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SATIRE I.

ARGUMENT.

The Poet commences, as if he intended a tritical moral essay: 1. and, when discouraged by a friend from his design of assuming the censor, 2 sqq. he proceeds, in bold defiance of public opinion, to a spirited exposure of the wretched taste of the times. 4 sqq.

He repeatedly disclaims all intention of writing for popularity or effect, 4 sqq. 26 sq. 44 sqq. and expresses supreme contempt of that mania for public recitation, which had already excited the ridicule of Horace, and which, not long after this, provoked the spleen of Juvenal. 14 sq. An amusing picture is drawn of one of those hoary versifiers, who pander to the passions of their auditory by grossly luscious strains. 13 sqq. After which we are introduced to a younger set, whose sickly appetite cloys itself with the mawkish sweets of softly sentimental lays. 30 sqq. The cause of this depravation of taste is ingeniously traced to the pedantic nature of the schools, 69-82. fostered by the interested and ignorant admiration of sycophants and dependents; 48-56. 63–68. men, who are the very first to ridicule their dupe behind his back. 56-62. The Satirist then makes a digression to the bar, of which the language was grossly vitiated by a meretricious glare of elocution, and an affected display of rhetorical subtleties: 83-91. returning to the poets, he parodies and ridicules the favourites of fashion ; 92-106. this excites the alarm of his friend, and draws forth some cautious advice, 107–110. which, as generally happens, only serves to render the writer more daring, and to give a spirited conclusion to the Satire. 111-134. To the contemporaries of Persius, this must have been a very amusing performance; but to us, who are ignorant of the true nature of his parodies, and who cannot, in a single instance, appropriate them with certainty, it has lost much of its pleasantry. Enough, however, remains to give a most favourable impression of the youthful critic's humour and good sense. G. K.

O CURAS hominum! o quantum est in rebus inane! "Quis leget hæc ?" Min tu istud ais? Nemo hercule.

"Nemo?"

Vel duo, vel nemo.

"Turpe et miserabile." Quare?

Ne mihi Polydamas et Troïades Labeonem
5 Prætulerint? Nuga! Non, si quid turbida Roma
Elevet, accedas examenque improbum in illa
Castiges trutina, nec te quæsiveris extra.

1. Ecclesiastes i. 2-14. M. "Oray TO XEYór! VS.

2. This verse is from Lucilius. VS. The words of some critical friend, who, aware that Persius has serious intentions of publishing a satire, throws cold water upon his design. K.

Among the Romans it was usual for men to swear by Hercules and women by Castor. Gell. xi. 6. cf. Juv. ii. 98. PR.

3. But two or three, if any.' 'It will be a disgrace, and a thousand pities!' CAS.

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Why so? I do not write ad captandum vulgus: K. therefore your pity is quite thrown away.'

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4. Shall I fear K. sinking below Labeo in the estimation of the prince and the people: as Hector feared lest Polydamas and the Trojans should think disparagingly of him ? Πουλυδάμας μοι πρῶτος ἐλεγχείην ἀναθήσει· — αἰδίομαι Τρῶας καὶ Τρωάδας ἑλκεσιπέπλους Hom. II. X. 100. 105. This appears to have become in a manner proverbial. cf. Cic. to Att. ii. 5. vii. Î. PR. Polydamas was the son of Antenor. Under this name Nero is perhaps designated: LU. as he affected to be greatly interested in all that concerned Troy. PR. By the words 'Trojan dames' the satirist lashes, at once, the vanity of his countrymen in tracing their origin to the Trojans, and their degenerate effeminacy. FA. CAS. Juv. i. 100. K.

Accius Labeo was a poet who wasted his time in translating the Iliad and Odyssey into Latin, word for word. The following may serve as a sample of his version crudum manduces Priamum Priamique pisinnos. VS. See 50. K.

