From Juvenal: The Third Satyr. Translations. John Dryden. 1913. The Poems of John Dryden

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John Dryden (1631–1700). The Poems of John Dryden. 1913.

Translations

From Juvenal: The Third Satyr

ARGUMENT of the Third Satyr

The Story of this Satyr speaks it self. Umbritius, the suppos’d Friend of Juvenal, and himself a Poet, is leaving Rome; and retiring to Cumæ. Our Author accompanies him out of Town. Before they take leave of each other, Umbritius tells his Friend the Reasons which oblige him to lead a private life, in an obscure place. He complains that an honest man cannot get his bread at Rome. That none but Flatterers make their Fortunes there: that Grecians and other Foreigners raise themselves by those sordid Arts which he describes, and against which he bitterly inveighs. He reckons up the several Inconveniences which arise from a City life; and the many Dangers which attend it. Upbraids the Noblemen with Covetousness, for not Rewarding good Poets; and arraigns the Government for starving them. The great Art of this Satyr is particularly shown, in Common Places; and drawing in as many Vices, as cou’d naturally fall into the compass of it.

The Third Satyr GRIEV’D tho I am, an Ancient Friend to lose,
I like the Solitary Seat he chose:
In quiet Cumæ 1 fixing his Repose:
Where, far from Noisy Rome secure he Lives,
And one more Citizen to Sybil gives;	5
The road to Bajæ, 2and that soft Recess
Which all the Gods with all their Bounty bless.
Tho I in Prochyta 3 with greater ease
Cou’d live, than in a Street of Palaces.
What Scene so Desart, or so full of Fright,	10
As tow’ring Houses tumbling in the Night,
And Rome on Fire beheld by its own Blazing Light?
But worse than all, the clatt’ring Tiles; and worse
Than thousand Padders, is the Poet’s Curse.
Rogues that in Dog-days 4 cannot Rhime forbear:	15
But without Mercy read, and make you hear.
Now while my Friend, just ready to depart,
Was packing all his Goods in one poor Cart;
He stopp’d a little at the Conduit-Gate,
Where Numa 5 modell’d once the Roman State,	20
In Mighty Councels with his Nymph 6 retir’d:
Though now the Sacred Shades and Founts are hir’d
By Banish’d Jews, who their whole Wealth can lay
In a small Basket, on a Wisp of Hay;
Yet such our Avarice is, that every Tree	25
Pays for his Head; not Sleep it self is free:
Nor Place, nor Persons now are Sacred held,
From their own Grove the Muses are expell’d.
Into this lonely Vale our Steps we bend,
I and my sullen discontented Friend:	30
The Marble Caves, and Aquæducts we view;
But how Adult’rate now, and different from the true!
How much more Beauteous had the Fountain been
Embellish’t with her first Created Green,
Where Crystal Streams through living Turf had run,	35
Contented with an Urn of Native Stone!
Then thus Umbricius (with an Angry Frown,
And looking back on this degen’rate Town,)
Since Noble Arts in Rome have no support,
And ragged Virtue not a Friend at Court,	40
No Profit rises from th’ ungrateful Stage,
My Poverty encreasing with my Age,
’Tis time to give my just Disdain a vent,
And, Cursing, leave so base a Government.
Where Dedalus 7 his borrow’d Wings laid by,	45
To that obscure Retreat I chuse to fly:
While yet few furrows on my Face are seen,
While I walk upright, and Old Age is green,
And Lachesis 8 has somewhat left to spin.
Now, now ’tis time to quit this cursed place,	50
And hide from Villains my too honest Face:
Here let Arturius 9 live, and such as he;
Such Manners will with such a Town agree.
Knaves who in full Assemblies have the knack
Of turning Truth to Lies, and White to Black;	55
Can hire large Houses, and oppress the Poor
By farm’d Excise; can cleanse the Common-shoare;
And rent the Fishery; can bear the dead;
And teach their Eyes dissembled Tears to shed,
All this for Gain; for Gain they sell their very Head.	60
These Fellows (see what Fortune’s pow’r can do)
