Catullus 3

Cat. 3.1Lūgēte, ō Venerēs Cupīdinēsque
et quantum est hominum venustiōrum!

Mourn, you Venuses and Cupids, and all the charming people there are!

Note. Lūgēte: imperative, 'mourn'. Venerēs Cupīdinēsque: the plural turns the gods of love into a whole crowd of them. quantum est hominum venustiōrum: 'as much as there is of charming people', i.e. all charming people; hominum is a partitive genitive.

Cat. 3.3Passer mortuus est meae puellae,
passer, dēliciae meae puellae,
5quem plūs illa oculīs suīs amābat;

My girl's sparrow is dead, the sparrow, my girl's darling, whom she loved more than her own eyes;

Note. plūs … oculīs suīs: 'more than her own eyes', ablative of comparison; a common Latin way of saying 'more than anything'.

Cat. 3.6nam mellītus erat, suamque nōrat
ipsam tam bene quam puella mātrem,
nec sēsē ā gremiō illīus movēbat,
sed circumsiliēns modo hūc modo illūc
10ad sōlam dominam usque pīpiābat.

for he was sweet as honey, and knew his mistress as well as a girl knows her mother, and he never moved from her lap, but hopping around now here, now there, he kept chirping to his mistress alone.

Note. mellītus: 'honey-sweet'. nōrat = nōverat, pluperfect of nōscō, which means 'he knew'. ipsam: 'its mistress' (the girl herself), the reading of modern editions. circumsiliēns: present participle, 'hopping around'. pīpiābat: an onomatopoeic verb, 'chirped'.

Cat. 3.11Quī nunc it per iter tenebricōsum
illūc unde negant redīre quemquam.

Now he goes along that shadowy road to the place from which they say no one returns.

Note. Quī: a connecting relative, 'and he'. iter tenebricōsum: the road to the Underworld. unde negant redīre quemquam: indirect statement, 'from where they say that no one returns'.

Cat. 3.13At vōbīs male sit, malae tenebrae
Orcī, quae omnia bella dēvorātis;

But curse you, cruel shadows of Orcus, who devour all pretty things;

Note. male sit: a curse, 'may it go badly for you'. Orcī: Orcus, the Underworld and its god. omnia bella: 'all pretty things'; bellus is a colloquial word Catullus loves.

Cat. 3.15tam bellum mihi passerem abstulistis.

you have taken from me so pretty a sparrow.

Note. tam bellum … passerem: the adjective bellus again, now about the sparrow.

Cat. 3.16Ō factum male!

O wicked deed!

Note. Ō factum male: an exclamation, 'O deed badly done!'; factum is the perfect participle used as a noun.

Cat. 3.16Ō miselle passer!

O poor little sparrow!

Note. miselle: vocative of misellus, a diminutive of miser, 'poor little'.

Cat. 3.17Tuā nunc operā meae puellae
flendō turgidulī rubent ocellī.

Because of you my girl's eyes are red and a little swollen from weeping.

Note. Tuā … operā: 'thanks to you, by your doing'. flendō: ablative gerund, 'from weeping'. turgidulī … ocellī: two more diminutives, 'her poor little swollen eyes'. The mock-tragic tone of the poem ends on this tender, slightly comic picture.