Propertius, Tibullus and Ovid: A Selection of Love Poetry by Anita Nikkanen;

Author:Anita Nikkanen; [Nikkanen, Anita]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781474266154
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: 2016-03-18T05:00:00+00:00

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This poem stems from a particular occasion: Tibullus’s falling ill while accompanying Messalla on official business (some commentators date this to shortly after the battle of Actium in 31 BC). His unhappy circumstances spark a meditation on love and death, the evils of the war-torn present and the happiness of the Golden Age. The poem’s progression reflects the wandering thoughts of a sick man, as it moves from reality to dream, present to past and future, skilfully creating a sense of the feverish visions with elegant transitions between each.

The poem opens with an address to Messalla, sailing off on campaign while Tibullus is left behind (1–8). Thoughts of having no one there to mourn him should he die lead him to reminiscences of Delia at their parting and an appeal for help to Isis, whom Delia worships (9–34). A contrast with his preferred traditional Roman gods leads him to look back longingly on the blissful Golden Age (35–48), which he sets against the Iron Age under Jupiter that now seems to bring on his death (49–56). Thoughts of dying provoke a contemplation of a happy afterlife in Elysium for faithful lovers (57–66) and punishments in Tartarus for his rivals (67–82). The poem concludes with a vision of Delia spinning late into the night at the moment of Tibullus’s joyous homecoming to her (83–94).

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