Nōmen
IB Latin 2 HL
HL Latin Summer Assignment – CATULLUS
In IB Year 1 you read poems 45 and 65 by Catullus and came to know him as a writer of short, lyric
poetry. This summer you will read and translate the remainder of the Catullus syllabus from the IB
syllabus with the exception of two additional poems that we will read at the end of the IB Year 2 HL
course. Many of these poems focus on a woman with whom the speaker of Catullus’ poems is in love
called ‘Lesbia’.
Please complete ALL THREE parts of this assignment before the first day of school. During the first
full week of school, you will sit for Paper One, an explicātio (including translation, scansion, summary,
context, and analysis) on a selection of the following Catullus poems.
Record your work on LOOSE LEAF, labeling each poem, using every other line, and attaching it at the
end of this handout. Do NOT write answers or translations in the margins or between lines of text
within this packet.
During the summer Ms. Snyder is available for help via e-mail at jsnyder@brooklynlatin.org.
SATISFACTORY COMPLETION OF THIS ASSIGNMENT IS A PREREQUISITE FOR
ADMISSION TO HL LATIN.
PART I: Read all of the remainder of the Catullus syllabus (-C.50, C.76) in English
Catullus 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 72, 85, 86, 92, 107, 109
You may obtain any translation you choose for these poems. There are many good translations that are
free online. Keep in mind that there will be slight differences and variations in translations from
translator to translator. If you find yourself having
Additionally, please read the Wikipedia page on Catullus to refresh your memory on Catullus’
biographical details and pertinent historical information.
PART II: Translate Catullus 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 72, 85, 86, 92, 107, 109
The text for each poem is provided within this packet. It is recommended that you translate one poem
per day, dividing some of the longer poems into sections. Discipulī in HL Latin prepare and/or translate
an average of 12-16 lines per night. If you run into difficulty, you may also consult a translation you’ve
read, but you are still expected to produce your own translation that more closely reflects the grammar
and meaning of the Latin text. Vocabulary and grammar aids have been provided for you, but should
you need to look up additional information, use either the dictionary issued to you at school or an
online resource such as Whitaker’s Words (with prudence).
Part III: Respond to the prompts for each poem
On your loose leaf, respond to the questions for each poem that are listed after the text for each poem.
LATIN TEXTS - Catullus 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 72, 85, 86, 92, 107, 109
CATULLUS 3
METER: HENDECASYLLABIC
Lugete, O Veneres Cupidinesque,
3.1
et quantum est hominum venustiorum: 3.2
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•
passer mortuus est meae puellae,
3.3
passer, deliciae meae puellae,
3.4
quem plus illa oculis suis amabat.
3.5
nam mellitus erat suamque norat
3.6
ipsam tam bene quam puella matrem,
3.7
nec sese a gremio illius movebat,
3.8
sed circumsiliens modo huc modo illuc
3.9
ad solam dominam usque pipiabat.
3.10
qui nunc it per iter tenebricosum
3.11
illuc, unde negant redire quemquam.
3.12
at vobis male sit, malae tenebrae
3.13
Orci, quae omnia bella devoratis:
3.14
tam bellum mihi passerem abstulistis
3.15
o factum male! o miselle passer!
3.16
tua nunc opera meae puellae
3.17
flendo turgiduli rubent ocelli.
3.18
Identify a TRICOLON in ll.1-2
With what word earlier in the poem is mellītus (l.6) correspond? How does the word mellītus
contribute to our understanding of the relationship between the puella and the passer?
What form is the word miselle? How is the use of this word characteristic of Neoteric poetry?
Where in the poem do you find shifts in tone? Describe each instance
CATULLUS 5
METER: HENDECASYLLABIC
Vivamus mea Lesbia, atque amemus,
5.1
rumoresque senum severiorum
5.2
omnes unius aestimemus assis!
5.3
soles occidere et redire possunt:
5.4
nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux,
5.5
nox est perpetua una dormienda.
