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 CLASSICAL AUTHORS 
 
 EDITED FOR SCHOOLS 
 GENERAL EDITOR i A. E. HILLARD 
 
 OVID: ELEGIAC POEMS 
 
 VOL. Ill 
 
 LETTERS FROM EXILE 
 
 J. W. E, PEARCE 
 
 OXFORD 
 AT THE CLARENDON PR.E
 
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 ii The Broad, 
 
 Oxford.
 
 A NEW CLARENDON PRESS SERIES 
 OF CLASSICAL AUTHORS 
 
 FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS 
 GENERAL EDITOR 
 
 REV. A. E. HILLARD, D.D. 
 
 HIGH MASTER OF ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL
 
 ALREADY PUBLISHED 
 
 Price 2s. each. 
 
 CAESAR: Gallic War. Books I-VII 
 
 (7 vols.). By T. Rice Holmes. 
 
 OVID : Selections. By J. W. E. Pearce. 
 
 (3 vols -) 
 
 I. Tristia. 
 
 II. Fasti. 
 
 III. Heroides. 
 
 Other volumes in preparation. 
 
 May, 1914.
 
 ELEGIAC POEMS OF 
 
 OVID 
 
 EDITED BY 
 J. W. E. PEARCE, M.A. 
 
 HEAD MASTER OF MERTON COURT PREPARATORY SCHOOL, SIDCUP 
 
 FORMERLY SIXTH FORM MASTER AT UNIVERSITY 
 
 COLLEGE SCHOOL 
 
 VOL. Ill 
 LETTERS FROM EXILE 
 
 SELECTED FROM THE TRISTIA AND THE 
 EPISTULAE EX PONTO 
 
 . 
 
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 ■ 
 
 . • . . ■ 
 
 OXFORD 
 
 AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 
 
 1 9 14 
 
 120085
 
 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK 
 TORONTO MELBOURNE BOMBAY 
 
 HUMPHREY MILFORD M.A. 
 
 PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY 
 
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 NOTE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR 
 
 New editions of the Classics for school use are apt to 
 be received with some impatience, and there is doubtless 
 good reason for this if they are mere ' conflations ' of 
 other books and add no point of excellence to their 
 predecessors. But, apart from the fact that our know- 
 ledge of some Classical authors and their subjects 
 improves from time to time, changes in the method 
 of teaching them, which come over the scholastic world 
 almost imperceptibly, make it impossible ever to speak 
 of a definitive school edition. For instance, the average 
 schoolmaster of to-day has a much greater interest in 
 English literature than his predecessors of the last 
 generation, and it is a great point gained if he applies 
 this in his teaching of the Classics. Even in editing 
 Caesar and Ovid ' he says it last who says it best '. 
 
 The series of which the ten volumes now issued are 
 meant to be a first instalment was designed by the 
 Oxford University Press four years ago. I may explain 
 briefly that one condition of the series was that no volume 
 should be included in it which was not edited by a 
 schoolmaster with practical and lengthy experience in 
 teaching the author on whom he wrote ; and further, 
 to avoid the danger of mere ' book-making', that every 
 author must be dealt with by some editor with a real 
 enthusiasm for his subject.
 
 vi NOTE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR 
 
 It was for these reasons that Dr. T. Rice Holmes was 
 asked to edit Caesar's De Bello Gallico and Mr. J. W. E. 
 Pearce such portions of Ovid's Elegiac poems as it 
 seemed advisable to include in the series. Dr. Holmes's 
 authority on questions of Caesar's campaigns is now 
 recognized throughout the Continent as well as in Great 
 Britain, and the original work that he has done made it 
 only a question of time when an edition would have to 
 be issued embodying the result of his own research. 
 Concurrently with the seven volumes which he has 
 edited for this series is published his complete edition of 
 the De Bello Gallico. Of Mr. Pearce's work I need only 
 say that his wide, almost erudite, knowledge of English 
 literature enables him to add in place after place valuable 
 interpretation or illustration, and is calculated to make 
 the poems mean more to the student than scholarship 
 could possibly make them mean if uncombined with this 
 faculty for feeling literary correspondences. 
 
 It is hoped to follow up the ten volumes now issued 
 with a good many others. But no volume will be 
 issued which does not satisfy the preliminary condition 
 stated above, and none will be issued with the mere 
 object of making the series 'complete '. 
 
 A. E. HILLARD. 
 
 St. Paul's School, 
 West Kensington, W. 
 December 8, 191 3.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 It is hoped that this edition (in three volumes) of 
 Ovid's Elegiac verse may be regarded as a tolerably 
 complete School ' Ovid '. The present volume contains 
 some 2,500 lines of the 6,730 written by the poet to his 
 friends from exile. 
 
 The text is that of Merkel (1850-2), with some altera- 
 tions shown to be necessary by Mr. Owen's critical 
 edition of Tristia or designed to bring the spelling and 
 punctuation into accordance with the practice of the 
 Oxford Classical Texts, 
 
 My chief aim in the notes has been to try to create 
 in the beginner a taste for Latin poetry, by leading him 
 to appreciate points of style and poetical expression, 
 and by encouraging him to a comparison of passages 
 from our own literature. Needless to say 3 many notes 
 will be rendered superfluous if the passage to be prepared 
 is first read aloud with due stress by the master. Help 
 on easy points of grammar, unnecessary for many boys, 
 has usually been given by a brief reference to the Revised 
 Latin Primer, but occasionally a note has seemed advis- 
 able to illustrate an interesting principle of language or 
 to emphasize the importance of the construction in 
 question. 
 
 Much of the text has been read 'at sight' in class,
 
 viii PREFACE 
 
 and a genuine attempt made to bring the notes into 
 correspondence with a beginner's real needs — a clear 
 understanding of the precise meaning of the Latin and 
 an appreciation of its value as poetry. 
 
 I must gratefully express my obligations to the 
 Clarendon Press readers, who have enabled me to 
 remove many blemishes from the text and notes. 
 
 J. W. E. P. 
 
 An easy and interesting introduction to Ovid may be made 
 with the following selections in this volume : 
 P. iii. 2. The Story of Orestes and Pylades. 
 P. iii. 3. Cupid visits Ovid in a dream. 
 Tr. i. 6. Ovid's Letter to his Wife. 
 Tr. iii. 9. The Story of Medea and Absyrtus. 
 Tr. iii. n. The Story of Phalaris and the Brazen Bull. 
 Tr. iv. 6. The Power of Time. 
 Tr. v. 8. The Fickleness of Fortune.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 INTRODUCTION. page 
 
 I. Life of Ovid xi 
 
 II. Ovid as Poet xxi 
 
 III. The Poems of Exile xxv 
 
 TEXT. 
 
 Tristia i 
 
 EX PONTO 60 
 
 Notes 77 
 
 Index to Notes 177 
 
 Index of Proper Names 180
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 I. LIFE OF OVID 
 
 Fortunately for us Ovid was much concerned that Pos- 
 terity, which read his poems, should know something of their 
 writer. Hence he has left us an Autobiography, from which, 
 supplemented as it is by many self-revealing passages through- 
 out his Elegiac works, we have a more intimate knowledge of 
 his life and personality than we have in the case of any other 
 Roman poet. We can see him at every stage of his life : — in 
 his school days, concentrating all his mind upon the one pursuit 
 that attracted him ; in his short official career ; and then in the 
 long years of busy idleness at Rome where he reigned un- 
 challenged as the fashionable poet of the pleasures of the 
 great city ; lastly, in the gloom of exile, hoping ever against 
 hope for the pardon which should restore him to the surround- 
 ings in which alone life for him was possible. 
 
 Ovid (his full name was Publius Ovidius Naso) was born in 
 B.C. 43 at Sulmo, now Sulmona, a town of the Paeligni, situated 
 high up in a valley amid the Apennines. By birth, then, he 
 came of the sturdy Italian stock, which in the ' Social War ' 
 fifty years earlier had won from Rome by force of arms the 
 equality of political privileges which had been refused to 
 centuries of loyal service. So Ovid was born a Roman citizen. 
 
 Sulmo had suffered much in the civil wars of Marius and 
 Sulla, Caesar and Pompey. The year of Ovid's birth was that 
 in which Octavianus — better known as Augustus — first rose into 
 prominence. As a boy Ovid must often have heard from his 
 older fellow citizens of the miseries of the last fifty years and
 
 xii INTRODUCTION 
 
 have contrasted them with the security which Augustus was 
 gradually establishing. From the first Augustus must have 
 been his hero and deliverer. He was twelve when in 31 
 Antony and Cleopatra .were defeated at Actium, and the long 
 nightmare of civil war was dispelled at last. When he cele- 
 brates the work of Augustus, his gratitude may not be mere 
 lip-service. 
 
 Ovid, alone of the great poets of Rome, belongs entirely to 
 the Augustan age and had no ties with the vanished republic. 
 If we miss in him that more serious outlook on life and its 
 problems that we find in other poets, we must remember the 
 limitations of his experience. Under the shelter of the Empire, 
 his lot had fallen on pleasanter places. 
 
 Ovid did not inherit the martial qualities of his race and he 
 makes no secret of his want of courage. But when he tells us 
 that he ' lisped in numbers ', we recognize better what he owed 
 to his birth. The people of the Abruzzi (the central highlands 
 of Italy) ' have always been great improvisatori ', x i. e. have the 
 power of ready poetical expression for their feelings. 'The 
 nobles, the bourgeoisie, the scholars, the peasants, the shep- 
 herds,— all improvised ; and they all, but chiefly the peasants, 
 improvise to this day.' Ovid's faculty ^of extreme fluency in 
 verse is explained ; add to this infinite pains in bringing the 
 Latin medium of poetry — the elegiac verse — into harmony 
 with the requirements of a most sensitive ear, and wide reading 
 of Greek poets, especially the later and more artificial poets of 
 Alexandria, then fashionable at Rome, and we can gain some 
 understanding of Ovid's position as a Latin poet. 
 
 We have no record of the details of Ovid's early years at 
 Sulmona, but we can imagine the influences at work on his 
 impressionable mind. There were the natural beauties of his 
 native place, a well-watered and fertile valley set round with 
 
 1 Miss Anne Macdonell, In the Abruzzi.
 
 LIFE OF OVID xiii 
 
 majestic hills ; there was the poetical atmosphere : we may sup- 
 pose that then, as now ' in the mellow valley of Sulmona and 
 on the vine-clad hills overlooking the eastern sea, lovers sang to 
 each other, and answered each other in song from field to field, 
 ceaselessly and without effort like birds, bending at their work 
 the while, only rising now and then to breathe out a longer 
 note ' ; 1 there must have been wonderful tales of witchcraft, for 
 the Marsi, near neighbours of the Paeligni, were famous for 
 magic, and it may be that some of the details of the weird 
 transformations in the Metamorphoses are derived from local 
 witch-stories. Whatever Ovid heard, saw, or felt, we can well 
 believe, was stored up in his memory to serve later as material 
 for the poems, which surprise us by the inexhaustible richness 
 of the fancies they contain. 
 
 At an early age, Ovid, like his elder contemporary Horace, 
 was sent to school at Rome. The journey itself — often re- 
 peated — must have been a memorable experience. For seventy 
 out of the ninety miles which separate Sulmona from Rome, 
 the wild grandeur of the Apennines and then the romantic but 
 softer charms of the country as you approach Tivoli make the 
 road one of the most beautiful in a land of natural beauties. 
 
 After acquiring the usual rudiments of learning, a young 
 Roman was sent to a school of rhetoric, to master the one art 
 necessary to success in civil life. We have a glimpse of Ovid 
 at this period preserved in the writings of the elder Seneca. 
 The free expression of thought characteristic of Republican 
 Rome was, of course, severely limited under a monarchy and 
 henceforth originality could only find its outlet in literary style. 
 Thus words became the training-ground of young Romans. 
 The scholastic exercises were called controversiae and suaso- 
 riae, the former being discussions of imaginary legal cases ; the 
 latter, speeches put into the mouths of historical or legendary 
 
 1 Miss Anno Macdonell, In the Abruzzi.
 
 xiv INTRODUCTION 
 
 characters to show the working of their minds in a critical or 
 tragical situation. We are not surprised to find that Ovid 
 neglected the former and preferred the latter kind of exercise. 
 The analysis of the human mind under the influence of strong 
 passion is one of a poet's arts ; Shakespeare's Hamlet and 
 Browning's Ring and the Book are good examples from our 
 own poetry. Ovid turned his school practice to account in 
 one of his earliest works — the Heroides, and no doubt in his 
 famous tragedy, ' Medea,' which has not come down to us. 
 The repetition and the unreality into which he often falls are 
 a relic of his schoolboy declamations, from the effect of which 
 he never freed himself. But all the time, Ovid tells us, his 
 thoughts ran in a poetical channel and whatever he wrote 
 turned to verse. Seneca adds that his rhetorical compositions 
 were merely disguised poetry, and that he found anything in 
 the way of closely reasoned legal argument distasteful. 
 
 Ovid's father was an eques illustris, one of the higher order 
 of ' Knights ', instituted by Augustus out of those who pos- 
 sessed the double qualification of good birth and the senatorial 
 fortune of a million sesterces. But, though well-to-do, if not 
 wealthy, he was economical and did not approve of Ovid's 
 devotion to poetry. ' There was no money in poetry,' he said. 
 We do not know how far Ovid could ever have been moulded 
 into a man of affairs. The need for such a career vanished, 
 when his dearly-loved elder brother, his senior by exactly 
 a year, died at the age of twenty and Ovid became heir to his 
 father's fortune. 
 
 The rhetorical training, which left such marked traces on his 
 poetical development, was followed by a tour in company with 
 a young poet-friend, Macer, through the towns of Asia Minor, 
 Greece and Sicily, made famous by historical or legendary 
 associations. Ovid must have owed much to these youthful 
 travels, which enabled him to give a background of reality to 
 the events described in his verse and stored his mind yet
 
 LIFE OF OVID xv 
 
 further with visions of beauty which he would in time enshrine 
 in poetry. 
 
 On his return Ovid did not at first definitely put aside all 
 thoughts of a career. As the son of an eques illustris he could 
 aspire to the Senate, and in fact had shown his intention of 
 doing so, by assuming, along with the toga virilis, the broad 
 purple stripe on his tunic (latus davits) which was the distin- 
 guishing mark of the senatorial order, and which Augustus 
 had granted to the sons of equites illustres who aimed at a 
 ' senatorial ' career. 
 
 The way to the Senate lay through the quaestorship, for 
 which the qualifying age was 27. Intending candidates for 
 this had first to undertake one of the minor offices comprised 
 under the general name of vigintiviratus or ' Board of Twenty'. 
 Ovid became one of the tresviri capita les who exercised certain 
 petty judicial functions and had the supervision of prisons ; 
 and afterwards one of the decemviri stlitibus iudicandis, or 
 presidents of the centumviral courts which decided cases of 
 disputed wills. In his later poems he recalls with pride the 
 character for integrity which he gained in the performance of 
 his judicial work. 
 
 At this point, however, his ambition deserted him and he 
 withdrew from official life. In his own poetical language ' the 
 measure of his purple stripe was narrowed ', and henceforward 
 he wore the tunic with the narrower stripe of a simple eques. 
 Apparently his father acquiesced, for we hear of no opposition 
 to the change of plan. 
 
 For the next thirty years Ovid lived happily at Rome. He 
 had already won a reputation as a poet by his Amoves, and he 
 was welcomed as a member of the brilliant circle of poets who 
 are the chief glory of the Augustan age. Vergil and Horace 
 he worshipped at a distance ; they were of an older generation. 
 The envious fates, he says in his Autobiography, snatched 
 Tibullus away before he could enjoy his friendship ; but
 
 xvi INTRODUCTION 
 
 Propertius, the successor of Tibullus as a writer of 'Elegy', be 
 longed to Ovid's 'set'. When Propertius died Ovid himself 
 reigned supreme in the literary world and received from 
 younger poets the homage which he had paid to his pre- 
 decessors in poetry. He had many friends of his own and of 
 higher rank, attracted to him by his lovable and generous 
 nature. 
 
 His earlier works must reflect at least to a considerable 
 extent the tastes and pursuits which ruled his life at the time 
 they were written. They all dealt with love or love-making. 
 The Amoves were succeeded by the Heroides, imaginary letters 
 addressed by forlorn ladies to absent lovers or husbands, and 
 these by the notorious Ars Amatoria, which helped to bring 
 about his fall. As Augustus was at this time attempting by 
 laws to strengthen the sanctity of the marriage tie, Ovid's 
 brilliant work must have been extremely distasteful to him. 
 But the punishment was withheld. The tragedy of ' Medea ', 
 considered by his contemporaries to be his masterpiece, belongs 
 to the earlier period. 
 
 Ovid now turned his thoughts to more serious subjects. He 
 wrote a long hexameter poem, the Metamorphoses, dealing in 
 a connected narrative of wonderful skill with the ' changes of 
 shape' which had taken place from the creation of the world 
 to the transformation of Julius Caesar into a star ; and an 
 elegiac poem, the Fasti, on the Roman calendar. The former 
 had not received its final touches and the latter was only half 
 finished when Ovid was banished. 
 
 Meanwhile he had been three times married. His first two 
 wives were speedily divorced, although the second had borne 
 him a daughter and on his own admission was blameless in her 
 conduct. His third wife was a lady connected with the great 
 Fabian House, a widow with a daughter by her first husband. 
 She was a friend of the Empress Livia. Whether or no Ovid 
 married her in the hope that her influence would be useful to
 
 LIFE OF OVID xvii 
 
 him, he writes of her in terms of affection and promises her 
 the immortality of verse for her labours in his behalf during his 
 exile. 
 
 It is not difficult to follow Ovid in imagination in his life at 
 Rome. The keen pursuit of pleasure had probably given way 
 to the quiet enjoyment of admiration and friendship. One 
 charming picture of him is given us in his letter to Perilla (Tr. 
 iii. 7). She was a young poetess in whom Ovid took a fatherly 
 interest. He encouraged her talent ; she would read her 
 verses to him for his kindly criticisms, or would blush at his 
 gentle reprimand when her muse had been idle. He writes to 
 her from his place of exile ; his letter would find her, he says, 
 either in her sweet mother's company or writing amid her 
 books. But whatever she was doing, on hearing that there 
 was a letter from Ovid, she would start up and run to get news 
 of her old friend. So in happier days she must often have run 
 to meet the great poet in person. 
 
 From the life of society at Rome he would sometimes retreat 
 to his gardens on the pine-clad hills near the Via Clodia, where 
 in the intervals of writing poetry he would plant fruit-trees 
 and, as he naively tells us, was not ashamed to water his 
 nurslings himself. He must have paid frequent visits to 
 Sulmo, both in the lifetime of his father who lived on till the 
 age of ninety, dying shortly before his wife, and afterwards 
 when the family estate passed into his own hands. In the 
 Fasti we see him breaking his journey at the houses of old 
 friends and collecting local traditions for his work. 
 
 For a man of Ovid's temperament his life at Rome must 
 have been ideally happy and complete. All the greater must 
 have been the shock when in the autumn of a. d. 9 he was 
 ordered to go into exile at Tomis (or Tomi) on the bleak coast 
 of the Euxine. Ovid speaks of this as his death-sentence. 
 
 The reason for his banishment at this moment remains one 
 of the riddles of history. It was not simply retrospective 
 
 io«».i b
 
 xviii INTRODUCTION 
 
 punishment for the Ars Amatoria, — the reason alleged. This 
 had been published ten years before. Again and again in his 
 letters from exile Ovid alludes to another reason, which he 
 must not state. ' He had offended the Emperor personally ; 
 he had been guilty of an indiscretion but not of a crime ; his 
 eyes had unwittingly been witness of some disgrace which 
 nearly affected the Emperor.' 
 
 About the time of Ovid's punishment, the Emperor's grand- 
 daughter Julia was banished for her intrigue with Silanus. It 
 is generally held that there must be some connexion between 
 the two sentences, and that probably Ovid was privy to, if he 
 did not actually help in furthering, the intrigue. This at least 
 explains why Ovid did not dare openly to allude to a matter 
 which yet was of common notoriety. 
 
 Another explanation has been suggested on different lines. 
 Augustus was advancing in age and the succession was doubt- 
 ful. The Empress Livia wished to secure this for her son — 
 Augustus's stepson — Tiberius. He had been passed over again 
 and again, but his rivals had all predeceased Augustus. One 
 grandson was left, Agrippa Postumus, son of Agrippa and the 
 Emperor's daughter Julia. He was an ill-conditioned youth, 
 living in enforced seclusion at Planasia, a small island near 
 Elba. But in his old age the Emperor seemed to be turning 
 to the one survivor of his own blood, and the many enemies 
 of Tiberius were anxious that Agrippa should succeed. The 
 latest theory is that Ovid's offence was political rather than 
 moral, and that he was present at a stance where astrologers 
 had predicted the speedy death of Augustus and the suc- 
 cession of Agrippa. This has the merit of explaining why after 
 the death of Augustus in a. d. 14 the poet gave up hope of 
 pardon. He could expect no mercy from Tiberius. 
 
 Late in a. d. 9 Ovid set sail for his place of punishment. 
 His dangerous journey and his dreary life at Tomis near the 
 mouth of the Danube are described in his Tristia and Epistulae
 
 LIFE OF OVID xix 
 
 ex Ponto. Tomis, a frontier fort against the Sarmatae and 
 the Getae, was never free even in times of peace from the 
 alarms of war, while in war it bore the brunt of the barbarians' 
 attack, to whom the ice-bound Danube offered a ready way. 
 The district around was a bleak plain, which bore nothing but 
 a stunted growth of wormwood. Ovid had all a poet's keen 
 delight in the beautiful sights and sounds of nature. Here 
 there were no trees, no flowers, and no birds. Human society 
 was hardly more congenial to him. He met with much blunt 
 and uncouth good nature ; he was honoured as the great poet 
 of Rome, but he missed the fellowship of books and of kindred 
 minds. Life was unutterably dreary. His only relief came 
 from his poetry, and even this could dwell only upon the one 
 subject ever present to his mind — his misery. He wrote letter 
 upon letter to his friends at Rome imploring their aid, and to 
 the Emperor himself begging for pardon or at least for some 
 alleviation of his lot. 
 
 It is easy to censure Ovid for unmanliness and self-abase- 
 ment before Augustus. But when he addresses Augustus as 
 a god, he is only using the language which others used, and 
 with far more reason than they. No god of the Romans ever 
 held such power over the happiness and misery of his worship- 
 pers as Augustus held over Ovid, and if the title of god was 
 allowed by Roman sentiment to be won by men for services 
 rendered to the human race, no one showed a clearer title than 
 Augustus. As Ovid failed, we may regret that he humbled 
 himself as he did, but while hope of exciting pity remained, he 
 was surely justified in insisting upon the miseries which it 
 was his aim to show were so much greater than his offence 
 deserved. 
 
 We hear little of Ovid's life among his uncouth hosts. Life 
 in a frontier fortress must be rough Tomis was a Greek 
 colony, but after centuries of intercourse with barbarians 
 retained little of the Greek element. Friendly barbarians 
 
 b 2
 
 xx INTRODUCTION 
 
 themselves swarmed in the town ; their mere appearance was 
 terrifying, and Ovid felt himself an object of suspicion to them 
 from their mutual inability to understand one another's language. 
 But towards the end of his life he writes in appreciative terms 
 of the kindness of the Tomitae. They were proud of their 
 distinguished guest and honoured him with exemption from 
 public burdens. He on his part learnt their language and even 
 composed a poem in Getic in praise of Augustus, for which the 
 Tomitae voted him a wreath as a public mark of gratitude. 
 
 While Augustus lived Ovid did not abandon hope, but when 
 Augustus was succeeded by Tiberius in a. d. 14 all hope died 
 away, though he still urges his friends to efforts on his behalf. 
 ' There is one among the many forms of despair — perhaps the 
 most pitiable of all — which persists in disguising itself as 
 Hope.' Ovid himself died in a. d. 17 and was buried at 
 Tomis. 
 
 We can hardly call Ovid's punishment undeserved. It is 
 true that he was no worse than many others of his time, but 
 he was more dangerous in proportion to his greater genius. 
 His Ars Amatoria tended to make vice attractive and his 
 position in the literary world ensured full effect to its fatal 
 tendencies. 
 
 In other respects Ovid's character seems to have been, if 
 not admirable, at least wholly amiable. He was kind-hearted, 
 generous and affectionate. No one can doubt the sincerity of 
 his friendships, and they were not the friendships of a bad 
 man. He was weak and, we may suppose, self-indulgent, but 
 he caught glimpses of higher things. His most brilliant and 
 sympathetic writing is devoted to the story of Lucretia, who 
 died for the preservation of that honour which Ovid in other 
 works seeks to undermine. His picture of her in Fasti II is 
 perfect. 
 
 A striking trait in his character is his generosity towards 
 other poets, dead and living. There was no trace of little-
 
 LIFE OF OVID xxi 
 
 mindedness in him. This proceeded as much from the 
 nobility of his own nature as from the security of his position 
 in literature. 
 
 II. OVID AS POET 
 
 Mantua Vcrgilio, gatidd Verona Catullo ; 
 Paelignae dicar gloria gen/is ego. 
 
 i^Mantua rejoices in Vergil, Verona in Catullus ; I shall be the glory 01 
 the Pelignian race.) 
 
 Even after the lapse of nearly two thousand years Ovid's 
 critics are not agreed upon his poetic rank. Some think him 
 the most poetical of all the Roman poets ; while others speak 
 of him as though he merely 
 
 swayed about upon a rocking-horse, 
 And thought it Pegasus. 
 
 He wrote with such facility and in such volume and took 
 such delight in the uncurbed exercise of his poetic gift that he 
 has allowed much to stand which his own judgement knew 
 would be better away. Seneca tells a typical story of him. 
 Some of his friends once asked him to sacrifice three of his 
 verses. Ovid on his part demanded that he should choose 
 three verses which should on no account be sacrificed. The 
 verses were produced on either side and found to be the same ! 
 7ion ignoravit vitia sua sed amavit. Two of the verses were : 
 
 semibovemque virum semivirumque bovem 
 and 
 
 et gelidum Borean egelidumque Notion. 
 
 Ovid's ear was tickled by the superficial smartness of the 
 jingling antithesis. His own excuse for such lapses was that 
 a comely face was all the more comely for a trifling blemish. 
 His refusal to prune away the over-luxuriance of his verse was
 
 xxii INTRODUCTION 
 
 the cause of the faint praise accorded him by the great critic 
 Quintilian, who states coldly that he is laudandus in partibus. 
 
 But when we come to the period of the revival of Art and 
 Letters in Europe, we begin to see what the world owes to 
 Ovid. He is a vast quarry from which painters and poets 
 alike draw materials for their works. The greatest poets 
 readily admit his claims. He is — in company with Homer, 
 Horace and Lucan — one of the 'four great shadows' that 
 advance to greet Dante and Vergil in the First Circle of the 
 Inferno. Dante calls them ' the goodly school of those lords 
 of highest song, which, like an eagle, soars above the rest'. 
 Chaucer's ' Legende of Good Women ' is largely a translation 
 of Ovid's Heroides. In the sixteenth century Ovid was regu- 
 larly read in English schools, and Shakespeare's debt to him 
 has often been pointed out. ' The sweete wittie soule of Ovid 
 lives in mellifluous and honey-tongued Shakspere,' Francis 
 Meeres, a contemporary, writes. His influence was even ex- 
 tended during the next century, and Milton thus writes of him 
 in a Latin elegy (translated by Cowper) : 
 
 Rome's hapless bard . . . 
 He then had equall'd even Homer's lays 
 And Vergil ! thou hadst won but second praise. 
 
 Assuredly Milton recognized a great poet in Ovid. 
 
 Wordsworth's division of poetic qualities into ' the vision and 
 the faculty divine ' and ' the accomplishment of verse ' will serve 
 us in an attempt to estimate Ovid's excellences and defects. 
 Ovid had not the higher ' vision ' with which Milton himself 
 was inspired ' to justify the ways of God to men ', or Vergil to 
 celebrate the majestic destinies of Rome. What he did see 
 was beauty — all that is beautiful and graceful in nature and in 
 human life and action. Everything that comes within his 
 range is invested by his imagination with beauty of form and 
 colour or motion. Scholars have collected the instances of
 
 OVID AS POET xxiii 
 
 adjectives denoting colour which occur in the various Roman 
 poets, and it has been claimed for Ovid that he is the most 
 colour-sensitive of them all — his skies the most vivid and his 
 landscapes the most rich in tones. In describing action, i. e. in 
 narrative, he has no superior. By his mastery of language and 
 of his poetical medium he brings the innumerable creatures of 
 his fancy before our eyes in lifelike reality, and his story unfolds 
 itself with unflagging animation, rapidity and vigour. 
 
 Too rarely he gives us glimpses of the beauty of moral 
 worth, though he could recognize and appreciate it. Video 
 meliora proboque, Deteriora sequor (I see and approve the 
 better course, I follow the worse) — put by him into Medea's 
 mouth — might have been spoken in his own character. No 
 one writing with the most moral aim could have made virtue 
 more attractive than Ovid has done in his picture of Lucretia. 
 We must not omit mention of him as the poet also of loyal 
 and disinterested friendship. 
 
 His sympathies were of the widest. He shows as loving 
 a care in his pictures of humble folk and humble life as in 
 those of scenes of magnificence which gave more scope to his 
 powers of description. Animals he certainly loved, and not in 
 a mere humanitarian way, but with a poet's or child's feeling of 
 their personality. Whether he could say, like Wordsworth : 
 
 And 'tis my faith that every flower 
 Enjoys the air it breathes, 
 
 perhaps we may doubt, though Countess Cesaresco in a charm- 
 ing essay on ' Ovid and the Natural World ' comes near to 
 believing so. 
 
 We may, then, think of Ovid as : 
 
 The poet, who with spirit-kiss 
 Familiar, had long claimed for his 
 Whatever earthly beauty is —
 
 xxiv INTRODUCTION 
 
 even if we cannot go on to say (as Mrs. Browning of her 
 
 poet) : 
 
 Who also in his spirit bore 
 
 A beauty passing the earth's store. 
 
 Wordsworth's other poetic gift, 'the accomplishment of verse,' 
 Ovid possessed in a supreme degree. In him elegiac verse 
 received its final form, the highest polish of which it was 
 capable, and probably it is of this he is thinking when he 
 claims that Elegy owes him a debt as great as the ' Noble Epic ' 
 owes to Vergil. 
 
 The metre in itself — each couplet is self-contained — is ad- 
 mirably adapted to extreme rapidity and vivacity of narration, 
 and to concise and pointed expression, like the rhymed ' heroic 
 couplets ' of Pope. Ovid by the laws he imposed upon him- 
 self in his use of it, such as avoidance of elision and of poly- 
 syllabic endings, gave it a smoothness in which there is no 
 trace of effort. His art is quite concealed. 
 
 The epigram (translated from the German of Schiller) 
 
 In the Hexameter rises the fountain's silvery column, 
 In the Pentameter aye falling in melody back 
 
 well suggests the graces of Ovid's elegiac couplet ; its sparkle, 
 its music and its easy flow. But it suggests also its limitations : 
 its vigour is too often exhausted in the upward movement of 
 the hexameter. The pentameter is merely the hexameter 
 'falling in melody back'; that is, it contains no fresh thought 
 of its own, but merely repeats or amplifies, or is antithetical to, 
 the preceding verse. 
 
 Life under the Empire tended to become artificial. Re- 
 lieved of anxieties and responsibilities, men found little outlet 
 for their energies except in the pursuit of pleasures and amuse- 
 ments. The want of serious purpose and deep feeling which 
 naturally resulted is reflected in Ovid. With him love is 
 merely a pastime whose chief attraction lies in intrigue, religion
 
 OVID AS POET xxv 
 
 an interesting relic of antiquity, and politics a comfortable 
 sense of the security guaranteed by Augustus. 
 
 Ovid's faults of style are all the unpruned growth of his 
 poetical qualities. They are due to his training in the schools 
 of rhetoric, where language was strained in the effort to give an 
 appearance of novelty to well-worn themes. Hence Ovid is 
 fond of showing his cleverness by repeating the same thought 
 over and over again, giving it each time a new and ingenious 
 turn. His fancies often degenerate into mere conceits. 
 Naturalness of expression is often sacrificed to the wish to 
 make a neat point. But with all the rhetorician in him Ovid 
 never ceases to be poetical. 
 
 III. THE POEMS OF EXILE 
 
 From a. d. 9, the date of Ovid's sentence, to a.d. 17 or 18, 
 the date of his death, poetry was to be for him little more than 
 the one alleviation of the sorrows of exile : 
 
 ... for the unquiet heart and brain 
 A use in measured language lies, 
 The sad mechanic exercise, 
 Like dull narcotics, numbing pain. 
 
 Towards the end of this time, it is true, he took in hand the 
 revision of the half-finished Fasti, in the forlorn hope that 
 Germanicus, to whom he now dedicated it, would interest 
 himself in its author. But for the most part Ovid's literary 
 work at Tomis is represented by the two series of letters which 
 we know as the Tristia and the Epistulae ex Ponto. Between 
 these there is little distinction of matter or style. The one 
 important difference is that in the Tristia Ovid . does not 
 mention by name the friend to whom he writes, through fear of 
 bringing him under the Emperor's displeasure ; in the Pontic 
 Epistles the name of the correspondent is given. Presumably
 
 xxvi INTRODUCTION 
 
 by the time of their publication Augustus had shown that he 
 did not intend to regard friendship with Ovid as an offence to 
 himself. It is interesting to note, however, that one friend, 
 more timid than the others, begged that his name should not 
 be mentioned ; which makes the action of Ovid's friend Brutus 
 in undertaking the publication of the Pontic Epistles all the 
 more creditable to his courage. 
 
 Tristia I was written on the way to Tomis, and describes 
 pathetically the dangers of the journey. It was published in 
 Rome in a. d. io. 1 Tristia II — consisting of one long letter 
 to Augustus — was published in the same year ; Tristia III in 
 n ; Tristia IV— notable for the Autobiography with which it 
 ends — between the springs of n and 12, and Tristia V between 
 the springs of 12 and 13. 
 
 The Pontic Epistles were written at different times, but were 
 not collected for publication till 13, when the first three books 
 appeared. The fourth book consists of various unpublished 
 letters brought together after Ovid's death. 
 
 Many of the letters are addressed to the ' friendly reader ' j 
 some to Ovid's wife, and two or three to the Emperor ; most 
 of the rest to friends, some known to us, some unknown, of his 
 own or of higher rank. 
 
 The unnamed friends of the Tristia are of course difficult to 
 identify, though this is sometimes possible by a comparison 
 with the Pontic Epistles. A starting-point for identification is 
 found in the difference of the style in which Ovid's intimate 
 friends and his noble patrons are respectively addressed. ' He 
 writes to patrons ', says Mr. Owen, ' in a vein of humble 
 supplication, praying them to use their influence with the 
 Emperor to procure the commutation of his sentence ; but 
 to equals in the language of ordinary affectionate familiarity. 
 
 1 These dates are given from Mr. S. G. Owen's edition of Tristia 1 
 (Clarendon Press), which contains also a very full and interesting account 
 of the various friends to whom both series of letters are addressed.
 
 THE POEMS OF EXILE xxvii 
 
 By the help of the knowledge acquired from the Pontic 
 Epistles we can discriminate clearly what individuals con- 
 stitute these two categories.' 
 
 Of Ovid's friends of his own rank, four stand out from 
 the rest as having shown him practical sympathy, when 
 it was most needed. These are Brutus, mentioned above 
 as editor of the Pontic Epistles ; Celsus (Tr. i. 5 ; cf. P. i. 9) ; 
 Carus, who was tutor to Germanicus' children, and Atticus. 
 The chief title to fame of all these is that they befriended 
 Ovid. Another friend, Macer, himself a poet, deserves men- 
 tion as Ovid's travelling companion through the historic sites 
 of the Mediterranean in his student days (P. ii. 10), But he 
 neglected Ovid in his disgrace, and perhaps the reproachful 
 letter (Tr. i. 8) is addressed to him. 
 
 Of Ovid's powerful friends, or patrons, the two most im- 
 portant are Cotta and Fabius Maximus. 
 
 Cotta was the second son of the great orator Messalla, who 
 had fought in the civil wars first for Cassius, then for Antony, 
 and finally for Octavianus. Cotta's name was originally M. 
 Valerius Maximus ; through his adoption by his maternal uncle 
 Aurelius Cotta, he became M. Aurelius Cotta Maximus (Ovid 
 addresses him as Maximus) ; on the death of his elder brother 
 he took the name of M. Aurelius Cotta Messallinus, by which 
 he is known in Tacitus. Ovid was in the suite of Cotta at 
 Elba when the sentence of banishment reached him. Cotta 
 was a strong partisan of Tiberius and hence has found no favour 
 with Tacitus ; but Ovid speaks of him with great affection and 
 regard. P. i. 9, and iii. 2 are addressed to him. 
 
 Paullus Fabius Maximus (also addressed as Maximus by 
 Ovid) belonged by birth to one of the most noble Roman 
 families and had himself borne the highest offices. He was 
 related by marriage to the imperial house and was deep in the 
 confidence of Augustus, whom he accompanied on the secret 
 visit to Agrippa Postumus. As a reconciliation between
 
 xxviii INTRODUCTION 
 
 Augustus and his grandson Agrippa might have proved fatal 
 to the hopes of Tiberius and Livia, 1 the secret needed to be 
 well kept. Tacitus tells us that Fabius divulged it to his wife, 
 and she to the Empress ; and that Fabius was forced to commit 
 suicide. 
 
 His death was a great blow to Ovid, who, having married as 
 his third wife a lady of the Fabian gens, had felt sure that the 
 head of the family, who stood so high in the favour of Augustus, 
 would use his influence in his behalf. 
 
 It has been a commonplace of criticism to say that Ovid's 
 poems from exile show failing powers. This would be hard to 
 prove to a candid reader. There is often some carelessness in 
 regard to those metrical rules which Ovid had laid down for 
 himself in his earlier works, but his fancy can play as vividly as 
 ever round his subject, when the spirit is on him, and apt 
 similes come at his call. His narrative power is as vigorous 
 as ever. It is true that his poems are henceforth almost all 
 poems of sorrow — sorrow hoping or sorrow despairing, but 
 what is really wonderful is the variety in which he can clothe 
 the expression of his griefs. It is in these poems that one 
 comes to know Ovid more intimately and to like him better. 
 Here he is no heartless worldling, but a kindly frank-natured 
 man, who had never cherished bitter feelings against others 
 and could not understand why fate had dealt so hardly with 
 himself. 
 
 1 Cf. the proposed secret interview between Anne and her exiled 
 brother (the Old Pretender), which might have upset the succession of 
 the Hanoverian House to the throne of England.
 
 TRISTIA 
 
 BOOK I. i iX 
 
 Goe, little Booke ! thy self present, 
 As childe whose parent is unkent. 
 
 Spenser. 
 Go, wailing verse .... 
 
 Present the image of the cares I prove, 
 Witness your father's grief exceeds all other. 
 
 Daniel. 
 
 Parve — nec invideo — sine me, liber, ibis in urbem ; 
 
 ei mihi, quod domino non licet ire tuo ! 
 vade, sed incultus, qualem decet exsulis esse : 
 
 infelix habitum temporis huius habe. 
 nec te purpureo velent vaccinia fuco : 5 
 
 non est conveniens luctibus ille color : 
 nec titulus minio, nec cedro charta notetur, 
 
 Candida nec nigra cornua fronte geras. 
 felices oment haec instrumenta libellos : 
 
 fortunae memorem te decet esse meae. 10 
 
 nec fragili gemmae poliantur pumice frontes, 
 
 hirsutus sparsis ut videare comis. 
 neve liturarum pudeat. qui viderit illas, 
 
 de lacrimis factas sentiet esse meis. 
 vade, liber, verbisque meis loca grata saluta : 15 
 
 contingam certe quo licet ilia pede. 
 si quis. ut in populo, nostri non inmemor illi, 
 
 si quis, qui, quid agam, forte requirat, erit : 
 vivere me dices, salvum tamen esse negabis : 
 
 id quoque, quod vivam, munus habere dei. 20 
 
 K'.Ol o
 
 2 OVID 
 
 ut peragas mandate,, liber, culpabere forsan 
 
 ingeniique minor laucle ferere mei. 
 iudicis officium est ut res, ita tempora rerum 
 
 quaerere : quaesito tempore tutus eris. 
 carmina proveniunt animo deducta sereno : 25 
 
 nubila sunt subitis tempora nostra malis. 
 carmina secessum scribentis et otia quaerunt : 
 
 me mare, me venti, me fera iactat hiems. 
 carminibus metus omnis abest. ego perditus ensem 
 
 haesurum iugulo iam puto iamque meo. 30 
 
 haec quoque quod facio, iudex mirabitur aequus, 
 
 scriptaque cum venia qualiacumque leget. 
 da mihi Maeoniden et tot circumspice casus, 
 
 ingenium tantis excidet omne malis. 
 carmina nunc si non studiumque, quod obfuit, odi, 35 
 
 sit satis, ingenio sic fuga parta meo. 
 i tamen et pro me tu, cui licet, aspice Romam : 
 
 di facerent possem nunc meus esse liber, 
 forsitan exspectes, an in alta palatia missum 
 
 scandere te iubeam Caesareamque domum ? 40 
 
 ignoscant augusta mihi loca dique locorum. 
 
 venit in hoc ilia fulmen ab arce- caput, 
 esse quidem memini mitissima sedibus illis 
 
 numina; sed timeo, qui nocuere, deos. 
 terretur minimo pennae stridore columba, 45 
 
 unguibus, accipiter, saucia facta tuis. 
 nee procul a stabulis audet discedere, siqua 
 
 excussa est avidi dentibus agna lupi. 
 vitaret caelum Phaethon, si viveret, et quos 
 
 optarat stulte, tangere nollet equos. 50 
 
 me quoque, quae sensi, fateor Iovis arma timere. 
 
 me reor infesto, cum tonat, igne peti. 
 quicumque Argolica de classe Capharea fugit, 
 
 semper ab Euboicis vela retorquet aquis.
 
 TRISTIA I. i, a 3 
 
 et mea cumba, semel vasta percussa procella, 55 
 
 ilium, quo laesa est, horret adire locum, 
 ergo cave, liber, et timida circumspice mente : 
 
 ut satis a media sit tibi plebe legi. 
 dum petit infirmis nimium sublimia pennis 
 
 Icarus, aequoreis nomina fecit aquis. 60 
 
 plura quidem mandare tibi, si quaeris, habebam. 
 
 sed vereor tardae causa fuisse morae. 
 et si quae subeunt, tecum, liber, omnia ferres, 
 
 sarcina laturo magna futurus eras, 
 longa via est, propera ! nobis habitabitur orbis 65 
 
 ultimus, a terra terra remota mea. 
 
 BOOK I. 2 
 
 You restless seas, appease your roaring waves, 
 And you, who raise huge mountains in that plain, 
 Air's trumpeters, your blust'ring storms restrain, 
 And listen to the plaints my grief doth cause. 
 
 Drummond of Hawthornden. 
 
 Ye high hevens, that all this sorowe see, 
 Sith all your tempests cannot hold me backe, 
 Aswage your storms. 
 
 Spenser. 
 
 1 )i maris et caeli — quid enim nisi vota supersunt ?— 
 
 solvere quassatae parcite membra ratis, 
 neve, precor, magni subscribite Caesaris irae ! 
 
 saepe premente deo fert deus alter openi. 
 Mulciber in Troiam, pro Troia stabat Apollo: 5 
 
 aequa Venus Teucris, Pallas iniqua fuit. 
 oderat Aenean propior Saturnia Turno. 
 
 ille tamen Veneris numine tutus enit. 
 saepe ferox cautum petiit Neptunus Vlixen, 
 
 eripuit patruo saepe Minerva suo. 10 
 
 1$ 2
 
 4 OVID 
 
 et nobis aliquod, quamvis distamus ab illis, 
 
 quis vetat irato numen adesse deo ? 
 verba miser frustra non proficientia perdo ; 
 
 ipsa graves spargunt ora loquentis aquae, 
 terribilisque Notus iactat mea dicta precesque. 15 
 
 ad quos mittuntur, non sinit ire deos. 
 ergo idem venti, ne causa laedar in una, 
 
 velaque nescio quo votaque nostra ferunt. 
 me miserum, quanti montes volvuntur aquarum ! 
 
 iam iam tacturos sidera summa putes. 20 
 
 quantae diducto subsidunt aequore valles ! 
 
 iam iam tacturas Tartara nigra putes. 
 quocumque aspicio, nihil est nisi pontus et aer, 
 
 fluctibus hie tumidus, nubibus ille minax. 
 inter utrumque fremunt inmani murmure venti : 25 
 
 nescit, cui domino pareat, unda maris, 
 nam modo purpureo vires capit Eurus ab ortu, 
 
 nunc Zephyrus sero vespere missus adest, 
 nunc gelidus sicca Boreas bacchatur ab Arcto, 
 
 nunc Notus adversa proelia fronte gerit. 30 
 
 rector in incerto est, nee quid fugiatve petatve 
 
 invenit. ambiguis ars stupet ipsa, malis. 
 scilicet occidimus, nee spes est ulla salutis, 
 
 dumque loquor, vultus obruit unda meos. 
 opprimet hanc animam fluctus, frustraque precanti 35 
 
 ore necaturas accipiemus aquas, 
 at pia nil aliud quam me dolet exule coniunx : 
 
 hoc unum nostri scitque gemitque mali. 
 nescit in inmenso iactari corpora ponto, 
 
 nescit agi ventis, nescit adesse necem. 40 
 
 o bene, quod non sum mecum conscendere passus, 
 
 ne mihi mors misero bis patienda foret ! 
 at nunc ut peream, quoniam caret ilia periclo. 
 
 dimidia certe parte superstes ero.
 
 TRISTIA I. 2 5 
 
 ei mihi, quam celeri micuerunt nubila flam ma ! 45 
 
 quantus ab aetherio personat axe fragor ! 
 nee levius laterum tabulae feriuntur ab undis, 
 
 quam grave balistae moenia pulsat onus, 
 qui venit hie fluctus, fluctus supereminet omnes : 
 
 posterior nono est undecimoque prior. 50 
 
 nee letum timeo : genus est miserabile leti. 
 
 demite naufragium, mors mihi munus erit. 
 est aliquid, fatoque suo ferroque cadentem 
 
 in solida moriens ponere corpus humo, 
 et mandare suis aliqua, aut sperare sepulcrum, 55 
 
 et non aequoreis piscibus esse cibum. 
 fingite me dignum tali nece, non ego solus 
 
 hie vehor : inmeritos cur mea poena trahit ? 
 pro superi viridesque dei, quibus aequora curae, 
 
 utraque iam vestras sistite turba minas : 60 
 
 quamque dedit vitam mitissima Caesaris ira, 
 
 hanc sinite infelix in loca iussa feram. 
 ut mare considat ventisque ferentibus utar, 
 
 ut mihi parcatis. num minus exul ero ? 
 non ego divitias avidus sine fine parandi 65 
 
 latum mutandis mercibus aequor aro: 
 nee peto, quas quondam petii studiosus, Athenas, 
 
 oppida non Asiae, non mihi visa prius, 
 non ut Alexandri claram delatus ad urbem 
 
 delicias videam, Nile iocose, tuas. 70 
 
 quod faciles opto ventos— quis credere possit? — 
 
 Sarmatis est tellus quam mea vela petunt. 
 obligor ut tangam laevi fera litora Ponti : 
 
 quodque sit a patria tarn fuga tarda, queror. 
 nescio quo videam positos ut in orbe Tomitas, 75 
 
 exilem facio per mea vota viam. 
 seu me diligitis, tantos conpescite fluctus, 
 
 pronaque sint nostrae numina vestra rati:
 
 6 OVID 
 
 seu magis odistis, iussae me advertite terrae : 
 
 supplicii pars est in regione mei. So 
 
 ferte — quid hie facio ? — rapidi mea carbasa venti ! 
 
 Ausonios fines cur mea vela volunt ? 
 noluit hoc Caesar, quid, quern fugat ille, tenetis ? 
 
 aspiciat vultus Pontica terra meos. 
 fallor, an incipiunt gravidae vanescere nubes, 85 
 
 victaque mutati frangitur ira maris ? 
 
 / 
 BOOK I. 3*/ 
 
 This banishment is a kind of civil death ; 
 And now, as it were at his funeral, 
 To shed a tear or two is not unmanly : — 
 And so, farewell for ever ! 
 
 Beaumont and Fletcher, Spanish Curate. 
 
 The impatient tides knocked at the shore and bid him haste 
 
 To seek a foreign home . . . 
 
 So forth he came, attended on his way 
 
 By a sad lamenting throng. 
 
 Otway. 
 
 Cvm subit illius tristissima noctis imago, 
 
 qua mihi supremum tempus in urbe fuit, 
 cum repeto noctem, qua tot mihi cara reliqui, 
 
 labitur ex oculis nunc quoque gutta meis. 
 iam prope lux aderat qua me discedere Caesar 5 
 
 finibus extremae iusserat Ausoniae. 
 nee spatium fuerat, nee mens satis apta parandi : 
 
 torpuerant longa pectora nostra mora, 
 non mihi servorum, comites non cura legendi, 
 
 non aptae profugo vestis opisve fuit. 10 
 
 non aliter stupui, quam qui Iovis ignibus ictus 
 
 vivit et est vitae nescius ipse suae, 
 ut tamen hanc animi nubem dolor ipse removit, 
 
 et tandem sensus convaluere mei,
 
 TRISTIA I. 3 7 
 
 adloquor extremum maestos abiturus amicos, 15 
 
 qui modo de multis unus et alter erant. 
 uxor amans flentem flens acrius ipsa tenebat, 
 
 imbre per indignas usque cadente genas. 
 nata procul Libycis aberat diversa sub oris, 
 
 nee poterat fati certior esse mei. 20 
 
 quocumque aspiceres, luctus gemitusque sonabant, 
 
 formaque non taciti funeris intus erat. 
 femina virque meo, pueri quoque funere maerent : 
 
 inque domo lacrimas angulus ornnis habet. 
 si licet exemplis in parvis grandibus uti, 25 
 
 haec facies Troiae, cum caperetur, erat. 
 iamque quiescebant voces hominumque canumque, 
 
 Lunaque nocturnos alta regebat equos. 
 hanc ego suspiciens et ad hanc Capitoiia cernens, 
 
 quae nostro frustra iuncta fuere lari, 30 
 
 'numina vicinis habitantia sedibus', inquarn, 
 
 'iamque oculis numquam templa videnda meis, 
 dique relinquendi, quos urbs tenet alta Quirini, 
 
 este salutati tempus in omne mihi ! 
 et quamquam sero clipeum post vulnera sumo, 35 
 
 attamen hanc odiis exonerate fugam, 
 caelestique viro, quis me deceperit error, 
 
 dicite. pro culpa ne scelus esse putet. 
 ut, quod vos scitis, poenae quoque sentiat auctor, 
 
 placato possum non miser esse dec' 4° 
 
 hac prece adoravi superos ego : pluribus uxor, 
 
 singultu medios inpediente sonos. 
 ilia etiam ante lares passis prostrata capillis 
 
 contigit exstinctos ore tremente focos, 
 multaque in adversos effudit verba penates 45 
 
 pro deplorato non valitura viro. 
 iamque morae spatium nox praecipitata negabat, 
 versaque ab axe suo Parrhasis arctos erat.
 
 8 OVID 
 
 quid facerem ? blando patriae retinebar amore : 
 
 ultima sed iussae nox erat ilia fugae. 50 
 
 a ! quotiens aliquo dixi properante ' quid urges ? 
 
 vel quo festines ire, vel unde, vide ! ' 
 a ! quotiens certam me sum mentitus habere 
 
 horam, propositae quae foret apta viae, 
 ter limen tetigi, ter sum revocatus, et ipse 55 
 
 indulgens animo pes mihi tardus erat. 
 saepe ' vale ' dicto rursus sum multa locutus, 
 
 et quasi discedens oscula summa dedi. 
 saepe eadem mandata dedi, meque ipse fefelli, 
 
 respiciens oculis pignora cara meis. 60 
 
 denique ' quid propero ? Scythia est, quo mittimur ', inquam : 
 
 ' Roma relinquenda est. utraque iusta mora est. 
 uxor in aeternum vivo mihi viva negatur, 
 
 et domus et fidae dulcia membra domus, 
 quosque ego fraterno dilexi more sodales, 65 
 
 o mihi Thesea pectora iuncta fide ! 
 dum licet, amplectar : numquam fortasse licebit 
 
 amplius. in lucro est quae datur hora mihi.' 
 nee mora, sermonis verba inperfecta relinquo, 
 
 complectens animo proxima quaeque meo. 70 
 
 dum loquor et flemus, caelo nitidissimus alto, 
 
 stella gravis nobis, Lucifer ortus erat. 
 dividor haud aliter, quam si mea membra relinquam, 
 
 et pars abrumpi corpore visa suo est. 
 sic doluit Mettus tunc, cum in contraria versos 75 
 
 ultores habuit proditionis equos. 
 turn vero exoritur clamor gemitusque meorum 
 
 et feriunt maestae pectora nuda manus. 
 turn vero coniunx, umeris abeuntis inhaerens, 
 
 miscuit haec lacrimis tristia dicta suis : So 
 
 ' non potes avelli. simul, a ! simul ibimus ' inquit : 
 
 ' te sequar et coniunx exsulis exsul ero.
 
 TRISTIA I. 3, 4 9 
 
 et mihi facta via est, et me capit ultima tellus : 
 
 accedam profugae sarcina parva rati, 
 te iubet a patria discedere Caesaris ira, 85 
 
 me pietas. pietas haec mihi Caesar erit/ 
 talia temptabat. sicut temptaverat ante, 
 
 vixque dedit victas utilitate manus. 
 egredior — sive illud erat sine funere ferri — 
 
 squalidus inmissis hirta per ora comis. 90 
 
 ilia dolore amens tenebris narratur obortis 
 
 semianimis media procubuisse domo : 
 utque resurrexit foedatis pulvere turpi 
 
 crinibus et gelida membra levavit humo, 
 se modo, desertos modo complorasse penates, 95 
 
 nomen et erepti saepe vocasse viri, 
 nee gemuisse minus, quam si nataeque virique 
 
 vidisset structos corpus habere rogos, 
 et voluisse mori, moriendo ponere sensus, 
 
 respectuque tamen non voluisse mei. 100 
 
 vivat ! et absentem — quoniam sic fata tulerunt — 
 
 vivat ut auxilio sublevet usque suo. 
 
 BOOK I. 4 
 
 If it hath ruffianed so upon the sea, 
 What ribs of oak, when mountains melt on them, 
 Can hold the mortise ? 
 
 Shakespeare, Otliello. 
 
 Tingitvr oceano custos Erymanthidos ursae, 
 
 aequoreasque suo sidere turbat aquas, 
 nos tamen Ionium non nostra findimus aequor 
 
 sponte, sed audaces cogimur esse metu. 
 me miserum ! quantis nigrescunt aequora ventis, 
 
 erutaque ex imis fervet harena vadis !
 
 io OVID 
 
 monte nee inferior prorae puppique recurvae 
 
 insilit et pictos verberat unda deos. 
 pinea texta sonant, pulsi stridore rudentes, 
 
 ingemit et nostris ipsa carina malis. io 
 
 navita, confessus gelidum pallore timorem, 
 
 iam sequitur victus, non regit arte ratem. 
 utque parum validus non proficientia rector 
 
 cervicis rigidae frena remittit equo, 
 sic non quo voluit, sed quo rapit inpetus undae, 15 
 
 aurigam video vela dedisse rati, 
 quod nisi mutatas emiserit Aeolus auras, 
 
 in loca iam nobis non adeunda ferar. 
 nam procul Illyriis laeva de parte relictis 
 
 interdicta mihi cernitur Italia. 20 
 
 desinat in vetitas quaeso contendere terras, 
 
 et mecum magno pareat aura deo. 
 dum loquor, et cupio pariter timeoque revelli, 
 
 increpuit quantis viribus unda latus ! 
 parcite caerulei, vos parcite, numina ponti, 25 
 
 infestumque mihi sit satis esse Iovem. 
 vos animam saevae fessam subducite morti, 
 
 si modO; qui periit, non periisse potest. 
 
