petrach
...esome power; people throw the word love around nowadays like confetti. But, that could mean that the word has lost its power, not love itself but just a linguistic quirk. Despite the fact that he writes with such conviction, Laura may not have meant to him as much as he professes. She may have just been a pretty girl he saw and took as his muse. And, though I just spent a paragraph romanticizing the love of yesteryear, the more I think about it, the less I think human love can really change. Maybe it's all in the presentation, i.e. these old poems are written to make it sound more intense than it is. I'm wondering what I would say about love if I had half of the ability that Petrarch or Sappho had. She used to let her golden hair fly free For the wind to toy and tangle and molest; Her eyes were brighter than the radiant west. If only I could express my feelings as truly as these authors fake. I think I may fall in love with Laura if he keeps going on about her. I guess I need to come to terms with the fact that I am a computer programmer, and ability in that field just does not help me at all with verse. Catullus May she have joy & profit from her cocksmen, go down embracing hundreds all together, never with love, but without interruption Wringing their balls dry. Nor look to my affection as she used to. for she has left it broken, like a flower at the edge of a field after the plowshare brushes it, passing. I couldn't help myself, this stanza from Catullus' 11 on page 813 was too much to pass over. I'm sure when I analyze why I picked the pieces that I did this will be a centerpiece of sorts. This is not the only evidence we read to indicate that his true love may not share his affection, there were a few more subtle hints in some of the other poems -- like "I love and I hate." Obviously not only has she broken this poor man's heart, but she has rubbed it in his face by not being effected at all; if Catullus is to be believed she has done a little more than just move on. So, this stanza is in Sapphic form, with the 3 long lines and a short one, I'm not sure what that changes or how it effects the message he is conveying. Sappho, did write some rather jealous stuff too, though so maybe this is the form for writing jealous poems of mistrust and hatred. He certainly does a good job on the hatred part, cursing her to be screwed forever without interruption and without love, that is a pretty harsh curse. Lesbia, Caelius -- yes, our darling, yes, Lesbia, the Lesbia Catullus once loved uniquely, more than any other! -- now on streetcorners & in wretched alleys she shucks the offspring of greathearted Remus Since I included the first quote, I thought I'...