Notes

Believe me, sir, I'd like to spend whole days,Yes, and whole evenings in your company,But the two miles between your house and mineAre four miles when I go there to come back.You're seldom home, and when you are deny it,Engrossed with business or with yourself.Now, I don't mind the two mile trip to see you;What I do mind is going four to not to.[49]

And what would the following epigram be if it had not been perfected and prepared for by the handling?

That no one meets you willingly,That where you come they go, that vastAreas of silence circle you—Why so? you ask. Too much the bard.This makes it terribly, terribly hard.Who would put up with what I do?You read verse if I stand or sit;You read it if I run or sing;And in the baths you read me verse;I try the pool, and swim in verse;I haste to dine, you go my way;I order, and you read me out;Worn out, I take my rest with verse.You want to know what harm you do?Just, upright, harmless, you're a pest.[50]

The conclusion is pleasantly witty, but the special charm of the poem derives from the preceding enumeration.

This finishes the account of what we looked to in selecting these epigrams. You will find what else is pertinent to this book in the preface.

I have silently emended a few passages; otherwise the text translated is that ofEpigrammatum Delectus, Paris, 1659. It is regrettable that the Latin text, at least of the poems cited, could not be printed with the translation.

[1]De nat. deor.2.2.5

[2]Aen.5.481 and 8.596

[3]177-8, 173

[4]All three passages are from epigrams by Gaspar Conrad in Janus Gruter,Delitiae poetarum germanorum, 6 v., Frankfort, 1612: II, 1065-6, lines 1-6 of a twelve line epigram, "In symbolum Iacobi Monavi"; II, 1077, the concluding lines of an eight line epigram, "Ad Valentinum Maternum"; and II, 1079, the concluding couplet of a six line epigram, "Ad Georgum Menhadum Philophilum." The second passage is hardly construable.

[5]Ars. poet.141-2, the paraphrase of Homer, and 143-4. The other quotations in this passage are from the opening of theAeneid,Thebaid,Rape of Proserpine, and thePharsalia.

[6]Inst. orat.8.6.14

[7]"Manes Dousici," IV "Ad solem" and V "Ad sidera,"Poemata, Leyden, 1613, p. 166. Nicole readstandemforrursusin the last line of the second poem. Douza is the younger Janus Douza (1571-1596).Nicole's criticism of these poems is just but superficial. The difficulty with such poems lies in the method, which consists in the establishment by amplification of one pole, followed by the briefest statement of the contrary pole. But the latter is of personal concern and is the essential subject of the poem. Thus the subject isdeliberately avoided for the greater part of the poem, and hence there is in the amplification no principle of order to control the detail and its accumulation. This accounts for the features Nicole censures; however, he himself makes a similar point below in condemning negative descriptions.

[7]"Manes Dousici," IV "Ad solem" and V "Ad sidera,"Poemata, Leyden, 1613, p. 166. Nicole readstandemforrursusin the last line of the second poem. Douza is the younger Janus Douza (1571-1596).

Nicole's criticism of these poems is just but superficial. The difficulty with such poems lies in the method, which consists in the establishment by amplification of one pole, followed by the briefest statement of the contrary pole. But the latter is of personal concern and is the essential subject of the poem. Thus the subject isdeliberately avoided for the greater part of the poem, and hence there is in the amplification no principle of order to control the detail and its accumulation. This accounts for the features Nicole censures; however, he himself makes a similar point below in condemning negative descriptions.

[8]I have been unable to find this among Grotius' poems.

[9]Joannes Vulteius (c.1510-1542), "De ignobili Aruerno in sepulchro nobili posito,"Hendecasyllaborum libri iv, Paris, 1538, Ni., p. 97.

[10]"Ad Rudolphum Imp. florum picturae dedicatio,"Poemata, Leyden, 1637, p. 326.

[11]Epig. 1.50, "De Jucundo architecto,"Poemata, Pavia, 1719, p. 189.

[12]I have been unable to identify this epigram.

