ILLE MI PAR ESSE DEO VIDETUR ... |
THAT MAN I JUDGE THE EQUAL OF A GOD ... |
Catullus (Gaius Valerius Catullus) | tr. Colin Sydenham |
Ille mi par esse deo videtur, ille, si fas est, superare divos, qui sedens adversus identidem te .....spectat et audit dulce ridentem, misero quod omnis eripit sensus mihi: nam simul te, Lesbia, aspexi nihil est super mi .....vocis in ore, lingua sed torpet, tenuis sub artus flamma demanat, sonitu suopte tintinant aures, gemina teguntur .....lumina nocte. otium, Catulle, tibi molestum est: otio exsultas nimiumque gestis: otium et reges prius et beatas .....perdidit urbes. |
That man I judge the equal of a god, or higher still, if such a thing can be, who seats himself where he can see and hear .....repeatedly your lilting laughter, which bewitches all my senses, Lesbia; the moment I lay eyes on you I’m helpless, all my flow .....of words runs dry, my tongue is stilled, a febrile heat seeps through my limbs, my ears with inner jangling grate, a canopy of darkness falls, which neither eye .....can penetrate. Leisure is your besetting vice, Catullus, you overdose on its addictive pleasure; royal lines and wealthy city-states have been .....destroyed by leisure. |
Trans. Copyright © Colin Sydenham 2006