WIST Quotations

Propertius -- Elegies II, x, 5

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Quod si deficiant vires, audacia certe
Laus erit: in magnis et voluisse sat est
[What though strength fails? Boldness is certain to win praise. In mighty enterprises, it is enough to have had the determination.]

Propertius (50-16 BC) Roman elegiac poet [Sextus Propertius]
Elegies II, x, 5

Alt trans.: "And if my strength fails, at least my boldness will be a title of honor."

Propertius -- Elegies, Book 4, Elegy 7, l. 1ff (4.7.1-2) [tr. Carrier (1963)]

Dave — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:16:38 +0000

There are ghosts after all, then; death is not the ending:
the soul, like smoke, escapes from the funeral flame.

[Sunt aliquid Manes: letum non omnia finit,
Luridaque evictos effugit umbra rogos.]

Propertius (50-16 BC) Roman elegiac poet [Sextus Propertius]
Elegies, Book 4, Elegy 7, l. 1ff (4.7.1-2) [tr. Carrier (1963)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

The Manes are no dream; death closes not
Our all of being, and the wan-visaged shade
Escapes unscathed from the funeral fires.
[tr. Martin (1870)]

Yes; there are ghosts: death ends not all, I ween.
The lurid shade escapes the pile's rent thrall.
[tr. Cranstoun (1875)]

So there are spirits, then, death ends not all
But each wan ghost escapes the fiery pall.
[tr. Moore (1870)]

There are, then, such things as spirits: death does not finish everything, and the lurid shade overcomes and escapes the funeral pile
[tr. Gantillon (1884)]

The dead have being: death is not the term of everything, and the lurid shadow escapes from the defeated faggot.
[tr. Phillimore (1906)]

The Shades are no fable: death is not the end of all, and the pale ghost escapes the vanquished pyre.
[tr. Butler (Loeb) (1912)]

There is something beyond the grave; death does not end all,
and the pale ghost escapes from the vanquished pyre.
[E.g. (1934)]

Ghosts are realities; death not the end of all:
The wan shadow defeats the funeral pyre
And evades its fires.
[tr. Musker (1972)]

A ghost is someone: death has left a hole
For the lead-coloured soul to beat the fire
[tr. Lowell (1974)]

The souls of the dead are something: in death everything does not cease:
the pale shade escapes the pyre.
[tr. Batiushkov (1977)]

So ghosts do exist: death is not the end of all, and a pale shade vanquishes and escapes the pyre.
[tr. Goold (Loeb) (1990)]

A ghost is something. Death does not close all.
A pale shade escapes, defeating the pyre.
[tr. Lee (1992)]

There are Spirits, of a kind: death does not end it all, and the pale ghost escapes the ruined pyre.
[tr. Kline (2008)]

The Shades exist, and death not wholly bounds our life:
a sallow ghost escapes the pyre.
[tr. Holcombe (2009)]

There are such things as ghosts -- death does not put an end to everything, and a pallid shade escapes the defeated pyres.
(Source)

There are ghosts: death does not end everything,
and the pale shade escapes the conquered pyre.

Propertius -- Elegies, Book 2, No. 33C, “To Cynthia,” ll. 41-44 [tr. Moore (1870); 3.25]

Dave — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:48:05 +0000

Yet loneliness shall weary thee, and still
Love torture thee with longings nought can fill.
Absence makes passion’s tide have double sway,
Possession cloys the love of every day.

[Nulla tamen lecto recipit se sola libenter:
Est quiddam, quod vos quaerere cogat Amor.
Semper in absentes felicior aestus amantes:
Elevat assiduos copia longa viros.]

Propertius (50-16 BC) Roman elegiac poet [Sextus Propertius]
Elegies, Book 2, No. 33C, “To Cynthia,” ll. 41-44 [tr. Moore (1870); 3.25]
(Source)

This quote (the third line) appears to be the origin of the English proverb, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." The first use of those exact words appear to be from a song by T. H. Bayly, "Isle of Beauty, Fare Thee Well" (1826?). For more discussion of the origin (and variants) of that phrase see etymology - Who is the author of "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange.

Not surprisingly, the idea of absence increasing (or decreasing) ardor is a a frequently discussed theme. See Montaigne (1587); English Proverb; Cervantes (1605); Rabutin (1660); La Rochefoucauld (1678); Johnson (1758); Mirabeau (1770); Ouida (1878); Antrim (1905); Shaw (1931); Bowen (1938); Stark (1953).

Propertius' elegies, as handed down, are something of a mess, and the assignment to them in particular books has been of sharp debate. This passage is currently considered a fragment, connected to 2.33 (and called 2.33A, or 2.33B, or 2.33C by different translators); similarly, the line numbering in sometimes carried across the entire 2.33, other times broken between the fragments. This fragmentary nature is also why the two couplets here appear in different order between different translations.

Nineteenth Century sources, based on the manuscript traditions of the time, assign this as 3.25.

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

Yet loath to bed her way lone maiden wends,
Love keeps her brooding o'er forbidden joys;
More deeply yearns the heart for absent friends:
Even of the leal [loyal] the long possession cloys.
[tr. Cranstoun (1875); 3.25]

But no one retires with good will to her solitary couch. There is something that Love forces you to miss. There is always a more favourable disposition towards absent lovers; long possession lowers the value even of the devoted.
[tr. Gantillon (1880); 3.25]

No woman takes herself cheerfully to bed alone though: there is something which Love makes you fain to look for.
Desire always burns kindlier toward absent lovers: long plenty of opportunity makes cheap the never-failing suitor.
[tr. Phillimore (1906); 2.33]

Yet no woman ever betakes her willingly to a lonely bed; there is a somewhat that Love compels all to seek. Woman's heart is kinder always towards absent lovers; long possession takes from the worth of the persistent wooer.
[tr. Butler (1912); 2.33]

Woman's heart is ever fonder towards an absent lover: long possession lessens the appeal of the persistent wooer. Yet no woman willingly retires to bed alone: there is something which Love compels you all to seek.
[tr. Goold (Loeb) (1990); frag. 2.33C]

No girl ever willingly goes to bed alone: something there is desire leads us all to search for. Passion is often greater in absent lovers: endless presence reduces the man who’s always around.
[tr. Kline (2008); 2.33A]

Passion helps the absent lover: long persistence
elevates the assiduous man.
No man gladly goes to bed alone, for Amor
gives us something all must seek.
[tr. Holcombe (2009); frag. 2.33C]