Page:Catullus, Tibullus and Propertius.djvu/24

12 through the blameless medium of at least one excellent translation, will enable English readers to judge how much of the prejudice attaching to the name of Catullus is without foundation, and how rich and original is the freshness and vivacity of his muse. It is no little gain to feel that in this genius we have "not only one of the very few writers who on one or two occasions speaks directly from the heart," but one entitled to the much more comprehensive praise, as has been shown by Professor Sellar, of "a wonderful sincerity in all the poems, by means of which the whole nature of the poet, in its better and worse features, is revealed to us as if he were our contemporary."