Page:Catullus, Tibullus and Propertius.djvu/121

Rh tive to connect it with Delia's, Tibullus seems to change his mind about leaving his bones in Corcyra, or winging his spirit's flight to Elysium, and to prepare his mistress for his unexpected return:—

Whether thus unheralded or not, Tibullus certainly realised his desire of a safe return to home and Delia. The second elegy in the printed order appears to suit the date of the year after this return— 29, and discovers our poet in anything but the happiest relations with his mistress. Shut out, as was too often the lover's portion in the experience of the writers of Latin elegy, from his mistress's doors, and forestalled, it should seem, by a lover more favoured for the moment, he describes himself as solacing his chagrin in cups, and in prayers to Delia to have recourse to Venus for courage to elude her keepers. The goddess of good fortune is Venus, and "Venus helps the brave." Under her auspices, and in her service, the poet makes light of his dangerous and unseasonable vigils:—