Carmina

Catullus

Catullus, Gaius Valerius. The Carmina of Caius Valerius Catullus. Burton, Sir Richard Francis, translator. London, Printed for the Translators, 1894.

  • That with more will-full will a-hearing
  • The call to office due, he would
  • Turn footsteps hither, here appearing,
  • Guide to good Venus, and the good
  • Lover conjoining strait.
  • What God than other Godheads more
  • Must love-sick wights for aid implore?
  • Whose Godhead foremost shall adore
  • Mankind? 0 Hymenaeus Hymen,
  • O Hymen Hymenaeus.
  • Thee for his own the trembling sire
  • Invokes, thee Virgins ever sue
  • Who laps of zone to loose aspire,
  • And thee the bashful bridegrooms woo
  • With ears that long to hear.
  • Thou to the hand of love-fierce swain
  • Deliverest maiden fair and fain,
  • From mother's fondling bosom ta'en
  • Perforce, 0 Hymenaeus Hymen
  • 0 Hymen Hymenaeus.