 
 
 LATMIAN, of Latinos, a mountain of Caria, celebrated by th e 
 
 loves of Endymion and Diana ... Ixiii. /. 5 
 
 LATONIA, a name of Diana - - xxxi. /. 5 
 
 LAURENTIAN, of Laurentum, the capital of the kingdom of 
 
 Latium, Poems ivbich some attribute to Catullus - i. /. 139 
 LEAD, used to rule lines for writing - xix. /. 8 
 
 LESBIA, the favourite mistress of Catullus 
 
 v. vii. xl. /. 7. xlviii. Iv. Ixix. Ixxvi. Ixxx. Ixxxiii. Ixxxviii. cii. civ 
 LETHE, the river of oblivion and of death - - Ixii. /. 5 
 LIBER, a family cognomen, l<xxi. /. 5. See also BACCHUS. 
 LICINIUS, xlvii. See also CALVUS. 
 LIGURIAN, of Liguria, a country near the woody Apennines 
 
 xvii. /. 19 
 LION, green-eyed, xlii. /. 7. Of Cybele, lx. /. 76. Yellow - 
 
 maned, lx. /. 83. A constellation - Ixiii. /. 65 
 
 LIPS, of a smiling infant, elegantly mentioned - Iviii. /. 220 
 LITTER, a usual vehicle, or mode of conveyance - x. /. 16 
 LOVE, beautifully personified, xlii. His birth, Poems which some 
 
 attribute to Catullus - - - - i. /. 153 
 
 LOTES, the, Poems -which some attribute to Catullus - i /. 5 
 LORA, ornamented ties of a book - - xix. /. 7 
 
 LUCINA, a name of Diana - xxxi. /. 13 
 
 LUNA, the same ...... xxxi. /. 16 
 
 LYBIA, a horrid region of Africa vii. /. 3. xlii. /. 6. Ivii. /. i 
 LYCAON. SeeCALiSTO. 
 
 LYDIAN lake, or lake Benacus, near Verona - xxviii. /. 13 
 M^ENADES, frantic priestesses of Bacchus - lx. 1. 23, & 69 
 MAGNUS, the simple appellative of Cn. Pompeius Magnus. 
 
 Magnl ambulatio, The portico he built, a public walk, in Rome 
 
 lii. /. 6 
 
 MAGUS, a sage; how born one, according to the Persians Ixxxvi 
 MALIA, a gulph and city of Thessaly, in whose neighbourhood 
 are some hot springs - - Ixv. /. 54 
 
 MAMURRA. See FORMIANUS. 
 
 MANLIUS, the friend and patron of Catullus Iviii. Ixv. *var. loc. 
 MARINER, sea-tost; a pretty simile ... Ixv. /. 63 
 MARJORAM, Hymen crowned with it - . Iviii. /. 7 
 MARRUCINUS Asinius, brother of Asinius Pollio, xii. See 
 ASINIUS. 
 
 Q^ MARS,
 
 228 INDEX. 
 
 MARSy mentioned, Ixi. 7.394. Poems "jubicb some attribute to Ca- 
 
 ttilluf - ... - - i. 7. 141 
 
 MEDES, a celebrated people of Asia, whom Catullus seems to 
 
 confound with the Persians .... Ixiii. 7.45 
 
 MELA, a river near Brixia .... l x iv. 7. 33 
 
 MEMMIUS, a Bithynian prretor of bad fame xxv. 7. 9. xliv. 7. a 
 
 MEMNCN, son of Aurora ..... Ixiii. 7. 5* 
 
 MENIUS, of Bononia - - Ivi. 7. a 
 
 MIXER VA, protectress of literature, i. 7. 9. Citadels sacred to 
 
 her, Ixi. 7. 8. Goddess of Itone, and of the lake Triton 
 
 7. 228, & 295 
 
 MINOS, king of Crete, and father of Ariadne Ixi. 7. 60, 85, & 247 
 MINOTAUR, a monster half bull, and half man - Ixi. 7. 79 
 MITRA, or fillet, ornament of women's hair - - Jxi. /.. 63 
 MULE, casting its shoe in a slough, a simile, xvii. 7. 26. Staling 
 
 xcii. 7. 8 
 
 MULLET, how the punishment of adulterers - xv. 7. 19 
 
 MUREX, a shell-fish yielding a red dye - Ixi. 7. 49 
 
 MUSES, mentioned, and addressed - Kii. 7. 2. Ixv. 7, & 41 
 MYRTLES, of Asia, and of Eurotas - Iviii. 7. 22. Ixi. 7. 89 
 NAPKINS, jestingly stolen from table, xii. Setabiaq esteemed 
 
 ib. 7. 14 
 
 NASO, a vile character, lashed by Catullus - cvii 
 
 NAXOS. See DIA. 
 
