PERSIUS.

I have neither steeped[1168]my lips in the fountain of the Horse;[1169]nor do I remember to have dreamt on the double-peaked[1170]Parnassus, that so I might on a sudden come forth apoet. The nymphs of Helicon, and pale Pirene,[1171]I resign to those around whose statues[1172]the clinging ivy twines.[1173]I myself, half a clown,[1174]bring[1175]my verses as a contribution to the inspired effusions of the poets.

Who made[1176]the parrot[1177]so ready with his salutation, andtaught magpies to emulate our words?—That which is the master of all art,[1178]the bounteous giver of genius—the belly: that artist that trains them to copy sounds that nature has denied[1179]them. But if the hope of deceitful money shall have shone forth, you may believe that ravens turned poets, and magpies poetesses, give vent to strains of Pegaseian nectar.[1180]

FOOTNOTES:[1168]Prolui.Proluere, "to dip the lips," properly applied to cattle. So "procumbere," Sulp., 17. Cf. Stat. Sylv., V., iii., 121, "Risere sorores Aonides, pueroque chelyn submisit et ora imbuit amne sacro jam tum tibi blandus Apollo."[1169]Fonte Caballino.Caballus is a term of contempt for a horse, implying "a gelding, drudge, or beast of burden," nearly equivalent to Cantherius. Cf. Lucil., ii., fr. xi. (x.), "Succussatoris tetri tardique Caballi." Hor., i., Sat. vi., 59, "Me Satureiano vectari rura caballo." Sen., Ep., 87, "Catonem uno caballo esse contentum." So Juv., x., 60, "Immeritis franguntur crura caballis." Juvenal also applies the term to Pegasus: "Ad quam Gorgonei delapsa est pinna caballi," iii., 118. Pegasus sprang from the blood of Medusa when beheaded by Perseus. Ov., Met, iv., 785, "Eripuisse caput collo: pennisque fugacem Pegason et fratrem matris de sanguine natos." The fountain Hippocrene, ἱππουκρήνη, sprang up from the stroke of his hoof when he lighted on Mount Helicon. Ov., Fast., iii., 456, "Cum levis Aonias ungula fodit aquas." Hes., Theog., 2-6. Hesych., v. ἱππουκρήνη. Paus., Bœot., 31. Near it was the fountain of Aganippe, and these two springs supplied the rivers Olmius and Permissus, the favorite haunts of the Muses. Hesiod,u. s.Hence those who drank of these were fabled to become poets forthwith. Mosch., Id., iii., 77, ἀμφότεροι παγαῖς πεφιλαμένοι· ὃς μεν ἔπινε Παγασίδος κράνας ὁ δὲ πῶμ' ἔχε τᾶς Ἀρεθοίσας.[1170]Bicipiti.Parnassus is connected toward the southeast with Helicon and the Bœotian ridges. It is the highest mountain in Central Greece, and is covered with snow during the greater portion of the year. The Castalian spring is fed by these perpetual snows, and pours down the chasm between the two summits. These are two lofty rocks rising perpendicularly from Delphi, and obtained for the mountain the epithet δικόρυφον. Eur., Phœn., 234. They were anciently known by the names of Hyampeia and Naupleia, Herod., viii., 39, but sometimes the name Phædriades was applied to them in common. The name of Tithorea was also applied to one of them, as well as to the town of Neon in its neighborhood. Herod., viii., 32. These heights were sacred to Bacchus and the Muses, and those who slept in their neighborhood were supposed to receive inspiration from them. Cf. Propert., III., ii., 1, "Visus eram molli recubans Heliconis in umbrâ, Bellerophontei quà fluit humor equi; Reges, Alba, tuos et regum facta tuorum tantum operis nervis hiscere posse meis." Cf. Virg., Æn., vii., 86. Ov., Heroid., xv., 156,seq.[1171]Pirenen.The fountain of Pirene was in the middle of the forum of Corinth. Ov., Met., ii., 240, "Ephyre Pirenidas undas." It took its name from the nymph so called, who dissolved into tears at the death of her daughter Cenchrea, accidentally killed by Diana. The water was said to have the property of tempering the Corinthian brass, when plunged red-hot into the stream. Paus., ii., 3. Near the source Bellerophon is said to have seized Pegasus, hence called the Pirenæan steed by Euripides. Electr., 475. Cf. Pind., Olymp., xiii., 85, 120. Stat. Theb., iv., 60, "Cenchreæque manus, vatûm qui conscius amnis Gorgoneo percussus equo." Ov., Pont., I., iii., 75. TheLatinpoets alone make this spring sacred to the Muses. "Pallidam" may refer either to the legend of its origin, or to the wan faces of the votaries of the Muses.[1172]Imagines.Cf. Juv., vii., 29, "Qui facis in parvâ sublimia carmina cellâ ut dignus venias hederis et imagine macrâ." Poets were crowned withivyas well asbay. "Doctarum hederæ præmia frontium." Hor., i., Od. i., 29. The Muses being the companions of Bacchus as well as of Apollo. Ov., A. Am., iii., 411. Mart., viii., Ep. 82. The busts of poets and other eminent literary men were used to adorn public libraries, especially the one in the temple of Palatine Apollo.[1173]Lambunt, properly said of a dog's tongue, then of flame. Cf. Virg., Æn., ii., 684, "Tractuque innoxia molli Lambere flamma comas, et circum tempora pasci." So the ivy, climbing and clinging, seems to lick with its forked tongue the objects whose form it closely follows.[1174]Semipaganus.Paganus is opposed to miles. Juv., xvi., 33. Plin., x., Ep. xviii. Here it means, "not wholly undisciplined in the warfare of letters." So Plin., vii., Ep. 25, "Sunt enim ut in castris, sic etiam in litteris nostris plures cultu pagano, quos cinctos et armatos, et quidem, ardentissimo ingenio, diligentius scrutatus invenies."[1175]Affero.εἰς μέσον φέρω. Casaubon.[1176]Quis expedivit.To preserve his incognito, Persius in this 2d part of the Prologue represents himself as driven by poverty, though but unprepared, to write for his bread. So Horace, ii., Ep. xi., 50, "Decisis humilem pennis inopemque paterni et Laris et fundi paupertas impulit audax ut versus facerem."[1177]Psittaco.Cf. Stat. Sylv., II., iv., 1, 2, "Psittace, dux volucrûm, domini facunda voluptas, Humanæ solers imitator, Psittace linguæ!" Mart., xiv., Ep. lxxiii., 76. χαῖρε was one of the common words taught to parrots. So εὗ πράττε, Ζεὺς ἵλεως, Cæsar ave. Vid. Mart.,u. s.[1178]Magister artis.So the Greek proverb, Λιμὸς δὲ πολλῶν γίγνεται διδάσκαλος. Theoc., xxi., Id. 1, Ἁ Πενιὰ, Διοφαντε, μόνα τὰς τέχνας ἐγείρει. Plaut. Stich., "Paupertas fecit ridiculus forem. Nam illa omnes artes perdocet." Cf. Arist., Plut., 467-594. So Ben Jonson, in the Poetaster, "And between whiles spit out a better poem than e'er the master of arts, or giver of wit, their belly, made."[1179]Negatas.So Manilius, lib. v., "Quinetiam linguas hominum sensusque docebit Aerias volucres, novaque in commercia ducet, Verbaque præcipiet naturæ sorte negatas."[1180]Nectaris found in two MSS.; all the others have "melos," which has been rejected as not making a scazontic line. But Homer, in his Hymn to Mercury, makes the first syllable long; and also Antipater, in an Epigram on Anacreon, ἀκμὴν οἳ λυρόεν μελίζεται ἀμφι βαθύλλῳ. Cf. Theoc., Id., vii., 82, οὕνεκά οι γλυκὺ Μοῖσα στόματος χέε νέκταρ.

[1168]Prolui.Proluere, "to dip the lips," properly applied to cattle. So "procumbere," Sulp., 17. Cf. Stat. Sylv., V., iii., 121, "Risere sorores Aonides, pueroque chelyn submisit et ora imbuit amne sacro jam tum tibi blandus Apollo."

[1169]Fonte Caballino.Caballus is a term of contempt for a horse, implying "a gelding, drudge, or beast of burden," nearly equivalent to Cantherius. Cf. Lucil., ii., fr. xi. (x.), "Succussatoris tetri tardique Caballi." Hor., i., Sat. vi., 59, "Me Satureiano vectari rura caballo." Sen., Ep., 87, "Catonem uno caballo esse contentum." So Juv., x., 60, "Immeritis franguntur crura caballis." Juvenal also applies the term to Pegasus: "Ad quam Gorgonei delapsa est pinna caballi," iii., 118. Pegasus sprang from the blood of Medusa when beheaded by Perseus. Ov., Met, iv., 785, "Eripuisse caput collo: pennisque fugacem Pegason et fratrem matris de sanguine natos." The fountain Hippocrene, ἱππουκρήνη, sprang up from the stroke of his hoof when he lighted on Mount Helicon. Ov., Fast., iii., 456, "Cum levis Aonias ungula fodit aquas." Hes., Theog., 2-6. Hesych., v. ἱππουκρήνη. Paus., Bœot., 31. Near it was the fountain of Aganippe, and these two springs supplied the rivers Olmius and Permissus, the favorite haunts of the Muses. Hesiod,u. s.Hence those who drank of these were fabled to become poets forthwith. Mosch., Id., iii., 77, ἀμφότεροι παγαῖς πεφιλαμένοι· ὃς μεν ἔπινε Παγασίδος κράνας ὁ δὲ πῶμ' ἔχε τᾶς Ἀρεθοίσας.

[1170]Bicipiti.Parnassus is connected toward the southeast with Helicon and the Bœotian ridges. It is the highest mountain in Central Greece, and is covered with snow during the greater portion of the year. The Castalian spring is fed by these perpetual snows, and pours down the chasm between the two summits. These are two lofty rocks rising perpendicularly from Delphi, and obtained for the mountain the epithet δικόρυφον. Eur., Phœn., 234. They were anciently known by the names of Hyampeia and Naupleia, Herod., viii., 39, but sometimes the name Phædriades was applied to them in common. The name of Tithorea was also applied to one of them, as well as to the town of Neon in its neighborhood. Herod., viii., 32. These heights were sacred to Bacchus and the Muses, and those who slept in their neighborhood were supposed to receive inspiration from them. Cf. Propert., III., ii., 1, "Visus eram molli recubans Heliconis in umbrâ, Bellerophontei quà fluit humor equi; Reges, Alba, tuos et regum facta tuorum tantum operis nervis hiscere posse meis." Cf. Virg., Æn., vii., 86. Ov., Heroid., xv., 156,seq.

[1171]Pirenen.The fountain of Pirene was in the middle of the forum of Corinth. Ov., Met., ii., 240, "Ephyre Pirenidas undas." It took its name from the nymph so called, who dissolved into tears at the death of her daughter Cenchrea, accidentally killed by Diana. The water was said to have the property of tempering the Corinthian brass, when plunged red-hot into the stream. Paus., ii., 3. Near the source Bellerophon is said to have seized Pegasus, hence called the Pirenæan steed by Euripides. Electr., 475. Cf. Pind., Olymp., xiii., 85, 120. Stat. Theb., iv., 60, "Cenchreæque manus, vatûm qui conscius amnis Gorgoneo percussus equo." Ov., Pont., I., iii., 75. TheLatinpoets alone make this spring sacred to the Muses. "Pallidam" may refer either to the legend of its origin, or to the wan faces of the votaries of the Muses.

