But the fame my genius has won shall not perish with time: genius claims a glory that knows no death.
[At non ingenio quaestium nomen ab aevo
Excidet: ingenio stat sine morte decus.]Propertius (50–16 BC) Roman elegiac poet [Sextus Propertius]
Elegies, Book 3, Elegy 2, l. 25ff (3.2.25–26) [tr. Goold (Loeb) (1990)]
(Source)
Telling Cynthia his literary genius will provide a more lasting memorial to her beauty than mere material monuments.
Because of the (ironic) corruption of the manuscripts of Propertius and speculating from internal references, some 19th Century scholars (e.g., Lachmann) argued for a different division of the elegies into books, thus the translations noted which instead label this as Book 4, Elegy 2.
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:But glory shrined in song can never die,
Talent alone wins immortality.
[tr. Moore (1870), 4.2]Genius alone a name can deathless render,
And round the forehead wreathe the unfading crown.
[tr. Cranstoun (1875), 4.2]But a name gained by genius will never perish by time: the honours of genius are deathless.
[tr. Gantillon (1884), 4.2][...] The honour accorded to genius is immortal.
[E.g. (1892)]But that renown which poet's wit purchases, shall not so pass out of mind by the effect of time; poet's wit has such a pride as stands deathless.
[tr. Phillimore (1906)]The name by genius earned dies not with time;
The lustre shed by genius knows no death.
[ed. Harbottle (1906), 4.1]But the fame that my wit hath won shall never perish: for wit renown endureth deathless.
[tr. Butler (Loeb) (1912)][...] Fame due to the achievements of the mind never perishes.
[ed. Mencken (1942)]But from remembered genius, fame shall flower.
It is only wit that death does not devour.
[tr. Carrier (1963)]But a writer’s talent wins fame that will not perish:
The honour accorded such talent stands
Beyond death’s power.
[tr. Musker (1972)]But age will not destroy the name achieved by talent;
Talent's glory stands -- immortal.
[tr. Lee (1992)]But the name I’ve earned, with my wit, will not be razed by time: Mind stands firm, a deathless ornament.
[tr. Kline (2001)]But a name acquired by genius will never fade
but stand a deathless ornament.
[tr. Holcombe (2009)]