 NECKLACE, how proving virginity - Ixi. 7. 377 
 
 NEMESIS, goddess of vengeance, 47. 7. 20. See RHAMNUSIAN 
 
 VIRGIN,. 
 
 NEPTUNE, god of the waters, and founder of Troy 
 
 xxviii. 7. 3. Ixi. 7. 2, 28, Sc 567 
 
 NEREIDS, sea-nymphs - - Ixi. 7. 15 
 
 NESSOS, a marsh near Tempe Ixi. 7,. 287 
 
 NETTLES, remedy for a cough - - xli. 7. 15 
 
 NiCjEA, capital of Bithynia xliii. 7. 5 
 
 NILE, a river of Egypt with seven mouths - - xi. 7. 8 
 NOD, of assent - - Iviii. L 163 
 
 NONIUS Struma, a curule magistrate of bad character - xlix 
 NOSE. To wish one's self all nose,implyingagrateful odour,xiii.7. 14 
 NYMPHS, various enumerated, Poems which some attribute to Ca- 
 tullus * i. 7. 105 
 
 NYSA,
 
 INDEX. 229 
 
 NYSA,'an ^.thiopiCjOr Arabian town, sacred to Bacchus, Ixi. /. 251 
 
 NUTS, custom of throwing them afc weddings - Iviii. /. 128 
 
 .OCEAN* , mentioned Iviii. /. 89. Ixi. /. 30. Ixiii. /. 68. Ixxxiv. /. 6. 
 
 ex. /. 6. Produced Venus how, Poems which some attribute to 
 
 Catullus - - - - - - - - i. /. 17 
 
 OETEAN, belonging to Oeta, a Thessalian mountain lix. /. j 
 
 OLIVE, Syrian, vi./. 8. Delian, xxxi. /. 8. Pale- green, Poems which 
 
 some attribute to Catullus - - - - - iv. /. 9 
 
 OLYMPUS, a mountain of Thessaly, whose summit was the sup- 
 posed residence of the gods - - lix. /. i 
 OMENTUM, of the entrails the most ominous in sacrifice Ixxvi. /. 6 
 ONYX, figuratively, an unguent-box, from being often made of 
 that stone .------ Ixiii. /. gz 
 
 ORCUS, Pluto; also, the infernal region - Hi. /. 14 
 
 ORION, a constellation - Ixiii. /. 94 
 
 ORGIES, obscure ceremonies to any deity, but more particularly 
 those to Bacchus; also the implements used in such rites 
 
 Ixi. /. 260, & seq. 
 OTHO, a Roman cognomen - - - - - li. /. i 
 
 OYSTERS, abound on the shores of the Hellespont, Poems ivbicb 
 
 some attribute to Catullus - - - - ii. /. 4 
 
 PADUA, a town in the Venetian territory - *c. /. 7 
 
 PALACE, of Peleus ..... Ixi. /. 43, & 276 
 
 PALESTRA, a place for public wrestling - - lx. /. 60 
 PANDER. See SILO. 
 
