The Softer Side of Catullus Exposed in Poem 5 Essay -- Catullus

The Softer Side of Catullus Exposed in Poem 5This paper begins by discussing Catullus genuine sexual love of conduct as convey in poem 5 and introduced in the first line. It considers poem 5 as rather less cynical than many of Catullus others, and therefore unequivocally revelation. It then examines the first triad, which expresses defiance of convention, and the second, which expresses the brevity of life and the urgency of love. The reckoning of kisses is then discussed in particular detail with comparisons to poems 7 and 48. Finally, it shows that Catullus usual cynicism, which is missing throughout most of the poem, appears just at the end, displaying Catullus ingenuity.Though he is therefore a cynic, Catullus seems to express in general a love of life and an eagerness to experience it. He feels the futility of being human, yet he longs to be human, to feel all the joys and pains of being alive. Ultimately he sees love and life as wondrous, beautiful things. In few other p oems is this stack expressed as well as in poem 5. An see picture of furtive love, poem 5 presents a young, budding reverie between Catullus and the infamous Lesbia. It is has many common characteristics of new love it is rebellious in its attitude toward those who disapprove, urgent in its perception of time, charming and vindicated in its request for kisses.Composed at an early stage in Catullus love affair with Lesbia (Goold 237), poem 5 opens with the words vivamus and amemus. These two words, marrow let us live and let us love, characterize Catullus in a way that few other poems do so well, revealing who he is when lets down the guard of cynicism. Indeed, poem 5 seems to be sensation of the less cynical and more honest of Catullus poems. The ... ...us. Norman University of Oklahoma Press, 1989.Goold, G. P. Catullus. capital of the United Kingdom Duckworth, 1983.Hart-Davies, T. Catullus. London C. Kegan & Co., 1879.Kelly, Walter K. The Poems of Catullus and Tibullus. Lo ndon G. Bell and Sons, ltd., 1919.Lamb, George. The Poems of Caius Valerius Catullus, vol. 1. London John Murray, 1821.Merrill, E. T. Catullus. Cambridge Harvard UP, 1893.Additional plant life ConsultedHornblower, Simon, and Anthony Spawforth, eds. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 3rd ed. Oxford Oxford UP, 1999.Lee, Guy. Catullus the Complete Poems. Oxford Oxford UP, 1998.Lewis, Charlton T. An Elementary Latin Dictionary. Oxford Oxford UP, 1981.McMarren, Vincent P. A tiny Concordance to Catullus. Leiden Brill, 1977.Perseus Digital Library. Ed. Gregory Crane. Tufts University. 20 March 2003 .