antique erotic poetry, see Introd. p. 46, and is the real basis of a number of constantly recurring motives. The general substrate of the argument is, Love cannot be avoided, at least the chances against it are infinitesimal. Postponement invites heavier punishment (Menander, 235 K. elt' ov μéyiotÓS ÈOTI TŵV θεῶν ̓́Ερως | καὶ τιμιώτατός γε τῶν πάντων πολύ; | οὐδεὶς γὰρ οὕτως ἐστὶ φειδωλὸς σφόδρα | ἄνθρωπος οὐδ ̓ οὕτως ἀκριβὴς τοὺς τρόπους, | ὃς οὐχὶ τούτῳ μερίδα τῷ θεῷ νέμει | τῆς οὐσίας· ὅσοις μὲν οὖν πράως ἔχει, | νέοις ἔτ ̓ οὖσι τοῦτο προστάττει ποιεῖν· | οἱ δ ̓ εἰς τὸ γῆρας ἀναβολὰς ποιούμενοι, | οὗτοι προσαποτίνουσι τοῦ χρόνου τόκους; Propertius, 1 7, 26, saepe venit magno faenore tardus Amor'; Ovid, Her. 4, 19, 'venit amor gravius quo serius,' etc.). Above all the bitter dregs of the cup are reserved by the angry gods for the scoffer and the proud (1, 8, 71; Propert. 1, 9 and 1, 7; Anth. Pal. 12. 23, etc.). Youth is the time for love - and youth is fleeting (1, 1, 69–74 and notes). Conversely, 'turpe senilis amor'; yépwv épaσtǹs éσxÁTN KAKỲ TUXŃ• Menander, 509 Κ., οὐκ ἂν γένοιτ ̓ ἐρῶντος ἀθλιώτερον | οὐδὲν γέροντος πλὴν ἕτερος γέρων ἐρῶν. Hence, to illustrate his law of Nemesis here the poet paints a favourite figure of comedy and of erotic poetry, the aged lover (1, 1, 71 n.); cp. also Anth. Pal. 5, 234, etc.

89-90. Cp. Thomas Lodge, Rosalynde, London, 1902, p. 139, 'Such (my faire shepheardesse) as disdaine in youth desire in age Love while thou art young, least thou be disdained when thou art olde.'

...

89. vidi ego: for the elision, 72 n. and for the naïve touch of quasipersonal experience, 1, 4, 33–34 n.

go. senem: for the emphatic position, 2, 5, 93.

91. blanditias componere: see I, 1, 72 n., and cp. Twelfth Night, 2, 5, 'He (Malvolio) has been yonder i' the sun practising behaviour to his own shadow this half hour.'

92. fingere: 'arrange,' cp. Propert. 3, 10, 14, 'et nitidas presso pollice finge comas,' and often. — velle: 'willing to,'' ready to,' cp. 1, 9, 32; 2, 6, 4: 4, 3, 8; Lucret. 2, 558, etc.

...

...

93-97. A realistic picture eminently suggestive of the comedy. 93. stare puduit. . . detinuisse: the present emphasizes continuance (1, 1, 45 n.), ‘stand and wait,' for the perfect, 1, 1, 29–32 n. 95. hunc . hunc on the anaphora, I, I, 39 n.-puer . : iuvenis : on the singular, I, 1, 42 n. — circumterit: the compound is confined to this one passage and may perhaps be considered merely a temporary union. I have so written it, however, in conformity with the MS. tradition and with the law of agreement in the last two feet which Tibullus rarely breaks, see 1, 3, 5 n. On the other hand, Tibullus is undeniably fond of using prepositions as adverbs, and verbal compounds with circum are often so loose that it is a fair

question whether they should be written as such, hence some modern editors, notably Haupt-Vahlen, give circum terit here instead of circumterit. 96., despuit: 54 n. despuere in sinum was a regular ceremonial at the sight of lunatics or epileptics, cp. Pliny, l.c., in 54 n.; Theophrast. Charact. 16 μαινόμενόν τε ἰδὼν ἢ ἐπίληπτον φρίξας εἰς κόλπον πτύσαι.

