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Catullus 49Author(s): D. E. W. WormellSource: Phoenix, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Spring, 1963), pp. 59-60Published by: Classical Association of CanadaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1085845.

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8/10/2019 Anlisis de lapoesa de Catulo, poema a Cicern

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CATULLUS

49

D.

E.

W. WORMELL

DisertissimeRomuli

nepotum,

quot

sunt

quotquefuere,

Marce

Tulli,

quotquepost

allis

erunt

n

annis,

gratias

tibi

maximas

Catullus

agit

pessimus

omnium

poeta,

tanto

pessimus

omnium

poeta,

quanto

tu

optimus

omnium

patronus.

THE

DEBATE on

the

meaning

of

this

poem

has been

in

progress

for

a

long time.

On

balance,

the view

that

this is

not a

half-embarrassedx-

pression

of

thanks,

but

is

ironical

with

mocking

undertones,

s

gaining

ground.

But

discussion

continues,

nd

the issue remains

undecided.

It

may

well seem

mpossible

o

give

a

verdict ither

way

without

knowledge

of the

context;

but Cicero

could

equally

well

have

done

Catullus

a

service

or a

disservice,

nd

in

the absence

of

evidence

one must

subscribe

to

Rettig's

dictum:

ex

Catullo

non ex

Cicerone

Catullus

potissimum

x-

plicandus.

It

might

appear

that

the contents

of

these seven lines have

been

so

thoroughly

ifted that

nothing

remains

to

be

said.

There

are,

however,two hitherto isregarded ieces of evidencein thepoem itself

which

support

the

view that Catullus

is

motivated

by

resentment

nd

hostility,

r,

as

Friedrich

uts

it,

that real

and sincere hanks

ound

quite

different.'

In

lines

4

and

5

the

third

person

s

used where the first

erson

would

be much

simpler

nd morenatural.

Catullus is

fond

f

addressing

himself

in

the

vocative,

and

of

personifying

imself

n

his

poetry

(which

is

frequently

ast in

the

formof

an

internal

debate).

The

oblique

forms

Catullum, Catullo, Catullo, as employed by him are almost exactly

synonymous

with

me,

mihi,

me,

and

Catulli

corresponds

imilarly

o the

possessive

pronoun.

Thus

he

can

begin

poem

72: dicebas

quondam

olum

te

nosse

Catullum,

Lesbia,

nec

prae

me

uelle

enere

ouem.

But

the

nomina-

tive

Catullus

followed

by

the

verb

in

the

third

person

is

relatively

un-

common,

nd

is not

synonymous

with the

simple

verb

n

the

first

erson.

1For

bibliography

ee the

third edition of

Kroll's

commentary

with

supplement by

Kroymann)

and

H.

J.

Leon's A

Quarter

Century

of Catullan

Scholarship

(1934-1959)

II,

CW 53

(1960)

146.

Fordyce,

Catullus

(Oxford 1961)

213

f.,

considers

the

poem

judicially,

but hisfinal

entence,

without

being

sarcastic,

Catullus

may

have his

tongue

in his

cheek,

is too

judicial

to

be

convincing.

Rettig,

Catulliana 3

(Bern 1870)

11,

is

known

to me

only

from

O.

Harnecker,

Philologus

41

(1882)

478. For

Friedrich see his

edition

(Leipzig

1908)

230.

Wilamowitz,

Hellenistische

Dichtung

2

(Berlin 1924)

309,

calls

the

poem

das

schn6de

Verschen.

59

PHOENIx,

Vol.

17

(1963)

1.

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8/10/2019 Anlisis de lapoesa de Catulo, poema a Cicern

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60

PHOENIX

The tone

s stiffer

nd

colder,

rather

s in

a

formal

nvitation

n

the

third

person

in

English.

In 8.12

uale,

puella.

iam

Catullus

obdurat... he

is

dissociatinghimself rom esbia, and this is still moretrue in 58.2filla

Lesbia

quam

Catullus

unam/plus

quam

se

atque

suos

amauit

omnes...,

where he name

s

introduced

artly

o

contrastwith

Lesbia. It

is

instruc-

tive to

compare

49 with

1,

wherethere

s

the

same

self-depreciation,

ut

the tone

s

warm,

relaxed,

nd

friendly.

Secondly,

the

remarkable

assonantal

rhyme

of

lines

2

and

4,

Marce

Tulli

and -mas

Catullus

should

be

noticed. The effect f

rhyme

n

a

highly

nflected

anguage

such as Latin is

quite

different

rom

ts effect

in

English.

Whereas

English

rhyme

rbitrarily

inks

ogether

words

which

have no connection

beyond

similarity

f

sound,

Latin

rhyme

frequently

originates

in similar

grammatical

terminations

nd

gives

maximum

emphasis

to a

logical

connection

n

much the

same

way

as is

done at

the

simplest

level

by

repetition.

t

is

no

accident that

rhyme

n

Latin

is

normally

an

adornment

of

prose,

in

English

of

poetry.

Catullus

uses

rhyme

freely

to

achieve effects

ranging

from

balance

and

emphasis

(8.1

and

19;

31.

3

and

5;

42. 1

and

5;

45.

21-24,

where

correspondence

f

the

ines s meant to

suggest

hat

Acme

and

Septimius

re a

well-matched

pair) to mockery, arcasm,and bitterness29. 12-13; 56. 1-4; 58. 4-5;

98.

1

and

5,

2

and

6).

In

all

these

instances the

rhyme

cheme

stresses

an

underlying

imilarity

f

structure,

hought,

and

feeling.

ts

effect

here,

where

Catullus

is

nominally

uggesting

hat

he

is

unworthy

ven

to

thank

Cicero

adequately

is

surely

satirical. For a

somewhat

similar

mocking ingle

on

names,

though

n

a

kindlier

tmosphere,

ompare

56.

3

ride

quidquid

amas

Cato,

Catullum;

and

for a

savage

play upon

names,

compare

79.

1

Lesbius est

pulcer.

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