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Nyt fund i Pompeji: En svane har sex med en kvinde

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Catullus - Catullus Translations - Welcome - Gaius Valerius Catullus

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Catullus translations site with the Latin poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus as well as translations of the Carmina Catulli in Latin, English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin and Hungarian!

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Artikel om Catul (fra Latin Literature af John Godwin)

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Artikel om Catul (fra Latin Literature af John Godwin)

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Catullus (c.84-54 BC) was one of the most influential poets ever to have written in Latin, with a wide range of emotions and registers in the slim volume of 116 poems which have survived to us. There are sublime elegies on death and love (such as 68), the masterpiece epyllion 64, the wedding hymns (61, 62), and the smaller poems which say so much about the agony and the joys of love and friendship. There are also, however, the scandalous invective poems which have earned this poet a reputation for obscenity, and the controversy over their language shows no sign of going away.

Catullus certainly knows how to attack people: he mocks people for their dental hygiene, taste in girlfriends, body odour, toilet habits, refusal to fulfil a promise, flatulence, hairy buttocks, and their propensity to sell their bodies for personal gain. He uses foul language to describe poetry and people (Naso, Gellius, Mamurra, Memmius) whom he does not like. In a literal translation some of this reads as simply uncouth and puerile. Is this poetry or just graffiti? Does it deserve to be read at all, let alone used as a school set text? How can a poet who writes this sort of stuff be called a genius? Should we not omit those poems and just read the others, as C.J. Fordyce famously did when he published his censored selection in 1961, saying that "a few poems which do not lend themselves to comment in English have been omitted"?

The Romans did not think so, as far as we can tell. Catullus was praised by them as a fine and influential poet: his poem on his girlfriend's sparrow was famous enough to be imitated when Ovid ( Amores 2.6) wrote an elegy on his girl's dead parrot, and Virgil seems to have imitated him directly at key moments of the Aeneid (6.460, imitating Catullus 66.39, and 9.435-7, imitating Catullus 11.21-4). Ovid, Tibullus and Martial call him "learned" ( doctus), and Propertius even says (2.34.87-8) that "playful ( lascivus) Catullus' poetry has made his girlfriend better known than Helen of Troy". What may seem to us a succès de scandale was to the Romans a poetic succès d'estime.
Words as weapons
The expression of sexual and scatological humour certainly seems to have been uninhibited in Ancient Greece and Rome. Much Roman obscenity was a form of male posturing - sexual aggression to express anger and a desire to dominate one's enemies, such as we find in poems 15 (where Catullus threatens vengeance with radishes and mullets) and 16 (where sexual humiliation is threatened in lively language). Some of it imputes sexual impotence (or incompetence) to the poet's enemies (who are said to be cuckolds in poems 17 and 78); and some of it accuses the enemy of engaging in disgusting acts (e.g. poems 88, 98) or engaging in incest (89-91) or passive homosexuality (112), with the imagery of the "unclean mouth" a regular feature in poems such as 80 and 97.

Catullus himself was aware that some readers might read more into this than playful banter. In poem 16 he makes the point explicitly:

qui me ex uersiculis meis putastis,
quod sunt molliculi, parum pudicum.
nam castum esse decet pium poetam
ipsum, uersiculos nihil necesse est;
qui tum denique habent salem ac leporem,
si sunt molliculi ac parum pudici.

You think I lack modesty because my verses are sexy. The dedicated poet himself ought to be a decent man, but his verses do not. In fact they only get wit and grace if they are sexy and shameless... (16.3-8)

and so (he seems to be saying) his obscenity is part of the genre rather than any personal proclivity. We know that composing erotic poetry was a leisure activity even for the ultra-serious Pliny the Younger:

facio non numquam versiculos severos parum, facio; nam et comoedias audio et specto mimos et lyricos lego et Sotadicos intellego; aliquando praeterea rideo iocor ludo, utque omnia innoxiae remissionis genera breviter amplectar, homo sum.

I do sometimes write short verses which lack seriousness - for I go to hear comedies, mimes, read lyric poems and appreciate Sotadean verse: I occasionally laugh, joke, fool about, and to sum up in a word all these kinds of harmless recreation: I am human. ( Epistles 5.3.2: he goes on to name other Romans who shared his hobby).

