BlogLatin

Paging Dr. Fell

From martialis: I.32

non amo te, Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare.
hoc tantum possum dicere: non amo te.

I don't like you, Sabidius, and I can't say why. This alone I can say: I don't like you.

Of course, many English speakers are familiar with the updated version (Charles Addams even had a charming illustration of it in his Mother Goose, with Dr. Fell as a mad scientist) by Tom Brown:

I do not love thee Dr. Fell,
The reason why I cannot tell,
but this I know, and know full well,
I do not love thee Dr. Fell

The story goes that while at Oxford, Brown got into some trouble with the Dean, Dr. John Fell. Fell threatened to send him down unless he could translate a Martial epigram on the spot. This was the result.