Were once the Minstrels of a Country Show:
Follow’d the Prizes through each paltry Town,
By Trumpet-Cheeks and Bloated Faces known.
But now, grown rich, on drunken Holy-days,	65
At their own Costs exhibit Publick Plays;
Where influenc’d by the Rabble’s bloody will,
With Thumbs bent back, 10 they popularly kill.
From thence return’d, their sordid Avarice rakes
In Excrements again, and hires the Jakes.	70
Why hire they not the Town, not ev’ry thing,
Since such as they have Fortune in a String?
Who, for her pleasure, can her Fools advance;
And toss ’em topmost on the Wheel of Chance.
What’s Rome to me, what bus’ness have I there,	75
I who can neither Lye, nor falsely Swear?
Nor Praise my Patron’s undeserving Rhimes,
Nor yet comply with him, nor with his Times;
Unskill’d in Schemes by Planets to foreshow,
Like Canting Rascals, how the Wars will go:	80
I neither will, nor can Prognosticate
To the young gaping Heir, his Father’s Fate:
Nor in the Entrails of a Toad have pry’d,
Nor carry’d Bawdy Presents to a Bride:
For want of these Town Virtues, thus, alone,	85
I go conducted on my way by none:
Like a dead Member from the Body rent;
Maim’d, and unuseful to the Government.
Who now is lov’d, but he who loves the Times,
Conscious of close Intrigues, and dipt in Crimes;	90
Lab’ring with Secrets which his Bosom burn,
Yet never must to publick light return?
They get Reward alone who can Betray:
For keeping honest Counsels none will pay.
He who can Verres, 11 when he will, accuse,	95
The Purse of Verres may at Pleasure use:
But let not all the Gold which Tagus 12 hides,
And pays the Sea in Tributary Tides,
Be Bribe sufficient to corrupt thy Breast;
Or violate with Dreams thy peaceful rest.	100
Great Men with jealous Eyes the Friend behold,
Whose secrecy they purchase with their Gold.
I haste to tell thee, nor shall Shame oppose,
What Confidents our Wealthy Romans chose:
And whom I most abhor: To speak my Mind,	105
I hate, in Rome, a Grecian Town to find:
To see the Scum of Greece transplanted here,
Receiv’d like Gods, is what I cannot bear.
Nor Greeks alone, but Syrians here abound,
Obscene Orontes, 13 diving under Ground,	110
Conveys his Wealth to Tyber’s 14 hungry Shoars,
And fattens Italy with Foreign Whores:
Hether their crooked Harps and Customs come;
All find Receipt in Hospitable Rome.
The Barbarous Harlots crowd the Publick Place:	115
Go Fools, and purchase an unclean Embrace;
The painted Mitre court, and the more painted Face.
Old Romulus, 15 and Father Mars look down,
Your Herdsman Primitive, your homely Clown
Is turn’d a Beau in a loose tawdry Gown.	120
His once unkem’d, and horrid Locks, behold
Stilling sweet Oyl; his Neck inchain’d with Gold:
Aping the Foreigners, in ev’ry Dress;
Which, bought at greater cost, becomes him less.
Mean time they wisely leave their Native Land,	125
From Sicyon, Samos, and from Alaband,
And Amydon, to Rome they Swarm in Shoals:
So Sweet and Easie is the Gain from Fools.
Poor Refugies at first, they purchase here:
And, soon as Denizen’d, they domineer:	130
Grow to the Great, a flatt’ring Servile Rout:
Work themselves inward, and their Patrons out.
Quick Witted, Brazen-fac’d, with fluent Tongues,
Patient of Labours, and dissembling Wrongs
Riddle me this, and guess him if you can,	135
Who bears a Nation in a single Man?
A Cook, a Conjuror, a Rhetorician,
A Painter, Pedant, a Geometrician,
A Dancer on the Ropes, and a Physician.
All things the hungry Greek exactly knows:	140
And bid him go to Heav’n, to Heav’n he goes.
In short, no Scythian, Moor, or Thracian born,
But in that Town 16 which Arms and Arts adorn.
Shall he be plac’d above me at the Board,
In Purple Cloath’d, and lolling like a Lord?	145
Shall he before me sign, whom t’other Day
A small-craft Vessel hither did convey;
Where, stow’d with Prunes, and rotten Figs, he lay?
How little is the Priviledge become
Of being born a Citizen of Rome!	150
The Greeks get all by fulsom Flatteries;
A most peculiar Stroke they have at Lies.
