SATIRE VI. HAS winter made you move yet to your Sabine fireside, dear Bassus? are your lyre and its strings and the austere quill that runs over them yet in force? Marvellous artist as you are at setting to music the primitive antiquities of our language, the manly utterance of the Latian harp, and then showing yourself excellent in your old age at wakening young loves and frolicking over the chords with a virtuous touch. As for me, the Ligurian coast is giving me the benefit of its warmth, and the sea is wintering just love-lyrics suiting not only the lightness of youth but the gravity of old age. 6. egregius is the reading of a few of the best MSS., approved by Bentley on Hor. I Od. I. 5. lusisse, like 'iocos,' with a reference to love (Hor. 2 Ep. 2. 214), as well as to composition (Virg. E. 1. 10). A poet is said to do the deed he writes about, Virg. E. 9. 19: [comp. Thuc. I 5 οἱ παλαιοὶ τῶν ποιητῶν τὰς πύστεις τῶν καταπλεόντων . . ἐρωτῶντες.] lusisse senes, in the sense of ' amavisse senili more,' like 'senem pallere' I. 124. mihi. The Scholiast says Persius' mother married a second time in Liguria, so he would naturally reside there. Ligus ora, like femina Ligus ' Tac. Hist. 2. 13. 7. Et lacus aestivis intepet Umber aquis' Prop. 5. I. 124. 'Est ubi plus tepeant hiemes' Hor. I Ep. 10. 15. Tepidas brumas' 2 Od. 6. 17. hibernat, like Horace's 'hiemat' (2 S. 2. 17), where however sharp wintry weather is meant. [The expression' aquis hiemantibus' is remarked upon by Sen. Ep. 114. 19 as used by Sallust.] meum, not merely my residence,' but' suiting me,'' kind to me.' dant scopuli et multa litus se valle receptat. Hic ego securus vulgi et quid praeparet auster curvus ob id minui senio aut cenare sine uncto, et signum in vapida naso tetigisse lagoena. discrepet his alius! geminos, horoscope, varo producis genio, solis natalibus est qui II. quintes. . et. 8. dant.. latus, as in Virg. Aen. 1. 105 ='obiiciunt latus,' the sea being sheltered by the rocks forming the port. valle forsinu,' as if the scene were inland. Abl. of manner. se.. receptat, as in Virg. G. 1. 336, the freq. here perhaps marking the numerous bends. Jahn. 9. A line from Ennius, Ann. 16.(Vahlen.) est operae, parenthetical, like fas est' v. 25, venit Hesperus' Virg. E. 10. 77. opera, for opportunity or working time, especially in the gen., which seems to be partitive. 'Operae ubi mihi erit, ad te venero' Plaut. Truc. 4. 4, 30. cognoscite, not cognoscere,' is the reading of the best MSS. Cognoscere,' of listening to a narrative, as in Juv. 3. 288. cives (as Jahn says), is a mark of the (simple) gravity of the old man. So his epitaph, 'Adspicite, O cives, senis Enni imaginis formam.' 10. cor. Ennius used to say that he had three hearts, because he understood Greek, Latin, and Oscan. Gell. 17. 17. 1, referred to by Plautius. The heart was often spoken of as the seat of the understanding: comp. Cic. Tusc. 1. 9, where Ennius is quoted as using cordatus' for wise. Curis acuens mortalia corda ' Virg. G. 1. 123. cor.. Enni, periph., like Virtus Scipiadae' Hor. 2 S. 1. 72. 13. agulus. 10 15 destertuit, found elsewhere? For Ennius' dreams, compare on Prol. 2 foll. II. From Cic. Ac. pr. 2. 16 and Lucr. 1. 120 foll., it would appear that Ennius did not pretend to have been changed into Homer, but only to have seen him in a vision. Britannicus however on Prol. 3 and here refers to Porphyrio for the statement that Ennius said at the beginning of his annals that Homer's spirit had passed into him in sleep. Homer's revelations however turned on the doctrine of metempsychosis, he having been a peacock in one stage of the process (note on Prol. 2), and so Persius represents Ennius as having been himself Homer and peacock, just as in Prol. 3 he uses the word 'memini,' as if it were Ennius' word about his own recollection, when it was really used of Homer's. Thus in Hor. 2 S. 5. 