5.6
da mi basia mille, deinde centum,
5.7
dein mille altera, dein secunda centum,
5.8
deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum. 5.9
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dein, cum milia multa fecerimus,
5.10
conturbābimus illa, ne sciāmus,
5.11
aut ne quis malus invidere possit,
5.12
cum tantum sciat esse basiorum.
5.13
Who does Lesbia represent as an archetypal of Roman love poetry?
Identify an instance of ALLITERATION within the poem
See the vocabulary for the translation of the gerundive of obligation in line 6
mi = mihi
Describe the effect of the ANAPHORA in ll.8-10
CATULLUS 7
METER: HENDECASYLLABIC
Quaeris, quot mihi basiationes
7.1
tuae, Lesbia, sint satis superque.
7.2
quam magnus numerus Libyssae harenae 7.3
lasarpiciferis iacet Cyrenis
7.4
oraclum Iovis inter aestuosi
7.5
et Batti veteris sacrum sepulcrum;
7.6
aut quam sidera multa, cum tacet nox,
7.7
furtivos hominum vident amores:
7.8
tam te basia multa basiare
7.9
vesano satis et super Catullo est,
7.10
quae nec pernumerare curiosi
7.11
possint nec mala fascinare lingua.
7.12
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•
What are the moods of sint (ll.2) and possint (ll.12)? What grammatical constructions give them
their moods?
Where are the sands located? In what way is Catullus’ inclusion of these proper nouns
characteristic of Neoteric poetry?
From what does the speaker want to protect the kisses? How is this reminiscent of C.5?
CATULLUS 8
METER: CHOLIAMBIC
Miser Catulle, dēsinās ineptīre,
8.1
et quod vidēs perīsse perditum dūcās.
8.2
Fulsēre quondam candidī tibī sōlēs,
8.3
cum ventitābās quō puella ducēbat
8.4
amāta nōbīs quantum amābitur nūlla.
8.5
Ibi illa multa cum iocosa fiebant,
8.6
quae tū volebas nec puella nolebat,
8.7
fulsēre vērē candidī tibī sōlēs.
8.8
Nunc iam illa nōn vult: tu quoque impotēns nōlī, 8.9
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nec quae fugit sectare, nec miser vīve,
8.10
sed obstinātā mente perfer, obdūrā.
8.11
Valē puella. Iam Catullus obdūrat,
8.12
nec tē requīret nec rogābit invītam.
8.13
At tū dolebis, cum rogāberis nūlla.
8.14
Scelesta, vae tē! quae tibī manet vīta?
8.15
Quis nunc tē adībit? Cui vidēberis bella?
8.16
Quem nunc amābis? Cuius esse dīcēris?
8.17
Quem bāsiābis? Cui labella mordēbis?
8.18
At tū, Catulle, dēstinātus obdūrā.
8.19
To whom is this poem addressed? Explain the significance of the opening vocative phrase
Identify TWO poetic devices in ll.4-7
Identify an instance of ASYNDETON in ll.11
Describe the effect of the repeated interrogative pronouns in ll.16-18
CATULLUS 9
METER: HENDECASYLLABIC
Verani, omnibus e meis amicis
9.1
antistans mihi milibus trecentis,
9.2
venistine domum ad tuos penates
9.3
fratresque unanimos anumque matrem?
9.4
venisti. o mihi nuntii beati!
9.5
visam te incolumem audiamque Hiberum 9.6
narrantem loca, facta, nationes,
9.7
ut mos est tuus, applicansque collum
9.8
iucundum os oculosque suaviabor.
9.9
o quantum est hominum beatiorum,
9.10
quid me laetius est beatiusve?
9.11
This poem marks a break from the Lesbia sequence and is instead addressed to a friend of Catullus’,
Veranus, whom he is welcoming back from Spain
• Identify an instance of CHIASMUS and a TRICOLON within the poem
• What other line from C.3 is ll.10 reminiscent of? What is the significance of this?
CATULLUS 72
METER: ELEGIAC COUPLET
Dicebas quondam solum te nosse Catullum,
72.1
Lesbia, nec prae me velle tenere Iouem.
