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Lesbia says hurtful things about Catullus when her husband is around, but he justifies her behavior by speculating that Lesbia is uttering these insults because Catullus is constantly on her mind.

Meter: Elegiac couplets.

1: mī: = mihi; dative singular. dīcit: Catullus ends three of the six lines with verbs of speaking (dīcit, line 1; obloquitur, line 4; and loquitur, line 6). praesente virō: “with her husband being present”; ablative absolute (AG §419).

2: illī fatuō: “for that foolish man”; dative singular; the adjective fatuus is a substantive (AG §285).

3: Mūle: “o mule”; vocative singular; Catullus pivots and directly addresses Lesbia’s husband.  His harsh tone towards his rival reveals that Catullus believes that he, rather than Lesbia’s actual husband, truly understands her emotions. sī…tacēret, sāna esset: “if she were silent, she would be sane”; present contrary-to-fact condition (AG §517). nostrī oblīta: “(she) having forgotten us”; the genitive (nostrī) occurs after verbs of forgetting (oblīviscor); in line 5, Catullus uses meminit, the opposite of oblīta.

4: sāna: “sane, unemotional, devoid of passion”; Cf. Vergil, Aeneid 4.8 (Merrill). quod: “because.” gannit: “she snarls”; the verb ganniō often refers to dogs.

5: multō: “by much” or “by far”; ablative of degree of difference (AG §414). ācrior: “more passionate or intense” and “shrewder or more penetrating”; Catullus capitalizes on the many potential meanings of this comparative adjective (AG §291).

6: Hoc est: “that is.” ūritur: “(she) is on fire”; has a middle (AG §156.a note) rather than a passive sense; the opposite of sāna in line 4. et: implies a causal effect (AG §539) “she burns (and) so she speaks” (Garrison).