 PAPER, blotting or coarse, xix. /. j. royal ib. I. 9 
 
 PARIS, son of king Priam, a Shepherd, and husband of the beau- 
 tiful Helen - - Iviii. /. 18. Kv. /. 103 
 PARNASSUS, the poetic mountain of Phocis, and residence of 
 Bacchus -,.---_ ixv. /. 3 cp 
 PARTHENIUM, a white flower - Iviii. /. 194. 
 PARTHI ANS, a Persian people expert at the bow and arrow xi. /. 6 
 PASITHAE, or Pasithea, one of the Graces - - lx. 7.43 
 PATRONUS, an advocate ..... xlvi. /. ^ 
 
 PEGASUS, the winged horse sprung from Medusa's blood 
 
 lii. /. 24 
 
 PELEUS, son of j^acus, married Thetis - Ixi 
 
 PEHON, a mountain of Thessaly . - - Ixi. /. i,&27? 
 PELOPS, a prince, son of Tantalus and Euryanassa Ixi. 7.346 
 
 PENATES,
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PENATES, housholdgods - - ix. /. j 
 
 PENEUS, a river of Thessaly , . . - Ixi. /. 285 
 
 PENELOPE, wife of Ulysses, and mother of Telemachus Iviii. /. 230 
 
 PENINSULA of Sirmio. See SIRMIO. 
 
 PERSKUS, the winged son of Jupiter and Danae - lii. /. 25 
 
 PERSIAN, soothsayer, and religion - Ixxxvi 
 
 PHAETON'S sisters, poplar- trees - Ixi. /. 291 
 
 PHALJECIAN. See HENDECASYLLABI. 
 
 PHASIS, the river of Colchis - Ixi. /. 3 
 
 PHENEUS, a town and lake of Arcadia - Ixv. /. 109^ 
 
 PHOEBUS, despised the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis, Ixi./. 299 
 
 The god of verse, Poems lubicb some attribute to Catullus i. /. 90 
 PHTH IAN, of Phthiotis, a Thessalian province - l*i. /. 35 
 PHRYGIAN, of Phrygia, a region of Asia Minor 
 
 xliii. /. 4. Ix. /. ao, , & 71. Ixi. /. 344 
 
 PILLAR, or column, used as a sign ... xxxiv. /. 2 
 PIMPLA, a poetic mountain in Boeotia c 
 
 PINNACE, of Catullus, dedicated to the Twin-brothers - iv 
 PIPE, the curved Phrygian - Ix. /. 22 
 
 PIR^US, the famous harbour of Athens at fhe mouth of the 
 
 Cephisus - - - Ixi. /. 74 
 
 PISAURUS, a town of Umbria - - Ixxviii. /. 3 
 
 Piso, cognomen of the Calpurnii . - . - xxv./. i. xliv. /. 2 
 PLANE, tree - - Ixi. /. 290 
 
 PLOXEMUM, a Paduan provincial word of doubtful meaning 
 
 xcii. I. 6 
 
 POETS, bad, mentioned, xiv. How punished - - xc 
 POLIXENA, daughter of Priam and Hecuba, slain at the tomb of 
 
 Achilles - - Ixi. /. 368 
 
 POLLIO Asinius, brother to Marrucinus - xii 
 
 POLLIO, twin-brother of Castor, their constellation favourable 
 
 and : sacred to navigators Ixv. /. 65 
 
 POMPEY, son-in-law of Julius Caesar, xxvi. /. 25 Consul cviii. /. i. 
 PONTIC, sea, iv. /. 9. Town, iv. /. 13, Spoils - xxvi. /. 19 
 POPLARS, alluded to, Ixi. /. 290. Poems ivhicbsome attribute to Ca* 
 
 tullus - - - i. /. 172 
 
 POPPY, yellow, Iviii. /. 195. Poems ivbicb some attribute to Catullus 
 
 iii. /. 17 
 
 PORCIUS, a creature of the avaricious praetor Piso xliv 
 
 POSTHUMIA,
 
 t N D E XT. 131 
 
 t*osTHUMiA, a bacchanalian female character xxiv. /. j 
 POSTHU MI us, an uncertain personage - Ixiv. /. 35 
 
 PR JET OR, a Roman magistrate - - - - x. /. 10 
 PRESENTS, made in the Saturnalia . - xiv 
 
 PRIAPUS, Poem s nubicb some attribute to Catullus, ii. iii. iv. A term 
 
 of contempt ... - xliv. /. 4 
 
 PROMETHEUS, ranked among the divinities - Ixi. /. 494 
 PROPONTIS, the opening into the Euxine sea - - iv. /. 9 
 PROTESILAUS, son of Iphiclus, and husband of Laodamia 
 
