3

Catullus commemorates the death of Lesbia’s pet sparrow with this mock dirge, summoning lamentations from all the followers of Venus.  Perhaps, as Garrison notes, Catullus hoped his lighthearted tone would propel Lesbia from her grief, if indeed the poem reflects an actual event. Many later Roman authors wrote memorial poems for pets. (See Ovid Amores 2.6; Statius Silvae 2.4; and Martial 1.7)

Meter: Hendecasyllabics.

2: quantum est: “however many there are (of).” hominum venustiōrum: “of rather charming people”;  partitive genitive (AG §346) after quantum;  venustiōrum is a comparative (AG §291.a) form of the adjective venustus.

3: passer: “sparrow” or “blue thrush”; vocative singular.

4: dēliciae: “delight, darling”; irregular noun with a plural form and a singular meaning.

5: quem: “whom”; accusative singular of the relative pronoun; direct object of amābat. illa: “that woman” (Lesbia); subject of amābat. oculīs suīs: “than her own eyes”; ablative of comparison (AG §406) after plūs.

6: suam…ipsam: “she herself” or “its own mistress.” nōrat: = nōverat; “(the sparrow) knew”; syncopated pluperfect form; translate as perfect.

7: tam bene quam: “as well as.” puella mātrem: supply nōrat.

8: sēsē: “itself” (the sparrow); direct object (accusative singular) of movēbat. ā gremiō illius: “from her (Lesbia’s) lap”; illius is the genitive singular of the demonstrative pronoun (AG §297.b). 

9: circumsiliēns: “leaping around”; present active participle (AG §488). modo hūc modo illūc: “this way and that way.”

10: usque: “continually.”

11: quī…it: “it (the sparrow) goes.” per iter tenebriōsum illud: “along that gloomy journey.”

12: unde negant redīre quemquam: “from where they (i.e. people) deny that anyone returns”; indirect statement (AG §583).

13: vōbīs male sit: “may it be badly for you”; sit is iussive subjunctive (AG §439).

14: Orcī: “of Orcus”; the Roman/Etruscan god of the underworld who often punished broken oaths; the term can also refer to the entire underworld  (cf. Greek “Hades”). quae… dēvorātis: “you (who) devour”; quae is in apposition to the subject (vos) of dēvorātis. omnia bella: “all pretty things”; substantive phrase (AG §302.e); bella is a popular diminutive of bona.

15: mihi…abstulistis: “you stole from me.”

16: miselle: diminutive of miser; vocative singular.

17: tuā…operā: “by your work/effort”; ablative singular.

18: flendō: “from weeping”; gerund (AG §507), ablative singular. turgidulī…ocellī: “little swollen eyes”; subject (nominative plural) of rubent; both the adjective and the noun are diminutives (turgidulī from turgidī and ocellī from oculī).