Catullus and His Love Poems

What Goes Around...Comes Around -- Justin Timberlake

2007-11-15T23:17:00.000-05:00

Lyrics:

Hey girl, is he everything you wanted in a man?
You know I gave you the world
You had me in the palm of your hand
So why your love went away
I just can't seem to understand
Thought it was me and you babe
Me and you until the end
But I guess I was wrong

Don't want to think about it
Don't want to talk about it
I'm just so sick about it
Can't believe it's ending this way
Just so confused about it
Feeling the blues about it
I just can't do without ya
Tell me is this fair?
Is this the way it's really going down?
Is this how we say goodbye?
Should've known better when you came around
That you were gonna make me cry
It's breaking my heart to watch you run around
'Cause I know that you're living a lie
That's okay baby 'cause in time you will find...

What goes around, goes around, goes around
Comes all the way back around
What goes around, goes around, goes around
Comes all the way back around
What goes around, goes around, goes around
Comes all the way back around
What goes around, goes around, goes around
Comes all the way back around

Now girl, I remember everything that you claimed
You said that you were moving on now
And maybe I should do the same
Funny thing about that is
I was ready to give you my name
Thought it was me and you, babe
And now, it's all just a shame
And I guess I was wrong

Don't want to think about it
Don't want to talk about it
I'm just so sick about it
Can't believe it's ending this way
Just so confused about it
Feeling the blues about it
I just can't do without ya
Can you tell me is this fair?
Is this the way things are going down?
Is this how we say goodbye?
Should've known better when you came around
That you were going to make me cry
Now it's breaking my heart to watch you run around
'Cause I know that you're living a lie
That's okay baby 'cause in time you will find

What goes around, goes around, goes around
Comes all the way back around
What goes around, goes around, goes around
Comes all the way back around
What goes around, goes around, goes around
Comes all the way back around
What goes around, goes around, goes around
Comes all the way back around

What goes around comes around
Yeah
What goes around comes around
You should know that
What goes around comes around
Yeah
What goes around comes around
You should know that
Don't want to think about it (no)
Don't want to talk about it
I'm just so sick about it
Can't believe it's ending this way
Just so confused about it
Feeling the blues about it (yeah)
I just can't do without ya
Tell me is this fair?
Is this the way things are going down?
Is this how we say goodbye?
Should've known better when you came around
That you were going to make me cry
Now it's breaking my heart to watch you run around
'Cause I know that you're living a lie
But that's okay baby 'cause in time you will find

What goes around, goes around, goes around
Comes all the way back around
What goes around, goes around, goes around
Comes all the way back around
What goes around, goes around, goes around
Comes all the way back around
What goes around, goes around, goes around
Comes all the way back around

Let me paint this picture for you, baby
You spend your nights alone
And he never comes home
And every time you call him
All you get's a busy tone
I heard you found out
That he's doing to you
What you did to me
Ain't that the way it goes
You cheated girl
My heart bleeds girl
So it goes without saying that you left me feeling hurt
Just a classic case
A scenario
Tale as old as time
Girl you got what you deserved
And now you want somebody
To cure the lonely nights
You wish you had somebody
That could come and make it right
But girl I ain't somebody with a lot of sympathy
You'll see
(What goes around comes back around)
I thought I told ya, hey
(What goes around comes back around)
I thought I told ya, hey
(What goes around comes back around)
I thought I told ya, hey
(What goes around comes back around)
I thought I told ya, hey

See?
You should've listened to me, baby
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Because (What goes around comes back around)

This song has connections to one of Catullus' poems: Carmen 8.

