De conducendo loquitur jam rhetore Thule. Impulit hos? quæ tanta fames, infestaque vallo 115 120 112. Thule] The remotest part of the then known world, supposed to be the Shetland Isles. 113. Nobilis ille tamen populus, &c.] i. e. Those noble Vascons, however, had some excuse for a deed of this kind, as had also the people of Saguntum, (on the E. coast of Spain, a little above Valencia,) who were equally brave in defending themselves against Hannibal (219 B. C.), equally faithful to Rome as the Vascons to Sertorius, and still more unfortunate; for, all resistance proving vain, they desperately set their own city on fire, and perished in the flames: whereas Calagurris, according to Livy (Epit. xciii.), was relieved by Sertorius. 115. Mæotide arâ] On the shores of the Palus Mæotis, (Sea of Azof,) in the Tauric Chersonesus, (Crimea,) was an altar to Diana, where human victims are said to have been sacrificed. 116. Taurica] Vel Taurica terra, vel Diana Taurica. 117. Ut jam, &c.] Since now, after the history which I have given you of the Tentyrites, you may believe any thing that the poets have written on the subject of cruelty. M. 119. Nil gravius cultro timet] Non timet ut ab hominibus sanguinariis devoretur. R.-Modò] Nuper. 120. Hos] Tentyritas.-Infestaque vallo Arma] Arma hostilia vallo et obsidione urbem undique cingentia. L-Madan interprets it: "Arms hostile to the ramparts of the besieged." 121. Monstrum] Monstrosum scelus: an enormity. 122. Anne aliam, &c.] i. e. Should the Nile refuse to overflow his banks, and the land of Egypt be in consequence parched with a destructive drought; even in that case, could the inhabitants do worse than thus devour one another, thus bringing a heavy reproach (invidiam facerent) on the River-god, for his cruel obstinacy? V-Terrá Memphitide] Egypt was so called from Memphis, the ancient capital of Lower Egypt, whose ruins still remain, on the banks of the Nile opposite to Cairo, Quâ nec terribiles Cimbri, nec Brittones unquam, Sauromatæque truces, aut immanes Agathyrsi, -V. Mollissima corda Humano generi dare se Natura fatetur, Quæ lacrymas dedit: hæc nostri pars optima sensûs. Ora puellares faciunt incerta capilli. 125 130 135 124. 125. Cimbri] See on viii. 248.-Sauromata] The Sarma- 126. Imbelle et inutile vulgus] sc. Tentyritæ, Ægyptii. 127. Fictilibus Phaselis] Boats of earthenware; nothing more 128. Remis incumbere] Remos impellere. P. 129. Nec pænam, &c.] i. e. The baseness, wickedness, and 132. Fatetur Ostendit, declarat.-This passage is happily But man, whom Nature formed of milder clay, And taught alone to weep, &c. G. 133. Hac] Misericordia sc. L.-Nostri sensus] Of our feelings. 135. Rei] Accusati.-Squalorem] It was customary for persons . 136. Cujus] Pupilli. 137. Puellares capilli] i. e. Longi et fluentes, quales esse solent Naturæ imperio gemimus, cùm funus adultæ Et minor igne rogi. Quis enim bonus, et face dignus 140 Ulla aliena sibi credat mala? Separat hoc nos 145 Tantùm animas, nobis animum quoque; mutuus ut nos Affectus petere auxilium et præstare juberet, 150 puellis. R. Faciunt incerta] Ita ut nequeas dicere, sitne puer an puella. M. 139. Occurrit] Nobis obviam fit. P. 140. Minor igne rogi] Too small for the funeral pile.-Children who died before the seventh month were not burnt, but interred. O-Face dignus Arcana] Worthy of the mystic torch, i. e. of admission to the Eleusinian mysteries of Ceres, which were celebrated by night, (each worshipper bearing a torch,) and in which none were allowed to participate, but those whom the priest pronounced virtuous. 141. Vult esse] Requires him to be. 142. Aliena sibi] Ad se non pertinere, M.-Alludit ad illud Terentianuin: Homo sum; humani nihil à me alienum puto. Heaut. i. 1.-Separat] Distinguit. P. 143. Ideo] For this very end and purpose, that we may sympathise with others. M.-Venerabile ingenium] A noble understanding. 144. Divinorum capaces] Capable of divine knowledge.-The poet places the dignity of man in two things; religious knowledge, and a capacity for the civil arts of life. Ó. 145. Capiendis] Discendis. R. 146. Sensum] "That MORAL SENSE, denied to creatures prone." G. 147. Cujus egent prona, &c.] Sic Ovidius, Met. i. Pronaque cum spectent animalia cætera terram, 148. Indulsit] Dedit, concessit.-Conditor] Creator. 149. Animas] Life, the animal soul; 4vxn-Animum: the rational soul, or mind; vous, opny. Dispersos trahere in populum, migrare vetusto Sed jam serpentum major concordia: parcit Produxisse parum est; cùm, rastra et sarcula tantùm 155 160 165 Aspicimus populos, quorum non sufficit iræ Occidisse aliquem; sed pectora, brachia, vultum 170 151. Trahere in populum] Colligere et congregare in civitatem. 155. Collata] Reciproca. 156. Nutantem] Titubantem, labantem. 158. Teneri] To be secured. M. 159. Major] Quàm hominum.-Parcit Cognatis maculis, &c.] Spares his kindred spots, i. e. the leopard spares the leopard. M. -Jortin remarks on the passage: "All this is prettily said, but without truth; since the male beasts of every kind fight together, when hunger or lust stimulates them, and act, in this respect, just as if they were men." 164. Sævis inter se convenit ursis] Ursi feroces inter se consentiunt. P. 165. Ferrum] Gladium. 166. Produxisse] Fabricâsse. P.-Parum est] Non satis est. L. -Cum] Whereas. M.-Tandis que. D. 167. Coquere] To forge.-Marris ac vomere lassi] i. e. Wearied in their daily toil of making these implements. 169. Populos] Whole nations. 170. Pectora, brachia, vultus] These are emphatically mentioned, as being the noblest parts of the human body. W. Vel quò non fugeret, si nunc hæc monstra videret Pythagoras? cunctis animalibus abstinuit qui, Tanquam homine, et ventri indulsit non omne legumen. 174. Non omne legumen] For some superstitious and unknown reason, Pythagoras abstained from beans. See on iii. 211.-"Great wits, like great liars, (says Owen,) should have good memories. Pythagoras's whimsical ideas with regard to food are spoken of here with great respect, because this answered the poet's present purpose. He should have recollected that he ridiculed a similar superstition in the Egyptians (line 9), and that Pythagoras probably borrowed his notions from that nation." |