Elegy on the Death of the Poet Tibullus — Ovid, The Loves Book 3 (3.9.1–3.9.68), Latin & English

Memnona si mater, mater ploravit Achillem,

If a mother wept for Memnon, and a mother for Achilles,

Et tangunt magnas tristia fata deas,

and sad fates touch great goddesses,

Flebilis indignos,¹ Elegia, solve capillos!

weeping Elegy, loosen your undeservingly disheveled hair!

A, nimis ex vero² nunc tibi nomen erit! —

Ah, too much from truth now will your name be!

Ille tui vates operis, tua fama, Tibullus

That poet of your work, your fame, Tibullus,

Ardet in extructo, corpus inane, rogo.

burns on the built-up pyre, a lifeless body.

Ecce, puer Veneris fert eversamque pharetram

Look, Venus’ boy carries both his overturned quiver

Et fractos arcus et sine luce facem;

and broken bow and torch without light;

Adspice, demissis ut eat miserabilis alis

look how he goes, wretched, with drooped wings,

Pectoraque infesta tundat aperta manu!

and beats his bare breast with a beating hand!

Excipiunt lacrimas sparsi per colla capilli,

The hair scattered over his neck catches his tears,

Oraque singultu concutiente sonant.

and his mouth sounds with shaking sobs.

Fratris in Aeneae sic illum funere dicunt³

They say he thus, at the funeral of his brother Aeneas,

Egressum tectis, pulcher Iule, tuis;

went out from your halls, beautiful Iulus;

Nec minus est confusa Venus moriente Tibullo,

nor was Venus less confounded at the death of Tibullus

Quam iuveni rupit cum ferus inguen aper.

than when the fierce boar ruptured the young man’s groin.

At sacri vates et divum cura vocamur;

Yet we are called sacred poets and the care of the gods;

Sunt etiam qui nos numen habere putent.

there are even those who think we possess divinity.

Scilicet omne sacrum mors inportuna profanat,

Doubtless, importunate death profanes everything sacred,

Omnibus obscuras inicit illa manus!

she lays her dark hands upon all things!

Quid pater Ismario, quid mater profuit Orpheo?

What did his father, what did his mother profit Ismarian Orpheus?

Carmine quid victas obstipuisse feras?

What did it profit that the beasts, conquered by his song, stood amazed?

Et Linon in silvis idem pater 'aelinon!' altis

And in the deep woods, the same father is said to have sung ‘aelinon!’

Dicitur invita concinuisse lyra.

for Linus with an unwilling lyre.

Adice Maeoniden, a quo ceu fonte perenni

Add the Maeonian, from whom, as from a perennial spring,

Vatum Pieriis ora rigantur aquis —

the mouths of poets are wet with Pierian waters —

Hunc quoque summa dies nigro submersit Averno.

him too his last day submerged in black Avernus.

Defugiunt avidos carmina sola rogos;

Songs alone escape the greedy funeral pyres;

Durant, vatis opus, Troiani fama laboris

the fame of the Trojan labor, the poet’s work, endures,

Tardaque nocturno tela retexta dolo.

and the slow web unthreaded by nightly guile.

Sic Nemesis longum, sic Delia nomen habebunt,

Thus Nemesis, thus Delia will have a lasting name,

Altera cura recens, altera primus amor.

one his recent care, the other his first love.

Quid vos sacra iuvant? quid nunc Aegyptia prosunt

What do your sacred rites help you? What now do Egyptian

Sistra? quid in vacuo secubuisse toro?

sistra profit? What, to have slept apart in an empty bed?

Cum rapiunt mala fata bonos — ignoscite fasso! —

When evil fates snatch away the good — forgive me for confessing! —

Sollicitor⁴ nullos esse putare deos.

I am tempted to think there are no gods.

Vive pius — moriere; pius cole sacra — colentem

Live pious — you will die; pious, worship sacred things —

Mors gravis a templis in cava busta trahet;

heavy death will drag from the temples to the hollow tombs;

Carminibus confide bonis — iacet, ecce, Tibullus:

trust in good songs — look, Tibullus lies dead:

Vix manet e toto, parva quod urna capit!

scarcely remains of the whole of him what a small urn contains!

