THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
30<br />
P. OVIDII <strong>NASO</strong>NIS<br />
Eurus ad Auroram, Nabatheeaque regna recessit,<br />
Persidaque, et radiis juga subdita matutinis;<br />
Vesper, et occiduo qua littora Sole tepescunt,<br />
Proxima sunt Zephyro: Scythiam septemque Trionem 60<br />
Horrifer invasit Boreas jcontraria tellus<br />
Nubibus assiduis, pluvioque madescit ab Austro.<br />
Hsec super imposuit liquidum et gravitate carentcm<br />
NOT-ffi.<br />
Aurora to Astrxus bare the winds,<br />
Of spirit untamed; east, west, and south, and<br />
north.<br />
Cleaving his rapid course. HESIOD.<br />
Astraus is derived from &rrtp, n star, and<br />
probably means the sun, " the greater<br />
light." As the sun's rays disturb the tem<br />
perature of the air in the morning, and<br />
cause the winds to rise, they are said, with<br />
poetic beauty, to be born of the sun and<br />
the morning.<br />
57. Eurus. The poet describes the four<br />
cardinal winds, east, west, north and south,<br />
and begins with Eurus. This blows from<br />
the equinoctial east, and to the Italians was<br />
dry, serene, pleasant, and healthy.<br />
57. Ad Auroram: to the east, where the<br />
morning rises. By metonymy.<br />
57. Kabaihaa. The Nabathffian king<br />
doms, according to Josephus, comprised<br />
that portion of country lying between the<br />
Euphrates and the Red Sea, and were<br />
reigned over by twelve princes, the sons<br />
of Ishmael, of whom Nabath was the<br />
eldest. Pliny mentions the Nabalhffii in<br />
Arabia Felix.<br />
58. Persida. This is a Greek name of<br />
Persia, a celebrated country of the cast.<br />
It was at first a small country, bounded on<br />
the north by Media, on the east by Caro-<br />
mania, on the south by Sinus Persicus, and<br />
on the west by Susiana. It is thought to<br />
have derived its name from Perses, the son<br />
of Perseus.<br />
58. Eadiif juga: the hills lying under<br />
the rays of the morning; a beautiful peri<br />
phrasis for the eastern mountains.<br />
Where first the sun<br />
Gilds Indian mountains. THOMSON.<br />
59. Vefper. As Aurora was put for the<br />
cast, vespi r is here put for the west.<br />
59. Qua lillora trjtrscunt. This is an<br />
other beautiful periphrasis for the shores<br />
of the west.<br />
Or his setting beams<br />
Flumes on the Atlantic isles. THOMSON.<br />
60. Proximn. Are next to Zcphyrus, the<br />
west wind. This wind is from the equi<br />
noctial west, and with its side winds, is<br />
cloudy and moist, and less healthful. Zc<br />
phyrus presides over fruits and flowers,<br />
and is represented under the form of a<br />
youth, with wings like those of a butterfly,<br />
and having his head crowned with flowers.<br />
CO. Scythia. A country in the north of<br />
Asia, remarkable for the coldness of its<br />
LIBER L<br />
vix obsistitur illis,<br />
cum regant sua fla-<br />
mina quisque diverse<br />
tractu, quin lanicnt<br />
mundum; discordia<br />
fratrum est tanta. Eu<br />
rus recessit ad Auro-<br />
ram, Nabathreaque<br />
62. Madescit assid-<br />
uis nubibus ab pluvi ><br />
Austro. Imposuit<br />
climate, and the rude character of its in<br />
habitants.<br />
Scythiffiqne hyemes atque arida divert<br />
Nubila. GKORGIC iii.197.<br />
GO. Septemlrionem. From seplem, seven,<br />
and triones, ploughing oxen. A constella<br />
tion near the north pole, consisting of seven<br />
stars in the form of a plough. It is here<br />
put for the north. Sometimes it is called<br />
