Catullus 8

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Catullus 8 is a poem by the Roman writer Catullus about his mistress Lesbia, addressed to himself. The meter is choliambic.

Contents 1 Text 2 Poetic Devices Used 3 Notes 4 External links

[edit] Text

Line	Latin text	English translation
1	miser Catulle desinas ineptire	Wretched Catullus, stop making a fool of yourself.
2	et quod vides perisse perditum ducas	And consider lost that which you see has come to an end.
3	fulsere quondam candidi tibi soles	The bright suns once shone for you,
4	cum ventitabas quo puella ducebat	When you were often coming where the girl was leading—
5	amata nobis quantum amabitur nulla	No girl will be loved as much as she had been loved by us.
6	ibi illa multa cum iocosa fiebant	When those playful things were happening there,
7	quae tu volebas nec puella nolebat	Which you were willing to do and the girl was not unwilling,
8	fulsere vere candidi tibi soles	Truly the bright suns shone for you.
9	nunc iam illa non volt tu quoque inpotens noli[1]	Now at last that girl is not willing; you also, though lacking self-control, be unwilling,
10	nec quae fugit sectare nec miser vive	And do not pursue she who flees nor live as a lovesick man,
11	sed obstinata mente perfer obdura	But endure with a determined mind; be resolute.
12	vale puella iam Catullus obdurat	Goodbye, girl. Already Catullus is hardened,
13	nec te requiret nec rogabit invitam	And neither looks nor will ask for you unwilling girl.
14	at tu dolebis cum rogaberis nulla	But you yourself will be sorry when you are never asked for again.
15	scelesta vae te quae tibi manet vita	Wicked one, woe to you! What life awaits you?
16	quis nunc te adibit cui videberis bella	Who will come to you now? To whom will you seem cute?
17	quem nunc amabis cuius esse diceris	Whom will you love now? Whose will you be said to be?
18	quem basiabis cui labella mordebis	Whom will you kiss? Whose lips will you nibble?
19	at tu Catulle destinatus obdura	But you, Catullus, remain hardened.

[edit] Poetic Devices Used

elision: Elision is a poetic device in which reading a text where one word ending in a vowel or -um is followed by another word beginning with a vowel, the end sound of the first word is dropped. SO instead of reading the words in ioco atque vino from Catullus 13 as it appears, the o of the word ioco is dropped. SO it would be read as in iocatque vino.

[edit] Notes

1. ↑  The end of line 9 is missing in all extant manuscripts: the line ends at tu quoque inpote, and the end of the line has been reconstructed as tu quoque inpotens noli based on the grammar, context, and meter of the line.

[edit] External links

• Carmina for some of the texts in Latin.
• http://rudy.negenborn.net/catullus/text2/l8.htm