 Ixv. /. 74 
 PUMICE, polished with, metaphorically means a finished work, 
 
 i. /. 2. Actually used to smooth parchment for writing 
 
 * xix. /. 8 
 
 Q,UINTIA, compared with Lesbia - Ixxxiii 
 
 QJJINTILIA, the mistress of Calvus - - xci 
 
 QUINTIUS, Catullus's rival with Aufilena ... xcv 
 C^UIRITES, certain Roman citizens, Poems "jvkifb some attribute to 
 
 Catullus - - - i. /. 14 j 
 
 RABBITS, abounding in Celtiberia * xxxiv. /. ao 
 
 RADISH, how the punishment of adulterers - - xv. /. 19 
 RAMNES, one of the noble equestrian tribes of the Romans, Ptems 
 
 ivbicb some attribute to Catullus - i. /. 145 
 
 RAVIDUS, lashed by Catullus - xxxvii 
 
 REMUS, founder of Rome - - xxv. /.J5 
 
 RHAMNUSIAN, of Rhammis a town of Attica. See NEMESIS 
 
 Ixi. /. 395. Ixiii. /. 71. Ixv. /. 77 
 RHESUS, a king of Thrace, famous for his white fleet horses 
 
 Iii. /. a6 
 
 RHINE, river of ancient Gaul r - - xi. /. n 
 
 RHODES, an island of the Carpathian sea - iv. /. 8 
 
 RHOETEUM, a Trojan promontory - - Ixii. /. 7 
 
 ROME, mentioned by Catullus as his constant residence Ixv. /. 34 
 ROMULUS, founder of Rome, xxv. /. 15. xxxi. /. 12. xlvi. /. i. 
 
 Pee ms ivbicb some attribute to Catullus - i. /. 147 
 
 ROSES, dewy, beautifully mentioned, Poems ivbicb some attribute 
 
 to Catullus - - - - - i. /. 43 
 
 RUFA, a harlot of Bononia . - Ivi 
 
 RUFULUS, a more consequential person of the same place Ivi. /. t 
 Rurus, a fetid letcher, perhaps the same with C<clius Ixvi. Ixxiv 
 
 SABINE,
 
 232 INDEX. 
 
 SABINE, an Italian territory, xxxvi. /. 10. xh. /. i. Sec. Women f 
 their rape, Poems ivbicb some attribute to Catullus - i. /. 144 
 SAC./E, a people of Asiatic Scythia - >i. /. 6 
 
 SAILS, black denoting misfortune, white prosperity 
 
 Ixi. /. 227, & 235 
 
 SALAFUTIUM, a puppet; an expression of endearment used by 
 nurses ... .*. - 1. /. 5 
 
 SALISUBSULUS, a name of Mars, or of an inferior priert of Mars 
 
 xvii. /. 6 
 
 SALTCELLAR, expressive of neatness ... xx. /. 19 
 SAPFHIC muse, applied by way of compliment - xxxii. /. 16 
 SATURNALIA, the most festive of the Roman holidays xiv. /. 15 
 SATYRS, attendants upon Bacchus - - Ixi. /. 252 
 
 SCAMANDER, a river near Troy; - Ixi. /. 357 
 
 SCYLLA, transformed into dogs, then into a rock on the coast of 
 Sicily ... . Ivii. /. 2. Ixi./. 156 
 
 SCYROS, an island of the .fligean sea Ixi. /. 35 
 
 SEA, washes away human sin .... Ixxxiv. /. 6 
 
 SEPTJMIUS, the lover of Acme - xlii 
 
 SERAPIS, her temple, without the walls of Rome, a place of in- 
 trigue - ----- x. /. 26 
 
 SETABIAN linen, of great esteem - - xii. /. 14. xxii. f. 7 
 SEXTIUS, a frigid, vain orator .... xli. /. 10 
 
 SHAVING, how far sometimes a marriage ceremony, Iviii. /. 139. 
 
 Unused by the ustores, and such menial persons - Ivi. /. 5 
 
 SHOE, vocal, and grateful to the tover, Ixv. /. 72. Filthy, applied 
 
 in derifion ..... xciii. /. 4 
 
 SHOWERS bridal, of spring, Poems tvbtcb some attribute to Catullus 
 
 i. /. 8, & seq. 
 
