Latin (was a lot of other things...)

On Tue, 9 Nov 1999, Barry Garcia wrote:

> Hmm, maybe Catullus could change my mind. I just never got into it because
> it seemed so dry and clinical to me (i.e. like describing a medical
> condition when conversing in it).I'll have to search for his stuff .
Catullus stops being medical when you realize he was just using
normal, everyday words, even if they nowadays belong to a specialized
vocabulary. I am rather fond of Catullus, myself - he can be poetical
and vehement, according to his needs. I like Martial not quite so
much, he is too venomous all-round. The Priapea are maybe a bit
to down-to-earth. But then, what I got really excited about when I
learnt myself reading Latin was the Vita Karoli Magni - no sex at all,
but it read like a tgv. I think I just prefer mediaeval Latin, myself.

Boudewijn Rempt  | http://denden.conlang.org/~bsarempt