Poem 14: Analysis

Question 1

Furi et Aureli comites Catulli, sive in extremos penetrabit Indos, (1-2)

Answer 1

Addresses 2 of his closest friends to deliver a message:

• ‘Furi.. Catulli’ - implies equal status but he’s rude about them elsewhere. Either friendly banter or he uses low status people to pass on his message
• ‘sive’ - anaphora, repetition (in later lines). Emphasises length of list to heighten the final emotional impact
• ‘extremos.. Indos’ - hyperbaton, split noun and adjective for emphasis, furthest India.

Question 2

litus ut longe resonante Eoa tunditur unda, (3-4)

Answer 2

Line 2-12: long geography lesson, setting a beautiful picture, message shall be same, think its romantic, showing off too

• ‘resonante’ - here the sound of the waves crashing agasint the distant Eastern shore is emphasised.
• ‘longe resonante Eoa.. unda’ - hyperbaton, split noun & adjective with Homeric sounding description - Catulls’ tone v elevated. Following rules of genre to show off obscure knowledge.
• ‘tunditur’ - sound play, repeated -und, also in unda. Mirrors sound of pounding waves are played on repeat, emphasising waves

Question 3

sive in Hyrcanos Arabesve molles, seu Sagas sagittiferosve Parthos, (5-6)

Answer 3

• ‘sive in Hyrcanos’ - place in modern day Iran
• ‘Arabesve molles’ - Arabs always considered by Romans to be effeminate. Associated with luxuries which import from India & China into Roman
• ‘sagittiferosve Parthos’ - on the other hand, the Seythians & Parthians were considered tough fighters
• ‘sagittiferosve… septemgeminus’ - compound adj, made up of more than 1 word, epic tone.
  - both unusual words, possibly Cat’ invention (neologism). Part of intellectual game, Alexandrian poet style writing (goes into line 7)

Question 4

sive quae septemgeminus colorat aequora Nilus, (7-8)

Answer 4

• ‘sive’ - anaphor, repetition, emphasises length of list to heighten final emotional impact
• ‘colorat’ - the Nile silt discolours the Mediterranean

Question 5

sive trans altas gradietur Alpes, Caesaris visens monimenta magni, (9-10)

Answer 5

• ‘altas.. Alpes’ - hyperbaton, emphasis on Catullus’ distant hypothetical travels
• ‘Caesaris… monimenta magni’ - hyperbaton and alliterative juxtaposition - Magnus describes Caesar.
  - Caesar exploited Gaul incld putting bridge over the Rhine and his expedition to Britons at end of world. Sight-seeing tour which Cat imagines would take him to see the evidence of the great man’s deeds and achievements

Question 6

Gallicum Rhenum horribile aequor ultimosque Britannos, (11-12)

Answer 6

• ‘Gallicum Rhenum’ - reference to Caesar’s campaign in Germanic in 55BC
• ‘Gallicum.. aequor’ - Asyndenton & elision speeds up the list to the climax of Britain.
• ‘horribile.. ultimosque’ - don’t give v. Positive impression of Romans’ feeling about Britain at this point
• ‘ultimosque Britannos’ - Britain is epitome of far distance. Hypermetry - breakin of ‘ultimosque’ across a line is unusual & adds emphasis again

Question 7

omnia haec, quaecumque feret voluntas caelitum, tempter simul parati, (13-14)

Answer 7

• Lines 13-16: end of Roman world tour, explains reasoning for all this, and THE message
• ‘omnia haec’ - marks a sudden change of subject in poem. List has ended
• ‘caelitum’ - archaic word choice, heavenly host. It doesn’t matter where the Gods sent Cat and ‘comites’ (friends), the message is same
• ‘parati’ - referring to his friend, ready

Question 8

pauca nuntiate meae puellae non bona dicta. (15-16)

Answer 8

• ‘pauca nuntiate meae pullae’ - finally the verb for Furius & Aurelius. Cat subverts our expectations. Sounds like it will be a profession of love from ends of earth. Next line proves us wrong
• ‘nuntiate’ - ‘announce’ - imperative verb, vivid, makes us feel a part of it
• ‘meae puellae’ - dative, usual formula for ‘my girl’ but here ironical. Deceiving, sounds nice but it’s not
• ‘non bona dicta’ - we now learn that what he is going to say is not pleasant. This statement on its own line makes it more impactful, more jarring, emphasises point

