=6. OFFICIOSA.= 'Attentive'. The preface to Martial XII gives a good illustration of the sense: 'consequimur ut molesti potius quam ut officiosi esse uideamur'.

_Officiosus_ occurs five times in the _Ex Ponto_, but only four times in the rest of Ovid's poetry.

=9-10.= Aristaeus was famous for his beekeeping (Virgil _G_ IV 315-558).

Bacchus was the god of wine, and Triptolemus had disseminated the knowledge of grain-farming (_Met_ V 646-61). Alcinous might seem a strange companion to these three, but evidently Homer's description of Alcinous' orchard (_Od_ VII 112-31) made a strong impression on the Latin poets. From Ovid compare _Am_ I x 56 'praebeat Alcinoi poma benignus ager' and _Met_ XIII 719-20 'proxima Phaeacum felicibus obsita pomis / rura petunt', from Propertius III ii 13 'nec mea Phaeacas aequant pomaria siluas', and from Virgil _G_ II 87 'pomaque et Alcinoi siluae' 'the fruit-trees of Alcinous'.

=9. BACCHO VINA FALERNA.= Heinsius preferred _M_'s BACCHO VINA FALERNO.

But the passage he cited in its support, Silius III 369-70 'Tarraco ... uitifera, et Latio tantum cessura Lyaeo' is not in fact parallel: _Lyaeo_ there stands for _uino_, and the passage means 'Tarraco, rich in vines, conceding priority to Latin wine alone'. Ovid wished to balance the hexameter with the pentameter, and used a standard epithet to fill out the metre.

=10. ALCINOO.= Note the quadrisyllable ending, and compare _EP_ II ix 41-42 'quis non Antiphaten Laestrygona deuouet? aut quis / munifici mores improbet _Alcinoi_?'. In his later poetry Ovid shows a steadily increasing willingness to allow his pentameters to end with words other than disyllables. Every pentameter of the amatory poems and the first fifteen _Heroides_ ends in a disyllable. Two quadrisyllabic endings occur in the later books of the _Fasti_: V 582 _fluminibus_ and VI 660 _funeribus_. In the first five books of the _Tristia_ there are eight such endings, in the first three books of the _Ex Ponto_ there are seven, while in the fourth book there are no less than fourteen instances of quadrisyllabic endings: nearly as many as in all the rest of Ovid's corpus put together.[18] 'Sermo magis etiam quam illic [_sc_ in the _Tristia_] ... neglectus est et degenerauit' Riese remarked, but it can reasonably be doubted that a poet of Ovid's facility would break the rule of the disyllabic ending except by choice. A moderation of the rule became general: the author of _Her_ XVI-XXI (whom I do not believe to have been Ovid) allowed _pudicitiae_ (XVI 290), _superciliis_ (XVII 16), and _deseruit_ (XIX 202) (Platnauer 17); a count of pentameters in Martial V shows the proportion of non-disyllabic endings at 20%--the shorter the poem, the more freely they are admitted. Quadrisyllable endings are frequent in the metrically strict Claudian.

[Footnote 18: These figures are taken from Platnauer 17 and from page vii of Riese's preface to his edition.]

Ovid admitted quadrisyllable endings more freely if they were proper names. Of the twenty-one quadrisyllable verse-endings in the _Ex Ponto_, six involve proper nouns: II ii 76 _Dalmatiae_, ix 42 _Alcinoi_, the present passage, IV iii 54 _Anticyra_, viii 62 _Oechalia_, and ix 80 _Danuuium_. Professor E. Fantham points out to me that Ovid follows Propertius' similar practice: 42 of the 166 quadrisyllable pentameter endings in Propertius are proper names (Platnauer 17).

