192. Quod non plura datis] Because he finds that I have not left him more'; lit. 'because he finds not more than what I have left him'; in short, he gets less than he expected.

193. simplex hilarisque] 'A guileless cheerful man,' and so liberal. He says he is anxious to learn the difference between such a one and a prodigal, and between the thrifty and covetous, and of course to act the part of the former of the two in either case. 'Plura' means 'more than enough.'

197. festis Quinquatribus olim,] The Quinquatria was a festival in honor of Minerva, held on the 19th of March and four following days. Boys had holidays during this festival, that they might pay their devotions to Minerva, the goddess of learning.

199. domus] This word is omitted, and an imperfect verse given in some MSS. It has no meaning here. The best MSS. vary, and the commentators seem agreed to give it up without being able to find out what Horace really wrote. (See note on C. iv. 6. 17.)

205. Non es avarus: abi ;] You are no miser: go to; what, do all your faults vanish with that?' See Forcell. for a variety of uses of abi.'

209. Nocturnos lemures] The belief in ghosts was as common with the ancients as with the superstitious among ourselves. The spirits of the dead were worshipped as Manes, Lares, Lemures, and Larvæ. Under the two former names were recognized the spirits of the good (see Epp. ii. 1. 138, n.) ; the other two represented cruel spirits coming up to terrify and torment the living. The Thessalians had the credit of extraordinary power in magic and drugs. (See C. i. 27. 21; Epod. 5. 45.)

210. Natales grate numeras?] 'Are you happy when you count up your birthdays?' that is, 'Are you content to see yourself advancing in life and drawing near the end of it?' As to 'natales,' see S. ii. 2. 60, n.; C. iv. 11. 8, n.

213. decede peritis.] If you do not know how to live properly, go off the stage and give place to those that do.'

216. lasciva decentius aetas.] A time of life which may be wanton with less indecency'; that is, youth, to which it is more natural."

THE ART OF POETRY.

THERE are no internal evidences, at all fit to be trusted, of the time when this poem was written, or of the persons to whom it is addressed. They are three in number, a father and two sons.

The poem professes to contain a history of the progress of poetry, and rules for composition, with criticisms of different authors and different styles. The rules are miscellaneous, and have little or no method, and the history is more fanciful than real. It is impossible to look upon it as a finished

poem.

1. Humano capiti] The picture supposed is monstrous enough; a woman's head and a fish's tail, with a horse's neck, limbs from all manner of beasts, and feathers from all sorts of birds. This portentous medley (invented of course by himself, for we are not bound to suppose he had ever seen a pic

torial monster of this kind), Horace considered a good illustration of some of the poetry of his day, in which figures and images were thrown together without order or purpose.

9. Pictoribus atque poëtis] This is a supposed reply, that painters and poets have always been privileged people, which Horace admits, but within certain limits. They must not outrage common sense, nor should they patch their verses with images which, however pretty, have nothing to do with the matter in hand.

18. flumen Rhenum] This is the same form as "Metaurum flumen " (C. iv. 4. 38).

19. fortasse cupressum Scis simulare:] The Scholiasts all agree in saying this refers to a Greek proverb, μή τι καὶ κυπαρίσσου θέλεις; the origin of which was an answer given by a bad painter to a shipwrecked sailor, who asked him for a picture of his wreck (see C. i. 5. 13, n.). The man considered himself clever at drawing a cypress, and asked the sailor if he should introduce him one in his picture.

21. Amphora coepit Institui ;] Of the 'amphora,' 'diota,' 'cadus,' 'testa,' 'lagena,' (all which names represent the same kind of vessel for keeping wine, oil, honey, &c.,) drawings will be found in the Dictionary of Antiquitics. It was usually of clay, but sometimes of glass. 'Urceus' was the name for a jug of earthenware or glass, of which specimens of many different shapes have been found at Pompeii. As to the rota figularis' and other matters connected with the art of poetry as practised by the ancients, all necessary information will be found in the Dictionary of Antiquities.

