SATIRA VII. ARGUMENT. This Satire is addressed to Telesinus, a poet. Juvenal laments the neglect of encouraging learning. That Cæsar only is the patron of the fine arts. As for the rest of the great and noble Romans, they gave no heed to the protection of poets, ET spes, et ratio studiorum in Cæsare tantum : Line 1. The hope and reason, &c.] i. e. The single expectation of learned men, that they shall have a reward for their labours, and the only reason, therefore, for their employing themselves in liberal studies, are reposed in Cæsar only. Domitian seems to be meant; for though he was a monster of wickedness, yet Quintilian, Martial, and other learned men, tasted of his bounty. Quintilian says of him, "Quo nec præsentius aliquid, nec "studiis magis propitium numen est.' See 1. 20, 1. 2. The mournful Muses.] Who may be supposed to lament the sad condition of their deserted and distressed votaries. 4. Bath at Gabii, &c.] To get a livelihood by. Gabii was a little city near Rome. Balneolum, a small bagnio. -Ovens.] Public bakehouses, where people paid so much for baking their bread. 5 10 6. Criers.] Præcones-whose office at Rome was to proclaim public meetings, public sales, and the like—a very mean employment; but the poor starving poets, disregarded this circumstance" any "thing rather than starve"-and indeed, however meanly this occupation might be looked upon, it was very profitable. See sat. iii. 1. 157, note. Aganippe.] A spring in the solitary part of Boeotia, consecrated to the nine Muses. 7. Hungry Clio.] One of the nine Muses, the patroness of heroic poetry: here, by meton. put for the starving poet, who is forced, by his poverty, to leave the regions of poetry, and would fain beg at great men's doors. Atrium signifies the court, or court-yard, before great men's houses, where these poor poets are supposed to stand, like other beggars, to ask alms. SATIRE VII. 22 ARGUMENT. historians, lawyers, rhetoricians, grammarians, &c. These last were not only ill paid, but even forced to go to law, for the poor pittance which they had earned, by the fatigue and labour of teaching school. BOTH the hope, and reason of studies, is in Cæsar only: To become criers; when, the valleys of Aganippe Being deserted, hungry Clio would migrate to court-yards. 5 10 8. In the Pieriun shade.] See sat. iv. 1. 35, note. q. d. If by passing your time, as it were, in the abodes of the Muses, no reward or recompence is likely to be obtained for all your poetical labours. Some read arca-but Pieria umbra seems best to carry on the humour of the metonymy in this and the preceding line. 9. Love the name, &c.] Machæra seems to denote the name of some famous crier of the time, whose business it was to notify sales by auction, and, at the time of sale, to set a price on the goods, on which the bidders were to increase; hence such a sale was called auctio. See AINSW. Præco, No. 1. q. d. If you find yourself pennyless, and so likely to continue by the exercise of poetry, then, instead of thinking it below you to be called a crier, you may cordially embrace it, and be glad to get a livelihood by auctions, as Machæra does. 10. Intrusted.] So Holyday. Commissus signifies any thing committed to one's charge, or in trust. Comp. sat. ix. 1. 93-96. Goods committed to sale by public auction are intrusted to the auctioneer in a twofold respect-first, that he sell them at the best price; and, secondly, that he faithfully account with the owner for the produce of the sales. Commissa may also allude to the commission, or licence, of the magistrate, by which public sales in the forum were appointed. Some understand commissa auctio in a metaphorical sense, alluding to the contention among the bidders, who, like gladiators matched in fight, commissi, (see sat. i. 163, note,) oppose and engage against each other in their several biddings, Stantibus, œnophorum, tripodes, armaria, cistas, Quanquam et Cappadoces faciant, equitesque Bithyni, Nemo tamen studiis indignum ferre laborem Cogetur posthac, nectit quicunque canoris 11. To the standers by.] i. e. The people who attend the auction as buyers. 12. The Alcithoe-the Thebes, &c.] Some editions read Alcyonem Bacchi,&c. These were tragedies written by wretched poets, which Juvenal supposes to be sold, with other lumber, at an auction. 13. Than if you said, &c.] This, mean as it may appear, is still getting your bread honestly, and far better than hiring yourself out as a false witness, and forswearing yourself for a bribe, in open court. 14. The Asiatic knights.] This satirizes those of the Roman nobility, who had favoured some of their Asiatic slaves so much, as to enrich them sufficiently to be admitted into the equestrian order. These people were, notwithstanding, false, and not to be trusted. Minoris Asiæ populis nullam fidem esse adhibendam. Cic. pro Flacco. 15. The Cappadocians.] Their country bordered on Armenia. They were like the Cretans, (Tit. i. 12.) liars and dishonest to a proverb; yet many of these found means to make their fortunes at Rome. -The knights of Bithynia.] Bithynia was another eastern province, a country of Asia Minor, from whence many such people, as are above described, came, 15 20 25 and were in high favour, and shared in titles and honours. 