[1172]Imagines.Cf. Juv., vii., 29, "Qui facis in parvâ sublimia carmina cellâ ut dignus venias hederis et imagine macrâ." Poets were crowned withivyas well asbay. "Doctarum hederæ præmia frontium." Hor., i., Od. i., 29. The Muses being the companions of Bacchus as well as of Apollo. Ov., A. Am., iii., 411. Mart., viii., Ep. 82. The busts of poets and other eminent literary men were used to adorn public libraries, especially the one in the temple of Palatine Apollo.

[1173]Lambunt, properly said of a dog's tongue, then of flame. Cf. Virg., Æn., ii., 684, "Tractuque innoxia molli Lambere flamma comas, et circum tempora pasci." So the ivy, climbing and clinging, seems to lick with its forked tongue the objects whose form it closely follows.

[1174]Semipaganus.Paganus is opposed to miles. Juv., xvi., 33. Plin., x., Ep. xviii. Here it means, "not wholly undisciplined in the warfare of letters." So Plin., vii., Ep. 25, "Sunt enim ut in castris, sic etiam in litteris nostris plures cultu pagano, quos cinctos et armatos, et quidem, ardentissimo ingenio, diligentius scrutatus invenies."

[1175]Affero.εἰς μέσον φέρω. Casaubon.

[1176]Quis expedivit.To preserve his incognito, Persius in this 2d part of the Prologue represents himself as driven by poverty, though but unprepared, to write for his bread. So Horace, ii., Ep. xi., 50, "Decisis humilem pennis inopemque paterni et Laris et fundi paupertas impulit audax ut versus facerem."

[1177]Psittaco.Cf. Stat. Sylv., II., iv., 1, 2, "Psittace, dux volucrûm, domini facunda voluptas, Humanæ solers imitator, Psittace linguæ!" Mart., xiv., Ep. lxxiii., 76. χαῖρε was one of the common words taught to parrots. So εὗ πράττε, Ζεὺς ἵλεως, Cæsar ave. Vid. Mart.,u. s.

[1178]Magister artis.So the Greek proverb, Λιμὸς δὲ πολλῶν γίγνεται διδάσκαλος. Theoc., xxi., Id. 1, Ἁ Πενιὰ, Διοφαντε, μόνα τὰς τέχνας ἐγείρει. Plaut. Stich., "Paupertas fecit ridiculus forem. Nam illa omnes artes perdocet." Cf. Arist., Plut., 467-594. So Ben Jonson, in the Poetaster, "And between whiles spit out a better poem than e'er the master of arts, or giver of wit, their belly, made."

[1179]Negatas.So Manilius, lib. v., "Quinetiam linguas hominum sensusque docebit Aerias volucres, novaque in commercia ducet, Verbaque præcipiet naturæ sorte negatas."

[1180]Nectaris found in two MSS.; all the others have "melos," which has been rejected as not making a scazontic line. But Homer, in his Hymn to Mercury, makes the first syllable long; and also Antipater, in an Epigram on Anacreon, ἀκμὴν οἳ λυρόεν μελίζεται ἀμφι βαθύλλῳ. Cf. Theoc., Id., vii., 82, οὕνεκά οι γλυκὺ Μοῖσα στόματος χέε νέκταρ.

ARGUMENT.

Under the color of declaring his purpose of writing Satire and the plan he intends to adopt, and of defending himself against the idle criticism of an imaginary and nameless adversary, Persius lashes the miserable poets of his own day, and in no very obscure terms, their Coryphæus himself, Nero. The subject of the Satire is not very unlike the first of the second book of Horace's Satires, and comes very near in some points to the first Satire of Juvenal. But the manner of treatment is distinct in each, and quite characteristic of the three great Satirists. Horace's is more full of personality, one might say, of egotism, and his own dislike and contempt of the authors of his time, more lively and brilliant, more pungent and witty, than either of the others; more pregnant with jokes, and yet rising to a higher tone than the Satire of Persius. That of Juvenal is in a more majestic strain, as befits the stern censor of the depraved morals of his day; full of commanding dignity and grave rebuke, of fiery indignation and fierce invective; and is therefore more declamatory and oratorical in its style, more elevated in its sentiment, more refined in its diction. While in that of Persius we trace the workings of a young and ardent mind, devoted to literature and intellectual pleasures, of a philosophical turn, and a chastened though somewhat fastidious taste. We see the student and devotee of literature quite as much as the censor of morals, and can see that he grieves over the corruption of the publictastealmost as deeply as over the general depravity of publicmorals. Still there breathes through the whole a tone of high and right feeling, of just and stringent criticism, of keen and pungent sarcasm, which deservedly places this Satire very high in the rank of intellectual productions.The Satire opens with a dialogue between the poet himself and some one who breaks in upon his meditations. This person is usually described as his "Monitor;" some well-meaning acquaintance, who endeavors to dissuade the poet from his purpose of writing Satire. But D'Achaintre's notion, that he is rather an ill-natured critic than a good-natured adviser, seems the more tenable one, and the divisions of the first few lines have been ingeniously made to support that view. After expressing supreme contempt for the poet's opening line, he advises him, if he must needs give vent to verse, to write something more suited to the taste and spirit of the age he lives in. Persius acknowledges that this would be the more likely way to gain applause, but maintains that such approbation is not the end at which a true poet ought to aim. And this leads him to expose the miserable and corrupt taste of the poetasters of his day, and to express supreme contempt for the mania for recitation then prevalent, which had already provoked the sneers of Horace, and afterward drew down the more majestic condemnation of Juvenal. He draws a vivid picture of these depraved poets, who pander to the gross lusts of their hearers by their lascivious strains. Their affectation of speech and manner, their costly and effeminate dress, the vanity of their exalted seat, and the degraded character of their compositions; and on the other hand, the excessive and counterfeited applause of their hearers, expressed by extravagance of language and lasciviousness of gesture corresponding to the nature ofthe compositions, are touched with a masterly hand. He then ridicules the pretensions of these courtly votaries of the Muses, whose vanity is fostered by the interested praise of dependents and sycophants, who are the first to ridicule them behind their backs. He then makes a digression to the bar; and shows that the manly and vigorous eloquence of Cicero and Hortensius and Cato, as well as the masculine energy and dignity of Virgil, is frittered away, and diluted by the introduction of redundant and misplaced metaphor, labored antitheses, trifling conceits, accumulated epithets, and bombastic and obsolete words, and a substitution of rhetorical subtleties for that energetic simplicity which speaksfromandtothe heart. Returning to the poets, he brings in a passage of Nero's own composition as a most glaring example of these defects. This excites his friend's alarm, and elicits some cautious advice respecting the risk he encounters; which serves to draw forth a more daring avowal of his bold purpose, and an animated description of the persons whom he would wish to have for his readers.

The Satire opens with a dialogue between the poet himself and some one who breaks in upon his meditations. This person is usually described as his "Monitor;" some well-meaning acquaintance, who endeavors to dissuade the poet from his purpose of writing Satire. But D'Achaintre's notion, that he is rather an ill-natured critic than a good-natured adviser, seems the more tenable one, and the divisions of the first few lines have been ingeniously made to support that view. After expressing supreme contempt for the poet's opening line, he advises him, if he must needs give vent to verse, to write something more suited to the taste and spirit of the age he lives in. Persius acknowledges that this would be the more likely way to gain applause, but maintains that such approbation is not the end at which a true poet ought to aim. And this leads him to expose the miserable and corrupt taste of the poetasters of his day, and to express supreme contempt for the mania for recitation then prevalent, which had already provoked the sneers of Horace, and afterward drew down the more majestic condemnation of Juvenal. He draws a vivid picture of these depraved poets, who pander to the gross lusts of their hearers by their lascivious strains. Their affectation of speech and manner, their costly and effeminate dress, the vanity of their exalted seat, and the degraded character of their compositions; and on the other hand, the excessive and counterfeited applause of their hearers, expressed by extravagance of language and lasciviousness of gesture corresponding to the nature ofthe compositions, are touched with a masterly hand. He then ridicules the pretensions of these courtly votaries of the Muses, whose vanity is fostered by the interested praise of dependents and sycophants, who are the first to ridicule them behind their backs. He then makes a digression to the bar; and shows that the manly and vigorous eloquence of Cicero and Hortensius and Cato, as well as the masculine energy and dignity of Virgil, is frittered away, and diluted by the introduction of redundant and misplaced metaphor, labored antitheses, trifling conceits, accumulated epithets, and bombastic and obsolete words, and a substitution of rhetorical subtleties for that energetic simplicity which speaksfromandtothe heart. Returning to the poets, he brings in a passage of Nero's own composition as a most glaring example of these defects. This excites his friend's alarm, and elicits some cautious advice respecting the risk he encounters; which serves to draw forth a more daring avowal of his bold purpose, and an animated description of the persons whom he would wish to have for his readers.

Persius."Oh the cares of men![1181]Oh how much vanity is there in human affairs!"—

Adversarius.[1182]Who will read this?[1183]

P. Is it to me you say this?

A. Nobody, by Hercules!

P. Nobody! Say two perhaps, or—

A. Nobody. It is mean and pitiful stuff!

P. Wherefore? No doubt "Polydamas[1184]and Trojan dames" will prefer Labeo to me—

A. It is all stuff!

P. Whatever turbid Rome[1185]may disparage, do not thou join their number; nor by that scale of theirs seek to correct thy own false balance, nor seek[1186]thyself out of thyself. For who is there at Rome that is not[1187]—Ah! if I might but speak![1188]But I may,[1189]when I look at our gray hairs,[1190]and our severe way of life, and all that we commit since we abandoned our childhood's nuts.[1191]When we savor of uncles,[1192]then—then forgive!

A. I will not!

P. What must I do?[1193]For I am a hearty laugher with a saucy spleen.

We write, having shut ourselves in,[1194]one man verses, another free from the trammels of metre, something grandiloquent, which the lungs widely distended with breath may give vent to.

And this, of course, some day, with your hair combed and a new toga,[1195]all in white with your birthday Sardonyx,[1196]you will read out from your lofty seat,[1197]to the people, when you have rinsed[1198]your throat, made flexible by the liquid gargle;languidly leering with lascivious eye! Here you may see the tall Titi[1199]in trembling excitement, with lewdness of manner and agitation of voice, when the verses enter their loins,[1200]and their inmost parts are titillated with the lascivious strain.

P. And dost thou, in thy old age,[1201]collect dainty bits for the ears of others? Ears to which even thou, bursting[1202]with vanity, wouldst say, "Hold, enough!"

A. To what purpose is your learning, unless this leaven, and this wild fig-tree[1203]which has once taken life within, shall burst through your liver and shoot forth?

