Catullus 17 Translation
Introduction
In this unusual poem, Catullus refers to a woman named Colonia. This woman wishes to have a bridge to play games on, but she fears that the bridge might be too rickety for her to be able to enjoy herself. There is a sexual innuendo happening in this poem as the bridge could be a metaphor for a man, who cannot support the sexual desires of Colonia.
This metaphor comes to life later in the poem when Catullus talks about a townsman who has a young woman for his wife. The old townsman does not know how to satisfy the woman and fears falling off of the bridge into the mire. He does not even try to satisfy her, he just lays there like an alder chopped by an axe (lines 18 and 19).
So, what is Colonia to do? In lines five through seven, Catullus wishes that she has a good bridge that will satisfy her desire. The bridge should be strong enough for Salisubsilus to perform his rites. Catullus will provide the bridge if Colonia will give him the gift of laughter. The rituals of Salisubsilus are not well known, but the cult god was known to give riches to people when they least expected it. Salisubsilus was connected with the people of Verona, Italy.
In line eight, Catullus shifts his focus from Colonia to a townsman. Catullus wishes that this townsman would fall from the bridge. In lines 10 and 11, Catullus hopes the bridge is over the “blackest and deepest pit” that is filled with a “stinking morass.” Catullus then calls the man a perfect blockhead who has no sense. He uses the simile comparing the man to a two-year-old baby.
Catullus’s ability to describe people is on full display in this poem. The townsman’s wife, who Catullus describes as a kidling, is so exquisite that she should be guarded more diligently than the ripest grapes. This poem is full of unique similes that showcase Catullus’s way with words.
Catullus does not believe that the townsman is worthy of his youngling wife. The townsman lets her play how she wants and he does not care at all about her. He acts as if she does not even exist. Ignoring something beautiful goes against everything Catullus believes in, as he frequently writes about beauty in people and places. In Catullus’s eyes, this man should end his life by jumping off of a bridge, especially as the man is not living his blessed life to the fullest.
Carmen 17
| Line | Latin text | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | O Colonia, quae cupis ponte ludere longo, | O Colonia, you who wish to have a long bridge for your games, |
| 2 | et salire paratum habes, sed uereris inepta | and are quite ready to dance, but fear the ill-jointed |
| 3 | crura ponticuli axulis stantis in rediuiuis, | legs of your little bridge, standing as it does on old posts done up again, |
| 4 | ne supinus eat cauaque in palude recumbat: | lest it should fall sprawling and sink down in the depths of the mire; |
| 5 | sic tibi bonus ex tua pons libidine fiat, | may you have a good bridge made for you according to your desire, |
| 6 | in quo uel Salisubsali sacra suscipiantur, | one in which the rites of Salisubsilus himself may be undertaken, |
| 7 | munus hoc mihi maximi da, Colonia, risus. | on condition that you grant me this gift, Colonia, to make me laugh my loudest. |
| 8 | quendam municipem meum de tuo uolo ponte | There is a townsman of mine whom I wish to go headlong from your bridge |
| 9 | ire praecipitem in lutum per caputque pedesque, | over head and heels into the mud, |
| 10 | uerum totius ut lacus putidaeque paludis | only let it be where is the blackest and deepest pit |
| 11 | liuidissima maximeque est profunda uorago. | of the whole bog with its stinking morass. |
| 12 | insulsissimus est homo, nec sapit pueri instar | The fellow is a perfect blockhead, and has not as much sense as a little baby |
| 13 | bimuli tremula patris dormientis in ulna. | two years old sleeping in the rocking arms of his father. |
| 14 | cui cum sit uiridissimo nupta flore puella | He has for a wife a girl in the freshest flower of youth, |
| 15 | et puella tenellulo delicatior haedo, | a girl too, more exquisite than a tender kidling, |
| 16 | adseruanda nigerrimis diligentius uuis, | one who ought to be guarded more diligently than ripest grapes, |
| 17 | ludere hanc sinit ut lubet, nec pili facit uni, | and he lets her play as she will, and does not care one straw, |
| 18 | nec se subleuat ex sua parte, sed uelut alnus | and for his part does not stir himself, but lies like an alder |
| 19 | in fossa Liguri iacet suppernata securi, | in a ditch hamstrung by a Ligurian axe, |
| 20 | tantundem omnia sentiens quam si nulla sit usquam; | with just as much perception of everything as if it did not exist anywhere. |
| 21 | talis iste meus stupor nil uidet, nihil audit, | Like this, my booby sees nothing, hears nothing; |
| 22 | ipse qui sit, utrum sit an non sit, id quoque nescit. | what he himself is, whether he is or is not, he does not know so much as this. |
| 23 | nunc eum uolo de tuo ponte mittere pronum, | He it is whom I want now to send head foremost from your bridge, |
| 24 | si pote stolidum repente excitare ueternum, | whether he can all in a moment wake up his lethargy, |
| 25 | et supinum animum in graui derelinquere caeno, | and leave his sluggish mind there in the nasty sludge, |
| 26 | ferream ut soleam tenaci in uoragine mula. | as a mule leaves her iron shoe in the sticky mire. |
