Tecum habita, et nôris quam sit tibi curta supellex. 51. "Let the cobler," &c.] Cerdoput here for the lower people in general. See Juv. sat. iv. l. 153.-q. d. "Give them back the presents which they "make you of adulation and applause; "let them carry them away, and keep "them to themselves, or bestow them " elsewhere; have nothing to do with "them." 52. "Dwell with yourself.' ] i. e. Retire into thyself; let thine own breast be the abode of thy constant thoughts. "Dwell with yourself, and you will know how short your “household stuff is.” 52. Your household stuff, &c.] You will then find out how poorly furnished you are within, how short your abilities, and how little fitted for the arduous task of government, or indeed for the pur poses of civil society. Metaph. from the furniture of an house-here applied to those qualities of he mind which are necessary to furnish and adorn it, for the purposes of civil and social life. VOL. II, 20 SATIRA V. ARGUMENT. This Satire is justly esteemed the best of the six.-It consists of three parts: in the first of which the Poet highly praises Annæus Cornutus, who had been his preceptor, and recommends other young men to his care.-In the second part, he blames the idleness and sloth of young men, and exhorts them to follow after the liberty and enfranchisement of the mind.-Thirdly, PERSIUS. VATIBUS hic mos est, centum sibi poscere voces, Centum ora, et linguas optare in carmina centum: Vulnera seu Parthi ducentis ab inguine ferrum. CORNUTUS, Quorsum hæc ? aut quantas robusti carminis offas Ingeris, ut par sit centeno gutture niti ? Grande locuturi, nebulas Helicone legunto: Si quibus aut Prognes, aut si quibus olla Thyestæ 5 -Aditus centum, ostia centum, Unde ruunt totidem voces responsa Sibyllæ. 2. For verses.] i. e. That, when they compose their verses, their style and language might be amplified and extended, adequately to the greatness and variety of their subjects. 3. Whether a fable.] The subject or story on which they write is called the fable. --Bawled out, &c.] i. e. Whether they write tragedy, to be acted on the stage. Comp. Juv. sat. vi. 1. 635. Grande Sophocleo carmen bacchamur hiatu. 4. Or the wounds of a Parthian, &c.] SATIRE V. ARGUMENT. he shews wherein true liberty consists, and asserts that doctrine of the Stoics, that "a wise man only is free;" and that a slavery to vice is the most miserable of all. The Satire begins in the form of a dialogue between Persius and Cornutus. PERSIUS. THIS is a custom with poets, to ask for themselves an hundred voices, And to wish for an hundred mouths, and an hundred tongues for their verses: Whether a fable be proposed to be bawled out by the sad tragedian : Or the wounds of a Parthian drawing the sword from his groin. CORNUTUS. Wherefore these things? or how great pieces of robust verse 5 Dost thou thrust in, that it should be meet to strive with an hundred throats? Let those who are about to speak something great, gather clouds in Helicon, If to any, either the pot of Progne, or if to any that of Thyestes swallow them. q. d. What great and huge heroics art thou setting about, which thou canst think equal to such a wish, in order to enable thee to do them justice? 7. Gather clouds in Helicon.] Let them go to mount Helicon, (see ante, the Prologue, 1. 1, note,) and there gather up the mists which hang over the sacred top, and which teem, no doubt, with poetical rapture. 8. The pot of Progne, &c.] i. e. If any shall have his imagination warmed with Fervebit, sæpe insulso cœnanda Glyconi. Hinc trahe quæ dicas: mensasque relinque Mycenis PERS. Non equidem hoc studeo, bullatis ut mihi nugis Pagina turgescat, dare pondus idonea fumo. the feasts of Progne and Thyestes, so as to write upon them. Progne, was the wife of Tereus, king of Thrace: Tereus fell in love with Phifomela, sister to Progne, ravished her, and cut out her tongue. In revenge Progne killed Itys, her own son by Tereus, and served him up at a feast to be eaten by his father. 8. Thyestes] Atreus, king of Mycena, banished his brother Thyestes, for de filing his wife rope: afterwards, recalling him, invited him to a banquet, ordered the children he had by her to be dressed and set before him on a table. 9. Often to be supped on by foolish Glycon.] He was some wretched tragedian of those times, who acted the parts of Tereus and Thyestes, and, accordingly, represented both of them as eating their children. 10. Thou neither, while the mass, &c.] Metaph. from smiths heating iron in furnaces, where the fire is kept up to a great heat by the blowing with bellows, in order to render the iron ductile, and easily formed into what shape they please. d. You, says Cornutus, are not forging in your brain hard and difficult subjects, and blowing up your imagination to form them into sublime poems. See HoR. lib. i. sat. iv. 1. 19–21. 10 15 20 then forcing the air out suddenly by striking them together with the hands. q. d. Nor do you, when you repeat your verses, appear as if you were making a noise like that of cheeks puffed up almost to bursting, and then suddenly stricken together, like the swelling and bombast method of elocution used by the fustian poets of our day. Cornutus praises Persius in a threefold view, 1st. As not heating his ima. gination with high and difficult subjects. 2dly. As not affecting to be meditating and murmuring within himself, as if he would be thought to be producing semę great performance. 3dly. As in the repetition of his verses avoiding all bom bastic utterance. 14. Words of the gown.] Toga is often used to signify peace-Cedant arma togæ. Cic. for in time of peace, the Romans wore only the toga, or gown: in time of war, the toga was thrown aside for the sagum, or soldier's cloak. Cornutus here means to say, that Persius did not write of wars and bloodshed, but confined himself to subjects of common life, such as passed daily among the people, and made use of plain words suited to his matter. ·Cunning in sharp composition.] Acute and ingenious in a neat composition of verse. Metaph. from those who work in marble, who so exactly join their pieces together, and polish them so neatly, that the joints can't be perceived. See 11. Nor hoarse, &c.] Nor do you fool- 13. Tumid cheeks, &c.] Scioppus is a 15. Smooth with moderate language.] Teres signifies smooth, even; also accurate, exact. Modico ore-with a moderate, modest language, or style of |