And forever, O my brother, hail and farewell!

The line is from Catullus’s elegy for his brother (commonly numbered Poem 101), written after Catullus had traveled “through many nations and seas” to reach his brother’s grave. Catullus’s brother died away from home (often associated with the Troad/Asia Minor), and the poem stages a ritual visit: the poet brings traditional offerings to the tomb and addresses the dead directly. The closing “hail and farewell” (Latin: ave atque vale) functions as a final, formal leave-taking at the graveside, compressing personal grief into a conventional Roman gesture of salutation and departure.

Catullus fuses public ritual with private sorrow. The poem’s final words—simultaneously greeting and goodbye—capture the paradox of mourning: the desire to speak to the dead as if present, and the recognition that separation is permanent. “Forever” intensifies the finality; the farewell is not temporary but absolute. Yet the “hail” preserves affection and dignity, suggesting that memory and speech can still honor the lost. The line’s enduring power lies in its stark economy: a whole elegy’s emotional arc culminates in a two-part formula that is both socially recognizable and devastatingly personal.

• “Atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale.” (Latin)
• “And so, my brother, hail and farewell for evermore.”
• “And forever, brother, hail and farewell.”