Replies.
PASSAGE IN VIRGIL.
(Vol. iv., p. 24.)
Your correspondent ERYX inquires, in your paper of July 12, whether Servius's interpretation of
"Viridesque secant placido æquore silvas."
Virg. Æn. viii. 96.
be correct. I beg to reply that it is not. The interpretations of Servius are almost invariably incorrect; Servius was a very illiterate, ignorant, and narrow-minded man, and totally unable to understand the author whom he attempted to illustrate. His comments on Virgil resemble those which we might expect a hedge schoolmaster in Yorkshire now to make upon Milton. These comments, which are only valuable on account of the mythological traditions which are preserved in them, have been very injurious to the right understanding of Virgil.
The meaning of the passage in question is, that the Æneadæ row up the river among the green woods, or (literally) "secant silvas," travel the woods, "placido æquore," on the calm surface of the water, i. e. by rowing up the placid stream of the river. This, and not that assigned by Servius following Terentienus, is the true meaning. 1st. Because secare with the objective case means constantly in Virgil to travel along. Compare "viam secat ad naves," Æn. vi. 902.; "secuit sub nubibus arcum," v. 658., &c. 2ndly. Because the Tiber is described only as placid, not as clear; and as appears from Æn. vii. 31., was actually very muddy, "multa flavus arena." The immediately preceding words, "variisque teguntur arboribus," have been pronounced by a very learned critic (one who has often deserved well of Virgil) to be idle, otiosa. (See Wagner ad Æn. i. 678.) And his opinion has been sanctioned by the usually judicious Forbiger. But they are not idle; on the contrary, they are necessary to convey the idea that the Æneadæ passed up the river under the shade of the trees; and so are supplemental to the statement contained in the words cited by your correspondent, which inform us only that they went up the river. Hence a confirmation of the correctness of the received interpretation.
JAMES HENRY.
34. Westland Row, Dublin, July 14. 1851.
Your correspondent ERYX wishes to know, whether in the passage (Æneid, viii. 96.)—
"Viridesque secant placido æquore silvas,"
the word secant can legitimately convey the same idea that is expressed in Tennyson's lines—
—— "my shallop ... clove
The citron shadows in the blue."
There can be little doubt that this well-known passage in the Æneid is the original of Tennyson's image; that, in fact, it is an excusable plagiarism on the part of the latter, who, in introducing, his image, has, I think, missed the appropriateness, and therefore increased beauty, belonging to it in the original passage of Virgil.
When Æneas is journeying up the Tiber to visit Evander, the river, in order to lessen his labours—
"refluens ... substitit unda;"
but notwithstanding this, the journey was arduous as is shown in the whole of the three lines 94-96.
"Olli remigio noctemque diemque fatigant,
Et longos superant flexes, variisque teguntur
Arboribus, viridesque secant pacido æquore silvas."
That is to say, "They labour at the oar till night is wearied out, and day also is obliged to give place in its turn; they master one by one the long serpentine bends of the river, and, though covered and inclosed by the varied foliage above them, they cut their way through the opposing woods, which lie, as it were, in their path in the shadowy surface of the clear, still water."
The word placido is surely sufficient to prevent any one falling into the common-place interpretation alluded to by your correspondent as the one "usually given."
H. C. K.
—— Rectory, Hereford, July 14.
THE VINE OF ST. FRANCIS.
(Vol. iii., p. 502.)
I feel much obliged for the information afforded by your Dutch correspondent. When I sent you my Query on the subject more than a year ago, I wrote principally from memory; but as I have now the work in question lying beside me as I write, and as it seems to be rarer and less known than I had imagined, you will perhaps find place for a more minute description of it.
The Vine of St. Francis is a folio volume, containing 418 numbered leaves, a "Prologhe" of one leaf (next to the title-page), and a "Tafel vā dit boeck" at the end, of five leaves and a half unnumbered.
The title-page contains a full-length picture of the saint, with a nimbus round his head, the knotted cord round his waist, and his palms extended, displaying the sacred stigmata. Above the picture is the title in red and black. I have written in Italics the words printed in red:
"Den wÿngaert vā Sinte Franciscus vol schoonre historien legenden ende duechdelÿcke leerēnghen allen menschen seer profÿtelÿch."
And under the picture "Cum gratia et privilegio." On the back of the title-page is printed as follows:—
"Dit is die generael tafel vā dese wÿngaert dwelcke ghdeylt is in drie boecken.
¶ Dat eerste boeck inhout
Sinte Franciscus grote legende
Sinte Franciscus oude legende
Den aflaet van portiunkel
Sinte Franciscus souter.
¶ Dat ander boeck inhoude
De legēde vā de .v. marte mind-brod's
De legēde vā de seuē mar. ooc mind'b.
Sinte bonauentura legende
Sinte lodewÿc biscop legende
Sinte anthonis vā paduen legende
Sinte bernardÿns legende
Sinte clara legende
Sinte puo priesters legende
Sinte lodewÿc coninex legende
Sinte elzearius graue legende
Sinte elizabets legende.
¶ Dat derde boec inhout
Een tractaet vā S. Franciscus oorden
Sinte Franciscus geselle leuen
Die geleerde en̄ edele vā S. Frāciscus oorden
Dat getal der broederē en̅ prouintien
De aflaet vā romē mittē aflaet des oordēs
De kalēdier mittē feestē des aflaets."
