Gaius Valerius Catullus, Carmina (ed. Sir Richard Francis Burton)
Editions and translations: Latin (ed. E. T. Merrill) | English (ed. Sir Richard Francis Burton) | English (ed. Leonard C. Smithers)
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To VARUS ABUSING SUFFENUSVarus, yon wight Suffenus known to thee
Fairly for wit, free talk, urbanity,
The same who scribbles verse in amplest store--
Methinks he fathers thousands ten or more
[5] Indited not as wont on palimpsest,
But paper-royal, brand-new boards, and best
Fresh bosses, crimson ribbands, sheets with lead
Ruled, and with pumice-powder all well polished.
These as thou readest, seem that fine, urbane
[10] Suffenus, goat-herd mere, or ditcher-swain
Once more, such horrid change is there, so vile.
What must we wot thereof? a Droll erst while,
Or (if aught) cleverer, he with converse meets,
He now in dullness, dullest villain beats
Forthright on handling verse, nor is the wight
[15] Ever so happy as when verse he write:
So self admires he with so full delight.
In sooth, we all thus err, nor man there be
But in some matter a Suffenus see
Thou canst: his lache allotted none shall lack
[20] Yet spy we nothing of our back-borne pack.
There are a total of 58 comments on and cross references to this page.
Further comments from E. T. Merrill, Commentary on Catullus:
poem 22 (general note)
poem 22, line 1: Suffenus
poem 22, line 1: Vare
poem 22, line 1: probe nosti
poem 22, line 10: unus
poem 22, line 11 (general note)
poem 22, line 11: abhorret ac mutat
poem 22, line 12: modo
poem 22, line 12: scurra
poem 22, line 13: aut si quid
poem 22, line 13: tritius
poem 22, line 14: infaceto rure
poem 22, line 15: simul
poem 22, line 16: aeque est
poem 22, line 18 (general note)
poem 22, line 2 (general note)
poem 22, line 20: attributus
poem 22, line 20: error
poem 22, line 21 (general note)
poem 22, line 3: idem
poem 22, line 3: longe plurimos
poem 22, line 4: milia
poem 22, line 4: aut … aut
poem 22, line 5: sic
poem 22, line 5: ut fit
poem 22, line 5: palimpsesto
poem 22, line 6: relata
poem 22, line 6: chartae regiae
poem 22, line 6: noui libri
poem 22, line 7: umbilici
poem 22, line 7: lora
poem 22, line 7: rubra membrana
poem 22, line 8: derecta plumbo
poem 22, line 8: pumice omnia aequata
poem 22, line 9: legas
poem 22, line 9: bellus
Cross references from E. T. Merrill, Commentary on Catullus:
* [Friends and foes.]
* [Metres.]
*
*
* [Prosody.]
*
*
*
*
*
* [Metres.]
*
*
*
*
*: novi libri
*
*: derecta plumbo
Cross references from Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898):
palimpsest [Palimpsest]
* [Papyrus Plant.]
plumbum [Plumbum]
Cross references from Charles Simmons, The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books XIII and XIV:
14, 770
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This text is based on the following book(s): Catullus. Carmina. Sir Richard Francis Burton. trans. London. For translator for private use. 1894. OCLC: 878062
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