Catullus

I love the poetry of Catullus. He was a Roman poet who lived in the first century BC. Perhaps I feel a special affinity for him because I have read a good book in which he was a character (this is also true of Petronius). The book was called The Ides of March, a novel written by Thornton Wilder, who is generally known as a playwright. In the book, as apparently in real life, Catullus was one of those tortured artist types, and unfortunately he was quite rich and therefore had nothing to distract him from his emotional torment. As a result, he died very young. He reminds me, in a way, of those crazy Romantic poets like Byron (whom I also love). But Catullus, like Byron, was not stupid, and was very gifted at writing very witty and intelligent verse. His shorter epigrams are especially good; they are brief and to the point, yet very moving, like this one in which he speaks to an unfaithful lover named Lesbia:

Carmina 75

Huc est mens deducta tua mea, Lesbia, culpa
atque ita se officio perdidit ipsa suo,
ut iam nec bene velle queat tibi, si optima fias,
nec desistere amare, omnia si facias.

My mind has been brought to this place, Lesbia, because of your sin,
and it destroys itself in this way through its duty,
so that it cannot wish you well, even if you were to become the best [of women],
nor can it cease to desire you, no matter what you do. [my translation]

Not very uplifting, perhaps, but quite wonderful nonetheless.

In other news, I have officially decided that I will be studying even more of this Roman stuff in the years to come. I am going to pursue a master's degree in Classics. My brother gets ill at the very thought of more school after you graduate, but I'm excited about it. The only drawback is that I have to take 2 years of Greek (blech! I thought I was through with that ridiculous language!). I think I'll manage though.

Also, I am very excited about an opportunity I have to study abroad in Italy this summer. I have already gotten permission to take a leave of absence from my job. I will post more on this later, when I actually get some details solidified.

I'm out...