The fifteen other instances in the _Ex Ponto_ of quadrisyllabic pentameter-endings are II ii 6 _perlegere_, ii 70 _imperium_, iii 18 _articulis_, v 26 _ingenium_, III i 166 _aspiciant_, IV v 24 _officio_, vi 6 _alterius_, vi 14 _auxilium_, ix 48 _utilitas_, xiii 28 _imperii_, xiii 46 _ingeniis_, xiv 4 _inuenies_, xiv 18 _ingenio_, xiv 56 _imposuit_, and xv 26 _auxilium_.

For Ovid's use of trisyllabic and pentasyllabic endings, see at ix 26 _tegeret_ (page 294) and iii 12 _amicitia_ (p 181).

=11. FERTILE PECTVS HABES.= Compare _Tr_ V xii 37-38 'denique non paruas animo dat gloria uires, / et _fecunda_ facit _pectora_ laudis amor'.

=11. INTERQVE HELICONA COLENTES.= Poets are also described as being on Parnassus at _Tr_ IV i 50, x 23 & x 120. Helicon is the goal of poets at Hor _Ep_ II i 218 (cited at 36).

=12. PROVENIT= continues the agricultural metaphor of _fertile pectus_.

For _prouenire_ = 'grow', see _AA_ III 101-2 'ordior a cultu: cultis bene Liber ab uuis / prouenit', _Fast_ IV 617 'largaque prouenit cessatis messis in aruis', and _Nux_ 10; for the metaphorical sense see _Am_ I iii 19-20 'te mihi materiem _felicem_ in carmina praebe-- / _prouenient_ causa carmina digna sua' and _Her_ XV 13-14 'nec mihi dispositis quae iungam carmina neruis / _proueniunt_'.

For _uberius ... prouenit_ compare Caesar _BG_ V 24 'eo anno frumentum in Gallia propter siccitates _angustius prouenerat_'.

=13. MITTERE AD HVNC CARMEN.= Burman printed without comment MITTERE CARMEN AD HVNC, the reading of Heinsius' _fragmentum Louaniense_. It seems to be a mere normalization of the hyperbaton; the elimination of the elision (_mittere ad_) may have been a factor as well.

=13. AD HVNC= indicates that Ovid cannot have addressed these words in the first instance directly to Severus, but must here be recollecting his earlier thoughts. I have therefore placed the line in quotation marks.

=15. NEC TAMEN.= 'This was the principal reason; a second reason, however, was that ...'

=15. INGENIVM= = 'poetic talent', as often. Compare viii 66, xvi 2, _Tr_ III vii 47, _EP_ II ii 103, _EP_ II v 21 (quoted at 20 _uena pauperiore_), _EP_ II v 26, and _EP_ III iv 11.

=15. RESPONDET= introduces the agricultural image of 18 'sed siccum sterili uomere litus aro', for the word here means 'yield'. _OLD_ _respondeo_ 8c cites for the literal sense Virgil _G_ II 63-64 'truncis oleae melius, propagine uites / respondent', Columella II 1 3 'humus ...

magno faenore ... colono respondet', Col III 3 4; for a transferred use see Sen _Ep_ LXXXI 1 'non respondeant [_sc_ beneficia] potius quam non dentur'.

=16. SICCVM ... LITVS ARO.= Proverbial for a useless activity. See Otto _harena_ 4 and compare _Tr_ V iv 47-48 'plena tot ac tantis referetur gratia factis, / nec sinet ille [Ovid] litus arare boues'.

_Sterili_ is transferred by hypallage from _litus_; _siccum_ serves no purpose beyond providing a balancing epithet.

=17. VENAS EXCAECAT=, the reading of most codices, is obviously correct as against the VENAS CVM CAECAT of _BCHL_. Ovid uses _excaecare_ again at _Met_ XV 270-72 'hic fontes natura nouos emisit, at illic / clausit ... flumina prosiliunt aut _excaecata_ [_uar_ exsiccata] residunt'.

=17. IN VNDIS= is probably corrupt; if it is retained, from the context it must mean 'in the water of springs' (Professor A. Dalzell). Williams suggests 'in the case of water', marking the analogy with _pectora sic mea sunt limo uitiata malorum_ in 19.

