M/M: I'm Not Jealous, But... Catullus 81

 So, Juventius,  there’s no one in the whole world

No handsome guy

Whom you’d begin to have feelings for

Except THAT guy from Pisaurum (a dying town for sure),

a guy paler than a gilded statue…

That’s the man in your heart?

You dare to prefer him over ME?

Don’t you know what a terrible mistake you’re making?

Nemone in tanto potuit populo esse, Iuventi,
     bellus homo, quem tu diligere inciperes.
praeterquam iste tuus moribunda ab sede Pisauri
     hospes inaurata pallidior statua,
qui tibi nunc cordi est, quem tu praeponere nobis
     audes, et nescis quod facinus facias?

---Catullus LXXXI

Catullus was a Roman statesman born in Verona  (Cisalpine Gaul, located in northern Italy) who lived during the tumultuous last days of the Roman Republic.  His poetry offers rare insight into the mores of the time period. Like Propertius and Tibullus, Catullus used a pseudonym for the objects of his attention; many of his love poems were addressed to either “Lesbia” or “Juventius.”

M/M: I'm Not Jealous, But... Catullus 24

Name: Catullus Date:  84 – 54 BCE Region:  Verona / Cisalpine Gaul [modern northern Italy] Citation:  Poem 24

Juventius, the tender bud of your family, 

the best there is, 

there ever was, 

or ever will be, 

I would rather you give the wealth of Midas 

to that guy (a man, I might add, who doesn't even have a slave or a bank account!)

than for you to allow yourself to be courted by him. 

"But isn't he just dreamy?" you say.

Sure, he's nice, but he doesn't even have a slave, or a bank account!

Fine. Mock my words and dismiss them, 

but it won't change the fact that he doesn't even have a slave or a bank account!   

O qui flosculus es Iuventiorum,

non horum modo, sed quot aut fuerunt

aut posthac aliis erunt in annis,

mallem divitias Midae dedisses

isti, cui neque servus est neque arca,

quam sic te sineres ab illo amari.

'qui? non est homo bellus?' inquies. est:

sed bello huic neque servus est neque arca.

hoc tu quam lubet abice elevaque:

nec servum tamen ille habet neque arcam.

Catullus [Gaius Valerius Catullus; 84 – 54 BCE, modern Italy] was a Roman statesman born in Verona [modern Italy] who lived during the tumultuous last days of the Roman Republic.  His poetry offers rare insight into the lives of people who lived during his time period. Like Propertius and Tibullus, Catullus used a pseudonym for the objects of his attention; many of his love poems were addressed to either “Lesbia” or “Juventius.”

M/M: Unrequited: Catullus 99

Unrequited: Stolen Kisses and the Consequences

Name: Catullus Date:  84 – 54 BCE Region:  Verona / Cisalpine Gaul [modern northern Italy] Citation:  Poem 99

While you were distracted, sweet Juventius,
I stole a kiss from you.

It was sweeter than the sweetest honey.
But I didn't get away with it, for the next hour
I felt utterly tortured and alone.

For although I tried to apologize, my tears could not
Temper an ounce of your savage response.
As soon as I did it, you wiped the kiss off your lips,
Rubbing it off with each and every finger
So not a trace of my lips remained on yours,
As if I were contaminated and dirty.
You didn't hesitate to hurt me,

As I suffered from a love unreturned.
You tortured me in every way,
And now you turned a kiss, once as sweet to me as honey
Into something sad, the bitterest poison.
So now I've learned my lesson, I've paid my penalty,
And I’ll never steal another kiss again.

Unrequited: Stolen Kisses and the Consequences

Surripui tibi, dum ludis, mellite Juventi,

suaviolum dulci dulcius ambrosia.

Verum id non impune tuli: namque amplius horam

suffixum in summa me memini esse cruce,

dum tibi me purgo, nec possum fletibus ullis

tantillum vestrae demere saevitiae.

Nam simul id factum est, multis diluta labella

guttis abstersti omnibus articulis,

ne quicquam nostro contractum ex ore maneret,

tamquam commictae spurca saliva lupae.

Praeterea infesto miserum me tradere amori

non cessati omnique excruciare modo,

ut mi ex ambrosia mutatum iam foret illud

suaviolum tristi tristius elleboro.

Quam quoniam poenam misero proponis amori,

numquam iam posthac basia surripiam.  

Catullus [Gaius Valerius Catullus; 84 – 54 BCE, modern Italy] was a Roman statesman born in Verona [modern Italy] who lived during the tumultuous last days of the Roman Republic.  His poetry offers rare insight into the lives of people who lived during his time period. Like Propertius and Tibullus, Catullus used a pseudonym for the objects of his attention; many of his love poems were addressed to either “Lesbia” or “Juventius.”

M/M: Kisses Sweeter Than Honey, Catullus XLVIII

Kissing Your Honey Sweet Eyes: Catullus Sings to His Boyfriend Juventius

Name: Catullus Date:  84 – 54 BCE Region:  Verona / Cisalpine Gaul [modern northern Italy] Citation:  Poem 48

Juventius,

If I could kiss your honey sweet eyes,

I would kiss them three hundred thousand times.

I wouldn’t be satisfied

If our kisses were more plentiful

Than the waves of wheat in a field.

Kissing Your Honey Sweet Eyes: Catullus Sings to His Boyfriend Juventius

Mellitos oculos tuos, Juventi, 
si quis me sinat usque basiare,
usque ad milia basiem trecenta
nec mi umquam videar satur futurus,
non si densior aridis aristis
sit nostrae seges osculationis.

Catullus [Gaius Valerius Catullus; 84 – 54 BCE, modern Italy] was a Roman statesman born in Verona [modern Italy] who lived during the tumultuous last days of the Roman Republic.  His poetry offers rare insight into the lives of people who lived during his time period. Like Propertius and Tibullus, Catullus used a pseudonym for the objects of his attention; many of his love poems were addressed to either “Lesbia” or “Juventius.”