I'm posting one of my favorite poems ever, which is self-evidently brilliant. It's by Catullus, the Roman poet--who is incredibly funny and irreverent and incredible to hear and experience in Latin--and i'll post it in Latin and English (my translation, though it's not too much to translate). Note to defray looking pompous: it's not like I can just pick up Latin poems and read them like Parade (eww, why did I think of THAT!?) but despite the work they have their particular beauty. A lot of the time it's not nearly as satisfying as reading in English but I encourage you to explore the textures of this poem because frankly it's short and something about it makes it just as visceral in Latin as poetry in my native language tends to be.
85
Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.
Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.
I hate and i love. You ask, perhaps, why i do this.
I do not know; but i feel it happening and am tormented.
The online text i used pointed out something i hadn't thought of: the poem has 8 verbs, no nouns, no adjectives. Hadn't thought of it like that. DEAL WITH IT CATE BLANCHETT!
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