Catullus 51

“Catullus 51” can be differently read and interpreted, depending on the angle of attack. Focusing on the particulars of how Catullus reworks and develops Sappho’s original poem “Fragment 31,” for instance, raises questions about gender roles and the goals of literary translation in the ancient world. These topics are inherently interesting, but are part of a larger cultural and historical analysis (See: Contextual Analysis). While “Catullus 51” can inform discussions about these topics, it can only do so by taking into account a large number of secondary sources, and not by interpreting the poem in isolation. This analysis explores “Catullus 51” in such isolation to avoid unnecessary complication.

The poem’s tone comes through Catullus’s voice; his ability to capture the frustrated emotional effect of love is a unique addition to Sappho’s verse. These elements create a complicated and nuanced picture of the speaker’s unrequited affection and self-image that coalesces in the fourth stanza’s self-address. This last stanza’s repeated attack on “Free time” (Lines 13, 14, 15), also adds a particularly Roman perspective on the speaker’s romantic frustrations.

The speaker of “Catullus 51” prefers a casual, colloquial vocabulary. The speaker’s preference for common language is reflected in translator Chris Childers’s use of simple words like “dumb” (Line 7) for speechlessness or “fidgeting and your flings” (Line 14) to express Catullus’s frustrations. Unlike heightened language, a literary device where the speaker adopts a more formal, traditionally poetic way of speaking, Catullus’s language is uniquely accessible. The poet’s accessible diction creates a sense that he is honest and driven by emotions rather than reason. This emotional tone makes sense considering that the poem, in its first three stanzas, is an apostrophe (an address to an absent person) directed to the speaker’s beloved “Lesbia” (Line 7). Since this apostrophe can only occur after the events it depicts, the speaker’s emotional tone and reduced language indicate a release of his romantic frustrations after the inciting event. The speaker, in other words, is reflecting upon an earlier romantic failure and expressing frustrations.

The speaker’s use of hyperbole (See: Literary Devices), or exaggerated statements, provide a window into the nature of his frustrations. The speaker’s depiction of Lesbia’s love interest as “equal of a god” (Line 1) in appearance and one line later as “better than gods” (Line 2), suggest that the speaker feels inferior to the unknown man, and jealous of his semi-divine position. The man’s divinity is, in part, due to his position as Lesbia’s love interest and his ability to “continually” (Line 4) see Lesbia and hear her “lovely laughter” (Line 5). The unknown man’s actions are mundane insofar as they merely involve looking at and listening to Lesbia. The speaker, however, is made “dumb” (Line 7) whenever he “look[s] upon” (Line 6) Lesbia, and loses his “senses” (Line 6) when he hears her laughter. The juxtaposition of the speaker’s response with the unknown man’s response justifies the man’s semi-divine position—at least in comparison to the frustrated speaker.

The comparison between the speaker and the unknown man also creates a scale to measure Lesbia’s appearance and laughter. The speaker finds it obvious that a man who is able to normally operate under Lesbia’s influence must be “better than gods, if it’s not blasphemy” (Line 2). This suggests Lesbia’s mesmerizing radiance is similarly divine, and she is even stronger than the unknown man who “continually” (Line 4) endures it. Regardless of the power relationships between Lesbia and the unknown man, however, the speaker makes clear they are more of a romantic match for one another than he is for Lesbia. The suggestion that the man and Lesbia are both at least “equal of a god” (Line 1) makes their love divine.

In comparison, the speaker is wholly human. The effects of Lesbia’s presence target his weak, human body. Her laughter “siphons [his] senses” (Line 6), and makes his “tongue grows heavy” (Line 9). These metaphors draw attention both to the speaker’s body (rather than his mind), and to his inability to control it. The heaviness of the speaker’s tongue grounds him on Earth, rather than the heavens. Similarly, the “thin flame” (Line 10) within him “drips” (Line 10) under the influence of gravity. The speaker’s lack of control over his body, in turn, indicates that his affection for Lesbia is motivated by lowly lust rather than divine love.

Catullus’s self-conception as an inferior, lustful man comes to the forefront in the last stanza. He chides “Free time” (Lines 13, 14, 15) as the cause of his downfall and romantic “flings” (Line 14). In the original Latin, Catullus uses the word otium, which has meanings particular to Roman culture (See: Symbols & Motifs). In its broadest sense, Catullus’s use of the term is best understood as the opposite of active political life. Catullus’s attack on “Free time” suggests that his retreat from political life to pursue an intellectual, poetic career made him more frustrated and emotionally volatile than politics or service would have done. This goes against the conception that artistically and intellectually valuable pursuits improve a person.

Rather than improve Catullus, the “Free time” (Line 13) to read and write poetry is “killing” (Line 13) him. Leisure makes him more lustful, more attached to bodily sensations, and less capable of controlling his urges. “Free time” (Line 13) is particularly pernicious when it comes to these effects, as it also allows Catullus the ability to contemplate these failings, deepening his despair. Writing (or translating) poetry, an act representative of the Roman otium, is precisely what allows these emotions to become apparent.