Catullus 17

Question 1

There was a time

Answer 1

in the past

Question 2

only to Catullus in love

Answer 2

faithful to him

Question 3

I loved you then not as men love their women but as a father his children- his family

Answer 3

Note how serious Catullus is in love for Lesbia. He did not see it just as a love affair, but seems to have wanted to have something more permanent like love within a family. We know Lesbia’s husband died and it could mean that he hoped she might marry her

Question 4

Today I know you too well and desire burns deeper in me and you are more coarse more frivolous in my thought “How”, you may ask, “can this be ?” Such actions as yours excite increased violence of love Lesbia, but with friendless intention

Answer 4

These lines express the hate/love feelings, which we shall see in poem 19 of our presciption. He can still burn with sexual desire for her but he knows what she is like now and can have no true affection for her. Note the general dispassionate tone that runs through the poem. He seems to speaking to her in a retrained, logical way (“How” you may ask, “can this be?”) which is more effective than a passionate outburst of anger. There is a quiet sense of a lost ideal

Question 5

today I know you too well

Answer 5

In the present. Not a compliment

Question 6

with friendless intention

Answer 6

not a cosy love- contrasts with line 5