NULLI SE DICIT MULIER ... | MY WOMAN DECLARES ... |
Catullus (Gaius Valerius Catullus) | tr. Colin Sydenham |
Nulli se dicit mulier mea nubere malle .....quam mihi, non si se Iuppiter ipse petat, dicit: sed mulier cupido quod dicit amanti, .....in vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua. |
My woman declares I’m her first choice for marriage, there’s nobody else .....she would have, not even if Jove condescended to court her. She says it, but words which a woman breathes into her lover’s hot ear .....should be written in wandering wind or in hurrying water. |
Trans. Copyright © Colin Sydenham 2006