2. Works.
Elegies, in four Books (or three, Postgate). Tibullus published in his lifetime two Books of elegiac poems: after his death a third volume was published, containing a few of his own poems, together with poems by other members of the literary circle of Messalla. Books I and II consist mainly of poems addressed to Delia and to Nemesis (cf. Ov. Am. III. ix. 31-32):
Sic Nemesis longum, sic Delia nomen habebunt;
Altera cura recens, altera primus amor.
And to Messalla, e.g. El. I. vii. 55-6:
At tibi succrescat proles, quae facta parentis
Augeat et circa stet veneranda senem.
3. Style.
‘Tibullus is pre-eminently Roman in his genius and poetry. He is the natural poet of warm, tender, and simple feeling. Neither Greek mythology nor Alexandrine learning had any attractions for his purely Italian genius. His language may be limited in range and variety, but it is terse, clear, simple, and popular. His constructions are plain and direct.’—North Pinder.
‘To Tibullus belongs the distinction of having given artistic perfection to the Roman elegy.’—Sellar.