Catullus, Carmen 61
Collis o Heliconii
cultor, Uraniae genus,
qui rapis teneram ad virum
virginem, o Hymenaee Hymen,
o Hymen Hymenaee,
cinge tempora floribus
suave olentis amaraci,
flammeum cape, laetus huc,
huc veni niveo gerens
luteum pede soccum,
excitusque hilari die
nuptialia concinens
voce carmina tinnula
pelle humum pedibus, manu
pineam quate taedam.
namque Vinia Manilo,
qualis Idalium colens
venit ad Phrygium Venus
iudicem, bona cum bona
nubet alite virgo,
floridis velut enitens
myrtus Asia ramulis,
quos hamadryades deae
ludicrum sibi rosido
nutriunt umore.
quare age huc aditum ferens
perge linquere Thespiae
rupis Aonios specus,
nympha quos super irrigat
frigerans Aganippe,
ac domum dominam voca
coniugis cupidam novi,
mentem amore revinciens
ut tenax hedera huc et huc
arborem implicat errans.
vosque item simul, integrae
virgines, quibus advenit
par dies, agite in modum
dicite, “o Hymenaee Hymen,
o Hymen Hymenaee.”
ut libentius, audiens
se citarier ad suum
munus, huc aditum ferat
dux bonae Veneris, boni
coniugator amoris.
quis deus magis anxiis
est petendus amantibus?
quem colent homines magis
caelitum? o Hymenaee Hymen,
o Hymen Hymenaee.
te suis tremulus parens
invocat, tibi virgines
zonula solvunt sinus,
te timens cupida novus
captat aure maritus.
tu fero iuveni in manus
floridam ipse puellulam
dedis a gremio suae
matris, o Hymenaee Hymen,
o Hymen Hymenaee.
nil potest sine te Venus
fama quod bona comprobet
commodi capere: at potest
te volente. quis huic deo
compararier ausit?
nulla quit sine te domus
liberos dare, nec parens
stirpe nitier: at potest
te volente. quis huic deo
compararier ausit?
quae tuis careat sacris
non queat dare praesides
terra finibus: at queat
te volente. quis huic deo
compararier ausit?
claustra pandite ianuae,
virgo adest. viden ut faces
splendidas quatiunt comas?
desunt vv. 2
desunt vv. 2tardet ingenuus pudor:
quem tamen magis audiens
flet quod ire necesse est.
flere desine. Non tibi, Au-
runculeia, periculum est
ne qua femina pulchrior
clarum ab Oceano diem
viderit venientem.
talis in vario solet
divitis domini hortulo
stare flos hyacinthinus.
sed moraris, abit dies:
prodeas, nova nupta.
prodeas, nova nupta, si
iam videtur, et audias
nostra verba. vide ut faces
aureas quatiunt comas:
prodeas, nova nupta.
non tuus levis in mala
deditus vir adultera
probra turpia persequens
a tuis teneris volet
secubare papillis,
lenta quin velut adsitas
vitis implicat arbores,
implicabitur in tuum
complexum. Sed abit dies:
prodeas, nova nupta.
o cubile quod omnibus
desunt vv. 3
candido pede lecti,
quae tuo veniunt ero,
quanta gaudia, quac vaga
nocte, quae medio die
gaudeat! sed abit dies:
Prodeas, nova nupta.
tollite, o pueri, faces:
flammeum video venire.
ite, concinite in modum
“o Hymen Hymenaee io,
o Hymen Hymenaee.”
ne diu taceat procax
fescennina iocatio,
nec nuces pueris neget
desertum domini audiens
concubinus amorem.
da nuces pueris, iners
concubine: satis diu
lusisti nucibus: libet
iam servire Talasio.
concubine, nuces da.
sordebant tibi vilicae,
concubine, hodie atque heri:
nunc tuum cinerarius
tondet os. miser ah miser
concubine, nuces da.
diceris male te a tuis
unguentate glabris marite
abstinere: sed abstine.
o Hymen Hymenaee io,
o Hymen Hymenaee.
scimus haec tibi quae licent
sola cognita: sed marito
ista non eadem licent.
o Hymen Hymenaee io,
o Hymen Hymenaee.
nupta, tu quoque quae tuus
vir petet cave ne neges,
ne petitum aliunde eat.
o Hymen Hymenaee io,
o Hymen Hymenaee.
