Latin Lives On!
Fruare aetate.
Here's Poem 78 from Carmina Catulli, Poems of Catullus about Gallus, a man unaware of a possible outcome. In lines 3 and 4, Gellus and his nephew are bellus, his sister-in-law is bella: these are high society people about to learn indiscretion. Catullus' poems have been well researched. I recommend using what resources the internet has to offer. Robinson Ellis' two Commentaries on Catullus are especially valuable. See also Merrill's Commentary on Catullus online at https://www.perseus.tufts.edu.
The Poems of Catullus are not for the faint of heart, the prissy or the politically correct. From the book's back cover is this Caveat Emptor:
Some poems are sexually explicit and some vocabulary obscene. If your beliefs and character are such that we shouldn't do what we shouldn't do and shouldn't say what we shouldn't say, please reconsider. If you have decided otherwise, may you enjoy this translation.
78
Gallus has two brothers: the wife of one is most
attractive, the son of the other good-looking.
Gallus the man is attentive: he joins sweet loves,
so the gracious girl will bed the obliging boy.
Gallus the man’s a fool, sees not that he’s a spouse;
such an uncle who shows an uncle’s cuckoldry.
The Poems of Catullus are not for the faint of heart, the prissy or the politically correct. From the book's back cover is this Caveat Emptor:
Some poems are sexually explicit and some vocabulary obscene. If your beliefs and character are such that we shouldn't do what we shouldn't do and shouldn't say what we shouldn't say, please reconsider. If you have decided otherwise, may you enjoy this translation.
78
Gallus has two brothers: the wife of one is most
attractive, the son of the other good-looking.
Gallus the man is attentive: he joins sweet loves,
so the gracious girl will bed the obliging boy.
Gallus the man’s a fool, sees not that he’s a spouse;
such an uncle who shows an uncle’s cuckoldry.