Catullus 70

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A poem about (mis)trusting female lovers
A poem about (mis)trusting female lovers

Catullus 70 is a short but infamous poem by the Roman poet Catullus. The poet doubts the loyalty of all women, saying that their words might as well be "written on the wind or in running water".

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

[edit] Latin text and translation

Line Latin Text English Translation
1 Nulli se dicit mulier mea nubere malle My woman says that she prefers to be married to no one
2 quam mihi, non si se Iupiter ipse petat. than me, not even if Jupiter himself should seek her.
3 dicit: sed mulier cupido quod dicit amanti, she says: but what a woman says to her passionate lover,
4 in vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua. ought to be written on the wind or fast-flowing water.

[edit] Bibliography

Wikisource
Latin Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Wikisource
English Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  • Miller, PA (1988). "Catullus c.70: a Poem and its Hypothesis". Helios 15: 127–132. 
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.