Catullus 1

Cat. 1.1Cui dōnō lepidum novum libellum
āridō modo pūmice expolītum?

To whom shall I give my charming new little book, just now polished smooth with dry pumice?

Note. The opening poem of Catullus' book, in hendecasyllables (eleven-syllable lines). Cui dōnō: 'to whom am I to give?', a present used for a deliberative question. lepidum novum libellum: three words in a row for the 'charming new little book'; a book roll's ends were smoothed with pūmex, pumice. Note that pūmex is masculine here (āridō … pūmice).

Cat. 1.3Cornēlī, tibi;

To you, Cornelius;

Note. Cornēlī: vocative of Cornēlius (the -ius vocative is -ī). This is Cornelius Nepos, the biographer whose Lives are also in this library.

Cat. 1.3namque tū solēbās
meās esse aliquid putāre nūgās,
5iam tum cum ausus es ūnus Italōrum
omne aevum tribus explicāre chartīs,
doctīs, Iuppiter, et labōriōsīs!

for you used to think my trifles were something, back then when you alone of the Italians dared to set out the whole of history in three volumes, learned ones, by Jupiter, and laboriously made!

Note. solēbās … putāre: 'you used to think'. meās esse aliquid … nūgās: indirect statement, 'that my trifles were something'. nūgae, 'trifles', is Catullus' modest word for his own poems. ausus es: audeō is semi-deponent, so its perfect is passive in form. tribus … chartīs: Nepos' Chronica, a history of the world in three books. Iuppiter is a vocative exclamation, 'by Jupiter!'.

Cat. 1.8Quārē habē tibi quidquid hoc libellī
quālecumque, quod, ō patrōna virgō,
10plūs ūnō maneat perenne saeclō.

So keep for yourself this little book, whatever it is and whatever it is worth; and may it, O patron maiden, last for more than one age.

Note. quidquid hoc libellī: 'whatever this is of a little book', a partitive genitive. qualecumque: 'such as it is'. quod … maneat: a wish in the subjunctive, 'and may it last'. patrōna virgō: the Muse, the poet's patroness. plūs ūnō … saeclō: 'more than one age'; saeclum is a poetic contraction of saeculum.