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

396 EXPLANATOEY NOTES. EFODE II.
ing."—lG. iTi^rmas. "Tender." Compare the remark of Boring: "Nat
ura enim sua iinbecilles sunt oves."—~17. Decorum mitibuspomis. " Adorned
with mellow fruit."—19. Insitiva pira. " The pears of his own grafting,"—20.
Certantem et iivam, &c. "And the grape vying in hue with
the purple." Purpuree is the dative, by a Gr-raecism, for the ablative.
21. Priape. Friapns, as the god of gardens, always received, as an offer-
ing, the first produce of the orchards, (Sec. Compare note on Ode iii., 29,
22i— ^22. TutorJinium. " Tutelary god of boundaries."
24-47. 24. In tenaci gramine. " On the matted grass." The epithet
tenaci may also, bat with less propriety, be rendered "tenacious," or
"strong-rooted."—25. Labuntur altis, ice. "In the mean time, the streams
glide onward beneath the high banks." Some editions have riois fbr ripis,
but the expression eUtis rivis ("with their deep waters") does not suit
the season of summer so weU as altis ripis, which alludes to the decrease
2f the waters by reason of the summer heats.—26. Queruntur, "Utter
their plaintive notes."— ^27. Frondesque lymphis, &c. "And the leaves
murmur amid the gently flowing waters," i. e., the pendant branches murmur
as they meet the rippling current of the gently-flowing stream.
S8. Quod. "All which?' Equivalent to id ffuod.—29. Toruintis annus
hibernus Jov(^^^''^he wintry seascm of tempestuous Jove." The alln-
sion is to the tempests, intermingled with thunder, that ore prevalent in
Italy at the commencement of winter.—30. Comparat, ^ Collects to-
gether,"—31. Multa cane. "With many ahoond."—33. Aut amitelevi,
&c. " Or spreads the nets oflarge meshes with the smooth pole." Ames
denotes a pole or staff to support nets.
Leoi. We have rendered this
epithet, as coming from l^is ; it may also, however, have the meaning
of " light," and be regarded as coming from iSvis. Consult note,pagelxiv,
of this volume.—35. Advenam. "From foreign climes." Alladingtotbe
migratory habits of the crane, and its seeking the warm climate of Italy
at the approach of winter. Cranes formed a favorite article on the tables
of the rich.—37. Quia non matarum, &c. "Who, amid employments
such as these, does not forget the anxious caros which love carries in its
train 1" Complete the ellipsis as foUows : Quis non oblivisdtur malarum
curarum, quas euros, &C.---39. In partem jwvat, &c. "Aid, on her side,
in the management of household affairs, and the rearing of a sweet off-
spring."—41. Sabina. The domestic virtues and the striet morality of
the Sabines are frequently alluded to by the ancient writers. A-ut p&rusta
solibus, &c. " Or the wife of the industrious Apulian, embrowned by the
Sim."—43. Sacrum. The hearth was sacred to the Lares.— Vetustis, In
the sense of aridis—45. Latum pecus. "The joyous flock."—47. Homa
vina. " This year's wine." The poor, and lower orders, were accustomed
to drink the new wine from the dolium, after the fermentation had sub-
sided. Hence it was caUed -Dinum doliOre, The dolium was the large
vessel in which the wine was left to ferment, before it was transferred to
the amphora or cadus.
49-54. 49, LucriTia conchyUa. "The Lucrine shell-fish." The Lucrine
lake was celebrated for oysters end other shell-fish.—50. Rhombus.
*' The turbot."—Scori. The Scarua {"Soar" or " Char") was held in high
estimation by the ancients. Pliny [H, N., ix., 17) remarks of it, that it is
the only fish which ruminates : an observation which had been made hj
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