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Paete, quid aetatem numeras? quid cara natanti
mater in ore tibi est? non habet unda deos.
nam tibi nocturnis ad saxa ligata procellis

omnia detrito vincula fune cadunt..

sunt Agamemnonias testantia litora curas,
quae notat Argynni poena minantis aquae.
hoc iuvene amisso classem non solvit Atrides,
pro qua mactata est Iphigenia mora.

reddite corpus humo: posita est in gurgite vita:

22. quae FV qua NLD. notat O natat F2 nota w. Argynni V2 Agynni N Arginni L Argivum DV Argium F Argynnus Waardenburg Argynnum Otto. poena minantis aquae O praeda morantis Thompson praeda minantis Enk Athamantiadae Hertzberg Mimantis aquae Ellis.

"royal plural"; cf. 4, 9, 34: pandite defessis hospita fana viris (of Hercules), and Verg. Aen. 7, 98: externi venient generi (of Aeneas).

17. aetatem numeras: 'plead thy youth' (C. S.).

18. non .. deos i.e. Aquilo and Neptunus, just addressed, must be mere myths; the world is too much out of joint to accept theism. Cf. Ennius, Telamo, fr. I, (Ribbeck): nam si curent, bene bonis sit, male malis, quod nunc abest. But cf. vv. 57 and 62.

19. nam: proof of the foregoing assertion; the poet thinks it incredible that real gods should violate the helpless trustfulness of pious men. ad saxa ligata: cf. 4, I, IIO. But I, 20, 20 has scopulis adplicuisse ratem.

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20. detrito . . . fune: i.e. an essential part of the vincula was

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Paetum sponte tua, vilis arena, tegas:

et quotiens Paeti transibit nauta sepulcrum,

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dicat et audaci tu timor esse potes.'

ite, rates curvas et leti texite causas :

ista per humanas mors venit acta manus. terra parum fuerat fatis: adiecimus undas, fortunae miseras auximus arte vias.

ancora te teneat, quem non tenuere penates? quid meritum dicas, cui sua terra parumst? ventorum est quodcumque paras: haut ulla carina consenuit, fallit portus et ipse fidem. natura insidians pontum substravit avaris :

29. curvas Passerat curvae 0.

feel it necessary to specify them to the reader; cf. 2, II, I, n.

26. vilis: the poet does not hesitate to address the sand by this bitter expression of his feelings, because he does not think it necessary to conciliate, but assumes the service asked as due.

28. timor: cf. v. 13.

29. ite... texite: here the address is to the fatuous children

of men. Cf. 3, 18, 17. For the rapid change of persons cf. Tib. I, 7, 55, n.et: cf. 1, 8, 36, n. — leti causas: i.e. rates.

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(C. S.). The expression is only a variation on mortis. . . iter (v. 2) and fatis (v. 31).

33. te: the singular is used merely to individualize the address. The poet is still speaking to the foolish men who venture upon the sea.

34. sua terra: cf. Ovid, Am. 2, 11,30: et ‘felix' dicas, ‘quem sua terra tenet!"

35. haut ulla carina: not so much of a hyperbole then as it would be now. But commentators recall the yacht of Catullus; and even Propertius himself draws the picture he here refuses to recognize in 2, 25, 7: putris et in vacua requiescit navis arena.

36. Cf. 2, 25, 23: an quisquam in mediis persolvit vota procellis, cum saepe in portu fracta carina

natet.

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ut tibi succedat, vix semel esse potest.
saxa triumphales fregere Capharea puppes,
naufraga cum vasto Graecia tracta salost.
paullatim socium iacturam flevit Ulixes,

in mare cui soliti non valuere doli.
quod si contentus patrio bove verteret agros
verbaque duxisset pondus habere mea,
viveret ante suos dulcis conviva penates,
pauper, at in terra, nil ubi flere potest.
non tulit hic Paetus stridorem audire procellae
et duro teneras laedere fune manus,

42. soliti soli O solum w. 46. flere O flare Jacob. 47. hic w haec N

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42. in here = ' against.'-doli: 'wiles.'

43. contentus: the subject in the Propertian manner abruptly returns to Paetus, the poet unconsciously assuming that the reader is following the intensity of his own thought.

45. dulcis: i.e. to the other convivae.