Carmen 8 is a poem that Catullus wrote not long after his break-up with Lesbia. This is the poem in which Catullus addresses himself, telling himself to buck up. In lines 1-2, Catullus writes: "Miser Catulle, desinas ineptire et quod vides perisse perditum ducas." These lines are translated: "Wretched Catullus, may you stop being a fool and what you see to have perished may you consider lost." These lines show Catullus' disbelief at the situation and inability to accept reality. The song is similar to the poem in the fact that the lyrics show the same characteristics in a person after his lover left him: "So why your love went away I just can't seem to unhderstand," "Can't believe it's ending this way," "Just so confused about it," "Is this the way it's really going down? Is this how we say goodbye?" In line 5, Catullus writes: "Amata nobis quantum amabitur nulla." This line is translated: "No girl will be loved as much as she had been loved by us." The song is similar to the poem in the fact that the lyrics mention the same idea: "You know I gave you the world. You had me in the palm of your hand." In lines 10-11, Catullus writes: "nec quae fugit sectare nec miser vive sed obstinata mente perfer, obdura." These lines are translated: "and do not pursue she who flees nor live as a miserable man but endure with a stubborn mind, endure." The song is similar to the poem in the fact that the lyrics mention the same idea: "You said that you were moving on now and maybe I should do the same." It is interesting to note that in both the poem and the song, the men have been dumped by the women, and although the men say that they should and will move on, they are not able to do so immediately. In lines 14-18, Catullus writes: "At tu dolebis cum rogaberis nulla. Scelesta, vae te! Quae tibi manet vita? Quis nunc te adibit? Cui videberis bella? Quem nunc amabis? Cuius esse diceris? Quem basiabis? Cui labella mordebis?" These lines translated: "But you will be sad when you will be asked out by no one. Wicked one, pity on you! What life remains for you? Who will come to you now? To whom will you seem beautiful? Whom will you love now? Whose will you be said to be? Whom will you kiss? Whose lips will you bite?" The song is similar to the poem in the fact that the lyrics mention the same idea: "And now you want somebody to cure the lonely nights. You wish you had somebody that could come and make it right." The one difference is that while Catullus is stating what he assumes will happen in the future (the girl will regret ever having left and realize that she can find no man other than the one she left), the couple in the song is already experiencing the scenario that Catullus presumes will happen between him and Lesbia.

The similarities between Catullus' poem and the song makes me think upon the idea that people react in similar ways in situations. For example, as discussed above, the loss of love makes people feel confused and desirous to hold onto that love, which keeps them from moving on. I think this pertains to relationships other than love as well, such as friendships. This makes me think that I should always make sure that there are no misunderstandings in my relationships with people so that I would not end up experiencing losses that I would regret.

Chemicals React -- Aly & AJ

2007-10-15T23:34:00.000-04:00

Lyrics:

You make me feel out of my element
like I'm walkin' 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

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

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
(the chemicals react)

This song has connections to two of Catullus' poems: Carmen 51 and Carmen 5.

Carmen 51 is the first poem that Catullus writes about Lesbia. In this poem, Catullus describes the physical symptoms that he feels when he stares at Lesbia. In lines 6-12, Catullus writes: "nam simul te, Lesbia, aspexi, nihil est super mi . Lingua sed torpet, tenuis sub artus flamma demanant, sonitu suopte tintinant aures, gemina teguntur lumina nocte." These lines are translated: "For just as I looked at you, Lesbia, nothing of my voice remained in my mouth. But my tongue is numb, a thin flame runs down under my limb, my ears ring with their own sound, my eyes are covered by a twin night." The song is similar to the poem in the fact that the lyrics also mention symptoms that a lover makes a person feel: "You make me feel out of my element like I'm walkin' on broken glass, like my worlds spinnin' in slow motion, and you're movin' too fast," "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," and "but the planets all aligned when you looked into my eyes, and just like that, the chemicals react."

In Carmen 5, Catullus tells Lesbia that they should live and love without caring about how others view their relationship because life is too short. He then asks for thousands of kisses. In lines 1-6, Catullus writes: "Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus, rumoresque senum severiorum omnes unius aestimemus assis! Soles occidere et redire possunt; nobis, cum semel occidit brevix lux, nox est perpetua una dormienda." These lines are translated: "Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love, let us consider the rumors of rather severe old men to be worth just a penny! Stars are able to set and return; for us, once the brief light sets, a perpetual night must be slept." The song is similar to the poem in the fact that the lyrics mention the same idea: "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." The one difference is that while Catullus suggests to Lesbia in the poem, the lovers in the song already lived life caught in the moment and loved to the fullest. While they were hurt and broken, at the same time, they were able to joke and overcome it all.

The similarities between Catullus' poems and the song makes me think upon the idea that love is truly universal. Even in times of ancient Rome and in modern times, people in love experience similar symptoms and feel similar emotions. Just like in the lyrics of the song, people cannot deny what they feel inside when it comes to love.

Introduction

2007-09-07T00:33:00.000-04:00

The main focus of this blog will be the ups and downs of love in Catullus' poems. For the most part, I will examine Catullus' relationship with Lesbia--from the couple's happy moments together to the eventual break-up. I will use examples from poems of Catullus and use those as a lens to examine songs from our own culture. I will basically choose a song every month and discuss connections between that song and one or more of Catullus' love poems.