Gaudentem patrios findere sarculo 15 to the sober accuracy of prose.-9. Illum; understand juvat. Conditum, i. e. conditum servat. MITSCH.-10. Libycis. One of the principal granaries of Rome was the fertile region in Lybia, adjacent to the Syrtis Minor, and called Byzacium or Emporiæ. It formed part of Africa Propria. Horace uses the epithet Libycis for Africis, in imitation of the Greek writers, with whom Libya (ABún) was a general appellation for the entire continent of Africa. 11-15. 11. Sarculo, "With the hoe." Sarculum is contracted for sarriculum, from sarrio.-Gaudentem. This word is used to denote a separate character, him who delights: thus, DESIDERANTEM quod satis est. 3 Carm. I. 25: him who bounds his desire by a competency. Fulgentem imperio 3 C. XVI. 31, &c." TATE.-12. Attalicis conditionibus, "For all the wealth of Attalus." Alluding to Attalus III., the last king of Pergamus, famed for his riches, which he bequeathed, together with his kingdom, to the Roman people.-13. Trabe Cypria. The epithet "Cyprian" seems to allude here, not so much to the commerce of the island, extensive as it was, as to the excellent quality of its naval timber. The poet, it will be perceived, uses the expressions Cypria, Myrtoum, Icariis, Africum, Massici, &c. zar' ioxy, for any ship, any sea, any waves, &c.-14. Myrtoum. The Myrtoan Sea was a part of the Ægean, lying, according to Strabo, between Crete, Argolis, and Attica.-Pavidus nauta, "Becoming a timid mariner." Horace uses the word nauta for mercator, because the Roman merchants generally embarked with their own merchandize-pavidus, because hitherto he was unaccustomed to the hazards of the deep. Secet mare, comp. réμvev äλα, &c.-Myrtoum. This sea was situated between Crete, Peloponnese, and Euboea, and was so called from a small island (Myrtum) off Euboea.-15. Icariis fluctibus. The Icarian Sea was part of the Ægean, near the islands of Icaria, Mycone, and Gyaros. It derived its name, not as the ancient mythologists pretend, from Icarus, the son of Dædalus, who according to them fell into it and was drowned, but from the first of the islands just mentioned (Icaria, i. e. Icaure), the appellation of which denotes, in the Phoenician language, "the island of fish." Comp. Bochart, Geogr. Sacr. I. 8. Africum. The wind Africus denotes, in strictness, "the west-south-west.' In translating the text it will be sufficient to render it by "south-west." It derived its name from the circumstance of its coming in the direction of Africa Propria. Comp. Africus creber procellis: Virg. Æn. I. 85. Perhaps Horace had before his view a passage of Homer, e. g. ὡς κύματα μακρὰ θαλάσσης πόντου Ικαρίοιο. 11. β'. 144. 16-19. 16. Mercator. The Mercatores, among the Romans, were those who, remaining only a short time in any place, visited many countries, and were almost constantly occupied with the exportation or importation of merchandise. The Negotiatores, on the other hand, generally continued for some length of time in a place, whether at Rome or in the provinces.-Metuens, Laudat rura sui; mox reficit rates Spernit, nunc viridi membra sub arbuto 20 "As long as he dreads."— Otium et oppidi, &c., "Praises a retired life, and the rural scenery around his native place." For rura, Bentley reads tuta, and compares Ovid, Fast. II. 201, Unde precor supplex ut nos in TUTA releges, and Virg. Georg. III. 376. SECURA sub alta OTIA agunt terra.-Mox, i.e. "After he has escaped from shipwreck."-18. Pauperiem, "The pressure of contracted means." Horace and the best Latin writers understand by pauveries and paupertas, not absolute poverty, which is properly expressed by egestas, but a state in which we are deprived indeed of the comforts, and yet possess, in some degree, the necessaries of life.-19. Massici. Of the Roman wines the best growth are styled indiscriminately Massicum and Falernum (vinum). The Massic wine derives its name from the vineyards of Mons Massicus, now Monte Massico, near the ancient Sinuessa. The choicest wines were produced on the southern declivities of the range of hills which commence in the neighbourhood of Sinuessa, and extend for a considerable distance inland, and which may have taken their general name from the town or district of Falernus. But the most conspicuous, or the best exposed among them, seems to have been the Massic; and as in the process of time several inferior growths were confounded under the common name of Falernian, correct writers would choose that epithet which most accurately denoted the finest vintage. 