Tuesday Poem: “The Death Of Lesbia’s Sparrow” by Catullus
The Death of Lesbia’s Sparrow
Mourn, O you Loves and Cupids
and such of you as love beauty:
my girl’s sparrow is dead,
sparrow, the girl’s delight,
whom she loved more than her eyes.
For he was sweet as honey, and knew her
as well as the girl her own mother,
he never moved from her lap,
but, hopping about here and there,
chirped to his mistress alone.
Now he goes down the shadowy road
from which they say no one returns.
Now let evil be yours, evil shadows of Orcus*,
that devour everything of beauty:
you’ve stolen lovely sparrow from me.
O evil deed! O poor little sparrow!
Now, by your efforts, my girl’s eyes
are swollen and red with weeping.
by Catullus, (ca. 84 – 54 BC)
*An alternate name for Pluto, Roman God of the Underworld, & also for the underworld itself.
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About The Poem:
I am currently doing a mini-series of poems on sparrows, which may morph to one on birds generally—I am not yet sure—and this poem by Catullus, the 3rd in the sequence of 116 remaining to us, is certainly one of the more famous. Enjoy!
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About The Poet:
Catullus was born in Verona, which was part of the Roman republic, and as a young man in Rome became a member of a circle of “new wave” poets. 116 of his poems survive and he is regarded as one of the great classical influences on western poetry, as well as being readily readable today.
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