SATIRE X.
_He supports the judgment which he had before given of Lucilius, and
intersperses some excellent precepts for the writing of Satire._
To be sure I did say, that the verses of Lucilius did not run smoothly.
Who is so foolish an admirer of Lucilius, that he would not own this?
But the same writer is applauded in the same Satire, on account of his
having lashed the town with great humor. Nevertheless granting him this,
I will not therefore give up the other [considerations]; for at that
rate I might even admire the farces of Laberius, as fine poems. Hence it
is by no means sufficient to make an auditor grim with laughter: and yet
there is some degree of merit even in this. There is need of conciseness
that the sentence may run, and not embarrass itself with verbiage, that
overloads the sated ear; and sometimes a grave, frequently jocose style
is necessary, supporting the character one while of the orator and [at
another] of the poet, now and then that of a graceful rallier that curbs
the force of his pleasantry and weakens it on purpose. For ridicule
often decides matters of importance more effectually and in a better
manner, than severity. Those poets by whom the ancient comedy was
written, stood upon this [foundation], and in this are they worthy of
imitation: whom neither the smooth-faced Hermogenes ever read, nor that
baboon who is skilled in nothing but singing [the wanton compositions
of] Calvus and Catullus.
But [Lucilius, say they,] did a great thing, when he intermixed Greek
words with Latin. O late-learned dunces! What! do you think that arduous
and admirable, which was done by Pitholeo the Rhodian? But [still they
cry] the style elegantly composed of both tongues is the more pleasant,
as if Falernian wine is mixed with Chian. When you make verses, I ask
you this question; were you to undertake the difficult cause of the
accused Petillius, would you (for instance), forgetful of your country
and your father, while Pedius, Poplicola, and Corvinus sweat through
their causes in Latin, choose to intermix words borrowed from abroad,
like the double-tongued Canusinian. And as for myself, who was born on
this side the water, when I was about making Greek verses; Romulus
appearing to me after midnight, when dreams are true, forbade me in
words to this effect; "You could not be guilty of more madness by
carrying timber into a wood, than by desiring to throng in among the
great crowds of Grecian writers."
While bombastical Alpinus murders Memnon, and while he deforms the muddy
source of the Rhine, I amuse myself with these satires; which can
neither be recited in the temple [of Apollo], as contesting for the
prize when Tarpa presides as judge, nor can have a run over and over
again represented in the theatres. You, O Fundanius, of all men
breathing are the most capable of prattling tales in a comic vein, how
an artful courtesan and a Davus impose upon an old Chremes. Pollio sings
the actions of kings in iambic measure; the sublime Varias composes the
manly epic, in a manner that no one can equal: to Virgil the Muses,
delighting in rural scenes, have granted the delicate and the elegant.
It was this kind [of satiric writing], the Aticinian Varro and some
others having attempted it without success, in which I may have some
slight merit, inferior to the inventor: nor would I presume to pull off
the [laurel] crown placed upon his brow with great applause.
But I said that he flowed muddily, frequently indeed bearing along more
things which ought to be taken away than left. Be it so; do you, who are
a scholar, find no fault with any thing in mighty Homer, I pray? Does
the facetious Lucilius make no alterations in the tragedies of Accius?
Does not he ridicule many of Ennius' verses, which are too light for
the gravity [of the subject]? When he speaks of himself by no means as
superior to what he blames. What should hinder me likewise, when I am
reading the works of Lucilius, from inquiring whether it be his
[genius], or the difficult nature of his subject, that will not suffer
his verses to be more finished, and to run more smoothly than if some
one, thinking it sufficient to conclude a something of six feet, be fond
of writing two hundred verses before he eats, and as many after supper?
Such was the genius of the Tuscan Cassius, more impetuous than a rapid
river; who, as it is reported, was burned [at the funeral pile] with his
own books and papers. Let it be allowed, I say, that Lucilius was a
humorous and polite writer; that he was also more correct than [Ennius],
the author of a kind of poetry [not yet] well cultivated, nor attempted
by the Greeks, and [more correct likewise] than the tribe of our old
poets: but yet he, if he had been brought down by the Fates to this age
of ours, would have retrenched a great deal from his writings: he would
have pruned off every thing that transgressed the limits of perfection;
and, in the composition of verses, would often have scratched his head,
and bit his nails to the quick.
You that intend to write what is worthy to be read more than once, blot
frequently: and take no-pains to make the multitude admire you, content
with a few [judicious] readers. What, would you be such a fool as to be
ambitious that your verses should be taught in petty schools? That is
not my case. It is enough for me, that the knight [Maecenas] applauds:
as the courageous actress, Arbuscula, expressed herself, in contempt of
the rest of the audience, when she was hissed [by the populace]. What,
shall that grubworm Pantilius have any effect upon me? Or can it vex me,
that Demetrius carps at me behind my back? or because the trifler
Fannius, that hanger-on to Hermogenes Tigellius, attempts to hurt me?
May Plotius and Varius, Maecenas and Virgil, Valgius and Octavius
approve these Satires, and the excellent Fuscus likewise; and I could
wish that both the Visci would join in their commendations: ambition
apart, I may mention you, O Pollio: you also, Messala, together with
your brother; and at the same time, you, Bibulus and Servius; and along
with these you, candid Furnius; many others whom, though men of learning
and my friends, I purposely omit--to whom I would wish these Satires,
such as they are, may give satisfaction; and I should be chagrined, if
they pleased in a degree below my expectation. You, Demetrius, and you,
Tigellius, I bid lament among the forms of your female pupils.
Go, boy, and instantly annex this Satire to the end of my book.
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