THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
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150 P. OVIDII N ASONIS<br />
Et laniata sinus, totum percensuit orbem,<br />
Exanimesque artus primo, mox ossa requirens,<br />
Repperit ossa tamen peregrina condita ripa.<br />
Incubuitque loco:' nomenque in marmore lectum<br />
Perfudit lacrymis, et aperto pectore fovit.<br />
Nee minus Heliades fletus, et mania morti<br />
Munera, dant lacrymas, et ccesas pectora palmis<br />
Non auditurum miseras Phaethoiita querelas<br />
Nocte dieque vocant, adsternunturque sepulcro.<br />
Luna quater junctis implerat comibus orbem;<br />
Ulce more suo (nam morem fecerat usus)<br />
Plangorem dederant, 6 queis Phaethusa sororum<br />
Maxima, cum vellet terrae procumbere, questa est<br />
Diriguisse pedes: ad quam conata venire<br />
Candida Lampetie; subita radice re'tcnta est.<br />
Tertia cum crinem manibus laniare pararet;<br />
Avellit frondes : hroc stipite crura teneri,<br />
Ilia dolet fieri longos sua brachia ramos.<br />
Dumque ea mirantur; complectitur inguina cortex<br />
Perque gradus uterum, pectusque, humcrosque.<br />
nusque,<br />
Ambit: et exstabant tantum ora vocantia matrem.<br />
Quid facial mater ? nisi, qub trahat impetus illam,<br />
Hue eat, atque illuc ? et, dum licet, oscula jungat ?<br />
Non satis est; truncis avellere corpora teiitat,<br />
Et teiieros manibus ramos abrumpere : at iiide 35<br />
Sanguiiiece manaiit, taiiquam de vulnere, guttce.<br />
11. PercensitU orbem: travelled over the<br />
world.<br />
12. Artus primo. She first sougbt his<br />
body, and when time sufficient had passed<br />
for it to undergo decay, she looked for his<br />
bones.<br />
13. Peregrina ripa: on a foreign shore ;<br />
the bank of the Endanus.<br />
14. Incubuit loco: fell upon the spot.<br />
15. Perfudit lacrymis: she bedewed<br />
with her tears.<br />
And from thy yearning heart<br />
Whose inmost core was warm with love for him,<br />
A gladness must depart.<br />
And those kind ey es with many tears be dim.<br />
W. G. CLAM.<br />
15. Aperto pectore: with naked breast.<br />
16. Heliades: the daughters of ihe sun,<br />
called also Phacthontiadea, from Phaethon<br />
their brother. The word is derived from<br />
i';Xio,-, the sun. Their names were Phae<br />
thusa, ardor; Lampetie, brightening; and<br />
Pasiphac, all-enligldening. They repre<br />
sent the virtues of the sun in hatural bodies.<br />
1C. Inania morli: unavailing to doath<br />
to the dead.<br />
18. Phaethonta vocant : they call upon<br />
PhaiHhon. The aposlrophe is very com<br />
mon in passionate grief. The allusion to<br />
NOTjE.<br />
15<br />
20<br />
25<br />
ma-<br />
30<br />
LIISER II<br />
11. Et laniata sinus,<br />
crcensuit totum or*<br />
Eem: requirensquo<br />
primo examines ar<br />
tus, mox ossa,<br />
1(3. Nee minus He<br />
liades, dant morti ejus,<br />
fletus et lacrymas,<br />
muncrainania: etcED-<br />
SED pectora palmis, vocaut<br />
nocte dieque<br />
Phae*thonta noil audi<br />
turum miseras quere<br />
las:<br />
26. Tertia cum pa<br />
raret laniare erinem<br />
manibus, aveHit froii-<br />
des. Hcee doltt crura<br />
teneri stipite, ilia dolet<br />
sun brachia fieri lon<br />
gos ramos.<br />
32. Quid maler fa<br />
cial? nisi eat hue at<br />
que illuc, quo impetus<br />
traliatiHain? et jungat<br />
oscula dum licet 7<br />
this repetition of the name of the departed<br />
by Mrs. Heinans, in one of her poems, is<br />
very beautiful:<br />
But tell us, thou bird of the solemn strain !<br />
Can those who have loved forget ?<br />
We call and they answer not again<br />
Do they love do they love us yet?<br />
<strong>THE</strong> MESSENGER Bmn.<br />
20. Luna quater. Four months had now<br />
passed.<br />
20. Procumbere: to prostrate herself on<br />
the earih.<br />
24. Diriguiase. The trapsformation had<br />
already commenced.<br />
25. Subitd radice: by a sudden root.<br />
Her feet began to grow to the earth.<br />
27. Avellit frondes : tore away leaves.<br />
Her hair was already changed into foliage.<br />
30. Perque gradus : by degrees; gra<br />
dually.<br />
31. Exstabant: stood out; remained un<br />
covered by the bark.<br />
32. Quo trcihat impetus: where impulse<br />
may lead her.<br />
35. Itule: thence; from the boughs.<br />
3G. SatiffuinetE guttte: drops of blood.<br />
Blood in like manner flows from the shrubs<br />
that grow above the body of Polydore, aa<br />
described by Virgil:<br />
FABULA III. METAMORPHOSE ON.<br />
Parce, precor, mater, quaecunque est saucia, clamat,<br />
