Catullus 85

Catullus 85 is a poem by the Roman poet Catullus for his mistress Lesbia. Its declaration of conflicting feelings "I hate and I love" (in Latin, Odi et amo) is renowned for its force and brevity. Moreover, the second line of the poem is chiastic, insofar as a passive verb form follows every active verb form (nescio (active) - fieri (passive) - sentio (active) - excrucior (passive)).

The meter of the poem is the elegiac couplet and goes as follows:

"Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.
 Nescio. Sed fieri sentio et excrucior."

"I hate and I love. Perhaps you ask me why I do this?
 I do not know. But I feel it happen and I am torn apart."

Musical settings

• "Odi et amo" No. 19 of "Moralia" by composer Jacobus Gallus
• "Odi et amo" part of Catulli Carmina by composer Carl Orff
• Odi et amo by composer Jóhann Jóhannsson off the album Englabörn.