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SECTION III.

*

DETACHED PASSAGES OF THE SATIRES, LYRICS, AND

EPISTLES OF HORACE EXAMINED: WITH PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL REMARKS ON THE CONTEXT.

THE Course of comment here intended to be pursued generally falls in with the order of publication in the original Works, subject to the provisional exceptions before mentioned. The passages, however, belonging to the Fourth Book of Odes, are, for the sake of uniformity, taken in conjunction with the general body of the Lyrics.

* If the word Satire be really derived from the Lanx Satura, its application may be suspected to have been originally due more to jest than earnest. The term seems too far-fetched to be serious; although it may have been seriously 'appropriated.' Modern cases of such use of terms that were at first bestowed in ridicule are instanced in The Archbishop of Dublin's "Elements of Rhetoric," ch. III. s. 7. Compare an expression of Juvenal, SAT. I. 85-6—

'Quidquid agunt homines. . nostri est farrago libelli.”

At all events, the transference of the notion from variously assorted parcels of fruits to such desultory combinations as the earliest satirical poems presented, would appear to have been originally suggested rather by a correspondence in variety of external forms-that is, by studied diversity of verbal composition, or, in other words, by mixed metres-than, as is usually supposed, by the multitude of subjects intrinsically included. But, of course, the extension or continuation of the name to compositions of a uniform metrical aspect would imply, even a fortiore, that much of heterogeneous matter lies beneath the surface.

The Works of Horace, (however uncertain the existing plans, or hopeless the future prospect, of assigning specific dates to their composition), are now generally allowed to have been given to (as it proved in event) the world originally in the following series:

The Two Books of Satires.

The Epodes.

The First Three Books of Odes.

The First Book of Epistles.

The Secular Hymn.

The Fourth Book of Odes.

The Second Book of Epistles.

Thus far the labour of investigation is rewarded by its profit. But whether we now have the contents of the separate books themselves arranged in the order in which they were written, and whether any (and if any, what) portions were probably known in Roman literary circles previous to formal publication, are questions more curious than useful. Suffice it to say, that if, with Bentley, we suppose the several species of versification to have engaged the author's attention as separately in time as the books were published, we attribute to Horace an amount of system in composition which is incompatible with the natural characteristics, not alone of him, but of most genuine poets. Our postulate is independent of all controversy; and permits the admirer of the sparkling eccentricities of Sanadon's Nouvelle Distribution, or even of the refined complication of arbitrary suppo

sition which Dr. Kirchner's Tabula Chronologica displays, to enjoy his taste as securely as the unimaginative follower of Zurck or Baxter. Let it be merely granted that each Satire is in itself a complete whole, beginning, continuing, and ending as we now have it, and our task proceeds at once, with an attempt at Classification of these apparently desultory, if not erratic productions.

The Satires of Horace, though heretofore unclassed, seem capable of being conveniently ranked, according to their form, under the following designations:

THE DISCURSIVE (belonging to both Books). THE NARRATIVE (peculiar to the First). THE DRAMATIC (peculiar to the Second). The Discursive, which constitute the most numerous class, may be described as Satires in which the author chiefly addresses observations, reflections, and reasonings directly in any way. Of these there are two species, which may be called respectively General and Personal. The former is limited to the First Three Satires of the First Book, and the Economic Percepts borrowed from Ofellus in the Second. The latter includes the Satires conversant especially about the author's personal circumstances,-namely, the Fourth of the First, and the Sixth of each Book,— and the Lucilian Critique which closes the First Book, and relates chiefly to the comparative merits. of individual authors.

The Narrative are, of course, those wherein pas

sages of incident either past, or supposed to be so, are related throughout. These are, the Journey to Brundusium; The Rencontre of Rupilius and Persius; The Adventure with an Intruder; and what Swift would have called The Tale of a Scare-crow.

The Dramatic lay a scene of action, by introducing parties by name to the reader, who are supposed to discourse, describe, or act, in character. With these the Second Book is chiefly occupied. Their subjects are, The Discussion with Trebatius; The Paradoxical Illustrations of Damasippus; The Gourmanderie of Catius; The Ironical Revelations of Tiresias; The Sarcastic Brusqueries of Davus; and The Convivial Jocularities of Fundanius.

The following scale will exhibit compendiously the heads to which we propose to reduce the

VARIOUS FORMS OF THE HORATIAN SATIRE.

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1st Book. 2nd Book. 1st Book. 2nd Book.

A slight admixture of some of these classes with others is occasionally found. But the boundaries of the preceding division are plainly discernible.

Let us next examine whether a principle of classification may not be applied with advantage to a certain set of particular passages also, commencing with the opening of the First Satire.

That the very first paragraph of a composition which is received as the earliest known effort of the muse of Horace should, after so many centuries of comment, afford any good ground for new remark, is a statement which appears to pre-suppose some credulity on the part of the reader. It is perhaps fortunate, therefore, that in our first attempt to discover such in it we are enabled partially to mitigate 'prejudication' by distributing our responsibility over two other passages taken in connexion with this. Let us then imagine the three passages included respectively within the following limits, to be now before us:

QUI FIT, MECENAS, UT NEMO, QUAM SIBI SORTEM

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SIQUIS NUNC QUÆRAT-QUO RES HÆC PERTINET? ILLUC, ETC.

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NUNC ALIQUIS DICAT MIHI-QUID TU? ETC.
SER. I. III. 1–19.

The peculiar parallelism of these (understood) extracts has strangely escaped notice, although even an inspection of the verbal outlines drawn above might suggest it. The difficulty of establishing a consecutive connexion of parts in the First Satire has been felt; but we find no attempt made to ascertain

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