[13]A translation ofAnth. Pal.11.104 and printed as Ausonius in the Renaissance, but probably by Girogio Merula (c.1424-1494): see James Hutton,The Greek Anthology In Italy to the year 1800, "Cornell Studies in English," XXIII (1935), pp. 23-4, 102-5, and Ausonius,Opuscula, ed. Rudolphus Peiper, Leipzig, 1886, p. 428. The younger Scaliger strongly condemns this epigram on the same grounds: Joseph Scaliger,Ausoniarum lectionum libri ii, 2.20, Heidelberg, 1688, p. 204.

[14]3.66

[15]Epig. libri tres, ad D. Mariam Neville, 2.211.Epigrammata, Amsterdam, 1647, p. 47. Translated by Thomas Harvey,John Owen's Latin Epigrams, London, 1677, p. 36: "Sith th' Harps discording Strings concording be, / Is't not a shamefor men to disagree?" and by Thomas Pecke,Parnassi puerperium, London, 1659: "Can there be many strings; and yet no Jars? / And are not men asham'd of dismal wars?"

[16]Nicole's text follows what are now regarded as inferior mss: see Germanious Caesar,Aratea, ed. Alfred Breysig, 2nd. ed., Leipzig, 1899, p. 58. The poem corresponds toAnth. Pal.7.542. Nicole's comment recalls Dr. Johnson on Gray's cat.

[17]The dedicatory poem, addressed to Louis XIII, to Caspar Barlaeus'Poematum editio nova, Leyden, 1631, sig.*8.

[18]22.10

[19]Epig. 1.25,Opera Omnia, 2 v., Leyden, 1725, II, 365. Nicole's text presents several variants and cuts the next to the last couplet, which I translate: "Already at the tomb, He beats the gates / Of Dis, and Libertina waits his torches."

[20]Epig. 3.5,op. cit., p. 233.

[21]Catullus 36 and Martial 1.109. 10-11

[22]Pis.13

[23]Aen.1.630

[24]Anthologia Latina, ed. Alexander Riese, 412.17, Leipzig, 1894, I, 1, p.319. The epigram, from which this phrase is quoted, was ascribed to Seneca by Pithoeus.

[25]Epig.... ad ... Neville, 2.126,op. cit., p. 38. Harvey, p. 36, translates: "Lo, not an hair thine heads bald Crown doth crown: / Thy Faithless Front hath not one hair thine own: / Before, Behind thine hair's blown off with Blast, / What's left thee to be lost? thine Head at last."

[26]In the preface,Delectus, Paris, 1659, ch. 2. The problem was whether to print a large collection of epigrams, rejecting merely the obscene ones, or to choose only the best. A middle way was taken for these reasons: 1) there are so few first-class epigrams that a reader who had his own opinions might think the selection too choosy; 2) the best shines out only in comparison with what is not so good, and examples of vice are as useful as examples of virtue, since judgement in large measure consists in knowing what to avoid; 3) finally and principally, the curiosity of young men would not be sufficiently satisfied by the selection if they knew that a good many witty and polished epigrams were to be found elsewhere. Since it was especially necessary to keep youth from the unspeakable filth of Catullus and Martial, who are at the same time the best writers, everything of theirs is included except the cheapest odds and ends and filthiest obscenities. For the writers after Martial stricter standards were applied, for the book would have grown beyond bounds if everything tolerable had been admitted.

[27]Martial 5.37, 1, 4-6, 9, 12-14. The lines that Nicole cuts contain only more of the same.

[28]Martial 1.76

[29]Epig. libri tres ad Henricum ... ded. 1.67,op. cit., p. 131.

[30]Unidentified. The text reads: "In nive nocte vagans nuceo cado stipite nectus, / Sic mihi nix, nox, nux, nex fuit ante diem."

[31]1.8. 5-6.

