THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

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150 P. OVIDII N ASONIS
Et laniata sinus, totum percensuit orbem,
Exanimesque artus primo, mox ossa requirens,
Repperit ossa tamen peregrina condita ripa.
Incubuitque loco:' nomenque in marmore lectum
Perfudit lacrymis, et aperto pectore fovit.
Nee minus Heliades fletus, et mania morti
Munera, dant lacrymas, et ccesas pectora palmis
Non auditurum miseras Phaethoiita querelas
Nocte dieque vocant, adsternunturque sepulcro.
Luna quater junctis implerat comibus orbem;
Ulce more suo (nam morem fecerat usus)
Plangorem dederant, 6 queis Phaethusa sororum
Maxima, cum vellet terrae procumbere, questa est
Diriguisse pedes: ad quam conata venire
Candida Lampetie; subita radice re'tcnta est.
Tertia cum crinem manibus laniare pararet;
Avellit frondes : hroc stipite crura teneri,
Ilia dolet fieri longos sua brachia ramos.
Dumque ea mirantur; complectitur inguina cortex
Perque gradus uterum, pectusque, humcrosque.
nusque,
Ambit: et exstabant tantum ora vocantia matrem.
Quid facial mater ? nisi, qub trahat impetus illam,
Hue eat, atque illuc ? et, dum licet, oscula jungat ?
Non satis est; truncis avellere corpora teiitat,
Et teiieros manibus ramos abrumpere : at iiide 35
Sanguiiiece manaiit, taiiquam de vulnere, guttce.
11. PercensitU orbem: travelled over the
world.
12. Artus primo. She first sougbt his
body, and when time sufficient had passed
for it to undergo decay, she looked for his
bones.
13. Peregrina ripa: on a foreign shore ;
the bank of the Endanus.
14. Incubuit loco: fell upon the spot.
15. Perfudit lacrymis: she bedewed
with her tears.
And from thy yearning heart
Whose inmost core was warm with love for him,
A gladness must depart.
And those kind ey es with many tears be dim.
W. G. CLAM.
15. Aperto pectore: with naked breast.
16. Heliades: the daughters of ihe sun,
called also Phacthontiadea, from Phaethon
their brother. The word is derived from
i';Xio,-, the sun. Their names were Phae
thusa, ardor; Lampetie, brightening; and
Pasiphac, all-enligldening. They repre
sent the virtues of the sun in hatural bodies.
1C. Inania morli: unavailing to doath
to the dead.
18. Phaethonta vocant : they call upon
PhaiHhon. The aposlrophe is very com
mon in passionate grief. The allusion to
NOTjE.
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20
25
ma-
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LIISER II
11. Et laniata sinus,
crcensuit totum or*
Eem: requirensquo
primo examines ar
tus, mox ossa,
1(3. Nee minus He
liades, dant morti ejus,
fletus et lacrymas,
muncrainania: etcED-
SED pectora palmis, vocaut
nocte dieque
Phae*thonta noil audi
turum miseras quere
las:
26. Tertia cum pa
raret laniare erinem
manibus, aveHit froii-
des. Hcee doltt crura
teneri stipite, ilia dolet
sun brachia fieri lon
gos ramos.
32. Quid maler fa
cial? nisi eat hue at
que illuc, quo impetus
traliatiHain? et jungat
oscula dum licet 7
this repetition of the name of the departed
by Mrs. Heinans, in one of her poems, is
very beautiful:
But tell us, thou bird of the solemn strain !
Can those who have loved forget ?
We call and they answer not again
Do they love do they love us yet?
THE MESSENGER Bmn.
20. Luna quater. Four months had now
passed.
20. Procumbere: to prostrate herself on
the earih.
24. Diriguiase. The trapsformation had
already commenced.
25. Subitd radice: by a sudden root.
Her feet began to grow to the earth.
27. Avellit frondes : tore away leaves.
Her hair was already changed into foliage.
30. Perque gradus : by degrees; gra
dually.
31. Exstabant: stood out; remained un
covered by the bark.
32. Quo trcihat impetus: where impulse
may lead her.
35. Itule: thence; from the boughs.
3G. SatiffuinetE guttte: drops of blood.
Blood in like manner flows from the shrubs
that grow above the body of Polydore, aa
described by Virgil:
FABULA III. METAMORPHOSE ON.
