Alison+Graham

﻿June 2011 //The Aeneid // media type="youtube" key="_5jDlLJPz1A" height="271" width="376" align="left"

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media type="youtube" key="vPaA5QS1ldE" height="207" width="301" media type="youtube" key="krQVJIDjMP0" height="209" width="279" Disney's //Hercules// Movie 1997

April 17, 2011 Ovid’s //Metamorphoses//  In Book X of his //Metamorphoses,// Ovid writes the story of Pygmalion. Pygmalion is a lone bachelor who has always sought the ideal woman but finds hi mself continually disappointed by the women whom he encounters. He is offende d by their typical wickedness, so he decides to create a model woman who would satisfy him. Out of snow-white ivory he carefully constructs her; eventually, unintentionally even, he falls in love with her features. She seems almost real to him; he wishes only that she could be mortal and tangible. She is delicate, modest, innocent and invaluable to him. To demonstrate his reverence and desire for her, Pygmalion showers her with compliments and gifts, caressing her and adorning her with jewelry. After a multitude of kisses, Pygmalion discovers that his wish has been granted—Venus transforms the statue’s ivory into human flesh, and Pygmalion’s bride-to-be comes to life. She blushes bashfully and of course submits herself into the arms of her creator, into marriage with Pygmalion.

This relationship alludes to that of Prince Charming and Cinderella. In the classic fairytale, Prince Charming will not settle for just any woman to be his Princess. Instead, he arranges a special ball, inviting every woman across the kingdom, far and wide, in hopes that he will find the bride of his dreams. At the ball, like Pygmalion, the Prince dances with many women, but he is not blind to their superficiality, scheming and foolishness, and he loses faith in many of them. Frustrated, the Prince wonders if any girl could save his night. Luckily, when Cinderella steps timidly into the ballroom, he knows that she is the one. Cinderella has just undergone a glorious transformation—her fairy godmother, like Venus, has granted her the experience of being //someone//, someone other than a mere maid. With a magic wand and a swish of “bippity-boppity-boo,” Cinderella’s drab rags turn to a fancy dress. In her infamous glass slippers, she dances with the Prince, finally allowed to live the life of a real human being—instead of the inhumane life she suffered with her evil stepmother and stepsisters. The Prince has finally met whom he knows to be his future Princess. When the bell tolls midnight and Cinderella rushes off, he manages to save one of her precious glass slippers, the remnants of her reality. Intent on finding her, he searches the Kingdom for the only girl whose foot can fit into the slipper, and when he does, he and she marry and live happily ever after.

Cinderella represented the Prince's unattainable--he always knew she existed somewhere--and he would not settle until he found her. Pygmalion knew he could find his woman somewhere, too, and when he found it in his creation he kept wishing that she could join him in humanity. For so long, the woman he knew to be inside his sculpture was unattainable, but the divine powers of Venus changed that, just as the fairy-godmother transformed Cinderella into the Princess that Prince Charming was waiting for. The glass slippers that allow him to reach her behold the same fortune of divinity that allowed Pygmalion's kisses to turn his sculpture into a living woman.

March 2, 2011 Ovid’s //Metamorphoses//

 

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The tale of Tiresias reminded me of T. S. Eliot’s //The Waste Land//. Published in 1922, the modernist poem is a long, satirical commentary on anthropology and the idea of prophecy. Although I have not read it in its entirety (and in all its glory), Eliot’s allusion and then reference to Tiresias occur in the particular part of the poem with which I am somewhat familiar…

