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u DEMONSTRATIONS LATIN ELEGIAC VERSE ROUSE HENRY FROWDE, M.A. PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK DEMONSTRATIONS IX LATIN ELEGIAC VERSE BY W. H. D. ROUSE, M.A. FORMERLY FELLOW OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGI AND A MASTER AT RUGBY SCHOOL AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1899 Orforfc PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS BY HORACE HART, M.A. PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY PREFACE THE aim of this book is to show by examples the process of translation into Latin Elegiac Verse. ' ' Collections of fair copies there are in plenty, and I should have been in no haste to add to their number but this is to show how the ; book designed copies take shape out of chaos, why out of many possible renderings one is selected, what are the principles of the art. It is intended for the use of those who have worked through some elementary book, Penrose for instance, and are not ready to tackle the poems in Holden's collection. Such as these will, I hope, find benefit from reading the here and cannot fail to learn specimens given ; they a great deal from the collection of Ovidian lines in the Introduction. The book may also in some degree help to make up for lack of a competent teacher, in the case of students who have none. Nor am I without hope that some teachers may find the book useful. The common method of dic- tating a fair copy, with perhaps a few words of ex- is not on the other planation, altogether satisfactory ; VI PREFACE hand, if the copy is evolved in the course of a lecture, it will prove both useful and interesting. These so of Demonstrations have been used ; not, course, exactly as they are written, but with each step, as far as possible, taken by means of questioning, more Socratico. The mistakes here guarded against are for the most part mistakes actually made by Sixth in the under examination Form boys doing pieces ; many of the phrases, and some of the lines, are taken from the answers or the copies of the pupils. If any former pupil sees in this book a neat expression which came out of his own brain, I hope he will pardon the use I have made of it, and accept my thanks for the same. The exercises are to this extent graduated, that the easier ones come first, and last those which need a more extended knowledge and greater skill. In the first, moreover, the translation of a couplet is begun by writing down a number of synonyms for all the important words. This should always be done on the blackboard in practice, until the Form is to it after which sufficiently advanced dispense with ; it will be sufficient to mention them viva voce. In the later exercises this part is supposed to be done in the mind. Each phrase, as its form is settled, should be written down on a second black board, if and in its in the line the possible, proper place ; gaps will then be filled up in turn until the line is complete. In working alone, the student will find it useful to do this on a piece of paper. PREFACE Vli It may be worth mentioning that Mr. J. H. Williams has published a school edition of the Ars Amatoria and Amores (Thornton, Oxford), which, with the Heroides, form the most perfect models of elegiac verse. In conclusion, I have to thank my friend Mr. W. G. Rushbrooke, Head Master of St. Olave's School, Southwark, for many most pertinent criticisms. My thanks are due also to Mr. W. F. R. Shilleto, who in reading this book for the Press has detected a number of errors and misprints, and suggested many improvements. W. H. D. ROUSE. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION I. PRINCIPLES OF ELEGIAC VERSE .... i II. OVIDIAN USAGE 12 III. COMPOSITION 33 EXERCISES I-XXV 45-182 INDEX 183 DEMONSTRATIONS IN LATIN ELEGIAC VERSE INTRODUCTION I. PRINCIPLES OF ELEGIAC VERSE. THE great educational value of Elegiac Verse lies in this : that it gives the student a clear notion of literary form. There is a form in all in not less good literary compositions ; prose, truly than in verse. But the form and rhythm of prose are difficult to appreciate, and are really understood only by minds which have been carefully trained. In verse, on the other hand, the form is clearer; and the Elegiac form is so simple and so obvious, that few who have tried to write in this kind can fail to know it is there. This once understood, the teacher can point out that all kinds of composition have this form; and if a boy gets no further than to learn that there is such a thing, this is no small advantage. In the next few pages I shall try to explain what is the form of Elegiac Verse, and how it may be imitated. In the first place, Elegiac Verse is mainly Rhetorical. It is concerned, that is to say, with Antithesis of word, phrase, and thought, not with logic, or the due subordination of one thought to another. Secondly, it is vivid; the ideas must be so pre- sented that they call up a picture, or excite an emotion. Both these are just the qualities which make a popular speech successful. 