The savagery of Catullan obscenity is also part of a long tradition of witty attack going back to old comedy (Aristophanes pulls no punches in attacking enemies such as Cleon), archaic poetry (Archilochus): and, in the generation after Catullus, the young Horace composed (in Epodes 8 and 12) attacks on women which even now (or perhaps especially now) are astonishingly crude and savage. Interestingly, however, the love-poetry which has survived after Catullus shows no overt obscenity until the outspoken Martial in the late 1 st century AD.

Throughout Roman literary history the satirical tradition always claimed "outspokenness" ( libertas) as part of its remit. So Catullus is not breaking any rules or even (it seems) raising (m)any ancient eyebrows. Yet still the debate goes on and translators of his poetry still feel the need to issue 'trigger-warnings' about the content that follows. Are we perhaps missing the point and reading it wrong?
Family Frolics
Catullus' verses can be rude and even crude, but the poet's wit and inventiveness always surprise and delight the reader. Sometimes the wit is in the use of perfectly innocent words as forms of obscene attack. Look for example at this charming family group in poem 78:

Gallus habet fratres, quorum est lepidissima coniunx
alterius, lepidus filius alterius.
Gallus homo est bellus: nam dulces iungit amores,
cum puero ut bello bella puella cubet.
Gallus homo est stultus, nec se uidet esse maritum,
qui patruus patrui monstret adulterium.
Gallus has brothers. One of them has a very charming wife, another has a charming son. Gallus is a nice man: for he unites sweet lovers, so that pretty girl sleeps with pretty boy. Gallus is a fool, and doesn't see that he too has a wife, and that he (the uncle) is showing how an uncle gets cuckolded.
The reader will be baffled by the sexual family-tree on show here - which is partly the point as this family goes in for incest on a mind-blowing scale. The poem begins like an innocent children's tale and the faux-naif style only enhances the mood of sordid shame. The reader is left with a riddle to disentangle and the truth, when uncovered, is appalling, even though no obscene words are uttered. The appearance of respectability masks the sordid shenanigans underneath, both in the form and in the content of this deceptively simple poem. Similar breathless outrage is voiced in poem 88:

quid facit is, Gelli, qui cum matre atque sorore
prurit, et abiectis pervigilat tunicis?
quid facit is, patruum qui non sinit esse maritum?
ecquid scis quantum suscipiat sceleris?
suscipit, o Gelli, quantum non ultima Tethys
nec genitor Nympharum abluit Oceanus:
nam nihil est quicquam sceleris, quo prodeat ultra,
non si demisso se ipse voret capite.
Gellius, what is that man doing, who lusts with mother and sister and does it all night with clothes thrown off? What is he doing, who does not let his uncle have a wife? Do you know how great a crime he is undertaking? He is undertaking one so big that not even furthest Tethys washes away, nor Oceanus father of the Nymphs: for there is no crime that he could move into beyond this one, not even if he lowered his head and swallowed himself.
The poem vents indignation throughout, from the opening salvo of rhetorical questions to the final grotesque image of sexual contortionism. The mood of disgust in the text is mirrored in the open-mouthed indignation of the first two lines, with the tut-tutting euphemism "go all night" ( pervigilat) and "get the urge" ( prurit, followed by the prurient image of the "clothes thrown off"). The sequence suggests that the speaker is getting a thrill from the pictures he is creating, for all his alleged disgust. The poem then dials down the sexual imagery with the language of family and of crime, with a short riff on the idea of "washing away" pollution complete with learned mythology to reinforce the speaker's authority. The mythology is well chosen: Tethys and Oceanus were incestuous siblings and so would hardly be in a position to cleanse the immorality of a Gellius.

The full-throttle outrage comes roaring back in the final phrase - a phrase made all the more bathetic by the contrast with the 'high' style in the preceding lines. This grossly obscene gossip manages to create its effects without any obscene words and (as in 89, where the same Gellius is mocked for the lean physique which his excessive sexual activity has given him) the poet affects moral superiority as much by his delicate choice of language as by what he actually says.
Street Scene
At other times Catullus gives the impression of spontaneous speech when the text is anything but spontaneous. Look for example at poem 10:

