Catullus 85

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Catullus 85 is a poem by the Roman poet Catullus for his mistress Lesbia. Its declaration of conflicting feelings "I hate and (yet) I love" (in Latin, Odi et amo) is renowned for its force and brevity.

The meter of the poem is the elegiac couplet.

Contents 1 Latin text and translation 2 Chiastic structure 3 Bibliography 4 References 5 Notes

[edit] Latin text and translation

Line	Latin text	English translation
1	Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris?	I hate and I love. Why do I do this, perhaps you ask?
2	Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.	I know not, but I feel it happening and I am tortured.[1]

[edit] Chiastic structure

The contrast in feelings that love provokes is one of the most common subjects of today's world literature. The motif, however, is not original. Anacreon had already said:

(fr. 46 Gentili)

But with Catullus, it is something more. It is of course the experience of trouble, like with Anacreon. But the drama is exacerbated by the sad realization that this trouble arises independently of the human will. The poet has no choice but to take note of the situation and suffer terribly (the verb excrucior literarly means "to be put on the cross").

[edit] Bibliography

• Bishop, JD (1971). "Catullus 85: Structure, Hellenistic Parallels and the Topos". Latomus 30: 633–642. 

[edit] References

1. ^ Leonard C. Smithers. Translation at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/

[edit] Notes

The poem contains 8 verbs, no adjectives, and no nouns. This reversal of normal poetic structure (usually mostly nouns and adjectives) emphasizes the drama and conflicting emotions Catullus feels.

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.