{{Short description|Poem by 1st-century BC Roman poet Catullus}} thumb|Catullus 2 in Latin and English '''Catullus 2''' is a poem by Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus ({{Circa|84}}–{{Circa|54}} BCE) that describes the affectionate relationship between an unnamed ''puella'' ('girl', possibly Catullus' lover, Lesbia), and her pet sparrow. As scholar and poet John Swinnerton Phillimore has noted, "The charm of this poem, blurred as it is by a corrupt manuscript tradition, has made it one of the most famous in Catullus' book."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Phillimore|first=J.S.|title=Passer: Catull. Carm. ii|journal=Classical Philology|year=1910|volume=5|issue=2|pages=217–219|doi=10.1086/359388 |jstor=262194|s2cid=161910464 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The meter of this poem is hendecasyllabic, a common form in Catullus' poetry.<ref>''Catullus: the Poems'' ed. with commentary by Kenneth Quinn (St. Martin's Press, 2nd ed., 1973) p.91.</ref> thumb|Catullus 2a and 2b read in Latin
This poem, together with Catullus' other poems, survived from antiquity in a single manuscript discovered ''c''. 1300 CE in Verona, from which three copies survive. Fourteen centuries of copying from copies — the "corrupt manuscript tradition" mentioned above — left scholars in doubt as to the poem's original wording in a few places, although centuries of scholarship have led to a consensus critical version.<ref name="hh">[https://users.ox.ac.uk/~sjh/documents/catconj.doc] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060523000123/https://users.ox.ac.uk/~sjh/documents/catconj.doc|date=May 23, 2006}} HTML page version of "Notes on the text, interpretation, and translation problems of Catullus", by S.J. Harrison and S.J. Heyworth, from an Oxford University Web site, accessed February 10, 2007</ref> Research on Catullus was the first application of the genealogical method of textual criticism.
Lines 1–10 represent the preserved core of the poem. Lines 11–13 are denoted as "Catullus 2b" and differ significantly in tone and subject from the first 10 lines. Hence, these latter three lines may belong to a different poem. In the original manuscripts, these thirteen lines were combined with Catullus 3, which describes the death of Lesbia's sparrow, but the two poems were separated by scholars in the 16th century.
==Latin text==
The following Latin text is taken from the 2003 critical edition of D. F. S. Thomson,<ref>{{cite book | author = Thomson DFS | year = 2003 | title = Catullus: Edited with a Textual and Interpretative Commentary | edition = revised | publisher = University of Toronto Press | isbn = 978-0-8020-8592-4}}</ref> with macrons added by Wikipedia. The metric scheme is {{Quantitative metre|aa|lbb|lb|lb|la}}.
{{Numbered verses| Passer,<ref>The word ''passer'' is usually translated as "sparrow", but can refer to other species of small songbirds. This is the origin of the English word "passerine", meaning "songbird". It is definitely a songbird from Catullus 3, which describes its chirping (''pipiabat'').</ref> dēliciae meae puellae,<ref>Although grammatically plural, the word ''deliciae'' is customarily singular in meaning. It is usually translated as "delight", "pleasure", "sweetheart", "pet", or "toy".</ref> quīcum lūdere, quem in sinū tenēre,<ref>The word ''sinu'' may be translated as "bosom" or "lap".</ref> cui prīmum digitum dare appetentī et ācrīs solet incitāre morsūs, cum dēsīderiō meō nitentī<ref>This phrase ''desiderio...nitenti'' may be translated either as "the radiant girl of my desire" (if all three words are taken as dative with ''lubet'') or as "radiating desire for me" (if ''desiderio meo'' is taken as ablative of cause).</ref> cārum nesciō̆ quid lubet iocārī, et sōlāciolum suī dolōris,<ref>Originally ''et'', many scholars have proposed alternatives: Ramler: ''ad'' (indicating purpose); B. Guarinus, also Zicàri (and as printed in Thompson's version): ''ut'' (also indicating purpose); Jonathan Powell: ''te'' (with other changes in line 8)</ref> crēdō, ut tum gravis acquiēscat ardor:<ref>Originally ''cum ... acquiescat'', B. Guarinus suggested replacing these words with ''tum ... acquiescet'', and most modern editors have agreed.</ref> tēcum<ref>The word ''tecum'' ("with you") clarifies for the first time that the poet is addressing the bird.</ref> lūdere sīcut ipsa possem et trīstīs animī levāre cūrās! }}
