A Lover's Words: Catullus 70 & Callimachus 5.6.1-4

Although Callimachus uses this literary trope for lovers of any gender, Catullus uses this trope specifically against his lady (mulier, sometimes identified as Lesbia).

Callimachus, Greek Anthology V.6.1-4 (Translated into Latin by Friedrich Duebner):

Callignotus swore to Ionis

That no one—man or woman—would be dearer to him than her.

He swears this, but what they say is true:

The oaths of a lover never reach the immortal gods.

Iuravit Callignotus Ionidi, numquam se illa

habiturum-esse amicum potiorem neque amicam.

Iuravit: sed vere dicunt, amantium iuramenta

non penetrare in aures immortalium.

ὤμοσε Καλλίγνωτος Ἰωνίδι, μήποτε κείνης

ἕξειν μήτε φίλον κρέσσονα μήτε φίλην.

ὤμοσεν: ἀλλὰ λέγουσιν ἀληθέα, τοὺς ἐν ἔρωτι

ὅρκους.μὴ δύνειν οὔατ᾽ ἐς ἀθανάτων.

vs. Catullus 70:

My lady says that she’d rather marry no one but me,

Not even if Jupiter himself asked her.

So she says: but what a woman tells a desirous lover

Should be written on the wind and rushing water.

Nulli se dicit mulier mea nubere malle

quam mihi, non si se Iuppiter ipse petat.

dicit: sed mulier cupido quod dicit amanti,

in vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua.

 Callimachus (305 - 240 BCE) is often regarded as one of the best Alexandrian [Greek] poets. Born in raised in Cyrene, Libya, he spent a majority of his career at the famous Library of Alexandria, where he used the resources there to create refined, artful poetry. Although much of his poetry is lost, the fragments that remain are a testament to both his talent as an artist and his erudition as a scholar.