The Sickness unto Elegy: Kierkegaard’s Despair in Tibullus

Abstract:This paper examines the many contradictions in Tibullus 1.1 that are subsequently repeated throughout his poetry, and have been repeatedly inscrutable for those working on the poems. Tibullus will drift between and amongst different locations, speakers, addressees, and viewpoints in a single poem, and on occasion within the space of a few lines. I will introduce Kierkegaard’s concept of despair into a reading of the poems in order to discover what the text is doing in these passages. In its indecision, the poetry replays the stages of Kierkegaard’s despair for us, revealing a text fraught with self-doubt.