I’m going to sacrifice myself on the proverbial alter of dignity and tell you exactly what I felt while I was reading Catullus 4 for the first time: WHAT AM I EVEN READING? It didn’t help that I didn’t know the first word of the poem or that it took me far longer than I care to admit to realize that the boat was speaking. I went into Catullus 4 with absolutely no background knowledge of what I was going to read, and it won. Handily. For a rather long time.
Between the place names that (full disclosure again here—I mean, isn’t honesty admired?) meant almost nothing to me and the whole talking boat that used to be a whistling tree… I had to spend some real time with this poem. I googled. I read three articles on JSTOR (mostly about whether the boat was a votive offering or the boat itself) and stumbled upon a commentary, which helped with the place name references.
Place name references are challenging contextually. I could talk at length about which trails in my neighborhood are harder, sketchier, or an easy walk in the woods, but none of those place names on their own are going to mean anything to you if you haven’t also spent some real time here in the mountains. To you, perhaps, Bear Lake and Thunder Lake are both lakes in the mountains that are just as easily accessible and crowded. (They are anything but). One of the most challenging parts of reading ancient literature is this lack of schema for interpreting what would have had immediate meaning to Catullus’ audience and little-to-none for today’s students.
I also scratched my head a lot on how on God’s green internet, I was going to retell this as an easier story. On the one hand, the poem is long, dense with vocabulary that even I had to look up (I’m looking at you buxifer and trabs, which I thought only meant beam and didn’t realize also meant boat).
In short, then, this poem is hard. The story, while easier than the poem, is similarly also more challenging than some of the short stories that came before. I tried to repeat some of the harder structures. I tried to break up some of the place names and provide a little more context based on the commentary and, well, Google. I also decided to ultimately have Catullus dream about speaking with the boat so that I could allow the boat to speak in a medium that, while perhaps simplistic, might make a little more sense to someone encountering this material for the first time.
I hope my efforts were worth it and that you enjoy this much longer, and somewhat easier retelling of Catullus 4. If you’re looking for safer ground and a dead sparrow, you can go back to Catullus 3 at this link.
Catullus 4: An Easier Prose Story
Nāvigāre per mare Catullum nōn dēlectat. Quem dēlectat nāvigāre? Nāvigāre nēminem dēlectat! Nāvigāre etiam nautās nōn dēlectat! Nautae ipsī timent nē sīve tempestāte sīve[1] fortūna mala in marī submergant et mortuī sint. Multī nautae naufragiō[2] moriuntur. Mare perīculōsum semper est.
Sed Catullus ipse—quī scrīptor, nōn nauta, est—in nāvī iam nāvigat. Dormīre vult, sed dormīre bene nōn potest. Nāvis undīs maris movētur. Aura[3] nāvem quoque movet. Catullus nescit sī aura laeva sīve dextera[4] sit. Catullus vult auram esse secundam.[5] Nil refert si aura[6] laeva[7] aut dextera[8] sit si secunda[9] sit. Et aura[10] certe secunda[11] est quia nāvis adhūc nāvigat… Nāvis sub undīs nōn submergitur.
Nāvis lītus minācī Hadriāticī[12] (in quō Catullus valdē timēbat, sed nāvis tūta erat) iam trānsīvit.
Nāvis prope īnsulās Cȳcladas[13] iam trānsīvit (ubi Catullus nescīvit an dēbēret timēre naufragium[14] an melius esset sī naufragiō mortuus esset quia in nāvī nōn iam esset).
Nāvis iam ad Rhodum nōbilem[15] nāvigāvit (ubi cultūra Catullum dēlectāvit—et nōn esse in nāvī certē Catullum dēlectāvit, sed iter agendum erat et ad nāvem revēnit).
Nāvis iam—tūtē—per horridam Thrāciam Propontida[16] nāvigāvit, sed Catullus dē nihilō nisi illa fortūnāta Argō cōgitāvit quia nāvis in quō erat nōn erat illa Argō. Nāvis antīqua, nōn clāra, erat.
Nāvis iam ad trucem Ponticum sinum[17] nāvigāvit, et Catullus timuit ventōs horribilēs et virōs quī in illīs īnsulīs habitābant. Sed hīc, apud illās trucēs īnsulās,[18] Catullus scīvit silvās bonās in illīs īnsulīs crēscere. Ē nāvī, Catullus vidēre illās silvās in montibus īnsulārum potest.
Catullus dē omnibus locīs quō[19] nāvis tūtē nāvigāvit cōgitat: lītus minācī Hadriāticī, īnsulās Cȳcladas, Rhodum nōbilem, horridam Thrāciam Propontida, et trucem Ponticum sinum.[20] Catullus adhūc vīvit. Naufragium[21] nōn erat. Tūtus est. Nāvīs undīs movētur.
