Catullus 85 is a poem by the Roman poet Catullus for his lover Lesbia. Its declaration of conflicting feelings, "I hate and I love", is renowned for its drama, force and brevity.[1] The meter of the poem is the elegiac couplet.
Ōdī et amō. Quārē id faciam fortasse requīris.
Nesciŏ, sed fierī sentiō et excrucior.[2]
I hate and I love. Why I do this, perhaps you ask.
I know not, but I feel it happening and I am tortured.[2]
– u u / – – / – u u / – – / – u u / – – Ōd'et a / mō. Quā / r'id faci / am for / tasse re / quīris. – u u / – u u / – / – u u / – u u / – Nesciŏ, / sed fie / rī / sen ti' et / ex cru ci / or.[3]
The poems (Carmina) of Catullus | |
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Lesbia poems | |
Invective poems | |
Unusual poetic meters | |
Hendecasyllabic verse | |
Elegiac couplets | |
Related links |