41 Furius is confounded with his own Jupiter. Quintus is explained by the Scholiast as if it were a numeral-the stages being a peacock, Euphorbus, Homer, Pythagoras, Ennius. Persius might very well have intended a pun; but then we should rather have had 'a' than 'ex,' as in 'alter ab illo,' 'a Iove tertius Aiax,' even if this gradation of transformations were established. Should Quintus be taken with Maeonides, as if it were a double name, Ennius and Homer in one, Homer with a Roman praenomen? The names were sometimes reversed in poetry, as I like it to do, where the sides of the cliffs present a vast barrier, and the shore retires into a deep bay. 'Acquaint yourselves with the haven of Luna, now's your time, good people all!' so says Ennius' brain, when he had been roused from dreaming himself Maeonides Quintus developed out of Pythagoras' peacock. While I live here, without a care for the vulgar or for what mischief the south wind may be brewing for the cattle, without a care either because that nook of my neighbour's is better land than mine, even if all my inferiors in birth should grow rich over my head, I would stick to my resolution, seeing no reason why I should lose my height and my bulk with premature old age, or dine without something savoury, or poke my nose into the seal of a bottle of flat wine. Another man may take a different view; aye, good horoscope, you sometimes give birth to twins whose star is strangely different. You will find a man who on his birthday, of all days in and Homer's would naturally take the precedence. Quintus fiam e Sosia' Plaut. Amph. I. I. 152. 12-24. 'Here I live, undisturbed by thoughts of public opinion, a bad season, or the success of my neighbours. Let who will grow rich, why should I stint myself? Men have different passions, one for spending, one for sparing: I will enjoy myself without running into either extreme.' 12. securus, with gen., Virg. Aen. I. 350. quid, etc. 'Quid cogitet humidus Auster' Virg. G. 1. 462. For the double construction, see 3. 51. 13. 'Arboribusque satisque Notus pecorique sinister' Virg. G. I. 444, 'nocentem Corporibus.. Austrum' Hor. 2 Od. 14. 15, 'plumbeus Auster' 2 S. 6. 18. infelix, with dat., Virg. G. 2. 239. securus put before et for the sake of emphasis. Aeneas ignarus abest.. ignarus et absit' Virg. Aen. 10. 85. angulus. O si angulus ille Proximus accedat' Hor. 2 S. 6. 8. 'ille terrarum mihi praeter omnes Angulus ridet 2 Od. 6. 13. 14. adeo, emphatic. Though not only one man of inferior extraction but all should grow rich. 15. Hor. 1. c. ་ unctum, 'a dainty,' as in Hor. I Ep. 17. 12, A. P. 422 (compare 1 Ep. 15. 44 ubi quid melius contingit et unctius'). 17. 'Signo laeso non insanire lagoenae' Hor. 2 Ep. 2. 134. naso tetigisse. Scrutinizing the state of the seal so closely that he can touch it with his nose, and so learn by the smell that it is good for nothing. A condensed picture, more Persii.' 18. Another man may differ from these tastes of mine if he likes-indeed twin brothers do not always think alike.' geminos; sentiment from Hor. 2 Ep. 2. 183 foll. horoscope, Manil. 3. 190, 200. varo.. genio may either be a genius with two aspects, the same genius presiding over both, or a genius differing from the genius of the other, just as varus' in its literal sense is an epithet both of a bowlegged man and of the legs themselves. 19. producis, of birth. 'Ego is sum qui te produxi pater' Plaut. Rud. 4. 4. 129, cum geminos produceret Arria natos' Prop. 5. I. 89. Elsewhere of education, Et laevo monitu pueros producit avaros' Juv. 14. 228. natalibus, I. 16 note, 2. I foll. Hor. 2 S. 2. 