Part 7

_11._ 1. Flaminiam: sc. viam. 2. noli...marmor: the roads leading out from Rome were lined with tombs. 3. salesque Nili: Paris appears to have been an Egyptian. 6. omnea Veneres Cupidinesque: imitation of Catullus, 3. 1 (_Selection_ 3. 1). 7. Paris: a popular Roman actor, put to death by Domitian.

_12._ This and the following selection are in memory of a child whose parents were slaves on Martial's estate. 1. senibus cygnis: 'swans sing sweetest when they die.' Notice that all the objects with which Erotion is compared in lines 1-6 are white. Martial is thinking of the whiteness of her complexion, a quality admired by the Romans. 2. The Tarentine wool was highly prized. 4. lapillos: pearls. 5. dentem: tusk. 7. Baetici gregis: the flocks on the Guadalquivir whose wool was naturally of a yellowish color. 8. Rhenique nodos: the hair of the Germans gathered into a club. Erotion's hair was the light flaxen of the Teutonic type. 9. Paesti: a city in Lucania, celebrated for its twice-blowing roses,-- Vergil, _Georgics_, 4. 119, biferi rosaria Paesti. 10. Atticarum cerarum: Attica--and particularly Mt. Hymettus--was famous for its honey. 11. Martial several times refers to the agreeable odor of amber when warmed by holding or rubbing with the hand. 13. sciurus: derived from Greek [Greek: skia] and [Greek: oura], lit. 'the shadow-tail.' Our word 'squirrel' comes through the Late Latin diminutive forms, scuriolus, squirolus, squirelus. 19. pariter: in like manner with myself. 20. vernulae: contrasted with nobilem of line 22. 23. Quid esse fortius potest: Can any one display more fortitude? 24. Ducenties: lit. 20,000,000 sesterces, here of indefinite value.

_13._ Martial at the tomb which has just received Erotion's ashes appeals to his dead parents to keep the child from fear at sight of the 'black spectres' and monstrous Cerberus. 2. oscula: in apposition to puellam. 5. modo:, just. In six days she would have been six years old. 7. patronos: protectors, i.e. Fronto and Flacilla. 9, 10. nec...fueris: sit tibi terra levis, of ten found as S. T. T. L., is a phrase common upon Roman tombstones.

In another epigram (10. 61), a translation of which by Leigh Hunt follows, the poet, about to depart finally from the estate where Erotion is buried, thus beautifully commends to his successors the care of her tomb:

Underneath this greedy stone Lies little sweet Erotion; Whom the Fates, with hearts as cold, Nipped away at six years old. Thou, whoever thou mayest be, That hast this small field after me, Let the yearly rites be paid To her little slender shade; So shall no disease or jar Hurt thy house or chill thy Lar; But this tomb be here alone The only melancholy stone.

X. JUVENAL.

About 55-138 A.D.

Facunde Iuvenalis.--Martial, 7. 91. 1.

Irati histrionis exsul.--Sidouius Apollinaris, _Carmen_ 9. 273.

Quidquid agunt homines, votum, timor, ira, voluptas, gaudia, discursus, nostri est farrago libelli.--_Satira_ 1. 85-86.

Facit indignatio versum.--_Satira_ 1. 79.

Satire appears to have originated in impromptu dramatic performances. It was looked upon by the Romans as a purely native product. Quintilian says of it (10. 1. 93) satura quidem tota nostra eat. The word seems to be connected with the adjective satur, the distinctive mark of the earlier satire being fulness and variety. As lanx satura is a dish filled with various kinds of fruit, so satire in this earlier sense is a poem which may deal with any subject and employ several measures and languages. With Lucilius, satire, while retaining its dramatic and discursive character, became didactic as well, and thus the word assumed its modern signification.

The principal names in the history of Roman satire are Ennius (239-160 B.C.), Lucilius (148-103 B.C.), Varro (116-27 B.C.), Horace (65-8 B.C.), Persius (34-62 A.D.), Seneca the Younger (3 B.C.-65 A.D.), Petronius (flourished about 60 A.D.), and Juvenal.

