I would write that it’s the beginning of the end, but I have no idea whether that’s true. I generally have no clue what happens in Lesbia and Catullus’ relationship beyond what I’ve already read. I hope I haven’t just written an epic break up scene that rewinds here in another poem or two. Lesbia deserves to be resolute in her decision (as it does seem to have been her decision in my reading).
This is a downside to not having read much Catullus—the complete lack of knowledge of what is to come as I write stories to accompany the poems. Though, I do think I’ve read this poem at some point, about twenty years ago now. I only remember because my professor talked about a double meaning of the word obdurā in a way that stuck. Similarly, as a freshman in college, I’ll never forget the day we had a slideshow of the erotic frescoes from Pompeii and the professor mentioning that the chancellor for the university lived in the building next door. Welp. We Latin teachers have some real thorny thickets to wade through.
Anyhow, I absolutely had to allude to earlier poems here, between the passer and the mīlle bāsia. If you suffered through Catullus 6, then you’ll also see an allusion with diligis. I’ve made Lesbia’s personhood—that is, her value as a person—and who constructs and owns her identity as central problems in the relationship. After all, Catullus asks her some pretty cruel questions, and the question Cuius esse dīcēris? particularly bugged me. If she’d stuck around, I would’ve wanted her to exclaim back that she belongs to herself, but I wanted to end the adaptation as I did and as Catullus himself does in the poem: A conversation between a man and himself. Alone.
I hope you enjoy Catullus 8. If you prefer softer whispers and declarations of love, you can go back to Catullus 7 here.
Also, none of the short stories I put on my website are reviewed by anyone other than me (and I’ve usually read them a few times). If you find typos, I’m sorry—and please feel free to let me know. I’ve caught some of my own embarrassing mistakes, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t hit “publish” on a few others too.
Thank you for reading!
Catullus 8: An Easier Prose Adaptation
Lesbia exclāmat, “Ego ipsa numquam tibi aut aliud bāsium aut aliam basiātiōnem dabō!”
Catullus attonitus est. Flēre vult. Afficitur animō trīstitiā. Respondet, “Sed ego miser[1] erō. Quaesō, dēliciae, mī aliud bāsium dā. Cūr numquam mihi aliud dabis?”
Lesbia iacere aliquid in Catullum vult. Respondet acerbē, “Cūr? Cūr, Ō miser Catulle.[2] Tūne vērō nescīs? Dēsinās ineptīre.”[3]
Catullus terram spectat. Passerēs pīpiantēs in arboribus in hortō audit. Cōnfūsus est quia nescit quōmodo ineptiat.[4]
“Sed, Lesbia, nōn intellegō. Quid ēgī?” Catullus cōnfūsus rogat.
“Quid tū ēgistī?!” Lesbia exclāmat, “Quid tū nōn ēgistī? Quod tū vidēs perisse[5]—nostrum amōrem—sī umquam mē amāvistī—dūcās perditum![6] Tū idiōta vērus nōn es!”
Catullus sōlem[7] lūcentem in caelō videt, et sōlem Lesbiae dēmōnstrat, exclāmāns, “Quondam sōlēs candidī tibi fulsērunt!”[8]
Lesbia saxum in hortō capere et in domum īrātē iacere vult, sed nōn capit. Nōn iacit. Exspectat. Catullus nihil dīcit, et Lesbia nihil dīcit, sed īrātē spectant et exspectant. Illī passerēs adhūc pīpiant.
Tandem, Lesbia dīcit, “Quondam, illī sōlēs candidī mihi quoque vērē fulsēre.”[9]
Catullus sōlem[10] breviter spectat. Lesbia flēre vult sed rogat, “Audīsne illōs passerēs pīpiantēs?”
Catullus frontem contrahit et Lesbiam iterum spectat. Dīcit, “Sīc.”
Passer Lesbiae Catullum nōn dēlectāvit. Eī invidēbat. Estne passer causa īrae Lesbiae? Catullus nescit.
“Cum[11] tū ad domum meam ventitābās,[12] mēne amābās?” Lesbia susurrat, nōn iam īrāta.
Catullus Lesbiam spectat, et respondet, “Sine dubiō, tē adhūc amō.”
Lesbia affecta trīstitiā respondet, “Sed tū mē nōn dīligis. Bāsia tenēre vīs… sed quid plūs?”
Catullus rīdet, “Mīlle bāsia, et deinde—”
“Dēsinās,[13] Catulle,” Lesbia interrumpit, “quid dēbeō agere sī plūs quam basiātiōnēs tenēre volō?”
