Pars mihi significat, pars quid velit aure susurrat. 645 651 655 660 Serpunt et gravidis distinguunt vela corymbis. 665 670 Sive timor: primusque Medon nigrescere coepit 675 Naris erat squamamque cutis durata trahebat. 685 Undique dant saltus: multaque adspergine rorant: Praebuimus longis Pentheus ambagibus aures 690 Inquit: ut ira mora vires absumere posset. Praecipitem famuli rapite hunc: cruciataque duris 695 Instrumenta necis ferrumque ignisque parantur; 700 Perstat Echionides: nec jam jubet ire, sed ipse 705 Movit et audito clangore recanduit ira. Monte fere medio est cingentibus ultima silvis 710 715 720 725 Clamat, Io comites opus haec victoria nostrum est. 730 Jamque male haerentes alta rapit arbore ventus THE END. NOTES. AMORES. On the Death of Corinna's Parrot.—Page 1. 2. Occidit] This is the present-perfect tense, 'is dead.' 2. exsequias ite frequenter aves] 'Exsequias' (ec-sequor) is properly the following a corpse to burial. It is commonly used for the funeral, as here. He bids all the birds go to the parrot's funeral, and there beat their breasts and scratch their cheeks, and tear their plumage as women cut their hair, and sing sad songs instead of the horns which at funerals were blown with dismal noise. After verbs of motion it is not necessary to use a preposition, because the accusative case itself answers to the question, whither? But the preposition is generally used, except in the case of towns. In other cases the poets more commonly omit it than the prose writers. 5. lanietur] The third person singular and plural and first plural of the present subjunctive are given in the grammars as parts of the imperative mood. They belong only to the subjunctive. The use of this mood as an imperative "is due to an ellipsis of a verb which is occasionally supplied" (Key's Lat. Gr. § 1167 n.). 'Lanietur' is equivalent to jubeo lanietur,' "I bid that it be torn.' The verb is supplied, for instance, in p. 23, v. 4, 5, Fac pateat,' 'take care that it appear,' where 'pateat' might be used by itself, but it still would be the subjunctive mood (see p. 39, 285 n.). It was customary for women to cut off locks of their hair to throw upon the funeral pile (p. 7, 50; 46,506). 7. Quid scelus Ismarii] Ismarus was a town and Ismaris a Jake in Thrace, and Ismarius therefore is used for a Thracian. The Ismarian tyrant is Tereus, who, as the story goes, married Procne, daughter of Pandion king of Athens, and by her had a son, Itys. He afterwards fell in love with Philomela, the sister of Procne, who, to punish her husband, put to death Itys, and afterwards she and Philomela flying from Tereus were turned into birds, Procne into a swallow, and Philomela into a night F |