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">In Book III of Ovid’s //Metamorphoses//, Tiresias is an interesting seer. His peculiar, unfortunate case of transformation begins (according to most sources) as he walks through the woods and stumbles upon a couple of snakes. After realizing that the two snakes are busy mating, something possesses him to strike them apart with his stick. If only Tiresias had known the debacle he would face, he may have reconsidered his ridiculous notion to strike the snakes. However, when the snakes manage to turn Tiresias into a woman, it is too late. Instead of death by poisonous venom, he suffers seven years as a transgender. After sufficiently experiencing life from a woman’s perspective, it suddenly occurs to him that he could try to reverse his transformation. His notion is equally ridiculous as his first, but it at least has a relatively more legitimate motive. Tiresias sets out for the snakes and decides to risk it, not sure whether he should anticipate being mutated into anything else. As his literal stroke of fate would have it, when he strikes the mating snakes once more, Tiresias is transformed back into his original manliness.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Meanwhile, as Tiresias adjusts comfortably back to his body, Juno and Jupiter are quarreling over the efforts of their relationship. Juno thinks that in the relationship, the male feels the most rewarded by the woman's love and passion; conversely, Jupiter claims that the woman benefits most from the pleasures of the man's love. The gods seek out Tiresias, whose experience they realize deem him the only fair settler of their light-hearted dispute. When Tiresias readily agrees with Jupiter, Juno’s anger prompts her to blind Tiresias. Because Jupiter could not void Juno’s punishment, Jupiter grants the blind seer the honorable gift of foreseeing the future.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Thus Eliot is able to incorporate Tiresias into his poem as a valuable giver of insight. Eliot creates a character whom he calls a spectator; like Tiresias, he unites the feelings and perspectives of women and men throughout the poem. Eliot employs this character to be a behind-the-scenes facilitator of his intentions—that is, to assert the need for moral depth and perspective. Eliot laments that the modern world drives men and women to engage in sexual relations without examining the passion behind them or any real and meaningful feelings of love. These once romantic encounters have been reduced to hurried “acts of life,” which lack morality and utter emotion. The Tiresias character, though, vouches for Eliot with his prophetic ability to see within the innermost desires of man and woman. He encounters a typist and a worker after their "fornication" (sexual encounter), when the woman feels only “relief that it’s done and over.” Tiresias regrets the absence of passion and longing in the relationship he has witnessed. After living a life burdened by the difficult, yet bittersweet memories of his varying personae, male and female, his feelings are always conscious and implanted in his memory. The blind seer serves a significant role in integrating all existing perspectives of men and women, past and future. Eliot’s use of a character like Tiresias also suggests that one must fully address not only his inner feelings but also adopt a viewpoint encompassing the viewpoint of the other gender and a long course of time. Otherwise, he is condemned to live in the vast land absent of moral depth: “The Waste Land.”

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">January 6, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Horace Ode II.10

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// Vermeer<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // ===== Howard Nemerov

Taking what is, and seeing it as it is, Pretending to no heroic stances or gestures, Keeping it simple; being in love with light And the marvelous things that light is able to do, How beautiful a modesty which is Seductive extremely, the care for daily things.

At one for once with sunlight falling through A leaded window, the holy mathematic Plays out the cat's cradle of relation Endlessly; even the inexorable Domesticates itself and becomes charm.

If I could say to you, and make it stick, A girl in a red hat, a woman in blue Reading a letter, a lady weighing gold. . . If I could say this to you so you saw, And knew, and agreed that this was how it was In a lost city across the sea of years, I think we should be for one moment happy In the great reckoning of those little rooms Where the weight of life has been lifted and made light, Or standing invisible on the shore opposed, Watching the water in the foreground dream Reflectively, taking a view of Delft As it was, under a wide and darkening sky.

I chose this poem by Howard Nemerov because from it I sensed a message similar to that of Horace’s Ode II.10. As I read it several more times, I became curious about the specific images he references (“a girl in a red hat…reading a letter…a view of Delft,” etc), and also about the title. I then discovered, after comparing my analysis of this poem to that of Horace’s ode, that ironically, Nemerov wrote this poem as a reflection upon an artist’s works. He wrote //Vermeer// in the mid 1900s, and the title is the name of a Dutch artist of the 1600s, Johannes Vermeer. In //Vermeer,// Nemerov expresses through writing the significance of Vermeer’s art, focusing specifically on his painting called “Woman Holding a Balance.” I could relate individually each of their works directly to Horace’s ode; however, since they are so relevant to each other I will reference the painting as the visual source of Nemerov’s insight.

