ed years ago,
'Prater, Ave atque Vale'--as we wander'd to and fro
Gazing at the Lydian laughter of the Garda Lake below
Sweet Catullus' all-but-island, olive-silvery Sirmio!

1, 2. Paene insularum...ocelle: pearl of all peninsulas. Paene is used
as an adjective by a Greek construction, A. & G. 321, c. Cf. Ovid,
_Heroides_, 15.357, paene puer. ocelle: cf. Milton, _Paradise Regained_,
4. 240, 'Athens, the eye of Greece.' 3. fert...Neptunus: twin-realmed
(Cranstoun) Neptune upholds in lakes or sea. fert: Poseidon, according
to Homer, is the earth-upholding. Cf. _Exodus_ 20.4 'the water under the
earth.' uterque: i.e. as god of stagna (lakes) and of mare. 5. Thyniam:
the part of Bithynia on the shore of the Thracian Bosporus. 6. liquisse:
the poets are fond of using uncompounded forms of verbs. Cf. 5, 4,
linquantur. 7. O...curis: 'The form of expression suggests that the
cares now past are, as past, actual pleasures.'--Ellis. 8, 9. peregrine
labore: the toil of travel. larem: the home, lit. the household god. 11.
Hoc...tantis: This it is that of itself is a compensation for so great
labors. 12. venusta: Ellis praises 'the beauty of Sirmio, with its high
cliffs descending into the transparently blue water, and the exquisite
color of the surrounding land and sky.' ero gaude: be glad for thy
master, i.e. thy master bids thee 'Rejoice!' 13. Lydiae: the shores of
the lake were once occupied by Etruscans, and they were said to have
come originally from Lydia. The epithet is transferred from lacus to
undae. 14. quidquid...cachinnorum: the clause is to be taken as a
vocative.

_7._ 2. Calve: Calvus was an accomplished orator and poet. Of his
literary work almost nothing remains. He was Catullus' intimate friend
and is often mentioned with him. 3. desiderio: yearning, in apposition
to dolore, defining and specializing it. 4. olim missas: lost in by-gone
days, missas equals amissas. Cf. _Selection_ 6, 6 and note. 6.
Quintiliae: Calvus' young wife. Calvus himself wrote elegies in her
memory.

_8._ This poem was sent to Hortensius introducing a translation from the
Greek poet Callimachus (which is possibly Carmen 66 and of the _Coma
Berinices_). 2. Ortale: Q. Hortensius Ortalus, Cicero's chief rival as
an orator. virginibus: the Muses. 3. fetus: fruitage. 4. mens animi: my
thoughtful soul. Cicero, _De Republica_, 2.40.67, describes the mens as
pars animi. 5, 6. Lethaeo gurgite manans unda: the wave slow-streaming
from the gul