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.)