46. pauper: relatively, as compared with the wealth he hoped to achieve by his voyage.- nil potest: the disastrous, sorrow-causing, heart-breaking sea is the theme, and the land, in comparison, can bring no tears (C. S.). Render, 'where one may live a tearless life,' i.e. relatively. None of the proposed emendations avoids hyperbole.

47. hic: so long as he remained on shore (C. S.).

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sed Chio thalamo aut Oricia terebintho

et fultum pluma versicolore caput.
huic fluctus vivo radicitus abstulit ungues,

et miser invisam traxit hiatus aquam;
hunc parvo ferri vidit nox inproba ligno:
Paetus ut occideret, tot coiere mala.

flens tamen extremis dedit haec mandata querellis,
cum moribunda niger clauderet ora liquor.
'di maris Aegaei quos sunt penes aequora, venti,
et quaecumque meum degravat unda caput,
quo rapitis miseros primae lanuginis annos?

49. Chio O Thyio Santen Thyiae Itali.

49. A positive verb to correspond with the negative non tulit must be supplied, in the Propertian manner; the editors suggest amabat. Cf. 1, 2, 30, n. -- Chio

terebintho in a chamber finished in marble from Chios or turpentine-wood from Oricum; cf. "I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls." Propertius is again reckless of his syntax, and we can speculate as to whether Oricia terebintho is thought of as expressing material, quality, or place. Note the hiatus before the caesura; cf. Intr. § 43.

50. pluma versicolore: i.e. a feather pillow with a brightcolored cover.

51. huic from so delicate a youth as this!'-vivo: to enhance the horror of the contrast, the poet imagines that instead of losing his nails from the disintegrating effect

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53. parvo . . . ligno: the poet imagines Paetus clinging to a fragment of the wreck.

54. Paetus: after the huic and hunc of the preceding verses the repetition of the name here achieves a climax of emphasis, in contrast to tot coiere mala. Only the delicate Paetus, and yet all the power of the cruel sea trained upon him! 55. mandata: these are found in vv. 63-64 after the querellae proper.

57. di: i.e. venti.

59. primae lanuginis: i.e. of my early youth (C. S.).

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attulimus longas in freta vestra manus.
ah miser alcyonum scopulis adfligar acutis :
in me caeruleo fuscina sumpta deost.
at saltem Italiae regionibus evehat aestus:
hoc de me sat erit si modo matris erit.'
subtrahit haec fantem torta vertigine fluctus;
ultima quae Paeto voxque diesque fuit.

o centum aequoreae Nereo genitore puellae,
et tu materno tacta dolore Thetis,

vos decuit lasso supponere bracchia mento:

non poterat vestras ille gravare manus.

at tu, saeve Aquilo, numquam mea vela videbis :
ante fores dominae condar oportet iners.

60. longas O sanctas Waardenburg. 61. adfligar NFL affligor DV affigar w. 63. evehat O advehat w.

60. longas: a mark of beauty and gentility; cf. 2, 2, 5: fulva coma est longaeque manus; Cat. 43, 3: longis digitis.

61. alcyonum: i.e. the cliffs about which they fly. Cf. 1, 17,

2, n.

62. caeruleo. . . deo: Neptune; cf. Ovid, Trist. 1, 2, 59: viridesque dei, quibus aequora curae.

63. evehat: 'yield me up.' Cf. Ovid, Her. 18, 197: optabo tamen ut partis expellar in illas et teneant portus naufraga membra

tuos.

64. hoc de me: my corpse; cf. 3, 12, 13: neve aliquid de te flendum referatur; Verg. Aen. 9, 491: hoc mihi de te, nate, refers? hoc sum terraque marique secuta?

68. tacta V2 tracta O fracta Heinsius.

sat: i.e. all that can be expected under the circumstances, and as such affording satisfaction to his mother. matris erit: i.e. shall come into her hands.

67. centum: the orthodox number was fifty; cf. Hygin. Fab., where the names are given. But there are some variations; cf. Ovid, Fast. 6, 499: Panope centumque sorores; Plato, Critias, 116 E.

68. materno . . . dolore: i.e. for Achilles.

69. lasso . . . mento: cf. Ovid, Ex P. 2, 3, 39: mitius est lasso digitum supponere mento.

72. iners: even though it involve a life of inactivity (C. S.). Cf. Tib. 1, 1, 58.

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