daspes was one of the tributaries of the Indus; the epithet here used refers to the many stories about it, especially its golden sands. 10. Canto. On the tense, see Z. § 507.-11. Curis expeditis. The prosaic construction would be curis expeditus. Dillenb. cites other similar instances in Horace, O. ii., 12, 1; id. 16, 38. - -13. Quale portentum. Such a monster as, etc. See Z. ◊ 765, note. 14. Daunias. A name for Apulia, from Daunus, to whom its settlement was ascribed. Comp. O. iii., 30, 11; iv., 14, 26. 15. Jubae tellus. Mauritania. - 17. Pigris campis. 'Torpid plains."-Osborne. In this stanza the poet describes the frigid zone, and in the next the torrid. Dillenb. directs attention to the perspicuous arrangement of the words in these first two lines; the adjectives pigris and aestiva being placed in the middle, and the nouns campis and aura at the end of the lines to which they belong. -22. Domibus negata. A poetic construction, which may be explained by considering domibus dat. for in domus; or an inversion for cui domus negatae. ODE XXIII. The poet compares Chloe, a coy and timid virgin, with the fawn that dreads to leave the side of its mother. 1. Hinnuleo. This form of a diminutive occurs rarely. See Z. § 240.4. Siluae. A trisyllable, as in Epode 13, 2.- 5. Veris-follis. This expression, though a bold one, is poetical, and neither unintelligible nor strange. Doubtless the plain expression in prose would be, folia inhorrescunt adventu veris; but certainly a poet might use in English the expression, the spring rustles in the leaves, without being condemned by critics. The conjecture of Bentley, vepris inhorruit ad ventum, is therefore, besides being in very bad taste, entirely gratuitous. - -8. Tremit. Agrees with hinnuleus. 12. Viro. In dat. depending upon tempestiva. ODE XXIV. This charming ode Horace addressed to Virgil, on the death of their common friend, Quinctilius Varus. After dwelling upon the virtues of the deceased, mourned for by none so much as by Virgil, for whom none could mourn too much, the poet recommends resignation, and the patient endurance of what cannot be reversed. Quinctilius died in the year of Rome, 730. 1. Desiderio. Dat., although with pudor alone the gen. would be used; in prose it would be, quis desiderii sit pudor, quis desiderio modus? So in Martial, viii., 3, 3, Sit tandem pudor et modus rapinis.-The word 2. Cari capitis. As in Homer, píλŋ kepaλh. means here regret. Dillenb. most aptly compares Schiller: Er zählt die Haüpter seiner Lieben, Und sieh! ihm fehlt kein theures Haupt. 5. Ergo. Does then, etc.? -8. Inveniet. On the use of the sing. numb. see A. & S. ( 209, Rem. 12 (2); Z. § 373, note 1. -11. Frus Pius has here the same The good (pii) Horace tra pius hen. These words belong together. meaning as the noun pietas above, O. 17, 14. ever represents as dear to the gods, and under their especial care. But notwithstanding the piety of Virgil, his lost friend cannot be restored to him. Alas with a fruitless piety. -Non ita creditum. Not on such terms committed to their care; i. e. that he should be so soon snatched away from you. Dillenb. explains ita by supplying ut nunc factum est. 14. Arboribus. For dat. see above n. O. 21, 4. -15. Vanae imagini. To the empty shade. The Greek etowλov, simulacrum. Comp. Virg. Aen. 6, 293; and Ovid, 4, 443, exsangues umbrae.- -17. Non lenis precibus fata recludere. Not indulgent enough to open the portals of fate, in compliance with our prayers. I take precibus as dative, an instance of the dativus commodi; the word recludere, to open, is transferred from the gates of Orcus to the fates themselves, which.cannot be reversed. The construction is a poetical one, equivalent in prose to non adeo lenis, ut recludat, etc. Comp. n. O. i., 1, 18.- -18. Gregi. The prose construction would be in gregem. ODE XXV. Addressed to Lydia, a woman, grown gray in a vicious life, and now in her age and ugliness abandoned and detested by all. 1. Junctas fenestras. The windows in Roman houses were generally mere openings in the wall, closed by shutters, which frequently had two leaves or folds, valvae, bifores fenestrae. Hence when shut, the windows were said to be joined. See Dict. Antiqq. p. 521; and Becker's Gallus, Sc. 2, exc. 1.- -5. Multum facilis ;=facillima.- -11. Magis; i. e. magis solito; when the Thracian wind rages with unusual fury.