| Translation |
Original Latin |
Line
|
You ask, my Lesbia, how many of your kisses
are enough and more than enough for me.
As big a number as the Libyan sand-grains
that lie at asafoetida-bearing Cyrene
between the oracle of sultry Jupiter
and the sacred tomb of old Battus;
or as many stars, when the night is quiet,
see the secret loves of men.
So many kisses for mad Catullus to kiss you
are enough and more than enough, [kisses]
which neither the curious can count
nor an evil tongue bewitch.
|
Quaeris, quot mihi bāsiātiōnēs
tuae, Lesbia, sint satis superque.
Quam magnus numerus Libyssae harēnae
lasarpīciferīs iacet Cyrēnīs
ōrāclum Iovis inter aestuōsī
et Battī veteris sacrum sepulcrum;
aut quam sīdera multa, cum tacet nōx,
fūrtīvōs hominum vident amōrēs:
tam tē bāsia multa bāsiāre
vēsānō satis et super Catullō est,
quae nec pernumerāre cūriōsī
possint nec mala fascināre lingua.
|
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
7.5
7.6
7.7
7.8
7.9
7.10
7.11
7.12
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Note: lines 7.2 and 7.4 are examples of hendecasyllable meter beginning with an iambus (tuae, lăsar-). Unlike Martial, who consistently uses a spondee (— —) in the first foot, Catullus sometimes takes the freedom of using a trochee (— u) or an iambus (u —) instead.