Varus me meus ad suos amores
visum duxerat e foro otiosum,
scortillum, ut mihi tum repente visum est,
non sane illepidum neque invenustum,
huc ut venimus, incidere nobis
sermones varii, in quibus, quid esset
iam Bithynia, quo modo se haberet,
et quonam mihi profuisset aere.
respondi id quod erat, nihil neque ipsis
nec praetoribus esse nec cohorti,
cur quisquam caput unctius referret,
praesertim quibus esset irrumator
praetor, nec faceret pili cohortem.
'at certe tamen,' inquiunt 'quod illic
natum dicitur esse, comparasti
ad lecticam homines.' ego, ut puellae
unum me facerem beatiorem,
'non' inquam 'mihi tam fuit maligne
ut, provincia quod mala incidisset,
non possem octo homines parare rectos.'
at mi nullus erat nec hic neque illic
fractum qui veteris pedem grabati
in collo sibi collocare posset.
hic illa, ut decuit cinaediorem,
'quaeso' inquit 'mihi, mi Catulle, paulum
istos commoda: nam volo ad Serapim
deferri.' 'mane' inquii puellae,
'istud quod modo dixeram me habere,
fugit me ratio: meus sodalis -
Cinna est Gaius - is sibi paravit.
verum, utrum illius an mei, quid ad me?
utor tam bene quam mihi pararim.
sed tu insulsa male et molesta vivis,
per quam non licet esse neglegentem.'

Varus had taken me from out of the forum when I was idle to see his girlfriend, a little tart (scortillum), as I saw straight away, but not without charm or sex-appeal. When we got there various topics of conversation cropped up, such as how Bithynia was these days - what state it was in and what sort of money it had made me. I told them the truth in reply; that there was nothing there for the praetors themselves or for their staff, no reason for any of them to come home better off (literally "bring back a head better oiled"), especially since we had a bugger of a praetor who didn't give a toss for the staff. "But even so," they say "you did get men to carry your litter chair - the place is famous for that." To make myself look better in the eyes of the girl I said: "Just because I got a rubbish province doesn't mean that I could not get eight men who can stand up straight." In fact I didn't have anybody - either here or there - who could put the broken foot of an old bed on his neck. She (as you might expect of such a whore) at once said "Please, my Catullus, lend me them for a while; for I want to be carried to Serapis." "Hang on" I said to the girl "what I just said I had - I was not thinking straight. My friend, Gaius Cinna, he got them for himself. But it's all the same whether they are his or mine. I make use of them as if they were mine. But you - you're a bore and a pain for not letting a man speak carelessly."

No translation can recreate the verbal artistry here. The poem sounds almost improvised with its chatty style, its deliberate use of offensive slang (such as scortillum, "tart", and irrumator, "bugger"), colloquialisms ( caput unctius referre, "bring back a head better oiled"), its snatches of dialogue complete with stammering incoherence as the embarrassed poet finds himself looking an idiot. ars est (of course) celare artem: art is hiding art. The poem is skilfully written in the hendecasyllabic metre, with the playful contrast of the putative eight litter-bearers with the (un)reality of the man who could pick up one leg of a broken couch; there is the ring-composition whereby the opening shot of the "idle" ( otiosum) poet is echoed with the final word neglegentem.

There is also clear development of narrative line: the girl who is impressive enough to be praised with the litotes "not without charm or sex-appeal" is subsequently called cinaediorem ("a whore") - a term of disapproval raised with the comparative form - and ends up being called a "bore and a pain" for calling Catullus' bluff and showing him up in front of his friends. His final excuse - that he simply mis-spoke - is also shown up by his own admission (16-17) that he was bragging to impress the girl. Catullus in this short poem gives us a glimpse of the world he lived in but also a readiness to present his poetic persona as one who is vulnerable and fallible, as he also shows in poems such as 8, 11, and 76. The slang and the colloquial Latin reinforce the realism of the poem and so succeed in reinforcing the emotional effect of the text.
Impure Poetry
It took a long time for this literary use of the sordid to become mainstream in European literature. In the 20 th century the Chilean Nobel-laureate Pablo Neruda (1904-73) coined the phrase "impure poetry" to describe how a poet can perform the alchemy of transforming human dross into literary gold. Nothing is on this view irredeemable - in fact the poet should positively seek out that which is

steeped in sweat and in smoke, smelling of lilies and urine, spattered diversely by the trades that we live by, inside the law or beyond it... our bodies, soup-stained, soiled with our shameful behaviour, our wrinkles and vigils and dreams, observations and prophecies, declarations of loathing and love, idylls and beasts, the shocks of encounter, political loyalties, denials and doubts, affirmations and taxes.

