Both the song by John Legend and the verses of the ancient text focus on the display of physical love and how it is viewed by other people outside of the relationship. The speakers in both the song, P.D.A., and the verse from Catullus give the readers a sense that neither of them cares about the perception of their relationship because both choose to display their relationship to people each day by being very physical. For the verse in Catullus, this is shown by the phrase “let’s love and not give a dime about the talk.” This emphasizes the fact that the speaker does not focus on the opinions of others concerning their relationship. The song by John Legend repeats the phrase “we don’t care” when speaking about the perceptions and opinions of others which resembles the thoughts in the ancient text.
Although both talk about the physical aspect of love. The song seems to be talking about more than just kissing which is the focus of the ancient text that speaks of “our kisses were so many.” P.D.A. by John Legend speaks of kissing followed by the phrase “maybe we’ll go too far.” This insinuates that the couple does not care if they are being seen committing displays of love that are more passionate and perhaps a more intense way of expressing their feeling for one another.
Chapter 5, Lines 1-3 and 11-13
“Let’s live, my Lesbia, and let’s love and not give a dime for all the talk of overly severe old men.’
“we’ll lose track of the number, so we won’t know, and so no one can give us the evil eye by knowing that our kisses were so many.”