 BOOK I. 5 
 
 A wreck past hope he was : 
 
 His life I gave him and did thereto add 
 
 My love, without retention or restraint, 
 
 All his in dedication, 
 
 Shakespeare, Twelfth Night. 
 
 O mihi post ullos numquam memorande sodales, 
 o cui praecipue sors mea visa sua est ! 
 
 attonitum qui me, memini, carissime, primus 
 ausus es adloquio sustinuisse tuo,
 
 TRISTIA I. 5 ii 
 
 qui mihi consilium vivendi mite dedisti, 5 
 
 cum foret in misero pectore mortis amor, 
 scis bene, cui dicam, positis pro nomine signis, 
 
 officium nee te fallit, amice, tuum. 
 haec mihi semper erunt imis infixa medullis, 
 
 perpetuusque animae debitor huius ero : 10 
 
 spiritus et vacuas prius hie tenuandus in auras 
 
 ibit, et in tepido deseret ossa rogo, 
 quam subeant animo meritorum oblivia nostro, 
 
 et longa pietas excidat ista die. 
 di tibi sint faciles, et opis nullius egentem 15 
 
 fortunam praestent dissimilemque meae. 
 si tamen haec navis vento ferretur amico, 
 
 ignoraretur forsitan ista fides. 
 Thesea Pirithous non tarn sensisset amicum, 
 
 si non infernas vivus adisset aquas. 20 
 
 ut foret exemplum veri Phoceus amoris, 
 
 fecerunt furiae, tristis Oresta, tuae. 
 si non Euryalus Rutulos cecidisset in hostes, 
 
 Hyrtacidae Nisi gloria nulla foret. 
 scilicet ut fulvum spectatur in ignibus aurum, 25 
 
 tempore sic duro est inspicienda fides, 
 dum iuvat et vultu ridet Fortuna sereno, 
 
 indelibatas cuncta sequuntur opes : 
 at simul intonuit, fugiunt, nee noscitur ulli, 
 
 agminibus comitum qui modo cinctus erat. 30 
 
 atque haec, exemplis quondam collecta priorum, 
 
 nunc mihi sunt propriis cognita vera malis. 
 vix duo tresve mihi de tot superestis amici : 
 
 cetera Fortunae, non mea turba fuit. 
 quo magis, o pauci, lassis succurrite rebus, 35 
 
 et date naufragio litora tuta meo, 
 neve metu falso nimium trepidate, timentes 
 
 hac offendatur ne pietatc deus.
 
 12 OVID 
 
 saepe fidem adversis etiam laudavit in armis, 
 
 inque suis amat hanc Caesar, in hoste probat. 40 
 
 pro duce Neritio docti mala nostra poetae 
 
 scribite : Neritio nam mala plura tuli. 
 ille brevi spatio multis erravit in annis 
 
 inter Dulichias Iliacasque domos : 
 nos freta sideribus totis distantia mensos 45 
 
 sors tulit in Geticos Sarmaticosque sinus, 
 ille habuit fidamque manum sociosque fideles : 
 
 me profugum comites deseruere mei. 
 ille suam laetus patriam victorque petebat : 
 
 a patria fugio victus et exsul ego. 5° 
 
 nee mihi Dulichium domus est Ithaceve Sameve— 
 
 poena quibus non est grandis abesse locis — 
 sed quae de septem totum circumspicit orbem 
 
 montibus, imperii Roma deumque locus, 
 illi corpus erat durum patiensque laborum : 55 
 
 invalidae vires ingenuaeque mihi. 
 ille erat adsidue saevis agitatus in armis : 
 
 adsuetus studiis mollibus ipse fui. 
 me deus oppressit, nullo mala nostra levante : 
 
 bellatrix illi diva ferebat opem. 60 
 
 cumque minor love sit tumidis qui regnat in undis, 
 
 ilium Neptuni, me Iovis ira premit. 
 adde, quod illius pars maxima ficta laborum est, 
 
 ponitur in nostris fabula nulla malis. 
 denique quaesitos tetigit tamen ille penates, 65 
 
 quaeque diu petiit, contigit arva tamen : 
 at mihi perpetuo patria tellure carendum est, 
 ni merit laesi mollior ira dei.
 
 TRISTIA I. 6, 8 t 3 
 
 BOOK I. 6 
 
 Dear, near and true. 
 
 I'rxNYSON. 
 
 Nec tantum Clario Lyde dilecta poetae, 
 
 nec tantum Coo Bittis amata suo est, 
 pectoribus quantum tu nostris, uxor, inhaeres, 
 
 digna minus misero, non meliore viro. 
 te mea subposita veluti trabe fulta ruina est : 5 
 
 siquid adhuc ego sura, muneris omne tui est. 
 tu facis ut spolium non sim, nec nuder ab illis, 
 
 naufragii tabulas qui petiere mei. 
 utque rapax stimulante fame cupidusque cruoris 
 
 incustoditum captat ovile lupus, io 
 
 aut ut edax vultur corpus circumspicit ecquod 
 
 sub nulla positum cernere possit humo, 
 sic mea nescio quis, rebus male fidus acerbis, 
 
 in bona venturus, si paterere, fuit. 
 hunc tua per fortes virtus summovit amicos, 15 
 
 nulla quibus reddi gratia digna potest, 
 tu si Maeonium vatem sortita fuisses, 
 
 Penelopes esset fama secunda tuae. 
 quantumcumque tamen praeconia nostra valebunt, 
 
 carminibus vives tempus in omne meis. 20 
 
 BOOK I. 8 
 
 Friends should associate friends in grief and woe. 
 
 Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus. 
 
 In caput alta suum labentur ab aequore retro 
 
 fiumina, conversis Solque recurret equis : 
 terra feret Stellas, caelum findetur aratro, 
 
 unda dabit flammas et dabit ignis aquas :
 
 i 4 OVID 
 
 omnia naturae praepostera legibus ibunt. 5 
 
 parsque suum mundi nulla tenebit iter : 
 omnia iam fient, fieri quae posse negabam, 
 
 et nihil est, de quo- non sit habenda fides, 
 haec ego vaticinor, quia sum deceptus ab illo, 
 
 laturum misero quern mihi rebar opem. 10 
 
 tantane te, fallax, cepere oblivia nostri, 
 
 adflictumque fuit tantus adire timor, 
 ut neque respiceres, nee solar ere iacentem, 
 
 dure, nee exsequias prosequerere meas? 
 illud amicitiae sanctum ac venerabile nomen 15 
 
 re tibi pro vili sub pedibusque iacet ? 
 quid nisi convictu causisque valentibus essem 
 
 temporis et longi vinctus amore tibi? 
 quid nisi tot lusus et tot mea seria nosses, 
 
 tot nossem lusus seriaque ipse tua ? 20 
 
 cunctane in aequoreos abierunt irrita ventos? 
 
 cunctane Lethaeis mersa feruntur aquis? 
 
 BOOK I. 9 
 
 Men shut their doors against a setting sun. 
 
 To live 
 But in a dream of friendship. 
 
 Shakespeare, Timon of Athens. 
 
 How counterfeit a coin they are who friends 
 Bear in their superscription (of the most 
 I would be understood) : in prosperous days 
 They swarm, but in adverse withdraw their head 
 Not to be found, though sought. 
 
 Milton, Samson Agonistes. 
 
 Detvr inoffenso vitae tibi tangere metam, 
 qui legis hoc nobis non inimicus opus. 
 
 atque utinam pro te possent mea vota valere, 
 quae pro me duros non tetigere deos !
 
 TRISTIA I. 9, ii 15 
 
 donee eris felix, multos numerabis amicos : 5 
 
 tempora si fuerint nubila, solus eris. 
 aspicis ut veniant ad Candida tecta columbae, 
 
 accipiat nullas sordida turns aves ? 
 horrea formicae tendunt ad inania numquam : 
 
 nullus ad amissas ibit amicus opes. 10 
 
 utque comes radios per solis euntibus umbra est, 
 
 cum latet hie pressus nubibus, ilia fugit, 
 mobile sic sequitur Fortunae lumina vulgus, 
 
 quae simul inducta nocte teguntur, abit. 
 haec precor ut semper possint tibi falsa videri. 15 
 
 sunt tamen eventu vera fatenda meo. 
 dum stetimus, turbae quantum satis esset, habebat 
 
 nota quidem, sed non ambitiosa domus. 
 at simul impulsa est, omnes timuere ruinam, 
 
 cautaque communi terga dedere fugae. 20 
 
 saeva neque admiror metuunt si fulmina, quorum 
 
 ignibus adflari proxima quaeque solent. 
 
 BOOK I. n 
 
 Suddenly, whether through the gods' decree, 
 Or haplesse rising of some froward starre, 
 The heavens on everie side enclowded bee : 
 Black stormes and fogs are blowen up from farre, 
 That now the pylote can no loadstarre see, 
 But skies and seas doo make most dreadfull warre ; 
 The billowes striving to the heavens to reach, 
 And th' heavens striving them for to impeach (i. e. hinder). 
 
 Spenser. 
 
 Littera quaecumque est toto tibi lecta libello, 
 
 est mihi sollicitae tempore facta viae, 
 aut haec me, gelido tremerem cum mense decembri, 
 
 scribentem mediis Hadria vidit aquis :
 
 ifi OVID 
 
 aut, postquam bimarem cursu superavimus Isthmon, 5 
 
 alteraque est nostrae sumpta carina fugae, 
 quod facerem versus inter fera murmura ponti, 
 
 Cycladas Aegaeas obstipuisse puto. 
 ipse ego nunc miror tantis animique marisque 
 
 fluctibus ingenium non cecidisse rrieum. 10 
 
 seu stupor huic studio, sive est insania nomen, 
 
 omnis ab hac cura mens relevata mea est. 
 saepe ego nimbosis dubius iactabar ab Haedis, 
 
 saepe minax Steropes sidere pontus erat, 
 saepe maris pars intus erat : tamen ipse trementi 15 
 
 carmina ducebam qualiacumque manu. 
 nunc quoque contenti stridunt Aquilone rudentes, 
 
 inque modum tumuli concava surgit aqua, 
 ipse gubemator tollens ad sidera palmas 
 
 exposcit votis, inmemor artis, opem. 20 
 
 quocumque aspexi, nihil est nisi mortis imago, 
 
 quam dubia timeo mente, timensque precor. 
 attigero portum, portu terrebor ab ipso : 
 
 plus habet infesta terra timoris aqua, 
 nam simul insidiis hominum pelagique laboro, 25 
 
 et faciunt geminos ensis et unda metus. 
 ille meo vereor ne speret sanguine praedam, 
 
 haec titulum nostrae mortis habere velit. 
 barbara pars laeva est avidaeque adsueta rapinae, 
 
 quam cruor et caedes bellaque semper habent. 30 
 
 cumque sit hibernis agitatum fluctibus aequor, 
 
 pectora sunt ipso turbidiora mari. 
 quo magis his debes ignoscere, candide lector, 
 
 si spe sint, ut sunt, inferiora tua. 
 non haec in nostris, ut quondam, scribimus hortis, 35 
 
 nee, consuete, meum, lectule, corpus habes. 
 iactor in indomito brumali luce profundo, 
 
 ipsaque caeruleis charta feritur aquis.
 
 TRISTIA I. ii— III. i 
 
 i7 
 
 inproba pugnat hiems indignaturque, quod ausim 
 
 scribere se rigidas incutiente minas. 40 
 
 vincat hiems hominem ! sed eodem tempore, quaeso, 
 ipse modum statuam carminis, ilia sui. 
 
 BOOK III. 1 
 
 Vouchsafe to read these lines both harsh and bad, 
 Nuntiates of woe with sorrow being clad. 
 
 Wm. Smith, Chloris. 
 
 1 Missvs in hanc venio timide, liber exsulis, urbem : 
 
 da placidam fesso, lector amice, manum. 
 neve reformida, ne sim tibi forte pudori : 
 
 nullus in hac charta versus amare docet. 
 haec domini fortuna mei est, ut debeat illam 5 
 
 infelix nullis dissimulare iocis. 
 id quoque., quod viridi quondam male lusit in aevo, 
 
 heu nimium sero damnat et odit opus, 
 inspice quid portem : nihil hie nisi triste videbis, 
 
 carmine temporibus conveniente suis. 10 
 
 clauda quod alterno subsidunt carmina versu, 
 
 vel pedis hoc ratio, vel via longa facit : 
 quod neque sum cedro flavus nee pumice levis, 
 
 erubui domino cultior esse meo. 
 httera suffusas quod habet maculosa lituras, 15 
 
 laesit opus lacrimis ipse poeta suum. 
 siqua videbuntur casu non dicta Latine, 
 
 in qua scribebat, barbara terra fuit. 
 dicite, lectores, si non grave, qua sit eundum, 
 
 quasque petam sedes hospes in urbe liber.' 20 
 
 haec ubi sum furtim lingua titubante locutus, 
 
 qui mihi monstraret, vix fuit unus, iter. 
 
 ioeu-1 q
 
 1 8 OVID 
 
 ' di tibi dent, nostro quod non tribuere poetae, 
 
 molliter in patria vivere posse tua. 
 due age ! namque sequar, quamvis terraque marique 25 
 
 longinquo referam lassus ab orbe pedem.' 
 paruit, et ducens ' haec sunt fora Caesaris ' inquit 
 
 ' haec est a sacris quae via nomen habet ; 
 hie locus est Vestae, qui Pallada servat et ignem, 
 
 hie fuit antiqui regia parva Numae'. 30 
 
 inde petens dextram ' porta est ' ait ' ista Palati, 
 
 hie Stator, hoc primum condita Roma loco est '. 
 singula dum miror, video fulgentibus armis 
 
 conspicuos postes tectaque digna deo. 
 'et Iovis haec' dixi ' domus est?' quod ut esse putarem, 35 
 
 augurium menti querna corona dabat. 
 cuius ut accepi dominum, ' non fallimur ' inquani 
 
 ' et magni verum est hanc Iovis esse donium. 
 cur tamen apposita velatur ianua lauro, 
 
 cingit et augustas arbor opaca comas ? 40 
 
 num quia perpetuos meruit domus ista triumphus ? 
 
 an quia Leucadio semper amata deo est? 
 ipsane quod festa est, an quod facit omnia festa ? 
 
 quam tribuit terris, pacis an is.ta nota est ? 
 utque viret semper laurus nee fronde caduca 45 
 
 carpitur, aeternum sic habet ilia decus ? 
 causa superpositast, scripto testante, coronae ; 
 
 servatos cives indicat huius ope. 
 adice servatis unum, pater optime, civem, 
 
 qui procul extremo pulsus in orbe latet : 50 
 
 in quo poenarum, quas se meruisse fatetur, 
 
 non facinus causam, sed suus error habet. 
 me miserum ! vereorque locum vereorque potentem, 
 
 et quatilur trepido littera nostra metu. 
 aspicis exsangui chartam pallere colore? 55 
 
 aspicis altemos intremuisse pedes ?
 
 TRISTIA III. i i 9 
 
 quandocumque, precor, nostra placere parenti 
 
 isdem et sub dominis aspiciare domus ! ' 
 inde tenore pari gradibus sublimia celsis 
 
 ducor ad intonsi Candida templa dei, 60 
 
 signa peregrinis ubi sunt alterna columnis 
 
 Belides et stricto barbarus ense pater, 
 quaeque viri docto veteres cepere novique 
 
 pectore, lecturis inspicienda patent, 
 quaerebam fratres, exceptis scilicet illis, 65 
 
 quos suus optaret non genuisse pater, 
 quaerentem frustra custos e sedibus illis 
 
 praepositus sancto iussit abire loco, 
 altera templa peto, vicino iuncta theatro : 
 
 haec quoque erant pedibus non adeunda meis. 70 
 
 nee me, quae doctis patuerunt prima libellis, 
 
 atria Libertas tangere passa sua est. 
 in genus auctoris miseri fortuna redundat, 
 
 et patimur nati, quam tulit ipse, fugam. 
 forsitan et nobis olim minus asper et illi 75 
 
 evictus longo tempore Caesar erit. 
 di, precor, atque adeo— neque enim mihi turba roganda est — 
 
 Caesar, ades voto, maxime dive, meo ! 
 interea, quoniam statio mihi publica clausa est, 
 
 privato liceat delituisse loco. 80 
 
 vos quoque, si fas est. confusa pudore repulsae 
 
 sumite plebeiae carmina nostra manus. 
 
 c 2
 
 2o OVID 
 
 BOOK III. 3 J\ 
 
 No friend's complaint, no kind domestic tear 
 Pleased thy pale ghost or graced thy mournful bier ; 
 By foreign hands thy dying eyes were closed, 
 By foreign hands thy decent limbs composed ; 
 By foreign hands thy humble grave adorned, 
 By strangers honoured and by strangers mourned. 
 
 Pope, Elegy. 
 
 Haec mea, si casu miraris, epistula quare 
 
 alterius digitis scripta sit, aeger eram. 
 aeger in extremis ignoti partibus orbis, 
 incertusque meae paene salutis eram. 
 quem mihi nunc animum dira regione iacenti 5 
 
 inter Sauromatas esse Getasque putes ? 
 nee caelum patior, nee aquis adsuevimus istis, 
 terraque nescio quo non placet ipsa modo. 
 non domus apta satis, non hie cibus utilis aegro, 
 
 nullus Apollinea qui levet arte malum : 10 
 
 non qui soletur, non qui labentia tarde 
 
 tempora narrando fallat, amicus adest. 
 lassus in extremis iaceo populisque locisque, 
 
 et subit adfecto nunc mihi, quicquid abest. 
 omnia cum subeant, vincis tamen omnia, coniunx, 15 
 
 et plus in nostro pectore parte tenes. 
 te loquor absentem, te vox mea nominat unam : 
 
 nulla venit sine te nox mihi, nulla dies, 
 quin etiam sic me dicunt aliena locutum, 
 
 ut foret amend nomen in ore tuum. 20 
 
 si iam deficiat sub crasso lingua palato, 
 
 vix instillato restituenda mero, 
 nuntiet hue aliquis dominam venisse, resurgam, 
 
 spesque tui nobis causa vigoris erit. 
 ergo ego sum dubius vitae, tu forsitan istic 25 
 
 iucundum nostri nescia tempus agis ?
 
 TRISTIA III. 3 21 
 
 non agis, adfirmo. liquet hoc, carissima, nobis, 
 
 tempus agi sine me non nisi triste tibi. 
 si tamen inplevit mea sors quos debuit annos, 
 
 et mihi vivendi lam cito finis adest : 30 
 
 quantum erat, o magni, morituro parcere, divi, 
 
 ut saltern patria contumularer humo? 
 vel poena in tempus mortis dilata fuisset, 
 
 vel praecepisset mors properata fugam. 
 integer hanc potui nuper bene reddere lucem : 35 
 
 exsul ut occiderem, nunc mihi vita data est. 
 tarn procul ignotis igitur moriemur in oris, 
 
 et fient ipso tristia fata loco ; 
 nee mea consueto languescent corpora lecto ; 
 
 depositum nee me qui fleat, ullus erit ; 40 
 
 nee dominae lacrimis in nostra cadentibus ora 
 
 accedent animae tempora parva meae ; 
 nee mandata dabo, nee cum clamore supremo 
 
 labentes oculos condet arnica manusj 
 sed sine funeribus caput hoc, sine honore sepulcri 45 
 
 indeploratum barbara terra teget. 
 ecquid, ut audieris, tota turbabere mente, 
 
 et feries pavida pectora fida manu ? 
 ecquid, in has frustra tendens tua bracchia partes, 
 
 clamabis miseri nomen inane viri ? 50 
 
 parce tamen lacerare genas, nee scinde capillos : 
 
 non tibi nunc primum, lux mea, raptus ero. 
 cum patriam amisi, tunc me periisse putato. 
 
 et prior et gravior mors fuit ilia mihi. 
 nunc, si forte potes — sed non potes, optima coniunx — 55 
 
 finitis gaude tot mihi morte malis. 
 quod potes, extenua forti mala corde ferendo, 
 
 ad quae iampridem non rude pectus habes. 
 atque utinam pereant animae cum corpore nostrae, 
 
 effugiatque avidos pars mihi nulla rogos ! 60
 
 2 2 OVID 
 
 nam si morte carens vacua volat altus in aura 
 
 spiritus, et Samii sunt rata dicta senis, 
 inter Sarmaticas Romana vagabitur umbras. 
 
 perque feros manes hospita semper erit. 
 ossa tamen facito parva referantur in urna : 65 
 
 sic ego non etiam mortuus exsul ero. 
 non vetat hoc quisquam : fratrem Thebana peremptum 
 
 subposuit tumulo rege vetante soror. 
 atque ea cum foliis et amomi pulvere misce, 
 
 inque suburbano condita pone solo. 70 
 
 quosque legat versus oculo properante viator, 
 
 grandibus in tituli marmore caede notis : 
 
 HIC • EGO • QVI • IACEO • TENERORVM • LVSOR • AMORVM 
 INGENIO • PERU • NASO • POETA • MEO [STI 
 
 AT • TIBI • QVI • TRANSIS • NE • SIT • GRAVE • QVISQVIS • AMA- 
 DICERE • NASONIS • MOLLITER • OSSA • CVBENT 76 
 
 hoc satis in titulo est. etenim maiora libelli 
 
 et diuturna magis sunt monimenta mihi, 
 quos ego confido, quamvis nocuere. daturos 
 
 nomen et auctori tempora longa suo. 80 
 
 tu tamen exstincto feralia munera semper 
 
 deque tuis lacrimis umida serta dato. 
 quamvis in cineres corpus mutaverit ignis, 
 
 sentiet officium maesta favilla pium. 
 scribere plura libet. sed vox mihi fessa loquendo 85 
 
 dictandi vires siccaque lingua negat. 
 accipe supremo dictum mihi forsitan ore, 
 
 quod, tibi qui mittit, non habet ipse, vale !
 
 TRISTIA III. 4 23 
 
 BOOK III. 4 
 
 They that stand high have many blasts to shake them ; 
 And if they fall, they dash themselves to pieces. 
 
 Shakespeare, Richard III. 
 
 Thus safely low, my friend, thou canst not fall. 
 
 Thomson. 
 
 O mihi care quidem semper, sed tempore duro 
 
 cognite, res postquam procubuere meae : 
 usibus edocto si quicquam credis amico, 
 
 vive tibi et longe nomina magna fuge. 
 vive tibi, quantumque potes praelustria vita : 5 
 
 saevum praelustri fulmen ab igne venit. 
 nam quamquam soli possunt prodesse potentes, 
 
 non prosit potius, siquis obesse potest, 
 effugit hibernas demissa antemna procella c , 
 
 lataque plus parvis vela timoris habent. 10 
 
 aspicis ut summa cortex levis innatet unda, 
 
 cum grave nexa simul retia mergat onus? 
 haec ego si monitor monitus prius ipse fuissem, 
 
 in qua debebam forsitan urbe forem. 
 dum tecum vixi, dum me levis aura ferebat, 15 
 
 haec mea per placidas cumba cucurrit aqua?, 
 qui cadit in piano — vix hoc tamen evenit ipsum — 
 
 sic cadit ut tacta surgere possit humo : 
 at miser Elpenor tecto delapsus ab alto 
 
 occurrit regi debilis umbra suo. 20 
 
 quid fuit ut tutas agitaret Daedalus alas, 
 
 Icarus inmensas nomine signet aquas? 
 nempe quod hie alte, demissius ille volabat. 
 
 nam pennas ambo non habuere suas. 
 crede mihi, bene qui latuit, bene vixit, et intra 35 
 
 fortunam debet quisque manere suam.
 
 24 OVID 
 
 BOOK III. 7 
 
 Is it not right to remember 
 All your kindness, friend of mine, 
 
 When we two sat in the chamber, 
 And the poets poured us wine ? 
 
 Mrs. E. B. Browning, To H. S. Boyd. 
 
 Vade salutatum, subito perarata, Perillam, 
 
 littera, sermonis fida ministra mei ! 
 aut illam invenies dulci cum matre sedentem, 
 
 aut inter libros Pieridasque suas. 
 quicquid aget, cum te scierit venisse, relinquet, 5 
 
 nee mora, quid venias quidve, requiret, agam. 
 vivere me dices, sed sic ut vivere nolim, 
 
 nee mala tam longa nostra levata mora : 
 et tamen ad Musas, quamvis nocuere, reverti, 
 
 aptaque in alternos cogere verba pedes. 10 
 
 tu quoque, die, 'studiis communibus ecquid inhaeres, 
 
 doctaque nunc patrio carmina more canis ? ' 
 nam tibi cum fatis mores natura pudicos 
 
 et raras dotes ingeniumque dedit. 
 hoc ego Pegasidas deduxi primus ad undas, 15 
 
 ne male fecundae vena periret aquae, 
 primus id aspexi teneris in virginis annis, 
 
 utque pater natae duxque comesque fui. 
 ergo si remanent ignes tibi pectoris idem, 
 ■ • sola tuum vates Lesbia vincet opus. 20 
 
 sed vereor, ne te mea nunc fortuna retardet, 
 
 postque meos casus sit tibi pectus iners. 
 dum licuit, tua saepe mihi, tibi nostra legebam : 
 
 saepe tui iudex, saepe magister eram : 
 aut ego praebebam factis modo versibus aures, 25 
 
 aut, ubi cessares, causa ruboris eram.
 
 TRISTIA III. 7 25 
 
 forsitan exemplo, quia me laesere libelli, 
 
 tu quoque sis poenae facta soluta meae. 
 pone, Perilla, metum. tantummodo femina nulla 
 
 neve vir a scriptis discat amare tuis. 3° 
 
 ergo desidiae remove, doctissima, causas, 
 
 inque bonas artes et tua sacra redi. 
 ista decens facies longis vitiabitur annis, 
 
 rugaque in antiqua fronte senilis erit : 
 inicietque raanum formae damnosa senectus, 35 
 
 quae strepitum passu non faciente venit. 
 cumque aliquis dicet 'fuit haec formosa', dolebis, 
 
 et speculum mendax esse querere tuum. 
 sunt tibi opes modicae, cum sis dignissima magnis : 
 
 finge sed inmensis censibus esse pares. 40 
 
 nempe dat id cuicumque libet fortuna rapitque, 
 
 Irus et est subito, qui modo Croesus erat. 
 singula ne referam, nil non mortale tenemus 
 
 pectoris exceptis ingeniique bonis, 
 en ego, cum patria caream vobisque domoque, 45 
 
 raptaque sint, adimi quae potuere mihi, 
 ingenio tamen ipse meo comitorque fruorque : 
 
 Caesar in hoc potuit iuris habere nihil, 
 quilibet hanc saevo vitam mihi finiat ense, 
 
 me tamen exstincto fama superstes erit, 50 
 
 dumque suis septem victrix de montibus orbem 
 
 prospiciet domitum Martia Roma, legar. 
 tu quoque, quam studii maneat felicior usus, 
 
 effuge venturos, qua potes, usque rogos !
 
 26 OVID 
 
 BOOK III. 9 
 
 Like fell Medea, when on Colchicke strand 
 Her brother's bones she scattered all about. 
 
 Spenser. 
 
 Inpia desertum fugiens Medea parentem 
 
 dicitur his remos applicuisse vadis. 
 quern procul ut vidit tumulo speculator ab alto, 
 
 ' hospes ' ait ' nosco Colchide vela sequi.' 
 dum trepidant Minyae, dum solvitur aggere funis, 5 
 
 dum sequitur celeres ancora tracta manus, 
 conscia percussit meritorum pectora Colchis 
 
 ausa atque ausura multa nefanda manu : 
 et, quamquam superest ingens audacia menti, 
 
 pallor in attonitae virginis ore sedet. to 
 
 ergo ubi prospexit venientia vela, ' tenemur, 
 
 et pater est aliqua fraude morandus ' ait. 
 dum quid agat, quaerit, dum versat in omnia vultus, 
 
 ad fratrem casu lumina flexa tulit. 
 cuius ut oblata est praesentia, ' vicimus ' inquit : 15 
 
 'hie mihi morte sua causa salutis erit.' 
 protinus ignari nee quicquam tale timentis 
 
 innocuum rigido perforat ense latus, 
 atque ita divellit, divulsaque membra per agros 
 
 dissipat in multis invenienda locis. 20 
 
 neu pater ignoret, scopulo proponit in alto 
 
 pallentesque manus sanguineumque caput, 
 ut genitor luctuque novo tardetur et, artus 
 
 dum legit exstinctos, triste retardet iter, 
 inde Tomis dictus locus hie, quia fertur in illo 2=, 
 
 membra soror fratris consecuisse sui.
 
 TRISTIA III. ic 
 
 BOOK ITT. 10 
 
 But winter, armed with terrors here unknown, 
 Sits absolute on his unshaken throne ; 
 Piles up his stores amid the frozen waste 
 And bids the mountains he has built stand fast. 
 
 Cowper, Hope. 
 
 The ships, unmoved, the boisterous winds defy, 
 While rattling chariots o'er the ocean fly. 
 
 Ambrose Philips. 
 
 Siqvis adhuc istic meminit Nasonis adempti, 
 
 et superest sine me nomen in urbe meum, 
 subpositum stellis numquam tangentibus aequor 
 
 me sciat in media vivere barbaria. 
 Sauromatae cingunt, fera gens, Bessique Getaeque, 5 
 
 quam non ingenio nomina digna meo ! 
 dum tamen aura tepet, medio defendimur Histrn : 
 
 ille suis liquidis bella repellit aquis. 
 at cum tristis hiems squalentia protulit ora, 
 
 terraque marmoreo Candida facta gelu est, 10 
 
 dum parat et Boreas et nix habitare sub arcto, 
 
 turn patet has gentes axe tremente premi. 
 nix iacet, et iactam ne sol pluviaeve resolvant, 
 
 indurat Boreas perpetuamque facit. 
 ergo ubi delicuit nondum prior, altera venit, 15 
 
 et solet in multis bima manere locis. 
 tantaque commoti vis est Aquilonis, ut altas 
 
 aequet humo turres tectaque rapta ferat. 
 pellibus et sutis arcent mala frigora bracis, 
 
 oraque de toto corpore sola patent. 20 
 
 saepe sonant moti glacie pendente capilli, 
 
 et nitet inducto Candida barba gelu. 
 nudaque consistunt, formam servantia testae, 
 
 vina, nee hausta meri, sed data frusta bibunt.
 
 28 OVID 
 
 quid loquar, ut vincti concrescant frigore rivi, 25 
 
 deque lacu fragiles effodiantur aquae ? 
 ipse, papyrifero qui non angustior amne 
 
 miscetur vasto multa per ora freto, 
 caeruleos ventis latices durantibus, Hister 
 
 congelat et tectis in mare serpit aquis. 30 
 
 quaque rates ierant, pedibus nunc itur, et undas 
 
 frigore concretas ungula pulsat equi : 
 perque novos pontes subter labentibus undis 
 
 ducunt Sarmatici barbara plaustra boves. 
 vix equidem credar. sed cum sint praemia falsi 35 
 
 nulla, ratam debet testis habere fidem. 
 vidimus ingentem glacie consistere pontum, 
 
 lubricaque inmotas testa premebat aquas. 
 nee vidisse sat est : durum calcavimus aequor, 
 
 undaque non udo sub pede summa fuit. 4° 
 
 si tibi tale fretum quondam, Leandre, fuisset, 
 
 non foret angustae mors tua crimen aquae, 
 turn neque se pandi possunt delphines in auras 
 
 tollere. conantes dura coercet hiems. 
 et quamvis Boreas iactatis insonet alis, 45 
 
 fiuctus in obsesso gurgite nullus erit, 
 inclusaeque gelu stabunt in margine puppes, 
 
 nee poterit rigidas findere remus aquas, 
 vidimus in glacie pisces haerere ligatos, 
 
 sed pars ex illis tunc quoque viva fuit. 50 
 
 sive igitur nimii Boreae vis saeva marinas, 
 
 sive redundatas flumine cogit aquas, 
 protinus, aequato siccis Aquilonibus Histro, 
 
 invehitur celeri barbarus hostis equo : 
 hostis equo pollens longeque volante sagitta 55 
 
 vicinam late depopulatur humum. 
 diffugiunt alii, nullisque tuentibus agros 
 
 incustoditae diripiuntur opes,
 
 TRISTIA III. 10, ii 29 
 
 ruris opes parvae, pecus et stridentia plaustra, 
 
 et quas divitias incola pauper habet. 60 
 
 pars agitur vinctis post tergum capta lacertis, 
 
 respiciens frustra rura laremque suum : 
 pars cadit hamatis misere confixa sagittis : 
 
 nam volucri ferro tinctile virus inest. 
 quae nequeunt secuni ferre aut abducere, perdunt, 65 
 
 et cremat insontes hostica flamma casas. 
 tunc quoque, cum pax est, trepidant formidine belli, 
 
 nee quisquam presso vomere sulcat humum. 
 aut videt aut metuit locus hie, quern non videt, hostem : 
 
 cessat iners rigido terra relicta situ. 70 
 
 non hie pampinea dulcis latet uva sub umbra, 
 
 nee cumulant altos fervida musta lacus. 
 poma negat regio. nee haberet Acontius, in quo 
 
 scriberet hie dominae verba legenda suae, 
 aspiceres nudos sine fronde, sine arbore, campos : 75 
 
 heu loca felici non adeunda viro ! 
 ergo tarn late pateat cum maximus orbis, 
 
 haec est in poenam terra reperta meam ! 
 
 BOOK III. 11 
 
 We but teach 
 Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return 
 To plague the inventor. 
 
 Shakespeare, Macbeth. 
 
 For 'tis the sport to have the enginer 
 Hoist with his own petar. 
 
 Shakespeare, Hamlet. 
 
 SiQViS es, insultes qui casibus, inprobe, nostris, 
 meque reum dempto fine cruentus agas, 
 
 natus es e scopulis, nutritus lacte ferino, 
 et dicam silices pectus habere tuum.
 
 So OVID 
 
 in causa facili cuivis licet esse disertum, 5 
 
 et minimae vires frangere quassa valent. 
 subruere est arces et stantia moenia virtus : 
 
 quamlibet ignavi praecipitata premunt. 
 carnifici fortuna potest mea flenda videri : 
 
 et tamen est uno iudice mersa parum ! 10 
 
 saevior es tristi Busiride, saevior illo, 
 
 qui falsum lento torruit igne bovem, 
 quique bovem Siculo fertur donasse tyranno, 
 
 et dictis artes conciliasse suas : 
 ' munere in hoc, rex, est usus sed imagine maior, 15 
 
 nee sola est operis forma probanda mei. 
 aspicis a dextra latus hoc adapertile tauri ? 
 
 hue tibi, quern perdes, coniciendus erit. 
 protinus inclusum lentis carbonibus ure : 
 
 mugiet, et veri vox erit ilia bovis. 20 
 
 pro quibus inventis, ut munus munere penses, 
 
 da, precor, ingenio praemia digna meo ! ' 
 dixerat. at Phalaris 'poenae mirande repertor, 
 
 ipse tuum praesens inbue ' dixit ' opus ! ' 
 nee mora, monstratis crudeliter ignibus ustus 25 
 
 exhibuit geminos ore tremente sonos. 
 ergo quicumque es, rescindere crimina noli, 
 
 deque gravi duras vulnere tolle manus. 
 utque meae famam tenuent oblivia culpae, 
 
 facta cicatricem ducere nostra sine. 30 
 
 humanaeque memor sortis, quae tollit eosdeni 
 
 et premit, incertas ipse verere vices !
 
 TRISTIA III. 12 31 
 
 BOOK III. 12 
 
 O to be in England 
 Now that April's there ! 
 
 Browning. 
 
 Frigora iam Zephyri minuunt, annoque peracto 
 
 longior abscedit vix Tanaitis hiems : 
 inpositamque sibi qui non bene pertulit Hellen, 
 
 tempora nocturnis aequa diurna facit. 
 iam violas puerique legunt hilaresque puellae, 5 
 
 rustica quae nullo nata serente venit. 
 prataque pubescunt variorum flore colorum : 
 
 indocilique loquax gutture vernat avis, 
 utque malae crimen matris deponat, hirundo 
 
 sub trabibus cunas tectaque parva facit. 10 
 
 herbaque, quae latuit Cerealibus obruta sulcis, 
 
 exserit e tepida molle cacumen humo. 
 quoque loco est vitis, de palmite gemma movetur : 
 
 nam procul a Getico litore vitis abest. 
 quoque loco est arbor, turgescit in arbore ramus : 15 
 
 nam procul a Geticis finibus arbor abest. 
 otia nunc istic, iunctisque ex ordine ludis 
 
 cedunt verbosi garrula bella fori, 
 usus equi nunc est, levibus nunc luditur annis : 
 
 nunc pila, nunc celeri volvitur orbe trochus : 20 
 
 nunc ubi perfusa est oleo labente iuventus, 
 
 defessos artus Virgine tingit aqua, 
 scacna viget, studiisque favor distantibus ardet, 
 
 cumque tribus resonant terna theatra foris. 
 M quater, quotiens nun est nunierare, beatum, 25 
 
 non interdicta cui licet urbe frui ! 
 at niihi scntitur nix verno sole solutu, 
 quacquc lacu duro nun fodiantur aquae :
 
 32 OVID 
 
 nee mare concrescit glacie, nee ut ante, per Histrum 
 
 stridula Sauromates plaustra bubulcus agit. 30 
 
 incipient aliquae tamen hue adnare carinae, 
 
 hospitaque in Ponti litore puppis erit. 
 sedulus occurram nautae, dictaque salute, 
 
 quid veniat, quaeram, quisve quibusve locis. 
 ille quidem mirum ni de regione propinqua 35 
 
 non nisi vicinas tutus ararit aquas, 
 rarus ab Italia tantum mare navita transit, 
 
 litora rarus in haec portibus orba venit. 
 sive tamen Graeca scierit, sive ille Latina 
 
 voce loqui, — certe gratior huius erit ; 40 
 
 fas quoque ab ore freti longaeque Propontidos undis 
 
 hue aliquem certo vela dedisse Noto : — 
 is, precor, auditos possit narrare triumphos 
 
 Caesaris et Latio reddita vota Iovi : 
 teque, rebellatrix, tandem, Ger mania, magni 45 
 
 triste caput pedibus subposuisse ducis. 
 haec mihi qui referet, quae non vidisse dolebo, 
 
 ille meae domui protinus hospes erit. 
 ei mihi ! iamne domus Scythico Nasonis in orbe est ? 
 
 iamque suum mihi dat pro lare poena locum ? 50 
 
 di facite ut Caesar non hie penetrale domumque, 
 
 hospitium poenae sed velit esse meae !
 
 TRISTIA III. 13 33 
 
 BOOK III. 13 
 
 Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, 
 And life unto the bitter in soul? 
 
 Job iii. 20. 
 
 They tell me 'tis my birthday, and I'll keep it 
 With double pomp of sadness. 
 
 Dryden, All for Love. 
 
 Ecce supervacuus — quid enim fuit utile gigni ? — 
 
 ad sua natalis tempora noster adest. 
 dure, quid ad miseros veniebas exulis annos? 
 
 debueras illis inposuisse modum. 
 si tibi cura mei, vel si pudor ullus inesset, 5 
 
 non ultra patriam me sequerere meam : 
 quoque loco primum tibi sum male cognitus infans, 
 
 illo temptasses ultimus esse mihi : 
 iamque relinquenda, quod idem fecere sodales, 
 
 tu quoque dixisses tristis in urbe vale. 10 
 
 quid tibi cum Ponto ? num te quoque Caesaris ira 
 
 extremam gelidi misit in orbis humum ? 
 scilicet expectas solitum tibi moris honorem, 
 
 pendeat ex umeris vestis ut alba meis, 
 fumida cingatur norentibus ara coronis, 15 
 
 micaque sollemni turis in igne sonet, 
 libaque dem proprie genitale notantia tempus, 
 
 concipiamque bonas ore favente preces? 
 non ita sum positus, nee sunt ea tempora nobis, 
 
 adventu possim laetus ut esse tuo. 20 
 
 funeris ara mihi, ferali cincta cupresso, 
 
 convenit et structis flamma parata rogis. 
 nee dare tura libet nil exorantia divos, 
 
 in tantis subeunt nee bona verba malis. 
 
 10691 rj
 
 34 OVID 
 
 si tamen est aliquid nobis hac luce petendum, 25 
 
 in loca ne redeas amplius ista, precor, 
 dum me terrarum pars paene novissima, Pontus, 
 
 Euxinus falso nomine dictus, habet. 
 
 BOOK IV. 1 
 
 The labour we delight in physics pain. 
 
 Shakespeare, Macbeth. 
 
 I court the Muses' healing spell 
 
 For griefs that still with absence dwell. 
 
 Akenside. 
 
 Siqva meis meruit, ut erunt. vitiosa libellis, 
 
 excusata suo tempore, lector, habe. 
 exsul eram, requiesque mihi, non fama petita est, 
 
 mens intenta suis ne foret usque malis. 
 hoc est cur cantet vinctus quoque compede fossor, 5 
 
 indocili numero cum grave mollit opus, 
 cantet et innitens limosae pronus harenae 
 
 adverso tardam qui trahit amne ratem : 
 quique refert pariter lentos ad pectora remos, 
 
 in numerum pulsa bracchia versat aqua. 10 
 
 fessus ut incubuit baculo, saxove resedit 
 
 pastor, harundineo carmine mulcet oves. 
 cantantis pariter, pariter data pensa trahentis 
 
 fallitur ancillae decipiturque labor, 
 fertur et abducta Lyrneside tristis Achilles 15 
 
 Haemonia curas attenuasse lyra. 
 cum traheret silvas Orpheus et dura canendo 
 
 saxa, bis amissa coniuge maestus erat. 
 me quoque Musa levat Ponti loca iussa petentem : 
 
 sola comes nostrae perstitit ilia fugae : 20
 
 TRISTIA IV. r 35 
 
 sola nee insidias, nee iter, nee Thracia tela, 
 
 nee mare, nee ventos barbariamque timet, 
 non equidem vellem, quoniam nocitura fuerunt, 
 
 Pieridum sacris inposuisse manum. 
 sed nunc quid faciam ? vis me tenet ipsa sororum, 25 
 
 et carmen demens carmine laesus amo. 
 sic nova Dulichio lotos gustata palato 
 
 illo, quo nocuit, grata sapore fuit. 
 sentit amans sua damna fere, tamen haeret in illis, 
 
 materiam culpae persequiturque suae. 30 
 
 nos quoque delectant, quamvis nocuere, libelli : 
 
 quodque mihi telum vulnera fecit, amo. 
 forsitan hoc studium possit furor esse videri : 
 
 sed quiddam furor hie utilitatis habet. 
 semper in obtutu mentem vetat esse malorum, 35 
 
 praesentis casus inmemoremque facit. 
 utque suum Bacche non sentit saucia vulnus, 
 
 dum stupet Edonis exululata iugis, 
 sic ubi mota calent viridi mea pectora thyrso, 
 
 altior humano spiritus ille malo est. 40 
 
 ille nee exsilium, Scythici nee litora ponti, 
 
 ille nee iratos sentit habere deos. 
 utque soporiferae biberem si pocula Lethes, 
 
 temporis adversi sic mihi sensus abest. 
 iure deas igitur veneror mala nostra levantes, 45 
 
 sollicitae comites ex Helicone fugae, 
 et parti m pelago partim vestigia terra 
 
 vel rate dignatas vel pede nostra sequi. 
 sint, precor, hae saltern faciles mihi ! namque deorum 
 
 cetera cum magno Caesare turba facit, 50 
 
 meque tot adversis cumulant, quot litus harenas, 
 
 quotque fretum pisces, ovaque piscis habet. 
 vere prius flores, aestu numerabis aristas, 
 
 poma per autumnum, frigoribusque nives, 
 
 D 2
 
 36 OVID 
 
 quam mala, quae toto patior iactatus in orbe 55 
 
 dum miser Euxini litora laeva peto. 
 nee tamen, ut veni, levior fortuna malorum est : 
 
 hue quoque sunt nostras fata secuta vias. 
 hie quoque cognosco natalis stamina nostri, 
 
 stamina de nigro vellere facta mihi. 60 
 
 utque nee insidias capitisque pericula narrem, 
 
 vera quidem, veri sed graviora fide : 
 vivere quam miserum est inter Bessosque Getasque 
 
 ilium, qui populi semper in ore fuit ! 
 quam miserum est porta vitam muroque tueri, 65 
 
 vixque sui tutum viribus esse loci ! 
 aspera militiae iuvenis certamina fugi, 
 
 nee nisi lusura movimus arma manu. 
 nunc senior gladioque latus scutoque sinistram, 
 
 canitiem galeae subicioque meam. 70 
 
 nam dedit e specula custos ubi signa tumultus, 
 
 induimus trepida protinus arma manu. 
 hostis, habens arcus inbutaque tela veneno, 
 
 saevus anhelanti moenia lustrat equo. 
 utque rapax pecudem, quae non se texit ovili, 75 
 
 per sata, per silvas fertque trahitque lupus : 
 sic, siquem nondum portarum saepe receptum 
 
 barbarus in campis repperit hostis, agit. 
 aut sequitur captus coniectaque vincula collo 
 
 accipit, aut telo virus habente perit. 80 
 
 hie ego sollicitae iaceo novus incola sedis : 
 
 heu nimium fati tempora lenta mei ! 
 et tamen ad numeros antiquaque sacra reverti 
 
 sustinet in tantis hospita Musa malis !
 
 TRISTIA IV. 2 37 
 
 BOOK IV. 2 
 
 Blest and thrice blest the Roman 
 
 Who sees Rome's brightest day, 
 Who sees that long victorious pomp 
 
 Wind down the Sacred Way ; 
 And through the bellowing Forum 
 
 And round the Suppliant's Grove, 
 Up to the everlasting gates 
 
 Of Capitolian Jove. 
 
 Macaulay, Prophecy of Capys. 
 
 The Romans taught thy stubborn knee to bow, 
 Though twice a Caesar could not bend thee now. 
 
 Cowper, Expostulation ^spoken of Britain). 
 
 Iam fera Caesaribus Germania, totus ut orbis, 
 
 victa potest flexo succubuisse genu, 
 altaque velentur fortasse Palatia sertis, 
 
 turaque in igne sonent inficiantque diem, 
 candidaque adducta collum percussa securi 5 
 
 victima purpureo sanguine tingat humum : 
 donaque amicorum templis promissa deorum 
 
 reddere victores Caesar uterque parent, 
 et qui Caesareo iuvenes sub nomine crescunt, 
 
 perpetuo terras ut domus ilia regat. io 
 
 cumque bonis nuribus pro sospite Livia nato 
 
 munera det meritis, saepe datura, deis, 
 et pariter matres et quae sine crimine castos 
 
 perpetua servant virginitate focos : 
 plebs pia cumque pia laetetur plebe senatus, 15 
 
 parvaque cuius eram pars ego nuper, eques. 
 nos procul expulsos communia gaudia fallunt : 
 
 famaque tarn longe non nisi parva venit. 
 ergo omnis populus poterit spectare triumphos, 
 
 cumque ducum titulis oppida capta leget, ao 
 
 120085
 
 38 OVID 
 
 vinclaque captiva reges cervice gerentes 
 
 ante coronatos ire videbit equos, 
 et cernet vultus aliis pro tempore versos, 
 
 terribiles aliis inmemoresque sui. 
 quorum pars causas et res et nomina quaeret ; 35 
 
 pars referet, quamvis noverit ipsa parum. 
 ' Hie, qui Sidonio fulget sublimis in ostro, 
 
 dux fuerat belli, proximus ille duci. 
 hie, qui nunc in humo lumen miserabile figit, 
 
 non isto vultu, cum tulit arma, fuit. 30 
 
 ille ferox, oculis et adhuc hostilibus ardens, 
 
 hortator pugnae consiliumque fuit. 
 perfidus hie nostros inclusit fraude locorum, 
 
 squalida demissis qui tegit ora comis. 
 illo, qui sequitur, dicunt mactata ministro 35 
 
 saepe recusanti corpora capta deo. 
 hie lacus, hi montes, haec tot castella, tot amnes 
 
 plena ferae caedis, plena cruoris erant. 
 Drusus in his meruit quondam cognomina terris, 
 
 quae bona progenies, digna parente, tulit. 40 
 
 cornibus hie fractis viridi male tectus ab ulva, 
 
 decolor ipse suo sanguine Rhentis erat. 
 crinibus en etiam fertur Germania passis, 
 
 et ducis invicti sub pede maesta sedet 
 collaque Romanae praebens animosa securi 45 
 
 vincula fert ilia, qua tulit arma, manu.' 
 hos super in curru, Caesar, victore veheris 
 
 purpureus populi rite per ora tui: 
 quaque ibis, manibus circumplaudere tuorum, 
 
 undique iactato flore tegente vias. 5° 
 
 tempora Phoebea lauro cingentur, ' io 'que 
 
 miles, ' io,' magna voce, ' triumphe ' canet. 
 ipse sono plausuque simul fremituque calentes 
 quadriiugos cernes saepe resistere equos.
 
 TRISTIA IV. 2, 6 39 
 
 inde petes arcem et delubra faventia votis, ,- r 
 
 et dabitur merito laurea vota Iovi. 
 haec ego summotus, qua possum, mente videbo : 
 
 erepti nobis ius habet ilia loci, 
 ilia per inmensas spatiatur libera terras, 
 
 in caelum celeri pervenit ilia via. Go 
 
 ilia meos oculos mediam deducet in urbem, 
 
 inmunes tanti nee sinet esse boni. 
 invenietque animus, qua currus spectet eburnos ; 
 
 sic certe in patria per breve tempus ero. 
 vera tamen capiet populus spectacula felix, 65 
 
 laetaque erit praesens cum duce turba suo. 
 at mihi fingenti tantum longeque remoto 
 
 auribus hie fructus percipiendus erit, 
 atque procul Latio diversum missus in orbem 
 
 qui narret cupido, vix erit, ista mihi. 70 
 
 is quoque iam serum referet veteremque triumphum. 
 
 quo tamen audiero tempore, laetus ero. 
 ilia dies veniet, mea qua lugubria ponam, 
 
 causaque privata publica maior erit. 
 
 BOOK IV. 6 
 
 Time's expense increaseth but by loss. 
 
 G. Fletcher. 
 
 Tempore ruricolae patiens fit taurus aratri, 
 
 praebet et incurvo colla premenda iugo. 
 tempore paret equus lentis animosus habenis, 
 
 et placido duros accipit ore lupos. 
 tempore Poenorum compescitur ira leonum, 
 
 nee feritas animo quae fuit ante manet. 
 quaeque sui iussis obtemperat Inda magistri 
 
 belua servitium tempore victa subit.
 
 40 OVID 
 
 tempus, ut extentis tumeat, facit, uva racemis, 
 
 vixque merum capiant grana, quod intus habent. 10 
 tempus et in canas semen producit aristas 
 
 et, ne sint tristi poma sapore, facit. 
 hoc tenuat dentem terram findentis aratri, 
 
 hoc rigidos silices, hoc adamanta terit. 
 hoc etiam saevas paulatim mitigat iras, 15 
 
 hoc minuit luctus maestaque corda levat. 
 cuncta potest igitur tacito pede lapsa vetustas 
 
 praeterquam curas attenuare meas. 
 una tamen spes est quae me soletur in istis, 
 
 haec fore morte mea non diuturna mala. 20 
 
 BOOK IV. 8 
 
 Careful hours with Time's deformed hand 
 Have written strange defeatures in my face. 
 
 Shakespeare, Comedy of Errors. 
 
 I could be well content 
 To entertain the lag-end of my life 
 With quiet hours. 
 
 Shakespeare, 1 Hen. IV. 
 
 Iam mea cycneas imitantur tempora plumas, 
 
 inficit et nigras alba senecta comas, 
 iam subeunt anni fragiles et inertior aetas, 
 
 iamque parum firmo me mihi ferre grave est. 
 nunc erat ut posito deberem fine laborum 5 
 
 vivere, me nullo sollicitante metu, 
 quaeque meae semper placuerunt otia menti 
 
 carpere et in studiis molliter esse meis, 
 et parvam celebrare domum veteresque Penates 
 
 et quae nunc domino rura paterna carent, io
 
 TRISTIA IV. 8 41 
 
 inque sinu dominae carisque sodalibus inque 
 
 securus patria consenuisse niea. 
 haec mea sic quondam peragi speraverat aetas : 
 
 hos ego sic annos ponere dignus eram. 
 non ita dis visum, qui me terraque marique 15 
 
 actum Sarmaticis exposuere locis. 
 in cava ducuntur quassae navalia puppes, 
 
 ne temere in mediis dissoluantur aquis. 
 ne cadat et multas palmas inhonestet adeptus, 
 
 languidus in pratis gramina carpit equus. 20 
 
 miles ut emeritis non est satis utilis annis, 
 
 ponit ad antiquos quae tulit arma Lares. 
 . Vsic igitur, tarda vires minuente senecta, 
 
 me quoque donari iam rude tempus erat. 
 tempus erat nee me peregrinum ducere caelum, 25 
 
 nee siccam Getico fonte levare sitim : 
 sed modo, quos habui, vacuum secedere in hortos, 
 
 nunc hominum visu rursus et urbe frui. 
 sic animo quondam non divinante futura 
 
 optabam placide vivere posse senex. 30 
 
 fata repugnarunt, quae cum mihi tempora prima 
 
 mollia praebuerint, posteriora gravant. 
 iam que decern lustris omni sine labe peractis, 
 
 parte premor vitae deteriore meae : 
 nee procul a metis, quas paene tenere videbar, 35 
 
 curriculo gravis est facta ruina meo.
 
 
 42 OVID 
 
 BOOK IV. iol/ 
 
 This man was happy — had the world's good word, 
 
 And with it every joy it can afford; 
 
 Friendship and love seemed tenderly at strife 
 
 Which most should sweeten his untroubled life. 
 
 Politely learned and of a gentle race, 
 
 Good breeding and good sense gave all a grace; 
 
 And whether at the toilette of the fair 
 
 He laughed and trifled, made him welcome there. 
 
 Or if in masculine debate he shared, 
 
 Ensured him mute attention and regard. 
 
 Alas ! How changed ! 
 
 Cowper, Hope. 
 
 Ille ego qui fuerim, tenerorum lusor amorum, 
 
 quern legis, ut noris, accipe posteritas. 
 Sulmo mihi patria est, gelidis uberrimus undis, 
 
 milia qui noviens distat ab urbe decern, 
 editus hinc ego sum, nee non, ut tempora noris, 5 
 
 cum cecidit fato consul uterque pari : 
 si quis et a proavis usque est vetus ordinis heres, 
 
 non modo fortunae munere factus eques. 
 nee stirps prima fui ; genito sum fratre creatus, 
 
 qui tribus ante quater mensibus ortus erat. 10 
 
 Lucifer amborum natalibus adfuit idem : 
 
 una celebrata est per duo liba dies, 
 haec est armiferae festis de quinque Minervae, 
 
 quae fieri pugna prima cruenta solet. 
 protinus excolimur teneri, curaque parentis 15 
 
 imus ad insignes urbis ab arte viros. 
 frater ad eloquium viridi tendebat ab aevo, 
 
 fortia verbosi natus ad arma fori. 
 at mihi iam puero caelestia sacra placebant, 
 
 inque suum furtim Musa trahebat opus. 20 
 
 saepe pater dixit ' studium quid inutile temptas ? 
 
 Maeonides nullas ipse reliquit opes '.
 