Charles's Wain, from a fancied resem<br />
blance to a wagon.<br />
61. Horrifer Boreas. Boreas is derived<br />
from pcpSii, a vortex; as this wind often<br />
blows with such violence as to cause whirl<br />
winds, it probably had its name from this<br />
circumstance. It produces cold, hail, and<br />
snow. As this wind causes shivering, it<br />
has the epithet horrifer.<br />
Boreas, and Crecas, and Argestas loud,<br />
And Thrascins, rend thcwoods,ond seas upturn.<br />
MILTOH.<br />
62. Pluvio ab Austro. The south wind<br />
passing over the sea is warm and moist,<br />
and often brings rain.<br />
The effusive south<br />
Warms the wide air. and o'er the void of heaven<br />
Breathes the big clouds, with vernal showers<br />
distent. THOMSOK.<br />
Besides the cardinal winds, there are<br />
others which are collateral. They are com<br />
prised in the following lines:<br />
Flat Subsolanxis, Vulturnus ct Kurus ab ortu :<br />
Circius occasum, Zephyrusque Favonius afHant,<br />
Kt media de parte die Notus, Africus, Auster :<br />
Conveniunt Aquilo, Boreas, et Corus ab Arcto.<br />
G3. Super lac : above these; that is,<br />
above the atmosphere and the winds.<br />
64. JEthern: the ether, or fire. It is de<br />
scribed by Cicero as the heaven in which<br />
the fiery bodies run their courses. The<br />
upper air or ether is mythologically called<br />
Jupiter; the atmospheric or lower air,<br />
Juno. Hence Jtmo has been styled, by the<br />
Stoics, both the sister and wife of Jupiter.<br />
As heat and moisture are tho radical prin<br />
ciples of all things, the union of Jupiter<br />
and Juno are said to produce every thing<br />
in nature.<br />
Turn paler omnipotcns frecundis imbribus rether<br />
Conjugis ingremium teetse descendit, et omnes<br />
Magnus alit, magno commixtus eorpoie, foctua<br />
VIBGIL.<br />
I.ostly, when father Ether kindly pours<br />
On fertile mother Earth his seminal showers.<br />
CBBECH'S LUCBKTIIT&<br />
FABULA I.<br />
METAMORPHOSED N.<br />
/Ethera, nee quicquarn terrena fbecis habentem.<br />
Vix ea limitibue dissepserat omnia certis :<br />
Cum, qua? pressa diu massa latuere sub ilia,<br />
Sidera ceeperunt toto efiervescere ccelo.<br />
KOTJE.<br />
65. CrrlhlimitSrus: fixed boundaries.<br />
66. Ulasta: that mass. Chaos under<br />
which the stars lay.<br />
67. Sidera. Sidui is a constellation con<br />
sisting of many stars. The poet here is<br />
speaking of stars in general.<br />
A constellation is but one,<br />
ThougL 'tis a train of stars. DRYDEN.<br />
67. Effervescent to glow through all the<br />
heavens.<br />
The myriad stars<br />
Glaw in the deep blue heaven, and the moon<br />
Pours from her beamy urn a silver tide<br />
Of living rays upon the slumbering earth.<br />
SCRIPTURAL AVTHOLOGY.<br />
The stare which lay obscured under<br />
Chaos, now begin to shine forth. Hesiod,<br />
in like manner, speaks of the stars as last<br />
formed.<br />
Last Lucifer<br />
Sprang radiant from the dawn-appearing morn,<br />
And all the glittering stars that gird the heaven,<br />
UESIOD.<br />
How shajl I then attempt to sing of Him<br />
Whose single smile has, from Hie first of time,<br />
Filled, overflowing, all those lamps of heaven<br />
That beam for ever through the boundless sky.<br />
THOMSON.<br />
Aratus, in speaking of the formation of<br />
the stars, uses language very similar to'<br />
that of Moses.<br />
Auros yap TOye rijjia r' If ci-poi-ai Jrropifc.<br />
ARATUS.<br />
EiHtaivciv evcAcvircr iltepxapivov r' dp6roto.<br />
IDEM.<br />
