SOURCE: "Tibullus, Lover of Nature," The Classical Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 6, April, 1952, pp. 67-8.

In the following essay, Harte contends that Tibullus portrays nature as a gentle refuge from unrest, and that Nature is his real lover, not Delia or Nemesis.

If Vergil's preeminence as a poet of Nature is undisputed, there may be a similar accord in granting second place to Tibullus, Vergil's short-lived younger contemporary. By what qualities does the gentle elegiac poet merit this by no means inconsiderable honor?

There is little in Tibullus of that reference to a particular tree, flower, or bird which contributes much to the charm of Homer, Theocritus, or Vergil. He is disappointing to the botanist or the ornithologist. Even Horace is more satisfying in this respect. though less a poet of Nature in general. It may be said even that Horace, with Soracte white with snow, the Sabine farm, Daunias...