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2013RICHMOND RULES

TO FORM

THE OVIDIAN DISTICH.

WITH SOME HINTS
ON THE TRANSITION TO THE YIRGILIAN HEXAMETER.

EDITED

BY JAMES TATE, M.A.

MASTER OF THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, RICHMOND.

OYIDIO IN HOC	ftBlIL^E££* ARTIS PERITI.

'	Heumann.

LONDON:

GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET,
COVENT GARDEN.

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LONDON :

K. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOTJ, PRINTERS,
BREAD STREET HILL.INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.

The Paper on which the following Rules axe grounded, originally
drawn up for the use of the Grammar School of Eichmond by
the Rev. Canon Tate, when Master of that School, was first
privately printed in the year 1816, under the title of Hints to
form the Ovidian Distich: with the addition of Hints towards
Manner and Style, it was reprinted in 1821, and again in 1823,
but without any view to more extensive publication.

It was afterwards published as a general school-book, partly
on account of a request from the Master of a distinguished
school for a reprint of the Hints, and still more under a belief,
that in its present state this little work is calculated to occupy
a place in the routine of classical instruction hitherto partially
and imperfectly supplied.

However minute and curious some of the remarks may at
first sight appear, they have generally been suggested by actual
observation in the professional task : and it is believed, that any
master practically engaged in the correcting of exercises will
hnd the cautions here given fully justified by the occurrence of
correspondent faults.

Even men of learning and talent, at the revival of letters, and
after that time, if their compositions in elegiac verse be closely
examined, will be found in several particulars of style and
metre incorrect, when compared with the pure models of the
Augustan age. Such, for instance, was Micyllus, the friend of
Melancthon; and yet more so the celebrated Buchanan Ouriv

INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.

own Milton's elegies, however poetical, are in that respect not
quite faultless. But he was singularly excusable for rising at
times above any model: and when he writes in the Ovidian
Distich, one may occasionally apply to Milton, what Ovid has
said of Hercules in the dress of Omphale :

Ventre minor zona est: tunicarum vincla relaxat,

Ut possit vastas exseruisse manus.

Fregerat armillas non ilia ad brachia factas;

Stringebant magnos vincula parva pedes.—Ff. ii. 321—4.

Criticism like this is evidently not intended to disparage
the merits of those eminent scholars; much less is it meant as
any discouragement to the schoolboy of the present day. Our
purpose is to set him on his guard against considering any
such modern elegiacs in a light never contemplated by the
writers themselves, that is, as patterns to follow for classic
elegance.

At the revival of learning, and long afterwards, the inter-
course not only of literature and its pursuits, but of life and
its courtesies, was carried on by men of letters through the
medium of Latin prose, and to an extraordinary degree, of
Latin verse also. Of course, as might be expected from the
necessity of the case, a mingled style (not to call it hetero-
geneous) was generally adopted and allowed. The prose Latin
of Muretus forms a splendid exception to this remark.

In these days, under circumstances totally different, the
exercises on which young scholars are employed, having quite
another specific object in view, "the cultivation of classical
taste along with exactness of critical knowledge/' can only be
regulated by peculiar considerations adapted to that end. In
one word, imitative composition in the style (not on a servile
plan) of some given author as the pattern, seems the only
rational and promising mode of procedure.

With a view to the Ovidian Distich in particular, it is
recommended to the intelligent preceptor who adopts thisINTRODUCTORY PREFACE	V

book, first of all to "take his pupils through a course of selec-
tions from some such book as the Eton EUcta ex Ovidio,
making them thoroughly acquainted with the matter and
meaning of the Author, and then to give them the finest
passages (being now well understood) to be committed to
memory and accurately recited.

After some correctness as well as familiarity is thus secured,
the next step will be to read over with them the following
pages, translating and explaining as he goes on ; thus virtually
exhibiting along with the mechanism of the poet's verse, the
peculiarities also of his language and his mind.

The young scholar thus instructed, and with these Rules for
his guidance, will proceed to write exercises, either on some
easy locus com?nunis, or of translation from English verse,
according to the taste and judgment of his master, whom it
would be presumptuous here by any detail more particularly to
direct.

If too much importance should appear in* all this to be
assigned to one province of Latin "composition ; let it in the
first place be remembered, (to use the words of the judicious
Quintilian,) non obstant hce discipline per illas euntibus, sed circa
Mas hcerentibus. But it may be farther urged, and that too on
the authority of no slight experience, that a good beginning in
one department almost certainly preludes to success and facility
in others: and to commence therefore with an exercise of the
least difficult kind, must evidently be the most prudent and
most practicable line to pursue.

With equal pertinency, it may fairly be supposed, that any
well-considered scheme, if in the first application successful, on
proceeding to a second stage of similar labour, will by prompt
suggestion naturally transfer its advantages to that. Thus even
in attempting lyric verse after the manner of Horace, (the very
last essay of the young scholar's talent,) the teacher and the
learner will find many things, mutatis mutandis, applicable to
the purpose, in these directions for the Ovidian Distich. And

Bvi

INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.

may it not also be expected, that the habit of remark, once
studiously formed on one species of Latin poetry, will be readily
adapted to the critical perusal, as preparatory to the imitation,
of another?

