Page:Catullus, Tibullus and Propertius.djvu/36

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But whilst as yet Catullus enjoys a dream of successful love, and the fancied happiness of possession, with no misgivings arising from awakened jealousy or fears of fickleness, has he left any hint whereby we may reach the secret of Lesbia's witchery? There is one which does pre-eminently supply this—his comparison of her with a contemporary beauty generally admired, by name Quinctia. The latter, he admits, has several feminine charms; but Lesbia's attraction is the concentration in herself of all the perfections of the most peerless women. Hers is a gathering of "every creature's best" into one ineffable grace, "so perfect and so peerless" is she! But let Catullus speak through his eloquent interpreter— :