25 30 nam tua non aetas umquam cessavit amori, in quorum numero me quoque terra tegat. at tu seu mollis qua tendit Ionia seu qua seu pedibus terras seu pontum carpere remis 22. at 0 et w. 22. at: for the position cf. 3, 5, 14; Verg. Ec. 7, 67: saepius at. -cura: sc. tua or tibi; the State had been his mistress. Cf. Tac. Ann. 4, 8, 4: e complexu rei publicae. 23. puer: more expressive than translatable. 25. iacere 'take life easy.' Cf. Cic. Phil. 10, 7, 14: in pace iacere quam in bello vigere maluit. quamquam ille quidem numquam iacuit. Amor. iste is 26. hanc animam: 'this life of mine.' - nequitiae: 'wanton worthlessness.' 29. Cf. Tib. 1, 1, 57. — laudi : i e. military glory. 30. hanc militiam: i.e. the service of my mistress. Cf. Tib. I, 1, 75. 31. mollis. . . Ionia: cf. Verg. Georg. 1, 57: molles sua tura Sabaei. 32. Pactoli: the proverbial river which contributed so greatly in legend to the fabulous riches of Lydia. Cf. the modern verse: "Where Afric's sunny fountains roll down their golden sands.". arata (sc. loca) = arva. — liquor: cf. 3, 18, 28. 33. carpere: cf. I, 1, 12, n. 34. accepti: i.e. by the peoples who soon would be under pax Romana in Asia.- pars: Tullus would naturally hold some office under his uncle's control. 35 tum tibi siqua mei veniet non inmemor hora, vivere me duro sidere certus eris. 5 7 Dum tibi Cadmeae dicuntur, Pontice, Thebae armaque fraternae tristia militiae, atque, ita sim felix, primo contendis Homero, sint modo fata tuis mollia carminibus, nos, ut consuemus, nostros agitamus amores, 36. duro sidere: cf. 4, 1, 150; Ovid, Trist. 5, 10, 45: tam grave sidus. Astrology and its language were at this time much in vogue. We still exclaim: 66 'My lucky stars!" I, 7 1-14: You are writing great epics, Ponticus, while I am busy only with my love, and from thence must hope for inspiration and future fame. 15-26: But if perchance Cupid should turn his bow upon you, how you would envy me, in vain, and wish, too late, to write elegy also! So, beware!' 1. Cf. Ovid, Am. 2, 18, 1-4; Anacreontea, 23, 1: Oéλw λéyel Ατρείδας, θέλω δὲ Κάδμον ᾄδειν, ὁ βάρβιτος δὲ χορδαῖς Ἔρωτα μovvov nxeî. tibi: poetic dat. for abl. of agent. - Cadmeae: Cadmus was the legendary founder of Thebes. dicuntur: cf. Tib. 1, 3, 2. fraternae: i.e. of Eteocles and Polynices. Cf. H. & T. § 171. 3. ita sim felix: cf. Tib. 2, 5, 63, n. — primo: so acknowledged now nearly three millenniums! Homero the rare poetic dat. with contendo occurs also in 1, 14, 7. 5. consuēmus consuevimus the other syncopated forms of the perf. are more common. Cf., as other examples of this tendency in Propertius, 2, 7, 2: flemus = flevimus; 2, 15, 3: narramus = narravimus; 9: mutamus = muta atque aliquid duram quaerimus in dominam : nec tantum ingenio quantum servire dolori cogor et aetatis tempora dura queri. hic mihi conteritur vitae modus, haec mea famast, me laudent doctae solum placuisse puellae, Pontice, et iniustas saepe tulisse minas: me legat adsidue post haec neglectus amator, et prosint illi cognita nostra mala. te quoque si certo puer hic concusserit arcu, vimus. amores: the plural emphasizes the varying phases of his passion. 6. aliquid: i.e. some poetic appeal to her fancy. — duram: cf. the preceding elegy.-in dominam: the preposition implies purpose. This use with both in and ad is unusually common in Propertius, there being all together some 40 cases, of which more than half are with in, which is elsewhere rare in this signification. For a complete list of the examples cf. the editor's collection in PAPA., Vol. 28 (1897), p. xxiii. 7. ingenio: an implication that his own taste might lead him to greater themes, were he not absorbed in his passion. Such a claim is justified by Book 4. 9. hic... haec . . . hinc: emphatic repetition of the subject of his poetry, viz. his love. 10. nomen: 'glory.' The wish has been fulfilled; cf. the phrase "Cynthia Monobiblos." 11. laudent: the subject is indefinite. doctae ... puellae: the same epithet is applied to Cynthia in 2, 11, 6 and 2, 13, 11, doubtless because she herself wrote poetry; cf. 1, 2, 27-28. Catullus (65, 2) uses the term of the Muses themselves.—solum : so far as his poetic offerings were concerned, Propertius surely could win over all rivals for Cynthia's favor; but the poet hopes for a unique affection also. Cf. 2, 7, 19: tu mihi sola places: placeam tibi, Cynthia,solus. 12. iniustas minas : cf. Intr. to 1, 6, ad fin. 20 25 quod nolim nostros eviolasse deos, longe castra tibi, longe miser agmina septem et frustra cupies mollem conponere versum, nec tibi subiciet carmina serus Amor. tum me non humilem mirabere saepe poetam : tu cave nostra tuo contemnas carmina fastu: 7. 16. quod O quo codex Barberinus. eviolasse O evoluisse or te violasse Itali evoluisse Canter quam nolis . . . heu violasse Heinsius quam nolim te violasse . . . ! Rothstein. ... 5 8 Tune igitur demens, nec te mea cura moratur ? an tibi sum gelida vilior Illyria, et tibi iam tanti, quicumque est, iste videtur, ut sine me vento quolibet ire velis? tune audire potes vesani murmura ponti fortis, et in dura nave iacere potes? tu pedibus teneris positas fulcire pruinas, tu potes insolitas, Cynthia, ferre nives? I, 8 1-8: 'Are you beside yourself, Cynthia, to abandon me for such a fellow, and with him to brave wind and weather? 9-16: May the tempests of winter prevent your sailing and my grieving. 17-26: But if you go, may safety attend you; for I shall ever be faithful, and know that you are still destined for me.' Cf. Vahlen, "Ueber zwei Elegien des Propertius," in Sitz. d. Kgl. Pr. Akad. d. Wiss. 1882, pp. 262-280. 1. igitur: we are introduced to the situation not at the beginning, but toward the conclusion of the poet's meditations. Cf. 3, 7, vv. 7-9. — Illyria: poetic for Illyrico. : 3. iam implying a sudden development of the passion.-quicumque est, iste: an assumption of contemptuous ignorance. Of course the person is the "praetor." Cf. 2, 16, I. 4. vento quolibet: the abandon of the lover. 5. tune the emphatic pronoun used here and repeatedly in the following verses calls attention to the absurdity of the idea that so luxurious a lady as Cynthia should plan so rough an experience. 6. dura Propertius seems to be thinking of the planks as the only bed on shipboard. But the sailors' comforts would contrast sharply with the pampered life of Cynthia. Cf. Hor. Car. 2, 13, 27: dura navis, dura fugae mala, dura belli. 7. pedibus teneris: cf. Verg. Ec. 10, 49: ah, tibi ne teneras glacies secet aspera plantas! positas pruinas: the fallen snow, as distinguished from the ... |