Catullus

The poems by Catallus were interesting to read. It was easy to see similarities between Caullus and Sappho, especially since Catallus' poetry was embued with much passion. However, I did not find the basic nature of each poet to be the same, since I found the poetry of Catullus to be more shocking at times. It was easy to find humor in some of the poetry of Catullus and the goals of the poetry seemed to be clearer. I’m wondering, though, if there was some influence going on here, due to the very obvious similarities between the two poets.

Felicia Ooi; Catullus Poetry

Catullus' poems seem quite similar to Sappho's poems in that they are both very passionate, and more often than not, are about love and/or sexual relationships. The poems that we read about were all those dedicated to Lesbia. Catullus appears very devoted to Lesbia, she is his girl whom he loves deeply and he would do anything to make her happy. In fact, a great majority of the poems are titled "..: to Lesbia", and to me that signifies that Lesbia is a very important person in Catullus' life. An interesting thing is that Catullus makes use of his poems to insult others and he is very blunt with his words, yet his words cut deep.

Courtney Lum

I felt as though Catullus poetry is much different than other poetry of its time and even modern time. For one, I feel as though Catullus poetry is much more blatant and almost vulgar in approach than other poetry I have ever seen. Even though Catullus poetry is no different than other poetry in means of describing sexual feelings, intentions and desires, overall the approach of Catullus is much blunter and at times obscene. However, his rude remarks and obscene comments are what he is known for, there is no censorship in his poetry and therefore gives it a sense of being more real, more truthful, rather than just pretty words fixed up in pretty ways.

Catullus Poems

This week we were instructed to read the poems of Catullus, specifically the ones dedicated to Lesbia. Catullus was inspired by the works of Sappho, so its only natural that his poems had strong emotional tendencies. After reading a couple of the poems I found them to be quite expressive of a range of emotions such as the love for lesbia, friendship, and sexual desires. His work is similar to Sapphos with respect to the incessant discussion about love and feelings. I really don't like poetry, and I feel bad saying that I don't enjoy reading any of this because it sounds like I hate reading even though i don't. It's just most of the time when I'm reading it I cant help but think to myself, " i don't care about any of this." When people think the poets were brilliant I really just don't see it. Overall, I thought the poems were okay, they were easy to read and they could be a little comical at times, which I enjoyed. But i wouldn't want to read them again.

Catullus Poetry

In his poetry "Let’s Live and Love: to Lesbia" and many others, Catullus deliveries an idea that we need to seize the current lives. Catullus expresses his thronotope in the poetry "Let's Live and Love: to Lesbia", which including the inconstancy and shortage of the life, the limitation of the brightness and the endless of the darkness. Therefore, he states that we need to enjoy the current life and love even though they are limit. I do not think that the idea of Carpe diem is the passive way we treat to our lives, instead, it is the positive philosophy. The meaning of the life should not to be judged by the sucularism. I have no idea that if we have metempsychosis in the future in another space or not. So, just follow Catullus's idea, let's live, let's love and let's enjoy our current lives.

Catullus Poetry

I find Catullus amusing because just by devoting himself entirely to poetry, he was rebelling against what was expected of him in upper-class Roman society. He uses colloquial language in his work and was thus acknowledged as one of the Poetae Novi, or “Neoteric Poets.” He is truly revolutionary as a poet, for he ignores the public audience and writes passionately about his personal experience for an audience of fellow-poets only. Many of his poems examine his affection for his two great loves, Clodia and Juventius.

Because Catullus was an admirer of Sappho, and he is considered to have used a meter that Sappho developed, called the Sapphic strophe, which is an Aeolic verse form spanning four or three lines.