Carmina

Catullus

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

  1. Secrets in soothfast heart hoarded perforce I reveal.)
  2. Nowise gladdens me so this state as absence torments me,
  3. Absence doomëd for aye ta'en fro' my mistress's head,
  4. Where I was wont (though she such cares unknew in her girlhood)
  5. Many a thousand scents, Syrian unguents, to sip.
  6. Now do you pair conjoined by the longed-for light of the torches,
  7. Earlier yield not selves unto unanimous wills
  8. Nor wi' the dresses doft your barèd nipples encounter,
  9. Ere shall yon onyx-vase pour me libations glad,
  10. Onyx yours, ye that seek only rights of virtuous bed-rite.
  11. But who yieldeth herself unto advowtry impure,
  12. Ah! may her loathed gifts in light dust uselessly soak,
  13. For of unworthy sprite never a gift I desire.
  14. Rather, 0 new-mated brides, be concord aye your companion,
  15. Ever let constant love dwell in the dwellings of you.
  16. Yet when thou sightest, 0 Queen, the Constellations, I pray thee,
  17. Every festal day Venus the Goddess appease;
  18. Nor of thy unguent-gifts allow myself to be lacking,
  19. Nay, do thou rather add largeliest increase to boons.