60, which Persius has in view. solis, unlike Horace's Avidienus, he keeps no other feast. tinguat holus siccum muria vafer in calice empta, ipse sacrum inrorans patinae piper; hic bona dente grandia magnanimus peragit puer. utar ego, utar, nec rhombos ideo libertis ponere lautus, nec tenuis sollers turdarum nosse salivas. Messe tenus propria vive et granaria, fas est, emole; quid metuis? occa, et seges altera in herba est. 20 25 30 peragit answers to our 'gets through.' puer, while yet a youth.' Gifford notices the rapidity of the metre: contrast it with the slowness of v. 20. utar. Hor. 2 Ep. 2. 190 Utar et ex modico, quantum res poscet, acervo Tollam, nec metuam quid de me iudicet heres, Quod non plura datis invenerit.' 23. rhombos. Hor. 2 S. 2. 47, Epod. 2. 50, Juv. 4 passim. ponere. 1. 63. lautus ponere. Prol. II. 24. tenuis; 'exacta tenui ratione saporum' Hor. 2 S. 4. 36. Jahn. sollers. 5. 37. turdarum, fem. for the sake of variety, or perhaps, as the Scholiast says, because epicures could distinguish the gender of thrushes as well as their breeding by the taste. Thrushes were great delicacies, Hor. 2 S. 5. 10, 1 Ep. 15. 41. saliva, for sapor,' effect for cause. 'Sua cuique vino saliva' Plin. 23. I. 22. 25-40. 'Live up to your means. You want to be able to help your friends? Very well, then sell something - the emergency will justify you. Your heir will resent this, and visit it on you by giving you a mean funeral, and morose censors will say it all comes of foreign philosophy. Will this trouble you in your grave?' the year, sprinkles his dry vegetables with brine, like a knowing dog as he is, bought in a cup and shakes the precious pepper over his plate with his own hand, while here you have a fine spirited young fellow gobbling through an immense estate. Enjoyment, enjoyment for me, not that I go to the expense of serving up turbots for my freedmen or am a connoisseur in the delicate juices of hen thrushes. each year. Grind out have only to harrow, Live up to the produce of your own estate your granaries: you may, without fear, you and a new crop is already in the blade. 'Aye, but there are claims on me, a shipwrecked friend is clinging forlornly to the Bruttian cliffs; all his means and his prayers are drowned in the deep Ionian waters; he is now lying on the beach, and with him the huge gods from his vessel's stern, and the ribs of the wreck which are beginning to invite the cormorants.' Now, then, break a bit of turf from your landed capital, and be generous to the poor man, that he may not have to go about with his picture on a board of sea-green. But your heir will neglect your funeral feast in revenge granaria. 5. 110. = 26. emolere granaria, a strong expression. 'Grind out your granaries' have all your store ground up for use. in herba est, is already in the blade.' 'Luxuriem segetum tenera depascit in herba' Virg. G. 1. 112 adhuc tua messis in herba est' Ov. Her. 17. 263. 27. A supposed objection- if I spend my income, how shall I be able to serve a friend in an emergency?' vocat officium. Juv. 3. 239. Here'officium' is relative duty, as in Cicero's treatise. trabe rupta. 1. 89 note. • Fractis trabibus' Juv. 14. 296. 28. prendit. 'Prensantemque uncis manibus capita aspera montis' Virg. Aen. 6. 360. Casaubon. surda, 'unheard.' Istius tibi sit surda sine arte lyra' Prop. 4. 5. 58, 'surdo verbere caedit' Juv. 13. 194. 29. condidit vota, as vows are said 'cadere.' 30. Paintings, not images, of the gods. Aurato fulgebat Apolline puppis ' Virg. Aen. 10. 171. dei shows that there were sometimes more than one, and so Hor. I Od. 14. 10 'Non di (integri) quos iterum pressa voces malo.' The mention of the gods seems merely ornamental, not indicative, as Turnebus ap. Stocker thinks, of the shipwrecked man's piety. mergis. Jahn compares Hor. Epod. 10. 21 Opima quod si praeda curvo litore Porrecta mergos iuveris.' 31. costa, of a ship. Plin. 13. 9. 19, also Virg. Aen. 2. 16, where the language is from shipbuilding. lacerae. • At laceras etiam puppes furiosa refeci' Ov. Her. 2. 45. |