4 Translations of Catullus 101
Original
Multās per gentēs et multa per aequora vectus
adveniō hās miserās, frāter, ad īnferiās,
ut tē postrēmō dōnārem mūnere mortis
et mūtam nēquīquam alloquerer cinerem.
quandoquidem fortūna mihī tētē abstulit ipsum.
heu miser indignē frāter adēmpte mihi,
nunc tamen intereā haec, prīscō quae mōre parentum
trādita sunt trīstī mūnere ad īnferiās,
accipe frāternō multum mānantia flētū,
atque in perpetuum, frāter, avē atque valē.
1
Sixteen hour flight to get me
where you were least you could
is say thanks for trying Best that
you’re ashes probably yes best
you’re this and not that whole other
empty jar Mom and dad never really
much for saying what to do how to
do it so here’s what we’re doing you
say hello I’ll say goodbye.
2
Oh the places you’ll go.
Makes it all seem a little
past tense. Once-ly I lived.
They called me the Once-ler.
I’ve been trying to write
“beauty forward”. Haversack,
blinnding. That sort of noise.
Never mattered me much
what other peoples thought.
Tricky business this.
3
They call it kilometers here,
aubergine, raccamat. Tint
the windows green and call me
Dorothy. Oh gauzes how you
waste my blood in keeping it
closed. I a bubbler, let any take
drink, cup hands beneath my
fountain and taste the fate of
all things red. Miles to go.
Meet me at the airport.
4
Width. Dist. Inch. Kin.
Song. Bond. Socks. Pod.
Rush. Lunch. Cut. Shun.
Bad. Laugh. Track. Bass.
When. Edge. Beg. Beg.
Abomination after Catullus 85
Odious ammo, quarry it a face
for Tessie, wreck viris.
Nesquik O! Sad fire scent O! O
I hate it. I love it.
I hate it and I love it.
I hate/love it. Hatelove. Halve.
Why I don’t know but Jesus,
take him down from there.
Can’t you see he’s already
Dead?
Anthony DiCarlo is a poet currently pursuing an MFA at the University of Michigan, where the winters are nice. He has had work previously published in RHINO and Palette Poetry, and was the winner of the 2020 Ina Coolbrith Memorial Poetry Prize as well as a finalist in the 2023 Graduate Poetry Hopwood Awards. Aspirations include getting a dog as soon as he lives in an apartment which allows them.