Love

CX: Aufilena, the fair, if kind, is a favourite ever

by Gaius Valerius Catullus c. 84 – c. 54 BC

Translated by Robinson Ellis (1871) · From The Poems and Fragments of Catullus (1871)

Love

Aufilena, the fair, if kind, is a favourite ever;
Asks she a price, then yields frankly? the price is her own.
You, that agreed to be kind, now vilely the treaty dishonour,
Give not at all, nor again take;--'tis a wrong to a wrong.

Not to deceive were noble, a chastity ne'er had assented,
Aufilena; but you--blindly to grasp at a gain,
Yet to withhold the effects,--'tis a greed more loathly than harlot's
Vileness, a wretch whose limbs ply to the lusts of a town.

MLA

Catullus, Gaius Valerius. “CX: Aufilena, the fair, if kind, is a favourite ever.” Translated by Robinson Ellis. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/catullus/102/.

Chicago

Catullus, Gaius Valerius. “CX: Aufilena, the fair, if kind, is a favourite ever.” Translated by Robinson Ellis. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/catullus/102/.

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