The Works of Tibullus Containing his Love-Elegies. Translated by Mr Dart. To which is added, The Life of the Author; with Observations on the Original Design of Elegiack Verse; and the Characters of the most Celebrated Greek, Latin and English Elegiack Poets |
 |
Ovid Amorum, L. III. ELEGY IX.
|
|
| I. |
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| II. |
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| III. |
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| IV. |
| IV. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
 | The Works of Tibullus |  |
xliii
Ovid Amorum, L. III. ELEGY IX.
On the Death of Tibullus.
If fair Aurora wept for Memnon dead,
And Thetis Tears for her Achilles shed;
If mighty Goddesses to Grief must bow,
And be affected by inferior woe;
Then weeping Elegy thy Locks unbind,
And throw thy Tresses careless to the Wind;
The mournful Title now you truly claim,
And too, too justly now demand the Name:
See the soft Master of thy moving Strain,
The easie, tender, Elegiack Vein!
See thy Tibullus' breathless Body laid,
With Flames surrounded on the Funeral Bed.
And Thetis Tears for her Achilles shed;
If mighty Goddesses to Grief must bow,
And be affected by inferior woe;
Then weeping Elegy thy Locks unbind,
And throw thy Tresses careless to the Wind;
The mournful Title now you truly claim,
And too, too justly now demand the Name:
See the soft Master of thy moving Strain,
The easie, tender, Elegiack Vein!
See thy Tibullus' breathless Body laid,
With Flames surrounded on the Funeral Bed.
xliv
See! Venus' Son express the utmost Moan,
Revers'd his Quiver, and his Arrows gone;
He droops with Torch extinct, and flagging Wing,
And breaks his Bow and snaps the useless String:
See! his Concern unfeignedly exprest!
See! with his Hand he strikes his troubled Breast!
The graceful Curls whose wanton Ringlets deck
His Shoulders, and adorn his beauteous Neck,
All wet with Tears, in loose Disorder flow,
And sobs, and quivering Lips, express his Woe:
His Heart beats high, he swells with throbbing Breath,
And mourns no less, than for Æneas' Death;
Venus herself, cannot her Sorrow hide,
But grieves as much, as when Adonis dy'd.
Revers'd his Quiver, and his Arrows gone;
He droops with Torch extinct, and flagging Wing,
And breaks his Bow and snaps the useless String:
See! his Concern unfeignedly exprest!
See! with his Hand he strikes his troubled Breast!
The graceful Curls whose wanton Ringlets deck
His Shoulders, and adorn his beauteous Neck,
All wet with Tears, in loose Disorder flow,
And sobs, and quivering Lips, express his Woe:
His Heart beats high, he swells with throbbing Breath,
And mourns no less, than for Æneas' Death;
Venus herself, cannot her Sorrow hide,
But grieves as much, as when Adonis dy'd.
Poets! the glorious Name of Sacred share,
Allow'd by all, the God's peculiar Care;
Nay, there are some, who firmly think that We
Can boast the Pow'r of a Divinity;
Yet all that's Sacred eager Death profanes,
And seizes all with black oblivious Hands:
What help had Orpheus from his Heavenly Race,
Or taming Savage Tygers with his Lays?
The great Apollo wail'd his Linus' Death
With mournful Lyre, but cou'd not save his Breath:
To these, great Homer join, whose Works supply
A Spring for future Poets, never dry:
These all! the Fates reluctant did invade,
And swept, to the dark Country of the Dead!
Their Fame alone could above Death aspire,
And nothing but their Works escape the Funeral Fire.
Allow'd by all, the God's peculiar Care;
Nay, there are some, who firmly think that We
Can boast the Pow'r of a Divinity;
xlv
And seizes all with black oblivious Hands:
What help had Orpheus from his Heavenly Race,
Or taming Savage Tygers with his Lays?
The great Apollo wail'd his Linus' Death
With mournful Lyre, but cou'd not save his Breath:
To these, great Homer join, whose Works supply
A Spring for future Poets, never dry:
These all! the Fates reluctant did invade,
And swept, to the dark Country of the Dead!
Their Fame alone could above Death aspire,
And nothing but their Works escape the Funeral Fire.
The Poets Works shall every thing survive,
Thus the fam'd Battles of the Trojans live:
Such Nemesis and Delia's Names shall prove,
This, his last Fav'rite, That, his earliest Love.
Thus the fam'd Battles of the Trojans live:
Such Nemesis and Delia's Names shall prove,
This, his last Fav'rite, That, his earliest Love.
xlvi
What now avails your Care and pious Rites,
Ægyptian Sistrums and Religious Nights?
Ægyptian Sistrums and Religious Nights?
