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The [[meter (poetry)|meter]] is [[elegiac couplet]], which was usually employed in love poetry, such as Catullus' addresses to [[Lesbia]]. However, the elegy couplet was originally used by ancient Greek poets to express grief and lamentation, making it an entirely suitable form to express Catullus' mourning.
The [[meter (poetry)|meter]] is [[elegiac couplet]], which was usually employed in love poetry, such as Catullus' addresses to [[Lesbia]]. However, the elegy couplet was originally used by ancient Greek poets to express grief and lamentation, making it an entirely suitable form to express Catullus' mourning.


==Latin text==
====
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px; border: thin solid gold; background-color:#f7f8ff" align=left cellpadding="7"
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px; border: thin solid gold; background-color:#f7f8ff" align=left cellpadding="7"
|-align="center" bgcolor="#e6e9ff"
|-align="center" bgcolor="#e6e9ff"
Line 13: Line 13:
|1
|1
||multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus
||multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus
| Carried through many nations and over many seas,
|Carried through many nations and over many seas,


|-
|-
|2
|2
||advenio has miseras frater ad inferias
||advenio has miseras frater ad inferias
| I arrive, brother, for these miserable funeral rites,
|I arrive, brother, for these funeral rites
|-
|-
|3
|3
||ut te postremo donarem munere mortis
||ut te postremo donarem munere mortis
| so that I might grant the final service for the dead
|so that I might the


|-
|-
|4
|4
||et mutam nequiquam alloquerer cinerem
||et mutam nequiquam alloquerer cinerem
| and speak in vain to your silent ashes,
|and speak in vain to silent ,
|-
|-
|5
|5
||quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum
||quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum
|since Fortune has deprived me of you in the flesh.{{ref|ipse|1}}
|since Fortune has you in the flesh.{{ref|ipse|1}}
|-
|-
|6
|6
||heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi
||heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi
| Ah, poor brother, undeservedly lost to me,
|, poor brother, me,
|-
|-
|7
|7
||nunc tamen interea haec prisco quae more parentum
||nunc tamen interea haec prisco quae more parentum
|now at least for the meantime, these things<br>which in the time-honored way of our ancestors
|now the meantime, these thingswhich in the of ancestors


|-
|-
|8
|8
||tradita sunt tristi munere ad inferias
||tradita sunt tristi munere ad inferias
| are handed down in a mournful service for the rites
|are handed a the rites
|-
|-
|9
|9
||accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu
||accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu
| receive, utterly sodden by a brother's tears
|receive,
|-
|-
|10
|10
||atque in perpetuum frater ave atque vale
||atque in perpetuum frater ave atque vale
|and for eternity, brother, greetings and farewell.{{ref|ave|2}}
| , brother, and farewell.
|}{{clr}}
|}{{clr}}


;Notes
Notes
#{{note|ipse}} The intensive pronoun ''ipse'' in this context contrasts the ash to the actual person who existed: ''[[Oxford Latin Dictionary]]'', (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982, reprinted 1985)p. 965, entry on ''ipse'', meaning 5 ("the actual").}}
#{{note|ipse}} The intensive pronoun ''ipse'' in this context contrasts the ash to the actual person who existed: ''[[Oxford Latin Dictionary]]'', (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982, reprinted 1985)p. 965, entry on ''ipse'', meaning 5 ("the actual").
#{{note|ave}} To capture the sense in modern English, the imperative verbs ''ave'' ("hail!", which in English has acquired an imperialistic connotation not present in the Latin) and ''vale'' ("be well," literally, but idiomatically "good-bye") have been rendered as nouns.


==Another elegy==
==Another elegy==

Revision as of 23:17, 17 June 2012

Catullus 101 is an elegiac poem written by the Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus. It is addressed to Catullus' dead brother or, strictly speaking, to the "mute ashes" which are the only remaining evidence of his brother's body.

The tone is grief-stricken and tender, with Catullus trying to give the best gift he had to bestow (a poem) on his brother, who was taken untimely. The last words, "Hail and Farewell" (in Latin, ave atque vale), are among Catullus' most famous; an alternative modern translation might be "I salute you...and goodbye".

The meter is elegiac couplet, which was usually employed in love poetry, such as Catullus' addresses to Lesbia. However, the elegy couplet was originally used by ancient Greek poets to express grief and lamentation, making it an entirely suitable form to express Catullus' mourning.

Text

Line Latin text English translation
1 multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus Carried through many nations and over many seas,
2 advenio has miseras frater ad inferias I arrive, brother, for these wretched funeral rites
3 ut te postremo donarem munere mortis so that I might present you with the last tribute of death
4 et mutam nequiquam alloquerer cinerem and speak in vain to silent ash,
5 quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum since Fortune has carried away from me you in the flesh.1
6 heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi Alas, poor brother, unfairly taken away from me,
7 nunc tamen interea haec prisco quae more parentum now in the meantime, nevertheless, these things which in the ancient custom of ancestors
8 tradita sunt tristi munere ad inferias are handed over as a sad tribute to the rites
9 accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu receive, very much dripping with brotherly weeping.
10 atque in perpetuum frater ave atque vale And forever, brother, hail and farewell.

Notes

  1. ^ The intensive pronoun ipse in this context contrasts the ash to the actual person who existed: Oxford Latin Dictionary, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982, reprinted 1985) p. 965, entry on ipse, meaning 5 ("the actual").

Another elegy

This is one of three poems in which Catullus tries to cope with the loss of his brother. The other poems are Catullus 65 and 68B. The cause of his brother's death is unknown; he apparently died before 57 BC in Bithynia, a northwest region of modern-day Turkey, near the ancient city of Troy.

Modern translations

In addition to its inclusion among the many translations of Catullus's collected poems, Carmen 101 is featured in Nox (2010), a book by Canadian poet and classicist Anne Carson that comes in an accordion format within a box. Nox concerns the death of Carson's own brother, to which the poem of Catullus offers a parallel. Carson provides the Latin text of 101, word-by-word annotations, and "a close and almost awkward translation." Although Nox shares some features with an artist's book in its unconventional format and incorporation of multimedia art, it is mass-produced rather than unique.[1]

Musical settings

This poem, as translated by Aubrey Beardsley, was set by the composer Ned Rorem under the title "Catullus: On the Burial of his Brother". The Austrian music group Dargaard have also performed this poem in song on their album Rise and Fall, naming it "Ave Atque Vale".

References

  1. ^ Ben Ratliff, "Lamentation," New York Times Sunday Book Review 3 June 2010 online.

Bibliography

Latin Wikisource has original text related to this article:
English Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  • Cederstrom, E (1981). "Catullus' Last Gift to his Brother (c. 101)". Classical World. 75 (2): 117–118. doi:10.2307/4349341.
  • Bright, DF (1976). "Non Bona Dicta: Catullus' Poetry of Separation". Quaderni Urbinati di Culture Classica. 21: 106–119.
  • Howe, NP (1974). "The 'Terce Muse' of Catullus 101". Classical Philology. 69 (4): 274–276. doi:10.1086/366109.
  • Robinson, CE (1965). "Multas per gentes". Greece and Rome. 12: 62–63.
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