40 45 et placidam soleo spargere lacte Palem. adsitis, divi, nec vos e paupere mensa dona nec e puris spernite fictilibus. pocula, de facili conposuitque luto. quam iuvat inmites ventos audire cubantem et dominam tenero continuisse sinu 46. continuisse O detinuisse Y tum tenuisse Baehrens. 36. placidam: used proleptically. 37. paupere mensa : in contrast to the expensive tables of the rich, a kind of extravagance which was a special fad at Rome; cf. B. G., pp. 294–296. 38. fictilibus: although Tibullus appears to be pleading his poverty as an excuse for using earthenware dishes instead of vessels of silver and gold in sacrificing to the gods, as a matter of fact it was the well-known conservatism always attaching to religious rites which required that the old-fashioned sacrificial vessels of pottery should be retained even long after this time. Cf. Lanciani, Anc. Rome in the Light of Mod. Disc., p. 43; Pliny, N. H. 35, 46: in sacris quidem etiam inter has opes hodie non murrinis crystallinisve, sed fictilibus prolibatur ; Juv. 6, 342-345. With the general idea of vv. 38-39 cf. 1, 10, 17-18. 40. facili: in the passive sense, 'plastic. For the position of ego cf. BPW., Vol. 18 (1898), Sp. 213; for -que before a dissyllable ending a pentameter cf. v. 78; Intr. § 28. 42. condita ingathered.' 43. satis est: for similar repetitions, which are quite in the manner of Tibullus, cf. 1, 3, 4-5; 1, 2, 29-30; 1, 5, 61–65; 2, 5, 100; Prop. 2, 13, 25. 44. solito cf. Ovid, Trist. 3, 3, 39.toro: properly the bedding or covering, the part upon which the body lies, as distinguished from lectus as a whole. 50 55 aut, gelidas hibernus aquas cum fuderit auster, hoc mihi contingat: sit dives iure, furorem ut domus hostiles praeferat exuvias: 47. For the rime cf. Intr. § 42, I (5)(b). 48. imbre iuvante: cf. Hor. Epod. 2, 28. 51. potius belongs to both clauses. On the arrangement of words (synchysis) cf. 1, 3, 56; Hansen, p. 36. smaragdi: 'gems'; for the collective use cf. Prop. 1, 14, 12; Ovid, Am. 3, 13, 25: virginei crines auro gemmaque pre the Aquitanian expedition, probably in 31 B.C., and the ordering of affairs in various eastern provinces immediately thereafter (see Intr. to 1, 3). He was the first to hold the office of Praefectus Urbi, which he soon resigned as inconsistent with his political opinions. As an orator he achieved much fame and earned the praise of Cicero. He wrote also poetry and historical works. The literary coterie of which he was the center included particularly Tibullus, Lygdamus, Sulpicia, and other minor poets; and he was also the friend of Horace, Asinius Pollio, and Ovid; cf. 1, 3, 1; 5, 31; 7, 7, et passim ; 2, 1, 31-34; 5, 119. 54. praeferat: it was the custom to hang at the entrance of houses and temples the trophies won from vanquished enemies. Cf. Verg. Aen. 7, 183 sqq.: multaque praeterea sacris in postibus arma, captivi pendent currus curvaeque secures et cristae capitum et portarum ingentia claustra speculaque clipeique ereptaque rostra carinis; Prop. 3, 9, 26. 60 65 70 et sedeo duras ianitor ante fores.. non ego laudari curo, mea Delia: tecum dum modo sim, quaeso segnis inersque vocer. te teneam moriens deficiente manu. 129 lecto my bier,' which would be placed upon the funeral pyre and consumed with it. Cf. Prop. 4, II, IO. 63-64. Cf. 1, 10, 59; Ovid, Am. 3, 6, 59: ille habet et silices et vivum in pectore ferrum. 67. tu: cf. I, 4, 39; Prop. 1, 7, 25. manes ne laede: the spirit of the departed is represented as being pained by too great grief on the part of loved ones left behind; cf. Prop. 4, II, I. 69. dum. . . sinunt: cf. Prop. 1, 19, 25; 2, 15, 23: dum nos fata sinunt, oculos satiemus amore. — iungamus amores: cf. Cat. 64, 372: quare agite optatos animi coniungite amores. 70. iam for this use of the word cf. Lex. s.v. C. 3; cf. 2, 5, 56. Mors: the abstract idea is 75 iam subrepet iners aetas, neque amare decebit, dicere nec cano blanditias capite. nunc levis est tractanda Venus, dum frangere postes hic ego dux milesque bonus: vos, signa tubaeque, 31 Ibitis Aegaeas sine me, Messalla, per undas, 72. capite OP capiti w. here personified according to Ro- senectus. me tenet ignotis aegrum Phaeacia terris : abstineas avidas, Mors precor atra, manus. 3. 4. Mors precor atra Yo Mors modo nigra O Mors violenta Codex Wittianus. tania, decided to accompany him thither also. But before he had proceeded far on his journey, the poet fell sick and Messalla was obliged to leave him behind on the island of Corcyra. This elegy must have been written there some time during the year 30 B.C., perhaps in the late summer or the fall, and is the earliest of the collection to which a definite date can be assigned. Sick and lonesome, Tibullus in characteristic fashion at one moment fears imminent death, and the next hopes for a joyful return to his home and his Delia. Three times do gloomy forebodings give way to hope, in each case the ground of his pleasant anticipations being a different one, approached in a very skillful man rule, war, the messenger of death, had been invented! But thou, Juppiter, shouldst save me, a religious man. 53-94: But if I must die, let me be duly honored, and let my spirit fly to Elysium. If any have taken advantage of my absence from my love, let his abode be, amidst the horrors of Tartarus. But do thou, Delia, remain true to me: and oh ! after all, may I live to return unexpectedly and find you waiting for me in your chaste home.' 1. Ibitis: although Messalla, his patron, stands alone for emphasis at the beginning of the elegy, the verb is in the plural referring to the idea of ipse cohorsque in the next verse; cf. Hor. Epod. I, I. 2. memores: sc. sitis, or vivatis; cf. 3, 5, 31. Such an omission is unusual, but begins to be more common in Tacitus. - cohors: ' retinue,' composed of not only the necessary officials, but also usually, in such a case, of many young men of rank, just getting thus their first taste of military life; cf. Intr. §§ 21 and 23. 3. Phaeacia: this mythical isle of Homer's Odyssey was identified by later writers with Corcyra. It was a terra incognita to the poet's friends; cf. Ovid, Am. 3, 9, 47. 4. Mors... atra: cf. 1, 10, 33. |