Death & Dying
Catalepton 11
Translated by H. Rushton Fairclough (Loeb, 1918) · From Minor Poems (Loeb, 1918)
"What god, Octavius, has snatched thee from us? Or was it, as they say, the cups of o'er-strong wine that thou, alas, didst quaff?"
"With you I drank, if that's a fault. His own fate pursues each. Why should the guiltless cups be blamed?"
"Thy writings, indeed, we shall much admire, and that thou and thy Roman history are torn from us, we shall much lament, but thou no more shalt be!" Tell us, ye Spirits perverse: Why did ye grudge that he should outlive his father?
Codex Note
Appendix Vergiliana; authorship by Virgil doubtful.
Cite this poem
MLA
Virgil. “Catalepton 11.” Translated by H. Rushton Fairclough. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/virgil/50/.
Chicago
Virgil. “Catalepton 11.” Translated by H. Rushton Fairclough. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/virgil/50/.
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