On the Burial of His Brother

By ways remote and distant waters sped,

Brother, to thy sad grave-side am I come,

That I may give the last gifts to the dead,

And vainly parley with thine ashes dumb;

Since she who now bestows and now denies

Hath taken thee, hapless brother, from mine eyes.

But lo! these gifts, the heirlooms of past years,

Are made sad things to grace thy coffin shell,

Take them, all drenched with a brother's tears,

And, brother, for all time, hail and farewell!

— Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca 84–ca 54 BC)

Translated by Aubrey Beardsley (1872–1898)

Photo: Terry L Anderson