Welcome Home, Veranius
It’s Catullus’ fearless expression of his emotions and his disregard of conventional gender stereotypes, argues Dominique Brown, that makes his poetry so compelling. His joy at the return of his friend Vernaius from a trip abroad rings true across the ages. Catullus 9 discussed, translated, and read aloud by Dominique Brown.
Verani, omnibus e meis amicis
antistans mihi milibus trecentis,
venistine domum ad tuos penates
fratresque unanimos anumque matrem?
Venisti. O mihi nuntii beati!
Visam te incolumem audiamque Hiberum
narrantem loca, facta, nationes,
ut mos est tuus, applicansque collum
iucundum os oculosque suaviabor.
O quantum est hominum beatiorum,
quid me laetius est beatiusve?
Image: Mummy portrait from Fayyum, 2nd half of the 2nd Century BC; Kestner Museum, Hannover (Wikimedia Commons)