Catullus putat fortasse domum reventūrum esse. Catullus putat fortasse marī et naufragiō[22] nōn moritūrum esse. Et Catullus in nāvī tandem dormit.
Dormit, sed Catullus iam somniat.
Per somnum Catullus aliquid audit, sed sonum maris nōn audit… Quid aliquis dīcit?
Aliquis dīcit, “Ego eram—et sum—nāvium celerrimus!”[23]
Catullus cōnfūsus rogat, “Quis ait sē fuisse nāvium celerrimus?[24] Aut quid ait? Navis non loquitur.”
Per somnum Catullus nāvem tunc videt. Nāvis īrāta est. Catullus nescīvit nāvem posse esse īrātam, sed nāvis īrāta vidētur.
Catullus aliquid iterum audit.
Aliquis dīcit, “Ego certē poteram—et possum!—praeterīre impetum ūllius natantis trabis,[25] ūllius nāvis in marī, omnium nāvium! Quia ego sum nāvium celerrimus!”[26]
Catullus adhūc cōnfūsus est. Rogat, “Quis ait neque nequīsse praeterīre impetum ūllius natantis trabis?”[27]
Nāvis respondet, “Ego.”
Catullus exclāmat, “Quis est ego?”
Nāvis dīcit, “Ego possum praeterīre[28] omnēs nāvēs in marī sīve palmulīs sīve linteō.[29] Sī opus foret volāre[30] mihi, ego volārem.”
Catullus adhūc cōnfūsus nāvem spectat. Loquiturne[31] illa nāvis?
“Em, ignōscās, sed… dīxistīne aliquid?” Catullus rogat.
Respondet illa nāvis, “Ego aliquid tibi certē dīxī, et dīcam plūs tibi, Catulle!”
Catullus est tam cōnfūsus ut respondēre nōn possit. Nāvem spectat.
Nāvis exclāmat, “Ego ipsa tēcum tūtē nāvigāvī! Tūne hoc negās?”[32]
Catullus nōn respondet. Nāvis exspectat. Et exspectat. Catullus nāvem spectat. Nāvis cum Catullō loquitur. Catullus cum nāvī numquam locūtus est… cum illā nāvī in quā Catullus tūtē nāvigāvit.
Catullus tandem respondet, “Ego hoc nōn negō…[33] Tūtus sum.”
Nāvīs respondet, “Neque[34] omnēs īnsulae et omnēs locī quō[35] nōs nāvigāvimus hoc negant![36] Nōn possunt! Celerrimus sum, et ego per illōs periculōsōs locōs tūtē nāvigāvī! Tē tūtum tulī!”[37]
Catullus nāvem adhūc spectat. Catullus nescit loquī[38] cum nāvī. Quid dīcat nāvī?
“Em, ubi tū nāta es,[39] nāvis?” Catullus rogat (et putat sē esse idiōtam, etiam per somnum).
“Post iste phasēlus[40] sum, sed anteā[41] fuī arbor in silvā pulchrā, comāta[42] multīs foliīs[43] viridibus, hīc apud hās īnsulās in truce Ponticō sinū,”[44] illa nāvis quae erat ille phasēlus[45] dīcit.
Catullus iam rīdet et rogat, “Tūne iam potes loquī[46] quia ubi erās in silvā arbor, coma loquēns[47] tua sonōs ēdidit?[48] Itaque locūta es,[49] et iam loqueris,[50] tū ille phasēlus[51] quī loquitur!”[52]
Phasēlus[53] ille iterum īrātus vidētur. Respondet, “Aio.[54] In monte Cytōriō,[55] saepe ēdidī[56] sībilum[57] comā loquente[58] meā, et illī hominēs putāvērunt mē loquī[59] in illō iugō…”[60]
Catullus rīdēns respondet, “Et iam tū ais tē fuisse nāvium celerrimus[61] et tū ais neque impetum ūllius natantis trabis nequīsse praeterīre[62] tē et ais negāre[63] omnēs īnsulās hoc negāre.[64] Et tū loqueris, et ego ipse iam somniō.”
Phasēlus[65] ille nihil dīcēns Catullum spectat. Phasēlus tandem respondet, “Sīc.”
Phasēlus nihil dīcit, et Catullus nihil dīcit. Phasēlum in marī Catullus spectat. Phasēlus fessus vidētur.
Catullus vidēre montem, illum iugum Cytōrium,[66] quoque potest. Catullus nāvem spectat et iugum Cytōrium spectat. Catullus silvās pulchrās vidēre potest. Illae silvae sunt buxiferae.[67]
“Tūne vīs tē in silvā in Cytōrō buxiferō[68] adhūc fuisse?”[69] Catullus rogat.
Phasēlus cōgitat et cōgitat. Per somnum Catullus phasēlum cōgitantem spectat. Catullus nescīvīt phasēlum cōgitāre. Dē quō nāvēs cōgitant? Versūs scrībunt? Moriunturne nāvēs?