The present Edition has been carefully revised, and some
suggestions kindly made by the Bev. W. Haig Brown, of the
Grammar School, Kensington, late Fellow of Pembroke College,
Cambridge, have been adopted.

March. 1861RULES

70 form

THE OVID IAN DISTIOH.

SCANSION AND STRUCTURE.

<(1.) Four verses out of five, or nearly so, eommenoe with a dactyl

Omnia tunc florent: tunc est nova temporis setas ;

£t n5v& de gravido palmite gemma tumet:

Bt m5dfl formatis amicitur vitibus arbos;

Prodlt St in sum mum seminis herba solum :

Et tgpldum volucres concentibus aera mulcent;

Ltidit 8t in pratis luxuriatque pecus.

Turn Handi soles : ignotaque prodit hirundo,

Et lfttSum ceM sub trabe nectit opus.

Turn p&tltur cultus ager, et renovatur aratro :

ffaec anni novitas jure vocanda fuit.—Ff i. 151—160.

That is, cseteris paribus, the dactyl initial is preferred: sense and
emphasis often require it otherwise :

Nondum | Justitiam facinus mortale fugarat.—Ff i. 249.

Haec sunt | officiis digna sepulcra meis ?—Ariadne, 124.

(2.) If the verse do not commence with a dactyl, a molossus ( - - - )
initial is preferred to a spondee:

Damnosas | vires ignibus aura dabat.—Ff. iv. 708.

Manabat | saxo vena perennis aquae.—Ff iii. 298.

Nunc ubi perfusa est oleo labente juventus,

Defessos | artus virgine tingit aqu&.—3 Trist. xii. 21, 2.

b 28	RULES TO FORM

(3.) When the sense of the first line overflows by a single word into

the second, that word is almost always dactylic or trochaic.

Lite vacent aures ; insanaque protinus absint

Jurgia : differ opus, livida lingua, tuum.—Ff. i. 73, 4.

Jam mihi canities, pulsis melioribus annis,

YenSrat; antiquas miscueratque comas.—4 Tt. x. 93, 4.

Tarquinius cum prole fugit: capit annua Consul
Jura : dies regnis ilia suprema fuit.—Ff. ii. 349, 50.

Et medius juvenum, non indignantibus ipsis,

Ibat; et interior, si comes unus erat.—Ff. v. 678.

The exception to this rule is very rare, and takes place perhaps only
with a verb :

Inde duse pariter, visu mirabile, palmce

Surgunt: ex illis altera major erat.—Ff. iii. 31, 2.

Quid me desert.is perituram, Liber, arenis

Servabas ? Potui dedoluisse semel.—Ff. iii. 479, 80.

BifFugiunt hostes, inhonestaque vulnera tergo

Accipiunt: Tusco sanguine terra rubet.—Ff. ii. 211, 12.

In the following distich the close union between the substantive
and its relative, renders the case peculiar :

Ah quoties certam me sum mentitus habere

Horam, propositi quae foret apta vise.—1 Tt. iii. 53, 4.

(4.) In structure the Hexameter seldom deviates from the following
models :

Februa Romani || dixere piamina | patres.—Ff ii. 19.

Fallimur? an veris || prsenuncia venit | hirundo?—lb. 851.

Mars Latio venerandus | erat || quia prsesidet || armis.—Ff iii. 85

i. e. there is a division of words (caesura.) after two feet and a half
(penthemimeral), or after three feet and a half (hephthemimeral)—and
the final word is dissyllabic or trisyllabic.

The quadrisyllable ending is exceedingly rare, even in peculiar cases
like the following: cupressifero | Erymantho, and Nonacrina |
Atalanta : never, in common words, like this from Lucretius :

Propter egestatem linguaa, et rerum | novitatem.—i. 133.THE OVIDIAN DISTICH.	9

Two monosyllabic words sometimes end the verse in the following
manner:

Termine, post illud levitas tibi libera | non est.—Ff, ii. 671.

Praccipue cupiam celari Thesea, | ne se
Consortem culpae gaudeat esse tuse.—Ff. iii. 491, 2.

(5.) The Pentameter generally is thus constructed:

Talia non tacito || dicta dolore dedit.—Ff, i. 356.

Pastor arundineo || carmine mulcet oves.—4 Tt. i. 12.

i. e. there is a caesural division constantly after two feet and a half,
and the final word is dissyllabic.

As in the long verse the quadrisyllable, so here the trisyllabic
ending is avoided.

But the short verse on some few occasions ends with a quadri-
syllable word, being a real or quasi proper name.

Quem legis, ut noris, accipe Posteritas.—4 Tt. x. 2.

Inter inhumanae nomina barbarias.—3 Tt, ix. 2.

Quidquid et in tota nascitur Anticyra.—4 Ex Ponto, iii. 54.

(6.) When the caesura in either verse takes place after a long mono-
syllable, the preceding word is of the form ( — ) or ( w ) :

TJnus erit | quem tu || tolles in caerula coeli.—Ff, ii. 485.

Hie ubi nunc | f5ra sunt,|| lintres errare videres.—Ff. ii. 389.

Non tamen est | cur sis || tu mihi causa necis.—Ariad. 144.

