SOURCE: "The Theme of Time as a Poetic Device in the Elegies of Tibullus," Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 98, 1967, pp. 253-68.

In the following essay, Musurillo describes Tibullus's portrayal of time as subtle, subjective, and blurred but notes that the poet shows much ability to control distinctions between past, present, and future.

The early Greek poets had no strict concept of time, nor should we expect them to. Homer, however, beautifully portrays the poignancy of passing youth and the young warrior's strength that diminishes with age, and he loves to dwell on old men's reminiscences of their past deeds of glory.¹ In a famous simile, he compares the generations of men to the leaves that fall from the trees;² and Mimnermus uses a similar image in a song on the brevity of youth.³ For Pindar, time is "the father of all things";⁴ but it...