If by
confiding
friend aught e'er be trusted in silence,
Unto a man whose mind known is for worthiest trust,
Me shalt thou find no less than such to secrecy oathbound,
(Cornelius!
Unto a man whose mind known is for worthiest trust,
Me shalt thou find no less than such to secrecy oathbound,
(Cornelius!
Catullus - Carmina
10
CI.
ON THE BURIAL OF HIS BROTHER.
Faring thro' many a folk and plowing many a sea-plain
These sad funeral-rites (Brother! ) to deal thee I come,
So wi' the latest boons to the dead bestowed I may gift thee,
And I may vainly address ashes that answer have none,
Sithence of thee, very thee, to deprive me Fortune behested, 5
Woe for thee, Brother forlore! Cruelly severed fro' me.
* * * *
Yet in the meanwhile now what olden usage of forbears
Brings as the boons that befit mournfullest funeral rites,
Thine be these gifts which flow with tear-flood shed by thy brother,
And, for ever and aye (Brother! ) all hail and farewell. 10
Through many a folk and through many waters borne, I am come, brother, to
thy sad grave, that I may give the last gifts to the dead, and may vainly
speak to thy mute ashes, since fortune hath borne from me thyself. Ah,
hapless brother, heavily snatched from me. * * * But now these gifts, which
of yore, in manner ancestral handed down, are the sad gifts to the grave,
accept thou, drenched with a brother's tears, and for ever, brother, hail!
for ever, adieu!
CII.
Si quicquam tacito conmissumst fido ab amico,
Cuius sit penitus nota fides animi,
Meque esse invenies illorum iure sacratum,
Corneli, et factum me esse puta Harpocratem.
CII.
TO CORNELIUS.
If by confiding friend aught e'er be trusted in silence,
Unto a man whose mind known is for worthiest trust,
Me shalt thou find no less than such to secrecy oathbound,
(Cornelius! ) and now hold me an Harpocrates.
If aught be committed to secret faith from a friend to one whose inner
faith of soul is known, thou wilt find me to be of that sacred faith, O
Cornelius, and may'st deem me become an Harpocrates.
CIII.
Aut, sodes, mihi redde decem sestertia, Silo,
Deinde esto quamvis saevus et indomitus:
Aut, si te nummi delectant, desine quaeso
Leno esse atque idem saevus et indomitus.
CIII.
TO SILO.
Or, d'ye hear, refund those ten sestertia (Silo! )
Then be thou e'en at thy will surly and savage o' mood:
Or, an thou love o'er-well those moneys, prithee no longer
Prove thee a pimp and withal surly and savage o' mood.
Prithee, either return me my ten thousand sesterces, Silo; then be to thy
content surly and boorish: or, if the money allure thee, desist I pray thee
from being a pander and likewise surly and boorish.
CIIII.
Credis me potuisse meae maledicere vitae,
Ambobus mihi quae carior est oculis?
Non potui, nec si possem tam perdite amarem:
Sed tu cum Tappone omnia monstra facis.
CIIII.
CONCERNING LESBIA.
Canst thou credit that I could avail to revile my life-love,
She who be dearer to me even than either my eyes?
CI.
ON THE BURIAL OF HIS BROTHER.
Faring thro' many a folk and plowing many a sea-plain
These sad funeral-rites (Brother! ) to deal thee I come,
So wi' the latest boons to the dead bestowed I may gift thee,
And I may vainly address ashes that answer have none,
Sithence of thee, very thee, to deprive me Fortune behested, 5
Woe for thee, Brother forlore! Cruelly severed fro' me.
* * * *
Yet in the meanwhile now what olden usage of forbears
Brings as the boons that befit mournfullest funeral rites,
Thine be these gifts which flow with tear-flood shed by thy brother,
And, for ever and aye (Brother! ) all hail and farewell. 10
Through many a folk and through many waters borne, I am come, brother, to
thy sad grave, that I may give the last gifts to the dead, and may vainly
speak to thy mute ashes, since fortune hath borne from me thyself. Ah,
hapless brother, heavily snatched from me. * * * But now these gifts, which
of yore, in manner ancestral handed down, are the sad gifts to the grave,
accept thou, drenched with a brother's tears, and for ever, brother, hail!
for ever, adieu!
CII.
Si quicquam tacito conmissumst fido ab amico,
Cuius sit penitus nota fides animi,
Meque esse invenies illorum iure sacratum,
Corneli, et factum me esse puta Harpocratem.
CII.
TO CORNELIUS.
If by confiding friend aught e'er be trusted in silence,
Unto a man whose mind known is for worthiest trust,
Me shalt thou find no less than such to secrecy oathbound,
(Cornelius! ) and now hold me an Harpocrates.
If aught be committed to secret faith from a friend to one whose inner
faith of soul is known, thou wilt find me to be of that sacred faith, O
Cornelius, and may'st deem me become an Harpocrates.
CIII.
Aut, sodes, mihi redde decem sestertia, Silo,
Deinde esto quamvis saevus et indomitus:
Aut, si te nummi delectant, desine quaeso
Leno esse atque idem saevus et indomitus.
CIII.
TO SILO.
Or, d'ye hear, refund those ten sestertia (Silo! )
Then be thou e'en at thy will surly and savage o' mood:
Or, an thou love o'er-well those moneys, prithee no longer
Prove thee a pimp and withal surly and savage o' mood.
Prithee, either return me my ten thousand sesterces, Silo; then be to thy
content surly and boorish: or, if the money allure thee, desist I pray thee
from being a pander and likewise surly and boorish.
CIIII.
Credis me potuisse meae maledicere vitae,
Ambobus mihi quae carior est oculis?
Non potui, nec si possem tam perdite amarem:
Sed tu cum Tappone omnia monstra facis.
CIIII.
CONCERNING LESBIA.
Canst thou credit that I could avail to revile my life-love,
She who be dearer to me even than either my eyes?
