Catullus, Poem 16

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M = reading of the whole MS tradition
m = reading of part of the MS tradition
P = reading on a papyrus
 

Pedicabo pedicabo m: dedicabo m ego uos et irrumabo,
Aureli pathice et cinaede Furi,
qui me ex uersiculis meis putastis,
quod sunt molliculi, parum pudicum.
nam castum esse decet pium poetam5
ipsum, uersiculos nihil necesse est;
qui tum denique habent salem ac leporem,
si sunt molliculi ac parum pudici,
et quod pruriat incitare possunt,
non dico pueris, sed his pilosis 10
qui duros nequeunt mouere lumbos.
uos, quod quod m: qui m milia multa basiorum
legistis, male me marem putatis?
pedicabo pedicabo m: dedicabo m uos et irrumabo.

I’ll bugger you and face-fuck you, submissive Aurelius and catamite Furius, you who think, because my poems are erotic, that I am not quite decent. [5] For it is right for an inspired poet to be chaste, but his verses need not be so; they have wit and charm, as a matter of fact, even if they are erotic and not quite decent, and can stir an itch, [10] and I don’t mean in boys, but in those hairy old men who are unable to move their stiffened loins. Because you have read about my thousands of kisses, you think I am barely a man? I’ll bugger you and face-fuck you.

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