Catullus 101
Catullus 101
Multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus
Through many nations and many seas
advenio has miseras, frater, ad inferias,
I come to these wretches, brother, to the underworld
ut te postremo donarem munere mortis
that I might give you the gift of death at last
et mutam nequiquam alloquerer cinerem,
and I would address the mute ash to no one,
quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum.
since fortune took him away from me.
heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi,
alas, poor unworthy brother, take it from me
nunc tamen interea haec, prisco quae more parentum
but now, in the meantime, this is the old fashioned thing of the parents
tradita sunt tristi munere ad inferias,
they were handed over to the underworld with a sad message
accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu,
receive brotherly with many flowing tears,
atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale.
and for ever, brother, farewell and good-bye.