en tibi domus ut potens
et beata viri tui:
quae tibi sine serviat
(o Hymen Hymenaee io,
o Hymen Hymenaee).
usque dum tremulum movens
cana tempus anilitas
omnia omnibus adnuit.
o Hymen Hymenaee io,
o Hymen Hymenaee.
transfer omine cum bono
limen aureolos pedes,
rasilemque subi forem.
o Hymen Hymenaee io,
o Hymen Hymenaee.
adspice unus ut accubans
vir tuus Tyrio in toro
totus immineat tibi.
o Hymen Hymenaee io,
o Hymen Hymenaee.
illi non minus ac tibi
pectore uritur intimo
flamma, sed penite magis
o Hymen Hymenaee io,
o Hymen Hymenaee.
mitte bracchiolum teres,
praetextate, puellulae:
iam cubile adeat viri.
o Hymen Hymenaee io,
o Hymen Hymenaee.
o bonae senibus viris
cognitae bene feminae,
conlocate puellulam.
o Hymen Hymenaee io,
o Hymen Hymenaee.
iam licet venias, marite:
uxor in thalamo tibi est
ore floridulo nitens
alba parthenice velut
luteumve papaver.
at, marite, (ita me iuvent
caelites) nihilo minus
pulcher es, neque te Venus
neglegit. sed abit dies:
perge, ne remorare.
non diu remoratus es,
iam venis. bona te Venus
iuverit, quoniam palam
quod cupis cupis et bonum
non abscondis amorem.
ille pulveris Africi
siderumque micantium
subducat numerum prius,
qui vestri numerare vult
multa milia ludi.
ludite ut libet, et brevi
liberos date. non decet
tam vetus sine liberis
nomen esse, sed indidem
semper ingenerari.
Torquatus volo parvulus
matris e gremio suae
porrigens teneras manus
dulce rideat ad patrem
semihiante labello.
sit suo similis patri
Manlio et facile insciis
noscitetur ab omnibus
et pudicitiam suae
matris indicet ore.
talis illius a bona
matre laus genus adprobet
qualis unica ab optima
matre Telemacho manet
fama Penelopeo.
clauditeostia, virgines:
lusimussatis. at, boni
coniuges, beneviviteet
munereadsiduovalentem
exerceteiuventam.
O keeper of the Heliconian hill
Kin of Urania,
You who carry off a delicate
Virgin to a husband
O Hymenaee Hymen,
O Hymen Hymenaee!
Crown your temples with flowers,
Sweet-smelling marjoram,
Take the flammeum, come
Happily to this place, here wearing
Your yellow shoe on a fair foot
And stirred up by the happy nuptial day
Sing a chorus of wedding songs
With your ringing voice
Strike the ground with your feet
With your hand, shake the pine torch.
For Vinia to Manilo
Just as cultivating Ida
Venus came to the Phrygian judge
The good virgin is wed
With good omens
Shining like Asian myrtle
With its flowering branches,
Which the Hamadryad goddesses
Cultivate for their pleasure
With rosy dew
And so, come on!
March to this place, bring your approach
Leave the Aonian caves of the Thespian rock,
Above which the frigid stream
Of the nymph Aganippe flows.
And call home the lady wanting a
New husband
Binding the mind with love
Just like a tender vine
Encircles a tree, wandering here and there.
And at the same time you,
Intact virgins, for whom
An equal day comes, lead in the meter
Say, “O Hymenaee Hymen
O Hymen Hymenaee.”
So that when he hears
Himself called to duty,
More easily, more quickly
He might bring his approach
The leader of good Venus,
The joiner of good love.
What god must be sought
By more anxious lovers?
Whom of the sky do men worship more?
O Hymenaee Hymen
O Hymen Hymenaee!
The trembling parent calls you
To their children, for you
Loose the belt on their lap,
For you the shy new husband listens
With a desirous ear
You yourself give a flowering little girl
Into the hand of a wild youth
From the lap of her mother,
O Hymenaee Hymen,
O Hymen Hymenaee!
Venus can’t do anything suitable
Without you, anything which a
Good reputation allows –
But she can, if you’re willing.
Who dared to be
Compared to this god?
Without you, no house can bear
Children, nor can a parent lean
On his offspring:
But with you, it is possible.
Who dared to be
Compared to this god?
Without you, no land can give
Protection to its sacred boundaries:
But it can, with you willing.
Who dared to be
Compared to this god?
Open the lock on the door –
The virgin is here!
