ABSTRACT
The poem as a whole may be understood as programmatic, giving clues to Catullus' values and intentions as a poeta novus in the tradition of Callimachus. In contrasting his own little book of trifles (nugae) with Cornelius' three blockbuster cartne laboriosae, he is engaging in a tactful form of recusatio emphasizing what sort of thing he is not publishing. Meter: hendecasyllabics (see appendix B). 1 dono: using a simple indicative instead of the deliberative subjunctive donem, as if to say "Who am I giving this to" instead of "To whom shall I give this," adds an informal note of immediacy, our first clue about Catullan diction, lepidum: a key term for Catullus and the poetae novi, emphasizing the charm and wit of their ideal rather than its impressiveness and weight, libellum: the use of the diminutive instead of librimi sets a tone of self-deprecation and adds the collo quial note that Catullus liked. 2 arida... pumice expolitum refers to the smoofhing-off of the ends of the rolled volumen-and perhaps metaphorically to the literary polish inside. Pumex, normally masculine, is feminine here, as shown by arida. 3 esse aliquid: amount to something, nugas: see headnote. 5 Italorum, in the natural phrasing, should be taken with units in its own line rather than with omne aevum in the next. Striking a nativistic note, Catullus praises Nepos as the first Italian author of a universal history. But he follows the Greek Callimachus in lengthening the I, which is naturally short.
