The works of Horace : with English notes, critical and ... - Cristo Raul

336 EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK II., ODE XX.
thou confinefit, withont harm to them, the locks of the Bacchantes with a
knot ofvipers,"z.e., under thy inflaence, the Bacchantes tie up their locks,
&c.— ^20. Bistonidum. Literally, "of the female Bistones." Here, however,
equivalent to Baccliarum.
23-31. 23. Leonis unguibus. Bacchus was fabled to have assumed on
this occasion the form of a lion.—25. Quanguam ckoreist &c. *' Though
said to be fitter for dances and festive mirth."—36. Non sat idoneus. "Not
equally well suited."—127. Sed idem, Sec. " Yet, on that occasion, thou,
the same deity, didst become the arbiter of peace and of war." The poet
means to convey the idea that the intervention of Bacchus alone put an
end to the conflict. Had not Bacchus lent his aid, the battle must have
been longer in its duration, and different perhaps in its issue.— ^29. Insons.
"Without ofifering to harm." Bacchus descended to the shades for the
purpose of bringing back his mother Semele.
—
—
Aureo cornu decdras. A
figurative illustration of the power of the god. The horn was the wellknown
emblem-ofpower among the ancients.—31. Et recedentis trilingui,
&fi. The power of the god triumphs over the fierce guardian of the shades,
who allows egress to none that have once entered the world of spirits.
Ode XX. The bard presages his own immortality. Transformed into
a swan, he will soar away from the abodes of men, nor need the empty
lienors of a tomb.
1-23. 1. Non usitata, &c, " A bard of twofold form, I shall be borne
through the liquid air on no common, no feeble pinion." The epithet
biformis alludes to his transformation from a hnman being to a swan,
which is to take place on the approach of death. Then, becoming the
favored bird of Apollo, he will soar aloft on strong pinions beyond the
reach of envy and detraction. The common text has nee tenui, but we
have read nora tenui, as more forcible, with Mitscherlich, Boring, and
others.—4. Jnvidiaqne major. " And, beyond the reach of envy."— 5. Pau
perum sanguis parentum. " Though the ofispring of humble parents,"—
6. Non ego quern vocas, &c. " I, whom thou salutest, O Msscenas, with
the title of beloved friend, shall never die." Dilecte is here a quotation,
and therefore follows vocas as a kind of accusative ; in other words, it is
taken, as the grammarians expi'ess it, materially. The reading of this
paragraph is much contested. According to that adopted in our text, the
meaning of the poet is, that the friendship of Maecenas will be one of his
surest passports to the praises of posterity.—9. Jam jam residunt. Sec.
" Now, even now, the rough skin is settling on my legs." The transforma-
tion is already begnn : my legs are becoming those of a swan.—11. Supema.
"Above." The neuter of the adjective used adverbially. Quod
ad superna corporis membra attinet.—Nascunturque leves plumes. " And
the downy plumage is forming." Notior. The common text has odor,
which appears objectionable in a metrical point of view, since the word,
as it stands in the common text, presents a solitary instance of a vowel in
kiatu between the iambic and dactylic parts of the verse. From the nature,
also, and succession of the metrical ictus, the final letter o{ Dadaleo
is left even without the pretence o£ ictus to support it as a long syllable.
Bontley conjectures tutior, hut this seems too bold a change.—14. JBospori