Poem 85

Torn by hate and love
Unable to be faithful,
His heart is tortured

Poem 72

Catullus's tone in this poem has drastically changed from previous poems. From his critical tone in Poem 43 of the girl with not so small a nose, or his passionate tone in Poem 5, asking how many kisses are enough, Poem 72 is filled with a new tone, that did not fail to shock me. The tone in Poem 72 is one filled with disappointment at such an intense level, that you could not pay me a million dollars to take Lesbia's place right now. Catullus's previous poems have all centered around his passion and adoration for Lesbia, and now one can only wonder what dramatic event could cause the change of his perspective. The disappointment reaches another level, when Catullus expresses how much he truly loved Lesbia: "Dilexi tum te non tanum ut vulgus amicam, sed pater ut gnatos diligit et generos." Catullus's love is comparable to that of an average man loving his girlfriend, but also the respectable love a man has for sons/step-sons. You would think that the level of respectable love for Lesbia would decrease, which is true, but the raw, passionate love he had for Lesbia has grown, even more.
Catullus executes his message through balancing two ideas: Catullus's compares himself to Jupiter when speaking about Lesbia's compassion for him. Catullus also, in the last line admits and compares his feelings of less respect for Lesbia, but more passionate love for her. Also, in the beginning, he says that Lesbia used to say she knew him, but in line five, Catullus contrasts with "now I know you," comparing him truly realizing Lesbia's character, with her used to knowing who Catullus was. Through balancing two ideas, Catullus juxtaposes his realizations about Lesbia now.

Poem 86

At first glance, reading Poem 86, I learn alot more about Catullus and the qualities/characteristics he values. Within the first one to two lines of the poem, he expresses which qualities in Quintia he sees as beautiful: "Mihi candida, longa, recta." Quintia is fair-skinned, tall, and stately. It kind of disappoints me, though, seeing that Catullus views Quintia as being beautiful because she is wealthy enough to sit inside all day, allowing her slaves to do all the work, presevering her fair skinned-ness. Prior to this, I thought Catullus would have more depth to his values, and perhaps not classify beauty by wealth. However, after continuing to read the poem, I see that he acknowledges these qualities as beautiful, individually. He does not consider Quintia a beautiful woman, altogether, as he does with Lesbia. Lesbia is completely beautiful, "the entire package" if you will; inside and out. Lesbia attains wit and humor: ""nam nulla venustas, nulla in tam magno est corpore mica salis," which he sees compulsory to be beautiful. Poem 86 reminds me of Poem 43, because he does not view a woman, whom the entire province deems beautiful, as being pretty. Though he critiques mainly her physical features, I can bet that woman did not obtain humor, charm, or wit: characteristics especially important to Catullus.

Poems 69 & 43

In Poems 69 and 43, Catullus takes on an a tone of someone superior to others, very wise and well-traveled. He sees himself higher than others, to the point in which he can criticize, Rufus, a poor guy who smells, and isn't even aware of the fact, and a girl, who he does not consider to be beautiful. Who is he to judge her so harshly, and matter-of-factly. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," is it not? The worst part is, his biting description of the poor woman, in Poem 43, causes me to cringe simply from the unattractive, image that forms in my head. It is impressive that Catullus, so in love with Lesbia, does not have eyes for any other woman, even the one who all the province considers most beautiful. What is even more surprising, is that Catullus is able to persuade and influence his audience into believing this woman is so very unattractive. Without a doubt, it takes a skilled poet to accomplish this. Props to ya, Catullus.
Anyway, back to the point, both poems are similar in the fact that they criticize other people, by a guy who thinks he's superior to them cause he's got an amazing relationship with theee most beautiful girl. Does having a relationship with a female entitle Catullus to see himself above others?