 Si LENI, attendants upon Bacchus - - Ixi. /. 25* 
 
 SILO, a notorious pander - xcviii 
 
 SIMONIDES, an elegiac poet of the island Ceos - xxxv. /. g 
 SIRMIO, a peninsula of the lake Benacus - - xxviii 
 SLEEP, of the fatigued Gallae - - Ix. /. 36- 
 
 SLOTH, destructive to empires - - xlviii. /. 13 
 
 SMYRNA, a poern, the nine years labour of Cinna xc 
 
 SNEEZING, to the right, a good omen ... xlii. /. 9 
 SOCRATION, a similar character with Porcius, possibly a Greek 
 freed-man - - - - - * - xliv 
 
 SOMNU,
 
 INDEX. 233 
 
 SOMNUS, god of sleep Ix. /. 4* 
 
 SPAIN, Verannius travelled thither, ix. /. 9. Famous for its Seta 
 
 bian linen, xii. /. 14. Despoiled by Caesar for his favourite 
 
 Mamurra, xxvi. /. 20. Urine of that country celebrated for 
 
 whitening the teeth . . . xxxiv. /. 2* 
 
 SPARROW, Lesbia's favourite bird ii. iii 
 
 SPIDERS' WEBS, a purse full of them, expressive of poverty 
 
 xiii. /. 8 
 
 SPINDLES, of the Fates, addressed in the intercalary line of their 
 
 song - - - Ixi. /. 327 
 
 SPINNING, poetically described - Ixi./. 310 
 
 SPRING, the season, xliii. Expatiated upon in that beautiful poem 
 
 the Pervigilium Veneris, Poems ixbicb some attribute to Catullus 
 
 i. i>ar. loc. iii. /. n. iv. /. 6 
 
 STADIUM, a place for public racing in Rome Ix, /. 60 
 
 STROPHIUM, or woman's sash, confining the breast Ixi. /. 65 
 STRUMA. See NONIUS. 
 
 STYMPHALIAN monsters, birds of the lake Stymphalus, in Ar- 
 cadia, which fed on human flesh, destroyed by Hercules 
 
 Ixv. 7. 113 
 
 SUFFENUS, a poetical coxcomb - - xiv. /. 19. xix. /. i 
 
 SULLA, a grammarian, perhaps L. Cornelius Epicadus, the freed- 
 
 man of L. Sylla, or Sulla - - xiv. /. 9 
 
 SWANS, mentioned, Poems "which some attribute to Catullus i. /. 170 
 
 SYRIA, a celebrated Asiatic region vi. /. 8. xxxiii. /. 12. Ixxxi. /. 7 
 
 SYRTIS, a dangerous sand in the Mediterranean sea, hear the 
 
 African coast t . - - - - - Ixi./. 156 
 
 TAG us, a river of Lusitania, famous for its golden sands 
 
 xxvi. /. 20 
 
 TAPPO. Perhaps one of the Valerii, or Vilii families xcix. /. 4 
 TAVERN frequenters, who had seduced Catullus's mistress xxxiv 
 TAURUS, a mountain of Cilicia, the highest in Asia Ixi./. 105 
 TEARS, the mournful verses of Simonides so called . xxxv. /. S 
 TEETH, white, xxxvi. /. i. Long ... xcii. /. 5 
 TELEMACHUS, son of Ulysses and Penelope, an example of vir- 
 tue - - . Iviii. /. 229 
 TEMPE, a celebrated Thessalian valley, between Ossa and Olym 
 pus - Ixi. /. 35, & 285 
 TEMPLE, the great one of Jupiter Ammon, in Lybia vii. /. 5 
 VOL. ii. R TE.REVS,
 
 234 INDEX. 
 
 TEREUS, king of Thrace, and brother in law of Philomel whom 
 
 he violated - Poems 'which some attribute to Catullus, i. /. 17 1 
 TETHYS, wife of Oceanus, and grandmother of Thetis 
 
 Ixi. /. 29. Ixiii. /. 70. Ixxxiv. /. 5 
 
 TEUCRIAN, Trojan, from the hero Teucer - Ixi. /. 344 
 THALASSIUS, or Thalassus, the god of marriage with the Latins : 
 
 or rather a beautiful youth, to whom the Sabine women readily 
 
 yielded ; hence his name was afterwards sacred at weddings 
 
 Iviii. /. 134 
 
 THALLUS, most probably an imagined name, implying youth xxii 
 THEMIS, the goddess of justice - Ixv. /. 153 
 
