On Reading Propertius 2.29A and 2.29B as Paired Poems

Helena Dettmer (University of Iowa)

Poem 2.29 has as its subject “an Assignation Forgotten” told from two points of view, one of which is fantasy while the other is reality. Poem 2.29 appears as a single poem in the manuscripts. As a result of discrepancies between the first and second parts of the poem, however, modern editors separate Propertius 2.29 into two distinct poems, 1-22 (A) and 23-42 (B). There are three main reasons for this division:

Poem A is addressed to Cynthia while in Poem B she is spoken about in the third person;

Poem A takes place at night while Poem B takes place in the morning;

In Poem A Cynthia is described as willing and welcoming, whereas in Poem B she rejects the advances of the poet-lover.

D.T.Benediktson has re-examined the issue of whether Propertius 2.29 forms two poems or a single entity (Propertius: Modernist Poet of Antiquity [Carbonsdale and Edwardsville 1989] 59-66). After pointing out thematic and verbal parallels between the two parts, he concludes that “the inextricability between the two sections leaves no doubt about the poem’s unity.” What is more, he argues, “to Propertius such minor problems as chronological or dramatic inconsistencies do not really matter.”

My paper will offer new evidence for viewing 2.29.1-22 and 23-40 as distinct poems. It is true that 2.29A and 2.29B share many features. But the reason that this is so has not been correctly ascertained. As paired poems, 2.29.1-22 and 2.29.23-42 exhibit a parallel structure, with the sequence of ideas in the first of the pair repeated in the second, as the diagram below illustrates. The purpose of this unifying device is to indicate the responsive relationship between Poem B and Poem A.

2.29A 2.29B

A. Time: night (1) A¹. Time: morning (23)

B. Propertius drunk and wandering (1) B¹. Cynthia in bed alone (24)
C. Amorini come to meet Propertius (3-4) C¹. Propertius goes to see Cynthia (24)
D. Accusation of disloyalty (11-14) E¹. Cynthia’s beauty (25-30)

E. Cynthia’s beauty (15-18) D¹. Cynthia’s loyalty (31-38)

F. Propertius is told to stay F¹. Propertius is rejected by Cynthia (39-42) at Cynthia’s house (22)

In addition, Poems 2.29A and 2.29B exhibit their own distinct organizations. Propertius 2.29.1-22 is framed by nocte vagarer (1) and noctes … manere domi (22) while in lecto Cynthia … fuit (24) and [e lecto] prosilit (40) enclose 2.29.23-42. Within this frame each poem is organized in a ring structure. My paper will address also the implications of reading 2.29A and 2.29 B as a pair for the interpretation of the poems and for the integrity of the text as well (which has been subjected to insertion of lines from other poems by L. Richardson and G.P. Gould).