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ut te postremo donarem munere mortis

et mutam nequiquam adloquerer cinerem,

quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum,

heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi.

nunc tamen interea haec prisco quae more parentum tradita sunt tristis munera ad inferias

accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu,

atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale.

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2. inferias: as his brother is already buried, and no other members of the family are present, the funeral rites are necessarily much abridged in this case, and perhaps consist essentially only in the placing of this epitaph and the final adieu, spoken in v. 10, without the garlands, perfumes, and other features of more elaborate ceremonies.

5. fortuna misfortune,' as in 64, 218.tete: cf. 30, 7: certe tute iubebas.

this passage); Lucr. 5, 83: si tamen interea mirantur. more parentum cf. CIL. 9, 4508, 1: frater, post tempora nostra maiorum ut faceres more suprema mihi.

8. ad inferias: purpose acc.

9. fraterno multum manantia fletu: cf. Mart. 6, 85, 11: accipe cum fletu maesti breve carmen amici atque haec absentis tura fuisse puta.

10. in perpetuum: this common phrase does not refer to the mortality of the soul, but merely to the irrevocable fact of death; cf. the Christian inscriptions, Buecheler, Car. Lat. Epig. 734, 10: Paula soror tumulum dedit et solacia magni parva tulit luctus, tristique heu pectore 'salve perpetuomque vale frater carissime' dixit; 737, 10: iam vale perpetuo 6. Cf. 68, 20 and 92; Ovid, dulcis et in pace quiesce. ave Fast. 4, 852: atque ait invito atque vale: such novissima verba frater adempte, vale!" were regularly employed at the 7. nunc: 'even as it is.'. close of funeral rites; cf. Verg. interea merely intensifies tamen, Aen. 6, 231: lustravitque viros without any distinct notion of time. dixitque novissima verba; 11, Cf. Ciris, 44: haec tamen interea 97: salve aeternum mihi, maxime .. accipe dona (an imitation of Palla, aeternumque vale.

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I02

Si quicquam tacito commissum est fido ab amico, cuius sit penitus nota fides animi,

meque esse invenies illorum iure sacratum, Corneli, et factum me esse puta Harpocratem.

107

Si quoi quid cupido optantique obtigit umquam insperanti, hoc est gratum animo proprie. quare hoc est gratum nobis quoque, carius auro, quod te restituis, Lesbia, mi cupido,

restituis cupido atque insperanti, ipsa refers te nobis. o lucem candidiore nota!

107. I. quoi quid Ribbeck quicquid GM quid quid O quicquam D.

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107

The joy of Catullus on the unexpected return of Lesbia after an estrangement. Evidently written before any serious rupture in their intimacy occurred. The repetitions in the phraseology (see vv. I and 4, 2 and 3, 4 and 5) are noteworthy as an indication of his rapturous excitement.

1. cupido: cf. 68, 158, n.

2. hoc used of the general proposition, while in v. 3 it refers to this particular case as stated in v. 4.

3. nobis: cf. 116, 3, n. carius auro: cf. Tib. 1, 8, 31: carior est auro iuvenis.

5. ipsa of your own accord.' 6. candidiore nota: lucky or happy days were marked with a

quis me uno vivit felicior, aut magis hac rem
optandam in vita dicere quis poterit ?

108

Si, Comini, populi arbitrio tua cana senectus

spurcata inpuris moribus intereat,

non equidem dubito quin primum inimica bonorum lingua execta avido sit data vulturio,

8. op

107. 7. hac rem Postgate hac ē O me est GM hac res Lachmann. tandam in Postgate optandus VM optandas Lachmann magi' mi esse optandum in Statius.

108. 1. Si, Comini, Guarinus sic homini VM. populi arbitrio Statius populari arbitrio VM. 4. execta o exercta O exerta GM excerpta Ellis. white chalk mark or by a white stone; cf. 68, 148, n.

8. in vita: cf. Prop. 2, 9, 43: te nihil in vita nobis acceptius umquam.

108

The subject of this lampoon was probably one of two brothers Cominius of Spoletium, who played a prominent part as prosecutors, an especially unpopular case being their prosecution of C. Cornelius in 66 B.C., and the following year, when he was defended by Cicero.

1. cana senectus: cf. 61, 162: cana . . . anilitas.

3. inimica bonorum: perhaps some of the special friends of Catullus had been attacked; at any rate, remembering the poet's im

pulsiveness and extravagance in his expressions, we need not at once convict Cominius of being such a monster of iniquity as he is here described.

4. execta exsecta. — sit data: it is doubtful whether the tense has any special significance here, any more than the rather frequent active forms in tenses of completed action found in the elegiac writers, where tenses of incomplete action would be expected. Cf. Tib. 1, 1, 29, n.- vulturio: all the creatures enumerated here are of the sort that viciously peck or snap at other flesh, so that the comparison in each case is appropriate; cf. Ovid, Ibis, 169–172: unguibus et rostro crudus trahet ilia vultur, et scindent avidi perfida corda canes, deque tuo fiet - licet

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effossos oculos voret atro gutture corvus,
intestina canes, cetera membra lupi.

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109

Iucundum, mea vita, mihi proponis amorem
hunc nostrum inter nos perpetuumque fore.
di magni, facite ut vere promittere possit
atque id sincere dicat et ex animo,

ut liceat nobis tota perducere vita

aeternum hoc sanctae foedus amicitiae.

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116

Saepe tibi studioso animo venante requirens

carmina uti possem mittere Battiadae, qui te lenirem nobis, neu conarere

telis infestum mittere in usque caput,

hunc video mihi nunc frustra sumptum esse laborem,
Gelli, nec nostras hic valuisse preces.

contra nos tela ista tua evitamus amictu:
at fixus nostris tu dabi' supplicium.

116

On the failure of the poet's attempts to conciliate Gellius; cf. Nos. 74, 80, 88, 90, 91, for the virulent attacks which doubtless prevented any further friendship between their object and their author.

dat.

As

a

1. studioso: 'learned' man he would be more apt to appreciate the poetry of the 'doctus' Callimachus.

2. carmina : sc. expressa. Battiadae: cf. 65, 16, n.

3. qui=quibus. — nobis = mihi, although it stands so close to lenirem; cf. vv. 5-8; 107, 3-6. This verse is composed entirely of spondees. Cf. Intr. § 42, I (3). 4. in usque usque in: 'at my very head.'

6. hic in this respect.'

7. contra: adv.: my tactics are now changed, and I am prepared to defend myself and to strike home at your weak points.

- amictu: i.e. the fold of the toga around the left arm is sufficient for defense, because your weapons are so harmless. Cf. Pacuv. 186: clamide contorta astu clupeat braccium; Petron. 80: intorto circa brachium pallio conposui ad proeliandum gradum.

8. dabi': the archaic elision of final s, which occurs frequently in Lucretius and in Cicero's early poetic attempts, occurs only here in their contemporary Catullus. Cicero already counsels its avoidance in Orat. 161. Cf. LSHLG, p. 36, n. 2.

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