Death & Dying
Carmen III (Cornish)
Translated by F. W. Cornish (Loeb, 1913) · From The Poems of Catullus (Loeb, 1913)
Mourn, ye Graces and Loves, and all you whom the Graces love. My lady's sparrow is dead, the sparrow my lady's pet, whom she loved more than her very eyes; for honey-sweet he was, and knew his mistress as well as a girl knows her own mother. Nor would he stir from her lap, but hopping now here, now there, would still chirp to his mistress alone. Now he goes along the dark road, thither whence they say no one returns. Hut curse upon you, cursed shades of Orcus, which devour all pretty things! My pretty sparrow, you have taken him away. Ah, cruel! Ah, poor little bird! All because of you my lady's darling eyes are heavy and red with weeping.
This translation is printed as prose in its source edition.
Cite this poem
MLA
Catullus, Gaius Valerius. “Carmen III (Cornish).” Translated by F. W. Cornish. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/catullus/115/.
Chicago
Catullus, Gaius Valerius. “Carmen III (Cornish).” Translated by F. W. Cornish. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/catullus/115/.
Read this poem with the Codex →