Catullus iam īrātus est, et respondet, “Ego ipse ventitābam quō[14]tū ipsa dūcēbās![15] Tū basiātiōnēs habēs quia ad illās basiātiōnēs mē duxistī!”
Lesbia ad fontem in hortō it. Passer pīpiāns in fonte est. Lesbia passerem novum tenēre vult. Suspīrat.
“Lesbia, amāta[16] mea, dēliciae meae,” Catullus dīcit, “nūlla[17]puella ā nōbīs amābitur quantum[18] tē iam amō.”
Lesbia manum suam in aquam fontis pōnit. Respondet, “Et quō tē dūcēbam?[19] Nōnne tū multās puellās amās? Nōnne tū ipse multās ducis?[20] Quid refert mihi sī ego ipsa prīma cum multae sunt?”
Catullus exclāmat, “Sed tū mē dūcēbās![21] Secūtus sum! Tū omnia dēcidistī! Et tū sōla nōn es! Tū uxor es, et tū marītum suum quoque dūcis. [22] Sed… tū et ego! Ō, Lesbia, quam optimī nōs sumus. Tē amō, et tū mē amās. Cum illa multa iocōsa fīēbant,[23] quae[24] ego ipse valdē volēbam[25] nec tū ipsa nōlēbās![26] Tū omnia volēbās! Ibi, ibi candidī sōlēs vērē tibi—et mihi—fulsēre!”[27]
“Ego nunc iam nōlō!” Lesbia subitō īrātissimē exclāmat. “Tū mē numquam audīs! Tū lepidōs versūs semper scrībere et legere vult et quis ego sum illīs versibus lepidīs?”
Catullus cōnfūsus interrumpit et respondet, “Meae dēliciae!”
Lesbia arborēs in hortō spectat. Spectāre Catullum nōn potest. Dīcit, “Nōnne ego homō sum? Habeōne vōcem illīs versibus lepidīs? Illīs versibus lēctīs, quid omnēs hominēs dē mē putābunt? Nōn sunt tam lepidī quam tū ipse putās! Tū, hīc, impotēns es![28] Nōlī[29] mē, nec sectāre mē quae ā tē fugiō.[30] Vīve miserē[31] sī tū vīs esse miser,[32] sed ego ipsa vīvam[33] bene.”
Lesbia ā Catullō ambulāre incipit, sed Catullus exclāmat, “Sīc, valē, puella![34] Ī, ī! Abī! Ego obstinātā mente perferam![35] Obdūrābō![36] Valē![37] Ego iam obdūrō!”[38]
Lesbia Catullum ignōrat. Catullus alia bāsia sine dubiō vult. Lesbia ex hortō ambulat. Catullus (quī idiōta miser et vērus nōnnumquam est) eam sequitur.
Lesbia volvit exclāmāns, “Quid dīxī, Catulle? Nōlī mē sectārī![39] Volō ut nec mē requīrās nec mē roget.[40] Invīta[41] sum! Ego tē nōn amō, et tū mē nōn dīligis. Quālis fēmina tē amet quae omnia dē tē sciat? Tū crūdēlitātem in fēminās adhibēs. At tū vērō dolēbis cum tū rogāberis nūllā[42] fēminā.”
Lesbia ex hortō iterum ambulāre incipit. Catullus īrātissimē exclāmat, frontem contrahēns et ā Lesbiā volvēns, “Scelesta, vae tē![43] Quālis puella es? Quālem vītam[44] tē habēbis? Quae tibi manet vērō vīta?[45] Nūlla vīta![46] Vīta bona nōn est tibi! Amōrem nōn habēbis! Quis nunc tē adībit?[47] Tū marītus? Hahae! Cui virō tū ipsa vidēberis bella et pulchra?[48] Nēmō! Nēmō putābit tē esse bellam![49] Quem nunc amābis?[50] Nēminem! Tū nēminem amās, et nēmō tē amābit!! Passerem mortuum amās! Cuius tū esse dīcēris?[51] Meī esse nōn dīcēris!”[52]
Catullus volvit, sed Lesbiam in hortō nōn videt. Catullus in hortō sōlus est. Lesbia iam discessit, et Catullus nōn secūtus est. Lesbia nihil audīvit.
Catullus trīstitiā et invidiā afficitur. Susurrāns rogat, “Quem tū bāsiābis,[53] Lesbia, nisi mē? Cui virō labella mordēbis,[54] nisi labella[55] mea? Quis sine mē et versibus lepidīs meīs es tū?”
