(Friend!) I accosted each and every quean,But mostly madams showing mien serene,For thee I pestered all with many pleas—"Give me Came n us, wanton baggages!" Till answered certain one a-baring breasts"Lo, 'twixt these rosy paps he haply rests!"But now to find thee were Herculean feat.Not if I feigned me that guard of Crete,Not if with Pegasèan wing I sped,Or Ladas I or Perseus plumiped,Or Rhesus borne in swifty car snow-white:Add the twain foot-bewing'd and fast of flight,And of the cursive' winds require the blow:All these (Camérius!) couldst on me bestow.Tho' were I wearied to each marrow boneAnd by many o' languors clean forgoneYet I to seek thee (friend!) would still assay.In such proud lodging (friend) wouldst self denay?Tell us where haply dwell'st thou, speak outright,Be bold and risk it, trusting truth to light,Say do these milk-white girls thy Steps detain?If aye in tight-sealed lips thy tongue remain,All Amor's fruitage thou shalt cast away:Verbose is Venus, loving verbal play!But, an it please thee, padlockt palate bear,So in your friendship I have partner-share. TO CATO, DESCRIBING A "BLACK JOKER."
O risible matter (Cato!) and jocose,Digne of thy hearing, of thy sneering digne.Laugh (Cato!) an thou love Catullus thine;The thing is risible, nay, too jocose.Erstwhile I came upon a lad who a lassWas . . . and (so please it Dion!) IPierced him with stiffest staff and did him die.ON MAMURRA AND JULIUS CAESARRight well are paired these Cinaedes sans shameMamurra and Caesar, both of pathic fame.No wonder! Both are fouled with foulest blight,One urban being, Formian t'other wight,And deeply printed with indelible stain:Morbose is either, and the twin-like twainShare single Couchlet; peers in shallow lore,Nor this nor that for lechery hungers more,As rival wenchers who the maidens claimRight well are paired these Cinaedes sans shame.
ON LESBIA WHO ENDED BADLY
Caelius! That Lesbia of ours, that Lesbia,That only Lesbia by Catullus loved,Than self, far fondlier, than all his friends,She now Where four roads fork, and wind the wyndsHusks the high-minded scions Remus-sprung.Not if I feigned me that guard of Crete,Not if with Pegasèan wing I sped,>Or Ladas I or Perseus plumiped,Or Rhesus borne in swifty car snow-white:Add the twain foot-bewing'd and fast of flight,And of the cursive' winds require the blow:All these (Camérius!) couldst on me bestow.Tho' were I wearied to each marrow boneAnd by many o' languors clean forgoneYet I to seek thee (friend!) would still assay. ON RUFARufa the Bolognese drains Rufule dry,(Wife to Menenius) she 'mid tombs you'll spy,The same a-snatching supper from the pyreFollowing the bread-loaves rolling forth the fireTill frapped by half-shaved body-burner's ire.
TO A CRUEL CHARMERBare thee some lioness wild in Lybian wold?Or Scylla barking from low'st inguinal fold?With so black spirit, of so dure a mould,E'en voice of suppliant must thou disregardIn latest circumstance ah, heart o'er hard?
Epithalamium On Vinia And Manlius
Of Helicon-hill, O Thou that beHaunter, Urania's progeny,Who hurriest soft virginityTo man, 0 Hymenaeus Hymen,0 Hymen Hymenaeus.About thy temples bind the bloom,Of Marjoram flow'ret scented sweet;Take flamey veil: glad hither comeCome hither borne by snow-hue'd feetWearing the saffron'd sock.And, roused by day of joyful cheer,Carolling nuptial lays and chauntsWith voice as silver ringing clear,