Quae tibi cur tria sint || consociata canam.—Ff. ii. 246.

Accordingly the Hexameter is never formed like the false verses
here given:

Currere tentat | pes, || sed vincula dura coercent.

Mars Latio venerabilis | est, || quia prsesidet armis.

*N"or the Pentameter thus :

Vile cadaver | sum, || tuque cadaver eris.—(Monkish Epitaph.)
Dulcia carmina | sant, || quae pia Musa canit.—Ff v.

(7.) Caesura with elision like this is avoided in the Hexameter ;
Occurrunt animosi in rupibusundique Galli.—Ff. v.10

RULES TO FORM

Nor in the Pentameter does Ovid admit anything like this of
Catullus :

Si vera est Persarwm impia religio.

(8.) The sense of one distich does not overflow into a second, except
under circumstances of a long or complex proposition, and with
some pause of sense distinctly defined, as :

Per tibi ego hunc juro fortem castumque cruorem,

Perque tuos Manes, qui mihi numen erunt,

Tarquinium poenas profuga cum stirpe daturum :

Jam satis est virtus dissimulata diu.—Ff ii. 839—42.

Ecce velut torrens undis pluvialibus auctus,

Aut nive, quae Zephyro victa tepente fluit,

Per sata, perque vias fertur; nec, Tit ante solebat,

Riparum clausas margine finit aquas :

Sic Fabii latis vallem discursibus implent;

Quosque vident, spernunt; nec metus alter inest.

Ff. ii. 219—24.

Other examples may be seen, Med. 105—8; El. 14, 173—6;
El. 17 ; Ff. ii. 205—8; El. 84, 231—4 ; El. 85.

In the Greek Elegiac verse (as in Greek verse generally) there is a
freedom beyond this, forbidden by the genius of the Latin :

UoWol ydp irXovrovcri kcikoI, dyaQoi ttevorrac

'AW' fjfjLeiQ avToic ov diajuiet\p6j*£da
Tfjg dperfjg tov icXovtov" eVci to per ejJLTrslov itrri,

Xpij/ULara 8* dr0pw7rto v oAAotc aAXos «x€t'—SOLON.

PROSODY.

(9.) A short vowel final, when before sc, sp, sq, st (or x and z) initial
in the next word, forming a short syllable, appears so very
rarely in Ovid, that for imitative composition such a concur-
rence is better avoided.

In words like Scamander, Sciurus, Smaragdus, authority and neees-
sity consecrate the usage. Probably, too, the first letter (s) wa~THE 0V1DIAN DISTICH.	11

occasionally dropt in utterance. Thus the present text of Homer
exhibits aKedcKrov, &c.} on the one hand, KsdaerOerrsc, &c., on the other.
Yide Carey's Latin Prosody, pp. 214, 15. "In MSS. Ka/*arfyoc," not
Znd/AaySpog.

(10.) The csesural lengthening of a short syllable in any place of ,the
verse is very uncommon ; and Ovid (with very rare exceptions)
(Carey, p. 239) confines himself even to the Mlowing/pre-
terites, abiit, adiit, periitj prceteriit, rediit, subiit.	jff -

Ut rednt animus, pariter rediere dolores.—Laod. 29. ,if ^

'f? .tVi* . ' '

Caede puer fact& Patroclus Opunta relinquit,	^ <

Thessalicamque adnt hospes Achillis humum.	-\\

1 ex Ponto, iii. 73, 4. -

(11.) When elision of final vowels, or of m final, by no ml%ns
common in Ovid, takes place at all, it is most frequently with
short vowels and in words of two or more syllables.

I nunc, tolte animos, et fortia gesta recense.—Deian. 73, 105.

Ilia est agricolae messis iniqua suo.—Med. 48.

Admovere oculis distantia sidera nostris,

iEtheraqwe ingenio supposuere suo.—Ff i. 305, 6.

Factum abiit: monumenta manent.

Magna fides aviwm est: experiamur aves.—Ff iv. 814.

In monosyllabic words, and with a long vowel, this takes place so
very seldom,—

Dignaque sum et cupio fieri matrona potentis.—jEnone, 85.

Non ego te imploro contra taurosque virosque.—Med. 195.

that in imitative composition it should be avoided.

(12.) Ovid rarely elides the long vowel l, and perhaps only in verbs,
e.g.:

Vidi etiam lacrymas; an pars est fraudis in illis ?—Med. 91.

Sumpst animum, gratesque Deo non territus egi.—Ff. i. 147.

Et fiesti, et nostros vidisti fientis ocellos.—JEnone, 43.

(13.) Some few instances of elision occur in fine pentametvi, such as
the following :

Grande morse pretium tuta futura via est.—Dido, 74.12	RULES TO FORM

Hostibus e mediis nupta petenda viro est.—Laod. 7 6.

Nec mora, " Me miseram ! filia>" dixit, " ubi es 1"—Ff iv. 456.

Hoc ipsum, ingratus quod potes esse, mew est.—Med. 206.

but against any ending like that of the following line, unquestionably
faulty, the line itself may serve as a caution :

Quis scit, an hsec ssevas tigridas insula habet ?—Ariadne, 86.

