Aeneas bending with his aged sire. Aeneas carried his father, Anchises, from the flames of Troy on his shoulders.
Arms and the Man. The opening words of the Aeneid.
Pindar. Of Thebes, who holds the first place among the lyric poets of Greece. The character and subjects of his poetry, of which the portions remaining to us are the Triumphal Odes, celebrating victories gained in the great games of Greece, are indicated by the lines that follow.
Happy Horace (65-8 B.C.). The epithet is used to describe the lightsome and genial tone of Horace's poetry. Ausonian lyre = Italian song. Ausonia is a poetical name for Italy.
Alcoeus and Sappho. Two of the early lyric poets of Greece.
A work outlasting monumental brass. This line is suggested by one of Horace, when he describes his work as "a monument more lasting than brass."
The Julian star, and great Augustus here. Referring to the Imperial house and its representative, Augustus, Horace's chief patron.
Stagyrite. Aristotle, the great philosopher of Greece (384-322 B.C.), born at Stagira. Pope here shortens the second syllable by a poetical licence.
Tully. Marcus Tullius Cicero, the great orator, statesman, and writer of Rome. For saving the city from the conspiracy of Catiline, he was honoured with the title of "Father of his country."
Narrative old age. Talkative old age.