P. See that pallor and premature old age![1204]Oh Morals![1205]Is then your knowledge so absolutely naught, unless another know you have that knowledge?[1206]

A. But it is a fine thing to be pointed at with the finger,[1207]and that it should be said, "That's he!" Do you value it at nothing, that your works should form the studies[1208]of a hundred curly-headed[1209]youths?

P. See![1210]over their cups,[1211]the well-filled Romans[1212]inquire of what the divine poems tell. Here some one, who has a hyacinthine robe round his shoulders, snuffling through his nose[1213]some stale ditty, distills and from his dainty palate lisps trippingly[1214]his Phyllises,[1215]Hypsipyles, and all the deplorable strains of the poets. The heroes hum assent![1216]Now are not the ashes[1217]of the poet blest? Does not a tomb-stone press with lighter weight[1218]upon his bones? The guests applaud.Now from those Manes of his, now from his tomb and favored ashes, will not violets spring?[1219]

A. You are mocking and indulging in too scornful a sneer.[1220]Lives there the man who would disown the wish to deserve the people's praise,[1221]and having uttered words worthy of the cedar,[1222]to leave behind him verses that dread neither herrings[1223]nor frankincense?

P. Whoever thou art that hast just spoken, and that hast a fair right[1224]to plead on the opposite side, I, for my part, when I write, if any thing perchance comes forth[1225]aptly expressed (though this is, I own, a rare bird[1226]), yet if any thing does come forth, I would not shrink from being praised: for indeed my heart is not of horn. But I deny that that "excellently!" and "beautifully!"[1227]of yours is the end and objectof what is right. For sift thoroughly all this "beautifully!" and what does it not comprise within it! Is there not to be found in it the Iliad of Accius,[1228]intoxicated with hellebore? are there not all the paltry sonnets our crude[1229]nobles have dictated? in fine, is there not all that is composed on couches of citron?[1230]You know how to set before your guests the hot paunch;[1231]and how to make a present of your threadbare cloak to your companion shivering with cold,[1232]and then you say, "I do love the truth![1233]tell me the truth about myself!" How is that possible? Would you like me to tell it you? Thou drivelest,[1234]Bald-pate, while thy bloated paunch projects a good foot and a half hanging in front! O Janus! whom no stork[1235]pecks at from behind, no hand that with rapid motion imitates the white ass's ears, no tongue mocks,projecting as far as that of the thirsting hound of Apulia! Ye, O patrician blood![1236]whose privilege[1237]it is to live with no eyes at the back of your head, prevent[1238]the scoffs[1239]that are made behind your back!

What is the people's verdict? What should it be, but that now at length verses flow in harmonious numbers, and the skillful joining[1240]allows the critical nails to glide over its polished surface: he knows how to carry on his verse as if he were drawing a ruddle line with one eye[1241]closed. Whether he has occasion to write against public morals, against luxury, or the banquets of the great, the Muses vouchsafe to our Poet[1242]the saying brilliant things. And see! now we see those introducing heroic[1243]sentiments, that were wont to trifle in Greek: that have not even skill enough to describe a grove. Nor praise the bountiful country, where are baskets,[1244]and thehearth, and porkers, and the smoky palilia with the hay: whence Remus sprung, and thou, O Quintius,[1245]wearing away the plow-boards in the furrow, when thy wife with trembling haste invested thee with the dictatorship in front of thy team, and the lictor bore thy plow home—Bravo, poet!

Some even now delight in the turgid book of Brisæan Accius,[1246]and in Pacuvius, and warty[1247]Antiopa, "her dolorific heart propped up with woe." When you see purblind sires instilling these precepts into their sons, do you inquire whence came this gallimaufry[1248]of speech into our language? Whence that disgrace,[1249]in which the effeminate Trossulus[1250]leaps up in ecstasy at you, from his bench.

Are you not ashamed[1251]that you can not ward off dangerfrom a hoary head, without longing to hear the lukewarm "Decently[1252]said!" "You are a thief!" says the accuser to Pedius. What says Pedius?[1253]He balances the charge in polished antitheses. He gets the praise of introducing learned figures. "That is fine!" Fine, is it?[1254]O Romulus, dost thou wag thy tail?[1255]Were the shipwrecked man to sing, would he move my pity, forsooth, or should I bring forth my penny? Do you sing, while you are carrying about a picture[1256]of yourself on a fragment of wood, hanging from your shoulders. He that aims at bowing me down by his piteous complaint, must whine out what is real,[1257]and not studied and got up of a night.

A. But the numbers have grace, and crude as you call them, there is a judicious combination.

P. He has learned thus to close his line. "Berecynthean Atys;"[1258]and, "The Dolphin that clave the azure Nereus." So again, "We filched away a chine from long-extending Apennine."

A. "Arms and the man."[1259]Is not this frothy, with a pithless rind?

P. Like a huge branch, well seasoned, with gigantic bark!

A. What then is a tender strain, and that should be read with neck relaxed?[1260]

P. "With Mimallonean[1261]hums they filled their savage horns; and Bassaris, from the proud steer about to rive the ravished head, and Mænas, that would guide the lynx with ivy-clusters, re-echoes Evion; and reproductive Echo reverberates the sound!" Could such verses be written, did one spark of our fathers' vigor still exist in us? This nerveless stuff dribbles on the lips, on the topmost spittle. In drivel vests this Mænas and Attis. It neither beats the desk,[1262]nor savors of bitten nails.

A. But what need is there to grate on delicate ears with biting truth? Take care, I pray, lest haply the thresholds of the great[1263]grow cold to you. Here the dog's letter[1264]soundsfrom the nostril. For me[1265]then, henceforth, let all be white. I'll not oppose it. Bravo! For you shall all be very wonderful productions! Does that please you? "Here, you say, I forbid any one's committing a nuisance." Then paint up two snakes. Boys, go farther away: the place is sacred! I go away.

P. Yet Lucilius lashed[1266]the city, and thee, O Lupus,[1267]and thee too, Mucius,[1268]and broke his jaw-bone[1269]on them. Sly Flaccus touches every failing of his smiling friend, and, once admitted, sports around his heart; well skilled in sneering[1270]at the people with well-dissembled[1271]sarcasm. And is it then a crime for me to mutter, secretly, or in a hole?

A. You must do it nowhere.

P. Yet here I will bury it! I saw, I saw with my own[1272]eyes, my little book! Who has not asses' ears?[1273]This my buried secret, this my sneer, so valueless, I would not sell you for any Iliad.[1274]

Whoever thou art, that art inspired[1275]by the bold Cratinus, and growest pale over the wrathful Eupolis and the old man sublime, turn thine eyes on these verses also, if haply thou hearest any thing more refined.[1276]Let my reader glow with ears warmed by their strains. Not he that delights, like a mean fellow as he is, in ridiculing the sandals of the Greeks, and can say to a blind man, Ho! you blind fellow! Fancying himself to be somebody, because vain[1277]of his rustic honors, as Ædile[1278]of Arretium,[1279]he breaks up the false measures[1280]there. Nor again, one who has just wit enough to sneer at the arithmetic boards,[1281]and the lines in the divided dust;quite ready to be highly delighted, if a saucy wench[1282]plucks[1283]a Cynic's[1284]beard. To such as these I recommend[1285]the prætor's edict[1286]in the morning, and after dinner—Callirhoe.