(14.) The genitive cases, consilii, imperii, and others like them, not
appearing in Virgil at all, and in the lyric verse of Horace
standing as trisyllables, are quadrisyllable words in Ovid, thus :

Officwque levem non aversatus honorem.—Ff. i. 5.

Pcenitet ingem& judimque mei.—2 Tt. 316.

[On this transition from the simple i to the double ii in the latter
days of Augustus, vide Bentley's note. Andria, A. ii. sc. i. v. 20.]

(15.) To this head, perhaps, of convenience in versifying, may be
referred;

(a)	The rare peculiarity of evolvisse, dissolvantur, &c. as forming

words of five syllables, principally in the latter half of the
pentameter

Tunc, qusB dispensant mortalia fila, sorores
Debiierant fusos evolmsse suos.—Med. 3, 4.

In cava ducuntur quassae navalia puppes,

Ne temere in mediis dissolitantur aquis.—4 Tt. viii. 17, 18

(b)	The frequent use in the same position of procubuisse, <fcc.

where procumbere, &c. would else naturally occur :

Tam tibi sum supplex, quam tu mihi ssepe fuisti ;

Nec moror ante tuos pro cubuisse pedes.—Med. 185, 6.

Sus dederat poenas : exemplo territus hujus

Palmite debueras abst'muisse, caper.—Ff. i. 353, 4.

Non puduit fortes auro cchihere lacertos,

Et solidis gemmas apposwme toris.—Deian. 59, 60.

It may not be amiss to suggest as convenient for use, implicuisse,
perdomuisse, displicuisse, dedecuisse, consuluisse, surripuisse, ko. with
other actual and regular forms.THE 0VIDIAN DISTICH.

13

(c)vThe very rare convenience (also in the second half of the
pentameter) of que with a choriambic verb (- o o -), thus :

At sernel in nostras quoniam nova puppis arenas

Yenerat, audaces attuleratque viros, &c.—Med. 13, 14

At Numa nec Janum nec avitas prseterit umbras,

Mensibus antiquis apposuitque duos.—Ff i. 43, 4.

Of a choriambic substantive so employed, the following is perhaps
a singular instance:

Ille suam metuens, ut quseque erat edita, prolem

Devorat, immersam visceribusque tenet.—Ff. iv. 199, 200.

(16.) The shortening of o final, so common with the writers of a later
age, is in Ovid very rare, and in a few words only admitted, such
as modo, citd, &c. Of the verbs, put& parenthetic, nescid quern
and nescid quid, are not uncommon instances :

Utque tibi excidimus, nullam (puto) Phyllida nosti.

Nam (jputo) sentirem, si quo tentarer amore.—Phyllis, 105.

Nescio quid certe mens mea majus agit.—Med. 210.

From the works of Ovid, Carey (p. 117) quotes the following:—
era, estti, petd, rependd, confer6.

RELATIVE POSITION OF WORDS.

(17.) In the pentameter the concluding words are chiefly substan-
tives and verbs, the verb-substantive very much, and pronouns,
except the cases of is, ea, id. The use of the possessive
pronoun is common as a mere convenience, where proses
scarcely allows it. It is often placed in juxtaposition with
ipse, ille, iste, and quisque.

Nouns. I procul, et longas carpere perge vias.—Rem. Am. 214.

Et venit ad sensus mollis ab ore dolor.—Deian. 120.

Verbs. Sceptra gener socero rapta Superbus Jiabet.—Ff. vi. 600,

Fac meus in ventos hie timor omnis eat.—Laod. 92.

Salve, lseta dies, meliorque revcrtere semper,

A populo rerum digna potente coli.—Ff i. 87, 8.14

RULES TO FORM

Yerb Sub. Nomen et aetatis mite Senatus erat (habet).—Ff. v. 64.
Nec facies impar nobilitate'/m£.—Ff. iv. 306.

In tua quod spargi cornua possit, erit.—Ff. i. 358.
Pronouns. At bene cautus eras, et memor ante mei.—Fenel. 44.
Faetaque narrabas dissimulanda tibi.—Deian. 84.
Stetque favor caus& pro meliore tuus.—Ff. v. 576.
Addidit hsec dictis ultima verba mis.—Ff. i. 366.

(18.) Of adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions (so called), in fine
pentametri, the instances, being rare and peculiar, are easily
remarked : these it is not safe to imitate, unless in cases justified
by identity or very close similitude.

Adjectives,

Emphatic. Substitit auspicii lingua timore mali.—Laod. 86.

Sentiet officium msesta favillapt^m.—3 Tt. iii. 84.
Est lacus antique religione sacer.—Ff. iii. 264.

Quodque potest alios perdere, perde prior.—Ff. iv. 924.
Cum cecidit fato consul uterque pari.—4 Tt. x. 6.
Ut caderet cultu cult or ab ipse suo.—Med. 18.
Nam spes est animi nostra timore minor.—1 Tt. i.

Antithetic.

Ennius ingenio maximiiSj arte rudis.—2 Tt. 424.

Fert bene prsecipites navis modo facta procellas,
Quamlibet exiguo solvitur imbre vetus.—4 Tt. vi. 35, 6

Instances like these with sum> facio, and other verbs, are readily
distinguished, where the adjective, being the predicate, is therefore
emphatic :

Forsitan et narres quam sit tibi rustica conjux,

Quse tan turn lanas non sinat esse rudes.—Fenel. 77, 8.

