Catullus 61

[Brendan Daniel Rau]

A PROSE TRANSLATION OF CATULLUS 61

O, inhabitant of the mountain of Helicon, son of Urania, who seize a dainty
young woman and carry her off to a man, o Hymenaeus, Hymen! o Hymenaeus
Hymen! Crown your temples with flowers, take your flame-colored veil,
pleasant with fragrant marjoram, and come over here, wearing a reddish
yellow slipper on a snow-white foot! And having been roused from sleep on
a cheerful day, singing wedding songs in a high-pitched voice, strike the
ground with your feet, and shake the pinewood marriage-torch with your
hand! Good virgin Junia dons the veil for Manius with a good omen, like
Venus, who dwells in Idalium, as she came to Paris, the Phrygian judge.
And she is just like an Asian myrtle tree shining forth with small, flowery
branches, which the wood nymphs nurture with dewy moisture, as amusement
for themselves. Therefore come, making an approach over here, and
continue, leaving behind the Aonian caves of the Thespian rock, the caves
which the nymph Aganippe makes wet as she cools them from above. And call
the mistress, desirous of her new husband, home, as you bind their minds
with love, like wandering ivy clinging to a tree in a tangle! Likewise,
you unmarried virgins, whose own wedding day, as well, is coming soon, act
in the right and proper way, and sing, "O Hymenaeus Hymen! o Hymenaeus
Hymen," in order that the leader of good Venus, the one who conjoins good
love, might make his approach over here more gladly when he hears himself
being called to the task. Which god is more to be sought by lovers who are
loved? Which of the gods will people look after the more, o Hymenaeus
Hymen, o Hymenaeus Hymen? Sex can seize nothing of benefit without you,
because a good reputation demonstrates one's goodness, but sex can do this
when you are willing. Who would dare be compared to this god? Without
you, no family can give children, and no parent can rely on his offspring,
but he can when you are willing. Who would dare be compared to this god?
A land that lacked your holy rites would not be able to give guardians to
its borders: but it would if you were willing. Who would dare be compared
to this god? Open the bars of the door. There is a young woman. Do you
see how the marriage torches shake their fiery locks? ....A natural sense
of shame may delay the bride. Nevertheless, hearing her shame the more,
she weeps because she must go. Stop crying, Junia. In your case, there is
no danger that a prettier woman has seen the rising light of day. Such a
hyacinth-colored flower usually stands in the multicolored little garden of
a wealthy lord. But you are dallying, and the day is ending. Please go
forth as the bride. Please advance as the bride, if it seems proper at
this time, and hear our words. See? The wedding torches shake their
golden locks: please advance as the bride. Your husband is not fickle; not
devoted to a bad mistress, he does not pursue indecent scandals, and he
won't want to sleep apart from your dainty little breasts; but just as a
supple vine entwines with trees planted nearby, he will become entangled in
your embrace. But the day is ending. Please go forth as the bride. O
marriage bed, which for everyone... How numerous the pleasures of the
ivory-footed marriage bed come to your husband, which, on a restless night,
and in the middle of the day, may he enjoy! But the day is ending; please
go forth as the bride. Boys, raise the wedding-torches; I see the
flame-colored veil coming. Go and sing in unison, in the right and proper
way: "Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus!" Lest the ribald
Fescennine jesting be silent for a long time, and the groom's catamite
refuse nuts to boys as he hears about abandoned love. Give nuts to the
boys, lazy catamite! You have played with nuts long enough: now it pleases
Hymenaeus to be of service. Catamite, give nuts. You considered farm
managers' wives unworthy of your attention, today and yesterday. Now your
hairdresser shaves your beard. O wretched, wretched catamite, give nuts!
Anointed groom, you will be criticized for keeping away from your bald,
effeminate slaves, but keep away from them. Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo!
Hymen Hymenaeus! We know that these peccadilloes (which are permitted to
you) are the only ones you have known, but they are not permitted to a
married man. Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus! Wife,
beware lest you deny the things that both you and your husband seek, lest
he go to seek them from elsewhere. Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen
Hymenaeus! Behold how powerful and wealthy your husband's house is, which
is in your interest: allow it to be of service to you (Yo! Hymen
Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus!) until old white-haired womanhood,
nodding her tremulous head, nods assent to everything for everyone. Yo!
Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus! With a good omen, carry your
gold-colored little feet over the threshold, and go beneath the door of
polished wood. Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus! Look
inside in order that your husband, reclining in his crimson bed, might be
completely intent on you. Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus!
A flame burns no less ardently in his innermost heart than in yours, but
secretly, even more so. Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus!
Young man, give your smooth little arm to the maiden; let her visit her
husband's bed now. Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus! You
good women, (carnally) well-known by your aged husbands, array the maiden
on her marriage bed. Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus, yo! Yo! Hymen Hymenaeus! You
may come now, bridegroom: your wife is in the marriage chamber, and her
countenance is flowery and radiant, like the white chamomile or the red
poppy. But (thus may the gods help me) you are no less handsome, o
bridegroom, and Venus is not indifferent to you. But the day is ending.
Proceed, and do not dally. You have not waited long; now you are coming.
May good Venus be of help to you, since what you desire you desire openly,
and you do not conceal your good love. Let him who wishes to count the
many thousands of your love-plays first calculate the amount of sand in
Africa and the number of twinkling stars! Play as you like, and within a
short time, produce (male) children. It isn't fitting for an old name to
be without children, but it is fitting for them to be engendered from the
same family. I want Torquatus to laugh sweetly, with a half-open lip, as,
from his mother's lap, he stretches out his delicate hand to his father.
May he be like his father Manlius, and easily recognized by everyone who is
unknowing, and may he declare the sexual fidelity of his mother by mouth!
May the virtue from his good mother prove the excellence of his family,
just as the peerless flame remains for Telemachus from his excellent
mother, Penelope. Close the doors (of the marriage chamber), young ladies:
we have played enough. But, good newlyweds, live well and spend your
vigorous youth in incessant conjugal activity!

