1. Albi:
the use of the praenomen is friendly and familiar.
sermonum: the
word includes the satires, and possibly some of the epistles. The
mention of these, excluding the odes, would seem to indicate that
such fair-minded judges were rare, and that Horace's musa pedestris
was very generally disapproved, while his odes met so such disapproval.
This agrees with what is implied in Sat. I. 4, I. 10, and
II. 1. candide,
etc.: an expression of thanks for Tibullus' approval.
2. quid
te dicam, etc.: a colloquial form of expression, common
in comedy. Pedana:
Pedum, a hill-city in the vicinity of Rome, was one of the many favorite
country resorts of the Romans. Every available spot of high land near
Rome seems to have been occupied by their villas. Tibullus must have
had a villa near Pedum.
3. scribere,
etc.: i.e. are you engaged in poetry or philosophy?
Cassi: a fellow-soldier
of Horace in the army of Brutus and Cassius (Longinus). He seems to
have tried many styles of composition, but here only elegies seem
to be referred to (opuscula), in which he was successful,
though only insignificant fragments of his work remain.
4. tacitum,
musing. Cf. Sat. I. 3. 65. reptare,
are strolling. Cf. repimus, Sat. I. 5.
25.
5. curantem,
absorbed in, i.e. meditating thoughtfully upon.
quicquid,
etc.: i.e. ethics, as the guide to a noble life.
6. eras:
i.e. the last time I saw you, and so are not likely to
be now; hence I expect something good of you.
pectore, a
soul, i.e. a fine intellect and good heart.
di tibi, etc.:
i.e. you have all these blessings that ought to make you
a happy man, and give you a contented spirit (the aim of philosophy)
if you take the right view of human life. The melancholy tone of
Tibullus' poetry makes it probable that he had a morbid disposition,
or, at least, a vein of melancholy, to which Horace alludes. Cf.
Od.
I. 33.
8. nutricula,
fond nurse, a diminutive of affection. Cf. matercula,
I. 7. 7.
9. fari,
etc.: i.e. sufficient eloquence.
10. gratia,
friends, substituting in translation the concrete for the
abstract.
11. mundus
victus, a life of elegance.
12. inter
spem, etc.: i.e. amid all human experiences,
the chance and change of life, which the wise man can meet with serenity
if he regards each day as his last.
15. vises:
equivalent to an imperative, come and find me, etc.
16. Epicuri,
etc.: referring apparently to one of Horace's periods of backsliding
(cf. I. 1. 18), though he has just exhorted his friend to moral
effort. porcum,
etc.: apparently a common reproach upon the Epicureans, on account
of their making the pleasure of the senses the summum bonum. Cf.
Cic. in Pis. 16. 37; Cic. ad
Fam. IX. 20.
1; de Off.
III. 33. 117.
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