2 INTRODUCTION I. A Rhetorical character is got by avoiding complex sentences, and by using Antithesis, Parataxis, and Parenthesis. Let us take these in order, with examples from Ovid. (i) Antithesis, or Balance of words and clauses, and Repeti- tion. (a) Same Words. arte mea captast, arte tenenda meast. A. A. ii. 12 pauper amet caute, timeat maledicere pauper. 167 (b) Same Words in different Constructions. victor erat praedae praeda pudenda suae. A. A. ii. 406 qui canit arte, canat : qui bibit arte, bibat. 506 sic monuit Phoebus : Phoebo parete monenti. 509 spectantem specta: ridenti mollia ride. iii. 513 spectabat terram : terrain spectare decebat. maesta erat in voltu : maesta decenter erat. Am. ii. 5. 43 credite: credent! nulla procella nocet. ii. 22 optabam certe recipi sum nempe receptus : oscula ferre tuli : proximus esse fui. iii. 7. 48 cedere iussit aquam : iussa recessit aqua. 6. 44 inspicit acceptas hostis ab hoste notas. Her. iv. 6 et duo cum vivant, orba duobus eram. viii. 90 ingreditur late lato spectabilis auro. ix. 127 neve reformida corpus amantis amans. xi. 126 (c) Strong Contrast of Different Words. speremus pariter, pariter metuamus amantes. Am. ii. 19. 5 monte minor collis, campis erat altior aequis. A. A. ii. 71 quod tibi donavi, perfide, litus emc. Her. vii. 118 poenaque conexos auferet una duos. 138 vir, precor, uxori, frater succurre sorori. viii. 29 ((f) Repetition of Words for Emphasis. possidet et terras et possidet aequora Minos. A. A. ii. 35 nomen habet Nemesis, Cynthia nomen habet iii. 536 nee nos ambitio nee amor nos tangit habendi. 541 PRINCIPLES OF ELEGIAC VERSE 3 nee scindet tunicasve suas tunicasve puellae. A. A. iii. 569 tu pinnas gemma, gemma variante capillos. Am. i. 2. 41 ungue notata comas, ungue notata genas. iii. 6. 48 quam vir, quam custos, quam ianua firma (tot hostes !) servabant. ii. 12. 3 Anna soror, soror Anna. Her. vii. 191 has solas habeo semper semperque profundo (' tears '). viii. 63 ' ' clamabam sine me, me sine, mater, abis ? 80 sit mihi pauca queri de te dominoque viroque: fas est de domino pauca viroque queri. iii. 5 urimur intus, Urimur, et caecum pectora vulnus habet. iv. 19 (e) Sentence repeated in different parts of the verse. ; ' redde meum ! clamant spoliatae saepe puellae, ' ' redde meum ! toto voce boante foro. A. A. iii. 449 militat omnis amans, et habet sua castra Cupido : Attice, crede mihi, militat omnis amans. Am. i. 9. i Ilia, pone metus ! tibi regia nostra patebit, teque colent amnes : Ilia, pone metus. iii. 6. 61 imponet galeam barbaraque arma dabit, arma dabit, dumque arma dabit, simul oscula sumet. Her. xiii. 140 This device is familiar in lyric poetry. Burns has, for ' instance, in O my luve 's like a red red rose,' the following : And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry : Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi' the sun ! (/) Repetition of an idea in a different form. This may be done (i) by using several words together in one sentence, conveying the same idea, but being different parts of speech, adverb say noun, verb, adjective, ; (2) by using synonyms ; (3) by giving the idea in two sentences, one of positive form and one of negative ; (4) by expressing the idea from two different points of view, or dividing it into two parts and ex- pressing each separately. In all cases where two sentences B 2 4 INTRODUCTION in the other- are used, something new must be added second ; wise the addition becomes mere padding, and loses all interest. (1) verba miser frustra non proficientia perdo. Trist. i. 2. 13 (cur) nuda ferant posita corpora veste, rogas ? Fast. ii. 284 (of a ring) tarn bene convenias, quam mecum convenit illi, et digitum iusto commodus orbe teras. Am. ii. 15. 5 (2) insidias armaque tecta parant. Fast. ii. 214 artis adhuc expers et rude vulgus erat. 292 hostiles linguas inimicaque vinximus ora. 581 hie status, haec rerum nunc est fortuna mearum. Trist. i. 9. 37 quam cruor et caedes bellaque semper habent. ii. 32 ad possessa venis praeceptaque gaudia serus. Her. xvi. 107 en ego dimidium vestri parsque altera voti. Fast. v. 459 hie sensus verbi, vis ea vocis erat.