Hoc faciet positae te mihi, terra, levem.

Numeral. Sulmo mihi patria est, gelidis uberrimus undis,

Millia qui novies distat ab urbe decern.—4 Tt. x. 3, 4.

De numero tauros sentit abesse duos.—Ff. i. 548.

Idem. Principium capiunt Phoebus et annus idem.—Ff. i. 164.

Adverbs.

Hoc anni statuit temporis esse satis.—Ff. i. 34.THE OVIDIAN DISTICH,

15

Jam satis est virtus dissimulata diu.—Ff. ii. 842.

Cum periit miles signaque duxque simul.—Ff. v. 34.

Nomina percipies non tibi nota prim.—Ff. i. 632.

Quem nimio plus est indoluisse semel.—2 Tt. 210.

"Ille ego sum/' ouperes dicere posse palam.—4 Tt. v. 12.

Conjunctions.

Quseque diu petiit, eontigit arva tamen. —1 Tt. v. 82.
-Sit Tychio doctior ille licet.—Ff. iii. 824.

(19.) The 'participle in fine pentametri, as in the verse below, is so
exceedingly rare that it can hardly be considered as a legiti-
mate position :

Plurima mulcendis auribus apta fevens.—2 Tt. 358.

Whereas the following instance with a few others, belonging in use
to the class of emphatic or antithetic adjectives, forms no real exception
to the rule here given :

Nunc tibi sum pauper, nunc tibi visa nocens.—Med. 106.

(20.) In the Hexameter also, when it so fa* completes the syntax, the
concluding words are principally substantives and verbs :

Opprime, dum nova sunt, subiti mala semina morbi.—Hem. Am. 81.

Quid facerem 1 blando patriae retinebar amore.—1 Tt. iii. 49.

Ter tonuit sine nube Deus : tria fulgura misit.—Ff iii. 869.

Linguaque mandantis verba imperfecta relinquit.—Laod. 13.

As compared with the Pentameter, the Hexameter has greater
variety in its ending, from the admission of participles and gerunds,
which, though legitimate there, still are by no means of frequent
occurrence.

The following specimens muy be sufficient:

Me quoque Musa levat Ponti loca jussa petentem.—4 Tt. i. 19.

Nec tamen, ut primus, msere mala talia passus.—Ff. i. 487.

Placat equo Persis radiis Hyperiona cinctum.—Ff. i. 335.

Parce, precor, domui, quae se tibi tradit habendam.—Dido, 163.

Tempore crevit amor, qui nunc est summus, habendi.—Ff i. 195.

Sic ego sola petor, soli quia causa petendi est—Wiix, 45.16 *

RULES TO FORM

(21.) Final adjectives are here admitted as in the Pentameter, that
is, when emphatic or essential qualities lie in the attribute :

Nec nisi post annos patuit tunc Curia seros.—Ff v. 63.

Tristis abis : oculis abeuntem prosequor udis.—Mefi. 55.
Heu devotadomus ! solio sedet Agrios alto.—Deian. 153.

Nunc leporem pronum catulo sectare sagaci.—Rem. Am. 155.
Ssepe manus segras manibus fingebat amicis.—Ff v. 409.

Hanc petit hospitio regis confisa vetusto.—Ff. iii. 569.

Sometimes also the preposition with the adjective (i.e. apart from
its substantive) makes a trisyllabic ending, thus :

Cornua flens legit ripis Achelous in-ndis.—Deian. 141.

Claudia Quinta genus Clauso referebat ah-alto.—Ff iv. 305.

(22.) On the Position of the A djective generally (and of the passive
or neuter participle).

Generally, as in prose, the adjective precedes its substantive :

Hsec ubi castarum processit ab ngmine matrum,

Et manibus puram fluminis hausit aquam ; &c.—Ff iv. 313, 14.

Asper equus dicris contunditur ora lupatis.—1 Amor. 2. 15.

Often, where the substantive and adjective go by pairs, the fol-
lowing arrangement prevails :

Nunc gelidus siccd Boreas bacchatur ab Arcto.—1 Tt. ii. 29.
Fulmineo celeres dissipat ore canes.—Ff ii. 232.

Victaque mutati frangitur ira piaris.—1 Tt. ii. 108.

Sometimes, thus also :

Neu bibat cequoreas naufragus hostis aquas.—Dido, 62.

Cingere litored flaventiatempora myrto.

Concinnities like these, as might be expected, predominate more in
the short line than in the long.

(23.) Instead of preceding, the Adjective is very often found to follow
the Substantive, but under peculiar circumstances :

(a) Where the adjective has a very emphatic or decisive meaning in
the sentence (vid. sup. 21) :

Nunc leporem pronum catulo sectare sagaci.—Rem. Am. 201.THE OVTDIAN DISTICH.

17

Saepe manus cegras manibus fingebat amicis.—Ff v. 409.

Offieium commune Ceres et Terra tuentur.—Ff. i. 673.

Passibus ambiguis For tuna volubilis errat.—5 Tt. viii. 15.

