sea and earth, and of the innumerable sand: neither is it of any advantage to you, to have explored the celestial regions, and to have traversed the round world in your imagination, since thou wast to die." Thus also did the father of Pelops, the guest of the gods, die; and Tithonus" likewise was translated to the skies, and Minos," though admitted to the secrets of Jupiter; and the Tartarean regions are possessed of the son of Panthous," once more sent down to the receptacle of the dead; notwithstanding, having retaken his shield" from the temple, he gave evidence of the Trojan times, and that he had resigned to gloomy death nothing but his sinews and skin; in your opinion, no inconsiderable judge of truth and nature. But the same night awaits all, and the road of death must once be traveled. The Furies give up some to the sport of horrible Mars: the greedy ocean is destructive to sailors: the mingled funerals of young and old are crowded together: not a single person does the cruel Proserpine" pass exploits, having made his escape when Pythagoras and some of his disciples were killed; he was greatly beloved by Plato and Timæus, upon whose account he came to Italy. WATSON.

24 This is the proper force of "moriturus." So also "moribundus" is used in Virgil.

25 Tithonus, the son of Laomedon, who, desiring long life, was so wasted with old age, that the poets feigned him to be turned into a grasshopper: he was said to be beloved by Aurora (on whom he begat Prince Memnon), for that he used early rising, whereby he preserved his life long. WATSON.

36 Minos, a king of Crete, the son of Jupiter by Europa. He first gave laws to the Cretans, and for his justice was after death made chief judge in hell; he married Pasiphaë, the daughter of Sol, and had many children by her. WATSON.

27 Euphorbus is here meant in name, but Pythagoras in reality. This philosopher taught the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, and is said to have asserted that he himself had animated various bodies, and had been at one time Euphorbus the Trojan. To prove his identity with the son of Panthous, report made him to have gone into the temple of Juno, at, or near Mycena, where the shield of Euphorbus had been preserved among other offerings, and to have recognized and taken it down. AN

THON.

28

Clypeo refixo. Figere and refigere are terms borrowed from the Roman law. When a law was publicly set up, and proposed to the people, they made use of the word figere; when they took them down, they used the terms refigere leges. DAC.

" Proserpina fugit. In allusion to a superstition of the ancients, who believed that no person could die, until Proserpine or Atropos had cut off a lock of their hair. This ceremony was considered as a kind of firstfruits, consecrated to Pluto. TORR.

by. The south wind, the tempestuous attendant on the setting 30 Orion, has sunk me also in the Illyrian waves. But do not thou, O sailor, malignantly grudge to give a portion of loose sand to my bones and unburied head. So, whatever the east wind shall threaten to the Italian sea, let the Venusinian woods suffer, while you are in safety; and manifold profit, from whatever port it may, come to you by favoring Jove, and Neptune, the defender of consecrated Talentum. But if you, by chance, make light of committing a crime, which will be hurtful to your innocent posterity, may just laws and haughty retribution await you. I will not be deserted with fruitless prayers; and no expiations 2 shall atone for you. Though you are in haste, you need not tarry long after having thrice sprinkled the dust over me, you may proceed.

32

34

33

ODE XXIX.

TO ICCIUS.

35

O Iccius," you now covet the opulent treasures of the Arabians, and are preparing vigorous for a war against the kings of Saba, hitherto unconquered, and are forming chains for the formidable Mede. What barbarian virgin shall be your slave, after you have killed her betrothed husband? What boy from the court shall be made your cup-bearer, with his

30 Which declines to its setting. The rising and setting of this constellation are usually attended with storms. Virgil calls it aquosum and nimbosum. TORR.

31 "Parum curas, pro nihilo habes culpam hujusmodi in te admittere." ORELLI; who, however, reads the sentence interrogatively, which is more animated.

32 Piaculum signifies both the crime and the sacrifice by which it was expiated. SAN.

33 Iccius, a philosopher; he was Agrippa's procurator in Sicily, and by him presented with much land. WATSON.

34 Sabæa, the chief city of Arabia Felix, called now Zibit, where is great store of cinnamon, cassia, frankincense, and myrrh. WATSON.

35 Non antè devictis. We can understand these words only of that part of Arabia called Sabæa, for the Romans had carried their arms into others parts of Arabia under several different generals. DAC.

perfumed locks, skilled to direct the Seric arrows with his father's bow? Who will now deny that it is probable for precipitate rivers to flow back again to the high mountains, and for Tiber to change his course, since you are about to exchange the noble works of Panatius, collected from all parts, together with the whole Socratic family," for Iberian armor, after you had promised better things!

ODE XXX.

TO VENUS.

