Catullus 6

Catullus 6 is a Latin poem of seventeen lines in Phalaecean hendecasyllabic metre by the Roman poet Catullus.^[1]

Catullus 6 in Latin and English

Catullus 6

Text

Literal English Translation	Original Latin	Line
Flavius, of your darling to Catullus, if she were not unpretty and inelegant, you'd be wanting to speak nor could keep quiet. But you love I don't know what of a feverish harlot: it shames you to admit this. For that you don't spend the nights single your speechless bed screams in vain, fragrant with garlands and Syrian oil, and the mattress equally on this side and that worn away, and the creaking and movement of your shaking bed. There's no point in being quiet about your debauchery. Why, you wouldn't reveal such sexually tired sides unless you were doing something silly. So, whatever good and bad you have, tell us. I want to summon you and your love to heaven in my witty verse.	Flāvī, dēliciās tuās Catullō, nī sint illepidae atque inēlegantēs, vellēs dīcere nec tacēre possēs. Vērum nescio quid febrīculōsī scortī dīligis: hoc pudet fatērī. Nam tē nōn viduās iacēre noctēs nēquīquam tacitum cubīle clāmat sertīs ac Syriō fragrāns olīvō, pulvīnusque peraequē et hic et ille attrītus, tremulīque quassa lectī argūtātiō inambulātiōque. Nam nīl stupra valet nihil tacēre. Cūr? nōn tam latera ecfutūta pandās, nī tū quid faciās ineptiārum. Quārē, quidquid habēs bonī malīque, dīc nōbīs. Volo tē ac tuōs amōrēs ad caelum lepidō vocāre versū.	6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17

Analysis

Flavius is teased about an intrigue which he has in vain tried to conceal.^[1] With the general theme, E. T. Merrill compares Catullus 55.1ff. and Horace, Carmina 1.27; 2.4.^[1]

In his Victorian translation of Catullus, R. F. Burton titles the poem "To Flavius: Mis-speaking his Mistress".^[2]