In Ode II.10, Horace presents to Licinius the benefits of a moderate lifestyle. By becoming more cognizant of one’s feelings, motives and subsequent actions, Horace asserts that one can pursue a better, more fulfilling life (//rectius vives)//. Whoever prizes the golden mean, the //auream mediocritatem,// will live safely, healthily, and fulfilled. In //Vermeer,// Nemerov introduces this sentiment of experiencing life simply, in conduct with the balance of nature. He shows that in “taking what is, and seeing it as it is,” satisfaction will come to one who does not force extremes upon themselves, one who does not pretend to achieve “any heroic stances or gestures.” Nemerov encourages one to appreciate “how beautiful a modesty” exists in the care for daily things. Horace assures Licinius that he can evade the trap of dangerous extremes: by resisting the temptation of heroism—the urge to always sail the deep sea (//altum)// and to veer too close to the dangerous shore (//litus iniquium)—//one need not dread the storms. By exercising //care// to make balanced choices, one can enjoy a //carefree// levity in life. Horace expands on the threats of extremity in nature when he depicts the huge pine tree more shaken by the winds (//saepius pinus ventis)// and the lofty towers (//celsae)// falling with a heavier crash (//graviore casu)// than the smaller trees and towers; he adds that lightning tends to strike the highest mountain first. Nemerov concludes his poem with the same perspective. If one makes moderate and sensible decisions, he may watch “the water in the foreground” and “dream reflectively,” safely content “under a wide and darkening sky.” He can stand peacefully, because “the weight of life has been lifted and made light.”

Horace tells Licinius that whoever lives by the golden mean is safe from a dirty house and free from an enviable palace (lines 5-8). He is “keeping it simple,” satisfied with natural beauty, as Nemerov commends. Nemerov draws the concept of “being in love with light and the marvelous things that light is able to do” from the painting by Vermeer, in which a soft stream of light illuminates a content young woman who considers the pure values in her life. She stands peacefully concentrated on balancing a golden scale, a physical symbol of the golden mean. The scale is empty; she does not weigh the pearls. Instead, they are scattered and uncared for, in the back corner of the table. She contemplates the importance of balance and moderation; she dismisses the desire for excessive materiality, wealth, and extremes. The well prepared heart, Horace says, hopes in dangerous times and fearfully questions even the favorable things so that he may find his most appropriate fate (lines 13-15). This is one’s logical balancing of affairs in his mind, which Nemerov implies can become healthily habitual. This course of folding over “the cat’s cradle of relation” in one’s mind “domesticates itself and becomes charm.” This thought process prepares one for a pleasantly balanced life. In Vermeer’s painting, the woman’s position facing a mirror symbolizes, like the role of a mirror, her deep reflection. From the golden streak of her protruding gowns, one can infer that she is pregnant, and that she is thinking about the changes developing within her. She considers the adaptations she will make upon her baby’s arrival, and must prepare herself for such a great change in her life. She must “show herself strong and bold in stressful times” (//rebus angustis animosus atque fortis appare//), as Horace concludes in his ode, because a content life, free from overwhelming burden, depends on it. Furthermore, Horace says a wise man will decide to sail back to shore by a favorable wind (lines 22-24), and perhaps, in Nemerov's words, reflectively “stand invisible on the shore opposed, watching the water in the foreground dream”…Likewise, the woman in the painting should use her time holding the balance to put everything into perspective. An escape from one's pressures, whether from the stormy sea or from stressful change, is necessary to reinstate mental ease and balance.

In the painting, the natural illumination of the woman sheds light on her introspective reasoning. Its position above her shines majestically, suggestive of supernatural guidance and influence on human consideration of balance. Similarly, Horace's poem references the ability of gods to create change that affects people. Juppiter can bring back or take away the harsh winters, and Apollo can wake the muse with a lyre, with or without stretching the bow. Vermeer's painting, "Woman Holding a Balance," is entirely aesthetic because of its artistic and compositional balance. The colors, light, shadows created by folds in the fabric cooperate to create not just a moment, but a sensation of the depicted character's thoughts. If one were to draw diagonal lines from each corner of the rectangular painting toward the middle, the division of equally distributed weight to each segment would become more obvious. Each line would lead directly to the woman's hand, whose finger rests perfectly horizontally above the balance, complementing the existing equilibrium.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">December 5, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Catullus 84 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">media type="youtube" key="BGuZyelUTc4?fs=1" height="352" width="451"