FOOTNOTES:[1181]Oh curas!These are the opening lines of his Satire, which Persius is reading aloud, and is interrupted by his "Adversarius." He represents himself as having meditated on all mundane things, and, like Solomon, having discovered their emptiness, "Vanitas vanitatum!" Cf. Juv., Sat. i., 85, "Quidquid agunt homines, votum, timor, ira, voluptas, Gaudia, discursus; nostri est farrago libelli." It is an adaptation of the old Greek proverb, ὅσον τὸ κένον.[1182]Adversarius."Interpretes plerique hunc Persii amicum seu monitorem volunt: ego vero et morosum adversarium, et ridiculum senem intelligo." D'Achaintre.[1183]Quis legit hæc?The old Gloss. says this line is taken from the first book of Lucilius.[1184]Næ mihi Polydamas.Taken from Hector's speech, where he dreads the reproaches of his brother-in-law Polydamas, and the Trojan men and women, if he were to retire within the walls of Troy. Il., x., 105, 108, Πουλυδάμας μοι πρῶτος ἐλεγχείην ἀναθήσει—αἰδέομαι Τρῶας καὶ Τρωάδας ἑλκεσιπέπλους. Cicero has introduced the same lines in his Epistle to Atticus: "Aliter sensero? αἰδέομαι non Pompeium modo, sed Τρῶας καὶ Τρωάδας· Πουλυδάμας μοι πρῶτος ἐλεγχείην ἀναθήσει: Quis? Tu ipse scilicet; laudator et scriptorum et factorum meorum," vii., 1. By Polydamas, he intends Nero; by Troïades, the effeminate Romans, who prided themselves on their Trojan descent. Cf. Juv., i., 100, "Jubet a præcone vocari ipsos Trojugenas." viii., 181, "At vos Trojugenæ vobis ignoscitis, et quæ turpia cerdoni Volesos Brutosque decebunt." Attius Labeo was a miserable court-poet, a favorite of Nero, who applied himself to translate Homer word for word. Casaubon gives the following specimen of his poetry: "Crudum manduces Priamum, Priamique pisinnos."[1185]Turbida Roma."Muddy, not clear in its judgment." A metaphor from thick, troubled waters. Persius now addresses himself, and uses the second person. "Though Rome in its perverted judgment should disparage my writings, I will not subscribe to its verdict, or seek beyond my own breast for rules to guide my course of action."Elevet,examen,trutina, are all metaphors from a steelyard or balance. Trutina is the aperture in the iron that supports the balance, in which the examen, i. e., the tongue (hasta, lingula), plays. Elevare is said of that which causes the lanx of the balance to "kick the beam." Castigare is to set the balance in motion with the finger, until, perfect equilibrium being obtained, it settles down to a state of rest. Public taste being distorted, to attempt to correct it would be as idle as to try to rectify a false balance by merely setting the beam vibrating.[1186]Quæsiveris.Alluding to the Stoic notion of αὐταρκεῖα: "Each man's own taste and judgment is to him the best test of right and wrong."[1187]Quis non?An ἀποσιώπησις: Whom can you find at Rome that is not laboring under this perversion of taste and want of self-dependence?[1188]Ah, si fas dicere.Cf. Juv., Sat i., 153, "Unde illa priorum Scribendi quodcunque animo flagrante liberet Simplicitas, cujus non audeo dicere nomen." Lucil., Fr. incert. 165.[1189]Sed fas."When I look at all the childish follies, the empty pursuits, the ill-directed ambition that, in spite of an affectation of outward gravity and severity of manners, disgraces even men of advanced years; the senseless pursuits of men who ought to have given up all the trifling amusements of childhood, and who yet assume the grave privilege of censuring younger men; it is difficult not to write satire."[1190]Canities.See the old proverb, πολιὰ χρόνου μήνυσις οὐ φρονήσεως. "Hoary hairs are the evidence of time, not of wisdom."[1191]Nuces.Put generally for the playthings of children. Cf. Suet., Aug., 83. Phædr., Fab. xiv., 2. Mart., v., 84, "Jam tristis nucibus puer relictis Clamoso revocatur à magistro."[1192]Sapimus patruos.Cf. Hor., iii., Od. xii., 3, "Exanimari metuentes patruæ verbera linguæ." ii., Sat. iii., 87, "Sive ego pravè seu rectè hoc volui, ne sis patruus mihi." Parents, being themselves too indulgent, frequently intrusted their children to the guardianship of uncles, whose reproofs were more sharp, and their correction more severe, as they possessed all the authority without the tenderness and affection of a parent.[1193]Quid faciam?"How shall I check the outburst of natural feeling? For my character, implanted by nature, is that of a hearty laugher." Cachinno is a word used only by Persius. Cf. Juv., iii., 100, "Rides? majore cachinno concutitur." The ancients held the spleen to be the seat of laughter, as the gall of anger, the liver of love, the forehead of bashfulness.[1194]Scribimus inclusi.So Hor., ii., Ep. i., 117, "Scribimus indocti doctique poemata passim." Inclusi, "avoiding all noise and interruption, we shut ourselves in our studies." Hor., Ep., II., ii., 77," Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus et fugit urbes." Juv., Sat. vii., 58.[1195]Togâ.The indignation of Persius is excited by the declaimer assuming all the paraphernalia and ornament of the day kept most sacred by the Romans, viz., their birthday (cf. ad Juv., Sat. xii., 1), simply for the purpose of reciting his own verses. For this custom of reciting, cf. ad Juv., vii., 38.[1196]Sardonyche.Cf. Juv., vii., 144, "Ideo conductâ Paulus agebat Sardonyche." It was the custom for friends and clients to send valuable presents to their patrons on their birthdays. Cf. ad Juv., iii., 187. Plaut., Curcul., V., ii., 56, "Hic est annulus quem ego tibi misi natali die." Juv., Sat. xi., 84.[1197]Sede.The Romans always stood while pleading, and sat down while reciting. Vid. Plin., vi., Ep. vi., "Dicenti mihi solicitè assistit; assidet recitanti." These seats were called cathedræ and pulpita. Vid. Juv., vii., 47, 93. An attendant stood by the person who was reciting, with some emollient liquid to rinse the throat with. This preparation of the throat was called πλάσις, and a harsh, dry, unflexible voice was termed ἀπλαστός.[1198]Collueris.D'Achaintre's reading is preferred here, "Sede leges celsâ liquido com plasmate guttur Collueris:" forlegensandcolluerit.Patranti ocelloseems to convey the same idea as the "oculi putres" of Hor., i., Od. xxxvi., 17, and the "oculos in fine trementes" of Juv., Sat. vii., 241 (cf. ii., 94), "oculos udos et marcidos," of Apul., Met., iii. Cf. Pers., v., 51, and the epithet ὑγρὸς, as applied to the eyes of Aphrodite.[1199]Titi, are put here (as Romulidæ in v. 31) for the Romans generally, among whom, especially the higher orders, Titus was a favorite prænomen; or Titi may be put for Titienses, as Rhamnes for Rhamnenses; in either case the meaning is the same. But the other parts may be differently interpreted.Hicmay be equivalent to "cum operibus tuis;"trepidaremean "the eager applause of the hearers;"more probo"the approved and usual mode of showing it by simultaneous shouts"voce serena. Cf. Hor., A. P., 430.[1200]Lumbum.Cf. iv., 35. Juv., Sat. vi., 314, "Quum tibia lumbos incitat."[1201]Vetule.Cf. Juv., xiii., 33, "Die Senior bullâ dignissime."[1202]Cute perditus."Bloated, swollen, as with dropsy." So Lucilius, xxviii., Frag. 37, "Quasi aquam in animo habere intercutem." "Pandering to the lusts of these itching ears, you receive such overwhelming applause, that though swelling with vanity, even you yourself are nauseated at the fulsome repetition."—Ohe.Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. v., 96, "Importunus amat laudari? donec ohe jam ad cœlum manibus sublatis dixerit urge et crescentem tumidis infla sermonibus utrem." So i., Sat. v., 12, "Ohe! jam satis est." There may be, as Madan says, an allusion to the fable of the proud frog who swelled till she burst. Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 314.[1203]Caprificus.Cf. Juv., x., 143, "Laudis titulique cupido hæsuri saxis cinerum custodibus, ad quæ discutienda valent sterilis mala robora ficus. Quandoquidem data sunt ipsis quoque fata sepulcris." Mart., Ep., X., ii., 9, "Marmora Messalæ findit caprificus."[1204]En pallor seniumque!"Is then the fruit of all thy study, that has caused all thy pallor and premature debility, no better than this? that thou canst imagine no higher and nobler use of learning than for the purpose of vain display!" Lucilius uses senium for the tedium and weariness produced by long application.[1205]Oh Mores!So Cicero in his Oration against Catiline (in Cat., i., 1), "O Tempora, O Mores!" Cf. Mart., vi., Ep. ii., 6.[1206]Scire tuum.So l. 9, "Nostrum istudviveretriste." So Lucilius, "Id me nolo scire mihi cujus sum conscius solus: ne damnum faciam, scire est nescire nisi id me scire alius scierit."[1207]Digito monstrariar.So Hor., iv., Od. iii., 22, "Quod monstror digito prætereuntium Romanæ fidicen lyræ." Plin., ix., Epist. xxiii., "Et ille 'Plinius est' inquit. Verum fatebor, capio magnum laboris mei fructum. An, si Demosthenes jure lætatus est quod ilium anus Attica ita noscitavit οὗτος ἐστι Δημοσθένης ego celebritate nominis mei gaudere non debeo?" Cic., Tus. Qu., v., 36.[1208]Dictata.The allusion is to Nero, who ordered that his verses should be taught to the boys in the schools of Rome. The works of eminent contemporary poets were sometimes the subjects of study in schools, as well as the standard writings of Virgil and Horace. Cf. Juv., vii., 226, "Totidem olfecisse lucernas Quot stabant pueri quum totus decolor esset Flaccus et hæreret nigro fuligo Maroni."[1209]Cirratorum."Boys of high rank with well-curled hair." Cf. Mart., i., Ep. xxxv., "Cirrata caterva magistri."[1210]Ecce!"See," answers Persius, "the noblest result, after all you can hope to attain, is only to have your poems lisped through by men surcharged with food and wine!"[1211]Inter pocula.Cf. Juv., vi., 434; xi., 178.[1212]Romulidæ, the degenerate self-styled descendants of Romulus. With equal bitterness Juvenal calls them "Quirites," iii., 60; "Trojugenæ," viii., 181; xi., 95; "Turba Remi," x., 73.[1213]Balba de nare.Balbutire is properly a defect of thetongue, not of the nose.[1214]Eliquareis properly used of the melting down of metals. It is here put for effeminate affectation of speech.[1215]Phyllidas.Not alluding probably to the Heroics of Ovid on these two subjects, but to some wretched trash of his own day.[1216]Assensere.From Ov., Met., ix., 259, "Assensere Dei." So xiv., 592.[1217]Cinis.Cf. Ov., Trist., III., iii., 76. Amor., III., ix., 67, "Ossa quieta precor tuta requiescite in urnâ, Et sit humus cineri non onerosa tuo." Propert., I., xvii., 24, "Ut mihi non ullo pondere terra foret." Juv., vii., 207, "Dii Majorum umbris tenuem et sine pondere terram Spirantesque crocos et in urnâ. perpetuum ver."[1218]Levior cippus.Virg., Ecl., x., 33, "Oh mihi tum quam molliter ossa quiescant." Alluding to the usual inscription on the sepulchral cippi, "Sit tibi terra levis." It is strange, says D'Achaintre, that the Romans should wish the earth to press lightly on the bones of their friends, whom they honored with ponderous grave-stones and pillars; while they prayed that "earth would lie heavy" on their enemies, to whom they accorded no such honors.[1219]Nascentur violæ.Cf. Hamlet, Act v., sc. 1, "And from her fair and unpolluted flesh shall violets spring."[1220]Uncis naribus.Hor., i., Sat. vi., 5, "Ut plerique solent naso suspendis adunco Ignotos." ii., Sat. viii., 64, "Balatro suspendens omnia naso." Mart., i., Ep. iv., 6, "Nasum Rhinocerotis habent." The Greek μυκτηρίζειν.[1221]Os populi, as the Greeks say, τὸ διὰ τοῦ στόματος εἶναι: and Ennius, "Volito vivus' per ora virûm."[1222]Cedro.From the antiseptic properties of this wood, it was used for presses for books, which were also dressed with the oil expressed from the tree. Plin., H. N., xiii., 5; xvi., 88. Cf. Hor., A. P., 331, "Speramus carmina fingi posse linenda cedro et levi servanda cupresso." Mart., v., Ep. vi., 14, "Quæ cedro decorata purpurâque nigris pagina crevit umbilicis." Dioscorides calls the cedar τῶν νεκρῶν ζωήν. i., 89.[1223]Scombros.Hor., ii., Ep. i., 266, "Cum scriptore meo capsâ porrectus apertâ deferar in vicum vendentem thus et odores et piper et quidquid chartis amicitur ineptis." Mart., vi., Ep. lx., 7, "Quam multi tineas pascunt blattasque diserti, Et redimunt soli carmina docta coci," i. e., verses so bad as to be only fit for wrapping up cheap fish and spices.[1224]Fas est.D'Achaintre's reading and interpretation is adopted, instead of the old and meaninglessfeci.[1225]Exit.A metaphor from the potter's wheel. Hor., A. P., 21, "Amphora cœpit institui currente rotâ cur urceusexit?"[1226]Rara avis."An event as rare as the appearance of the Phœnix." Cf. Juv., Sat. vi., 165, "Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima cygno." vii., 202, "Corvo quoque rarior albo." Hor., ii., Sat. ii., 26.[1227]Euge! Belle!The exclamations of one praising the recitations. "Though a Stoic, and therefore holding that virtue is its own reward, I am not so stony-hearted as to shrink from all praise. Yet I deny that this idle, worthless praise can form the legitimate end and object of a wise man's aim."[1228]Ilias Acci.Cf. ad v., 4. The effusion not of true genius, but of the besotting influence of drugs. "The poet," as Casaubon says, "has not reached the inspiring heights of Hippocrene, but muddled himself with the hellebore that grows on the way thither." The ancients were not unacquainted with the use of this artificial stimulant to genius. Cf. Plin., xxv., 5, "Quondam terribile, postea tam promiscuum, ut plerique studiorum gratia ad providenda acrius quæ commentabantur sumpsitaverint."[1229]Crudi; i. e., "over their banquets." [Literally "undigested," as Juv., Sat. i., 143, "Crudum pavonem in balnea portas." Hor., i., Ep. vi., 6, "Crudi tumidique lavemur."] ii., Ep. i., 109, "Pueri patresque severi fronde comas vincti cœnant et carmina dictant." Cf. Pers., iii., 98.[1230]Citreis.Cf. ad Juv., xi., 95.[1231]Sumen.Juv., xi., 81; xii., 73. Lucil., v., fr. 5. "You purchase their applause by the good dinners you give them." Cf. Hor., i., Epist. xix., 37, "Non ego ventosæ plebis suffragia venor Impensis cœnarum et tritæ munere vestis."