Poem 22

Poem 22 is similar to poem 43 in that in both poems, Catullus is insulting somebody. Also in both of these poems, Catullus has a very polite way of writing and although he is insulting people it gets the point to the reader with out sounding as bad as one would think. For example, in poem 43 when he is insulting the physical features of the girl, he does not say ‘you have a big nose’ he says ‘you who do not have a small nose’. He is using a double negative to make his insults less harsh. In poem 22, Catullus is a little more direct with his insults saying ‘he is more clumsy than a clumsy country, whenever he touches poetry’. With that being said, in poem 22 Catullus starts off complementing the poet first by telling the reader how charming and smart he is. Therefore by the time the insults come it does not seem as bad because Catullus has mentioned his strengths as well as his weaknesses. Also, instead of Catullus coming out and saying ‘he sucks’ Catullus uses less harsh words like clumsy which do not have a really negative connotation. So, poem 43 and poem 22 are similar in that in both poems Catullus is insulting someone but he is doing it in a very safe, indirect and non-harsh way.