Carmina

Catullus

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

  1. Lot of me, e'en as the sole brother to Memnon the Black,
  2. Winnowing upper air wi' feathers flashing and quiv'ring,
  3. Chloris' wing-borne steed, came before Arsinoë,
  4. Whence upraising myself he flies through aëry shadows,
  5. And in chaste Venus' breast drops he the present he bears.
  6. Eke Zephyritis had sent, for the purpose trusted, her bondsman,
  7. Settler of Grecian strain on the Canopian strand.
  8. So willed various Gods, lest sole 'mid lights of the Heavens
  9. Should Ariadne's crown taken from temples of her
  10. Glitter in gold, but we not less shine fulgent in splendour,
  11. We the consecrate spoils shed by a blond-hued head,
  12. Even as weeping-wet sought I the fanes of Celestials
  13. Placed me the Goddess a new light amid star-lights of old:
  14. For with Virgo in touch and joining the furious Lion's
  15. Radiance with Callisto, maid of Lyc´on beloved,