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

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674 EXPLANATORY NOTES. EPISTLE TO THE PISOS-
426-43&. 426. Donaris. For donaveris. The poet advises the eldei
Piso never to read his verses to a person ou whom he has bestowed any
present, or who expects to receive one from him. A venal friend can not
be a,good critic; he will not speak his mind freely to his patron, but, like
a corrupt judge, will betray truth and justice for the sake of interest.
429. Super his. Equivalent to insuper, or pratterea^-r-Etiam . stillahit
amicis ex oculis rorem. " He will even cause the dew to fall drop 1^
drop from his friendly eyes." iZoremJs here put for lacrymas by a pleasing
figure.—431. Ut quts conducts plorant infunere. "As the mourning
women, who, being hired, lament at funerals," i. e., who are hired to lament
at funerals. These were the prtB^ctc, who were hired to sing the funeral
song, or the praises of the deceased, and to lament their departure.-^
432. Dolentibus ex animo. "Than those who grieve from their hearts/'
i, e., who sincerely grieve. Sic derisor vera plus laudatore movetur. " So
the flatterer, who laughs at us in his sleeve, is, to all appearance, more
wrought upon than he who praises in sincerity."
436-451. 436. Et torquere mero. "And to put to the rack with wine."
A bold and beautiful expression. Wine racks the heart and draws forth
all its hidden feelings, as the torture racks the frame of the sufferer, and
forces from him the secret of liis breast.—437. Animi sub vulpe latentes,
V Minds lying hid beneath the fox's skin." Alluding to deceitful and crafty
flatterers.—438. Quiniilio. Cluintilius Varus, to whom Horace addressed
the 18th ode of the first book, .and whose death he laments in the 24th
ode of the same. Sodes* Consult note on Sat. i., 9, 41.—439. Negares.
'*' Supply si.—441. Male tornatos versus. Thy badly-polished verses."
A metaphor from the art of turning. Gaietus proposed formatos, and
Bentley reads ter natost maintaining that the ancients never turned metals
; but Pea refutes him by the following passage of Vitruvius (x., 12),
** Emboli ex tere, torno politi," and by referring to a number of metal arti-
cles found in excavations at Rome, and in other places of Italy. [Keight-
ley, ad toe)—444. SiTie rivali. The man who does what others are not
willing to imitate, may well be said to be without a rival.—445. Vir bonus
et prudens versus reprehendet inertes, &c. "An honest and correct critic
will blame verses unskillfutly constructed," Sec. By bonus is indicated
his honesty, and his regard for the writer ; by prudsns his correct judgment
and taste. [Keightley^ ad loc.) It particularly suited Horace's purpose
to paint the severe and rigid judge of composition.—446. iTicomtis
alliTiet atrum, &c. " To those that are badly wrought he will affix a black
marki by drawing ^is pen across them."—447. Calamo. Consult note on
Sat. ii., 3, 7.—450. Aristarchus. A celebrated grammarian of antiquity,
famed for his critical power, and for his impartiality as a judge of literary
merit; hence every severe critic was styled ah Aristarchus.—451. Ha
nugee seria ducont in mala, &c. " These trifles will involve in serious
mischief the man who has once been made the sport of the flatterer, and
has met with a cold reception firom the world."
453-471. 453, Ut mala quern scabies, &c. "They, who know what
they are about, fear to touch, and flee from a poet when the fit is iipoi^
him, as from one whom," &c. The order of construction is as follows i
Qui sapiunt, timcnt tetigisse fugiuntqitgi vesanum poetam, ut ilium quem
mala scabies, &c. Mala scabies^ " A leprosy." Morbus regius. " The
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