Catullus, it might be argued, is similarly faithful to the reality of life and succeeds in John Updike's aim of giving "the mundane its beautiful due". In this he can even be seen as anticipating such modernist texts as James Joyce's Ulysses (celebrating its centenary this year, and accused of obscenity when it was first written), T.S Eliot's The Waste Land (1922, also in its centenary year), and Alfred Döblin's novel Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929), in all of which snatches of realist dialogue and decidedly unheroic aspects of life are reproduced within these highly literary creations. When Catullus is at his most obscene he is also at his most artistic, showing a poet's delight in vivid imagery and above all raising the language of the street to the heights of poetic sublimity.

John Godwin was for many years Head of Classics at Shrewsbury School. He has written an of all of Catullus' poetry in two volumes (Aris and Phillips, Warminster, 1995, 1999), a Reading Catullus (Greece and Rome Live, Liverpool Univ. Press, 2008) and the Catullus: a Selection of Poems (Bloomsbury, London, 2021) which has been set for A Level in 2022 and 2023 by OCR.
Further Reading
The best thing to read is Catullus himself, in Latin and/or in English. Guy Lee's 1998 translation for Oxford World's Classics is excellent, and there are good editions with facing translation by G.P. Goold (Duckworth, London, 1989) and Peter Green (Univ. of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 2007). The new Cambridge Companion to Catullus (Ian Du Quesnay and Tony Woodman eds., Cambridge UP, 2021) is a feast of excellent articles (with suggestions for further reading) and looks at many different aspects of the poetry. On Catullan obscenity see William Fitzgerald's Catullan Provocations (Univ. of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 1995, 59-86) and the articles by Donald Lateiner and Amy Richlin contained in Julia Haig Gaisser (ed.), Catullus ( Oxford Readings in Classical Studies, Oxford UP, 2007).

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Catullus (c.84-54 BC) was one of the most influential poets ever to have written in Latin, with a wide range of emotions and registers in the slim volume of 116 poems which have survived to us.

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Ille mi par esse deo videtur - senza video

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Ille mi par esse deo videtur - senza video

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Catull Carmen 51 (Ille mi par esse deo videtur)

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Ille mi par esse deo... Un dio mi pare - A. Branduardi

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Ille mi par esse videtur - Branduardi (uden video, bedre lyd)

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Ille mi par esse videtur - Branduardi (uden video, bedre lyd)

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Ille mi par esse videtur - Angelo Branduardi

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Ille mi par esse videtur - Angelo Branduardi

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Ille mi par esse deo... Un dio mi pare - A. Branduardi

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Catullus 43 - oversættelse og fortolkning

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Catullus 43 - oversættelse og fortolkning

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Gaio Valerio Catullo – “Salve, nec minimo puella naso” (Carmen 43)

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Gaio Valerio Catullo – “Cenabis bene, mi Fabulle, apud me” (Carmen 13)

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Cenabis bene, mi Fabulle, apud me - Catullus 13

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Cenabis bene, mi Fabulle, apud me - Catullus 13

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Introduzione

In questa pagina la traduzione del carme 7 di Catullo con annesso testo latino, traduzione libera, analisi e commento del carme; nel testo il poeta si rivolge a Lesbia, che gli domandava quanti baci possano bastare a soddisfarlo: Catullo le darà una delle risposte più belle della letteratura latina.

Testo latino del carme 7 di Catullo

Quaeris, quot mihi basiationes
tuae, Lesbia, sint satis superque.
quam magnus numerus Libyssae harenae
laserpiciferis iacet Cyrenis
oraclum Iovis inter aestuosi
et Batti veteris sacrum sepulcrum;
aut quam sidera multa, cum tacet nox,
furtivos hominum vident amores:
tam te basia multa basiare
vesano satis et super Catullo est,
quae nec pernumerare curiosi
possint nec mala fascinare lingua.

Traduzione (letterale) carme 7 in italiano con testo latino a fronte

Quaeris, quot mihi basiationes
Mi chiedi, per me, quanti baci
tuae, Lesbia, sint satis superque.
dei tuoi, Lesbia, possano arrivare a saziarmi.
Quam magnus numerus Libyssae harenae
Quanto grande è il numero dei grani di sabbia della Libia,
lasarpiciferis iacet Cyrenis
che si adagia nella Cirene, che produce laserpizio,
oraclum Iovis inter aestuosi
tra l'oracolo di Giove, ardente,
et Batti veteris sacrum sepulcrum;
e dell'antico Batto il sepolcro sacro;
aut quam sidera multa, cum tacet nox,
o quante le stelle, quando la notte sta in silenzio
furtivos hominum vident amores:
scorgono gli amori segreti degli uomini:
tam te basia multa basiare
sia che tu mi baci, con altrettanti baci,
vesano satis et super Catullo est,
tanto è sufficiente e più, per l'avventato Catullo,
quae nec pernumerare curiosi
in numero che né i curiosi li possano contare
possint nec mala fascinare lingua.
né le malelingue ne possano scagliare il malocchio.

