= = seniorum were composed of those who had completed their fortyfifth year. Agitant exagitant, rejiciunt. These grave personage preferred what was useful and instructive.-342. The Ramnes were one of the three centuries into which Romulus divided the Equites. It is here used generally of the order of Equites, in which were the younger patricians. Celsi is connected with prætereunt = pass by ....with a high head. Præterire was the term in use for those who declined voting. Horace says: men of ripe age seek for useful truth and solid instruction in a poem ; while the young nobility like to be entertained: all classes, therefore, are pleased with an author, whose production instructs and entertains them at the same time. -343. Omne punctum = the suffrages of all, unanimous approbation. In the comitia for the election of magistrates the clerks of the poll kept account of the number of votes given to the different candidates by dots pricked on small waxen tablets, on which the names of the candidates were written.-345. Meret æra, earns money = pays well. Sosii; see Epist. i. 20. n. 2-347. Absolute freedom from fault is not expected in any work: what faults may, and what may not be forgiven.-348. (Semper) reddit, as semper feriet (sagitta).—352. Maculis, quas &c.; from spots of ink that mar a fair paper.-353. Quid ergo est? = What are we to say then? Where is the line to be drawn 2-354 Scriptor librarius, a copyist. Peccat idem = idem peccatum committit: so Cic., Xenophon EADEM fere peccat.-356. Oberrat &c., who always blunders on the same string.-357. Cessat per negligentiam peccat. See Epist. ii. 2. n. 14. Fit Choerilus ille &c. = becomes another Chorilus, and I laugh at him, even when I find one or two good things to admire in him. See Epist. ii. 1. n. 233-358. Et idem indignor (= ægerrime fero, quandocumque .. .) =nor indeed can I bear it patiently.-360. Verum however.-361. Ut pictura poesis = a poem (in these respects) is like a picture; and the comparison is happily made.-365. Decies again and again.—366. O major juvenum, the elder brother, Lucius; whom Horace warns of the fate that awaits 'mediocres poetæ,' in advising him on some necessary points, if he should be inclined ever himself to write.-368. Tolle take up (and keep). Certis medium et tolerabile &c. = that in some things to be of middling and passable merit.-370. Mediocris (of moderate ability); abest (a) virtute (the excellence).-371. M. Valerius Messala Corvinus, a celebrated pleader. See Sat. i. 10. n. 29. Aulus Cascellius an able jurisconsult and a very clever man.-372. Mediocribus &c. ' Middling poets are the rejected of gods, men, and booksellers' pillars ;' on which they pasted the titles of new works; see Sat. i. 4. n. 62; and he proceeds to show why.-374. Symphonia &c., bad music.-375. Crassum &c., thick (and turned). Sardo &c.; which was bitter (from the herbs the bees fed upon), and therefore spoilt the white poppy seed, which in honey was a favourite dessert dish.-376. Poterat duci; 'because they are nothing unless of the best-not being necessary to the feast.' -378. A summo &c. ; i. e. from the high point of excellence, vergit ad imum sinks to the lowest point (in estimation). Being a luxury, and not a necessary, it is valueless if not of the best quality.-379. Campestribus abstinet armis; does not touch the 'things' used in the various games and exercises of the Campus Martius.-380. Discus; see O. i. 8. n. 11: trochus; see O. iii. 21. n. 57.-381. Corona (spectatorum). -382. Quidni? and why not? (ironically.) He was born free, and a gentleman, and has a knight's wealth, and can stand the Censor's inquisition; a poet, therefore, he has a right to be.'-383. Census is here a participle. See Epod. 4. n. 16.-385. Tu; but with you, Piso, it will be otherwise.' 'Invita, ut aiunt, Minerva, id est, adversante et repugnante natura.' Cic. de Off. i. ch. 31.-386. Olim = at any time.