Translated by Cassidy Reynolds

from the original Latin by C. V. Catullus (c. 84- c. 54 BCE)

Translator’s Note: In his relatively short life and career, the Roman poet Catullus wrote variously on themes of love, sex, politics, and other aspects of the human condition, often with great wit and humor. The 101st poem in Catullus’ corpus, however, is uniquely somber and personal. It serves as an epitaph for his brother, who has died overseas in Bithynia (modern-day Turkey). This elegy has often been translated and adapted by poets throughout the centuries, especially its famous final words, “ave atque vale”.

Poem 101

Carried through the nations, and thrown across the seas

I’ve made it, dearest brother, to these sorry exequies

That I might give you something as a final gift in death

and talk to you again, be you but ashes, dumb and deaf

since fortune crept upon us, and stole you swift from me

oh God! My brother, taken (how unjust!) so wretchedly

For now, accept the gifts that our forefathers bade us give–

per customs set in stone before the two of us had lived–

gifts soaked with tears shed by the friend who shared your mother’s womb

For forever, brother, my hello and my adieu.