24. pater et juvenes patre digni,] See Introduction. Horace passes on to say that there are those who are led into error by some standard of correctness that they have set themselves, some rule to which they adhere at all costs. One man thinks brevity the right thing, another smoothness of versification, another grandiloquence, another caution, another vanity, and to avoid the opposites of these they run into the excess of them.

29. Prodigialiter] Monstrously.' This belongs to 'variare.'

32. Aemilium circa ludum] This illustrates the case of those who can invent details, but cannot compose an entire poem. The 'Aemilius ludus,' near which this artist lived, is said to have been a gladiator's school, built by Emilius Lepidus, but by which of those who bore that name is unknown. There were many celebrated persons so called. Unus' means 'singular,' surpassing all others; which sense it bears in S. i. 10. 42; ii. 3. 24; 6. 57 (where see note).

38. Sumite materiam] The next consideration is the choice of a subject, which should be well weighed with reference to the powers of the writer ('potenter,' karà dúvaμiv, v. 40).

42. Ordinis haec virtus] Having said that, if a man chooses his subject well, he will be at no loss to arrange his poem, Horace proceeds to explain what arrangement consists in, which is, saying everything in its right place and time.

45. promissi carminis] A poem he is known to have in hand, and which the public are expecting.

46. tenuis cautusque serendis,] 'Judicious and careful in planting his words.' 'Tenuis' signifies a nice discernment. The use of words is the next point noticed, skill in giving by its connection new force to an old word, or in the introduction of new terms sometimes borrowed from the Greek, for the fashion of words is conventional and liable to change.

49. Indiciis] This means words, as being the signs by which things are made known. As to 'abdita rerum,' see C. iv. 12. 19, n.

50. Cethegis] See Epp. ii. 2. 117, n. 'Cinctutus' means one that is only girt about the lower part of his body, having the arms free from the encum

564

brance of the tunic-sleeves. The use of the tunic by the Romans was introduced, with other indulgences, from Greece and the Greek colonies, the ancients having worn only the toga.

'Catonis et Enni,' Epp. ii. 54. Caecilio Plautoque] See Epp. ii. 1. 59. 170. As to Romanus,' see C. iii. 6. 2, n. Virgilio Varioque,' S. i. 5. 40, n.

2. 117, n.

Those which do not 55. Ego cur] The words which Horace appears to have used for the first time have been observed in the course of these notes. appear in any other author are mentioned on C. iii. 11. 10. The construction he here employs is unusual, and so illustrates what he is saying. Ego invideor' should, according to usage, be mihi invidetur,' as 'ego imperor' should be mihi imperatur' (Epp. i. 5. 21, where see note).

59. Signatum praesente nota producere] To give currency to a word stamped with a modern mark, a metaphor taken from the coinage of the mint, respecting which see Dict. Antt., art. 'Moneta.'

60. Ut silvae foliis] As woods in respect of their leaves at the close of the year are changed, yea they are the first to fall.' There is a little irregularity in the construction, but the meaning is clear.

63. Debemur morti nos nostraque ;] Horace probably remembered very well the verses of Simonides:

χαίρει τις Θεόδωρος ἐπεὶ θάνεν· ἄλλος ἐπ ̓ αὐτῷ

χαιρήσει· θανάτῳ πάντες ὀφειλόμεθα.

receptus Terra Neptunus] The lacus Lucrinus' was separated from the bay of Baise by a narrow causeway, the construction of which tradition attributed to Hercules. Beyond the Lucrinus lay the Avernus lacus (lago d'Averno), a basin without any outlet, about a mile and a half in circumference, and fed by streams from Mons Gaurus (Monte Barbaro). The space between the two lakes was covered with wood. In the war with Sextus Pompeius, B. c. 37, Augustus, advised by Agrippa, to whom he had entrusted the task of reforming his fleet, opened a communication between the lakes, and between lacus Avernus and the sea, whereby he made a harbor in which he was able to practise his ships. This he called 'portus Julius.' This is the work Virgil alludes to (Georg. ii. 161). The basin of the Lucrine lake has been filled up by the rising of a volcanic hill (Monte Nuovo), and is now a swamp.

