[2] dulci dulcius: cf. Catul. 22.14n. infaceto infacetior.
[3] non impune tuli: cf. Catul. 78b.5 “non impune feres” .
[4] suffixum in cruce: kept upon the rack. The reference is perhaps to the punishment by impalement, rarer and more dreaded than the ordinary forms of crucifixion; cf. Sen. Con. 20.3 “video istic cruces non unius quidem generis, sed aliter ab aliis fabricatas … alii per obscoena stipitem egerunt” ; Sen. Ep. 101.12 “suffigas licet et acutam sessuro crucem subdas” .
[4] summa: of the intensity of the torture; cf. Colum. 1.7.2 “summum ius antiqui summam putabant crucem” .
[6] tantillum: an atom.
[6] vestrae saevitiae: i.e. the cruelty that is peculiar to you and your like.
[7] simul: sc. atque; cf. Catul. 22.15n.
[7] id: with reference to the theft of the kiss.
[8] guttis: sc. of water; cf. Lucr. 6.942 “saxa superne guttis manantibus stillent” .
[8] articulis: fingers, as occasionally in the elegiasts and later.
[9] contractum: a technical word connected with contagious and infectious diseases.
[10] cf. Catul. 78b.4.
[10] lupae: a nickname for a prostitute; cf. Liv. 1.4.7 “sunt qui Larentiam vulgato corpore lupam inter pastores vocatam putent” .
[11] infesto tradere Amori: i. e. to hand me over as a captive to a merciless jailer, —the idea being that the boy's petulant anger made him more attractive than ever, and quickened, instead of quenching, the poet's passion.
[14] tristi: bitter; cf. Anth. Pal. 5.29.2 “πικρότερον γίγνεται ἑλλεβόρου” . On the collocation tristi tristius cf. Catul. 22.14n.
[15-16] 15-16. The poem concludes with a mock simplicity that allows the sportive character of the preceding complaints to be seen.
[15-16] misero: cf. Catul. 91.2n.
[16] basia: cf. Catul. 5.7n.
