Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius

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Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius (1876)
by James Davies, edited by William Lucas Collins

Chapter I

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4494287Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius1876James Davies

Ancient Classics for English Readers

EDITED BY THE

REV. W. LUCAS COLLINS, M.A.

(SUPPLEMENTARY SERIES.)

CATULLUS, TIBULLUS,

AND

PROPERTIUS

CATULLUS, TIBULLUS,

AND

PROPERTIUS

BY THE

REV. JAMES DAVIES, M.A.

PREPENDARY OF HEREFORD CATHEDRAL;
FORMERLY SCHOLAR OF LINCOLN
COLLEGE, OXFORD

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS

EDINBURGH AND LONDON

MDCCCLXXVI

PREFACE.

In the following chapters special acknowledgment is due to Mr Theodore Martin for numberless extracts from his admirable and now perfected version of Catullus; and an almost equal debt has been incurred to Dr James Cranstoun by loans on his Tibullus and Propertius, both of them scholarly performances, and at present the most adequate English versions of those poets in a complete form. Through the kindness of friends, and the publicity of reviews, some variety has been imparted to the translations—e.g., in poems of Catullus rendered by Mr R. Doddridge Blackmore, the author of 'Lorna Doone;' in the "Nuptials of Peleus and Thetis," a portion of which has been given in a free translation by the Rev. A. C. Auchmuty; and in pieces of Catullus and Propertius, borrowed from Hummel and Brodribb's 'Lays from Latin Lyres' (1876: Longmans); and from the late Sir Edmund Head's 'Ballads and Poems' (Smith & Elder: 1868), in which the translations of Propertius are sadly too few. In the course of the work the writer has found that it is perfectly vain to expect the reader to take kindly to the versions of Professor Robinson Ellis; but he may tolerate the few that are given for their exact literality and evident scholarship. Mr Paley's versions, where they have been used, will be found to combine poetic feeling with these merits. It has seemed well to designate all the versions of the three poets for which the author of the volume is himself responsible with the letter "D.;" and he desires to plead for these not so much a claim of superiority to other versions, as a scruple to avail himself of the honey of other bees, without samples and contributions from his own hive. There is room for even more workers in this special field of translation; and the volume will have done good if it inspires a friendly rivalry in rendering three specially delightful poets into congenial English.

J. D.

Moor Court, September 1, 1876.

CONTENTS.

CATULLUS.
PAGE
CHAP. III.	THE LIFE OF VALERIUS CATULLUS, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1
CHAP." III.	CATULLUS AND LESBIA, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	13
CHAP." III.	CATULLUS BEFORE AND AFTER THE MISSION TO BITHYNIA, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	33
CHAP." IIV.	CATULLUS AMONG MEN OF LITERATURE, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	49
CHAP." IIV.	HYMEN, O HYMENÆE! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	62
CHAP." IVI.	THE ROMAN - ALEXANDRINE AND LONGER POEMS OF CATULLUS, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	76

TIBULLUS.
CHAP." III.	THE LIFE OF ALBIUS TIBULLUS, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	93
CHAP." III.	TIBULLUS AND HIS LOVES, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	104
CHAP." III.	TIBULLUS IN HIS CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS CAPACITY, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	121

PROPERTIUS.
CHAP." III.	LIFE OF SEXTUS PROPERTIUS, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	131
CHAP." III.	CYNTHIA'S POET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	147
CHAP." III.	PROPERTIUS AS A SINGER OF NATIONAL ANNALS AND BIOGRAPHY, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	168

This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius

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