Catullus’ criticism of Arrius instinctively reminded me of this wonderful comedy, //The Pink Panther//. In the movie, Steve Martin plays a French detective in devoted pursuit of a precious jewel called the Pink Panther. Let’s start with the obvious—how I first associated Inspector Clouseau with Arrius. Of course, you play this clip and Clouseau’s pronunciation of “hamburger,” varying from “amberga” to “dearmberger,” practically imitates Arrius’ vocal habit of mispronouncing the silent and non-silent “h” sounds. Arrius kept saying “hadvantages” when he wanted to say “advantages,” //et insidias// instead of //hinsidias// (Catullus 84 lines 1-2). Arrius insisted upon this, even though his flawed speech annoyed his acquaintances. Similarly, Clouseau remains a stubborn speaker of his “French” accent. In the first minute and 45 seconds of the film clip, a speech therapist patiently tries to correct his pronunciation of “I would like to buy a hamburger.” In an attempt to minimize the content he must learn and thus maximize the chance of garnering any result whatsoever, she focuses specifically on his vocalization of “hamburger.”

Because Clouseau fails to improve his pronunciation at all, or to try for that matter, we can conclude that he’s simply unwilling to change his long custom of talking the way he does. It is natural, or so he insists, because of his French accent. Throughout the course of the movie one can perceive how obviously he prides himself in his French heritage; thus, he would logically resist sacrificing his traditional way with words that he developed in his home country. Just as he had become accustomed to and proud of his language habits through the influence of his French family and society, Arrius finds comfort in the way of speaking that he learned from his own family. Catullus writes: //credo, sic mater, sic liber avunculus eius, / sic maternus avus dizerat atque avia// (lines 5-6). Like Inspector Clouseau, the proud Arrius maintains his unique vocal habits because through them he stays dearly attached to his family, whose tradition of speech that he deems so eloquent, we can assume he is proud of. Even though he’s probably aware of others’ distaste for his **h**abit, Arrius seeks for himself attention of any form--he aims to impress, but he will accept attention even in the form of criticism. In the movie, Clouseau prances about the entire two hours or so //causing// a scene, creating attention for himself, even though most of it is people laughing at his foolishness.

Beyond this connection, Inspector Clouseau emulates the attitude of Arrius that Catullus criticizes further in this clip of the movie. Catullus mocks Arrius’ speech not because Arrius has an impediment, but because he knows that Arrius intends to convey the sophisticated eloquence of a worldly, well-learned speaker. Specifically in the film segment shown, at 2:00, Inspector Clouseau begins a full-out //strut// across the streets of Times Square, after obnoxiously halting before the traffic signal changed. His proud parading exemplifies his unrelenting need to call attention to himself. Then, at around 2:19 he remarks with revolt that he’s never eaten a hamburger**:** “of course not, it’s a dis//gust//ing American fooood,” he proclaims, drawing out the vowels with a (falsely) pretentious air of refinement. He will have nothing less than the best, and he makes sure to sound that way! After hesitating to bite into it, however, he’s in hamburger heaven. Later, at the office, he reels off his credit card number like it’s the greatest sequence of digits in the entire world. He’s fixated on presenting himself to be the best in public, and proceeds to whisper through the phone in an attempt to conceal his embarrassing email address, so as not to give away his internal awkwardness and self consciousness.

//The Pink Panther// is an extended mockery of Clouseau, who tries to present himself as an intelligent, authoritative, trustworthy, reliable, official (et cetera) inspector. In vain, he attempts to impress his partners, superiors and the general public of America and France. Despite the fact that he may hold some of the qualities which he fruitlessly tries to prove, Clouseau proceeds to make a fool out of himself in nearly every scene, disrupting the natural peace and inciting unwelcome series of unfortunate events which ultimately lead to disaster (e.g. causing a restaurant to erupt in flames). The mockery of him, however, is what qualifies the movie as an eventful, delightful comedy. The audience finds hilarity in this comical criticism of Clouseau. In writing the poetry, Catullus himself does not enjoy Arrius’ arrogance and foolishness; however, because the poem is for the public eye, its audience must delight in the amusing mockery similarly to how the audience of //The Pink Panther// reacts: almost everyone can identify with someone who exudes this false attitude of superiority, and we can all laugh at it.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">November 4, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Catullus 72