-387. Sp. Mæcius Tarpa, a celebrated critic. See Sat. i. 10. n. 38.-388. Prematur be kept back-unpublished. Thus Quintilian: Non dubium est, optimum esse emendandi genus, si scripta in aliquod tempus reponuntur, ut ad ea post intervallum, velut nova atque aliena, redeamus, ne nobis scripta nostra tanquam recentes fetus blandiantur.' Nonum in annum for many years. Possibly Catullus' lines suggested nonum. Smyrna mei Cinna nonam post denique messem, Quam cœpta est, nonamque edita post hiemem. (Quoted by K.)—389. Intus: in your writing-case.-391. The great services that poetry has rendered to mankind, and consequently the dignity of the poet's mission, are now considered. The first step made in the civilization of Greece, and necessarily the most difficult step, was attributed to Orpheus. C. D. ORPHEUS. Sacer = Threicius sacerdos. Virg. Interpres deorum; oi Toinтai ovdèv äλλ' ĥ Épμnveis eioi twv Oεwv. Plato. K.-392. Victu fœdo; i.e. acorns and raw flesh. Deterruit; by speaking of it as offensive to the gods. -394 &c. See O. iii. 10. n. 2.-396. For in this did superior wisdom show itself in those times; and this wisdom was the poet's.' 397. In quatuor genera hoc versu memorata omnes res partiebantur Romani.' 0.-398. Maritis = the husband and the wife.-399. The laws of Solon, for instance, were carved on wooden boards; hence their name of aäžoves and kúpßeç.-400. Divinis vatibus; e.g. Linus, Orpheus, Musæus, &c. in whom the priest and the poet were united, and through whom, for the benefits conferred on man, did the name of poet become renowned.-402. The Athenian poet, whose poetry was the life of the Spartans in the second Messenian war. C. D. TYRTEUS.-403. Sortes oracula. See n. 219.-404. Et vitæ &c.; as by Hesiod, Solon, Theognis, &c. C. D. Gratia regum &c.; as by the poets Pindar, Simonides, Bacchylides. C. D.-405. Pieriis. See O. iii. 4. n. 40. Ludus et operum finis, refer to the village feasts -the rural Dionysia-kept after the vintage, in honour of Bacchus, in December, and in which dramatic poetry had its origin.-406. Ne forte &c.; (and this honourable mention do I make of poetry and poets') &c.-407. Sollers perita.-408 &c. Horace now touches on the question, What makes a poet?' Is he nature's child, or formed by art? Natura = by natural genius. 409. Vena (ingenii). Metaph. from the veins in which metals run in mines. -410. Rude, uncultivated; metaph. unwrought. 411. Conjurat; conspirat is more commonly used in a good sense than conjurat: but amice qualifies conjurat.-413 &c. 'It is with the poet as in the games of Greece; he that is anxious to win in the race has first done much, and undergone much, for this end, when young; he has exPART II. 6 posed himself to heat and cold, he has lived temperately in all things.' Conducta flent alieno in funere præficæ, 433. Derisor a flatterer, who laughs at you in his sleeve all the time. Moretur is affected.-434. Urgere, to ply. Culullis; see O. i. 30. n. 1. Reges the great, the rich; as in many other places.-435. Torquere to rack, put to the question. So vino tortus, Epist. i. 18. 38. Perspexisse = to see through.-437. Animi — the selfish views of flatterers. Sub vulpe; under a smooth and plausible exterior, such as in the fox of the fable.-438. See O. i. 24. INTR.-439. Aiebat = he was used to say. (Si) negares te posse melius facere.-441. Male tornatos, badly finished; lit. badly turned out from the lathe (tornus). The 'tornus' was used in metal-working, as well as woods. Incudi reddere = to begin again with them from the very beginning; to send them back to the anvil; whence the metal was taken to the lathe.-442. Vertere (stilum). See Sat. i. 10. n. 72.-445. The conduct of the true critic, when his opinion is asked, is now stated. Vir bonus et prudens : = an honest and judicious critic. Inertes = that have no life in them.-446. Culpabit = will find (greater) fault with. Incomptis allinet &c., he will draw a black line on the margin against (transverso calamo allinet) unfinished lines: this implied the erasure of the lines.