[1232]Horridulum.Juv., i., Sat. 93, "Horrenti tunicam non reddere servo." Ov., A. Am., ii., 213.[1233]Verum amo.Plaut., Mostill., I., iii., 24, "Ego verum amo: verum volo mihi dici: mendacem odi." Hor., A. P., 424, "Mirabor si sciet internoscere mendacem verumque beatus amicum. Tu seu donaris seu quid donare voles cui, nolito ad versus tibi factos ducere plenum lætitiæ; clamabit enim pulchre! bene! recte!"[1234]Nugaris."Dotard! this thriftless trade no more pursue.Your lines are bald, and dropsical like you!" Gifford.[1235]Ciconia: manus: lingua.These are three methods employed even to the present day in Italy of ridiculing a person behind his back. Placing the fingers so as to imitate a stork pecking; moving the hands up and down by the side of the temples like an ass's ears flapping; and thrusting the tongue out of the mouth or into the side of the cheek.[1236]Patricius sanguis.Hor., A. P., 291, "Vos O Pompilius sanguis!"[1237]Jus est."Ye, whose position places you above the necessity of writing verses for gain, by refraining from writing your paltry trash, avoid the ridicule that you are unconsciously exciting."[1238]Occurrite.So iii., 64, "Venienti occurrite morbo."[1239]Sannæ.Juv., vi., 306, "Quâ sorbeat aera sannâ."[1240]Junctura.A metaphor from statuaries or furniture-makers, who passed the nail over the marble or polished wood, to detect any flaw or unevenness. So Lucilius compares the artificial arrangement of words to the putting together a tesselated pavement. Frag. incert. 4, "Quam lepide lexeis compostæ? ut tesserulæ omnes Arte pavimento atque emblemate vermiculato." Cf. Hor., A. P., 292, "Carmen reprehendite quod non multa dies et multa litura coercuit atque perfectum decies non castigavit ad unguem." i., Sat. v., 32," Ad unguem factus homo." ii., Sat. vii., 87. Appul., Fl., 23, "Lapis ad unguem coæquatus." Sidon. Apoll., ix., Ep. 7, "Veluti cum crystallinas crustas aut onychitinas non impacto digitus ungue perlabitur: quippe si nihil eum rimosis obicibus exceptum tenax fractura remoretur." This operation the Greeks expressed by ἐξονυχίζειν. Polycletus used to say, χαλεπώτατον εἶναι τὸ ἔργον ὅταν ἐν ὄνυχι ὁ πηλὸς γίγνηται. "The most difficult part of the work is when the nail comes to be applied to the clay."[1241]Oculo uno.From carpenters or masons, who shut one eye to draw a straight line. θατέρῳ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἄμεινον πρὸς τοὺς κανόνας ἀπευθύνοντας τὰ ξύλα. Luc., Icarom., ii.[1242]Poetæ.Probably another hit at Nero.[1243]Heroas.Those who till lately have confined themselves to trifling effusions in Greek, now aspire to the dignity of Tragic poets.[1244]Corbes, etc.The usual common-places of poets singing in praise of a country life. The Palilia was a festival in honor of the goddess Pales, celebrated on the 21st of April, the anniversary of the foundation of Rome. During this festival the rustics lighted fires of hay and stubble, over which they leaped by way of purifying themselves. Cf. Varro, L. L., v., 3, "Palilia tam privata quam publica sunt apud rusticos: ut congestis cum fæno stipulis, ignem magnum transsiliant, his Palilibus se expiari credentes." Prop. iv., El. i., 19, "Annuaque accenso celebrare Palilia fæna."[1245]Quintius.Cincinnatus. Cf. Liv., iii., 26.[1246]Acciusis here called Brisæus, an epithet of Bacchus, because he wrote a tragedy on the same subject as the Bacchæ of Euripides.[1247]Venosusis probably applied to the hard knotted veins that stand out on the faces and brows of old men. The allusion, therefore, is to the taste of the Romans of Persius' days, for the rugged, uncouth, and antiquated writing of their earlier poets. Nearly the same idea is expressed by the wordverrucosa, "full of warts, hard, knotty, horny." Cicero mentions this play: "Quis Ennii Medeam, et Pacuvii Antiopam contemnat et rejiciat," de Fin., i., 2. The remainder of the line is a quotation from Pacuvius. The wordærumnawas obsolete when Quintilian wrote.[1248]Sartago.Juv., x., 64. Properly "a frying-pan," then used for the miscellaneous ingredients put into it; or, as others think, for the sputtering noise made in frying, to which Persius compared these "sesquipedalia verba." Casaubon quotes a fragment of the comic poet Eubulus, speaking of the same thing, Λοπὰς παφλάζει βαρβάρῳ λαλήματι, Πηδῶσι δ' ἰχθῦς ἐν μέσοισι τηγάνοις. "The dish splutters, with barbarous prattle, and the fish leap in the middle of the frying-pan." The word is said to be of Syriac origin.[1249]Dedecus.The disgrace of corrupting the purity and simplicity of the Latin language, by the mixture of this jargon of obsolete words and phrases.[1250]Trossuluswas a name applied to the Roman knights, from the fact of their having taken the town of Trossulum in Etruria without the assistance of the infantry. It was afterward used as a term of reproach to effeminate and dissolute persons. TheSubselliaare the benches on which these persons sit to hear the recitations.Exultatexpresses the rapturous applause of the hearers. Hor., A. P., 430, "Tundet pede terram."[1251]Nilne pudet?He now attacks those who, even while pleading in defense of a friend whose life is at stake, would aim at the applause won by pretty conceits and nicely-balanced sentences. Niebuhr, Lect., vol. iii., p. 191,seq.[1252]Decenteris a more lukewarm expression of approbation than euge or belle, pulchre or benè.[1253]PediusBlæsus was accused of sacrilege and peculation by the Cyrenians: he undertook his own defense, and the result was, he was found guilty and expelled from the senate. Tac., Ann., xiv., 18.[1254]Bellum hocis the indignant repetition by Persius of the words of applause.[1255]Ceves."Does the descendant of the vigorous and warlike Romulus stoop to winning favor by such fawning as this?"Cevereis said of a dog. Shakspeare, K. Henry VIII., act v., sc. 2, "You play the spaniel, and think with wagging of your tongue to win me."[1256]Pictum.Cf. ad Juv., xiv., 301, "Mersâ rate naufragus assem dum rogat et pictâ se tempestate tuetur."[1257]Verum.His tale must not smack of previous preparation, but must bear evidence of being genuine, natural, and spontaneous. So Hor., A. P., 102, "Si vis me flere dolendum est primum ipsi tibi: tunc tua me infortunia lædent."[1258]Atyn.These are probably quotations from Nero, as Dio says (lxi., 21), ἐκιθαρώδησεν Ἀττῖνα. The critics are divided as to the defects in these lines; whether Persius intends to ridicule their bombastic affectation, or the unartificial and unnecessary introduction of the Dispondæus, and the rhyming of the terminations, like the Leonine or monkish verses.[1259]Arma virum.The first words are put for the whole Æneid. The critic objects, "Are not Virgil's lines inflated and frothy equally with those you ridicule." Persius answers in the objector's metaphor, "They resemble a noble old tree with well-seasoned bark, not the crude and sapless pith I have just quoted."[1260]Laxa cervice.Alluding to the affected position of the head on one side, of those who recited these effeminate strains.[1261]Mimalloneis.The four lines following are said to be Nero's, taken from a poem called Bacchæ: the subject of which was the same as the play of Euripides of that name, and many of the ideas evidently borrowed from it. Its affected and turgid style is very clear from this fragment. The epithets are all far-fetched, and the images preposterous. The Bacchantes were called Mimallones from Mimas, a mountain in Ionia. Bassareus was an epithet of Bacchus, from the fox's skin in which he was represented: and the feminine form is here applied to Agave: by thevitulus, Pentheus is intended: the Mænad guides the car of Bacchus, drawn by spotted lynxes, not with reins, but with clusters of ivy. "Could such verses be tolerated," Persius asks indignantly, "did one spark of the homely, manly, vigorous spirit of our sires still thrill in our veins? Verses which show no evidence of anxious thought and careful labor, but flow as lightly from the lips as the spittle that drivels from them."[1262]Pluteum.Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 7, "Culpantur frustra calami, immeritusque laborat Iratis natus paries Diis atque poëtis." i., Sat. x., 70, "Et in versu faciendo sæpe caput scaberet vivos et roderet ungues."[1263]Majorum.Hor., ii., Sat. i., 60, "O puer ut sis Vitalis metuo, et majorum ne quis amicus frigore te feriat."[1264]Canina litera.All the commentators are agreed that this is the letter R, because the "burr" of the tongue in pronouncing it resembles the snarl of a dog (cf. Lucil., lib. i., fr. 22, "Irritata canis quod homo quam planius dicat"), but towhomthe growl refers is a great question. It may be the surly answer of the great man's porter who has orders not to admit you, or the growl of the dog chained at his master's gate, who shares his master's antipathy to you; or again it may be taken, as by Gifford,"This currish humor you extend too far,While every word growls with that hateful gnarr.Lubinus explains it, "Great men are always irritable; and therefore in their houses this sound is often heard."[1265]Per me."I will take your advice then: but let me know whose verses I am to spare: just as sacred places have inscriptions warning us to avoid all defilement of them."[1266]Secuit Lucilius.So Juv., i., 165, "Ense velut stricto quoties Lucilius ardens infremuit."[1267]Lupe.Lucilius in his first book introduces the gods sitting in council and deliberating what punishment shall be inflicted on the perjured and impious Lupus. This Lupus is generally considered to be P. Rutilius Lupus, consulA.U.C.664. But Orellius shows that it is more probably L. Corn. Lentulus Lupus, consul inA.U.C.597. The fragment is to be found in Cic., de Nat. Deor., i., 23, 65. Cf. Lucil., Fr., lib. i., 4. Hor., ii., Sat. i., 68.[1268]Muti.T. Mucius Albutius, whom Lucilius ridicules for his affected fondness for Greek customs. Cf. Lucil., Fr. incert. 3. Juv., Sat. i., 154, "Quid refert dictis ignoscat Mucius an non?" Cic., de Fin., i., 3, 8. Varro, de R. R., iii., 2, 17.[1269]Genuinum.Hor., ii., Sat. i., 77, "Et fragili quærens illidere dentem, offendet solido?" "dens genuinus, qui a genis dependet: sic non leo morsu illos pupugit." Cas., Juv. v., 69, "Quæ genuinum agitent non admittentia morsum."[1270]Suspendere.Cf. ad i., 40.[1271]Excussomay be also explained "without a wrinkle," or, as D'Achaintre takes it, of the shaking of the head of a person, ridiculing as he reads.[1272]Cum Scrobe.Alluding to the well-known story of the barber who discovered the ass's ears of King Midas, which he had given him for his bad taste in passing judgment on Apollo's skill in music; and who, not daring to divulge the secret to any living soul, dug a hole in the ground and whispered it, and then closed the aperture. But the wind that shook the reeds made them murmur forth his secret. Cf. Ov., Met., xi., 180-193.[1273]Auriculas.Persius is said to have written at first "Mida rex habet," but was persuaded by Cornutus to change the line, as bearing too evident an allusion to Nero.[1274]Iliade, such as that of Accius, mentioned above.[1275]Afflate.Persius now describes the class of persons he would wish to have for his readers. Men thoroughly imbued with the bold spirit of the old comedians, Cratinus, Eupolis, and Aristophanes: not those who have sufficient βαναυσία and bad taste to think that true Satire would condescend to ridicule either national peculiarities, or bodily defects; which should excite our pity rather than our scorn.[1276]Decoctius.A metaphor from the boiling down of fruits, wine, or other liquids, and increasing the strength by diminishing the quantity. As Virgil is said to have written fifty lines or more in the morning, and to have cut them down by the evening to ten or twelve.[1277]Supinusimplies either "indolence," "effeminacy," or "pride." Probably the last is intended here, as Casaubon says, "proud men walk so erectly that they see the sky as well as if they lay on their backs." Quintilian couples together "otiosi et supini," x., 2. Cf. Juv., i., 190, "Et multum referens de Mæcenate supino." Mart., ii., Ep. 6, "Deliciæ supiniores." Mart., v., Ep. 8, also uses it in the sense ofproud. "Hæc et talia cum refert supinus." It also bears, together with its cognate substantive, the sense of "stupidity."[1278]Ædilis.Juv., x., 101, "Et de mensurâ jus dicere, vasa minora Frangere pannosus vacuis Ædilis Ulubris."[1279]Arreti, a town of Etruria, now "Arezzo." Cf. Mart., xiv., Ep. 98.[1280]Heminas, from ἥμισο. Half the Sextarius, called also Cotyla.[1281]Abaco.The frame with movable counters or balls for the purpose of calculation.Pulvereis the sand-board used in the schools of the geometers for drawing diagrams.[1282]Nonaria.Women of loose character were not permitted to show themselves in the streets till after the ninth hour. Such at least is the interpretation of the old Scholiast, adopted by Casaubon. The word does not occur elsewhere.[1283]Vellet.Hor., i., Sat. iii., 133, "Vellunt tibi barbam Lascivi pueri." Dio Chrys., Or. lxxii., p. 382, φιλόσοφον ἀχίτωνα ἐρεθίζουσι καὶ ἤτοι κατεγέλασαν ἢ ἐλοιδόρησαν ἢ ἐνίοτε ἕλκουσιν ἐπιλαβόμενοι.[1284]Cynico.There is probably an allusion to the story of Lais and Diogenes, Athen., lib. xiii.[1285]Do.So Hor., i., Epist. xix., 8, "Forum putealque Libonis mandabo siccis."[1286]Edictum, i. e., Ludorum, or muneris gladiatorii; the programme affixed to the walls of the forum, announcing the shows that were to come. The reading of these would form a favorite amusement of idlers and loungers. Callirhoe is probably some well-known nonaria of the day. Persius advises hearers of this class to spend their mornings in reading the prætor's edicts, and their evenings in sensual pleasures, as the only occupations they were fit for. Marcilius says that it refers to an edict of Nero's, who ordered the people to attend on a certain day to hear him recite his poem of Callirhoe, which, as D'Achaintre says, would be an admirable interpretation, were not the whole story of the edict a mere fiction.