5. Turbida 'too busy to attend to such matters:' Virg. Æ. ix. 57. Lucian Nigr.

K. 'The muddy citizens,' M. an equi

voque.

6. Make light of.' FA.

You should not join them in so doing.' FA.

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Lanx the scale,' libra' the beam,' examen 'the tongue,' trutina 'the cavity in which it plays.' HO. This is one of those technical illustrations, in which the Stoics so much delighted: and means either (1) to correct the errors of an apothecary's or goldsmith's balance by a common pair of scales, such as are used in weighing bulky commodities. Cicero, in speaking of subjects suited to popular and philosphical discussion, uses a similar metaphor: hæc nostra oratio multitudini est accommodanda, ad oblectandos animos, ad impellendos, ad ea probanda, quae non aurificis statera, sed quadam populari trutina examinantur: Or. ii. G. or, (2) Supposing a balance to be perfect in all other respects, its tongue, if it be not at right angles to the beam, will not tally (when the scales are in equilibrium) with the cheeks of the oblong aperture through which it oscillates. In such a case, restore the tongue to its perpendicular, and all will be right. But when (in addition to this fault in the tongue) the balance itself is inaccurate, it is of no use whatever to set the tongue straight, the scales will still be false. Examen is used for the tongue of the apothecary's balance (or statera) in v. 100 sq. see note.

7. Judge for yourself:' PR. prāts savrov atque aliis de te, quam tu tibi, credere noli; Hor. LU. Those who are ambitious of praise or popularity are but too apt too regulate their actions by the caprices of those whom they study to please, rather than by the criterion of right and wrong. CAS. cf. Juv. xi. 27, note. Esch. P. V. 317. (BG.)

Nam Romæ quis non? Ah, si fas dicere! sed fas Tunc quum ad canitiem et nostrum istud vivere triste 10 Adspexi ac nucibus facimus quæcumque relictis,

Quum sapimus patruos: tunc, tunc ignoscite. "Nolo."
Quid faciam? Sed sum petulanti splene cachinno.

Scribimus inclusi, numeros ille, hic pede liber,

Grande aliquid, quod pulmo animæ prælargus anhelet. 15 Scilicet hæc populo pexusque togaque recenti

8. Who judges fairly and without prejudice?' ob hanc rem, quod sunt quos genus hoc minime juvat, utpote plures culpari dignos; Hor. I S. iv. 23 sqq. K. But cf. v. 121.

9. Here Persius endeavours to mislead enquirers as to the real author of the Satire, by assuming the character of a man advanced in years. G. K.

That the writings of Persius were popular and soon considered as standard works is evident from the fact of Quintilian quoting this passage as an example of partium mutatio: ut in satira “nostrum istud vivere triste," cum infinitivo verbo sit usus pro appellatione, nostram enim vitam vult intelligi. G. vi. 38.

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10. Nuts.' cf. Cat. xiv. 183 sqq. Phædr. III. xiv. Mart. V. lxxxvi. I. Petr. 81. K. Juv. v. 144, note.

11. Patruus censor; Cic. Cal. VS. ne sis patruus mihi; Hor. II S. iii. 88. FA. ib. ii. 97. III Od. xii. 3. BX. patruus was a term, which conveyed an idea of harshness, probably from the paternal uncle' being the natural guardian of orphans; who would experience less tenderness from him, than from a father. M. The uncle by the mother's side, having nothing to do with the management of the children, would treat them with more indulgence, or, at any rate, would not be called upon to exercise any severity towards them; hence avunculus (the diminutive of avus, i. e. avus natu minor) would be a term of endearment.

12. Physiologists attributed 'laughter' to the spleen,' Arist. Th. 3. anger to the gall, Juv. v. 159. love to the liver, Theoc. xi. 6. xiii. 71. Claud. viii. 241 sqq. wisdom to the heart, pride to the lungs, lust to the loins: v. 20. VS. K. "Spleen, too petulant to be controll'd." G.