Gentibus est aliis tellus data limite certo:

Romanse spatium est urbis et orbis idem.—Ff. ii. 681, 2.

(by Where some other word belongs to it in government :

Ventus erat nautis aptus, non aptusamanti.—Laod. 11.
Flaminaque in lacrymas officiosa meas.—Ariad. 114.

(c)	Where peculiar antithesis or association is expressed :

Dum casa Martigenam capiebat parva Quirinum.—Ff. i
Fertur in exequias animi matrona virilis.—Ff. ii. 487.

Tempore paret equus lentis animosus habenis.—4 Tt. vi
Uxor in aeternum vivo mihi viva negatur.—1 Tt. iii. 63. "

Pectora legitimus casta rnomordit amor.—Laod. 30.

(d)	Where one adjective is coupled to another :

Consilium vobis forte piumqu.e dabo.—Ff iii 212.

(e)	Where it is the longer word of the two, syllabic aptness also

being presupposed :

De fratrum numero pars exiguissima restas. *—IIypermn. 115.

Ignis inextinctus templo celatur in illo.-—Ff vi. 297.

[In prose also, though the adjective generally precedes the noun,
amongst several exceptions to that rule, this will be found a useful
remark; that, unless for some strong distinction or emphasis, the
possessive pronouns usually, and adjectives of national or other specific
designation most frequently, follow the noun : Libris nostris, Con-
sulates mei, populus Romanus, tumultus Gallici, Moloni Rhodio,
legem Papiam, tribunis serariis, &c.]

(24.) The following collocations also, where the substantive and
the adjective go conjunctively, are legitimate, and may bo
imitated with safety:

A.	Et teritur pressa vomer aduncus humo.—4 ex Fonto, x. 6.

B.	Inque sinu natos pignora chara ferunt.—Ff iii. 218.

C.	Prima vocas tardos ad juga panda boves.—1 Amor. 13. 16.

. 199.
. 3.IS	RULES TO FORM

D. Anywhere perhaps but in fine pentametri:

Quid mihi, Livor edax, ignavos objicis annos ?—1 Amor. 15. 1.
Quseque nec hoste fero liec nive, terra, cares.—3 ex Ponto, i. 2.

(25.) The substantive in the long line is seldom followed by its adjective
in the short, unless in a few cases, very peculiar, like these :

Protinus adspicies venienti nocte Coronam
Gnossida; Theseo crimine facta Dea est.—Ff. iii. 459, 60.

Dira viro facies : vires pro corpore >: corpus
Grande : pater monstri Mulciber hujus erat.—Ff i. 553, 4.

Nos quoque templa juvant, quamvis antiqua probemus,

Aurea: majestas convenit ista Deo.—Ff. i. 223, 4.

(26.) Here in conclusion it may be remarked, that concord usually
favours the disjunction of its words, syntax or government (so
called) otherwise.

Non puduit fortes auro cohibere lacertos,

Et solidis gemmas apposuisse toris.—Deian. 59, 60.

Nec te Mceonid, lascivce more puellce,

Incingi zond dedecuisse putas ?—Deian. 65, 6.

Particularly in verses like the following, the disjunction of the
adjective from the noiya is preferred :

Sic Fabii latis | vallem | discursibus implent.—Ff. ii. 223.

A spice jucundo | labentes | murmur e rivos.—Rem. Am. 177.

HINTS TOWARDS MANNER AND STYLE.

I. The ingenuity of Ovid is remarkably shown by expressing in
short and separate sentences, and with more animation, what
is linked together by conjunctions, &c. in prose.

Marte satos scires : timor abfuit.—Ff. ii. 417.

They were so void of all fear, that you might be sure Mars was
their father.

Da mihi te placidum : dederis in carmina vires.—Ff i. 17.

If you will but grant me your favour, you will grant vigour to my
strains.TfIB OTOIAK DISTICH.	19

Nud&rant gladiosr: "occidite," dixit, "inermem."—Ff. ii. 691.
When he saw they had drawn their swords, " Yes, kill me," he
exclaimed, "for I am at your mercy."

Venerit insitio : fac ramum ramus adoptet.—Rem. Am. 195.

When the season for ingrafting is come, be it your business to make
<ne branch adopt another.

Tantaque vincendi cura est: ingentibus ardent

Judicium donis solicitare meum.—Paris. 79. cf. Mett, v. 400,1.
And so strong was their rivalry, that they were eager to bribe my
judgment by magnificent presents.

IL Modes of repeating the same emphatic word, and returning to the
same phrase.

Tempore ruricolaB patiens fit taurus aratri,

Prsabet et incurvo colla premenda jugo :

Tempore paret equus lentis animosus habenis,

Et placido duros accipit ore lupos.

Tempore Poenorum compescitur ira leonum ; <fec.

4 Tt vi. 1—6.

Nec Yeneri tempus, quam ver> erat aptius ullum :

Vere nitent terrse : vere remissus ager.—Ff. iv. 125, 6.

Grande sonant Tragici: Tragkos decet ira cothurnos.

Rem. Am, 375.

Quis credat pueris non nocuisse feram ?

Non nocuisse parum est: prodest quoque.—Ff. ii. 412, 3.