-447. Calamo, his reed (pen).-449. Arguet &c., he will expose, censure.-450. Fiet Aristarchus he will be a second Aristarchus. Aristarchus of Samos, a great critic of the school of Alexandria, and whose name had become proverbial for any judge of great authority in literary matters. Thus Cic. to Atticus: Mearum orationum tu Aristarchus es. - 451. Offendam = hurt. In nugis in the matter of a verse or two. 452. Derisum semel &c. let the author be but once ridiculed, and ill-received by the public: the terms used apply directly to an actor's or author's reception on the stage; but are better understood in a general sense.-453. Horace now brings the Epistle to a conclusion after his usual humorous way. Morbus regius, the jaundice; it was erroneously considered infectious.-454. Fanaticus error, fanatic phrenzy; such as that under which the priests of Bellona, in the full fury of her rites, ran about with knives, gashing themselves &c. Quem urget iracunda Diana; a species of intermitting madness was long attributed to the influence of the moon, and supposed to change with its phases: the word ' lunatic' (Luna = Diana) is still indicative of this belief.-455. Tetigisse timent; observe that, in all the persons mentioned as diseased, infection, or injury, was feared from personal communication.-456. Agitant; i. e. pueri (qui non sapiunt) agitant &c. = follow him down the street, hooting &c.-457. Ructatur, lit. belches = spouts out. Et errat and wanders on any where.-459. Longum clamet, cry for a long time, keep crying.-460. 'Let not a foot stir to help him; for, should any one take the trouble to do it-how do you know-such untractable, unintelligible fellows are these poets-that he did not throw himself down on purpose, and would not thank you to save him?—I will answer my own question, and tell you how a certain Sicilian poet was lost to this world.'-463. Empedocles of Agrigentum, a celebrated poet and philosopher, is the subject of this story. See Epist. i. 12. n. 19.–465. Frigidus; humorously opp. to ardentem. The story goes on to say that Etna cast up one of the would-be 'deus immortalis' sandals, and thus betrayed his design.466. Sit jus &c. By all means allow poets the right to put an end to themselves, and let them do it: don't think of interfering to save them-they don't wish it; and you will incur the guilt of murder, therefore, if you do.' Horace has returned from his anecdote to his pleasantries on the poet in the ditch.-467: Idem facit occidenti (after Gr. ταὐτὸ ποιεῖ τῷ ἀποκτείνοντι) is as wicked as one who kills him. A spondaic line, and the only one in H. O.-468 Nec semel hoc fecit; i. e. fallen into a pit.-469. Fiet homo &c = would he return to his senses, and give up his desire to die the death of a poet-martyr. Famosa = that shall make him famous with posterity: famosus is here only used by H. in a good sense; but the irony qualifies it here.-470. Nec satis apparet &c. "Nor is it quite clear for what crimeunhappy man-he has been visited with this "furor" of versewriting.'-471. Minxerit in patrios cineres, whether he has contemptuously defiled the ashes of his father. Bidental; from bidens, a sheep fit for sacrifice, having eight teeth, of which two were more prominent than the rest. A place struck by lightning was purified by the sacrifice of sheep on it, and the erection of an altar; it was, after the sacrifice, enclosed, and, under the name of 'bidental,' sacred; and thus it was an act of impiety to violate the enclosure, or remove its boundaries.-472. Incestus = stained by a crime; opp. of castus or integer (scelerisque purus), as O. iii. 2. 1. 30. Certe furit of his madness, however, there can be no doubt.—474. Acerbus, pitiless.-476. Non missura &c. = a true leech, certain not to loose its hold. THE END. GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE, LONDON. |