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Catullus 1 Translation: A Dedication to Cornelius

Basic Text of Catullus 1:

1. Cui dōnō lepidum novum libellum
Āridā modo pūmice expolītum?
Cornēlī, tibi! Namque tū solēbās
Meās esse aliquid putāre nūgās,
5. Jam tum cum ausus es ūnus Ītalōrum
Omne aevum tribus explicāre chartīs,
Doctīs Juppiter et labōriōsīs.
Quārē habē tibi quidquid hoc libellī
Quālecumque; quod, ō patrōna virgō,
10. Plūs ūnō maneat perenne saeclō.

1 To whom do I give the charming booklet
Just now polished with dry pumice?
Cornelius, to you! For you usually
thought my trifles to be something,
5 Already then when you dared alone of the Italians
To unravel all an age through three 
Learned, Juppiter(!), and laborious scrolls,
Therefore, have for you this “whatever” of a book
Of whichever sort; that, O maiden patroness,
10 More than one lasting age may it remain.

1 Cui dōnō lepidum novum libellum
Āridā modo pūmic’expolītum?
Cornēlī, tibi! Namque tū solēbās
Meās ess’aliquid putāre nūgās,
5 Jam tum c’ausus es ūnus Ītalōrum
Omn’aevum tribus explicāre chartīs,
Doctīs Juppiter et labōriōsīs.
Quār’abē tibi quidquid’oc libellī
Quālecumque; quod, ō patrōna virgō,
10 Plūs ūnō maneat perenne saeclō.

Cui dōnō lepidum novum libellum pūmice āridā modo expolītum? Cornēlī, tibi! Namque tū solēbās aliquid meās nūgās esse putāre, jam tum cum ūnus Ītalōrum omne aevum tribus doctīs, Juppiter(!), labōriōsīs chartīs explicāre ausus es. Quārē habē tibi quālecumque hoc quidquid libellī. Quod, ō patrōna virgō, plūs ūnō maneat perenne saeclō.

Full scansion of Catullus 1
Full scansion of Catullus 1, with elisions and resyllabification marked.

Vocabula Latīna for Catullus 1:

  • Aevum, aevī n. = Age, eternity
  • Aliquid = Something
  • Āridus, -a, -um = Dry
  • *Audeō, audēre, ausī/ausus sum, ausum = To dare
  • *Charta, chartae f. = papyrus, paper
  • *Cornēlius, Cornēliī m. = Cornelius
  • Cui = dat. sing. of Quis
  • Cum = With, while
  • Doctus, -a, -um = Learned (participle of doceō, docēre, docuī, doctum)
  • Dōnō, dōnāre, dōnāvi, dōnātum = To give
  • Et = And
  • Explicō, explicāre, explicāvī/explicuī, explicātum/explicitum = To unfold, unravel, explain
  • Expolītus, -a, -um = Polished, (participle of expoliō, expolīre, expolīvī/expoliī, expolītum)
  • Habeō, habēre, habuī, habitum = To have
  • Hic, haec, hoc = This
  • Ītalus, -a, -um = Poetic form of Italus, -a, -um to better fit the meter.
  • Italus, -a, -um = Italian
  • Jam = Now, already
  • *Juppiter, Iovis m. = Juppiter
  • Labōriōsus, -a, -um = Laborious
  • Lepidus, -a, -um = Pleasant, charming
  • Libellus, libellī m. = Diminutive of Liber
  • Liber m. = Book
  • Maneō, manēre, mānsī, mānsum = To maintain, to remain
  • Meus, -a, -um = My
  • Modo = Just now, just
  • Nam = For (in its sense as a conjunction)
  • Namque = Stronger form of Nam
  • Novus, -a, -um = New
  • Nūgae, nūgārum (Plurale tantum) = Trifles
  • Ō = Oh!
  • Omnis (neuter omne) = All, every
  • Patrōna, patrōnae f. = Patroness
  • Perennis (neuter perenne) = Lasting, enduring
  • Plūs = More
  • Putō, putāre, putāvi, putātum = To think
  • *Pūmice f. = abl. sing. of Pūmex
  • *Pūmex, pūmicis f. = Pumice stone
  • Quidquid = Whatever
  • Quis = Who?
  • Quāliscumque (neuter quālecumque) = Of whatever quality or whatever kind
  • Quārē = (As an interrogative) For what reason? (As a relative) For this reason…
  • Saeclum, saeclī n. = Syncopated form of Saeculum
  • Saeculum, saeculī n. = Century, age
  • Solēo, solēre, soluī/solitus sum, solitum = To usually
  • Sum, esse, fuī, futūrus = To be
  • Tibi = dat. sing. of Tū
  • Trēs = Three
  • Tribus = abl. pl. of Trēs
  • Tum = Then
  • Tū = You
  • Ūnus = One
  • Virgō, virginis = Maiden
  • * See notes