When good Men are opprest by evil Fate,
Spare the rash Thought, I doubt the Heavenly State;
Lead a calm Life of blameless Piety,
Tread Virtue's strictest Paths, we still must die:
Let the good Man revere the Pow'rs Divine,
Yet while Religious he attends the Shrine,
Fierce Death will even to the Altar come,
And drag him from the Temple to the Tomb:
Fancy, fond Man, that Verse will give thee Breath,
But see Tibullus! in the Hands of Death!
Of that Great Man, remark the small Remains,
The Ashes which a narrow Urn contains!
The Funeral Flame which durst prophanely spread
Around thy Sacred Breast, may even invade
The Hallow'd Capital with Tow'rs sublime,
Nor think the rash, presumptuous Act, a Crime:
Venus the Sight of such Destruction fears,
Averts her mournful Looks, and hides her Tears.
Spare the rash Thought, I doubt the Heavenly State;
Lead a calm Life of blameless Piety,
Tread Virtue's strictest Paths, we still must die:
Let the good Man revere the Pow'rs Divine,
Yet while Religious he attends the Shrine,
Fierce Death will even to the Altar come,
And drag him from the Temple to the Tomb:
Fancy, fond Man, that Verse will give thee Breath,
But see Tibullus! in the Hands of Death!
Of that Great Man, remark the small Remains,
The Ashes which a narrow Urn contains!
The Funeral Flame which durst prophanely spread
Around thy Sacred Breast, may even invade
The Hallow'd Capital with Tow'rs sublime,
Nor think the rash, presumptuous Act, a Crime:
xlvii
Averts her mournful Looks, and hides her Tears.
Yet better here he'd dy'd, than when alone,
In vile Phœacia, and a Coast unknown;
Here sure his Mother clos'd his dying Eyes,
And gave a Present at his Obsequies;
Here his fond Sister shar'd her Mother's Woe,
While down her Back her careless Tresses flow;
With these to grace the mournful Obsequies,
A lovely Pair attend with weeping Eyes,
Both close the Pile where the Pale Lover lies.
In vile Phœacia, and a Coast unknown;
Here sure his Mother clos'd his dying Eyes,
And gave a Present at his Obsequies;
Here his fond Sister shar'd her Mother's Woe,
While down her Back her careless Tresses flow;
With these to grace the mournful Obsequies,
A lovely Pair attend with weeping Eyes,
Both close the Pile where the Pale Lover lies.
When
Delia thus, as Grief unbound her Tongue,
“Happy were we, when warm Desire was young;
“When Delia was the Celebrated Name,
“You liv'd while Delia was your only Flame:
“To whom the weeping Nemesis replies
“What Share have you to wail these Obsequies?
“Tibullus' Love was all at my Command;
“Dying he held me with a feeble Hand.
“Happy were we, when warm Desire was young;
“When Delia was the Celebrated Name,
“You liv'd while Delia was your only Flame:
“To whom the weeping Nemesis replies
“What Share have you to wail these Obsequies?
xlviii
“Dying he held me with a feeble Hand.
If after Death we any Title claim,
Except a fleeting Shade, or empty Name,
Tibullus shall unite the happy Train
In flow'ry Meadows and th' Elysian Plain;
There famous Calvus shall with Joy attend,
Glad at the Sight of his departed Friend;
To these, the learn'd Catullus shall be joyn'd,
With Ivy round his youthful Temples twin'd;
There Gallus, thou, if guiltless, shalt attend,
Of Crimes against thy violated Friend;
Gallus, with Sword decisive of the Strife;
Profuse of Blood, and lavish of thy Life;
With these pleas'd Shades, shall glad Tibullus go,
If Shades know any thing of Friends below;
Thou soft Tibullus, on the happy Plain,
Shalt swell the Number of the sacred Train;
Whilst here in-urn'd may thy safe Ashes rest,
Nor may that Urn with weighty Earth be prest.
Except a fleeting Shade, or empty Name,
Tibullus shall unite the happy Train
In flow'ry Meadows and th' Elysian Plain;
There famous Calvus shall with Joy attend,
Glad at the Sight of his departed Friend;
To these, the learn'd Catullus shall be joyn'd,
With Ivy round his youthful Temples twin'd;
There Gallus, thou, if guiltless, shalt attend,
Of Crimes against thy violated Friend;
Gallus, with Sword decisive of the Strife;
Profuse of Blood, and lavish of thy Life;
With these pleas'd Shades, shall glad Tibullus go,
If Shades know any thing of Friends below;
Thou soft Tibullus, on the happy Plain,
Shalt swell the Number of the sacred Train;
Whilst here in-urn'd may thy safe Ashes rest,
Nor may that Urn with weighty Earth be prest.
| The Works of Tibullus | |