The poem we read this week Ad Iuvenem Nimis Elatum is a poem that can be divided into three different parts. The author Baudri in this poem uses many references to Greek characters such as Philomela, Orpheus, Ganymede, Jupiter, Narcissus, and to nature, which suggests that he is writing this poem in a classical sense rather than a medieval sense. I believe that because he writes this in this way rather than in a more Christian way, it means that Baudri is speaking the way he himself feels he would hear himself speaking about his position and status. This implies to me that this poem would be something a little bolder than what one would traditionally expect from a man of Baudri's stature. The first part of the poem talks about physical things, the second part of the poem talks about the boy's character and his pride, while the third part of the poem talks about how beauty does not last forever. The main themes that are reiterated are the idea of youth as well as the idea of Baudri's superiority over this young man. Baudri in the first part of the poem, especially the first seven lines, are all very personal. They concern what Baudri himself likes or dislikes. Baudri uses the word placere 4 times in the first seven lines and also uses the word displicere 4 times. I found it very interesting that you use please and displease the same number of times in the poems because they are two opposite ideas. In my opinion, Baudri seems to deduce that in this young man the good balances the evil. Like most of the poems we have read so far, the next two lines describe physical beauty from the face down. It starts with the blonde haired head which seems to imply youth. The reason for this is that many people get past...... the middle of the card...... pleased and displeased are used the same number of times. This seems to me to imply that Baudri is almost writing a persuasive poem to this boy convincing him to change his ways. In the first part of the poem, although the words placere and displicere are used uniformly, placere has more lines dedicated to its use, implying that Baudri is satisfied with the boy at the beginning of their relationship. In the second section the word hate is used more than love, implying that Baudri, when he got to know the boy beyond the physical sense described in the first part, realized that there were many qualities in the boy that needed to change. However in the third part placere and displicere are used uniformly suggesting that although Baudri has gotten to know the boy more and there are qualities he doesn't like, the good balances the bad and he would give this boy a chance.
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