Catullus 85 Translation
Introduction |
Catullus wrote several of his poems about his love, Lesbia. She was married to Metellus, but she had an affair with Catullus. After he died, she had an affair with Caelius and the affair was rumored to have happened when Catullus was out of Rome. Caelius was the focus of a few of Catullus’s poems because he was the man who attempted to kill Lesbia, too. Caelius was acquitted of the attempted poisoning after giving a speech that vilified her.
This poem is about why he hates and loves. And, the poem reads like a conversation with an invisible reader. Catullus speaks to the reader, if the reader wonders why he hates and loves. Catullus answers that he does not know why, but he feels both and he is tormented by it.
Because this poem focuses on love, it is easy to see that Catullus is frustrated with his feelings about Lesbia. He is tormented by her and the outcome of their relationship. At this point, Lesbia must be with someone else, otherwise Catullus would not be tormented like he is.
This poem is one of Catullus’s most famous poems. It is an elegiac couplet written in a style that shows his power, then weakness, then power again. He is tormented, which in the Latin is written as excrucior, which is easy to see is the root of the word excruciating. Synonyms for excruciating is agonizing, unendurable, or dreadful. It is easy to see why it is famous as it covers emotions that people feel regularly.
Catullus has worked hard to get Lesbia to love him in the same way that he loves her. Throughout his poetry, he struggled with his feelings for her, especially because she was married. Then, she had her relationship with Caelius while Catullus was out of town and that tore him apart.
Carmen 85 |
| Line | Latin text | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ODI et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris. | I HATE and love. Why I do so, perhaps you ask. |
| 2 | nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior. | I know not, but I feel it, and I am in torment. |
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Resources |
VRoma Project: http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/085.html