For _undis_ as a corrupt hexameter ending, compare _Met_ XV 276 'redditur Argolicis ingens Erasinus in aruis [_codd_: in undis _Sen_ NQ _III 26 4_]', _Met_ VIII 162 'liquidus Phrygiis Maeandros in aruis [_uar_ liquidis Phrygius ... in undis]', and _Met_ XIV 155 'sedibus Euboicam Stygiis emergit in urbem [_uar_ sedibus euboicis stigiis emersus ab undis]'.

The line seems to have passed without comment until Merkel's second edition: '_in undis_ minus bene positum uidetur; temptabam _hiulcas,_ quod expressisset Statius Theb. VIIII 450 _hiulcis flumina uenis Suggerit_ ['he (the river Asopos) opens his springs wide and adds his streams']'. There seems no obvious reason, however, for Ovid to define the springs as 'gaping'.

Madvig conjectured INVNDANS, the corruption of which would be easy; but _uenas_ seems more in need of a modifier than _limus_--Professor R. J.

Tarrant suggests APERTAS or AQVARVM, Professor A. Dalzell IN ARVIS.

Professor Tarrant also suggests to me that _in undis_ could well have originated as a gloss on _uenas_.

=18. LAESAQVE.= There seems no reason to replace this with Merkel's LAPSAQVE ('flowing back'?), which even seems to contradict the sense of _resistit_.

The same sense of _laesus_ at _Am_ III vii 32 'deficiunt laesi carmine ['spell'] fontis aquae'.

=20. VENA PAVPERIORE.= The same image of Ovid's poetic talent at _Tr_ III xiv 33-34 'ingenium fregere meum mala, cuius et ante / fons infecundus _paruaque uena_ fuit' and _EP_ II v 21-22 'ingenioque meo, _uena_ quod _paupere_ manat, / plaudis, et e riuo flumina magna facis'.

=23. DA VENIAM FASSO.= As a poet himself, Severus would be particularly shocked at Ovid's admission he has virtually ceased to write poetry.

Similar phrasing at III ix 45-46 'confesso ignoscite, docti: / uilior est operis fama salute mea'.

=23. FRENA REMISI.= 'I have let go of the reins' = 'I have stopped writing poetry'; for the sense, compare _Aen_ VII 599-600 (of Latinus) 'nec plura locutus / saepsit se tectis rerumque reliquit habenas'.

The metaphor of the poet as driver is found as early as Bacchylides (V 176-78) and Pindar (_Ol_ VI 22 ff). A full list of Greek and Latin passages is included in Henderson's note on _RA_ 397-98; the image is particularly frequent in Roman didactic poetry, being found even at Columella X 215-16. See as well Kenney _Nequitiae Poeta_ 206. In Ovid the image is found at _AA_ I 39-40 & 264, II 426, III 467-68 & 809-10, _RA_ 397-98, _Fast_ I 25-26, II 360, IV 10, and VI 586. The only instances I have found that are not from Ovid's didactic verse are the present passage and xii 23-24 'tu bonus hortator, tu duxque comesque fuisti, / cum regerem tenera frena nouella manu'.

=24. DVCITVR.= 'Is formed, written'. The same sense at _Met_ I 649 (of Io) '_littera_ ... quam pes in puluere _duxit_' and _Met_ X 215-16 'AI AI / flos habet inscriptum, funestaque _littera ducta_ est'.

=25. IMPETVS ILLE SACER.= 'The famous divine impulse'. Similar phrasing at _Fast_ VI 5-6 'est deus in nobis; agitante calescimus illo: / impetus hic sacrae semina mentis habet'.

=25. VATVM PECTORA NVTRIT.= _Nutrit_ here seems to mean 'sustain'. Its usual transferred sense is 'cause to grow', as at III iv 26 (the only other passage I have found where the verb is used of poetry) and Hor _C_ IV iv 26.