Traduzione in italiano del carme 7

Mi chiedi, per me, quanti baci
dei tuoi, Lesbia, possano arrivare a saziarmi.
Quanto grande è il numero dei grani di sabbia della Libia,
che si adagia, nella Cirene, che produce laserpizio,
tra l'oracolo di Giove, ardente,
e dell'antico Batto il sacro sepolcro;
o quante le stelle, quando la notte sta in silenzio,
scorgono gli amori segreti degli uomini:
sia che tu mi baci, con altrettanti baci,
tanto è sufficiente e più, per l'avventato Catullo,
in numero che né i curiosi li possano contare
né le malelingue ne possano scagliare il malocchio.
<<< Torna all'elenco dei carmi d'amore di Catullo
Commento

Il metro del carme 7 è quello dell'endecasillabo falecio, composto da cinque piedi.

Il primo piede è quello che può essere trocheo, spondeo o giambo; il secondo piede è dattilo mentre gli ultimi tre sono trochei.

Analisi carme 7 di Catullo

Un video interessante che spiega bene il carme 7 di Catullo in una breve analisi è disponibile tramite questo video su Youtube, incorporato qui sotto.

Approfondimenti consigliati

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Carme 7 (Catullo): traduzione in italiano con testo latino e analisi - Infonotizia.it

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Introduzione In questa pagina la traduzione del carme 7 di Catullo con annesso testo latino, traduzione libera, analisi e commento del carme; nel testo il poeta si rivolge a Lesbia, che gli domandava quanti baci possano bastare a soddisfarlo: Catullo le darà una delle risposte più belle della letteratura latina.

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Catullo Carme 7
Metrica, testo, traduzione e paradigmi di Catullo Carme 7.
Carme 7
Quaèris quòt mihi bàsiàtiònes

tùae, Lèsbia, sìnt satìs supèrque.

Quàm magnùs numerùs Libýssae arènae

làsarpìciferìs iacèt Cyrènis,

òraclùm1 Iovis ìnter aèstuòsi

èt Battì veterìs sacrùm sepùlcrum,

àut quam sìdera mùlta, cùm tacèt nox,

fùrtivòs hominùm vidènt amòres,

tàm te bàsia mùlta bàsiàre

vèsanò satis èt supèr Catùllo est;

quaè nec pèrnumeràre cùriòsi

pòssint nèc mala fàscinàre lìngua.

(1) In questo caso -um non si elide, perché la I di Iovis è semiconsonantica.

(Mi) chiedi quanti baci

tuoi, Lesbia, siano per me più che sufficienti [lett.: sufficienti e di troppo].

Quanto (è) grande il numero (dei granelli) di sabbia libica

(che) si stende a Cirene produttrice di silfio,

tra l'oracolo di Giove infocato

e il santo sepolcro dell'antico Batto,

o quante (sono) le stelle (che), quando tace la notte,

vegliano/spiano gli amori furtivi degli uomini,

tanti sono i baci che tu devi baciare

perché a Catullo pazzo (di amore) sia sufficiente e di troppo,

(tanti) che i maligni non possano contarli,

né la lingua maligna (possa) gettarvi il malocchio.

Quaero, is, quasivi, quasitum, ĕre = chiedere

Sum, es, fui, esse = essere

Iaceo, es, iacui, iaciturus, ēre = giacere

Taceo, es, tacui, tacitum, ēre = tacere

Video, es, vidi, visum, ēre = vedere

Pernumero, as, avi, atum, are = contare

Possum, potes, potui, posse = potere

Fascino, as, avi, atum, are = lanciare il malocchio

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Catullo carme 7 - Metrica, traduzione, paradigmi

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Carme 7 Quaèris quòt mihi bàsiàtiònes tùae, Lèsbia, sìnt satìs supèrque. Quàm magnùs numerùs Libýssae arènae làsarpìciferìs iacèt Cyrènis, òraclùm1 Iovis ìnter aèstuòsi èt Battì veterìs sacrùm sepùlcrum, àut quam sìdera mùlta, cùm tacèt nox, fùrtivòs hominùm vidènt amòres, tàm te bàsia mùlta bàsiàre vèsanò satis èt supèr Catùllo est; quaè nec pèrnumeràre cùriòsi pòssint nèc mala fàscinàre lìngua.

