SOURCE: "Tibullus" in Romance in the Latin Elegiac Poets, New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1932, pp. 52-80.

In the following excerpt, Haight provides an overview of Tibullus, describing his life, background, poems, including those written to Marathus and to Sulpicia, and his role in the development of the Latin erotic elegy.

Gi; the Poet1 =~ Sthe Poet1

Thou too, companion to Vergil,
  By death most unjust was remanded
 In youth to the valley Elysian,
  Tibullus, that no one thereafter
 Should tearfully sing elegiacs
  Of love or chant wars in strains martial.
[Domitius Marsus]

Albius Tibullus is a very different figure from the brilliant, dashing Cornelius Gallus, with his meteor career as warrior and governor and his flair for posing as the shepherd in love. Tibullus hated war, had no military ambition except for success in the jousts of love, had a genuine devotion to quiet country scenes, and was...