Carmina

Catullus

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

  1. To hurt Catullus, whereas all that have
  2. Wage any Wager thou be Sabine classed)
  3. But whether Sabine or of Tiburs truer
  4. To thy suburban Cottage fared I fain
  5. And fro' my bronchials drave that cursèd cough
  6. Which not unmerited on me my maw,
  7. A-seeking sumptuous banquetings, bestowed.
  8. For I requesting to be Sestius' guest
  9. Read against claimant Antius a speech,
  10. Full-filled with poisonous pestilential trash.
  11. Hence a grave frigid rheum and frequent cough
  12. Shook me till fled I to thy bosom, where
  13. Repose and nettle-broth healed all my ills.
  14. Wherefore recruited now best thanks I give
  15. To thee for nowise punishing my sins:
  16. Nor do I now object if noisome writs
  17. Of Sestius hear I, but that cold and cough
  18. And rheum may plague, not me, but Sestius' self
  19. Who asks me only his ill writs to read.
  1. To Acmé quoth Septumius who his fere
  2. Held on his bosom-" Acme', mine! next year,
  3. Unless I love thee fondlier than before,
  4. And with each twelve month love thee more and more,
  5. As much as lover's life can slay with yearning,
  6. Alone in Lybia, or Hind's clime a-burning,
  7. Be mine to encounter Lion grisly-eyed!"
  8. While he was speaking Love on leftward side
  9. (As wont) approving sneeze from dextral sped.