Juvenal was born at Aquinum in Latium and was the son or foster son of a wealthy freedman. He practised declamation till middle life, was tribune of the first Dalmatian cohort, was for some reason banished (the story says for verses offensive to an actor who had influence at court), and died while in exile. He was a friend of the poet Martial.

We possess sixteen of his satires divided into five books. 'Those which are most characteristic portray the vices of Roman society with passionate, unsparing ferocity' and in an extremely highly colored style. In some passages the most prominent quality is wit, which consists chiefly in the exaggerated and strongly contrasted situations. Other passages reach a lofty height of moral earnestness and dignity.

For Reference: Wright, _Juvenal_ (Boston, 1901); Mayor, _Juvenal_ (London, 1886).

Metre: Dactylic Hexameter, B. 368; A. & G. 615.

_1._ 1 ff. Praeneste, Volsiniis, Gabiis, Tiburis: country towns at a moderate distance from Rome. ruinam: 'The spontaneous collapse of the tenement houses was such a common occurrence that nobody paid attention to it, though it is an event that would fill our newspapers with a thrilling subject for days....There were companies formed for the purpose of propping...houses.'--Lanciani, _Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome_, Conclusion, p. 563. The entire chapter should be read in connection with this selection. 3. proni: i.e. on a hillside. 4. urbem: i.e. Rome. tibicine: prop. 5. labentibus: the falling walls. 6. vilicus: the owner's agent. 8. incendia: fires were common at Rome. Especially memorable were the great conflagrations in the reigns of Nero, Titus, and Commodus. The Temple of Vesta was almost or entirely destroyed five times by fire. 10. Ucalegon: your neighbor on the next floor below; called Ucalegon because iam proximits ardet, Vergil, _Aeneid_, 2. 311. tabulata tertia: the third or attic story where you live. 11. trepidatur: the cry of 'Fire!' is raised. 13. ultimus ardebit: and likewise will get the alarm last. 14. Codro: any poor man in this situation. Procula minor: too short for Tom Thumb. Procula was probably a dwarf. urceoli: displayed on the sideboard, or abacus, beneath which was a reclining statuette of the Centaur Chiron. 17. Iam: modifies vetus. 18. divina carmina: the Greek books just mentioned. opici: a name given by the Greek colonists of southern Italy to the native races. Since these were of inferior refinement, the word came to mean barbarian. It is applied to the mice since they destroy the manuscripts. 20, 21. ultimus cumulus: the last straw. 21. frusta: a mouthful of food. 23. Asturici: type of a rich man. 24. differt vadimonia: puts off the time at which the defendant had given security (vadimonium) to appear. 26. Ardet: impersonal. 28. Euphranoris: a Greek sculptor of the fourth century B.C. Polycliti: a Greek sculptor of the fifth century B.C. He made a famous gold and ivory statue of Hera. 29. ornamenta deorum: stolen from some temple. Roman conquerors and governors (like Napoleon in modern times) freely robbed subject countries of works of art. 30. forulos mediamque Minervam: bookcases and a Minerva among them. A 'bust of Pallas,' the goddess of wisdom, is appropriate to a library. 32. Persicus: the same person as Asturicus. The name is given because of the reputed wealth of the Orient. So our expression 'nabob' originally meant a viceroy in India. Cf. Milton, _Paradise Lost_, 2. 3-4:

where the gorgeous East, with richest hand, Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold.

orborum lautissimus: richest of childless men. It is on this account that all assist him, hoping eventually to receive a legacy. Asturicus understands their motive; hence Juvenal's humorous suspicion.

