Homeward Bound

Gaius Valerius Catullus (c. 84–c. 54 B.C.)

From the Latin by Theodore Martin

DEAR Sirmio, that art the very eye

Of islands and peninsulas, that lie

Deeply embosomed in calm inland lake,

Or where the waves of the vast ocean break;

Joy of all joys, to gaze on thee once more!

I scarce believe that I have left the shore

Of Thynia, and Bithynia’s parching plain,

And gaze on thee in safety once again!

Oh, what more sweet than when, from care set free,

The spirit lays its burden down, and we,

With distant travel spent, come home and spread

Our limbs to rest along the wished-for bed!

This, this alone, repays such toils as these!

Smile, then, fair Sirmio, and thy master please,—

And you, ye dancing waters of the lake,

Rejoice; and every smile of home awake!