The poor old soul is such a pitiable example of mad folly that the crowd cross themselves, as it were, at the sight of him. -et: for the position, 1, 3, 82; 4, 4, 26, etc.

97-98. Cp. 79 ff. and for the characteristically pagan (and human) ending, Catullus, 63, 91, ‘dea, magna dea, Cybebe, dea, domina Dindymi, | procul a mea tuus sit furor omnis, era, domo: | alios age incitatos, alios age rabidos'; Propert. 3, 7, 71-72; Tib. I, I, 33-34 n.

98. quid messes, etc: proverbial; perhaps a variation of a saying more nearly represented by Horace, Epist. 2, 1, 220, ‘ut vineta egomet caedam mea’; the Greek has it (Frag. Com. Graec. Adesp. 564 K.) Tǹv avtòs a¿Toû yàp lúpav Kрoveι Xlow, which seems to come near in meaning to our own expression, ' 'Why cut off your nose to spite your face?'

I, 3

Messalla, called to the East by affairs of state, had invited Tibullus to accompany him as a member of his staff. The invitation was accepted, and the poet proceeded as far as Corcyra. There, however, he fell sick and was obliged to remain behind. For artistic reasons he represents himself as still there and still in danger of death. The expedition to which he refers is usually dated in the fall of 31 B.C., i.e. soon after the battle of Actium, when Octavianus sent out Messalla to settle the disturbed affairs of the Orient. The date, however, has been disputed, and is by no means certain. See Introd. P. 35. At any rate, the poem was written not long after the sickness. Imitated by Loyson; Lygdamus, 3, 5; Ovid, Amor. 3, (see p. 175). The piece is a propemptikon, like Propert. 1, 8; Ovid, Amor. 2, 11 and 12; Horace, Epod. 1; Theokrit. 7, 52 ff. etc.

'You will go on your way without me, Messalla. I am sore sick in Phaeacia, a stranger in a strange land. Mother and sister are not here to perform the last rites. Delia, too, is far away. Every omen favoured my departure, yet she was ever loath to let me go, and I, too, made every excuse to linger. Let my fate be a warning to all that would leave their lovers against the will of Cupid.

'May Isis, the great goddess of healing, whom you worship, Delia, succour me in my need, and bring me home safe and sound. How well men lived in

the golden days of good King Saturn! Then there was no seafaring and no war, but continual ease and abundance, idyllic innocence and perfect peace. In these days of Jove we have war and carnage and bloodshed without end, the sea, and a thousand other short cuts to an untimely grave. Spare me, father; I have done the gods no injury in word or deed. But if it so be that my time has come, place a stone at my grave, and let it record that Tibullus died while following Messalla over land and sea.

'And when I am dead Venus herself will lead me to the Elysian Fields. In that paradise of eternal joy dwell the souls of all those who, like myself, have been faithful lovers in life and willing servants of the goddess. Deep down in the nethermost gloom lies the abode of the wicked, and black and thunderous rivers encircle it. There Tisiphone forever drives before her a throng of sinners, scuttling this way and that before her cruel scourge, and the monster watching at the gate never sleeps. There are found Ixion, and Tantalos, and Tityos, and the daughters of Danaos, traitors to love - may they be joined by those who wrong me in my love and pray for my long absence!

Let me

'I beseech you, Delia, be true, and remain modestly at home. appear unexpected and unannounced as though I had dropped from heaven. Run then to my arms just as you are, with bare feet and your hair all unbound. That is my prayer, and may Lucifer, son of the morning, bring that joyous day to me!'

1. ibitis, Messalla: plural of the party (i.e. 'ipse cohorsque'), singular of the most notable person in it (Messalla), cp. Vergil, A. 9, 525, ‘vos, o Calliope, precor, adspirate canenti'; Homer, Odyss. 2, 310, and often.