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Catullo carme V
Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus
Rumoresque senum severiorum
Omnes unius aestememus assis.
Soles occidere et redire possunt:
Nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux,
Nox est perpetua una dormienda.
Da mi basìa mille, deinde centum,
Dein mille altera, dein secunda centum
Deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum.
Dein, cum milia multa fecerimus,
conturbabimus illa, ne sciamus,
aut ne quis malus invidere possit,
cum tantum sciat esse basiorum.

Vìvamùs, mea Lèsbia, àtque amèmus,
rùmorèsque senùm sevèriòrum
òmnes ùnîus aèstimèmus àssis.
Sòles òccidere èt redìre pòssunt:
nòbis, cùm semel òccidìt brevìs lux,
nòx est pèrpetua ùna dòrmiènda.
Dà mi bàsia mìlle, dèinde cèntum,
dèin mille àltera, dèin secùnda cèntum,
dèinde usque àltera mìlle, dèinde cèntum.
Dèin, cum mìlia mùlta fècerìmus,
cònturbàbimus ìlla, nè sciàmus,
àut nequìs malus ìnvidère pòssit,
cùm tantùm sciat èsse bàsiòrum.

Traduzione:
Viviamo, mia Lesbia, ed amiamo(ci),
e le chiacchiere dei vecchi troppo arcigni consideriamole tutte un soldo (bucato).
I giorni [i soli] possono tramontare e ritornare;
noi, una volta che la breve luce è tramontata,
dobbiamo dormire un'unica notte eterna.
Dammi mille baci, (e) poi cento,
poi mille altri, poi ancora cento,
poi di seguito altri mille, (e) poi cento.
Poi, quando ne avremo fatto molte migliaia,
li rimescoleremo, per non conoscere (il totale),
o perché nessun
maligno possa gettar(ci) il malocchio,
sapendo che è così grande il numero dei baci [che c'è tanto di baci].

Si tratta di uno dei carmi più celebri del liber. Riprendendo un topos letterario classico attestato fin da Mimnermo e anticipando il carpe diem oraziano, Catullo rivolge a se stesso e a Lesbia l'invito a godere dei piaceri della vita e dell'amore, senza curarsi della morale tradizionale e bacchettona, qui rappresentata dai senes severiores che bisbigliano alle loro spalle.

Il poeta invita la propria donna a sfidare le convenienze del mos maiorum in nome di un nuovo ideale di vita che pieno significato con l'amore.

L'amore per Lesbia viene in questa lirica rappresentato felice e appagante senza l'ombra della gelosia o della separazione. Ma un'ombra più fatale e ineludibile si mostra in lontananza, quella del tempo che trascorre e della morte inevitabile.

Il risultato è di rendere più intensa e urgente l'esortazione alla vita e all'amore. L'immediatezza e l'universalità del tema e l'apparente naturalezza con cui Catullo lo tratta hanno talora distolto l'attenzione dalla complessa elaborazione stilistica del carme. Come osserva Traina, "l'organizzazione fonosemantica dell'intera lirica ci assicura che questa poesia sarà 'immediata', ma non improvvisata".

vivamus .... Assis - il carme inizia con tre congiuntivi esortativi ( vivamus, amemus, aestimemus) - vivamus ha il significato pregnante di "vivere pienamente e intensamente"; senum severiorem: comparativo assoluto (dei vecchi troppo severi). Il nesso allitterante e l'insistenza delle sibilanti s e delle liquide r rendono l'idea anche dal punto di vista fonetico del bisbiglio e delle mormorazionisoles: letteralmente "i soli", quindi per metonimia "i giorni". La metonimia si espande fino ai verbi occidere e redire che si addicono a soles e non a dies.

nobis .. dormienda: nobis è dativo d'agente retto dalla perifrastica passiva est ... dormienda (per noi, caduta questa breve luce, c'è una sola notte eterna da dormire); brevis lux, nox .. perpetua: l'antitesi è valorizzata dal chiasmo e dalla collocazione dei due monosillabi, lux a fine verso e nox all'inizio del verso successivo.

