The Poems (Penguin Classics)
Very little is kown about Gaius Valerius Catullus, though he was probably born around 84BC.  he writes as a friend of Cicero and other leading figures, and appears as a leader of the new movement in poetry and a lover of the notorious Clodia Metelli, who was probably the Lesbia of the poems.  He strated writing in 69 or 68 and died around 54BC.      Peter Whigham taught on verse composition at the University of California, but was essentially a poet full-time.  Other publications include The Blue Winged Bee and ASTAPOVO or What We Are To Do.  He died in 1987.