PREFACE.

IN submitting to the public the concluding volume of his version of the Elegiac Triad of Rome, the translator may be allowed to say, without incurring the charge of magnifying his task, that the poet whose works are here reproduced presents perhaps greater difficulties than any other Roman poet. The text of the Elegies is in some places irremediably corrupt; in others lacunose; the beginnings and endings of many of the pieces, especially in the middle books, are uncertain; and in several instances the distichs have been thrown together in wild disorder, making one almost despair of satisfactory interpretation. Continental editors have attempted a good deal in the way of arrangement and elucidation, with but scant success. A really good critical edition of Propertius is still to come.

Notwithstanding these drawbacks, few poets possess a greater charm, or better repay a careful study, than Propertius. As regards energy, brilliancy, and pathos, he claims a foremost place among elegiac poets; while in scholarly refinement, elegance, and archæological research, he has few equals in Roman literature.

The present translation is based on a careful recension of the texts of Scaliger, Barth, Kuinoel, Lachmann, Jacob, Hertzberg,

Haupt, Mueller, and Paley; indeed, every accessible text has been carefully collated, and preference has generally been given to the readings of the MSS., when these were intelligible and in harmony with the context. While every care has been taken to employ language void of offence, not a single passage has been omitted; neither has any attempt been made to smooth away the abrupt transitions so frequent in the Elegies. On the contrary, it has been the aim of the translator to preserve, as far as possible, the characteristic features of the original. That his version has many shortcomings, no one knows better than himself. He has, however, gone through the work in a conscientious spirit, and with feelings of loyalty to the poet.

In the Notes, valuable assistance has been derived from the editions of Barth, Kuinoel, Hertzberg, Paley, and Wratislaw, and from some excellent papers by Professor Robinson Ellis in 'Professorial Dissertations for 1871-72, 1872-73,' issued by University College, London. The translator's obligations, both in the Version and Notes, to Professor Munro's brilliant contributions to Propertian criticism in the 'Journal of Philology,' can hardly be overstated.

Should this volume have the effect of securing for Propertius more attention than he has hitherto received, or of turning abler pens to the work of interpreting him, the translator will have the satisfaction of having laboured to good purpose and with ample reward.

DUMFRIES ACADEMY,

17th Nov. 1875.