Question 9

cum suis vivat valeatque moechis, quos simul complexa tenet trecentos, (17-18)

Answer 9

Lines 17-20: strong and rude farewell to Lesbia

• ‘suis..moechis’ - hyperbaton, adds to tension as first line seems positive until shocking term ‘moechis’. Show Cat considered her more as a potential wife than a casual girlfriend
• ‘vivat valeatque’ - verb pair initially sounds positive, though ‘vale’ is traditional farewell. 3rd person is deliberately distant (a dismissal)
• ‘moechis’ - word choice, very rude, the lovers of a married woman
• ‘quos simul complexa tenet’ - ‘who she embraces and holds all at once’ - Lesbia is portrayed as remarkably sexually voracious
• ‘tenet trecentos’ - ‘tenet’ is sexually emphatic, and ‘trecentos’ is a gross exaggeration (hyperbole) of Lesbia’s indiscriminate sexual appetite.
• ‘trecentos’ - word choice, extremely rude and overly exaggerated (hyperbole)

Question 10

nullum amans vere, sed identidem omnium ilia rumpens; (19-20)

Answer 10

• ‘nullum amans vere’ - restating notion that Lesbia is indiscriminate, also portrayed as remarkably sexually voracious - this also shows Cat’s hope? He assumes this
• ‘sed identidem omnium ilia rumpens’ - shocking graphic image of Lesbia’s activity emphasising her active role in proceedings - she is the one doing the action of the participle!
  - Hypermetry - ‘omnium’ elides with ‘ilia’ on next line, emphasising the ‘of all of them’
• ‘omnium ilia’ - ‘the guts of all’ - Roman equivalent of slut-shaming. Also very informal and rude phrase, extremely vulgar

Question 11

nec meum respectet, ut ante, amorem, qui illius culpa ceci dit Velut prati (ultimi) (21-22)

Answer 11

Lines 21-24: makes it clear to Lesbia their love is ended and she caused it - shows the effect on him

• ‘meum..amorem’ - ‘ my love’ - hyperbaton, emphasising Cat unable to grasp that their love is now over
• ‘ut ante’ - ‘as she did before’ - a little bit of reminiscence creeping in
• ‘culpa’ - what is the nature of the fault? Adultery, with him & others, to be expected with Cat as it was an affair but he thought it was deeper and she wouldn’t do so with others
• ‘prati ultimi’ - ‘the edge of a meadow’ - just like Britain at the end of the world, dual meaning of when included Britain reference

Question 12

ultimi flos, praetereunte postquam tactus aratro est. (23-24)

Answer 12

• ‘flos’ - usually the flower in a love poem would be the innocent female love object or a delicate symbol of love itself. Cat puts himself in the feminine role her by making himself the flower. - Lesbia is the plough (aratro) trampling over his feelings of love and restoring him
• ‘ultimi.. est’ - Cat returns to elevated tone again emphasising shocking contrast of message with rest of poem with an elegant simile. His love is a delicate flower destroyed by a passing plough (Lesbia’s blunt disregard for him, & a sexual euphemism too)
• ‘tactus’ - emphasis that only a single touch was needed
• Cat uses Sapphic meter, apt for love, and echoing his (first?) poem about Lesbia, ‘That man seems’ also in Sapphics.

Question 13

Structure of poem: line 1, 2-12, 13-16, 17-24

Answer 13

Line 1: address to Furius & Aurelius

Line 2-12: parenthesis - arrangement is geographical (India - Middle East - Far North)

Line 13-16: summary, then ill-intentioned message

Line 17-24: message of Catullus, incld flower & plough simile

Question 14

End of poem simile analysis:

Answer 14

Image of flower:
it is grazed by the plough & left lying. The flower is Cat’s love, Lesbia is the plough. The flower is on the edge of the meadow suggesting it was difficult to reach. The plough is just passing suggesting that the damage was unintentional or careless.

• ploughing, a double-entendre for sex. This would mean that Lesbia’s infidelity cut off their relationship. (In Cat’s opinion adultery to others)