4 . Wings ( Richard Willes ), p . 28 Willes ’ s inspiration for this poem is the Alae or Πτέρυγες of the 3rd century BC grammarian and poet , Simmias of Rhodes ( cf . p . 172 of Bucolici Graeci , OCT , ed . A . S . F . Gow , Oxford 1952 ). Willes ’ s poem is dedicated to Napoleone Comitoli , Bishop of Perugia from 1591 to 1624 . His own note , including a reference to an ode addressed by Horace to Sallustius Crispus , great-nephew of the historian Sallust , reads as follows :
Simmiae Rhodii Ala Ἔρωτος orationem complectitur , qua se primam rerum omnium causam atque principium ostendit . Ego Musas obtestor , ut amicissimum meum aeternitati consecrare velint , cuius sane modestia , pietas , eruditio , id merentur , vt quod Horatius ait lib . 2 . od . 2 .
Illum agat penna metuente solui Fama superstes .
Alae utriusque versus , natura , proportione , loco pares , Choriambici omnes , Bacchio clauduntur , qui destrae Alae uno semper choriambo diminutiori tandem finem imponit , quemadmodum sinistrae Alae principium dat , quae similiter uno choriambo usquequaque augetur , donec ad iustam magnitu [ di ] nem perueniat .
( The ‘ Ala ’ of Simmias of Rhodes comprises a speech of Eros , in which he shows that he is the primary cause and beginning of all things . I appeal to the Muses to be willing to dedicate to eternity my most dear friend , whose modesty , piety and learning indeed deserve it that , as Horace says ( Odes 2.2 ), ‘ Lasting fame propel him on a wing that disdains to droop down ’.
The lines of both wings are equal in nature , proportion and position , are all choriambic and finish with a bacchius which gives a final close to the right wing , shorter each time by one choriamb , just as it provides a beginning for the left wing , which is in a similar way increased each time , until it gets to the appropriate length .)
1 . Summa … iuga Parnasia : Parnassus is a mountain in Greece , towering over Delphi , north of the Gulf of Corinth . It is the mythological home of the Muses who are here addressed .
75