Pyramus and Thisbe: Dark & Death Imagery

The final lines of Pyramus and Thisbe aptly conclude the darkness and death imagery that Ovid had developed throughout the narrative. When looking back at the story, there are many different images which Ovid incorporates in the story. One of the earliest examples could be found in lines 78-80, which say "sub noctem dixere," which starts up the two lovers' relationship. They would constantly talk to each other through the wall until nighttime would fall upon them. It was also the time of day which they would plan to meet with each other. This brings up the question of whether or not the darkness should be seen as a friend or foe. But if you look at line 108 where Pyramus states "one night will destroy two lovers," it suggests that the nighttime was where death occurred. Even in lines 160 to 161, Thisbe had said "signa tene caedis pullosque et luctubus aptos semper habe fetus, gemini monimenta cruois." This also plays into the fact that darkness should correspond to death, and the dark fruit of the mulberry tree symbolizes the two lovers dying for their love. The final lines which say that the fruit will turn dark with age could be taken as a metaphor for death coming to purity and innocence, since the fruit of the tree starts off a pure white. Also, the fact that the two lovers are together in one urn show that in death they are brought together. This contradicts the idea that darkness is a foe to Pyramus and Thisbe, since the only way they were able to be together was through death. However, the final lines do fit appropriately with the story's darkness and death imagery for the fact that it can connect to the very beginning of the story.

Pyramus and Thisbe: Pyramus's Suicide

In lines 118-127, Ovid gives the reader a graphic description of what Pyramus did to kill himself after he had thought that his love, Thisbe, had died. This description was not without a purpose. One the easier things that can be identified from his death is from the line "Arborei fetus adspergine caedis in atram vertuntur faciem, madefactaque sanguine radix purpureo tingit pendentia mora colore (lines 125-127)." The fact that Pyramus's blood had turned the pure white berries of the tree into a purple color may reflect on the dark future of the lovers. When it was white, the two lovers were still alive and had high hopes of their future blooming into something bright. They were innocent kids. However, once tragedy struck, death had afflicted both of them through misunderstandings and their innocence faded away just as the white on the berries.
The graphic death could also show how desperate Pyramus was to join his love in death and desperation to punish himself for allowing Thisbe to die so brutally by a lion. Ovid's goal to understand the significance of Pyramus's death was shown by the detail of his suicide.

Limerick (Lines 105-127)

There once was a man named Pyramus,
whose guilt for his love was enormous,
in death they would join,
so he stabbed his groin,
his mistake was to be famous.

Pyramus and Thisbe: Figures of Speech

One of the figures of speech shown in Pyramus and Thisbe could be found on line 122, which says "non aliter quam cum vitiato fistula plumbo." This line would be seen as a simile, due to the translation of the line bring up the word "as," which usually signals that a comparison will be coming up. Another figure of speech in the story would be found in the lines 110 to 112, where Pyramus speaks to a non-present Thisbe about how guilty he is for her "death." His whole conversation with her would be known as an apostrophe, because of the fact that Thisbe is not there to hear Pyramus, yet he still addresses her throughout his dialogue due to his emotional distress.
Lastly, you would be able to find a synecdoche on line 119 from the word "ferrum," which would refer to Pyramus's sword or weapon. A synecdoche takes the characteristic of an object, in this case what a sword is made of, to name the object itself. Therefore, the iron would mean sword.

Pyramus and Thisbe: The Wall

The walls in the story are a barrier between the two young lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe. When the wall is first introduced in line 57, a small history is given. "Dictur altam coctilibus muris cinxisse Semiramis urbem." The flaming bricks which Semiramus had built the walls with could serve as a defense to keep people out, but also keeps the lovers stuck in a city which doesn't accept their love. Throughout the story, the wall seems to be the antagonist, where at one point it is called a "invide paries." The use of the personification shows how deep of hatred the lovers have of their separation. However, they're also grateful for the fact that the wall allows them to communicate somehow, without the whole house knowing it. The wall mainly serves as an antagonist though, because it seems to take the side of the rest of city, keeping Pyramus and Thisbe away from each other and not allowing anymore than talking between the two.

Pyramus and Thisbe (Lines 54-77)

Ovid's story of Pyramus and Thisbe contains many different types of figures of speech. One of them which he uses is called metonymy, whic is when something or someone is referenced by naming one of its attributes. For example in line 60, "Taedae quoque iure coissent" talks about a wedding torch being lit. This refers to Pyramus and Thisbe's want to get married by talking about lighting, or starting, their wedding torch, or marriage ceremony.
Another example of a figure speech being used could be found on line 73, which says "'Invide,' dicebant, 'paries, quid amantibus obstas?'" The words invide and paries are paired up together, but walls cannot be hateful or jealous. Ovid is using personification in this line, which gives human traits or characteristic to inanimate objects.
Yet another figure of speech that can be found is a metaphor, a term or phrase applied to something to which isn't literally applicable in order to suggest resemblance. This can be found on line 64, which says, "quoque magis tegitur, tectus magis aestuat ignis." This basically means that the love and desire for each other grew between Pyramus and Thisbe while they were kept apart from each other by their fathers and the wall.

