Let Us Live and Love (5)

Uncle Jerry discusses Catullus as context for why Shakespeare set Romeo and Juliet in Verona. He explains that the Roman poet Catullus 'lived in Verona, came from Verona, and he wrote a whole series of love poems' to an idealized woman named Lesbia. He notes that 'everybody in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance read the poems of Catullus' and describes Verona as 'a city of love... a city where love poetry is born.' This is presented as background context for Shakespeare's choice of setting rather than a direct reference in Taylor's lyric.