tiberiusprime

Catullus Poem 72


My English Translation:

You used to once say that Catullus alone knew you,
Lesbia, neither would you have wished to have Jove over me.
I deeply cared about you then,
but not just as a casual girlfriend,
but like a father loves his sons and sons-in-law
BUT NOW I KNOW ABOUT YOU!
and for that reason I burn with lust the more ardently,
and nevertheless you are to me more cheap and shallow,
How are you able to do this, you ask?
Because such a betrayal to a lover compels him to lust all the more, but to wish good to you all the less!


Original Latin:

Dicebas quondam solum te nosse Catullum,
Lesbia, nec prae me velle tenere Iouem.
dilexi tum te non tantum ut vulgus amicam,
sed pater ut gnatos diligit et generos.
nunc te cognovi: quare etsi impensius uror,
multo mi tamen es vilior et levior.
qui potis est, inquis? quod amantem iniuria talis
cogit amare magis, sed bene velle minus.