In this poem, Catullus offers an opinion about his friend's poetry.
| Zmyrna mei Cinnae nonam post denique messem | ||
| quam coepta est nonamque edita post hiemem, | ||
| milia cum interea quingenta Hortensius uno | ||
| Line | * * * * * * * * * * | |
| (5) | Zmyrna cavas Satrachi penitus mittetur ad undas, | |
| Zmyrnam cana diu saecula pervolvent. | ||
| At Volusi annales Paduam morientur ad ipsam | ||
| et laxas scombris saepe dabunt tunicas. | ||
| Parva mei mihi sint cordi monimenta* [sodalis], | ||
| at populus tumido gaudeat Antimacho. | ||
| *also spelled monumenta in some texts | ||
Catullus 95, 95B
Since this is a syllabus-based pasage, the introduction gives very little background information but establishes a context (literature).
Consonantal u has been changed to v.
The selection should be familiar to students and the vocabulary is not difficult, so there is no need for glosses.
Often, when an alternate spelling appears in a text, it is provided as a gloss.
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| 1. | In line 1, Zmyrna is | |||
| (A) | a published author | |||
| (B) | a work of literature | |||
| (C) | a city in Italy | |||
| (D) | an enemy of Catullus | |||
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| 2. | Lines 1-2 (Zmyrna … hiemem) tell about | |||
| (A) | the beauty of winter | |||
| (B) | a group of nine poets | |||
| (C) | the length of time it has taken to produce a literary work | |||
| (D) | the benefits of making editorial corrections at night | |||
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| 3. | In line 3, quingenta agrees with | |||
| (A) | Zmyrna (line 1) | |||
| (B) | milia (line 3) | |||
| (C) | Hortensius (line 3) | |||
| (D) | uno (line 3) | |||
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| 4. | The metrical pattern of the first four feet in line 5 (Zmyrna … undas) is | |||
| (A) |  | || | |||
| (B) | ||| | |||
| (C) | ||| | |||
| (D) | ||| | |||
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| 5. | The word penitus (line 5) is a | |||
| (A) | a noun | |||
| (B) | a verb | |||
| (C) | an adverb | |||
| (D) | a preposition | |||
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| 6. | What figure of speech occurs in line 6 (Zmyrnam … pervolvent)? | |||
| (A) | Simile | |||
| (B) | Tmesis | |||
| (C) | Personification | |||
| (D) | Zeugma | |||
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| 7. | The Volusius mentioned in line 7 (Volusi) is | |||
| (A) | a river in Italy | |||
| (B) | the title of poem about death | |||
| (C) | a Roman famous for wearing fancy clothing | |||
| (D) | a writer whose work is compared to Cinna's | |||
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| 8. | The annales mentioned in line 7 are compared in another poem of Catullus to | |||
| (A) | a giant nose | |||
| (B) | the sand in a desert | |||
| (C) | a terrible plague | |||
| (D) | toilet paper | |||
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| 9. | We learn from lines 5-7 (Zmyrna … ad ipsam) that | |||
| (A) | one writer's work will travel far, the other's will not | |||
| (B) | one writer will be sent to Zmyrna, the other will die in Padua | |||
| (C) | some people live in caves, others on mountains | |||
| (D) | some people pay a lot for books, some very little | |||
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| 10. | In line 8, the words laxas tunicas are translated | |||
| (A) | tender fish | |||
| (B) | linen dresses | |||
| (C) | loose wrappings | |||
| (D) | receding waters | |||
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| 11. | In line 9, sodalis is the same person as | |||
| (A) | Cinna | |||
| (B) | Hortensius | |||
| (C) | Volusius | |||
| (D) | Antimachus | |||
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| 12. | In line 10, tumido is a metaphor for | |||
| (A) | ill | |||
| (B) | wordy | |||
| (C) | angry | |||
| (D) | embarrassed | |||
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| 13. | Which expression captures the meaning of the last two lines (Parva … Antimacho)? | |||
| (A) | Quality, not quantity | |||
| (B) | Might makes right. | |||
| (C) | Love conquers all. | |||
| (D) | The pen is mightier than the sword. | |||
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