[1181]Oh curas!These are the opening lines of his Satire, which Persius is reading aloud, and is interrupted by his "Adversarius." He represents himself as having meditated on all mundane things, and, like Solomon, having discovered their emptiness, "Vanitas vanitatum!" Cf. Juv., Sat. i., 85, "Quidquid agunt homines, votum, timor, ira, voluptas, Gaudia, discursus; nostri est farrago libelli." It is an adaptation of the old Greek proverb, ὅσον τὸ κένον.

[1182]Adversarius."Interpretes plerique hunc Persii amicum seu monitorem volunt: ego vero et morosum adversarium, et ridiculum senem intelligo." D'Achaintre.

[1183]Quis legit hæc?The old Gloss. says this line is taken from the first book of Lucilius.

[1184]Næ mihi Polydamas.Taken from Hector's speech, where he dreads the reproaches of his brother-in-law Polydamas, and the Trojan men and women, if he were to retire within the walls of Troy. Il., x., 105, 108, Πουλυδάμας μοι πρῶτος ἐλεγχείην ἀναθήσει—αἰδέομαι Τρῶας καὶ Τρωάδας ἑλκεσιπέπλους. Cicero has introduced the same lines in his Epistle to Atticus: "Aliter sensero? αἰδέομαι non Pompeium modo, sed Τρῶας καὶ Τρωάδας· Πουλυδάμας μοι πρῶτος ἐλεγχείην ἀναθήσει: Quis? Tu ipse scilicet; laudator et scriptorum et factorum meorum," vii., 1. By Polydamas, he intends Nero; by Troïades, the effeminate Romans, who prided themselves on their Trojan descent. Cf. Juv., i., 100, "Jubet a præcone vocari ipsos Trojugenas." viii., 181, "At vos Trojugenæ vobis ignoscitis, et quæ turpia cerdoni Volesos Brutosque decebunt." Attius Labeo was a miserable court-poet, a favorite of Nero, who applied himself to translate Homer word for word. Casaubon gives the following specimen of his poetry: "Crudum manduces Priamum, Priamique pisinnos."

[1185]Turbida Roma."Muddy, not clear in its judgment." A metaphor from thick, troubled waters. Persius now addresses himself, and uses the second person. "Though Rome in its perverted judgment should disparage my writings, I will not subscribe to its verdict, or seek beyond my own breast for rules to guide my course of action."Elevet,examen,trutina, are all metaphors from a steelyard or balance. Trutina is the aperture in the iron that supports the balance, in which the examen, i. e., the tongue (hasta, lingula), plays. Elevare is said of that which causes the lanx of the balance to "kick the beam." Castigare is to set the balance in motion with the finger, until, perfect equilibrium being obtained, it settles down to a state of rest. Public taste being distorted, to attempt to correct it would be as idle as to try to rectify a false balance by merely setting the beam vibrating.

[1186]Quæsiveris.Alluding to the Stoic notion of αὐταρκεῖα: "Each man's own taste and judgment is to him the best test of right and wrong."

[1187]Quis non?An ἀποσιώπησις: Whom can you find at Rome that is not laboring under this perversion of taste and want of self-dependence?

[1188]Ah, si fas dicere.Cf. Juv., Sat i., 153, "Unde illa priorum Scribendi quodcunque animo flagrante liberet Simplicitas, cujus non audeo dicere nomen." Lucil., Fr. incert. 165.

[1189]Sed fas."When I look at all the childish follies, the empty pursuits, the ill-directed ambition that, in spite of an affectation of outward gravity and severity of manners, disgraces even men of advanced years; the senseless pursuits of men who ought to have given up all the trifling amusements of childhood, and who yet assume the grave privilege of censuring younger men; it is difficult not to write satire."

[1190]Canities.See the old proverb, πολιὰ χρόνου μήνυσις οὐ φρονήσεως. "Hoary hairs are the evidence of time, not of wisdom."

[1191]Nuces.Put generally for the playthings of children. Cf. Suet., Aug., 83. Phædr., Fab. xiv., 2. Mart., v., 84, "Jam tristis nucibus puer relictis Clamoso revocatur à magistro."

[1192]Sapimus patruos.Cf. Hor., iii., Od. xii., 3, "Exanimari metuentes patruæ verbera linguæ." ii., Sat. iii., 87, "Sive ego pravè seu rectè hoc volui, ne sis patruus mihi." Parents, being themselves too indulgent, frequently intrusted their children to the guardianship of uncles, whose reproofs were more sharp, and their correction more severe, as they possessed all the authority without the tenderness and affection of a parent.

[1193]Quid faciam?"How shall I check the outburst of natural feeling? For my character, implanted by nature, is that of a hearty laugher." Cachinno is a word used only by Persius. Cf. Juv., iii., 100, "Rides? majore cachinno concutitur." The ancients held the spleen to be the seat of laughter, as the gall of anger, the liver of love, the forehead of bashfulness.

[1194]Scribimus inclusi.So Hor., ii., Ep. i., 117, "Scribimus indocti doctique poemata passim." Inclusi, "avoiding all noise and interruption, we shut ourselves in our studies." Hor., Ep., II., ii., 77," Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus et fugit urbes." Juv., Sat. vii., 58.

[1195]Togâ.The indignation of Persius is excited by the declaimer assuming all the paraphernalia and ornament of the day kept most sacred by the Romans, viz., their birthday (cf. ad Juv., Sat. xii., 1), simply for the purpose of reciting his own verses. For this custom of reciting, cf. ad Juv., vii., 38.

[1196]Sardonyche.Cf. Juv., vii., 144, "Ideo conductâ Paulus agebat Sardonyche." It was the custom for friends and clients to send valuable presents to their patrons on their birthdays. Cf. ad Juv., iii., 187. Plaut., Curcul., V., ii., 56, "Hic est annulus quem ego tibi misi natali die." Juv., Sat. xi., 84.

[1197]Sede.The Romans always stood while pleading, and sat down while reciting. Vid. Plin., vi., Ep. vi., "Dicenti mihi solicitè assistit; assidet recitanti." These seats were called cathedræ and pulpita. Vid. Juv., vii., 47, 93. An attendant stood by the person who was reciting, with some emollient liquid to rinse the throat with. This preparation of the throat was called πλάσις, and a harsh, dry, unflexible voice was termed ἀπλαστός.

[1198]Collueris.D'Achaintre's reading is preferred here, "Sede leges celsâ liquido com plasmate guttur Collueris:" forlegensandcolluerit.Patranti ocelloseems to convey the same idea as the "oculi putres" of Hor., i., Od. xxxvi., 17, and the "oculos in fine trementes" of Juv., Sat. vii., 241 (cf. ii., 94), "oculos udos et marcidos," of Apul., Met., iii. Cf. Pers., v., 51, and the epithet ὑγρὸς, as applied to the eyes of Aphrodite.

[1199]Titi, are put here (as Romulidæ in v. 31) for the Romans generally, among whom, especially the higher orders, Titus was a favorite prænomen; or Titi may be put for Titienses, as Rhamnes for Rhamnenses; in either case the meaning is the same. But the other parts may be differently interpreted.Hicmay be equivalent to "cum operibus tuis;"trepidaremean "the eager applause of the hearers;"more probo"the approved and usual mode of showing it by simultaneous shouts"voce serena. Cf. Hor., A. P., 430.

[1200]Lumbum.Cf. iv., 35. Juv., Sat. vi., 314, "Quum tibia lumbos incitat."

[1201]Vetule.Cf. Juv., xiii., 33, "Die Senior bullâ dignissime."

[1202]Cute perditus."Bloated, swollen, as with dropsy." So Lucilius, xxviii., Frag. 37, "Quasi aquam in animo habere intercutem." "Pandering to the lusts of these itching ears, you receive such overwhelming applause, that though swelling with vanity, even you yourself are nauseated at the fulsome repetition."—Ohe.Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. v., 96, "Importunus amat laudari? donec ohe jam ad cœlum manibus sublatis dixerit urge et crescentem tumidis infla sermonibus utrem." So i., Sat. v., 12, "Ohe! jam satis est." There may be, as Madan says, an allusion to the fable of the proud frog who swelled till she burst. Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 314.