'It is my nature.' CAS. Cachinno (cachinnonis)' a great laugher:' VS. i. e. satirical.' G.

13. Scribimus indocti doctique poemata passim; Hor. II Ep. i. 117, M.

'Shut up' in our studies: carmina secessum scribentis et otia quærunt; Ov. Tr. I. i. 41. LU. Cic. de Ór. iii. 5. Plin. Ep. v. 5. K.

14. Petronius censured, in those who affected to be eloquent, rerum tumorem et sententiarum vanissimum strepitum; 1. LU. sublimes versus ructatur; Hor. A. P. 457. Arist. R. 860 sqq. juara δαιομένη γλώσσα καταλεπτολογήσει πλευpórov zíλvv móver ib. 851 sqq. sunt qui crebro anhelitu et introrsum etiam clare sonante imitentur jumenta onere et jugo laborantia; quod affectant quoque, tamquam inventionis copia urgeantur majorque vis eloquentiæ ingruat, quam quæ faucibus emitti possit; Quint. Inst. xi. 3. K. CAS. cf. Juv. vii. 111, note.

15. To the people' equally deficient in taste and in common sense. LU. For an account of these rehearsals, see Juv. i. 1. iii. 9. vii. 38 sqq. Mart. III. xliv. IV. vi. X. lxx. Hor. I S. iii. 88 sqq. iv. 74 sqq. cf. also Ov. Tr. III. xiv. 39. Pont. I. v. 57. IV. ii. 33. Plin. Ep. i. 13. ii. 14. 19. vii. 17. viii. 12. 21.ix. 27. Cic. Att. xii. 4. xv. 3. PR. K.

The declaimer seems by his dress to anticipate a triumph. Both on public and on private solemnities it was customary to put on a gown fresh from the fuller's hands cf. Mart. II. lviii. CAS. scilicet exspectas solitum tibi moris honorem, pendeat ex humeris vestis ut alba meis; Ov. Tr. III. xiii. 13 sq. M. The most solemn festival a Roman knew, was that of his birth: on the anniversary of that day they dressed themselves in all the magnificence which their circumstances allowed, and, after the customary sacrifices, sat at home, in state, to receive their friends, none of whom came without a present in their hands. (Juv. xi. 84. M. ix. 53, note.) The indignation of

Et natalitia tandem cum sardonyche albus
Sede legens celsa, liquido quum plasmate guttur
Molle colluerit, patranti fractus ocello.

Hic neque more probo videas nec voce serena
20 Ingentes trepidare Titos, quum carmina lumbum
Intrant et tremulo scalpuntur ubi intima versu.
Tun, vetule, auriculis alienis colligis escas?
Auriculis, quibus et dicas cute perditus, OHE!

Persius is excited by this egregious cox-
comb's putting on all the splendour of a
high festival on the simple occasion of
reciting a paltry poem. G. Thus Lucian
describes a dandy rhetorician, tricked
out for the approbation of his auditors,
ας πάνσοφόν τινα, καὶ τάγκαλον ἄνδρα, δια
σεσαλευμένον τὸ βάδισμα, ἐπικεκλασμένον τὸ
αὐχένα, γυναικεῖον τὸ βλέμμα. μελιχρὸν τὸ
Pávnμa, μúgwv ¿ToTvíovTæ ×. T. 2. Rh.
pr. t. iii. p. 11. K. Compare Hotspur's
description of the foppish lordling; K.
H. IV. pt. i. A. I. sc. iii.

16. This valuable ring was one of these birth-day presents, and always worn on the return of that day. VS. Juv. vii. 142 sq. M. Plaut. Curc. V. ii. 56. On the abuse of this custom of wearing rings: cf. Isid. xix. 32. Juv. i. 27 sqq. vi. 381, note. Petr. 55. Mart. V. xi. 1. II. xxix. V. ix. The following is among the directions given to an orator; manus nomimpleatur annulis, præcipue medios articulos non transeuntibus; Quint. Inst. xi. 3. K. Albus from his dress. VS. cf. Mart. I. lvi. 14. IV. xli. VI. xli. X. lxii. 6. Sen. Ep. 114. Gell. xi. 9. PR. K.