Nāvis tandem respondet, “Sīc—Cytōrus[70] prope pulchram urbem Amastrem[71] in Ponticō sinū[72] domus mea multōs annōs erat. Cognitissima[73] in illō locō eram, et in illō cacūmine[74] dē Cytōrō[75] ex ultima orīgine[76] meā ego stetī.[77] Coma[78] mea pulcherrima erat, et comā loquente sībilum ēdidī.[79] Quam pulcher in iugō tranquillō eram. Ex illō iugō Cytōriō[80], mare vidēre poteram. In illō marī palmulās[81] meās prīmō imbuī.[82] Nescīvī in illō mōmentō aut mē in aequore palmulās meās imbūtūram esse[83] aut inde lātūrum esse[84] hominēs tūtē per tot impotentia frēta.[85] Nescīvī mē futūram esse nāvem. Arbor eram. Tranquilla et simplex vīta erat.”
Catullus dē hōc cōgitat et respondet, “Tū mē erum[86] per multa freta[87] tūtē tulistī.[88] Timuī, sed tū erās celer—celerrimus—et per multa loca perīculōsa tēcum tūtus nāvigāvī.”
Phasēlus respondet, “Nīl refert mihi an aura vocet sīve dextra sīve laeva,[89] sīve secundus[90] Iuppiter ipse simul incīdat utrumque in vēla[91]—in pedēs[92] ipsōs meōs—per mare tūtē nāvigāvī. Omnēs hominēs et erī[93] mēcum tūtī erant.”
Catullus adhūc somniāns mare tranquillum spectat. Rogat, “Tūne umquam fēcistī ūlla vōta lītorālibus deīs,[94] Neptūnō aut Castorī aut Pollūcī aut Venerī Marīnae, quibus omnēs nautae vōta[95] dant?”
Phasēlus respondet, “Vōta[96] mihi numquam facta sunt.”[97]
Catullus nāvem iterum spectat. Nāvis fessa vidētur.
“Ignōscās,[98] phasēle, sed esne tū senex?”
Phasēlus respondet, “Sum. Annī in illā silvā prius fuērunt.[99] Dēdicāvī[100] mē omnibus hominibus, omnibus erīs[101]navigantibus, sed ego senēre quiēte[102] iam velim.”
Catullus respondet, “Ego dabō vōtum[103] in templō gemellī Castoris[104] et gemellī Pollūcis.[105] Ubi amīcī meī adveniunt, ego ipse dēclārābō, “Phasēlus ille, quem vidētis,[106] ō amīcī et hospitēs,[107] erat celerrimus nāvium![108] Ego nārrābō quōmodo tū tē dēdicāvistī et quōmodo tulistī mē tūtum per mare perīculōsum. Nam[109] tū omnium nāvium optimus es.”
Per somnum nāvem gaudentem Catullus videt.
Subitō, Catullus nōn iam somniat, sed ē somnō sē excitat. Catullus terram videt, et Catullus domum tandem et tūtē advēnit.
Catullus phasēlō dīcit, “Ā marī novissimō[110] vēnistī, et ad ūsque lacum limpidum[111] mēcum iam veniēs. Omnia haec quae per somnum nārrāvistī prius fuēre.[112] Venī mēcum, et reconditā quiēte,[113] potes senēre,[114] et tē dēdicābō gemellō Castorī[115] et gemellō Castoris[116] Pollūcī.
[1] Either…or
[2] Shipwreck
[3] Breeze
[4] Breeze is left or right
[5] Favorable here, not second.
[6] Breeze
[7] Left
[8] Right
[9] Favorable
[10] Breeze
[11] Favorable
[12] The shore of the menacing Adriatic
[13] Cycladic Islands
[14] Shipwreck
[15] Nobile Rhodes
[16] Horrid Thracian Propontis
[17] Savage Pontic gulf
[18] Savage islands
[19] To which; where
[20] The shore of the menacing Adriatic, the Cycladic islands, noble Rhodes, the horrid Thracian Propontis, and the savage Pontic gulf.
[21] Shipwreck
[22] Shipwreck
[23] The fastest of ships
[24] Says that they were the fastest of ships
[25] To pass by the attack of any floating ship
[26] The fastest of ships
[27] Who says that they were not unable to pass by the attack of any floating bit of bark?
[28] To pass by
[29] Either by oars or by the linen (sail)
[30] It there was a need to fly
[31] Is it speaking
[32] You deny
[33] I do not deny
[34] Nor
[35] To which, where
[36] They (do not) deny this
[37] I brought
[38] To speak
[39] You were born
[40] Afterwards this boat
[41] Before
[42] Crowned; literally, having been haired.