Catullus 8

Limerick:

You use to be the light of my eye,
but that all changed for you as time went by.
Who will love you now?
Whose kisses you allow?
For I can say to you good-bye.

Catullus 75

In this poem, Catullus has a personal reflection all that has happened in his last few poems with Lesbia. In the first two lines of the poem, the mind of his character has been "officio perdidit ipsa suo" which is a more powerful thing to say about his inner being than to simply put that he is sad or heartbroken. Also, the word "omnia" seems to have a more negative conotation at the end, to show that there would be nothing that Lesbia could do in order to gain the respect that she has lost from Catullus. By saying "nec desistere amare, omnia si facias" Catullus is able to show how distanced his character has gone from his love interest and the disappointment that is felt by him.

Catullus 85

This poem is one of the shorter poems that were made by Catullus, but he was able to give out a deep meaning from it by using eight verbs total. Verbs, such as amo and odi, show all the emotions that he is going through and how confusing the whole situation is to the character. Not to mention that love and hate are two polar opposites. The theme of the poem is despair, which is supported by second line, "nescio, sed fieri sento et excrucior," where the character admits to himself being tortured by conflicting emotions. Just as in poem 72, Catullus has his character faced with conflicting feelings for Lesbia by making love and hate go against each other.

Catullus 72

Catullus balances out many of his word choices in this poem. For example, he balances out Catullum and Iovem, to get the message across that he was more superior to Lesbia than the top god himself. He also uses this balances of words for impensius and vilior/levior to describe his burning love for her, even though she is cheaper and worth less than the character Catullus. Using these word choices help Catullus make the message of passion and despair come out more clearly.

Haiku:
I am torn in two
knowing the true side of you,
but can't let you go

Catullus 86

Catullus, unlike in poem 43, takes on a different tone to compare a girl by the name of Quintia and Lesbia. In the other poem, he was quick to use negative comments such as calling her a girl with "neither a small nose, beautiful feet, long finger..." However, in this poem, Catullus starts the poem off by naming off more positive attributes of the Quintia, such as her being "fair skinned (which indicates her wealth, due to her lack working in the sun), tall, and stately." In this poem, Catullus is generous in his compliments, before leaving a subtle 'but...' towards the middle, to compare Lesbia and her, and to show what she is missing that Lesbia has. Catullus was able to get his main message across of Lesbia being the more beautiful of the two, but this time, he opted to write it without as much of a scornful tone.

Comparison of Poem 43 & Poem 22

When reading the both of these poems, I noticed a similarity in tone that Catullus uses. In poem 43, he mocks the girl who is supposedly more beautiful than Lesbia and mocks society for viewing her as someone elegant and perfect. In Poem 22, Catullus' victim is a clean cut, well-bred man by the name of Suffenus. His flaw, however, is his poor writing skills. His poems are just the opposite of what society view him as: clumsy, awkward, and poor quality.
The connection drawn here is that Catullus finds society's views and opinions to be worthless, in a way, and flawed. What they see as perfect examples of grace and beauty may actually be bland and pathetic in others' views. He seems to mock those he doesn't find worthy and points out their flaws quite bluntly. His opinions in both of these poems are easy to find.

Catullus 92

In this poem, Catullus continues to write about the love between the Lesbia and the character Catullus to be legitimate because she won't stop talking about him (even though the things she says aren't very nice). This sort of reasoning can be connected back to poem 83, where Catullus states that Lesbia's ranting and anger shows a revealing emotion. It seems that he has to reassure himself of this, however.
Even in our own lives today, if something goes wrong we try to make sense of it in order to make it seem less bad. When kids are younger and someone is picking on them, the parents make the common statement of "That means (s)he like you." This is sort of reasoning that Catullus might be going at. However, there is always the possibility that Lesbia might be saying all these bad things about Catullus in order to give him a hint that her feelings might have gone down for him. The true extent of the characters feelings is still being doubted and questioned in this poem.

Catullus 87

Catullus is starting to make his poems be more about the admiration and love he has for Lesbia, rather than his desperation to be with her. His poems have taken on a change since the first one, poem about "that guy." Also, the poem has gone done in the number of lines he writes.
This poem also has a big contradiction with poem 92. In this poem, Catullus states that Lesbia and the character Catullus are in deep love, and that there is no greater love between the two. In poem 92 however, there seems to be some doubt if the love really is true, by stating, "May I perish if she doesn't love me." In a way, it seems like he needs to assure himself that the love is really true. Which can go back to a central theme of doubt and paranoia about love.

