He speaks of his verses so finely turned and polished—
ut per leve severos effundat iunctura unguis (i. 64).
So that the critical nail runs glibly along even where the
parts join. CONINGTON.
In this fantastically contorted and affected phrase we may espy an ingenious blending of two Horatian phrases,
totus teres atque rotundus, externi ne quid valeat per leve morari (Sat. ii. 7. 86),
and the simple
ad unguem factus
f Sat. i. 5. 32.[237]
There is no need to multiply instances. Horace appears everywhere, but quantum mutatus ab illo! As the result of this particular method of borrowing, assisted by affectations and obscurities which are all his own, Persius attains to a kind of spurious originality of diction, which often degenerates into sheer eccentricity. In spite of the fact that the original text can almost everywhere be reconstructed with certainty, he is almost the most obscure of Latin poets to the modern reader. A few instances will suffice. There were, it appears, three ways of mocking a person behind his back: one might tap the fingers against the lower portion of the hand in imitation of a stork's beak, one might imitate a donkey's ears, or one might put out one's tongue. When Persius wishes to say 'Janus, I envy you your luck, for no one can mock at you behind your back!' he writes (i. 58):
O Iane, a tergo quem nulla ciconia pinsit, nec manus auriculas imitari mobilis albas, nec linguae, quantum sitiat canis Apula, tantae.