 TRISTIA IV. 10 43 
 
 motus eram dictis, totoque Helicone relicto 
 
 scribere conabar verba soluta modis. 
 sponte sua carmen numeros veniebat ad aptos, 35 
 
 et quod temptabam dicere, versus erat. 
 interea tacito passu labentibus annis 
 
 liberior fratri sumpta mihique toga est, 
 induiturque umeris cum lato purpura clavo, 
 
 et studium nobis quod fuit ante manet. 30 
 
 iamque decern vitae frater geminaverat annos, 
 
 cum perit, et coepi parte carere mei. 
 cepimus et tenerae primos aetatis honores, 
 
 eque viris quondam pars tribus una fui. 
 curia restabat : clavi mensura coacta est : 35 
 
 maius erat nostris viribus illud onus, 
 nee patiens corpus, nee mens fuit apta labori, 
 
 sollicitaeque fugax ambitionis eram. 
 et petere Aoniae suadebant tuta sorores 
 
 otia, iudicio semper amata meo. 40 
 
 temporis illius colui fovique poetas, 
 
 quotque aderant vates, rebar adesse deos. 
 saepe suas volucres legit mihi grandior aevo, 
 
 quaeque nocet serpens, quae iuvat herba, Macer. 
 saepe suos solitus recitare Propertius ignes, 45 
 
 iure sodalicio qui mihi iunctus erat. 
 Ponticus heroo, Bassus quoque clarus iambis 
 
 dulcia convictus membra fuere mei. 
 et tenuit nostras numerosus Horatius aures, 
 
 dum ferit Ausonia carmina culta lyra. 50 
 
 Vergilium vidi tantum : nee amara Tibullo 
 
 tempus amicitiae fata dedere meae. 
 successor fuit hie tibi, Galle : Propertius illi : 
 
 quartus ab his serie temporis ipse fui. 
 utque ego maiores, sic me coluere minores, 55 
 
 notaque non tarde facta Thalia mea est.
 
 44 OVID 
 
 carmina cum primum populo iuvenalia legi, 
 
 barba resecta mihi bisve semelve fuit. 
 moverat ingenium totam cantata per urbem 
 
 nomine non vero dicta Corinna mihi. 60 
 
 multa quidem scripsi, sed quae vitiosa putavi, 
 
 emendaturis ignibus ipse dedi. 
 tunc quoque, cum fugerem, quaedam placitura cremavi, 
 
 iratus studio carminibusque meis. 
 molle, Cupidineis nee inexpugnabile telis 65 
 
 cor mihi, quodque levis causa moveret, erat. 
 cum tamen hie essem, minimoque accenderer i<nie 
 
 nomine sub nostro fabula nulla fuit. 
 paene mihi puero nee digna nee utilis uxor 
 
 est data, quae tempus per breve nupta fuit. 70 
 
 illi successit, quamvis sine crimine coniunx, 
 
 non tamen in nostro firma futura toro. 
 ultima, quae mecum seros permansit in annos, 
 
 sustinuit coniunx exulis esse viri. 
 filia me mea bis prima fecunda iuventa, 75 
 
 sed non ex uno coniuge, fecit avum. 
 et iam complerat genitor sua fata, novemque 
 
 addiderat lustris altera lustra novgm. 
 non aliter flevi, quam me fleturus ademptum 
 
 ille fuit. matri proxima iusta tuli. 80 
 
 felices ambo tempestiveque sepulti, 
 
 ante diem poenae quod periere meae ! 
 me quoque felicem, quod non viventibus illis 
 
 sum miser, et de me quod doluere nihil, 
 si tamen exstinctis aliquid nisi nomina restat, 85 
 
 et gracilis structos effugit umbra rogos : 
 fama, parentales, si vos mea contigit, umbrae, 
 
 et sunt in Stygio crimina nostra foro, 
 scite, precor, causam — nee vos mihi fallere fas est — 
 
 errorem iussae, non scelus, esse fugae. 9 o
 
 TRISTIA IV. to 45 
 
 manibus hoc satis est. ad vos, studiosa, revertor, 
 
 pectora, qui vitae quaeritis acta meae. 
 iam mihi canities pulsis melioribus annis 
 
 venerat, antiquas miscueratque comas, 
 postque meos ortus Pisaea vinctus oliva 95 
 
 abstulerat deciens praemia victor equus, 
 cum maris Euxini positos ad laeva Tomitas 
 
 quaerere me laesi principis ira iubet. 
 causa meae cunctis nimium quoque nota ruinae 
 
 indicio non est testificanda meo. 100 
 
 quid referam comitumque nefas famulosque nocentes? 
 
 ipsa multa tuli non leviora fuga. 
 indignata malis mens est succumbere, seque 
 
 praestitit invictam viribus usa suis. 
 oblitusque mei ductaeque per otia vitae, 105 
 
 insolita cepi temporis arma manu. 
 totque tuli casus pelago terraque, quot inter 
 
 occultum stellae conspicuumque polum. 
 tacta mihi tandem longis erroribus acto 
 
 iuncta pharetratis Sarmatis ora Getis. no 
 
 hie ego finitimis quamvis circumsoner armis, 
 
 tristia, quo possum, carmine fata levo. 
 quod quamvis nemo est cuius referatur ad aures, 
 
 sic tamen absumo decipioque diem, 
 ergo quod vivo, durisque laboribus obsto, 115 
 
 nee me sollicitae taedia lucis habent, 
 gratia, Musa, tibi : nam tu solacia praebes, 
 
 tu curae requies, tu medicina venis. 
 tu dux et comes es. tu nos abducis ab Histro, 
 
 in medioque mihi das Helicone locum. 120 
 
 tu mihi, (mod rarum est, vivo sublime dedisti 
 nomen, ab exsequiis quod dare fama solet. 
 nee, qui detrectat praesentia, Livor iniquo 
 ullum de nostris dente momordit opus.
 
 46 OVID 
 
 nam tulerint magnos cum saecula nostra poetas, 125 
 
 non fuit ingenio fama maligna meo. 
 cumque ego praeponam multos mihi, non minor illis 
 
 dicor et in toto plurimus orbe legor. 
 si quid habent igitur vatum praesagia veri, 
 
 protinus ut moriar, non ero, terra, tuus. 130 
 
 sive favore tuli, sive hanc ego carmine famam 
 
 iure, tibi grates, candide lector, ago. 
 
 BOOK V. 2 
 
 X 
 
 Taking my pen, with words to cast my woe, 
 Duly to count the sum of all my cares, 
 
 I find my griefs innumerable grow ; 
 
 The reck'nings rise to millions of despairs. 
 
 Drayton. 
 
 Ecqvid ubi e Ponto nova venit epistula, palles, 
 
 et tibi sollicita solvitur ilia manu? 
 pone metum, valeo ; corpusque, quod ante laborum 
 
 inpatiens nobis invalidumque fuit, 
 sufficit, atque ipso vexatum induruit usu. 5 
 
 an magis infirmo non vacat esse mihi? 
 mens tamen aegra iacet, nee tempore robora sumpsit, 
 
 adfectusque animi qui fuit ante manet. 
 quaeque mora spatioque suo coitura putavi 
 
 vulnera, non aliter quam modo facta dolent. 10 
 
 scilicet exiguis prodest annosa vetustas : 
 
 grandibus accedunt tempore damna malis. 
 paene decern totis aluit Poeantius annis 
 
 pestiferum tumido vulnus ab angue datum. 
 Telephus aeterna consumptus tabe perisset, 15 
 
 si non, quae nocuit, dextra tulisset opem.
 
 TRISTIA V. 2 47 
 
 et mea, si facinus nullum commisimus, opto, 
 
 vulnera qui fecit, facta levare velit. 
 contentusque mei iam tandem parte doloris 
 
 exiguum pleno de mare demat aquae. 20 
 
 detrahat ut multum, multum restabit acerbi, 
 
 parsque meae poenae totius instar erit. 
 litora quot conchas, quot amoena rosaria fiores, 
 
 quotve soporiferum grana papaver habet, 
 silva feras quot alit, quot piscibus unda natatur, 25 
 
 quot tenerum pennis aera pulsat avis, 
 tot premor adversis. quae si comprendere coner, 
 
 Icariae numerum dicere coner aquae, 
 utque viae casus, ut amara pericula ponti, 
 
 ut taceam strictas in mea fata manus : 30 
 
 barbara me tellus orbisque novissima magni 
 
 sustinet, et saevo cinctus ab hoste locus, 
 hinc ego traicerer, — neque enim mea culpa cruenta est — 
 
 esset, quae debet, si tibi cura mei. 
 ille deus, bene quo Romana potentia nixa est, 35 
 
 saepe suo victor lenis in hoste fuit. 
 quid dubitas et tuta times ? accede rogaque : 
 
 Caesare nil ingens mitius orbis habet. 
 me miserum ! quid agam, si proxima quaeque relinquunt ? 
 
 subtrahis effracto tu quoque colla iugo? 40 
 
 quo ferar? unde petam lapsis solacia rebus? 
 
 ancora iam nostram non tenet ulla ratem. 
 viderit ipse ; sacram, quamvis invisus, ad aram 
 
 confugiam. nullas summovet ara manus.
 
 48 OVID 
 
 BOOK V. 2 (6) 
 
 In a place 
 Less warranted than this, or less secure 
 I cannot be, that I should fear to change it. 
 
 Milton, Comus. 
 
 Adloqvor en absens absentia numina supplex, 
 
 si fas est homini cum love posse loqui. 
 arbiter inperii, quo certum est sospite cunctos 
 
 Ausoniae curam gentis habere deos, 
 o decus, o patriae per te florentis imago, 5 
 
 o vir non ipso, quern regis, orbe minor ! 
 sic habites terras et te desideret aether, 
 
 sic ad pacta tibi sidera tardus eas, 
 parce, precor, minimamque tuo de fulmine partem 
 
 deme ! satis poenae, quod superabit, erit. 10 
 
 ira quidem moderata tua est, vitamque dedisti, 
 
 nee mihi ius civis nee mihi nomen abest : 
 nee mea concessa est aliis fortuna, nee exsul 
 
 edicti verbis nominor ipse tui. 
 omniaque haec timui, quoniam meruisse videbar. 15 
 
 sed tua peccato lenior ira meo est. 
 arva relegatum iussisti visere Ponti, 
 
 et Scythicum profuga scindere puppe fretum. 
 iussus ad Euxini deformia litora veni 
 
 aequoris — haec gelido terra sub axe iacet — 20 
 
 nee me tarn cruciat numquam sine frigore caelum, 
 
 glaebaque canenti semper obusta gelu, 
 nesciaque est vocis quod barbara lingua Latinae, 
 
 Graiaque quod Getico victa loquela sono est, 
 quam quod finitimo cinctus premor undique Marte, 25 
 
 vixque brevis tutum murus ab hoste facit. 
 pax tamen interdum est, pacis fiducia numquam : 
 
 sic hie nunc patitur, nunc timet arma locus.
 
 TRISTIA V. 2(6), 3 49 
 
 hinc ego dum muter, vel me Zanclaea Charybdis 
 
 devoret atque suis ad Styga mittat aquis, 30 
 
 vel rapidae flammis urar patienter in Aetnae, 
 vel freta Leucadii mittar in alta dei. 
 
 quod petimus, poena est : neque enim miser esse recuso, 
 sed precor ut possim tutius esse miser. 
 
 BOOK V. 3 
 
 For them the voice of festal mirth 
 
 Grows hushed, their name the only sound ; 
 
 While deep Remembrance pours to Worth 
 The goblet's tributary round. 
 
 Byron. 
 
 A last regret permit me here, 
 
 When yearly ye assemble a', 
 One round — I ask it with a tear — 
 
 To him, the Bard that's far awa'. 
 
 Burns. 
 
 Illa dies haec est, qua te celebrare poetae — 
 
 si modo non fallunt tempora — Bacche, solent, 
 festaque odoratis innectunt tempora sertis, 
 
 et dicunt laudes ad tua vina tuas. 
 inter quos, memini, dum me mea fata sinebant, 5 
 
 non invisa tibi pars ego saepe fui, 
 quern nunc subpositum stellis Cynosuridos Vrsae 
 
 iuncta tenet crudis Sarmatis ora Getis. 
 ut tamen audisti percussum fulmine vatem, 
 
 admonitu matris condoluisse potes : 10 
 
 et potes, aspiciens circum tua sacra poetas, 
 
 ' nescio quis nostri ' dicere ' cultor abest '. 
 fer, bone Liber, opem. sic altera degravet ulmum 
 
 vitis et incluso plena sit uva mero : 
 hue ades et casus releves, pulcherrime, nostros, 15 
 
 unum de numero me memor esse tuo ! 
 
 1068-1 e
 
 So OVID 
 
 sunt dis inter se commercia. flectere tempta 
 
 Caesareum numen numine, Bacche, tuo ! 
 vos quoque, consortes studii, pia turba, poetae, 
 
 haec eadem sumpto quisque rogate mero. 20 
 
 atque aliquis vestrum, Nasonis nomine dicto, 
 
 deponat lacrimis pocula mixta suis, 
 admonitusque mei, cum circumspexerit omnes, 
 
 dicat ' ubi est nostri pars modo Naso chori ? ' 
 idque ita, si vestrum merui candore favorem, 25 
 
 nullaque iudicio littera laesa meo est : 
 si veterum digne veneror cum scripta virorum, 
 
 proxima non illis esse minora reor. 
 sic igitur dextro faciatis Apolline carmen, 
 
 quod licet, inter vos nomen habete meum ! 30 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 Hear me, bounteous Heaven, 
 
 let peace, 
 
 Honour and safety always hover round her . . 
 And comfort her with patience in our parting. 
 
 Otway, Venice Preserved. 
 
 Annvvs adsuetum dominae natalis honorem 
 
 exigit : ite manus ad pia sacra meae. 
 sic quondam festum Laertius egerat heros 
 
 forsan in extremo coniugis orbe diem, 
 lingua favens adsit, nostrorum oblita malorum, 5 
 
 quae, puto, dedidicit iam bona verba loqui. 
 quaeque semel toto vestis mihi sumitur anno, 
 
 sumatur fatis discolor alba meis. 
 araque gramineo viridis de cespite fiat, 
 
 et velet tepidos nexa corona focos. 10 
 
 da mihi tura, puer, pingues facientia flammas, 
 
 quodque pio fusum stridat in igne, merum.
 
 TRISTIA V. 5) 7 5, 
 
 optinie natalis ! quamvis procul absumus, opto 
 
 candidus hue venias dissimilisque meo. 
 si quod et instabat dominae miserabile vulnus, 15 
 
 sit perfuncta meis tempus in omne malis. 
 quaeque gravi nuper plus quam quassata procella est, 
 
 quod superest, tutum per mare navis eat. 
 ilia domo nataque sua patriaque fruatur : 
 
 erepta haec uni sit satis esse mihi. 30 
 
 quatenus et non est in caro coniuge felix, 
 
 pars vitae tristi cetera nube vacet. 
 haec igitur lux est, quae si non orta fuisset, 
 
 nulla fuit misero festa videnda mihi. 
 nata pudicitia est, mores probitasque fidesque : 25 
 
 at non sunt ista gaudia nata die, 
 sed labor et curae fortunaque moribus impar, 
 
 iustaque de viduo paene querela toro. 
 scilicet adversis probitas exercita rebus 
 
 tristi materiam tempore laudis habet. 30 
 
 di tamen et Caesar dis accessure, sed olim, 
 
 aequarint Pylios cum tua fata dies, 
 non mihi, qui poenam fateor meruisse, sed illi 
 
 parcite, quae nullo digna dolore dolet ! 
 
 BOOK V. 7 
 
 Remote 
 And barbarous climes, where violence prevails, 
 And strength is lord of all. 
 
 Cowper, Sofa. 
 
 Qvam legis, ex ilia tibi venit epistula terra, 
 latus ubi aequoreis additur Hister aquis. 
 
 si tibi contingit cum dulci vita salute, 
 Candida fortunae pars manct una meae. 
 
 e 2
 
 52 OVID 
 
 scilicet, ut semper, quid agam, carissime, quaeris : 5 
 
 quamvis hoc vel me scire tacente potes. 
 sum miser, haec brevis est nostrorum surama malorum : 
 
 quisquis et offenso Caesare vivet, erit. 
 turba Tomitanae quae sit regionis et inter 
 
 quos habitem mores, discere cura tibi est ? 10 
 
 mixta sit haec quamvis inter Graecosque Getasque, 
 
 a male pacatis plus trahit ora Getis. 
 Sarmaticae maior Geticaeque frequentia gentis 
 
 per medias in equis itque reditque vias. 
 in quibus est nemo, qui non coryton et arcum 15 
 
 telaque vipereo lurida felle gerat. 
 vox fera, trux vultus, verissima Martis imago : 
 
 non coma, non ulla barba resecta manu : 
 dextera non segnis fixo dare vulnera cultro, 
 
 quern vinctum lateri barbarus omnis habet. 20 
 
 vivit in his heu nunc, lusorum oblitus amorum ! 
 
 hos videt, hos vates audit, amice, tuus ! 
 atque utinam vivat non et moriatur in illis, 
 
 absit ab invisis et tamen umbra locis ! 
 carmina quod pleno saltari nostra theatro, 25 
 
 versibus et plaudi scribis, amice^ meis : 
 nil equidem feci — tu scis hoc ipse — theatris, 
 
 musa nee in plausus ambitiosa mea est. 
 non tamen ingratum est, quodcumque oblivia nostri 
 
 inpedit et profugi nomen in ora refert. 30 
 
 quamvis interdum, quae me laesisse recordor, 
 
 carmina devoveo Pieridasque meas, 
 cum bene devovi, nequeo tamen esse sine illis, 
 
 vulneribusque meis tela cruenta sequor. 
 quaeque modo Euboicis lacerata est fluctibus, audet 35 
 
 Graia Caphaream currere puppis aquam. 
 nee tamen, ut lauder, vigilo curamque futuri 
 
 nominis, utilius quod latuisset, ago.
 
 TRISTIA V. 7 S3 
 
 detineo studiis aninium falloque dolores, 
 
 experior curis et dare verba meis. 40 
 
 quid potius faciam desertis solus in oris, 
 
 quamve malis aliam quaerere coner opem ? 
 sive locum specto, locus est inamabilis, et quo 
 
 esse nihil toto tristius orbe potest : 
 sive homines, vix sunt homines hoc nomine digni, 45 
 
 quamque lupi saevae plus feritatis habent. 
 non metuunt leges, sed cedit viribus aequum, 
 
 victaque pugnaci iura sub ense iacent. 
 pellibus et laxis arcent mala frigora bracis, 
 
 oraque sunt longis horrida tecta comis. 50 
 
 in paucis remanent Graecae vestigia linguae, 
 
 haec quoque iam Getico barbara facta sono. 
 unus in hoc non est populo, qui forte Latine 
 
 quaelibet e medio reddere verba queat. 
 ille ego Romanus vates — ignoscite, Musae! — 55 
 
 Sarmatico cogor plurima more loqui. 
 en pudet et fateor, iam desuetudine longa 
 
 vix subeunt ipsi verba Latina mihi. 
 nee dubito quin sint et in hoc non pauca libello 
 
 barbara : non hominis culpa sed ista loci. 60 
 
 ne tamen Ausoniae perdam commercia linguae, 
 
 et fiat patrio vox mea muta sono, 
 ipse loquor mecum desuetaque verba retracto, 
 
 et studii repeto signa sinistra mei. 
 sic animum tempusque traho, meque ipse reduco 65 
 
 a contemplatu dimoveoque mali. 
 carminibus quaero miserarum oblivia rerum : 
 
 pracmia si studio consequar ista, sat est.
 
 54 OVID 
 
 BOOK V. 8 
 
 O Fortune, Fortune ! all men call thee fickle. 
 
 Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. 
 
 Non adeo cecidi, quamvis abiectus, ut infra 
 
 te quoque sim, inferius quo nihil esse potest, 
 quae tibi res animos in me facit, inprobe ? curve 
 
 casibus insultas, quos potes ipse pati? 
 nee mala te reddunt mitem placidumve iacenti 5 
 
 nostra, quibus possint inlacrimare ferae ? 
 nee metuis dubio Fortunae stands in orbe 
 
 numen et exosae verba superba deae ? 
 exiget a dignis ultrix Rhamnusia poenas ; 
 
 inposito calcas quid mea fata pede? 10 
 
 vidi ego, naufragium qui risit, in aequore mergi, 
 
 et ' numquam ' dixi ' iustior unda fuit '. 
 vilia qui quondam miseris alimenta negarat, 
 
 nunc mendicato pascitur ipse cibo. 
 passibus ambiguis Fortuna volubilis errat 15 
 
 et manet in nullo certa tenaxque loco : 
 sed modo laeta manet, vultus modo sumit acerbos, 
 
 et tantum constans in levitate s.ua est. 
 
 BOOK V. 10 
 
 Adversity stretcheth our days, misery maketh Alcmen's nights, 1 
 and time hath no wings unto it. 
 
 Sir T. Browne, Urn Burial. 
 
 Ut sumus in Ponto^ ter frigore constitit Hister, 
 
 facta est Euxini dura ter unda maris, 
 at mihi iam videor patria procul esse tot annis, 
 
 Dardana quot Graio Troia sub hoste fuit. 
 1 i.e. one night as long as three.
 
 TRTSTIA V. 10 55 
 
 stare putes, adeo procedunt tempora tarde, 5 
 
 et peragit lentis passibus annus iter, 
 nee mihi solstitium quicquam de noctibus aufert, 
 
 efficit angustos nee mihi bruma dies, 
 scilicet in rebus rerum natura novata est, 
 
 cumque meis curis omnia longa facit. 10 
 
 an peragunt solitos communia tempora motus, 
 
 suntque magis vitae tempora dura meae? 
 quern tenet Euxini mendax cognomine litus, 
 
 et Scythici vere terra sinistra freti. 
 innumerae circa gentes fera bella minantur, 15 
 
 quae sibi non rapto vivere turpe putant. 
 nil extra tutum est. tumulus defenditur ipse 
 
 moenibus exiguis ingenioque loci, 
 cum minime credas, ut aves, densissimus hostis 
 
 advolat et praedam vix bene visus agit. 20 
 
 saepe intra muros clausis venientia portis 
 
 per medias legimus noxia tela vias. 
 est igitur rarus, rus qui colere audeat, isque 
 
 hac arat infelix, hac tenet arma manu. 
 sub galea pastor iunctis pice cantat avenis, 25 
 
 proque lupo pavidae bella verentur oves. 
 vix ope castelli defendimur. et tamen intus 
 
 mixta facit Graecis barbara turba metum. 
 quippe simul nobis habitat discrimine nullo 
 
 barbarus, et tecti plus quoque parte tenet. 30 
 
 quorum, ut non timeas, possis odisse videndo 
 
 pellibus et longa corpora tecta coma, 
 hos quoque, qui geniti Graia creduntur ah urbe 
 
 pro patrio cultu Persica braca tegit. 
 exercent illi sociae commercia linguae : 35 
 
 per gestum res est significanda mihi. 
 barbarus hie ego sum, quia non intellegor ulli, 
 
 et rident stolidi verba Latina Getae.
 
 / 
 
 56 OVID 
 
 meque palam de me tuto mala saepe loquuntur, 
 
 forsitan obiciunt exiliumque mihi. 40 
 
 utque fit, in se aliquid statui, dicentibus illis 
 
 abnuerim quotiens adnuerimque, putant. 
 adde, quod iniustum rigido ius dicitur ense, 
 
 dantur et in medio vulnera saepe foro. 
 o duram Lachesin, quae tarn grave sidus habenti 45 
 
 fila dedit vitae non breviora meae ! 
 
 BOOK V. 12 
 
 From an untroubled mind should verses flow; 
 My discontents make mine too muddy show. 
 
 Drummond. 
 
 But ah ! too well I wote my humble vayne, 
 And howe my rimes bene rugged and unkempt. 
 
 Spenser. 
 
 Scribis ut oblectem studio lacrimabile tempus, 
 
 ne pereant turpi pectora nostra situ, 
 difficile est quod, amice, mones, quia carmina laetum 
 
 sunt opus et pacem mentis habere volunt. 
 nostra per adversas agitur fortuna procellas, 5 
 
 sorte nee ulla mea tristior esse potest, 
 exigis ut Priamus natorum funere ludat, 
 
 et Niobe festos ducat ut orba choros? 
 luctibus an studio videor debere teneri, 
 
 solus in extremos iussus abire Getas ? ro 
 
 des licet in valido pectus mihi robore fultum, 
 
 fama refert Anyti quale fuisse reo :
 
 TRISTIA V. 12 57 
 
 fracta cadet tantae sapientia mole ruinae. 
 
 plus valet humanis viribus ira dei. 
 ille senex, dictus sapiens ab Apolline, nullum 15 
 
 scribere in hoc casu sustinuisset opus, 
 ut patriae veniant, veniant oblivia vestri, 
 
 omnis ut amissi sensus abesse queat : 
 at timor officio fungi vetat ipse quieto. 
 
 cinctus ab innumero me tenet hoste locus. 20 
 
 adde quod ingenium longa robigine laesum 
 
 torpet et est multo, quam fuit ante, minus, 
 fertilis, adsiduo si non renovetur aratro, 
 
 nil nisi cum spinis gramen habebit ager. 
 tempore qui longo steterit, male curret et inter 25 
 
 carceribus missos ultimus ibit equus. 
 vertitur in teneram cariem rimisque dehiscit, 
 
 siqua diu solitis cumba vacabit aquis. 
 me quoque despera, fuerim cum parvus et ante, 
 
 illi, qui fueram, posse redire parem. 30 
 
 contudit ingenium patientia longa malorum, 
 
 et pars antiqui nulla vigoris adest. 
 saepe tamen nobis, ut nunc quoque, sumpta tabella est, 
 
 inque suos volui cogere verba pedes, 
 carmina nulla mihi sunt scripta, aut qualia cernis, 35 
 
 digna sui domini tempore, digna loco, 
 denique ' non parvas animo dat gloria vires, 
 
 et fecunda facit pectora laudis amor', 
 nominis et famae quondam fulgore trahebar, 
 
 dum tulit antemnas aura secunda meas. 40 
 
 non adeo est bene nunc, ut sit mihi gloria curae ; 
 
 si liceat, nulli cognitus esse velim. 
 an quia cesserunt primo bene carmina, suades 
 
 scribere, successus ut sequar ipse meos? 
 pace, novem, vestra liceat dixisse, sorores : 45 
 
 vos estis nostrae maxima causa fugae.
 
 58 OVID 
 
 utque dedit iustas tauri fabricator aeni, 
 
 sic ego do poenas artibus ipse meis. 
 nil mihi debebat cum versibus amplius esse, 
 
 cum fugerem merito naufragus omne fretum. 50 
 
 at, puto, si demens studium fatale retemptem, 
 
 hie mihi praebebit carminis arma locus, 
 non liber hie ullus, non qui mihi commodet aurem, 
 
 verbaque significent quid mea, norit, adest. 
 omnia barbaricae loca sunt vocisque ferinae, 55 
 
 omniaque hostilis plena timore soni. 
 ipse mihi videor iam dedidicisse Latine : 
 
 nam didici Getice Sarmaticeque loqui. 
 nee tamen, ut verum fatear tibi, nostra teneri 
 
 a componendo carmine Musa potest. 60 
 
 scribimus et scriptos absumimus igne libellos. 
 
 exitus est studii parva favilla mei. 
 nee possum et cupio non nullos ducere versus : 
 
 ponitur idcirco noster in igne labor, 
 nee nisi pars casu flammis erepta dolove 65 
 
 ad vos ingenii pervenit ulla mei. 
 sic utinam, quae nil metuentem tale magistrum 
 
 perdidit, in cineres Ars mea versa foret !
 
 //// 
 
 TRISTIA V. 14 f 59 
 
 BOOK V. 14 
 
 Song ! made in lieu of many ornaments, 
 
 With which my Love should duly have been dect 
 
 Be unto her a goodly ornament 
 
 And for short time an endlesse monument. 
 
 Spenser. 
 
 I to thee eternity shall give 
 
 When nothing else remaineth of these days, 
 And queens hereafter shall be glad to live 
 
 Upon the alms of thy superfluous praise. . . 
 So shalt thou fly above the vulgar throng, 
 Still to survive in my immortal song. 
 
 Drayton. 
 
 10 
 
 Qvanta tibi dederim nostris monimenta libellis, 
 
 o mihi me coniunx carior, ipsa vides. 
 detrahat auctori multum fortuna licebit : 
 
 tu tamen ingenio clara ferere meo. 
 dumque legar, mecum pariter tua fama legetur, 
 
 nee potes in maestos omnis abire rogos. 
 non ego divitias dando tibi plura dedissem : 
 
 nil feret ad manes divitis umbra suos. 
 perpetui fructum donavi nominis idque, 
 
 quo dare nil potui munere maius, habes. 
 aspicis ut longo teneat laudabilis aevo 
 
 nomen inexstinctum Penelopea fides ? 
 cernis ut Admeti cantetur et Hectoris uxor, 
 
 ausaque in accensos Iphias ire rogos ? 
 ut vivat fama coniunx Phylaceia, cuius 15 
 
 Iliacam celeri vir pede pressit humum ?;■ 
 morte nihil opus est pro me, sed amore fideque: 
 
 non ex difficili fama petenda tibi est. 
 nee te credideris, quia non facis, ista moncri. 
 
 vela damus, quamvis remige puppis eat. 20 
 
 qui monet ut facias quod iam facis, ille monendo 
 laudat et hortatu comprobat acta suo.
 
 EX PONTO 
 
 REBVS IDEM, TITVLO DIFFERT : ET EPISTVLA CVI SIT 
 NON OCCVLTATO NOMINE MISSA DOCET. 
 
 BOOK I. 2 
 
 Day doth daily draw my sorrows longer, 
 And night doth nightly make grief's strength seem stronger. 
 
 Shakespeare, Sonnets, xxviii. 
 
 Maximo. 
 
 Maxime, qui tanti mensuram nominis inples, 
 
 et geminas animi nobilitate genus : 
 qui nasci ut posses, quamvis cecidere trecenti, 
 
 non omnes Fabios abstulit una dies : 
 hostibus in mediis interque pericula versor, 5 
 
 tamquam cum patria pax sit adempta mihi. 
 hie me pugnantem cum frigore cumque sagittis 
 
 cumque meo fato quarta fatigat hiems. 
 fine carent lacrimae, nisi cum stupor obstitit illis : 
 
 et similis morti pectora torpor habet. 10 
 
 felicem Nioben, quamvis tot funera vidit, 
 
 quae posuit sensum, saxea facta, mali ! 
 vivimus, ut numquam sensu careamus amaro, 
 
 et gravior longa fit mea poena mora, 
 at, puto, cum requies medicinaque publica curae 15 
 
 somnus adest, solitis nox venit orba malis. 
 somnia me terrent veros imitantia casus, 
 
 et vigilant sensus in mea damna mei. 
 aut ego Sarmaticas videor vitare sagittas, 
 
 aut dare captivas ad fera vincla manus. 20
 
 EX PONTO I. 2, 4 61 
 
 aut ubi decipior melioris imagine somni, 
 
 aspicio patriae tecta relicta meae. 
 ct modo vobiscum, quos sum veneratus, amici, 
 
 et modo cum cara coniuge multa loquor. 
 sic ubi percepta est brevis et non vera voluptas, 35 
 
 peior ab admonitu fit status iste boni. 
 sive dies igitur caput hoc miserabile cernit, 
 
 sive pruinosi Noctis aguntur equi, 
 sic mea perpetuis liquefiunt pectora curis, 
 
 ignibus admotis ut nova cera solet. 3° 
 
 BOOK I. 4 
 
 You see me here, you gods, a poor old man, 
 As full of griefs as age ; wretched in both. 
 
 Shakespeare, King Lear. 
 
 VXORI. 
 
 I am mihi deterior canis aspergitur aetas, 
 
 iamque meos vultus ruga senilis arat : 
 iam vigor et quasso languent in corpore vires : 
 
 nee, iuveni lusus qui placuere, iuvant. 
 nee, si me subito videas, agnoscere possis : 5 
 
 aetatis facta est tanta ruina meae. 
 confiteor facere hoc annos ; sed et altera causa est, 
 
 anxietas animi continuusque labor, 
 nam mea per longos si quis mala digerat annos, 
 
 crede mihi, Pylio Nestore maior ero. 10 
 
 cernis ut in duris — et quid bove firmius? — arvis 
 
 fortia taurorum corpora frangat opus, 
 quae numquam vacuo solita est cessare novali, 
 
 fructibus adsiduis lassa senescit humus, 
 occidet, ad Circi siquis certamina semper 15 
 
 non intermissis cursibus ibit equus.
 
 62 OVID 
 
 firma sit ilia licet, solvetur in aequore navis, 
 
 quae numquam liquidis sicca carebit aquis. 
 me quoque debilitat series inmensa malorum, 
 
 ante meum tempus cogit et esse senem. 20 
 
 otia corpus alunt, animus quoque pascitur illis : 
 
 inmodicus contra carpit utrumque labor, 
 aspice, in has partes quod venerit Aesone natus, 
 
 quam laudem a sera posteritate ferat. 
 at labor illius nostro leviorque minorque est, 35 
 
 si modo non verum nomina magna premunt, 
 ille est in Pontum Pelia mittente profectus, 
 
 qui vix Thessaliae fine timendus erat. 
 Caesaris ira mihi nocuit, quern solis ab ortu 
 
 solis ad occasus utraque terra tremit. 30 
 
 iunctior Haemonia est Ponto quam Roma sinistra, 
 
 et brevius quam nos ille peregit iter, 
 ille habuit comites primos telluris Achivae : 
 
 at nostram cuncti destituere fugam. 
 nos fragili ligno vastum sulcavimus aequor : 35 
 
 quae tulit Aesoniden, sacra carina fuit. 
 nee mihi Tiphys erat rector, nee Agenore natus 
 
 quas fugerem, docuit, quas sequererque vias. 
 ilium tutata est cum Pallade regia Iuno : 
 
 defendere meum numina nulla caput. 40 
 
 ilium furtivae iuvere Cupidinis artes : 
 
 quas a me vellem non didicisset Amor, 
 ille domum rediit : nos his moriemur in arvis, 
 
 perstiterit laesi si gravis ira dei. 
 durius est igitur nostrum, fidissima coniunx, 45 
 
 illo, quod subiit Aesone natus, onus, 
 te quoque, quam iuvenem discedens urbe reliqui, 
 
 credibile est nostris insenuisse malis. 
 o ! ego, di faciant, talem te cernere possim, 
 
 caraque mutatis oscula ferre genis, 50
 
 I 
 
 EX PONTO I. 4, 9 63 
 
 amplectique meis corpus non pingue lacertis, 
 
 et ' gracile hoc fecit ' dicere ' cura mei ' : 
 et narrare meos flenti flens ipse labores, 
 
 sperato numquam conloquioque frui, 
 turaque Caesaribus cum coniuge Caesare digna, 55 
 
 dis veris, memori debita ferre manu ! 
 Memnonis hanc utinam, lenito principe, mater 
 
 quam primum roseo provocet ore diem ! 
 
 BOOK I. 9 
 
 It speaks my love, although it reach not you. 
 
 Spotswood, on the death of Drummond 
 of Hawthornden. 
 
 And can I e'er these benefits forget? 
 And can I e'er repay the friendly debt ? 
 
 Keats. 
 
 Maximo. 
 
 Qvae mihi de rapto tua venit epistula Celso, 
 
 protinus est lacrimis umida facta meis. 
 quodque nefas dictu, fieri nee posse putavi, 
 
 invitis oculis littera lecta tua est. 
 nee quicquam ad nostras pervenit acerbius aures, 5 
 
 ut sumus in Ponto, perveniatque precor. 
 ante meos oculos tamquam praesentis imago 
 
 haeret, et exstinctum vivere fingit amor, 
 saepe refert animus lusus gravitate carentes, 
 
 seria cum liquida saepe peracta fide. 10 
 
 nulla tamen subeunt mihi tempora densius illis, 
 
 quae vellem vitae summa fuisse meae, 
 cum domus ingenti subito mea lapsa ruina 
 
 concidit in domini procubuitque capul.
 
 64 OVID 
 
 adfuit ille mihi, cum me pars magna reliquit, 15 
 
 Maxime, fortunae nee fuit ipse comes, 
 ilium ego non aliter flentem mea funera vidi, 
 
 ponendus quam si frater in igne foret. 
 haesit in amplexu consolatusque iacentem est, 
 
 cumque meis lacrimis miscuit usque suas. 20 
 
 o ! quotiens vitae custos invisus amarae 
 
 continuit promptas in mea fata manus ! 
 o ! quotiens dixit, ' placabilis ira deorum est : 
 
 vive, nee ignosci tu tibi posse nega ! ' 
 crede mihi, multos habeas cum dignus amicos, 25 
 
 non fuit e multis quolibet ille minor, 
 si modo non census nee clarum nomen avorum, 
 
 sed probitas magnos ingeniumque facit. 
 iure igitur lacrimas Celso libamus adempto, 
 
 cum fugerem, vivo quas dedit ille mihi : 30 
 
 carmina iure damus raros testantia mores, 
 
 ut tua venturi nomina, Celse, legant. 
 hoc est quod possim Geticis tibi mittere ab arvis, 
 
 hoc solum est istic quod licet esse meum. 
 
 BOOK II. 1 
 
 The legions gathered ; the bright eagles flew ; 
 Barbarian monarchs in the triumph mourned. 
 
 Akenside. 
 
 The purple triumph waves along. 
 
 Thomson. 
 
 Germanico Caesari. 
 
 Hvc quoque Caesarei pervenit fama triumphi, 
 languida quo fessi vix venit aura Noti. 
 
 nil fore dulce mihi Scythica regione putavi : 
 iam minus hie odio est quam fuit ante locus.
 
 • K.\ 1'ONTO II. r 65 
 
 tandem aliquid pulsa curarum nube serenum 5 
 
 vidi, fortunae verba dedique mcae. 
 nolit ut ulla mihi contingere gaudia Caesar, 
 
 velle potest cuivis haec tamen una dari. 
 di quoque, ut a cunctis hilari pietate colantur, 
 
 tristitiam poni per sua festa iubent. 10 
 
 denique, quod certus furor est audere fateri, 
 
 hac ego laetitia, si vetet ipse, fruar. 
 Iuppiter utilibus quotiens iuvat imbribus agros, 
 
 mixta tenax segeti crescere lappa solet. 
 nos quoque frugiferum sentimus inutilis herba 15 
 
 numen, et invita saepe iuvamur ope. 
 gaudia Caesareae mentis pro parte virili 
 
 sunt mea : privati nil habet ilia domus. 
 gratia, fama, tibi ! per quam spectata triumphi 
 
 incluso mediis est mihi pompa Getis. 20 
 
 indice te didici, nuper visenda coisse 
 
 innumeras gentes ad ducis ora sui : 
 quaeque capit vastis inmensum moenibus orbem, 
 
 hospitiis Romam vix habuisse locum. 
 tu mihi narrasti, cum multis lucibus ante 25 
 
 fuderit adsiduas nubilus Auster aquas, 
 numine caelesti solem fulsisse serenum, 
 
 cum populi vultu conveniente die. 
 atque ita victorem cum magnae vocis honore 
 
 bellica laudatis dona dedisse viris, 30 
 
 claraque sumpturum pictas insignia vestes, 
 
 tura prius Sanctis inposuisse focis, 
 iustitiamque sui caste placasse parentis, 
 
 illo quae templum pcctore semper habet. 
 quaque ierit, felix adiectum plausibus omen, 35 
 
 saxaque roratis erubuisse rosis. 
 protinus argento versos imitantia muros 
 
 barbara cum pictis oppida lata viris, 
 
 1 06'J • 1 F
 
 66 OVID 
 
 fluminaque et montes et in altis proelia silvis, 
 
 armaque cum telis in strue mixta sua. 40 
 
 deque tropaeorum, quod sol incenderit, auro 
 
 aurea Romani tecta fuisse fori, 
 totque tulisse duces captivis addita collis 
 
 vincula, paene hostis quot satis esse fuit. 
 maxima pars horum vitam veniamque tulerunt, 45 
 
 in quibus et belli summa caputque Bato. 
 cur ego posse negem minui mihi nu minis iram, 
 
 cum videam mites hostibus esse deos ? 
 pertulit hie idem nobis, Germanice, rumor, 
 
 oppida sub titulo nominis isse tui. 50 
 
 atque ea te contra nee muri mole, nee armis, 
 
 nee satis ingenio tuta fuisse loci, 
 di tibi dent annos ! a te nam cetera sumes, 
 
 sint modo virtuti tempora longa tuae, 
 quod precor, eveniet : sunt quiddam oracula vatum. 55 
 
 nam deus optanti prospera signa dedit. 
 te quoque victorem Tarpeias scandere in arces 
 
 laeta coronatis Roma videbit equis. 
 maturosque pater nati spectabit honores, 
 
 gaudia percipiens, quae dedit ipse suis. Go 
 
 iam nunc haec a me, iuvenum belloque togaque 
 
 maxime, dicta tibi vaticinante nota. 
 hunc quoque carminibus referam fortasse triumphum, 
 
 sufficiet nostris si modo vita malis, 
 inbuero Scythicas si non prius ipse sagittas, 65 
 
 abstuleritque ferox hoc caput ense Getes. 
 quae si me salvo dabitur tua laurea templis, 
 
 omina bis dices vera fuisse mea.
 
 EX PONTO II. to 67 
 
 BOOK II. 10 
 
 Yours is the greater treason, for yours is the treason of friendship. 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 Macro. 
 
 Ecqvid ab inpressae cognoscis imagine cerae 
 
 haec tibi Nasonem scribere verba, Macer? 
 auctorisque sui si non est anulus index, 
 
 cognitane est nostra littera facta manu ? 
 an tibi notitiam mora temporis eripit horum, 5 
 
 nee repetunt oculi signa vetusta tui ? 
 sis licet oblitus pariter gemmaeque manusque, 
 
 exciderit tantum ne tibi cura mei. 
 quam tu vel longi debes convictibus aevi, 
 
 vel mea quod coniunx non aliena tibi, 10 
 
 vel studiis, quibus es quam nos sapientius usus, 
 
 utque decet, nulla factus es Arte nocens. 
 tu canis aeterno quicquid restabat Homero, 
 
 ne careant summa Troica bella manu. 
 Naso parum prudens, artem dum tradit amandi, 15 
 
 doctrinae pretium triste magister habet. 
 sunt tamen inter se communia sacra poetis, 
 
 diversum quamvis quisque sequamur iter, 
 quorum te memorem, quamquam procul absumus, esse 
 
 suspicor, et casus velle levare meos. 20 
 
 te duce magnifieas Asiae perspeximus urbes : 
 
 Trinacris est oculis te duce nota meis. 
 vidimus Aetnaea caelum splendescere flam ma, 
 
 subpositus monti quam vomit ore gigans : 
 Hennaeosque lacus et olentis stagna Palici, 35 
 
 quaque suis Cyanen miscet Anapus aquis. 
 
 f 2
 
 68 OVID 
 
 nee procul hinc nympha est, quae, dum fugit Elidis amnem, 
 
 tecta sub aequorea nunc quoque currit aqua, 
 hie mihi labentis pars anni magna peracta est. 
 
 eheu ! quam dispar est locus ille Getis ! 30 
 
 et quota pars haec sunt rerum quas vidimus ambo, 
 
 te mihi iucundas efficiente vias ! . 
 seu rate caeruleas picta sulcavimus undas, 
 
 esseda nos agili sive tulere rota : 
 saepe brevis nobis vicibus via visa loquendi : 35 
 
 pluraque, si numeres, verba fuere gradu. 
 saepe dies sermone minor fuit, inque loquendum 
 
 tarda per aestivos defuit hora dies, 
 est aliquid casus pariter timuisse marinos, 
 
 iunctaque ad aequoreos vota tulisse deos : 40 
 
 et modo res egisse simul, modo rursus ab illis, 
 
 quorum non pudeat, posse referre iocos. 
 haec tibi cum subeant, absim licet, omnibus annis 
 
 ante tuos oculos, ut modo visus, ero. 
 ipse quidem certe cum sim sub cardine mundi, 45 
 
 qui semper liquidis altior exstat aquis, 
 te tamen intueor quo solo pectore possum, 
 
 et tecum gelido saepe sub axe loquor. 
 hie es, et ignoras. et ades celeberrimus absens : 
 
 inque Getas media iussus ab urbe venis. 50 
 
 redde vicem, et, quoniam regio felicior ista est, 
 
 istic me memori pectore semper habe.
 
 EX PONTO III. i 69 
 
 BOOK III. 1 
 
 Waste endless and boundless and flowerless, 
 
 But of marsh-blossoms fruitless as free ; 
 
 Where earth lies exhausted, as powerless 
 
 To strive with the sea. 
 
 Swinburne. 
 
 Miles, and miles, and miles of desolation ! 
 Leagues on leagues on leagues without a change ! 
 
 Swinburne. 
 
 VXORI. 
 
 Pace tua — si pax ulla est tibi, Pontica tellus, 
 
 finitimus rapido quam terit hostis equo — 
 pace tua dixisse velim. tu pessima duro 
 
 pars es in exsilio, tu mala nostra gravas. 
 tu neque ver sends cinctum florente corona, 5 
 
 tu neque messorum corpora nuda vides, 
 nee tibi pampineas autumnus porrigit uvas : 
 
 cuncta sed inmodicum tempora frigus habent. 
 tu glacie freta vincta tenes, et in aequore piscis 
 
 inclusus tecta saepe natavit aqua. i° 
 
 nee tibi sunt fontes, laticis nisi paene marini, 
 
 qui potus dubium sistat alatne sitim. 
 rara, neque haec felix, in apertis eminet arvis 
 
 arbor, et in terra est altera forma maris, 
 non avis obloquitur, silvis nisi siqua remotis 15 
 
 aequoreas rauco gutture potat aquas, 
 tristia per vacuos horrent absinthia campos : 
 
 conveniensque suo messis amara loco, 
 adde metus, et quod murus pulsatur ab hoste, 
 
 tinctaque mortifera tabe sagitta madet, 20 
 
 quod procul haec regio est et ab omni devia cursu, 
 
 nee pede quo quisquam nee rate tutus eat. 
 non igitur mirum, finem quaerentibus horuni 
 
 altera si nobis usque rogatur humus.
 
 7o OVID 
 
 BOOK III. 2 
 
 . . . . like Pylades (in Heav'n they write 
 Names such as his in characters of light) 
 Long with his friend in generous enmity 
 Pleading, insisting in his place to die. 
 
 Rogers. 
 COTTAE. 
 
 Est locus in Scythia — Tauros dixere priores — 
 
 qui Getica longe non ita distat humo. 
 hac ego sum terra — patriae nee paenitet — ortus : 
 
 consortem Phoebi gens colit ilia deam. 
 templa manent hodie vastis innixa columnis, 5 
 
 perque quater denos itur in ilia gradus. 
 fama refert illic signum caeleste fuisse : 
 
 quoque minus dubites, stat basis orba dea : 
 araque, quae fuerat natura Candida saxi, 
 
 decolor adfuso tincta cruore rubet. 10 
 
 femina sacra facit taedae non nota iugali, 
 
 quae superat Scythicas nobilitate nurus. 
 sacrifici genus est — sic instituere priores — 
 
 advena virgineo caesus ut ense cadat. 
 regna Thoans habuit Maeotide clarus in ora, 15 
 
 nee fuit Euxinis notior alter aquis. 
 sceptra tenente illo liquidas fecisse per auras 
 
 nescio quam dicunt Iphigenian iter, 
 quam levibus ventis sub nube per aera vectam 
 
 creditur his Phoebe deposuisse locis. 20 
 
 praefuerat templo multos ea rite per annos. 
 
 invita peragens tristia sacra manu : 
 cum duo velifera iuvenes venere carina, 
 
 presseruntque suo litora nostra pede. 
 par fuit his aetas et amor, quorum alter Orestes, 25 
 
 alter erat Pylades : nomina fama tenet.
 
 EX PONTO III. 2 71 
 
 protinus inmitem Triviae ducuntur ad aram, 
 
 evincti geminas ad sua terga manus. 
 spargit aqua captos lustrali Graia sacerdos, 
 
 ambiat ut fuivas infula longa comas. 30 
 
 dumque parat sacrum, dum velat tempora vittis, 
 
 dum tardae causas invenit ipsa morae, 
 1 non ego crudelis, iuvenes. ignoscite ! ' dixit 
 
 1 sacra suo facio barbariora loco : 
 ritus is est gentis. qua vos tamen urbe venitis ? 35 
 
 quodve parum fausta puppe petistis iter ? ' 
 dixit ; et audito patriae pia nomine virgo 
 
 consortes urbis comperit esse suae. 
 ' alteruter nostris ' inquit ' cadat hostia sacris : 
 
 ad patrias sedes nuntius alter eat.' 40 
 
 ire iubet Pylades carum periturus Oresten : 
 
 hie negat, inque vicem pugnat uterque mori. 
 exstitit hoc unum, quo non convenerit illis : 
 
 cetera par concors et sine lite fuit. 
 dum peragunt pulchri iuvenes certamen amoris, 45 
 
 ad fratrem scriptas exarat ilia notas. 
 ad fratrem mandata dabat : cuique ilia dabantur — 
 
 humanos casus aspice ! — frater erat. 
 nee mora, de templo rapiunt simulacra Dianae, 
 
 clamque per inmensas puppe feruntur aquas. 50 
 
 mirus amor iuvenum, quamvis abiere tot anni, 
 
 in Scythia magnum nunc quoque nomen habet.
 
 72 OVID 
 
 BOOK III. 3 
 
 Better are Sleep's kind lies for Life's blind need 
 Than truth, if lies a little peace can give. 
 
 T. Watts. 
 
 This is the rarest dream that e'er dull sleep 
 Did mock sad fools withal. 
 
 Shakespeare, Pericles. 
 
 Fabio Maximo. 
 
 Nox erat et bifores intrabat luna fenestras, 
 
 mense fere medio quanta nitere solet. 
 publica me requies curarum somnus habebat, 
 
 fusaque erant toto languida membra toro : 
 cum subito pennis agitatus inhorruit aer, 5 
 
 et gemuit parvo mota fenestra sono. 
 territus in cubitum relevo mea membra sinistrum, 
 
 pulsus et e trepido pectore somus abit. 
 stabat Amor vultu non quo prius esse solebat, 
 
 fulcra tenens laeva tristis acerna manu, 10 
 
 nee torquem collo, nee habens crinale capillis, 
 
 nee bene dispositas comptus, ut ante, comas, 
 horrida pendebant molles super ora capilli, 
 
 et visa est oculis horrida penna meis : 
 qualis in aeriae tergo solet esse columbae, 15 
 
 tractantum multae quam tetigere manus. 
 hunc simul agnovi,— neque enim mihi notior alter, — 
 
 talibus adfata est libera lingua sonis : 
 'o puer, exsilii decepto causa magistro, 
 
 quem fuit utilius non docuisse mihi ! 20 
 
 hue quoque venisti, pax est ubi tempore nullo, 
 
 et coit adstrictis barbarus Hister aquis? 
 quae tibi causa viae, nisi ut haec mala nostra videres ? 
 
 quae sunt, si nescis, invidiosa tibi.
 
 EX PONTO III. 3, IV. 3 73 
 
 dum damus anna tibi, dum te, lascive, docemus, 25 
 
 haec te discipulo dona magister habet. 
 at hi — sic habeas ferientes cuncta sagittas, 
 
 sic numquam rapido lampades igne vacent — 
 effice sit nobis non inplacabilis ira, 
 
 meque loco plecti commodiore velit.' 3° 
 
 haec ego visus eram puero dixisse volucri ; 
 
 hos visus nobis ille dedisse sonos : 
 'per mea tela, faces, et per mea tela, sagittas, 
 
 per matrem iuro Caesareumque caput, 
 nil nisi concessum nos te didicisse magistro, 35 
 
 artibus et nullum crimen inesse tuis. 
 utque hoc, sic utinam defendere cetera posses ! 
 
 scis aliud, quod te laeserit, esse, magis. 
 ut tamen aspicerem consolarerque iacentem, 
 
 lapsa per inmensas est mihi pinna vias. 40 
 
 pone metus igitur. mitescet Caesaris ira, 
 
 et veniet votis mollior hora tuis.' 
 dixit, et aut ille est tenues dilapsus in auras, 
 
 coeperunt sensus aut vigilare mei. 
 
 BOOK IV. 3 
 
 Fortune is an excellent moral. 
 
 Shakespeare, Henry V. 
 
 Conqverar an taceam ? ponam sine nomine crimen, 
 
 an notum, qui sis, omnibus esse velim ? 
 nomine non utar, ne commendere querela, 
 
 quaeraturque tibi carmine fama mco. 
 dum mea puppis erat valida fundata carina, 5 
 
 qui mecum velles currere, primus eras.
 
 74 OVID 
 
 nunc, quia contraxit vultum Fortuna, recedis. 
 
 auxilio postquam scis opus esse tuo. 
 dissimulas etiam, nee me vis nosse videri, 
 
 quisque sit, audito nomine, Naso, rogas. 10 
 
 quid facis, a! demens ? cur, si Fortuna recedat, 
 
 naufragio lacrimas eripis ipse tuo? 
 haec dea non stabili, quam sit levis, orbe fatetur, 
 
 quern summum dubio sub pede semper habet. 
 quolibet est folio et quavis incertior aura. 15 
 
 par illi levitas, inprobe, sola tua est. 
 omnia sunt hominum tenui pendentia filo, 
 
 et subito casu, quae valuere, ruunt. 
 divitis audita est cui non opulentia Croesi ? 
 
 nempe tamen vitam captus ab hoste tulit. 20 
 
 ille Syracosia modo formidatus in urbe 
 
 vix humili duram reppulit arte famem. 
 quid fuerat Magno maius ? tamen ille rogavit 
 
 summissa fugiens voce clientis opem. 
 ille Iugurthino clarus Cimbroque triumpho, .25 
 
 quo victrix totiens consule Roma fuit, 
 in caeno latuit Marius cannaque palustri, 
 
 pertulit et tanto multa pudenda viro. 
 ludit in humanis divina potentia rebus, 
 
 et certam praesens vix habet hora fidem. 30 
 
 tu quoque fac timeas, et quae tibi laeta videntur, 
 
 dum loqueris, fieri tristia posse puta.
 
 EX PONTO IV. 14 75 
 
 BOOK IV. 14 
 
 Prithee, fair youth, 
 Think us no churls, nor measure our good minds 
 By this rude place we live in. 
 
 Shakespeare, Cymbeline. 
 TVTICANO. 
 
 Nvlla mihi cura est, terra quo muter ab ista, 
 
 hac quia, quam video, gratior omnis erit. 
 in medias Syrtes, mediam mea vela Chary bdin 
 
 mittite, praesenti dum careamus humo. 
 Styx quoque, si quid ea est, bene commutabitur Histro, 5 
 
 siquid et inferius, quam Styga, mundus habet. 
 gramina cultus ager, frigus minus odit hirundo, 
 
 proxima Marticolis quam loca Naso Getis. 
 talia succensent propter mihi verba Tomitae, 
 
 iraque carminibus publica mota meis. 10 
 
 ergo ego cessabo numquam ^per carmina laedi, 
 
 plectar et incauto semper ab ingenio ? 
 ad veteres scopulos iterum devertor et illas, 
 
 in quibus offendit naufraga puppis, aquas? 
 sed nihil admisi. nulla est mea culpa, Tomitae, 15 
 
 quos ego, cum loca sim vestra perosus, amo. 
 quilibet excutiat nostri monimenta laboris : 
 
 littera de vobis est mea questa nihil, 
 frigus et incursus omni de parte timendos 
 
 et quod pulsetur murus ab hoste, queror. 20 
 
 in loca, non homines, verissima crimina dixi. 
 
 culpatis vestrum vos quoque saepe solum, 
 esset perpetuo sua quam vitabilis Ascra, 
 
 ausa est agricolae Musa docere senis. 
 at fuerat terra genitus, qui scripsit, in ilia : 25 
 
 intumuit vati nee tamen Ascra suo.
 