They make a Wit of their Insipid Friend;
His blobber-Lips, and beetle-Brows commend;
His long Crane Neck, and narrow Shoulders Praise;	155
You’d think they were describing Hercules.
A creaking Voice for a clear Trebble goes;
Tho harsher than a Cock that Treads and Crows.
We can as grosly praise; but, to our Grief,
No Flatt’ry but from Grecians gains belief.	160
Besides these Qualities, we must agree
They Mimick better on the Stage than we
The Wife, the Whore, the Shepherdess they play,
In such a Free, and such a Graceful way,
That we believe a very Woman shown,	165
And fancy something underneath the Gown.
But not Antiochus, nor Stratocles, 17
Our Ears and Ravish’d Eyes can only please:
The Nation is compos’d of such as these.
All Greece is one Commedian: Laugh, and they	170
Return it louder than an Ass can bray:
Grieve, and they Grieve; if you Weep silently,
There seems a silent Eccho in their Eye:
They cannot Mourn like you; but they can Cry.
Call for a Fire, their Winter Cloaths they take:	175
Begin but you to shiver, and they shake:
In Frost and Snow, if you complain of Heat,
They rub th’ unsweating Brow, and Swear they Sweat.
We live not on the Square with such as these:
Such are our Betters who can better please:	180
Who Day and Night are like a Looking-Glass;
Still ready to reflect their Patron’s Face.
The Panegyrick Hand, and lifted Eye,
Prepar’d for some new Piece of Flattery.
Ev’n Nastiness, Occasions will afford;	185
They praise a belching, or well-pissing Lord.
Besides, there’s nothing Sacred, nothing free
From bold Attempts of their rank Leachery
Through the whole Family their labours run;
The Daughter is debauch’d, the Wife is won:	190
Nor scapes the Bridegroom, or the blooming Son.
If none they find for their lewd purpose fit,
They with the Walls and very Floors commit.
They search the Secrets of the House, and so
Are worshipp’d there, and fear’d for what they know.	195
And, now we talk of Grecians, cast a view
On what, in Schools, their Men of Morals do;
A rigid Stoick 18 his own Pupil slew.
A Friend, against a Friend, of his own Cloath,
Turn’d Evidence, and murther’d on his Oath.	200
What room is left for Romans, in a Town
Where Grecians rule, and Cloaks control the Gown?
Some Diphilus, or some Protogenes, 19
Look sharply out, our Senators to seize:
Engross ’em wholly, by their Native Art,	205
And fear no Rivals in their Bubbles heart:
One drop of Poison in my Patron’s Ear,
One slight suggestion of a senseless fear,
Infus’d, with cunning, serves to ruine me;
Disgrac’d, and banish’d from the Family.	210
In vain forgotten Services I boast;
My long dependance in an hour is lost:
Look round the World, what Country will appear,
Where Friends are left with greater ease than here?
At Rome (nor think me partial to the Poor)	215
All Offices of ours are out of Door:
In vain we rise, and to their Levees run;
My Lord himself is up, before, and gone:
The Praetor bids his Lictors mend their pace,
Lest his Collegue outstrip him in the Race:	220
The childless Matrons are, long since, awake;
And for Affronts the tardy Visits take.
’Tis frequent, here, to see a free-born Son
On the left-hand of a Rich Hireling run:
Because the wealthy Rogue can throw away,	225
For half a Brace of Bouts, a Tribune’s pay
But you, poor Sinner, tho you love the Vice,
And like the Whore, demurr upon the Price:
And, frighted with the wicked Sum, forbear
To lend a hand, and help her from the Chair.	230
Produce a Witness of unblemish’d life,
Holy as Numa, or as Numa’s Wife,
Or him who bid 20 th’ unhallow’d Flames retire;
And snatch’d the trembling Goddess from the Fire.
The Question is not put how far extends	235
His Piety, but what he yearly spends:
Quick, to the Bus’ness; how he Lives and Eats;
How largely Gives; how splendidly he Treats:
How many thousand Acres feed his Sheep,
What are his Rents, what Servants does he keep?	240
Th’ Account is soon cast up; the Judges rate
