DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61893#0360
332 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IX.
basin of rock that receives the Velinus; the
silver sheet of water descending' from above ;
the white spray that rises below, and conceals
the secrets of the abyss ; the Iris that plays over
the watery cavern, and covers it with a party-
coloured blaze, are all features of uncommon
beauty, and better adapted to the watery pa-
laces of the Naiads of the neighboring rivers,
Centum quae sylvas, centum quag flumina servant.
Vir. Geo. iv. 383,
Addison’s conjecture is founded upon one parti-
cular expression, “ Est locus Italire medio,” and
two verses in Virgil’s description:
Urget utrimque latus nemoris, medioque fragosus
Dat souitum saxis et toi to vertice torrens.
EEn. Lio. vii. 566.
But the first expression may merely imply that
Amsanctus was at a distance from the coasts,
and extremities of Italy ; and the description
contained in the verses may be applied to any
wood, and to the roar and agitation of any
torrent; while, if intended to represent the thun-
der of the falling Velinus, they convey, what
Virgil’s descriptions are seldom supposed to do,
a very faint idea of their object. Besides, in op-
position to these critical conjectures, we have
the positive authority of the ancients, and par-
basin of rock that receives the Velinus; the
silver sheet of water descending' from above ;
the white spray that rises below, and conceals
the secrets of the abyss ; the Iris that plays over
the watery cavern, and covers it with a party-
coloured blaze, are all features of uncommon
beauty, and better adapted to the watery pa-
laces of the Naiads of the neighboring rivers,
Centum quae sylvas, centum quag flumina servant.
Vir. Geo. iv. 383,
Addison’s conjecture is founded upon one parti-
cular expression, “ Est locus Italire medio,” and
two verses in Virgil’s description:
Urget utrimque latus nemoris, medioque fragosus
Dat souitum saxis et toi to vertice torrens.
EEn. Lio. vii. 566.
But the first expression may merely imply that
Amsanctus was at a distance from the coasts,
and extremities of Italy ; and the description
contained in the verses may be applied to any
wood, and to the roar and agitation of any
torrent; while, if intended to represent the thun-
der of the falling Velinus, they convey, what
Virgil’s descriptions are seldom supposed to do,
a very faint idea of their object. Besides, in op-
position to these critical conjectures, we have
the positive authority of the ancients, and par-