The following lines 11–13 (Catullus 2b) refer to the Greek myth of Atalanta, a young princess who was remarkably swift of foot. To avoid marriage, she stipulated that she would marry only a man who could beat her in a footrace; suitors who failed to defeat her would be put to death. The hero Melanion (also known as Hippomenes) wooed Atalanta, who fell in love with him. During the race, Melanion threw a golden apple to distract her; stooping to pick it up, Atalanta lost the race, possibly deliberately so that she could marry him. The final line refers to undressing on the wedding night.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
{{poemquote|text= tam grātum est mihi quam ferunt puellae, pernīcī aureolum fuisse mālum, quod zōnam soluit diū ligātam. }}
==Poetic features==
Catullus was renowned for his meticulous care in crafting poems, even those with seemingly trifling content. Various artful devices are woven into the text of this poem, composed in hendecasyllabic verse. Lines 2–4 represent a tricolon crescens, in which the three relative clauses become gradually longer in length: ''quem ludere'', ''quem in sinu tenere'', and ''cui primum digitum dare appetenti et acris solet incitare morsus''. The repeated "eee" sounds (corresponding to the letter "i" in Latin) evoke the songbird's peeping (''pipiabat'' in Catullus 3), e.g., (''quicum ... in sinu ... cui primum ... appetenti ... acris ... nitenti ... iocari'').<ref name="bk">[http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/catullusguide9.html] Web page titled "Program II by Raymond M. Koehler" at Able Media Web site, accessed February 11, 2007</ref> The "a" sounds may also convey images: the poet's sighs of longing; an "ouch!" at being bitten sharply (''appetenti'', "pecking" and ''acris'', "sharp"); and a comforting sound (''solaciolum'', "small comfort", and ''acquiescat'', "calms").<ref name=bk/>
==Influence on later poetry==
This poem and the following Catullus 3 (a lament for Lesbia's sparrow) inspired a genre of poems about lovers' pets. One classical example include Ovid's elegy on the death of his mistress Corinna's parrot (''Amores'' 2.6.).<ref>''Catullus: the Poems'' ed. with commentary by Kenneth Quinn, St. Martin's Press (2nd ed., 1973) p.96.</ref> Another is Martial's epigram (Book I number CIX) on a lap dog, which refers to Catullus 2 specifically ("Issa est passere nequior Catulli", "Issa [the dog] is naughtier than Catullus's sparrow").
Following the printing of Catullus's works in 1472, Poems 2 and 3 gained new influence.<ref name=sjh>{{cite web |url=http://users.ox.ac.uk/~sjh/publications1.htm |title=Publications |access-date=2007-02-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060819095341/http://users.ox.ac.uk/~sjh/publications1.htm |archive-date=2006-08-19 }} S.J. Harrison Web page at Oxford University, has a link to WordPad document of "Sparrows and Apples: The Unity of Catullus 2", by S.J. Harrison; according to this Web page, the article appeared in ''Scripta Classica Israelica'', accessed February 10, 2007</ref> From the earliest days after the re-discovery of Catullus' poems, some scholars have suggested that the bird was a phallic symbol, particularly if ''sinu'' in line 2 is translated as "lap" rather than "bosom".<ref>{{cite journal | last = Genovese | first = EN. | year = 1974 | title = Symbolism in the Passer Poems | journal = Maia | volume = 26 | pages = 121–125}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Giangrande | first = G. | year = 1975 | title = Catullus' Lyrics on the Passer | journal = Museum Philologum Londiniense | volume = 1 | pages = 137–146}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Hooper | first = RW. | year = 1985 | title = In Defence of Catullus' Dirty Sparrow | journal = Greece and Rome | volume = 32 | pages = 162–178 | doi = 10.1017/S0017383500030485 | jstor=642440 | issue = 2| s2cid = 162225467 }}</ref> Other scholars, however, have rejected this suggestion.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Jocelyn | first = HD. | year = 1980 | title = On Some Unnecessarily Indecent Interpretations of Catullus 2 and 3 | journal = American Journal of Philology | volume = 101 | pages = 421–441 | doi = 10.2307/293667 | issue = 4 | publisher = The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 101, No. 4 | jstor=293667}}</ref> {{also|Catullus 3#Latin: passer}}
Birds were common love-gifts in the Classical world, and several scholars have speculated that the narrator gave it to the woman; this might explain the poet's identification with the sparrow and his fond lament for the bird in Catullus 3.<ref name=sjh/> The biting it does in line 4 ties in with Catullus 8, line 18 (''cui labella mordebis'').
