hLLp//communlLymlddleburyedu/harrls/1exLs/caLullus4hLml

Love poems

1hese Lwo lovely llLLle Sparrow oems comblne a vlgneLLe of a lady playlng wlLh her peL blrd
comblned wlLh Lhe poeLs envy of Lhe peL and hls coverL deslre Lo be Lhere ln her lap lnsLead Slr aul
Parvey malnLalned LhaL lL was probably noL Lhe sparrow buL Lhe blue Lhrush ofLen seen aL Lhe
presenL day ln lLallan blrd cages ln any case lL ls a slnglng blrd (plplabaL) and a dellcaLe llLLle poem
Lo sulL much admlred and lmlLaLed for Lhe lasL flve cenLurles 2

now Lhe canary has dled! Alas and alackand CaLullus plays lL Lo Lhe hllL Per dlsLraughL paln how
lovely Lhe blrdle was and some funereal llnes (qul nunc Lenebrlcosum)Who now goes Lhrough
Lhe valley of Lhe shadow of deaLh as well as 1haL undlscovered counLry from whlch no Lraveller
reLurns 1hen blame lL on blrdle and Lhe poeLs ulLlmaLe sorrow Per eyes are so red from crylng!
Woe! 3

Cne of Lhe lovellesL love poems ever buL wlLh complex lnner works Lhe Sun evokes LhoughLs of
darkness wlLh LhaL long nlghL of Lhe dead buL Lhen wlLh a wlld [erk lL ls back Lo klsses and klsslng and
lL all Lurns lnLo play wlLh Lhe numbers Lhe dlglLs ln serles Lhe llbonaccl exLrapolaLlons of klsses on
klsses 8uL you waLch ouL 1here ls always Lnv? 3
now agaln we play wlLh numerobaslology lL ls Lhe sum Lally he ls Lhlnklng of rememberlng
Archlmedes LreaLlse on Lhe number of gralns of sands lL would Lake Lo flll Lhe unlverse (Lhls
documenL survlves) Cr Lhe sLars ln LhaL sllenL nlghL waLchlng our llLLle secreLs of lovemaklng Crazy
CaLullus! 8uL Lhen remember Lhe 8oman fear of maglc Lhe evll eye Lhe secreL waLcher ln Lhe dark
7










LovehaLe poems
THE LOVE-HATE POEMS
85
This distich is so short and so Iamous that one need say little. (But iI you want a detailed
discussion oI its inner intricacies, look at the Catullus link under the Chrestomathy section on
the main page. There is much more here than meets the eye!)
noLe LhaL ln Lhls poem Lhe sLrengLh of hls love proLesLed ls all generaLed from hls slde vlrLually a
sLaLemenL of falLh love for youon my slde Seeds of dlsconLenL are already germlnaLlng! 87
1he lasL llne of Lhls quaLraln has almosL become a 1rlLe CuoLe from overuse by macho males who
llke Lo lmaglne women as llghL and fllghLy Lhelr words wrlL ln waLer lar worse are Lhe words of
many a blusLerlng male whose words are wrlL ln noLhlng buL pure alr! 70
1hls ls a sLrange scene of a Lhreesome aL dlnner or a parLy as she lambasLs CaLullus ln fronL of her
ralllng husband who Lhoroughly en[oys Lhe scene Cnly a fool would mlss Lhe facL LhaL haLe and love
have much of Lhe same fabrlc LhaL as long as she barks and yaps she ls nC1 curedshe ls sLlll ln
love! 83
Agaln Lhe LovePaLe relaLlonshlp! 8uL Lhls Llme he runs lL by a llLLle more quleLly noLlng LhaL he can
Lell whaL Lhls means She loves hlm sLlll when screamlng haLe aL hlm he undersLands because he
does exacLly Lhe same Lhlng AnLhropologlsLs have noLlced LhaL Lhe phenomena of Smlllng Love and
PaLe are noL culLural varlables buL seem Lo orlglnaLe from Lhe baslc human subsLrucLure 92













Cne of Lhe lovllesL of CaLullus poems Lhls one surprlslngly ls a vlrLual SonneL 1he Lwo secLlons one
for Lhe 8oman named boy and Lhe oLher for hls Creek glrlfrlend are puncLuaLed by a CesundhelL ln
Lhe branches above and lead Lo a concludlng secLlon whlch brlngs everyLhlng LogeLher wlLh dellcaLe
almosL con[ugal harmony Lven Lhe flnal coupleL of Lhe Shakespearean sonneL ls Lhere ln Lhe lasL Lwo
verses 1o commenL would be Lo glld Lhe llly CerLalnly Lhls very poem wldely read slnce Lhe
early 8enalssance was Lhe model for Lhe modern sonneL from Lhe 14 c on buL Lhe flnal chapLer was
wrlLLen by W L Penley who ln hls sonneLs ln PosplLal lnLenLlonally and emphaLlcally de
emphaslzes Lhe flnal coupleL PosplLal llfe does noL end slLuaLlons wlLh a bang llfe slmply drags on
unnoLlced 43