34 ff. avelli: middle. circensibus: the games consisted of many kinds of entertainment, especially chariot racing. As with the opera to-day for lovers of music, these games formed one of the chief attractions of life in a great city. Sorae, Fabrateriae, Frusinone: these are country towns of Latium. 36. tenebras: a dark hole. 37. brevis: shallow. 40. Pythagoreis: Pythagoras, believing that the human soul might pass into one of the lower animals after death, forbade animal food to his disciples. 42. unius dominum lacertae: i.e. of the small area which would be necessary to furnish food to one lizard.

43. Plurimus aeger: many sick men. aeger, though singular, is used for a plural with the adjective of plural signification. vigilando: the final o is short. 44. inperfeptus: undigested. 45. ardenti: inflamed. meritoria: lodgings. 46. Magnis opibus: ablative of price. Martial says, 12. 57. 4, 'There is no place in Rome for a poor man to sleep.' Wagons were not allowed under ordinary circumstances to pass through the streets till the late afternoon, so that the heavy teaming was at night. 47. arto: the medium width of the principal living streets of Rome was only from 16 to 20 feet. 48. stantis oonvicia mandrae: the mingled noises of the penned-up herd, i.e. the abuse of the drivers and the lowing of the animals. 49. Druso: probably the Emperor Claudius, who was lethargic. vitulis marinis: Pliny says, _Natural History_, 9. 42, that no animal sleeps more soundly than the seal. 50. officium: e.g. the duty of attendance on his patron. 53. clausa fenestra: effected in some instances by drawing the curtains, in others by closing the windows of mica. 55. unda prior: the human tide, or surging crowd in front. 56. assere: the chances were that this would be the pole of a litter, as that of the rich man just mentioned. 59. clavus militis: the soldier's boot was studded with hobnails. 60. quanto celebretur sportula fumo: in the midst of how great a smoke they throng after the sportula. The sportula is in this instance the food given by the patron to the client in return for his attendance. 61. convivae: the clients. culina: a portable kitchen to keep the food warm. 62. Corbulo: type of a strongman; as we might say 'a Samson.' Tacitus, _Annales_, 13. 8, describes a Roman general of this name as ingens corpore. 65. longa ff.: a long fir tree sways to and fro as its trucks come on. A similar picture of the crowded city streets is found in Horace, _Epistulae_, 2. 2. 70. 68. procubuit: once falls over. saxa Ligustica: the marble from Luna on the border between Etruria and Liguria. The Romans knew hundreds of varieties of marble and used them in vast quantities. 'As Tibullus says, the streets of the city were always obstructed by carts laden with transmarine columns and blocks,--columns measuring sometimes 1.97 metres in diameter and 17.66 metres in length, like those of Trajan's temple; or blocks weighing sometimes 27 tons.'--Lanciani, _Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome_, p. 524. 71. Obtritum perit more animae: ground to powder, is gone like a breath. 72. domus: the slaves, pueri, of the client just killed. Even a poor man might have several. 74. striglibus: to remove perspiration or oil from the body. gutto: oil cruet. 76. ripa: of the Styx. Cf. for the scene Vergil, _Aeneid_, 6. 298 ff. novicius: a complete stranger, i.e. never having died before,--a grim joke. Juvenal's wit has been called 'the earliest known instance of American humor.'--Peck and Arrowsmith, _Roman Life_, etc. 77. nec sperat: he cannot cross the Styx since he has not received the rites of burial. 78. porrigat ore: offer with his mouth. A coin was often put in the mouth of the dead to pay Charon's fee. 80. Spatium: i.e. how high the roofs are. Cicero describes Rome as 'suspended in the air.' Some of the houses were 100 feet in height. 83. silicem: even the volcanic stone which forms the pavement of the street is broken. 85 ff. quot patent vigiles fenestrae: this may be punningly rendered,--as many as there are windows up.--Peck and Arrowsmith, _Roman Life_, etc.

_2._ 9. sacellis: the shrines of the Lares found in every house. The common offering at them was a pig. 10. tomacula: minced meat. 17. Sardanapali: effeminate and luxurious, the last king of Assyria. When a conspiracy against him was about to succeed, he burned himself with his treasures. Byron has a drama _Sardanapalus_. 19. virtutem: Virtueland. 20. Nullum numen abest: the gods are all on the side of the provident. Fortune is no deity and only we mistaken men think her such.