65. Regis opus,] This (like 'regiae moles,' C. ii. 15. 1) means a work worthy of a king.

Sterilisve diu palus] What work Horace here alludes to is very doubtful. The Scholiasts say that Augustus drained the Pomptine marshes. That Julius Cæsar contemplated such a work we learn from Suetonius (Caes. 44), and Plutarch (Caes. 58). That Augustus may have contemplated it likewise, and made the canal mentioned on S. i. 5. 7, while that design was in his mind, is possible. The canal extended from Forum Appii to Terracina, which is said to have been the length of the marshes at that time. Horace appears to be speculating upon a work which, though often attempted, has never succeeded.

67. Seu cursum mutavit] Suetonius tells us that Augustus, to put an end to the inundations of the Tiber, cleared out its bed, which had got filled with rubbish. To some such work as this Horace probably refers, in language a little exaggerated.

68. Doctus iter melius,] So it is said of the river in Epp. i. 14. 29: "rivus si decidit imber Multa mole docendus aprico parcere prato."

69. Nedum sermonum stet honos] This construction is explained by sup posing the verb 'existumes' understood for the sake of brevity. 'Nedum’ not for a moment' or 'not ever so little.'

is

71. si volet usus,]

See Epp. ii. 2. 119, n. Horace uses the words in the

next verse without reference to their technical distinction. Arbitrium' was the judgment of an arbitrator, as 'judicium' was that of a judex. 'Jus,' in one of its senses, was a rule of law (Epp. i. 16. 41). Norma,' a carpenter's or mason's square. The deciding, ordering, and shaping of words is all that Horace means.

73. Res gestae] Here Horace begins a sort of history of different kinds of poetry, which is dropped at v. 85, and taken up again at v. 202.

75. Versibus impariter junctis querimonia] Impariter' is not used elsewhere. What Horace here calls querimonia' is λeyela Opnunτɩký, mourning for the dead. The earliest writers of elegy were Callinus of Ephesus, Tyrtæus of Attica, Archilochus of Paros, and Asius of Samos, all in the seventh century B. C. It was therefore of Ionian origin, whichever of these poets first employed it. That question, which was not settled in Horace's day, is not likely to be settled now.

78. Grammatici certant] See Epp. i. 19. 40, n.

79. Archilocum proprio rabies] See Epp. i. 19. 23, n.; Epod. vi. 13. The principal Iambic writers who followed Archilochus were Simonides of Amorgus, a younger contemporary of Solon, and Hipponax of Ephesus (B. c. 540). 80. Hunc socci cepere pedem] In respect to soccus' and 'cothurnus,' as the characteristics of comedy and tragedy, see Epp. ii. 1. 174, n. The metre most used in the dialogue of the earliest Greek tragedies was the trochaictetrameter, which metre is used in many passages of the Persae of Æschylus. But the iambic trimeter appears to have been used by Phrynicus.

81. Alternis aptum sermonibus] By 'alternis sermonibus' Horace means dialogue generally; not those dialogues in which verse answers to verse,. στιχομυθία.

82. Vincentem strepitus] When he says that the iambic overcomes the noise of the theatre, it may be that he refers to the clear intonation which that metre admits of, or to its engaging the popular attention from its adaptation to the understandings of all.

Natum rebus agendis] This means, that the metre suits the language of action.

83. Musa dedit fidibus] As to 'fidibus,' see C. iii. 11. 3. Though the flute ('tibia') came very early into use as an accompaniment to lyric poetry, it has always retained the name it originally derived from the lyre. The description of Horace includes the choral lyric of the Doric school, and the poetry of the Eolic school. The former was adapted to a choir, the latter only to a single voice. The former was so called, because it was cultivated by the Dorians of the Peloponnesus and Sicily; the latter flourished among the Eolians of Asia Minor, and particularly in the island of Lesbos. The one celebrated gods and heroes or renowned citizens, and was used at public festivals or at marriages and funerals; the other expressed individual thoughts and feelings. Alcæus and Sappho are the chief representatives of the latter school; of the former, Aleman and Stesichorus, Ibycus, Simonides, Bacchylides, and Pindar. Stesichorus and Ibycus were most celebrated for their poems on mythological subjects ('divos puerosque deorum '), while Simonides and Pindar were the greatest in éπivízia, hymns in honor of the victors at public games ('et pugilem victorem et equum certamine primum '), and the poets of wine and passion (juvenum curas et libera vina ') were Alcæus, Sappho, Simonides, and Bacchylides. Horace does not mention one class of lyric poems, the threnes or dirges for the dead, of which Simonides was the greatest master.