==Manuscript tradition==
A key question concerns the unity of this poem. In the copies derived from the original V manuscript, poems 2 (lines 1–10 below), 2b (lines 11–13 below), and Catullus 3 appear as one poem under the title "Fletus passeris Lesbie" (Lament for Lesbia's Sparrow). Shortly before 1500, Catullus 3 (the lament) was separated from Catullus 2/2b by Marcantonio Sabellico, which has been supported by scholars ever since.<ref name=sjh/>
Scholars have argued over whether the last three lines (2b) belong to a different poem, and whether words are missing between poems 2 and 2b. Scholars suggest that missing words (a ''lacuna''), or a variant reading/rearrangement of the received text, would smooth the presently abrupt transition between lines 10 and 11.<ref name=sjh/> As noted above, there is some manuscript evidence for missing words after line 10. However, scholar S.J. Harrison, who believes the 13 lines are unified, has argued that "there seems to be no vital gap in content which short lacuna would supply" and if the missing words are many, then it is impossible to guess what they were and the poem must be accepted as simply broken into fragments.<ref name=sjh/>
Catullus 2 and 2b differ significantly in their tone and subject. Catullus 2 is addressed directly to the bird ("with you") and describes its loving, playful relationship with the poet's girlfriend. By contrast, Catullus 2b mentions neither bird nor girlfriend, introducing a simile to the story of Atalanta, and seems to be written in the third person ("it is as welcome to me"), although some scholars have suggested that the text was corrupted from the second person ("you are as welcome to me"). The disjunction between Catullus 2 and 2b was first noted by Aquiles Estaço (Achilles Statius) in 1566; however, the first printed edition to show a lacuna between poems 2 and 2b (by the editor Karl Lachmann) appeared quite late, in 1829. Lachmann's separation of 2 and 2b has been followed by most subsequent editors.<ref name=sjh/>
== Classical tradition == In ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'' (Book IV, ch. III, 1749), Henry Fielding adapts the poem to his prose.{{cn|date=May 2025}} Tom gives Sophia a little bird. Fielding writes:
Of this bird, Sophia, then about thirteen years old, was so extremely fond, that her chief business was to feed and tend it, and her chief pleasure to play with it. By these means little Tommy, for so the bird was called, was become so tame, that it would feed out of the hand of its mistress, would perch upon the finger, and lie contented in her bosom, where it seemed almost sensible of its own happiness.