Fallor 1 an et nobis redeunt in carmina vires,

Ingeniumque mihi munere veris adest ?

Munere vezis adest, &c.—Milton, Eleg. v. 5, 6, 7. -

III. Force and variety of expression may often be gained by a
judicious use of the apostrophe :

Ilia legit calthas : huic sunt violaria curse ;

Ilia papavereas subsecat ungue comas.

Has, hyacinthe, tenes : illas, amaranthe, moraris.

Pars thy ma, pars casiam, pars meliloton amant.

Fj\ iv. 437—40.

Brutus erat stulti sapiens imitator, ut esset

Tutus ab insidiis. dire Superbe, tuis.—Ff. ii. 715.20

RULES TO FORM

Unus de Fabia gente relictus erat.

Scilicet ut posses olim tu, Maxime, nasci,

Cui res cunctando restituenda foret.—Ff ii. 240—2. El. 85.

IV.	It will be profitable to remark how far Ovid indulges a freedom

in the collocation of words and clauses.

Quaeque tuum, miror, causa moretur iter.—Hero. 20.

Qusb fuerit nostri, si quceris, regia nati,

Aspice de cann& straminibusque domum.—Ff. iii. 183, 4.

JNam tulerint magnos cum seoula nostra poetas,

Non fuit ingenio fama maligna meo.—4 Tt. x. 125, 6.

Quae sit enim culti facundia, sensimus, oris,

Civica pro trepidis cum tulit arma reis :

Scimus et, ad. nostras cum se tulit impetus artes,

Ingenii currant fiumina quanta tui.—Ff i. 21—4.

Per tibi ego hunc juro fortem castumque cruorem.—Ff ii. 341.

Ut caderet cultu cultor ab ipse suo.—Med. 18.

V.	The Latin language has a great superiority in the variety and

application of its participles. The scholar will do well to
note this peculiarity, and to follow Ovid in his use of them.
An English expression, which has nothing in its construction
suggesting the participle, may often be gracefully and idiomati-
cally turned, and the thought briefly and happily expressed,
by the use of Latin.

Dos ubi sit, quseris] campo numeravimus illo,

Qui tibi laturo vellus arandus erat.—Med. 197.

i. e." quem tu, si vellus auferre curares, arare debebas.

Vivere debuerant, et vir meus et tua conjux,

Si nullum ausuri majus eramus opus.—Ff vi. 592.

i. e. if we had never intended to make some grander attempt.

Multa quidem scripsi; sed quae vitiosa putavi,

Emendaturis ignibus ipse dedi.—4 Tt. x. 62.

i. e. ut ernendarent.

Hac prece adoravi superos ego ; pluribus uxor,

Singultu medios prcepediente sonos.—1 Tt. iii. 42.

i. e. quum prsepediret singultus.THF- OVIDIAN DISTICH.

21

Terra tribus scopulis vastum procurrit in sequor,

Trinacris, a positu nomen adepta loci.—Ff iv. 420.

i. e. quae adepta est.

Nec mora : celato figit sua pectora ferro.—Ff. ii. 831.

i. e. quod celaverat.

Cultrum, quem sub veste abditum habebat, eum in corde
defigit.	Lwy, i. 58.

VI. In passages of narration, Ovid, when relating a series of events,
often blends the present tense with the past. This he does
partly in common with historians like Livy, who for the sake
of animation and energy prefer the present tense, but partly,
no donbt, for the sake of variety itself, as the Greek Tragic
writers did (vid. Porson ad Hecub. v. 21), and for commo-
diousness of versification also.

Quseque potest, narrat: restabant ultima : flevit :

i. e. potuit, narravit.

Efc matron ales erubuere genea—Ff. ii. 827.

Postque meos ortus Pissea vinctus oliva

Abstulerat decies prsemia victor eques ;

Cum maris Euxini positos ad lasva Tomitas
Quaerere me lsesi Principis imjubet.

i. e. jussit.

4 Tt. x. 95—8.

In passages of description, accordingly as the scene is permanent in
its character, or conceived to exist at the time of speaking, or on the
other hand that state of things is considered only as having existed
heretofore,—Ovid either uses the present tense in the following manner,

Est nemus et piceis et frondibus ilicis atrum :

Vix illuc radiis solis adire licet:

Sunt in eo (fuerantque diu) delubra Dianas;

Aurea barbarica stat Dea facta manu.—Med. 67—70.

or employs the preterimperfect tense (with which the preterpluperfect
naturally goes) in this way :

Campus erat: campi claudehant ultima colles,

Sylvaque m on tanas occulere apta feras.—Ff. ii. 213, 4.

Sometimes, as might be expected, both these modes of expression
occur in the same passage.22

RULES TO FORM

Valle sub umbrosa locus est, aspergine multa
Uvidus ex alto desilientis aquse.

Tot fuerant illic, quot habet natura, colores ;

Pictaque dissimili flore nitebat humus.

Ff. iv. 427—30.

V1T. Ovid's range of imagery for illustration by simile and metaphor
is by no means extensive. And the scholar may readily class
and collect his illustrations for himself under the following
heads: (1) from the sea and its concerns; (2) from the chariot
race; (3) from rural life, as the cornfield or the vineyard;
(4) from field sports, e.g. in hunting and fowling; &e.

