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"Poeta nascitur" the proverb runs, and that proverb's truth was doubtless forced home upon the Lord Giovanni at an early stage of his excursions into the flowery meads of prosody.

In the bold emulation, in the sounding rhythms, even in the mighty professional pride of the poets of this age there is, more than in any other epoch of Roman literature, an imposing grandeur; and even those who are under no illusion as to the weak points of this poetry may apply to it the proud language, already quoted, in which Ennius celebrates its praise: -Enni poeta, salve, qui mortalibus Versus propinas flammeos medullitus.

He imagined that he was pursued by a hundred men who had sworn to kill him. An early poet who suffered death on account of his writings was Cecco d'Ascoli, Professor of Astrology at the famous University of Bologna in 1322. His poems have been collected and published under the title Opere Poetiche del' illustro poeta Cecco d'Ascoli, cioe, l'acerba.

Gray, who is an enthusiast about those poems, and begs me to put the following queries to you; which I will do in his own words, and I may say truly, Poeta loquitur.

As to the genius of poetry, I own, if Nature has not given it you, you cannot have it, for it is a true maxim that Poeta nascitur non fit. It is much otherwise with oratory, and the maxim there is Orator fit, for it is certain that by study and application every man can make himself a pretty good orator, eloquence depending upon observation and care.

His recognition as a poet has been hearty enough to give him a feeling of success, for he showed me various tokens of the estimation in which he is held, for instance, a presentation copy of Southey's works, in which the latter had written "Amicus amico, poeta poetae."

Ab ea must be supplied after descriptae from a qua above. ACTUM: the common comparison of life with a drama is also found in 64, 70, 85. Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 126 praetulerim scriptor delirus inersque videri, and Cic. POETA: nature is here the dramatist, the drama is life, the actors are human beings.

Novimus quanta lepore descripserit colloquia illa antemeridiana, symposia illa sobria et severa, sed eadem festiva et faceta, in quibus totiens mutata persona, modo poeta, modo professor, modo princeps et arbiter, loquendi, inter convivas suos regnat."

"Poeta nascitur et fit;" and if the demands of technical routine have sometimes tended to stifle, the comparative repose of a seclusion "unravaged" by the fierce activities around it, the habit of dwelling on the old wisdom and harping on the ancient strings, is calculated to foster the poetic temper and enrich its resources.

There is another word which Cicero uses for I have still somewhat more to say of that passage from the oration "pro Archia poeta" the word "rusticantur," which indicates that civilization twenty centuries ago made a practice of taking books out into the country for summer reading.