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==Bibliography== {{Wikisourcelang|la|Catullus 2|Catullus 2}} {{Wikisourcelang|en|Translation:Catullus_2|Catullus 2}} * {{cite journal | author = Johnson M | year = 2003 | title = Catullus 2b: The Development of a Relationship in the Passer Trilogy | journal = The Classical Journal | volume = 99 | pages = 11–34 | jstor=3298079 | issue = 1}} * {{cite journal|author=Jennifer Ingleheart|year=2003|title=Catullus 2 and 3: A Programmatic Pair of Sapphic Epigrams?|journal=Mnemosyne|volume=56|pages=551–565|doi=10.1163/156852503770735952|issue=5|author-link=Jennifer Ingleheart}} * {{cite journal | author = Pomeroy AJ. | year = 2003 | title = Heavy Petting in Catullus | journal = Arethusa | volume = 36 | pages = 49–60 | doi = 10.1353/are.2003.0006| s2cid = 162385298 }} * {{cite journal | last = Jones | first = JW Jr. | year = 1998 | title = Catullus' Passer as Passer | journal = Greece and Rome | volume = 45 | pages = 188–194 | doi = 10.1093/gr/45.2.188 | jstor=642982 | issue = 2}} * {{cite journal | last = Thomas | first = RF. | year = 1993 | title = Sparrows, Hares, and Doves: a Catullan Metaphor | journal = Helios | volume = 20 | pages = 131–142}} * {{cite journal | author = Vinson M | year = 1989 | title = And Baby Makes Three? Parental Imagery in the Lesbia Poems of Catullus | journal = The Classical Journal | volume = 85 | pages = 47–53 | jstor=3297486 | issue = 1}} * {{cite journal | author = Boyd BW | year = 1987 | title = The Death of Corinna's Parrot Reconsidered: Poetry and Ovid's "Amores" | journal = The Classical Journal | volume = 82 | pages = 199–207 | jstor=3297900 | issue = 3}} * {{cite journal | last = Hooper | first = RW. | year = 1985 | title = In Defence of Catullus' Dirty Sparrow | journal = Greece and Rome | volume = 32 | pages = 162–178 | doi = 10.1017/S0017383500030485 | jstor=642440 | issue = 2| s2cid = 162225467 }} * {{cite journal | last = Nadeau | first = Y. | year = 1984 | title = Catullus' Sparrow, Martial, Juvenal and Ovid | journal = Latomus | volume = 43 | pages = 861–868}} * {{cite journal | last = Jocelyn | first = HD. | year = 1980 | title = On Some Unnecessarily Indecent Interpretations of Catullus 2 and 3 | journal = American Journal of Philology | volume = 101 | pages = 421–441 | doi = 10.2307/293667 | issue = 4 | publisher = The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 101, No. 4 | jstor=293667}} * {{cite journal | last = Giangrande | first = G. | year = 1975 | title = Catullus' Lyrics on the Passer | journal = Museum Philologum Londiniense | volume = 1 | pages = 137–146}} * {{cite journal | author = Hough JN | year = 1974 | title = Bird Imagery in Roman Poetry | journal = The Classical Journal | volume = 70 | pages = 1–13 | jstor=3296348 | issue = 1}} * {{cite journal | last = Genovese | first = EN. | year = 1974 | title = Symbolism in the Passer Poems | journal = Maia | volume = 26 | pages = 121–125}} * {{cite journal | author = Bishop JD. | year = 1966 | title = Catullus 2 and Its Hellenistic Antecedents | journal = Classical Philology | volume = 61 | pages = 158–167 | doi = 10.1086/365126 | jstor=268677 | issue = 3| s2cid = 161360041 }} * {{cite journal | author = Lazenby FD | year = 1949 | title = Greek and Roman Household Pets | journal = The Classical Journal | volume = 44 | pages = 299–307 | issue = 5 | jstor=3292469}} * {{cite journal | author = Frank T | year = 1927 | title = On Some Fragments of Catullus | journal = Classical Philology | volume = 22 | pages = 413–414 | doi = 10.1086/360954 | jstor=262983 | issue = 4| s2cid = 162291182 }} * {{cite journal | last = Brotherton | first = B. | year = 1926 | title = Catullus' Carmen II | journal = Classical Philology | volume = 21 | pages = 361–363 | doi = 10.1086/360832 | jstor=263684 | issue = 4| s2cid = 162272073 }} * {{cite journal | author = Braunlich AF | year = 1923 | title = Against Curtailing Catullus' "Passer" | journal = The American Journal of Philology | volume = 44 | pages = 349–352 | doi = 10.2307/289256 | issue = 4 | publisher = The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 44, No. 4 | jstor=289256}} * {{cite journal | author = Kent RG | year = 1923 | title = Addendum on Catullus' Passer | journal = The American Journal of Philology | volume = 44 | pages = 323–324 | doi = 10.2307/289257 | issue = 4 | publisher = The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 44, No. 4 | jstor=289257}} * {{cite journal | author = Fay EW | year = 1913 | title = Catullus Carmen 2 | journal = Classical Philology | volume = 8 | pages = 301–309 | doi = 10.1086/359800 | jstor=261688 | issue = 3| s2cid = 162227770 }} ::Argues in favor of ''desiderio meo nitenti'' meaning "radiant lady of my longing", despite dative case. Also argues that ''ardor'' could mean ''ira'', ''credo'' might have been ''quaero'' or ''quaeso'', and there is likely no lacuna between lines 10 and 11.
