Ovid begins the poem by asking his detractor why he criticizes Ovid's verse. A poet's fame increases after his death; Ovid's fame was great even while he was still alive (1-4). There were many poets contemporary with Ovid (5-38). There were also younger poets, not yet published, whom he will not name, with the necessary exception of Cotta Maximus (39-44). Even among such poets, he had a reputation. Envy should therefore cease to torment him; he has lost everything but life, which is left only so that he can continue to experience pain (45-50). The poem is of particular interest because of the catalogue of the poets of the earlier part of the reign of Tiberius. It is a reminder of how much Latin verse has been lost, for of the poets listed only Grattius survives. Similar catalogues of poets are found at Prop II xxxiv 61-92 and _Am_ I xv 9-30, the poets listed being however not contemporaries but illustrious predecessors. _Tr_ IV x 41-54 is complementary to the present poem, being a list of the leading Roman poets at the beginning of Ovid's career. All of these poems come last in their book, and it seems clear enough that the present poem was meant to close a published collection. Other links exist with the earlier poems: mention is similarly made in them of the poet's fame after his death (Prop II xxxiv 94, _Am_ I xi 41-42, _Tr_ IV x 129-30), and _Am_ I xv (which Professor R. J. Tarrant suggests may have ended the original edition in five books of the _Amores_) is, like the present poem, addressed to _Liuor_. =1. INVIDE, QVID LACERAS NASONIS CARMINA RAPTI.= Compare the question that opens _Am_ I xv 'Quid mihi, Liuor edax, ignauos obicis annos, / ingeniique uocas carmen inertis opus'. For _inuide ... laceras_ compare Cic _Brutus_ 156 '_inuidia_, quae solet _lacerare_ plerosque'. =1. LACERAS.= _Lacerare_ 'attack verbally' is a prose usage, found in Cicero, the historians, and the elder Seneca (_OLD lacero_ 5; _TLL_ VII.2 827 50). The primary meaning of _lacerare_ behind this usage is _mordere_; _lacerare_ is found in this literal sense at Cic _De or_ II 240 '_lacerat_ lacertum Largi _mordax_ Memmius', Phaedrus I xii 11 '_lacerari_ coepit _morsibus_ saeuis canum', and Sen _Clem_ I 25 1. For _mordere_ in the same transferred sense, see at xiv 46 _mordenda_ (p 424). =1. NASONIS ... RAPTI.= 'Of Ovid, who is now dead'. For _rapti_, see at xi 5 _rapti_ (p 362). =2. NON SOLET INGENIIS SVMMA NOCERE DIES.= The same thought at _Am_ I xv 39-40 'pascitur in uiuis Liuor; post fata quiescit, / cum suus ex merito quemque tuetur honos' and _EP_ III iv 73-74 'scripta placent a morte fere, quia laedere uiuos / Liuor et iniusto carpere dente solet'.