Catullus: Poem 105 (from Latin)

Poem 105: A Prick Named Dick
By Catullus
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
Click to hear me recite the original in a reconstruction of what Classical Latin sounded like
Click to hear me recite this translation in English

There once was a prick named Dick¹
Who climbed Parnassus too quick,
But the Muse with a scoff
Just jerked him straight off
With a pitchfork. He broke like a stick.

Note: -¹- i.e. Mamurra, one of Catullus' long-standing rivals, also apparently a really bad poet.

The Original:

Mentula cōnātur Pipleium scandere montem.
Mūsae furcillīs praecipitem eiciunt.