Catullus

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Catullus 101

By ways remote and distant waters sped,
Brother, to thy sad graveside am I come,
That I may give the last gifts to the dead,
And vainly parley withi thine ashes dumb;
Since She who now bestows and no denies
Hath taken thee, hapless brother, from mine eyes
But lo! these gifts, these heirlooms of past years,
Are made sad things to grace thy coffin shell;
Take them, all drenched with thy brother's tears,
And, brother, for all time and forever, hail and farewell.

Translation by Aubrey Beardsley 

 

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