Passer, deliciae meae puellae,
quicum ludere, quem in sinu tenere,
cui primum digitum dare appetenti
et acris solet incitare morsus,
cum desiderio meo nitenti
carum nescio quid lubet iocari,
et solaciolum sui doloris,
credo, ut tum gravis acquiescat ardor:
tecum ludere sicut ipsa possem
et tristis animi levare curas!
--Catullus, ~60 B.C.E
I translated this poem in another post, but I think I can't actually post the translation. After I translated it, a few of the lines didn't make sense, so I googled the poem to find what others thought. Several pages suggested that it was considerably dirtier than I had realized, as most of the poem could have a double meaning and, in fact, makes more sense in the double meaning.
Now I'm too embarassed to post it. Now that the double meaning has been suggested, I can't unsee it. :( Dagnabbit. I still want to study Catullus, and this does seem to suggest the class this fall is going to be one long blushfest for me, but I think I'll first look over the English translations so I'll only translate the ones I won't be too embarassed to post after.
In the meantime, The Catullus Experience. As the byline suggests, "it's like being John Malkovich, but better." I knew the outlines of this story before, but this is a great way to read it. The execution isn't perfect, but the concept is fabulous.
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