THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

116
P. OVIDII NASONIS
Virginitate Deam : ritu quoque cincta Dianas
Falleret, et credi posset Latonia, si non
Corneus huic arcus, si non foret aureus illi.
Sic quoque fallebat. Redeuntem colic Lyceo
Pan vidct hanc, pinuque caput praecinctus acuta,
Talia verba refert. Rcstabat plura referre :
Et precibus spretis fugisse per avia Nympham;
Donee arenosi placitum Ladonis ad amnem
Venerit: hie, illi cursum impedicntibus undis,
Ut se mutarent, liquidas orasse sorores:
Panaque, cum prensam sibi jam Syringa putaret,
Corpore pro Nymphce calamos tenuisse palustres.
Dumque ibi suspirat, motos in arundinc ventos
Effecisse sonum tenuem, similemque querenti:
Arte nova vocisque Deum dulccdine captum,
Hoc mihi concilium tecum, dixisse, mancbit:
Atque ita disparibus calamis compagine cerae
Inter se junctis nomen tenuisse puellEe.
NOTJE.
LlUEE 1.
0. Colebat Ortygiarn
Deam sludlLS, ipsaque
virginitnte. Quoque
cincta ritu Dianx. fnl-
lerel, et posset credi
10 Latonia, si corneus
arcus non foret huic,
11. Fan videt hanc
redeuntein Lyceocol-
le, priEcinctus caput
acutft pinu refert tulia
verbn. Restnbnt re
ferre plurn: et Nym-
15 pliam fugisse per avia,
spretis precibus; do
nee venerlt ad placi
tum amuem arenosi
Ladonis: liic, undis
impedientibus eursum
illi, orasse liquidas
19. Uumque suspi-
20 rat ibi, veiitos motos
in arundine, eflecisse
tenuem sonuln, simi-
lernque querenti. Que
Deum, captum nov&
arte que dulcedine
VOCLS dixisse, Hoc
concilium lecum
8. Falleret: she would deceive you. Still her bosom rose fair still her cheeks smiled
You would take her to be Diana.
the same,
While her sea-beauties gracefully curled round
8. Latonia.' Diana, who was the daugh the frame;
ter of Latona.
And her hair, shedding tear-drops from all its
9. Hnic. To Syrinx.
bright rings,
11. Pan. The god of shepherds, and of Fell over her white arms, to moke the gold
the inhabitants of the country in general. strings.
His parentage is uncertain. Some make Hence it came that this soft harp so long hath
him son of Jupiter and Callisto; some of been known.
To mingle love's langnaga with sorrow's «ad
Jupiter and Thymbris; while oihcrs make tone;
him the son of Mercury and Dryope, or Till thou didst divide them, and teach the fond
Penelope. He had on his head horns, his lay
nose was flat, and his t.highs, legs, feet and To be love when I'm near thee, and grief when
away. MOOEE'S MELODIES.
tail were those of a goat. The Egyptians
worshipped Nature under the name of Pan.
19. In arundine ventos. Lucretius says,
11. Pinu. The pine was sacred to Pan.
that it was the sighing of the wind among
12. Vvrba rrfert: he addresses her. the reeds which suggested the invention
14. Ladonis. The Ladon is a gentle of the Pandffian pipes:
river of Arcadia, and a branch of the AI-
Thus birds instructed man
And taught them songs, hefore their art began:
pheus.
And while soft evening gales blew o'er the plains,
15. Hie: here, viz., at the river Ladon. And shook the sounding reeds, they taught the
16. Liquidas sorores: the nymphs of the swains:
river Ladon.
And thus the pipe was framed, and tuneful reed;
18. Corpore pro Flympha: instead of the And whilst the tender Mocks securely feed,
The harmless shepherds tuned their pipes to
body of the nymph, who wos now changed love. CEEECII'S LUCRETIUS.
into the reeds. Moore, the lyric poet,
speaks in like manner of the transforma 20. Effecisse sonum: made a faint sound.
tion of a syren into a harp.
