"At tu, pulchra Salix, Thamesini _littoris_ hospes."
Certain critics object to this word "littoris," used here in the sense
of "ripa." The question is, whether such an application can be borne out
by ancient authorities. To be sure, the substitution of "marginis" for
"littoris" would obviate all controversy; but as the objection has been
started, and urged with some pertinacity, it may be worth while to
consider it. The ordinary meaning of _littus_ is undoubtedly the
sea-shore; but it seems quite certain that it is used occasionally in
the sense of "ripa."
In the 2d Ode of Horace, book 1st, we find:
"Vidimus flavum Tiberim, retortis
_Littore_ Etrusco violenter undis,
Ire dejectum monumenta regis,
Templaque Vestæ;
Iliæ dum se nimium querenti
Jactat ultorem; vagus et sinistrâ
Labitur _ripâ_."
--meaning, as I conceive, that the waters of the Tiber were thrown back
from the Etruscan _shore_, or _right bank_, which was the steep side, so
as to flood the left bank, and do all the mischief. If this
interpretation be correct, which Gesner supports by the following note,
the question is settled by this single passage:
"Quod fere malim propter ea quæ sequuntur, _littus ipsius Tiberis_
dextrum, quod spectat Etruriam: unde _retortis undis sinistrâ
ripâ_ Romam alluente, _labitur_."
Thus, at all events, I have the authority of Gesner's scholarship for
"_littus ipsius Tiberis_."
There are two other passages in Horace's _Odes_ where "littus" seems to
bear a different sense from the sea-shore. The first, book iii. ode 4.:
"Insanientem _navita_ Bosporum
Tentabo, et arentes arenas
Littoris Assyrii _viator_."
The next, book iii. ode 17.:
"Qui Formiarum moenia dicitur
Princeps, et innantem Maricæ
Littoribus tenuisse Lirim."
Upon which latter Gesner says, that as Marica was a nymph from whom the
river received its name,--
"Hinc _patet_ Lirim atque Maricam fuisse _duo unius fluminis
nomina_."
But I will not insist upon these examples even with the support of
Gesner, because Marica _may_ have been a district situate on the
sea-shore, and because, in the former passage, "littus Assyrium" _may_
mean the _Syrian_ coast, which is washed by the Mediterranean.
But to go to another author, in book x. of Lucan's _Pharsalia_ will be
found (line 244.):
"Vel quod aquas toties rumpentis _littora_ Nili
Assiduè[3] feriunt, coguntque resistere flatus."
This seems to be a clear case of the Nile breaking its banks, and is
conclusive. Again, in book viii. l. 641.:
"Et prior in _Nili_ pervenit _littora_ Cæsar."
[Footnote 3: Sc. Zephyri.]
And again, "littore Niliaco," book ix. l. 135.
Lastly, in Scheller's _Dictionary_, the same meaning is given from the
8th book of Virgil's _Æneid_:
"_Viridique in littore_ conspicitur sus;"
where, beyond a doubt, is meant "littore" _fluviali_.
It appears, then, from these examples that Lord Wellesley is justified
in his application of the word "littus" to the adjective "Thamesinus."