16. The other Gaul, &c.] Gallo-Græcia, or Galatia, another country of Asia Minor; from hence came slaves, who, like others, were exposed to sale with naked feet. Or it may rather signify, that these wretches (however afterwards highly honoured) were so poor, when they first came to Rome, that they had not so much as a shoe to their feet. The poet means, that getting honest bread, in however mean a way, was to be preferred to obtaining the greatest affluence, as these fellows did, by kna very. 16. Brings over.] Traducit signifies to bring, or convey, from one place to another. It is used to denote transplanting trees, or other plants, in gardens, &c. and is a very significant word here, to denote the transplanting, as it were, of these vile people from the east to Rome. 18. That joins, &c.] The perfection of heroic poetry, which seems here intended, is the uniting grand and lofty expression, eloquium vocale, with tuneful measures, modis canoris. Vocalis signifies sometimes loud-making a noise-therefore, when applied to poetry, lofty-high-sounding-y. d. No writer, hereafter, who excels in uniting To the standers by, a pot, tripods, book-cases, chests, And the Cappadocians may do this, and the knights of Bithynia, Whom the other Gaul brings over barefoot. 15 But nobody to undergo a toil unworthy his studies 20 Has its eye upon, and encourages you, and seeks matter for itself. If you think protectors of your affairs are to be expected From elsewhere, and therefore the parchment of your saffroncolour'd tablet. Is filled, get some wood quickly, and what 25 You compose, Telesinus, give to the husband of Venus: That you may become worthy of ivy, and a lean image. loftiness of style with harmony of verse, shall be driven, through want, into employments which are below the dignity of his pursuits as a poet. Comp. 1. 3—6. 19. Bitten the laurel.] Laurum momordit. It was a notion, that, when young poets were initiated into the service of the Muses, it was a great help to their genius to chew a piece of laurel, in honour of Apollo. Some think that the expression is figurative, and means those who have tasted of glory and honour by their compositions; but the first sense seems to agree best with what follows. 20. Mind this.] Hoc agite-lit. do this-i. e. diligently apply yourselves to poetry. Of the emperor.] Ducis is here applied to the emperor, as the great patron and chief over the liberal arts. 21. Seeks matter for itself.] Carefully endeavours to find out its own gratification by rewarding merit. 23. Therefore the parchment, &c.] They wrote on parchment, which sometimes was dyed of a saffron-colour; sometimes it was white, and wrapped up in coloured parchment. The tabellæ were the books themselves-i. e. the pages on which their manuscripts were written. If, says the poet, you take the pains to write volumes full, in hopes of finding any other than Cæsar to reward you, you had better prevent your disappointment by burning them as fast as you can. Lignorum aliquid posce ocyuslose no time in procuring wood for the purpose. 25. Telesinus.] The poet to whom this Satire is addressed. -The husband of Venus.] Vulcan, the fabled god of fire-here put for the fire itself. He was the husband of Venus. fire. q. d. Put all your writings into the 26. Or shut up, and bore, &c.] Lay by your books, and let the moths eat them. Spes nulla ulterior: didicit jam dives avarus an image, i. e. a representation of your 30. There is no farther hope.] You can 32. As boys the bird of Juno.] As children admire, and are delighted with the beauty of a peacock, (see AINSW. tit. Argus,) which is of no service to the bird; so the patrons, which you think of getting, however rich and able to afford it they may be, will yet give you nothing but compliments on your performances: these will do you no more service than the children's admiration does the peacock. 32, 33. Your age passes away.] You little think that, while you are employing yourself to no purpose, as to your present subsistence, or provision for the future, by spending your time in writing verses, your life is gliding away, and old age is stealing upon you; your youth, which is able to endure the toils and dangers of the sea, the fatigues of wars, or the labours of husbandry, is decaying. 34. Then.] When you grow old. -Weariness, &c.] You'll be too feeble, in body and mind, to endure any labour, and become irksome even to your self. 30 35 40 45 35. Hates both itself and its Terpsichore.] Your old age, however learned, clothed in rags, will ourse itself, and the Muse that has been your undoing. Terpsichore was one of the nine Muses, who presided over dancing and music; she is fabled to have invented the harp; here, by meton. lyric poetry may be understood. 36. His arts, &c.] The artifices which your supposed patron will use, to have a fair excuse for doing nothing for you. 37. The temple, &c.] There was a temple of the Muses at Rome, which was built by Martius Philippus, where poets used to recite their works. Augustus built a library, and a temple to Apollo, on Mount Palatine, where the poets used also to recite their verses, and where they were deposited. See PERS prol. 1. 7. and Hor. lib. i. epist. iii. 1. 17. Among the tricks made use of by these rich patrons, to avoid giving any thing to their poor clients, the poets, they affected to make verses so well themselves, as not to stand in need of the poetry of others; therefore they deserted the public recitals, and left the poor retainers on Apollo and the Muses. to shift as they could. |