Grammatica Latīna for Catullus 1:

  • The phrase “Āridā…pūmice” is an example of the Instumental Ablative, in which the ablative case marks the instrument or means of an action.
  • Don’t be confused with the double infinitive structure in “Namque tū solēbās meās esse aliquid putāre nūgās…”! Simply remember that the verb governed by solēo, solēre (in this case putāre (to think)) must be in its infinitive form. Likewise, the verb governed by putāre (in this case esse (to be)) must be in its infinitive form as well. Thus, double infinitives!
  • The phrase “ūnus Ītalōrum” is an example of the partitive genitive. It is the same as the genitival partitive construction in English: “only you of the Italians“.
  • Juppiter in this instance is in its “vocative” form, since the deity is being directly addressed for emphasis. A (Shakespearean?) rendering in somewhat-natural speech would be something like: “By Jove! They’re so learned and surely took a lot of labor!”
  • The pronoun tibi in this instance should be seen as analogous to the English “for yourself“, as in “try it for yourself!“. The dative already expresses “to/for”, so no preposition necessary!
  • The Ablative of Comparison is used in the phrase “…plūs ūnō maneat perenne saeclō.“, as the meaning expressed is “more than one”.
  • The subjunctive in maneat expresses a wish or desire. It is not “…it remains…” but “…may it remain…”.

Poetic Meter for Catullus 1: Phalaecian Hendecasyllable

? ? | − ˘ ˘ |  − ˘ | − ˘ | − −

  • ? = Short or long syllable (but the first foot is commonly “− −“, as in “Iam tum…” or “Quārē…”)
  • − = Long syllable
  • ˘ = Short syllable

Commentāriī for Catullus 1:

  • Audeō, audēre, ausī/ausus sum, ausum is a semi-deponent verb (though the “regular” perfect ausī may be seen). This mean it takes passive verb forms with an active meaning in the perfect tense, while it otherwise takes active forms.
  • Charta, chartae means a sheet of “papyrus”, but here its signification is extended to mean a whole “scroll” of papyrus.
  • Cornēlius Nepōs was a historiographer whose work here praised (sarcastically?) by Catullus is now lost. We would have to see those three scrolls to really know if they were worth such high esteem! However, some of his writings survive to the present day. In addition, it should be noted that “Cornēlī” is the variant vocative singular form of Cornēlius (as you may know, 2nd declension nouns ending in “-ius” have vocative endings of either “-iī” or a simplified “-ī“). Another variation is “Cornēliī“.
  • Pūmex, pūmicis is here given to be a feminine noun based on its concord with the feminine adjective “āridā” (the masculine would be “āridō“). In other authors it is attested as a masculine noun. This switch may have been under the influence of the Ancient Greek “κῐ́σηρῐς” (pumice stone), which is feminine. Pumice was used in ancient times to soften the often rough and jagged edges of papyrus.
  • The “Patrōna virgō” may either be “the Muse” or “Minerva“, goddess of knowledge (in Greek “Athena“). (See Below)

Reflections for Catullus 1:

  • Does Catullus think highly of his “little book”? Did his view of its worth change throughout the poem? How do you know?
  • Do you think Catullus’ praise of the work of Cornēlius was sincere? Why or why not?
  • What quality(s) or attitude(s) of Cornēlius did Catullus supposedly appreciate?
  • What quality(s) or attribute(s) of Cornelius’ work did Catullus supposedly appreciate?
  • What was the meaning of directly addressing the “patrōna virgō”?
  • How did Catullus disparage his work? In what way did he praise it?

Commentāriī by Charles Stuttaford

  • Link to Charles Stuttaford’s the 1912 book “The Poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus; with Notes and a Translation” (The text of Catullus 1 starts on page 1 of the book on the Internet Archive, while page 213 marks the start of its analysis): https://archive.org/details/commentaryoncatu00elliuoft/mode/2up
    • ” The Romans wrote on rolls made up of Egyptian papyrus joined together. Account-books, note-books, etc., were in ordinary book shape and made of parchment. The edges of the papyrus rolls were cut carefully and smoothed with pumice stone. Catullus, of course, uses the expression tropically, just as we speak of Pope’s ‘polished verse.'” (Stuttaford, Charles 1912)
    • “omne . . . chartīs. Catullus refers to the ‘Chronica‘ of Cornelius, one of his works that have been lost.” (Stuttaford, Charles 1912)
    • “‘ō patrōna virgō‘, ‘the Muse,’ or possibly ‘Minerva’.” (Stuttaford, Charles 1912)

Other Helpful Source(s):

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