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.

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.

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, 202– 235. 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 I, I, 61 sqq.

13. matris matre dolente; cf. Cat.

14. genero.. viro

v. 4, n.

dolore = a
66, 50, n.
dat.; cf.

For the plural see Lex. Cf. Cic. In Ver. 5, 12, § 30: tabernacula carbaseis intenta velis

S.V.

conlocabat.

25

30

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 dives 0.

22. marmorea

domo: i.e.

sepulcro; cf. the epitaph in Buecheler's Car. Epig. 434, v. 15: haec domus aeterna est, hic sum situs, hic ero semper ; also PAPA., Vol. 30, p. xxx; Prop. 2, 13, 32, n. sicca: when dry. Only one in every three pentameters in this Elegy opens with a spondee; and one in every three contains only dactyls, e.g. v. 2. Cf. Intr. § 42, II (5).

23. Panchaia: a fabulous island supposed to be in the Erythraean Sea. merces: perfumes. Cf. Ovid, Fast. 3, 561: mixta bibunt molles lacrimis unguenta favillae.

24. Assyria: on the form of the verse cf. Intr. $ 42, II (2).

25. lacrimae cf. 1, 3, 8.

26. sic: i.e. as just described. conponi: to be consigned to the tomb'; cf. Prop. 2, 24, 35: tu mea conpones et dices,ossa, Properti, haec tua sunt? versus in

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 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

1Ο

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,

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 iuvat,

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