Catullus 51 - Catullus' leisure time

Short poem

ille mi par esse deo videtur,

ille, si fas est, superare divos,

qui sedens adversus identitem te

spectators et audit

ille mi par esse deo videtur,

ille, si fas est, superare divos,

qui sedens adversus identitem te

spectators et audit

That man seems to me to be equal to a god,

That man, if it is allowed (to say), seems to outdo the gods,

(He) who, sitting opposite you, repeatedly

looks at you and listens to you

dulce ridentem, misero quod omnis

eripit sensus mihi; nam simul te,

Lesbia, espexi, nihil est super mi

(vocis in ore)

Laughing sweetly - (a sight) which snatches all

senses from love-sick me. For as soon as

I caught sight of you, Lesbia, nothing is left

(of the voice in my mouth)

lingua sed torpet, genius sub artus

flamma demanat, sonitu suopte

tintinant aures, gemina teguntur

lumina nocte.

But my tongue is paralysed, a slender flame

Spreads down through my limbs, my ears ring

with their own sound, and my eyes are covered by

a double night.

otium, Catulle, tibi molestum est:

otio exults nimiumque gestis.

otium et reges prius et beatas

perdidit urbes.

Leisure time, Catullus, is troublesome for you;

You rejoice in leisure time and you become too excited.

In the past leisure time has even destroyed kings

and wealthy cities.