Birds and Erotic Fantasies in Catullus and Goethe

SCOTT E. GOINS Birds and Erotic Fantasies in Catullus and Goethe On Îμ of Goethe's most effective additions to the second version of Die Leiden des jungen Werthers is the protagonist's anguished description of Lotte playing with her pet canary (letter of 12 September 1772).λ Goethe's inspiration for the scene apparently grew from his relationship with Charlotte von Stein. In a letter of 23 February 1784 from Goethe to Frau von Stein, the poet fondly recalls visiting her when she had a pet bird as her companion. While there is little doubt that this remembrance provided the basis for Goethe's addition to Werther, the emotional reactions described in the two instances are very different. In Goethe's letter the bird is mentioned only in passing as part of a tender recollection without erotic overtones. But in his novel Goethe has transformed the ostensibly common and innocent scene into a fervent expression of passion on the part of Werther.2 Although the intensity of Werther's feelings is manifest, the reasons for his reactions are not so obvious. Why does the simple scene have such a profound impact upon him? We can gain a better insight into the feelings behind Werther's frenzied account of the incident by comparing the passage in Goethe's work with Catullus's carmen 2, a passionate love poem based upon a remarkably similar situation in the Roman poet's life. C. 2 of Catullus probably occurred early in the so-called "Lesbia cycle," a series of intensely personal poems in which Catullus takes the reader through the various stages of a love-hate relationship with his mistress Lesbia.3 In this poem Catullus seems not yet on intimate terms with Lesbia, although his desire for her is evident. C. 2 is addressed to Lesbia's pet sparrow (passer), which the poet has seen receiving the affections of his wouldbe lover. The poem initially appears to be an innocent description of a common enough scene — a young woman playing with her pet. The work is controlled and unemotional at first, apparently following the Hellenistic form of a mock hymn to an animal4: 30 Scott E. Goins Passer, deliciae meae puellae, quicum ludere, quem in sinu tenere, cui primum digitum dare appetenti et acris solet incitare morsus [...] (1-4) Sparrow, darling of my girl, with you she often plays, holding you in her lap and teasing you to give sharp bites as you reach for the tip of her finger [...] But as the poem progresses it becomes increasingly clear that the scene is highly charged sexually, at least in the poet's eyes: cum desiderio meo nitenti carum nescio quid lubet iocari, et solaciolum sui doloris, credo, ut turn grauis acquiesçât ardor: tecum ludere sicut ipsa possem et tristis animi leuare curas! (5-10) when it is pleasing to my radiant beloved to play some sweet game and find a small respite from the pains of desire, as she tries (I think) to lay aside her heavy passion. Oh that I, like her, could play with you and free my heart from the bitter pains of love! In these lines the poem shifts from the somewhat artificial style of its Hellenistic antecedents to an intense expression of longing and frustration. The emotional fervor of the second part of the poem comes as a surprise and forces the reader to reconsider some of the apparent innocence of the preceding four lines. There are several words suggesting an erotic context. The passer is called Lesbia's deliciae, a word that can mean "darling" or "lovemaking." Both ludere (play) and incitare (excite), the words Catullus uses to describe the games between bird and mistress, commonly refer to sexual activities. Lesbia embraces the bird in her lap (or breast) (in sinu tenere) and provokes its bites much as if it were a lover.5 It is very clear that Catullus has taken pains to describe a domestic scene in sexually suggestive language. Catullus's erotic language indicates the fantasy that he has created out of uve passer scene. At the beginning of the poem Catullus seems to regard the bird simply as his mistress's pet. But...