Catullus 91
by Catullus, translated from Latin by Wikisource

Elegiac couplets.

1499783Catullus 91Catullus
Literal English Translation Original Latin Line

For this reason, Gellius, I was hoping that you would be faithful to me
in this miserable, this destroyed love of ours,
not because I had known you well nor I was thinking you dependable
nor to be able to restrain your mind from ugly scandalous conduct;
but because I was seeing that she was neither the mother for you nor the sister for you,
she whose great love was eating me.
And although I was joined with you by much custom
I had not believed that that was enough of cause for you.
You have thought it [was] enough: so much delight is for you in every fault,
in whatever way there is something of crime.

Non ideo, Gelli, sperabam te mihi fidum
in misero hoc nostro, hoc perdito amore fore,
quod te cognossem bene constantemue putarem
aut posse a turpi mentem inhibere probro;
sed neque quod matrem nec germanam esse videbam
hanc tibi, cuius me magnus edebat amor.
et quamvis tecum multo coniungerer usu,
non satis id causae credideram esse tibi.
tu satis id duxti: tantum tibi gaudium in omni
culpa est, in quacumque est aliquid sceleris.

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