(no subject)
If you see this, post a poem in your own LJ.
I've posted my favorite English one here before, so I've turned to Latin. Thing is, I adore Catullus and couldn't decide which one to post, so have two of them.
Poem 8 to Lesbia
LatinEnglish
Miser Catulle, desinas ineptire,
et quod vides perisse perditum ducas.
fulsere quondam candidi tibi soles,
cum ventitabas quo puella ducebat
amata nobis quantum amabitur nulla.
ibi illa multa cum iocosa fiebant,
quae tu volebas nec puella nolebat,
fulsere vere candidi tibi soles.
nunc iam illa non vult: tu quoque impotens noli,
nec quae fugit sectare, nec miser vive,
sed obstinata mente perfer, obdura.
vale puella, iam Catullus obdurat,
nec te requiret nec rogabit invitam.
at tu dolebis, cum rogaberis nulla.
scelesta, uae te, quae tibi manet uita?
quis nunc te adibit? cui videberis bella?
quem nunc amabis? cuius esse diceris?
quem basiabis? cui labella mordebis?
at tu, Catulle, destinatus obdura.Poor Catullus, you must stop playing the fool
and what you see has died you must regard as lost.
Once bright suns shone for you,
and you kept on following where the girl led
[a girl] loved by me as much as no other will be loved.
Then there were many playful times with her,
which you wanted nor was the girl unwilling,
truly the bright suns shone for you.
Now she is no longer willing: You are helpless, so be unwilling too,
and don't keep on chasing her [when] she flees, don't live in misery,
but bear it with a resolute mind, be firm.
Farewell, girl, now Catullus is determined,
he won't miss you nor ask you against your will.
But you will be sorry, when you will be asked by no one.
Woe is you, you wicked girl, what life remains for you?
Who will approach you now? To whom will you seem pretty?
Who will you love now? Whose girl will you be said to be?
Whom will you kiss? Whose little lips will you nibble?
But you, Catullus, be firm and determined.
I like to think of this one as "woe is me woe is me - hang on, what am I doing? LESBIA, YOU BITCH. I don't miss you, really."
Poem 70 to Lesbia
LatinEnglish
nulli se dicit mulier mea nubere malle
quam mihi, non si se Iuppiter ipse petat.
dicit: sed mulier cupido quod dicit amanti,
in vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua.My woman says she wants to marry no one
but me, not even if Jupiter himself were to court her.
She says this: But what a woman says to her lover,
he must write in the wind and running water.
8 I love for the raw emotion. This one I love for the imagery.
I've posted my favorite English one here before, so I've turned to Latin. Thing is, I adore Catullus and couldn't decide which one to post, so have two of them.
Poem 8 to Lesbia
LatinEnglish
Miser Catulle, desinas ineptire,
et quod vides perisse perditum ducas.
fulsere quondam candidi tibi soles,
cum ventitabas quo puella ducebat
amata nobis quantum amabitur nulla.
ibi illa multa cum iocosa fiebant,
quae tu volebas nec puella nolebat,
fulsere vere candidi tibi soles.
nunc iam illa non vult: tu quoque impotens noli,
nec quae fugit sectare, nec miser vive,
sed obstinata mente perfer, obdura.
vale puella, iam Catullus obdurat,
nec te requiret nec rogabit invitam.
at tu dolebis, cum rogaberis nulla.
scelesta, uae te, quae tibi manet uita?
quis nunc te adibit? cui videberis bella?
quem nunc amabis? cuius esse diceris?
quem basiabis? cui labella mordebis?
at tu, Catulle, destinatus obdura.Poor Catullus, you must stop playing the fool
and what you see has died you must regard as lost.
Once bright suns shone for you,
and you kept on following where the girl led
[a girl] loved by me as much as no other will be loved.
Then there were many playful times with her,
which you wanted nor was the girl unwilling,
truly the bright suns shone for you.
Now she is no longer willing: You are helpless, so be unwilling too,
and don't keep on chasing her [when] she flees, don't live in misery,
but bear it with a resolute mind, be firm.
Farewell, girl, now Catullus is determined,
he won't miss you nor ask you against your will.
But you will be sorry, when you will be asked by no one.
Woe is you, you wicked girl, what life remains for you?
Who will approach you now? To whom will you seem pretty?
Who will you love now? Whose girl will you be said to be?
Whom will you kiss? Whose little lips will you nibble?
But you, Catullus, be firm and determined.
I like to think of this one as "woe is me woe is me - hang on, what am I doing? LESBIA, YOU BITCH. I don't miss you, really."
Poem 70 to Lesbia
LatinEnglish
nulli se dicit mulier mea nubere malle
quam mihi, non si se Iuppiter ipse petat.
dicit: sed mulier cupido quod dicit amanti,
in vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua.My woman says she wants to marry no one
but me, not even if Jupiter himself were to court her.
She says this: But what a woman says to her lover,
he must write in the wind and running water.
8 I love for the raw emotion. This one I love for the imagery.