Carmina

Catullus

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

  1. Homesteads of Crannon-town, eke bulwarkt walls Larissa;
  2. Meeting at Pharsalus, and roof Pharsalian seeking.
  3. None will the fields now till; soft wax all necks the oxen,
  4. Never the humble vine is purged by curve of the rake-tooth,
  5. Never a pruner's hook thins out the shade of the tree-tufts,
  6. Never a bull up-plows broad glebe with bend of the coulter,
  7. Over whose point unuse displays the squalor of rust-stain.
  8. But in the homestead's heart, where'er that opulent palace
  9. Hides a retreat, all shines with splendour of gold and of silver.
  10. Ivory blanches the seats, bright gleam the flagons a-table,
  11. All of the mansion joys in royal riches and grandeur.