Parce, precor; nostrum laniatur in arbore corpus :<br />
Tamquc vale ; cortex in verba novissima veiiit:<br />
hide fluuiit lacrymce; stillataque sole rigescuiit<br />
De ramis electra iiovis ; quas lucidus amnis<br />
Excipit, et iiuribus mittit gestaiida Latinis.<br />
Adfuit huic moiistro, proles Stheiielei'a, Cycnus,<br />
Qui tibi materno quamvis a sanguine juiictus,<br />
Mente tamen, Phaethon, propior fuit. Ille relicto<br />
(Nam Ligurum populos, et magiias rexerat urbes)<br />
Imperio, ripas virides amiiemque querelis<br />
Eridanum implerat, sylvamque sororibus auctam:<br />
Cum vox est teiiuata viro: canoeque capillos<br />
Dissiniulant plumce; collumque a pectore loiigum<br />
Porrigitur, digitosque ligat junctura rubeiites :<br />
Penna latus vestit, tenet os sine acumiiie rostrum:<br />
Fit nova Cycnus avis ; iiec se cecloq*ue Jovique<br />
Credit, ut injuste missi memor ignis ab illo;<br />
Nam qure prima solo rnptis radicibus arbos<br />
Vellitur, huic atro liquuntur sanguine guttEe,<br />
Et terram tabo maculaut. JENEID iii. 27.<br />
37. Farce: forbear. Polydore in like<br />
manner wounded by the uprooting of the<br />
shrubs above his grave, exclaims:<br />
Quid miserum, .AUnea, laceras? jam parce sepulto<br />
j<br />
Farce pins scelerare manus. JEymv iii. 41.<br />
39. In verba novissima. The bark closed<br />
over the mouth as it uttered the last words,<br />
viz. farewell!<br />
40. Indf. From the bark of the trees.<br />
40. Fluunl lacrymce: tears flow. The<br />
transformation of tears into amber is a<br />
beautiful imagination of the poet. Moore<br />
describes the tears of the seabird as form<br />
ing amber.<br />
Around thee shall glisten<br />
The loveliest umber,<br />
Thnt ever the sorrowing<br />
Seabird hath wept. LALLA ROOKH.<br />
40. Stillata: distilled; flowing in drops.<br />
Shakspeare in a beautiful manner assimi<br />
lates the falling of tears to the exudation<br />
of aromatic trees.<br />
Of one, whose suhdued eyes<br />
Alheii unused to the melting mood.<br />
Drop tears as fast as the Arnhian trees,<br />
Their medicinal gum. O<strong>THE</strong>LLO.<br />
40. Sole rigescunt: is hardened by the<br />
sun.<br />
41. Eltctra. Amber is a resin-like sub-<br />
Btancr, found on the seacoast, and dug up<br />
in diluvial soils. It often contains leaves<br />
and insects, nnd is probably an antedilu<br />
vian repin, of a species of pine. It is found<br />
in abundance on the Baltic. There is a<br />
picre weighing eighteen pounds in the<br />
NOTjE.<br />
4O<br />
151<br />
37. Quieeuuque est<br />
saucia elainat, mater,<br />
precor puree, pare*<br />
precor; nostrum cor<br />
pus lamatur in arbore.<br />
45 45. Ille relicto Impe<br />
rio (nam rexerat po<br />
pulos Liguruin, et<br />
magnns urbcs) imple-<br />
r.U ripas viritles, am-<br />
ncmtjue Eridanum,<br />
sylvumque auctam so<br />
roribus quereliB.<br />
50<br />
royal cabinet at Berlin. Pliny describes<br />
it as an exudation of a species of pine or<br />
cedar. He and Theophrastus affirm it is<br />
found in Liguria. Amber is used for jew<br />
elry, and the oil of it is sometimes em<br />
ployed as a medicine.<br />
41. Lucidus amnis: the bright river,<br />
viz. the Po.<br />
42. Nurilus Lalinis: by the Latin wo<br />
men.<br />
42. Gestaiida: to be borne; to be worn<br />
as jewelry by them.<br />
43. Huic monstro. The prodigy in which<br />
the sisters of Phaethon were changed into<br />
poplars, and their tears into amber.<br />
43. Proles' Sfheneleia: the son of Sthc-<br />
nelus, king of Liguria.<br />
43. Cycnus. As cycnus signifies a swan,<br />
the name mny have suggested this meta<br />
morphosis. Pausanias, however, says:<br />
The swan has the reputation of being a musical<br />
bird, because a certain king in I.iguna numed<br />
Cycnns,was a great musician.and after his death,<br />
was melamorphosed by Apollo into a swan.<br />
45. Rltnle: in disposition; in heart.<br />
46. Ligurum: of the Ligurians. Ligu<br />
ria was a part of upper Italy and lay be<br />
tween the rivers Varus and Macra. It was<br />
formerly Lombardy, and now Genoa, Pied<br />
mont, Parma, &c.<br />
48. Sororibus auctam: increased by his<br />
sisters, who had been changed into trees.<br />
49. Vox viro: die voice of the man; the<br />
dative being used for the geniiivc.<br />
49. Est teifuata: is made shrill.<br />
50. Dissimulant: represent.<br />
51. Junctura: a web ; a film.<br />
52. Sine actunme: a beak without a<br />
point; a blunt hcnk.<br />
34. Ignis: of the fire; ihe thunderbolt.<br />
f<br />
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