Our Credit in the Court by our Estate.
Swear by our Gods, or those the Greeks adore,
Thou art as sure Forsworn, as thou art Poor:
The Poor must gain their Bread by Perjury;	245
And even the Gods, that other Means deny,
In Conscience must absolve ’em, when they lye.
Add, that the Rich have still a Gibe in store;
And will be monstrous witty on the Poor:
For the torn Surtout and the tatter’d Vest,	250
The Wretch and all his Wardrobe are a Jest:
The greasie Gown, sully’d with often turning,
Gives a good hint, to say The Man’s in Mourning:
Or if the Shoo be ript, or patches put,
He’s wounded! see the Plaister on his Foot.	255
Want is the Scorn of ev’ry Wealthy Fool;
And Wit in Rags is turn’d to Ridicule.
Pack hence, and from the Cover’d Benches rise,
(The Master of the Ceremonies cries)
This is no place for you, whose small Estate	260
Is not the Value of the settled Rate:
The Sons of happy Punks, the Pandars Heir,
Are priviledg’d to sit in triumph there,
To clap the first, and rule the Theatre.
Up to the Galleries, for shame, retreat:	265
For, by the Roscian Law, 21 the Poor can claim no Seat.
Who ever brought to his rich Daughter’s Bed
The Man that poll’d but Twelve-pence for his Head?
Who ever nam’d a poor Man for his Heir,
Or call’d him to assist the Judging Chair?	270
The Poor were wise, who by the Rich oppress’d,
Withdrew, and sought a Sacred Place of Rest.
Once they did well, to free themselves from Scorn;
But had done better never to return.
Rarely they rise by Virtues aid, who lie	275
Plung’d in the depth of helpless Poverty.
At Rome ’tis worse; where House-rent by the Year,
And Servants Bellies cost so Dev’llish dear;
And Tavern Bills run high for hungry Chear.
To drink or eat in Earthen Ware we scorn,	280
Which cheaply Country Cupboards does adorn:
And coarse blue Hoods on Holydays are worn.
Some distant parts of Italy are known,
Where none, but only dead Men, 22 wear a Gown:
On Theatres of Turf, in homely State,	285
Old Plays they act, old Feasts they Celebrate:
The same rude Song returns upon the Crowd,
And, by Tradition, is for Wit allow’d.
The Mimick Yearly gives the same Delights;
And in the Mother’s Arms the Clownish Infant frights.	290
Their Habits (undistinguish’d by degree)
Are plain, alike; the same Simplicity,
Both on the Stage, and in the Pit, you see.
In his white Cloak the Magistrate appears;
The Country Bumpkin the same Liv’ry wears.	295
But here, Attir’d beyond our Purse we go,
For useless Ornament and flaunting Show:
We take on trust, in Purple Robes to shine;
And Poor, are yet Ambitious to be fine.
This is a common Vice, tho all things here	300
Are sold, and sold unconscionably dear.
What will you give that Cossus 23 may but view
Your Face, and in the Crowd distinguish you;
May take your Incense like a gracious God;
And answer only with a Civil Nod?	305
To please our Patrons, in this vicious Age,
We make our Entrance by the Fav’rite Page:
Shave his first down, and when he Polls his Hair,
The Consecrated Locks to Temples bear:
Pay Tributary Cracknels, which he sells;	310
And, with our Offerings, help to raise his Vails.
Who fears, in Country Towns, a House’s fall,
Or to be caught betwixt a riven Wall?
But we Inhabit a weak City here;
Which Buttresses and Props but scarcely bear:	315
And ’tis the Village Masons daily Calling,
To keep the World’s Metropolis from falling,
To cleanse the Gutters, and the Chinks to close;
And, for one Night, secure his Lord’s Repose.
At Cumæ we can sleep, quite round the Year,	320
Nor Falls, nor Fires, nor Nightly Dangers fear;
While rolling Flames from Roman Turrets fly,
And the pale Citizens for Buckets cry.
Thy Neighbour has remov’d his Wretched Store,
(Few Hands will rid the Lumber of the Poor)	325
Thy own third Story smoaks; while thou, supine,
Art drench’d in Fumes of undigested Wine.
For if the lowest Floors already burn,
Cock-lofts and Garrets soon will take the Turn.
Where thy tame Pidgeons 24 next the Tiles were bred,	330