 76 OVID 
 
 at malus interpres populi mihi concitat iram, 
 
 inque novum crimen carmina nostra vocat. 
 tarn felix utinam, quam pectore candidus, essem ! 
 
 exstat adhuc nemo saucius ore meo. 30 
 
 adde quod Illyrica si iam pice nigrior essem, 
 
 non mordenda mihi turba fidelis erat. 
 molliter a vobis mea sors excepta, Tomitae, 
 
 tarn mites Graios indicat esse viros. 
 gens mea Paeligni regioque domestica Sulmo 35 
 
 non potuit nostris lenior esse malis. 
 quern vix incolumi cuiquam salvoque daretis, 
 
 is datus a vobis est mihi nuper honor, 
 solus adhuc ego sum vestris inmunis in oris, 
 
 exceptis siqui munera legis habent. 40 
 
 tempora sacrata mea sunt velata corona, 
 
 publicus invito quam favor inposuit. 
 quam grata est igitur Latonae Delia tellus, 
 
 erranti tutum quae dedit una locum, 
 tarn mihi cara Tomis ; patria quae sede fugatis 45 
 
 tempus ad hoc nobis hospita fida manet. 
 di modo fecissent, placidae spem posset habere 
 
 pacis, et a gelido longius axe foret.
 
 NOTES 
 
 (References to passages not included in this book have the 
 ordinary numeration.) 
 
 R. L. P. = Revised Latin Primer. )( = contrasted with. 
 
 The names of Ovid's works are abbreviated thus : 
 Am. = Amores. F. = Fasti. 
 
 A. A. = Ars Amatoria. Tr. = Tristia. 
 
 M. or Met. = Metamorphoses. P. = Epistulae ex Ponto. 
 
 TRISTIA 
 
 BOOK I. i 
 
 i. nee invideo : I grudge you not ; sc. your going to Rome 
 without me. 
 
 3» exsulis : depends on librum understood, with which qualem 
 agrees. 
 
 4. In your woe wear the garb that befits a time of woe. huius : 
 i. e. infelicis. 
 
 5. nee: used here, as often, for neve or neu. Strictly nee = et 
 ?ion, neve = et ne. 
 
 5-12. In Ovid's time a Roman book was in form a roll. The 
 paper was made from the pith of an Egyptian plant, called papyrus ; 
 and the pages were pasted side by side so as to form a long 
 horizontal strip. The last leaf was glued to a stick (umbilicus), 
 round which the volume (volumen) was rolled, and the whole was 
 enclosed in a parchment cover (membrana), generally coloured red 
 or yellow. So our phrase ' to turn over the leaves of a book' is 
 represented in Latin by evolvere librum. 
 
 5. Refers to the membrana. 
 
 7. titulus : a strip of parchment, on which the subject of the 
 book was written, was pasted on to the roll. cedro : oil of cedar 
 (or of juniper) with which the back of the roll was smeared as 
 a protection against worms. It gave the paper a yellow tinge. Cf. 
 Herrick, ' Upon Master Fletcher's incomparable plays ' : 
 
 O volume, worthy, leaf by leaf and cover, 
 To be with juice of cedar washed all over! 
 
 8. cornua : the ends of the umbilicus. fronte : the top and 
 bottom edges of the roll, which were smoothed with pumice-stone 
 (1. ill and coloured black.
 
 78 NOTES 
 
 9. instrumenta : appanage, equipment. 
 
 11. See on 1. 8. 
 
 12. Letting the hair and the beard grow was a sign of mourning, 
 sparsis : unkempt. 
 
 13. pudeat : sc. te. 
 
 15. verbis meis : equivalent to our 'for me', in sending 
 greetings. 
 
 16. ilia : i. e. /oca grata, his ' dear haunts '. pede : i. e. his verse 
 (properly, metre). Cf. note on Tr. iii. I. 12. 
 
 17. ut in populo : ut = as naturally there may be, 'and there 
 may well be one in all Rome'. illi = illic. Si quis in 1. 18 
 simply takes up the si quis of 1. 17 and erit is the verb to both. 
 
 19. salvum : well. 
 
 20. id . . . quod : the fact that. The ^z/wZ-clause is explanatory 
 of id. See note on Tr. iii. 1. 1 1. vivam : subjunctive, because it 
 is in a clause in oratio obliqua. dei : i. e. Augustus. 
 
 21. ut : concessive. R. L. P. § 448. The negative form is ut uon. 
 Perhaps this use of ut originated in an ellipse of fac ' suppose ' 
 (that). 
 
 22. ferere minor : you will be said to fall below. laude : abl. 
 of comparison with minor. 
 
 23. The meaning is : if the circumstances under which you were 
 written, be taken into account, you will not be criticized harshly. 
 These circumstances are given in 11. 26, 28, 30. 
 
 25. deducta : a metaphor from drawing off the wool from the 
 distaff in the form of thread. Cf. Tr. i. 11. 16. Cf. Horace, tenui 
 deducta poematajilo (fine-spun poems), and George Herbert, 'coarse- 
 spun lines'. Other metaphors are seen in Milton's 'to build the 
 lofty rhyme ' and Gall's ' Bonny Doon, where, early roaming, First 
 I weaved the rustic song '. Tennyson : 
 
 Vex not thou the poet's mind . . . 
 Clear and bright it should be ever, 
 Flowing like a crystal river ; 
 Bright as light, and clear as wind. 
 
 Cf. Tr. v. 12. 3-4. 
 
 29. Poetry needs freedom from all fear. 
 
 30. iam iamque : this very moment. 
 
 31. quoque : even. aequus : emphatic, equivalent to a con- 
 ditional clause. 
 
 32. qualiacumque : i. e. however poor they are. cum venia : 
 with leget. 
 
 33-4. da mini Maeoniden, &c. : the meaning is ' I challenge you 
 to put Homer himself, the prince of poets, in my place — then look 
 round on the woes, which are now mine and will then be his. His 
 genius will succumb to them '. Maeonides : Smyrna and Colo- 
 phon in Lydia, the old name of which was Maeonia, were among 
 the seven cities which claimed to have been the birthplace of Homer.
 
 TRISTIA I. i 79 
 
 da . . . excidet : a vigorous form of conditional sentence. Cf. Tr. 
 i. 2. 52 ; iii. 1.9,3. 23. 
 
 34. tantis . . . malis : an abl. of instrument with the intransitive 
 verb exrzdet, which has a passive meaning. Cf. the ablative of the 
 agent with cadere ; H. ix. 36 infesto ne vir ab hoste cadat (lest my 
 husband fall at the hands of an angry foe). 
 
 35-6. The meaning is : let it suffice that I do not altogether shrink 
 from writing, for it was thus, viz. owing to my poetic genius, that 
 banishment befell me. 
 
 38. di facerent : a wish. The present subjunctive is used in 
 a wish regarded as able to be realized ; the imperfect in a wish 
 regarded as hopeless, i. e. the wish that something were different 
 now from what it is. possem : also a wish, semi-dependent on 
 facerent. The insertion of ut would make explicit the dependency 
 of possem on facerent, as the result aimed at. 
 
 39. forsitan (=/ors sit an) regularly takes a subjunctive of de- 
 pendent question, as here. But often, in disregard of its derivation, 
 it is used as a simple adverb with the indicative. Cf. the progress 
 of our ' notwithstanding' from a negatived participle to a preposi- 
 tion, exspectes an : you are waiting (to see) whether. alta 
 palatia : Palatium, the Palatine hill. As Augustus made this the 
 imperial residence, the name came to mean ' palace ', as here. 
 
 41. di locorum : among others, Juppiter Stator, Vesta, and Apollo 
 (see notes on Tr. iii. 1 . 3 1 , 34), and, above all, Augustus himself ( 37, 38). 
 
 42. fulmen : the sentence of exile. Augustus is identified with 
 Jove. hoc caput = me. 
 
 43. mitissima numina : Augustus is especially meant, of whose 
 general ciemency Ovid is always speaking. sedibus illis : in 
 poetry expressions of place ' where ', ' whither ', and ' whence ' are 
 often used without the prepositions required in prose. 
 
 45-50. Ovid's meaning is that of our proverb 'A burnt child 
 dreads the fire '. 
 
 47. audet : the subject is to be got from the ^/-clause. 
 
 48. excussa est : has been dragged from. 
 
 49. vitaret : would now avoid. Cf. the use of the imperf. subj. 
 in wishes (note on 1. 38). 
 
 50. optarat : syncopated form of optaverat. Phaethon is like 
 Icarus (1. 60) a stock instance of youthful 'vaulting ambition, 
 which o'erleaps itself. He tried to drive the horses of his father, 
 the Sun-God, and having nearly set the earth on fire was killed by 
 a thunderbolt of Jove. 
 
 Down, down, 1 come, like glistering Phaeton, 
 Wanting the manage of unruly jades. — Shakespeare. 
 
 51. sensi : sentio is especially used of unpleasant experiences. 
 53. Caphareus was a dangerous promontory in the south of 
 
 Euboea, on which the Greek fleet was wrecked after the fall of 
 Troy. Cf. Tr. v. 7. 36.
 
 80 NOTES 
 
 55. vasta : vastus primarily implies desolation, from which size 
 is a derivative idea. Here active ' devastating '. Cf. caecus pulvis, 
 ' blinding dust'. cumba : cf. note on Tr. iii. 4. 15-16. 
 
 57. ergo : notice -0. Contrast ergo in Tr. iii. 10. 77. 
 
 58. ut satis sit : so that you are content to be read by the un- 
 distinguished crowd ; a result clause explaining cave. 
 
 60. Icarus, escaping from Crete with his father Daedalus by the 
 aid of wings cunningly fitted to his shoulders by the latter, flew too 
 near the sun. The heat melted the wax fastenings of his wings and 
 he fell into the sea north of Crete, called after him mare Icarium. 
 The story is picturesquely told by Ovid A. A. ii. 21 seqq. 
 
 A sea, an element doth bear my name ; 
 
 Who hath so vast a tomb in place or fame ? — Drummond. 
 
 61. mandare habebam : I could give you further instructions 
 (but I do not). Cf. note on Tr. iii. 3. 31. mandare : for the in- 
 finitive as object of habeo cf. Cic. quid habes igitur dicere ? 'What 
 can you say then ? ' 
 
 64. futurus eras : the future participle with eram = the imperfect 
 subjunctive, with fui = the pluperfect subjunctive in the apodosis 
 of conditional sentences. For the useful range of constructions in 
 dependent conditional sentences arising from this use cf. note on 
 Tr. i. 6. 14. laturo : for your bearer. 
 
 65. nobis : dative of agent. R. L. P. § 222. But here, as often, 
 the idea of ' agent ' is less prominent than that of the ' person in- 
 terested ' in the state of things brought about. 
 
 BOOK I. 2 
 
 1. quid . . . supersunt = quid (superest) nisi vota super sunt. 
 Cf. Shakes. ' Heaven and not we have safely fought to-day '. 
 
 2. solvere . . . parcite : cf. Shakes. ' Spare not to tell him '. 
 Cf. R. L. P. § 350. membra: perhaps we may translate 
 ' timbers '. 
 
 3. ne . . . subscribite : in prose nolite subscribere or ne subscri- 
 pseritis. subscribere : to sign one's name to an accusation as 
 sharing in the prosecution, hence, to support. 
 
 4. deo : it is implied that Caesar is a god. 
 5-6. In the Trojan war (Iliad). 
 
 7-8. In the war between Aeneas and Turnus in Italy for the hand 
 of Lavinia (Aeneid). propior Turno : i. e. siding with Turnus. 
 ille : Aeneas, the son of Venus. 
 
 9-10. During Ulysses' return from Troy (Odyssey). cautum : 
 shrewd, not in avoiding, but in escaping from, dangers. patruo : 
 note the construction with verbs of ' taking away ' ; eripuit patruo 
 (dative, because the action is done to the person) but eripuit ex 
 periculo. 
 
 11. nobis : though governed by adesse is put first for emphasis.
 
 TRISTIA I. 2 Si 
 
 quamvis = quamquam ; cf. note on Tr. iii. 3. 79. R. L, P. 447-S. 
 distamus ab : I am so far below. 
 
 12. irato deo : abl. abs. 
 
 14. ipsa, &c. : i.e. I am not even allowed to pray. loquentis : 
 depends on ora. Translate by a clause, ' as I speak '. 
 
 17. causa ... in una: una, emphatic, 'one only', causa, 
 ' case ', a meaning originating in the legal use of the word ' a 
 lawsuit'. Ovid was to have double harm- from the sentence of 
 banishment and from the violence of the elements. 
 
 19. me miserum : R. L. P. § 209. Originally regarded as the 
 object of some unexpressed verb. quanti, &.c. : how huge the 
 mountain-mass of rolling waters. 
 
 20. Compare for the exaggeration Falconer's ' Shipwreck ', ' Up- 
 lifted on the surge to heaven she flies ' ; and Shakes. Oth. ii. 1 : 
 
 The wind-shaked surge, with high and monstrous mane, 
 Seems to cast water on the burning bear. 
 
 and 
 
 Let the labouring bark climb hills of seas 
 Olympus-high, and duck again as low 
 As hell 's from heaven ! 
 
 21. quantae, &c. : we should bring out the emphasis on quanta? 
 by translating ' how huge the valleys that ', &c. 
 
 23. quocumque aspicio : quocwuque aspexi (as in Tr. i. 1 1. 21) 
 would be usual to express repeated action ' wherever I look' (quo- 
 cuinque aspexeram, ' wherever I looked '). 
 
 24. hie . . . ille : cf. R. L. P. § 319. But the sea is naturally 
 spoken of as the nearer (hie). 
 
 25. utrumque : i. e. sea and sky. 
 
 26. pareat : the direct question would be cut ftaream ? 
 
 The reeling clouds 
 Stagger with dizzy poise, as doubting yet 
 Which master to obey. — Thomson. 
 
 27. vires capit Eurus : cf. Swinburne, ' up sprang the strength 
 of the dark East '. purpureo : ruddy, a general epithet of the 
 East as the quarter of the rising sun. 
 
 28. sero vespere : i.e. the West, the home of the closing day. 
 As in the case of purpurea, the epithet is ' general ', i. e. not appli- 
 cable to the time at which Ovid is writing, but given in virtue of 
 the most striking phenomenon connected with the part of the 
 heavens in question. 
 
 29. sicca : i. e. never taking its ocean bath, like the other stars 
 (Tr. i. 4. 1) ; never setting. Tennyson : 
 
 To sail beyond the sunset and the baths 
 Of all the Western stars. 
 
 lOOVl (■
 
 8*2 NOTES 
 
 Cf. Tr. iv. 3. 1-2 Magna minorque ferae (i.e. the Greater and the 
 Lesser Bear), ittraque sicca ; Tr. iii. 10. 3 stcllis numquam tangenti- 
 bus aequor ; and Spenser : 
 
 the stedfast starre 
 That was in ocean waves yet never wet. 
 
 30. adversa fronte : ' face to face ' with the North wind. Ovid 
 brings all the winds into play. For a similar exaggeration cf. 
 Shakes. : 
 
 And winds of all the corners kissed your sails 
 To make your vessel nimble. 
 
 31. fugiatve petatve : cf. note on 1. 26. 
 
 32. ambiguis . . . malis : for the ablative cf. Tr. i. I. 34. ambi- 
 guts is explained by the last line. 
 
 37. pia : pins means ' dutiful ' towards family, country, or gods. 
 Vergil's hero, Aeneas, is the supreme example of fiictas in its full 
 extent. Here it means ' with true wifely devotion '. me exule 
 
 = meo exilio, the emphasis coming on exule as on the participle in 
 the abl. abs. ; ' through my being an exile ' (ablative of cause). 
 
 39. corpora : the poetical plural, often used of parts of the body, 
 colla, pectora, &c. It is often employed for reasons of metrical 
 convenience, but often became a conventional poetic equivalent of 
 the prose singular. That its use was sometimes felt as a strain on 
 the capacities of the language is seen from the criticism on Vergil, 
 hordea qui dixit, superest ut tritica dicat (the man who talked 
 about ' barleys ' will go on to talk of ' wheats '). Perhaps here it 
 gives a notion of vagueness suitable to the immensity of his ' vast 
 and wandering grave '. 
 
 41. bene: sc. est. sum passus : the object is coniugem 
 understood. 
 
 42. bis : his wife's death by drowning as well as his own. 
 
 43. ut : although. 
 
 44. dimidia parte : so in Tr. iv. 10. 32 he speaks of his brother 
 as pars met. 
 
 46. axe : the pole round which the sky seems to revolve ; then 
 the sky in general. 
 
 47-8. Cf. Falconer, ' The Shipwreck ', ' The ribs oppressed by pon- 
 derous cannon groan ', and Cotton, ' Heaven's loud artillery began 
 to play'. onus : i. e. the stones shot from the balista. 
 
 50. Fluctus decimus fieri maximus dicitur, Festus. Ovid's peri- 
 phrasis for ' tenth ' is ingenious, but its artificiality does not suit the 
 seriousness of the context. 
 
 51. genus, &c. : * 'tis the kind of death that is so sad'. Cf. 
 Cotton, ' The Storm ' : 
 
 How oft by fear of dying did we die, 
 And every death a death of cruelty ?
 
 TRISTIA I. 2 83 
 
 52. demite . . . erit : cf. on Tr. i. 1. 33. 
 
 53. est aliquid : it is something (emphatic). fatoque . . . 
 cadentem : the accusative agrees with the understood indefinite 
 subject of ponere, mandare, &c, ' that one who falls . . . should 
 lay'. fatoque suo ferroque : i.e. by a soldier's death, which 
 though violent {ferro) would still be natural (fato suo) to his pro- 
 fession. Death by drowning, like murder or suicide, would be 
 praeter fatuvi. Ovid implies that any death on land, though 
 violent, would be fato suo in order to emphasize the horrors of a 
 death at sea — with no loving friends at hand and no burial rites to 
 secure rest for the dead. In Tr. iii. 3. 39-44 we learn what atten- 
 tions were due to the dying. 
 
 55. aliqua : some last orders. Cf. est aliquid in 1. 53. 
 
 56. cibuni : accusative because it is the subjective complement 
 and the subject of esse would be in the accusative, if expressed. See 
 on 1. 53. 
 
 58. inmeritos : i. e. the other occupants of the ship. 
 
 59. pro : an interjection. superi = di caeli, 1. I, who control 
 the winds. virides dei : the sea gods have the colour of their 
 element. Cf. Spenser : 
 
 All lovely daughters of the Flood, 
 With goodly greenish locks. 
 
 So in Pope the Thames turns his ' azure eyes ', and in Ovid the 
 mountain god Tmolus has purpurea coma from the purple haze seen 
 on mountains. curae : R. L. P. §225. 
 
 62. feram : jussive subjunctive semi-dependent on smite. 
 
 63. ut : cf. Tr. i. 1. 21. ferentibus : bearing one on one's 
 way, favouring. 
 
 64. exsul : he was technically a relegatus, not an exsul. 
 
 66. mutandis mercibus : for bartering wares ; dative of work 
 contemplated, as in several names of offices, e.g. tresviri reipublicae 
 constituendae. 
 
 67. peto : note the -o. Cf. ergo, Tr. i. 1. 57 ; ero, Tr. iv. 10. 130. 
 studiosus = zealous (with the' object of the zeal in the genitive) 
 came in the Augustan period to be used by itself for studiosus 
 litterarum. Athenas : the university of the Roman world. 
 
 68 = non {peto) oppida Asiae, non {peto oppida) visa prius. 
 The same oppida are meant, visa prius being added as the thought 
 of the long-past happier time is forced upon him by the mention of 
 oppida Asiae. 
 
 69. Alexandri . . . urbem : Alexandria was founded by Alexander 
 in 331 B.C. as a centre for the commerce between East and West. 
 
 70. delicias, iocose : both used in allusion to the licentious 
 gaiety for which Alexandria and the neighbouring Canopus were 
 notorious. 
 
 71. quod : see note on Tr. iii. I. 11. faciles : favourable, from 
 
 G 2
 
 84 NOTES 
 
 the use of facilis = easy-going, good-natured, in describing 
 character. possit : R. L. P. § 355. 
 
 72-6. Ovid's comment on his prayer for favourable winds— winds 
 that will carry him away from the land he loves to the land he 
 abhors. Sarmatis : adjective. Sarmatia properly lay to the 
 
 North in the modern Poland and Russia. 
 
 73. obligor : i. e. me votis obligo (in order to secure a safe jour- 
 ney). The irony is that the life he is praying for is a life of exile ! 
 laevi : the only entrance to the Euxine is in the South, so Tomi 
 would lie on the left hand. See note on Tr. iv. 1. 56. 
 
 74. quod sit : subjunctive because the clause forms part of his 
 reported complaint. 
 
 75. ut : with videam, orbe : part of the world. Lines 75-6 
 repeat the thought of 1. 73. 
 
 76. exilem : short ; take closely, as complement, with facto. 
 77-80. Whether you gods love me or rather (magis) hate me, to 
 
 gratify either feeling you have only to grant me a speedy and safe 
 voyage to my place of exile. 
 
 78. prona : sloping downwards ; so 'favourable', 'easy'. 
 
 80. i. e. the punishment is heightened by the horrors of the place 
 chosen for his exile. 
 
 82. Ausonios : i.e. Italian; from the Ausones, an old Italian 
 tribe. 
 
 86. mutati : the participle is emphatic and has the force of a 
 statement. 
 
 BOOK I. 3 
 I. cum subit : whenever, &c, as it does now. Cf. note on Tr. i. 
 
 "■> IX 
 -• «0* 
 
 6. extremae = at its farthest, the farthest part of ; cf. summits 
 mons, the mountain at its highest part. 
 
 7-8. ' I had lacked time and heart to make due (satis apta) pre- 
 parations ; my power of thought had been benumbed by long delay.' 
 That is, the necessity for swift action not being immediate, he had 
 fallen into a state of mental torpor, in which he was surprised by 
 the sudden arrival of the dreaded day. apta : object of parandi. 
 
 9-10. servorum, (comites) legendi, vestis opisve : all depend 
 upon cura. 
 
 13. animi nubem : cf. Tennyson : 
 
 Such clouds of nameless trouble cross 
 All night below the darkened eyes ; 
 With morning wakes the will . . . 
 
 Cf. P. ii. I. 5.
 
 TRISTIA I. 3 85 
 
 15. extremum : adv. 'for the last time'. It is really a cognate 
 accusative = extremam adlocutionem. So duke ridens = dulcem 
 visit »i ridens. R. L. P. § 213. 
 
 16. modo : with ))iultis ; ' lately '. unus et alter : ' one or 
 two '. 
 
 17. flentem flens : reciprocity of action is more vigorously ex- 
 pressed in Latin because of its case-endings, which allow words 
 that mutually support each other to be brought together without 
 obscuring the construction. Contrast 
 
 Thou dost pine 
 For one as sorrowful ; thy cheek is pale 
 For one whose cheek is pale ; thou dost bewail 
 His tears who weeps for thee. — Keats. 
 
 18. indignas : i.e. undeserving of such sorrow. 
 
 19. sub: 'under' ; then, 'under the shelter of passes into the 
 meanings of ' close up to' and ' in the midst of. Libycis oris : 
 i. e. the province of Africa, to which she had accompanied her second 
 husband Fidus Cornelius. diversa : in a different (i.e. far off) 
 part of the world. 
 
 20. fati certior esse : the usual prose expressions with certior, 
 ' sure,' are aliquem certioremfacio de and certior fio de. 
 
 21. quocumque aspiceres: 'wherever you looked' is the past 
 form of quocumque aspicias, ' wherever you look'. The subjunctive 
 is regularly used when the subject is the indefinite 2nd pers. sing.= 
 French on. 
 
 22. non taciti : the mourning recalled the lamentations of the 
 hired mourners of a real funeral. Ovid asserts that in his house 
 (Jntus) was enacted a representation — complete in details — of the 
 funeral processions so often seen in the streets. 
 
 23. meo funere : R. L. P. § 241. Cf. quotation at head of text. 
 pueri : slaves. 
 
 25. i. e. to compare small things with great. 
 
 26. cum caperetur : R. L. P. § 435. ' In its hour of capture.' 
 
 29. ad hanc : by its light ; from the meaning of ad ' in accor- 
 dance with '. 
 
 30. frustra : the gods whose temples were on the Capitol had 
 not interfered to save him. 
 
 31. numina : on one summit of the Capitoline hill (the Capitol 
 proper) was a temple shared by Juppiter Capitolinus, Juno, and 
 Minerva, and on the other (the Arx) a temple to Juno Moneta. 
 
 33. Quirini : Romulus. 
 
 34. este salutati : a perfect imperative ; there will be no more 
 greeting. 
 
 35. i. e. though my prayers to you are too late to avert my banish- 
 ment, yet let no rancorous thoughts pursue me in my exile. The 
 next lines explain his meaning. He has been guilty of a fault
 
 86 NOTES 
 
 which demands pity, not of a hateful crime. clipeum : our cor- 
 
 responding expression is ' to lock the stable door when the horse is 
 stolen '. 
 
 37. caelesti viro : Augustus (the deus of I. 40). 
 
 39. ut = if only. Cf. ' so that ' in Shakes. Rich. II : 
 
 So that the state might be no worse, 
 
 I would my skill were subject to thy curse. 
 
 quod vos scitis : i.e. the fact of my innocence. 
 
 40. possum . . . esse : I can forget my misery. 
 
 41. phtribus (predbus) uxor (snperos adoravit). 
 
 42. medios : i. e. leaving half unspoken. 
 
 43. lares : cf. note on Tr. iii. 12. 50. 
 
 44. exstinctos : with the Romans the hearth had a sacred cha- 
 racter ; it was the seat of Vesta. Hence its neglect shows the utter 
 abandonment of grief. ' Behind it was the pen us or store-closet, 
 the seat of the Penates ; thus Vesta and the Penates are in the 
 most genuine sense the protecting and nourishing deities of the 
 household.'— W. Warde Fowler, ' Social life at Rome '. 
 
 45. adversos: facing her. See note on 1. 44. All the household 
 gods were near and looking on and yet did not help. 
 
 46. deplorato : bewailed as dead ; ' lost '. 
 
 47. praecipitata : rushing to its close. In the poets night follows 
 the same course as day. So Ovid means that midnight is past and 
 night is hurrying to set in the western ocean, praecipito — (1) 
 (trans.) hurl headlong, (2) (intr.) fall headlong, praecipitor = 
 (1) (middle, as here) rush headlong, (2) (pass.). 
 
 48. The Arcadian Bear had revolved upon its axis (i.e. the pole- 
 star). So Tennyson says : 
 
 I paced the terrace, till the Bear had wheel'd 
 Through a great arc his seven slow suns. 
 
 As its movement is marked in reference to the pole-star, this is 
 spoken of by Ovid as the point from (ab) which the revolution is 
 made. versa erat : i. e. in the morning hours a distinct change 
 would be observable from the familiar evening position of the con- 
 stellation. Parrhasis : note Ovid's (and other Latin poets') use 
 of 'learned' epithets. One needs to know both geography and 
 mythology to understand them. Parrhasia was a town in Arcadia. 
 Callisto, daughter of Lycaon, King of Arcadia, was changed into a 
 bear through Hera's jealousy. Just as she was about to be killed 
 unwittingly by her own son Areas, they were both placed by Zeus 
 among the stars— Callisto as the Great Bear, Areas as Arctophylax, 
 the 'Bear-warden' (Tr. i, 4. 1). 
 
 49. quid facerem ? : at the time he would ask himself quid
 
 TRISTIA I. 3 87 
 
 faciam ? (let me do . . . what ?, i. e. what am I to do ?). Looking 
 back upon that time, the question would appear in a past form, 
 ' what was I to do?'. This 'deliberative' subjunctive is simply an 
 interrogative form of the 'jussive '. 
 
 52. vel . . . vel : either thought would be enough to give him 
 pause. quo: i. e. ad Scythiam. unde : i.e. Roma. Cf. 11. 61-2. 
 festines : Ovid imagines his counsellor to be in his own situation ; 
 as if the latter had said ' I should hurry, if I were you '. 
 
 54. foret : R. L. P. § 467. 
 
 55. tetigi : an unlucky omen, necessitating a fresh start. 
 
 56. ' My very foot in sympathy with my heart hung back.' 
 animus, state of mind, inclinations. 
 
 57. vale : (imperative) is used as an indeclinable noun in the 
 ablative absolute construction with dido. Cf. Tr. iii. 3. 88. 
 
 58. summa : the last, supremus (cf. Tr. iii. 3. 87) is commoner 
 in this sense. 
 
 59. meque ipse fefelli : ipse is emphatic, ' I wilfully deceived 
 myself, me ipsum would mean 'it was myself, and none other, 
 that I deceived'. 
 
 60. Explains why he was forced to try to persuade himself that 
 his last orders needed to be repeated. pignora : 'pledges', 
 therefore something precious ; generally used of children, but here 
 of his wife and other friends whom he holds dear. 
 
 61-2. Cf. 1. 52. mora: reason for delay. 
 
 63. vivo . . . viva : while either lives. 
 
 64. membra: i.e. wife, daughter, son-in-law, and, no doubt, 
 attached servants. 
 
 66. Theseus was a stock poetical example of devoted friendship. 
 He accompanied his friend Pirithous in his attempt to carry off 
 Proserpine from Hades. 
 
 68. in lucro est : is all gain. 
 
 69. nee mora, &c. : he breaks off and embraces his friends. 
 
 70. animo : dative with proximo, ; here the seat of the affections, 
 1 my heart '. 
 
 72. Lucifer : or Phosphorus, the name of Venus, the brightest 
 planet, as the morning star. As the evening star, it was called 
 Hesperus. Tennyson, 'Sweet Hesper-Phosphor, double name for 
 what is one '. 
 
 73. dividor : (middle voice) I tear myself away. quam (sc. 
 dividar) si . . • relinquam : ' than if I were to leave '. 
 
 75. Mettus Fufetius, an Alban general, treacherouslybroke his 
 promise to aid Rome in its war with Fidenae and Veii. Tullus 
 Hostilius, the Roman king, had him fastened to two chariots, 
 which were then driven violently in different directions, so that he 
 was torn in pieces. 
 
 76. ultores proditionis : complement. 
 81. avelli : middle voice.
 
 88 NOTES 
 
 83. et mihi : for me as well as for you. via: journey. 
 capit : has room for. 
 
 84. The emphasis falls on sarcina parva (' only a ', &c). 
 
 86. pietas : a wife's love. Cf. Tr. i. 2. 37. My love is as irre- 
 sistible for me as Caesar's command is for you. 
 
 88. dedit . . . manus : literally ' to give one's hands ' to be 
 manacled as a sign of surrender. utilitate : i. e. she could serve 
 his cause better at Rome through her friendship with the Empress 
 Livia. 
 
 89. sive illud erat, &c. : suggests an alternative and more 
 correct expression for egredior. The full expression would be 
 sive egredi illud (i.e. my leaving my house) erat sive {potius) 
 sine funere ferri, ' I go from the house — whether that was " a going 
 forth " or rather a being borne to burial though no one was dead.' 
 Translate, ' I go forth or rather I am borne forth to a living burial '. 
 
 90. hirta : unshaven. 
 
 91. tenebris . . . obortis : as darkness veiled her eyes, i.e. she 
 fainted. 
 
 92. semianimis : in scansion the first i is treated as a consonant. 
 
 93. turpi : disfiguring. 
 
 95. complorasse : this and the following infinitives depend on 
 narratur. 
 
 98. rogos : subject, corpus : object of the infinitive habere. 
 
 100. -que : joins voluisse and iwn voluisse closely ; ponere sensus 
 in 1. 99 being in apposition to nwri. Cf. Lodge : 
 
 Let all my senses have no further scope, 
 Let death be lord of me. 
 
 respectu . . . mei : as she thought of me. 
 
 101. absentem : object of sublevet. The second vivat is added 
 as an afterthought to reinforce the first by giving her husband's 
 welfare as an inducement to her to go on living. 
 
 BOOK I. 4 
 
 1. Cf. note on Tr. i. 3. 48. Erymanthidos : (Greek genitive of 
 the fem. adjective Erymanthis) from Mount Erymanthus in Arcadia, 
 so Arcadian. For the setting of Arctophylax, cf. Columella, IV Kal. 
 Not. 1 . Arcturus vespere occidit, ventosus dies. Ovid's voyage took 
 place late in the year, in the stormy season which Arctophylax is 
 poetically said to cause (1. 2). 
 
 4. audaces . . . metu : Shakes. 3 H. VI, i. 4 'So cowards fight 
 when they can fly no further' ; and Byron : 
 
 There is a courage which grows out of fear, 
 Perhaps of all most desperate.
 
 1R1STIA I. 4 89 
 
 5. Cf. Tr. i. 2. 19. The emphasis comes on quanti 's '.. ..venh 's. We 
 
 must bring this out in translation ; ' how fierce the winds beneath 
 which ', &c. 
 
 7-8. Falconer, ' The Shipwreck ' : 
 
 O'er the ship in undulation vast 
 
 A giant surge down-rushes from on high, 
 
 And fore and aft dissevered ruins lie. 
 
 pictos deos : they were images of the gods, under whose 
 protection 'the ship was, placed in a little sanctuary towards the 
 stern. The protecting deity of Ovid's ship was Minerva ; so he 
 uses the plural here in a general sense. Cf. Acts xxviii. 11, where 
 we read that St. Paul's ship was under the protection of Castor and 
 Pollux. 
 
 9. texta : textum = something woven. Here, by a natural meta- 
 phor, the close-fitting timber work of pinewood. sonant : groan. 
 pulsi : sc.sunt. stridore : poetical omission of aim with ablative 
 of manner. The idea of instrument blends with that of manner. 
 
 10. ingemit : groans over. In the poet's vivid imagination, 
 inanimate things sympathize with his moods. So at the profanation 
 of Ida's sanctuary by the admission of the wounded warriors, 
 
 The doors gave way 
 Groaning and in the Vestal entry shrieked 
 The virgin marble under iron heels. — Tennyson. 
 
 For dative cf. R. L. P. § 220. 
 
 11. gelidum : transferred poetically from the person who fears 
 to the feeling itself. Akenside speaks of ' Terror's icy hand '. Cf. 
 caecus metus, and note on Tr. iii. 10. 12. So 
 
 Melancholy strays forlorn 
 And Woe retires to weep. 
 
 11-12. Cf. Cotton : 
 
 Here, where no seaman's art nor strength avails, 
 Where use of compass, rudder, or of sails, 
 There now was none : the mariners all stood 
 Bloodless and cold as we. 
 
 and Thomson : 
 
 In wild amazement fixed the sailor stands ; 
 Art is too slow. 
 
 13-14. Notice the advantage that the free order of words 
 gives the poet. Mere juxtaposition without any necessary gram- 
 matical connexion often helps to bring out the full meaning — 
 parum validus is caught up by non projicientia and cervicis 
 rigidae, though the grammatical connexion of these is \\\t\\ frena 
 and equo respectively. rector: properly, a steersman, as auriga 
 in 1. 1 6 is properly a charioteer. For the poetical comparison of
 
 9 o NOTES 
 
 chariots and ships, cf. Swinburne, ' Storm and Battle ', ' And the 
 meadows are cumbered with shipwreck of chariots that founder on 
 land '. 
 
 14. frena remittit: i.e. he gives up all attempt to hold the 
 horse in. 
 
 15. voluit : sc. auriga. 
 
 16. vela dedisse rati: simply 'to have sailed', 'to have run 
 before the storm '. Sometimes vela dare means ' to set one's sails ' 
 for a particular course. 
 
 17. quod nisi : quodh an accusative of respect, vaguely summing 
 up the situation just described. It had better be left out in transla- 
 tion or turned by any conjunction — 'and', 'but', 'for' — which 
 suits the train of thought. Aeolus : king of the winds. So an 
 ' Aeolian harp ' is one played upon by the wind. 
 
 19. laeva de parte: look at the map. Ovid was sailing from 
 Brundisium. 
 
 20. interdicta mihi : note the two constructions with interdico 
 (a) alicui aliqua re, and {b) (poetical and later prose) alicui 
 aliquid. Which of these does the personal passive construction 
 here represent ? 
 
 22. deo : Augustus. 
 
 23. et : joins cupio timeoque to loquor\ cf. Tr. i. 3. 99-100. 
 
 24. increpuit : transitive, as in H. 3. 118 increpuisse lyram. 
 
 25. vos: emphatic, opposed to lovem (Augustus). 
 
 28. periit : i.e. has lost his status as a citizen ; cf. Tr. iii. 3. 53. 
 periisse : in its literal sense. Ovid is fond of playing upon words. 
 
 BOOK I. 5 
 
 I. ullos numquam : unusual order for nullos umquam, as the 
 negative nearly always precedes quisquam (pron.) and its adjective 
 uHus ; R. L. P. § 323. But additional emphasis seems to be gained 
 by making numquam directly negative memorande. The friend 
 addressed is probably Celsus Albinovanus, on whose death Ovid 
 wrote the affecting letter P. i. 9. 
 
 3. attonitum : blasted by the thunderbolt. Notice the flexi- 
 bility which Latin possesses through its case-endings. We must 
 translate by a clause, keeping the position at the head of the 
 sentence, as the word expresses the occasion and cause of ausus 
 es &c. 
 
 4. adloquio : specially used of a comforting or inspiriting ad- 
 dress, sustinuisse : no doubt used for sustinere because of its 
 metrical convenience ; but it adds something to the meaning. We 
 see the action not doing, but done. 
 
 7. signis: hints. Apparently it was thought dangerous to be 
 known as Ovid's friend. But the needlessness of secrecy was seen
 
 BOOK I. 5 91 
 
 by the time the Pontic letters were written, in which Ovid 
 addresses his friends by name. 
 
 8. officium : the 'kindly service' of 1. 4. Its mention is one of 
 the signa. te fallit : is unrecognized by you. tuum : em- 
 phatic ' your own '. 
 
 9. imis medullis : we should say ' heart' ; Shakes. Hamlet iii. 2 
 ' in my heart's core, ay, in my heart of hearts'. 
 
 10. animae debitor huius : indebted for this life of mine. Cf. 
 1. 5. R. L. P. § 262. 
 
 11. prius : looks forward to quam in 1. 13. tenuandus : to 
 be dissolved. 
 
 12. deseret ossa: so Propertius iv. 7. 2 luridaque evictos (cf. 
 iepido here) effugit umbra rogos, ' the wan shade escapes from the 
 dying pyre'. Cf. Tr. iii. 3. 60-4. Here spiritus^umbra^ which 
 disengages itself at the dissolution of the body on the pyre. 
 
 13. subeant : can steal over (my mind), priusquam is used 
 with the subjunctive in a kind of purpose-clause. Something 
 happens before something else can happen, i.e. lest something else 
 happen first. 
 
 14. longa : notice the gender of dies, when it means 'time' 
 generally. excidat : fall out of memory. 
 
 15. faciles : kind, facilis is often used of disposition. 
 
 17. haec navis : this bark of mine, i.e. his fortunes. For an 
 elaborate expansion of this very common metaphor see Queen Mar- 
 garet's speech before Tewkesbury, Shakes. 3 Henry VI, v. 4 ; and 
 note on Tr. iii. 4. 15-16. 
 
 18. ignoraretur forsitan : perchance might never have been 
 known to me. F 'or forsitan see note on Tr. i. 1. 39 : in accordance 
 with its derivation it strictly should not be used with historic tenses. 
 
 With this passage compare Tr. iv. 3. 73-80 (addressed to his 
 wife) : 
 
 Materiamque tuis tristem virtutibus inple : 
 
 ardua per praeceps gloria vadit iter. 
 Hectora quis nosset, si felix Troia fuisset ? 
 
 publica virtutis per mala facta via est. 
 ars tua, Tiphy, iacet, si non sit in aequore fiuctus ; 
 
 si valeant homines, ars tua, Phoebe, iacet. 
 quae latet inque bonis cessat non cognita rebus, 
 
 apparet virtus arguiturque malis. 
 
 (My woes give ample room — exercise your virtues to the full ; the 
 path of toil-won fame lies up the steep. Who would know of 
 Hector, had not Troy been unfortunate ? The road of his valour 
 was paved with his country's ills. Thy art, famed steersman of the 
 Argo, is vain, were no billow to rise on the sea ; were no men to 
 ail, thy art, divine Healer, is vain. Virtue, obscure, unrecognized 
 and idle in prosperity, is seen and tested in adversity.)
 
 9 3 NOTES 
 
 Cf. Tennyson, ' Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington ' : 
 
 Not once or twice in our fair island -story, 
 
 The path of duty was the way to glory : 
 
 He, that ever following her commands, 
 
 On with toil of heart and knees and hands, 
 
 Through the long gorge to the far light has won 
 
 His path upward, and prevail'd, 
 
 Shall find the toppling crags of Duty scaled 
 
 Are close upon the shining table-lands 
 
 To which our God Himself is moon and sun. 
 
 Bacon, 'Vertue is like pretious odours, most fragrant when they are 
 incensed or crushed : For Prosperity doth best discover Vice ; But 
 Adversity doth best discover Vertue '. Herrick : 
 
 Virtue dies when foes 
 
 Are wanting to her exercise, but great 
 
 And large she spreads by dust and sweat. 
 
 fides : this word — though simple enough here —has so many 
 shades of meaning that it will be convenient to sum them up at 
 once for purposes of reference. Nagelsbach's classification is easy 
 to remember. Fides is used of persons or things. 
 
 A. Used of persons (i.e. as a state of mmA) fides means : 
 
 1. (active) the thinking something true, i.e. belief, trust. 
 
 Tr. i. 8. 8 et nihil est, de quo non sit habenda fides. 
 
 2. (neuter) the being true, i.e. trustworthiness, loyalty. 
 
 (as here) 
 
 3. (passive) the being thought true, i.e. credit. 
 
 Tr. iii. 10. 36 ratam debet testis habere fide»i. 
 
 B. Used of things : 
 
 1. (active) that which makes certain, i. e. proof, confirmation. 
 
 P. iii. 4. 99 crede, brevique fides aderit. 
 
 2. (neuter) that which is certain, i.e. certainty, truth, credibility. 
 
 P. iv. 3. 30 et certain praesens vix habet hora fidem. 
 (3) (passive) the pledged troth, i. e. guarantee, promise. 
 Fasti i. 642 voveral et voti solverat ille fidem. 
 
 19. Cf. note on Tr. i. 3. 66. 
 
 20. aquas : the river Styx, which one had to cross in order to 
 enter Hades. 
 
 21. Phoceus : Pylades, son of Strophius, king of Phocis. His 
 friend Orestes was driven from land to land by the Furies of his 
 mother Clytemnestra, whom he had slain in revenge for her murder 
 of his father Agamemnon. In the Tauric Chersonese (the Crimea) 
 they were captured by the king Thoas. By the laws of the country 
 one of them had to be sacrificed at the altar of the Tauric Artemis,
 
 BOOK I. 5 93 
 
 and they engaged in a noble contest as to which should die to save 
 the other. Ovid tells the story in P. iii. 2. 
 
 23. Nisus, son of Hyrtacus, sacrificed his life in a vain attempt 
 to save his friend Euryalus — an incident in the war of Aeneas 
 against Turnus, king of the Rutulians, told by Vergil (Aen. ix). 
 cecidisset in : had fallen among. 
 
 25. scilicet: (=sci?-e licet) to be sure. It points the conclusion 
 to be drawn from the instances of friendship just given. 
 
 29. ulli : cf. note on Tr. i. 1. 65. We say 'known to' with little 
 distinction of meaning from ' known by '. 
 
 30. qui : its antecedent is the subject of noscitur. 
 
 31. collecta : inferred; cf. our expression, e.g. ' I gather from 
 what he said ', &c. 
 
 32. vera : complement to cognita. 
 
 33. de tot : sc. a/uicis. 
 
 36. naufragio meo : naufrago mihi. 
 
 38. deus: Augustus. Cf. Chatterton, ' Bristow Tragedy ' : 
 
 My noble liege ! the truly brave 
 Will valorous actions prize ; 
 Respect a brave and noble mind, 
 Although in enemies. 
 
 41. duce Neritio : i.e. Ulysses. Neritos in Homer is a mountain 
 in Ithaca ; in Ovid, as in Vergil, an island near Ithaca. Notice the 
 shortened expression pro duce Neritio for pro malis ducis Neritii. 
 Ulysses after the fall of Troy was a wanderer for ten years. The 
 story is the subject of Homer's Odyssey. In P. i. 4. 25-46 Ovid 
 similarly contrasts his sufferings with those of Jason. In P. ii.7. 34 
 he speaks of the ' long Iliad of his fate '. docti : see note on Tr. 
 iii. 1. 63. 
 
 43. brevi spatio : space ' through which ', a variety of place 
 ' where '. multis in annis : notice in — in the course of. 
 
 44. Dulichias : Dulichium, like Neritos, was an island near Ithaca 
 and under the rule of Ulysses. It is in the style of Latin poetry to 
 use the less obvious epithet allusively for the more obvious. Cf. note 
 on Tr. i. 3. 48. Contrast doinos, the end of Ulysses' wanderings, 
 with Sarmaticos sinus, the end of Ovid's journey (1. 46). 
 
 45. sideribus totis distantia : whole constellations apart. 
 R. L. P. § 244. The difference in climate made Ovid think that 
 Tomi lay very much to the north of Rome. Cf. note on Tr. iii. 10. 3. 
 The phrase is antithetical to brevi spatio. mensos : cf. Spenser, 
 ' they measured mickle (= much) weary way'. 
 
 46. Geticos Sarmaticosque : ' uncouth and barbarous ' names 
 contrasting with Dulichias Iliacasque, which suggest all that was 
 chivalrous and civilized in the Homeric age— Greece and Troy. 
 
 51. Same: Homer's name for Cephallenia, an island near 
 Ithaca.
 
 94 NOTES 
 
 The meaning of 51-4 is : Even if Ulysses had been kept an exile 
 from his home, what would his loss have been compared with mine 
 — for my home was Rome. 
 
 52. The subject is quibus locis abesse. 
 
 53. quae : the antecedent Roma is impressively withheld to make 
 a more striking contrast with Dulichium, Ithaca, Same, which come 
 in the first line of the previous couplet. 
 
 56. ingenuae : 'free-born' acquires the accessory notion of 
 delicate, tender. 
 
 58. Cf. Tr. iv. 10. 37, 105. 
 
 59. The emphasis is on the ablative absolute ; deus oppressit 
 would apply to Ulysses' case (1. 62), but he had Athene's aid 
 {bellatrix diva, cf. note on Tr. iv. 10. 13). 
 
 61. The train of thought is : since Neptune is less than Jove 
 [I am in worse plight than Ulysses, for] he was the victim of 
 Neptune's wrath, but I of Jove's. In 1. 62, as in Tr. i. 1. 51, 
 Augustus is identified with Jove. 
 
 63. illius : depends on laborum. 
 
 64. ponitur : is set forth. Cf. ponere deutn, to represent a god 
 (of a sculptor), ponere cenam, to serve up a dinner. in : in the 
 case of. fabula : idle tale. 
 
 65. tamen : after all. tamen does not here mark the whole 
 sentence as opposed to something previously stated, but emphasizes 
 tetigit in contrast to the implication in quaesitos that he had to 
 wander in search of his home. 
 
 66. tamen : Ovid's rule is that only a verb, noun, or a case of 
 mens, tuns, suns can end the pentameter. The position of tamen is 
 due to its emphasis. 
 
 BOOK I. 6 
 
 1. Clario poetae : Antimachos of Claros near Colophon, who 
 wrote a poem ' Lyde ' in memory of his dead wife. He lived in the 
 latter half of the fifth century. For the dative cf. i. 65 nobis. 
 
 2. Coo suo : Philetas of Cos, who wrote a collection of poems in 
 celebration of his lover Bittis. He died about 290 b. c. 
 
 3. ' As you are firmly enshrined in my heart.' 
 
 4. non meliore : Ovid is thinking of his poetic fame. 
 
 5. te : instrument, not agent, corresponding to trabe. mea 
 ruina : my falling fortunes. 
 
 6. adhuc : still. muneris, &c. : it is all your gift ; partitive 
 genitive. 
 
 7. facis ut . . . non : contrast Tr. iv. 6. 12, ne sint . . . facit. The 
 difference in construction is due to the greater or less degree in which 
 the idea of ' intention ' or ' purpose ' is prominent in the writer's 
 mind. Here Ovid has in view his present state, less hopeless than 
 it might have been, as the result of his wife's action.
 
 ROOK I. 6, 8 95 
 
 8. i.e. sought to plunder the poor remains of my shipwrecked 
 fortunes. 
 
 g. fame : notice the quantity. Fames once belonged to the fifth 
 declension, and the ablative in -c has survived. 
 
 1 1. ecquod corpus . . . humo : indirect question. 
 
 13. This unnamed enemy is attacked in the Ibis, nescio quis : 
 does not imply ignorance, but contempt or dislike. So Siquis in 
 Tr. iii. II. I. 
 
 "14. venturus fuit : a most useful periphrasis for venisset", in 
 verse for its metrical possibilities, and in prose and verse to supply 
 infinitive or dependent subjunctive forms for a subordinated 'unful- 
 filled condition '. Compare the constructions dico eu/u venturum 
 fuisse ; rogo num (/ion dubium est quin . . . ; sequitur ut ... , &c.) 
 venturus fuerit. R. L. P. §§ 439-40 d. si paterere : the imperfect 
 subjunctive can be used of an unreal imagined state in past time ; 
 ' had you allowed' (lit. ' been allowing '). 
 
 17. Maeonium vatem : Homer in the Odyssey sang the con- 
 stancy of Penelope, wife of Odysseus. Cf. note on Tr. i. 1. 33. 
 
 18. tuae : scfamae. 
 
 19-20. Cf. quotations at the head of Tr. v. 14. 
 
 BOOK I. 8 
 
 The faithless friend is probably the Macer of P. ii. 10, his travel- 
 ling companion in former days. Macer was a connexion of Ovid's 
 wife, and was perhaps the Macer whom Augustus put in charge of 
 the public libraries at Rome. 
 
 1. caput : ' source '. 
 
 2. -que : transferred from conversis. -que is often shifted into 
 the latter half of the pentameter for metrical convenience. 
 
 5. praepostera : counter (to the laws). 
 
 8. i.e. nothing will be too strange to believe after this. 
 
 II. cepere oblivia : notice the tendency — much more marked 
 in Latin than in English — to represent the feeling as seizing the man 
 rather than the man as entertaining the feeling, e.g. odium (luctus, 
 fia'tor, &c.) me cepit. The Romans have given us our word 
 ' passion ' (from patior), which by its derivation suggests that free- 
 dom from self-restraint is servitude to feelings too strong for us. 
 
 13. respiceres : had regard for. iacentem : a broken-down 
 man. Cf note on Tr. iii. 3. 5. 
 
 14. Cf. Tr. i. 3. 89. Ovid's home-leaving was a funeral procession. 
 
 15. Cf. Cic. (pro Rose. 112) duas res sanctissimas . . . amicitiam 
 et fidem, and Akenside, ' Far other faith belongs to friendship's 
 honour'd name'. 
 
 17. quid: sc. fecisses. The meaning is: Seeing that you, my 
 friend, acted so heartlessly, what would you have done, had you 
 been a stranger? i.e. you could not have acted more heartlessly
 
 96 NOTES 
 
 than you did. nisi (properly ' unless ') is here used for si non. 
 causis valentibus : strong ties of friendship. 
 
 19. nosses : (= novisses) known (by sharing in them), 'shared '. 
 
 21. aequoreos : a good epithet here, expressing the wide range 
 of the winds and so the utter dissipation of early memories. 
 
 22. Lethaeis : Lethe was a river of Hades. The shades drink- 
 ing its waters obtained forgetfulness of their former life. 
 
 BOOK I. 9 
 
 1. detur ; subjunctive of wish. The present tense in wishes 
 marks that the speaker regards them as realizable. The metaphor 
 in this line is taken from the chariot races of the Circus, through 
 the middle of which ran a low wall (spina) with a conical stone 
 (i)ieta) marking each end. As the race consisted of seven ' laps ', 
 great driving skill could be shown and no little danger run in 
 shaving the metae so closely as to lose no ground. Accidents must 
 have been frequent. Again, as one of the metae was the ending- 
 point of the race, the word (as here) came to mean 'goal', though 
 Lucan (viii. 201), in what appears to be a reminiscence of Ovid's line, 
 uses it as ' turning-point ' ; the charioteer — cogit inoffensae currus 
 accedere metae (drives his car close to the meta without touching 
 it). inoffenso : offensus can naturally be used of the person (or 
 thing) that 'runs into' something, or the object that is 'run into'. 
 Hence in this line there are various readings which connect the 
 adjective inoffensus with (1) tibi, with (2) vitae, and with (3) mctain 
 ((i) without stumbling, (2) in which there has been no stumble, 
 (3) which has not been run into). In (3) metam 'goal' has the 
 epithet that strictly speaking can only be applied to the word when 
 it means ' turning-point ', as presumably there was no turn at 
 the end. 
 
 3. possent : thejmperfect subjunctive is used to express a wish, 
 which is felt as unrealizable. Contrast with the hopeful tone of 
 detur in 1. 1. The change to despondency in possent is explained 
 by 1. 4. 
 
 5. Cf. Barnefield : 
 
 Every man will be thy friend, 
 "Whilst thou hast wherewith to spend. 
 
 6. So we speak of ' fair-weather ' friends. Cf. Keats, ' Hyperion ' : 
 
 As if the vanward clouds of evil days 
 Had spent their malice, and the sullen rear 
 Was with its stored thunder labouring up. 
 
 7. aspicis ut : be careful in translating. Candida : Columella 
 (t. A. D. 50), a Roman writer on farm-life, says that dovecots 
 should be whitewashed, as doves are specially fond of white.
 
 TRISTIA I. 9 97 
 
 8. accipiat, &c. : parallel in construction to veniant, Sec. Notice 
 that the Romans set contrasted statements side by side without a 
 conjunction, where we should use ' while ' or ■ whereas '. sordida : 
 ' dingy ', i. e. not kept whitewashed. turris : either a dovecot 
 (from its shape) or the turret of a house. Cf. Martial, quaeque 
 gerit similes Candida turris aves (and a white turret which harbours 
 doves as white). Candida and sordida are typical of good and bad 
 fortune. White was worn on festal days (cf. Tr. iii. 13. 14 ; v. 5. 8) 
 and sordes (pi.) is the term for ' mourning'. 
 
 9. George Herbert calls 'summer friends '' flies of estates and 
 sunshine '. 
 
 10. amissas opes = one who has lost his wealth. Cf. Shakes. 
 T. of A. ' His disease of all-shunned poverty'. 
 
 11. radios per solis : though per governs radios, it can be placed 
 before solis which goes closely like an adjective with radios, accord- 
 ing to the poetic usage (found occasionally also in prose) which 
 allows, e.g. aciem per media//!, for the regular prose position per 
 mediam aciem or mediavi per aciem. For the simile cf. Marquis of 
 .Montrose : 
 
 For when the Sun doth shine, 
 
 Then Shadows do appear ! 
 
 But when the Sun doth hide his face, 
 
 They with the Sun retire ! 
 
 Some friends, as Shadows are ; 
 
 And Fortune as the Sun : 
 
 They never proffer any help, 
 
 Till Fortune first do begin ! 
 
 But if, in any case, 
 
 Fortune should first decay, 
 
 Then they, as Shadows of the Sun, 
 
 With Fortune run away ! 
 
 13. mobile : fickle. From this word we get our ' mob'. for- 
 tunae lumina : cf. Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. 3, 'For this world frowns 
 and Edward's sun is clouded '. 
 
 14. quae : is drawn into the si/mil- (= si/nul ac) clause, though 
 its connecting force is felt with abit (as if we had quibus . . . tectis 
 abit). This idiom by which the relative, which is felt as logically 
 introducing clause I, is drawn into the construction of a preceding 
 clause 2 (depending upon clause 1) is un-English. Cf. note on Tr. 
 v. 5. 23. inducta nocte : inducere is to cover with a ' coating ' 
 (e. g. of paint), or ' film ' (e. g. of ice, Tr. iii. 10. 20). Here night is 
 thought of as a curtain drawn across the light. Cf. Shakes. R. and J. 
 ' Spread thy close curtain ' ; 1 Hen. VI : 
 
 Night is fled, 
 Whose pitchy mantle did o'erveil the earth ; 
 
 G. Herbert, 'Night draws the curtain, which the sun withdraws '. 
 
 1069-1 11
 
 98 NOTES 
 
 15. Meaning :_ 'May your happy experience of life let you think 
 that these sad views of mine are mistaken '. 
 
 16. eventu meo : through what has befallen me. 
 