—Thracio. Comp. Epode 13, 3, Threicio Aquilone.—20. Hebro. Hebrus, a river in Thrace; here called sodalis hiemis, on account of the long stay of the winter. ODE XXVI. This brief and beautiful ode, descriptive of the charms of literary pursuits, and the security they afford against care and disquietude, is addressed to L. Aelius Lamia, a Roman of noble family, who distinguished himself in the war with the Cantabri. In the year of Rome 729, Teridates, who had succeeded to the Parthian throne, in room of his brother Phraates, who had been expelled for his cruelty, was compelled in his turn to flee, on the approach of Phraates, with a Scythian army. 3. Portare. See n. O. i., 2, 8. Quis; nom. with rex; others read quis for a quibus. - -4. Metuatur; i. e. by the Romans. 5. Teridaten. See introduction. 9. Pimplea. The name of a hill and fountain in Thrace, sacred to the Muses. -10. Novis. Compare O. iii., 30, 13 sqq. ODE XXVII. As in the ninth ode of this book, the poet sketches here the picture of a feast with some of his friends. It would seem that some of the party had grown pugnacious over their cups; and the poet, after a severe rebuke upon their rude conduct, contrives to give a fortunate turn to the conversation, by challenging one of the guests to reveal the name of his mistress, and by then pleasantly bantering him upon his mistaken choice. 2. Thracum est. See n. O. i., 18, 9.- -4. Rixis. On the construction see Z. 469. - -5. Vino. See A. & S. ( 224, Rem. 3; Z. ◊ 469. 6. Immane quantum. So nimium quantum, in Cic. Orat. 26, 87; mirum quantum, Liv. 2, 11. With discrepat it is here parenthetical-differs, it is wonderful how much—but may be translated, as it has the force of an adverb, amazingly. Observe that, if instead of being parenthetical, it formed the principal clause, e. g. it is wonderful, how much, etc., the verb would be in the subjunctive. 8. Cubito presso. With your elbow resting on the cushion. This was the usual posture at a Roman meal. The guests reclined on the lecti, or sofas, with their left arm resting on the cushion. For the expression, see Sat. ii., 4, 39; and for a description of the Roman table, see n. Sat. ii., 8, 20 seqq.- -9. Severi. Like austerum, also forte, Sat. ii., 4, 24, rough, dry, in distinction from dulce. See Dict. Antiqq. p. 1056. - 10. Opuntiae Megillae. Opus was a town of the Locrians. -18. Ah miser. The words of the poet, on hearing the name. 19. Laborabas. The imperfect, because the poet has in mind the time, during which the person was reluctant to reply to his question. -21. Thessalis. Thessaly was famous for its herbs and drugs, and for its sorcerers and magicians. - -23. Vix-Pegasus. By the aid of the winged horse Pegasus, Bellerophon destroyed the Chimaera. Horace here compares the maiden with that monster. ODE XXVIII. There is a diversity of opinion respecting the form and the divisions of this ode. But the pronouns te and me, in the connection in which they occur, make it sufficiently clear, that the form is a dialogue; and we gather from the word nauta in line 23, and from Archytas in line 2, together with the request in lines 24 and 25, that the two parties are the shade of Archytas and a mariner. The first twenty lines are the words of the mariner. Chancing to discover, on the coast of Apulia, the unburied corpse of the shipwrecked Archytas, he addresses the quondam philosopher, and tells him with something of raillery in his words, that not even he, with all his attainments in science, could escape death, the common lot of men; that, in spite of his lofty expectations as a disciple of Pythagoras, he was now denied a transition to the other world, and confined to the Matinian shore, simply for the want of a little earth for the decent burial of his body. With the words Me quoque, 1. 21, the unhappy shade replies to the mariner, assenting to the stern truth of all his words, and praying him to vouchsafe the last offices to his unburied corpse. Some make Archytas reply from line 7, and others from line 17; but the words judice te cannot well be ascribed to Archytas; and the 16th and 17th lines are so closely connected, that they must be ascribed to the same person. The ode teaches the truth, that death comes alike to all, the wise and the simple, the learned and the ignorant; none are exempt. For the modern reader, it illustrates the strength and prevalence among the ancients, of the sentiment of respect for the rites of burial; a sentiment finely illustrated by Sophocles's tragedy of Antigone. 