In this poem, Catullus talks about a lot of different emotions, and those emotions are what balances the poem out. The basic meaning of this poem is that Catullus, inevitably, gets crushed by Lesbia's cheating actions. I say that it was inevitable because if Lesbia was capable of lying to her foolish previous husband back when she first liked Catullus, then she is certainly capable of lying to Catullus about someone else. That's the reality: that anyone is capable of anyting.
Catullus says in the poem, "Because such an injury as this drives a lover to love more and respect less." I believe what Catullus is trying to accomplish through this sentence is that no longer does he fully repsect Lesbia for cheating on him, and maybe he does not trust her as much either; but he will try harder/"love more". It's like he's saying he wants her more because she cheated. Obviously Lesbia wasn't happy with Catullus or wasn't getting what she needed - which is the case with some couples. Therefore, she found it with someone else. This makes Catullus want to work harder at the relationship. I understand how Catullus feels though, like maybe if he works harder he can forget that Lesbia cheated on him and it will all work itself out. But in the end, that doesn't always seem to be the case. Sometimes your opinion of the person is so completely warped after an incident such as that that you can't ever look at them the same again, thus being forced to end the relationship.
As for the balance of the poem, Catullus does a terrific job of using different forms of words to show that the balance in their relationship is off and therefore completely changed. What Lesbia has done has changed the balance - the passion, now, is more intense, but the respect has gone down, throwing the "scale" off balance. Some examples of balance words he chooses are: "you only knew Catullus.." and "Now I know you."; as well as comparing Catullus and Jupiter in the sentence, "...and that you would not even hold Jupiter before me." With the latin words, he uses words such as amare, which is an every day kind of love; vs. dilexi, which is the real love that one cherishes. By doing these things, it shoes how conflicted Catullus was and how he realizes everything now.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Catullus 86
In poem 86, Catullus is describing a seemingly beautiful woman, names Quintia. In poem 43 we also had an instance where Catullus was describing a woman, possibly his mistress. This instance, however, was different in how he called Quintia beautiful but the other woman he subtlely insulted her.
Everyone thinks that Quintia is gorgeous - she is fair-skinned (something valued back then), as well as tall and upright (good posture). However, as a whole, Catullus feels as though Lesbia is the most beautiful woman in the world, and therefore Quintia could not compare.
I think Catullus represents a good husband (supposing that Lesbia and he are married, that is). he's a role model, I believe, for men everywhere, if you choose to look at this poem through my eyes. If you think your wife is the most beautiful woman in the world, tell her! if you can think of little things about the person you love - details - then tell them. Catullus could have been less of a man by agreeing that Quintia is beautiful and going on about it, or saying nothing more than that. But instead, he says that while he "confesses to each of her features individually," he does not like the whole of her; she lacks any flicker of whit. He brings Lesbia up, as any man should do. I believe it makes Catullus a bigger man to bring up his wife or girlfriend in comparison with another woman. It's nice that Catullus can recognize that she's special and that anyone else pales in comparison.
Everyone thinks that Quintia is gorgeous - she is fair-skinned (something valued back then), as well as tall and upright (good posture). However, as a whole, Catullus feels as though Lesbia is the most beautiful woman in the world, and therefore Quintia could not compare.
I think Catullus represents a good husband (supposing that Lesbia and he are married, that is). he's a role model, I believe, for men everywhere, if you choose to look at this poem through my eyes. If you think your wife is the most beautiful woman in the world, tell her! if you can think of little things about the person you love - details - then tell them. Catullus could have been less of a man by agreeing that Quintia is beautiful and going on about it, or saying nothing more than that. But instead, he says that while he "confesses to each of her features individually," he does not like the whole of her; she lacks any flicker of whit. He brings Lesbia up, as any man should do. I believe it makes Catullus a bigger man to bring up his wife or girlfriend in comparison with another woman. It's nice that Catullus can recognize that she's special and that anyone else pales in comparison.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Catullus 87
In this poem, Catullus is basically preaching to Lesbia about how much he loves her. He says that there as no faith in any other contract than there was in his love for her.
Personally, although coming from someone who hasn't experienced a love as great as this seems to be, I think Catullus is a little blinded. Maybe his blindness is advantageous; perhaps it's better to feel like this in your own little world than be in reality where Lesbia may not love him as much as he loves her. Looking at what these poems are leading readers to believe, Lesbia was formerly married, had feelings for Catullus, and then left her marriage for Catullus. If she was able to love someone else while she was married, then she's able to do that to Catullus too. It's like how they say "a cheater is always a cheater," and Lesbia sort of reminds me of that quote. Even though she didn't necessarily cheat on her foolish hunsband, she was capable of it. Catullus needs to look at the reality of it and realize that not all love lasts forever, no matter how much faith you have in it. Even if you care about the person more than anything else - more than you cared about yourself - sometimes it's not enough. I know it sounds like something that not everyone would say, but it's the reality of life. I've experienced enough to know that living in a dream is better than reality; but at some point we need to come back into existence with everyone else.