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17. After he has rinsed his throat with a gargle.' According to Synesius a footman stood by the reciter with some emollients in a cup or phial, to which his master applied, every now and then, to clear his voice. nec in tragadorum modum guttur et fauces dulci medicamine collinienda, ut in ecclesia theatrales moduli audiantur et cantica; S. Hier. ad Eph. v. CAS.

18. 'Effeminately, CAS. and with lascivious eye half-closed;' therefore called ocellus. VS. LU. cf. Juv. ii. 94, last note. 19. Neque probo' wanton.' LU. Sen. Ep. 52. Plin. Ep. ii. 14. 12. K.

Nec serena 'not calm, but agitated with passion.' M.

20. Hence it appears that the auditory consisted of the chief nobility. Titos may be put for Titienses, as Rhamnes

for Rhamnenses; Hor. A. P. 342. Ov. F. iii. 132. H. [Rhenos for Rhenenses; vi. 47.] They were named after Titus Tatius, the king of the Sabines and colleague of Romulus. PR.

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Trepidare to be in ecstasies.' saliet, tundet pede terram ; Hor. A. P. 430. PR.

Lumbum. ἡ δὲ ὀσφὺς ἡμῖν ὑγρῶς ἐπικενεῖται Luc. As. Aur. 6. t. ii. principio tremulis gannitibus aera pulsat, verbaque lascivos meretricum imitantia cætus vibrat, et obscænæ numeros pruriginis implet; Aus. Ep. cviii. 4 sqq. μόνον οὐ λέληθε τὴν ἐν ὀρχήσει διάθεσιν τὰ ποιήματα παρακαλεῖν καὶ τὰ χεῖρε καὶ τὰ πόδι, μᾶλλον δὲ ὅλον ὥσπερ τισὶ μηρίνθοις, ἑλκεῖν τὸ σῶμα τοῖς μέλεσι καὶ ἐντείνειν, τούτων δὲ λεγομένων καὶ ἀδομένων, ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν μὴ δυναμένοις Plut. Symp. xi. 15. cf. Juv. vi. 314. K.

21. Tremulo. cf. Hor. IV Od. xiii. 5. Petr. 70. Mart. I. xxxvi. K.

are

"As the luscious line Thrills through the marrow." G. scalpuntur tickled.' quid aures meas scalpis? quid oblectus? Sen. Ep. 75. K.

22. Vetulus is always used in a bad sense. LU. Plaut. Epid. II. ii. 4. Arist. N. 789. K.

Escus. καὶ ἑστιῶσιν εὖ μάλα τὰς ἀκοάς· El. V. H. iii. 1. K. Dost thou, thou hoary pander, cater for the itching ears of others?'

23. "All' orecchie di tai, ch'uopo l'è loro, Benchè sfrentato, gridar-basta!" STE. importunus amat laudari? donec OHE! jam ad cœlum manibus sublatis dixerit, urge; et crescentem tumidis infla sermonibus utrem; Hor. II S. v. 96 sqq. PR. ohe! jam satis est; Id. I S. v. 12 sq. M.

Even thy cheek and brow, bronzed as they are, tingle with shame.' G. or Bloated, like one swollen with the dropsy.' Lucilius calls vanity,' aquam in animo intercutem; xxviii. p. 407. cf. Sid. Ap. ix. 9. CAS. Arist. Eth. iv. 9.

"Quo didicisse, nisi hoc fermentum et quæ semel intus 25 Innata est, rupto jecore exierit caprificus?"

