Catullus 22 Translation
Introduction
In this poem, Catullus** addresses Varus about his thoughts on a fellow poet he calls Suffenus**. In line two, he compliments Suffenus, say he is charming, witty, and good-mannered. In lines three through five, he shares that Suffenus writes more poetry than anyone else and has at least 10,000 works finished or in progress. These works are written on different types of paper, from expensive imperial paper to random scraps. All of the works are “ruled on lead and smoothed with pumice.”
In lines 9 through 11, Catullus reminds Varus that Suffenus was once a man who was nothing more than a goatherd or ditch digger, but now he looks fashionable and well-bred. In line 12, Catullus questions how this has happened. In lines 13 and 14, Catullus writes about how Suffenus was a fine dinner guest who is practised, but at one time was more “reclumsy than the clumsy country.”
Suffenus is even clumsy when he touches poetry, according to lines 14 and 15, together. In the second half of line 15 through 17, we learn that Suffenus is never as happy as when he is writing poetry; he admires himself when he is writing poetry.
The, in the final four lines of the poem, Catullus shows us that “we are all under the same delusion” as people might be like Suffenus. He shows one thing, but is another. Catullus ends the poem by reminding us that “we do not see that part of the bag which hangs on our back.” The big question for readers is what is in the bag? Most likely, this is an ancient reference to what we consider baggage today. It is the weight of our past, our mistakes, our struggles, and everything that makes us who we are today.
Suffenus might be a pseudonym for anyone who has been able to change their lives through hard work It appears that Catullus has grown to respect him, whereas in poem 14, he did not.
Carmen 22
| Line | Latin text | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SVFFENVS iste, Vare, quem probe nosti, | That Suffenus, Varus, whom you know very well, |
| 2 | homo est uenustus et dicax et urbanus, | is a charming fellow, and has wit and good manners. |
| 3 | idemque longe plurimos facit uersus. | He aIso makes many more verses than any one else. |
| 4 | puto esse ego illi milia aut decem aut plura | I suppose he has got some ten thousand or even more |
| 5 | perscripta, nec sic ut fit in palimpsesto | written out in full, and not, as is often done, |
| 6 | relata: cartae regiae, noui libri, | down on old scraps; imperial paper, new rolls, |
| 7 | noui umbilici, lora rubra membranae, | new bosses, red ties, parchment wrappers; |
| 8 | derecta plumbo et pumice omnia aequata. | all ruled with lead and smoothed with pumice. |
| 9 | haec cum legas tu, bellus ille et urbanus | When you come to read these, the fashionable well-bred |
| 10 | Suffenus unus caprimulgus aut fossor | Suffenus I spoke of seems to be nothing but any goatherd or ditcher |
| 11 | rursus uidetur: tantum abhorret ac mutat. | to look at him again; so absurd and chamged he is. |
| 12 | hoc quid putemus esse? qui modo scurra | How are we to account for this? The same man who was just now |
| 13 | aut si quid hac re scitius uidebatur, | a dinner-table wit or something (if such there be) even more practised, |
| 14 | idem infaceto est infacetior rure, | is more re clumsy than the clumsy country, |
| 15 | simul poemata attigit, neque idem umquam | whenever he touches poetry; and at the same time he is never |
| 16 | aeque est beatus ac poema cum scribit: | so happy as when he is writing a poem: |
| 17 | tam gaudet in se tamque se ipse miratur. | he delights in himself and admires himself so much. |
| 18 | nimirum idem omnes fallimur, neque est quisquam | True enough, we all are under the same delusion, and there is no one |
| 19 | quem non in aliqua re uidere Suffenum | whom you may not see to be a Sufferms in one thing |
| 20 | possis. suus cuique attributus est error; | or another. Everybody has his own delusion assigned to him: |
| 21 | sed non uidemus manticae quod in tergo est. | but we do not see that part of the bag which hangs on our back. |
