Catullus 3

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Catullus 3 is a sequel to Catullus 2 written to honor the passing of a much-loved pet bird of the poet's girlfriend. The tone is mock-serious but also warm and affectionate, conveying the poet's regard for his girlfriend and even her pet. The poem seems timeless, perhaps because it describes something so common to human experience.

This poem was once thought to form a single poem with Catullus 2, but was separated just before 1500 by Marcantonio Sabellico.

The meter of this poem is hendecasyllabic, a common form in Catullus' poetry. The last feet are spondees, which makes it "Phalaecean" hendecasyllabic.

[edit] Latin text and translation

Line	Latin Text	English Translation
1	Lūgēte, ō Venerēs Cupīdinēsque,	Mourn, O Venuses and Cupids,
2	et quantum est hominum venustiōrum:	and the number of charming people:
3	passer mortuus est meae puellae,	The sparrow of my girl is dead,
4	passer, dēliciae meae puellae,	the sparrow, the delight of my girl,
5	quem plūs illa oculīs suīs amābat.	Whom that girl loved more than her own eyes.
6	nam mellītus erat suamque nōrat	For it was honey sweet and it knew its own
7	ipsam tam bene quam puella mātrem,	mistress as well as a girl her mother,
8	nec sēsē ā gremiō illius movēbat,	nor did it move itself from that girl's lap,
9	sed circumsiliēns modo hūc modo illūc	but jumping around now here now there,
10	ad solam dominam usque pīpiābat.	it constantly chirped to its mistress alone,
11	quī nunc it per iter tenebricōsum	who now goes on that dark journey,
12	illūc, unde negant redīre quemquam.	To where they deny that anyone returns.
13	at vōbīs male sit, malae tenebrae	but woe be to you, wicked darkness
14	Orcī, quae omnia bella dēvorātis:	of Orcus, which devours all beautiful things:
15	tam bellum mihi passerem abstulistis	so beautiful a sparrow you have taken from me,
16	Ō factum male! Iō miselle passer!	O evil deed! O unfortunate little sparrow!
17	tuā nunc operā meae puellae	now thanks to your effort
18	flendō turgidulī rubent ocellī.	the little eyes of my girl redden with weeping.

[edit] Bibliography

• Elerick, C. (1993). "On Translating Catullus 3". Scholia 2: 90–96. 

• Jocelyn, HD. (1980). "On Some Unnecessarily Indecent Interpretations of Catullus 2 and 3". American Journal of Philology 101: 421–441. doi:10.2307/293667. 

• Akbar Khan, H. (1967). "A Note on the Expression solum...nosse in Catullus". Classical Philology 62: 34–36. doi:10.1086/365186. 

[edit] External links

• Catullus 3 Translation of Catullus 3
• Catullus 3 Another translation of Catullus 3
• Catullus 3 recited Video

• Interview with Jeffrey Eugenides on his book of bittersweet love-stories, My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead

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.