Don’t you see how the torches
Shake their shining locks?
[2 lines missing]
Inborn modesty lingers:
Nevertheless, when she hears this more,
She cries because it’s necessary to go.
Stop crying!
There is no danger for you, Aurunculeia,
No woman more beautiful
Sees a clear day coming from Oceanus.
Just as a hyacinth flower is
Accustomed to stand in the
Variegated little garden of a
Wealthy master. But you delay –
The day is leaving.
Go forth, new bride!
Go forth, new bride, if
Now it seems right,
And let you hear our words.
See how the torches
Shake their golden locks:
Go forth, new bride!
Your man is not fickle,
Given to adultery,
Pursuing foul deeds,
Fleeing to lie away from your
Tender breasts.
Just as slowly a vine
Wraps around nearby trees,
He will be enfolded
In your embrace. But the day is leaving –
Go forth, new bride!
O, bed, which for all…
[3 lines missing]
At the foot of the bright marriage bed
Where you come to your lord,
How much joy, what a wandering night,
What joy in the middle of the day!
But they day is leaving:
Go forth, new bride!
Lift the torches, boys!
I see the flammeum approaching.
Go, sing together in meter,
“O Hymen Hymenaee io,
O Hymen Hymenaee.”
Don’t let the bold
Fescennine joking be silent,
Nor let his loverboy neglect
The nuts for the boys
Hearing about the
Abandoned love of his master.
Give the nuts to the boys,
Useless loverboy!
You’ve played with the nuts long enough –
Now it’s right for you to serve Talasius.
Loverboy, give them the nuts!
Ladies used to disgust you,
Loverboy, today and yesterday:
Now the hair-curler shaves your face.
Wretched, ah! Wretched loverboy,
Give them the nuts!
You will speak badly, husband,
About abstaining from
Your perfumed, unbearded slaves –
But abstain.
O Hymen Hymenaee io,
O Hymen Hymenaee!
We know these things were allowed for you,
When you were known as a bachelor:
But for a husband,
Those same things aren’t allowed.
O Hymen Hymenaee io,
O Hymen Hymenaee!
Bride, you also should take care
Not to deny the things which
Your man seeks,
Nor let him go seeking elsewhere.
O Hymen Hymenaee io,
O Hymen Hymenaee!
Oh, let your house be powerful
And blessed by your man:
The house which works without you there.
O Hymen Hymenaee io,
O Hymen Hymenaee!
Until white old age
Moving shaking time
Approves everything for everyone
O Hymen Hymenaee io,
O Hymen Hymenaee!
Carry golden feet across the
Threshold with a good omen,
And pass under the polished doorway.
O Hymen Hymenaee io,
O Hymen Hymenaee!
See how your man
Lies alone on the Tyrian bed
Entirely waiting for you
O Hymen Hymenaee io,
O Hymen Hymenaee!
For him no less than for you
A flame burns deep
In his chest, but more deep
O Hymen Hymenaee io,
O Hymen Hymenaee!
Let go of the tender
Arm of the little girl, boy –
Now she approaches her husband’s bed.
O Hymen Hymenaee io,
O Hymen Hymenaee!
O good women known
Well to old husbands,
Come together with the little girl.
O Hymen Hymenaee io,
O Hymen Hymenaee!
Now it’s allowed for you to approach, husband:
Your wife is in your bed.
Shining with florid face,
Just like a white poppy.
But, husband, (thus the celestial ones
Aid me) you are by no means
Less handsome, Venus hasn’t neglected you.
But the day is leaving:
Go on, don’t delay.
You haven’t delayed long,
Now you approach. Good Venus aids you
Since what you desire, you desire openly
And you don’t conceal good love.
He would sooner count the
Sands of Africa, combined with the
Number of stars, who would
Want to count your many thousand joys.
Play as you please, and soon
Give her children. It isn’t right for
So old a name to be without children,
But it should always produce
From the same place.
I wish for little Torquatus to
Stretch our his tender hands
On his mother’s lap
And laugh sweetly at his father
With his mouth half-open.
Let your Manlius be like his father
And easily let it be known by all who are ignorant
And indicate his mother’s modesty by his face.
Such kind of praise esteems his good mother
Just like fame endures for Penelope,
The singular and best mother to Telemachus.
Close your mouths, virgins,
We have played enough.
But, good spouses, live well and
Attend to your duty continuously
With youthful strength.
