Cornelius Severus (Schanz-Hosius 268-69 [§ 317]) was one of the most famous poets contemporary with Ovid; of him Quintilian said 'etiam si uersificator quam poeta melior ['even if his facility outruns his inspiration'], si tamen (ut est dictum) ad exemplar primi libri bellum Siculum perscripsisset, uindicaret sibi iure secundum locum [sc after Virgil]' (X i 89). The elder Seneca quoted with approval Severus' lines on the death of Cicero, as the finest lament produced on the subject (Suas VI 26: Winterbottom ad loc refers to a commentary by H. Homeyer, Annales univ. Saraviensis [phil. Fak.] 10 [1961], 327-34). EP I viii was addressed to a different Severus: in the third and fourth lines of the present poem, Ovid expresses his embarrassment at having addressed no poem to Severus previously, and in the earlier poem no mention is made of the addressee's poetry.
The poem is an apology to Severus for Ovid's not having sent a poem to him before; he offers two excuses for the omission. In the first fourteen lines, he flatters Severus by saying that so good a poet hardly needs to receive verse from someone else; in the twenty-four lines that follow he describes how his poetry, because of the conditions at Tomis, is now less abundant and of poorer quality than before. The subject is one Ovid had employed before: Tr III xiv, a request for indulgence to Ovid's verse, and Tr V xii, a reply to a friend who had urged him to write more poetry, treat the same topic in much the same way. The theme is similar to that of Catullus LXVIII 1-40, where the poet explains that his brother's death has caused his lack of interest in poetry.
In 39-46 Ovid moves to the somewhat discordant topic (which serves however to re-emphasize his misery at Tomis) of how he continues to write poetry to take his mind off present evils, a theme he had used several times before, most notably in EP I v. He ends the poem with a request that Severus send him some of his recent work (47-50).
1. QVOD LEGIS. Similar beginnings to verse-epistles at Her III 1 'Quam legis a rapta Briseide littera uenit', Tr V vii 1, EP I vii 1-2 'Littera pro uerbis tibi, Messaline, salutem / quam legis a saeuis attulit usque Getis', and EP III v 1 'Quam legis unde tibi mittatur epistula quaeris?'.
Compare as well Her X 3-4 'Quae legis ex illo, Theseu, tibi litore mitto / unde tuam sine me uela tulere ratem'. This poem has suffered from two separate interpolations at its beginning. Certain manuscripts start the poem with the distich 'Illa relicta feris etiam nunc, improbe Theseu, / uiuit et haec aequa mente tulisse uelis', which is universally condemned; but the formulaic nature of 3-4 suggests that 1-2 'Mitius inueni quam te genus omne ferarum, / credita non ulli quam tibi peius eram', found in all manuscripts, is a second interpolation. Micyllus was the first to see this; a recent discussion at Kirfel 69-70.
1. VATES MAGNORVM MAXIME REGVM. Severus apparently wrote a poem dealing with pre-Republican Rome, to judge from xvi 9 his most famous work: 'quique dedit Latio carmen regale, Seuerus'. Heinsius took the two passages as meaning that Severus was a writer of tragedy, citing Tr II 553 'et dedimus tragicis scriptum regale cothurnis'; compare as well Hor Sat I x 42-43 'Pollio regum / facta canit pede ter percusso ['in iambic trimeter']'. Heinsius' suggestion is possible enough, but since Seneca and Quintilian speak of Severus as an epic poet and there is no mention of the stage in this poem, it should be rejected.
Similar language is used of epic poetry at Ecl VI 3 'cum canerem reges et proelia' and Prop III iii 1-4 'Visus eram ... reges, Alba, tuos et regum facta tuorum, / tantum operis, neruis hiscere posse meis'.
1. REGVM. VATVM (M1FIL) is a conscious or unconscious attempt to extend the etymological figure seen in magnorum maxime.
5-6. ORBA TAMEN NVMERIS CESSAVIT EPISTVLA NVMQVAM / IRE PER ALTERNAS OFFICIOSA VICES. Other mentions of what was clearly an extensive prose correspondence between Ovid and his friends at Tr V xii 1-2 and EP I ix 1-2.
6. OFFICIOSA. 'Attentive'. The preface to Martial XII gives a good illustration of the sense: 'consequimur ut molesti potius quam ut officiosi esse uideamur'.