 THERMOPYL.S, a pass from Thessaly into Phocis, at the foot of 
 
 mount Oeta - - - Ixv. /. 54 
 
 THESEUS, son of ^geus, slew the Minotaur, and forsook Ariadne 
 
 Ixi. /. 53, & seq. 
 THESPIAN, of Thespia; or Boeotian ; applied to mount Helicon 
 
 Iviii. /. 27 
 THESSALY, a Grecian region, once celebrated for magic ; it was 
 
 the kingdom of Peleus - - Ixi. /. 33, & 280 
 
 THETIS, daughter of Nereus and Doris, married Peleus - Ixi 
 THRACE, a vast and barbarous nation in the south of Scythia 
 
 iv. /. S 
 
 THREAD, of life, spun by the Fates. See SPINDLES. 
 THRESHOLD, must be passed untouched by the new bride 
 
 Iviii. /. 168 
 THYA, daughter of Deucalion, and mother of Macedo 
 
 Ixiii. /. 44 
 
 THYADES, attendants of Bacchus Ixi. /. 391 
 
 THYNIA, a region bordering upon Bithynia xxii. /. 7. xxviii. /. 5 
 THYONIAN, belonging to Bacchus, from his mother Thyone ; 
 
 figuratively applied to wine, for pure wine xxiv. /. 7 
 
 THYRSUS, the ivy-wreathed wand of the Bacchanals Ixi./. 256 
 TIMBREL, a kind of drum used at the rites of Cybele, and of 
 
 Bacchus lx. /. 9, & 21. Ixi. /. 261 
 
 TORCHES, nuptial, made of a kind of vine, Iviii. /. 15. Their 
 
 flaming hair, er rays ..... Iviii. /. 78 
 TORQJJATUS, cognomen of the Manlii family - Iviii./. 216 
 TRANSPADANIAN, the native of a region beyond Padua, on the 
 
 other side of the Po, from Rome xxxvi. /. 13 
 
 TRAVELLER,
 
 INDEX. 135 
 
 TRAVELLER, wearied, a beautiful simile - - Ixv. /. 61 
 TRINACRIA, an ancient name of Sicily. See ^TNA Ixv. /. 53 
 TRITON, or TRiTONis,alake and river of Africa, sacred to Minerva 
 
 Ixi. /. 395 
 
 TRIVIA, a name of Diana xxxi./. 15 
 
 TROY, the ancient metropolis of Phrygia minor 
 
 Ixi. /. 367. Ixii. /. 7. Ixv. /. 88, & seq. 
 
 TRUMPET, used at the rites of Cybele - - - lx./. 9 
 
 TYBUR, or Tiburine territory in Latium, on the banks of the 
 
 Anio - - xxxvi. /. 10. xli 
 
 TYRIAN, of Tyros, a Phoenician town, famous for its red dies; 
 
 figuratively, purple - - Iviii. /. 171 
 
 URANIA, the Muse presiding over astronomy, mother of Hyme- 
 
 nasus - - - Iviii. /. 2 
 
 URINE, Spanish, esteemed for cleaning the teeth - xxxvi. /. rg 
 
 UMBILICUS, some ornamental finish of a book - xix. /. 7 
 
 UM BRIAN, of Umbria, a rich country, east of Etruria, dividing 
 
 the Apennines ; its inhabitants were fat to a proverb 
 
 xxxvi. /.it 
 
 VARUS, perhaps the same with Alphenus - x. xix 
 
 VATINIUS, a despicable character of plebeian family : hate to- 
 wards him proverbial, xiv. /. 3 Consul, xlix. /. 3 Criminal, 
 
 1. /. 2 
 
 VECTIUS, a filthy fellow, perhaps the same with Vatinius xciii 
 
 VENUS, several places enumerated sacred to her, xxxiii. Jocosely 
 
 introduced, lii. /. 20. Variously mentioned, Iviii. /. 18, 61, 
 
 & 202. The Gallae unmindful of her, lx. /. 17. The chaste, 
 
 or Venus Urania, Ixiii. /. 90. Vigil of Venus, a beautiful poem, 
 
 Poems nuhicb some attribute to Catullus i. war. loc 
 
 VERANNIUS, a friend of Catullus ix. xii. /. 16. xxv. xliv. /. 3 
 
 VERONA, the birth-place of Catullus 
 
 xxxii./. 3. Ixiv. /. 34. Ixv. /. 27. xcv. /. 2 
 
 VESPER, the evening star - lix. /. i. 
 
