Both Catullus and Horace
talk about their love in the poems. However, their writing styles are different
from each other. Catullus directly conveys his emotional feelings toward
Lesbia, whereas Horace depicts erotic scenes without any close involvement with
a woman.
Catullus directly
indicates his love expressions on his poem. He shows diverse expressions related
to his lover, Lesbia. Because he loves so much, he says, “Lesbia mine, and
love-and as for scandal, all the gossip, old men’s strictures, value the lot at
no more than a farthing.”(5) He directly mentions that he does not care of
other people’s perspectives, but only thing he cares is Lesbia. He begs
“thousand kisses, then a hundred, then a thousand more, a second hundred…”(5).
This quote clearly indicates that he is deeply falls in love. Moreover, when
his sparrow died, he does not feel sad, but he rather concerns how Lesbia will feel sorrowful. He says,
“Sparrow, the pet and darling of my sweetheart…now my sweetheart’s eyelids are
sore and swollen red from all her weeping” (3). According to these quotes, Catullus
directly expresses his emotions such as sorrowful, happy, and love feelings in
his poems.
Unlike Catullus, Horace does
not express his personal feelings in his poems. He rather depicts erotic scenes
to convey love relationships. For example, he says, “ what slim youngster
soaked in perfumes is hugging you now, Pyrrha, on a bed of roses deep in your
lovely cave? For whom are you tying up your blonde hair?” (Ode 1.5). This quote
explicitly depicts an erotic mood of a young woman. He describes this woman
with terms such as ‘youngster’, ‘hug’, ‘and bed’, and his description arouses erotic and sexual mood. He describes Pyrrha
as a beautiful woman with sexual attractions, but he does not directly express
his emotions like Catullus does. Catullus directly shows his sincere feelings
toward his lover, whereas Horace does not convey his personal feelings toward
women.
References
1. The complete Odes and Epodes / Horace
2. The Poems of Catullus
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