29. #non enarrabile#: i.e., save by the hundred voices. There is no
contradiction, and even if there were-- this is supposed to be poetry.
--#fibra#: 1, 47.
30-51. When first I put away the things of boyhood and encountered the
temptations of youth, and stood bewildered at the cross-roads of life,
I threw myself into your sheltering arms, and put myself under your
guiding hand. Happy the memory of those days and nights, as they brought
common work and common rest. Surely a common star controls our destinies
and makes us one.
30. #pavido#: variously interpreted of the fear-- 1. Which an entrance
on life breeds; 2. Which requires the protection of the _praetexta_; 3.
Which the rule of tutors and governors inspires. The third view is
favored by _blandi comites_, as Conington remarks. Comp. Mart., 11, 39,
2: _et pueri #custos# assiduusque #comes#_ with v. 6: _te dispensator,
te domus ipsa #pavet#_. --#custos purpura#: 'the guardian purple.'
_Purpura_ = _praetexta_, the dress of boyhood, which was of itself a
protection. This was exchanged for the _toga_ when the nonage was over.
_Per hoc inane #purpurae# decus precor_, Hor., Epod., 5, 7. --#mihi#: If
_cessit_ is taken absolutely, _mihi_ may depend on the predicative
notion in _custos_ = _quae mihi custos fuerat_. Casaubon explains, _mihi
cessit, ut iam annis maiori vel etiam ut hosti_. It seems best to
combine the two: 'When the purple resigned its dreaded guardianship over
me.'
31. #bulla#: the well-known 'boss,' which contained amulets and the
like. Comp. 2, 70. --#succinctis#: 'Like _cinctutis_ (Hor., A. P., 50),
_incinctos_ (Ov., Fast., 2, 632), in allusion to the _cinctus Gabinus_,
in which primitive dress they (the Lares) were always represented. It
was worn over the left shoulder, leaving the right arm free' (Pretor).
Conington renders _succinctis_, 'quaint.'
32. #blandi#: (_fuerunt_). --#comites#: Jahn considers these _comites_
the same as those mentioned in 3, 7. See note. The epigram of Mart.,
cited above, v. 30, makes for this view: the harsh tutors have become
_blandi comites_. But most commentators prefer to take _comites_ in its
general sense. --#tota Subura#: On the construction, see G., 386; A.,
55, 3, _f._ The Subura, as the focus of business life, was the haunt of
persons who are sufficiently characterized as _Suburanae magistrae_,
Mart., 11, 78, 11.
33. #permisit sparsisse#: On the Inf., see G., 532, R. 1; A., 70, 3,
_a._ On the tense, note on 1, 41. With the phraseology, Jahn comp. Val.
Flacc., 5, 247: _tua nunc terris, tua #lumina# toto | #sparge# mari_.
_Spargere_ is a happy word for a rapid, roving glance. --#iam#: +êdê+.
The English idiom often refuses to give the exact force of _iam_. The
youngster has got a 'sure enough' _candidus umbo_. The contrast in time
is the former _praetexta_. --#candidus umbo#: '_Umbo_ was the knot into
which the folds of the toga were gathered after passing the left
shoulder' (Pretor). Of course the _umbo_ was _candidus_, as the _toga_
was.
34. #iter ambiguuum#: See 3, 56. --#vitae nescius error#: is
bewilderment from ignorance of life.
35. #deducit#: So Jahn (1843), a reading which he has strangely forsaken
(1868) for _diducit_. Schlüter puts it neatly thus: _homines in compita
ubi viae #di#ducuntur_, _#de#duci dicuntur_. _Compita_ does not mean the
roads, but the place where the roads meet-- the crossing (Schol.). _De_
adds the notion of decision to _ducit_. Comp. _in discrimen #de#ducere_,
Cic., Fam., 10, 24, 4. The youth is brought to a point where he must
choose. --#trepidas#: See 1, 74.
36. #supposui#: Almost 'I made you adopt me.' _Supponere_ is used of
supposititious children. As Persius's own father died while the poet was
young, there is a tone of orphanage about the expression that appeals to
our sympathy. 'I threw myself as a son into your arms.' --#suscipis#: is
the correlative of _supposui_.
37. #Socratico sinu#: The loving care of Socrates is meant, as well as
his wisdom, as Jahn has observed. --#fallere sollers#: On the
construction, see G., 424, R. 4; A., 57, 8, _f_, 3; Prol., 11. 'Skilful
to deceive,' in the sense of the gradual Socratic approach. The rule is
not rudely applied, but cheats the warped nature into rectitude. Jahn's
note amounts to this, that a ruler that understands deception,
understands detection, and hence is a true ruler.