Pampineis agitat velatam frondibus hastam ; Sive timor; primusque Medon nigrescere pinnis 670 675 680 685 690 aut ut variis solet uva racemis Ducere purpureum, nondum matura, colorem. Trist. iv. 6, 9: Tempus ut extentis tumeat facit uva racemis. -667. Pampineis-velatam frondibus hastam. Description of the Thyrsus. -668. Simulacra inania refers to the other wild beasts as much as to the lynces. It is only phantoms that appear to the sailors, but phantoms of those animals which are always in the train of Bacchus.-669. Pictarum, spotted.-670. Insania, furor a Baccho concitus, a kind of intoxication.-671. Nigrescere pinnis-Incipit; that is, nigras pinnas accipere incipit.-672. Spinae curvamina flecti, curvam spinam accipere. -673. Miracula, as sometimes monstra, for mira species.-676. Obstantes-remos, the hindering oars; because they are entwined with ivy, they even obstruct the motion of the ship.-680. Truncoque repandus-Corpore, crooked in his maimed body; that is, with crooked and maimed body.-681. Novissima cauda, extrema pars caudae. Falcata-sinuantur. Falcari and sinuari; that is, curvari in modum falcis, sinus.-689. Meum, mei compotem, in possession of my senses.-690. Diamque. Dia, an old name for Naxos. Tene, hold for. Similarly ii. 140: Inter utrumque tene. PENTHEUS. 'PRAEBUIMUS longis' Pentheus 'ambagibus aures Monte fere medio est, cingentibus ultima silvis, 695 700 705 710 715 693. Vires absumere posset, sc. suas. Absumere, waste, spend; a poetical use of the word.-694. Praecipitem. Instead of the adverb of manner characterising the action, we have here the adjective attributed to the person, which takes place also with adverbs of time, and sometimes of place, as above, v. 640.-695. Demittite nocti, poetical construction for ad noctem.-696. Solidis-in tectis, in carcere bene munito.-701. Perstat Echionides, Pentheus, the son of Echion, persists in his resolution.-702. Cithaeron, the mountain in Boeotia where in particular the orgies of Bacchus were celebrated every third year, whence they are called trieterica.-706. Longis, long continued.-708. Ultima, sc. campi.-710. Oculis cernentem sacra profanis. Only the initiated were allowed to behold the orgies.-713. Geminae sorores. Ino and Autonoë.-714. Errat qui maximus agris. In Greek and Latin poetry the epithet which belongs to the substantive is often Turba furens; cunctae coëunt trepidumque sequuntur, 720 725 Collaque jactavit movitque per aëra crinem, Avulsumque caput digitis complexa cruentis Clamat 'lo comites, opus haec victoria nostrum est!' Jamque male haerentes alta rapit arbore ventus, 730 Quam sunt membra viri manibus direpta nefandis. joined to the relative.-717. Jam trepidum. Jam is repeated with emphasis: one could scarcely believe that Pentheus would tremble, but now even he trembles, now he lowers his tone.-720. Actaeonis umbrae. Actaeon, the son of Autonoë, was changed by Diana into a stag, and torn to pieces by his own dogs.-722. Inoo raptu, by a sudden blow from Ino. -726. Collaque jactavit-crinem. The Bacchantes were always represented in ancient art with the head thrown back, and with streaming hair.-729. Autumno frigore tactas. Autumnus is here an adjective. Tangere is used of all the different influences of the weather; for example, of lightning.-730. Male haerentes, vix haerentes. -733. Ismenides, the Theban women, from the river Ismenus at Thebes. METAMORPH. LIB. IV. PYRAMUS ET THISBE. PYRAMUS et Thisbe, juvenum pulcherrimus alter, Tempore crevit amor: taedae quoque jure coissent; 'Invide' dicebant 'paries, quid amantibus obstas ? 55 60 65 70 57. Altam--urbem. The story of the foundation of Babylon by Semiramis is well known. The walls were built of bricks, because there are no quarries in the wide plain of Babylonia.-59. Gradus, sc. amoris. 60. Taedae jure. Pine torches were carried before the newly-married wife on her way to the house of the bridegroom; hence taeda for taeda jugalis, marriage.-62. Ex aequo, pariter, in an equal degree.— 64. Quoque magis tegitur magis, a kind of anacoluthon. Properly, eo magis aestuat ignis should follow. Instead of this the poet repeats the verb of the first clause, and drops the comparison.-65. Rima quam duxerat. Rimam ducere or agere in the intransitive sense, to open in a chink. 67. Nulli notatum, a nullo notatum. A singular use of nulli for nemini. In general nullus is used for nemo only in the genitive and Quantum erat, ut sineres nos toto corpore jungi; 75 80 Ad solitum coiere locum. Tum murmure parvo Multa prius questi, statuunt, ut nocte silenti Fallere custodes foribusque excedere tentent, 85 Cumque domo exierint, urbis quoque claustra relinquant; Neve sit errandum lato spatiantibus arvo, Conveniant ad busta Nini, lateantque sub umbra 90 Arboris: arbor ibi, niveis uberrima pomis, 95 100 ablative.-74. Quantum erat? how much would it be? would it be much? -79. Dedere quisque. The plural of the verb, because the idea contained in quisque is plural.-81. Nocturnos ignes, stellas.-85. Custodes, those under whose charge they stood; in particular, their parents. Compare v. 94.-88. Busta, originally the place where a corpse was burned; here in the most general sense, a tomb. The tomb of Ninus, which Semiramis had built, was of great size and magnificence. Sub ambra Arboris. As the interview was to take place in the night, the expression must not be taken in too strict a sense.-91. Lux, Sol. The ancients supposed that at night the sun sank in the sea.-92. Praecipitatur is not: suddenly plunges, but sinks gradually, as is plain from the epithet tarde. Praecipitatur aquis, the dative. Nox surgit. So Virgil, Aen. ii. 250: Et ruit Oceano Nox.-95. Pervenit-sedit. The present and the perfect; as above, ii. 311, iii. 572. The present is chosen as the more lively mode of expression.-97. Spumantes oblita rictus, the accusative rictus is of the same kind as v. 94: adopertaque vultum ; |