20-21. 20. Partem solido, &c. Demere partem de solido die, "sine ulla dubitatione est meridiari, i. e. ipso meridie horam unam aut alteram dormire ; quod qui faciunt, diem quodammodo frangunt et dividunt, neque eum solidum et dλózλngov esse patiuntur. Varro alicubi (de R. R. 1, 2, 5) vocat diem diffindere institicio somno;" MURETUs, as quoted by TATE, Opp. T. i. p. 550. Upon the increase of riches, the Romans deferred the cana, which used to be their mid-day meal, to the ninth hour (or three o'clock afternoon) in summer, and the tenth hour in winter, taking only a slight repast (prandium) at noon. Nearly the whole of the natural day was therefore devoted to affairs of business, or serious employment, and was called in consequence dies solidus. Comp. Senec. Ep. 85, hodiernus dies solidus est, nemo ex illo mihi quicquam eripuit. Hence the voluptuary, who begins to quaff the old Massic before the accustomed hour, is said "to take away a part from the solid day," or from the period devoted to more active pursuits, and expend it on his pleasures. This is what the poet, on another occasion (Ode II. vii. 6), calls "breaking the lingering day with wine," diem morantem frangere mero.--21. Arbuto. The arbutus (or arbutum) is the arbute, or wild strawberry-tree, corresponding to the xópagos of the Greeks, the unedo of Pliny, and the Arbutus unedo of Linnaeus, class 10. The fruit itself is called κόμαρον, μεμαίκυλον, οι μιμαίκυλιν (Athenæus, II. 35), and in Latin arbutum. It resembles our strawberry very closely, except that it is larger, and has no seeds on the outside of the pulp like that fruit. The arbute tree possesses medicinal qualities: its bark, leaves, and fruit are very astringent; and hence, according to Pliny, the origin of the Stratus, nunc ad aquæ lene caput sacræ. Me doctarum hederæ præmia frontium 25 Latin name unedo (unus and edo), because but one berry could be eaten at a time. The same writer describes the fruit as indigestible and unwholesome. Comp. Plin. Hist. Nat. XIX. 24, and XXIII. 8; Fée, Flore de Virgile, p. 20; Martyn, ad Virg. Georg. I. 148. 22-28. 22. Sacra. The fountain-heads of streams were supposed to be the residence of the river-deity, and hence were always held sacred. Fountains generally were sacred to the nymphs and rural divinities. To the beautiful imagination of the ancients every object of nature was instinct with life, and every tree, plant, hill, and river had its own peculiar deity.-23. Et lituo tubæ, &c. "And the sound of the trumpet intermingled with the notes of the clarion." The tuba was straight, and used for infantry; the lituus was bent a little at the end, like the augur's staff, and was used for the cavalry: the latter had the harsher sound. See Ov. Met. I. 98, Non tuba DIRECTI, non æris cornua FLEXI.-25. Detestata, "Held in detestation." Taken passively.— Manet, "Passes the night."-Sub Jove frigido, "Beneath the cold sky." Jupiter is here taken figuratively for the higher regions of the air. Comp. the Greek phrase inò Alós, and Virg. Georg. I. 418. Jupiter uvidus.-28. Teretes, "Fine-wrought."—Marsus, used for Marsicus, The mountainous country of the Marsi, in Italy, abounded with wild boars of the fiercest kind. 29-34. 29. Me. Some editions have Te, referring to Mæcenas: an inferior reading. All the MSS. have the reading ME. Yet Tate, Jones, &c., adopt TE, for the following reasons: Firstly, Si jam Dis mixtus esset SUPERIS Horatius, cur se Mecenatis suffragio cohonestari cuperet? Secondly, The antithetic use of ME and TE is constant in Horace, e. g. 1 Carm. XXII. 53, 57; 2 Carm. XVI. 33, 37; 4 Carm. II. 53, 54, &c. Thirdly, elsewhere, Horace appropriates, for lyric poetry, not the ivy but the bay, both to himself and Pindar; see 2 Carm. VIII. 19; 3 Carm. XXX. 15, 16. Orellius, however, rightly remarks, "Qui contra codices legunt TE, non satis perspexisse videntur, forma orationis cum fiat antithetica, ad summam tamen nihil aliud dici quam : tu et ego sumus poëtæ, et summus quidem tu, ego te longe minor atque mediocris." He therefore restores ME.-Hedera, "Ivy-crowns." The species of ivy here alluded to is the Hedera nigra, sacred to Bacchus, and hence styled AoXÚσiα by the Greeks. It is the Hedera poëtica of Bauhin. Servius says that poets were crowned with ivy, because the poetic fury resembled that of the Bacchanalians.