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TO LESBIA THE FALSE.

Wont thou to vaunt whilòme of, knowing only Catullus
(Lesbia!) nor to prefer Jupiter's self to myself.
Then, too, I loved thee well, not as vulgar wretch his mistress
But as a father his sons loves and his sons by the law.
Now have I learnt thee aright; wherefor though burn I the hotter,
Lighter and viler by far thou unto me hast become.
"How can this be?" dost ask: 'tis that such injury ever
Forces the hotter to love, also the less well to will.
Catullus. Carmina. Sir Richard Francis Burton. trans. London. For translator for private use. 1894.

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load focus Notes (E. T. Merrill, 1893)
load focus English (Leonard C. Smithers, 1894)
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  • Commentary references to this page (8):
    • E. T. Merrill, Commentary on Catullus, 2
    • E. T. Merrill, Commentary on Catullus, 42
    • E. T. Merrill, Commentary on Catullus, 6
    • E. T. Merrill, Commentary on Catullus, 64
    • E. T. Merrill, Commentary on Catullus, 70
    • E. T. Merrill, Commentary on Catullus, 75
    • E. T. Merrill, Commentary on Catullus, 76
    • E. T. Merrill, Commentary on Catullus, 85
  • Cross-references to this page (2):
    • E. T. Merrill, Commentary on Catullus, Lesbia.
    • E. T. Merrill, Commentary on Catullus, Poems.
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