Book contents
- Catullus Through his Books
- Catullus Through his Books
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Prolegomenon to the Catullus Problem
- Chapter 1 Ax (poems 52–60)
- Chapter 2 A (poems 1–51)
- Chapter 3 B (poems 61–64) and C1 (65–68b)
- Chapter 4 C2 (poems 69–116)
- Conclusion Two Interpretive Applications
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 4 - C2 (poems 69–116)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2020
- Catullus Through his Books
- Catullus Through his Books
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Prolegomenon to the Catullus Problem
- Chapter 1 Ax (poems 52–60)
- Chapter 2 A (poems 1–51)
- Chapter 3 B (poems 61–64) and C1 (65–68b)
- Chapter 4 C2 (poems 69–116)
- Conclusion Two Interpretive Applications
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The basic division between the two halves of C2 – that is, poems 69–92 and 93–116 – is of a different sort from the midpoint division in A. There is no unfolding drama of composition or textualization in these poems, and the reality of the break at this point is one determined by the content of the poems rather than by overt signs of programmaticity or other forms of metapoetry. Again, the thematic connections that guide us through these poems is significantly less rich, particularly in the second half, than is the case in A. But this is a different kind of collection with a different and rougher poetics; once it is allowed that this shift in the artistry of Catullan poems plausibly tracks this shift in the artistry of Catullan poem-arrangement, the motivation to despair of finding any patterning for want of perfect patterning, or to hunt for truly cryptic patterning, is thoroughly undermined.
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- Information
- Catullus Through his BooksDramas of Composition, pp. 196 - 216Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020