V. — An Interpretation of Catullus vnr. 



Miser Catulle, desinas ineptire, 



et quod vides perisse perditum ducas. 



Fulsere quondam candidi tibi soles, 



cum ventitabas quo puella ducebat 



amata nobis quantum amabitur nulla. 



Ibi ilia multa turn iocosa fiebant 



quae tu volebas nee puella nolel3at. 



Fulsere vere candidi tibi soles. 



Nunc iam ilia non volt; tu quoque, inpotens, noli, 



nee quae fugit sectare nee miser vive, 



sed obstinata mente perfer, obdura. 



Vale, puella ; iam Catullus obdurat, 



nee te requiret nee rogabit invitam ; 



at tu dolebis, cum rogaberis nulla. 



Scelesta, vae te ! quae tibi manet vita ? 



Quis nunc te adibit ? cui videberis bella ? 



quem nvmc amabis ? cuius esse diceris ? 



quem basial^is ? cui labella mordebis ? 



At tu, Catulle, destinatus obdura. 



This vivid and graceful little poem, though it presents few serious 

 textual difficulties and contains no recondite alkisions, has never- 

 theless troubled the judgment of candid interpreters of Catullus. 

 To whom is it addressed ? What was the occasion of it ? What 

 is its relation to Ixxvi ? Does it go to prove that Lesbia was 

 a libertinal Or is it, indeed, a Lesbia poem at all? It has been 

 used as evidence in support of widely different answers to such 

 questions as these. 



The difficulties of interpretation center about the harmonizing of 

 the last part with the first lines. The first half appears to be a 

 Lesbia poem. This view rests primarily upon the phrase in vs. 5, 

 which is repeated with a slight change in xxxvii, 12 and, in 

 substance, in Ixxxvii, 1—2, where Lesbia is mentioned by name. 

 Most Catullus scholars, starting perhaps from this phrase, find in 

 the whole first part, vss. 1-8, a sincerity and depth of feeling which 

 is explainable onl}' on the hypothesis that the lines are addressed 