=27. VIX VENIT AD PARTES ... MVSA.= 'My Muse with difficulty performs her functions'. _Partes_ in the sense of 'theatrical role' (Ter _Ph_ 27) early acquired the extended sense of 'role', 'function', or 'duty'.

Burman cites as parallels _Am_ I viii 87 'seruus et _ad partes_ sollers ancilla parentur' and _Nux_ 68; compare as well _AA_ II 546 'cum, tener, _ad partes_ tu quoque, somne, uenis' and _EP_ III i 41-42 'utque iuuent alii, tu debes uincere amicos, / uxor, et _ad partes_ prima uenire tuas'.

=27. SVMPTAE ... TABELLAE.= Compare _Met_ IX 523-25 'scribit damnatque _tabellas_ ... inque uicem _sumptas_ ponit positasque _resumit_'.

=29. NE DICAM.= I have found no other instance of the expression in verse, but it is common in Cicero (Kuhner-Stegmann II i 825).

=30. NVMERIS NECTERE VERBA.= 'Bind words to metre'. I take _numeris_ as a dative; no close parallel presents itself, but compare _Aen_ IV 239-40 'pedibus talaria nectit / aurea'.

=33. NVMEROSOS ... GESTVS.= Compare _Am_ II iv 29 'illa placet _gestu numerosaque bracchia_ ducit', _AA_ II 305 '_bracchia_ saltantis, uocem mirare canentis', and Prop II xxii 5-6 'siue aliquis molli diducit candida _gestu_ / bracchia, seu uarios incinit ore modos'. Heinsius thought GRESSVS (_I1PF3ul_) possible as well, citing Varro _LL_ IX 5 '_pedes_ male _ponere_ atque imitari uatias ['bow-legged men']

coeperit', Martianus Capella IX 909 'licet pulchris rosea numeris ac libratis _passibus_ moueretur', and Maximianus (6th century) _El_ III 27 'suspensos ponere _gressus_'. But the strong manuscript authority for _gestus_ and the parallels in Ovid mark it as clearly preferable to _gressus_.

=33. PONERE.= The verb seems strange, but Burman cited in its support Val Max VIII vii 7 'Roscius ... nullum umquam spectante populo _gestum_, nisi quem domi meditatus fuerat, _ponere_ [_codd_: promere _E. Schulze_]

ausus est'.

=35-36. LAVDATAQVE VIRTVS / CRESCIT.= For this commonplace of ancient literature see _Otto_ _ars_ 3 and compare _RA_ 393 'nam iuuat et studium famae mihi creuit honore', _Tr_ V xii 37-38 'denique non paruas animo dat gloria uires, / et fecunda facit pectora laudis amor', _EP_ III ix 21 'scribentem iuuat ipse fauor minuitque laborem', Prop IV x 3, and Cic _Tusc_ I 4.

=36. IMMENSVM GLORIA CALCAR HABET.= The same metaphor at _Tr_ V i 75-76 'denique nulla mihi captatur gloria, quaeque / ingeniis _stimulos subdere_ fama solet', _EP_ I v 57-58 'gloria uos _acuat_; uos, ut recitata probentur / carmina, Pieriis inuigilate choris', and Hor _Ep_ II i 217-18 'uatibus addere _calcar_ / ut studio maiore petant Helicona uirentem'.

_Immensum_ seems rather strange; I have found no good parallel for it.

=37. HIC MEA CVI RECITEM ... CARMINA.= A constant complaint of Ovid in exile. Compare _Tr_ III xiv 39-40 'nullus in hac terra, recitem si carmina, cuius / intellecturis auribus utar, adest', _Tr_ IV i 89-90, and _Tr_ V xii 53 'non liber hic ullus, non qui mihi commodet aurem'.

Perhaps it is significant that Ovid does not complain in the present passage that he has no books available: certainly he must have had a substantial library at hand when he composed the _Ibis_.