Book 10 - Catullus "I hate And I Love"
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jazzy_daveCatullus "I hate And I Love" (Penguin Little Black Classics)
This is book 69 of 80, a set of small paperbacks costing 80 pence each to celebrate eighty years of Penguin books. The number is quite appropriate as these are a selection of erotic,despairing and rapturous poems of one man's all consuming infatuation and obsession with one woman, Lesbia.
It is astonishingly modern verse by one of ancient Rome's poets
As well as some particularly scorching' verses extolling the virtues of his lovers' bodies, there are some hilariously caustic criticisms and downright catty rebukes here.
He's obsessive and bitter in some but when in love -
'I'll come at once
for lolling on the sofa here
with jutting cock
and stuffed with food
I'm ripe for stuffing
you,
my sweet Ipsithia'
When love is gone, it's all anger and vitriol...
'live with your three hundred lovers,
open your legs to them all (simultaneously)
lovelessly dragging the guts out of each of them
each time you do it,
blind to the love that I had for you
once, and that you, tart, wantonly crushed
as the passing plough-blade slashes the flower
at the field's edge'
Given the generally accepted unfaithfulness of the translation, I'll certainly be seeking out some more closely translated versions of Catullus' work to see exactly where he comes into his own, separate from the interventions of the translator, but this is still an incredibly enjoyable introduction.
Catullus is widely renowned for his satirical abilities and his sharp tongue, and both
are on display in this short collection.
This is book 69 of 80, a set of small paperbacks costing 80 pence each to celebrate eighty years of Penguin books. The number is quite appropriate as these are a selection of erotic,despairing and rapturous poems of one man's all consuming infatuation and obsession with one woman, Lesbia.
It is astonishingly modern verse by one of ancient Rome's poets
As well as some particularly scorching' verses extolling the virtues of his lovers' bodies, there are some hilariously caustic criticisms and downright catty rebukes here.
He's obsessive and bitter in some but when in love -
'I'll come at once
for lolling on the sofa here
with jutting cock
and stuffed with food
I'm ripe for stuffing
you,
my sweet Ipsithia'
When love is gone, it's all anger and vitriol...
'live with your three hundred lovers,
open your legs to them all (simultaneously)
lovelessly dragging the guts out of each of them
each time you do it,
blind to the love that I had for you
once, and that you, tart, wantonly crushed
as the passing plough-blade slashes the flower
at the field's edge'
Given the generally accepted unfaithfulness of the translation, I'll certainly be seeking out some more closely translated versions of Catullus' work to see exactly where he comes into his own, separate from the interventions of the translator, but this is still an incredibly enjoyable introduction.
Catullus is widely renowned for his satirical abilities and his sharp tongue, and both
are on display in this short collection.
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Date: 2016-01-28 04:32 pm (UTC)Hugs, Jon
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Date: 2016-01-28 06:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-30 08:38 am (UTC); )))