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

360 EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK 111., ODE XXI.
" Sparing bands," i. e., not liberal witb tbe wine, flowers, perfames, &c
—24. Vicina. *' Our fair young neighbor." Non kahilis. " 111 suited,
t. e., in point of years.—25. Spissa te nitidum coma, Sec. The connecfcion
is as follows : The old and morose Lycus fails, as may wdl be expected,
in securing the affections of her to whom he is united. But thee, Tele*
phas, in the bloom of manhood, thy Rhode loves, because her years are
matched with thine.—36. Puro. "Bright."—27. Tempestiva. "Of nubile
years."
Ode XXI. M. Valerius Messala Corvinus having promised to sup with
the poet, the latter, full of joy at the expected meeting, addresses an amphora
of old wine, which is to honor the occasion with its contents. To
the praise of this choice liquor succeed encomiums on wine in general.
The ode is thought to have been written A.U.C. 723, B.C. 31, when Corvinus
was in his first consulship.
1—11. 1. O nata mecum, &c. " O jar, whose contents were brought
mto existence with me during the consulship of Manlius." Nata, tboagh
joined in grammatical construction with testa, is to he construed as an
epithet for the contents of the Teasel. Manlius Torquatus was cnnsal
A.U.C. 689, B.C. 65, and Messala entered on his first consulate A.U.G.
723 J tbe wine, therefore, of which Horace speaks, must have been thirty-
four years old.—4. Seufacilemtpia, somnum. " Or, with kindly feelings,
gentle sleep." The epithet pia must not be taken in immediate constmclaon
with testa.—5. Quocunque nomine. Equivalent to in quemcunque
pnxm, "for whatever end."—6. Moveri digna bono die. "Worthy of being
moved on a festal day," i. e., of being moved from thy place on a day
like this, devoted to festivity.—7. Descende. The wine is to come down
from the horr&um, or airoSijKTj. Consult note on Ode iii., 28, 7.—8. Lan-
gitidiora. "Mellowed by age."—9. Quanquam Socraticis madet sermonihus.
" Though he is well-steeped in lore of the Socratic school,"
i. e., has drunk deep of the streams of philosophy. Tbe term madet contains
a figurative allusion to the subject of the ode.-^—10. Sermon^us.
The method of instruction pursued by Socrates assumed the form of famil-
iar conversation. The expression Socraticis sermonibus, however, refers
more particularly to tbe tenets of the Academy, that school having been
founded by Plato, one of the pupils -of Socrates. Horridus. " Sternly."
—11. Narratur et prisci Catonis, Sec. " Even the austere old Cato is re-
lated to have often warmed under the influence of wine." As regards the
idiomatic expression Catonis virtus, consult note on Ode i., 3, 36. The
reference is to the elder Cato, not to Cato of Utica, and the poet spealta
merely of the enlivening efibcts of a cheerful glass, of which old Oato is said
to have been fond.
13-23. 13. Tu lene tormentum, &c. "Thou frequently appliest gentle
violence to a rugged temper," i. c, thou canst subdue, by thy gentle violence,
dispositions cast in the most ragged mould.—1 4. Sapientium. " Of
the guarded and prudent."—15. Jocoso hy