Catullus 5 is a passionate ode to

Lesbia Lesbia was the literary pseudonym used by the Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus ( 82–52 BC) to refer to his lover. Lesbia is traditionally identified with Clodia, the wife of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer and sister of Publius Clodius Pulc ...

and one of the most famous poems by

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His s ...

. The poem encourages lovers to scorn the snide comments of others, and to live only for each other, since life is brief and death brings a night of perpetual sleep. This poem has been translated and imitated many times. This poem is written in the Phalaecian hendecasyllabic meter (Latin: ''hendecasyllabus phalaecius'') which has verses of 11 syllables, a common form in Catullus' poetry.

17th century translations

In 1601, the English

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

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Thomas Campion Thomas Campion (sometimes spelled Campian; 12 February 1567 – 1 March 1620) was an English composer, poet, and physician. He was born in London, educated at Cambridge, studied law in Gray's inn. He wrote over a hundred lute songs, masques for ...

wrote this rhyming free translation of the first half (to which he added two verses of his own, and music, to create a lute song): My sweetest Lesbia, let us live and love; And though the sager sort our deeds reprove, Let us not weigh them. Heaven's great lamps do dive Into their west, and straight again revive, But soon as once is set our little light, Then must we sleep one ever-during night.

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

drew on the poem in poems 5, "Song. To Celia," and 6, "Song. To the Same" in his collection ''The Forrest''. Soon thereafter, Sir

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...

included the following verse, apparently based on Campion's translation, in his ''The Historie of the World'', which he wrote while imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

The Sunne may set and rise But we contrariwise Sleepe after our short light One everlasting night.

Text

1 Vivāmus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus, 2 rumoresque senum severiorum 3 omnes unius aestimemus assis! 4 soles occidere et redire possunt; 5 nobis, cum semel occidit brevis lux, 6 nox est perpetua una dormienda. 7 da mi basia mille, deinde centum, 8 dein mille altera, dein secunda centum, 9 deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum; 10 dein, cum milia multa fecerimus, 11 conturbabimus illa, ne sciamus, 12 aut ne quis malus invidere possit, 13 cum tantum sciat esse basiorum. Let us live, my Lesbia, and love, and the rumors of rather stern old men let us value all at just one penny! Suns may set and rise again; for us, when once the brief light has set, an eternal night must be slept. Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred, then another thousand, then a second hundred, then yet another thousand, then a hundred; then, when we have performed many thousands, we shall shake them into confusion,Perhaps on the

abacus The abacus (''plural'' abaci or abacuses), also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool which has been used since ancient times. It was used in the ancient Near East, Europe, China, and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the Hin ...

. Harry L. Levy
"Catullus, 5, 7–11 and the Abacus"
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American Journal of Philology The ''American Journal of Philology'' is a quarterly academic journal established in 1880 by the classical scholar Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve and published by the Johns Hopkins University Press. It covers the field of philology, and related areas ...

'', Vol. 62, No. 2 (1941), , pp. 222–224 in order for us to lose the count, and in order not to let any evil person envy us, as no one will be aware of how many kisses have there been.

Poetic effects

*Line 5–6 The position of ''lux'' (light) and ''nox'' (night) right next to each other serve to emphasise his two comparisons. Symbolically, the "perpetual night" represents death and the "brief light" represents life. Furthermore, there is also a second chiasmus in these lines:

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Catullus C005 Love poems Articles containing video clips