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">In Poem 72, Catullus shares a deep reflection upon his complex relationship with Lesbia. His emotional realizations, as well as their place in the context of his relationship with Lesbia, relate to the conflicting emotions of the couple in the movie and book, //Dear John//. Particularly in the film version, through dramatic facial expressions and actions, the main character, John, expresses his struggle to figure out his complicated relationship with Savannah. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Catullus begins with a nostalgic reflection of his once ideal relationship with his lover Lesbia. //Dicebas quondam solum te nosse Catullum,// / //Lesbia, nec prae me velle tenere Iovem.// He reflects fondly on a time at which Lesbia proclaimed to be devoted to Catullus and only Catullus, even if someone greater should pursue her. Similarly, in the movie //Dear John//, John remembers the first excited, lustful fidelity that Savannah﻿ demonstrated toward him. Although several men showed their desire for her, her exclusive promise of love for John never wavered. Thus, in an appropriate response for her love, John easily develops an extremely passionate care for Savannah. His persona as a strong, intimidating figure renders a nearly paternalistic protection for her, demonstrated in one of his fist fights with a man whom he thought to be threatening their relationship. As shown in the picture, he hovers over Savannah intimately, sheltering her from any harm, as would a father do for his children. Just so, Catullus takes Lesbia’s promise of love seriously and establishes an equally unique bond with Lesbia, loving her “not as a common man,” but rather, like a father who //gnatos diligit et generos//. Catullus and John each take their lovers’ signs of devotion to the extreme, strengthening their initially lustful roles into those of responsible men, deeply concerned for their women. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">However, just a line in the poem later, after Catullus has gotten to know Lesbia further, he finds reason to doubt her initially proclaimed loyalty to him. Deeming reasonable his increasing suspicions that she has lost interest in him or abandoned him altogether for another man, he completely reverses his feelings for her, denouncing her as //vilior et levior//—worthless and fickle—to him. In the movie, a similar case of a waning couple’s intimacy forces to John make a deeply disappointing reevaluation of his relationship with Savannah. After their first stage of time spent side by side, John was sent abroad to serve in the military. Nevertheless, John and Savannah willingly maintain their obsessively passionate relationship via love letter after love letter to each other for months. But in time, their separation takes its toll, and one day John does not receive a letter from Savannah. He waits patiently for quite some time, trying to believe that she had forgotten to respond, or the letter had simply been lost. However, as Catullus eventually managed to accept his uneasiness about Lesbia’s faithfulness, John also comes to terms with his own resentment for Savannah's failure to contact him. After waiting forever, John finally receives one last, pitiful message from Savannah. She confesses in the letter that she has found another man, and has decided to leave John permanently. Tragically, she never considered calling John to tell him months before; instead, she led him on unfairly, leaving him falsely hoping that her love was sincere.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">John reacts to this betrayal through a cruelly long-overdue memo with an appropriately rash action. In fury, he gathers all his treasured letters from Savannah and heaves them into a pit. There he burns every last one, consummated by a need to destroy all his painful memories of her. John dramatizes this whole act in order to prove to himself that she is now worthless to him. It is part of his subconsciously psychological scheme to make himself feel independent and strong without her. Similarly, Catullus shows his hesitancy to denounce Lesbia completely through his utilization of indirect question in the poem. He writes: //quare, etsi impensius uror, / multo mi tamen es vilior et levior//…and later asks the reader how this is feasible (//qui potis est, inquis//?). He questions himself indirectly in a confusing process of compromising his mind and his heart. His rationale forces him to abandon his love for Lesbia and call her insignificant, but beneath the surface, his weak heart suffers in the stubborn and uncontrollable desire for her that remains from his unconditional love. Just the same, John suffers from an //iniuria talis// which counteracts his attempt to forget Savannah. His anger seems only to have deepened his feelings for Savannah into those of forbidden desire, so he does not give up on her. As soon as he can, he flies back to see her, though embarrassed to be so uninvited and obsessed with her. Both he and Catullus fall victim to this uncontrollable obsession for their unavailable lovers that ultimately ruins their chances at even friendship with the women. The insult of betrayal that they suffer forces a lover to love more, //sed bene velle minus//. They share this predicament that only results in their deepened distress, frustration, and lack of self-respect.

_

October 4, 2010 Catullus 5, 7, 45

Here's a sample of modern (although Disney channel) music that vocalizes an emotional situation comparable to that of Catullus and Lesbia. (Just for the record, I do not particularly enjoy this song, but I found it on my sister's playlist and thought it would nevertheless work well for this analysis).