* {{cite journal | author = Anderson WB | year = 1911 | title = Some 'Vexed Passages' in Latin Poetry | journal = The Classical Quarterly | volume = 5 | pages = 181–184 | doi = 10.1017/S0009838800019595 | jstor=635797 | issue = 3| s2cid = 170639627 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/2504580 }} ::Calls lines 11-13 the ''carmen vexatissimum''. Suggests ''subit'' in line 7: ''Et solaciolum subit doloris''.
* {{cite journal | author = Phillimore JS. | year = 1910 | title = Passer: Catull. Carm. ii | journal = Classical Philology | volume = 5 | pages = 217–219 | doi = 10.1086/359388 | jstor=262194 | issue = 2| doi-access = free }}
::Makes lines 11-13 into a speech by Lesbia to her bird; "you are as welcome to me..." Argues against ''desiderio meo nitenti'' meaning "radiant lady of my longing", but rather "when she is shining with longing for me".
* {{cite journal | author = McDaniel WB | year = 1908 | title = Catvllvs IIb | journal = The Classical Quarterly | volume = 2 | pages = 166–169 | doi = 10.1017/S0009838800005644 | jstor=635759 | issue = 3| s2cid = 170644454 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/2154640 }}
::Excellent review of solutions proposed in the 19th century. Supports a three-poem model, in which ''gratum'' refers to meeting his lover, Lesbia.
==External links== {{wikibooks|The Poetry of Gaius Valerius Catullus|2|Poem #2}}
===Translations=== *[http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/002.html Catullus 2 & 2b] from the VRoma Project. *[http://rudy.negenborn.net/catullus/text2/e2.htm Catullus 2] from the Catullus Translations Website. *[http://rudy.negenborn.net/catullus/text2/e2b.htm Catullus 2b] from the Catullus Translations Website. *[http://www.cipherjournal.com/html/hager.html Catullus 2 (lines 1–8)] from the ''Cipher Journal'' website (bizarre ending) *[http://www.versedaily.org/catullus2.shtml Catullus 2 & 2b] Rick Snyder's translation in ''jubilat'' (2003)
===Other=== *"Notes on the text, interpretation, and translation problems of Catullus", by S.J. Harrison and S.J. Heyworth, from an Oxford University Web site: **[https://web.archive.org/web/20060523000123/http://users.ox.ac.uk/~sjh/documents/catconj.doc] As HTML page **[users.ox.ac.uk/~sjh/documents/catconj.doc] As WordPad file * [http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/catullusguide9.html] Page explaining the relationship of the sounds of the poem to its meaning and a link to a recording of the poem sung in Latin * [http://www.uq.edu.au/hprcflex/lt2270/poecom1.htm] Text with translation notes * [http://users.ox.ac.uk/~sjh/Apubl12.htm] Page with a link to WordPad document of "Sparrows and Apples: The Unity of Catullus 2", by S.J. Harrison, an article in ''Scripta Classica Israelica'' (scroll down to "Articles in Journals" No. 60) *[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18958585 Interview] with Jeffrey Eugenides on his book of bittersweet love-stories, ''My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead''
{{Catullus}}
C002 Category:Poems about birds Category:Articles containing video clips