THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
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222 P. OVIDII N ASONIS LIBER III.<br />
Cui deus, Elige, ait: nullam patiere repulsam.<br />
Cluoque magis credas; Stygii quoque conscia sunto<br />
Numina torrentis; timor, et deus ille deorum.<br />
Lseta male, nimiumque potens, perituraque amantis<br />
Obsequio Semele, Glualem Saturnia, dixit,<br />
Te solet amplocti, Veneris cum foedus initis,<br />
Da mihi te talem. Voluit deus ora loquentis<br />
Opprimere: exierat jam vox properata sub auras.<br />
Ingemuit: neque enim non haec optasse, ne(jue ille<br />
Non jurasse potest. Ergo moestissimus altum<br />
jEthera conscendit; nutuque sequentia traxit<br />
Nubila; quis nimbos, immistaque fulgura ventis<br />
Addidit, et tonitrus, et inevitabile fulmen.<br />
Q,ua tamen usque potest, vires sibi demere tentat.<br />
Nee, quo centimanum dejecerat igne Typhoea,<br />
asks a favor of Jupiter without designat<br />
ing it.<br />
38. Timor ft deus: thnt drend, and god<br />
of gods. Men generally swore by the<br />
gods; the gods themselves swore by the<br />
Btyx; hence it is called the god of gods.<br />
IJ9. Lceta inalo: rejoicing in her own<br />
calamity, viz. in the promise of what wns<br />
about to be her ruin.<br />
41. Cum fcedus iuitis. The union of<br />
Jupiter and Juno was n physical allegory<br />
of singular beauty. The ancients regarded<br />
Jupiter as the ethereal fire, or upper air;<br />
and Juno as the lower air. They believed<br />
thnt the union of these caused thunder and<br />
lightning, and hence fabled that Jupiter,<br />
when he embraced Juno, was attended by<br />
the lightning and ihunder. Modern phi<br />
losophy has proved that the higher the re<br />
gion of the air is, the colder it is, and that<br />
thunder nnd lightning are electric pheno<br />
mena, produced by the passage of electri<br />
city between two different clouds, or be<br />
tween a cloud and the earth.<br />
42. Te talem. She asks that he would<br />
come to her attended with nil the glories<br />
with which he approached Juno. Moore,<br />
in the Loves of the Angels, appears to have<br />
copied after the story of Semele:<br />
Then come, O Spirit, from behind<br />
The curtains ot'lhy radiant home,<br />
Whether thou \vouldst as god be shriued,<br />
Or loved and clusped as mortal, eome \<br />
Bring all thy da7.7]in? wonders here,<br />
That I may waking know and sec<br />
Or waft me hence to thy own sphere.<br />
Thy heaven, or ay, even that with thfe.'<br />
Demon or god, who boldest the book<br />
Of knowledge spread beneath thine eye,<br />
Give me, with thee. but one bright look<br />
Into its leaves, and let me die!<br />
SECOND ANGHL'& STORY.<br />
42. Ora loquentis: her mouth as she<br />
spoke.<br />
43. Vox properata : the rash word; the<br />
word hastily pronounced.<br />
Nescit vox raissa rev«rti HORACE.<br />
NOT^E.<br />
40<br />
44. Ingeinmt: nequo<br />
. _ enim ilia potest non<br />
4o optasse hcec, neque<br />
ille non jurasse.<br />
50. Nee nunc arma-<br />
tur eo igne quo deje-<br />
45. Neque potest. Semele cannot now<br />
recal her request, nor Jupiter his oath.<br />
49. Qua usque potest. Wherever he<br />
can, he tries to diminish the force of hig<br />
power. Moore, in like manner, describes<br />
the endeavors of hig celestial lover:<br />
Sudden her brow a