150 E. P. Morris, 



Lesbia-Clodia, and it is necessaiy to consider how far, in thus 

 using it, he has moditied the t3'pe. The first part, the reference 

 to the happiness of the past, may Ije the warmer because it is 

 addressed to Lesbia, but there is otherwise nothing specificall}- 

 personal in it. The expression in vs. 4, ventitabas, ducebai, is cer- 

 tainly suggestive of some definite reference, but it cannot be har- 

 monized with the description of the first meeting at the house of 

 Allius, Ixviii, 70-72, 132—134. The second part, the picture of 

 the petulant lover, indignant, hoping, fearing, also conforms closeh' 

 to the type, with only such touches of individuality as would be 

 expected from Catullus. The third part, the threats and predictions 

 of loneliness, is likewise adopted bodily from the type, but of the 

 various forms which these predictions ma}' take Catullus has with 

 perfect taste chosen the one which best suits the playful tone of 

 the poem. To have foretold to Clodia the evils which actu- 

 ally befell her in her later career, to have reminded her, as Pro- 

 pertius reminds C3^nthia, of the old age that w^ould destro}' her 

 charms, or to have used any form of threat which would have 

 suggested real and serious distress, would have been to spoil utterl}- 

 the lightness of tone, the delightfully humorous persiflage of the 

 poem. As the picture of the lover is drawn in conventional lines 

 and is by no means a portrait of himself, so the threats are 

 merely the conventional threats, which by their very inapplicability 

 to Clodia remind her that it is all a jest and by their playfully 

 amorous form of expression remind her that Catullus is still her 

 lover. 



The connection of this poem with Lesbia does not, therefore, 

 lead to any considerable modification of the type nor change essen- 

 tially the natural interpretation ; it helps to explain the warmth of 

 vss. 3—8 and it adds something to the playfulness of vss. 14—18. 

 But it reflects a certain light upon the relation of these two ex- 

 traordinary personalities by reminding us of the play of wit and 

 humor that undoubtedl}' formed a part of their attraction for each 

 other. Viewed in this waj-, viii is to be classed with iii, 11—18, 

 lines which we may be sure Clodia read with a smile, with vii, 

 in which wit and passion are mingled, with xiii, 9—14, with xxxvi 

 and with Ixxxxii. The lighter aspect of the relation seems 

 at times to be too little noticed; Catullus might have said of him- 

 self, as well as of Lesbia, carum nescio quid libet iocari. 



There is, then, a certain gain in recognizing the fact that this is 

 a Lesbia poem ; it adds to the meaning of the poem and to our 

 understanding of the writer. But the further step which some 



