Catullus 36 Translation
Introduction
When Catullus wrote poetry, he wrote about people he liked and disliked. In this poem, he addresses Volusius, who he does not seem to like. He calls the chronicles of Volusius “defecated paper” or paper that wipes away feces.
Then, he refers to the woman he loves, Lesbia. She vowed to him that if he became her lover again and stopped writing such fierce poetry, she would give Hephaestus *the lame-footed god” writings from other poets that he could burn in his furnaces. She wanted the poems to be burned with accursed trees. In line nine, Catullus spoke about the worst poems, which Catullus thinks are those belonging to Volusius. In line 10, he talks about how she was vowing to the gods as a merry sport - so there was no way she could have been talking about Catullus’s poems as being bad enough to burn.
Then, Catullus shifts the focus of the poem to various locations where Aphrodite, the goddess of love, might live. He refers to Aphrodite when he talks about Lesbia vowing her love to him. We know these are the places where Aphrodite lives because they are the places where the vow was received and paid. He also refers to the birth of Aphrodite in line 11, when he writes about how the blue sea bare here.
In line 18, Catullus returns to the focus of the poem - the poems that Lesbia wants to burn. But, in line 19, he talks about the bundle of basic poetry written in an old-fashioned and clumsy way. He then finishes the poem in the same way he began the poem referring back to Volusius and his defecated paper. This is an unusual poem from Catullus in that it does not fit with any of the others he has written. Scholars have not been able to categorize it, other than that he repeats the first line as the last line.
Carmen 36
| Line | Latin text | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ANNALES Volusi, cacata carta, | Chronicle of Volusius, defecated paper, |
| 2 | uotum soluite pro mea puella. | discharge a vow on behalf of my love; |
| 3 | nam sanctae Veneri Cupidinique | for she vowed to holy Venus and to Cupid |
| 4 | uouit, si sibi restitutus essem | that if I were restored to her love, |
| 5 | desissemque truces uibrare iambos, | and ceased to dart fierce iambics, |
| 6 | electissima pessimi poetae | she would give to the lamme-footed god |
| 7 | scripta tardipedi deo daturam | the choicest writings of the worst of poets, |
| 8 | infelicibus ustulanda lignis. | to be burnt with wood from some accursed tree: |
| 9 | et hoc pessima se puella uidit | and my lady perceived that these were the “worst poems” |
| 10 | iocose lepide uouere diuis. | that she was vowing to the merry gods in pleasant sport. |
| 11 | nunc o caeruleo creata ponto, | Now therefore, O thou whom the blue sea bare, |
| 12 | quae sanctum Idalium Vriosque apertos | who inhabitest holy Idalium and open Urii, |
| 13 | quaeque Ancona Cnidumque harundinosam | who dwellest in Ancona and reedy Cnidus |
| 14 | colis quaeque Amathunta quaeque Golgos | and in Amatbus and in Golgi, |
| 15 | quaeque Durrachium Hadriae tabernam, | and in Dyrrhacium the meeting-place of all Hadria, |
| 16 | acceptum face redditumque uotum, | record the vow as received and duly paid, |
| 17 | si non illepidum neque inuenustum est. | so surely as it is not out of taste nor inelegant. |
| 18 | at uos interea uenite in ignem, | Meantime come you her into the fire. |
| 19 | pleni ruris et inficetiarum. | you bundle of rusticity and clumsiness, |
| 20 | annales Volusi, cacata carta. | chronicle of Volusius, defecated paper. |