And God said, let there be lights in the firma<br />
ment ;. and let them be for signs, and for seasons.<br />
GEXESIS.<br />
Nothing in creation is so well calculated<br />
to fill the mind with sublime ideas, and lift<br />
What is the subject of Fable I ?<br />
What is said of the account of the crea<br />
tion given by Ovid ?<br />
What was Chaos?<br />
Who was Titan ? who were the Titans f<br />
Who was Phrebe ?<br />
Who was Amphitrite f<br />
In what state were the elements in<br />
Chaos ?<br />
In reducing the elements to order, what<br />
was the first act of the deity ? what the<br />
second >. the third ?<br />
What place did the fiery principle, or<br />
OBthcr occupy?<br />
What is next to the aether ?<br />
What figure was given to the earth ?<br />
QU^STIONES.<br />
31<br />
liquidum JEthern, et<br />
_ caremem gravitate,<br />
DO nee habentcin quicquam<br />
terreaoe Hjecifl,<br />
super htcc. Vix dis<br />
sepserat omnia ea<br />
the soul to God, us the contemplation tf<br />
the starry heavens; truly,.the heavens de<br />
clare the glory of God, and the finnamerrl<br />
showeth his handiwork.<br />
With radiant finger Coutemplation points<br />
To yon blue concave, swelled by breath divine,<br />
Where, one by one, the living eyes of heav'n<br />
Awake, quick kindling o'er the lace of ether<br />
One boundless blaze; ten thousand trembling<br />
fires,<br />
And dancing lustres, where th' unsteady eye,<br />
Restless and dazzled, wanders unconfined<br />
O'er all this field of glories: spacious field,<br />
And worthy of the Master ! he whose hand,<br />
With hieroglyphics elder than the Nile<br />
Inscribed the mystic tablet, hung on high<br />
To public gaze ; and said, Adore, O man,<br />
The finger of thy God 1 From what pure wells<br />
Of milky light, what soft o'erflowing urn,<br />
Are all these lamps so filled? these friendly<br />
lumps,<br />
For ever streaming o'er the azure deep,<br />
To point our path, and light us to our home.<br />
How soft they slide along their lucid spheres!<br />
And, silent as the foot of time, fulfil<br />
Their destined courses. Nature's self is hushed,<br />
And, but a scattered leaf, which rustles thro'<br />
The th ck-wove foliage, not a sound is heard<br />
To break the midnight air : the' the rais'd ear,<br />
Intensely list'niiig, drinks in ev'ry breath.<br />
How deep the silence, yet how loud the praise!<br />
But are they silent all? or is there not<br />
A tongue in ev'ry star that talks with man.<br />
And woos him to be wise ? nor woos in vaiu:<br />
This dead of midnight is the noon of thought.<br />
And wipdom mounts her zenith with the stars.<br />
At this still hour the self-collected soul<br />
Turns inward, and beholds a stranger there<br />
Of high descent, and more than mortal rank;<br />
An embryo God; a spark of fire divine,<br />
Which must burn on for ages, when the sun<br />
(Fair transitory crea'ture of a day!)<br />
1 las closed his golden eye, and, wrapt in shades.<br />
Forgets his wonted journey thro' the east.<br />
BARBAULD.<br />
How many zones are there, and how<br />
disposed ?<br />
What is said of the torrid zone ?<br />
Did all the ancients hold this opinion ?<br />
How many winds are mentioned ?<br />
Why are they called the sons of Aetraus<br />
and Aurora?<br />
What are their names, and their re<br />
gions ?<br />
Who was Aurora ? why does it signify<br />
the east ?<br />
Where is Nnbaihiea ? why so called ?<br />
By what figure is Septeratrionem di<br />
vided ?<br />
What part of the material creation was<br />
last formed ?