Catullus 86 and 72
Arthur Quagan /
- Created on 2020-05-29 17:20:28
- Modified on 2020-05-29 18:03:01
- Translated by Brian Clark
- Aligned by Arthur Quagan
Latin III Final prep: text alignment
Latin
English
LXXXVI
Quintia formosa est multis . Mihi candida , longa , recta est : haec ego sic singula confiteor . Totum illud formosa nego : nam nulla venustas , nulla in tam magno est corpore mica salis . Lesbia formosa est , quae cum pulcerrima tota est , tum omnibus una omnis surripuit Veneres .
LXXII
Dicebas quondam solum te nosse Catullum , Lesbia , nec prae me velle tenere Iovem . Dilexi tum te non tantum ut vulgus amicam , sed pater ut gnatos diligit et generos . Nunc te cognovi : quare etsi impensius uror , multo mi tamen es vilior et levior . Qui potis est , inquis ? Quod amantem iniuria talis cogit amare magis , sed bene velle minus .
Quintia formosa est multis . Mihi candida , longa , recta est : haec ego sic singula confiteor . Totum illud formosa nego : nam nulla venustas , nulla in tam magno est corpore mica salis . Lesbia formosa est , quae cum pulcerrima tota est , tum omnibus una omnis surripuit Veneres .
LXXII
Dicebas quondam solum te nosse Catullum , Lesbia , nec prae me velle tenere Iovem . Dilexi tum te non tantum ut vulgus amicam , sed pater ut gnatos diligit et generos . Nunc te cognovi : quare etsi impensius uror , multo mi tamen es vilior et levior . Qui potis est , inquis ? Quod amantem iniuria talis cogit amare magis , sed bene velle minus .
86
Quintia’s lovely to many . To me she’s white , long , and straight : I acknowledge that’s so . But I don’t agree that’s beauty : there’s no charm , there’s not a speck of good taste in all of that long body . Lesbia’s lovely , possessed of all that’s most beautiful , besides she alone’s stolen all charm from all other women .
72
Once you said you preferred Catullus alone , Lesbia : would not have Jupiter before me . I prized you then not like an ordinary lover , but as a father prizes his children , his family . Now I know you : so , though I burn more fiercely , yet you’re worth much less to me , and slighter . How is that , you ask ? The pain of such love makes a lover love more , but like less .
Quintia’s lovely to many . To me she’s white , long , and straight : I acknowledge that’s so . But I don’t agree that’s beauty : there’s no charm , there’s not a speck of good taste in all of that long body . Lesbia’s lovely , possessed of all that’s most beautiful , besides she alone’s stolen all charm from all other women .
72
Once you said you preferred Catullus alone , Lesbia : would not have Jupiter before me . I prized you then not like an ordinary lover , but as a father prizes his children , his family . Now I know you : so , though I burn more fiercely , yet you’re worth much less to me , and slighter . How is that , you ask ? The pain of such love makes a lover love more , but like less .