Note 5 — A. PERSIUS FLACCUS
Reading edition
en quid agis? Comp. en quid ago? Verg., Aen., 4, 534. In lively questions the present is often used as a future, as: Quoi dono lepidum novum libellum? Catull., 1, 1.—siccas: proleptic or predicative, to be combined with coquit. Conington renders ‘is baking the crops dry,’ but coquere is too common in this sense for such a translation, a criticism which applies to a very large proportion of Conington’s picturesque versions. Coquere is the regular word for ‘ripen’—Gr. πέσσω—Varro, R. R., 1, 7, 4; 54, 1. Tr. ‘is ripening hard’ (in the broiling sun).—insana canicula: ‘the mad dog-star’ is, of course, the ‘mad dog’s star’ (Conington). Comp. Hor., Od., 3, 29, 18; Ep., 1, 10, 16.