2. o utinam: occurs here (acc. to Blase) for the first time, cp. Ovid, Met. I, 363; Val. Flaccus, 1, 113; 7, 135; 8, 439. o si is more common, but does not begin until Verg. A. 11, 415. si alone, as e.g. in Petron. 8, 'si scires quae mihi acciderunt,' is very rare, and the use of this optative subjunctive with no particle at all seems to be found only in Catull. 2, 9, 'tecum ludere possem,' and Ovid, Her. 8, 34, posset avus.' utinam alone, as in 2, 2, 17, and 6, 15, is common in all styles and periods. For omission of the verb as here (occasional in Cicero, cp. Ter. Adel. 518; Stat. Silv. 4, 6, 17; Tac. Ann. 1, 58; etc.) see 43 n., and for atque utinam, 4, 13, 5 n. memores the plural is afterward particularized and explained by ipse cohorsque, cp. I, 5, 36 n. — cohors: i.e. the cohors praetoria, the group of friends, generally young men of distinguished family, taken along by the proconsul or propraetor when he went to his province, or by the general on his campaign. The practice of inviting poets and other literary men dates from Ennius, who accompanied Fulvius Nobilior on his campaign against

the Aetolians. Cp. also Catull. 10, 13; Hor. Epist. 1, 3, 6, and for the cohors of imperial times (hence, corte, cour, 'court'), Nero's cohors amicorum; Sueton. Tib. 46, etc.

3-9. Imitated by Lygdamus, 3, 2, 9 ff. The poet dreads death in a strange land as opposed to death at home and among kindred, the fitting close of a life of happiness and peace, as in I, I, 59-68. The touching passage of Ovid, Trist. 3, 3, 37 ff., 'tam procul ignotis igitur moriemur in oris,' etc., was probably suggested by these lines. The feeling, however, is shared by all humanity, cp. e.g. Propert. 3, 7, 8 ff. and 63 ff. (to Paetus); Vergil, A. 9, 485 ff.; Homer, Odyss. 24, 290 ff. and esp. Sophokles, Elekt. 1136 ff. (cp. 869). Epiktetos, I, 27, 5, says, ἀκούεις τῶν ἰδιωτῶν λεγόντων ‘τάλας ἐκεῖνος, ἀπέθανεν· ἀπώλετο ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ, ἡ μήτηρ· ἐξεκόπη, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄωρος καὶ ἐπὶ ξένης.

Lines 3-4 are alluded to by Ovid in his elegy on the death of Tibullus (Amor. 3, 9, 47), 'sed tamen hoc melius, quam si Phaeacia tellus | ignotum vili supposuisset humo.'

6

3. ignotis terris: 1, 1, 8 n.; 1, 3, 39. Cp. Theokrit. Epig. 11, 3, ev μv ἔθαψαν ἑταῖροι ἐπὶ ξείνης ξένον ὄντα a stranger in a strange land'-though the original of our expression is the less poetic words of Exod. 2, 22, πápoιKOS... Év yǹ åλλoтpíą. — Phaeacia: Exepía, Homer's land of the Phaeacians, was identified with the island of Corcyra (Kepкúpa, Herod., Thuk. and now; Koρkúpa, early inscript., coins, Strabo; Corfù, the mediaeval name, is from the Byz. Kopupal, the 'twin cliffs' upon it).

4. Greedy death (cp. 65) who lays violent hands on his victim is a popular conception, cp. 'auferet Orcus,' 'abstulit cita Mors,' rapuit Fatum,' and similar expressions common in the epitaphs. So too, Ovid, Amor. 3, 9, 19, 'scilicet omne sacrum mors importuna profanat, | omnibus obscuras inicit illa manus'; Kallimach. Epig. 2, 5; etc. - Mors atra: ater, which as opposed to niger is symbolic as well as literal, is a common epithet of mors, see Appendix.

5-8. The ashes of the dead were gathered up, sprinkled with wine and milk, mixed with perfumes, and placed in an urn. The duty belonged to the chief mourner, cp. the epitaph (Carm. Epig. 1149, 3, Buech.), 'flevit praesentem mater, flevere sodales, | et mater tepido condedit ossa rogo'; Propert., for his father (4, 1, 127), and he requests Cynthia to do the same for him (2, 24, 49), reminding her, 'noli nobilibus noli conferre beatis: | vix venit extremo qui legat ossa die | hi tibi nos erimus.' See also Propert. 2, 9, 9 ff.; Ovid, Amor. 3, 9, 49 ff.; Lygd. 3, 2, 17; Lucan, 9, 60; etc.