En pallor seniumque! o mores! Usque adeone
Scire tuum nihil est, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter?
"At pulchrum est digito monstrari, et dicier, HIC EST!
Ten cirratorum centum dictata fuisse

30 Pro nihilo pendas ?" Ecce inter pocula quærunt
Romulidæ saturi, quid dia poemata narrent.

Hic aliquis, cui circum humeros hyacinthina læna est, Rancidulum quiddam balba de nare locutus, Phyllidas, Hypsipylas, vatum et plorabile si quid, 35 Eliquat ac tenero supplantat verba palato.

οἱ δὲ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ παρηκμακότες ἀναίoxunto pãλλov ž airxuvenλoí Id. Rh.

II. xv.

24. The apologist first tries the metaphor of leaven,' (Juv. iii. 188.) but, finding this an awkward one, as it might be readily compared to the vanity which was working and swelling within him, he abruptly leaves it for the still more unlucky one of the wild fig-tree;' (Juv. x. 145, note.) for after this had burst to light, the question of quo (Juv. viii. 9, note didicisse What are the fruits?' would still recur. LU. CAS. PR.

25. By jumbling these incongruous metaphors, the Satirist may also intend to parody and ridicule the style of these conceited poetasters. LU.

26.' Worthy fruits indeed of such intense studies, (Juv. vii. 97, note, M.) and such advanced years.' CAS. cf. Hor. I Ep. xviii. 47. II Ep. ii. 82 sqq. K. v. 124. iii. 85. v. 62.

O tempora! o mores! Cic. Cat. i. 1. M. 27. This is taken from Lucilius: VS. id me nolo scire mihi cujus sum consciu' solus; ne damnum faciam scire est nescire, nisi id me scire alius scierit. MAR. Spectator, No. 379.

28. Monstror digito prætereuntium Romana fidicen lyra; Hor. IV Od. iii. 22 sq. Cicero finds fault with Demosthenes for being pleased at hearing a poor woman whisper to her neighbour, ouros ixsivos! T. Q. v. 36. VS. Luc. Som. t. i. c. 2. cf. Ov. Am. III. i. 17 sqq. K. Pliny thinks there was no great harm in this; Ep. ix. 23, 5. GE Certainly the censure comes with an ill grace from Cicero. cf. Juv. i. 161.

29. To be introduced as a class book

into first-rate schools; where you are read by the youth of quality,'" Brave lads with curled locks of gold." HO. cf. Juv. vii. 226. Mart. I. xxxv. cirrhata caterva magistri; IX. xxx. 7. K.

30. This custom is evident from Athenæus. Juv. vi. 434 sqq. It might serve well for entertainment's sake, but was of little use as far as intellectual improvement was concerned: discite, non inter lances mensasque nitentes, cum stupet insanis acies fulgoribus, et cum adclínis falsis animus meliora recusat; verum hic impransi mecum disquirite: Hor. II S. ii. 4 sqq. PR. Plin. Ep. I. xv. 2. IX. xxxvi. 4. K.

31. Quid dia (Sulpicia 48) poemata narrent? (Plaut. Pers. IV. iii. 29.) may be considered as the question of one of these noblemen, therefore Persius is not chargeable with the inaccuracy in the use of this verb. K.

Romulida sarcastically, as Quirites, Juv. iii. 60. especially as Romulus was very abstemious; Gell. xi. 14. PR.

32. Tyrioque ardebat murice læna demissa ex humeris; Virg. Æ. iv. 262 sq. CAS. cf. Juv. vii. 136. iii. 283, notes. K.

33. Snuffling through his nose some stale ditty.' G.

34. Phyllis hung herself in a fit of impatience at the long protracted absence of her husband, Demophoon. T. G. Ov. Her. ii. PR.

Hypsipyle, after running through more love adventures than any lady of romance, narrowly escaped the same or a worse catastrophe. Her faithless lover was Jason. T. G. Ov. Her. vi. PR.

35. Filters,' LU.' melts,' CAS. 'dis

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