THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

26
P. OVIDII N ASONIS
Ignea convexi vis et sine, pondere cceli
Emicuit, summaque locum sibi legit in arce.
Proximus est aer illi levitate, locoque :
Densior his tellus, elementaque grandia traxit,
Et pressa est gravitate sui. Circumfluus humor
Ultima posscdit,solidumquecoercuil orbem. .
Sic ubi dispositam quisquis fuit ille Deorum,
NOT^E.
22. Ignea vit cceli: the fiery force of the
heaven. This means the aether, to which
Hesiod, in like manner, assigns the highest
place. The poet probably includes the
sun, regarding it as a body of liquid flame,
immense and imponderable.
Hail, holy Light 1, offspring ofheaven's first born!
Whose fountain who eliall tell ? hefore the sun,
Before the heavens ihou IA ert; and at the voice
Of Gqdj ns with a mantle, didst invest
The rising world of water6,dark and deep.
MILTON.
23. Emicuil: sprung forth or shone forth.
This expression conveys the idea of great
celerity, and is somewhat similar to the
account of the creation of light given in
the Bible: " Let there be light, and there
was light." And forthwith light
Ethereal first of things quintessence pure,
Sprung from the deep. MILTON.
23. Summa in one. It is a law in phi
losophy, that the heavier bodies descend,
while the lighter bodies ascend till they
reach a region of their own density. The
eethcr being lightest, will ascend to the
highest place.
The fiery part ascended highest, because the
lightness of its nature caused it to tend up
wards. DIODORUS SICULUS.
LIBER 1.
sprsso aSre. Qua-
postquam evolvit, que
exernil creco acervo,
ligavil dissociate lo-
cis concord! pace. Ig-
25 nea vis creli convex,
et sine pondere emi-
cuit, que legit %lbl
locum in surrjnw
arce.
28. Ubi quisquis Dd»
leavier elements. There is much ex
iressiveness in the word iraxil.
The muddy and grosser parts, together with
».ie fluid, sunk down, by reason of their heavi
ness. DIODORTJS SICULUS.
26. Pressri est: was pressed together,
.'he earth is kept together by the power
)f attraction.
26. Circuinjluus humor. The water flow
ing around possessed the last place, or
lowest place, for the surface of the water
is lower than the surface of the eanh.
Providence has caused many eminences and
-Rvilies iu the earth, thut in these, the water, or
the greatest part of it, might be received.
STRABO.
He the world
Built on circumfluous waters calm, in wide
Crystalline ocean. PARADISE LOST.
And, poured round all,
Old Ocean's gray and melancholy waste.
BEYANT
27. Solidum orJitm. The ancient philoso-
)hcra generally considered the earth as a
;lobe.
The cone, you say, the cylinder, and the pyr
amid, are more beautiful to you than the sphere.
higher than the earth, the air is above the wa- *"- 1 '~~ " *.,v --=> - - - ~. .
tef, and fire has the highest situation. DE NA- e,Bn be.more illiternle than to assert, as you do,
-.TT, . T»i.ftT.TrM that it is doubtful whether the world is round oc
It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,
..nil the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers.
ISAIAH xl. 42.
24. Levitate. The air is next to the How heaven on high was formed.
ether in lightness, and necessarily eo in lo The earth established, Rndtegirticlthsta.
cation. It is proper to say lightness here
ORPHEU*.
instead of weight, for the ether has jus' 28. Quisquis deorum. The Architect
bcrn spoken ot as a light body.
of the Universe appears to be rather an
25. Dmsior: more dense, and conse " unknown god" to the poet. He evidently
quently heavier.
considers him of a more exalted crmrncter
25. Eltnuntn. Elements are the first than the others. The heathens in general
principles of which bodies are formed. The acknowledged one supreme god.
ancients recognised four elcmenis, fire, air, The whol; worU a?ree in ,h 19 one "' ,,onstBI,t >g !
earlli, and water, f ire is enll regarded as iaw ond opinion, that CJod is ihe suk- King ami
a simple, but the others are known to he Father of all. . MAXIMUS TYRIUS.
compounds. Air consists of oxygen and There are mnny vulgar gods, but ' there is but
nitrogen, in the proportion of 21 parts ot one natural god. AJ.TISTHENES,
llie former to 7U of tun latter, or, as Rome There is really but one God,
think, of 20 and PO. iu accordance with tht The maker of heaven nnd ertrth,
And sea nnd winds SOPHOCLES.
atomic theory. The compositions ot caril.
are varied. Water consists of hydrogen In the fragment of Orpheus, quoted by
and oxygen, in the proportions, by weight Justin Martyr, nnd by Clemcns Alexandnof
1 to 8, or by volume, of 2 to 1. nus, , on the Unity of God, it is said :
25. . Traxil. . The eanh, , agreeably to th He is one, self-begotten ; by him alone are all
aw of •• gravity, ----.- drew j .. down .!_. with .,.:.,,.. it th .v. things thut have been made
FABTJLA!. MET AMORPHOSE O N.