_3._ 3. quae lacrimas dedit: i.e. in that she gave us tears. haec: i.e. sympathy. 4. ergo: i.e. this gift of tears implies that, etc. 5. squaloremque rei: persons on trial often appeared in court with unshorn beard, unwashed toga, and other signs of mourning. 6. circumscriptorem: his dishonest guardian. 7. puellares capilli: boys wore long hair till they put on the toga virilis. 10, 11. minor igni rogi: minor with the ablative here means too small for. It was unusual to burn the bodies of very young children. face dignus arcana: i.e. worthy of initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries. On the fifth day of the festival the initiated marched in a torch-light procession from Athens to Eleusis. They must be holy in thought and deed. 13. mutorum: dumb animals. venerabile: reverential. 14. divinorumque capaces: with a capacity to know God. 16. sensum ff.: a feeling from above, i.e. sympathy. Man with his religious nature, with his power to practice the arts, and his erect posture, is given this also as a crowning mark of distinction from the lower creation. 18. indulsit: in his goodness gave. 19, 20. tantum animas: merely life. animum: a soul. mutuus adfectus: a feeling of brotherhood. 24. tutos: protected by. 25. collata fiducia: confidence due to union. 27. defendier: archaic form of defendi.

_4._ 1. Di: sc. date or dent. sine pondere terram: cf. Martial, _Selection_ 13. 9, 10 and note. 2. spirantis: fragrant. perpetuum ver: because the urn is always supplied with flowers.

2. procul, a procul inde: a part of the formula used to warn away the unhallowed from sacred rites. Cf. Vergil, _Aeneid_, 6. 258, procul, o procul este profani. The phrase, accordingly, has attached to it a religious earnestness and solemnity, like In the name of God, away! 3. pernoctantis parasiti: the contemptible guest who, for a dinner, stays all night, entertaining his host with low songs. 5. nec contempseris annos: do not think your child too young to observe and imitate.

XI. HADRIAN.

76-138 A.D.

Hadrian was of Spanish descent and related to Trajan, whom he succeeded as emperor in 117. His reign, except its closing years, was noteworthy for good legislation, for the construction of magnificent buildings, and for his journeys to every part of the Empire.

Metre: Iambic Dimeter Acatalectic, G. & L. 757, 765.

_1._ The emperor is said by Spartianus to have composed this poem upon his death-bed.

The diminutives express affection and compassion.

4. pallidula and rigida refer to animula, the soul being conceived as presenting the appearance of the dead body. nudula also refers to animula, as disembodied, or, metaphorically speaking, 'unclothed'; cf. 2 Corinthians 5. 3, 4 and Plato, _Cratylus_, 403 B,' the soul denuded of the body.' Line 5 is equivalent to a fourth adjective, sad.

The passage contains an unusual number of words which occur but once (vagula, blandula, nudula), or very rarely (pallidula).

Pope translates:

Ah, fleeting Spirit! wand'ring fire, That long hast warm'd my tender breast, Must thou no more this frame inspire? No more a pleasing, cheerful guest? Whither, ah whither art thou flying? To what dark, undiscover'd shore? Thou seem'st all trembling, shiv'ring, dying, And Wit and Humor are no more.

At Steele's request that he should write an ode in imitation of Hadrian's poem, but of a 'cheerful dying spirit' Pope composed the hymn:

Vital spark of heav'nly flame! Quit, oh quit this mortal frame: Trembling, hoping, ling'ring, flying, Oh the pain, the bliss of dying! etc.

XII. ANONYMOUS.

Metre: Dactylic Hexameter, B. 368; A. & G. 615.

_1._ 1. Lindi: a city of Rhodes. 2. Ephyra: another name for Corinth. 7. Cecropius: Attic. Cecrops was the first king of Athens. induperabit: indu is an old form of in.

