Catullus 43

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This poem by the Roman poet Catullus scorns a country girl, assumed to be Ameana, the girlfriend of a powerful military officer, Mamurra, who is scorned in other poems by Catullus. In attacking her, Catullus pays an indirect compliment to his own girlfriend, Lesbia.

The meter of this poem is hendecasyllabic, a common form in Catullus' poetry.

Contents 1 Latin text and translation 2 Cultural notes 3 Stylistic notes 4 Bibliography 5 References

[edit] Latin text and translation

Line	Latin text	English translation
1	salve, nec minimo puella naso	Hello, girl without a small nose
2	nec bello pede nec nigris ocellis	Nor pretty feet nor dark eyes
3	nec longis digitis nec ore sicco	Nor elegant fingers nor dry mouth
4	nec sane nimis elegante lingua	Nor language in the least refined
5	decoctoris amica Formiani.	Girlfriend of that bankrupt from Formia.
6	ten provincia narrat esse bellam?	So country people call you beautiful?
7	tecum Lesbia nostra comparatur?	They compare you with my dearest Lesbia?
8	o saeclum insapiens et infacetum!	Oh, what a stupid and tasteless age this is!

[edit] Cultural notes

• Dark eyes were considered a sign of beauty in Roman times.
• Formia was a city not far from Rome.

[edit] Stylistic notes

This poem uses liberal use of anaphora with phrases containing nec. Catullus also utilises litotes (for example, in saying "girl without a small nose" rather than "girl with a large nose") to reduce the harshness of his statements about Ameana.

[edit] Bibliography

• Skinner, MB (1978-1979). "Ameana, Puella Defututa". Classical Journal 74: 110–114. 

• Rankin, HD (1976). "Catullus and the Beauty of Lesbia (Poems 43, 86, and 51)". Latomus 35: 3–11. 

[edit] References

• Oxford Latin Reader Maurice Balme and James Morwood (1997)

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.