WORK CITED:
Catullus. Poem 61: "A Marriage Hymn." The Student's Catullus. Ed. Daniel
H. Garrison. 2d ed. University of Oklahoma Press, 1995. pp. 40-46

The English translation is my own. The Latin appears below:

Collis o Heliconii
cultor, Vraniae genus,
qui rapis teneram ad uirum
uirginem, o Hymenaee Hymen,
o Hymen Hymenaee;

cinge tempora floribus
suaue olentis amaraci,
flammeum cape laetus, huc
huc ueni, niueo gerens
luteum pede soccum;

excitusque hilari die,
nuptialia concinens
uoce carmina tinnula,
pelle humum pedibus, manu
pineam quate taedam.

Namque Iunia Manlio,
qualis Idalium colens
uenit ad Phrygium Venus
iudicem, bona cum bona
nubet alite uirgo,

floridis uelut enitens
myrtus Asia ramulis
quos Hamadryades deae
ludicrum sibi roscido
nutriunt umore.

Quare age, huc aditum ferens,
perge linquere Thespiae
rupis Aonios specus,
nympha quos super irrigat
frigerans Aganippe.

Ac domum dominam uoca
coniugis cupidam noui,
mentem amore reuinciens,
ut tenax hedera huc et huc
arborem implicat errrans.

Vosque item simul, integrae
uirgines, quibus aduenit
par dies, agite in modum
dicite, o Hymenaee Hymen,
o Hymen Hymenaee.

Vt lubentius, audiens
se citarier ad suum
munus, huc aditum ferat
dux bonae Veneris, boni
coniugator amoris.

Quis deus magis est ama-
tis petendus amantibus?
Quem colent homines magis
caelitum, o Hymenaee Hymen,
o Hymen Hymenaee?

Te suis tremulus parens
inuocat, tibi uirgines
zonula soluunt sinus,
te timens cupida nouos
captat aure maritus.

Tu fero iuueni in manus
floridam ipse puellulam
dedis a gremio suae
matris, o Hymenaee Hymen,
o Hymen Hymenaee.

Nil potest sine te Venus,
fama quod bona comprobet,
commodi capere, at potest
te uolente. Quis huic deo
compararier ausit?

Nulla quit sine te domus
liberos dare, nec parens
stirpe nitier; at potest
te uolente. Quis huic deo
compararier ausit?

Quae tuis careat sacris,
non queat dare praesides
terra finibus: at queat
te uolente. Quis huic deo
compararier ausit?

