Love
CX: Aufilena, the fair, if kind, is a favourite ever
Translated by Robinson Ellis (1871) · From The Poems and Fragments of Catullus (1871)
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.
Cite this poem
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/.
Read this poem with the Codex →