 17. stetimus : for the tense see note on Tr. iii. 4. 15-16. For the 
 metaphorical meaning of stare contrast that of iacere (Tr. i. 8. 13). 
 turbae : followers. Cf. Tr. i. 5. 34 cetera Fortunae non mea turba 
 
 fuit. quantum satis esset : in plenty ; consecutive subjunctive. 
 
 18. quidem: when a second epithet is added, correcting the first 
 as inadequate, quidem (or more commonly ille quidem) is put with 
 the first. ambitiosa (from ambitus, canvassing for votes) : seek- 
 ing notoriety or influence. ' A house, not obscure, yet not courting 
 grandeur.' A long train of attendant friends and clients was a 
 necessity to one who aspired to social or political distinction. 
 
 19. simul = simul ac. 
 
 20. cauta : the adjective is naturally transferred from the person 
 to the thing symbolic of the feeling. 
 
 22. adflari : to be blasted. 
 
 BOOK I. 11 
 
 I. littera : the singular (= a letter of the alphabet) is here, as in 
 Tr. iii. 7. 2, used for litterae, a letter (epistle). In Tr. v. 3. 26 it is 
 used for litterae, a literary work. Plural words denoting the parts 
 that go to make up a whole, tend to be regarded as singular (e. g. 
 news, gallows), and in time often take a singular form, as litterae (a 
 letter) becomes lettera in Italian and lettre in French. Here we 
 have an anticipation of this later use in Ovid. 
 
 3. haec : object of scribentejn. gelido mense decembri : the 
 rule is that when two adjectives of similar kind qualify a noun, they 
 must be joined by a conjunction. Here they are not of the same 
 kind ; decembri mense forms a single idea ' December', and gelido 
 is descriptive of the combination. Cf. Livy, duae potentissimae et 
 maximae finitimae . . . gentes. 
 
 4. Hadria : strictly speaking the Ionian Sea, not the Adriatic, 
 was the scene of the first stage of Ovid's voyage— from Brundisium 
 to Corinth. 
 
 5. bimarem : the Corinthian Gulf to the North, the Saronic Gulf 
 to the South. 
 
 6. altera : i.e. the 'Cassis' (Tr. i. 10. 9). 
 
 7. quod facerem : subjunctive of reported reason, i.e. not given 
 as Ovid's own, but as it existed in the minds of the personified 
 Cyclades. It would still be subjunctive, even if not dependent upon 
 the accusative and infinitive construction after puto. 
 
 10. fluctibus : see note on Tr. i. 1.34. tantis fluctibus animique
 
 TRISTIA I. n 99 
 
 marisque, ' with such wild unrest in my breast and on the sea'. Cf. 
 Tennyson's 
 
 Calm and deep peace in this wide air, 
 These leaves that redden to the fall ; 
 And in my heart, if calm at all, 
 If any calm, a calm despair. — 'In Mem.' xi. 
 
 1 1-12. stupor : ' a numbness of the senses '. Cf. Tennyson, ' In 
 Mem.' v : 
 
 But, for the unquiet heart and brain, 
 A use in measured language lies ; 
 The sad mechanic exercise, 
 Like dull narcotics, numbing pain. 
 
 ab hac cura : ab denotes source, curd. = studium. 
 
 13. nimbosis ab Haedis : cf. Verg. pluvialibus Haedis. As the 
 ' Kids ' rise in the stormy season (towards the end of Sept.) Ovid re- 
 gards them poetically as causing the storm. Cf. Tennyson, ' Ulysses' : 
 
 Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades 
 Vext the dim sea. 
 
 14. Sterope was one of the Pleiades, whose rising in the first half 
 of May and setting in early November marked the beginning and 
 end of the sailing season. The name Pleiades is probably derived 
 from the Greek nXelv, ' to sail '. 
 
 16. ducebam : cf. Tr. i. 1. 25. qualiacumque : lit. ' of what- 
 soever sort they be ', i. e. poor. 
 
 18. concava : Shakes. 'The . . . vaulting sea refused to drown 
 me '. The picture is that of the wave curling over to break. 
 
 20. Cf. Tr. i. 2. 1 quid enim nisi vota supersimt? inmemor 
 artis : ' it is but too frequently that the passenger has occasion to 
 lament the blind reliance on supernatural aid, which leads an Italian 
 crew to neglect altogether those ordinary means which the wise 
 Governor of the World has placed within their reach ' (Blunt, Ves- 
 tiges of Ancient Manners in Italy). Cf. note on Tr. i. 4. 11-12. 
 
 21. aspexi : cf. note on Tr. i. 2. 23. imago : vision. 
 
 22. dubia mente : irresolute ; he dreads death and yet prays for 
 death. 
 
 23. attigero : a vivid substitute for an if-clause (cf. on Tr. 
 hi. I. 9). 
 
 24. plus habet timoris : has more terrors for me. timorem 
 habere, not to have, i. e. to feel fear, but to cause fear like faciunt 
 metus in 1. 26. So in Greek (x ilv {fyofiov, alrlav, ayava.KTi]cnv, &c.) 
 often = Trapi\eiv. 
 
 25. laboro : I am harassed ; am in trouble. 
 
 27-8. ille : i.e.ensis. haec : i.e.unda. meo sanguine: 
 ablative of instrument, ' by shedding my blood '. 
 
 28. titulum nostrae mortis : the genitive can express any rela- 
 
 H 2
 
 • oo NOTES 
 
 tion in which one noun can stand to another; 'the glory of having 
 caused my death '. Here it is an ' explanatory genitive '. The 
 death of Ovid is the sea's titulus. 
 
 29. pars laeva is the subject, barbara, complement. 
 
 32. Cf. 11. 9-10 tantis animi fluctibus. 
 
 33. candide : the meaning ' kind ' generally suits the Latin word 
 rather than ' frank ' or ' candid '. ' Candid ' in English is mostly 
 used to imply absence of prejudice in favour of the person judged ; 
 in Ovid, absence of prejudice against him. Cf. Tr. v. 3. 25-6, where 
 candore means ' kind appreciation '. Contrast the use of livor 
 (malice) and lividus, in which, as in candidus, colour is typical of 
 moral qualities, and cf. P. iv. 14. 29, 31. 
 
 35. hortis : Ovid had a pleasure garden near Rome (cf. Tr. iv. 
 8. 27) which afforded him the retirement needed for literary work. 
 
 36. lectule : ' a reading couch smaller and no doubt simpler 
 than the bed, but otherwise of much the same construction. Here 
 the Roman of literary habits spent much of his day, especially in 
 the morning, reading and writing ; to this, not to sleep, Horace's 
 adquartam [i.e. horam] iaceo refers ' {Diet, of Antiq). The dimi- 
 nutive form is often, and possibly here, a term of endearment— 
 ' couch of mine '. 
 
 37. indomito : this idea is expanded in Byron's ' Childe Harold's 
 Pilgrimage ' (end of Canto iv) : 
 
 Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean— roll ! 
 Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain ; 
 Man marks the earth with ruin— his control 
 Stops with the shore. . . . thy fields 
 Are not a spoil for him,— thou dost arise 
 And shake him from thee . . . 
 The oak leviathans, whose huge ribs make 
 Their clay creator the vain title take 
 Of lord of thee, and arbiter of war — 
 These are thy toys, and, as the snowy flake, 
 They melt into thy yeast of waves, which mar 
 Alike the Armada's pride, or spoils of Trafalgar. 
 
 39. inproba pugnat : wages relentless war. infirobus denotes 
 persistency sometimes to a good end (labor omnia viticit \ inprobus, 
 Vergil), or more often, as here, to a bad end. ausim : for the 
 subjunctive see note on 1. 7 facerem. It seems to be a subjunctive 
 (or strictly speaking an optative, like sim=siem, cf. Greek f(°")"?") 
 formation from an aorist stem. 
 
 41-2. The meaning is : I confess myself beaten and stop my 
 writing, but let this be the signal for the storm too to cease. 
 modum : limit, end. carminis, sui (from se) : objective geni- 
 tives depending on modum. Notice that, though the two sentences 
 marked by ipse and ilia are put co-ordinately, all the stress comes
 
 TRISTIA III. i ioi 
 
 upon the latter ; we should probably subordinate the former, ' but 
 if I am to put an end to my poem, then at the same time the storm 
 is to put an end to its raging '. Cf. Tr. iii. 3. 25. 
 
 BOOK III. 1 
 
 I. Notice how cleverly Ovid arranges this line so that words 
 which explain, or contrast with, one another are put side by side. 
 Next to iimide comes liber exults, explaining it ; next to exulis 
 comes urbem — a strong contrast, bringing vividly before us the 
 rashness and loneliness of the book. The possession of case- 
 endings, which make the grammatical construction clear, allows 
 Latin more scope than English in the arrangement of words. 
 
 3. neve reformida : a poetical or familiar way of expressing a 
 prohibition, for the correct prose. Construction noli reformidare 
 or tie reformidaveris (aorist subj. as in Greek). 
 
 4. amare : an allusion to the ostensible cause of Ovid's banish- 
 ment — the Ars Amatoria. 
 
 9. inspice . . . videbis : cf. Tr. i. 1. ^ 
 
 10. temporibus : circumstances, plight. 
 
 II. quod: often introduces a clause giving a fact, on which a 
 judgement is pronounced in the principal sentence. Tr. ' as to the 
 fact that ' or simply ' that '. It is worth while to note the develop- 
 ment of this construction. 
 
 (a) illud reprehendo, quod tu cum iuvas : I find fault with this, 
 viz. that you are helping him. 
 
 (6) (with ellipse of illud) reprehendo quod tu eum iuvas. This 
 explains the origin of quod = because. 
 
 (e) quod tic eum iuvas, non facilis est defensio. As to (the fact 
 of) your helping him, it's not easy to find an excuse. Here the quod- 
 clause is used more loosely, without any obvious grammatical con- 
 struction (as subject, object, or in apposition to illud) ; cf.Tr. i. 2. 71. 
 In 1. 1 1 the quod-c\a.\ise. explains hoc in 1. 12 ; so is like example {a). 
 
 clauda . . . versu : are lame and limp with every other verse, 
 i. e. with the shorter pentameter. 
 
 12. pedis : metre, but to keep the play upon words, we must 
 translate ' foot '. Ovid is never weary of the ' conceit ' (as Seneca 
 says of him non ignoravit vitia sua sed ainavit) by which the 
 elegiac couplet is spoken of as a person with legs of unequal length. 
 But when in Am. iii. 1. 8 this malformation is attributed to the 
 beautiful goddess of Elegy, revealed by her myrtle as Venus her- 
 self, and is actually presented by Ovid as an added charm, we feel 
 its absurdity keenly. Cowley, Poetry and Poets, writing of Ovid's 
 Tristia says : ' The cold of the country had stricken through all his 
 faculties and benumbed Ike very feet of his verses '.
 
 102 NOTES 
 
 13. quod : see on 1. 11, construction (c). cedro : see on Tr. i. 
 1. 7. pumice : see on Tr. i. 1. 11. 
 
 14. erubui : with prolative infinitive as a modal verb (= nolui) ; 
 a ' silver Latin ' use. 
 
 15. littera = litterae. Poetae in numeris quasi necessitati ftarere 
 coguntur (in writing verse poets have to submit to a kind of com- 
 pulsion), Cic. Or. 202. Cf. note on Tr. i. 11. 1. suffusas : 
 spreading. 
 
 17. Ovid's fear had no justification in fact. 
 
 19. si non grave : sc. est dicere. 
 
 20. petam : dependent deliberative subjunctive. 
 22. vix fuit unus : with difficulty one was found. 
 24. posse : used as a noun, object of dent. 
 
 26. The stress comes on longinquo and lassus, not on referam. 
 orbe : the world, constantly used for ' part of the world '. So we 
 speak of ' the New World '. 
 
 27. The friendly guide takes the book, starting from the foot of 
 the Capitoline hill, through the Forum, then over the Palatine and 
 round the south side of the Capitoline to the district of the Circus 
 Flaminius. fora Caesaris : the Forum Iulium and the Forum 
 Augusti lay to their left. Each would be a. forum Caesaris, though 
 named after different Caesars. The first, though planned by Julius, 
 had been actually completed by Augustus. The expansion of Rome 
 into a world-empire demanded greater space than the. forum Roma- 
 nian afforded for the adequate provision of public buildings, such as 
 law courts, and in meeting this want the emperors, like other un- 
 constitutional rulers before and since, gladly seized the opportunity 
 of masking the loss of liberty by an outward show of magnificence. 
 
 28. nomen : the Sacra Via ran from the Capitol through the 
 Forum and along the north side of the Palatine. What the sacra 
 were, from which the name is derived, is unknown. 
 
 29. locus Vestae : a group of buildings at the south corner of 
 the Forum, comprising the Aedes Vestae, the Atrium Vestae (the 
 residence of the Vestal Virgins), and the Regia ; see on 30. Pal- 
 lada : the Palladium, the image of Pallas which fell from heaven 
 at Troy; carried off by Ulysses and Diomede, or according to 
 another story, by Aeneas, at the sack of Troy and finally brought to 
 Rome. ignem : it was the duty of the Vestal Virgins to tend the 
 ever-burning fire in Vesta's temple. 
 
 30. regia : see note on 1. 29. In F. vi. 264 Ovid calls it ironically 
 regia magna Nuuiae. As its name implies, it was formerly the 
 official residence of the kings, and then of the Pontifex Maximus 
 who succeeded to their priestly functions. Augustus, however, who 
 had reunited in himself all the old kingly powers, but wished to 
 avoid all connexion with the name rex, gave up the regia for the 
 increased accommodation of the Vestals. In order to comply with 
 the regulation that the residence of the Pontifex Maximus must be
 
 TRISTIA III. i 103 
 
 State property, he had a portion of his palace on the Palatine made 
 over to the State and consecrated. 
 
 31. Here they leave the Sacra Via at the south-east corner of the 
 Forum and ascend the Palatine. porta : the porta Mugionia 
 (named from the lowing, niugire, of the kine as they were driven 
 out to pasture in what was afterwards the Forum), famous as the 
 scene of the repulse of Romulus by the Sabines. To stay the rout, 
 he vowed the temple to Juppiter Stat or. 
 
 32. primum : the original Rome (Roma quadratd) was built 
 entirely on the Palatine. 
 
 33. armis : arms taken in war. 
 
 34. postes : of Augustus's palace. Besides the palace proper, 
 Augustus's buildings on the Palatine comprised a temple erected to 
 his patron-god Apollo (see below 1. 59) and a chapel of Vesta, 
 near whose shrine he, as Pontifex Maximus, was bound to reside. 
 Cf. note on 1. 30. 
 
 35. quod esse : that this was so. 
 
 36. augurium : presage. querna : an oak garland had been 
 voted in perpetuity to Augustus as the saviour of his fellow-citizens. 
 This was hung over the door and suggests the identification of 
 Augustus with Jupiter, to whom the oak was sacred. 
 
 39. lauro : the bay-trees are a symbol of victory. Their dense, 
 evergreen foliage suggests the words velatur and opaca. 
 
 40. augustas ... comas : the sacred foliage, i.e. the oak-wreath, 
 which is seen 'framed in ' (cingit) between the bay-trees. 
 
 41. num : pretends surprise. Like the waiter in ' David Copper- 
 field ' : ' What ! you don't mean to say it's a batter-pudding ! ', when 
 the fact was obvious. 
 
 42. an : introduces another independent question parallel to the 
 last. Num . . . an are not used like utrum . . . an, or -ne . . . an 
 (see next line). Leucadio deo : Apollo, who from his temple in 
 the island of Leucas overlooked and guided the battle of Actium, as 
 Augustus loved to fancy : vincit Roma fide Phoebi (Rome conquers 
 by the faithfulness of Phoebus), Propertius. 
 
 43. an : here introduces the second part of a double disjunctive 
 question, with -ne. 
 
 44. ista : notice how the subject, when a pronoun, is attracted 
 into the gender of the complement. 
 
 46. carpitur : withers ; lit. is picked away bit by bit. Each 
 falling leaf marks a stage in the process of death. 
 
 47. causa : explanation. scripto : inscription. coronae : 
 dative after a compound verb (supcrpositast = superposi/a est). 
 
 48. huius : i. e. Augusti. 
 
 49. unum : of course, Ovid himself. 
 
 51. in quo : in whose case. 
 
 52. causam habet : we should say ' is the cause '. For the state- 
 ment cf. Introduction.
 
 104 NOTES 
 
 53. potentem : sc. loci] i.e. Augustus. 
 
 55. pallere : the paper is not cedroflavus (see 1. 13). Its white- 
 ness, says Ovid, is the paleness of fear ; in the next line the inequality 
 of the hexameter and pentameter shows the tremors of fear. 
 
 57. quandocumque : here indefinite = aliquando, ' one day '. 
 placere : notice the scansion. nostro parenti : felt not only 
 as dative of advantage with placere, but also as dative of the agent 
 (cf. note on Tr. i. 1. 65) with aspiciare. 
 
 58. isdem sub dominis : very emphatic. It implies a second wish, 
 ' may the royal house have suffered no loss by death '. Cf. note on 
 Tr. iii. 12. 43. aspiciare : for this Ovid must be once more in 
 Rome. 
 
 59. tenore pari : pursuing my way. Notice that the first im- 
 pression made by the temple is that of towering height. 
 
 60. intonsi dei : Apollo, who was represented with long, flowing 
 locks {crinitus Apollo, Vergil). 
 
 61. peregrinis : Propertius says Poenis, i.e. of Numidian marble. 
 The dative is one of 'reference' ('alternate to', i.e. alternating 
 with). 
 
 62. Belides : in apposition to signa. A patronymic formed from 
 Belus. Belus, king of Egypt, had two sons, Danaus and Aegyptus. 
 The fifty sons of the latter wished to marry the fifty daughters of 
 Danaus, who had been warned by an oracle that he would be slain 
 by his son-in-law. At last, however, he gave his consent to the 
 marriage, but ordered — sword in hand, as he is represented here — 
 his daughters to kill their husbands on the bridal night. Only one, 
 Hypermnestra — splendide mendax — broke her promise to her father. 
 The story is told with fine feeling by Horace C. iii. 1 1 and with 
 dramatic power by Ovid H. xiv. 
 
 63. The antecedent [ea understood) of the ^rt^-clause is the subject 
 of patent in 1. 64, which is co-ordinated by -que to the 11 ^/-clause in 
 I.61. Ovid is speaking of the library which was attached to the temple 
 of Apollo. docto : we should not regard 'learning' as the most 
 distinctive quality of a poet. But the Romans looked rather to the 
 later Greek writers of Alexandria as their models, and these wrote 
 more in the spirit of professors than of poets. Allusiveness depend- 
 ing for its understanding on recondite knowledge was a characteristic 
 of their style, often imitated by the Latin poets. Doctus, however, 
 came with the growth of Latin poetry to denote culture and poetic 
 taste. cepere (= concepere): 'have imagined'. Cf. P. ii. 7. 16 
 pectore concipio nil nisi triste meo. novi : cf. Tr. iii. 14. 7 vatum 
 stitdiose novorum, probably addressed to the custodian of this 
 library. 
 
 64. pectore : pectus is here the seat of the intellect ; often, as 
 with us, it is the seat of the emotions. 
 
 65. fratres : Ovid's other works. illis : the disastrous ' Art 
 of Love '.
 
 TRISTIA III. i 105 
 
 66. optaret : cf. note on Tr. i. 1. 38. For the metaphor cf. 
 Herrick, ' Upon his Verses ' : 
 
 What offspring other men have got, 
 The how, where, when, I question not. 
 These are the children I have left ; 
 Adopted some, none got by theft. 
 
 67. quaerentem : notice how the narrative is often knit together 
 by a participle summarizing the content of the previous sentence, 
 e. g. Met. iv. 712 umbra viri visa est,visamfera saevit in umbram 
 (of the sea-monster killed by Perseus). This gives the impression 
 of rapidity. Cf. Tr. iii. 9. 19. 
 
 68. loco: dative with praepositus. 
 
 69. The book leaves the Palatine at its north-west corner by the 
 Scala Caci and passes round the south end of the Capitol, a little 
 beyond which was the theatre of Marcellus (begun by Julius, finished 
 by Augustus, and named by him after his nephew). The 'second 
 group of temples ' are probably those of Iuppiter Stator and Iuno 
 Regina, which, with the ' Library of Octavia' alluded to by Ovid 
 here, formed part of a mass of buildings called ' Opera Octaviae ' 
 in honour of Augustus's sister. 
 
 71. The first public library in Rome was that founded by Asinius 
 Pollio (39 B.C.J in the Atrium Libertatis on Mount Aventine. 
 
 7^. genus : offspring, i. e. Ovid's works. auctoris : not 
 
 'author' in a general sense {script or), but 'originator of, or 
 ' authority for' some particular thing in question. Here the mean- 
 ing is pointed by genus. Tr. ' father'. The genitive is felt as going 
 with both genus and fortuna. fortuna : ill-fortune, here. 
 
 74. The second line of the couplet repeats the meaning of the 
 first, as so often in Ovid — a useful point to bear in mind. 
 
 JJ, atque adeo : adds something with such emphasis that what 
 precedes seems unimportant and negligible. So the di are dismissed 
 with neque enim miiii turba roganda est. Tr. 'and above all', or 
 ' nay rather '. 
 
 79. statio publica : i. e. in the public libraries. 
 
 80. privato : every person of fashion at this time had a library 
 for study or for show. delituisse : the perfect expresses the hurry 
 of the book to get under shelter. liceat : like si /as est below, 
 hints at the possibility of his being forbidden the city altogether. 
 
 82. plebeiae : of common folk, as opposed to Ovid's powerful 
 acquaintances.
 
 io6 NOTES 
 
 BOOK III. 3 
 
 1. Haec mea : grammatically in the quare-clause, but put first, 
 as the natural order is : the letter— the surprise — the explanation. 
 
 2. eram : in letters the imperfect is often used to suit the time at 
 which the letter is read, when we should use the present to suit the 
 time of writing, and is hence called ' epistolary '. 
 
 4. incertus salutis : cf. dubius vitae inl. 25. These genitives of 
 ' respect ' depend upon the noun-idea in the adjective, ' having no 
 certainty of life '. In prose their use is very much limited, but poets 
 love to disregard the rules of prose. 
 
 5. quem animum: accusative subject of esse after putes (hypo- 
 thetical subj.). iacenti : notice the special meanings of iacere ; 
 here, to lie sick ; in H. iii. 106 qui bene pro patria cum patriaquc 
 iacent, to be dead ; in F. i. 218 pauper ubique iacet, to be spurned 
 under foot, to be despised. 
 
 7. caelum patior : stand the climate. istis : expresses con- 
 tempt and dislike, adsuescere regularly takes an ablative of respect. 
 Notice the variation between 1st person singular and 1st person 
 plural. Cf. below, 11. 23-8. 
 
 8. nescio quo : remember the difference between nescio quis 
 venerit and nescio quis venit. 
 
 10. Apollinea arte : medicine. As Apollo could deal death 
 with his shafts, so he could heal. He was the father of Aesculapius, 
 the patron of doctors. 
 
 14. subit : sc. mentem. The subject is quicquid abest. ad- 
 fecto : sick. From a neutral (e.g. you can equally say adficior 
 praemio and adficior poena), the word came to have a bad sense ; 
 as in English, ' his health was affected by the climate '. 
 
 15. omnia . . . omnia: notice the emphatic order. cum: 
 meaning 'since' or 'although' takes "the subj. with any tense; 
 meaning ' when ', only with impf. and plupf. 
 
 16. parte: share, with plus. 
 
 19. aliena locutum : spoke wild words (in my delirium). sic: 
 explained by the ^/-clause, bears the main stress. It narrows down 
 the ravings to the one subject of his wife : ' they say that I in my 
 delirium had your name ever on my raving tongue '. 
 
 21. crasso : s.wollen. 
 
 23. nuntiet : jussive subj. used as a conditional clause; 'let one 
 announce that the mistress of my heart has come'= if some one 
 announces. Cf. Tr. iii. 1. 9 inspice . . . videbis and iii. 8. 16 det 
 reditum, protinus ales eris (let Augustus but grant your return, and 
 straightway you will have wings). Notice the double use of the 
 jussive subj. ; e.g. nuntiet can mean (1) he is to announce, (2) you 
 are to suppose him to announce (as here). 
 
 24. tui : from ///.
 
 TRISTIA III. 3 107 
 
 25. ergo : often used to express surprise or indignation at a con- 
 clusion forced upon the speaker that he is being treated in a way 
 he did not expect ; cf. Tr. iii. 10. 77. ego . . . tu : co-ordinate 
 
 (as in Greek with ntv and S«), while we should make the first 
 sentence subordinate, ' So, while I am, &c, you, &c.'. 
 
 27. liquet hoc : impersonal verbs often have a neuter pronoun 
 as the subject. 
 
 28. tibi : dative of the agent; cf. note on Tr. i. 1. 65. 
 
 29. inplevit : has completed the full tale of my destined (guos 
 debuit) years. debuit : sc. inplere. 
 
 31. erat : the imperfect indicative (of 'neglected duty ') is used 
 to express what is not but might or ought to have been ; the past 
 tense implies that the hoped-for result is not being realized. (Com- 
 pare the use of the imperfect subj. to express an unfulfilled condition 
 in present time.) Note that debebam or poteram facerc implies 'but 
 I am not doing it' ; debut or potui facere implies 'but I have not 
 done it '. The force of the tense is given in Spenser's ' Now is 
 time to die, nay, time was long ygoe ' ; and Morris's 
 
 Too late to fear, it was too late, the hour 
 I left the grey cliffs and the beechen bower. 
 
 Translate ' How great (ironical) a boon it would have been' (i.e. it 
 is no great boon). magni : gives more point to the irony. 
 
 23- fuisset : past jussive. As the present subj. can denote that 
 something is to be done, so the past tenses can denote that some- 
 thing was to be, or ought to have been done. The meaning is : my 
 punishment should have come later or my death earlier ; in either 
 case I should have died at Rome. 
 
 35. integer : i.e. before the blow fell upon me, explained further 
 by nuper. bene : emphatic. lucem : notice how to Romans 
 (and Greeks) life meant primarily the sensuous enjoyment of the 
 light and warmth of the sun. Editus in lucem — born ; luce 
 carens = dead. Cf. Gray's ' Elegy ' : 
 
 For who . . . e'er . . . left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, 
 Nor cast one longing lingering look behind ? 
 
 36. exul : note its emphatic position (like that of integer). 
 nunc : as it is. 
 
 38. ipso loco : abl. of instrument. ipso : i.e. apart from all 
 else that makes death bitter. 
 
 39-44. The death-bed scenes are: the gradual sinking— hope 
 abandoned— the weeping and praying wife— the dying man's last 
 wishes— the cry (conclamatid) at the moment of death— the closing 
 of the eyes of the corpse. 
 
 39. corpora : plural simply owing lo metrical convenience. 
 
 40. depositum : depone re est desperare, u/ide el ( = this is why)
 
 io8 NOTES 
 
 depositi desperati dicuntur (Nonius), deponere is also used of 
 taking a person who has just died out of bed and laying him on the 
 ground to be washed with hot water, perhaps in the hope of restor- 
 ing life (Becker, Gallus). But it would be awkward to go back 
 after this to nee mandata dado. 
 
 41. The stress of the sentence falls on the abl. abs. Cf. Tr 
 iii. 1. 58, note on isdem sub dominis. 
 
 43. clamore : the assembled relatives conclamabant, called the 
 dead by name, in case death should be apparent merely. 
 
 45. funeribus : the plural gives the idea of the exsequiae funeris, 
 the elaborate arrangements for the funeral rites of a person of dis- 
 tinction. Cf. Shakes. J. C. ' His funerals shall not be in our camp '. 
 
 46. indeploratum : ' unwept ' by the hired mourners (praejicae) 
 who accompanied the funeral procession. sepulcri : gen. of 
 definition. 
 
 47. ecquid : will you, I wonder, &c. 
 
 49. has partes : i.e. Tomis. 
 
 50. inane : ' lifeless ' is transferred from the person to his name. 
 We might translate 'the name of your unhappy husband— no',v 
 a lifeless corpse '. 
 
 51. parce: a common poetic equivalent of noli in prohibitions, 
 nee scinde = neve scideris; cf. on Tr. iii. 1. 3. 
 
 53. Loss of civic rights was often spoken of in terms of actual 
 death ; cf. capitis damnatus, and Tr. i. 4. 28. 
 
 56. finitis mini malis : at the ending of my griefs. For niihi cf. 
 tibi in 1. 28. The participle bears the stress of the meaning, as in 
 occisus Caesar piilcherrimum facinns videbatur, the murder of 
 Caesar, &c. Cf. note on P. iii. 3. 19. 
 
 57. quod : refers to the whole of the following sentence : 'What 
 you can do ', &c. Cf. Burns : 
 
 All I can — I weep and pray 
 For his weal that's far away. 
 
 58. ad quae: with non rude. Cf. P. iii. 7. 18 ad mala iam- 
 pridem non sumus ulla rudes. Note the constructions with rudis 
 rudis rei militaris, rudis in republica, Ennius . . . arte rudis (a rare 
 construction). 
 
 62. Samii : Pythagoras, who was born in Samos, but taught at 
 Crotona in Italy, held the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. 
 rata : true. 
 
 63. Sarmaticas Romana (sc. umbra) : set side by side to 
 emphasize the contrast. inter . . . per : inter, set in the midst of 
 and so contrasting with ; per, passing from one to the other and 
 finding all strange. Note that the spirit, though vacua volat in 
 aura, is yet doomed to haunt the place of its tomb. 
 
 65. referantur : jussive subj. semi-dependent on facito. 
 
 66. etiam : still, with exul ero.
 
 TRISTIA III. 3, 4 ro 9 
 
 67-S. Note the antithesis : )ion vetat hoc quisquam )( rege 
 vetante\ fratrem )( but your husband (implied). Thebana : 
 
 Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, gave her dead brother Polynices 
 burial, in spite of the prohibition of Creon, king of Thebes. 
 
 69. ea : i. e. ossa. foliis : of the spikenard. 
 
 70. suburbano : burials took place along the roads leading from 
 the city. condita : aor. partic. '(place) in hiding', or perf. 
 partic. ' after collecting them '. 
 
 71. viator: a sepulchral inscription found in Gaul expressly 
 states that the corpse was buried near the road in order that 
 passers-by might say ' Titus Lollius, good day ! '. 
 
 72. tituli : epitaph ; hence our ' title '. 
 
 73. lusor : Ovid often uses ludere in the sense ' to write love- 
 poetry ' ; cf. Tr. iii. 1. 7. 
 
 75. The order is natural; quisquis amasti refers grammatically 
 to tibi, but is suggested by ne sit grave. 
 
 76. Roman sepulchral inscriptions often end with the letters 
 S. T. T. L. = sit tibi terra, levis. 
 
 78. diuturna : so Horace says of his poems, exegimonwnentwn aere 
 peretinius (I have completed a monument more lasting than brass). 
 
 79. quamvis : in the poets the feeling for the precise meaning of 
 quamvis (= as much as you like, with a jussive subjunctive) is 
 lost, and it is often used instead of quamquam with an indicative, 
 quos : subject of the ace. and infin. construction depending on con- 
 fido. Tr. ' which will, I trust ', &c. 
 
 81. exstincto : sew////. feralia : on Feb. 21st posito pasci- 
 tur umbra cibo, F. ii. 566. 
 
 82. de : with umida. de marking the cause is a poetical use 
 borrowed from the language of everyday life. 
 
 84. Cf. Gray's ' Elegy ' : 
 
 E'en from the tomb the voice of nature cries, 
 E'en in our ashes live their wonted fires. 
 
 85. libet: fain would I. Zibet, I have a fancy to; placet, I am 
 resolved to. 
 
 87. forsitan : closely with supremo. 
 
 88. vale: used as an indeclinable neuter noun, object of accifte. 
 There is a play on the twofold meaning of valere, in its ordinary 
 sense and in the special sense of the imperative. ' Receive my 
 farewell greeting, from one who himself does not know what 
 welfare is.' 
 
 BOOK III. 4 
 
 1. sed : see on Tr. iii. 11. 15. 
 
 2. cognite : cf. Ennius, amicus certus in re incerta cernitur. 
 
 3. usibus : by experience. quicquam : because hard to 
 believe. Cf. R. L. P. § 323.
 
 no NOTES 
 
 7-8. Power begets the will to harm rather than to help. Shakes. 
 Measure for Measure : 
 
 Oh ! 'tis excellent 
 To have a giant's strength, but it is tyrannous 
 To use it like a giant ; 
 and Tennyson : 
 
 They killed but for their pleasure and the power 
 They felt in killing. 
 
 potius : sc. quam obsit. 
 
 10. parvis: i.e. reefed. habent: give cause for. Cf.Southwell: 
 
 Sith sails of largest size 
 
 The storm doth soonest tear ; 
 I bear so low and small a sail 
 As freeth me from fear. 
 11-12. The cork floats, but the leaden weight sinks itself and 
 carries down the net to which it is attached. 
 
 13. haec : the ace. of ' the thing ' kept with the passive of verbs 
 which take a double accusative. It is also felt as object of the 
 verbal notion in monitor, though Ovid could not have used it with 
 this alone, as Plautus might have done {iusta orator, Plaut. Rudens). 
 
 14. debebam : sc. esse. Cf. note on Tr. iii. 3. 31. 
 
 15-16. vixi . . . ferebat . . . cucurrit : notice change of tense, 
 apparently for no purpose but that of metrical convenience or the 
 love of variety, which is a mark of post-Ciceronian Latin. The 
 time covered is the same in each case. The difference is that the 
 aorists give the sum total of a number of experiences, while the 
 imperfect lays stress upon the various items which make up the 
 total. For the common poetical picture of life as a voyage 
 (' Nature's fragile vessel ... In life's uncertain voyage ', Timon 
 of Athens v. I ) cf. Richard IPs life-voyage in Gray's ' Bard' : 
 
 Proudly riding o'er the azure realm 
 In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes; 
 
 Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm ; 
 Regardless of the sweeping whirlwind's sway,_ 
 That hushed in grim repose expects his evening prey. 
 
 Cf. note on Tr. i. 5. 17. 
 
 17. Cf. Spenser, ' Shepheards Calender', July : 
 
 Ah ! God shield, man, that I should clime, 
 
 And learne to looke alofte ; 
 This rede (= proverb) is rife, that oftentime 
 
 Great clymbers fall unsoft. 
 In humble dales is footing fast (= firm), 
 
 The trode (=path) is not so tickle (= uncertain), 
 And though one fall through heedless hast, 
 
 Yet is his misse not mickle (= much).
 
 TRISTIA III. 4, 7 nt 
 
 19. Elpenor, one of the companions of Ulysses. He was killed 
 by a fall from the roof of Circe's house, when suddenly awakened 
 from a drunken slumber. His shade was the first to great Ulysses 
 in Hades, when he begged his king to return and give his body 
 proper burial. 
 
 2 1 . quid fait ut : why was it that . . . ? tutas : is the emphatic 
 word. Daedalus was the famous artificer of Minos, king of Crete, 
 for whom he designed the Labyrinth. Wishing to escape from 
 Crete, he made wings for himself and his son Icarus, but Icarus, 
 flying too near the sun, melted the wax which bound the wings to 
 his body and fell into the sea, which was thenceforth named 
 after him. 
 
 22. signet: present, because the sea still bore the name 
 ' Icarian '. 
 
 24. non : with suas. 
 
 25-6. Cf. : Happy he 
 
 Who, to sweet home retired, 
 Shuns glory so admired 
 And to himself lives free ! 
 Whilst he who strives, with pride, to climb the skies, 
 Falls down, with foul disgrace, before he rise ! — (Anon.) 
 
 BOOK III. 7 
 
 1. perarata : written, literally 'ploughed'. This is one of a 
 large group of metaphors which originated in the primitive agricul- 
 tural stage of the Romans. 
 
 Perillam : unknown. She was formerly thought to be Ovid's 
 daughter (cf. Tr. iv. 10. 75), but there is nothing to suggest this in 
 the poem, and the expression ut pater in 1. 18 is clearly against it. 
 A charming Pompeian wall-painting of a girl with a stilus piessed 
 against her lips, evidently in the act of composition, can supply us, 
 if we wish, with an ideal portrait of Perilla. 
 
 2. littera : cf. note on Tr. i. 11. 1. 
 
 4. Pieridas suas : the Muses that she loves, i. e. books of poetry. 
 The Muses are identified with the poetry they have inspired, -que 
 (cf. 1. 14) adds an explanation of iibros. 
 
 6. nee mora : and at once ; a compressed sentence, used as an 
 adverb. quid agam : how I am. 
 
 8. levata : sc. esse. 
 
 10. pedes : measures. 
 
 11. studiis : i.e. poetry, as the next line shows. com- 
 munibus : sc. tibi mecum. 
 
 12. docta : see on Tr. iii. 1. 63. nunc patrio : now Roman. 
 Horace had naturalized Creek lyric metres at Rome, especially
 
 1 1 2 NOTES 
 
 those connected with the names of Alcaeus and Sappho, the latter 
 of whom apparently (1. 20) Perilla imitates. The reading noti 
 patrio would mean ' un-Roman ', i. e. Greek, but Ovid's mention of 
 Horace's Ausonia lyra in Tr. iv. 10. 50 gives much more point to 
 the reading nunc. 
 
 13. cum fatis : with natura ; = natura et fata. 
 
 Nature doth strive with Fortune and his stars 
 
 To make him famous in accomplishments. — Marlowe. 
 
 Or, comparing Tr. i. 6. 24, cumque 7iova mores sunt tibi luce 
 dati (goodness was bestowed upon you at your birth), we may take 
 cum as temporal : at the time the fates were spinning the thread of 
 your destiny, i.e. cum nova luce, at your birth. 
 
 15. Pegasidas . . . undas : i.e. the waters of Hippocrene, a 
 fountain on Mount Helicon in Boeotia, which sprang from the 
 hoof-print of Pegasus. It was the haunt of the Muses, and so 
 regarded as the source of poetic inspiration. 
 
 16. male: either with periret, or, as its position suggests, with 
 fecundae. male fecundae would then be proleptic ; ' lest the vein 
 
 of water should perish and be wasted '. For the metaphor cf. Tr. 
 iii. I4.33-4: 
 
 ingenium fregere maim mala, cuius et ante 
 fans infecundus parvaque vena fuit. 
 
 (My woes have crushed my genius, whose source even ere that was 
 scanty, and niggardly its flow.) There is an awkwardness in this 
 close connexion (in 11. 15 and 16) of two metaphors, both taken from 
 water, but denoting different operations. In I. 15 her talent is taken 
 to Hippocrene apparently to drink of the inspiring stream ; it is not 
 yet regarded as a rill, which would not be diverted to a fountain. In 
 1. 16 her talent becomes a rill which needs to be reinforced. 
 
 17. id : i.e. ingenium. 
 
 19. ignes: cf. Gray's 'Elegy' 'Some heart once pregnant with 
 celestial fire '. 
 
 20. Lesbia vates : Sappho ; see on 1. 12. In any case it would 
 be a natural compliment to compare Perilla with the supreme 
 representative of women-poets in the ancient world. 
 
 22. iners : an adjective ending the pentameter ; but it bears the 
 stress of the predicate and needs an emphatic position. 
 
 23. dum licuit : i. e. in the happy days, before my exile ; for the 
 tense see on Tr. iii. 4. 15-16. tua . . . mihi: sc. legebas. 
 
 26. ubi cessares: subj. of indefinite frequency in past time, 
 a use imitated from the Greek optative. The reading cessaras 
 (plupf. indie.) gives the 'golden' Latin usage : cf. note on Tr. i. 2. 23. 
 causa ruboris : i. e. by my reproof of your idleness. 
 
 28. poenae meae : with exemplo ; already anticipated in me 
 laesere, so that the order is not so unnatural as it might seem, 
 soluta : remiss, idle.
 
 TRISTIA III. 7 113 
 
 29-30. You have nothing to fear, if only you avoid love-poetry. 
 a scriptis : source, not instrument ; there is sometimes but little 
 difference in the meaning. 
 
 32. bonas artes : i. e. industry. sacra : song was an act of 
 
 worship to Apollo and the Muses. The poet is a sacerdos. Cf. Tr. 
 iv. 1. 24, 10. 19. 
 
 34. antiqua : time-worn. 
 
 35. iniciet manum : a legal phrase for forcible claim, as allowed 
 in the case of runaway slaves. damnosa : cf. Shakes. Sonnets 
 15 ' wasteful time ' ; and H. V, v. 2 ' Old age, that ill layer-up of 
 beauty, can do no more spoil upon my face '. 
 
 36. strepitum : cf. Shakes. All's Well v. 3 ' the inaudible and 
 noiseless foot of time '. 
 
 37. fuit: i.e. is no longer. Byron, ' The dreary "fuimus" of all 
 things human '. 
 
 40. censibus : the censors assessed each person's property for 
 taxation and voting purposes, so census= income. esse : sc. opes 
 as subject. 
 
 41. nerape : why, introducing something universally admitted. 
 
 42. Irus, Croesus : types of the beggar and the rich man 
 respectively. Irus was the braggart beggar-man in Ulysses' palace ; 
 Croesus, king of Lydia, overthrown by Cyrus, was the stock example 
 of fortune's fickleness. The use of concrete instances for the 
 general or abstract gives distinctness to the impression conveyed. 
 Cf. Shakes. 'A Daniel come to judgement!'; Pope, 'And Nero 
 reigns a Titus, if he will' (types of tyranny and good government). 
 
 43. singula ne referam : i.e. to spare further instances of 
 changes of fortune (I state this general truth). Cf. Spenser, 
 Sonnets 79 : 
 
 . . . the trew fayre, that is the gentle wit 
 And vertuous mind . . . onely that is permanent and free 
 From frayle corruption, that doth flesh ensew ; 
 
 and Cockayne : 
 
 Beauty will fade and ruins leave behind ; 
 Give me the lasting beauty of the mind ! 
 
 Shirley 
 
 Only the actions of the just 
 
 Smell sweet, and blossom, in their dust. 
 
 44. bonis : substantive. 
 
 45. vobis : i.e. you and my other friends at Rome. 
 
 47. ingenio : goes with both the verbs. comitor : here 
 
 passive. We are reminded of Milton, P. L. i. 255 : 
 
 The mind is its own place, and in itself 
 
 Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n, 
 
 spoken by Satan, but true. Cf. note on Tr. iv. 1. 41. 
 
 1069-1 1
 
 ii 4 NOTES 
 
 52. Martia: the city of the War-god. Cf. Spenser, 'The Ruines 
 of Rome ' : 
 
 So did that haughtie front, which heaped was 
 On these Seven Romane Hils, itselfe upreare 
 Over the world. 
 
 53. maneat: a wish. studii: your devotion to poetry. 
 
 54. qua potes : i.e. by your poetry. usque: with effuge. 
 Contrast Beddoes : 
 
 We must all sink, 
 Still grasping the thin air, with frantic pain 
 Grappling with Fame to buoy us. Can we think 
 Eternity, by whom swift Time is slain, 
 And dragged along to dark destruction's brink, 
 Shall be the echo of man's puny words ? 
 Or that our grovelling thoughts shall e'er be writ 
 In never-fading stars ? 
 
 BOOK III. 9 
 
 1. inpia : pointed by being placed next to desertum (pare/item). 
 The natural loving relation between children and parent was 
 expressed by fiietas. In 1. 26 soror fratris coming together 
 emphasizes the natural tie, and so the horror of the crime. Cf. 
 note on Tr. iii. 1. 1. parentem : Aeetes, king of Colchis, east 
 of the Black Sea. 
 
 2. his vadis : the sea near Tomi. 
 
 4. hospes : Medea. nosco, &c. : I recognize sails in pursuit 
 from Colchis. Mr. Owen's reading (venit for sequi) makes hospes 
 (i. e. Aeetes) nominative and nosco vela an interjected explanation : 
 ' I recognize his sails '. 
 
 5-6. Minyae : the Argonauts, many of whom were descended 
 from Minyas, king of Thessaly. aggere : the ship was moored 
 by a cable to the bank {agger), and kept steady by an anchor let 
 down from the prow. sequitur : is passed swiftly from hand to 
 hand. 
 
 7. meritorum : here, of course, in a bad sense. Colchis : 
 nora. ; i. e. Medea. 
 
 8. ausura : the murders of Pelias, of Creon, king of Corinth, 
 and his daughter Glauce, and of Medea's own children were still 
 to come. 
 
 9. superest : here ' abounds '. In Tr. iii. 10. 2 ' survives '. 
 
 13. vultus: her gaze ; expressive of purpose (vultus is connected 
 with void). 
 
 14. lumina flexa tulit : bent her roving eyes.
 
 TRISTIA III. 9, to 115 
 
 15. vicimus: note the perfect. The victory is already won. 
 There is not a moment's faltering in her horrible purpose. 
 
 17. ignari . .. timentis : sc. fratris. Dependent on I at us, but 
 comes first in the order of ideas ; the child's trustful innocence — 
 then the treacherous stab. Bring this out in translation. 
 
 18. rigido : has an accessory idea of 'ruthless', emphasized by 
 innocuum. 
 
 19. ita : then, a natural development from 'so'. Cf. Shakes. 
 M. N.D.I, i. 245 : 
 
 And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt, 
 So he dissolved. 
 
 divellit, divulsa : cf. note on Tr. iii. 1. 67. Crashaw, 'Music's 
 Duel ', * She fails, and failing grieves, and grieving dies '. 
 
 20. invenienda : bears the stress. The need — so obvious to the 
 ancient mind— of funeral rites will ensure her time for escape. 
 
 23. novo : i. e. in addition to Medea's desertion of him. 
 
 24. dum legit : notice pres. indie, even though the clause forms 
 part of Medea's purpose. 
 
 25. Tomis : supposed by Ovid to be derived from the Greek 
 rout], ' a cut '. The more usual form of the name is Tomi. 
 
 BOOK III. 10 
 
 I. istic : i.e. in Rome. 
 
 3. subpositum : agrees with me, subject of the infinitive vivere. 
 stellis : R. L. P. § 220. In reality the North Star would be only 
 about two degrees higher overhead at Tomi than at Rome ; 
 but the average temperature for January at Rome is 45^° F. 
 numquam, &c. : cf. note on Tr. i. 2. 29. 
 
 5. Sauromatae: in modern Poland and Russia. Bessi, 
 Getae : in Thrace. 
 
 6. quam non . . . digna : take together. 
 
 7. medio : flowing between. 
 
 8. liquidis : emphatic = when unfrozen. In poetry adjectives 
 (especially participles) often take the place of clauses. 
 
 9. tristis . . . ora : 
 
 A wrinkled crabbed man they picture thee, 
 Old Winter. — Southey. 
 
 10. marmoreo : suggests the ideas of hardness and whiteness. 
 
 II. parat : singular, in agreement with the nearest of its subjects. 
 habitare: to make their home. 
 
 12. tremente: shivering; transferred poetically from the in- 
 habitants to the pole itself. Cf. fiulvis caecus, blinding dust ; 
 
 1 2
 
 mm NOTES 
 
 ' a giddy height ', &c. So Shakes, calls a heavy tax ' a trembling 
 contribution '. premi : i. e. lie underneath. 
 
 13. iaceo stands to iacio as pateo to pando (from pat-no) , i. e. as 
 a sort of passive. 
 
 15-16. prior, altera, bima : sc. nix. Compare the lines at the 
 head of this letter. 
 
 19. arcent: subject 'they' indefinite, mala: bitter. bracis: 
 a Celtic word connected with Eng. 'breeches', Scotch ' breeks '. 
 Trousers were worn by all the nations lying round the Greek and 
 Roman world. It was a sensible form of dress for cold climates, and 
 by Trajan's time had been adopted for the Roman soldiers serving 
 abroad. (See the cast of Trajan's column in the South Kensington 
 Museum.) But in Ovid's time it was still a mark of barbarism. 
 
 22. Candida: complement. 
 
 23. nuda : i. e. not contained in a jar. consistent : stand in 
 a solid mass. 
 
 24. nee . . . bibunt : = et bibunt Hon hausta sed data frusta inert. 
 Hausta and data both agree with frusta, but only data is strictly 
 correct. Out of frusta we must understand a noun (like ' portions') 
 which would be applicable to hausta. Lit., ' they drink (their 
 portions of wine) not drawn but handed lumps of wine'. Notice 
 how the force of nee is divided, the conjunctive part joining the 
 whole sentence ; the negative part modifying closely the one word 
 hausta. So in Met. iv. Sj neve sit err an du in . . . conveniant ad 
 busta Nini = and, that they may not have to wander, they are to 
 meet at Ninus's tomb. Cf. et, ne in Tr. iv. 6. 12. 
 
 25. ut: think out carefully what kind of clause ut introduces 
 here. — Cf. Cotton : 
 
 With bleak and with congealing winds 
 The earth in shining chains he binds. 
 
 26. lacu : probably = cistern here. fragiles, effodiantur : go 
 strangely with aquae, which Ovid uses to emphasize the (to him) 
 unnatural conditions of the place. You ought to draw, not dig, 
 liquid, not brittle, water from a cistern. 
 
 27. ipse : track the nominative on the other side of the qui- 
 clause. papyrifero amne : the Nile. 
 
 28. multa per ora : cf. Tr. ii. 189 septemplicis Histri. 
 
 29. Thomson : 
 
 Winter ... the grim tyrant . . . 
 
 Here arms his winds with all-subduing frost. 
 
 31. ierant : pluperfect instead of ibant, used to go, because Ovid 
 has in his mind the time previous to that of the freezing ; which is 
 
 itself past. 
 
 33. novos pontes : another of the innumerable aspects under 
 which Ovid regards ice. novos : strange. subter . . . undis :
 
 TRISTIA III. 10 117 
 
 not an unusual thing with bridges, but it is a strange bridge to be 
 on and to feel that the river is running underneath. The word 
 novos justifies this addition. 
 
 35. credar = mihi c redetur. R. L. P. § 302. A lax use borrowed 
 from the language of everyday life. The freer Greek syntax 
 {■7n(TT(v6!]croixni) no doubt exercised an influence on such construc- 
 tions. Horace has imperor, invideor. Note that credor fecisse = 
 creditor me fecisse is quite allowable in Latin prose. See on 1. 37. 
 
 35-6. The meaning is : — I have nothing to gain by falsehood. 
 
 36. ratam : calculated ; so, undoubted, established. fidem : 
 credit. Look up in Diet. 
 
 37. glacie : abl. of means. pontum : sea-water freezes at a 
 lower temperature than fresh water. The cold necessary to effect 
 this would be hard for a Roman to realize ; hence 11. 35-6. Cf. 
 Shakes. Oth. iii. 3 : 
 
 Like to the Pontic sea, 
 Whose icy current and compulsive course 
 Ne'er feels retiring ebb. 
 
 38. lubrica testa : a slippery crust (of ice). Cf. an epigram by 
 Germanicus Caesar on a boy, who was decapitated by ice on the 
 Danube, abscidit hen I tenerum lubrica testa caput. 
 
 40. non udo : the emphatic words. 
 
 42. angustae aquae: the Hellespont. crimen angustae 
 aquae : a reproach against, &c. For the genitive cf. R. L. P. § 261. 
 Leander of Abydos was drowned in swimming across the Hellespont 
 to visit his lady-love Hero of Sestos. Byron, 'Bride of Abydos', 
 Canto ii. 1 : 
 
 The winds are high on Helle's wave, 
 
 As on that night of stormy water 
 When Love, who sent, forgot to save 
 The young, the beautiful, the brave, 
 The lonely hope of Sestos' daughter. 
 
 43. pandi : with arching backs. So Fasti iii. 749, pandus asellus, 
 
 where the back is bent downwards with Silenus's weight. Milton, 
 P. L. vii. 410 ' Bended dolphins '. 
 
 44. dura : unyielding ; the epithet properly belonging to the ice 
 is applied to winter. Cf. note on I. 12. 
 
 45. quamvis . . . insonet : however much Boreas raves. Here 
 quamvis has its proper meaning and construction. alis : the 
 winds are naturally represented in art with wings, as on the ' Tower 
 of the Winds ' at Athens. Cf. Milton, P. L. xi. 738 : 
 
 Meanwhile the south wind rose, and with black wings 
 Wide-hovering, &c. 
 
 46. obsesso : explains why there is no wave. 
 
 51-2. Whether the sea itself (1. 51) or only the river (1. 52) is
 
 1 1 8 NOTES 
 
 frozen over, a road is there for the invader. The freezing of the 
 sea — the less likely possibility — is dismissed in 1. 51, and Ovid pro- 
 ceeds to describe what happens on the normal freezing of the river, 
 redundatas : p. p. p. from an intransitive verb. Ovid chooses to 
 represent the action as something done to the waters. So Shake- 
 speare has ' paled cheeks ', ' his pined cheek '. Cf. cessat, ' lies idle ', 
 in 1. 70 with F. iv. 617 cessatis iti arvis, ' in the fields made to lie 
 idle '. A bold variation from the common usage of syntax is one 
 mark of poetry ; 
 
 Pegasus, a nearer way to take, 
 May boldly deviate from the common track. — 
 
 Pope, ' Essay on Criticism '. 
 
 flumine : in F. vi. 402 amne redundatas means ' overflowing from 
 the river'. Here there is no notion of a flooded country around, 
 and the words seem to mean ' borne in full flood by the river'. 
 
 57. alii: some, corresponds to pars in 1. 61 and 1. 63. The in- 
 habitants are either fugitive, captured, or slain. 
 
 64. tinctile : adjectives in -His from the p. p. p. of verbs have 
 usually the meaning of a p. p. p., e. g. textilis, ' woven '. Here, 
 tinctile is used in a loose sense with virus, ' poison in which the 
 arrows have been dipped '. 
 
 65. ferre: of property which needs carrying. abducere: of 
 cattle which need to be driven off. Greek <j>ef>civ ko.\ iiyeiv. 
 
 67-8. The meaning is repeated in 11. 69-70. An acquaintance 
 with Ovid's habit of repeating an idea in different words, will often 
 help a beginner to make out his sense. 
 
 70. The ground lies idle and useless with a hard crust of neglect 
 (from want of cultivation), situs = (1) the 'lie' of a place, (2) a 
 lying idle, (3) the outward or inward effect of neglect, mouldiness or 
 dullness. 
 
 72. fervida : foaming. Vergil uses fervere of a tempestuous sea. 
 The verb is also used of the fermentation of wine ; but this did not 
 take place until the must had been removed from the vats {lacus), 
 Into which the grape-juice was pressed. 
 
 73. negat : we also use ' deny ' in the sense of ' refuse '. 
 
 74. verba legenda : this refers to the trick by which Acontius, 
 a youth of Ceos, won the Athenian girl, Cydippe, for his wife. At 
 the festival of Diana at Delos he put an apple in her way, on which 
 he had written, ' I swear by Diana to marry Acontius'. She read 
 the words aloud, and the goddess held her to the oath she had 
 unwittingly taken. hie = at Tomi. 
 
 77. ergo : an indignant remonstrance against destiny, the 
 assumption of whose unfairness is the premiss on which the con- 
 clusion introduced by ergo is based. Notice ergo here, though ergo 
 Tr. i. 1. 57.
 
 TRISTTA III. Ti ng 
 
 BOOK III ii. 
 
 1. Siquis: cf. noteon Tr. i. 6. 13. inprobe : insatiate, relentless. 
 
 2. renin agere, to accuse ; reutn fteragere, to carry the accusation 
 through so as to secure a conviction. dempto fine = sine fine. 
 
 3-4. Shakes. M. of V. ' rough hearts of flint'; cf. Arthur's dying 
 words in K.John 'Ah me! my uncle's spirit is in these stones'. 
 In Macaulay, Romulus and Remus were suckled on the 'ravening 
 she-wolf's ' 
 
 own fierce milk 
 
 Rich with raw flesh and gore. 
 Daniel : 
 
 Restore thy fierce and cruel mind 
 
 To Hyrcan tigers and to ruthless bears ; 
 
 Yield to the marble thy hard heart again. 
 
 The comparison of human cruelty to the relentlessness of nature is 
 one of the most common of commonplaces. 
 5. Cf. for the meaning, Shakes. 2 H. VI: 
 
 The ancient proverb will be well effected : 
 ' A staff is quickly found to beat a dog '. 
 
