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Product Description
One of the most versatile of Roman poets, Catullus wrote verse of an almost unparalleled diversity and stylistic agility, from the brevity of the epigram to the sustained elegance of the elegy. This collection contains all of Catullus' extant work and includes his lyrics to the notorious Clodia Metelli - married, seductive and corrupt - charting the course from rapturous delight in a new affair to the torment of love gone sour; poems to his young friend Iuventius; and longer verse, such as the extraordinary tale of Attis, a Greek youth who castrates himself in a fit of religious ecstasy. Ranging from the tender, moving and passionate to the vicious and even obscene, these are poems of astonishingly modern force and content.
About the Author
Very little is kown about Gaius Valerius Catullus, though he was probably born around 84BC. he writes as a friend of Cicero and other leading figures, and appears as a leader of the new movement in poetry and a lover of the notorious Clodia Metelli, who was probably the Lesbia of the poems. He strated writing in 69 or 68 and died around 54BC.
Peter Whigham taught on verse composition at the University of California, but was essentially a poet full-time. Other publications include The Blue Winged Bee and ASTAPOVO or What We Are To Do. He died in 1987.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
To whom should I present this little book so carefully polished but to you, Cornelius, who have always been so tolerant of my verses, you who of us all has dared to take the whole of human history as his field - three doctoral and weighty volumes! Accept my book, then, Cornelius for what it's worth, and may the Muse herself turn as tolerant an eye upon these songs in days to come. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
To whom should I present this little book so carefully polished but to you, Cornelius, who have always been so tolerant of my verses, you who of us all has dared to take the whole of human history as his field - three doctoral and weighty volumes! Accept my book, then, Cornelius for what it's worth, and may the Muse herself turn as tolerant an eye upon these songs in days to come. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Catullus must have been a remarkable artistic persona of his time. Or so I would imagine him. The poetry is quick, flowing but most of all personal and emotional. Catullus conveys ancient Rome and paints a picture of how people where then and there. He gives you a feeling of what ancient Rome was. That is; if you read the original latin or a good translation. Translating ancient writers and poets is always a tricky task, and the translator will often have a hard time to please all. That said, I did not care for this translation. Peter Whigham, with the likely firm support of advisory editor Betty Radice, have produced a version that often deviates greatly from the original latin to compose a more "singing" english. For example:
"My bean-pod boat you see here
friends and guests
will tell you
if you ask her
that she's been
the fastest piece of timber
under oar or sail
afloat."
- Peter Whigham for Penguin classics
"The sailing boat you see there, visitors
Claims to have been the speediest of ships"
- Guy Lee's version for Oxford World classics
(note that we don't know the original or intended typographic alignment of the poems. Translators choose themselves)
Of these two versions, I like neither. Whigham makes it his own, and washes away that which is beautiful and charming in Catullus poetry; Catullus person. Many of the poems seeps with very personal opinions and emotions of hate, love and lust. A good translation lets you read the latin original, in vernacular clothing. Whigham makes it Whigham and not Catullus. Lee fails to convey the inherent flow of the poems, although they are closer to the originals overall. Lee's version do have the advantage of containing the originals, which makes it possible to create your own view on every poem (with a bit of knowledge of latin, or a latin language). Not having read Loeb's print, I can not recommend it, but I would seek in that direction. If you are familiar with Swedish I would have you look at Albert Bonniers förlag's version. Or L'age d'homme's if french is applicable.
"My bean-pod boat you see here
friends and guests
will tell you
if you ask her
that she's been
the fastest piece of timber
under oar or sail
afloat."
- Peter Whigham for Penguin classics
"The sailing boat you see there, visitors
Claims to have been the speediest of ships"
- Guy Lee's version for Oxford World classics
(note that we don't know the original or intended typographic alignment of the poems. Translators choose themselves)
Of these two versions, I like neither. Whigham makes it his own, and washes away that which is beautiful and charming in Catullus poetry; Catullus person. Many of the poems seeps with very personal opinions and emotions of hate, love and lust. A good translation lets you read the latin original, in vernacular clothing. Whigham makes it Whigham and not Catullus. Lee fails to convey the inherent flow of the poems, although they are closer to the originals overall. Lee's version do have the advantage of containing the originals, which makes it possible to create your own view on every poem (with a bit of knowledge of latin, or a latin language). Not having read Loeb's print, I can not recommend it, but I would seek in that direction. If you are familiar with Swedish I would have you look at Albert Bonniers förlag's version. Or L'age d'homme's if french is applicable.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I actually quite like what Whigham does here with Catullus' poetry, especially the Lesbia love poems. But, strictly speaking, this is not so much a translation as a creative imitation, that is, it's only very loosely based on the original Latin texts.
If that's what you're looking for, then fine. If you want something that's closer to the Latin original then I would go for either Works: WITH Works AND Pervigilium Veneris (Loeb Classical Library) which offers the original alongside a literal prose translation, or The Poems of Catullus (Oxford World's Classics) which is a little looser in translation but still closer than Whigham.
Whichever you choose, Catullus is a masterful poet: dense, literate and haunting.
If that's what you're looking for, then fine. If you want something that's closer to the Latin original then I would go for either Works: WITH Works AND Pervigilium Veneris (Loeb Classical Library) which offers the original alongside a literal prose translation, or The Poems of Catullus (Oxford World's Classics) which is a little looser in translation but still closer than Whigham.
Whichever you choose, Catullus is a masterful poet: dense, literate and haunting.
Format:Kindle Edition
Having been introduced to Catullus by Peter Green's fluid and natural translation, I was disappointed to find this one awkward and lacking in feeling. While there's nothing wrong in making derivative works, in this case I much prefer Catullus to Whigham.
The formatting is fine.
The formatting is fine.
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