Thus Anacrcon:
The pod pursued, with winged desire,
Tis believed that this harp which I now wake And when his hopes were nil on fire.
for thee
And when he thought to hear tlio sigh
Was a syren, of old, who Bung under the sea, "With wliich ennmored virgins die,
And who often at eve, througli the bright billow lie only heard the pensive air
roved,
^Tiispering amid her leafy hair! ODE Ix.
To meet on the green shore a youth whom she
loved.
22. Concilium: reconciliation.
But she loved him in vnin, for he left her to weep, Conciliis et dissidiis excrcila crebris.
And in tears, all the night her gold ringlets to
LVCRHTIDS
steep.
23. Disparibus calamis: reeds of unequal
Till heav'n looked, with pity, on true-love so length.
warm,
And changed to this soft harp the sea-mmden'8 24. Nomen paella: the name of the girl.
form!
Syrinx signifies a pipe.
FABUIA XIV. MET AMORPHOSEO N.
Talia dicturus vidit Cyllenius omnes
Succubuisse oculos, adopertaque lumina somno
Supprimit extemplo vocem; firmatque soporem",
Languida permulcens medicata lumina virga.
Nee mora ; falcato nutantem vulnerat ense,
Qua collo confine caput: saxoque cruentum
Dejicit: et maculat prEeruptarn sanguine cautem.
Arge, jaces : quodque in tot lumina lumen habebas,
Exstinctum est: centumque oculos nox occupat una.
Excipit hos, volucrisque sure Saturnia pennis
Collocat, et gemmis caudam stellantibus implet.
Telling us how fair trembling Syrinx fled
Arcadian Pan, with such a fearful dread.
Poor nymph, poor Pan, how he did weep to
find
Naught but a lovely sighing of the wind
Along the reedy stream; a~half-heard strain,
Full of sweet desolation balmy pain. KEAZS.
25. Cyllenius: the Cyllenian. Mercury
is thus called, from Cyllene, a mountain in
Arcadia, where he was born.
26. Succubuisse oculos: that his eyes
had yielded; were overcome with sleep.
28. Medicata virga: with his magic
wand.
29. Nutantem: as he nods.
29. Falcato ense; with his crooked sword,
shaped like a sickle.
Where is Arcadia, and for what cele
brated ?
Who was Syrinx ?
Who were the Hamadryads ?
Who were the Satyrs? Faune? Sylvans?
Why was Diana called the Ortygian ?
Why was she called Latonia?
Whom did Syrinx imitate in her actions ?
Who was Pan ?
With whom did he fall in love ?
Did she favor his suit ?
When about to be taken, what request
did she make of her sister nymphs ?
NOT^E.
QILESTIONES.
117
25 E5- Cyllenius dictu
rus talia, vidit omnes
oculos succubuisse,
luminaque eilonrrta
KMeomno. Extemplo
supprimit vocem. fir-
matque soporem.
89. Vulnerat ilium
30 nutantem, falcato en
se, ex ea partc qua ca
put est confine collo;
dejicitque ilium cru
entum snxo, et macu
lat prEeruptarn cautem
sanguine.
34. Saturnia excipit
OOO
EOS, que collocat pen
nis sum volucris,
33. Nox una: a common night; the
darkness of death.
34. Volucris tuts : of her bird; ' of the
peacock which was sacred to Juno, and
drew her chariot. As the lower nir or at
mosphere, mythologically called Juno, is
ihe medium through which light is trans
mitted, the peacock covered over with
eyes, in being sacred to Juno, is designed
to emblematize the fact.
35. Gemmis stellantibus: with starry
gems.
The crested cock whose clarion sounds
The silent hours, and the other whose gay trail
Adorns him, colored with the florid hue
Of rainbows and starry eyes. MILTON.
What transformation took place ?
What did Pan do with the reeds ?
What is the meaning of Syrinx ?
Why was she said to be the daughter ot
the river Ladon ?
How does Lucretius say the invention of
the pipe was suggested ?
When the relation of the story had lulled
Argus to sleep, what did Mercury do to
him?
What did Juno do with his eye* ?
Mythologicnlly, how do we account tot
the peacock being sacred to Juno ?
I