| Line | Latin text | English translation[19][20][21][22] |
|---|
| 1 | Pēdīcābō ego vōs et irrumābō, | I will sodomize you and face-fuck you, |
|---|
| 2 | Aurēlī pathice et cinaede Fūrī, | bottomAurelius and catamiteFurius, |
|---|
| 3 | quī mē ex versiculīs meīs putāstis, | you who think, because my poems |
|---|
| 4 | quod sunt molliculī, parum pudīcum. | are sensitive, that I have no shame. |
|---|
| 5 | Nam castum esse decet pium poētam | For it's proper for a devoted poet to be moral |
|---|
| 6 | ipsum, versiculōs nihil necesse est; | himself, [but] in no way is it necessary for his poems. |
|---|
| 7 | quī tum dēnique habent salem ac lepōrem, | In point of fact, these have wit and charm, |
|---|
| 8 | sī sint molliculī ac parum pudīcī | if they are sensitive and a little shameless, |
|---|
| 9 | et quod prūriat incitāre possunt, | and can arouse an itch, |
|---|
| 10 | nōn dīcō puerīs, sed hīs pilōsīs | and I don't mean in boys, but in those hairy old men |
|---|
| 11 | quī dūrōs nequeunt movēre lumbōs. | who can't get it up.[23] |
|---|
| 12 | Vōs, quod mīlia multa bāsiōrum | Because you've read my countless kisses,[24] |
|---|
| 13 | lēgistis male mē marem putātis? | you think less of me as a man? |
|---|
| 14 | Pēdīcābō ego vōs et irrumābō. | I will sodomize you and face-fuck you. |
|---|
Sexual terminology
Latin is an exact language for obscene acts, such as
pedicabo and
irrumabo, which appear in the first and last lines of the poem. The term
pedicare is a transitive verb, meaning to "insert one's
penis into another person's
anus".
[25] The term
cinaedus in line 2 refers to the "
bottom" person in that act, i.e., the one being penetrated.
[26] The term
irrumare is likewise a transitive verb, meaning to "insert one's penis into another person's
mouth for suckling",
[27] and derives from the Latin word,
rūma meaning "udder" (as in: "to give something to suck on"). A male who suckles a penis is denoted as a
fellator or, equivalently, a
pathicus (line 2).
[28]Catullus neither confirms nor denies the claim of Aurelius and Furius that he is "
not a man", since sexual slang "
irrumare" and "
pedicare" while having sexual slang meaning of homosexuality, could also mean as little as "
go to hell".
[29]Paul Allen Miller suggests Catullus 16 contains information regarding:
- the historical mutability of socially accepted behavior
- the constructed nature of sexual identity
- the nature and function of gender
- the omnipresence and play of both power and resistance
- the admonitory and optative function of poetic art[30]
Catullus 16 (English), read by Louis Zukofsky, PennSound