-Doctarum præmia frontium. Poets are called docti, "learned,” in accordance with Grecian usage: dodol ropol.-Leves, Airy," in reference to the quick and active motions of the nymphs: 66 Little faëry, light and aëry.--SHAKSPERE. For Secernunt, compare: Thy wealth and skill exempt thee from the throng. -MILTON. Dis miscent superis: me gelidum nemus 30 35 CARMEN II. AD AUGUSTUM CÆSAREM. JAM satis terris nivis atque diræ 30. Dis miscent superis, "Raise to the converse of the gods above."-33. Euterpe cohibet, &c. Euterpe and Polyhymnia are meant to denote any of the Muses.-34. Lesboum refugit, &c., "Refuses to touch the Lesbian lyre." The lyre is called "Lesbian" in allusion to Sappho and Alcæus, both natives of Lesbos, and both famed for their lyric productions. Some, in order to avoid the difficulty arising from a comparison of this verse with line 29, have erased it; but they seem not to have observed the very remarkable fact, that all the ODES of Horace can be divided by the number FOUR, according to the Æolic strophe, excepting the eighth of the fourth book; where, see the note on line 17 ODE II.-Octavianus assumed his new title of Augustus, conferred upon him at the suggestion of Munatius Plaucus, on the 17th of January (XVIII. Cal. Febr.) A. U. c. 727. the following night Rome was visited by a severe tempest, and an inundation of the Tiber. The present ode was written in allusion to that event. The poet, regarding the visitation as a mark of divine displeasure, proceeds to inquire on what deity they are to call for succour. Who is to free the Romans from the pollution occasioned by their civil strife? Is it Apollo, god of prophecy? Or Venus, parent of Rome? Or Mars, founder of the Roman line? Or Mercury, messenger of the skies ?-It is the last; the avenger of Cæsar, the deity who shrouds his godhead beneath the person of Augustus. He alone, if heaven spare him to the earth, can restore to us the favour of Jove, and national prosperity. 1-4. 1. Terris, A Græcism for in terras.-Diræ grandinis. Everything sent by the wrath of the gods (dei ira) was termed dirum.-2. Pater, "The father of gods and men," i. e. Jupiter; Пare &vògãv te leño Tε.—Rubente dextera, "With his red right hand." Red with the reflected glare of the thunderbolt: an idea very probably borrowed from some ancient painting. Compare: or from above Should intermitted vengeance arm again His red right hand to plague us.-PAR. L. II. 174. Terruit gentes, grave ne rediret Piscium et summa genus hæsit ulmo, Vidimus flavum Tiberim, retortis "The sacred summits of the temples." 5 10 15 The lightning 3. Sacras arces, struck the Capitol containing the temples of Jupiter, Minerva, and Juno.-4. Urbem, "The city," zar' gox, i. e. Rome. Comp. Quintilian: (VII. 2.) "Urbem Romam accipimus." 5-10. 5. Gentes; understand timentes. "He has terrified the nations, fearing lest," &c. This structure is analogous to the Greek idiom, içóßσs u.-6. Sæculum Pyrrha, Alluding to the deluge of Deucalion, in Thessaly. Nova monstra, "Wonders before unseen."-Pyrrhæ, "Cum delectu pro, Deucalionis; multo graviores enim muliercularum in rebus trepidis querelæ." Doër.-7. Proteus. A sea-deity, son of Oceanus and Tethys, gifted with prophecy and the power of assuming any form at pleasure. His fabled employment was to keep "the flocks of Neptune," i. e. the phoca, or seals.-8. Visere. A Græcism for ad visendum.-10. Palumbis. The common reading is columbis. The "palumba," or "wood-pigeons," are wont to construct their nests on the branches and in the hollows of trees (NOTAM ulmum); the columbæ, or "doves," are kept in dove-cots. Compare: Sea covered sea, Sea without shore: and in their palaces Where luxury late reigned, sea monsters whelped MILT. PAR. L. XI. 751. 13.-16. 13. Flavum Tiberim, "The yellow Tiber." A recent traveller remarks, with regard to this epithet of the Tiber," Yellow is an exceedingly undescriptive translation of that tawny colour, that mixture of red, brown, grey, and yellow, which should answer to flavus here; but I may not deviate from the established phrase, nor do I know a better." (Rome in the Nineteenth Century, vol. i. v. 84.) Compare: Dost thou flow, Old Tiber, through a marble wilderness? Rise, with thy yellow waves, and mantle her distress. CHILDE HAR. IV. 79. 14. Litore Etrusco. The violence of the storm forced the waves of the Tiber from the upper or Tuscan shore, and caused an inundation on the lower bank or left side of the river, where Rome was situated.-Monumenta Regis, |