| Line |
Latin text |
English translation[19][20][21][22]
|
| 1
|
Pēdīcābō ego vōs et irrumābō,
|
I will sodomize you and face-fuck you,
|
| 2
|
Aurēlī pathice et cinaede Fūrī,
|
bottom Aurelius and catamite Furius,
|
| 3
|
quī mē ex versiculīs meīs putāstis,
|
you who think, because my poems
|
| 4
|
quod sunt molliculī, parum pudīcum.
|
are sensitive, that I have no shame.
|
| 5
|
Nam castum esse decet pium poētam
|
For it's proper for a devoted poet to be moral
|
| 6
|
ipsum, versiculōs nihil necesse est;
|
himself, [but] in no way is it necessary for his poems.
|
| 7
|
quī tum dēnique habent salem ac lepōrem,
|
In point of fact, these have wit and charm,
|
| 8
|
sī sint molliculī ac parum pudīcī
|
if they are sensitive and a little shameless,
|
| 9
|
et quod prūriat incitāre possunt,
|
and can arouse an itch,
|
| 10
|
nōn dīcō puerīs, sed hīs pilōsīs
|
and I don't mean in boys, but in those hairy old men
|
| 11
|
quī dūrōs nequeunt movēre lumbōs.
|
who can't get it up.[23]
|
| 12
|
Vōs, quod mīlia multa bāsiōrum
|
Because you've read my countless kisses,[24]
|
| 13
|
lēgistis male mē marem putātis?
|
you think less of me as a man?
|
| 14
|
Pēdīcābō ego vōs et irrumābō.
|
I will sodomize you and face-fuck you.
|
Sexual terminology
Latin is an exact language for obscene acts, such as
pedicabo and
irrumabo, which appear in the first and last lines of the poem. The term
pedicare is a transitive verb, meaning to "insert one's
penis into another person's
anus".
[25] The term
cinaedus in line 2 refers to the "
bottom" person in that act, i.e., the one being penetrated.
[26] The term
irrumare is likewise a transitive verb, meaning to "insert one's penis into another person's
mouth for suckling",
[27] and derives from the Latin word,
rūma meaning "udder" (as in: "to give something to suck on"). A male who suckles a penis is denoted as a
fellator or, equivalently, a
pathicus (line 2).
[28]
Catullus neither confirms nor denies the claim of Aurelius and Furius that he is "
not a man", since sexual slang "
irrumare" and "
pedicare" while having sexual slang meaning of homosexuality, could also mean as little as "
go to hell".
[29]
Paul Allen Miller suggests Catullus 16 contains information regarding:
- the historical mutability of socially accepted behavior
- the constructed nature of sexual identity
- the nature and function of gender
- the omnipresence and play of both power and resistance
- the admonitory and optative function of poetic art[30]
Catullus 16 (English), read by Louis Zukofsky, PennSound