SACRED LATIN POETRY.

The Latin hymns differ from classical poetry in that accent and rhyme prevail instead of syllabic quantity. This is in accordance with the genius of a language which never disregarded accent and in which rhyme occurs even in its earliest extant literature, as in Ennius' _Andromacha_:

Haec omnia vidi inflammari, Priamo vi vitam evitari, etc.

Among the famous authors of Latin hymns are Adam of St. Victor; St. Ambrose; Fortunatus; Robert the Second, King of France; Bernard of Clairvaux; Bernard of Cluny; and Abelard. Among the greatest of the hymns are the Te Deum, the Veni, Creator Spiritus, the Stabat Mater, the Veni, Sancte Spiritus, the Dies Irae, the Ut Iucundas, the Iesu, Dulcis Memoria, and the Hora Novissima.

For Reference: Trench, _Sacred Latin Poetry_ (London, 1874); March, _Latin Hymns_ (New York, 1874); Daniel, _Thesaurus Hymnologicus_ (Leipzig, 1841-1856, 5 vols.); Merrill, _Latin Hymns_ (Boston, 1904); Julian, _Dictionary of Hymnology_ (London, 1907). In all see indices of first lines.

ANONYMOUS. FOR CHRISTMAS DAY.

This was till recently a favorite in the Lutheran churches of Germany. Like most of the other hymns in this collection, it has often been translated; as by Schaff in his _Christ in Song_. The oldest text known is as early as the fourteenth century.

The subject is the birth of Christ. Cf. Matthew 2. 1. Bethlehem: indeclinable, like most proper names of Hebrew origin. 5, 6. The ox and ass were believed to have occupied the stable with Christ on the combined authority of the Septuagint reading of Hahakkuk 3. 2: 'Between two animals shalt thou be known'; and of Isaiah 1. 3: 'The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib.' quod: that. 7. Reges: Isaiah 60. 3; Psalms 72. 10, 15. Saba: Psalms 72. 10, 15. 11. Sine serpentis vulnere: without 'original sin.' Cf. Genesis 3. 14, 15; 1 John 3. 5.

FOR EASTER DAY.

This fine sequence was highly esteemed by Luther and became a favorite in many countries. Its composition was as early as the eleventh century. At first sight it appears to be prose, but proves on closer examination to be rhymed throughout. The dialogue form made possible its dramatic use in the Easter Mystery Plays and the church service. For this and for translations see Julian, p. 1223 ff.

The subject is the Resurrection. Cf. Matthew 28. 1-15; John 20. 1-18.

2. Agnus: John 1. 29. oves: John 10. 11. 3. regnat: Matthew 25. 34. 4-9. Dic ff.: the conversation supposed to have taken place between Mary Magdalene and the disciples after her return from the sepulchre. Surrexit: Luke 24. 34.

PLAUDITE CAELI.

This hymn was composed by a member of the Jesuit Order. Its date is of the fourteenth to the sixteenth century; its subject the Resurrection.

1. Plaudite: cf. Flumina plaudent manu, Psalms 97. 8; 'All the trees of the field shall clap their hands.'--Isaiah 55. 12. 2. aether: the upper air. 3, 4. Let the heights and the depths of the world rejoice. 5, 6. The black storm-rack has passed by. 7. almae: bountiful. 11, 12. pictis...campis: cf. 'daisies...do paint the meadows.'--_Love's Labour's Lost_, V. 2. 905. 17, 18. Full veins are metaphorical for the full strong flow of song. 20. Barbytha: bad spelling for barbita, lutes. 26. Ludite: flow merrily.

The hymn has been translated into English by Mrs. Charles, _Christian Life in Song_, p. 184, and by Duffield, _Latin Hymns_, p. 398. The latter thus renders ll. 9-24:

Spring breezes are blowing, Spring flowers are at hand, Spring grasses are growing Abroad in the land,

And violets brighten The roses in bloom, And marigolds heighten The lilies' perfume.

