Carmen ii. v. 1. Politian, commenting on Catullus, held in common with
Lampridius, Turnebus and Vossius that Lesbia's sparrow was an indecent
allegory, like the "grey duck" in Pope's imitation of Chaucer. Sannazarius
wrote an Epigram smartly castigating Politian, the closing lines of which
were to the effect that the critic would like to devour the bird:--
Meus hic Pulicianus
Tam bellum sibi passerem Catulli
Intra viscera habere concupiscit.
Martial says:
"Kiss me and I will give you Catullus's sparrow,
by which he does not mean a poem.
And in the Apophoreta:
"If you have such a sparrow as Catullus's Lesbia deplored, it may lodge
here."