Catullus 16 and Missing the Point

Well, Wikipedia says no explicit translation of the first line of this poem appeared in English until the late 20th century. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullus_16 . I had read the Zukofskys' version a number of times, but I did not understand the explicit meaning of the poem or of the first line until today.  I just read the more literal translation over at Wikipedia, and the poem, as well as the Zukofskys' version, makes more sense now. I don't like some things about 2014, but I do like the available frankness.  I've read about half of the Ellmann's biography of Joyce, and it makes clear the success we've had in the war against censorship in the last century.  (I plan to finish the Ellmann in the next month.)

Once again I find myself enjoying reading a German version of my poem.  My weak German can make out the meaning of the poem better than my weaker Latin can. If I end up teaching Latin again next fall I will have to dedicate myself to developing my Latin.  I find it humbling reading about Joyce's skill in other languages, as well as Zukofsky, Eliot, and Pound's similar skills.

Catullus 15 and/or Fate

The Zukofsky's translation of Catullus 15 contains the word "fate".  The index to "A" lists five pages under the entry for "fate".  I don't think they intended any reference to Dr. Fate.  I smiled when Eric Strauss became the new Dr. Fate.  His name reminded me of my own, with a different German composer linked to Naziism.

I wonder whether I have a fate and/or a purpose.  Why have anti-Semites  like Richard Wagner and Ezra Pound played such a large role in my life?

Page 141 of "A" refers to "the Fates" but not "fate".  The index does not have an entry for "Fates".  The other four pages indicated in the index do use the word fate. When I think of the Fates I think of Neil Gaiman's Sandman.  Man, comic books do form a big part of my mind.  Bob Wilson said, "Mind and its contents are functionally identical."  Tunes by Charles Mingus and the Monkees run through my mind as I think about things I need to do.

I read a little of the Night Lessons chapter of Finnegans Wake last night.  One of the footnotes reminded me of Gilbert Sorrentino's Mulligan Stew.  I haven't finished the Sorrentino, but I think that footnote inspired the novel, at least in part.  I remembered that Mr. Sorrentino wrote the forward to Zukofsky's Collected Fiction.

Catullus 14a

Catullus refers to his future readers in this poem.  In the future I hope to improve my Latin and read this poem in Latin with comprehension.  Last weekend I finished reading How to Read a Latin Poem (If You Can't Read Latin Yet).  I enjoyed it mildly.  This week the Latin and German clubs at my high school decided which Christmas carols to sing this year.  Today I printed a copy of the three carols, and I plan to practice them from now until December 9 for my daily dose of Latin and German.  After that I may return to reading Catullus in Latin and Kafka in German.

Catullus 14 and/or Joyce

I find it interesting how I become interested or disinterested in various writers.  Over the years I have had periods of intense interest in Louis Zukofsky's writing.  Now that I have committed to comment on it weekly, I don't find myself as fascinated, although I remain interested.  For more than ten years I have worked on a book on the influence of James Joyce on Robert Anton Wilson.  My interest in Joyce ebbs and flows.  I decided to dive back into Joyce last Saturday.  I read a bit of Campbell and Robinson's Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake and a bit of the Wake itself.  Then I read some of the free sample pages on Amazon's from Shelly Brivic's Joyce through Lacan and Brivic and I felt my love of Joyce (and Brivic) burst forth anew.  I ordered a copy of that book by Brivic, but I got email that the bookstore had sold its copy.  Then I ordered another book by Brivic on Joyce and Lacan, and I started rereading Brivic's Joyce the Creator.  I just read this line: "Meanwhile Shem becomes Shaun because he assumes the role of an instructor, an authority fatal to Shem's spiritual independence" (pg. 121).  Hm.  I have worked as a high school teacher for the last sixteen plus years.  I had previously identified with Shem the Penman, the writer, the maverick, but perhaps I have become more like Shaun the Postman.  (Back in the 1980's that name used to make me think of Karl Malone's nickname "The Mailman".)  When I started teaching high school I still thought of myself as a poet, etc.  Now, more and more, I think of myself as a teacher, etc.

Catullus 14 makes a reference to Saturnalia.  On the Equinox on Monday I found myself thinking about pagan festivals and their presence in 2014 C.E.

Catullus 13

Well, I just read a little of Zukofsky's Little / for careenagers.  Pg 74 of Zukofsky's Collected Fiction mentions a volume of Shakespeare on a shelf next to a Babar book and a book by Leopold Mozart.  I found that an interesting juxtaposition.

My film history classes started watching Casablanca this week.  Victor Laslo in that film suggests that we each have a destiny for good or for evil.  I wonder if I have a destiny.  Does it have anything to do with the writings of Louis Zukofsky?  Catullus 13 deals with overeating, one of my life challenges.  As Pound said of his vision, I don't know how to make it cohere.

Tastes Great! Less Filling! and/or Catullus 12

The second line of this poem has the word wine.  This reminded me of seeing Pat Boone on the Tonight Show years ago.  Mr. Boone suggested that the wine mentioned in the New Testament had no alcohol.  This seems unlikely to me in my ignorance, but it strikes me how great a role alcohol has played in our culture for so many centuries.  Terrence McKenna has written about how different cultures  favor different drugs.  I wonder about the meaning of the increased popularity of coffee among young people in our society today.  I love the fact the Starbucks takes its name from a character in Moby Dick.

Catullus 11

Not much to say.  I continue to inch my way through Catullus, reading the Zukofsky's versions, reading the original Latin and other English translations and German translations.  Perhaps in years to come my German and Latin will improve.  I finished Anne Sexton's poems, and I've read a good chunk of Ed Dorn's.  I have a Bach violin concerto playing, and I read a little of Zukofsky's Little today.  Perhaps I will have more to say next Wednesday or Thursday.