VIII. The copiousness and the facility of Ovid are well exhibited in
the common school books, the Florilegium and Electa ex Ovidio,
in which many happy specimens are given, both of the illus-
tration of loci communes and of the narration of events.

Perhaps the best illustration of Ovid's skill in narrative will be

furnished by a comparison of the different styles in which the same

stories are told by Ovid and by other writers, in prose or in verse.

Cacus .... compare iEneid. viii. 185—267 . . . Ff. i. 539—586.

Arion.........Herodotus, Clio, xxiv. Aulus Gellius, xvi. c.

19 . . . Ff. ii. 83—118.

Cephalus and Procris,	Mett. vii. 661—756.

Rape of the Sabines .	Livy,i. §§ 9,13 . . . Ff. iii. 179—228.

The capture of Gabii.	Livy, i. §§ 53, 4 . . Ff. ii. 637—710.

Lucretia.......Livy, i. §§ 57—9 . . Ff. ii. 721—852.

The Fabii destroyed .	Livy, ii. § 50 ... Ff. ii. 195—242.

IX. Finally, let us not forgot to point out the peculiar merit of Ovid's
elegiac verse, in that fine variety of modification, apparently
but little appreciated, which distinguishes his pentameter.

On that line, as always winding up an exact portion of sense, Ovid
had to bestow his principal care ; and in doing this he has with such,
nicety of skill avoided monotony from csesural division, that, generally
speaking, two successive pentameters will seldom be found constructedTHE OVIDIAN DISTICH.

2d

on a similar plan, in the words and arrangement of wordsj of which
they are composed.

The kind of diversity here alluded to may be shown in its most
prominent form by the following extracts :

Ant virides malvas aut fungos colligit albos,

Aut humilem | grato calfacit igne | focum.

At tamen assiduis exercet brachia telis,

Adversumque minas frigoris | arma parat.—Ff. iv. 697.

Not, however, that such a combination of words as makes the
csesural half a division of sense also, is altogether avoided: mingled
with other arrangements, that even forms a pleasing change amongst
so many delicate varieties :

Si mare, si terras, porrectaque litora vidi,

Multa mihi teme, | multa minantur aquse.

Coelum restabat; timeo simulacra deorum :

Destituor ] rapidis prseda cibusque feris.—Ariadne, 93.

ON THE TRANSITION TO THE VIRGILIAN HEXAMETER.

Even in structure, the transition from the elegiac verse of Ovid to
the heroic of Virgil, is obviously great; and nothing could be farther
from success in such an attempt, than a series of long lines resem-
bling those in the Fasti, or even the consecutive hexameters of
the Metamorphoses.

When it is remembered that Ovid's elegiac verse, constructed on
that narrow scale, is more than numerically double of his heroic;
from that consideration alone, his composition entirely in the latter
verse might be expected to want boldness and freedom of flow. At
all events, such we find the plain fact to be. With the grand and
diversified character of Virgil's hexameter before him, he was content
in his great work generally to confine himself within the narrow
bounds of the penthemimeral and hephthemimeral caesura. The
following admired lines therefore may serve to show the usual struc-
ture of his verse, that of the first line occurring about one in every
ten with the other mode :—

Finierat Telamone | satus ||, vulgique secutum

Ultima murmur erat || : donee Laertius heros

Adstitit, atque oculos || paulum tellure moratos

Sustulit ad proceres ||, expectatoque resolvit

Ora sono : neque abest |! facundis gratia dictis.—Mett, xiii. 123.24

RULES TO FORM THE OVIDIAN DISTICH.

Not only in the metrical structure, but in the diversity of pauses,
in the sweep of sound, as well as in the magnificence of ideas, how
super-eminent is the opening of the third Georgic :

Te quoque, magna Pales, et te, memorande canemus
Pastor ab Amphryso ; vos, silvas amnesque Lycsei.

Csetera, quse vacuas tenuissent carmine mentes,

Omnia jam vulgata : quis aut Eurysthea durum,

Aut illaudati nescit Busiridis aras 1
Cui non dictus Hylas puer 1 et Latonia Delos 1
Hippodameque, humeroque Pelops insignis eburno,

Acer equis ? Tentanda via est, qua me quoque possim
Tollere humo, victort^ue virum yolitare per ora.

But to proceed : before the young scholar is permitted to write ten
lines of heroic verse, let him be thoroughly imbued with a large
command of the iEneid and the Georgics, perfectly understood in all
their elegance and grandeur of diction. Let him also commit to
memory well selected parts, if not 'whole books, of those poems, thus
by the ear acquiring from recitation a correct and familiar acquaintance
with the style and manner of Virgil. Perhaps, indeed, by no other
process can his various excellences be appreciated and enjoyed, much
less caught and adopted in exercises of imitative composition.

The student, of course, so qualified by reading and instruction,
should be always prepared to defend what he writes, by the authority
of his great master; and unless he purposely set himself to copy the
manner of Lucretius, for instance, or of Lucan, let him rather avoid
than indulge anything like frequent imitation of either poet, especially
in the pomp of the one or the laxity of the other. On the stock of
Virgil it is not every foreign branch that may indifferently be
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