_Sotadic Verses_ (Vol. vi., pp. 209. 352. 445.).--There is an English
example of this kind of line, attributed, I think, to Taylor the Water
Poet:
"Lewd did I live & evil I did dwel."
To make this perfect, however, "and" must not be written at full length,
and "dwell" must be content with half its usual amount of liquid.
It is difficult to make _sense_ of any of the Latin Sotadics quoted in "N.
& Q.," except that beginning "Signa te," &c. Even the clue given by the
mention of the legend in p. 209. does not enable one to find a meaning in
"Roma tibi," &c.
Can any of your readers tell me whence comes the following Sotadic Elegiac
poem, and construe it for me?
"Salta, tu levis es; summus se si velut Atlas,
(Omina ne sinimus,) suminis es animo.
Sin, oro, caret arcanâ cratera coronis
Unam arcas, animes semina sacra manu.
Angere regnato, mutatum, o tangere regna,
Sana tero, tauris si ruat oret anas:
Milo subi rivis, summus si viribus olim,
Muta sedes; animal lamina sede satum.
Tangeret, i videas, illisae divite regnat;
Aut atros ubinam manibus orta tua!
O tu casurus, rem non mersurus acuto
Telo, sis-ne, tenet? non tenet ensis, olet."