SUMMARY OF SATIRE I

THIS whole satire is an attack on the corruption of literature and literary taste in Rome, as a sign and accompaniment of a similar corruption in morals.

The poem takes the form of a dialogue between Persius and a Friend. Persius recites a line (possibly from Lucilius) which looks like the beginning of a poem. "Who will read stuff like that?" asks the Friend. 66 'Well," says Persius, "what does that matter! The opinion of thick-headed Rome isn't worth a d-n! If only I could say what I think! But when I look at our gloomy way of living, and our affectation of morality, I feel that I must have my laugh out (1-12). Just look at the foppery and ostentation of our public recitations, and the licentious character of the things recited" (13–23).

F. "But surely you must allow our young poets to show their learning and give their genius a vent?" (24-25).

P. "Learning, indeed! as if knowledge were of no use unless other people know that you possess it!" (26-27).

F. "But you cannot deny the charm of being praised and of hearing people say That's the man!'" (28-30).

P. "And what kind of praise do they win? Listen to the mawkish stuff poured forth at dinner tables, and the applause given to it by the well-filled guests. How grand and soul-sufficing!" (30–40).

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F. "You are very nasty with your gibes. Do you suppose that any one is so indifferent to fame that he would not care to be ranked among the immortals?" (40–43).

P. "Certainly not. I value praise justly bestowed as much as any man; but I decline to accept the verdict of guests whose favour has been secured by gifts of old clothing and good viands. You say you want the truth? then let me tell it you: you are a mere twaddler, happy only in this that, unlike Janus, you cannot see the gibes made at you behind your back" (44-62).

F. "Anyhow the public are enchanted. Never, they say, did poets write more smoothly and correctly, or handle great themes more nobly" (63-68).

P. "Yes, indeed! To-day we find heroic themes attempted by men who cannot describe the simplest scenes of country life without committing absurdities. Others have a mania for archaisms; and what can be more artificial than our rhetoric? An advocate cannot defend a man on his trial for some crime without using all the embellishments of the schools! He is like the shipwrecked mariner who appeals to you by a song" (69-91).

F. "But you will at least grant that our modern Muse has grace and polish?" (92).

P. "Grace and polish indeed! Let me quote some instances of your modern polish... What would Virgil have said of turgid and frothy stuff like that? Now please give me some instances of the tender languishing style" (93-98).

(Then follow four lines of furious magniloquent bombast, quoted admiringly by P.'s interlocutor (99-102).)

P. "Whew! what nerveless sputtering trash! Not one sign there of real honest work!" (103-106).

F. "But why vex delicate ears with biting truths like these? See that the doors of your great friends are not closed to you after this. Beware of the dog!" (107-110).

Put up a

P. "Well! Well! Have your way. notice-'No nuisance here,' and I'll be off. But Lucilius had his say out, sparing no man; Horace spoke out his mind with well-spiced pleasantry; and am I to keep my mouth shut? am I not to divulge my secret to any one, not even to a ditch? Nay, here is a ditch, and I will dig it in: All the world are fools.' This little secret joke of mine I will not sell you for all your Iliads! (110-123).

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"No: let me have for hearers all you that have drawn an inspiring breath from Cratinus, and Eupolis, and the Grand Old Man; I care not for the fry that love to vent their wit upon the slippers of the Greeks, nor for the puffed-up local magnate who jeers at a one-eyed man, nor for the man who flouts philosophers and thinks it a fine joke to see a saucy wench pluck a cynic by the beard. Let these enjoy the pleasures they deserve!" (123–134).

The first satire of Persius seems to have furnished a pattern for the first satire of Juvenal. In each case the poet begins by an attack on the character of his own age, Persius laying stress upon the corruption of literature, Juvenal upon that of morals as a whole. In each case a friend warns the poet of the dangers of such an attack. Both poets justify themselves by the example of Lucilius, and his free

spoken attacks upon his contemporaries. Persius rejects all appeal to the depraved opinion of his own time, and asks for readers who have caught the spirit of the masters of the old Greek comedy; Juvenal promises to spare the living and to confine his attacks to the dead.

SATVRA I

"O CURAS hominum, o quantum est in rebus inane!" "quis leget haec?" "min tu istud ais? nemo hercule." "nemo?"

"vel duo vel nemo."

❝quare?

“turpe et miserabile!”

ne mihi Polydamas et Troiades Labeonem praetulerint? nugae. non, si quid turbida Roma elevet, accedas examenque improbum in illa castiges trutina, nec te quaesiveris extra. nam Romae 1 quis non—ah, si fas dicere—sed fas tum cum ad canitiem et nostrum istud vivere 2 triste aspexi ac nucibus facimus quaecumque relictis, cum sapimus patruos; tunc tunc ignoscite; (nolo: quid faciam? sed sum petulanti splene) cachinno.

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1 The MSS. read Romae est or Romaest for Romae, and ae for a or ah.

2 The use of the Infinitive as a Noun is a special characteristic of Persius. So scire tuum (1. 27), ridere meum (1. 122), pappare minutum (iii. 17), etc.

Polydamas

1 Polydamas is from Homer (Il. xxii. 104-5). and the high-born Roman ladies are supposed to represent the opinions of the respectable Mrs. Grundys of the day. Attius Labeo was a poor poet of the time, said to have translated Homer.