The Roman Poets of the Republic Part 9

Volturnalem Palatualem Furrinalem Floralemque Falacrem et Pomonalem fecit Hic idem.

Yet, in spite of these imperfections, both his rhythm and language produce the impression of power and originality. With all the roughness and irregularity of his measure, and notwithstanding the inharmonious structure of continuous pa.s.sages, his lines often have a weighty and impressive effect, like that produced by some of the great pa.s.sages in Lucretius and Virgil. It is said of the rhetorician Aelian that he excessively admired in Ennius both 'the greatness of his mind and the grandeur of his metre[49].' Something of this sonorous grandeur may be recognised in a fragment descriptive of the havoc made by woodcutters in a great forest,--a pa.s.sage in which the language of Ennius again appears as a connecting link between that of Homer and of Virgil:--

Incedunt arbusta per alta, securibu' caedunt, Percellunt magnas quercus, exciditur ilex, Fraxinu' frangitur, atque abies consternitur alta.

Pinus proceras pervortunt: omne sonabat Arbustum fremitu siluai frondosai[50].

In the longest consecutive pa.s.sages,--the dream of Ilia, the auspices of Romulus, and that from book seventh, already quoted as ill.u.s.trative of the poet's character,--there is, notwithstanding the roughness of the lines, something also of Homeric rapidity;--a quality which the Latin hexameter never afterwards attained in elevated poetry.

The diction also of the Annals is generally fresh and forcible, sometimes vividly imaginative. But perhaps the most admirable quality of its style is a grave simplicity and sincerity of tone. Especially is this the case in pa.s.sages expressing appreciation of strength and grandeur of character, as in those fragments from the speeches of Pyrrhus and of Appius Claudius Caecus, already quoted, and in the famous lines commemorative of the resolute character and momentous services of Fabius Maximus:--

Unus h.o.m.o n.o.bis cunctando rest.i.tuit rem: Noenum rumores ponebat ante salutem: Ergo plusque magisque viri nunc gloria claret[51].

These lines leave on the mind the same impression of antique majesty, as is produced by the unadorned record of character and work accomplished inscribed on the tombs of the Scipios.

This truly Roman quality of style, depending on a strong imaginative sense of reality, is one of the great elements of power in the language of Lucretius.

III. CHIEF CHARACTERISTICS OF HIS GENIUS AND INTELLECT.

III.--From a review of the extant fragments both of the Tragedies and the Annals of Ennius, it appears that his prominent place in Roman literature, and influence over his countrymen, were due much more to a great productiveness and activity, and to an original force of mind and character, than to any artistic skill displayed in the conception or execution of his works. A consideration of the spirit and purpose of his greatest works has led to the conclusion that they were, in a considerable measure, inspired by the genius of Rome, and were thus rather the starting-point of a new literature than the mechanical reproduction of the literature of the Greeks. It remains to consider what inference may be formed from these fragments as to the character of his genius, of his imaginative sentiment and moral sympathies, and of his intellectual power.

The force of many single expressions in these fragments, and the power with which various incidents, situations, and characters, are brought before the mind indicate an active imagination. A sense of energy and life-like movement is the prevailing impression produced by a study of the language and the longer pa.s.sages in these remains. Many single lines and expressions that have been gathered accidentally, as mere isolated phrases, disjoined from the context in which they originally occurred, bear traces of the ardour with which they were cast into shape. In longer pa.s.sages, the whole heart, sense, and understanding of the writer seem to be thrown into his narrative. He has not the eye of a poetic artist who observes, as it were, from a distance, and fixes as in a picture, some phase of pa.s.sionate feeling or some beautiful aspect of repose. He suggests rather the idea of a man of practical energy, who has been present and taken part in the action described, who enters with living interest into every detail, and watches it at the same time with a sagacious discernment and a strong enthusiasm. His power as a narrative poet is the power of forcibly reproducing the outward movement and the inward meaning of an action, and of identifying himself with the hearts and minds of the actors on the scene. Several pa.s.sages, wanting altogether in poetical beauty, yet arrest the attention by this energy and realism of conception; as, for example, this short and rugged fragment, descriptive of a commander in the crisis of a battle (probably that of Cynoscephalae),--

Aspectabat virtutem legioni' suai, Expectans, si mussaret, quae denique pausa Pugnandi fieret, aut duri fini' laboris[52].

Even in the abrupt dislocation from their context these lines leave on the mind an impression of the calm vigilance of a general, and of his confidence, not unmixed with anxiety, in 'the long-enduring hearts' of his men. The same truth and energy of conception, with more poetical accompaniment, may be recognised in the longer pa.s.sages, from Book vii. and Book i., already quoted or referred to.

But the imaginative power which gives poetical meaning to familiar objects and ideas is revealed by the force of many single expressions and by the delineation of more pa.s.sionate situations. Such expressions as the following, most of which reappear with an antique l.u.s.tre in the gold of Virgil's diction, are indicative of this higher power:--

Musae quae pedibus magnum pulsatis Olympum.

Transnavit cita per teneras caliginis auras.