[1203]Caprificus.Cf. Juv., x., 143, "Laudis titulique cupido hæsuri saxis cinerum custodibus, ad quæ discutienda valent sterilis mala robora ficus. Quandoquidem data sunt ipsis quoque fata sepulcris." Mart., Ep., X., ii., 9, "Marmora Messalæ findit caprificus."

[1204]En pallor seniumque!"Is then the fruit of all thy study, that has caused all thy pallor and premature debility, no better than this? that thou canst imagine no higher and nobler use of learning than for the purpose of vain display!" Lucilius uses senium for the tedium and weariness produced by long application.

[1205]Oh Mores!So Cicero in his Oration against Catiline (in Cat., i., 1), "O Tempora, O Mores!" Cf. Mart., vi., Ep. ii., 6.

[1206]Scire tuum.So l. 9, "Nostrum istudviveretriste." So Lucilius, "Id me nolo scire mihi cujus sum conscius solus: ne damnum faciam, scire est nescire nisi id me scire alius scierit."

[1207]Digito monstrariar.So Hor., iv., Od. iii., 22, "Quod monstror digito prætereuntium Romanæ fidicen lyræ." Plin., ix., Epist. xxiii., "Et ille 'Plinius est' inquit. Verum fatebor, capio magnum laboris mei fructum. An, si Demosthenes jure lætatus est quod ilium anus Attica ita noscitavit οὗτος ἐστι Δημοσθένης ego celebritate nominis mei gaudere non debeo?" Cic., Tus. Qu., v., 36.

[1208]Dictata.The allusion is to Nero, who ordered that his verses should be taught to the boys in the schools of Rome. The works of eminent contemporary poets were sometimes the subjects of study in schools, as well as the standard writings of Virgil and Horace. Cf. Juv., vii., 226, "Totidem olfecisse lucernas Quot stabant pueri quum totus decolor esset Flaccus et hæreret nigro fuligo Maroni."

[1209]Cirratorum."Boys of high rank with well-curled hair." Cf. Mart., i., Ep. xxxv., "Cirrata caterva magistri."

[1210]Ecce!"See," answers Persius, "the noblest result, after all you can hope to attain, is only to have your poems lisped through by men surcharged with food and wine!"

[1211]Inter pocula.Cf. Juv., vi., 434; xi., 178.

[1212]Romulidæ, the degenerate self-styled descendants of Romulus. With equal bitterness Juvenal calls them "Quirites," iii., 60; "Trojugenæ," viii., 181; xi., 95; "Turba Remi," x., 73.

[1213]Balba de nare.Balbutire is properly a defect of thetongue, not of the nose.

[1214]Eliquareis properly used of the melting down of metals. It is here put for effeminate affectation of speech.

[1215]Phyllidas.Not alluding probably to the Heroics of Ovid on these two subjects, but to some wretched trash of his own day.

[1216]Assensere.From Ov., Met., ix., 259, "Assensere Dei." So xiv., 592.

[1217]Cinis.Cf. Ov., Trist., III., iii., 76. Amor., III., ix., 67, "Ossa quieta precor tuta requiescite in urnâ, Et sit humus cineri non onerosa tuo." Propert., I., xvii., 24, "Ut mihi non ullo pondere terra foret." Juv., vii., 207, "Dii Majorum umbris tenuem et sine pondere terram Spirantesque crocos et in urnâ. perpetuum ver."

[1218]Levior cippus.Virg., Ecl., x., 33, "Oh mihi tum quam molliter ossa quiescant." Alluding to the usual inscription on the sepulchral cippi, "Sit tibi terra levis." It is strange, says D'Achaintre, that the Romans should wish the earth to press lightly on the bones of their friends, whom they honored with ponderous grave-stones and pillars; while they prayed that "earth would lie heavy" on their enemies, to whom they accorded no such honors.

[1219]Nascentur violæ.Cf. Hamlet, Act v., sc. 1, "And from her fair and unpolluted flesh shall violets spring."

[1220]Uncis naribus.Hor., i., Sat. vi., 5, "Ut plerique solent naso suspendis adunco Ignotos." ii., Sat. viii., 64, "Balatro suspendens omnia naso." Mart., i., Ep. iv., 6, "Nasum Rhinocerotis habent." The Greek μυκτηρίζειν.

[1221]Os populi, as the Greeks say, τὸ διὰ τοῦ στόματος εἶναι: and Ennius, "Volito vivus' per ora virûm."

[1222]Cedro.From the antiseptic properties of this wood, it was used for presses for books, which were also dressed with the oil expressed from the tree. Plin., H. N., xiii., 5; xvi., 88. Cf. Hor., A. P., 331, "Speramus carmina fingi posse linenda cedro et levi servanda cupresso." Mart., v., Ep. vi., 14, "Quæ cedro decorata purpurâque nigris pagina crevit umbilicis." Dioscorides calls the cedar τῶν νεκρῶν ζωήν. i., 89.

[1223]Scombros.Hor., ii., Ep. i., 266, "Cum scriptore meo capsâ porrectus apertâ deferar in vicum vendentem thus et odores et piper et quidquid chartis amicitur ineptis." Mart., vi., Ep. lx., 7, "Quam multi tineas pascunt blattasque diserti, Et redimunt soli carmina docta coci," i. e., verses so bad as to be only fit for wrapping up cheap fish and spices.

[1224]Fas est.D'Achaintre's reading and interpretation is adopted, instead of the old and meaninglessfeci.

[1225]Exit.A metaphor from the potter's wheel. Hor., A. P., 21, "Amphora cœpit institui currente rotâ cur urceusexit?"

[1226]Rara avis."An event as rare as the appearance of the Phœnix." Cf. Juv., Sat. vi., 165, "Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima cygno." vii., 202, "Corvo quoque rarior albo." Hor., ii., Sat. ii., 26.

[1227]Euge! Belle!The exclamations of one praising the recitations. "Though a Stoic, and therefore holding that virtue is its own reward, I am not so stony-hearted as to shrink from all praise. Yet I deny that this idle, worthless praise can form the legitimate end and object of a wise man's aim."

[1228]Ilias Acci.Cf. ad v., 4. The effusion not of true genius, but of the besotting influence of drugs. "The poet," as Casaubon says, "has not reached the inspiring heights of Hippocrene, but muddled himself with the hellebore that grows on the way thither." The ancients were not unacquainted with the use of this artificial stimulant to genius. Cf. Plin., xxv., 5, "Quondam terribile, postea tam promiscuum, ut plerique studiorum gratia ad providenda acrius quæ commentabantur sumpsitaverint."

[1229]Crudi; i. e., "over their banquets." [Literally "undigested," as Juv., Sat. i., 143, "Crudum pavonem in balnea portas." Hor., i., Ep. vi., 6, "Crudi tumidique lavemur."] ii., Ep. i., 109, "Pueri patresque severi fronde comas vincti cœnant et carmina dictant." Cf. Pers., iii., 98.

[1230]Citreis.Cf. ad Juv., xi., 95.

[1231]Sumen.Juv., xi., 81; xii., 73. Lucil., v., fr. 5. "You purchase their applause by the good dinners you give them." Cf. Hor., i., Epist. xix., 37, "Non ego ventosæ plebis suffragia venor Impensis cœnarum et tritæ munere vestis."

[1232]Horridulum.Juv., i., Sat. 93, "Horrenti tunicam non reddere servo." Ov., A. Am., ii., 213.

[1233]Verum amo.Plaut., Mostill., I., iii., 24, "Ego verum amo: verum volo mihi dici: mendacem odi." Hor., A. P., 424, "Mirabor si sciet internoscere mendacem verumque beatus amicum. Tu seu donaris seu quid donare voles cui, nolito ad versus tibi factos ducere plenum lætitiæ; clamabit enim pulchre! bene! recte!"

[1234]Nugaris."Dotard! this thriftless trade no more pursue.Your lines are bald, and dropsical like you!" Gifford.

[1234]Nugaris.

"Dotard! this thriftless trade no more pursue.Your lines are bald, and dropsical like you!" Gifford.

[1235]Ciconia: manus: lingua.These are three methods employed even to the present day in Italy of ridiculing a person behind his back. Placing the fingers so as to imitate a stork pecking; moving the hands up and down by the side of the temples like an ass's ears flapping; and thrusting the tongue out of the mouth or into the side of the cheek.

[1236]Patricius sanguis.Hor., A. P., 291, "Vos O Pompilius sanguis!"

[1237]Jus est."Ye, whose position places you above the necessity of writing verses for gain, by refraining from writing your paltry trash, avoid the ridicule that you are unconsciously exciting."

[1238]Occurrite.So iii., 64, "Venienti occurrite morbo."

[1239]Sannæ.Juv., vi., 306, "Quâ sorbeat aera sannâ."

[1240]Junctura.A metaphor from statuaries or furniture-makers, who passed the nail over the marble or polished wood, to detect any flaw or unevenness. So Lucilius compares the artificial arrangement of words to the putting together a tesselated pavement. Frag. incert. 4, "Quam lepide lexeis compostæ? ut tesserulæ omnes Arte pavimento atque emblemate vermiculato." Cf. Hor., A. P., 292, "Carmen reprehendite quod non multa dies et multa litura coercuit atque perfectum decies non castigavit ad unguem." i., Sat. v., 32," Ad unguem factus homo." ii., Sat. vii., 87. Appul., Fl., 23, "Lapis ad unguem coæquatus." Sidon. Apoll., ix., Ep. 7, "Veluti cum crystallinas crustas aut onychitinas non impacto digitus ungue perlabitur: quippe si nihil eum rimosis obicibus exceptum tenax fractura remoretur." This operation the Greeks expressed by ἐξονυχίζειν. Polycletus used to say, χαλεπώτατον εἶναι τὸ ἔργον ὅταν ἐν ὄνυχι ὁ πηλὸς γίγνηται. "The most difficult part of the work is when the nail comes to be applied to the clay."

[1241]Oculo uno.From carpenters or masons, who shut one eye to draw a straight line. θατέρῳ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἄμεινον πρὸς τοὺς κανόνας ἀπευθύνοντας τὰ ξύλα. Luc., Icarom., ii.

[1242]Poetæ.Probably another hit at Nero.

[1243]Heroas.Those who till lately have confined themselves to trifling effusions in Greek, now aspire to the dignity of Tragic poets.

[1244]Corbes, etc.The usual common-places of poets singing in praise of a country life. The Palilia was a festival in honor of the goddess Pales, celebrated on the 21st of April, the anniversary of the foundation of Rome. During this festival the rustics lighted fires of hay and stubble, over which they leaped by way of purifying themselves. Cf. Varro, L. L., v., 3, "Palilia tam privata quam publica sunt apud rusticos: ut congestis cum fæno stipulis, ignem magnum transsiliant, his Palilibus se expiari credentes." Prop. iv., El. i., 19, "Annuaque accenso celebrare Palilia fæna."

