Latin OCR GCSE -> Verse Literature -> Otium (Catullus) -> Poem 50 -> Lines 1-10 -> Translation and Annotation

hesterno, Licini, die otiosi

multum lusimus in meis tabellis,

ut convenerat esse delicatos;

Yesterday, Licinius, being at leisure, we played a lot on my tablets, as it had suited us to be frivolous:

scribens versiculos uterque nostrum

ludebat numero modo hoc modo illoc,

reddens mutua per iocum atque vinum.

each of us writing trivial verses, played now in this metre, now in that, exchanging lines between us amid jokes and wine.

atque illinc abii tuo lepore

incensus, Licini, facetiisque,

And indeed, I went away from there, fired by your charm and witticisms, Licinius,

ut nec me miserum cibus iuvaret

nec somnus tegeret quiete ocellos…

so that neither did any food help me in my wretchedness, nor did sleep cover my dear eyes with rest…

‘hesterno Licini, die’ line 1

‘yesterday Licinius’ - enclosing word order demonstrates how Licinius was central to the day

‘hesterno…die’ line 1

‘yesterday’ = heri - sounds grander; metrical benefit; makes enclosing word order possible; sense of experimentation linking to content

‘Licini’ line 1

vocative case - shows closeness, creates an informal sense and makes the scene more vivid

‘hesterno Licini, die otiosi’ line 1

‘Yesterday Licinis, being at leisure.’ - assonance of ‘o’ and ‘i’ creates a high pitched noise, creates a sense of laughter and friendliness/excitement, and links the content to Licinius

‘multum’ line 2

‘a lot’ - emphatic word, spent lots of time together

‘multum lusimus’ line 2

‘we played a lot’ - the ‘mul’ ‘uml’ phrasing and assonance of ‘u’ shows the experimentative, playful nature

‘multum lusimus in meis tabellis’ line 2

‘we played a lot on my tablets’ - the repetition of ‘i’ and ‘l’ create a flowing, harmonic phrase - sense of friendly nature

‘tabellis’ line 2

‘tablets’ - diminutive of ‘tabelo’, showing the silly and somewhat insignificant nature of the poems; playful sense

‘ut’ line 3

‘as’ - serendipitous nature of day, unplanned

‘convenerat esse delicatos’ line 3

‘it had suited us to be frivolous’ - assonance of open vowels ‘e’ creates a playful sense, along with the content

‘scribens….ludebat….reddens’ lines 4,5,6

‘writing’ ‘played’ ‘exchanging’ - the use of doing words indicates excitement and creates a sense of momentum, added to by their emphatic positions

‘scribens versiculos’ line 4

‘writing trivial verses’ - the sibilance creates a lively tone, versiculos is a diminutive showing playfulness

‘uterque nostrum’ line 4

‘each of us’ the two collective words emphasise the teamwork - writing alternate lines - vivid; and togetherness

‘lusimus’ ‘ludebat’ line 2, line 5

‘played’ - polyptoton - playful tone

‘numero modo hoc modo illoc’ line 5 - language

‘now in this metre, now in that’

• the alliteration of ‘m’ along with content creates a sort of mock seriousness

• repetition of modo emphasises the transfer of tablets

• assonance of ‘o’ creates a sound of laughter and mock seriousness

‘numero modo hoc modo illoc’ line 5 - structure

‘now in this metre, now in that’

• the parallel phrasing reflects the different ways - relaxed, silly, vivid

• demonstrative pronouns (deictic) reflect the movement making the scene more vivid

‘modo hoc modo illoc’ line 5 - rythym

‘now in this …, now in that’ - the elisions make the phrase monosyllabic, creating a jerky rythym - sense of unfinished verse

‘per’ line 6

‘amid’ - sense of mingling of verses, jokes and wine

‘iocum atque’ line 6

‘jokes and’ - the elision emphasises the idea of mingling - the words are literally merging

‘illinc abii’ line 7

‘I went away from there’ - the repetition of ‘i’ creates energy and excitement suggesting Catullus still feels on a high

‘tuo’ line 7

‘your’ - acknowledges Licinius’ contribution - sense of gratitude for fun

‘lepore' ‘Licini’ line 7,8

‘charm’ ‘Licinius’- alliteration of ‘l’ links the two together - emphasising Licinius’ part

‘lepore/ incensus’ line 7/8

‘fired by…charm’ - enjambment suggests energy and excitement - Catullus still fired ‘icn

‘incensus’ line 8

‘fired’ - the metaphor, emphasised by the 3 long syllables then caesura, makes the scene vivid, full of energy, and intense

‘facetiisque’ line 8

‘witticisms’ - language - jokey tone, light-hearted, lightweight

‘me miserum’ line 9

‘me in my wretchedness’ - alliteration of ‘m’ creates a sad, mournful sound

‘cibus’ line 9

‘food’ - using food for comfort - not that serious

‘nec…nec’ line 9/10

‘neither…nor’ - the repetition of ‘nec’ creates a negative tone

‘tegeret’ line 10

‘cover’ - metaphorical sense of a duvet covering your body as you sleep

‘ocellos’ line 11

‘dear eyes’ - diminutive - not that serious

‘tabellis’ ‘versiculos’ ‘ocellos’ line 2,4,10

‘tablets’ ‘trivial verses’ ‘dear eyes’ - all diminutives, showing the humorous and silly nature of the day