[43] Leaves
[44] In the fierce Pontic gulf
[45] Boat
[46] To speak
[47] Talking crown; literally, talking hair
[48] Gave out
[49] You spoke
[50] You speak
[51] Boat
[52] Speaks
[53] Boat
[54] I say (this).
[55] Cytorian
[56] I gave out
[57] Hissing, rustling
[58] With my talking crown/hair
[59] To speak
[60] Mountain, ridge
[61] You say that you were the fastest of ships
[62] You say that you were not unable to pass by the attack of any floating bit of bark
[63] You say that you deny
[64] Deny this (yes, a double negative).
[65] Boat
[66] Cytorian mountain
[67] Boxwood bearing
[68] Boxwood bearing Cytorus
[69] Were; literally, to have been
[70] Cytorus, a mountain
[71] Amastris, a city
[72] Pontic gulf
[73] Most known
[74] Summit
[75] Either…or
[76] From my first origin
[77] I stood
[78] Crown/hair
[79] I gave out rustling with my talking hair
[80] From that Cytorian mountain
[81] Oars
[82] I dipped
[83] That I would dip my oars in the sea
[84] From there I would bring
[85] Through so many raging straights
[86] Master
[87] Straights
[88] You brought
[89] The breeze calls, whether the right or the left
[90] Favorable
[91] At the same time stroke the sails of both sides
[92] Feet, here referencing the ropes tied to the bottom part of the sails
[93] Masters
[94] Any vows/offerings to the shore gods
[95] Vows, offerings
[96] Vows, offerings
[97] Were made
[98] Forgive me
[99] They were earlier
[100] I dedicated
[101] To masters
[102] To grow old in rest
[103] Vow, offering
[104] Twin Castor
[105] Twin Pollux
[106] That boat, which y’all see
[107] Guests
[108] Fastes of ships
[109] For
[110] From the most recent sea
[111] Entirely to this clear lake
[112] They were earlier, before; fuēre = fuērunt
[113] Secluded rest
[114] To grow old
[115] To the twin Castor
[116] To the twin of Castor
Catullus 4: Poem in English Word Order
Hospites, ille phasēlus, quem vidētis, ait (sē) fuisse celerrimus nāvium, neque nequisse praeterīre impetum ūllius natantis trabis, opus foret volāre sīve palmulīs sīve linteō. Et (ille phasēlus) negat lītus minācis Hadriāticī -ve Īnsulās Cycladās, -que Rhodum nōbilem -que horridam Thrāciam Propontida, -ve trucem Ponticum sinum, ubi iste post phasēlus anteā fuit comāta silva, negāre hoc. Nam in iugō Cytōriō, saepe ēdidit sībilum loquente comā. O Pontica Amastri et buxifer Cytōre, phasēlus ait haec fuisse et esse cognitissima tibi, dīcit (sē) stetisse in cacūmine tuō ex ultimā orīgine, palmulās (phasēlī) imbuisse in aequore tuō, et (sē) inde tulisse erum per impotentia freta (aura vocāret, laeva sīve dextera, sīve secundus Iuppiter simul incidisset in utrumque pedem, neque esse facta ūlla vōta lītorālibus dēis sibi, cum venīret ā marī novissimō ad ūsque hunc limpidum lacum. Sed haec fuēre prius: nunc semet reconditā quiēte -que dēdicat sē tibi, gemme Castor et gemelle Castoris.
Catullus 4: Original Poem
Phasēlus ille, quem vidētis, hospitēs, ait fuisse nāvium celerrimus, neque ūllĭus natantis impetum trabis nequisse praeterīre, sīve palmulīs opus foret volāre sīve linteō. Et hoc negat minācis Hadriāticī negāre lītus Īnsulāsve Cycladās Rhodumque nōbilem horridamque Thrāciam Propontida trucemve Ponticum sinum, ubi iste post phasēlus anteā fuit comāta silva; nam Cytōriō in iugō loquente saepe sībilum ēdidit comā. Amastrĭ Pontica et Cytōre buxifer, tibi haec fuisse et esse cognitissima ait phasēlus, ultimā ex orīgine tuō stetisse dīcit in cacūmine, tuō imbuisse palmulās in aequore, et inde tot per impotentia freta erum tulisse (laeva sīve dextera vocāret aura, sīve utrumque Iuppiter simul secundus incidisset in pedem), neque ūlla vōta lītorālibus deīs sibi esse facta, cum venīret ā marī novissimō hunc ad ūsque limpidum lacum. Sed haec prius fuēre: nunc reconditā senet quiēte sēque dēdicat tibī, gemelle Castor et gemelle Castoris.
The image for this title page comes from the British Library’s catalogue of illuminated manuscripts. I am grateful that the image is dedicated to the public domain. I have done minor photoshop editing to clarify the image, crop it, and add a heading for the poem.
One Comment
Pingback: