Catullus 85 I hate and I love


Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.


Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.



ōdī, ōdisse       hate (perfect forms have present meanings)

ōdī       I hate
amō, amāre, amāvī, amātus    love
amō     I love
quārē   why
id         it
faciō, facere, fēcī, factus         make, do
faciam do I do (indirect question clause: subjunctive triggered by "quare")
id faciam         I do it (indirect question: subjunctive)
quāre id faciam           why I do it
fortasse            perhaps, maybe
requīrō, requīrere, requīsīvī, requīsītus           search for; inquire
fortasse requīris           perhaps you ask
nesciō, nescīre, nescīvī, nescītum       not know
nesciō  I do not know
fīō, fierī, factus sum    to happen (passive of facio: literally "to be done")
sentiō, sentīre, sēnsī, sēnsus    feel
sentiō   I feel
fierī sentiō       I feel it happening
excruciō, excruciāre, excruciāvī, excruciātus to torture
excruciō           I torture
excrucior         I am tortured (passive)

Possible translations
C.H. Sisson (1967):
I hate and I love. You may well ask, why I do so.
I do not know, but I feel it and suffer.

Frederic Raphael and Kenneth McLeish (1979):
I hate and I love. Why do that? Good question.
No answer, save ‘I do’. Nailed, through either hand.

 1. What two feelings is Catullus experiencing? 
2. What question might Catullus be asked? 
3. How would he answer the question? 
4. What does Catullus feel? 
5. What word summarizes his feelings?

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