72.2
dilexi tum te non tantum ut vulgus amicam,
72.3
sed pater ut gnatos diligit et generos.
nunc te cognovi: quare etsi impensius uror,
multo mi tamen es vilior et levior.
72.4
72.5
72.6
qui potis est, inquis? quod amantem iniuria talis 72.7
cogit amare magis, sed bene velle minus.
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72.8
Note the connotation of the word amicam (ll.3) as listed in your vocabulary reference
How does the speaker define his love for Lesbia in ll.3-4?
CATULLUS 85
METER: ELEGIAC COUPLET
Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris. 85.1
nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.
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•
85.2
Scan this poem. How many elisions are there? What are the effects of the first and last
elisions?
Who is the subject of the verb requiris?
Explain the dichotomy between active and passive verbs in this poem. How is the speaker both
acting upon/engaging in his feelings and victim to them?
CATULLUS 86
METER: ELEGIAC COUPLET
Quintia formosa est multis, mihi candida, longa,
Recta est. Haec ego sic singula confiteor,
86.1
86.2
Totum illud 'formosa' nego: nam nulla venustas,
86.3
Nulla in tam magno est corpore mica salis.
86.4
Lesbia formosa est, quae cum pulcherrima tota est, 86.5
Tum omnibus una omnis subripuit Veneres.
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86.6
How is the subject of this poem, Quintia, perceived differently by Catullus and the people
referenced by the word multis (ll.1)? How is the inclusion of this difference characteristic of
Neoteric poetry?
How do Quintia and Lesbia differ?
Identify a CHIASMUS in this poem
CATULLUS 92
METER: ELEGIAC COUPLET
Lesbia mi dicit semper male nec tacet umquam
92.1
de me: Lesbia me dispeream nisi amat.
92.2
quo signo? Quia sunt totidem mea: deprecor illam 92.3
assidue, uerum dispeream nisi amo.
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92.4
What is unusual about the word order in ll.2?
What is the best translation for the verb deprecor (ll.3)?
CATULLUS 107
METER: ELEGIAC COUPLET
Si quicquam cupido optantique optigit umquam 107.1
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insperanti, hoc est gratum animo proprie.
107.2
Quare hoc est gratum nobis quoque carius auro
107.3
quod te restituis, Lesbia, mi cupido.
107.4
Restituis cupido atque insperanti, ipsa refers te
107.5
nobis. O lucem candidiore nota!
107.6
Quis me uno vivit felicior aut magis hac est
107.7
optandus vita dicere quis poterit?
107.8
What words are repeated in this poem? What is the significance of that repetition?
What is the case and function of the word uno (ll.7)?
How does this poem differ from other poems involving Lesbia?
CATULLUS 109
METER: ELEGIAC COUPLET
Iucundum, mea vita, mihi proponis amorem
109.1
hunc nostrum inter nos perpetuumque fore. 109.2
di magni, facite ut vere promittere possit,
atque id sincere dicat et ex animo,
ut liceat nobis tota perducere vita
aeternum hoc sanctae foedus amicitiae.
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•
109.3
109.4
109.5
109.6
What will be the result for Catullus and Lesbia’s relationship if the gods grant his request?
What grammatical construction is introduced by the words ut liceat?
Identify a SYNCHYSIS within the poem
ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS by Charles Martin
Poem 3
Cry out lamenting, Venuses and Cupids,*
and mortal men endowed with Love's refinement:
the sparrow of my lady lives no longer!
Sparrow, the darling pet of my beloved,
that was more precious to her than her eyes were;
it was her little honey, and it knew her
as well as any girl knows her own mother;
it would not ever leave my lady's bosom
but leapt up, fluttering from yon to hither,
chirruping always only to its mistress.
It now flits off on its way, goes, gloom-laden
down to where--word is--there is no returning.
Damn you, damned shades of Orcus* that devour
all mortal loveliness, for such a lovely
sparrow it was you've stolen from my keeping!
O hideous deed! O poor little sparrow!
