Catullus 83
by Catullus, translated from Latin by Wikisource

Elegiac couplets.

568363Catullus 83Catullus
Literal English Translation Original Latin Line

Lesbia says to me many bad [things] in the presence of a man:
that this person is the greatest joy for a fool.
Mule of a man, you understand nothing? If she were to forget me and were silent,
she would be sane: but now she snarls and interrupts me,
not only does she remember, but a thing, which is much more serious,
she is angry. That is, she burns and speaks.

Lesbia mī praesente uirō mala plūrima dīcit:
haec illī fatuō maxima laetitia est.
Mūle, nihil sentīs? Sī nostrī oblīta tacēret,
sāna esset: nunc quod gannit et obloquitur,
nōn sōlum meminit, sed, quae multo ācrior est rēs,
īrāta est. Hoc est, ūritur et loquitur.

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