Poem 87

Based on Poem 87, and other ones we have recently read and translated, I believe it is safe to say that the tone of Catullus's poems are slowly but progressively changing. Most of the previous poems have had bold tones of jealousy, doubt, and gossip of those curious, jealous minds. However, more recently, in the poems we have read, Catullus utilizes more of a sincere, heartfelt, tone filled with love and admiration.
Although I do not understand what makes his love for Lesbia so much more different and special than the love any other man has for his wife, Catullus is very self-confident that his love for Lesbia is unable to compared to anyone else's. Poem 87 reminds me of Poem 92, due to the fact that in both poems, Catullus is so sure that his love is greater than anyone else's he is willing to risk his life for the fact: "May I die if I do not truly love her" (Catullus 92)
However, along with infatuation and admiration, comes disappointment. I find it hard to believe that Lesbia, a woman who speaks badly of Catullus, has been previously married, and honestly, just does not seem of that good of a human being, is able to satisfy, and moreso, exceed the impossible expectations and exceptional perspective of which Catullus holds her to and views her as.

Poem 92

In Poem 92, Catullus begins with an opening line, similar to lines in Poem 83, with "Lesbia saying many bad things about me." Though the poems are similar in this way, in Poem 83, Catullus refers more to another man, and Lesbia's relationship with her husband. On the other hand, Poem 92 speaks of solely Lesbia's relationship with Catullus, disregarding any other people, especially their opinions, gossip, and jealousy, which have been prevalent in many of Catullus's other poems.
Catullus is very sure of himself, when he assumes that Lesbia truly loves him; however, he does not completely convince me. Lesbia seems to me, a player, if I may, and who knows who else she acts head over heels for. Personally, I believe that Lesbia's smack-talking of Catullus is very genuine and sincere, just about as sincere as his love for her (ouch!) He only perceives it as Lesbia's lighthearted form of joking, because that is how he acts, in return. This relationship between boy and girl, reminds me of the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, where an adolescent boy is infatuated with this beautiful, playgirl, who is quite frankly, out of his league. In the movie, the girl teases the poor boy and makes fun of him, in all seriousness, and as a defense mechanism the boy reacts in the same manner. Perhaps Catullus's poetry makes it out to seem as if he is taking this all light-heartedly, and not making him seem as desparate and vulnerable as he feels: maybe a mask to fool his audiences and save his reputation (as we know that reputation and status were of great importance during the time period.)

Poem 5

Poem Five by Catullus reminds me of Poem Seven. Within the first two lines of Poem Five, Catullus mentions rumors, as he did previously, in Poem Seven, referring to the "curious eyes/evil tongues." This reoccuring theme of gossip and rumors is prevalent in two of his poems, both of which speak of the great, never-ending affection and desire he has for Lesbia. Ironically, of his two most light-hearted, sincere, loving poems, Catullus mentions gossip and rumors from other "eyes"/curious, and quite potentially, jealous people, in both poems.
Poem Five makes Catullus's audience sympathize and understand his point of view, further. We begin to not see him as such a creepy, stalker, but more of a man who is head over heels in love with this woman, who he wants nothing more than to show his affection for. However, once again, as we have seen in previous poems, Catullus's usually light-hearted, loving poems are stained by the theme of jealousy, among the last few lines. In Poem Five, Catullus makes it more clear that people are jealous of the relationship that he shares with Lesbia, however we, as the audience, are still unsure of why exactly others are jealous. Perhaps it is because Lesbia is considered one of the greatest beauties in all the providence, compared to the friend of the playboy in Poem 43, well according to Catullus.
I especially like the light/dark imagery Catullus utilizes in this poem, in lines four and five. The brief light represents the short lifespan we each obtain, and the one, everlasting night, is fast-approaching death. Catullus's use of light/dark imagery adds to his message, that take a firm grasp on love and cherish every moment of it, because it is undecided when things may end. Catullus's use of light/dark imagery reminds me of another author who was notorious for utlizing the same imagery, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Author of the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne mainly used light/dark imagery to compare good versus evil, while Catullus uses the light to symbolize life, and the darkness to symbolize death and the speed at which opportunities are taken away from us.