Tibullus Elegies

Tibullus, Elegies, a new translation by A.M. Juster (Oxford)

The original Augustan Age in poetry included Vergil, Horace, Propertius, Tibullus and Ovid. Among other things, it idealized a life of leisure in the country rather than going to war. But one comes away from reading Tibullus feeling that he never quite got his way in his short life.

He does not have Ovid's self-possession. Where Ovid seems to know what he wants and knows how to get it, or else he will dramatize his destitution, Tibullus paints himself most often as a victim of love and its situations. He is a meeker and less expectant personality although precisely how autobiographical these poems are can't be said for certain.

Book 1 of the Elegies might remind the reader of the shadowy story behind Shakespeare's Sonnets with their fair youth and dark lady and triangle of rivalry. Most of the book is devoted to Delia but, in a second episode, Tibullus appears to suffer when, in 1.9, his boy betrays him with an older, rich man whose wife dresses herself up for another younger man.

In Book 2 Tibullus is reluctantly involved in a military campaign and his ideals are compromised by necessity and civic duty. In love, he is also reduced in ambition, apparently more desperately in thrall to Nemesis but in 2.4, locked out by her madam, and given any excuse as to why he can't see her,

Whichever God gave beauty to a greedy girl,

alas, he brought much evil with the good,

and so the sobs and brawls resound; in short, it's why

Love is a god who's disrespected now,

Although Ovid is equally capable of theatrical tantrums in despairing moods, he is also bullish and confident whereas Tibullus only seems to cherish his dreams rather than believe in them and then they become tainted and degraded. But one can't help but like Tibullus even if he is overshadowed by his brash successor.

This translation by A.M Juster achieves a fine, lucid expression while maintaining the metrical pattern and so covers more than one of the several options and responsibilities of the translator. Robert Maltby's introduction and notes are also exemplary in this convenient and clear edition. As a compact version of the poet with useful context and background, one couldn't hope for any more. Highly entertaining, enjoyable and excellent.