Social Commentaries
Carmen XV (Burton)
Translated by Sir Richard F. Burton (1894) · From The Carmina of Caius Valerius Catullus (1894)
To thee I trust my loves and me,
(Aurelius!) craving modesty.
That (if in mind didst ever long
To win aught chaste unknowing wrong)
Then guard my boy in purest way.
From folk I say not: naught affray
The crowds wont here and there to run
Through street-squares, busied every one;
But thee I dread nor less thy penis
Fair or foul, younglings' foe I ween is!
Wag it as wish thou, at its will,
When out of doors its hope fulfil;
Him bar I, modestly, methinks.
But should ill-mind or lust's high jinks
Thee (Sinner!), drive to sin so dread,
That durst ensnare our dearling's head,
Ah! woe's thee (wretch!) and evil fate,
Mullet and radish shall pierce and grate,
When feet-bound, haled through yawning gate.
Cite this poem
MLA
Catullus, Gaius Valerius. “Carmen XV (Burton).” Translated by Sir Richard F. Burton. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/catullus/235/.
Chicago
Catullus, Gaius Valerius. “Carmen XV (Burton).” Translated by Sir Richard F. Burton. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/catullus/235/.
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