is here put for the whole country. See Matt. xviii. 10; and Heb. i. 14. The first Notes, Ode i 23, 10, and ii. 16, 35. cut represents a Genius; the second a Juno.

182. Est qui non curat habere, ie., Sapiens-To shew how unnecessary these things are, the poet says there are many who never give themselves any trouble or concern about them. See Notes, Ode i. 1, 3.

183. Cur alter fratrum cessare, &c.—The dispositions of men are widely different; even in the case of brothers, it often happens that one is a careless and effeminate prodigal, the other a close and toiling miser. Cp. Sat ii. 1, 26, &c. Why this is so, is a secret known only to the Genius who presides at our birth, and guides the course of our existence. Cessare et ludere et ungiThe infinitives may be rendered in our idiom by nouns: "Ease and pleasure and perfumes." Cp. Epist. i. 7, 57; 14, 36; and Ode iv. 13, 4.

184. Herodis palmetis pinguibus" to the rich palm-groves of Herod the Great," who died B.C. 4. These were in the country around Jericho, and were regarded as constituting some of the richest possessions of the Jewish monarch.

185. Importunus — “n 'morose." Ad umbram lucis ab ortu-" from the dawn of day to the shades of evening."

186. Silvestrem-"overrun with underwood." Mitiget-" subdues," i.e., clears, and renders productive. Cp. Epist. i. 2, 45.

187. Scit Genius, &c.-ater-This is one of the loci classici, indicating the ideas respecting what the ancients considered the Genius of each individual. We learn from it:-1. The Genius was supposed to accom. pany a person wherever he went; 2. He governed the horoscope (natale temperavit astrum), exerting himself to avert the evil, and to promote the good indicated by the natal star of the individual with whom he was associated; 3. He is styled Naturae deus humanae, because he was believed to live and die with us; 4. He is angry if we oppose or resist his influence, but mild and gentle if we submit to his sway (mutabilis, albus et ater). Natale comes qui temperat astrum-"our constant attendant, who governs our horoscope." See Notes, Ode ii. 17, 17. In addition to what has been said in Notes, Ode iii. 17, 16, it may be added that several distinguished commentators, such as Alford, Meyer, and Stier, on Acts xii. 15, compared with Matt. xviii. 10, have maintained that the doctrine of guardian angels was taught by our Saviour. All, however, that can be legitimately inferred from Scripture, is that saints are under angelic guardianship, not that one angel has been apportioned to each believer. Cp. Gen. xlviii 16; Ps. xxxiv. 7; Eccl. v. 6; 160

188. Naturae, &c.—ater-"the god of human nature, who dies with each individual; mutable of aspect, benign or offended." Mortalis in unumquodque caput, is added for the purpose of explaining naturas deus humanae, i.e., the god who, equally with man, is subject to the power of death.

enjoy what I have." Ex modico-acervo190. Utar (quaesitis)—“I will, therefore, "from my little heap." Cp. Sat. i. 1, 51.

191. Nec metuam, &c.-invenerit—“ nor will I care what my heir may think of me, from his having got no more than what is actually given," i.e., when he shall find the amount that is left to him to be so small. Cp. Epist. i. 5, 13.

192. Tamen, &c.-volam-"still I would also wish to know (ie., never to forget)."

193. Quantum, &c.-avaro-The poet's maxim was to pursue the golden mean, auream mediocritatem.

ART OF POETRY, OR EPISTLE TO THE PISOS.

IT has been keenly disputed whether this should be regarded as a systematic Treatise on the Art of Poetry, or simply as an Epistle on Poetical Criticism. Though it differs from the other Epistles in being confined to one subject, this is not a sufficient reason for criticising it as a systematic Treatise on Poetry; nor, though it may be admitted that the latter is the more descriptive title, does it follow that the former should be rejected, since it was freely conceded by Quintilian and the early Grammarians, and, if we may believe the Scholiasts, it is the one inscribed by Horace himself.

162

Many of the passages have been imitated in Vida's Poeticorum; in the Duke of Buckingham's Essay on Poetry; in Roscommon, On Translated Verse; in Pope's Essay on Criticism; and in Boileau's Art Poëtique.

