This is the first poem where Lesbia isn't the main focus of the poem, yet she is still involved in it. In his opinion this girl is horrid, but whose to say that Lesbia isn't? We only have Catullus' point of view on what is beautiful. He is saying that thinking this girl is pretty is wrong and that the people who think this are crazy. He asks if the province calls her beautiful and if she is compared to Lesbia. If he is questioning why so many people think she is pretty then she must be somewhat attractive. Catullus may be the crazy one, or he might be blinded by his love for Lesbia. Maybe he only has eyes for her, but why would he want everybody to like Lesbia instead of this girl? He talks about Lesbia as if he possesses her, so maybe he wants to make these people jealous because she is his? He might be trying to make up for all the mean things Lesbia said about him in Catullus 83, to prove to them that she doesn't really think those things. All in all I think Catullus just wants more attention to the fact that he won Lesbia, he wants to boast but no one is listening.
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