Which in their Nests unsafe, are timely fled.
Codrus 25 had but one Bed, so short to boot,
That his short Wife’s short Legs hung dangling out;
His Cup-board’s Head six Earthen Pitchers grac’d,
Beneath ’em was his Trusty Tankard plac’d:	335
And, to support this Noble Plate, there lay
A bending Chiron cast from honest Clay:
His few Greek Books a rotten Chest contain’d,
Whose Covers much of mouldiness complain’d:
Where Mice and Rats devour’d Poetick Bread,	340
And with Heroick Verse luxuriously were fed.
’Tis true, poor Codrus nothing had to boast,
And yet poor Codrus all that Nothing lost;
Beg’d naked through the Streets of wealthy Rome;
And found not one to feed, or take him home.	345
But if the Palace of Arturius burn,
The Nobles change their Cloaths, the Matrons mourn;
The City Prætor will no Pleadings hear;
The very Name of Fire we hate and fear:
And look agast, as if the Gauls were here.	350
While yet it burns, th’ officious Nation flies,
Some to condole, and some to bring supplies:
One sends him Marble to rebuild, and one
White naked Statues of the Parian Stone,
The Work of Polyclete, that seem to live;	355
While others, Images for Altars give;
One Books and Skreens, and Pallas to the Brest;
Another Bags of Gold, and he gives best.
Childless Arturius, vastly rich before,
Thus by his Losses multiplies his Store:	360
Suspected for Accomplice to the Fire,
That burnt his Palace but to build it higher.
But, cou’d you be content to bid adieu
To the dear Play-house, and the Players too,
Sweet Country Seats are purchas’d ev’ry where,	365
With Lands and Gardens, at less price, than here
You hire a darksom Doghole by the year.
A small Convenience, decently prepar’d,
A shallow Well, that rises in your yard,
That spreads his easie Crystal Streams around,	370
And waters all the pretty spot of Ground.
There, love the Fork; thy Garden cultivate,
And give thy frugal Friends a Pythagorean Treat. 26
’Tis somewhat to be Lord of some small Ground;
In which a Lizard may, at least, turn round.	375
’Tis frequent, here, for want of sleep to dye;
Which Fumes of undigested Feasts deny;
And, with imperfect heat, in languid Stomachs fry.
What House secure from noise the poor can keep,
When ev’n the Rich can scarce afford to sleep?	380
So dear it costs to purchase Rest in Rome;
And hence the sources of Diseases come.
The Drover who his Fellow-drover meets,
In narrow passages of winding Streets:
The Waggoners, that curse their standing Teams,	385
Would wake ev’n drowsie Drusus from his Dreams.
And yet the Wealthy will not brook delay;
But sweep above our Heads, and make their way;
In lofty Litters born, and read and write,
Or sleep at ease: The Shutters make it Night.	390
Yet still he reaches, first, the Publick Place:
The prease before him stops the Client’s pace.
The Crowd that follows, crush his panting sides,
And trip his heels; he walks not, but he rides.
One Elbows him, one justles in the Shole:	395
A Rafter breaks his Head, or Chairman’s Pole:
Stockin’d with loads of fat Town-dirt he goes;
And some Rogue-Souldier, with his Hobnail’d Shoos,
Indents his Legs behind in bloody rows.
See with what Smoke our Doles we celebrate:	400
A hundred Ghests, invited, walk in state:
A hundred hungry Slaves, with their Dutch Kitchins wait.
Huge Pans the Wretches on their heads 27 must bear;
Which scarce Gygantick Corbulo 28 cou’d rear:
Yet they must walk upright beneath the load;	405
Nay run, and running blow the sparkling flames abroad.
Their Coats, from botching newly brought, are torn:
Unwieldy Timber-trees, in Waggons born,
Stretch’d at their length, beyond their Carriage lye;
That nod, and threaten ruin from on high.	410
For, should their Axel break, its overthrow
Wou’d crush, and pound to dust, the Crowd below;
Nor Friends their Friends, nor Sires their Sons cou’d know:
Nor Limbs, nor Bones, nor Carcass wou’d remain:
But a mash’d heap, a Hotchpotch of the Slain.	415
One vast destruction; not the Soul alone,
