Metapoetry in Tibullus' Book I: translation and study

Abstract

The object of study of this research project is the elegiac work of Albius Tibullus (55?-19? b.C.), Roman author of the so-called Augustan period, contemporary to poets such as Horace and Virgil. His work is divided into three books: the third one, whose authorship remains contested, is sometimes redivided in other two parts. Our research is limited to the ten poems of the first book (812 verses) and is based on the translation (to Brazilian Portuguese) and analysis of the elegies. The reading of the first poem, which is programmatic, leads us to the hypothesis that Tibullus' use of a shared vocabulary on dealing with military, rural, and love themes results in potential metapoetic effects. In order to verify the way it happens and which effects it has on Tibullus' poetry, our analysis will observe the recurrence of some polysemic terms, such as rustic ("rustic") and tener ("tender"). Their employment as references to the elegiac genre (and also to other poetics genres) can help us understand the idiosyncrasy of Tibullus' elegy. Attention will also be paid to the employment of elegiac topoi as recusatio, otium, carpe diem, paraklausithyron, and tritium amoris, among others.(AU)