 VEST, of manhood, Ixv. /. 15. Saffron, of love - Ixv. /. 134. 
 VIBENNII, father and son ; the one a notorious thief at the baths, 
 the other unnaturally infamous - xxx 
 
 VINE, unpropt, a pretty simile from it lix. /. 50 
 
 VIOLET, yellow, the same with our winter gillyflower, 
 
 Poems "juhi<j>some attribute to Catullus iii. /. i
 
 236 r N D r x. 
 
 VIRGINITY, a divided claim upon it, lix. /. 63. Allusion to those 
 
 proofs of virginity which the bridegroom retains, Ixiii. /. 14. 
 
 Singular test of it adduced - _ - Ixi. /. 377 
 
 VIRGINS, chaste, who sing the ode to Diana, xxxi. /. a. Who 
 
 attend the bride, Iviii. /. 37. Chorus of them, who sing the 
 
 epithalamium - - lix 
 
 VIRGO, a constellation - Ixiii. /. 65 
 
 VIRRO, perhaps the same with Varus - Ixviii 
 
 VITTA, or fillet for the hair; a white one worn by the Fates 
 
 Ixi. /. 309 
 VOLUSIUS, a sorry poet of Padua, who wrote annals 
 
 xxxiii. xc. /. 7 
 VULCAN, the limping deity, sometimes figuratively put for the 
 
 fire over which he presides - - xxxiii 
 
 WEIGHTS, the testes, whose convoluted texture is implied 
 
 lx. /. 5 
 
 WHITE, signifying happy, viii. / 3. Iviii. /. 115. Ixv. /. 148. cii. /. 6 
 WHOREMONGERS, the more common, mentioned - xxxiv. /. 16 
 WOODS, ill-omened, with which the ancients burned whatever 
 
 they would degrade - xxxiii. /. x* 
 
 YOUTHS, chaste, who sing the ode to Diana, xxxi. /. 2. Chorus 
 
 of them, who sing the epithalamium - - lix 
 
 ZEPHVRITIS, the same with Flora - Ixiii. /. 57 
 
 ZEPHYRUS, west-wind, the same with Favonius 
 
 xliii. /. 3. Ixi. /. 270 
 ZONE, unbound, implying loss of virginity 
 
 ii. /, 13. Iviii. /. 53. Ixiv. / 2$
 
 ERRATA IN VOL. II. 
 
 POEM 61. LINE 46. For Pharsalia's read Phar- 
 
 salian. 
 _ i 74. For reedy read reatey. 
 
 9 1 . After For put a comma. 
 
 305. For wreathing read writh- 
 
 ing. 
 
 310. For Those with loud din 
 
 bade brazen cymbals 
 sound j 
 
 read Or wak'd the tinkling 
 brass of smaller sound j 
 
 PACE 39. Notes 15. AfterCy\)t\e,add What instru- 
 
 ment is implied by the indefi- 
 nite word as has been disput- 
 ed; many commentators think 
 the cymbal, but Vulpius says 
 it is the crotalum. 
 
 POEM 63. 21. After protest put a comma. 
 
 30. For manlier read braver. 
 
 PAGE 70. Notes ii. After Macedonians^w/acomma. 
 
 73. last. After Carmen put a period. 
 
 ' 77. 3. After seem put a comma. 
 
 79. 6. For satyr read satire. 
 
 POEM 65. 1 1 6. Indent this line. 
 
 PAGE 107. Notes . i. For When our lewd fair, &c. 
 
 retfJWhen our fair nymphs,&c, 
 
 POEM 74. 3. For false read vain. 
 
 PAGE 151. Notes a. For before time read before the 
 
 time.
 
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