Catullus 107 Translation
Introduction |
In poem 107, the poet talks about his fortune in life in relation to Lesbia, his lover. In lines one and two, he talks about how the true pleasure of the mind is to never hope or eagerly love. In lines three, he talks about how never longing or hoping is more precious than gold. But in line four, he asks Lesbia to give herself back to him as he longed for her. In line five, he shares that he longed, but never hoped. And, in line six, he would have the best day if she returned to him.
In the final two lines, Catullus talks about how no one is luckier than he is. But, he does it in a round-about way. In the poem, Catullus references a few colors, specifically gold and white. He uses the “whiter mark!” to describe how lucky he is. Then, he uses a play on the word by referencing wight, a person who is unfortunate. The whiter mark could be a fair mark, as opposed to a dark mark, which would be a blemish. But, the reference to a wight could be towards himself when Lesbia left him or cheated on him. He has not always had the best of luck with her, despite his strong feelings for her.
His ideas of longing and hoping are unusual. It seems that the mind does have some pleasure in hoping, more so than longing. Longing often results in pain, but the hope is eternal. Throughout the poems about Lesbia, Catullus seems to be longing for her, but also hoping that she will finally pay attention to him. But, he talks about how his pleasure in longing and hoping is more valuable than gold. He just wants her back, so he no longer has to be unfortunate.
Carmen 107 |
| Line | Latin text | English translation |
|---|---|---|
1 | SI quicquam cupido optantique optigit umquam | IF anything ever happened to any one who eagerly longed |
2 | insperanti, hoc est gratum animo proprie. | and never hoped, that is a true pleasure to the mind. |
3 | quare hoc est gratum nobis quoque carius auro | And so to me too this is a pleasure more precious than gold, |
4 | quod te restituis, Lesbia, mi cupido. | that you, Lesbia, restore yourself to me who longed for you, |
5 | restituis cupido atque insperanti, ipsa refers te | restore to me who longed, but never hoped, yes, you yourself give yourself back |
6 | nobis. o lucem candidiore nota! | to me. O happy day, blessed with the whiter mark! |
7 | quis me uno uiuit felicior aut magis hac est | What living wight is more lucky than I; or who can say |
8 | optandus uita dicere quis poterit? | that any fortune in life is more desirable than this ? |
Previous Carmen | Available Translations | Next Carmen
Resources |
VRoma Project: http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/107.html
