cymbalon

Updated: May 15, 2025

On the subject of adornment of style a relatively small task lay in memorizing illustrations of some sixty figures of speech and so on ad infinitum. Inane cymbalon juventutis is indeed a fitting commentary on such memory tasks. The end of the poem cited betrays the fact that the poet had not been able to keep his attention upon his task. He had been writing verses; who would not?

Tenney Frank - Vergil: A Biography