Blog Post#6

In the poem 2A, Catullus describes his pet sparrow. However, Sparrow is not the main subject in this section. He connects sparrow with his lover, Lesbia. He says, “ Sparrow, precious darling of my sweetheart, always her plaything”. He does not give description of sparrow’s appearance or relationship with himself, but he relates it with Lesbia. It shows how much he loves Lesbia. Moreover, he says, “bring some relief to the spirit’s black depression.” He indicates that sparrow relieves her dark feeling, which implies a bad relationship between a man and a married woman.

In the poem 3, he talks about the death of sparrow. He is sad not because his pet is dead, but because Lesbia will be very sad. He says, “knew his mistress no less closely than a child her mother”. The death of sparrow is not his main point, but sadness of Lesbia is the main concern of Catullus.

The poem 5 also implies an unhealthy relationship between Catullus and Lesbia. He says, “for scandal, all the gossip, old men’s strictures”. However, he does not care about this. He deeply falls in love with Lesbia, so he considers them as “no more than a farthing.”  He wants to get her “ a thousand kisses, then a hundred, then a thousand more”. It indicates how much he is into her.

The poem 58A represents break-up of Catullus and Lesbia. He describes Lesbia – “our dear Lesbia, that one”. He does not say my Lesbia, but ‘our’ Lesbia, ‘that one’.  He is regretting himself by saying “Lesbia whom alone Catullus worshipped more than himself”.  In this poem, his passionate and strong emotion toward Lesbia does not exist anymore, but instead he insults her by saying, “jacks off Remus’s generous descendants.” His expression in this poem is cold and indifferent comparing to the beginning of his poems.