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Catullus 51

Sappho
Sappho (1877) Charles Mengin. Many see this translation or version of Sappho’s great poem as perhaps Catullus’ first attempt to declare to Lesbia his love for her.

Ille par esse deo videtur,

Ille, si fas est, superare diuos,

Qui sedens adversus identidem te

Spectat et audit

*

Dulce , misero quod omnis

Eripit sensus : nam simul te,

Lesbia, adspexi, nihil est super mi

in ore

*

Lingua sed torpet, tenuis sub artus

Flamma demanat, sonitu

Tintinant aures, gemina teguntur

Lumina .

*

, Catulle, tibi molestum est:

Otio exsultas nimiumque gestis.

Otium et reges prius et beatas

Perdidit urbes.

What kind of dative is this?
Dative of Judging
What part of speech ends in -ns, -ntis added to a verb stem?
Present participle active
What kind of dative is this? Hint: note verb eripit.
Dative of disadvantage
What kind of genitive do we have here?
Partitive, found after words indicating part of a whole, like pars, nimis, satis, nemo, tantum, quid, etc.
The ending -pte is occasionally added to the ablative of suus (and tuus and meus) for emphasis.
What kind of ablative is this?
Ablative of instrument. Note that scansion indicates that gemina surprisingly agrees with nocte rather than with lumina. An example of transferred epithet.
Whether or not this final stanza should be counted as part of this poem has long been disputed. There is nothing like it in Sappho’s poem, which Catullus had closely followed to this point.