10 Tum spissa ramis laurea servidos Privatus illis census erat brevis, Nec fortuitum spernere cespitem 15 20 which brought fruit to the former owner.'-- 9. Laurea, used poeti. cally for laurus. - 10. Ictus = radios. - 11. Praescriptum, scil. est. Cato is called intonsus, because the Romans of his time did not shave the beard. This custom was not introduced at Rome till 300 B. C., when barbers came from Sicily. It found at first litile favour, but in the time of Horace was universally practised. — 13. Census, • fortune.'— 14. Nulla - Arcton refers to ihe fact that the wealthy Romans built particular rooms for the summer season, which faced the north, and consequently were shady, and received the cooling northern breezes. The winter rooms looked 10 the south. Con. strue thus : nulla porticus metata decempedis excipiebat opacam Arcton privatis. — 17. In the good old times of Rome, the private houses were poor, constructed of the fortuitus cespes ; the materials which the earth happened to afford at the place where they were to be erected. On the other hand, the public buildings, even at this early period, were built novo saxo ; not with the stones of Italy, but with new, far-fetched stone ; that is, marble. im CARMEN XVI. AD GROSPHUM. ODE to Pompeius Grosphus, a Roman eques of Sicily, whom Horace mentions also in his epistles (i. 12, 22.) The poet sings the praises of a peaceful life, accompanied with temperate enjoy. ment. Otium divos rogat in patenti 2. Prensus = deprehensus, 'caught, taken by surprise ;' namely, by a storm. Simul = simul atque. --3. Certa - sidera. "The stars served to the ancient mariners instead of a compass: they are called 5 Otium bello furiosa Thrace, Non enim gazae neque consularis 10 Vivitur parvo bene, cui paternum 15 Sordidus aufert. Quid brevi fortes jaculamur aevo 20 Laetus in praesens animus, quod ultra est, 25 Oderit curare et amara lento therefore certa, "safely-guiding.' When they are concealed, then the sailor trembles, and prays to the gods for a clear sky and a calm. -5. Thrace. The Thracians were famed for their addiction to war. fare. Besides their own wars, they also engaged in those of other nations, as mercenaries. -9. Consularis lictor. The poet, alluding to honours generally, adduces the consular dignity as an instance.10. Summovere is the proper expression for the duty of the lictors, who, going before the consul, keep off' the crowd.-11. Laqueata tecta, wainscoted ceilings. The roofs, when not vaulted, were divided by the beams of the next story, which lay across one an. other, into small sunken square spaces (lacunar.) These, in the houses of the rich, were adorned with gold, or painted. Such ceilings were called laqueata.-13. Parvo, for little, with little, at little expense.' Before cui, supply ab eo.-15. Timor, the fear felt by the man who possesses wealth, and dreads its loss. Sordidus cupido, of the avaricious and greedy man. As to the gender of cupido, see Gram. $ 62, 17.-17. Jaculamur, a stronger expression for petimus, we strive after, aim at.' - 18. Quid mutamus terras calentes alio sole? Why do we take lands warmed by another sun in ex. change?' namely, for our own country? that is, why do we travel to foreign lands ?-19. Patriae--fugit (perfect.) The sense is this : we gain nothing by travelling, since we cannot escape from ourselves. Exul patriae; properly, one who has been banished from his country, here one who has voluntarily left it. — 21. Aeratas, brass-tipped ;' for the prow or beak of ships, especially of ships of war, had to be made strong: -25. Quod ultra est; namely, ultra praesens, 'the future.'--26. Oderit curare, poetical for nolit curare, 6 6 30 Temperet risu: nihil est ab omni Abstulit clarum cita mors Achillem, Te greges centum Siculaeque circum Vestiunt lanae; mihi parva rura et 35 40 the negative imperative, 'must not care.' — 27. Temperet, ‘temper, make bearable.' -29. An instance of the perversity of fortune. The gallant Achilles was doomed to die young; whereas Tithonus, son of Laomedon, and the favourite of Aurora, a man who had performed no exploit, attained a great age, because Aurora had ob. tained from Jupiter immortality for him. — 33. Connect circum with mugiunt. — 35. Apta quadrigis equa, the mare yoked to the fourhorse chariot :' the proper signification of aptus is joined, connected.' Bis Afro murice tinctae lanae, 'wool twice died with the African murex. The murex (a shell-fish from which a fine purple dye was procured) was found on the coasts of Africa, Phoenicia, and Peloponnesus. Dyeing twice produced a finer shade of colour. -39. Parca non mendax, the truth-telling Parca,' the goddess of Fate, who never makes mistakes. — 40. Spernere is dependent on dedit, and stands for the prose ut spernam. CARMEN XVII. AD MAECENATEM. MAECENAS, to whom this ode is addressed, suffered, particularly in the last years of his life, from constant illness, fever, and want of sleep. With this there was connected a fear of death, so. strong as to approach the ridiculous. It was natural, therefore, that he should distress those about him, among whom was Horace, by his complaints. The present poem is an answer to a complaint of this kind, Cur me querelis exanimas tuis ? 