Rise then, O my praises, Fresh life in your veins, As the viol upraises The gladdest of strains, For once more he sees us, Alive, as he said; Our holy Lord Jesus Escaped from the dead.

PONE LUCTUM, MAGDALENA.

The subject is the appearance of the risen Christ to Mary Magdalene at the tomb, John 20. 11-18.

1. Pone: dismiss thy grief. 3. Simonis: Mary Magdalene, as in _Dies Irae_, 37, is identified with 'the woman which was a sinner' of Luke 7. 37-50, who, while Jesus sat at meal in the house of Simon, the Pharisee, 'weeping, began to wet his feet with her tears,' 1. 4. 22, 23. Lift thy face, O Magdalen! Behold the risen Christ. 25. Quinque plagas: the five strokes are the nail prints in Jesus' hands and feet and the spear wound in his side, Luke 24. 40; John 20. 24-29. inspice: as Thomas and the other disciples beheld.

Translation by Mrs. Charles, _Christian Life in Song_, p. 182.

BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX.

1091-1153 A.D.

SALVE, CAPUT CRUENTATUM.

This selection is taken from a hymn in seven parts, each addressing some member of Christ's body on the cross, the feet, the knees, etc. The composition is more probably by some German poet than by Bernard, but its supposed origin with the latter has become a subject of religious legend. One ancient copy describes the hymn as 'a divine and most devout prayer of the Abbot St. Bernard, which he made when an image of the Saviour with outstretched arms embraced him from the cross.' Again we read, 'The image on the cross bowed itself and embraced him with its wounded arms as a sure token that to it this prayer was most pleasing.'

Julian refers to eight English metrical versions. One of the finest forms in which it has come into the language (through P. Gerhardt's free German version 'O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden') is _O sacred Head! now wounded_.

3. Conquassatum: mangled. 7. Immutatus: 'His visage was so marred more than any man.'--Isaiah 52. 14. 10. All heaven shudders. The curia is the centre of government. 11. viror: Late Latin for viriditas, vigor; we might freely render brightness. 14. Expressing the extremity of weakness, hanging all in faintness. 19. intersigno: proof, Late Latin. 23-25. From whose mouth I have taken honey with the sweetness of milk, beyond all delights. A figurative use of the story of Samson, who found a honeycomb in the mouth of the carcass of the lion which he had slain, Judges 14. 8, 9. Milk is religiously associated with honey because of the description of Canaan in Deuteronomy 31. 20, terram lacte et melle manantem. 28-30. Now that death is near Thee, lay here Thine head, rest in my arms. 32. gauderem: I would rejoice, were I associated with Thy holy passion; present contrary to fact condition. 40. absque: without, ante- and post-classic preposition. 46. emigrare: depart from life. Cf. qui e vita emigravit, Cicero, _De Legibus_, 2. 48. 49. Temetipsum: Thine own self. An emphatic -met is suffixed to Te.

'JESUS, THE VERY THOUGHT OF THEE.'

The author is probably St. Bernard, the abbot of Clairvaux and the great preacher of the Second Crusade. Few men in Christendom have ever exercised a personal influence equal to his.

These quartrains are selected from a hymn composed of fifty such, and familiar to English-speaking Christians from Caswall's translation, _Jesus, the very Thought of Thee_, and Ray Palmer's _Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts_. It was a favorite of Livingstone who quotes from it in his _African Diary_. 'No other poem in any language,' says Julian, 'has furnished to English and American hymn-books so many hymns of sterling worth and well-deserved popularity.'

Subject, Jesus.

1-4. Iesu: vocative. We would expect das instead of dans and tui instead of eius. Supply est with praesentia.

13-16.

Thou bliss of souls in bitter need, Water to lip and light to eye, All joy thou dost how far exceed, All yearning more than satisfy.

ROBERT II, KING OF FRANCE.

971-1031 A.D.

'COME, HOLY SPIRIT, FROM ABOVE.'