Tibvllvs
TIBVLLILIBER PRIMVS
I
Divitias alius fulvo sibi congerat auro et teneat culti iugera multa soli, quem labor adsiduus vicino terreat hoste, Martia cui somnos classica pulsa fugent: me mea paupertas vita traducat inerti, 6dum meus adsiduo luceat igne focus. 25iam modo iam possim contentus vivere parvo nec semper longae deditus esse viae, sed Canis aestivos ortus vitare sub umbra arboris ad rivos praetereuntis aquae. nec tamen interdum pudeat tenuisse bidentem 30aut stimulo tardos increpuisse boves; non agnamve sinu pigeat fetumve capellae 32desertum oblita matre referre domum. 7ipse seram teneras maturo tempore vites rusticus et facili grandia poma manu: nec spes destituat sed frugum semper acervos 10praebeat et pleno pinguia musta lacu. nam veneror, seu stipes habet desertus in agris seu vetus in trivio florida serta lapis;
Tibullus I. i
TIBULLUS THE FIRST BOOK
IThe Poet’s Ideal
Let others heap up their treasure of yellow gold; let theirs be many acres of well-tilled ground; let them live in constant fighting and alarms with the foeman at their gates, their slumbers routed by the outburst of the signal for the fray. But let the humble fortune that is mine lead me along a quiet path of life, so my hearth but shine with an unfailing fire.
25If only now at long last I can live contented with my little, and no more be ever vowed to distant marchings; but when the Dog-star rises, to escape its heat beneath some tree’s shade with a rill of water fleeting past, nor think it shame to grasp the hoe at times or chide the laggard oxen with the goad, nor a trouble to carry homewards in my arms a ewe lamb or youngling goat forgotten by its dam and left alone.
7When the time is ripe, let me plant the tender vines and the stout orchard trees with my own deft hands, a countryman indeed. Nor let hope disappoint me, but ever vouchsafe the heaped-up corn and rich new wine to fill my vat. For I bend in worship wherever flowery garlands lie on deserted tree-stock in the fields or old stone at a crossway, and