Catullus 96

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Catullus 96 is a poem written by the Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus. It is addressed to Catullus's friend Calvus.

Contents 1 Latin text 2 English translation 3 Meter/scansion 4 General comments 5 Sources

[edit] Latin text

Si quicquam mutis gratum acceptumque sepulcris
accidere a nostro, Calve, dolore potest,
quo desiderio ueteres renouamus amores
atque olim missas flemus amicitias,
certe non tanto mors immatura dolori est
Quintiliae, quantum gaudet amore tuo.

[edit] English translation

If anything pleasing or welcome to the mute tombs
Is able to happen, Calvus, from our grief,
By which longing we renew old loves
And weep friendships lost once upon a time,
Certainly an early death is not so great a sorrow
To Quintilia, so much as she rejoices in your love.

[edit] Meter/scansion

The meter is the elegiac couplet.

[edit] General comments

This is one of Catullus's several poems to Calvus and concerns the death of his wife or mistress.

[edit] Sources

http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/096.html