Lugete O Veneres
The sudden death of the pet sparrow, marked
by a slap of the guitar, interrupts the conclusion of Passer,
and sends the girl into an over-dramatization of loss. Opening
as a dirge, Catullus locates his girl on the emotional tone scale,
then tenderly lifts her out of her grief with lyrics playful,
yet sincere, parodying a Roman funeral oration. The guitar imitates
the movement of the sparrow, hopping now here, now there, while
the piano picks up the onomatopoeia in pipiabat.
As Catullus turns to curse the Dark Shadows, the diphthong in
quae gets devoured by the -o in omnia,
imitating the swallowing of the sparrow, and triggering the poet
to move more cautiously through the next lines, guarding final
syllables as best he can against further elision (bellum
mihi and factum male), but not
always succeeding (passerem abstulistis).
Maybe the girl, cajoled back to health and full awareness by
the magic of the poet’s song, will even come to recognize
the poet’s great love and devotion as a replacement for
her loss. The lyrics end with a sincere note of concern for Lesbia’s
grief, while the piano gently follows the separation of the sparrow’s
spirit from his body.