 7. Cf. Spenser, ' Small praise to prove your power on wight so 
 weak'. 
 
 8. Cf. Milton speaking of Samson in his captivity and blindness, 
 
 now unequal match 
 To save himself against a coward armed 
 At one spear's length. 
 
 9. carnifici : even by the public executioner. Its position gives 
 it emphasis. 
 
 10. uno : i.e. the enemy he is addressing, who gloats over his 
 misfortunes. 
 
 11. Busiride : Busiris was a mythical king of Egypt, who used 
 to sacrifice strangers to Jupiter. He was killed by Hercules. 
 illo : Phalaris, tyrant of Agrigentum in Sicily. 
 
 12. falsum : because made of brass. Its cruel purpose is ex- 
 plained in the following lines. 
 
 13. quique: = et (tllo) qui, i.e. Perillus. who made the brazen 
 bull. 
 
 14. conciliasse : to have recommended. 
 
 15. Explained by 1. 16. sed : generally used after a negative in 
 correcting an inadequate or an incorrect expression ; here non 
 modo is felt as preceding. usus : i.e. as a work of art, from its 
 forma. sed imagine maior : but also a greater (usefulness) 
 than its outward form suggests (viz. as an instrument of refined 
 torture).
 
 i2o NOTES 
 
 17. adapertile: see on iii. 10. 64. Here the termination implies 
 possibility. 
 
 18. perdes: said with a brutal directness, 'the man you are 
 going to destroy '. 
 
 19-20. ure . . . mugiet. See note on i. 1. 33. 
 24. praesens : 'on the spot'. inbue : make the first trial of. 
 
 Look out inbuo in the Diet. 
 
 26. geminos: i.e. half-human, half-bovine. Qf.geminus Chiron, 
 half-man, half-horse. 
 
 27. es : the indie, is the regular Latin use with the indef. pronouns. 
 rescindere : the metaphor of tearing open a wound is applied to the 
 reopening of the charges brought against Ovid. In 1. 28 the 
 metaphor is more complete, the crimina being replaced by vulnus. 
 
 BOOK III. 12 
 
 1. anno peracto. Though it is now the spring of A. D. 11, Ovid 
 regards the old year as only now ending with the departure of winter. 
 
 2. The Scythian winter, all too long, goes grudgingly (vix) away. 
 Tanaitis : fern. adj. from Tanais, the Don, which falls into the Sea 
 of Azov. 
 
 3. An allusive expression for ' Aries ', the sign of the Zodiac, which 
 the sun enters at the vernal equinox. The golden-fleeced ram bore 
 Phrixus and Helle away from the wrath of their step-mother Ino. 
 Helle fell into the sea called after her name the Hellespont, but Phrixus 
 reached Colchis in safety, where he sacrificed the ram, which then 
 became a constellation. The golden fleece was afterwards the 
 object of the Argonaut quest. Spenser, F. Q. vii. 32 : 
 
 First, sturdy March . . . rode upon a Ram, 
 The same which over Hellespontus swam. 
 
 8. vernat : hails the spring. The verb is used of anything that 
 feels the call of spring. Cf. 
 
 and in my breast 
 Spring wakens too. — Tennyson, 'In Memoriam'. 
 
 9. malae matris : defines crimen. R. L. P. § 248. The crimen 
 was that she was a mala mater. The swallow was supposed to have 
 been Procne, wife of Tereus, king of Thrace. She, in revenge for 
 her husband's brutal treatment of her sister Philomela, killed her 
 son Itys and served up his flesh to his father. While fleeing from 
 his wrath the sisters were turned, Philomela into a nightingale, 
 Procne into a swallow. Ovid fancifully supposes the maternal cares 
 of the swallow to be a reparation for Procne' s crime. 
 
 11. herba : the blade of wheat. 
 
 13. quoque loco : in places where. In happier parts of the world 
 the vine and other trees are bursting into bud.
 
 TRISTIA III. 12 121 
 
 14. nam : explains why he said quo loco. 
 
 17. otia : sc. sunt. istic : cf. iii. 10. 1. iunctis . . . ludis : 
 April was almost entirely made up of holidays. In F. iv. 187-8 
 Ovid writes of the Megalesia (Apr. 4-10), scaena sonat, ludique 
 vocantj sped ate, Quirites ; et for a Marie suo litigiosa vacent (let 
 the quarrelsome courts lack their usual warfare). ex ordine : ex 
 = arising out of, so, in accordance with. We should say ' in order'. 
 On the Ludi Megalenses followed the Cereales (Apr. 12-19), and 
 then the Floraks (Apr. 28-May 3). 
 
 18. verbosi and garrula refer to the speeches in the law courts. 
 Cf. the quotation on 1. 17. 
 
 19. equi : the ludi consisted largely of horse- and chariot-races. 
 The oldest calendars give Equirria, horse-races, in February and 
 March. Under the later emperors the partisans of the two favourite 
 colours of the Circus, where these races were held, developed into 
 turbulent and formidable factions — the ' Blues ' and the ' Greens '. 
 A display of horsemanship (in gyros ire coactus equus) is joined with 
 the pila and the trochus as a manly amusement (Ars Am. iii. 384). 
 levibvts : because used only in mimic combat, like our foils. 
 
 20. pila, trochus : these amusements had their handbooks ; cf. 
 Tr. ii. 4S5 : 
 
 ecce canit formas alius i act usque pi I arm n, 
 hie arte in nandi praecipit, We trochi. 
 
 (lo, one sings the shapes and. ways of throwing balls ; this man 
 teaches the art of swimming, that man the art of trundling the 
 hoop.) 
 
 21-2. After the wrestling exercises in the palaestra, for which the 
 wrestlers anointed themselves with ' dripping oil ', followed the bath. 
 Virgine : the aqua Virgo (supposed to be so named because a 
 young girl had pointed out its source) was one of Rome's numerous 
 aqueducts. It was built by Agrippa to supply his baths, for which 
 the water was considered particularly suitable. It still supplies the 
 Trevi fountain at Rome. 
 
 23. Plays were a regular part of the ludi. See on I. 17. scaena 
 viget : the theatre is in full swing. studiis distantibus : with 
 clappings and counter-clappings. The various actors and play- 
 wrights had each his following; cf. Seneca, ingenti studio, quis sit 
 pythaules (' flautist ') bonus, iudicatur. At Caesar's ludi in 45 B. C. 
 Laberius and Publilius acted in rival mimes. In Republican times 
 political allusions were common and would awaken a keen display 
 of partisanship, but this would not be possible under the Empire. 
 tribus foris: cf. on iii. 1. 27. terna theatra : the theatres of 
 
 I'ompey, Marcellus, and Cornelius Balbus. 
 
 25. beatum (R. L. P. § 209): with both quater and quotiens. 
 est : it is possible, terque quateique was a regular expression for 
 a great number of times. We use ' thrice happy ' only.
 
 i22 NOTES 
 
 26. interdicta : see note on Tr. i. 4. 20. 
 
 27. My share in the joys of spring is — melting snow and thawing 
 cisterns. mihi : the dat. of the agent (R. L. P. § 222) ; cf. 
 note on Tr. i. 1. 65. sentitnr : especially used in the meaning 
 of ' to feel to one's cost '. 
 
 28. fodiantur : consecutive subjunctive ; ' water which need not 
 be dug '. 
 
 31. tamen : closely with lute, 'yet even to this place'; cf. Tr. 
 i. 5. 65-6. • 
 
 33. salute : greeting. 
 
 34. quibus locis : prepositions are often omitted in poetry in 
 expressions of place. 
 
 35. mirum ni : i.e. mirum est ni. ille quidem : as for him ; 
 put first, to focus attention on him (that man, from whom I expected 
 so much), though it is the subject of the dependent clause. pro- 
 pinqua : the Euxine coast was studded with Greek colonies, mostly 
 planted by Miletus. 
 
 37. tantum mare : all that stretch of sea (between Italy and 
 Tomis). 
 
 38. portibus orba : R. L. P. § 229. The early name of the 
 Black Sea was "Agevos, 'the inhospitable'. It was changed to 
 E#£e ivos, ' hospitable ', from the desire to propitiate its powers for 
 evil. So the Greeks called the Furies ' Eumenides ', the kindly 
 powers, and the Hindoos call Siva, their god of destruction, 'the 
 gracious one '. 
 
 39-44. The meaning is — Whether his tongue be Greek or Latin 
 (the latter will be more acceptable to me, and, indeed, it is possible 
 that the ship has made the longer voyage from Italy)— in any case 
 he can bring me some news. 
 
 40. gratior : sc. vox. huius : i. e. qui Latino, voce loqui 
 scierit. 
 
 41. fas : sc. est ; it is possible. ore freti : the Thracian Bos- 
 porus, the entrance to the Euxine. A ship which has come through 
 the Propontis, and not merely de regione propinqtfa, might have 
 come from Italy. 
 
 42. certo : steady. The north-west and north-east are the more 
 usual winds in the Dardanelles. 
 
 43. possit : a wish, semi-dependent on precor. auditos : an 
 emphatic part of the wish, ' may he have heard of triumphs which 
 he can relate to me ' ; not simply ' may he be able to tell me of 
 triumphs of which he has heard '. Cf. note on Tr. iii. I. 58. 
 
 44. Caesaris : Tiberius, step-son of Augustus and afterwards 
 emperor. In A. D. 9 he brought the Pannonian war against Maro- 
 boduus to a successful conclusion. Just then came the news of the 
 annihilation of Varus and his three legions in Germany by Arminius. 
 Tiberius was sent early in A. D. 10 to save the situation in Germany, 
 and it is to this expedition that Ovid alludes. He returned in
 
 TRISTIA III. 12, 13 12 
 
 j 
 
 12 having successfully re-established the confidence of the demora- 
 lized Roman soldiers. In 13 he celebrated his deferred triumph 
 over the Pannonians. See Tr. iv. 2, a fanciful anticipation of a 
 German triumph, which was never celebrated. reddita : ' duly 
 paid ' to the Capitoline Jupiter, in whose temple the triumphing 
 general sacrificed, while the chief captives were being executed in 
 the Robur, the prison at the foot of the Capitol, red-dere, because, 
 as a vow was a bargain with a god, when he had done his part, 
 you had to ' pay back '. So the same word means prayer and vow. 
 
 46. triste : sullen. subposuisse : the personification of con- 
 quered countries on Roman coins is common. ducis : Augustus. 
 
 47. non vidisse : verbs expressing a feeling (gaudeo, doleo, 
 miror, &c.) can be followed by an ace. and infin. Sometimes in 
 poets and in colloquial Latin the ace. is omitted, as here, me. 
 
 49. domus : domui in 1. 48 suggests the irony of calling such 
 a place ' home '. 
 
 50. ' Does punishment give me her own abode for my house ? ' 
 poena is personified. lare : suggests all the intimate associations 
 of ' home' even more than domus. The Lar familiaris was a sym- 
 pathetic witness of all that passed in the Roman house. Keats : 
 
 household gods that keep 
 A gentle empire o'er fraternal souls. 
 
 51. penetrale : (connected with Penates, the gods of the store- 
 room) the most private and intimate part of the house. 
 
 52. hospitium : a lodging; often, an inn; a temporary abode. 
 Cf. Cic. De Sen. 84 ex vita ita discedo tamquam ex hospitio non 
 tamquam ex domo (I feel that in dying I am not leaving home but 
 changing my lodging). The contrast is pointed by the juxtaposition 
 of domum and hospitium. 
 
 BOOK III. 13 
 
 1. supervacuus : an unbidden guest ; lit. superfluous. 
 
 3. ad . . . veniebas : used like accedere ad, ' to be added to ', 
 but gives a more personal touch. The imperf. — like Greek imperf. 
 with npa — of something going on in the past but unnoticed till now. 
 
 4. debueras : prior to veniebas. So not = debuisii ; cf. on 
 iii. 3. 31. Notice too the perf. infin. — death should have been swift 
 and immediate. Shakes. Macbeth, ' I go and it is done'. 
 
 6. non ultra patriam : the next four lines are an amplification 
 of 1.6. 
 
 7. male : to my misfortune. 
 
 9. iamque relinquenda : waits for urbe for its construction, but 
 naturally comes first in thought — the sentence of banishment, then
 
 i2 4 NOTES 
 
 the ' farewell '. Notice that the gerundive can have the meaning of 
 obligation in the oblique cases. quod idem fecere : anticipates 
 the next line ; = vale dixerunt. 
 
 10. in urbe : emphatic. 
 
 11. quid . . . Ponto : what have you to do with the Euxine ? We 
 pass from the note of deep feeling. Ovid's fancy plays round his 
 subject. 
 
 13. moris : possessive gen.; lit. 'belonging to custom'; i.e. 
 paid you by custom. 
 
 14. ut . . . pendeat : explanatory of moris. Really a clause of 
 indirect command. But a tendency grew up to use ' ut explanatory ' 
 even after expressions like verum est, ' it is right and proper ', where 
 the difference of meaning conveyed is ' that something should be 
 done ', instead of ' that something is done '. vestis alba : the 
 regular holiday attire. Cf. Tr. v. 5. 8. 
 
 15. cingatur : depends on ut in 1. 14. coronis : made of the 
 green leaves of sacred trees, e.g. laurel, olive, and myrtle. 
 
 16. sonet : the crackling sound was a good omen. Cf. Herrick : 
 
 Crackling laurell, which fore-sounds 
 A plenteous harvest to your grounds. 
 
 17. liba : birthday cakes offered to a man's ' Genius ' 
 
 — that celestiall Powre, to whom the care 
 Of life, and generation of all 
 That lives, perteines in charge particulare . . . 
 That is our Selfe, whom though we do not see, 
 Yet each doth in himselfe it will perceive to be.— Spenser. 
 
 Cf. Tr. iv. 10. 12. proprie notantia : take together. 
 
 18. ore favente : with reverent lips. In order to give the gods 
 no loophole of escape from their obligations, the sacrificial ritual 
 had to be performed without a flaw. Abstention from ill-omened 
 words was necessary. As the safest way to secure this was absten- 
 tion from speech altogether, 07-e favere was often used to mean ' to 
 keep a holy silence '. Cf. Tib. ii. 2. 1 : 
 
 Dicamus bona verba, venit natalis, ad aras 
 
 quisquis ades, lingua, vir Diulierque, fave. . . . 
 
 ipse suos adsit Genius visurzes Zionores . . . 
 atque safur Hbo sit madeatque inero 
 
 (let us utter auspicious words ; the birthday arrives ; whoever you 
 are that approach the altar— man or woman — keep guard upon 
 your tongue. Let the Genius be present to see the honours offered 
 to himself ; let him be full-fed with birthday cake and well drenched 
 with wine). 
 
 19. tempora : circumstances; 'nor is my fortune such', &c. 
 ea : see R. L. P. § 452 (a).
 
 TRISTIA III. 13, TV. 1 r 2 5 
 
 21. funeris ara : so Vergil calls the funeral pyre aram sepal*, ri, 
 a natural and powerful metaphor, suggested by the shape of the 
 pyre. Cf. Shirley : 
 
 Upon death's purple altar now 
 See where the victor victim bleeds ; 
 
 where the metaphor is different. cupresso : built into the sides 
 of the pyre, propter gravem ustrinae (the burning-ground) odorem, 
 tie eo offendatur populi circumstantis corona (ring). It was — as it 
 is now — also planted round tombs. Byron calls it 
 
 Dark tree, still sad when others' grief is fled ; 
 The only constant mourner o'er the dead ! 
 
 22. parata : ' the torch already kindled '. Note the vivid repre- 
 sentation of the funeral ceremonies which ought to be taking the place 
 of the birthday celebration. 
 
 23. exorantia : cf. Terence Andria iii. 4. 13 gnatam ut det oro, 
 vixque id exoro (I ask him to give me his daughter, and gain his 
 grudging consent). nil : adverbial. 
 
 24. nee : shifted from its place at the beginning of the line for 
 metrical reasons. bona : cf. 1. 18. 
 
 25. si aliquid : if something. Note the vaguer meaning of si 
 quid, if anything. 
 
 26. ista : with depreciatory force. 
 
 27. novissima : note the special meaning of the superlative of 
 novus. 
 
 28. Euxinus : cf. note on Tr. iii. 12. 38. 
 
 BOOK IV. 1 
 
 1. fuerint : previous in time to habe. erunt : simply future 
 in reference to the time of writing. 
 
 2. excusata . . . habe : hold them excused by the circumstances 
 in which they were written, snus refers to ca (i. e. vitid) understood. 
 R.P.L. §317. 
 
 3. eram : cf. Tr. iii. 3. 2. mihi . . . petita est : shows well 
 how the dat. of agent originates in the dat. of advantage. Cf. note 
 on Tr. i. 1. 65. 
 
 5. compede : the lower kind of slaves who did the heavy farm 
 work were fettered while working. Florus, writing of the slave-war 
 in Sicily 103-99 B.C., says: hie ad cull u m agri frequentia ergastula 
 catenatique cultores materiam bello praebuere (here the numerous 
 farm-prisons and the fettered gangs of labourers employed in the 
 cultivation of the fields supplied material for a war). House slaves 
 were better treated. It should be remembered that the brilliant
 
 126 NOTES 
 
 civilizations of both Greece and Rome were based upon slavery. 
 There was a submerged stratum upon whom no hope dawned till 
 the arrival of Christianity. 
 
 6. indocili: as doceo can take an ace. (a) of the person, and 
 (b) of the thing, so indocilis can correspond to (a), e.g. Tr. iii. 12. 8, 
 or to (b) as here. numero : plur. more usual in this sense. Cf. 
 Gifford : 
 
 Verse sweetens toil, however rude the sound ; 
 
 All at her work the village maiden sings, 
 Nor, as she turns the giddy wheel around, 
 
 Revolves the sad vicissitude of things. 
 
 7. cantet et = et (sc. hoc est cur) cantet. Lord Wm. Cecil, in 
 Changing China, writes of the Chinese 'trackers' on the Yangtse- 
 kiang, ' They expose their bent backs to the scorching sun ; yet 
 apparently they never grumble, but wile away the hours of their 
 labour with cheerful song '. innitens .* . . harenae : i. e. toiling 
 heavily through the sand ; planting his foot deep to get purchase. 
 
 8. adverso tardam : the juxtaposition brings out the relation of 
 cause and effect more strikingly. adverso amne : abl. of attendant 
 circumstances, ' with the stream against him ', i. e. up stream. 
 
 9. pariter : together, of the two sculls. lentos : bending, adds 
 to the picture of effort. 
 
 10. in numerum : i. e. in time with the beats of his song. Take 
 closely -with, fiu Isa aqua, ' as he strikes the water 1 . 
 
 12. harundineo : so Spenser, 'yron death ' ; of death caused by 
 an iron weapon. 
 
 13. The repeated fiariter marks the simultaneousness of the two 
 actions expressed by cantantis and irahentis ; ' singing as she spins 
 her apportioned task '. data pensa: a weighed amount of wool 
 was given to each spinning-maid on a distaff (colus). Her task was 
 to draw out (trahere) the thread and wind it round the spindle 
 {fusus). Cf. quotation on 1. 6. 
 
 14. fallitur : Milton, P. L. ii. 460 : 
 
 if there be cure or charm 
 To respite or deceive. 
 
 15. Lyrneside : Briseis, who was born at Lyrnesus in the Troad. 
 Cf. Her. iii. 
 
 16. Haemonia : i.e. Thessalian. Achilles came from Phthiotis 
 in Thessaly. 
 
 17-18. Cf. Shakes. Hen. VIII : 
 
 Orpheus with his lute made trees, 
 And the mountain tops that freeze, 
 
 Bow themselves, when he did sing . . . 
 In sweet music is such art, 
 Killing care and grief of heart.
 
 TRISTIA IV. i 127 
 
 18. bis: 
 
 Orpheus he went (as poets tell) 
 
 To fetch Euridice from Hell ; 
 
 And had her ; but it was upon 
 
 This short but strict condition : 
 
 Backwarde he should not looke while he 
 
 Led her through Hells obscuritie : 
 
 But, ah ! it hapned as he made 
 
 His passage through that dreadfull shade : 
 
 Revolve he did his loving eye : 
 
 (For gentle feare or jelousie) 
 
 And looking back, that look did sever 
 
 Him and Euridice for ever.— Herrick. 
 
 19. petentem : cf. note on fie to, 1. 56. 
 
 23. non : with inposuisse. Cf. Tr. iii. 1. 66. vellem : imperf. 
 subj. of a regret — ' I could wish I had never set my hand to ', &c. 
 When vellem, nollem, &c, are used with the imperf. subj. or pres. 
 inf. of the dependent verb, the regret refers to the present time ; 
 when with the pluperf. subj. or perf. inf., to past time. Cf. P. i. 4. 42. 
 
 25. sororum : the nine Muses. 
 
 26. demens : be careful of the sense of this line. 
 
 27. Dulichio : i.e. belonging to the companions of Ulysses, king 
 of Ithaca, in whose sovereignty Dulichium, an island near Ithaca, 
 was. lotos : an enchanted fruit, honey-sweet ; whoever tasted 
 it, lost all desire to return home. Read Tennyson's ' Lotus- 
 eaters '. 
 
 29. sua damna : his ruinous folly. Cf. Spenser, Sonnet 42 : 
 
 The love which me so cruelly tormenteth, 
 So pleasing is in my extreamest paine, 
 That, all the more my sorrow it augmenteth, 
 The more I love and doe embrace my bane. 
 
 30. materiam : the cause. -que : misplaced from the begin- 
 ning of the line as in 1. 36. 
 
 31. nocuere : he alludes to the Ars Amatoria. 
 33. studium : passion (for poetry). 
 
 35. obtutu : contemplation. 
 
 37. saucia : the Bacchantes (female votaries of Bacchus) used to 
 wound themselves in honour of the god. Parallel customs will 
 suggest themselves from modern Oriental religions. 
 
 38. stupet exululata : stands sense-bound after her wild outcries. 
 exululata is a deponent p. p. from the intrans. verb exululare. 
 
 39. thyrso : a staff wound with ivy-leaves, carried by Bacchus 
 and the Bacchantes. Its touch produced frenzy. Here stands 
 metaphorically for the source of poetic inspiration. 
 
 40. That transport soars above all human ill.
 
 i28 NOTES 
 
 41. Cf. Wither, 
 
 And then my mind, that (spite of prison) 's free, 
 Whene'er she pleases, any where can be ! 
 She's in an hour, in France, Rome, Turkey, Spain, 
 In Earth, in Hell, in Heaven ; and here again. 
 
 42. sentit habere : sc. se. The ace. subject of an infinitive is 
 sometimes omitted even in prose. 
 
 43. ut: sc. sensus abesset ; the suppressed apodosis to sibibercm. 
 
 45. levantes and in 1. 48 dignatas : turn by relative clauses. 
 
 46. ex Helicone : with comites. Helicon, a mountain in Boeotia, 
 was the home of the Muses. Cf. Cowper : 
 
 O Muse — 
 Thou kind dissolver of encroaching care 
 And ease of every bitter weight I bear,— 
 Keep from my soul repining. 
 
 47. vestigia : depends on sequi. Notice how pelago and terra 
 correspond to rate and ftede, and how the splitting up of vestigia 
 nostra between the two pairs binds the whole together. 
 
 50. facit cum : sides with. 
 
 51. Cf. Shakes. T. G. of Verona : 
 
 A heart 
 As full of sorrows as the sea of sands. 
 
 54. frigoribus : abl. of ' time when ' ; =hiei/ie, completing the list 
 of seasons. nives : snow-flakes. 
 
 56. laeva : i.e. western, but the derived meaning of ' ill-omened ' 
 also suggests itself. peto : the actual voyage is past, but the 
 memory is vividly present. 
 
 57. ut veni : since my coming, lit. ' when I came ', the subsequent 
 time being implied. Contrast Tr. v. 10. 1. fortuna : state. 
 
 58. fata : fat urn often has a bad, instead of a neutral, sense, 
 from the tendency to take good fortune as normal and deserved, 
 and bad fortune as undeserved. Ovid seems to have forgotten 
 what he said in 11. 43-4. 
 
 59. Cf. Gray, ' The Bard ' : 
 
 Weave the warp and weave the woof, 
 The winding sheet of Edward's race. 
 
 natal is stamina are the threads of his destiny spun by the Fates at 
 his birth. 
 
 61. ut nee . . . narrem. Cf. note on Tr. i. 1. 21. insidias: 
 lurking perils. nee : should be followed by another nee, the 
 place of which is taken by -que as the two nouns strike Ovid as 
 parts of a single idea. 
 
 62. vera quidem : for the more usual vera ilia quidem (cf. note 
 on Tr. i. 9. 18). veri graviora fide: too cruel to be believed
 
 TRISTIA IV. 1,2 129 
 
 true, veri fides — belief in'the 'truth of them. Cf. note on Tr. i. 
 5.18. 
 
 63. vivere : the subject is ilium in 1. 64. 
 
 65. For centuries the Romans had not known the need of the 
 protection of walls. 
 
 68. lusura . . . raanu : in mimic combat. 
 
 69. You have . . . made us doff our easy robes of peace, 
 To crush our old limbs in ungentle steel. 
 
 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. 1. 
 
 70. -que : out of place, subicio governs lotus, sinistram, and 
 canitiem. 
 
 74. saevus anhelanti . . . equo : go closely together. 
 
 jy. saepe : from saepes. 
 
 79-S0. aut . . . aut : the alternatives which await the man caught 
 in 1. 78. 
 
 82. nimium : with lenta. lenta : lentus combines the notions 
 of flexibility and tenaciousness (as a sticky fluid). From the latter 
 meaning comes that of ' slow ', ' tedious ', as here. 
 
 BOOK IV. 2 
 
 1. Caesaribus : Augustus, the commander-in-chief of all the 
 Roman armies, and Tiberius, the general actually commanding in 
 Germany. Cf. on Tr. iii. 12. 44. 
 
 2. potest : distinguish between potest succubuisse, it may have 
 sunk down, of a present possibility, and pot ut't succumbere, it might 
 have sunk down (but has not) in the past. 
 
 3. Palatia : cf. note on Tr. i. 1. 39. velentur : potential subj. 
 Ovid is describing what may take place. 
 
 4. inficiant: obscure (with incense-smoke). For sonent see note 
 on Tr. iii. 13. 16. 
 
 5. adducta : high-upheaved ; lit. drawn towards (oneself). 
 collum : the p. p. p. in Latin was used with an object ace. in 
 imitation of the Greek middle, e.g. indutus vestem, having put a 
 garment on oneself. This use was widely extended by the Roman 
 poets, till it became common even with finite verbs really passive 
 and not middle in meaning. 
 
 8. reddere : cf. on Tr. iii. 12. 44. 
 
 9. qui . . . iuvenes : co-ordinate with Caesar uterque. These 
 are the sons of Tiberius and Drusus, stepsons and adopted sons 
 of Augustus. Tiberius's son was Drusus ; Urusus's sons were 
 Germanicus and Claudius. 
 
 10. ut : dependent on reddere parent. The Caesarean dynasty 
 came to an end with the death of Nero in a. d. 68. The order of 
 
 1060-1 K
 
 i 3 o NOTES 
 
 succession was — Tiberius, Caligula, son of Germanicus, Claudius, 
 Nero, stepson of Claudius and grandson through his mother of 
 Germanicus. He was also great-great-grandson of Augustus, 
 whose granddaughter Germanicus had married. 
 
 ii. nuribus : probably Agrippina, wife of Germanicus, and 
 Li via, wife of the younger Drusus. Livia : wife of Augustus, and 
 mother by a former husband of Tiberius and Drusus. 
 
 12. datura: i. e. for victories still to come. 
 
 13. Married ladies and Vestal Virgins. castos : transferred 
 from the goddess to the material emblem of her. 
 
 15-16. All the 'orders' of the State — senate, equites, and plebs 
 are to share in the rejoicing. pia : loyal. 
 
 17. communia : in which all share. fallunt: pass me by. 
 
 19. ergo : cf. Tr. iii. 10. 77. populus : includes all three orders, 
 though in the common inscription S. P. Q. R. {senatus popitlusquc 
 Komanus) the senate is mentioned independently. 
 
 20. Boards were carried in the triumphal procession with the 
 names and titles of the vanquished painted on them. 
 
 23. pro tempore versos : i. e. downcast. aliis : dat. of the 
 possessor, contrasted with aliis in 1. 24. 
 
 24. inmemoresque sui : forgetting what they are, i. e. their 
 fallen state. 
 
 25. quorum (i.e. regum captivoravi): depends on causas. 
 pars : i. e. of the spectators. causas, &c. : causes and incidents 
 of the wars and the names of the prisoners. 
 
 26. Others will pretend to information, which they really do not 
 possess. This is given in 11. 27-46, as the procession passes. 
 
 28. fuerat: had been, i.e., before his capture. proximus : 
 second in command. 
 
 32. consilium : counsellor ; abstract for concrete. We speak of 
 ' relations ' in the same way. 
 
 3^. fraude locorum : lit. by the deception of the ground. He 
 entrapped our men by leading them into ambushed ground. Cf. 
 Verg. Aen. ix. 397 fraude loci et noctis . . . oppression. Ovid is 
 perhaps thinking of the Germans who enticed Varus into the 
 Teutoburger Wald where his three legions were cut to pieces 
 in A. D. 9. Of course the whole description is imaginative and 
 contrasts with that in P. ii. 1. 
 
 Notice how the respective characters of the ferox and the per/idus 
 are allegorically represented in their demeanour. 
 
 35. illo . . . ministro : the stress falls on the abl. abs. Look at 
 the next man— his was the hand they say, by which, &c. We read 
 that in a campaign of Drusus the Germans offered up twenty 
 centurions to gain their god's favour. 
 
 36. saepe recusanti: i.e. refusing to help. 
 
 37. Pictures of the seat of war, carried in the procession. 
 
 38. plena : for the agreement cf. R. L. P. § 198. 4.
 
 TRISTIA IV. 2 131 
 
 39. cognomina : such names were later distinguished as 
 agnomina. The additional name Germamcus was granted after 
 his death in 9 B. c. to Drusus and his descendants. 
 
 40. tulit : has taken, i. e. bears. 
 
 41. Rivers were represented in art with horns, a symbol of 
 strength. Cf. Milton, P. L. xi. 831 'this mount Of Paradise . . . pushed 
 by the horned flood '. In a similar description of a triumph A. A. i. 
 223-4 the Euphrates and Tigris are mentioned : 
 
 Hie est Euphrates, praeeinetus harundine frontemj 
 cui coma dependet caerula, Tigris erit. 
 
 (This is the Euphrates, his forehead girt with reeds ; this one 
 with the flowing azure locks, will be the Tigris.) ab : agent 
 instead of instrument. This personification of the sedge is in 
 keeping with the personification of the river. 
 
 42. suo sanguine : he is identified with the people of Germany. 
 43-4. So conquered countries are often represented on Roman 
 
 coins. 
 
 45. securi : i. e. the axe in the fasces borne by the lictors, which 
 was the visible symbol of the magistrates' authority. 
 
 47. hos super = super hos. 
 
 48. purpureus : the triumphing general wore the dress of the 
 god, a gold-embroidered purple toga {toga pieta). per ora : 
 before the eyes. 
 
 50. Cf. the more poetical discription in P. ii. 1. 36. Macaulay : 
 
 On rode they to the Forum, 
 While laurel boughs and flowers 
 From house-tops and from windows 
 Fell on their crests in showers. 
 
 51. tempora : see note on collum, 1. 5. 
 
 52. io triumphe : Ho triumph ! ; the cry raised as the procession 
 passed along. 
 
 53. calentes : restive. 
 
 55. arcem : the name arx was specially applied to the northern 
 of the two summits of the Capitoline hill, the southern, on which 
 stood the temple of Juppiter Capitolinus, being called Capitolium. 
 Here it is used of the latter. delubra : i. e. the temple of the 
 Capitoline Jupiter. 
 
 56. merito : i. e. by having fulfilled your prayers. B.M. (= bene 
 merenti) is common in inscriptions on altars dedicated to a god. 
 
 57. qua possum, mente : in thought — 'tis all I can. Cf. Tr. iv. 
 10. 1 12 and note on Tr. iii. 3. 57. 
 
 58. ius loci: the freedom of the place. nobis: dative. In 
 ' I give something to', and ' I take something from' a person, the 
 person is equally the indirect object of the action. 
 
 K 2
 
 i 3 2 NOTES 
 
 59-60. These fine lines remind us (though the sentiment is 
 different) of Lovelace's 
 
 If I have freedom in my love 
 
 And in my soul am free, 
 Angels alone, that soar above, 
 
 Enjoy such liberty. 
 
 Cf. Tr. iv 1. 40-2. 
 
 62. inmunes : free from one's share of taxation ; then, without 
 one's part in anything, good or (generally) bad. 
 
 63. qua : adverb. Tr. ' a way by which '. 
 
 65. After the glow of the last few lines comes the reaction. The 
 first and last words of the line bear the stress ; vera explains felix. 
 67. mihi: cf. on Tr. iii. 12. 27. 
 
 70. ista : those things that are taking place where you are. 
 
 71. is quoque : even he, i.e. the qui narret of 1. 70. The stress 
 comes on iam serum and vetcrem. 
 
 "]?,. ' That will come as a day on which ', &c, i. e. when that day 
 comes, I shall, &c. 
 
 74. i.e. private grief will be forgotten in the nation's gain. 
 
 BOOK IV. 6 
 
 1-8. Time mellows savagery ; 9-12, brings immaturity to ripe- 
 ness ; 13-14, wears down the hardest things in nature; 15-16, 
 softens wrath and grief; 17-18, but cannot ease my sorrows. 
 
 1. Quoted in Shakes. Much Ado i. 1 'Well, as time shall 
 try : — " In time the savage bull doth bear the yoke " '. Ovid's lines 
 were much imitated by the Elizabethan sonnet-writers, e.g. : 
 
 The stately lion and the furious bear 
 
 The skill of man doth alter from their kind ; 
 For where before they wild and savage were, 
 
 By art both tame and meek you shall them find. 
 The elephant, although a mighty beast, 
 
 A man may rule according to his skill ; 
 The lusty horse obeyeth our behest, 
 
 For with the curb you may him guide at will. 
 . . . Only a woman, if she list not love, 
 No art nor force can unto pity move. 
 
 Wm. Smith, 'Chloris'. 
 
 2. praebet . . . premenda : after verbs signifying 'to give', 'to 
 receive', the gerundive is used in agreement with the object to 
 express purpose.
 
 TRISTIA IV. 6, 8 133 
 
 3. lentis : here = flexible, cf. note on Tr. iv. 1. 82. Its position 
 next to amino sus brings out the contrast ; the lightest pull on the 
 reins is obeyed by the spirited horse. 
 
 4. lupos : bit. A kind of saw was also called htfti. 
 
 7. Inda belua : when the elephant first became known to the 
 Romans in the war with Pyrrhus (280-275 B.C.), they called it Luca 
 (Lucanian) bos. Their foreign wars, commencing with that against 
 Carthage, had familiarized it to them. 
 
 10. grana : here, grapes ; uva (generally, a grape, sometimes, a 
 grape-cluster) : here, vine. 1 
 
 1 1. canas : Tennyson, ' Cornfields white with harvest '. Shakes. 
 Sonnets 12 : 
 
 Summer's green all girded up in sheaves, 
 Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard. 
 
 12. facit ne : there is an idea of intention, not result merely. 
 Hence ne and not ut non. Cf. Tr. i. 6. 7. et, ne : cf. note on 
 Tr. iii. 10. 24. 
 
 14. adamanta : Greek accusative. 
 16. Cf. Byron : 
 
 Time ! . . . comforter 
 And only healer when the heart hath bled. 
 
 19-20. Cf. Griffin, ' Fidessa' : 
 
 One comfort still the Heavens have assigned me, 
 That I must die and leave my griefs behind me ; 
 
 and Milton, ' Samson Agonistes ' : 
 
 This one prayer yet remains, might I be heard, 
 
 No long petition; speedy death, 
 
 The close of all my miseries, and the balm. 
 
 BOOK IV. 8 
 
 1. tempora : temples. eyeneas: cf. Mayne : 
 
 And ere we can 
 Know how, our crow turns swan ! 
 
 and for the more usual comparison in our poetry, cf. Burns, ' Your 
 locks were like the raven . . . your locks are like the snow '. 
 
 3. fragiles, inertior : cf. note on Tr. iii. 10. 12. 
 
 5. erat : cf. note on Tr. iii. 3. 31. jinem ponere = to set a limit. 
 In prose imponere Jinem (laboribus) would be commoner. 
 
 8. carpere : the object is otia, which is drawn into the relative 
 clause. molliter esse : to take my ease. The infinitives depend 
 on deberem.
 
 134 NOTES 
 
 [Notice the meanings of carpere, l to pluck ' : A. of physical action : 
 I. pick, flores c. ; 2. (from the point of view of the effect on the 
 object) waste, gladios c. (of rust); 3. 'knock off' the successive 
 stages of a journey, viam c. B. of mental action : I. take, somnos, 
 otia c. ; 2. wear away, labor animum cat-pit, P. i. 4. 22 ; 3. find 
 fault with, vivos livor carpi/, P. iii. 4. 74.] 
 
 9. celebrare: sing of. celeber = 1. populous; 2. much frequented ; 
 3. famous. So celebrare = 1. to resort to in crowds ; 2. to celebrate 
 a festival ; 3. to make a person or thing famous. veteres 
 penates : cf. Tr. iv. 10. 7. Ovid's family was an old one. 
 
 12. securus : its position next to patria has point. It was in his 
 relation to his country that Ovid's dream of an untroubled old age 
 was spoilt. Cf. Thomson, ' Let life's vacant eve breathe quiet 
 through the heart '. 
 
 13. haec mea aetas . . . hos annos : i.e. my declining years. 
 sic : with peragi. quondam : with spcraverat, which has the 
 construction olvoluerat. 
 
 1 4. dignus eram : not so much ' I was worthy to ' but ' it was 
 fitting that I should ', like 8Li<ai6s elfii in Greek. Note poetical 
 construction with the infin. instead of qui ponerem. ponere : 
 lay out, employ. 
 
 17. cava: implies the idea of sheltering. ducuntur : the 
 prose word is subducere. 
 
 18. temere : lit. rashly, thoughtlessly ; here, through carelessness. 
 dissoluantur : Ovid treats the u consonant as a vowel ; so evolu- 
 isse in H. xii. 4. On the other hand, in ftarieiibus the i is treated 
 as a consonant. Cicero (Orat. 202) says : Poetae in numeris quasi 
 7iecessitati parere cogun/ur, i. e. they must obey the exigencies of 
 metre. So in modern poetry 
 
 Rhyme the rudder i£ of verses, 
 By which, like ships, they steer their courses. 
 
 Butler, ' Hudibras'. Cf. note on Tr. v. 2. 20. 
 
 19. palmas : object of both inhonestet and adeptus. 
 
 20. languidus : sc. aetate. 
 
 21. ut : when. emeritis: emerere (or -i) sfipendia, to serve 
 out one's (military) time. annis : here= stipendiis. 
 
 22. Lares : the gods who for generations {antiquos) had presided 
 over the fortunes of the house and who were interested in every- 
 thing that affected it. 
 
 24. rude : a wooden sword presented to a gladiator as a sign of 
 discharge. Often used metaphorically, as here. 
 
 25. ducere caelum : a poetical variant for ducere aera. 
 
 27-8. modo . . . nunc : = modo . . . modo or nunc . . . nunc. 
 habui : implies ' I have no longer' ; cf. Tr. iii. 7. 2>7- vacuum : 
 agrees with what ? 
 
 30. senex : take closely with vivere.
 
 TRISTIA IV. 8, 10 135 
 
 31. cum: though. 
 
 33. omni : we should say 'any'. Cf. 'They were slaine without 
 all mercie' (Abbott, Shakespearean Grammar § 12). 
 
 34. deteriore : i. e. when my best years have gone. Cf. Tr. iv. 
 10. 93 pulsis melioribics annis. Herrick : 
 
 That age is best which is the first, 
 When youth and blood are warmer ; 
 
 But being spent, the worse and worst 
 Times still succeed the former. 
 
 35. nee: the negative goes closely with procul. The metaphor 
 is taken from a chariot-race. 
 
 BOOK IV. 10 
 
 1-2. The order is natural in Latin and presents the ideas in 
 their correct sequence. Ovid ! — who was he, the popular love- 
 poet ? — your wish to know shall be satisfied. Ille ego : subject 
 of the £wz-clause, but put at the head of the whole sentence as its 
 logical subject. Cf. Met. i. 757-S : 
 
 ille ego liber 
 ille ferox tacni. 
 
 (I — the outspoken, I the proud — held my peace) and Tr. v. 7. 55. 
 lusor : gay singer; cf. Tr. iii. 3. 73. Morris, 'The idle singer of 
 an empty day '. 
 
 3. Sulmo : now Sulmona, situated high up in the Apennines ; 
 east of Rome. In Am. ii. 16 Ovid praises its abundant streams and 
 its fertility. Its main street is named ' Corso Ovidio '. 
 
 5. nee non : as a mere equivalent of et is late and poetical. 
 
 6. i.e. in 43 B.C., when Octavian (afterwards Augustus) with the 
 consuls Hirtius and Pansa took the field against Antony. This 
 so-called 'War of Mutina' ended with the defeat of Antony at 
 Mutina. Hirtius fell in the battle, and Pansa died soon afterwards 
 of a wound received in an earlier engagement at Forum Gallorum. 
 
 7-8. If any one through an unbroken {usque) line of ancestors is 
 the inheritor of time-honoured {veins) rank, — no new-made knight 
 by fortune's gift (sc. I am he). et = etiam. ordinis : i.e. 
 
 equestris ; explained by eques in 1. 8. vetus heres : = an heir by 
 long-established title. fortunae munere : i.e. suddenly enriched 
 in the vicissitudes brought about by the wars, a proavis usque 
 is contrasted with modo ; vetus . . . heres, with fortunae . . . eques. 
 C. Gracchus had lowered the status of the 'knights ', i.e. the eqi/itcs 
 equo privato, by constituting an ordo equestris to which any one
 
 '36 NOTES 
 
 who possessed the property qualification of 400,000 sesterces capital 
 could claim to belong. Hence the ' knights ', as we come across 
 them in Roman history, are mostly well-to-do business men with 
 nothing 'knightly' about them. Augustus, who possessed the 
 statesmanlike power of turning everything to his own purposes, out 
 of these elevated a new order of equites illustres, the qualifications 
 for which were good birth and the senatorial property standard of 
 800,000 sesterces. These were utilized under the Empire to form 
 an efficient Civil Service. The common reading of 1. 8 is si quid 
 iciest, usque aproavis, &c, ' if that counts for aught ', &c. 
 
 9. genito . . . fratre : after a brother's birth. 
 
 10. quater : with tribics. 
 
 11. Lucifer: the morning star, which ushers in the day, is often 
 used poetically for the day itself. Cf. note on Tr. i. 3. 72. 
 
 12. liba : cf. Tr. iii. 13. 17. 
 
 13. de quinque: one of the five; the quinquairus, really so 
 named from the festival beginning on the fifth day (inclusive 
 reckoning) from the Ides (i.e. on March 19), but afterwards 
 readily believed to denote a holiday lasting five days. armi- 
 ferae : Minerva (from the same root as mens) was the goddess of 
 the thinking powers, the patroness of arts and crafts. In virtue 
 of her resemblance in certain points to Pallas Athena, she became 
 in time invested also with the warlike attributes of the latter. 
 
 14. Cf. F. iii. 811 sanguine prima vacat . . . altera tresque 
 super strata celebrantur harena (the first day is free from blood- 
 shed, the next and the succeeding three are celebrated in the sand- 
 strewn arena). So Ovid was born on the 20th. 
 
 15. protinus: explained by teneri. 
 
 16. urbis: so Horace was sent by his father, though— unlike 
 Ovid's father— a poor man, to school at Rome. ab arte : with 
 insignes. ab expresses the source, but^ there is little appreciable 
 difference here between this and the instrumental ablative. arte : 
 collective for those artes quas doceat quivis eques atque senator 
 semet prognatos, Hor. Sat. i. 6. 77 (accomplishments, such as any 
 knight or senator teaches his sons) ; i.e. Grammar, Rhetoric, and 
 Philosophy. 
 
 18. fortia arma: strenuous strife ; cf. Tr. iii. 12. 18. natus: 
 cf. Tennyson, ' Like creatures native unto gracious act '. 
 
 19. caelestia sacra : explained by the next line. Cf. Tr. iii. 7. 32. 
 
 21. inutile: cf. Ben Jonson : 
 
 He is now 
 Dreaming on nought but idle poetry, 
 That fruitless and unprofitable art. 
 
 22. Maeonides : cf. note on Tr. i. 6. 17. 
 
 Seven cities warr'd for Homer being dead, 
 
 Who living, had no roofe to shrowd his head.— Heywood.
 
 TRISTIA IV. 10 137 
 
 There is a curiously modern touch about the argument of Ovid's 
 father. Cf. Goldsmith, ' Deserted Village ' : 
 
 Sweet Poetry . . . Thou source of all my bliss and all my woe, 
 That found'st me poor at first and keep'st me so. 
 
 23. Helicone: cf. Tr. iv. 1. 46. 
 
 24. soluta modis : unfettered by metre ; i.e. in prose. 
 
 25. aptos : symmetrical and perfect in form. 'Yet ever un- 
 willed by me 'twas a poem that came and wedded itself to perfect 
 verse.' Cf. Pope, ' I lisped in numbers, for the numbers came '. 
 Tennyson : 
 
 I do but sing because I must, 
 And pipe but as the linnets sing. 
 
 Mrs. Browning : 
 
 His aimless thoughts in metre went, 
 Like a babe's hand without intent 
 Drawn down a seven-stringed instrument. 
 
 28. liberior : on March 17, the festival of Liber (Bacchus), boys 
 who had reached the age of sixteen laid aside the purple-edged 
 toga praetexta and the bulla, a sort of gold locket, containing an 
 amulet, assumed the toga fiura, the man's dress, and became ' of 
 age'. 
 
 29. lato clavo : sons of equites illustres (see note on 1. 7) had 
 the right, if they intended to enter on a career that led to the 
 senate, to wear the senatorial distinction of the tunica laticlavia, 
 i.e. with a broad purple stripe. Cf. note on 1. 35. 
 
 34. e viris tribus : i. e. the tresviri capitales, who had certain 
 minor judicial functions and supervised the prisons and executions. 
 The office was one of those comprised under the name of the viginti- 
 viratus (the age for which was twenty), which led to the quaestor- 
 ship (lowest age twenty-five) and so to the senate. Cf. also F. iv. 
 3S4, from which it appears that Ovid fulfilled another of the offices 
 of the vigintiviratus, viz. as one of the decemviri stlitibus iudi- 
 candis, who presided in the centumviral court, which judged cases 
 of inheritance. 
 
 35. restabat : was the next step. clavi . . . est : i.e. Ovid 
 
 gave up all ambitions of a public career and assumed the tunica 
 angusticlavia, or tunic with the narrow purple stripe, which marked 
 equestrian rank. His brother's death left him sole heir to his 
 father's' property, so that there was no absolute necessity for 
 ambition, coacta est, was narrowed. 
 
 36. illud onus : \.e.senatorew esse, but with a playful fancy that 
 the broader stripe was too heavy. 
 
 39. petere : the stricter syntax of prose would require utpeterem 
 Aoniae : Aonia= Boeotia, in which was Mount Helicon.
 
 138 NOTES 
 
 40. iudicio amata meo : the more matter-of-fact version of the 
 poetical fiction of the last line. 
 42. vates : Cowper : 
 
 Hence in a Roman mouth the graceful name 
 Of prophet and of poet was the same. 
 Hence British poets, too, the priesthood shared, 
 And every hallowed Druid was a bard. 
 
 vates, the oldest Latin name for poet, fell into contempt, but was 
 restored to honour by Vergil. deos : sc. tot. For the expression 
 cf. Thomson (speaking of primitive Rome), ' Then for each Roman, 
 I a hero told '. 
 
 44. Aemilius Macer of Verona, who died 16 B.C., was the author 
 of works on Birds and Antidotes for Snake-bites. For another 
 Macer see P. ii. 10. 
 
 45. Sextus Propertius of Umbria was Ovid's immediate pre- 
 decessor in the succession of Roman elegiac poets (11. 53-4). He 
 was the poet of passionate love ; Tibullus, of melancholy, resigned 
 love. recitare : the usual way of introducing a new work to the 
 public ; cf. 1. 57. 
 
 46. iure sodalicio : by the tie of club-fellowship. 
 
 47. Ponticus, author of an Epic on Thebes ; Bassus (unknown) of 
 lampoons, which were traditionally written in iambic verse. 
 
 49. numerosus : tuneful. Cf. note on Tr. iii. 7. 12. 
 
 50. culta : c tasteful ', a favourite epithet of Ovid's. Ausonia : 
 see note on Tr. i. 2. 82. ferit : strikes up ; a natural poetical 
 extension from its literal sense of 'striking' (the lyre). Cf. 'to hit 
 a four' at cricket. Juvenal uses ferire carmen as a metaphor 
 derived from striking a coin, but the mention of lyra makes this 
 meaning less likely here. Cf. Gray, ' Struck the deep sorrows of 
 his lyre '. 
 
 51. Vergilium : P. Vergilius Maro, the author of the Aeneid, 
 died in 19 B.C.. tantum : only, with vidi. Vergil's last years 
 were spent at Naples, where his tomb is shown. Tibullo : 
 Albius Tibullus died in 19 B.C. Ovid wrote Am. iii. 9 as a lament 
 for his death. 
 
 53. Galle: Cornelius Gallus, a friend of Vergil, died. 27 B.C. 
 He was a distinguished commander, as well as poet ; but incurred 
 the displeasure of Augustus and was compelled to commit suicide. 
 
 54. The order was Gallus, Tibullus, Propertius, Ovid. 
 
 55. maiores : sc. natu. 
 
 56. Thalia : the muse of comedy, here put for the Muses in 
 general. 
 
 57. iuvenalia : i.e. the Amores and the Heroides. legi 
 = recitavi; cf. 1. 45. 
 
 59. moverat : had inspired. The real name of Corinna is 
 unknown ; according to poetic custom it would correspond metri-
 
 TRISTIA IV. i o 139 
 
 cally with her pseudonym. cantata : not past relatively to 
 
 moverat, but relatively to the time of Ovid's writing. 
 
 62. emendaturis : expresses purpose. 
 
 63. placitura : contrasted with vitiosa ; ' which would have 
 pleased ', lit. ' likely to please '. Cf. note on Tr. i. 6. 14. 
 
 66. moveret : a relative (adjectival) clause joined by ' and ' to 
 an adjective always has the verb in the (consecutive) subjunctive. 
 
 67. hie : i.e. this sort of man. 
 
 68. fabula : scandal. 
 
 69. paene: closely with puero. nee digna nee utilis : pro- 
 bably means frivolous and extravagant. We know nothing of 
 Ovid's first two wives except that one came from Falerii (Am. iii. 
 13) and one bore him a daughter. 
 
 72. ' Not destined long to remain my wife.' 
 
 73. permansit : perfect, not aorist as successit, &c. 
 
 74. sustinuit : has endured, brought herself. 
 
 75. prima . . . iuventa : a mother while yet a girl. 
 
 78. i. e. he was ninety years old. Every five years a purificatory 
 sacrifice {luslratio) was made by the Censors. This period, and so 
 any period of five years, was called a lustrum. 
 
 79. fleturus fuit : cf. on 1. 63. ademptum : represents a con- 
 ditional clause, si ademptus esscm. 
 
 80. iusta : due funeral-rites. 
 
 83. me felicem : R. L. P. § 209, note. viventibus : vivis is 
 more usual. 
 
 85. aliquid : cf. on Tr. iii. 13. 25. For the belief cf. Tr. iii. 3. 59- 
 64. nisi : from negative sentences like nihil restat, nisi nomina 
 {rest ant), naught remains, unless names, i.e. except (beside) names, 
 comes the feeling that nisi by itself means ' except ', ' beside '. 
 praeter would be correct. Conversely in the Fasti nil praeter . . . 
 canna fuit, ' there was nothing except reeds ', praeter is used like 
 nisi. 
 
 86. gracilis = inanis. structos : a common attribute of 
 rogus, 'massive'. It helps to give point to the 'nothingness' 
 of the poor ghost. 
 
 87. mea = an objective genitive ; 'report about me'. 
 
 88. foro : law court ; cf. forum agere, to hold a court. 
 
 89. causam: complement, with esse. 
 91. studiosa : sc.mei; friendly. 
 
 93. melioribus : cf. Tr. iv. 8. 34. 
 
 94. antiquas: that once I had (= quae mihi ante fuerunt). 
 miscuerat : sc. cants. 
 
 95. Pisaea : Pisa, near Olympia in Elis. oliva : an olive 
 wreath was the reward of victory in the Olympic games. 
 
 96. The Olympiads were celebrated every four years {quinto 
 quoque anno). Here Ovid (whose age was fifty-one) evidently regards 
 them as lustra. Olympiads (which began to be regularly reckoned
 
 i 4 o NOTES 
 
 from 776 B.C.) were the fixed points in the dating of Greek history, 
 equus : the chariot-race was the most important. See the splendid 
 Syracusan coins struck by Hiero to commemorate his victories in 
 this race. 
 
 97. maris : dependent on the neuter plur. adjective laeva—a. 
 conversational and poetic construction. 
 
 1 01. nefas : Ovid complains elsewhere of the faithlessness of all 
 his friends, save very few. Cf. P. ii. 7. 62 ditata est (was enriched) 
 spoliis perfuia turba meis : this may exp\a\nfamu/os nocentes. 
 
 103. Cf. animus lamcu omnia vincit : Me etiam vires corpus 
 habere facit, P. ii. 7. 75 ; and Shakes. Cymb. : 
 
 I should be sick, 
 But that my resolution helps me. 
 
 105. mei: my former self ; cf. Tr. iv. 1.67. per: expresses the 
 environment, literal or metaphorical. 
 
 106. temporis arma : arms to suit the time, i. e. fortitude and 
 resignation. 
 
 108. occultum : i.e. the South Pole. 
 
 109. tacta : sc. est. 
 
 112. quo possum : cf. Tr. iv. 2. 57. 
 
 113. quod = et (joining on the whole sentence) . . . id (subject of 
 referatur). It refers to carmen. quamvis : used like quam- 
 guam, of a fact. 
 
 115. quod : cf. note on Tr. iii. 1. 11. 
 117. Musa : cf. quotation on Tr. iv. 1. 17. 
 
 122. ab : after. Cf. Bacon, ' Of Death ' : ' Death hath this also ; 
 That it openeth the Gate to good Fame and extinguisheth Envie ' ; 
 Herrick : 
 
 I make no haste to have my numbers read : 
 Seldom comes Glorie till a man be dead ; 
 
 Mrs. Browning : 
 
 They are scorned 
 By men they sing for, till inurned. 
 
 124. dente: cf. Burns: 
 
 Fretful Envy grins in vain 
 The poison'd tooth to fasten. 
 
 125. cum : although. 
 
 128. plurimus : vmltus and plurimus are sometimes used to 
 express frequency or intensity of action ; Sallust lug. 96. 3 multus 
 in operibus . . . adesse (he was often seen on the siege works) ; Ovid 
 Met. xiv. 53 medio cum plurimus orbe sol erat (when the sun was 
 in his full noon-tide force). Cf. Gk. 7ro\vs pel (flows with a strong 
 stream). We should express the notion adverbially ; here ' by 
 every one ' or ' far and wide 
 
 >
 
 TRISTIA IV. i o, V. 2 141 
 
 129. veri : with si quid. 
 
 130. ut : although. ero : notice the shortening of final o, 
 unusual in Ovid except in ego, modo, puto, and his own name Naso. 
 The usage of poets became more and more lax after his time. For 
 the sentiment cf. Horace Odes iii. 30. 6 : 
 
 non omnis ntoriar multaque pars mei 
 vitabit Libitinam 
 
 (I shall not wholly die and a great part of me will escape the 
 funeral-goddess). 
 
