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25

hei mihi, subrepens imos ut torpor in artus
expulit ex omni pectore laetitias!

non iam illud quaero, contra ut me diligat illa,
aut, quod non potis est, esse pudica velit:

ipse valere opto et taetrum hunc deponere morbum.
o di, reddite mi hoc pro pietate mea.

82

Quinti, si tibi vis oculos debere Catullum
aut aliud siquid carius est oculis,
eripere ei noli, multo quod carius illi
est oculis seu quid carius est oculis.

21. hei Lachmann seu VM sei Ellis.

22. ex omni pectore laetitias: 'every joyful feeling from my heart.'

23. contra . . . me diligat: 'reciprocate my love'; diligere stands here for a higher type of affection than amare, as usual. Cf. 72, 3, n. 24. potis est: cf. 72, 7, n.

25. ipse it is for myself that I pray.' The emphasis is by contrast with illa (v. 23). A. 195, b; L. 2376.

26. pietate cf. v. 2, n.

82

Catullus beseeches Quintius (probably the same person mentioned in 100, 1) not to wrest from him his greatest treasure (presumably Lesbia). If this is the correct

interpretation, it must have been written at an earlier period than Nos. 72 and 76, while the poet still felt that Lesbia was his to lose, and still experienced the pangs of jealousy at the mention of other lovers.

2. carius .. oculis cf. 104, 2: ambobus mihi quae carior est oculis; 3,5 quem plus illa oculis suis amabat.

3. ei: synizesis.

4. seu quid . . . oculis: the phrase takes the place of another substantive in the same construction as the preceding oculis. Cf. 13, 9: sed contra accipies meros amores seu quid suavius elegantiusve est; 23, 12: corpora sicciora cornu aut siquid magis aridum est.

5

83

Lesbia mi praesente viro mala plurima dicit:
hoc illi fatuo maxima laetitiast.

mule, nihil sentis. si nostri oblita taceret,

sana esset: nunc quod gannit et obloquitur,

non solum meminit, sed, quae multo acrior est res,
irata est, hoc est, uritur et coquitur.

84

Chommoda dicebat, si quando commoda vellet
dicere, et insidias Arrius hinsidias,

83. 6. coquitur Lipsius loquitur VRM.

83

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." Cf. No. 92. Written not later than 59 B.C., the year in which Lesbia's husband, Q. Caecilius Metellus Celer, died.

1. praesente: Catullus, however, seems not himself to have been there on the occasion referred to, as is indicated by oblita (v. 3), meminit (v. 5).

2. fatuo: the derivation of the word (fari) makes it peculiarly appropriate to one expressing illgrounded boasts.

3. mule much less frequent as a term of abuse than asinus.

4. sana: i.e. not wounded by Cupid's darts. Cf. Tib. 4, 6, 18. 5. acrior: more important,' because to the possessor of subtle

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5

IO

et tum mirifice sperabat se esse locutum,
cum quantum poterat dixerat hinsidias.
credo, sic mater, sic liber avunculus eius,

sic maternus avus dixerat atque avia.
hoc misso in Syriam requierant omnibus aures:
audibant eadem haec leniter et leviter,
nec sibi postilla metuebant talia verba,
cum subito adfertur nuntius horribilis,
Ionios fluctus, postquam illuc Arrius isset,

iam non Ionios esse, sed Hionios.

84. 3 and 4, which stand as 9 and 10 in the Mss., were transposed by Politianus.

fad became especially ridiculous when found in a parvenu of meager education. Such a person apparently was the Arrius of this witty epigram (cf. vv. 5, 6), who seems to have been as extravagant with his h's as a modern cockney. It has been conjectured, but without other than circumstantial evidence, that he may have been the Q. Arrius whom Cicero (Brut. 242) mentions as a worthless orator, without ability or noble birth, who had gained some prominence by political methods.

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5. credono doubt.'- liber: the implication plainly is that either this uncle or some other uncle of his had not been free, and thus that Arrius was at least connected with a family of libertini, apparently on his mother's side, from comparison of the list of relatives mentioned here. It is certain that ignorance of the proper use of the aspirate was especially common among the lower classes. Cf. Gell. 13, 6, 3 rusticus fit sermo, inquit, si adspires perperam.

7. misso in Syriam if the above identification of Arrius be correct, this mission to Syria was doubtless with his friend Crassus (Cic. Brut. 242), ie. in 55 B.C., and this would give an approximate date to the epigram.

8. audibant: cf. 68, 85, n.

9. postilla: the anteclassical equivalent of postea; another of the many archaisms of Catullus.

5

Odi et amo.

85

quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.

nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.

86

Quintia formosa est multis, mihi candida, longa,
recta est. haec ego sic singula confiteor,
totum illud "formosa" nego: nam nulla venustas,
nulla in tam magno est corpore mica salis.
Lesbia formosa est, quae cum pulcherrima totast,
tum omnibus una omnes surripuit Veneres.

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munda hactenus ut neque longa nec magis alba velit, quam dat natura, videri; Ovid, Am. 2, 4, 33: quia tam longa es, veteres heroidas aequas.

2. sic: i.e. as in vv. I and 2.

3. totum illud "formosa": i.e. the expression "formosa,” with all that the term properly implies.

4. nulla. . . mica salis: not a particle of wit' (sparkling fascination, urbanitas); cf. Mart. 7, 25, 3: nullaque mica salis nec amari fellis in illis gutta.

5. pulcherrima: 'very pretty'; of mere physical faultlessness, which might be true of a doll-like "putty-face," such as Quintia appears to be in the eyes of Catullus, without including at all the intellectual and emotional fascinations of an ideal “formosa.”

6. omnes ... Veneres: " ' every charm,' i.e. all Venus's gifts and graces. Cf. Quint. 10, 1, 79: omnes dicendi Veneres sectatus est.

87

Nulla potest mulier tantum se dicere amatam vere, quantum a me Lesbia amata mea es. nulla fides ullo fuit umquam foedere tanta, quanta in amore tuo ex parte reperta meast.

92

Lesbia mi dicit semper male nec tacet umquam de me: Lesbia me dispeream nisi amat. quo signo? quia sunt totidem mea: deprecor illam adsidue, verum dispeream nisi amo.

87. 2. es Scaliger est VM.

87

Perhaps a fragment, though not necessarily incomplete. The supposition of Scaliger and other editors that No. 75 should be used to complete it is entirely gratuitous. More in sorrow than in reproach, Catullus reminds his Lesbia of the singleness and intensity of his love, which he apparently now realizes has been trifled with.

1. Cf. 8, 5: amata nobis quantum amabitur nulla; 37, 12; 58, 2: illa Lesbia quam Catullus unam plus quam se atque suos amavit

omnes.

3. foedere a common term for mutual plighted faith in the lover's vocabulary; cf. Prop. 4, 3, 69: Pichon, s.v.

3. ullo VM nullo w.

4. amore tuo ex parte reperta meast the love that I have bestowed upon thee.'-tuo: objective; similarly, 64, 253.-mea: emphatic by contrast with that of the other lovers of Lesbia.

92

The theme is the same as that of No. 83.

2. dispeream nisi: cf. Prop. 2, 21, 9: dispeream, si quicquam aliud quam gloria de te quaeritur. 3. quo signo: sc. hoc concludo; cf. Plaut. Mil. Gl. 1001: quo argumento. sunt totidem mea: I have exactly the same two experiences,' viz. (1) curse her; (2) love her. - deprecor: 'denounce. For this unusual sense of the word, see the discussion of this passage in Gell. 7 (6), 16.

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