As to 'libra vina,' see S. i. 4. 87, n.

86. Discriptas servare vices] He passes on to style (having alluded to various sorts of poetry), and says a man cannot be called a poet unless he can observe the characteristics of each style. This question involves the

language, the characters, the plot, and the subjects handled. But the drama is the sort of poetry chiefly noticed henceforward. 'Vices' are the parts (S. i. 10. 12, 'defendente vicem '), and with 'discriptas' it means the parts as signed to each class of poetry. Operum colores,'' the coloring of poems.' 88. pudens prave] "Through a false shame,' ‘pudor malus' (Epp. i. 16. 24).

90. privatis] The language of common daily life.'

91. coena Thaestae] See C. i. 6. 8, n.

94. Iratusque Chremes] Chremes' is put generally for any father in a comedy. The intensive compound of litigo' does not occur elsewhere. As to plerumque,' in the sense of interdum,' see S. ii. 5. 55, n., and on ‘pedestri,' sce Č. ii. 12. 9, n.

96. Telephus et Peleus,] These persons were the subjects of many trage dies. Each of the three tragedians wrote upon them, and fragments of their plays are extant. Telephus's abject condition, when he went to seek for one to cure him of his wound (see Epod. xvii. 8, n.), and Peleus, driven from Ægina, and wandering in quest of a purifier for the murder of his brother Phocus, appear to have been the points in the history of these persons chiefly dwelt upon. As to ampullas,' see Epp. i. 3. 14, n. Sesquipedalia' (' pés semisque '), 'a foot and a half long.'

99. Non satis est pulchra esse] Pulchra,' as opposed to 'dulcia,' describes that sort of faultless beauty which fails to make an impression on the feelings. Of the accidental rhyme that occurs in these two verses, Orelli has collected several parallel instances from Virgil and Homer.

104. male si mandata loqueris] Male' belongs to 'mandata': 'words improperly assigned you,' tlrat is, not suited to your character (see v. 177).

105. Tristia maestum] Horace says there is a voice of nature within us which adapts itself to every phase of our fortunes, and speaks out in language expressing the emotions that belong to each.

113. equites peditesque] This is a comprehensive way of expressing all the citizens of Rome, with reference to their division by Servius Tullius (Livy i. 43). When the census was completed, the king issued a proclamation, "Ut omnes cives Romani equites peditesque in suis quisque centuriis in Campo Martio prima luce adessent."

114. divusne loquatur an heros,] The Scholiasts are divided between 'divus' and 'Davus'; the MSS. are also at variance. 'Deus' and 'heros' are brought together below (v. 227): "Ne quicunque deus, quicunque adhibebitur heros."

116. matrona potens] This epithet seems to have the same meaning as its kindred word Tóтvia, so common in Homer and the Tragedians. The officious nurse has always been a favorite character on the stage. We find it in Eschylus (Choëphoroe), in Sophocles (Trachiniae), and Euripides (Hippolytus). An unорos ('mercator') is introduced in the Philoctetes of Sophocles, and the prologue of the Electra (Euripides) is spoken by an avтoupyós (cultor agelli ').

118. Colchus an Assyrius,] The Colchian may be put perhaps for any of the barbarous tribes on the shores of the Euxine, and the Assyrian for any of the Eastern nations. (See C. i. 2. 21, n., and C. ii. 11. 16, n.) The opposition between Thebes and Argos has reference partly perhaps to the play of Eschylus, Sept. c. Thebas, in which Polynices comes with an Argive army to get possession of the crown of Thebes, or to the Supplices of Euripides, which turns on the burial of the seven leaders who formed that expedition. But Horace may have had in mind many other plays of which the scene lay either at Argos or Thebes, in connection with Edipus, the quarrel of his sons, the expedition of the Epigoni, etc.

119. Aut famam sequere]

Either you should follow tradition and common