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Iucundum cum aetas florida ver ageret,

Multa satis lusi: non est dea nescia nostri,

Quae dulcem curis miscet amaritiem.

The early poems there referred to probably gained him his first

reputation and attracted that notice of Cornelius Nepos, which is

Quoi dono lepidum novum libellum.

'Vesper adest: invenes consurgite'--may have been written before

Cui faveam potius? Caeli, tibi, nam tua nobis

Per facta exhibitas't unica amicitia,

Cum vesana meas torreret flamma medullas.

that the lady addressed under that name was the notorious Clodia,

Splendidaque a docto fama refulget avo.

Lesbius est pulcher: quidni? quem Lesbia malit

Quam te cum tota gente, Catulle, tua.

Ille mi par esse deo videtur;

and again

Quo mea se molli candida diva pedem

That the intrigue was carried on and had even reached its second

stage--that of the 'amantium irae'--in the lifetime of Metellus,

appears from the 83rd poem,

Lesbia mi praesente viro mala plurima dicit, etc.

Sed furtiva dedit mira munuscula nocte,

Ipsius ex ipso dempta viri gremio--

clearly imply that these meetings occurred after the return of

Nam unguentum dabo, quod meae puellae

Visam te incolumem audiamque Hiberum

Narrantem loca, facta, nationes--

Macedonia, it seems a not unwarranted conjecture that they were

The first hint of any rift in the loves of Catullus and Clodia is

Quare, quod scribis Veronae turpe Catullo, etc.

Catullus had retired to Verona on hearing of the death of his

Etsi me adsiduo confectum cura dolore

Sevocat a doctis, Ortale, virginibus, etc.

In his letter to Manlius, in which he excuses himself on the same

somewhat later to Allius,--

Non possum reticere deae qua me Allius in re, etc.--

Quae tamen etsi uno non est contenta Catullo

Rara verecundae furta feremus erae.

tenderness. Afterwards, even though his passion from time to time

The poems representing the second and third stage--that in which

passion and scorn strive with one another--of the relations to

O dulces comitum valete coetus.--

Varus me meus ad suos amores

Visum duxerat e foro otiosum--

Disertissime Romuli nepotum

Quot sunt quotque fuere, Marce Tulli--

Tanto pessimus omnium poeta

Quanto tu optimus omnium patronus--

seems to point to some exercise of Cicero's special talent as an

The poems written in the two last years of the poet's life do not

Maestius lacrimis Simonideis.

The lines--

Malest, me hercule, et est laboriose,

Et magis magis in dies et horas--

might well have been drawn from him by the rapid advance of his

Peliaco quondam prognatae, etc.--

Zymrna mei Cinnae nonam post denique messem

Quam coepta'st nonamque edita post hiemem,--

Sed postquam tellus scelere est imbuta nefando, etc.--

But although longer life might have brought to Catullus a still

higher rank among the poets of the world, the chief charm of the

poems actually written by him arises from the strength and depth

interpreters of Nature and of human life: none have expressed so

directly and truthfully the great elemental affections, or have

'Odi et amo,' till at last he obtains his emancipation by the

Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus,

Quaeris, quot mihi basiationes, etc.,--

Miser, Catulle, desinas ineptire--

in which he recalls the bright days of the past--

Fulsere quondam candidi tibi soles,--

wounds, which had been partially healed, had broken out afresh,--

Si qua recordanti benefacta priora voluptas, etc.;

Furi et Aureli comites Catullo,--

in which scornful irony is combined with an imaginative power and

Si quicquam mutis gratum acceptumque sepulchris

Accidere a nostro Calve dolore potest,

Quo desiderio veteres renovamus amores

Atque olim missas flemus amicitias

Certe non tanto mors immatura dolori est

Quintiliae, quantum gaudet amore tuo.

Poetae tenero, meo sodali

Velim Caecilio papyre dicas,--

Venistine domum ad tuos Penates

Fratresque unanimos anumque matrem?

Venisti. O mihi nuntii beati.

Sed contra accipies meros amores

Seu quid suavius elegantiusve.

Haec amem necessest

Ut Veraniolum meum et Fabullum.

Certe tute iubebas animam tradere, inique, me

Inducens in amorem, quasi tuta omnia mi forent.

Inde nunc retrahis te ac tua dicta omnia factaque

Ventos irrita ferre ac nebulas aerias sinis.

These, and other poems, show that Catullus was quick to feel any

coldness or neglect on the part of his friends, and exceedingly

dependent for his happiness on their sympathy. But the tone of

these poems is quite different from the resentment which he feels

Pauca nuntiate meae puellae

Non bona dicta.

Si qua recordanti benefacta priora voluptas