OUSEION - Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative ...

"GOODBYE TO ALL THA T" I39
triguing, for here Propertius revisits the early stages of his relationship
with Cynthia when there is scarcely a stain upon it. 2 ') Indeed, the
language that Propertius employs of their relationship suggests freshness
and renewal: the night of love is described as though it is the first
(nox mihi prima venit, "the first night of love has come for me," 13), a
new contract is written to seal the new love (15-16). The position of this
poem, so close to the final separation, has puzzled some commentators
to the extent that they feel the mistress referred to cannot be Cynthia.
Camps, for instance, thinks that if Propertius had intended the mistress
to be Cynthia and the placement of this poem to produce an
ironic effect he would have exploited it more definitely.3 0 Several
scholars have convincingly refuted this view. As we will see. there is
plenty of irony in the circumstances and language of this poem and. as
Barsby comments. if it is to Cynthia then the poem gains an extra dimension.3'
Nevertheless there may be a level at which the poem is intended
to be deliberately ambiguous. The reader is left guessing as to
whether the poem describes a reconciliation with an old mistress or a
move to a new one. On one level it doesn't really matter. for, given
the conventions of love elegy. the reader should be aware that. new or
old, the relationship once established will inevitably change and decay.
Thus the placement of this poem, next to Propertius' departure for
Athens in 21 and the bitter repudiations of 23 and 24. is designed to
undercut the sense of joy and the protestations of fidelity that are associated
with this first night of love. 32 Quite a lot of space in the poem is
devoted to describing the contract that will guard the renewed love
against the destructive powers of lust; following immediately after
elegy 19 where women's lust breaks all bounds. the reader must be
aware that this contract is doomed to be broken. Significantly there are
several references to cycles of time in this poem. Propertius appeals to
the moon to lengthen its progress and the sun to shorten its course so
the first night of love is prolonged:
nox mihi prima venit! primae date tempora noctis!
longius in primo. Luna, morare toro.
2') Some commentators. for instance Butler and Barber. have divided this elegy
into two. but I agree with Baker's arguments (above. n. 7,338-339) that it is better
to read the elegy as a single poem where a reconciliation is described as though it
is a new love.
30 W.A. Camps. Propertius. Elegies, Book III (Cambridge 1966) 147. Likewise
Butler and Barber (above, n. 3) 312.
3 1 Barsby (above. n. 28) 36. See also R.J. Baker, "Propertius' lost bona," AJPh 90
(1969); G. Williams, Tradition and Originality in Roman Poetry (Oxford 1968) 417.
3 2 See also Baker (above. n. 31) 333-334: Barsby (above, n. 28) 38.