Personally, although coming from someone who hasn't experienced a love as great as this seems to be, I think Catullus is a little blinded. Maybe his blindness is advantageous; perhaps it's better to feel like this in your own little world than be in reality where Lesbia may not love him as much as he loves her. Looking at what these poems are leading readers to believe, Lesbia was formerly married, had feelings for Catullus, and then left her marriage for Catullus. If she was able to love someone else while she was married, then she's able to do that to Catullus too. It's like how they say "a cheater is always a cheater," and Lesbia sort of reminds me of that quote. Even though she didn't necessarily cheat on her foolish hunsband, she was capable of it. Catullus needs to look at the reality of it and realize that not all love lasts forever, no matter how much faith you have in it. Even if you care about the person more than anything else - more than you cared about yourself - sometimes it's not enough. I know it sounds like something that not everyone would say, but it's the reality of life. I've experienced enough to know that living in a dream is better than reality; but at some point we need to come back into existence with everyone else.
Catullus 92
In this poem, Catullus makes the reader think back to an ealier poem, a poem in which he is hearing Lesbia talk badly about him to her husband. In that poem, Catullus really believes that even though Lesbia was talking badly about him, the fact that she was even bringing him up to her husband meant she had feelings for him. Fast forward however many weeks or months or years, even, to this poem: Catullus and Lesbia are in some sort of relationship. She never seems to stop talking about him, which is really teasing him. However, Catullus takes this as a good thing, considering he teases her all the time too. No matter what they're saying, Catullus knows that without Lesbia's love, he would die.
You can relate this poem to people today, as I try to do with many of Catullus's poems. I think through this poem, Catullus is proving how codependent we are on each other. If Lesbia doesn't love Catullus the way Catullus loves Lesbia, he wishes death upon himself; and if Catullus doesn't love Lesbia and as truly as he says he does, he again wishes death upon himself. Why is it that we think once we've fallen in love, we can't live without the other person? It's human nature - to not be able to remember our lives or how we lived before that person came in and changed our life for the better. Why is it that we think we've found our other half and if they were to disappear than our life would be empty without them? They're huge questions that this poem poses for me as a reader. They're also questions that are unfortunately seemingly impossible to answer. It's just a feeling that you can't get rid of; a feeling that once you let that person into your life, for you to imagine each day without them is an unbarable thought. The way Catullus cares for Lesbia is probably something along the lines of that, that he'd rather die than live every day without her love.
You can relate this poem to people today, as I try to do with many of Catullus's poems. I think through this poem, Catullus is proving how codependent we are on each other. If Lesbia doesn't love Catullus the way Catullus loves Lesbia, he wishes death upon himself; and if Catullus doesn't love Lesbia and as truly as he says he does, he again wishes death upon himself. Why is it that we think once we've fallen in love, we can't live without the other person? It's human nature - to not be able to remember our lives or how we lived before that person came in and changed our life for the better. Why is it that we think we've found our other half and if they were to disappear than our life would be empty without them? They're huge questions that this poem poses for me as a reader. They're also questions that are unfortunately seemingly impossible to answer. It's just a feeling that you can't get rid of; a feeling that once you let that person into your life, for you to imagine each day without them is an unbarable thought. The way Catullus cares for Lesbia is probably something along the lines of that, that he'd rather die than live every day without her love.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Catullus 5
I actually liked this poem a lot. It seemed a little out of Catullus's normal writing, because it didn't necessarily talk about howw obsessed with Lesbia he was; but instead it talked about life in general, and how you have this time you're given and what you do with it should matter.
In the time the character of Catullus has, he made it a point to be with Lesbia; and from now on, he says that he will kiss her and kiss her, so much so that people will be jealous. My favorite line from the poem was "Once our brief light does, we must sleep one eternal night." That's my favorite line from the poem because of how honest I think it is. I think people are too scared nowadays to talk about death. We're so concentrated on avoiding it that we even say "passed away" because we think "died" sounds too morbid or something. If we're not afraid to talk about life, then we shouldn't be so afraid to talk about what we all know is going to happen - we are all going to die in the end. I know that sounds awful, but Catullus is right - we need to "live it up" while we're here. If you love something, go after it. If there's a dream you want to follow, follow it. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't. I realize that I sound like some wannabe inspritational speaker, but Catullus got me thinking about it. Once the light goes out, it's out. A favorite quote of mine is this: "You only get to live once, but if you do it right once is enough." This quote reminds of Catullus's words. It's great advice, i think, because even though the advice is for fictional Catullus, anyone can relate to it, and that's what really matters.
In the time the character of Catullus has, he made it a point to be with Lesbia; and from now on, he says that he will kiss her and kiss her, so much so that people will be jealous. My favorite line from the poem was "Once our brief light does, we must sleep one eternal night." That's my favorite line from the poem because of how honest I think it is. I think people are too scared nowadays to talk about death. We're so concentrated on avoiding it that we even say "passed away" because we think "died" sounds too morbid or something. If we're not afraid to talk about life, then we shouldn't be so afraid to talk about what we all know is going to happen - we are all going to die in the end. I know that sounds awful, but Catullus is right - we need to "live it up" while we're here. If you love something, go after it. If there's a dream you want to follow, follow it. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't. I realize that I sound like some wannabe inspritational speaker, but Catullus got me thinking about it. Once the light goes out, it's out. A favorite quote of mine is this: "You only get to live once, but if you do it right once is enough." This quote reminds of Catullus's words. It's great advice, i think, because even though the advice is for fictional Catullus, anyone can relate to it, and that's what really matters.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)