Tene, sacer vates, flammae rapuere rogales

Did the pyre’s flames snatch you, sacred poet,

Pectoribus pasci nec timuere tuis?

and did they not fear to feed upon your breast?

Aurea sanctorum potuissent⁵ templa deorum

They could have burned the golden temples of the holy gods,

Urere, quae tantum sustinuere nefas!

since they sustained such a great impiety!

Avertit vultus, Erycis quae possidet arces;

She who possesses the citadel of Eryx averts her face;

Sunt quoque, qui lacrimas continuisse negant.

there are also those who say she did not hold back her tears.

Sed tamen hoc melius, quam si Phaeacia tellus

But yet this is better than if the Phaeacian land

Ignotum vili supposuisset humo.

had placed you, unknown, under its cheap soil.

Hinc certe madidos fugientis pressit ocellos

Here at least your mother closed your moist, fleeing eyes

Mater et in cineres ultima dona tulit;

and brought the last gifts to your ashes;

Hinc soror in partem misera cum matre doloris

here your sister, along with your wretched mother, came into her share

Venit inornatas dilaniata comas,

of grief, with her unadorned hair torn,

Cumque tuis sua iunxerunt Nemesisque priorque

and both Nemesis and your former love joined their kisses with yours,

Oscula nec solos destituere rogos.

and did not leave the pyre lonely.

Delia discedens 'felicius' inquit 'amata

Delia, departing, said, “I was loved more happily

Sum tibi; vixisti, dum tuus ignis eram.'

by you; you lived while I was your flame.”

Cui Nemesis 'quid' ait 'tibi sunt mea damna dolori?

To whom Nemesis said, “Why are my losses a grief to you?

Me tenuit moriens deficiente manu.'

He held me as he died with a failing hand.”

Si tamen e nobis aliquid nisi nomen et umbra

If, however, something of us remains besides a name

Restat, in Elysia valle Tibullus erit.

and a shadow, Tibullus will be in the Elysian valley.

Obvius huic venias hedera iuvenalia cinctus

May you come to meet him, girded about your youthful

Tempora cum Calvo, docte Catulle, tuo;

temples with ivy, learned Catullus, along with your Calvus;

Tu quoque, si falsum est temerati crimen amici,

you too, if the accusation of a betrayed friend is false,

Sanguinis atque animae prodige Galle tuae.

Gallus, lavish of your blood and of your soul.

His comes umbra tua est; siqua est modo corporis umbra,

Your shadow is a companion to these; if only there is any shadow of the body,

Auxisti numeros, culte Tibulle, pios.

you have increased the pious numbers, refined Tibullus.

Ossa quieta, precor, tuta requiescite in urna,

May your quiet bones, I pray, rest safe in the urn,

Et sit humus cineri non onerosa tuo!

and may the earth not be heavy upon your ashes!

Syntax notes5 items

3.9.3indignos
'undeserving' or 'unworthy'. Here, it describes the hair of Elegy (personified), which does not deserve to be disheveled in grief for such a tragedy, or it subtly points to the undeserved and unjust nature of Tibullus's death.
3.9.4ex vero
'from the truth' or 'etymologically true'. This refers to the etymology of 'Elegy' (from the Greek 'elegeia', lamentation), lamenting that due to Tibullus's death, the genre's name will now become all too literally true to its origins.
3.9.13dicunt
'they say' governs an accusative and infinitive construction (AcI), linking the subject accusative 'illum' (him, here Cupid) with the infinitive 'egressum [esse]' (to have gone out). 'pulcher Iule' is an inserted vocative.
3.9.36sollicitor
passive, 'I am tempted' or 'I am urged'. It takes the following infinitive 'putare' (to think), describing the poetic persona's state of being troubled and shaken to doubt the existence of the gods in the face of unfair reality.
3.9.43potuissent
subjunctive pluperfect, indicating past potential or capability ('they could have'). Coupled with the relative clause in the next line 'quae... sustinuere' (which sustained such an impiety), it emphasizes that the funeral flames, by mercilessly burning the sacred poet's body, possessed an impious power capable of destroying even the golden temples of the gods.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi001.humanitext-lat2:3.9.1-3.9.68