Catullus 10
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Catullus 10 is a poem written by the Roman poet Catullus. In it, the poet is caught in a boast by the "little floozy" (scortillum) of his friend Varus.
The meter of this poem is hendecasyllabic, a common form in Catullus' poetry.
[edit] Latin text
| Line | Latin Text | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Varus me meus ad suos amores | Varus led me to his darling |
| 2 | visum duxerat e foro otiosum, | and out of the forum, having seen my idle; |
| 3 | scortillum, ut mihi tum repente visum est, | little slut, as she suddenly seemed to me, |
| 4 | non sane illepidum neque invenustum. | though not entirely unpleasant nor uncharming. |
| 5 | Huc ut venimus, incidere nobis | When we came there, we began speaking |
| 6 | sermones varii: in quibus, quid esset | on various topics: among which, what had become |
| 7 | iam Bithynia; quo modo se haberet; | of Bythinia, in what condition was it; |
| 8 | et quonum mihi profuisset aere. | and by how much bronze had it profited me. |
| 9 | Respondi id quod erat, nihil neque ipsis | I replied what was true; neither the inhabitants |
| 10 | nec praetoribus esse nec cohorti, | nor the praetors nor the cohort |
| 11 | cur quisquam caput unctius referret, | came back any richer, |
| 12 | praesertim quibus esset irrumator | especially those who the praetor was a jerk towards, |
| 13 | praetor, nec faceret pili cohortem. | and neither did the cohort make a cent. |
| 14 | "At certe tamen" inquiunt "quod illic | "But surely still," they said, "you acquired |
| 15 | natum dicitur esse, comparasti | what is said to be native to that place, |
| 16 | ad lecticam homines." Ego, ut puellae | men to carry the litter." I, to pretend to the girl |
| 17 | unum me facerem beatiorem, | that I was the one lucky man, |
| 18 | "non" inquam "mihi tam fuit maligne, | I said, "Things didn't go so badly for me |
| 19 | ut, provincia quod mala incidisset, | that, even though the province happened to be bad, |
| 20 | non possem octo homines parare rectos." | I could not buy eight strong men." |
| 21 | At mi nullus erat nec hic neque illic, | But for me there was nobody here nor there, |
| 22 | fractum qui veteris pedem grabati | who could even place the broken foot of an old couch |
| 23 | in collo sibi collocare posset. | on his neck. |
| 24 | Hic illa, ut decuit cinaediorem, | That women, as befitted a rather shameless girl, |
| 25 | "quaeso" inquit "mihi, mi Catulle, paulum | said, "Please, my Catullus, |
| 26 | istos commoda, nam volo ad Serapim | lend me those men for a little, for I want |
| 27 | deferri." "Mane," inquii puellae, | to be carried to the temple of Serapis." |
| 28 | "istud quod modo dixeram me habere, | "Wait," I said to the girl, "as to that thing which just now I said I had, |
| 29 | fugit me ratio: meus sodalis | I wasn't thinking: my companion, |
| 30 | Cinna est Gaius - is sibi paravit; | it is Gaius Cinna - he bought the slaves for himself; |
| 31 | verum utrum illius an mei, quid ad me? | but whether they are his or mine, what difference does it make? |
| 32 | Utor tam bene quam mihi pararim. | I use them as well as if I had bought them myself. |
| 33 | Sed tu insulsa male et molesta vivis, | But you, tasteless and annoying, live badly, |
| 34 | per quam non licet esse neglegentem!" | by whom it is never permitted to be careless!" |
[edit] Bibliography
Latin Wikisource has original text related to this article:
English Wikisource has original text related to this article:
- Braund, DC (1996). "The Politics of Catullus 10: Memmius, Caesar, and the Bithynians". Hermathema 160: 46–57.
- Skinner, MB (1989). "Ut decuit cinaediorem: Power, gender and Urbanity in Catullus 10". Helios 16: 7–23.
- Nielsen, RM (1987). "Catullus and Sal (Poem 10)". L'Antiqué Classique 56: 148–161.
- Sedgwick, WB (1947). "Catullus X: A Rambling Commentary". Greece and Rome 16: 108–114.
[edit] External links
http://rudy.negenborn.net/catullus/text2/l10.htm - Latin
http://rudy.negenborn.net/catullus/text2/e10.htm - English
http://rudy.negenborn.net/catullus/text2/sc10.htm - Scansion
| 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. | |
