141. vultibus: this word is often pl. for sg.
figens: figere,to fix, imprint.
142. clamavit: clamare, to cry, shout, call out.
quis…casus: = qui casus.
mihi:from me; DAT. OF SEPARATION.
ademit: adimere,to take away.
144. nominat: nominare, to call by name; note the emphatic placement of the names in 142–43.
145. a morte: use of the prep. (ABL. OF AGENT instead of ABL. OF MEANS) has the effect of personifying death.
146. recondidit: recondere, to conceal again = to close again.
147. quae: conjunctive use of the rel.
postquam…suam cognovit: a deliberate echo of postquam…suos cognovit, identically positioned in 137; like the repetition of tua te in 143 and 148, an example of the pervasive musicality of Ovid’s verse.
-que…et: = et…et,both…and.
ense: ensis,sword; ABL. OF SEPARATION with vacuum, empty.
148. ebur: ivory; here, by SYNECDOCHE, = ivory scabbard.
“Pyramus and Thisbe” Gregorio Pagani 16th-early 17th century
Arte & Immagini srl/CORBIS.
145 Ad nomen Thisbes oculos a morte gravatos Pyramus erexit visaque recondidit illa. Quae postquam vestemque suam cognovit et ense vidit ebur vacuum, “Tua te manus,” inquit, “amorque perdidit infelix. Est et mihi fortis in unum 150 hoc manus, est et amor; dabit hic in vulnera vires. Persequar exstinctum letique miserrima dicar causa comesque tui; quique a me morte revelli heu sola poteras, poteris nec morte revelli. Hoc tamen amborum verbis estote rogati, 155 o multum miseri meus illiusque parentes, ut quos certus amor, quos hora novissima iunxit, componi tumulo non invideatis eodem. At tu, quae ramis arbor miserabile corpus nunc tegis unius, mox es tectura duorum, 160 signa tene caedis, pullosque et lunctibus aptos semper habe fetus, gemini monumenta cruoris.” Dixit et, aptato pectus mucrone sub imum, incubuit ferro quod adhuc a caede tepebat. Vota tamen tetigere deos, tetigere parentes; 165 nam color in pomo est, ubi permaturuit, ater, quodque rogis superest una requiescit in urna.
“Pyramus and Thisbe” Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1520–25 Neue Residenz, Bamberg, Germany
Giraudon/Art Resource, NY.
149. perdidit: use of a sg. vb. with a compound subj. was not uncommon.
et: = etiam both in this line and in the next.
mihi: DAT. OF POSSESSION.
in unum hoc (150):for this one thing;in is used similarly in the next line.
150. hic: sc. amor; hic, the pron., has a long i where the meter requires.
151. exstinctum: sc. te.
leti: letum,death; with tui, framing the cl.
152. comes: companion.
quique: = et (tu) qui.
morte revelli…poteras, poteris…morte revelli (153): revellere,to tear away; an extraordinally effective use of ANAPHORA, CHIASMUS, and end-line rhyme.
153. sola: with morte, not me.
nec: here, not even.
154. hoc…estote rogati: you shall be asked for this; estote is fut. imper. of sum. Rogare and similar vbs. of asking take two accs., one of the pers. asked, one of the thing; in the pass. the latter acc. is retained.
amborum:of both.
155. multum miseri meus: ALLITERATION of m is often meant to add a somber tone.
meus: sg. perhaps because she is thinking only of her father.
156. ut…non invideatis (157): JUSSIVE NOUN CL. in appos. with hoc, that you not be unwilling to allow + the inf. phrase (nos) componi eodem tumulo; ut…non is used instead of ne to give negative emphasis to invideatis.
novissima: here, last.
158. tu, quae…arbor: = tu, arbor, quae.