[1245]Quintius.Cincinnatus. Cf. Liv., iii., 26.

[1246]Acciusis here called Brisæus, an epithet of Bacchus, because he wrote a tragedy on the same subject as the Bacchæ of Euripides.

[1247]Venosusis probably applied to the hard knotted veins that stand out on the faces and brows of old men. The allusion, therefore, is to the taste of the Romans of Persius' days, for the rugged, uncouth, and antiquated writing of their earlier poets. Nearly the same idea is expressed by the wordverrucosa, "full of warts, hard, knotty, horny." Cicero mentions this play: "Quis Ennii Medeam, et Pacuvii Antiopam contemnat et rejiciat," de Fin., i., 2. The remainder of the line is a quotation from Pacuvius. The wordærumnawas obsolete when Quintilian wrote.

[1248]Sartago.Juv., x., 64. Properly "a frying-pan," then used for the miscellaneous ingredients put into it; or, as others think, for the sputtering noise made in frying, to which Persius compared these "sesquipedalia verba." Casaubon quotes a fragment of the comic poet Eubulus, speaking of the same thing, Λοπὰς παφλάζει βαρβάρῳ λαλήματι, Πηδῶσι δ' ἰχθῦς ἐν μέσοισι τηγάνοις. "The dish splutters, with barbarous prattle, and the fish leap in the middle of the frying-pan." The word is said to be of Syriac origin.

[1249]Dedecus.The disgrace of corrupting the purity and simplicity of the Latin language, by the mixture of this jargon of obsolete words and phrases.

[1250]Trossuluswas a name applied to the Roman knights, from the fact of their having taken the town of Trossulum in Etruria without the assistance of the infantry. It was afterward used as a term of reproach to effeminate and dissolute persons. TheSubselliaare the benches on which these persons sit to hear the recitations.Exultatexpresses the rapturous applause of the hearers. Hor., A. P., 430, "Tundet pede terram."

[1251]Nilne pudet?He now attacks those who, even while pleading in defense of a friend whose life is at stake, would aim at the applause won by pretty conceits and nicely-balanced sentences. Niebuhr, Lect., vol. iii., p. 191,seq.

[1252]Decenteris a more lukewarm expression of approbation than euge or belle, pulchre or benè.

[1253]PediusBlæsus was accused of sacrilege and peculation by the Cyrenians: he undertook his own defense, and the result was, he was found guilty and expelled from the senate. Tac., Ann., xiv., 18.

[1254]Bellum hocis the indignant repetition by Persius of the words of applause.

[1255]Ceves."Does the descendant of the vigorous and warlike Romulus stoop to winning favor by such fawning as this?"Cevereis said of a dog. Shakspeare, K. Henry VIII., act v., sc. 2, "You play the spaniel, and think with wagging of your tongue to win me."

[1256]Pictum.Cf. ad Juv., xiv., 301, "Mersâ rate naufragus assem dum rogat et pictâ se tempestate tuetur."

[1257]Verum.His tale must not smack of previous preparation, but must bear evidence of being genuine, natural, and spontaneous. So Hor., A. P., 102, "Si vis me flere dolendum est primum ipsi tibi: tunc tua me infortunia lædent."

[1258]Atyn.These are probably quotations from Nero, as Dio says (lxi., 21), ἐκιθαρώδησεν Ἀττῖνα. The critics are divided as to the defects in these lines; whether Persius intends to ridicule their bombastic affectation, or the unartificial and unnecessary introduction of the Dispondæus, and the rhyming of the terminations, like the Leonine or monkish verses.

[1259]Arma virum.The first words are put for the whole Æneid. The critic objects, "Are not Virgil's lines inflated and frothy equally with those you ridicule." Persius answers in the objector's metaphor, "They resemble a noble old tree with well-seasoned bark, not the crude and sapless pith I have just quoted."

[1260]Laxa cervice.Alluding to the affected position of the head on one side, of those who recited these effeminate strains.

[1261]Mimalloneis.The four lines following are said to be Nero's, taken from a poem called Bacchæ: the subject of which was the same as the play of Euripides of that name, and many of the ideas evidently borrowed from it. Its affected and turgid style is very clear from this fragment. The epithets are all far-fetched, and the images preposterous. The Bacchantes were called Mimallones from Mimas, a mountain in Ionia. Bassareus was an epithet of Bacchus, from the fox's skin in which he was represented: and the feminine form is here applied to Agave: by thevitulus, Pentheus is intended: the Mænad guides the car of Bacchus, drawn by spotted lynxes, not with reins, but with clusters of ivy. "Could such verses be tolerated," Persius asks indignantly, "did one spark of the homely, manly, vigorous spirit of our sires still thrill in our veins? Verses which show no evidence of anxious thought and careful labor, but flow as lightly from the lips as the spittle that drivels from them."

[1262]Pluteum.Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 7, "Culpantur frustra calami, immeritusque laborat Iratis natus paries Diis atque poëtis." i., Sat. x., 70, "Et in versu faciendo sæpe caput scaberet vivos et roderet ungues."

[1263]Majorum.Hor., ii., Sat. i., 60, "O puer ut sis Vitalis metuo, et majorum ne quis amicus frigore te feriat."

[1264]Canina litera.All the commentators are agreed that this is the letter R, because the "burr" of the tongue in pronouncing it resembles the snarl of a dog (cf. Lucil., lib. i., fr. 22, "Irritata canis quod homo quam planius dicat"), but towhomthe growl refers is a great question. It may be the surly answer of the great man's porter who has orders not to admit you, or the growl of the dog chained at his master's gate, who shares his master's antipathy to you; or again it may be taken, as by Gifford,"This currish humor you extend too far,While every word growls with that hateful gnarr.Lubinus explains it, "Great men are always irritable; and therefore in their houses this sound is often heard."

"This currish humor you extend too far,While every word growls with that hateful gnarr.

Lubinus explains it, "Great men are always irritable; and therefore in their houses this sound is often heard."

[1265]Per me."I will take your advice then: but let me know whose verses I am to spare: just as sacred places have inscriptions warning us to avoid all defilement of them."

[1266]Secuit Lucilius.So Juv., i., 165, "Ense velut stricto quoties Lucilius ardens infremuit."

[1267]Lupe.Lucilius in his first book introduces the gods sitting in council and deliberating what punishment shall be inflicted on the perjured and impious Lupus. This Lupus is generally considered to be P. Rutilius Lupus, consulA.U.C.664. But Orellius shows that it is more probably L. Corn. Lentulus Lupus, consul inA.U.C.597. The fragment is to be found in Cic., de Nat. Deor., i., 23, 65. Cf. Lucil., Fr., lib. i., 4. Hor., ii., Sat. i., 68.

[1268]Muti.T. Mucius Albutius, whom Lucilius ridicules for his affected fondness for Greek customs. Cf. Lucil., Fr. incert. 3. Juv., Sat. i., 154, "Quid refert dictis ignoscat Mucius an non?" Cic., de Fin., i., 3, 8. Varro, de R. R., iii., 2, 17.

[1269]Genuinum.Hor., ii., Sat. i., 77, "Et fragili quærens illidere dentem, offendet solido?" "dens genuinus, qui a genis dependet: sic non leo morsu illos pupugit." Cas., Juv. v., 69, "Quæ genuinum agitent non admittentia morsum."

[1270]Suspendere.Cf. ad i., 40.

[1271]Excussomay be also explained "without a wrinkle," or, as D'Achaintre takes it, of the shaking of the head of a person, ridiculing as he reads.

[1272]Cum Scrobe.Alluding to the well-known story of the barber who discovered the ass's ears of King Midas, which he had given him for his bad taste in passing judgment on Apollo's skill in music; and who, not daring to divulge the secret to any living soul, dug a hole in the ground and whispered it, and then closed the aperture. But the wind that shook the reeds made them murmur forth his secret. Cf. Ov., Met., xi., 180-193.

[1273]Auriculas.Persius is said to have written at first "Mida rex habet," but was persuaded by Cornutus to change the line, as bearing too evident an allusion to Nero.

[1274]Iliade, such as that of Accius, mentioned above.

[1275]Afflate.Persius now describes the class of persons he would wish to have for his readers. Men thoroughly imbued with the bold spirit of the old comedians, Cratinus, Eupolis, and Aristophanes: not those who have sufficient βαναυσία and bad taste to think that true Satire would condescend to ridicule either national peculiarities, or bodily defects; which should excite our pity rather than our scorn.

[1276]Decoctius.A metaphor from the boiling down of fruits, wine, or other liquids, and increasing the strength by diminishing the quantity. As Virgil is said to have written fifty lines or more in the morning, and to have cut them down by the evening to ten or twelve.

[1277]Supinusimplies either "indolence," "effeminacy," or "pride." Probably the last is intended here, as Casaubon says, "proud men walk so erectly that they see the sky as well as if they lay on their backs." Quintilian couples together "otiosi et supini," x., 2. Cf. Juv., i., 190, "Et multum referens de Mæcenate supino." Mart., ii., Ep. 6, "Deliciæ supiniores." Mart., v., Ep. 8, also uses it in the sense ofproud. "Hæc et talia cum refert supinus." It also bears, together with its cognate substantive, the sense of "stupidity."

[1278]Ædilis.Juv., x., 101, "Et de mensurâ jus dicere, vasa minora Frangere pannosus vacuis Ædilis Ulubris."

[1279]Arreti, a town of Etruria, now "Arezzo." Cf. Mart., xiv., Ep. 98.

[1280]Heminas, from ἥμισο. Half the Sextarius, called also Cotyla.

[1281]Abaco.The frame with movable counters or balls for the purpose of calculation.Pulvereis the sand-board used in the schools of the geometers for drawing diagrams.

[1282]Nonaria.Women of loose character were not permitted to show themselves in the streets till after the ninth hour. Such at least is the interpretation of the old Scholiast, adopted by Casaubon. The word does not occur elsewhere.

[1283]Vellet.Hor., i., Sat. iii., 133, "Vellunt tibi barbam Lascivi pueri." Dio Chrys., Or. lxxii., p. 382, φιλόσοφον ἀχίτωνα ἐρεθίζουσι καὶ ἤτοι κατεγέλασαν ἢ ἐλοιδόρησαν ἢ ἐνίοτε ἕλκουσιν ἐπιλαβόμενοι.

[1284]Cynico.There is probably an allusion to the story of Lais and Diogenes, Athen., lib. xiii.

[1285]Do.So Hor., i., Epist. xix., 8, "Forum putealque Libonis mandabo siccis."

[1286]Edictum, i. e., Ludorum, or muneris gladiatorii; the programme affixed to the walls of the forum, announcing the shows that were to come. The reading of these would form a favorite amusement of idlers and loungers. Callirhoe is probably some well-known nonaria of the day. Persius advises hearers of this class to spend their mornings in reading the prætor's edicts, and their evenings in sensual pleasures, as the only occupations they were fit for. Marcilius says that it refers to an edict of Nero's, who ordered the people to attend on a certain day to hear him recite his poem of Callirhoe, which, as D'Achaintre says, would be an admirable interpretation, were not the whole story of the edict a mere fiction.

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