[32]The conclusion of an epigram of ten lines, ascribed to Seneca inDelectus, pp. 326-7. Lines 1-8 correspond toAnth. Lat.,op. cit., 407. 5-12. The younger Scaliger had begun a new epigram with line 5, as also with lines 9 and 11(ed., Vergil,Appendix, cum supplemento..., Lyons, 1572, pp. 196-7.) The concluding sententia, however, which Nicole quotes here and praises later in the notes to the anthology, is from the conclusion of the next epigram,Anth. Lat., 408. 7-8, which is a response to the preceding one. But the first two-thirds of the couplet has been rewritten with the aid of something like aGradus ad Parnassum. The ms reads, "nunc et reges tantum fuge! vivere doctus / uni vive tibi nam moriare tibi." Nicole reads, "Mitte superba pati fastidia, spemque caducam / Despice: vive tibi, nam moriere tibi."superba pati fastidiacorresponds to Vergil,Ecl.2.15;spem ... caducamto Ovid,Epist.15 (sive 16, "Paris Helenae"). 169 (sive 171).The epigram as it stands in the anthology, then, is a result of Scaliger's disintegration ofAnth. Lat.407, which suggested beginning with line 5 and adding 408. 7-8 from the responsory poem. But this couplet is subjected to improvement to adjust it to the sense, to sustain the level of feeling, and to enhance the sententious point. Thus, with the aid of phrases from Vergil and Ovid, usingmitteanddespiceas fillers and helpers, the epigram is concluded "with a noble, exalted and true thought," as the editor says in the notes.

The epigram as it stands in the anthology, then, is a result of Scaliger's disintegration ofAnth. Lat.407, which suggested beginning with line 5 and adding 408. 7-8 from the responsory poem. But this couplet is subjected to improvement to adjust it to the sense, to sustain the level of feeling, and to enhance the sententious point. Thus, with the aid of phrases from Vergil and Ovid, usingmitteanddespiceas fillers and helpers, the epigram is concluded "with a noble, exalted and true thought," as the editor says in the notes.

[33]Inst. orat.11.1.16.

[34]J. C. Scaliger,Poeticas libri vii, 3.125, 5th. ed., 1607, p. 389.

[35]loc. cit., p. 390: "An epigram, therefore, is a short poem directly pointing out some thing, person, or deed, or deducing something from premises. This definition includes also the principle of division—so let no one condemn it as prolix." Nicole, however, uses only the first half of the definition, since he rejects the principle of division.

[36]loc. cit.: "Brevity is a property; point the soul and, so to speak, the form." For a full account of the Renaissance theoryof the epigram and the contemporary controversies, see Hutton,op. cit., pp. 55-73, andThe Greek Anthology in France and in the Latin writers of the Netherlands to the year 1800, "Cornell studies in classical philology," XXVIII (1946),passim.

[37]Anon., "In statuam equestrem Ludouici XIII positam Parisiis in circo regali,"Delectus, pp. 409-10.

[38]Nicolas Borbon, the younger,Poematia exposita, Paris, 1630, pp. 144-5, the concluding lines (lines 23-30) of an epigram, "In versus v.c. Iacobi Pinonis."

[39]Catullus 1.7

[40]Ianus Vitalis Panomitanus (c.1485-1560), "Antiquae Romae ruinae illustres,"Delectus, p. 366; see alsoDelitiae delitiarum, ed. Ab. Wright, Oxford, 1637, p. 104, with textual variants.

[41]1.21

[42]Delectus, pp. 396-7, 399-400, and 405. See Grotius,op. cit., pp. 341-2, and 383.

[43]1.8

[44]1.33

[45]2.68

[46]4.69

[47]4.56

[48]6.65

[49]2.5

[50]3.44. 1-5, 9-18. The lines cut, 6-8, read in translation: "No tigress wild for her lost cubs, / No viper burned by the noon sun, / No scorpion begets such fear." In line 11, line 8 of the translation, Nicole readscanentifor the receivedcacanti. The latter reading will yield in translation a rhyme with the preceding line.

