37. #moverit#: Perf. Subj. Attraction of mood. G., 666; A., 66, 2.
--#ferventi tincta veneno#: The _gelidum venenum_ chills, this poison
fires the blood. Comp. Alciphr., 1, 37, 3: +thermoteron pharmakon+, of a
love potion. _Occultum inspires #ignem# fallasque #veneno#_, Verg.,
Aen., 1, 688. _Tincta_ is a reminiscence of the shirt of Nessus and the
bridal-gift of Medea to Glaucé.
38. #intabescant#: belongs to the same sphere of comparison.
_Intabescere_, +katatêkesthai+, is hopeless pining for a lost love.
Comp. Theocr., 1, 66; 11, 14. For the figure, see Ov., Met., 3, 487: _ut
#intabescere# flavae_ | _igne levi cerae-- solent, sic attenuatus amore_
| _liquitur_. --#relicta#: sc. _virtute_. Conington comp. Verg., Aen.,
4, 692: _quaesivit caelo lucem ingemuitque #reperta#_. _Relicta_ = _quod
religuerint_.
39. #anne# = _an_. --#Siculi iuvenci#: Every one has heard of the brazen
bull made by Perillus for Phalaris of Agrigentum, Cic., Off., 2, 7, 26,
and the sword of Damocles, in the next verse, is a proverb in English.
Comp. Hor., Od., 3, 1, 17; Cic., Tusc. Dis., 5, 21, 61. --#aera#: poet.
Plur. Vivid personification and identification.
40. #auratis laquearibus# = _de a. l. Laquearibus_, 'sunken panels
(_lacus_) between the cross-beams of the ceiling.' See Verg., Aen., 1,
726. --#ensis#: a poetic word, 'glaive,' 'brand.'
41. #purpureas cervices#: Damocles was arrayed in royal purple; hence
_purpureas_ (Casaubon). Others apply the expression to tyrants
generally. Comp. Hor., Od., 1, 35, 12: _purpurei tyranni_.
42. #imus#: Better to have a sword hanging by a hair over your neck than
yourself to be hanging above an abyss of misery. The commentators refer
to Tiberius's letter to the senate (Tac., Ann., 6, 6; Suet., Tib., 67),
by way of illustrating the shuddering perplexity of the sinful tyrant.
--#dicat#: The subject is loosely involved. --#intus | palleat#: This
'not very intelligible expression' (Conington) is paralleled by Shaksp.,
Macb., 2, 2: 'My hands are of your color, but I shame | to wear a heart
so _white_.'
43. #quod#: dependent on the notion of fear contained in _pallere_. G.,
329, R. 1; A., 52, 1, _a_. --#proxima uxor#: 'the wife at his side,'
'the wife of his bosom.' --#nesciat#: 'is not to know.'
44-51. You have not the excuse of an unenlightened conscience, nor have
you the plea of the ignorance of boyhood. Boys will be boys. I was a boy
myself, played boyish tricks, loved boyish sports. My training was bad,
my behavior only to be justified by my training.
44. #parvus#: 'as a small boy:' _Memini quae plagosum #mihi parvo#_ |
_Orbilium dictare_, Hor., Ep., 2, 1, 70. --_olivo:_ The boy would tip
(_tangere_) his eyes with oil, in order to make believe, by the use of
the remedy, that he was suffering from the disease. For the anointing of
sore eyes, see Hor., Sat., 1, 8, 25; Ep., 1, 1, 29.
45. #grandia#: 'sublime.' _Grandia verba_ is the American 'tall talk.'
--#nollem#: Iterative conditional. G., 569, R. 2; A., 59, 5, _b_.
--#morituri Catonis#: Such compositions were very much in vogue as
rhetorical exercises. Comp. Juv., 1, 16 (oration to Sulla, advising a
withdrawal from public life); 7, 161 (speech made for Hannibal). Seneca
(Ep., 24, 6) does not seem to regard the theme of Cato's death as
threadbare.
46. #discere#: better than _dicere_. The boy shirks the learning rather
than the speaking, and the sore eyes would be a better excuse for the
one than for the other. --#non sano#: Comp. Petron., cap. 1; Tac., Or.,
35, on this system of training. Hermann reads _et insano_. --#laudanda#
= _quae laudaret_, the free adjective use of the Gerundive, which is
more common in later times.
47. #quae pater audiret#: Juv., 7, 166: _ut totiens illum #pater
audiat#_. --#sudans#: from excitement; hardly 'in a glow of perspiring
ecstasy' (Conington). _Sudans_ is thrown in maliciously as a comment.
48. #iure#: +eikotôs+, 'and well I might.' --#etenim#: is +kai gar+.
Theoretically the predicate of the preceding sentence is to be repeated
with the _et_. Practically it is often best to leave _et_ untranslated.
G., 500, R. 2 and 3; A., 43, 3, _d_. --#senio#, etc.: 'The game was
played with four _tali_, which, unlike the _tesserae_, were rounded on
two sides, while the other four faces were marked with one, three, four,
or six pips, and called respectively _unio_, _ternio_, _quaternio_,
_senio_. The _canis_ was the worst throw, when all four _tali_ showed
single pips (Ov., A. A., 2, 206; Trist., 2, 474; Mart., 13, 1, 6; Prop.,
4, 8, 46), and the _Venus_ the best, when all the faces turned up were
different (Lucian, Amor., p. 415); or else, for it varied upon occasion,
when all showed sices. The ace was a losing throw and the sice a winning
one, when the pips were counted' (Pretor, after Jahn). Persius wanted to
know the value of each throw, what one brought in (_ferret_) another
swept off (_raderet_).