Catullus 48 in Latin & English- Mellitos oculos tuos, Iuventi

About

Catullus 48 is a love poem to Juventius, similar to poems 5 and 7, which are addressed to Lesbia/Clodia. In poem 16 he said to Furius and Aurelius:

“Vos, quod milia multa basiorum legistis, male me marem putatis?” (You, since you read ‘many thousands of kisses,’ think I’m not a real man?). I believe the current poem is probably what led to their criticism, and his famous poetic retort in poem 16.

Mellitos: of honey, honey-sweet

Iuventi: Juventius is a young man whom Catullus had a crush on. The “Juventius Cycle” consists of poems 15, 21, 23, 24, 48, 81, 99, and probaby 16 and 40.

Si quis: quis after si = aliquis, someone, anyone; here it’s probably an indirect way of saying “if you yourself would…”

Sinat: would let, permit, allow; present subjunctive. Is Catullus concerned that Juventius would not allow him to kiss him, or is he concerned about what others might think?

Usque: continually, constantly

Usque ad: even to, as far as, up to

Milia trecenta: 300,000 (kisses)! He uses the same number in poem 9: “Verani, omnibus e meis amicis antistans mihi milibus trecentis.”

Basiem: I would kiss, present subjunctive

Nec numquam: not never!

Videar: would I seem, present passive subjunctive

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CC BY 3.0, as the Wikimedia Commons states it.

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Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Credit

David Amster

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