2. Amicum est, according to a Greek usage placet, 'is agreeable 10 Obire, Maecenas, mearum 5 Ducet ruinam. Non ego perfidum Me nec Chimaerae spiritus igneae, 16 Justitiae placitumque Parcis. Seu Libra seu me Scorpios adspicit 20 Tutela Saturno refulgens to them, decreed by them.'-—3. Mearum rerum, nearly equivalent to my, of me.'--5. Partem animae, scil. alteram, 'the half of my soul.' -6. Maturior vis ; that is, if thou diest sooner than I. – 7. Nec ca. rus aeque, 'who am neither so dear, so valuable to myself, as thou art to me.' - 9. Ducet ruinam. The verb ducere is used, because when part of a building falls, it commonly draws' along with it the part which would otherwise stand. Horace's prediction was almost literally fulfilled. He survived his noble patron only a few months : both died in the year 8 B.C. Non-sacramentum, the oath which I took when I entered thy service was not a false one: I will keep it.' — 11. Supremum iter carpere, to go the last journey, to die.' Iter carpere is a common expression with the Latin poets, and is taken from the gradual progress along the road, gathering it up, as it were, bit by bit.-13. Chimaerae. See i. 27, 24. – 14. Gyges, a hundred-armed giant, son of Uranus and Gaea.-17. The poet goes to the notions of the astrologers, and makes use of them to express figuratively that he will die at the same time with Maecenas. He says, whether the Balance, or the Scorpion, or the Capricorn looks upon me, as the most powerful part of my natal hour.' For although there are always more constellations than one looking down upon the birth of a child, yet one of them, according to the dogmas of astrologers, has the preponderance, is in the ascendant, and has most influence upon the fate of the man. Adspicit was the technical expression in astrology. – 19. Tyrannus Hesperiae undae, “the lord of the Hesperian wave, or sea,' because its setting excites storms in the Mediterranean. As to Hesperius, see ii. 1, 32.---23. Jupiter, according to the astrologers, was a favourable, Saturn an unfavourable planet to be born under. Hence the protection (tu tela, also a technical term in the so-called science) of Jupiter, who 25 Eripuit volucrisque Fati Tardavit alas, cum populus frequens Dextra levasset, Mercurialium 30 shone forth in opposition to wicked Saturn, has saved thee, when thy sickness seemed unto death.'— 24. Volucris Fati. Fate as a deity, is represented with wings, like Fortune in i. 34, extr. - -25. Three times had the people, when Maecenas appeared in the theatre after his recovery, applauded him. See i. 20,7.-27. This refers to the same mischance, which forms the subject of the 13th ode of this book. – 28. Sustulerat, for sustulisset, would have removed from the earth, killed.' Gram. 0 336, 1. – 29. Mercurialium. See ii. 7, 13. — 30. The rich, when they escaped any great danger, brought great offerings to the gods, and built them altars or temples. Poorer people were content with a little lamb for a sacrifice. CARMEN XVIII. A LIGHT and pleasing ode, in which the poet expresses his content ment with his humble lot: he has in truth as much as the rich man, since death will not spare the one any more than the other. Non ebur neque aureum Africa, neque Attali 5 6 6 1. Aureum-lacunar, “a golden (gilded) roof.' See ii. 16, 11.3. Non trabes Hymettiae premunt – Africa, Hymettian architraves (for these are what are here, from their similarity, called trabes) do not press (surmount) pillars hewn in the remotest part of Africa.' • Hymettian' is here of white marble, procured from Mount Hy. meitus, in Attica.' The African or Numidian marble, of which the pillars themselves consisted, was variegated. — 5. Attali-occupavi. Attalus, the last king of Pergamus, who in 133 B. c. bequeathed his kingờom to the Romans, was celebrated for his wealt. Hence I have not as an unknown heir takon possession |