The Editors ofTHE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETYare pleased to announce thatTHE WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARYof The University of California, Los Angeles

will become the publisher of the Augustan Reprints in May, 1949. The editorial policy of the Society will continue unchanged. As in the past, the editors will strive to furnish members inexpensive reprints of rare seventeenth and eighteenth century works.

All correspondence concerning subscriptions in the United States and Canada should be addressed to the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2205 West Adams Blvd., Los Angeles 7, California. Correspondence concerning editorial matters may be addressed to any of the general editors. Membership fee continues $2.50 per year ($2.75 in Great Britain and the continent). British and European subscribers should address B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England.

Publications for the fourth year (1949-1950)(At least six items will be printed in the main from the following list)

Series IV: Men, Manners, and CriticsJohn Dryden,His Majesties Declaration Defended(1681)Daniel Defoe (?),Vindication of the Press(1718)Critical Remarks on Sir Charles Grandison, Clarissa,and Pamela(1754)Series VI: Poetry and LanguageAndre Dacier,Essay on Lyric PoetryPoemsby Thomas SpratPoemsby the Earl of DorsetSamuel Johnson,Vanity of Human Wishes(1749),and one of the 1750Ramblerpapers.Series V: DramaThomas Southerne,Oroonoko(1696)Mrs. Centlivre,The Busie Body(1709)Charles Johnson,Caelia(1733)Charles Macklin,Man of the World(1781)Extra Series:Lewis Theobald,Preface to Shakespeare's Works(1733)A few copies of the early publications of the Societyare still available at the original rate.

Series VI: Poetry and LanguageAndre Dacier,Essay on Lyric PoetryPoemsby Thomas SpratPoemsby the Earl of DorsetSamuel Johnson,Vanity of Human Wishes(1749),and one of the 1750Ramblerpapers.

Series V: DramaThomas Southerne,Oroonoko(1696)Mrs. Centlivre,The Busie Body(1709)Charles Johnson,Caelia(1733)Charles Macklin,Man of the World(1781)

Extra Series:Lewis Theobald,Preface to Shakespeare's Works(1733)A few copies of the early publications of the Societyare still available at the original rate.

GENERAL EDITORSH. Richard Archer,William Andrews Clark Memorial LibraryE. N. Hooker,University of California, Los AngelesR. C. Boys,University of MichiganH. T. Swedenberg, Jr.,University of California, Los Angeles

ToThe Augustan Reprint SocietyWilliam Andrews Clark Memorial Library2205 West Adams Blvd.,Los Angeles 7, CaliforniaAsmembership feeI enclose for:Name________________________Address_______________________The fourth year$ 2.50The third and fourth year5.00The second, third and fourth year7.50The first, second, third, and fourth year10.00[Add $.25 for each year if ordering from Great Britainor the continent]

ToThe Augustan Reprint SocietyWilliam Andrews Clark Memorial Library2205 West Adams Blvd.,Los Angeles 7, California

Asmembership feeI enclose for:

Name________________________Address_______________________

Make check or money order payable toThe Regents of the University of California.Note: All income of the Society is devoted to defraying cost of printing and mailing.

Make check or money order payable toThe Regents of the University of California.

Note: All income of the Society is devoted to defraying cost of printing and mailing.

First Year (1946-1947)

1. Richard Blackmore'sEssay upon Wit(1716), and Addison'sFreeholderNo. 45 (1716). (I, 1)2. Samuel Cobb'sOf Poetry and Discourse on Criticism(1707). (II, 1)3.Letter to A. H. Esq.; concerning the Stage(1698), and Richard Willis'sOccasional Paper No. IX(1698). (III, 1)4.Essay on Wit(1748), together with Characters by Flecknoe, and Joseph Warton'sAdventurerNos. 127 and 133. (I, 2)5. Samuel Wesley'sEpistle to a Friend Concerning Poetry(1700) andEssay on Heroic Poetry(1693). (II, 2)6.Representation of the Impiety and Immorality of the Stage(1704) andSome Thoughts Concerning the Stage(1704). (III, 2)

