So I had to translate a Latin Poem for class, and I am so creeped out! This dude must have been a creepy stalker in Rome, that's all I can say.
Catullus, Carmina 72
Dicebas quondam solum te nosse Catullum,
Lesbia, nec prae me velle tenere Iouem.
Dilexi tum te non tantum ut vulgus amicam,
sed pater ut gnatos diligit et generos.
Nunc te cognoui: quare etsi impensius uror,
multo mi tamen es vilior et leuior.
Qui potis est, inquis? Quod amantem iniuria talis
cogit amare magis, sed bene velle minus.
You said once you knew merely Catullum.
Lesbia, you hold Jupiter not before me.
I loved you than not only as the masses a mistress,
but as a father loves sons and sons in law!
Now I know you: Therefore even if I burn more intensely,
still you by far are worthless and light.
How is it possible you say? Because such a slight compels a lover
to love more, but to mean less well.
See what I mean?