5. abstineas, etc.: 1, 2, 9 n. The epanalepsis serves here as the transition, as in 2, 4, 20.—hic mihi mater: it is a universal law of metrical art

that whatever liberties we may take with the beginning of a verse the type of it must be clearly marked at the close. For this as well as for other reasons the law of 'conflict' (1, 2, 27 n.) in the first four feet of the hexameter yields to the law of 'agreement' in the last two. In that case (irrespective of spondaic lines which as they do not occur in Tib. need not be considered here) the verse must end in a dissyllable or a trisyllable preceded by a single word beginning not later than the fifth thesis nor earlier than the fourth arsis, thus, 9, 'mitteret urbe '; 13, 'deterrita numquam'; 7, 'dedat odores'; 15, 'mandata dedissem'; 1, 'Messalla, per undas'; 25, 'pureque lavari'; 61, 'totosque per agros'; 47,' bella, nec ensem'; 77, 'stagna: sed acrem.' More than 90% of all the Roman hexameters surviving conform to this rule. The possible cadences remaining all involve some 'conflict' and are all exceptional. Agreeably therefore to the laws of chronology and of department (see Introd. p. 96) they are most common in the early poets and the satire, least common in the elegy. Of these exceptional cadences, hic mihi mater,' i.e. a monosyllable followed by two dissyllables (where the monosyllable softens as much as possible the objectionable conflict in the fifth foot) is decidedly the favourite with Tibullus (1, 2, 95, see n.; 1, 2, 41; 3, 5 3, 23; 6, 33; 6, 57; 9, 11; 9, 21; 9, 75; 10, 5; 2, 4, 51; 5, 61; 6, 3; 6, 7; 6, 27; 4, 3, 15; 5, 1), less so with Propertius (14 exx.), still less with Ovid who reduces all exceptional usage to a minimum (only three exx. in the Amores, 1, 4, 67; 2, 13, 5; 2, 17, 21). As a rule, the first dissyllable is like mihi here, more or less enclitic or proclitic in its nature. On the contrary, in five cases (1, 6, 1; 6, 63; 2, 4, 45; 4, 59; 5, 111 — - not mentioned above) Tib. neglects the law of the monosyllable (only once, 2, 23, 15, in Propertius, never in Ovid, Amores).

To end the hexameter with a monosyllable was always bad. It was least objectionable, however, when the last foot was filled out with another monosyllable, thus, I, 4, 63, ‘carmina ni sint' (the only ex. in Tib.); cp. Sulpicia, 4, 11, 5, and only four times in Ovid, Amores (1, 15, 5; 2, 4, 13; 3, 4, 5; 7, 55). With Propertius, however, this is the decided favourite among exceptional cadences (25 exx.).

The cadence represented by exhibitura puellis' occurs 19 times in Propertius, II times in Ovid, Amores, but only 3 times in Tibullus, all in the second book (1, 61; 3, 73; 5, 93). The following exceptional cadences occur in Propertius, but not in Tibullus nor Ovid — 2, 3, 45, ‘aut mihi si quis' (cp. Sulpicia, 4, 10, 1); 2, 24, 51, 'potius precor ut me'; 2, 27, 11; 3, 1, 9; 3, 8, 3; 3, 9, 59; 4, 5, 17; ‘sub limine amor qui,' 2, 25, 17(cp. the Vergilian 'praeruptus aquae mons'); 'mercede hyacinthos,' 4, 7, 33; 'Oricia terebintho' (cp. the Vergilian nitens elephanto'); 'fors et in hora,' 2, 9, 1; 3, 4, 19; 'increpitarent,' 2, 26, 15; 1, 8, 35 (characteristic of Lucretius and the early poets).