Parce, precor, mater, quaecunque est saucia, clamat,
Parce, precor; nostrum laniatur in arbore corpus :
Tamquc vale ; cortex in verba novissima veiiit:
hide fluuiit lacrymce; stillataque sole rigescuiit
De ramis electra iiovis ; quas lucidus amnis
Excipit, et iiuribus mittit gestaiida Latinis.
Adfuit huic moiistro, proles Stheiielei'a, Cycnus,
Qui tibi materno quamvis a sanguine juiictus,
Mente tamen, Phaethon, propior fuit. Ille relicto
(Nam Ligurum populos, et magiias rexerat urbes)
Imperio, ripas virides amiiemque querelis
Eridanum implerat, sylvamque sororibus auctam:
Cum vox est teiiuata viro: canoeque capillos
Dissiniulant plumce; collumque a pectore loiigum
Porrigitur, digitosque ligat junctura rubeiites :
Penna latus vestit, tenet os sine acumiiie rostrum:
Fit nova Cycnus avis ; iiec se cecloq*ue Jovique
Credit, ut injuste missi memor ignis ab illo;
Nam qure prima solo rnptis radicibus arbos
Vellitur, huic atro liquuntur sanguine guttEe,
Et terram tabo maculaut. JENEID iii. 27.
37. Farce: forbear. Polydore in like
manner wounded by the uprooting of the
shrubs above his grave, exclaims:
Quid miserum, .AUnea, laceras? jam parce sepulto
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Farce pins scelerare manus. JEymv iii. 41.
39. In verba novissima. The bark closed
over the mouth as it uttered the last words,
viz. farewell!
40. Indf. From the bark of the trees.
40. Fluunl lacrymce: tears flow. The
transformation of tears into amber is a
beautiful imagination of the poet. Moore
describes the tears of the seabird as form
ing amber.
Around thee shall glisten
The loveliest umber,
Thnt ever the sorrowing
Seabird hath wept. LALLA ROOKH.
40. Stillata: distilled; flowing in drops.
Shakspeare in a beautiful manner assimi
lates the falling of tears to the exudation
of aromatic trees.
Of one, whose suhdued eyes
Alheii unused to the melting mood.
Drop tears as fast as the Arnhian trees,
Their medicinal gum. OTHELLO.
40. Sole rigescunt: is hardened by the
sun.
41. Eltctra. Amber is a resin-like sub-
Btancr, found on the seacoast, and dug up
in diluvial soils. It often contains leaves
and insects, nnd is probably an antedilu
vian repin, of a species of pine. It is found
in abundance on the Baltic. There is a
picre weighing eighteen pounds in the
NOTjE.
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37. Quieeuuque est
saucia elainat, mater,
precor puree, pare*
precor; nostrum cor
pus lamatur in arbore.
45 45. Ille relicto Impe
rio (nam rexerat po
pulos Liguruin, et
magnns urbcs) imple-
r.U ripas viritles, am-
ncmtjue Eridanum,
sylvumque auctam so
roribus quereliB.
50
royal cabinet at Berlin. Pliny describes
it as an exudation of a species of pine or
cedar. He and Theophrastus affirm it is
found in Liguria. Amber is used for jew
elry, and the oil of it is sometimes em
ployed as a medicine.
41. Lucidus amnis: the bright river,
viz. the Po.
42. Nurilus Lalinis: by the Latin wo
men.
42. Gestaiida: to be borne; to be worn
as jewelry by them.
43. Huic monstro. The prodigy in which
the sisters of Phaethon were changed into
poplars, and their tears into amber.
43. Proles' Sfheneleia: the son of Sthc-
nelus, king of Liguria.
43. Cycnus. As cycnus signifies a swan,
the name mny have suggested this meta
morphosis. Pausanias, however, says:
The swan has the reputation of being a musical
bird, because a certain king in I.iguna numed
Cycnns,was a great musician.and after his death,
was melamorphosed by Apollo into a swan.
45. Rltnle: in disposition; in heart.
46. Ligurum: of the Ligurians. Ligu
ria was a part of upper Italy and lay be
tween the rivers Varus and Macra. It was
formerly Lombardy, and now Genoa, Pied
mont, Parma, &c.
48. Sororibus auctam: increased by his
sisters, who had been changed into trees.
49. Vox viro: die voice of the man; the
dative being used for the geniiivc.
49. Est teifuata: is made shrill.
50. Dissimulant: represent.
51. Junctura: a web ; a film.
52. Sine actunme: a beak without a
point; a blunt hcnk.
34. Ignis: of the fire; ihe thunderbolt.
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