The Diary of a Lover of Literature, by Thomas Green

Notes

Notes

1. Sæva indignatio. "Savage indignation"–taken from Swift's epitaph.

2. chiaro, oscuro: "Brightness, darkness."

3. Finis coronat opus: "The ending crowns the work"

4. 30 millia passuum: 30 Roman miles, or about 28.5 English miles or 46 Km.

5. sub sinistra: "On the left"

6. Ipsæ res verba rapiunt: "The words hurry on the subject" (Cicero, De Finibus, 3.19)

7. dalle 20, alle 24 ore: From 20 to 24 hours.

8. Monebant &c.: "They warned him not to allow the growing custom of expelling kings to go unpunished. Liberty was sweet enough in itself. Unless the energy with which nations sought to obtain it were matched by the efforts which kings put forth to defend their power, the highest would be reduced to the level of the lowest; there would be nothing lofty, nothing that stood out above the rest of the state; there was the end of monarchy, the noblest institution known to gods or men." [Perseus Digital Library http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/]

9. Nisus: attempt, endeavour.

10. L'Homme au Masque de Fer: "The Man in the Iron Mask."

11. Je suis a vos ordres: "I am at your command."

12. Io non giudico etc.: "I neither do, nor ever shall judge it a fault, to support opinion by arguments, where it is not sought to impose them by violence or authority" [N. H. Thomson]

13. Me tabula sacer etc.: "As for me the votive tablet that hangs on the temple wall reveals, suspended, my dripping clothes, for the god, who holds power over the sea." [http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/HoraceOdesBkI.php]

14. Cuius in verbis etc: "He inspired men's minds to enthusiasm, when speaking, but when writing, he lost all force, and the effect of his oratory was extinguished like a flame." (Cicero, Brutus, 24.93)

15. Artis est, celare artem: "The art is, to conceal art."

16. Si Pergama &c.: "If Pergama [Troy] could be defended by a right hand, indeed it would have been defended by this one." (Virgil, Aeneid bk. II l. 290-1)

17.Illi, quos tibi dempserit adponit annos: "It [Time] will add to her the years it takes from you." (Horace Odes Bk. II Ode 5. l. 14-15)

18. Dum dubitat Natura &c.: "While Nature hesitated whether to make a boy or a girl, She made you, boy, as beautiful as a girl." (Pseudo-Ausonius, A Pretty Boy)

19. Swift's Burlesque: Its full title is –An argument to prove that the abolishing of Christianity in England may, as things now stand, be attended with some inconveniences, and perhaps not produce those many good effects proposed thereby.

20. Proeliis audax: "daring in battle" (Horace, Odes, Bk I Ode 12 l. 21.)

21. Phasis: Aspect or appearance.

22. Si figit &c. "If dire necessity seizes your rooftop with its claws of adamant" (Horace, Odes, Bk III Ode 24 l. 5-8.) Substituting "sic" for "si," would change If dire necessity . . . to Thus dire necessity . . .

23. Simul calentis &c.: "Once the shameless god had warmed me violently, With the wine that discovered where my secrets were hidden." [A. S. Kline]

24. Quis non &c.:"What does drunkenness not accomplish? It discloses secrets"

25. Ah! une grande perte: voila un orateur de mains!: "Ah! A great loss: he was an orator with his hands!"