The Poetry of Gaius Valerius Catullus/6

Text & Translation

Meter - Hendecasyllabic

Line	Latin Text	English Translation
1	Flavi, delicias tuas Catullo,	Flavius, about your darling to Catullus
2	ni sint illepidae atque inelegantes,	unless she is uncharming or inelegant,
3	velles dicere, nec tacere posses.	you would want to speak, nor would you be able to stay silent.
4	Verum nescio quid febriculosi	But you single out I don't know what sort
5	scorti diligis: hoc pudet fateri.	of feverish whore: it shames you to confess this thing.
6	Nam te non viduas iacere noctes	For the couch, vainly tacet, proclaims
7	nequiquam tacitum cubile clamat	that you do not lie down for celibate nights,
8	sertis ac Syrio fragrans olivo,	which is fragrant from garlands and Syrian oil,
9	pulvinusque peraeque et hic et ille	and the pillow equally both this side and that
10	attritus, tremulique quassa lecti	worn away, and the battered creaking of the shaken
11	argutatio inambulatioque.	bed, and its moving to and fro.
12	Iam tu ista ipse vales nihil tacere.	Now you yourself would do well to not at all keep silent these things.
13	Cur? Non tam latera ecfututa pandas,	Why? For you wouldn't extend such fucked-out thighs
14	ni tu quid facias ineptiarum.	unless you were doing something unfitting.
15	Quare, quidquid habes boni malique,	Therefore, whatever you have of good and bad,
16	dic nobis. Volo te ac tuos amores	tell us. I want to call you and your love
17	ad caelum lepido vocare versu.	into the sky with charming verse.

Connotations of the Text

Line 12

This line is surrounded by textual problems. The manuscripts read: nam in (or ni) ista prevalet nichil tacere. Given above is the reading of S.G. Owen, which has the major advantage of making sense.

External Links

• Commentary by E.T. Merrill on Catullus 6
• Catullus 6 A Translation of Catullus 6
• Another translation of Catullus 6