da mi: l'imperativo del verbo dare seguito dal dativo contatto del pronome mihi costituisce una forma che prelude all'italiano "dammi"

mille ... centum: numeri generici più volte ripetuti per indicare una quantità infinita di baci

deinde .... Dein: l'avverbio, usato nella forma piena deinde, e nella forma apocopata dein scandisce il ritmo frenetico dei baci;

usque avverbio "di seguito"

fecerimus: futuro anteriore con la i lunga per necessità metrica - il verbo facere ha il significato tecnico contabile di "fare la somma"; conturbabimus - appartiene anch'esso al lessico della finanza e vuol dire "confondere i conti"

aut ... basiorum - invidere ha il significato etimologico di "fare il malocchio";

cum .. sciat: l'idea è che la felicità attira l'invidia e questa ha più effetto se si conoscono esattamente i beni di una persona

Tre termini per la parola bacio:

Basium: compare per la prima volta in Catullo - forse di origine celtica viste le origini veronesi del poeta
Osculum: termine classico - diminutivo di os, oris "bocca", quindi "boccuccia" passa ad indicare il bacio per la forma che la bocca assume nell'atto di baciare

Savium o soavium: "cosa dolce" - ha significato più spiccatamente erotico.

Usato anche da Catullo ( suaviolum dulci dulcius ambrosia - un bacio più dolce della dolce ambrosia)

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Catullo carme V Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus Rumoresque senum severiorum Omnes unius aestememus assis. Soles occidere et redire possunt: Nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux, Nox est perpetua una dormienda. Da mi basìa mille, deinde centum, Dein mille altera, dein secunda centum Deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum.

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Fortolkning af digt VIII - Caroline, Maja, Marie

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Fortolkning af digt VIII - Caroline, Maja, Marie

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(linjer er ift. den danske oversættelse af Otto Gelsted, 1960'erne).

Hvem taler til hvem?
Linje 1-11 taler Catullus til sig selv.
Linje 12-18 taler Catullus til Lesbia.
Linje 19 taler Catullus igen til sig selv.
Han omtaler hele tiden sig selv i 3. person.

Sindsstemninger (gloser, virkemidler)?
Linje 1-2: Catullus har ondt af sig selv - kan ses ved digtets start 'Miser Catulle'.
Linje 3-5 (begynder med fortid - fortsætter indtil 'nunc iam illa...'): Catullus tænker tilbage på de gode tider, så der er en lidt mere positiv stemning, men man kan ikke undgå den triste stemning, idet det trodsalt er noget, som er gået tabt.
Linje 6-7: Catullus mindes ikke længere de gode ting.
Linje 8: Nu har han igen en mere positiv indstilling til fortiden: ' fulsere uere candidi tibi soles. '
Linje 9-11: Catullus indser hvordan virkeligheden forholder sig, og han begynder igen at være motiveret og prøver at opmuntre sig selv - ' sed obstinata mente perfer, obdura. ' - han taler her bl.a. om 'mente' altså hans sind, som han skal styrke.
(...)
Linje 19:  motiverende stemning - 'destinatus' og 'obdura' - verber som viser dette.

Noter fra tavlen:
Hvem taler? Catullus som forfatter
TIl hvem tales der til? Catullus som elsker
Dette fortsætter indtil "Vale, puella..."
Her tales der i stedet til pigen, han elsker (Lesbia)
Og i den absolut sidste linje er tales der igen til Catullus som elskeren.

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Catullus 8 - en "rå" oversættelse Flashcards | Quizlet

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Start studying Catullus 8 - en "rå" oversættelse. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.

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Opdeling af digtet:

l. 1-2: Sorg, selvmedlidende og opgivende
l. 3-7:  Tænker tilbage på de gode tider med Lesbia. = Bevidst om de gode tider i kærlighedslivet.
l. 8-14: Fortæller om omstændighederne og er fast besluttet og stædig på at holde ud og gøre sig hård.
--> Fra l. 1-14 tiltaler Catul sig selv gennem 1. person pluralis + singularis = Han fører en monolog med sig selv.

l. 15-18: Begynder at tiltale Lesbia("vea te", "scelesta" etc.).  Lesbia er i 2. person singularis. Han gør sig tanker om, hvilken fremtid vil hun få. Det indeholder retoriske spørgsmål, som han måske aldrig får svar på. Der bruges meget futurum = direkte fokus på fremtiden.  Spørgsmålene indeholder samme essens på sin vis; Finder hun mon en ny, når han ikke længere er der? Han går nærmest ud fra at hun finder en  ny = måske var forholdet ikke så vigtigt for hende som for ham.

l. 19: Her taler Catul til sig selv igen gennem 1.person singularis+pluralis. Han synes selv han/forholdet var det værd, men han er nødt til at komme videre ligesom Lesbia/Clodia selv, fordi han ikke vil vise han er sårbar.

