The Last Poems of Ovid | Page 7

criticism, but explains that he wished
to obtain the assistance of as many people as possible:
et tamen haec eadem cum sint, non scripsimus isdem,
unaque per
plures uox mea temptat opem.
(41-42)
nec liber ut fieret, sed uti sua cuique daretur
littera, propositum
curaque nostra fuit.
postmodo collectas utcumque sine ordine iunxi:

hoc opus electum ne mihi forte putes.
da ueniam scriptis, quorum
non gloria nobis
causa, sed utilitas officiumque fuit.
(51-56)
Ovid's explanation is reasonable enough, and is confirmed by the speed
with which he composed the first three books of the _Ex Ponto_ once
he knew that it was safe to name people in his verse. The first three
books of the _Ex Ponto_, like the _Tristia_, were written with the
single objective of securing Ovid's recall, and this naturally caused a
certain repetition of subject-matter.
By the time Ovid wrote the poems that would form the fourth book of
the _Ex Ponto_, he had lived in Tomis for six or more years, and it
must have been clear to him that his chances of recall were slight. The
result of this is a diminished use of his personal situation as a theme for
his verse. Often he introduces his plight in only one or two distichs of a

poem, subordinating the topic to the poem's main theme. The result of
this technique can be seen in such extended passages as the descriptions
of the investiture of the new consul (iv & ix), the address to
Germanicus on the power of poetry (viii), or the catalogue of poets that
concludes the book. In all of these passages Ovid's desire for recall is
only a secondary theme.
The mixing of levels of diction
As well as variety of subject, the fourth book of the _Ex Ponto_ shows
a variation in style that is typical of Ovid's letters from exile. The
poems use the metre and language of elegiac verse. But at the same
time they are _letters_, and are strongly influenced by the structure and
vocabulary of prose epistles. This influence is naturally more obvious
at some points than at others; and even within a single poem there can
be a surprising degree of variation in the different sections of the poem.
Some poems tend more to one extreme than the other. The eleventh
poem, a letter of commiseration to Gallio on the death of his wife, is
extensively indebted to the genre of the prose letter of consolation; this
prose influence is evident in such passages as:
finitumque tuum, si non ratione, dolorem
ipsa iam pridem suspicor
esse mora
(13-14)
At the opposite extreme is the final poem of the book, a defence of
Ovid's poetry; as this was a traditional poetic subject, the level of
diction throughout the poem is extremely high, particularly in the
catalogue of poets that forms the main body of the poem.
An interesting result of the mixture of styles is the presence in the
poems of exile of words and expressions which belong essentially to
prose, being otherwise rarely or never found in verse. Some instances
from _Ex Ponto_ IV are _ad summam_ (i 15), _conuictor_ (iii 15),
_abunde_ (viii 37), _ex toto_ (viii 72), _di faciant_ (ix 3), _secreto_ (ix
31), _respectu_ (ix 100), _quominus_ (xii 1), _praefrigidus_ (xii 35),

and _tantummodo_ (xvi 49).
Both in subject and style the sixteen poems of _Ex Ponto_ IV show a
wide variety, worthy of the creator of the _Metamorphoses_. The
following section examines the special characteristics of each of the
poems.
The letters to Sextus Pompeius
Sextus Pompeius is the recipient of poems i, iv, v, and xv; only Cotta
Maximus and Ovid's wife have more letters from exile addressed to
them. It is clear from the opening of IV i that Pompeius had himself
prohibited Ovid from addressing him; and Ovid is careful to present
himself as a client rather than a friend; the tone is of almost abject
humility, and he shows circumspection in his requests for assistance.
In the opening of the first poem, Ovid describes how difficult it had
been to prevent himself from naming Pompeius in his verse; in the
climactic ten lines he declares that he is entirely Pompeius' creation.
Only in the transition between the topics does he refer to future help
from Pompeius, linking it with the assistance he is already providing:
nunc quoque nil subitis clementia territa fatis
auxilium uitae fertque
feretque meae.
(25-26)
The fourth poem is a description of how Fama came to Ovid and told
him of Pompeius' election to the consulship; Ovid then pictures the
joyous scene of the accession. At the end of the poem he indirectly asks
for Pompeius' assistance, praying that at some point he may remember
him in exile. The device of having Fama report Pompeius' accession to
the consulship serves to emphasize the importance