CATULLUS DE LESBIA[1]

Lesbia for ever on me rails,

To talk of me she never fails.

Now, hang me, but for all her art,

I find that I have gain'd her heart.

My proof is this: I plainly see,

The case is just the same with me;

I curse her every hour sincerely,

Yet, hang me but I love her dearly.

[Footnote 1: "Lesbia mi dicit semper mala nec tacet unquam

De me: Lesbia me dispeream nisi amat.

Quo signo? quia sunt totidem mea: deprecor illam

Assidue; verum dispeream nisi amo."

_Catulli Carmina, xcii.--W. E. B._]

The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 1 · 第 221 / 243 题