Catullus

“מה יותר נחשק מאשר לקבל מהאלים שעה של אושר?”

“אני אוהב ושונא. ייתכן ותשאל מדוע? אינני יודע.”

“כשאורנו הקצר ישקע – לילה נצחי יעטוף את שנתנו.”

“כשנתנשק עוד אלפי נשיקות בואי נערבב אותן שלא נדע את מספרן.”

“הלוואי – הו פטרונית בתולה – שיוכל להחזיק מעמד יותר מדור אחד.”

“העזת לגולל את כל קורות הימים בשלושה כרכים מלומדים.”

“מה רבים היו אז התענוגות, אשר בהם חשקת, ולא סירבה הנערה.”

“יכולתי לשחק איתך, כמוה, להקל על רוחי הקודרת.”

“שוב ושוב מביט בך ומקשיב לצחוקך המתוק.”

“אל תרדוף אחרי מי שבורחת.”

“I have lost you, my brotherAnd your death has ended The spring seasonOf my happiness, our house is buried with youAnd buried the laughter that you taught me.There are no thoughts of love nor of poemsIn my head Since you died.”

“Nothing is left of meEach time I see her”

“Journeying over many seas & through many countries I came dear brother to this pitiful leave-taking The last gestures by your gravesideThe futility of words over your quiet ashes.Life cleft us from each other Pointlessly depriving brother of brotherAccept then, our parents' customThese offerings, this leave-takingEchoing forever, brother, through a brother's tears”

“Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris. Nescio. des fieri sentio et excrucior.I hate and I love. You may ask, why I do this. I do not know. But I sense that I do and it pains me.”

“But your own tears blind you to mine.I am not neglectful of friendship,but we two squat in the same coracle,we are both swamped by the same stormy waters,I have not the gifts of a happy man. . . Often enough.”

“Come boy, and pour for me a cupOf old Falernian. Fill it upWith wine, strong, sparkling, bright, and clear;Our host decrees no water here.Let dullards drink the Nymph's pale brew,The sluggish thin their blood with dew.For such pale stuff we have no use;For us the purple grape's rich juice.Begone, ye chilling water sprite;Here burning Bacchus rules tonight!”

“To whom shall I offer this book, young and sprightly,Neat, polished, wide-margined, and finished politely?To you, my Cornelius, whose learning pedantic,Has dared to set forth in three volumes giganticThe history of ages—ye gods, what a labor!—And still to enjoy the small wit of a neighbor.A man who can be light and learned at once, sir,By life's subtle logic is far from a dunce, sir.So take my small book—if it meet with your favor.The passing of years cannot dull its sweet savor.”

“What a woman tells her lover in desireshould be written out on air & running water.”