Catullus 11

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Catullus 11 is a poem by the Roman poet Catullus. Generally believed to be the last of the Lesbia poems, this poem adopts the unusual Sapphic meter; this poem and Catullus 51 are the only poems of Catullus written in this meter.

Catullus 11 also touches on the historical events occurring at the time it was written. The various geographical references in the poem can easily be interpreted as the known borders of the Roman Empire during Catullus's lifespan.

[edit] Latin text and translation

Line	Latin text	English translation
1	Furi et Aureli comites Catulli	Furius and Aurelius, comrades of Catullus,
2	sive in extremos penetrabit Indos	Whether he will reach the distant Indians
3	litus ut longe resonante Eoa	Where the shore by a far-resounding eastern
4	tunditur unda	Wave is struck,
5	sive in Hyrcanos Arabesve molles	Or among the Hyrcanians or the soft Arabs
6	seu Sagas sagittiferosve Parthos	Or among the Sacae or the arrow-bearing Parthians
7	sive quae septemgeminus colorat	Or among the waters which
8	aequora Nilus	The seven-fold Nile colors,
9	sive trans altas gradietur Alpes	Or whether he will step across the high Alps,
10	Caesaris visens monimenta magni	Visiting the monuments of great Caesar,
11	Gallicum Rhenum horribile aequor ulti	The rough Gallic Rhine
12	mosque Britannos	and the distant Britonsʀ,
13	omnia haec quaecumque feret voluntas	All these things, whatever the will
14	caelitum temptare simul parati	Of the gods should carry out, prepare to try together,
15	pauca nuntiate meae puellae	Announce to my girl a few
16	non bona dicta	Not good words.
17	cum suis vivat valeatque moechis	May she live and fare well with her adulterers,
18	quos simul complexa tenet trecentos	Three hundred of whom she holds in her embrace at the same time,
19	nullum amans vere sed identidem omnium	Not truly loving any, but again and again
20	ilia rumpens	bursting their groins.
21	nec meum respectet ut ante amorem	Let her give no thought, as before, to my love,
22	qui illius culpa cecidit velut prati	Which has fallen due to her infidelity, just like
23	ultimi flos praetereunte postquam	A flower at the furthest end of the meadow, after
24	tactus aratro est	It has been touched by a passing plow.

[edit] Bibliography

• Fredricksmeyer, EA (1993). "Method and Interpretation: Catullus 11". Helios 20: 89–105. 

• Forsyth, PY (1990-1991). "The Thematic Unity of Catullus 11". Classical World 84: 457–464. 

• Sweet, D (1987). "Catullus 11: A Study in Perspective". Latomus 46: 510–526. 

• Blodgett, ED; Nielsen RM (1986). "Mask and Figure in Catullus, Carmen 11". Revue Belge de Philologie et Histoire 54: 22–31. 

• Mayer, R (1983). "Catullus' Divorce". Classical Quarterly 33: 297–298. 

• Bright, DF (1976). "Non Bona Dicta: Catullus' Poetry of Separation". Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica 21: 106–119. 

• Putnam, MCJ (1974). "Catullus 11: The ironies of Integrity". Ramus 3: 70–86. 

[edit] External links

• http://rudy.negenborn.net/catullus/text2/l11.htm
• Carmina for some of the texts in Latin.

Poems (Carmina) of The Roman poet Catullus
Lesbia poems	2, 2b, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 36, 37, 51, 58, 68, 70, 72, 75, 76, 79, 83, 85, 86, 87, 91, 92, 104, 107, 109
Invective poems	10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 33, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 47, 49, 52, 53, 54, 57, 59, 60, 69, 71, 73, 74, 77, 78, 80, 84, 88, 89, 90, 93, 95, 97, 98, 103, 108, 110, 111, 112, 113, 116
Unusual poetic meters	4, 8, 11, 17, 22, 25, 29, 30, 31, 34, 37, 39, 44, 51, 52, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64
Hendecasyllabic verse	1, 2, 2b, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 14b, 15, 16, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 58b
Elegiac couplets	65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116
See also the list of poems by Catullus.