Under these tables of contents occur two stanzas, the first containing five lines, the second containing seven lines. They commence:—
"¶ O salige wÿngaert seer diep gheplant
Groyende in duechden van vruchten playsant," &c.
The preface to the Grote Legende informs us that it is Saint Bonaventura's life of Saint Francis, and mentions why it is called the Great Legend. This life ends at folio 47.
The preface to the Oude Legende, which next follows, states that it is "gathered from the writings of his companions and the chronicles of the order of the Brothers Minor;" and the "Prologhe" (which succeeds the preface) mentions—
"Die legēde van zÿn drie gesellen den spiegel der volcomēheyts der minderbroeders. Broeder Thomas oude legends en̄ dē boeck der ghelÿcheden daer seer schoon besereuē is. Hoe ghelÿck dat dese heylighe man Franciscus: Christo Jhesu."
These lives, I suppose, are—that joint narrative compiled by three intimate associates of the Saint, "zÿn drie gesellen," that composed by Thomas of Celano; and the Liber Conformitatum.
The 39th chap. of this Oude Legende, folio ciii., relates, as the preface says—
"¶ Hoe dat S. F. woude reysen in verre lāden om dat vole te bekeren en̄ te vermaenen en̄ vā die grote tribulacie die hi leet int soldaēs lant en̄ hoe hi gerne martelaer hadde geworden en̄ hoe die broeders te Antiochien sÿn oordē aēnaemen."
On which Jewish-converting martyrdom-seeking journey Dr. Geddes (in his curious little work on the Romish Orders of Monks and Friars, Lond. 1714) quaintly remarks:
"A Quaker's having gone from England to Rome to convert the pope to his religion, is a mighty jest with some people, who are very much edified with this story of Francis's going from Italy to Egypt to convert the sultan, but these two adventures do to me appear to be so much alike that I shall leave it to anatomists to tell whether good wits that prompt others, have not their brains either made of the same size, or much in the same posture."
The Oude Legende ends folio 44. Next follows:
"¶ Die historie van dē aflaet van Sinte Maria van dē enghelen diemē portiūkel heet,"
as the preface hath it. Some of your readers may have seen an advertisement respecting a series of Franciscan works (to be published, I think, by Richardson of Derby), entitled the Portioncule Library; and seeing in the above table of contents "Die aflaet van Portiunkel," or the Indulgence of the Portiunkel, they may be at a loss to know its meaning, so I shall quote a note from Mrs. Jameson's highly interesting and valuable work on the Monastic Orders, which is to the purpose:
"The term Porzioncula means literally 'a small portion, share, or allotment.' The name was given to a slip of land, of a few acres in extent, at the foot of the hill of Assisi, and on which stood a little chapel; both belonged to a community of Benedictines, who afterwards bestowed the land and the chapel on the brotherhood of S. Francis. This chapel was then familiarly known as the 'Capella della Porzioncula.' Whether the title by which it has since become famous as the S. Maria-degli-Angeli belonged to it originally, or because the angels were heard singing around and above it at the time of the birth of St. Francis, does not seem clear. At all events this chapel became early sanctified as the scene of the ecstasies and visions of the saint; here also S. Clara made her profession. Particular indulgences were granted to those who visited it for confession and repentance on the fifth of August and it became a celebrated place of pilgrimage in the fourteenth century. Mr. Ford tells us, that in Spain the term Porzioncula is applied generally to distinguish the chapel or sanctuary dedicated to St. Francis within the Franciscan churches. The original chapel of the Porzioncula now stands in the centre of the magnificent church which has been erected over it."
In the "Legende" of St. Anthony of Padua, chap. vii. fol. ccxx., we have that saint's "sermo ad pisces" in the city of Rimini, die vol ketters was, and the conversion therefrom of the said ketters or heretics.
The "Prologhe" to the narrative "van die vÿf Martelaren," fol. clxxviii., commences, "Ego quasi Vitis fructificavi suavitatem odoris alo cenē wÿngaert," &c.: here we learn why the work is called Den Wÿngaert, or The Vine.
In the "tractat vā S. F. orden en̄ reghele," at fol. cccxxix., we have an account of Brother Agnellus of Pisa his mission to England in 1224.
In the "Getal der broederē en̄ prouintien," at fol. cccci., we learn that at that time (1518) England had 7 convents and 200 friars; Ireland 15 convents and 400 friars; and Scotland 8 convents and 120 friars.
The "Kalendier" which follows this "Getal" is printed in red and black.
"Den aflaet vā romē" is the last tract in the book. Here is the finis:
"¶ Hier eyndt bÿ de gratie gods dat derde boec vā desen wÿngaert die mit groten arbeyt wt veel ductētelÿcke scriftē wten latÿne vergadert en̄ nu eerst translateert is, ter eerē des heylighe confessors Sinte Franciscus en̄ ten profÿte vā allen gueden kenten menschen.
"¶ Hier na volcht di tafele."
After the "tafel" or index occur some verses containing seventy-three lines, eulogistic of the saint.
I forgot to mention that in the Oude Legende some of St. Francis's poems are given, translated from the Italian originals: at fol. cxxii. is given the "Canticum solis," part of which Sir James Stephen quotes in his sketch of the saint's life.
I have a Query to make, but must defer it to another time, as I have already taken up enough of your paper.
JARLTZBERG.