It's your great fault that my lady goes weeping,
reddening, ruining her eyes from sorrow.
*Venuses and Cupids = plural of Venus, goddess of love, and Cupid, her son, whose arrows cause love.
*Orcus = Hades
Poem 5
Lesbia, let us live only for loving,
and let us value at a single penny
all the loose flap of senile busybodies!
Suns when they set are capable of rising,
but at the setting of our own brief light
night is one sleep from which we never waken.
Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred,
another thousand next, another hundred,
a thousand without pause & then a hundred,
until when we have run up our thousands
we will cry bankrupt, hiding our assets
from ourselves & any who would harm us,
knowing the volume of our trade in kisses.
Poem 7
My Lesbia, you ask how many kisses
would be enough to satisfy, to sate me!
--As many as the sandgrains in the desert
near Cyrene*, where silphium* is gathered,
between the shrine of Jupiter the sultry*
& the venerable sepulchre of Battus*!
--As many as the stars in the tacit night
that watch as furtive lovers lie embracing:
only to kiss you with that many kisses
would satisfy, could sate your mad Catullus!
A sum to thwart the reckoning of gossips
& baffle the spell-casting tongues of envy.
*Cyrene = a Libyan city where silphium, a medicinal herb, was gathered.
*shrine = temple of Ammon, the Egyptian Jupiter
*Battus = founding father of Cyrene
Poem 8
Wretched Catullus! You have to stop this nonsense,
admit that what you see has ended is over!
Once there were days which shone for you with rare brightness,
when you would follow wherever your lady led you,
the one we once loved as we will love no other;
there was no end in those days to our pleasures,
when what you wished for was what she also wanted.
Yes, there were days which shone for you with rare brightness.
Now she no longer wishes; you mustn't want it,
you've got to stop chasing her now--cut your losses,
harden your heart & hold out firmly against her.
Goodbye now, lady. Catullus' heart is hardened,
he will not look to you nor call against your wishes-how you'll regret it when no one comes calling!
So much for you, bitch--your life is all behind you!
Now who will come to see you, thinking you lovely?
Whom will you love now, and whom will you belong to?
Whom will you kiss? And whose lips will you nibble?
But you, Catullus! You must hold out now, firmly!
Poem 72
You used to say that you wished to know only Catullus,
Lesbia, and wouldn't take even Jove* before me!
I didn't regard you just as my mistress then: I cherished you
as a father does his sons or his daughters' husbands.
Now that I know you, I burn for you even more fiercely,
though I regard you as almost utterly worthless.
How can that be, you ask? It's because such cruelty forces
lust to assume the shrunken place of affection.
*Jove = another name for Jupiter
Poem 85
I hate & I love. And if you should ask how I can do both,
I couldn't say; but I feel it, and it shivers me.
Poem 86
Many find Quintia stunning. I find her attractive:
tall, "regal," fair in complexion--these points are granted.
But stunning? No, I deny it: the woman is scarcely venerious,*
there's no spice at all in all the length of her body!
Now Lesbia is stunning, for Lesbia's beauty is total:
and by that sum all other women are diminished.
*venerious = an odd English word made from Venus and meaning given to sexual pleasures, sexy.
Poem 92
Lesbia never avoids a good chance to abuse me
in public, yet I'll be damned if she doesn't love me!
How can I tell? Because I'm exactly the same: I malign her
always--yet I'll be damned if I don't really love her!
Poem 107
If ever something which someone with no expectation
desired should happen, we are rightly delighted!
And so this news is delightful--it's dearer than gold is:
you have returned to me, Lesbia, my desired!
Desired, yet never expected--but you have come back
to me! A holiday, a day of celebration!
What living man is luckier than I am? Or able
to say that anything could possibly be better?
Poem 109
Darling, we'll both have equal shares in the sweet love you offer,
and it will endure forever--you assure me.
O heaven, see to it that she can truly keep this promise,
that it came from her heart and was sincerely given,
so that we may spend the rest of our days in this lifelong
union, this undying compact of holy friendship.