Lesbia

unsympathetic negligence destroys Catullus', as he is no longer, if ever was, the object of her attention. But the coincidence of the end of the poem with the words "tactus aratro est" (24) brings together the incidental severance of Catullus' love by Lesbia with the deliberate discontinuation of the poem. Another type of disjointing occurs with the final elision aratr(o) est, which intends to savor the touching of words at the very point where they meet with silence. This serves as an artistic

himself and other influential figures all the while meticulously choosing his words in order to make the reader truly grasp his concepts and challenge the accepted tropes at the time. One of the topics within several of his poems is of a girl named Lesbia, with whom he was in love. The woman in question, as we know now, was in fact fictional. She was used more as an allegory for a famous female poet from the island of lesbose. Catullus imagines their encounters and writes these poems of love and admiration

doctrine denoting any poetic or rhetorical description, including descriptions of landscape, buildings, battles, and storms. The focal point of this report will be on the content of poem 64 and how it, reflects Catullus himself and his relationship with Lesbia. Further, I will examine the mirroring of characters and emotions and ambiguity of the poem as it stands in relation to his other works. The poem as already stated is a mini-epic and is often described

urbs and saltus. But there is an essential difference here. While before the poet used the pastoral to describe the unquantifiable, the omnipresence of Lesbia and of Rome, here we encounter a numerical limit to the milia [basia] trecenta (3). Not only does this value directly respond to the problem of c.5, the infinity of love and the rest of the Lesbia ‘basia poems’, but it also highlights another way in which Catullus may use this mode; that is, as a tool for fiscal and quantitative civilising/Romanising

between Catullus and a woman by the pseudo name of Lesbia suddenly ends. The poem opens with Catullus chiding himself for being too gullible and not noticing the obvious end to the affair. He describes the end as a cease of light in the lines, “once there were sunlit days when you followed after where ever a girl would go… Those were the bright days gone; now she’s no longer yielding,” (Gregory, L. 3-8). After Catullus reminisces over his love for Lesbia, he again rebukes himself for being emasculate

I only feel it, and I’m torn in two” (1-2). Conflicting emotions is a common theme of Catullus’ poetry. Another emotion that Catullus shows is how he still holding out hope that Clodia will marry him. This is shown in the poem “Lesbia Says She’ld Rather Marry me.” “Lesbia says she’ld rather marry me / than anyone,” (1-2). The pain of being love torn but still holding out hope can be easily seen in Catullus’

about Lesbia's beloved pet dying, we are led to believe that Lesbia is his girlfriend. He speaks in great detail about her relationship with her pet sparrow. Surely Lesbia is as least his girlfriend, if not his wife. We soon learn that Catullus is making a fool of himself. Though at some point is appears that Lesbia returned his love, it is clear now that she does not as she tells him no. He is left to prepare himself to be rigid against Lesbia. Propertius' heart burns for Cynthia. He leads us

the entranceway’s ivory veneer, and a sense of sadness and melancholia at the past he was forever abandoning. Catullus had not yet taken two full strides in Rome before being suddenly accosted by a pulchritudinous young lady. Introducing herself as Lesbia, the voluptuous woman graciously invited Catullus into her house for a meal. Catullus did not hesitate for a moment to accept Lesbia’s invitation, indeed he had little choice; Lesbia’s roseate cheeks and comely features had already put Catullus under

died 54 bce in Rome. He lived most of his life in Rome. His expressions of love and hatred are typically known for the most excellent lyric poetry of ancient Rome. In about twenty five of his poems he talks about his love for a woman that he calls Lesbia. Other poems written by him are often slanderous outbursts of disrespect or hatred for Julius Caesar and less important personages. He came from a middle-class family that was from Verona in the north side of Italy. He went early to Rome with the

love in return, and his descriptions of her describe this longing in full detail. The poem also shows that women were seen a possession during this time. Despite what stands in his way, Catullus believes that Lesbia is for him and him only. In the first line of the poem he describes that Lesbia loves no one and would never marry anyone but him. In the second line Catullus states that even if “Jupiter”, a man known for his irresistibility and marriages, came calling she would not retreat to him because