It is generally assumed that Marlowe translated Ovid's

while still a student at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he studied from 1580 until 1587. Certainly there are, as many critics have pointed out, a number of egregious errors in the translation which speak of shaky Latinity and make this look like apprentice work (though we do also need to remember that Marlowe was working from uncorrected texts of the original rather than the much-edited ones now available to us). In any case, whatever doubts there may be about the degree of scholarship evidenced in these translations, there can be none about either the liveliness and depth of Marlowe's engagement with the work or of the quality of the resulting poetry:

Then came Corinna in a long loose gown, Her white neck hid with

770 words

Citation: Hopkins, Lisa. "All Ovid's Elegies". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 March 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6770, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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