2. Archyta. Archytas of Tarentum was a Pythagorean philosopher, a friend and teacher of Plato, and was distinguished for his attainments in geometry and astronomy. To these attainments allusion is made in line 1, and lines 5, 6. He was shipwrecked and drowned, while on a voyage, in the Hadriatic sea. -3. Parva munera; i. e. adhuc tibi negata. The want of the trifling gift of a little dust. So in O. ii., 20, 8; nec Stygia cohibebor unda. It was esteemed a terrible evil if a body was not duly interred; the shade, it was thought, must, for a hundred years, flit about the body, or wander along the banks of the Styx. Matinum. From a hill of that name on the coast of Apulia; now called Matinata. –7. Pelopis genitor. Tantalus, the fabled guest of Jupiter. 8. Tithonus. Son of Laomedon, the ancient Trojan king; carried away to Olympus by Aurora, and though blessed with length of days, not exempt from mortality. Comp. n. O. ii., 16, 30.9. Minos. King and lawgiver of Crete; who, to recommend his laws to the people, pretended that he had divine instructions. The poets made him, in company with Aeacus and Rhadamanthus, a judge in Hades. 10. Panthoiden. It is said that Pythagoras, to illustrate his doctrine of the transmigration of souls, asserted that he had lived in the Trojan war in the person of Euphorbus, and pretended to make good the assertion, by going into the temple of Juno at Argos, and taking down and recognizing the shield of Euphorbus. Ovid alludes to the same story in Met. 15, 160, seqq.. where Pythagoras says: Ipse ego, nam memini, Trojani tempore belli, Cognovi clypeum, laevae gestamina nostrae, -20. Fugit. Aoristic use of the Perfect; that is, the perfect is here used as the Greek aorist is frequently used, expressing something that is of ordinary occurrence. See Z. 590; and comp. Kühner's G. Gr. § 256, 4, b. No head does cruel Proserpine spare. Dillenb. explains thus: nemo tam gravis, quem Proserpina, i. e. mors, fugerit, timuerit, ad quem non accesserit. -21. Orionis. See n. Epod. 10, 10.- -22. Illyricis. Properly of Illyria, on the opposite coast, in relation to Apulia; but here the expression applies to the whole Hadriatic. 25. Sle; so; i. e. in case you listen to my words; sic expresses here, as it often does, the condition on which a wish or a prayer is made to depend. · - 26. Hesperiis; of Italy; so called, in reference to Greece.. 27. Plectantur. May the woods of Venusium suffer. Plecti, literally to be punished. The wish expressed is, that the fury of the storm may be spent upon the forests of Venusium, and the mariner escape all peril. 28. Unde; refers to Jove Neptunoque, and is ex quibus. Comp. n. O. i., 12, 17.- 30. Negligis. Do you think lightly of committing-? On account of the immense importance attached to the rites of sepulture, it was esteemed a sacred duty to inter a body which might be found unburied. The neglect of this duty was thought to involve a fearful retribution. -31. Fors et; perhaps also;=fortasse etiam, as in Virg. Aen. 11, 50.Debita-superbae. A just retribution and like contemptuous returns. 35. Licebit-curras; you will be allowed to, i. e. you may run on. On the construction, see A. & S. ◊ 262, R. 4; Z. § 624; and comp. n. O. i., 7, 1. - 32. ODE XXIX. On the occasion of a contemplated expedition into Arabia Felix, Iccius, a friend of the poet, seems to have been allured by the tempting prospects of gaining riches and renown, and to have abandoned the calm pursuits of philosophy for the stern business of war. In this ode, the poet rallies his friend, in a tone of pleasant irony, on this sudden and singular change in his life. This expedition was ordered by Augustus, B. C. 29; and was made by Aelius Gallus, then prefect of Egypt, B. C. 24.-See Schmitz's Hist. Rome, chap. 41. 1. Beatus-gazis. Beatus is often used for dives, pretiosus. The Arabians were proverbially rich. Comp. O. iii., 24, 1. -3. Sabaeae. a very rich province of Arabia Felix, whose capital was Saba.- 5. Quae virginum barbara. In prose it would be, quae virgo barbara. 7. Puer ex aula; i. e. regia. The expression is equivalent to puer regius. What royal page. In all these questions the irony of the poet is |