Sed nēmō in illō hortō respondet. Catullus sōlus passerēs pīpiantēs audit.
Catullus sibi dīcit, “Puella mala est, et omnes scient! At tū, Catulle, dēstinātus obdūrā.[56] Aliae fēminae sunt, et aliae fēminae nōbīs amābuntur. Eāmus et ūnam iam inveniāmus.”
Et Catullus ex hortō it.
[1] Wretched, miserable
[2] Wretched Catullus
[3] Stop playing the fool; stop being an idiot
[4] He is playing the fool
[5] What you see to have lost, perished
[6] You should consider lost, perished
[7] Sun
[8] Once bright suns blazed for you
[9] Once (those) bright suns also truly blazed (for me)”
[10] Sun
[11] When
[12] You were constantly coming; ventitābās is the frequentive—a way to emphasize the frequency of the action of the verb—form of veniēbās.
[13] Stop
[14] I kept on coming to where
[15] You were leading
[16] Beloved
[17] No, none
[18] Will be loved by us (me, a poetic plural) as much as
[19] (And) where was I leading (you).
[20] You lead
[21] You were leading
[22] You lead
[23] When those many humorous things were happening
[24] Which
[25] I was wanting
[26] Nor you were not wanting
[27] There the bright suns truly blazed for you
[28] You are powerless.
[29] Don’t want
[30] Nor follow me who flees
[31] Live miserably
[32] Wretched
[33] I will live
[34] Goodbye, girl
[35] I will suffer with an obstinate, resolute mind.
[36] I will stay firm
[37] Goodbye
[38] I am firm, resolved
[39] Don’t follow me
[40] That you neither need me nor ask for me.
[41] Unwilling
[42] But you truly will grieve when you will be asked for by no (woman)
[43] Wicked woman, woe to you
[44] Life
[45] What life remains for you?
[46] Life
[47] Who now will approach/come to you?
[48] To which (man) will you seem beautiful (and lovely)?
[49] Beautiful
[50] Whom now will you love?
[51] Whose will you be said to be?
[52] You will not be said to be mine!
[53] Whom will you kiss
[54] Whose lips will you bite? Cui is dative with the body part labella.
[55] Lips
[56] But you, Catullus, having resolved, stay firm.
Catullus 8: English Word Order
Miser Catulle, dēsinās ineptīre, et dūcās perditum quod vidēs perīsse. Quondam candidī sōlēs fulsēre (fulsērunt) tibī, cum ventitābās quō puella dūcēbat, (puella) amāta nōbīs quantum nūlla (puella) amābitur. Ibi cum illa multa iocōsa fīēbant, quae tū volēbās nec puella nōlēbat, candidī sōlēs fulsēre (fulsērunt) vērē tibī. Nunc illa iam nōn vult: nunc iam illa nōn vult: tū quoque impotēns nōlī, nec sectārequae fugit, nec miser vīve, sed perfer obstinātā mente, obdūrā. Valē puella. Catullus iam obdūrat, nec requīret tē nec rogābit invītam. At tū dolēbis, cum rogāberis nūllā (puellā). Scelesta, vae tē! Quae vīta manet tibī? Quis nunc adībit tē? Cui (virō) vidēberis bella? Quem nunc amābis? Cuius (puella) esse dīcēris? Quem bāsiābis? Cui (virō) labella mordēbis? At tū, Catulle, dēstinātus obdūrā.
Catullus 8: The Original Poem
Miser Catulle, dēsinās ineptīre, et quod vidēs perīsse perditum dūcās. Fulsēre quondam candidī tibī sōlēs, cum ventitābās quō puella dūcēbat, amāta nōbīs quantum amābitur nūlla. Ibi illa multa cum iocōsa fīēbant, quae tū volēbās nec puella nōlēbat, fulsēre vērē candidī tibī sōlēs. Nunc iam illa nōn vult: tū quoque impotēns nōlī, nec quae fugit sectāre, nec miser vīve, sed obstinātā mente perfer, obdūrā. Valē, puella. Iam Catullus obdūrat, nec tē requīret nec rogābit invītam. At tū dolēbis, cum rogāberis nūllā. Scelesta, vae tē! Quae tibī manet vīta? Quis nunc tē adībit? Cui vidēberis bella? Quem nunc amābis? Cuius esse dīcēris? Quem bāsiābis? Cui labella mordēbis? At tū, Catulle, dēstinātus obdūrā.
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.
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