(Ancient Text by , translated by ) and Sugar (Contemporary Song by Maroon 5)
In the text about the ancient values of marriage, we were able to experience the happy coupling of Pliny and his wife, Calpurnia. He writes about his deep affection to her and how she completely devotes herself to him. On page 45, paragraph 61 he writes “She has even, because of her affection for me, taken an interest in literature…What anxiety she feels when I am going to plead a case in court, what great relief when I have finished!…and [she] listens very eagierly to the praise I win. No musician has taught her, but love itself, the best of instructors.”
One might even say that Calpurnia’s love for Pliny is sweet, like sugar. Maroon 5 describes a very similar ode to love, titled Sugar. In the beginning of the music video (linked below) couples are being interviewed about their sweet love for one another as well. The song then goes on the describe Adam Levine’s lover as being a devoted as well:
“Yeah you show me good loving
Make it alright
Need a little sweetness in my life
Your sugar
Yes, please
Won’t you come and put it down on me”
Even more similarly, Pliny goes on to write to Calpurnia when she was away from him while recovering from an illness. He writes how much he misses her and how he longs to see her again on page 46, Paragraph 62: “It is incredible how much I miss you, because I love you and then because we are not used to being separated…and then I turn and leave, sick at heard and sad, like a lover locked out on a deserted doorstep.”
Maroon 5’s Sugar is also coincidentally written about a lover who is currently away from him! He writes about the similar heartbreak he feels while they’re away in the first two stanzas:
I need your loving, loving, I need it now
When I’m without you
I’m something weak
You got me begging
Begging, I’m on my knees
I just wanna be deep in your love
And it’s killing me when you’re away
Ooh, baby,
‘Cause I really don’t care where you are
I just wanna be there where you are
And I gotta get one little taste
On page 45, paragraph 61 he writes “She has even, because of her affection for me, taken an interest in literature…What anxiety she feels when I am going to plead a case in court, what great relief when I have finished!…and [she] listens very eagierly to the praise I win. No musician has taught her, but love itself, the best of instructors.”
page 46, Paragraph 62: “It is incredible how much I miss you, because I love you and then because we are not used to being separated…and then I turn and leave, sick at heard and sad, like a lover locked out on a deserted doorstep.”