 131. favore: by indulgence; opposed to iure: by my merits, 
 tuli hanc ego carmine famam : goes in both .yzV^-clauses. It is 
 quite possible, however, to put a comma after famam and to take 
 carmine ( = good poetry, in a pregnant sense) as balancing/azwr ; 
 then iure will go with ago. 
 
 132. candide: cf. note on Tr. i. 11. 33. 
 
 BOOK V. 2 
 
 1. palles : probably addressed to his wife. 
 
 2. tibi : the dat. of ' agent '. Cf. Tr. iii. 12. 27. 
 
 5. sufficit: intransitive, ' bears up '. In P. ii. 1. 64, with dative, 
 ' bear up against '. atque . . . usu : and has become steeled by 
 long training in adversity. 
 
 6. non vacat : there is no room. Cf. Tennyson : 
 
 In brief, so miserable, 
 
 There is no hope of better left for him, 
 
 No room for worse. 
 
 8. affectus animi : mood. 
 
 9. suo : due, suitable. coitura : for the metaphor cf. Tr. iii. 
 11. 27-30. 
 
 1 1 . prodest : heals. exiguis : sc. malis. 
 
 12. damna : wastings-away. The metaphor is from the effect of 
 time on trivial and on incurable illnesses respectively. 
 
 13. Poeantius: Philoctetes, son of Poeas, sailed with the Greeks 
 against Troy, but was left behind at Lemnos in consequence of the 
 wound here mentioned. He was famous as an archer, and without 
 the help of his bow and arrows Troy could not be taken. So in the 
 tenth year of the Trojan war the Greeks sent for him. His wound 
 was cured by Machaon. aluit : nursed. annis : sometimes 
 instead of the accusative of ' duration ' we find an ablative of ' time 
 within which ', the idea of duration being merely implied. This con- 
 struction is very common on late sepulchral inscriptions, e. g. vixit 
 XX annis. The two ideas of ' duration ' and ' time within which '
 
 i 4 2 NOTES 
 
 meet in a common construction in the English ' he has been ill for 
 five years ' (duration) and ' he has not been ill for five years ' 
 (time within which). 
 
 15. Telephus, king of Mysia, was wounded by Achilles in the 
 Trojan war. He was afterwards cured by the rust of the spear 
 which had caused the wound, and in return helped the Greeks to 
 capture Troy. Shakes. 2 Henry VI : 
 
 Whose smile and frown, like to Achilles' spear, 
 Is able with the change to kill and cure. 
 
 17. commisimus : contrast with the subjunctives-clause in 1. 16. 
 ' If in very truth I have committed no crime.' 
 
 18. facta: i.e. vulnera. velet : semi-dependent on opto. Its 
 subject is the antecedent of qui. 
 
 20. mare : an unusual form of the ablative. Cf. F. iii. 654 amne 
 perenne. For a violation of grammar for metrical convenience cf. 
 Byron's ' Childe Harold ', ' There let him lay ' for ' lie '. aquae : 
 partitive genitive with exiguum. 
 
 21. ut: cf. Tr. iv. 10. 130. 
 
 22. instar : properly ' likeness ' ; then, ' equivalent '. An em- 
 phatic repetition of 1. 21. Even a part of his punishment is a full 
 punishment. 
 
 25. natatur : the prose natant in undis can become in poetry 
 natant undas. Hence the personal passive construction here. Cf. 
 Spenser, ' She wandered many a wood '. 
 
 26. tenerum : Milton's ' buxom (i. e. yielding) air '. avis : 
 collective ; cf. ' Thick flies the skimming swallow ', Burns. 
 
 28. Icariae : the part of the Aegean Sea, north of Crete, into 
 which Icarus fell. There is no point in particularizing the sea 
 except to give greater vividness. Ovid may have in mind Aeschylus's 
 irovTitov Kvpdrav dvrjpidfiov yeXacrfia, ' the. countless dimpling waves 
 of the sea '. 
 
 29. ut : cf. Tr. iv. 1. 61. 
 
 30. in mea fata : for my destruction, in, with the accusative, 
 often denotes purpose. Cf. Tr. v. 7. 28. strictas manus : the 
 hands are put for the weapons they hold, mantes expresses better 
 what tela would only imply — the murderous intention of the wielder. 
 
 32. sustinet = tenet. 
 
 33. cruenta : i. e. aiming at the emperor's life. 
 
 34. si : with esset. debet : sc. esse. 
 
 35. bene: firmly. 
 
 36. in hoste : in the case of, towards. 
 
 39. proxima quaeque : all my nearest and dearest. 
 
 40. effracto iugo : for the metaphor cf. Shakes. ' Whose souls 
 do bear an equal yoke of love '. 
 
 41. ferar : am I to turn ? ; middle voice. 
 
 43. viderit ipse : a formula by which the speaker puts off the
 
 TRISTIA V. 2, 2 (b) 143 
 
 settlement of a doubtful point, ' I am in Caesar's hands' (lit., our 
 lord himself will see to it). ipse : a common expression for ' the 
 master ', of a house, school, &c. Augustus is the altar of refuge. 
 Cf. the story of Adonijah, 1 Kings i. 50. 
 
 44. summovet : rejects. The greatest sinner can lay his hand 
 upon the altar and claim sanctuary. 
 
 BOOK V. 2 (b) 
 
 I. He addresses Augustus. This poem is evidently not a con- 
 tinuation of the preceding but it arises immediately out of it ; 
 cf. 1. 43. absens absentia : each word of course implies the 
 other, but the verbal repetition is more impressive. It gives a 
 stereoscopic effect. The common use of praesens deus (at hand to 
 help) in the language of confident prayer gives a meaning to 
 absentia beyond that of mere physical absence. 
 
 3. quo . . . sospite : ' whose safety is a sure pledge that ', &c. 
 
 5. imago : in Tac. Ann. iv. 52 micta effigies, a dumb statue, is 
 opposed to vera imago, the true representative (Agrippina, cf. note 
 on Tr. i v. 2. 1 1 ) of the dead Augustus. Cf. Thomson (said of Argyle) : 
 
 Thy fond imploring country . . . 
 
 In thee, with all a mother's triumph, sees 
 
 Her every virtue, every grace, combin'd. 
 
 7-8. sic habites . . . parce : sic is explained by parce. The 
 wish habites, Sec, is to be effectual sic (on these terms), i.e., if the 
 command parce is effectual. The construction is often imitated in 
 English poetry. Cf. Dryden : 
 
 So may thy tender blossoms fear no blight . . . 
 As thou shalt guide my wandering feet, &c. 
 
 desideret : explained by the next line ; miss from your proper 
 place among the gods — a corollary of habites terras. pacta : 
 promised. 
 
 10. Cf. Tr. v. 2. 21-2. superabit = supererit. 
 
 12. i.e. Ovid was not exsul, which implied loss of civitas and 
 nationality (marked by nomen), but relegatus, i.e. banished to a 
 particular spot without loss of citizenship or property. 
 
 1 5. -que : and yet. 
 
 21. cruciat : the subjects are the two nouns caelum and glaeba 
 with their respective enlargements and the four (/uod-c\a.uses in 
 11. 23-6. Numquam sine frigore : adjectival with caelum ; it 
 
 bears the stress of the meaning. 
 
 24. Graia : Tomi was a Greek colony of Miletus. 
 
 26. tutum : sc. me.
 
 144 NOTES 
 
 27. Cf. Tr. iii. 10. 67. 
 
 29. dum : provided only. See note on P. iv. 14.4. muter: 
 used in the original but rare meaning of muto , to remove. Zan- 
 claea : Zancle was the original name of Messana, off which the 
 whirlpool of Charybdis lies. 
 
 31. rapidae : devouring. Cf. raftidus sol. 
 
 32. Leucadii : cf. Tr. iii. 1. 42. An adroit reference to Augustus's 
 victory at Actium. 
 
 33. The meaning is — I am not asking for pardon, only for a 
 change in my place of punishment. 
 
 34. miser : adjective ending pentameter. The poem ends on its 
 key-note — resignation to misery. 
 
 BOOK V. 3 
 
 I. ilia dies: the Liberalia, or festival of Bacchus, was on March 17. 
 
 2-3. tempora : used rather awkwardly in two distinct senses in 
 consecutive lines. 
 
 4. ad : here denotes accompaniment ; ' as your wine goes round '. 
 
 7. Cf. Tr. iii. 10.2. Cynosuridos : Greek genitive. The Little 
 Bear was also called Cynosura ' dog's tail ', from a fancied resem- 
 blance of the group of stars to a dog with cocked tail. — As mariners 
 kept the North Star in the Little Bear in view, so an object which 
 attracts attention is called ' the cynosure '. Milton, ' Allegro ', ' the 
 Cynosure of neighbouring eyes ' ; ' Comus ', ' and thou shalt be our 
 star of Arcady, or Tyrian Cynosure ' (Areas and his mother Cal- 
 listo, a princess of Arcadia, were changed into the Lesser and 
 Greater Bear respectively. The Tyrians (Phoenicians) were the 
 typical mariners of early times). 
 
 9. vatem : i. e. Ovid. 
 
 10. admonitu matris : at the thought of thy mother. Semele, 
 mother of Bacchus, asked Jupiter to appear to her in all his majesty. 
 He came to her as the god of thunder, and she was consumed by 
 the lightning. potes : cf. Tr. iv. 2. 2. 
 
 12. nostri : objective genitive. R. P. L. § 262. 
 
 13. fer . . . sic, &c. : cf. note on Tr. v. 2. 51. altera : i. e. next 
 year's. degravet : i. e. hang heavily upon the elm with abundant 
 clusters. ulmum : vines were often trained upon elms or poplars 
 for support. This union of sturdy elm and yielding vine was natur- 
 ally spoken of by the poets under the metaphor of marriage. 
 
 As the vine the propping elm doth clasp, 
 Loath to depart till both together die, 
 So fold me, sweet, until my latest gasp. — Fletcher. 
 
 16. The accusative and infinitive depends upon memor.
 
 TRISTIA V. 3, 5 145 
 
 17. commercia : properly, ' trading-rights ' ; then, ' intercourse ' 
 generally. 
 
 20. haec eadem : i.e. the prayer implied \r\ fled ere tempta above, 
 sumpto mero : having charged your glasses. 
 
 23. mei: R. L. P. § 265. 
 
 24. modo : closely wkhpars. Naso : see note on Tr. iv. 10. 130. 
 
 25. id : sums up the actions expressed in rogate, dcponat, dicat. 
 ita : explained by the ^'-clauses ; ' on these terms only, if, &c. In 
 1. 30 an imperative takes the place of a ^z'-clause. candore : cf. 
 Tr. i. 11. 33. 
 
 26. littera : cf. note on Tr. i. 1 1. 1. iudicio : (adverse) 
 criticism. 
 
 28. proxima : i. e. modern, contemporary. 
 
 29. sic : i. e. if you ' keep my memory green ' ; see note on ita, 
 1. 25. dextro Apolline : Apollo favouring. Cf. Wordsworth : 
 
 the Sun — 
 Type of man's far-darting reason, therefore 
 In old time worshipped as the god of verse. 
 
 30. quod : anticipates inter vos no7/ien habete meum. 
 
 BOOK V. 5 
 
 I. honorem : cf. Tr. iii. 13. 13. 
 
 3. Laertius heros : Ulysses, who wandered for ten years after the 
 fall of Troy. 
 
 4. forsan : with egerat. coniugis : Penelope. 
 
 5. Cf. Tr. iii. 13. 18. 
 
 6. puto : when used parenthetically has short 0. Cf. note on 
 Tr. iv. 10. 130. iam : by now. 
 
 8. alba : with vestis, but put with bitter irony in the more em- 
 phatic position. Explained by discolor, ' whose colour mocks my 
 fate '. Mourning garments were vestis pulla, dark grey. Cf. note 
 on candidus, Tr. i. 9. 8. For dative fatis cf. R. L. P. § 218. 
 
 II. pingues : rich, from the oily juices in the incense. 
 
 14. candidus : see note on alba, 1. 8. The moral meaning 
 ' kindly' (cf. note on Tr. i. 11. 33) seems here to be combined with 
 the literal. 
 
 15. et : not merely conjunctive, but felt adverbially with instabat ; 
 'actually was threatening ', i. e. before this prayer. 
 
 16. May the troubles she has had through me last her for ever. 
 She has paid her debt to destiny in a lump sum, as it were. 
 
 17. plus quam quassata: sorely buffeted, all but sunk. 
 
 1 8. quod superest : for the rest of its course. 
 
 19. nata : Ovid's wife had a daughter by a former husband, 
 loo'j-i L
 
 146 NOTES 
 
 She was married to P. Suilius Rufus, who acted as quaestor to 
 Germanicus. 
 
 20. haec : i.e. home, child, and country. Let it suffice that these 
 have been taken from me and not from her as well. mihi : cf. 
 note on Tr. iv. 2. 58. 
 
 23. This is the day, but for whose dawning no festal day would 
 there have been for me to see. Strictly niclla . . . mihi is felt as 
 a relative clause, but in accordance with Latin idiom the relative 
 quae is grammatically drawn entirely into the xz-clause. The idiom 
 is foreign to English, though Spenser's ' her cruell sports . . . which 
 that to all may better yet appeare, I will rehearse ' (where ' which ' 
 is not only the object of ' rehearse' but is also the subject of ' may 
 appeare ') is an imitation. Cf. Cic. dolor, qui si adesset, non molli- 
 ter ferret, ' pain, the presence of which he would have borne without 
 weakness ' ; artes, quas qui tenent, eruditi appellcmttir, ' accom- 
 plishments, the possessors of which are styled men of education '. 
 
 24. videnda fuit : almost = visa esse/. See note on Tr. iv. 10. 63. 
 Forms like, e.g., visurusfuit, taking the place of vidisset, are repre- 
 sented in the passive by, e. g., videndus fuit or videri potuit. 
 Strictly speaking all these periphrases state a fact in which the real 
 apodosis to the conditional clause is implied. 
 
 25. mores : goodness. 
 28. paene : with viduo. 
 29-30. Cf. note on Tr. i. 5. 18. 
 
 31. olim = at some distant date (generally in the past, but some- 
 times, as here, in the future) explained by the next line. So Drayton, 
 ' The diamond shall once consume to dust'. Cf. Tr. v. 2. 51-2. 
 
 32. Pylios : i. e. Nestor's. Nestor was 
 
 that sage Pylian sire, which did survive 
 Three ages, such as mortajl men contrive, 
 By whose advice old Priam's cittie fell. 
 
 Pylos was on a headland of Messenia, just north of the island of 
 Sphacteria. 
 
 33. non : negatives the single word mihi. ' Spare — not me — 
 but her.' Cf. Tr. v. 7. 23. Else the negative would be ne ; Tr. 
 iii. 1. 3. 
 
 BOOK V. 7 
 
 3. contingit is generally used in a good, accidit in a bad, sense, 
 salute : health. 
 
 4. Candida : cf. Tr. v. 5. 14. 
 
 5. quid agam : how I am. 
 
 6. vel : even. This use arises from the omission of the first and 
 more obvious alternative, e. g. me [vel dicente~\ vel tace?ite.
 
 TRISTIA V. 7 147 
 
 8. offenso Caesare : under Caesar's displeasure, erit : sc. miser. 
 
 9. turba : people. So Ovid M. xiv. 607 calls the Romans turba 
 Quirini. quae = qualis. 
 
 11. haec : with ora in 1. 12. mixta . . . inter: peopled by 
 Greeks as well as Getae. 
 
 12. plus trahit : gets more. The barbarity of the Getae is more 
 in evidence than the civilization of the Greeks. 
 
 13. maior: i.e. quam Graecae. 
 
 15. coryton = (1) a bow-case, (2) a quiver. 
 
 16. lurida : ghastly pale, here applied to the weapons which 
 produce the pallor of death. Cf. Met. i. 147 lurida aconita (poisons), 
 and Tennyson's ' red ruin ' ; ' the red fool-fury of the Seine '. 
 
 19. segnis . . . dare : cf. R. L. P. § 373. Classical prose writers 
 limit this use of the infinitive to participles used adjectivally, as 
 paratus. Poets under Greek influence extend it to (1) adjectives 
 connected in meaning with verbs that take a prolative infinitive, 
 expressing e.g. desire, ability, readiness, &c, and their opposites, 
 as segnis here ; (2) other adjectives, the infinitive expressing the 
 point in respect of which the adjective is predicated of its noun, 
 e. g. celer sequi, ' swift in pursuit ', fclix ponere vitem, ' lucky for 
 planting vines '. Cf. Tennyson, ' Ulysses ' : 
 
 Decent not to fail 
 In offices of tenderness. 
 fixo : implanted, stabbing. 
 21. lusorum : cf. Tr. iii. 3. y^. 
 
 23. non et moriatur : not die {et = as well as live). Non nega- 
 tives, not the wish (which would require ne), but the word moriatur. 
 'May I live — not die,' &c. Cf. note on Tr. v. 5. 33. 
 
 24. et : misplaced from the beginning of the line. tamen : 
 with umbra, ' my shade at least '. Cf. Tr. iii. 3. 61-4. 
 
 25. quod: cf. note on Tr. iii. 1. 11. Ovid wrote a tragedy 
 ' Medea '. Perhaps this was turned into a ballet, as we read in 
 Suetonius that Nero, when suffering from a severe illness made 
 a vow, that if he recovered, he would dance the story of Turnus 
 from Vergil's Aeneid. 
 
 28. ambitiosa in : eager for, courting. For in cf. note on Tr. 
 v. 2. 30. 
 
 30. in ora : to men's lips. 
 
 31. quam vis = quanqunm. Cf. note on Tr. iii. 3. 79. 
 
 32. devoveo : from its common use ' I devote to the infernal 
 gods ', comes to mean ' I curse '. 
 
 33. bene : thoroughly, duly. 
 
 34. Cf. Tr. iv. I. 32. 
 
 36. Caphaream : see note on Tr. i. 1. 53. aquam : cf. on 
 Tr. v. 2. 25. For the sense cf. P. i. 5. 40-1 : 
 
 nil sibi cum pelagi dicit fore naufragus undis, 
 et ducit remos qua modo navit aqua 
 L 2
 
 i 4 8 NOTES 
 
 (the shipwrecked sailor forswears ocean's waves for ever, and rows 
 again in the very waters where but a while ago he swam for his life), 
 and Spenser : 
 
 The soveraigne of seas he blames in vaine, 
 That, once sea-beate, will to sea again. 
 
 38. utilius : bears the stress; ' which would more advantageously 
 have remained unknown '. 
 
 39. detineo : I occupy. 
 
 40. dare verba : to beguile. 
 43. Cf. P. iii. I. 5-18. 
 47-8. Cf. Tr. v. 10. 43-4. 
 49-50. Cf. Tr. iii. 10. 19-20. 
 
 51. Cf. Mahaffy, Rambles and Studies in Greece: 'In many 
 Hellenic colonies barbarians learned to speak Greek with the 
 Greeks . . . ; but in all these cases, when the Greek influence van- 
 ished, the Greek language decayed and finally made way for the 
 old tongue which it had temporarily displaced '. 
 
 54. e medio : i. e. common, with verba. 
 
 55. ille ego : cf. Tr. iv. 10. 1. 
 
 60. ista : the subject when a pronoun is regularly attracted to 
 the gender of the complement, but contrast Tr. v. 14. 28 id demum 
 pietas, id socialis amor, hominis : i.e. Ovid. 
 
 61. Ausoniae : cf. on Tr. i. 2. 82. 
 
 62. sono : abl. of separation with mnta. R. L. P. § 229. 
 
 64. signa : viz. the verba of 1. 63. ' I retrace the unlucky tracks 
 of my old pursuit,' i. e. once more I write poetry. sinistra : gets 
 its bad meaning from the awkwardness associated with the left 
 hand. In augury its meaning varies. The East was the lucky 
 quarter ; the Greeks who faced the North when taking omens, 
 would have this on their right, the Romans, who faced the South, 
 on their left. So sinister sometimes means ' lucky ', at other times 
 through the literary influence of Greek, ' unlucky '. 
 
 65. traho : with animum, ' I distract my thoughts ' ; with temptis, 
 1 I pass the weary time '. Translate by ' occupy '. 
 
 68. praemia ista : that poor prize, i.e. forgetfulness. 
 
 BOOK V. 8 
 
 1. abiectus: a castaway. 
 
 2. quoque : even. 
 
 3. animos : arrogance. 
 
 4. potes : cf. on Tr. iv. 8. 14, for the use of the personal construc- 
 tion. The meaning is fieri potest ut patiaris. 
 
 5. iacenti : cf. on Tr. iii. 3. 5.
 
 TRISTIA V. 8, 10 149 
 
 . 6. Cf. Shakes. Timon of Athens, iv. 1 : 
 
 He shall find 
 The unkindest beast more kinder than mankind. 
 
 7. For the description of Fortune cf. Shakes. Henry V, iii. 6 : 
 
 That goddess blind, 
 
 That stands upon the rolling restless stone ; 
 
 and Fluellen's remarks. orbe : not the world, but simply an 
 
 emblem of instability. A common attribute of Fortune both in art 
 and in literature. 
 
 S. verba : object of exosae. deae : Nemesis, the remains of 
 whose two temples at Rhamnus on the east coast of Attica are still 
 to be seen. She was the personification of the jealousy which the 
 gods were thought to entertain of excessive human prosperity, as in 
 the story of Polycrates and his ring. 
 
 9. dignis : sc. poena. 
 
 11. mergi: the accusative subject (understood) is the antecedent 
 of qui. 
 
 17. laeta : Shakes. Julius Caesar, iii. 2: 
 
 Fortune is merry, 
 And in this mood will give us any thing. 
 
 iS. Cf. P. ii. 7. 21-2 : 
 
 quaeque solebat 
 
 esse levis, constans et bene certa nocct 
 
 (and she (i. e. Fortune) who was wont to be fickle, is constant and 
 fixed in purpose to harm me) ; Win. Smith, ' Chloris ' : 
 Ah fickle dame ! and yet thou constant art 
 My daily grief and anguish to increase ; 
 Shelley, ' Naught may endure but mutability', &c. Alison {Hist, of 
 Europe from the fall of Napoleon) applies the paradox to the 
 French : ' fickle in everything else, the French have been faithful in 
 one thing only— their love of change '. 
 
 BOOK V. 10 
 
 1. ut sumus : cf. Tr. iv. 1. 57. Here the previous time is implied. 
 
 3. annis : see note on Tr. v. 2. 13. 
 
 4. Dardana : Dardanus, son of Zeus, was the mythical ancestor 
 of the Trojans. 
 
 5. stare: sc. tempora. Shakes. As You Like It, iii. 2 'Time 
 travels in divers paces with divers persons ' ; and — 
 
 The heaven and fortune which were wont to turn, 
 Fixt in one mansion slay to cause me mourn.
 
 150 NOTES 
 
 7-8. The nights at their shortest in summer, the days at their 
 shortest in winter are long to me. solstitium : specially used of 
 the summer solstice. 
 
 1 1. communia tempora : the seasons, alike for all mankind ; 
 contrasted with vitae meae. 
 
 12. dura : contrasted with pcragunt solitos motus, seems to have 
 the meaning of ' obstinate ' (cf. durare, to continue) rather than of 
 ' cruel '. 
 
 13. quern: the antecedent is the pronoun of the first person, 
 understood in meae. mendax : cf. note on Tr. iii. 12. 38. 
 
 14. vere : with sinistra, which is used in its double sense; cf. 
 Tr. v. 7. 64. 
 
 15. circa: from its position is to be taken adjectivally with 
 gentes. 
 
 16. sibi : with tw'pe. non rapto vivere : object of putant. 
 
 17. tumulus : the hill on which the castellum (1. 27) was placed. 
 ipse : even. 
 
 18. ingenio : cf. P. iv. 7. 22-4, addressed to Vestalis, a soldier 
 friend who had stormed Aegisos (near the mouth of the Danube) : 
 
 Aegis os . . . quae . . . 
 sensit in ingenio nil opis esse loci. 
 nam dubium posita melius defensa manune, 
 urbs erat in summo nubibus aequo, iugo 
 
 (Aegisos, which learnt to its cost that there was no help in its 
 natural strength. For ('tis doubtful whether it was better defended 
 by its position or by its garrison) the city towered aloft on the 
 mountain top to the level of the clouds). 
 
 19. credas : potential subjunctive. ut aves : i.e. in their 
 swiftness and numbers. 
 
 23. is : i.e. the rarus, qui, &c. Cf. Nehemiah iv. 17 'They that 
 builded the wall . . . every one with one of his hands wrought in the 
 work, and with the other held his weapon '. 
 
 25. iunctis pice avenis : i. e. pan-pipes. 
 
 29. simul : used as a preposition with the ablative ; only in 
 poetry and in Silver Latin prose. 
 
 30. parte : share. quoque : even. 
 
 31. quorum: depends on corpora. videndo : an ablative of 
 cause. The gerund used thus is almost indistinguishable in meaning 
 from the present participle, which in mediaeval Latin and modern 
 Italian and Spanish it has supplanted. ut non : cf. note on Tr. 
 i. 1. 21. 
 
 33. creduntur: cf. note on Tr. iii. 10. 35. 
 
 34. braca : cf. note on Tr. iii. 10. 19, where the commoner plural 
 form is used. 
 
 35. ' They converse with each other in a tongue they all share.' 
 sociae linguae : genitive of definition with cotnmercia.
 
 TRISTIA V. io, 12 15 r 
 
 36. gestum : gesture, sign. 
 
 37. ulli : cf. note on Tr. iii. 12. 27. ego: emphatic, 'I, the 
 Roman, am a barbarian here '. 
 
 38. Latina Getae : cf. note on Tr. iii. 3. 63. 
 
 39. palam : preposition governing me ; a poetical use. 
 
 40. -que : joins this line to the last. 
 
 41. ut fit : as usually happens, naturally. in se aliquid statui : 
 in aJiquem statuere=X.o take proceedings against somebody ; Sallust 
 Cat. 52 quid in illos statical/! us consultare, to deliberate how we 
 are to punish them. Ovid P. ii. 2. 119 qui, cum triste aliquid 
 stat uit, Jit tristis et ipse (said of Augustus). The meaning here is 
 ' my gesture of dissent — for I cannot explain myself in their lan- 
 guage — is taken by the Getae to imply a hostile purpose towards 
 themselves '. adnuerim : comes as an afterthought, suggested 
 by abnuerim ; a gesture of assent would hardly be misunderstood. 
 Note the subjunctive adnuerim, the clause being put (incorrectly) 
 as part of their thought. The regular expression would be quotiens 
 abnui annuique, fiutant, ' whenever I nod dissent or assent, they 
 think ', &c. But coming in the midst of the oratio obliqua construc- 
 tion, the clause is attracted into the subjunctive form, though the word 
 annuerim in itself shows it is not part of the thought of the Getae. 
 A similar confusion is seen in expressions like rediit, quod se nescio 
 quid obli turn esse diceret, ' he returned because, as he said, he had 
 forgotten something', where diceret is incorrectly drawn into the 
 ' oblique ' construction. 
 
 43. ius dicitur : ius dicere was a technical phrase ' to pronounce 
 judgement'. Here, as applied to Scythian 'legal procedure', it is 
 bitterly ironical. 
 
 45. Lachesin : one of the three Fates, who spun and, at death, 
 cut the thread of human life. For the accusative see R. L. P. § 209, 
 note. sidus : the Romans, like other peoples, believed in the 
 influence of the heavenly bodies on human life. We often use 
 ' star ' metaphorically, in the sense of ' destiny '. Cf. Shakes. 
 Twelfth Night, ii. 5 ' In my stars I am above thee ; but be not 
 afraid of greatness '. 
 
 BOOK V. 12 
 
 1. scribis ut. Note the difference between scribo ut vetiias, ' I 
 send you word to come' (indirect command), and scribo me venturum 
 esse, ' I send you word that I am coming ' (indirect statement), and 
 compare similar constructions with ■persuadeo, &c. 
 
 2. pectora : here the seat of the intellect, ' my mind '. Cf. 
 B. Jonson : 
 
 Not caring how the metal of your minds 
 Is eaten with the rust of idleness, 
 and below, 1. 21.
 
 152 NOTES 
 
 3-4. Cf. Tr. i. I. 25-30. 
 
 5. fortuna : represented under the metaphor of a ship. 
 
 6. ulla : sc. sors from sorte. Cf. Tr. v. 14. 9. 
 
 8. orba : Niobe, wife of Amphion, king of Thebes, and mother 
 of twelve children, boasted of her superiority over Latona, who had 
 only two children, Apollo and Artemis. These slew Niobe's children 
 with their arrows. The unhappy mother was turned into stone ; cf. 
 P. i. 2. 11-12. A beautiful group of statuary at Florence portrays 
 the punishment and Niobe's grief. Shakes. Ham. i. 2 ' Like Niobe, 
 all tears '. For the sentiment cf. Surrey : 
 
 May sick men laugh, that roar for pain ? 
 Joy they in song that do complain? 
 Are martyrs in their torments glad ? 
 Do pleasures please them that are sad ? 
 Then how may I in comfort be, 
 That lack the thing should comfort me ? 
 
 9. teneri : to be occupied. 
 
 11. licet : although ; cf. note on P. i. 4. 17. robore : for the 
 oak as a symbol of strength cf. Shakes. Cor. v. 2 ' He is the rock, 
 the oak not to be wind-shaken '. 
 
 12. reo : Socrates, an Athenian philosopher, declared by the 
 oracle to be the wisest of mankind (1. 15), was put to death in 399 
 B. C, on charges brought against him by Anytus, and two others. 
 He had made it his life-mission to show that politicians and would- 
 be teachers did not understand the principles of the arts they pro- 
 fessed, and thus he raised up many enemies against himself. He is 
 the noblest character in Greek history, reo is dative of the possessor, 
 R. L. P. § 224. 
 
 13. sapientia : i.e. philosophy as firmly based as that of Socrates. 
 tantae : i.e. so great as mine. mole-: the crushing weight. 
 
 14. dei : i.e. Augustus. 
 
 17. tit: although. patriae, vestri : objective genitives with 
 oblivia. 
 
 18. amissi : of what I have lost. 
 
 19. at : yet. officio : a poet's 'duty' would be writing poetry. 
 Cf. 11. 3-4. 
 
 23-4. si non renovetur . . . habebit : cf. R. L. P. § 437. The 
 indicative insists on the certainty of the consequence of neglect. 
 
 25. tempore longo : cf. note on Tr. v. 2. 13. steterit : has 
 stood idle. 
 
 26. carceribus : separate stalls for each team, from which the 
 competing chariots started in the Circus races. missos : sc. 
 cquos. 
 
 27. teneram : crumbling. 
 
 30. posse redire : can again become.
 
 TRISTIA V. 12 153 
 
 31. Cf. Addison : 
 
 Not so thy Ovid in his exile wrote ; 
 Grief chilled his heart and checked his rising thought, 
 Pensive and sad his drooping Muse betrays 
 The Roman genius in his last decays. 
 Hardly true, however. 
 34. Cf. Cowper': 
 
 At Westminster, where little poets strive 
 To set a distich upon six and five . . . 
 I was a poet too. 
 36. domini : author. tempore = temftoribus in Tr. iii. I. 10. 
 37-8. ' non . . . amor ' : a quotation from the letter to which Ovid 
 is replying, in which his friend urges literary fame as an incentive. 
 39. fulgore : glamour. 
 41. curae : dative. R. L. P. § 225. 
 
 24. si liceat : R. L. P. § 439 (a). As Ovid was already famous, 
 we might have expected si liceret . . . vellem (see note on Tr. iv. I. 
 23). His friend's advice that he should still write poetry leads him 
 to express himself as though the chance of remaining obscure were 
 still open to him. 
 
 43. cesserunt bene : have been successful. 
 
 44. scribere : in prose would be ut scribam. ipse : the associa- 
 tion of ipse with possessive adjectives is metrically very convenient 
 and is generally justified by the sense ; cf. 1. 48 ; but there is no 
 contrast to give it point here. 
 
 45. pace vestra : with your leave. sorores : the Muses. 
 
 47. Cf. Tr. iii. 1 1 for the story of Perillus. 
 
 48. artibus meis : the Ars Amatoria. Ablative of cause. 
 
 49. debebat esse : cf. note on Tr. iii. 3. 31. 
 
 50. cum fugerem merito : since I had good reason to shun. Or 
 merito could be taken with naufragus, in the sense of ' deservedly '. 
 
 51. at : introduces (like at eni/ri) an objection, which Ovid 
 answers in lines 53 sqq. fatale : a poetical use in the sense of 
 ' deadly ' ; cLfata, Tr. iv. I. 58. puto : ironical. 
 
 52. arma : the equipment, all that helps poetic composition, 
 books, language, an appreciative audience. It is only in poetry 
 that arma is used for tools in general. In Tr. iv. 10. 106 arma is 
 used in its prose meaning, though metaphorically. 
 
 54. -que : joins norit (on which the quid- clause depends) to 
 commodet. 
 
 55. barbaricae vocis : genitive of description. 
 
 56. timore : R. L. P. § 233. 
 
 63. nee possum et : I cannot and yet . . . ducere : cf. note 
 on Tr. i. I. 25. 
 65. nee nisi : and only ; goes with casu dolove. 
 67. magistrum : distinguish from dominies in 1. 36.
 
 i54 NOTES 
 
 BOOK V. 14 
 
 I. monimenta : cf. Tr. iii. 3. 78. 
 
 3. auctori : note that auctor does not mean ' an author ' in 
 general, but ' the author ', or ' originator', of a definite work. For 
 the dative cf. note on Tr. iv. 2, 58. licebit : with detraJiat (jussive 
 subjunctive) ; ' it will be allowed (by me) that fortune should take', 
 i. e. ' fortune may take '. See note on licet, P. i. 4. 17. 
 
 4. ferere : you shall be talked of. 
 6. Cf. 
 
 And though this earthly body fade and die 
 My name shall mount upon eternity. — Drayton ; 
 
 and Tr. iv. 10. 130. 
 
 8. manes : here the abode of departed spirits. 
 
 9. idque : sc. miinus from munere in 1. 10. Cf. Tr. v. 12. 6. For 
 the sentiment cf. Daniel : 
 
 Virtuous men, 
 Whose glorious actions luckily had gained 
 Th' eternal annals of a happy pen. 
 
 Contrast Byron : 
 
 Pride ! bend thine eye from heaven to thine estate, 
 See how the mighty shrink into a song ! 
 
 II. longo . . . aevo : cf. note on Tr. v. 2. 13. 
 
 12. Penelope, though wooed by many suitors, was faithful to her 
 husband Odysseus during his twenty years' absence at the siege of 
 Troy and on his after-wanderings. Cf. A. A. iii. 15-16 : 
 
 est ftia Penelope, lustris errante duobus 
 et totidem lustris bellq gerente viro 
 
 (Penelope is faithful, while for two lustres her husband roams and 
 for as many lustres wages war). 
 
 13. Admeti: Alcestis, wife of Admetus, king of Pherae, gave up 
 her life for his. Cf. A. A. iii. 19-20: 
 
 fata Pheretiadae coniunx Pagasaea redemit 
 firoque viro est uxor funere lata viri 
 
 (his Thessalian wife bought off the doom of Pheres' son and for her 
 husband was the wife borne on the bier that should have been his). 
 Her devotion was the subject of Euripides' play 'Alcestis' and 
 Browning's ' Balaustion's Adventure '. Hectoris uxor : Andro- 
 mache, whose wifely love is beautifully described by Homer in 
 the Iliad. 
 
 14. Iphias : the daughter of Iphis, Evadne, wife of Capaneus, 
 who fell at the siege of Thebes, blasted by Jove's lightning, which
 
 TRISTIA V. 12, EX PONTO I. 2 155 
 
 he had defied. His wife perished upon his blazing corpse. Cf. 
 A. A. iii. 21-2: 
 
 ' accipe me, Capaneu ! cincres miscebimur,' inquit 
 Iphias, in medios desiluitque rogos 
 
 (' Receive me, Capaneus ; our ashes shall mingle,' said Evadne, 
 and leaped into the middle of the pyre). 
 
 15. coniunx Phylaceia : Laodamia, wife of Protesilaus, king of 
 Phylace in Thessaly, who doomed himself to death by leaping first 
 from his ship on to the shore of Troy. His wife prevailed upon the 
 gods by her prayers to allow him to revisit the earth for the space 
 of three hours, and when at the end of this time he died again, she 
 died with him. Cf. A. A. iii. 17-18 : 
 
 respice Phylaciden et quae comes isse niarito 
 fertur et ante annos occubuisse suos 
 
 (look at Protesilaus, and her who is said to have accompanied her 
 husband and to have died before her time). See Wordsworth's 
 ' Laodamia ' : 
 
 Thou knowest, the Delphic oracle foretold 
 
 That the first Greek who touched the Trojan strand 
 
 Should die ; but me the threat could not withhold : 
 A generous cause a victim did demand ; 
 
 And forth I leapt upon the sandy plain ; 
 
 A self- devoted chief, — by Hector slain. 
 
 19. facis : strictly should be facias, as coming within the oratio 
 obliqua construction. But the wife would think to herself Ista 
 moneor, quia no?ifacio, and Ovid retains the mood in the indirect 
 form. 
 
 20. remige : abl. of instrument ; = remigio. 
 
 EX PONTO 
 
 BOOK I. 2 
 
 1. Maxime : Paullus Fabius Maximus was a distant connexion 
 and a trusted friend of Augustus. Ovid's third wife was related to 
 him. mensuram inples : i.e. you are really maximus, as your 
 
 name is Maximus ; a man in whom — 
 
 rank and birth 
 Stamp the pure ore of genuine worth.— Scott.
 
 156 NOTES 
 
 2. genus : coming after geminas animi nobilitate is easily under- 
 stood as = generis nobilitatem. Cf. 'full of kindness, generous as 
 his blood ', Otway. 
 
 3. qui . . . ut : cf. note on Tr. v. 5. 23. Ovid tells the story in 
 F. ii. 197, &c, how the Fabian clan volunteered to hold an outpost 
 on the river Cremera against the Veientines ; how they were sur- 
 prised and all were slain. But one boy had been left behind at 
 Rome, who carried on the race. The greatest of the house was 
 O. Fabius Maximus Cunctator, who stayed the tide of Hannibal's 
 success in the Second Punic War. The words here adapted to 
 Ovid's contemporary are applied in the Fasti to Cunctator. 
 
 6. tamquam sit : notice that the use of the tenses of the sub- 
 junctive in comparative clauses does not, as one would expect, 
 follow that in conditional clauses. 'If I were lame' (an unfulfilled 
 condition) would be si claiuius essem ; but ' as if I were lame ' is 
 tamquam (si) claudus sim, after a verb in a primary, tamquam (si) 
 claiuius essei?i, after a verb in a historic, tense. 
 
 9. stupor : like that of the lady in Tennyson's ' Home they 
 brought her warrior dead '. Cf. Byron's ' Corsair ' : 
 
 On Conrad's stricken soul exhaustion prest 
 And stupor almost lulled it unto rest. 
 
 11. felicem Nioben : for the ace. cf. Tr. i. 2. 19 ; for the story 
 cf. Tr. v. 12. 8. quamvis == quamquam. Cf. note on Tr. iii. 3. 79. 
 
 12. posuit: laid aside. It suits Ovid here to vary from the 
 common story, which sees in the water which flows over the Niobe 
 rock in summer, the tears which she continues to shed. Cf. Met. 
 vi. 311 : 
 
 fixa cacumine moniis 
 liquitur et lacrimas etiam nunc 7>iarmora manant 
 
 (fixed on the mountain top she melts away and even now the 
 marble drips tears). For the mood of posuit cf. R. L. P. §§ 450 and 
 454. Niobe is called 'happy', because she became insensible to 
 grief; so Ovid might (except, of course, for the metre) have used 
 posuerit here. For the sentiment cf. Beaumont and Fletcher : 
 
 Antiphila, 
 What would this wench do, if she were Aspatia ? 
 Here she would stand, till some more pitying god 
 Turn'd her to marble. 
 
 13. vivimus ut : it is more usual to anticipate ut consecutive when 
 used in this restrictive sense by ita or sic. His haunting grief is not 
 so much the result of his being alive, as of his living such a life. 
 The effect of ita with the main verb is to direct attention at once 
 to the coming restriction, so that the main verb becomes a sub- 
 ordinate part of the thought ; ' though I am alive, I am never 
 without ', &c. By the omission of ita the main verb gets greater
 
 EX PONTO I. i, 4 157 
 
 emphasis ; ' I live on, but yet I am never without ', &c. Cf. note on 
 ita Tr. v. 3. 25. 
 
 15. at: like at ctiim, introducing an objection. puto: paren- 
 thetical. It has a slightly ironical force ; ' I suppose '. medicina 
 curae: cf. Shakes. Macbeth, ii. 2 ' Sleep that knits up the ravelled 
 slcave of care . . . Balm of hurt minds'. publica : cf. 2 H. IV, 
 iii. I 'O thou dull god (i.e. sleep), why liest thou with the vile', 
 &c. ; Sir Philip Sidney : 
 
 Sleep . . . the balm of woe, 
 The poor man's wealth, the prisoner's release. 
 
 Armstrong, ' The luxury of vulgar sleep '. 
 
 18. The meaning is : With me sleep does not ' shut up sorrow's 
 eye'. My feelings are alive to the apprehension of misfortunes 
 impending on me. in : denotes the direction taken by his feelings. 
 damna : explained in the next two lines. Cf. Spenser : 
 
 Yet in his soundest sleepe, his dayly feare 
 
 His ydle braine gan busily molest . . . 
 The things, that day most minds, at night doe most appeare. 
 
 21. imagine : semblance, because it is not really better. 
 22-6. Cf. Campbell, ' The Exile of Erin ' : 
 
 Erin, my country, tho' sad and forsaken, 
 
 In dreams I revisit thy sea-beaten shore, 
 But, alas, in a far foreign land I awaken, 
 
 And sigh for the friends who can meet me no more. 
 
 25. non vera voluptas : so Drummond speaks of Sleep's 
 ' feigned solace '. 
 
 26. ab : after. boni : depends on admonitu. Cf. Keats : 
 
 Were there ever any 
 Writhed not at passed joy ? 
 To know the change and feel it, 
 When there is none to heal it, 
 Nor numbed sense to steal it, 
 Was never said in rhyme. 
 
 29-30. Cf. the language of the Psalmist (xxii. 14), ' I am poured 
 out like water, and all my bones are out of joint : my heart also in 
 the midst of my body is even like melting wax '. 
 
 JiOOK I. 4 
 
 deterior : cf. Tr. iv. 8. 34. canis : sc. capillis. 
 Now careful age hath pitched her painful plough 
 Upon the furrowed brow. — Ouarles.
 
 158 NOTES 
 
 6. 'Such ruin has been wrought upon my years.' He was 
 growing old (1. i) but he looked older than his years. 
 8. labor: hardships. 
 
 9-10. digerat : should distribute. per longos annos : through 
 a long series of years. The meaning is that if his woes were 
 properly distributed so that only a fair number fell in one year, as 
 many years as those of Nestor's life would be required to contain 
 them all. P'or Nestor see note on Tr. v. 5. 32. Cf. Shakes. 1 
 H. VI, ii. s : 
 
 These grey locks . . . 
 Nestor-like aged, in an age of care, 
 Arsrue the end of Edmund Mortimer. 
 
 1 ,-i w 
 
 Beaumont and Fletcher, 'Am I not grey enough with grief 
 already ? ' (spoken by a young woman). 
 
 13. 'The ground which is never wont to rest in fallow idleness,' 
 lit. ' to rest with idle fallow '. novale ' fallow-land ' is the humus, 
 under a new and special aspect. The soil itself in this new aspect 
 is spoken of as a circumstance describing the state of the soil. 
 Instead of saying something like cessatur (impers.) vacuo novali, 
 ' there is rest with the soil lying fallow ', he says ' the ground is rest- 
 ing with fallow soil '. Cf. Prop. i. 22. 6-8 ftulvz's, . . .tu niello miseri 
 contegis ossa solo, ' Dust, thou coverest the bones of the unhappy 
 man with no soil ' ; the pulvis and the solum are really the same. 
 
 Different crops use up different chemical elements of the soil for 
 their growth. A succession of similar crops will in time exhaust 
 the supply of their particular food. Hence the necessity of giving 
 the ground a rest, or (as is usual now) changing the crops in 
 rotation or supplying chemical manure. For the sentiment, cf. 
 Herrick's ' Rest Refreshes ' : 
 
 Lay by the good a while ; a resting field 
 
 Will, after ease, a richer harvest yield : 
 
 Trees this year beare ; next they their wealth withhold : 
 
 Continuall reaping makes a land wax old. 
 
 17. licet : makes an independent statement, to which another 
 independent statement is added in contrast, e. g. they may be 
 strong, yet, &c. This logical relation resulted in time in licet 
 being regarded as a mere connecting word, not influencing the 
 mood. Cf. note on forsitan, Tr. i. 1. 39, and quamvis, Tr. iii. 
 
 3-79- 
 
 20. Notice et transferred from its place at the beginning of the 
 
 line. 
 
 22. carpit : cf. note on Tr. iv. 8. 8. 
 
 23. venerit : subjunctive, because the reason is ' reported'. It is 
 that in the minds of the sera posteritas. Aesone natus : Jason, 
 who voyaged in quest of the golden fleece.
 
 EX PONTO I. 4 iS9 
 
 26. ' If only great names (like that of Jason, celebrated in story) 
 do not obscure the truth.' People will not believe that I have 
 endured more than the great heroes of mythology. Cf. Tr. i. 5. 
 41-6S where Ovid contrasts himself with Ulysses. Read the story 
 of Jason in Kingsley's ' Heroes '. 
 
 27-30. Jason's oppressor was a petty king, mine is the ruler of 
 all the earth. 
 
 28. fine =fi?iibus, abl. of space within which. 
 
 30. utraque terra : i. e. East and West. 
 
 31. Haemonia : Thessalian, from Haemon, father of Thessalus, 
 who gave his name to the country. 
 
 34. nostram fugam = me fugientem. The action is often put 
 in poetry for the doer of the action ; cf. Tr. i. 5. 36. 
 
 36. sacra : it was Palladia confecta manu (the handiwork of 
 Pallas). 
 
 37. Tiphys : the steersman of the Argo ; cf. the passage quoted 
 in note on Tr. i. 5. 18. Agenore natus : i. e. Phineus, the blind 
 prophet, who was rescued from the Harpies by the Argonauts, 
 whom he requited by warning them of their dangers. 
 
 38. quas fugerem : the deliberative subjunctive (quas vias 
 fugiam ?) subordinated in a clause of indirect question. Notice 
 the position of -que. 
 
 39. ilium : i. e. Jason. 
 
 41. furtivae Cupidinis artes : alludes to the secret help given 
 him by Medea, who had fallen in love with him. 
 
 42. vellem non didicisset : cf. note on Tr. iv. 1. 23. Instead 
 of vellem non (or more regularly ne) nolleni is generally used. 
 Perhaps the feeling that led to the use of non instead of ne here is 
 that it corrects the single word didicisset, as if Ovid had written 
 ' would that Love had taught me, not learnt from me '. Ovid is 
 alluding to his ' Art of Love ' which was the ostensible cause of his 
 banishment. 
 
 46. illo : sc. onere. subiit : in compounds of eo Ovid allows 
 himself to retain the original length of the last syllable of the 
 perfect. 
 
 49. possim: semi-dependent on di faciant. talem : i.e. aged 
 as you are by my troubles. 
 
 50-6. The infinitives all depend like cernere upon possim. 
 51. non pingue : wasted. 
 
 53. fienti : sc. uxori. Notice the power that Latin has through 
 its case endings of bringing side by side words which reinforce 
 each other, as Jlenti flens here. Contrast the way in which Keats 
 expresses similar reciprocity of feeling : 
 
 Thou dost pine 
 For one as sorrowful ; thy cheek is pale 
 For one whose cheek is pale ; thou dost bewail 
 His tears who weeps for thee.
 
 160 NOTES 
 
 54. -que: cf. Tr. i. 8. 2. numquam : be careful to take this 
 with the right word. 
 
 55. Caesaribus: cf. Tr. iv. 2. 1. conhtge : Livia. Caesaribus 
 to dis veris is the indirect object oiferre. 
 
 57. Memnonis mater : i.e. Aurora. 
 
 58. quam primum : take together as a superlative adverb. 
 roseo : has special point as the colour of the morning sky. 
 
 BOOK I. 9 
 
 I. Celsus was one of the few friends who did not desert Ovid in 
 his trouble. Tristia i. 5 is probably addressed to him. 
 
 3. quod : nominative as subject of nefas (est) must be under- 
 stood as the accusative subject of posse. nee = et (putavi) ?wn 
 {posse) cf. Tr. iii. 10. 24. 
 
 4. invitis : has the stress and explains line 3. littera : see 
 note on Tr. i. 11. 1. 
 
 6. ut: cf. Tr. v. 10. 1. perveniat : semi-dependent on precor ; 
 the negative in nee (— et non) (1. 5) must be carried on as ne to 
 perveniat. 
 
 7. praesentis: sc. Celsi. 
 
 9-10. Cf. Surrey (writing of his youthful friendships): 
 
 The secret thoughts imparted with such trust, 
 
 The wanton (= playful) talk, the divers change of play. 
 
 10. saepe : with refert animus understood from 1. 9. liquida 
 == (1) flowing, (2) clear, (3) pure (used in all three meanings both 
 literally and metaphorically). Here 'unalloyed'. 
 
 II. densius: with closer throng of memories. illis (tempori- 
 bus) : i. e. our happy times together. 
 
 12. vellem . . . fuisse : contrast the construction in P. i. 4. 42. 
 summa = suprema, last. 
 
 13. cum: not descriptive of tempora, but 'inverse' cum, of 
 something suddenly breaking in upon the state of things expressed 
 in the principal sentence, here, the ' happy times '. The normal 
 form of Latin sentence would be e. g. cum iam ver appeteret (was 
 approaching), Hannibal castra movit, but with ' inverse ' cum it 
 would be (a commoner construction in English than in Latin) 
 iam ver appetebat, cum H. castra movit. 
 
 14. concidit procubuitque : the second verb represents an 
 earlier stage in the (metaphorical) collapse of the house than the 
 first, to which it adds a picturesque detail. Dickens, 'Little Dorrit', 
 'the old house . . . heaved, surged outward, opened asunder in fifty 
 places, collapsed and fell '. 
 
 16. Cf. Tr. i. 5. 34 cetera Fortunae, non mea turba/uit.
 
 EX PONTO I. 9, II. i 161 
 
 17. funera : cf. Tr. i. 3. 22. 
 
 18. igne : i.e. of the funeral pyre. For the abl. cf. note on P. iv. 
 
 14. 14. 
 
 19. iacentem : cf. note on Tr. iii. 3. 5 ; 'prostrate with grief. 
 
 21. invisus : unwelcome (i.e. in the capacity of custos). Cf. 
 Horace, invitum qui Stv-jat, idem facit Occident/, 'he who saves a 
 man against his will, does the same as one who murders him'. 
 
 22. in mea fata : for my destruction, i. e. for suicide. 
 
 24. nee . . . nega : nee is very commonly used for neve. posse : 
 impersonal. 
 
 25. crede : Ovid addresses M?.ximus. dignus : as you deserve. 
 Adjectives often take the place of clauses both in prose and, espe- 
 cially, in poetry. 
 
 26. In your long list of friends Celsus ranked high as any. 
 27-8. Cf. Tennyson : 
 
 Howe'er it be, it seems to me, 
 'Tis only noble to be good. 
 Kind hearts are more than coronets, 
 And simple faith than Norman blood. 
 
 28. magnos : complement of facit. 
 
 30. Notice that cum fugere?n depends upon the ^w-clause. 
 Quas is transferred from the beginning of the line to give greater 
 emphasis to vivo (contrasted with adempto) and cum fugerem 
 naturally goes with vivo. 
 
 31. Tears and songs are Celsus's due ; cf. Milton's 'Lycidas' 14 
 ' without the meed of some melodious tear '. 
 
 32. venturi: used as a noun, * posterity '. nomina : titles to 
 fame. 
 
 33. hoc est quod possim : this is all I can ; lit., this is the sort 
 of thing I can. R. L. P. § 452. 
 
 34. Lit., this is the only thing of mine, that is allowed to be in 
 Rome (istic). quodmeum is the subject of esse ; and the whole ace. 
 and infin. phrase is subject of licet. The difference between the 
 dative and infinitive and the accusative and infinitive constructions 
 with licet may be made clear by comparing, e. g., ' You may read 
 these books' {tibi, as the permission is given to you) and 'These 
 books may be read by you ' {licet has libros a te legi). Contrast the 
 more definite indicative licet, with possim above. 
 
 hOOK II. 1 
 
 I. triumphi : see note on Tr. iii. 12. 44. Tr. iv. 2 gives a de- 
 scription drawn from imagination of an anticipated triumph of 
 Tiberius over Germany ; this poem describes from hearsay his real 
 triumph over Pannonia and Dalmatia on Jan. 16, A.D. 13. 
 
 looo-i M
 
 1 62 NOTES 
 
 2. languida, fessi : because Tomi was (or rather Ovid thought it 
 was) so far to the north. Cf. Tr. i. 5. 45. 
 
 4. odio est : odio (R. L. P. § 225) esse is used as a passive of 
 odisse. 
 
 5. nube : one of the commonest metaphors. A fine expansion of 
 a metaphor drawn from the weather is Shakespeare's 
 
 Now is the winter of our discontent 
 Made glorious summer by this sun of York ; 
 And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house 
 In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. 
 
 In Tr. i. 3. 13 nubes is the numbing effect of grief upon the sufferer's 
 mind. 
 
 6. verba dedi : from the meaning ' to give (mere) words ' the 
 phrase is equivalent to ' to cheat '. 
 
 7. ut : although. mihi : contrasted with caivis in 1. 8. 
 
 8. una : the plural of unus is used with nouns which have plural 
 only (una castrd), and, as here, with nouns the plural of which is 
 used poetically for the singular. 
 
 10. poni : ' to be laid aside '. 
 
 12. Flattery under the guise of independence. 
 
 14. segeti : dative with mixta, miscere is also (more commonly) 
 constructed with the ablative (with or without aim). Of course, 
 a different relation between the objects mixed is prominent in the 
 writer's mind in these various constructions ; e. g. misceo aquam 
 vino (dat.), I add water to the wine ; misceo vinum aqua, I make 
 the wine into a mixture by means of water ; misceo vinum cutn 
 aqua, I mix the two to form a combination. 
 
 15. herba : weed, in apposition to nos. 
 
 17. pro parte virili : to the best of my power ; i.e. I enter whole- 
 heartedly into Caesar's joys. Cf. Tr. v. 11. 23 : 
 
 iure igitur laudes, Caesar, pro parte virili 
 camnina nostra tuas qualiacumque cammt 
 
 (rightly then does my poor verse with its best powers sing thy 
 praises). 
 
 21. visenda : take ad ora visenda together. 
 
 23-4. vastis moenibus : 1. 23 is to be taken metaphorically, 1. 24 
 literally. Spenser, ' The Ruines of Rome ', ' Rome was th' whole 
 world, and al the world was Rome '. The actual walls in Ovid's 
 time were those of Servius Tullius (c. 507 B. a), about 5 J miles in 
 extent. Aurelian's walls (12 to 13 miles long) were not built till 
 A. D. 270, and are a monument of Rome's weakness rather than of 
 her greatness. 
 
 25. tu: i. e. Fama. lucibus : days. 
 
 27. numine caelesti : the improvement in the weather was due 
 to the special dispensation of heaven.
 
 EX PONTO II. i 163 
 
 29. magnae vocis honore : i. e. amid loud applause, or with 
 outspoken praise (from Tiberius). 
 
 30. The legati of Tiberius were granted the insignia triwnphalia 
 (Suetonius), and we learn from an inscription of a man donatus ab 
 Ti(berio) Caes{are) Aug{usti) /(ilio) August torq(ue) viator e bello 
 Dclmatico, i.e. presented with a neck-chain by Tiberius Caesar 
 Augustus, son of Augustus, in the greater Dalmatian war. This 
 probably refers to the occasion of which Ovid is writing. 
 
