Cum milia multa fecerimus conturbabimus illa ne sciamus
The reasons for the renewed ap peal of Catullus in the last few years are obvious, not to say ostentatious. And, finally, he had the good grace to die at probably the un speakable age of I suspect that his appeal for trans lators is less glamorous and is tech nical rather than moral. The qualities that seem more per suasive now, and in greater need of being rendered, are not this sincer ity, but his irony; not his directness, but his obliqueness; not his impet uousness, but his calculation. Here is one of the more famous of his supposedly artless effusions:.
I suppose, while strong passion abates,. Musje, lieveling van mijn meisje,. Kon ik maar met haar spelen zoals zij.
Catullus 5 is a passionate ode to Lesbia and one of the most famous poems by Catullus. The poem encourages lovers to scorn the snide comments of others, and to live only for each other, since life is brief and death brings a night of perpetual sleep. This poem has been translated and imitated many times. The meter of this poem is hendecasyllabic 11 syllables , a common form in Catullus' poetry.