But Bodies, like the Soul, invisible are flown.
Mean time, unknowing of their Fellows Fate,
The Servants wash the Platter, scour the Plate,
Then blow the Fire, with puffing Cheeks, and lay	420
The Rubbers, and the Bathing-sheets display;
And oyl them first; and each is handy in his way.
But he, for whom this busie care they take,
Poor Ghost, is wandring by the Stygian Lake:
Affrighted with the Ferryman’s 29 grim Face;	425
New to the Horrours of that uncouth place;
His passage begs with unregarded Pray’r:
And wants two Farthings to discharge his Fare.
Return we to the Dangers of the Night;
And, first, behold our Houses dreadful height:	430
From whence come broken Potsherds tumbling down;
And leaky Ware, from Garret Windows thrown:
Well may they break our Heads, that mark the flinty Stone.
’Tis want of Sence to sup abroad too late;
Unless thou first hast settled thy Estate.	435
As many Fates attend, thy Steps to meet,
As there are waking Windows in the Street.
Bless the good Gods, and think thy chance is rare
To have a Piss-pot only for thy share.
The scouring Drunkard, if he does not fight	440
Before his Bed-time, takes no rest that Night,
Passing the tedious Hours in greater pain
Than stern Achilles, 30 when his Friend was slain:
’Tis so ridiculous, but so true withall,
A Bully cannot sleep without a Braul:	445
Yet tho his youthful Blood be fir’d with Wine,
He wants not Wit, the Danger to decline:
Is cautious to avoid the Coach and Six,
And on the Lacquies will no Quarrel fix
His Train of Flambeaus, and Embroider’d Coat	450
May Priviledge my Lord to walk secure on Foot.
But me, who must by Moon-light homeward bend,
Or lighted only with a Candle’s end,
Poor me he fights, if that be fighting, where
He only Cudgels, and I only bear.	455
He stands, and bids me stand: I must abide;
For he’s the stronger, and is Drunk beside.
Where did you whet your Knife to Night, he cries,
And shred the Leeks that in your Stomach rise?
Whose windy Beans have stuff’t your Guts, and where	460
Have your black Thumbs been dipt in Vinegar?
With what Companion Cobler have you fed,
On old Ox-cheeks, or He-Goats tougher Head?
What, are you Dumb? Quick with your Answer, quick,
Before my Foot Salutes you with a Kick.	465
Say, in what nasty Cellar, under Ground,
Or what Church-Porch, your Rogueship may be found?
Answer, or Answer not, ’tis all the same:
He lays me on, and makes me bear the blame.
Before the Bar, for beating him, you come;	470
This is a Poor Man’s Liberty in Rome.
You beg his Pardon; happy to retreat
With some remaining Teeth, to chew your Meat.
Nor is this all; for, when Retir’d, you think
To sleep securely; when the Candles wink,	475
When every Door with Iron Chains is barr’d,
And roaring Taverns are no longer heard;
The Ruffian Robbers by no Justice aw’d,
And unpaid cut-Throat Soldiers, are abroad;
Those Venal Souls, who, harden’d in each ill	480
To save Complaints and Prosecution, kill.
Chas’d from their Woods and Bogs, the Padders come
To this vast City, as their Native Home;
To live at ease, and safely sculk in Rome.
The Forge in Fetters only is employ’d;	485
Our Iron Mines exhausted and destroy’d
In Shackles; for these Villains scarce allow
Goads for the Teams, and Plough-shares for the Plough.
Oh happy Ages of our Ancestours,
Beneath the Kings 31 and Tribunitial Pow’rs!	490
One Jayl did all their Criminals restrain;
Which, now, the Walls of Rome can scarce contain.
More I cou’d say, more Causes I cou’d show
For my departure; but the Sun is low:
The Waggoner grows weary of my stay;	495
And whips his Horses forwards on their way.
Farewell; and when, like me, o’rewhelm’d with care.
You to your own Aquinum 32 shall repair,
To take a mouthful of sweet Country air,
Be mindful of your Friend; and send me word,	500
What Joys your Fountains and cool Shades afford:
Then, to assist your Satyrs, I will come;
And add new Venom, when you write of Rome. The End of the Third Satyr.