 31. sumpturum : agrees with victorem above. pictas vestes: 
 object of sumpturum. clara insignia: object retained after the 
 passive participle pictas. An extension of the use with participles 
 used in a 'middle' sense. Cf. note on Tr. iv. 2. 5. For the 
 triumphal dress see note on Tr. iv. 2. 48. 
 
 33. caste: piously. parentis: his adoptive father Augustus, 
 in honour of whose 'justice' he burns the incense; probably in the 
 temple alluded to in P. iii. 6. 24-6 : 
 
 iustitia vires temperat ilk stias. 
 nttper earn Caesar facto de marmore templo, 
 iampridem posuit mentis in aede suae 
 
 (he tempers his might with justice. Her (i.e. Justice) Caesar has 
 lately enshrined in a marble temple ; but he has long had her 
 enshrined in his heart). 
 
 34. (Justice) which is ever enshrined in that (i.e. Augustus's) 
 breast. It needs no other temple. Cf. B. Jonson : 
 
 Kneel not to the place nor air ; 
 
 She 's in thy heart ; rise then and worship there. 
 
 35. ierit: subjunctive because in a clause dependent upon nar- 
 rasti (1. 25). felix omen : blessings. 
 
 36. roratis : either ' showered down ' (cf. quotation on Tr. iv. 
 2. 50) or ' besprinkled with dew ' ; so, ' fresh-gathered '. Note that 
 rorare is generally used intransitively. See note on redundatas, 
 Tr. iii. 10. 52. Cf. Browning, 'It was roses, roses all the way' — 
 said of his triumphal procession by ' The Patriot ' as he was being 
 led to the scaffold a year afterwards. So we may contrast that later 
 scene when 'the funeral rites of the dead Emperor (Tiberius) 
 were observed without much pomp and with still less grief, 
 erubuisse : the rose-strewn stones are said to blush by a common 
 metaphor. Cf. Beddoes : 
 
 Look upon the bride 
 How blushes open their envermeiled leaves 
 On her fair features, 
 
 where the metaphor is used in the reverse way. 
 
 37. protinus : onward, with lata (sc. esse). argento : ablative 
 of instrument with imitanlia ; cf. Tr. iv. 2. 37. 
 
 M 2
 
 i6 4 NOTES 
 
 40. Defensive and offensive weapons taken from the enemy. 
 sua : of their own, i. e. separate. 
 
 41-2. The roofs blazed golden in the rays reflected from the gold 
 of the trophies. 
 
 43-4. As many leaders as might almost have sufficed for the 
 enemy's total force. satis fuit : for the indicative, where we 
 
 should use subjunctive, see note on P. iii. 3. 20. Notice that/w?/ is 
 not part of the report, but is Ovid's own statement. 
 
 45. tulerunt : bore off, i. e. obtained. Cf. inpune ferre, to go 
 unpunished. 
 
 46. et : with Bato ; even Bato. summa : ' the soul ' of the 
 war. 
 
 47-8. The contrast is between mihi and hostibits. 
 
 49. Germanice : see on Tr. iv. 2. 9, 39. Part of Ovid's prophecy 
 was fulfilled — he won a triumph in a.d. 17 for victories in Germany, 
 but he died in A. D. 19 under circumstances that suggested poison- 
 ing. Besides his great military capacity, he had considerable 
 literary ability and was a universal favourite for his many good 
 qualities. Ovid dedicated his Fasti to him, but Germanicus, him- 
 self an object of suspicion to Tiberius, had not the power, if he had 
 the will, to serve him. 
 
 50. nominis tui: defines titulo. isse : passed in the pro- 
 cession. 
 
 51. te contra = contra te. 
 
 54. sint modo : cf. note on Tr. iii. 3. 23. 
 
 55. quiddam: used here like the more indefinite aliquid; see on 
 Tr. iii. 13. 25. quidam means 'somebody whom I could mention, 
 if I would '. 
 
 57. Tarpeias arces : the Capitol, to which the name Mons 
 Tarpeius was sometimes applied. Generally, however, the low 
 precipice in front of the temple of Jupiter is known specially as 
 the rapes Tarpeia, the traditional scene of a traitor's punishment. 
 The name was said to have been given in memory of the treachery 
 of the Vestal Virgin Tarpeia, who admitted the Sabines to the 
 citadel in return for the promise of what they carried on their left 
 arms. She meant their gold ornaments, but in disgust of the 
 treachery by which they profited they overwhelmed her with 
 their shields, which they also carried on their left arms, and 
 killed her. 
 
 59. maturos : in the fullness of time. pater: his adoptive 
 father Tiberius. 
 
 60. suis : his kindred ; but, of course, his adoptive father Augustus 
 is specially meant. 
 
 61. toga : distinctively the garb of peace, for which it is used 
 here. Cf. Cicero's cedant anna togae (let arms give way to the 
 gown). 
 
 62. nota : verb ; ' mark in your memory '.
 
 EX PONTO II. r, 10 165 
 
 64. sufficiet: cf. note on Tr. v. 2. 5. Ovid died n a. d. 17, the 
 very year of Germanicus' triumph. 
 
 65. inbuero : stain (with my blood). 
 
 67. quae si tua laurea : if that laurel branch of yours. The 
 triumphing general carried a laurel branch in his right hand and 
 laid it on the lap of the god. salvo : i.e. recalled from exile. 
 me salvo though modestly put in the ablative of mere ' attendant 
 circumstances' has the main stress in the if-clause. 
 
 68. An omen is anything forecasting a future result, here ' predic- 
 tion '. bis : i. e. the prediction of your triumph and the hinted (in 
 me salvo) prediction of my restoration through your good offices. 
 
 BOOK II. 10 
 
 1. ecquid : cf. Tr. iii. 3. 47. 
 
 2. Macer : see Tr. i. 8. 
 
 3. auctoris : the sender. 
 
 4. littera : handwriting ( = manus, 1. 7). In Juvenal xiii. 138 we 
 have the same combination of handwriting and signet-ring as 
 evidence: arguit ipsorion guos littera gemmaque (whom their own 
 handwriting and signet-ring convict). 
 
 5. horum : i. e. anuli et litterae. 
 
 6. repetunt : recall. 
 
 7. licet : cf. note on P. i. 4. 1 7. 
 
 8. tantum : only. 
 
 9. Ovid's claims on Macer are based on long intercourse, affinity 
 through their marriages, and community of poetical tastes. Possibly 
 Ovid and Macer married sisters. 
 
 13. The Iliad begins with the tenth year of the siege of Troy and 
 ends with the funeral rites of Hector. Macer wrote about the 
 beginning of the war. 
 
 14. summa manu : lit. the last hand, i.e. the finishing touch, 
 completion. 
 
 17. Poets worship at a common shrine. Cf. note on Tr. iii. 7. 32. 
 
 18-19. Contrast quamvis and quamqiiam in their meaning and 
 construction ; note on Tr. iii. 3. 79. We should have expected 
 absumus to be in subjunctive, as the clause depends not upon 
 suspicor but upon te memorem esse. 
 
 21. Cf. Tr. i. 2. 68. 
 
 22. Trinacris: a fern, adjective, 'having three promontories'. 
 Here used as a noun, 'Sicily'.
 
 1 66 NOTES 
 
 24. Cf. M. Arnold, ' Empedocles on Etna ' : 
 
 Typho . . . the rebel o'erthrown, 
 Through whose heart Etna drives her roots of stone, 
 To imbed them in the sea. 
 Wherefore dost thou groan so loud ? 
 Wherefore do thy nostrils flash, 
 Through the dark night, suddenly, 
 Typho, such red jets of flame ? — 
 Is thy tortured heart still proud ? 
 
 25-8. Scenes in Sicily. Hennaeos: cf. Milton P. L. iv. 268: 
 
 Not that fair field 
 Of Enna, where Proserpin, gathering flow'rs, 
 Herself a fairer flow'r, by gloomy Dis 
 Was gather'd . . . might with this Paradise 
 Of Eden strive. 
 
 olentis stagna Palici : two sulphureous lakes at Palica (between 
 Henna and Syracuse) where the Palici, twin sons of Zeus and the 
 nymph Thaleia, were worshipped as enforcers of oaths. In the 
 Metamorphoses Ovid uses the plural : stagna Palicornm. 
 
 26. Cyanen : Cyane, a water-nymph, was changed into a fountain 
 near Syracuse through her grief at the loss of Proserpine. Anapus : 
 a river near Syracuse. 
 
 27. nymphe : Arethusa, the nymph of a fountain of fresh water 
 which comes up in the little island of Ortygia at Syracuse. She 
 was supposed to have come under the sea from Elis, in flight from 
 her lover Alpheus, who pursued her to Sicily. Read Shelley's 
 poem 'Arethusa'. Elidis amnem : Alpheus, the river on which 
 Olympia is situated. 
 
 28. tecta . . . nunc quoque : it still flows under the sea from its 
 hidden source which must be on the mainland. 
 
 29. labentis : a frequent epithet of time, specially applicable 
 here to the pleasant days which seemed to go so fast, in contrast 
 to the dragging days of Ovid's present misery. ' Time travels in 
 divers paces with divers persons,' Shakes. 
 
 30. Getis : ' short comparison ' ; the place is compared to the 
 Getae, instead of to the country of the Getae. Cf. Tr. i. 5. 41. 
 
 31. quota pars: 'how small a part'; literally, 'what part in 
 order of number ? ' The answer would be expressed by an ordinal. 
 
 32. Cf. the Roman saying, comes facundus in via pro vchiculo est, 
 ' a companion who talks well is as good as a lift on your journey '. 
 
 35. vicibus loquendi : conversation. Shakes. Rich. II: 
 
 Your fair discourse hath been as sugar, 
 Making the hard way sweet and delectable. 
 
 36. si numeres . . . fuere : R. L. P. § 437. 'If you were to
 
 EX PONTO II. 10 167 
 
 count, our words were ', &o, is a natural way of expressing shortly 
 the full thought ' if you were to count, you would find that our 
 words were ', &c. gradu : the singular is common in describing 
 pace, as celeri, citato, quieto, presso, &c, gradu, but is rather 
 strange here as the idea of plurality is prominent as the point of 
 the comparison. 
 
 37. in loquendum : for our talk. 
 
 38. tarda : explained by per aestivos dies. It is in sharp contrast 
 to deficit. Long as the days of summer are, they were all too short 
 for us. Blair: 
 
 O ! then the longest summer's day 
 
 Seem'd too, too much in haste : still the full heart 
 
 Had not imparted half. 
 
 39. aliquid : emphatic, 'no light bond'. pariter: with the 
 following iuncta and simul all lay stress on the sacredness of 
 the intimacy based on dangers and pleasures shared together. Cf. 
 Milton, 'Lycidas': 
 
 Together both . . . we drove afield, and both together heard 
 What time the gray-fly winds her sultry horn, &c. 
 
 41. res : the strenuous business of travel, opposed to iocos. 
 ab : after. 
 
 42. quorum non pudeat ... iocos : i.e. innocent escapades. 
 Herrick : 
 
 Come, let us goe, while we are in our prime; 
 And take the harmlesse follie of the time. 
 
 43. cum subeant: subjunctive owing to the causal force of the 
 clause ; ' as all these memories rise before you '. 
 
 45. ipse quidem certe : by this emphatic insistence on his own 
 feelings Ovid tries to persuade himself that his one-time friend 
 must still think of him. 
 
 46. Cf. Tr. iii. 10. 3. 
 
 47. quo . . . possum : i.e. pectore (with the mind's eye), quo solo 
 possum {te intueri). 
 
 49. celeberrimus : celeber is used properly of a place, ' crowded ', 
 then 'celebrated'. Here like frequens of the frequent appearance 
 of the same individual. 
 
 50. media : the very heart of the city ; placed next to Getas to 
 bring out the contrast. iussus : at my call. 
 
 51-2. Ovid is speaking fancifully; better to be at Rome in his 
 friend's thoughts, than for his friend to be in Ovid's thoughts in 
 desolate Tomis. memori and semper are emphatic ; the place of 
 their union (in thought) should always be Rome.
 
 r68 NOTES 
 
 BOOK III. i 
 
 I. pace tua . . . pax: a play upon the words, pace tua — by 
 your leave (lit. with peacefulness on your part (towards me)) ; 
 pax = peace (from your enemies) enjoyed by you. Cf. Ovid's 
 repeated play on the words salus and vale ; e.g. P. i. 10. 1-2 Naso 
 suo profugus mittit tibi, Flacce, salutem (i. e. best wishes for your 
 welfare), mittere rem (i.e. salutem, health) si quis, qua caret ipse, 
 potest, and see note on Tr. iii. 3. 88. 
 
 6. There is no summer here. In Italy the wheat harvest takes 
 place in the months from May to July. 
 
 9-10. Cf. Tr. iii. 10. 44. 
 
 12. = de quo dubium (est utrum) sis/at, &c. For the con- 
 struction cf. note on Tr. v. 5. 23. dubium, ambiguum, and incertum 
 are often thus inserted (with omission of est) in a relative clause, 
 turning it into an indirect question. 
 
 13. felix : fertile. apertis : bare. 
 
 14. altera forma : because monotonous and barren, like the sea. 
 
 15. obloquitur: greets you (ob-) with its note. nisi siqua 
 . . . potat : understand ea obloqtiitur. We should express the 
 meaning differently, e. g. ' save one maybe that drinks ', &c. 
 silvis remotis : apparently there are woods (cf. 1. 13) or scattered 
 clumps of trees near the sea. 
 
 17. tristia: of taste. horrent: of rough, unsightly growth. 
 
 niteo is the favourite word used of blooming, well-looking crops. 
 
 19. quod: the fact that; like quod in 1. 21; co-ordinate with 
 metus as objects of adde. 
 1 22. eat : consecutive subjunctive. 
 
 23. horum : i. e. all these drawbacks just mentioned. 
 
 24. nobis: cf. on Tr. i. 1. 65. 
 
 BOOK III. 2 
 
 1. locus: in what is now the Crimea. priores : men of old 
 time. An aged Scythian is speaking, and we gather from this 
 passage that Tauri was no longer the local name of the inhabitants. 
 The story is told by Euripides in Iphigeneia in Tauris and by 
 Goethe in Iphigenie. 
 
 2. non ita distat : we have the same idiom ' not so far from '. In 
 prose we should find ab with distare. 
 
 3. paenitet : sc. me\ ' I am dissatisfied '. 
 
 4. consortem Phoebi : i. e. Artemis or Diana, the moon-goddess. 
 
 5. templa : the plural gives the idea of size and grandeur. 
 7. signum caeleste : i. e. a statue of Diana.
 
 EX PONTO III. 2 169 
 
 8. dea : governed by orba. The statue itself, according to the 
 story, was carried off by Orestes (1. 49). 
 
 10. cruore: explained by 1. 13. 
 
 1 1. sacra : neuter plural. taedae non nota iugali : i.e. un- 
 married. The torch was used in the marriage procession and so 
 often stands for marriage; cf. Prop. iv. 11. 46 viximus insignes 
 inter utramque jaccm, ' my life was noble from my marriage to my 
 death '. 
 
 12. i.e. the Scythian maiden of noblest birth (lit. she who sur- 
 passes the (other) Scythian maidens, &c). nurus : properly 
 daughter-in-law ; then, a young married woman ; then, any 
 young woman, a maiden. Cf. Ovid Met. matrum nuruumque 
 caterva. 
 
 13. sacrifici : the contracted form of the genitive, usual in prose. 
 Ovid uses the longer or the shorter form of the genitive of words in 
 -ins or -turn as suits the metre. 
 
 14. ut : cf. note on Tr. iii. 13. 14. virgineo : the adjective is 
 equivalent to a possessive genitive. 
 
 15. Maeotide : round Lake Maeotis, now the Sea of Azov. 
 
 18. nescio quam : remember that a Scythian is telling the story. 
 Iphigenian : Greek accusative. She was the daughter of Agamem- 
 non and Clytemnestra. When the Greek host assembled for the 
 siege of Troy was weather-bound in Aulis, Calchas the seer 
 proclaimed that the sacrifice of Iphigenia was necessary to appease 
 Artemis, whom Agamemnon had offended. Artemis, however, 
 saved her, substituting a hind in her place, and carried Iphigenia 
 away to Tauris (11. 19-20). 
 
 20. Phoebe : i. e. Diana. 
 
 26. nomina fama tenet : fame holds their names in her 
 keeping. 
 
 27. Triviae : the goddess of the cross-roads, Hecate, identified 
 as a moon-goddess with Artemis. 
 
 28. manus : for the accusative see note on Tr. iv. 2. 5. 
 
 30. ut : that (when they have been duly purified) the fillet, &c. 
 The fillet was a length of twisted red and white wool. It was 
 knotted at intervals with ribands {vittae). 
 
 32. tardae causas morae : i. e. excuses for delaying the per- 
 formance of the horrible rite ; cf. invito,, 1. 22. The genitive is 
 objective. ipsa: is emphatic. 
 
 35. tamen : goes back to the matter in hand, after her paren- 
 thetical remarks on the nature of the rite. 
 
 37. audito : i. e. in their answer to her question. pia : pointed 
 by its position next to patriae. The mention of her country's name 
 awoke the love she still felt for it ; ' hearing her dear native city 
 named ' would bring out the force of the word. patriae : 
 
 Mycenae. 
 
 41. periturus : ready to die.
 
 170 NOTES 
 
 42. hie : Orestes. pugnat mori : a poetical construction, on 
 the analogy of the infinitive with such verbs as conor. 
 
 43. Then and then only discord arose between them ; lit. this 
 one thing arose in which there was not agreement between them. 
 quo : abl. of respect. convenerit : consecutive subjunctive 
 (subjunctive of characterization). 
 
 44. cetera : ace. of respect. par : a noun, ' the pair '. 
 
 45. pulchri : noble, generous. 
 
 46. exarat : see note on Tr. iii. 7. 1. 
 
 51. quamvis : see note on Tr. iii. 3. 79. 
 
 52. nomen : the result, is used for fama, the cause. 
 
 BOOK III. 3 
 
 1. fenestras: Roman houses had few windows, owing to the 
 great prevalence of out-door life and the wish to keep out the sun. 
 The open peristylium and the partly open atrium served as light- 
 wells for the rooms opening out of them. The few windows they 
 had were raised high above the level of the pavement ; they were 
 small and mostly had a single shutter. Sometimes as we see here 
 they had two shutters. Cf. Ovid Am. i. 5. 3 pars adaperta fuit, 
 pars altera clatisa fenestrae. Talc, and, as we see from Pompei, 
 sometimes glass were used for the panes. 
 
 2. i. e. it was full moon, mensis is here not the calendar 
 month, in the middle of which full moon would only occasionally 
 fall, but the period from new moon to new moon— the original 
 meaning of the word, when time was reckoned by the moon alone, 
 and before the year was divided up into artificial months to suit 
 the solar year. Note that ' moon ', ' month ', mensis, and \lx]v are 
 all formed from the same root, meaning * to measure'. 
 
 3. Cf. P. i. 2. 15, note. 
 
 4. fusa : thrown. 
 
 5. inhorruit : quivered. Properly used of a rough surface ; 
 then transferred to uneven movement. So crispus = curled — 
 waving — quivering. 
 
 10. fulcra : the head of the bed. 
 
 12. comas : for the accusative see note on Tr. iv. 2. 5. 
 
 13. horrida : specially used of tangled hair ; here transferred to 
 the face over which the hair fell ; ' his soft locks fell in tangled 
 mass down his cheeks'. The effect of horrida is heightened by 
 the contrast with molles. 
 
 14. pinna = alae. 
 
 15. aeriae : adds to the pathos of the picture. The pigeon who 
 naturally should have the freedom of the wide air is now a captive 
 and roughly handled.
 
 EX PONTO III. 3 171 
 
 16. tractantum = tractantium, the prose form. 
 
 17. simul = sitnul atquc {simulac\ which is the usual form 
 when the word is used as a subordinating conjunction. Notice 
 that the expression in itself conveys no idea of subordination: it 
 simply states ' something happened at the same time — and (at the 
 same time) something else happened'. As language developed, 
 the one of these occurrences is felt as being stated not so much for 
 its own sake as for the sake of determining the time of the other 
 occurrence. So simulac becomes a subordinating conjunction. 
 Cf. the development of licet, P. i. 4. 17. 
 
 18. libera: outspoken. 
 
 19. decepto magistro : explains causa, as its position on either 
 side of it shows. We should call it an abl. ads. It is worth while 
 noting that the abl. abs. is simply one or other of the many uses of 
 the ablative ; only as the force of the ablative does not fall on the 
 noun alone but on the combination of noun and participle (cf. note 
 on Tr. iii. 3. 56), a special mode of translation, generally by a sub- 
 ordinate clause, is necessary, and so this use of the ablative in 
 Latin was looked upon as a special use. Here the ablative is 
 strictly one of instrument : ' through your master-deceived ', 
 i. e. through your deceiving your master. The English nom. abs. 
 is strictly an 'absolute' case, i.e. one which has no grammatical 
 dependence on the rest of the sentence. 
 
 20. Cf. note on Tr. iii. 1.4. quern : object of docuisse. mihi : 
 with utilius. Notice the indicative fuit. The Romans regularly 
 said utilius {aequius, melius, satius, &c.) est (fuit) where we should 
 say 'it would be (would have been) more expedient', &c. Com- 
 pare these two ways of expressing the same meaning (a) ' your 
 right course was to go to him at once ' and (b) ' you would have done 
 rightly, if you had gone to him at once '. In the phrase utilius 
 
 fuit the Romans used expression (a) correctly with the indicative ; 
 in our phrase ' it would have been more expedient ', we use the form 
 of (a) but allow the mood of (b) to influence the verb. Cf. the 
 correct Latin use of the indicative in phrases like potui (debui) 
 facere. It is well worth while noting that a great many irregu- 
 larities in all languages are due to the fact that in speaking or 
 writing two ways of expressing the same meaning are often present 
 to the mind at once, and the one not adopted unconsciously 
 influences the one adopted. 
 
 24. invidiosa : fraught with reproach, invidiosus means (1) 
 feeling hatred for others, (2) bringing hatred on oneself, (3) (as 
 here) bringing hatred (by one's wrongs) on others. 
 
 27. at : used regularly in earnest appeals (as here), impreca- 
 tions, &c. sic : explained by effice, 1. 29. Cf. note on Tr. v. 
 3. 29. ferientes cuncta : these words contain the real wish. 
 We should say 'may the arrows you bear never fail their mark', 
 subordinating habeas. Cf. note on P. ii. I. 67.
 
 172 NOTES 
 
 28. rapido : (from rapid) consuming. 
 
 29. effice sit : sit is a jussive subjunctive semi-dependent upon 
 effice. non: not ne, because the negative goes closely with 
 inplacabilis. 
 
 30. plecti : from plecto not plecto. 
 32. visus : sc est. 
 
 34. matrem : i. e. Venus. 
 
 35. concessum: pardonable, that is, by the current morality of 
 the times, which was not very strict, but which Augustus was 
 striving to make stricter. 
 
 36. et nullum : nee ullum would be more usual. 
 
 37. utque hoc : sc. defendere potes. cetera : explained by 
 aliud in the next line ; the unknown charge, the real cause of 
 Ovid's banishment. 
 
 38. magis : though an adverb (cf. note on Tr. i. 5. 66) is allowed 
 to stand at the end of the pentameter because it is the emphatic 
 word of the sentence. Its position away from laeserit, which it 
 modifies, also adds to its emphasis. 
 
 39. iacentem : cf. Tr. iii. 3. 5. 
 
 BOOK IV. 3 
 
 1. conquerar, taceam : the deliberative or dubitative subjunctive. 
 Cf. note on Tr. i. 3. 49. nomine : the name of the person charged, 
 not of the charge itself, as we see from what follows. 
 
 2. qui : quis and qui (not quid and quod) often interchange their 
 ordinary usage as pronoun and adjective respectively, quis seems 
 merely to ask for identification (who ?), qui for description as well 
 (what sort of man ?). 
 
 3. commendere : be graced. 
 
 6. qui velles : the subjunctive is consecutive, ' the sort of man 
 to', &c. Generally is precedes the relative in this construction. 
 R. L. P. § 452. primus volebas, ' you were the first to wish ', would 
 simply have stated the fact, without denouncing the person's 
 character. 
 
 7. contraxit vultum : ' has frowned '. The opposite is vultum 
 diffundere, to expand the countenance, i.e. to look pleased; cf. 
 P. iv. 4. 9 : 
 
 qua tamen invent vultum diffundere causa 
 Possim 
 
 (yet I have found a reason for which {qua causa) I may wear a look 
 of joy, viz. his friend's consulship). 
 
 10. quis sit : contrast qui sis in 1. 2 (note). 
 
 12. i.e. do you shut yourself off from compassion when your
 
 EX PONTO IV. 3 173 
 
 shipwreck comes. For naufragio tuo = naufrago tibi, cf. Tr. i. 
 
 5- 3°- 
 
 13. Cf. note on Tr. v. 8. 7. non : with stabili. 
 
 14. quern summum : remember summits //ions, the top of the 
 mountain. 
 
 16. illi: i.e. illius levitati\ cf. P. ii. 10. 30. 
 
 17. sunt pendentia : an unusual periphrasis for pendent. Ovid 
 prefers to emphasize the adjectival rather than the verbal notion 
 in pendeo. The expression ' to hang by a thread ' is current with 
 us as with the Romans. It originated possibly in the story told of 
 Dionysius, tyrant of Sicily (431-367 B.C.). When one of his flat- 
 terers, Damocles, praised his good fortune, Dionysius invited him 
 to a splendid banquet. But over the head of the guest was sus- 
 pended a sword, which hung from a single horse-hair, and he could 
 take no pleasure in the feast. In this way Dionysius vividly pictured 
 to hirn the misfortunes which may at any moment overwhelm the 
 most fortunate. 
 
 19. Croesi : see note on Tr. iii. 7. 42. 
 
 20. nempe : to be sure (or ' look you ' as Fluellen has it in 
 Shakespeare's Henry V). Cf. note on Tr. iii. 7. 41. hoste : 
 Cyrus. 
 
 21. ille: Dionysius, the younger, son of the Dionysius mentioned 
 in note on 1. 17. He was driven from Syracuse and spent the rest 
 of his days at Corinth. 
 
 22. humili arte : some writers say that he became a schoolmaster, 
 others, a mendicant priest of Cybele. 
 
 23. fuerat : ' had been ' before Pompey. There were greater 
 afterwards. Magno : Pompey (106-48 B. c), Caesar's rival, had 
 been greeted by Sulla, half-ironically, with the surname Magnus, 
 on his return from fighting Sulla's battles in Africa. Pompey kept 
 the name and handed it on to his descendants. 
 
 24. clientis : Ptolemy XII, king of Egypt, and brother of Cleo- 
 patra. His father Ptolemy Auletes had been restored to the throne 
 by Pompey's influence. Hence the term cliens applied to the son, 
 to whom Pompey fled after his defeat by Caesar at Pharsalus 
 (48 B. C). The young prince caused him to be put to death. 
 
 25. ille: Marius (157-86 B.C.), the rival of Sulla. From a humble 
 position he rose to be seven times consul. He put an end to the 
 war with Jugurtha, king of Numidia, in 106, and freed Rome from 
 the fear of another Gallic invasion by annihilating the Teutones in 
 102 and the Cimbri in 101. When in 88 Sulla had been granted 
 by the Senate the command of the war against Mithradates, Marius 
 induced the people to transfer it to himself. Sulla then marched on 
 Rome and Marius, who was unprepared, had to flee. It was during 
 this flight that Marius was forced to hide himself in the swampy 
 ground near Minturnae at the mouth of the Liris (1. 27). After 
 Sulla's departure for the East, Marius returned and wreaked a
 
 174 
 
 NOTES 
 
 bloody vengeance on his enemies in Rome, until his death early in 
 
 86 B. c. 
 
 28. pudenda : notice the personal use of some participial forms 
 of pudet and paenitet : pudendus, paenitendus, paeniturus. They 
 are relics of a time when these verbs were used personally. 
 
 30. certam fidem : sure promise (of permanence). See note on 
 Tr. i. 5. 18 for the meanings of fides. 
 
 BOOK IV. 14 
 
 1. ista : contemptuously, ' this wretched land '. muter: used 
 in its original sense as a frequentative of moveo ; ' whither I be 
 removed '. 
 
 2. omnis : i. e. terra. 
 
 3. Syrtes : dangerous sand-banks off the north coast of Africa 
 in what are now the Gulfs of Cabes and Sidra. Charybdin : 
 a whirlpool off Messina in Sicily. They both had literary associa- 
 tions : Aeneas was wrecked on the Syrtes and Odysseus barely 
 escaped Charybdis. 
 
 4. dum : (conditional) ' provided that ' is a development of the 
 use of dum temporal with the subjunctive of something looked 
 forward to (R. L. P. § 432). Cf. our colloquial use of ' so long as ' 
 to express a condition. The relation in time is transferred to one 
 in thought. So with our ' while ', in a sentence like ' I am well 
 now, while formerly I used to be always ill', dum is often 
 strengthened by modo, ' only ', in this meaning, modo alone is used 
 with subjunctive in the same meaning, but here the subjunctive is 
 jussive and the clause is not really dependent. 
 
 5. si quid ea est : if there be a Styx. The Styx is a stream in 
 Arcadia which falling over a cliff 500 feet high is lost to sight at its 
 base. Hence it was represented as a river of the Underworld. 
 This explains the next line {siquid infej'ius . . .). commutabitur : 
 will be taken in exchange. Note the constructions of muto and its 
 compounds in the sense of exchanging. (1) muto Histrum Styge, 
 ' I give the Danube in exchange for the Styx ', and (2) muto Styga 
 Histro (as here), ' I take the Styx in exchange for the Danube '. 
 The ablative is that of instrument, as with verbs of buying and 
 selling. For construction (2) in English cf. Campbell's ' Parrot ', 
 which ' changed the smoke of turf for ' his native fruits and skies 
 and sun', when brought a captive to Scotland. 
 
 6. siquid . . . habet : is also subject of bene commutabitur 
 Histro. 
 
 7. gr&mina = inutilis herb a, P. ii. I. 15- hirundo : 'the 
 swallow follows not summer more willingly, than we your lordship ; 
 nor more willingly leaves winter' (Shakes. Tim. of Ath. iii. 6).
 
 EX PONTO IV. 14 175 
 
 8. Marticolis : from their warlike habits ; cf. Tr. v. 7. 15-20. 
 
 9. propter: governs talia verba, mihi (depending on succensent) 
 suggests mea with verba and renders the separation of the preposi- 
 tion from the word it governs less awkward than would have been 
 the case with another word. 
 
 10. mota : sc. est. 
 
 1 2. plectar : cf. P. iii. 3. 30. ab ingenio : ab denotes the 
 source of the punishment. Cf. note on Tr. iv. 10. 16. Notice the 
 violation (commoner in the later poems) of Ovid's own rule that 
 the pentameter shall end in a word of two syllables. 
 
 14. offendit : struck, intransitive. naufraga : describes the 
 state of the vessel after it has struck ; so it is used in an antici- 
 patory or ' proleptic ' sense. Cf. Tennyson, ' Princess ' : 
 
 A flying splendour . . . 
 That o'er the statues leapt from head to head, 
 Now fired an angry Pallas on the helm, 
 Now set a wrathful Dian's moon on flame. 
 
 The italicized adjectives do not describe the goddesses in their 
 ordinary mood, but their appearance when the rays of the setting 
 sun fall upon them. So in P. i. 9. 18 the ablative in igne (instead of 
 the accusative in ignem) anticipates the ' state ' which follows on 
 the ' motion ' expressed by fionendus. 
 
 17. excutiat : shake out, i.e. examine. monimenta : i.e. my 
 poems. 
 
 21. verissima : emphatic, 'and most true they are'. It has the 
 force of a sentence. 
 
 23. quam vitabilis : complement. As the gerundive in the 
 poets passes from the meaning of ' obligation ' to that of ' possi- 
 bility ', so here the verbal adjective in -bilis passes from that of 
 ' possibility ' to that of ' obligation '. Ascra : a village in Boeotia, 
 where Hesiod, the agricola senex of the next line was born. He 
 was a very early Greek poet and wrote on husbandry. 
 
 27. malus interpres : i. e. some mischief-maker, who twists my 
 words awry. 
 
 28. in novum crimen : to answer a fresh charge, novus is in 
 distinction to the old charge of immoral tendency brought against 
 the Ars Amatoria. 
 
 29. candidus : cf. note on Tr. i. II. 33. This word does not, 
 like Tennyson's ' the white flower of a blameless life ', include the 
 whole range of moral conduct, but denotes specially absence of 
 prejudice, unwillingness to wound others' feelings. Contrast nigrior 
 
 . in 1. 31. 
 
 31. nigrior: niger = ' black-hearted ', 'bad'; cf. Hor. Sat. i. 
 4. 85 hie niger estj hunc he, Romane, caveto. iam : gives 
 emphasis, ' indeed '. Illyrica pice : this is ' said to be blackest 
 
 and most approved '.
 
 176 NOTES 
 
 32. mordenda : cf. our expression ' a biting jest '. erat : 
 states a fact (was not deserving to be censured), in which the 
 strictly correct apodosis (non morderetur) to si essem is implied. 
 Cf. note on Tr. v. 5. 24. 
 
 33. mea sors = ego talia sortitus. mea sors except a, ' your wel- 
 come of my unhappy lot ', is that combination of noun and participle 
 which when used in the ablative to modify the verb is called 
 ' ablative absolute ' (note on P. iii. 3. 19). 
 
 34. Graios : cf. Tr. v. 2. 68. Graios is complement. 
 
 35. Sulmo : cf. Tr. iv. 10. 3. 
 
 36. potuit : unusual for potuisset. The opportunity was not 
 actually given to Sulmo. 
 
 yj. vix : with daretis. incolumi salvoque : used here as so 
 often by Ovid of political status. 
 
 38. honor : explained in the next lines. 
 
 39. inmunis : exempt from the ordinary public burdens (jnunera, 
 services rendered to the State). 
 
 40. exceptis : the whole clause siqui . . . habent stands for the 
 noun in this ablative absolute, munera legis : benefits conferred 
 upon them by the law. People who had performed signal service 
 to the State (as by winning Olympic victories in earlier times) were 
 granted exemption from public burdens by law. Ovid means that 
 the honour done him was purely honoris causa as a tribute to his 
 fame as a poet. 
 
 42. invito : sc. mihi. inposuit : see note on 1. 12. 
 
 43. Latona was loved by Zeus. When on account of Hera's 
 jealousy all other lands refused to receive her, she found a refuge in 
 Delos, where she gave birth to Apollo and Artemis. 
 
 45. fugatis : agrees with nobis in 1. 46. 
 
 47. fecissent : an ' unfulfilled wish in past time ' ; posset is semi- 
 dependent on it. Cf. Tr. i. 5. 21 where the ut marking complete 
 dependence is inserted.
 
 INDEX TO NOTES 
 
 ab : of source, Tr. i. n. 12 ; Tr. 
 iv. 10. 16. 
 temporal ( = after), P. i. 1. 26. 
 Ablative : 
 
 duration (implied), Tr. v. 2. 13; 
 
 Tr. v. 10. 3. 
 instrument with intr. vbs., Tr. i. 
 
 1. 34 ; person as instrument, 
 Tr. v. 12. 20. 
 
 'absolute', P. iii. 3. 19; with 
 clause taking the place of noun, 
 P. iv. 14. 40. 
 Accusative : 
 
 adverbial (cognate), Tr. i. 3. 15. 
 exclamation, Tr. i. 2. 19. 
 object with middle and passive 
 vbs., Tr. iv. 2. 5. 
 action put for doer of action, P. i. 
 
 4- 34- 
 Adjective : 
 
 applied from effect to cause, Tr. 
 
 iii. 10. 12 ; Tr. v. 7. 16. 
 applied from cause to effect, Tr. 
 
 iv. I. 12. 
 
 applied from person to feeling, 
 Tr. i. 4. 11. 
 
 ' learned ' epithets, Tr. i. 3. 48. 
 
 used for advb., Tr. iv. 10. 128. 
 
 with infinitive, Tr. v. 7. 19. 
 arma : Tr. v. 12. 52. 
 at •. = at enim, Tr. v. 12. 51 ; P. i. 
 
 2. 15. 
 
 in appeals, P. iii. 3. 27. 
 auctor : Tr. v. 14. 3. 
 ausim : Tr. i. 1 1. 39. 
 
 -Litis : expressing obligation (cf. 
 Engl. ' payable '), P. iv. 14. 23. 
 books : Tr. i. 1. 5. 
 
 candidus: expressing moral quali- 
 ties, Tr. i. 11.33; P- iv - H- 2 9- 
 tOH>I 
 
 carpere: Tr. iv. 8. 8. 
 
 celeber : Tr. iv. 8. 9. 
 
 ceteLrare: Tr. iv. 8. 9. 
 
 clavas : Tr. iv. 10. 29, 35. 
 
 comparative clauses : P. i. 2. 6. 
 
 comparison, short : Tr. i 5. 41 ; P. 
 ii. 10. 30 ; P. iv. 3. 16. 
 
 conditions : 
 
 mixed indie, and subj., Tr. v. 12. 
 
 24 ; P. ii. 10. 36. 
 periphrastic forms, Tr. i. 1. 64 ; 
 
 Tr. i. 6. 14. 
 tenses, Tr. i. 6. 14 ; Tr. v. ia. 
 
 42. 
 the if-clause replaced by (a) im- 
 perative, Tr. i. 1. 33-34; Tr. 
 iii. 11. 19-20 ; (b) jussive subj., 
 Tr. iii. 3. 23 ; (c) fut. pf. indie, 
 without si, Tr. i. 11. 23. 
 
 contingit : Tr. v. 7. 3. 
 
 co-ordination with implied subordi- 
 nation, Tr. i. 11. 42 ; Tr. iii. 
 
 3- 25. 
 
 cum : ' inverse ', P. i. 9. 13. 
 
 Dative : 
 
 ' agent ', Tr. i. 1. 65. 
 
 with verbs of ' taking away ', 
 Tr. i. 2. 10. 
 de : of cause, Tr. iii. 3. 82. 
 debui )( deLeLam (facere) : Tr. iii. 3. 
 
 3i- 
 deponere : Tr. iii. 3. 40. 
 doctus : epithet of poets, Tr. iii. 1. 
 
 63. 
 
 dress of boys : Tr. iv. 10. 28. 
 duLium : inserted parenthetically 
 
 in relative clause, P. iii. 1. 12, 
 ducere : of poetical composition, 
 
 Tr. i. 11. 16. 
 dum : ' provided that ', P. iv. 14. 4. 
 
 N
 
 178 
 
 INDEX TO NOTES 
 
 emphasis on subordinated words, 
 Tr. iii. 1. 58 ; Tr. iii. 12. 43 ; 
 P. ii. 1. 67 ; P. iii. 3. 27. 
 
 equitcs : Tr. iv. 10. 7. 
 
 facere : with semi-dependent subj., 
 
 P. iv. 14. 47 )( with subj. 
 
 dependent on ut, Tr. i. 5. 21. 
 
 ut . . . non, Tr. i. 6. 7 )( ne, 
 
 Tr. iv. 6. 12. 
 
 fattim : Tr. i. 2. 53. /«fa (in a bad 
 sense), Tr. iv. 1. 58; cf. Tr. v. 
 12. 51. Cf. Shakes. Rich. II, 
 i. 2 : ' Some of those seven are 
 dried by nature's course, [ Some 
 of those branches by the Desti- 
 nies cut.' 
 
 favere (in religious usage) : Tr. 
 iii. 13. 18. 
 
 fides: Tr. i. 5. 18. 
 
 forsitan : Tr. i. 1. 39. 
 
 Genitive : 
 definition, Tr. iii. 12. 9. 
 partitive, dependent on neuter 
 adjective, Tr. iv. 10. 97. 
 gerund : used in the ablative as the 
 equivalent of a present parti- 
 ciple, Tr. v. 10. 31. 
 gerundive : Tr. iii. 13. 9 ; used to 
 express purpose, Tr. iv. 6. 2. 
 
 iacere : Tr. iii. 3. 5. 
 tit : P. i. 4. 46. 
 -His : Tr. iii. 10. 64. 
 imperfect : 
 
 of neglected duty ', Tr. iii. 3. 31. 
 epistolary, Tr. iii. 3. 2. 
 used like Greek imperfect with 
 &pa, Tr. iii. 13. 3. 
 in : with accusative to express 
 
 purpose, Tr. v. 2. 30. 
 indefinite frequency: see 'repeated 
 
 action '. 
 indicative : 
 
 satis fuit, P. ii. 1. 43 5 utiliusfuit, 
 
 P. iii, 3. 20. 
 in the periphrastic form of con- 
 ditional sentences, Tr. v. 5. 24 ; 
 Tr. i. 6.14. 
 indocilis: Tr. iv. 1. 6. 
 
 inducere: Tr. i. 9. 14. 
 infinitive : 
 
 with adjectives, Tr. v. 7. 19. 
 with verbs, P. iii. 2. 42 ; Tr. iv. 
 
 10. 39. 
 perfect infinitive, Tr. iii. 13. 4. 
 interdicere : Tr. i. 4. 20. 
 intransitive verbs used personally 
 in the assive : credar, Tr. iii. 
 IO - 35 > redundatas, Tr. iii. 10. 
 52 ; natatur, Tr. v. 2. 25. 
 invidiosus : P. iii. 3. 24. 
 ipse : me ipse )( me ipsum, Tr. i. 3. 
 
 59- 
 
 iia : with wishes, Tr. v. 3. 25. 
 
 juxtaposition, emphasis gained by : 
 P. i. 4. 53 ; Tr. iii. 3. 63 ; Tr. 
 iii. 9. 1 ; Tr. iii. 12. 52 ; Tr. v. 
 10. 38 ; P. iii. 2. 37. 
 
 lar : home, Tr. iii. 12. 50. 
 
 lentus : Tr. iv. 1. 82. 
 
 licet, constructions with : P. i. 9. 34. 
 
 As quasi-conjunction, P. i. 4. 
 
 17 ; licebit, Tr. v. 14. 3. 
 liquidus : P. i. 9. 10. 
 littera : handwriting, P. ii. 10. 4. 
 
 For litterae, Tr. i. n. 1. 
 ludere: (of writing love-poetry), 
 
 Tr. iii. 3. 73. 
 lustrum : Tr. iv. 10. 78. 
 
 metrical convenience : plural for 
 singular, Tr. i. 2. 39 ; conso- 
 nantal u treated as a vowel, 
 Tr. iv. 8. 18 ; treatment of 
 i- stems, Tr. v. 2. 20 ; P. iii. 3. 
 16. 
 
 middle voice : Tr. i. 3. 73 ; Tr. iv. 
 
 miscere : P. ii. 1. 14. 
 modo : if only, P. iv. 14. 4. 
 mutare : P. iv. 14. 5. 
 
 nee: = neve, Tr. i. 1. 5. 
 
 — et, . . . non, Tr. iii. 10. 24. 
 
 nee . . . que = et non . . . et ne, 
 P. i. 9. 6. 
 nempe : Tr. iii. 7. 41 5 P. »v. 3. 20.
 
 INDEX TO NOTES 
 
 179 
 
 nisi: = practer. Tr. iv. 10. 85. 
 
 = si >io>i, Tr. i. 8. 17. 
 uoti : in wishes, negativing a single 
 word. Tr. v. 7. 23. 
 
 -v ^final) : ergo, Tr. i. 1. 57 : ero, 
 Tr. iv. 10. 130 ; Naso, it. v. 
 3 24 ; peto, Tr. i. 2. 67 ; />?</o, 
 Tr. v. 5-6. 
 
 offensus : Tr. i. 9. 1. 
 
 order of words : Tr. iv. 10. 1. 
 
 participle : summarizing action of 
 previous sentence, Tr. iii. 1. 
 
 bears stress of meaning, Tr. iii. 3. 
 
 56 ; cf. P. iii. 3. 19. 
 past, relatively to time of writing, 
 
 Tr. iv. 10. 59. 
 used periphrastically in condi- 
 tional sentences, Tr. i. r. 64. 
 
 ' pathetic fallacy ' : Tr. i. 4. 10. 
 
 pectus: seat of the intellect, Tr. iii. 
 1. 64. 
 
 pius : Tr. i. 2. 37. 
 
 play upon words : per/re, Tr. i. 4. 
 28 ; pes, Tr. iii. 1. 12 ; valere, 
 Tr. iii. 3. 88; pax, P. iii. 1. 1. 
 
 pluperfect : Tr. iii. 10. 31. 
 
 plural for singular : Tr. i. 2. 39. 
 
 prepositions omitted in poetry : Tr. 
 i. 1. 43. 
 
 prohibitions : Tr. iii. 1. 3. 
 
 prolepsis : P. iv. 14. 14. 
 
 pronouns : when subject, attracted 
 to the gender of complement, 
 Tr. iii. 1. 44 ; Tr. v. 7. 60. 
 
 pudendus : P. iv. 3. 28. 
 
 quamvis: Tr. iii. 3. 79. Contrast 
 
 P. ii. 10, lines 18 and 19. 
 -que : out of place, Tr. i. 8. 2. 
 
 nee . . . -que, Tr. iv. 1. 61. 
 qui: interrogative )( quis, P. iv. 3. 2. 
 quid nisi: Tr. i. 8. 17. 
 quod (conjunction) : Tr. iii. I. II. 
 
 rapidus : P. iii. 3. 28. 
 
 relative drawn into construction of 
 
 clause subordinate to its own 
 
 clause : Tr. v. 5. 23. 
 
 relegatus : )( cxsul, Tr. v. 2 (b). 12. 
 ' repeated action ' : Tr. i. 2. 23. 
 rivers (as represented in art) : Tr. 
 
 iv. 2. 41. 
 rudis : Tr. iii. 3. 58. 
 
 scd : Tr. iii. 11. 15. 
 
 sic : in wishes, Tr. v. 2 (b). 7-8. 
 
 simul : preposition, Tr. v. 10. 29. 
 
 — simulac, P. iii. 3. 17. 
 sinister: Tr. v. 7. 64. 
 situs (noun) : Tr. iii. 10. 70. 
 spinning: Tr. iv. I. 13. 
 sub : Tr. i. 3. 19. 
 Subjunctive : 
 
 deliberative and jussive, Tr. i. 3. 
 
 49- 
 
 double use of jussive, Tr. iii. 3. 
 
 23- 
 
 past jussive, Tr. iii. 3. 33. 
 semi-dependent jussive, Tr. iii. 3. 
 
 65. 
 
 indefinite frequency, Tr. i. 2. 23 ; 
 
 Tr. iii. 7. 26. 
 indefinite second person singular, 
 
 Tr. i. 3. 21. 
 reported reason, Tr. i. 11. 7. 
 wishes, Tr. i. 1. 38. 
 
 tamen: contrasts single word, Tr. 
 
 i- 5- 65. 
 tense, change of: Tr. iii. 4. 15-16. 
 torch (symbol of marriage and of 
 
 death) : P. iii. 2. 11. 
 trcsviri capitales : Tr. iv. 10. 34. 
 
 ut : 
 
 = as naturally, Tr. i. 1. 17. 
 
 = although, Tr. i. 1. 21. 
 'explanatory ', Tr. iii. 13. 14. 
 
 = if only, Tr. i. 3. 39. 
 
 since, Tr. iv. 1. 57 ; Tr. v. 10. 1. 
 
 vale : used as noun, Tr. iii. 3. 88. 
 
 vel: even, Tr. v. 7. 6. 
 
 vcllcm : in regrets, Tr. iv. 1 . 23. 
 
 windows : P. iii. 3. 1. 
 wishes : Tr. i. 1. 38 ; Tr. iv. i. 23 ; 
 P. i. 4. 42.
 
 INDEX OF PROPER NAMES 
 
 (The references are to the notes.) 
 
 Acontius : Tr. iii. 10. 74. 
 Admetus : Tr. v. 14. 13. 
 Aeetes : Tr. iii. 9. 1. 
 Aeneas : Tr. i. 2. 7, 37. 
 Aeolus : Tr. i. 4. 17. 
 Aeonia : Tr. iv. 10. 39. 
 Alcestis : Tr. v. 14. 13. 
 Alexandria : Tr. i. 2. 69. 
 Alpheus : P. ii. 10. 27. 
 Anapus : P. ii. 10. 26. 
 Andromache : Tr. v. 14. 13. 
 Antimachus : Tr. i. 6. 1. 
 Apollo : Tr. iii. 1. 42, 60. 
 Arethusa : P. ii. 10. 27. 
 Arx : Tr. 1. 3. 31. 
 Athenae : Tr. i. 2. 67. 
 Atria (Libertatis) : Tr. iii. 1. 71. 
 Ausonius : Tr. i. 2. 82. 
 
 Bacchantes : Tr. iv. 1. 37. 
 Bacchus : Tr. iv. 10. 28. 
 Belides : Tr. iii. 1. 62. 
 Bessi : Tr. iii. 10. 5. 
 Bittis : Tr. i. 6. 2. 
 Busiris : Tr. iii. 11. 11. 
 
 Caesar : Tr. iii. 12. 44 ; Tr. iv. 2. 
 
 h 9- 
 
 Capaneus : Tr. v. 14. 14. 
 
 Caphareus : Tr. i. 1. 53. 
 Capitolia : Tr. i. 3. 31. 
 Celsus : see Introduction. 
 Charybdis : Tr. v. 2 (b). 29 ; P. iv. 
 
 14- 3- 
 Colchis (i. e. Medea) : Tr. iii. 9. 7. 
 Croesus : Tr. iii. 7. 42. 
 Cyane : P. ii. 10. 26. 
 Cynosuris : Tr. v. 3. 7. 
 
 Daedalus : Tr. iii. 4. 21. 
 Damocles : P. iv. 3. 17. 
 
 Dardanus : Tr. v. 10. 4. 
 Dionysius : P. iv. 3. 17, 21. 
 Dulichius: Tr. 1.5. 44; Tr. iv. 1.27. 
 
 Elpenor : Tr. iii. 4. 19. 
 Erymanthis : Tr. i. 4. 1. 
 Euryalus : Tr. i. 5. 23. 
 Euxine : Tr. iii. 12. 38. 
 Evadne : Tr. v. 14. 14. 
 
 Fidus Cornelius : Tr. i. 3. T9. 
 Fora : Tr. iii. 1. 27. 
 
 Gallus : Tr. iv. 10. 53. 
 Germanicus : P. ii. 1. 49. 
 Getae : Tr. iii. 10. 5. 
 
 Hadria : Tr. i. 11. 4. 
 Haedi : Tr. i. 11. 13. 
 Haemonius : Tr. iv. 1. 16. 
 Hector : Tr. v. 14. 13. 
 Helicon : Tr. iv. i. 46. 
 Hennaeus : P. ii. 10. 25. 
 Horace : Tr. iii. 7. 12. 
 
 Icarus : Tr. i. 1. 60 ; Tr. iii. 4. 21 ; 
 
 Tr. v. 2. 28. 
 Inda belua : Tr. iv. 6. 7. 
 Iphias (i. e. Evadne) : Tr. v. 14. 14. 
 Irus : Tr. iii. 7. 42. 
 
 Jason : P. i. 4. 23. 
 Jugurtha : P. iv. 3. 25. 
 
 Lachesis : Tr.v. 10. 45. 
 
 Laertius heros (i. e. Ulysses) : Tr. 
 
 v. 5- 3; 
 Laodamia : Tr. v. 14. 15. 
 Latona : P. iv. 14. 43. 
 Lesbia vates (i. e. Sappho) : Tr. 
 
 iii. 7. 20.
 
 INDEX OF PROPER NAMES 
 
 i8r 
 
 Lethe : Tr. i. 8. 22. 
 
 Leucadius : Tr. iii. 1. 42. 
 
 Liber (i. e. Bacchus) : Tr. iv. 10. 
 
 28. 
 Livia : Tr. iv. 2. 11. 
 Lucifer: Tr. i. 3. 72. 
 Lyde : Tr. i. 6. 1. 
 Lyrnesis (i. e. Briseis) : Tr. iv. 1. 
 
 Macer : Tr. i, 8 ; P. ii. 10. 
 Macer Aemilius") : Tr. iv 10. 44. 
 Maeonia : Tr. i. 1. 33. 
 Maeonides (i.e. Homer): Tr. i. 1. 
 
 33- 
 Maeotis : P. iii. 2. 15. 
 Magnus : P. iv. 3. 23. 
 Marius : P. iv. 3. 25. 
 Maximus : see Introduction. 
 Maximus Q. Fabius Maximus 
 
 Cunctator) : P. 1. 2. 3. 
 Megalesia : Tr. iii. 12. 17. 
 Mettus : Tr. i. 3. 75. 
 Minyae : Tr. iii. 9. 5. 
 Mutina : Tr. iv. 10. 6. 
 
 Nemesis : Tr. v. 8. 8. 
 Neritos : Tr. i. 5. 41. 
 Nestor : Tr. v. 5. 32. 
 Niobe : Tr. v. 12. 8. 
 Nisus : Tr. i. 5. 23. 
 
 Octavia : Tr. iii. 1. 69. 
 Orestes : Tr. i. 5. 21. 
 
 Palatium : Tr. i. 1. 39. 
 Palicus : P. ii. 10. 25. 
 Parrhasis : Tr. i. 3. 48. 
 Pegasis : Tr. iii. 7. 15. 
 Penates : Tr. i. 3. 44. 
 Penelope : Tr. v. 14. 12. 
 Perilla : Tr. iii. 7. 1. 
 Phalaris : Tr. iii. 11. 11. 
 Philetas : Tr. i. 6. 2. 
 Philomela : Tr. iii. 12. 9. 
 Phylaceius : Tr. v. 14. 15. 
 Pisa : Tr. iv. 10. 95. 
 Poeantius : Tr. v. 2. 13. 
 
 Pompey : see Magnus. 
 Porta Mugionia : Tr. iii. 1. 31. 
 Procne : Tr. iii. 12. 9. 
 Propertius : Tr. iv. 10. 45. 
 Protesilaus : Tr. v. 14. 15. 
 Ptolemy : P. iv. 3. 24. 
 Pylades : Tr. i. 5. 21. 
 Pylius : Tr. v. 5. 32. 
 Pythagoras : Tr. iii. 3. 62. 
 
 Ouirinus : Tr. i. 3. 33. 
 
 Sacra Via : Tr. iii. 1. 28. 
 
 Same : Tr. 1. 5. 51. 
 
 Samius (i. e. Pythagoras) : Tr. iii. 
 
 3. 62. 
 Sarmatis : Tr. i. 2. 72. 
 Sauromatae : Tr. iii. 10. 5. 
 Socrates : Tr. v. 12. 12. 
 Sterope : Tr. i. n. 14. 
 Sulla : P. iv. 3. 25. 
 Sulmo : Tr. iv. 10. 3. 
 Styx : P. iv. 14. 5. 
 Syrtes : P. iv. 14. 3. 
 
 Tanaitis : Tr. iii. 12. 2. 
 
 Tarpeius : P. ii. 1. 57 
 
 Telephus : Tr. v. 2. 15. 
 
 Thalia : Tr. iv. 10. 56. 
 
 Theatra : Tr. iii. 12. 23. 
 
 Thebana i. e. Antigone) : Tr. iii. 
 
 3- 67. 
 Theseus : Tr. i. 3. 66. 
 Tiberius : Tr. iii. 12. 44. 
 Tibullus : Tr. iv. 10. 51. 
 Tiphys : P. i. 4. 37. 
 Tomis : Tr. iii. 9. 25 ; Tr. iii. 10. 
 
 3 ; Tr. v. 2(b). 24. 
 Trinacris : P. ii. 10. 22. 
 Trivia : P. iii. 2. 27. 
 Turnus : Tr. i. 5. 23. 
 
 Ulysses : Tr. i. 5. 41. 
 
 Vesta : Tr. i. 3. 44 ; Tr. iii. 1. 29. 
 Vergil : Tr. iv. 10. 51. 
 Virgo (aqua) : Tr. iii. 12. 22. 
 
 Zanclaeus : Tr. v. 2 (b). 29.
 
 OXFORD I HORACE HART M.A. 
 PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DUE on .he las. date stamped below. 
 
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