Postquam discordia taetra

Belli ferratos postes portasque refregit.

Quem super ingens

Porta tonat caeli.

Spiritus austri imbricitor. Naves velivolae, etc. etc.

These and similar phrases, some of which have already been quoted, imply poetical creativeness. They tend to justify the estimate of the genius of Ennius, indicated in the language of high admiration applied to him by Lucretius,--

Ennius ut noster cecinit, qui primus amoeno Detulit ex Helicone perenni fronde coronam, Per gentes Italas hominum quae clara clueret[53];

and in the signs of the careful study of the Annals which may be traced in the elaborate workmanship of the Aeneid.

The longest specimen of narrative vivified by poetical feeling, from the hand of Ennius, is the pa.s.sage in which the vestal Ilia relates to her sister the dream that portended her great and strange destiny:--

Excita c.u.m tremulis a.n.u.s attulit artubu' lumen, Talia commemorat lacrimans, exterrita somno.

Eurudica prognata, pater quam noster amavit, Vires vitaque corpu' meum nunc deserit omne.

Nam me visus h.o.m.o pulcher per amoena salicta Et ripas raptare locosque novos; ita sola Postilla, germana soror, errare videbar Tardaque vestigare et quaerere te neque posse Corde capessere: semita nulla pedem stabilibat.

Exin compellare pater me voce videtur His verbis: 'O gnata, tibi sunt ante ferendae Aerumnae, post ex fluvio fortuna resistet.'

Haec ecfatu' pater, germana, repente recessit Nec sese dedit in conspectum, corde cupitus, Quanquam multa ma.n.u.s ad caeli caerula templa Tendebam lacrimans et blanda voce vocabam: Vix aegro c.u.m corde meo me somnu' reliquit[54].

Though these lines are rough and inharmonious as compared with the rhythm of Catullus or Virgil, yet they flow more smoothly and rapidly than any of the other fragments preserved from Ennius. The impression of gentleness and tender affection produced by the speech of Ilia, implies some dramatic skill in the conception of character. And there is real imaginative power shown in the sense of hurry and surprise, of vague awe and helplessness conveyed in the lines--

Nam me visus h.o.m.o pulcher per amoena salicta, etc.

From this pa.s.sage Virgil has borrowed one of the finest touches in his delineation of the pa.s.sion of Dido, the sense of horror and desolation haunting the Carthaginian queen in her dreams--

Agit ipse furentem In somnis ferus Aeneas: semperque relinqui Sola sibi, semper longam incomitata videtur Ire viam, et Tyrios deserta quaerere terra.

Another of the most impressive pa.s.sages in the early books of the Aeneid--the dream in which Hector appears to Aeneas[55]--was evidently suggested by the description which Ennius gave of the appearance of the shade of Homer to himself. Some of his dramatic fragments, also, as for instance the scene between Hecuba and Ca.s.sandra already referred to, show a real power of conceiving and representing pa.s.sionate situations.

Among the modes of imaginative sentiment by which the poetry of Ennius is pervaded, those kindled by patriotic enthusiasm are most conspicuous. In the manifestation of his enthusiasm, he shows an affinity to Virgil in ancient, and to Scott in modern times. He resembles them in their mingled feelings of veneration and affection which they entertain towards the national heroes of old times, and the great natural features of their country, a.s.sociated with historic memories and legendary renown. Such feelings are shown by Ennius in the lines of tender regret and true hero-worship, which express the sorrow of Senate and people at the death of Romulus--

Pectora ... tenet desiderium, simul inter Sese sic memorant, O Romule, Romule die Qualem te patriae custodem di genuerunt!

O pater, O genitor, O sanguen dis oriundum!

Tu produxisti nos intra luminis oras[56].

They appear also in the language applied by him to the sacred river of Rome, which had preserved the founder of the city from his untimely fate, and which was thus inseparably identified with the national destiny--

Teque pater Tiberine tuo c.u.m flumine sancto.

and also in this fragment--

Postquam consist.i.t fluvius qui est omnibu' princeps Qui sub caeruleo.

The enumeration of the great warlike races in the line

Marsa ma.n.u.s, Peligna cohors, Vestina virum vis,

may recall the pride and enthusiasm which are kindled in the heart of Virgil by the names of the various tribes of Italy, and of places renowned for their fame in story, or their picturesque environment[57]. This fond use of proper names recalling old a.s.sociations or the charm of natural scenery is also among the most familiar characteristics of the poetry of Scott.

It was seen in the introductory chapter that the Roman mind was peculiarly susceptible of that kind of feeling, which perhaps may best be described as the sense of majesty. This vein of poetical emotion is also conspicuous in the fragments of Ennius. His language shows a deep sense of greatness and order, both in the material world and in human affairs. Thus his style appears animated not only by vital force, but by an impressive solemnity, befitting the grave and dignified emotion which responds to such ideas. This susceptibility of his genius appears in such expressions as these--

Magnum pulsatis Olympum. Indu mari magno.

Litora lata sonant.

Latos per populos terrasque.

Magnae gentes opulentae.

Quis potis ingentis oras evolvere belli?