Who is it I should give my little book to,
So pretty in its pumice-polished covers?
Cornelius, I’ll give my book to you:
Because you used to think my nothings somethings,
At the time when you were the first in Italy
To dare to write our whole long history,
Three volumes, under the sign of Jupiter,
Heroically achieved; so take this little
Book of mine for what it’s worth; whatever;
And oh, patroness Virgin, grant that it shall
Live and survive beyond the century.
—David Ferry, “Catullus I”
Ferry’s Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations was nominated for the 2012 National Book Award for Poetry, capping off a banner year for Ferry, who earlier received the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for lifetime achievement from the Poetry Foundation.