1. Richard Blackmore'sEssay upon Wit(1716), and Addison'sFreeholderNo. 45 (1716). (I, 1)

2. Samuel Cobb'sOf Poetry and Discourse on Criticism(1707). (II, 1)

3.Letter to A. H. Esq.; concerning the Stage(1698), and Richard Willis'sOccasional Paper No. IX(1698). (III, 1)

4.Essay on Wit(1748), together with Characters by Flecknoe, and Joseph Warton'sAdventurerNos. 127 and 133. (I, 2)

5. Samuel Wesley'sEpistle to a Friend Concerning Poetry(1700) andEssay on Heroic Poetry(1693). (II, 2)

6.Representation of the Impiety and Immorality of the Stage(1704) andSome Thoughts Concerning the Stage(1704). (III, 2)

Second Year (1947-1948)

7. John Gay'sThe Present State of Wit(1711); and a section on Wit fromThe English Theophrastus(1702). (I, 3)8. Rapin'sDe Carmine Pastorali, translated by Creech (1684). (II, 3)9. T. Hanmer's (?)Some Remarks on the Tragedy of Hamlet(1736). (III, 3)10. Corbyn Morris'Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit, etc.(1744). (I, 4)11. Thomas Purney'sDiscourse on the Pastoral(1717). (II, 4)12. Essays on the Stage, selected, with an Introduction by Joseph Wood Krutch. (III, 4)

7. John Gay'sThe Present State of Wit(1711); and a section on Wit fromThe English Theophrastus(1702). (I, 3)

8. Rapin'sDe Carmine Pastorali, translated by Creech (1684). (II, 3)

9. T. Hanmer's (?)Some Remarks on the Tragedy of Hamlet(1736). (III, 3)

10. Corbyn Morris'Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit, etc.(1744). (I, 4)

11. Thomas Purney'sDiscourse on the Pastoral(1717). (II, 4)

12. Essays on the Stage, selected, with an Introduction by Joseph Wood Krutch. (III, 4)

Third Year (1948-1949)

13. Sir John Falstaff (pseud.),The Theatre(1720). (IV, 1)14 Edward Moore'sThe Gamester(1753). (V, 1)15. John Oldmixon'sReflections on Dr. Swift's Letter to Harley(1712); and Arthur Mainwaring'sThe British Academy(1712). (VI, 1)16. Nevil Payne'sFatal Jealousy(1673). (V, 2)17. Nicholas Rowe'sSome Account of the Life of Mr. William Shakespear(1709). (Extra Series, 1)18. Aaron Hill's Preface toThe Creation; and Thomas Brereton's Preface toEsther. (IV, 2)

13. Sir John Falstaff (pseud.),The Theatre(1720). (IV, 1)

14 Edward Moore'sThe Gamester(1753). (V, 1)

15. John Oldmixon'sReflections on Dr. Swift's Letter to Harley(1712); and Arthur Mainwaring'sThe British Academy(1712). (VI, 1)

16. Nevil Payne'sFatal Jealousy(1673). (V, 2)

17. Nicholas Rowe'sSome Account of the Life of Mr. William Shakespear(1709). (Extra Series, 1)

18. Aaron Hill's Preface toThe Creation; and Thomas Brereton's Preface toEsther. (IV, 2)

Transcriber's NotesOn p. 23, a letter was missing in one of the words;it was changed as follows:From: "when they are orn down and laughed at."To: "when they are torn down and laughed at."On p. 35, footnote #24, removed the repeated word "is":From: "from which this phrase is is quoted"To: "from which this phrase is quoted"

Transcriber's Notes

On p. 23, a letter was missing in one of the words;it was changed as follows:From: "when they are orn down and laughed at."To: "when they are torn down and laughed at."On p. 35, footnote #24, removed the repeated word "is":From: "from which this phrase is is quoted"To: "from which this phrase is quoted"

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