| Ode 1.25 is more than just a poem of hatred with the wish for a bleak future upon another. On the surface the poem contains odious and hurtful words focused toward a woman named Lydia, but it is the implications that Horace has layered under the surface, as shown by the word order, word meanings, and meter, that show the real intent of the poem. In my thesis I propose that Horace intended Ode 1.25 to be a poem about love, passion, and longing and not about hate as many other scholars have thought. The narrator is manipulating Lydia, the subject of the poem, into allowing the narrator access to her. He loves her but he is angry and hurt by her actions; he is using derogatory language as a way to show that he still has strong feelings for her. He does not hate her; he is still very much invested in her and their relationship. There is a method and design to Ode 1.25. The poet has organized the poem into three distinct parts: stanzas one and two is the Paraklausithyron, stanzas three and four are the Passion and Prophecy and the final stanza draws the reader back to the first stanza and concludes the poem. Each chapter is a progression showing the narrator's emotional attachment to Lydia and his attempts to manipulate her to his will. |