Congeriem secuit, sectamque in membra redegit.
Principle terram, ne non eequalis ab omni
Parte foret, magni speciem glomeravit in orbis.
Turn freta diffundi, rapidisque tumescere ventis
Jussit, et ambitce circumdare littora terras.
Addidit et fontes, immensaque stagna, lacusque;
Fluminaque obliquis cinxit declivia ripis :
Q.UIB diversa locis partim sorbentur ab ipsa;
29 Conceriem scm.il: cut the mass, viz.
chaos. Thus abscidit, a similar term, is
employed in the 17th line to express great
violence in the separation of the bodies.
29. In membra: into members or parts;
that is, into separate elements.
30. Princifio: in the beginning. Having
stated the fact of the formation of the uni
verse, the poet enters more particularly
into the specifications of the several acts.
In doing this, he uses the identical ex
pression which occurs in the first verse of
Genesis.
30. JEtjuaJif ai omni. The earth is not
exactly equal in every part, as the eleva
tions and depressions show. The equa
torial diameter, too, is 26 miles greater
than the polar. Owing to this spheroidal
figure, the eanh may be considered as con
taining a sphere, the radius of which is
half the polar axis, and a quantity of redund
ant matter distributed over it, so as to swell
out the equatorial regions. The precession
of the equinoxes, and the nutation of the
earth's axis, is occasioned by the attraction
of the sun and moon on this redundant
matter.
31. Glomeravit: he rounded the earth.
Glomero signifies to wind into a ball like
thread The expression is not inapt, es
pecially when we consider that the earth
consists of successive layers.
31. Magni orlis; a great globe.
A glorious orb from its Creator's lionds
It came, in light and loveliness arrayed,
Crowned with green emerald mounts tinted w ith
gold. SCRIPTURAL ANTHOLOGY.
32. Frela. Narrow seas between two
portions of land, so called from ferveHdo;
here put by syncchdcche for seas in general,
dc ordered the seas to be poured forth.
And from the hollow of his hand
Toured out the immeasurable sea.
BOWER OF PAPIIOS
32. Tumescere: to swell; to be puffed
up.
Have I not seen the sens yt/^rc? up with winds,
Rage like an angr} boar chafed with sweat.
SHAKSPEARE.
33. Juttil: he commanded. This con
veys the idcn of great power, and is similar
to the " Deus dixil" of Moses.
He spoke, and it was done ; he commanded,
uid it stood fas: PSALM xxxiii. 9.
NOTjE.
27
orum file fiii', secuit
on congeriem »ic dispo-
OU sitam que redegit
seclam in membra.
Prmcipio glomeravit
terrara in speciem
magni orbis, ne foret
non eequalis ab onini
34. Etaddidit fontes,
QK queimmensa stagna,
que lacus ; que cinxit
deciivia flumina ob-
33. A mbilce terra;. Not on all sides sur
rounded as the earth is by the air, but en
compassed or encircled by it.
And wearing as a robe the silver sea,
Seeded with jewels of resplendent is!ea.
SCRIPTURAL ANTHOLOGY,
33. Circumdare. In the use of circum
dare with ambitce, there is a pleonasm. This
figure is of frequent occurrence in Ovid.
34. Fontes, slagna, lacusque. In the
enumeration of the different bodies of wa
ter, there is an agreeable variety.
Dim grottoes, gleaming lakes, and fountain!
clear. THOMSON.
34. Fonles. Fountains or springs arc
formed by water that issues from crevices
in the earth. The water falls on higher
ground, and descending into the earth, is
received in subterranean cavities, and fil
trates towards the springs. Springs are
distinguished as perennial, periodical, in
termitting, and spouting. An intermitting
fountain at Como, in Italy, rises and falla
every hour; one at Colmaris, in Provence,
eight times in an hour.
34. Slagna. Pools are bodies of water
that receive no running water, and have no
visible outlet. They are situated in low
marshy ground.
34. Lacusque. Lakes are large bodies
of water that do not communicate with the
ocean. They are distinguished as follows:
those that receive streams of water, and
have a visible outlet; those that receive
streams of water, and have no visible out
let; and those that are supplied, not by
running streams, but internal springs, and
have a visible outlet. The first class of
lakes is frceh, the second salt, and thfl
third saline, or alkaline, or both.
35. Flumina declivia. Rivers always
occupy the lowest portions of the districts
from which they derive their waters.
These districts are called basins.
Ilivers will not flow, except on declivity, and
their sources be raised above the earth's ordi
nary surface, so that they may run upon a
descent. WOODWARD.
36. Cinxit obliquis ripis: he bound the
rivers with winding banks.
He hath compassed the waters with boundi
until day and night come to an end. JOB xxv
10.
I