"Scribendi quodcumque animo flagrante liberet, Qui dedit ergò tribus patruis aconita, vehetur 145 150 144. Simplicitas Freedom; libertas, rappnoia.-Cujus, &c.] It is hardly safe now to name, or mention, the liberty of the old writers; it is so sunk and gone, that the very naming it is dangerous. M. 145. Mutius] A bad man satirized by Lucilius. He was dead nearly three hundred years before; and therefore when the poet speaks in the present tense, he means "Lucilius shows no signs of concern IN HIS WRITINGS whether Mutius forgave him or not." O. 146. Pone] Exhibe, reprehende, nota. P.-Tigellinum] An infamous favourite of Nero; here put for any powerful villain of the day.-Tedá] The tunica molesta, in which the Christians suffered with a stake fixed under their chin, to keep them erect. O. After Nero had burnt Rome, he contrived to lay the odium on the Christians, and charged them with setting the city on fire. He caused them to be wrapped round with garments, which were bedaubed with pitch, and other combustible matters, and set on fire at night, by way of torches to enlighten the streets; and thus they miserably perished. M. 148. Diducis] For diduces, by enallage.-Sulcum] The trace made by the body of the miserable victim, dragged to execution by the uncus. 149. Qui dedit ergò, &c.] The poet here interrupts his monitor by an indignant question. 150. Plumis] The down with which the litter was stuffed.Pensilibus] Suspended, or borne aloft, on slaves' shoulders. 152. Accusator, &c.] Alioquin ille mox accusator vel delator erit, qui Imperatori dicet verbum mortiferum," hic est ille improbus et supplicio dignus." R. 153. Securus, &c.] You had better turn your talents to Epic poetry, for that is safe, as it gives no offence. You may safely write a poem like that of Virgil, and again bring to battle (committas) Æneas and Turnus.-Licet Committas] With the ellipse of ut. Juv. B "Committas: nulli gravis est percussus Achilles; 155 160 154, Nulli gravis est, &c.] Neminem offendit. R. Nemo offendetur carmine de Achillis morte, aut de Hylæ fato. P. 155. Hylas] A youthful companion of Hercules. Being sent to draw water from the river Ascanius, he fell in and was drowned; or, as poets say, was pulled in by the Nymphs of the stream, who had become enamoured of him; while Hercules is represented as seeking him in vain, and lamenting his loss, along the banks of the river. 157. Cui frigida mens-sudant præcordia] Mala conscientia modo frigus seu metum, modo calorem seu pudorem gignit. R. Mr. Gifford calls our attention to an admirable`paraphrase of this passage, in Randolph's Entertainment: When I but frowned in my Lucilius' brow, Each conscious cheek grew red, and a cold trembling Stood fearful of dissection, as afraid To be anatomized by that skilful hand, And have each artery, nerve, and vein of sin, By it laid open to the public scorn. 160. Ante tubas] Think well, says the adviser, before you sound the alarm for your attack-weigh well all hazards before you begin. M. 161. Experiar, &c.] Well, says Juvenal, in reply to his monitor, since writing satire on the living is so dangerous, I'll try how far it may be allowed me to satirize the dead.~ M. 162. Flaminia atque Latiná] By the side of these roads were the great public burying-grounds of the Romans. ARGUMENT. Umbritius, a friend of the Author, is introduced as on the point of quitting Rome in disgust. The Poet accompanies him some little way out of the city, to a spot endeared by the memory of the pious Numa; where the honest exile, standing as it were on consecrated ground, breaks out into a strain of animated invective, and acquaints him with his reasons for retirement. This satire seems not to be strictly methodical, and that too with propriety; being supposed to be the extemporary effusions of honest indignation. But its outlines are-I. A beautiful introduction.-II. That nothing but wicked arts thrive at Rome.-III. The Greeks possess these in the highest perfection.-IV. The fashions of Rome, its modes both of thinking and acting, render it impossible for the poor to subsist.