//Chemicals React// -- Aly and AJ media type="youtube" key="gV8J3ZbPO0E?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

You make me feel out of my element like I'm walking on broken glass like my worlds spinnin' in slow motion and you're movin' too fast were you right, was I wrong were you weak, was I strong, yeah both of us broken caught in the moment we lived and we loved and we hurt and we joked, yeah but the planets all aligned when you looked into my eyes and just like that the chemicals react the chemicals react you make me feel out of my element like I'm drifting out to the sea like the tides pullin' me in deeper makin' it harder to breathe we cannot deny, how we feel inside we cannot deny kaleidoscope of colors turning hopes on fire, sun is burning shining down on both of us don't let us lose it (don't let us lose it...) were you right, was I wrong were you weak, was I strong, yeah both of us broken caught in the moment we lived and we loved and we hurt and we joked, yeah we lived we loved we hurt we joked we're right we're wrong we're weak we're strong we lived to love but the planets all aligned when you looked into my eyes and just like that watch the chemicals react and just like that the chemicals react _ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">This song, Chemicals React, expresses the passion, overwhelment, and perhaps confusion, of a certain relationship. The artist sings of how her lover entrances her, making her feel "out of [her] element...walkin' on broken glass." She feels as though she's being pulled in by the tides of love, "drifting out to sea," just as Catullus seeks deeper and deeper affection of Lesbia. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">“da mi basia mille, deinde centum, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">dein mille altera, dein secunda centum, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum; <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">dein, cum milia multa fecerimus, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">conturbābimus, illa…” (Catullus 5) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Catullus says there will be so many thousands of kisses that they will mix them up; these kisses are of fervent, rash desires which suggest that Lesbia and Catullus can no longer deny their genuine lustful love for each other; despite their questionable reputation as lovers, they push aside any confusion or miscommunication that might hinder their shared passions. This implication that the relationship may not have always been perfectly clear and strong alludes to the questions posed in the song Chemicals React. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">“Were you right, was I wrong, were you weak, was I strong…both of us broken, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">caught in the moment,” demonstrates the singer’s hesitance about whether the relationship was right or moving too fast, yet she eventually gives in to their inevitably shared feelings: “we cannot deny, how we feel inside.”

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">“Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus” (Catullus 5) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">The opening statement of Catullus, a simply put call for life and love, relates similarly to a contenstion of the song. She sings "we're strong, we lived to love," justifying any prior mistakes made in the relationship. This phrase shows that true love prevails in life over any obstacle.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">"Quaeris, quot mihi basiationes <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">tuae, Lesbia, sint satis superque. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">quam magnus numerus Libyssae harenae <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">lasarpiciferis iacet Cyrenis <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">oraclum Iovis inter aestuosi <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">et Batti veteris sacrum sepulcrum; <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">aut quam sidera multa, cum tacet nox, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">furtivos hominum vident amores: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">tam te basia multa basiare <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">vesano satis et super Catullo est" <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">(Catullus 7) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Lesbia asks how many kisses will satisfy Catullus, questioning the depths necessary to proceed into the relationship. The singer of Chemicals Reacts also notices that her world is "spinnin' in slow motion" while her boyfriend is "movin' too fast." However, she sees the "kaleidoscope of color, turning hopes on fire, sun is burning, shining down on both of us, don't let us lose it," as proof of their passion. Just as true for "mad Catullus" is the need for "enough and more than enough kisses."

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Hoc ut dixit, Amor sinistra ut ante <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">dextra sternuit approbationem. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">﻿Nunc ab auspicio bono profecti <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">mutuis animis amant amantur... <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">﻿...quis ullos homines beatiores <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">vidit, quis Venerem auspicatiorem? <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">(Catullus 45). <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">In this poem, auspices and fortune often prove the true love of Catullus and Lesbia. Love sneezed its approval toward each of them, and they often embarked with the good graces of the auspices and the fortune of Venus. The singer also feels such faith in her relationship, demonstrated in her verse: "but the planets all aligned when you looked into my eyes." These powerful forces of fortune prove to all the lovers that they are blessed and able to continue their genuine relationships.

P.S. See this website for an audio version of Catullus 7...If you've never heard Latin in song before, here's your chance! It sounds...interesting. [|Click here to listen to //Quaeris quot// sung in **Latin**.]