Konklusion: Catul er ikke kommet videre. Han gør sig stadig tanker om Lesbia; Hvor er hun nu? Hvordan vil hun leve livet nu? I følge ham er det for sent, men han er stadigvæk ked af det. 'Han er lidt vred på hende i form af at han tiltaler hende "scelesta".. Dermed er kærligheden ved at gå over til sorg, der vises gennem hans vrede. Det skjules, fordi han vil ikke vise sig som sårbar, men som en hård mand, der kan komme videre med livet.

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Opdeling af digtet:
Hvem taler til hvem?
Catul henvender sig skiftevis til sig selv, Clodia/Lesbia og til sidst sig selv igen. Dette ses ved brugen af vokativ (Catulle). I digtets første linje henvender Catul sig til den side af sig selv, som er sørgmodig og opgivende - dette understreges ved glosen "miser", der betyder "stakkels" - selvmedlidenhed.
Dernæst henvender han sig direkte til Clodia: "Vale, puella". Her skifter sindsstemningen, da Catul nu fremstår mere hårdfør og vil bevise overfor Clodia, at han ikke behøver hende. Dette understreges af de spørgsmål han stiller hende: "Scelesta, vae te, quae tibi manet vita?

Quis nunc te adibit? Cui videberis bella?

Quem nunc amabis? Cuius esse diceris?

Quem basiabis? Cui labella mordebis?" - her ses det, at Catul gerne vil virke som den sejrende i bruddet med Clodia.
Til sidst henvender han sig atter til sig selv for at indgyde hårdhed og tapperhed: "Et tu, Catulle, destinatus obdura."

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Miser Catulle, desinas ineptire, et quod vides perisse perditum ducas.

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Engelsk oversættelse og gloser til Carmen 8

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Engelsk oversættelse og gloser til Carmen 8

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The Poetry of Gaius Valerius Catullus/8 - Wikibooks, open books for an open world

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The use of the metre, limping iambic, has a broken uneven effect, mimicking the dead end of his thoughts.

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Carmen 8, Miser Catulle, Ribe Katedralskole

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Carmen 8, Miser Catulle, Ribe Katedralskole

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Catul V, morfologi og oversættelse Flashcards | Quizlet

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Start studying Catul V, morfologi og oversættelse. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.

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Catul 5 - Vivamus, mea Lesbia Flashcards | Quizlet

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Start studying Catul 5 - Vivamus, mea Lesbia. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.

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Angående vores snak om  mere ordret oversættelse, som man så kan parafrasere:
nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux,
nox est perpetua una dormienda: når engang det korte lys går ned/slukker for os, er der én evig nat, hvor der skal soves. Heraf kan vi jo så tolke den korte dag som livet, og den evige nat som døden. Syntaksen respekteres også rimeligt. Det er værd at understrege, at gerundiven består af 'dormienda est', hvor gerundiven står som prædikativt adjektiv, og at 'una' lægger sig til nat.
Og vores akkusativ med infinitiv, hvor 'tantus' forvirrede os, fordi det stod som adjektiv i gloserne. Det er et adjektiv, men findes også som substantiv i neutrum, især netop ved brug af artens genitiv, som vi fik ræsonneret os frem til, at det måtte være, før det kunne blive vores akkusativ i infinitiven: cum tantum sciat esse basiorum (cum sciat - når han får at vide), at der er så mange kys - tantum esse basiorum.
I digtet har vi også retoriske figurer:
mea Lesbia=apostrofe
senum severiorum
=allitteration
soles=metonymi (med sole menes dage)
nox=metafor (for død)
lux-nox=antitese
deinde...dein=anafor

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Powerpoint om Catul og lidt litteraturhistorie

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Powerpoint om Catul og lidt litteraturhistorie

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"Lesbia og Catul" - udvalgte digte med gloser, oversættelser og kommentarer.

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"Lesbia og Catul" - udvalgte digte med gloser, oversættelser og kommentarer.

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Filen ligger også på lectio

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Ribe Katedralskoles hjemmeside om Catullus

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Ribe Katedralskoles hjemmeside om Catullus

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Der er også sjove øvelser på sitet - under For sjov!