Catullus 75

I love and hate why?
Do not know but I feel it
And this feeling hurts.

Catullus 72

Once upon a time the balance was even. But after you read this poem you found out that the balance was off due to Lesbia cheating on Catullus. Though out this poem Catullus added a lot of thing you could compare or balance with. Like vulgus and amicam (boyfriend and girlfriend) or pater gnatos and generous (father and son/son-in-law). The most important one we talked about about in class was impensius (strongly) and vilior, levior (worthless/cheap). This is because Catullus at first felt very strongly towards Lesbia but once he got to know Lesbia she ended up being worthless and cheap to him. Once a cheater, always a cheater. When Catullus and Lesbia were together, in love, the balance was even. One side of the balance is passion and the other side of the balance is respect. Once Lesbia cheated on Catullus the respect side of the balance gained a ton of weight making the balance heavier while the passion side of the balance lost weight making it rise. The passion side rose because Catullus is now jealous of this other person Lesbia is cheating with. Jealousy is on of the main themes Catullus uses in his poems.

Catullus 86

After I read Catullus's poem 86 I was able to visualize Lesbia even more than before. When Catullus described Quintia as, tall, fair skin (meaning wealthy), well mannered who everyone thought was beautiful. But Catullus didn't find any charm in her. This means Lesbia might be on the shorter side and darker skin, not as wealthy as Quintia.

You can see how much Catullus loves Lesbia when he compares her to Venus the goddess for beauty and love. Catullus says that Lesbia sucked all the Venuses out of everyone and she has all of their beauty. Lesbia had to be drop dead gorgeous if she has everyones beauty. This is not the first time Catullus has compared people to Lesbia before. In Catullus poem 43, Catullus compared this ugly women to Lesbia. For example, the ugly girl had a wet mouth, short stubby fingers, a big nose, not so pretty feet and bad elegance. Now in this poem Catullus was nicer and compared Venus and Lesbia.

Catullus 69 vs. 43

Catullus writes poem 43 to basically come compare his beautiful Lesbia to this ugly women. While in poem 69 Catullus doesn't compare Lesbia but instead talks about a smelly guy named Rufus. In 43 Catullus goes on and on about physical traits that you can't change on this ugly women like how she has ugly feet, no black eyes, short fingers, a wet mouth and doesn't have elegant language. In poem 69 Catullus goes on and on about how much Rufus smells which is something he can change by taking a shower.

In poem 43 Catullus used this ugly women just so he can compare this ugly woman to the most beautiful women he as ever seen, Lesbia. While in poem 69 I think Catullus could be Rufus's friend and as a friend telling him he needs a shower cause he smells even though Catullus bluntly says this to him. Catullus is so blunt about the oder that he told Rufus that it smells like a goat it living under his armpit. What a nice friend.

Catullus 92

Catullus writes this poem to show his readers that he and Lesbia are so conformable around each other that its okay to have a joking relationship. First Catullus starts out with saying how Lesbia always talks bad and never shuts up about Catullus. Then Catullus says its the same for him too! Even though Catullus tone is to make you feel that its a joking manner, I don't quite believe it. Catullus saw Lesbia talk bad about him before with her husband even though I thought maybe she was saying those things about Catullus so her husband doesn't suspect anything is going on between them. But maybe when she is "joking" around with Catullus she really means it. Since we don't have Lesbia's perspective you don't know what her thoughts are, you only know what Catullus tells you weather he could be telling the truth or sugar coating it. Even if Catullus is telling the truth maybe he is being him lead.

Catullus 87

This is one of the few Catullus poems where Catullus's tone has changed. In the past poems Catullus is full of himself or joking around or even his strong sarcasm. But in this poem Catullus is very serious. He talks about the love he has for Lesbia and how strong it is.
His theme thought the whole poem is true love. Yes the other poems his themes were love but this poem is when he takes love and turns it into true love. You can see this by just reading the first half of the poem, "No women is able to say that she has been truly loved as much as my Lesbia has been loved by me."
Catullus also mentions that he has faith in a contract that they have for one another. This alone shows that they love each other. Who knows what the contract says but if there is a contract that has to mean that their love for one another is strong enough to have some sort of contract.

Catullus 5

After reading this poem you get the idea that Lesbia and Catullus have kissed and the kissing is a symbol of their love for one another. In lines 2-3 Catullus is basically referencing to all the gossip that is going around about Lesbia and Catullus kissing and the fact that Lesbia could very well be cheating on her husband. Then the following lines 5-6 is about the sun rising and falling and how Catullus and Lesbia must sleep a never ending night. When I reread the Latin version of this poem again I thought it was interesting how Catullus had lux (light) and nox (night) next to each other. I think Catullus did this to emphasise his two contrast of day and night to show the reader how important it was. I think it symbolizes that day or light come first and night follows. Like death, or a never ending night, follows life.