It was addressed, according to Porphyrion and Comm. Cruq., to L. Calpurnius Piso Cæsoninus and his two sons. The father was born in B.C. 49, and died at the age of eighty, in 32 A.D. (Tacitus, Ann. vi. 19), after having been a favourite both with Augustus and his successor Tiberius. He was consul in B.C. 15, along with M. Livius Drusus Libo, and afterwards governor of Pamphylia, from which he was sent in 11 against the Bessi and Sialetæ, who had invaded the province of Macedonia. For his successes over these Thracian tribes, he was honoured with a supplication and a triumph. According to Tacitus, he subsequently held the office of Praefectus urbi with much reputation for twenty years. He was a pontiff at the time of his death, and was honoured with a public funeral by a decree of the senate. The Scholiasts say also that he was a poet. Respecting the sons we know nothing except from this Epistle, and that is not much. The eldest may have been about twenty when it was written, if, as Orelli suggests, the father inarried early. Cp. line 366.

It is probably the last of the poet's productions, and understood to have been written soon after the last Epistle, and shortly before the poet's death. They both commence with a comparison and a si velit, and contain similar reflections on poets and poetry. Kirchner and Orelli agree with the Scholiasts in taking this view of the date.

Estré, Franke, and others would have it written much earlier, and addressed to Cn. Calpurnius Piso, who fought with Horace at Philippi, and had a son who was consul B.C. 7 with Ti. Claudius Nero II.

1. Humano, &c.-unum in line 23. A poem, like a picture, should be consistent with nature, and not be composed of heterogeneous materials. The chasmus in the collocation of Humano capiti cervicem―equinam illustrates the antithesis, and gives to each contrasted pair of words a similarly emphatic position.

10. Aequa-"fair," or "reasonable." Voss and Arnold make it equivalent to par -"equal."

11. Petimus is the act of the poet; damus of the critic.

12. Sed non, &c.-agni-License must never be carried so far as to unite things that are plainly and naturally repugnant to

2. Varias (Tanoλorgixas) — plumas—each other. Cp. Epist. i. 5, 25. "feathers of different colours," ie., taken from all sorts of birds. Inducere (pinicillo) -"to spread," as with a painter's brush. 3. Undique-"from all sorts of beasts," lit. "from every quarter." Collatis membris-"upon limbs collected," is in the dative; Orelli makes it an abl. absolute, "after limbs have been collected." Turpiter atrum"unsightly black (or hideous)." Cp Epist. i. 3, 22. Many, however, connect turpiter with desinat.

13 Geminentur-" should be mated (or coupled)." Cp. Epode 16, 30, &c.

4. Mulier farmosa superne, explains humano capiti in line 1.

5. Spectatum (1st Sup.), &c.-amici?"if admitted to see it, could you, my friends, keep from laughing?"

6. Isti marks contempt, and tabulae refers to the picture which has just been described.

7. Cujus, &c.-species-"whose fanciful representations will be fashioned like a sick man's dreams.'

9. Reddatur "should be assigned," or "should correspond." Cp. Sat. i. 4, 15, and 6, 131. Cp. Orelli, "Natura rerum dat, poeta reddit ut debitum." Pictoribus, &c. potestas is an anticipated objection. The poet next defines the use and character of poetical license, which unskilful writers often plead in defence of their transgressions against the law of unity.

14. Inceptis gravibus, &c.-pannus, &c."to pompous introductions, and such as (or sewed) one or two purple patches, in promise great things, are generally tacked. order to make a brilliant display," &c., i.e, exordiums of high attempt and lofty promise, are frequently followed by the description of a grove and altar of Diana, the meanderings of a stream gliding swiftly through pleasant fields, the river Rhine, or a rainbow, which, like so many purple but are not in their proper place. Young patches on a garment, make a great show, poets especially, under the influence of a warm imagination, are apt to indulge in frequent and ill-timed descriptions. Sat i. 10, 37.

Cp.

16. Pannus may refer to the latus clavus of the toga praetexta, or to the instita of the stola. See Notes, Sat. i. 5, 36, and 2, 29.

18. Rhenum is here used adjectively, like Melaurum, in Ode iv. 4, 38.

19. Et fortasse cupressum scis simulare, &c.-Horace compares the poet, accustomed to indulge in insulated descriptions, to a painter employed by a sailor to paint a shipwreck, while he could draw nothing but a cypress. See Notes, Ode i. 5, 13. The simile is understood to be derived from the Greek proverb for anything remarkably

inappropriate: μή τι καὶ κυπαρίσσου | The second is, when an artist is disqualified particulars as are susceptible of real beauty, for the just execution of a whole, or of such through an excessive fear of committing faults. For, not the affectation of superior excellencies only, but even In vitium ducit culpae fuga, si caret arte.