Claustra pandite ianuae.
Virgo adest. Viden ut faces
splendidas quatiunt comas?
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
tardet ingenuus pudor.
Quem tamen magis audiens,
flet quod ire necesse est.

Flere desine. Non tibi Au-
runculeia periculum est,
ne qua femina pulcrior
clarum ab Oceano diem
uiderit uenientem.

Talis in uario solet
diuitis domini hortulo
stare flos hyacinthinus.
Sed moraris, abit dies.
Prodeas noua nupta.

Prodeas noua nupta, si
iam uidetur, et audias
nostra uerba. Viden? Faces
aureas quatiunt comas:
prodeas noua nupta.

Non tuus leuis in mala
deditus uir adultera,
probra turpia persequens,
a tuis teneris uolet
secubare papillis,

lenta sed uelut adsitas
uitis implicat arbores,
implicabitur in tuum
complexum. Sed abit dies:
prodeas noua nupta.

O cubile, quod omnibus
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
candido pede lecti,

quae tuo ueniunt ero,
quanta gaudia, quae uaga
nocte, quae medio die
gaudeat! Sed abit dies:
prodeas noua nupta.

Tollite, o pueri, faces:
flammeum uideo uenire.
Ite concinite in modum
"io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee."

Ne diu taceat procax
Fescennina iocatio,
nec nuces pueris neget
desertum domini audiens
concubinus amorem.

Da nuces pueris, iners
concubine! Satis diu
lusisti nucibus: lubet
iam seruire Talasio.
Concubine, nuces da.

Sordebant tibi uilicae,
concubine, hodie atque heri:
nunc tuum cinerarius
tondet os. Miser a miser
concubine, nuces da.

Diceris male te a tuis
unguentate glabris marite
abstinere, sed abstine.
Io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

Scimus haec tibi quae licent
sola cognita, sed marito
ista non eadem licent.
Io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

Nupta, tu quoque quae tuus
uir petet caue ne neges,
ni petitum aliunde eat.
Io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

En tibi domus ut potens
et beata uiri tui,
quae tibi sine seruiat
(io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee)

usque dum tremulum mouens
cana tempus anilitas
omnia omnibus annuit.
Io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

Transfer omine cum bono
limen aureolos pedes,
rasilemque subi forem.
Io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

Aspice intus ut accubans
uir tuus Tyrio in toro
totus immineat tibi.
Io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

Illi non minus ac tibi
pectore uritur intimo
flamma, sed penite magis.
Io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

Mitte brachiolum teres,
praetextate, puellulae:
iam cubile adeat uiri.
Io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

Vos bonae senibus uiris
cognitae bene feminae
collocate puellulam.
Io Hymen Hymenaee io,
io Hymen Hymenaee.

Iam licet uenias, marite:
uxor in thalamo tibi est,
ore floridulo nitens,
alba parthenice uelut
luteumue papauer.

At marite, ita me iuuent
caelites, nihilo minus
pulcer es, neque te Venus
neglegit. Sed abit dies:
perge, ne remorare.

Non diu remoratus es:
iam uenis. Bona te Venus
iuuerit, quoniam palam
quod cupis cupis, et bonum
non abscondis amorem.

Ille pulueris Africi
siderumque micantium
subducat numerum prius,
qui uestri numerare uolt
multa milia ludi.

Ludite ut lubet, et breui
liberos date. Non decet
tam uetus sine liberis
nomen esse, sed indidem
semper ingenerari.

Torquatus uolo paruulus
matris e gremio suae
porrigens teneras manus
dulce rideat ad patrem
semihiante labello.

Sit suo similis patri
Manlio et facile insciis
noscitetur ab omnibus,
et pudicitiam suae
matris indicet ore.

Talis illius a bona
matre laus genus approbet,
qualis unica ab optima
matre Telemacho manet
fama Penelopeo.

Claudite ostia, uirgines:
lusimus satis. At boni
coniuges, bene uiuite et
munere assiduo ualentem
exercete iuuentam.

[Brendan Daniel Rau]

[Alan M Dunsmuir]

In article <01bd5786$32abdc80$a08ec7cf@default>, Brendan Daniel Rau
<la...@crosslink.net> writes

>A PROSE TRANSLATION OF CATULLUS 61

No. I think your earlier effort was better.
--
Alan M Dunsmuir