Carmina

Catullus

Catullus, Gaius Valerius. The Carmina of Caius Valerius Catullus. Burton, Sir Richard Francis, translator. London, Printed for the Translators, 1894.

  1. So thou, and pleasant happy life
  2. Lead wi' thy parents wooden wife.
  3. Nor be this marvel: hale are all,
  4. Well ye digest; no fears appal
  5. For household-arsons, heavy ruin,
  6. Plunderings impious, poison-brewin'
  7. Or other parlous case forlorn.
  8. Your frames are hard and dried like horn,
  9. Or if more arid aught ye know
  10. By suns and frosts and hunger-throe.
  11. Then why not happy as thou'rt hale?
  12. Sweat's strange to thee, spit fails, and fail
  13. Phlegm and foul snivel from the nose.
  14. Add cleanness that aye cleanlier shows
  15. A bum than salt-pot cleanlier,
  16. Nor ten times cack'st in total year,
  17. And harder 'tis than pebble or bean
  18. Which rubbed in hand or crumbled, e'en
  19. On finger ne'er shall make unclean.
  20. Such blessings (Furius !) such a prize