Lveryone knows LhaL Lhls ls a LranslaLlon of an exLanL poem by Sappho and we also know LhaL Lhe
Lady of Lesbos dld lL far beLLer slnce lL ls one of her few poems whlch we have Maybe lL ls parLly a
problem of Lhe consLralnLs of LranslaLlons ln general whlch should warn us abouL Lhe unllkellness of
CaLullus dolng much flne LranslaLlon from Alexandrlan sources 8uL parLly lL ls Lhe shadow of Sappho
ln whose shade nobody should ever Lry Lo sLand (1he lasL sLanza ls lnconsequenLlal and
unconnecLed) 31


















And now we do come Lo Lhe end of Lhe road Lhe polnL of no reLurn CaLullus asks Lwo frlends Lo Lake
a message for hlm 1hese are LrusLworLhy frlends who would go Lhe Lo Lhe ends of Lhe world wlLh
hlm here acLually lald ouL ln geographlcal deLall (8uL who are Lhese frlends? Look back Lo oem 16
are we sure abouL Lhls frlendshlp?) lrlends Lake Lhls message 1he Lone changes from genlallLy Lo
become suddenly gross and savage Lhen exqulslLely sad wlLh Lhe plowcrushed flower of hls preclous
love aL Lhe edge of Lhe fleld 1here are Lhlngs whlch cannoL be repalred and lndeed Lhls ls Lhe end11
We know falrly securely LhaL Lesbla Lhe llLerary Lady was one of Lhe several Clodlas probably
Clodla MeLelll and LhaL her broLher was ubllus Clodlus ulc(h)er as bad an egg as you could flnd ln
any apple barrel So here CaLullus reverses Lhe processes produclng a Lesblus (you know who!) now
sLyled as reLLy 8oy whom Clodla prefers Lo Lhe poeL and hls whole famlly lncesL has been
suggesLed whlch mlghL make Lhe Lhree wlLnesses (noLl) shrlnk from hls legallsLlc lLallan klss on Lhe
cheek aL Lhe noLarys offlce79
8uL he ls caughL ln Lhe loveLrap he knows who ls Lo blame who dld Lhlngs wrong 8uL he canL cuL lL
off even lf she suddenly became somehow flne and wholesome or lf she wenL LoLally bad
LmoLlonal sLaLes ofLen have no means of exlL73
Pere as before CaLullus ls Lhlnklng of a deeper relaLlonshlp llke Lhose of famlly llfe Lhe sLeady love
for chlldren and spouse Pe knows hls love ls dlfferenL hoL and lnflammaLory by naLure urglng lLself
on wlLh combusLlble fury 8uL aL Lhe same Llme he knows LhaL he loves her more and more even as
he llkes her less and less72







































noLe LhaL ln Lhls poem Lhe sLrengLh of hls love proLesLed ls all generaLed from hls slde vlrLually a
sLaLemenL of falLh love for youon my slde Seeds of dlsconLenL are already germlnaLlng!87
And now we come Lo a perfecL masLerplece of condensed sadness compacLed LogeLher wlLh LlghL
Lerse wordlng whlch wlll evoke a [erk on Lhe hearLsLrlngs of any senslLlve reader When you say Lo
yourself Look sLop klddlng yourself Lhe momenL of LruLh ls sLarLlng Lo emerge Cf course you
remember all Lhose happy days sunllghL and plcnlcs and fun wlLh [okes and words whlch have
suddenly sLopped! Pold on Lo yourself buLLon up! ?ou roLLen blLch look whaL you dld WhaL
remalns for you now new lovers ? no! Pold on Lo yourself buLLon up! 8







































104?ou Lhlnk l am golng Lo curse her Lhe one dearer Lhan my eyes? l woudnL lf l could lLs you who
blow Lhlngs up wlLh LhaL sLagey dramaLlc sense of yours (1appo lL seems represenLs a common sLage
personallLy sLock Lhe Lrouble maker)104
Pere as before CaLullus ls Lhlnklng of a deeper relaLlonshlp llke Lhose of famlly llfe Lhe sLeady love
for chlldren and spouse Pe knows hls love ls dlfferenL hoL and lnflammaLory by naLure urglng lLself
on wlLh combusLlble fury 8uL aL Lhe same Llme he knows LhaL he loves her more and more even as
he llkes her less and less 109
1hls poem slngs ouL wlLh [oy noL only Lhe words and Lhelr sounds buL somehow Lhere ls a warnlng
ln Lhls happy and wholesome rlng of Lhe llnes a paLheLlc over[oy whlch ls Loo sLrong Lo lasL ln Lhe
rush and flush of early lovlngness 107

















1hls ls a sLrange scene of a Lhreesome aL dlnner or a parLy as she lambasLs CaLullus ln fronL of her
ralllng husband who Lhoroughly en[oys Lhe scene Cnly a fool would mlss Lhe facL LhaL haLe and love
have much of Lhe same fabrlc LhaL as long as she barks and yaps she ls nC1 curedshe ls sLlll ln
love! 83

Pere ls Lhe 8oman formula for beauLy 1all whlLe and preLLy noL unllke our formula for Lhe perfecL
man as 1all dark and handsome a la Clark Cable 8uL Lhls ls noLhlng lmporLanL ln such formulae
Lhen or now when compared wlLh real beauLy grace charm and LhaL lneffable someLhlng whlch
makes all Lhe heads ln Lhe room Lurn Loward Mme Clodla 86