Catullus 5

In this poem, Catullus decides to take a different tone in his writing. Here he decides to talk about how days come and go, and that the time you spend on Earth should be taken advantage of. In this case, kissing is the best way to make your time on Earth worthwhile.
At first, the poem takes a lighthearted sort of go about it, with telling Lesbia that they should be happy and not bother with worthless rumors of old men. Then, the poem takes a turn of saying how life can be cut short, into an eternal sleep. After this, kissing is requested. Catullus then seems to become more paranoid and scared of envious onlookers, so he decides that they should not bother with keeping up on how many kisses were shared.
The themes of jealousy and a sort of paranoia pop up in this poem quite a bit, with the tone staying light up until the end. In earlier poems, the same sorts of things have been seen, but Catullus never looked at life in such a philosophical matter before, such as saying the sun will set on our time and bring us into an eternal sleep (AKA death). Death hasn't ever been mentioned before, so the questions of him bringing it up arise.

Catullus 43

Each poem that Catullus writes seems to bring out something new about his personality. This one was, by far, showing a more hostile side of himself. He mocks a girl, who isn't even named, to be nothing compared to his beloved Lesbia. He even goes so far as to declare his generation to be tasteless and boorish. He throws out any description that sounds unpleasant (the strangest would have to be her lack of a dry mouth) and makes her seem as unappealing as possible.
Lesbia is like a goddess to him, so comparing her to some nobody wannabe brought out the worst in Catullus.

Haiku for this Poem :)

Oh this tasteless age,
thinking this girl is pretty;
Lesbia's better.

Catullus 7

This poem, unlike the others where we continue to truly question what the exact relationship is between Catullus and Lesbia, makes it clear that something romantic is going on. At first, it seems like Catullus is your basic creeper who's head over heels for a girl and wishes for them to be together forever. In this poem, the kisses give off the major clue that Lesbia has similar feelings for Catullus despite being married to that mule of a guy.
Something that immediately caught my attention and sparked interest was the last line about that "curious eyes" and "evil tongue." The first thing that jumps into my mind are the outside world and what most people hate even today: gossipers. This further helps to make the assumption that this love is a forbidden and secretive one.

Catullus 109

This poem comes off with an entirely different tone from the others. In it, Lesbia has apparently promised Catullus a true and happy love between them. Catullus comes off as a more friendly, less creepy character, as he begs the Gods for her words to be true and for their sacred eternal pact of friendship to last for their life. He wants them to be close with one another, and for once, he isn't snooping around or looking at her from afar. Overall, the poem is a lot more sincere and shows the relationship between Lesbia and Catullus to be one that's more friendly than 83, where she curses him nonstop in front of her husband. This also raises suspicion if Lesbia really does have stronger feelings for Catullus than she first let off to believe.

Catullus 83

With this poem, love continues to be more of an issue than an actual good thing. Catullus is spoken badly of by Lesbia while her husband is around, making him feel happy even though he is being thrown insults at. He thinks, however, that Lesbia's anger toward him is a good thing, and calls her husband a fool to think she means what she says. In general, everyone seems to be hurts from this strange love triangle. Lesbia may be having to hide her true feelings, the husband might be cheated on without knowing it, and Catullus is in love with someone who is unavailable.
What else is odd in this poem, is the fact that Catullus is happy that Lesbia shows such heated emotions for him, and thinks it's better for her to hate him rather than not knowing his existence. He takes this as a sign that she burns for him, which makes Catullus come off a creep once more. Still, the reader is unsure if Lesbia truly does have feelings, other than hate, for Catullus.

Catullus Poems

For the first Catullus poem, about how the man with the girl he loves is like a God because he gets to be be with her, it makes love seem like a disease almost. Your tongue being broken, your skin has thin flames under it, you hear bells ringing, you see nothing, and all those other symptoms of being hit with cupid's arrow. At the end he even mentions "At some times death isn't far from me." I haven't experienced any of these symptoms for love, but by the way it sounds, love can be a pretty painful and odd experience.
Again in the second poem, the connection between love and pain is made, when Catullus wishes for the sparrow to be with him and take his mind off the "gloomy cares of my heart." The woman with the sparrow provokes it to bite her hard, and being bitten by a bird isn't as painless as it might seem to some.
So far these poems also make it so Catullus longs for love and has a particular person he wants to be with, but isn't with. Love is most likely a huge topic for him, as well as the problems that come with the longing for it.