Note 1. Cumæ, a small City in Campania, near Puteoli, or Puzzolo as it is call’d. The Habitation of the Cumæan Sybil. [back]

Note 2. Bajæ; Another little Town in Campania, near the sea: A pleasant Place. [back]

Note 3. Prochyta: A small Barren Island belonging to the Kingdom of Naples. [back]

Note 4. In Dog-days. The Poets in Juvenal’s time us’d to rehearse their Poetry in August. [back]

Note 5. Numa. The second King of Rome; who made their Laws, and instituted their Religion. [back]

Note 6. Nymph. Ægeria, a Nymph, or Goddess; with whom Numa feigned to converse by Night; and to be instructed by her, in modelling his Superstitions. Nymph] Nymphs 1693. The misprint is implicitly corrected in Dryden’s note. [back]

Note 7. Where Dædalus, &c. Meaning at Cumæ. [back]

Note 8. Lachesis; one of the three Destinies, whose Office was to spin the Life of every Man: as it was of Clotho to hold the Distaff, and Atropos to cut the Thread. [back]

Note 9. Arturius. Any debauch’d wicked Fellow who gains by the times. [back]

Note 10. With Thumbs bent back. In a Prize of Sword-Players, when one of the Fencers had the other at his Mercy, the Vanquished Party implored the Clemency of the Spectators. If they thought he deserv’d it not, they held up their Thumbs and bent them backwards, in sign of Death. [back]

Note 11. Verres, Prætor in Sicily, Contemporary with Cicero; by whom accus’d of oppressing the Province, he was Condemn’d: His Name is us’d here for any Rich Vicious Man. [back]

Note 12. Tagus; a famous River in Spain, which discharges it self into the Ocean near Lisbone in Portugal. It was held of old to be full of Golden Sands. [back]

Note 13. Orontes, the greatest River of Syria. The Poet here puts the River for the Inhabitants of Syria. [back]

Note 14. Tyber; the River which runs by Rome. [back]

Note 15. Romulus; First King of Rome, son of Mars, as the Poets feign: the first Romans were originally Herdsmen. [back]

Note 16. But in that Town, &c. He means Athens; of which Pallas the Goddess of Arms and Arts was Patroness. [back]

Note 17. Antiochus, and Stratocles, two Famous Grecian Mimicks, or Actors in the Poet’s time. [back]

Note 18. A Rigid Stoick, &c. Publius Egnatius a Stoick falsly accus’d Bareas Soranus, as Tacitus tells us. [back]

Note 19. Diphilus and Protogenes, &c. Were Grecians living in Rome. [back]

Note 20. Or him who bid, &c. Lucius Metellus, the High Priest; who when the Temple of Vesta was on Fire sav’d the Palladium. bid] bad 1693, but see the text. [back]

Note 21. For by the Roscian Law, &c. Roscius a Tribune, who order’d the Distinction of Places in Publick Shows betwixt the Noblemen of Rome and the Plebeians. [back]

Note 22. Where none but only dead Men, &c. The meaning is that Men in some parts of Italy never wore a Gown (the usual Habit of the Romans) till they were bury’d in one. [back]

Note 23. Cossus is here taken for any great Man. [back]

Note 24. Where thy tame Pidgeons, &c. The Romans us’d to breed their tame Pidgeons in their Garrets. thy] the 1693, but see the text. [back]

Note 25. Codrus, a Learned Man, very poor: by his Books suppos’d to be a Poet. For, in all probability, the Heroick Verses here mention’d, which Rats and Mice devour’d, were Homer’s Works. [back]

Note 26. A Pythagorean Treat: He means Herbs, Roots, Fruits, and Sallads. [back]

Note 27. heads] Some editors give head. [back]

Note 28. Gygantick Corbulo. Corbulo was a Famous General in Nero’s time, who Conquer’d Armenia, and was afterwards put to death by that Tyrant, when he was in Greece, in reward of his great Services. His Stature was not only tall above the ordinary Size, but he was also proportionably strong. [back]

Note 29. The Ferry-Man’s, &c. Charon, the Ferry-Man of Hell, whose Fare was a Half-penny for every Soul. [back]

Note 30. Stern Achilles. The Friend of Achilles was Patroclus who was slain by Hector. [back]

Note 31. Beneath the Kings, &c. Rome was Originally Rul’d by Kings; till for the Rape of Lucretia Tarquin the proud was expell’d. After which it was Govern’d by two Consuls, Yearly chosen: but they oppressing the People, the Commoners Mutiny’d, and procur’d Tribunes to be created; who defended their Priviledges, and often oppos’d the Consular Authority and the Senate. [back]

Note 32. Aquinum was the Birth-place of Juvenal. [back]

CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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