Et quascumque tulit formosi temporis ætas: Hæc sed forma mei pars est extrema furoris; Et tibi non tacitis vocibus hostis erit. Nec tibi me post hæc committet Cynthia, nec te 9 Still less, if she should be compared with ordinary figures, would she come off with discredit as inferior in the estimation of even a harsh judge.' Figura nearly corresponds with our familiar use of the word, as iii. 17, 43. Turpis, like aloxpòs, in its primary sense means 'ugly.' Kuinoel is scarcely correct in explaining it 'victa, pudore suffusa decedet.' 14 Sub tacita veste dicere, 'to speak of with reserve.' Ducere is a probable emendation, though libet is rather in favour of the vulgate. IO 15 20 25 22 Differet, i. e. diffamabit. Cf. inf. 16, 48.; iii. 14, 17. So the Greeks use διαφέρειν and διασπαράσ σειν. Æsch. Cho. 60. 22 Nulla domo excipieris, janua cujusvis puellæ tibi claudetur.' Kuinoel. 23 Every altar and shrine, every sacer lapis, either Terminus or cippus, will be a witness to her denunciations of you. Qualis ubique, sc. in triviis stat. Cf. Tibull. i. 1, 12. So verbenis compita velo,' v. 3, 57. Quam sibi cum rapto cessat amore deus, V. Invide, tu tandem voces compesce molestas, Et bibere e tota toxica Thessalia. Molliter irasci non solet illa tibi. 28 Ex illa. The English idiom is, in her. The Latin language in these cases expresses a part out of the whole. So Tacit. Agric. 4, 'retinuitque, quod est difficillimum ex sapientia, modum.' Where Ritter connects 'ex sapientia modum retinuit.' V. To Gallus. This man, who it appears from v. 23, was of noble birth, was a rival, if not a friend or relation of our poet. Hertzberg has a long and learned dissertation (Lib. 1, cap. v. p. 21-2,) to prove who he was not, which the reader may well be spared. Some have thought that he was the same as Elius Gallus, whose wife is alluded to under the name of Arethusa, in the beautiful epistle to her husband, inf. v. 3. An estimate of his moral character may be formed from i. 13, 5. It would seem that he had made some proposals for an intro 5 ΙΟ duction to Cynthia, which were by no means agreeable to Propertius. 2 Pares, i. e. sub æquo jugo. Cf. i. 1, 32. 6 5 Ignotos per ignes. To tread on hidden fire.' Hor. Od. ii. 1, 'incedis per ignes suppositos cineri doloso." A danger familiar to those who lived in the volcanic regions of Italy. 6Thessalia ferax herbarum venenatarum. Cf. Tibull. ii. 4, 55, seqq.'Kuinoel. (Quicquid habet Circe, quicquid Medea veneni, Quicquid et herbarum Thessala terra gerit.) 7 'Do not infer, that because she is a mistress, she is therefore a common woman.' Such is clearly the meaning. See supr. on i. 1. For non solet, Barth gives non sciet, and so Kuinoel, from a MS. of no authority. Tibi (as Jacob has noticed,) must be understood news, i. e. acquisitively, you will find it is her way not to be Non tibi jam somnos, non illa relinquet ocellos: Quam cito de tanto nomine rumor eris! Cum mihi nulla mei sit medicina mali; 15 20 25 30 gentle in her resentments.' So iv. 9, 10, ' exactis Calamis se mihi jactat equis.' II Relinquet ocellos, i. e. tui juris esse non sinet. Cf. v. 1, 143. Una, for unice, as frequently. She has a peculiar power in enslaving and taming the fierce-minded.' The metaphor (as appears from alligat,) is derived from a wild animal. See iii. 26, 48. 14 Cadent, shall fail of utterance.' Singultus is the spasmodic stoppage of the voice, common in excitement. 16 Hor. Od. iv. 2, 59, 'Qua notam duxit, niveus videri, cetera fulvus.' Fear will leave a mark,' as we say: 6 Quare, quid possit mea Cynthia, desine, Galle, VI. Non ego nunc Hadriæ vereor mare noscere tecum, VI. To Tullus. Tullus was a friend and equal in age of Propertius; nephew of Lucius Volcatius Tullus, who was consul in the year 721, (consule Tullo, Hor. Od. iv. 8, 12,) and proconsul of Asia. Hertzberg is inclined to think that the nephew was appointed legate in the province by his uncle. It is probable that this Tullus was one of the friends who endeavoured to divert Propertius from his attachment by recommending him to travel. See i. 1, 29. 3 Rhipæos montes, here put inde 5 finitely for the extreme north, as domos Memnonias, Ethiopia, for the south. Hor. Od. i., 22, 6. Sive per syrtes iter æstuosas, sive facturus per inhospitalem Caucasum,'-a proverbial method of expressing the confidence of friendship, as Barth observes. Memnon is well known in mythology as the son of Aurora and Tithonus, i. e. ason of the east.'-ulterius domos is not a usual construction: the accusative appears to depend on the sense of ultra, while ulterius quam ad domos was in the mind of the poet.-nullos esse deos, &c., 'complains that if she be deserted after all my promises, there are no gods the avengers of perfidy.' 7 Argutat. Another form of this rare verb is argutor. Properly, speaks loudly of her love,' i.e. vehemently protests it. From the analogy of argutus, it seems that the strictest sense is to talk in a shrill voice,' droλtyaive. See on el. 18, 30. 9 The sense is, 'she tries various ways of moving me, by taunting me с Quæ solet ingrato tristis amica viro. Ah pereat, si quis lentus amare potest! Tu patrui meritas conare anteire secures, with indifference, and by the usual threats of an angry mistress.'-dicit mihi se non jam esse meam; she declares she is no longer mine, no longer reigns in my affections, if I relinquish her thus easily. Others understand denegat se Veneris gaudia negat;' but this would rather have been denegat se mihi, without meam.-ingrato is the reading of two inferior MSS. The better copies agree in irato, which seems destitute of any plausible sense. 16 Ora notet, i. e. sua ora. 17 And should declare that she owes (and will pay) kisses to the wind which shall prevent me from sailing.' Hertzberg correctly explains a passage about which difficulty has been causelessly made:-'Quid ait Cynthia Oscula mea debentur a me vento, si se tibi opposuerit.' 19 'Do you endeavour to surpass the well-earned honours of your uncle (L. Volcatius Tullus), and in the capacity of legate, restore the laws to 10 15 20 the allied cities in Asia which have forgotten them.' Secures is put for the proconsulship. Hertzberg understands anteire of the præcedentia longi agminis officia, Juven. x. 44, i. e. of the ceremonious respect paid to the proconsul by attendant friends and clients on public occasions. His note is a good one, as proving the custom; but the addition of conare seems fatal to this explanation, since there could be no effort in such service. The general sense is 'Do you, whose pursuits are so different from mine, go alone, and endeavour by your good conduct to rise to higher fame and dignity than even your uncle.' |