Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

quisve meam teneat, quot teneatve modis. tum tibi, lena, precor diras: satis anxia vivas, moverit e votis pars quotacumque deos.

LIBER TERTIVS

5

2

Qui primus caram iuveni carumque puellae
eripuit iuvenem, ferreus ille fuit.

durus et ille fuit, qui tantum ferre dolorem,
vivere et erepta coniuge qui potuit.

non ego firmus in hoc, non haec patientia nostro
ingenio frangit fortia corda dolor :

nec mihi vera loqui pudor est vitaeque fateri
tot mala perpessae taedia nata meae.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

2. ferreus ille fuit: cf. 1, 10, 2. Similar imitations of the genuine work of Tibullus are frequent in this book.

4. coniuge: 'betrothed'; probably a coniunx by anticipation only; cf. Verg. Aen. 3, 330: ereptae magno flammatus amore coniugis; 2, 344: gener auxilium Priamo ferebat. qui: of the same antecedent as the qui in v. 3; cf. Cat. 64, 96: quaeque regis Golgos quaeque Idalium frondosum. 5. in hoc this extent.'

usque adeo; 'to

6. For a similarly sententious verse, cf. 3, 4, 76: vincuntur molli pectora dura prece.

ΙΟ

15

20

ergo cum tenuem fuero mutatus in umbram
candidaque ossa super nigra favilla teget,
ante meum veniat longos incompta capillos

et fleat ante meum maesta Neaera rogum.
sed veniat carae matris comitata dolore:

maereat haec genero, maereat illa viro.
praefatae ante meos manes animamque precatae
perfusaeque pias ante liquore manus,
pars quae sola mei superabit corporis, ossa
incinctae nigra candida veste legent,
et primum annoso spargent collecta Lyaeo,
mox etiam niveo fundere lacte parent,
post haec carbaseis umorem tollere velis

2. 15. precatae w rogate A rogatae V recentem Postgate.

9. ergo cf. Prop. 2, 13, 17. tenuem . in umbram: cf. Verg. Aen. 4, 278: in tenuem ex oculis evanuit auram.

10. The details of the Roman burial customs here following are given with varying degrees of completeness in several other noteworthy passages; e.g. Prop. 2,13; I, 17, 19-24; 4, 1, 127; Ovid, Trist. 3, 3; Verg. Aen. 6, 202235. See B. G. Excursus, Scene 12; Guhl und Koner, p. 857.super... teget: tmesis.

12. fleat of the lament just as the pyre was lighted. - Neaera:

cf. Intr. § 25; also 1, 1, 61 sqq.
13. matris
dolore = a
matre dolente; cf. Cat. 66, 50, n.
14. genero.. viro dat.; cf.

v. 4, n.

15. sqq. cf. B.G. 519. — praefatae ante pleonastic.

16. liquore: i.e. aqua.

18. incinctae: 'enveloped' (in the black mourning robe). — nigra candida the juxtaposition of the words is intended to heighten the effect of the contrast. - veste: instrumental abl.; the ashes are gathered into the robe itself. legent, like spargent in v. 19, expresses greater confidence than the following optative subjunctives.

20. fundere: cf. 1, 7, 50. lacte for its appropriateness as an offering to earth powers, cf. Fowler, Roman Festivals, p. 103; cf. its use in incantations, e.g. 1, 2, 48. 21. carbaseis . . . velis: 'a linen

[blocks in formation]

25

330

atque in marmorea ponere sicca domo. illic quas mittit dives Panchaia merces

eoique Arabes, pinguis et Assyria,

et nostri memores lacrimae fundantur eodem:
sic ego conponi versus in ossa velim.

sed tristem mortis demonstret littera causam

atque haec in celebri carmina fronte notet. 'Lygdamus hic situs est: dolor huic et cura Neaerae, coniugis ereptae, causa perire fuit.'

24. pinguis o dives O.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]

ossa: when I have become "dust to dust."

27. littera: 'inscription'; cf. Ovid, Met. 11, 705: inque sepulcro si non urna, tamen iunget nos littera.

28. celebri: 'upon the thronged highway.' This is exactly the situation that Propertius (3, 16, 25) prays his tomb may not have.

29. Lygdamus: the word occurs nowhere else in the book. A comparison of the Greek Aydos λύγδος suggests the probability that it was formed to furnish an equivalent for Albius (Tibullus).

30. perire: poetic with causa; cf. Verg. Aen. 10, 90: quae causa fuit, consurgere in arma. As other commentators have remarked, this was about the last reason Neaera would have assigned in an epitaph upon a rejected lover or husband! Tibullus would hardly have been so absurd.

5

3

Quid prodest caelum votis inplesse, Neaera,
blandaque cum multa tura dedisse prece,
non ut marmorei prodirem e limine tecti,
insignis clara conspicuusque domo,
aut ut multa mei renovarent iugera tauri
et magnas messes terra benigna daret,
sed tecum ut longae sociarem gaudia vitae
inque tuo caderet nostra senecta sinu
tum cum permenso defunctus tempore lucis
nudus Lethaea cogerer ire rate?

nam grave quid prodest pondus mihi divitis auri,
arvaque si findant pinguia mille boves?

quidve domus prodest Phrygiis innixa columnis,
Taenare sive tuis, sive Caryste tuis,

[blocks in formation]

15

20

25

30

et nemora in domibus sacros imitantia lucos
aurataeque trabes marmoreumque solum?
quidve in Erythraeo legitur quae litore concha
tinctaque Sidonio murice lana fuvat,

et quae praeterea populus miratur? in illis
invidia est falso plurima vulgus amat.

non opibus mentes hominum curaeque levantur:
nam Fortuna sua tempora lege regit.
sit mihi paupertas tecum iucunda, Neaera:
at sine te regum munera nulla volo.

o niveam, quae te poterit mihi reddere, lucem!
o mihi felicem terque quaterque diem!
at si, pro dulci reditu quaecumque voventur,
audiat aversa non meus aure deus,

nec me regna iuvant nec Lydius aurifer amnis
nec quas terrarum sustinet orbis opes.
haec alii cupiant, liceat mihi paupere cultu

building as the basilica of S. Paolo

Fuori le Mura gives us a slight hint as to the magnificence in that respect that must have been common in Rome's best days. The poets frequently refer to this; cf. Hor. Car. 2, 18, 3-5; 2, 15, 20; Statius Silv. 1, 5, 34 sqq.; Prop. 3, 2, 9.

15. nemora in the peristyles of luxurious houses, and the great villas of the wealthy.

16. aurataeque: cf. Hor. Car. 2, 18, 1: Non ebur neque aureum mea renidet in domo lacunar.

17. concha by metonomy for the pearl within the concha. 2, 4, 30: e rubro lucida concha

mari.

Cf.

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
« ZurückWeiter »