-V. The particular inconveniencies of a crowded metropolis: and these two heads are beautifully contrasted with the simplicity and comforts of the country. VI. The perils of the night from the want of a good police. VII. A spirited conclusion, which gives poignancy to the whole. From Gifford and Owen. I. QUAMVIS digressu veteris confusus amici, 1. Confusus] Perturbatus, commotus, tristis. R. 2. Cumis] A town on the coast of Campania. 3. Sibylle] The Sibyls were women, supposed to be inspired with a spirit of prophecy. Authors are not agreed as to the number of them; but the most famous was the Cumæan, so called from having her residence at Cuma. Umbritius was now going to bestow one citizen on this abode of the Sibyl, by taking up his residence there. M. 4. Janua Baiarum] Baie was the fashionable watering-place of the Romans, the road to which lay through Cumæ. 5. Amani Secessus] Jucundissima refugia. Marshall. Prochytam] A little rugged island on the Campanian coast.— Suburra] One of the main streets of Rome. Nam quid tam miserum, tam solum vidimus, ut non Sed dum tota domus rhedâ componitur unâ, 6. Solum] Solitarium. R. 10 15 9. Augusto recitantes mense Poëtas] The humorous malice of the author! who, enumerating the dreadful dangers of an overgrown capital-fires, falls of houses, &c. finishes with the most dreadful of all-poets reciting their works in the dog-days! G. At that season, the attendance at crowded rehearsals would be more than commonly oppressive. 10. Domus] Supellex Ümbritii.-Unå rhedá] Quo tenuitas supellectilis denotatur. R. 11. Substitit] He may be supposed to have walked on, attended by his friend Juvenal, expecting the vehicle with the goods to overtake him, when loaded: he now stood still to wait for his coming up.-Capenam] One of the gates of Rome, which opened on the Appian Way and led towards Capua. It is called madidam, from the fountains and aqueducts which were near it. -Veteres arcus] Either the arches of the aqueducts, or the ancient triumphal arches of Romulus and the Horatii, which are said to have stood on that spot. 12. Hic ubi, &c.] Without the gate above-mentioned, stood a grove sacred to the Muses, in which were the grotto and spring of the Nymph Egeria, with whom Numa pretended to hold nightly conferences, and from her to have received his laws.-Constituebat] Tempus, understood. 13. Locantur Judæis] Here, at a single stroke, Juvenal lashes the oppression, avarice, and profaneness (as a Heathen might think it), of the Roman emperors. They expelled the poor Jews from the city; and yet scrupled not, for the sake of a paltry rent or tax, to let them inhabit a sacred grove ; out of which the Muses are jocosely said to have been ejected, to make room for more profitable tenants. 14. Cophinus fænumque] All the furniture of the poor Jews consisted in a basket to hold their provisions, and hay for their bed at night. 16. Mendicat] Is full of beggars. In vallem Ægeriæ descendimus, et speluncas 20 II. Hic tunc Umbritius, Quando artibus, inquit, honestis Nullus in Urbe locus, nulla emolumenta laborum, Duni nova canities, dum prima et recta senectus; Cedamus patriâ : vivant Arturius istîc, 25 Et Catulus: maneant, qui nigra in candida vertunt : 30 17. Speluncas Dissimiles veris] The bad taste of the Romans had profaned (violarent v. 20.) the grotto and spring of the Nymph, by the fancied improvement of marble arches and basons; destroying all its native beauty and simple majesty, and completely metamorphosing the place. 18. Præstantius] Venerabilius. 21. Hic tunc Umbritius] From this line, to the end of the satire, Umbritius is the speaker. 23. Res] Opes, res familiaris.-Herè] The old word for heri. 24. Deteret] Deminuet. Eadem res deteret aliquid exiguis opibus meis cras. This harsh and awkward expression is beautifully turned by Mr. Gifford, Since every morrow sees my means decay, 25. Illuc Ire] i. e. to Cuma, where Dædalus alighted after his flight from Crete. M. 27. Lachesi] One of the three destinies: she was supposed to spin the thread of human life.-The Parcæ, or poetical fates or destinies, were, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. The first held the distaff; the second drew out, and spun the thread; which the last cut off when finished. M. 29-30. Arturius Et Catulus] Two knaves, who, from very low life, had raised themselves to large and affluent circumstances. M. |