Catullus Poem 73- Desine de quoquam quicquam bene velle mereri; Latin & English

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Catullus 73, a moving poem on the theme of betrayed friendship, is addressed to the reader, perhaps us, but also to himself. In the last two lines he refers to a close friend who is treating him very badly. He chooses not to name the person, but some have suggested Caelius Rufus, who had a tumultuous affair with Clodia/Lesbia.

“quam modo quī m(ē) ūn(um) atqu(e) ūnic(um) amīc(um) habuit.”

This last line of the poem is remarkable for its FIVE elisions, which seems to have been used to convey Catullus’ distress. I’ve chosen to blend some of the elided vowels, as full elision would make it very difficult for the listeners to understand.

Line 4 in the earliest manuscripts has the word “magisque”, but it doesn’t fit the meter:

“immō etiam taedet obestque magisque magis”

I have therefore adopted Merrill’s text, which omits “magisque” and adds a second “taedet”:

“immo etiam taedet, [taedet] obestque magis”

Vocabulary Notes:

Desine: stop, cease; imperative with “velle” and “putare”. Note that Catullus used the same verb in Poem 8: “Desinas ineptire”.

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David Amster

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