O VENUS, queen of Gnidus" and Paphos, neglect your favorite Cyprus, and transport yourself into the beautiful temple of Glycera, who is invoking you with abundance of frankincense. Let your glowing son hasten along with you, and the Graces with their zones loosed, and the Nymphs, and Youth possessed of little charm without you and Mercury.

ODE XXXI.38

TO APOLLO.

WHAT does the poet beg from Phoebus on the dedication of his temple?" What does he pray for, while he pours from the flagon the first libation? Not the rich crops of fertile Sar

96 Socraticum domum. Horace calls the sect of Socrates Socraticum domum, as the schools of the philosophers were called familiæ. DAC. 97 Gnidus, a town in Caria, a country in Asia Minor, between Lycia and Ionia, on the side of the mountain Taurus, where Venus was worshiped. WATSON.

In the year 726, U. c. Octavius dedicated to Apollo a temple and library in his palace on Mount Palatine; which having been struck with lightning. the augurs said the god demanded that it should be consecrated to him. Horace was then thirty-eight years old.

39 66

DAC.

A god is said himself to be dedicated, to whom a new temple is consecrated. Cic. de N. D. 2, 23; ut fides, ut mens, quas in Capitoliis dedicatas videmus." ORELLI.

dinia: not the goodly flocks of scorched Calabria:" not gold, or Indian ivory: not those countries, which the still river Liris eats away with its silent streams. Let those to whom fortune has given the Calenian vineyards, prune them with a hooked knife; and let the wealthy merchant drink out of golden cups the wines procured by his Syrian merchandize, favored by the gods themselves, inasmuch as without loss he visits three or four times a year the Atlantic Sea. Me olives support, me succories and soft mallows. O thou son of Latona," grant me to enjoy my acquisitions, and to possess my health, together with an unimpaired understanding, I beseech thee; and that I may not lead a dishonorable old age, nor one bereft of the lyre.

ODE XXXII.

TO HIS LYRE.

WE are called upon. If ever, O lyre, in idle amusement in the shade with thee, we have played any thing that may live for this year and many, come on, be responsive to a Latin ode, my dear lyre-first tuned by a Lesbian citizen, who, fierce in war, yet amid arms, or if he had made fast13 to the watery shore his tossed vessel, sung Bacchus, and the Muses, and Venus, and the boy her ever-close attendant, and Lycus, lovely for his black eyes and jetty locks. O thou ornament of Apollo, charming shell, agreeable even at the banquets of

40 Sardinia, an island of Italy, which formerly belonged to the Spaniards, but is now subject to its own king, who is of the family of Savoy. WATSON.

Calabria, a country in the uttermost part of Italy, which is almost an isle; it brings forth fruit twice a year, and abounds with bees and cattle. WATSON.

42 Latona, the daughter of Ceus, the son of Titan, who made war against Jupiter for ravishing his daughter; she, to fly Juno's wrath, fled to the island Ortygia, that is, Delos. WATSON.

3 Religárat. This verb has two significations entirely opposite, and might be construed either to set sail, or to cast anchor. The sense must here determine us to the latter meaning of the word, as the poet opposes the noise and tumult of battle to the calm and repose after a storın. SAN.

supreme Jove! O thou sweet alleviator of anxious toils, be propitious to me, whenever duly invoking thee!

ODE XXXIII.

TO ALBIUS TIBULLUS.

GRIEVE not too much, my Albius," thoughtful of cruel Gly, cera; nor chant your mournful elegies, because, as her faith being broken, a younger man is more agreeable than you in her eyes. A love for Cyrus inflames Lycoris, distinguished for her little forehead: Cyrus follows the rough Pholoë; but she-goats shall sooner be united to the Apulian wolves, than Pholoë shall commit a crime with a base adulterer. Such is the will of Venus, who delights in cruel sport, to subject to her brazen yokes persons and tempers ill suited to each other. As for myself, the slave-born Myrtale, more untractable than the Adriatic Sea that forms the Calabrian gulfs, entangled me in a pleasing chain, at the very time that a more eligible love courted my embraces.

ODE XXXIV.

AGAINST THE EPICUREANS.

A REMISS" and irregular worshiper of the gods, while I professed the errors of a senseless philosophy," I am now

"Albius Tibullus, an eminent poet, who wrote several fine elegies, of which four books are still extant. He and Virgil died much about the same time. WATSON.

45 Tenui fronte. The Greeks and Latins thought a low forehead a great beauty. "Frons brevis atque modus breviter sit naribus uncis." Mart. And Petronius in the description of Circe: "Frons minima." DAC.

46 Parcum Deorum cultor. The Epicureans conformed only to the outward ceremonies of religious worship, which they thought the credulity of the people had established. This superficial kind of devotion, the poet hath expressed by the word parcus. SAN.

47 In Lucret. v. 10, the doctrine of Epicurus is called wisdom κat