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

EXPLANATORY NOTES. ^POOK IV., ODE XII. 387
art to celebrate along with me the ides of April, a month sacred to Venus,
who rose from the waves. The ides fell on the loth of March, May, Jnlj%
and October, and on the 13th of the other months. They received their
name from the old verb iduare, " to divide" (a word of Ktrarian origin, according
to Macrobius, Sat^ i., 15), because in some cases they actually,
and in others nearly, divided the month. MenceJindit on the present oc-
casion.—15. Mensem Veneris. April was sacred to Venus.—17. Jure solennis
mihit &c. " A day deservedly solemgized by me, and almost held
more sacred than that of my own nativity."—19. Jffluentes ordinai annos,
" Counts his increasing years." Compare, as regards qffluentes, the expla-
" sensim sibi succedentes."
nation of Orelli :
—
Odi; XII. It has never been satisfactorily determined whether the
present ode was addressed to the poet Virgil, or to some other individual
of the same name. The individual here designated by the appellation of
Virgil (be he who he may) is invited by Horace to an entertainment where
each guest is to contribute his quota. The poet agrees to supply the wine,
if Virgil will bring with him, as his share, a box of perfumes. He begs
him to lay aside for a moment his eager pursuit of gain, and bis schemes
of self-interest, and to indulge in the pleasures of festivity.
1-27. 1. Jam veris comites, &.c. " Now, the Thracian winds, the companions
of Spring, which calm the sea, begin to swell the sails." The allusion
is to the northern winds, whose home, according to the poets, was
the land of Thrace. These winds began to blow in the commencement
of spring. The western breezes are more commonly mentioned in descriptions
of spring, but, as these are changeable and inconstant^ the poet
j