This poem fragment and its translation are dedicated to Calpurnia Caesar.

Cat. Carm. 61, 204-218:

Ludite ut lubet, et brevi

liberos date, non decet

tam vetus sine liberis

nomen esse, sed indidem

semper ingenerari.

Torquatus volo parvulus

matris e gremio suae

porrigens teneras manus

dulce rideat ad patrem

semihiante labello.

Sit suo similis patri

Manlio et facile insciens

noscitetur ab obviis,

et pudicitiam suae

matris indicet ore.

translation (by Tanaquil Sergius):

Play as you like, and give

birth in a short time.Such an old

name should not be without children,

but it should always be regenerated.

May a little Torquatus, I wish,

stretch out his tiny hands in his

mother's lap and smile sweetly to

his father with half opened lips.

May he be like his father Manlius

and unconsciously be easily recognized

by those who meet him,

and may he indicate with his

looks his mother's modesty.