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Could he now hear me, I would advise him to make the best of his Way to the shining STARS;shining STARS. Without naming the zodiac, the author nevertheless implies that many animals inhabit the heavens, as readers will recall from their knowledge of the names of the constellations. The author laments the absence of the owl, for it is not among the birds commonly associated with the heavenly bodies. where he shall find his Station; for if Plato’s Opinion holds true, concerning the Immortality of the Souls of Birds, certainly the peaceable OWL must have a Place there, as well as the barking Dog, the heavy Crab Fish, or the poisonous Scorpion. Astronomers also tell us that Above, rest Lions, Bears, and Serpents. And shall the Bull and Ram reside there, and our Bird be excluded?

Quicquid eris, nec te Reginam Tartara sperent, Nec tibi regnandi veniat tam dira Cupido.Quicquid ... Virgil, Georgics I, 36–37. Goddaeus’s text differs from that in the Loeb Classical Library edition, which reads: “quidquid eris (nam te nec sperant Tartara regem, / nec tibi regnandi veniat tam dira cupido ...” In the Loeb translation by H. Rushton Fairclough: “—whate’er thou art to be (for Tartarus hopes not for thee as king, and may such monstrous lust of empire ne’er seize thee ....).”

The next sentence appears to suffer from poor typesetting, and its main puzzle lies in the phrase “is no longer lived,” which is awkward and ungrammatical. If we change the faulty “lived” to “alive” in the same place, the entire thought makes better sense because at the end of this mock encomium the author terminates the owl’s life.

But perhaps some may ask why our Bird is no longer lived [sic] since Pallas is his Friend?

Namque Coturnices inter sua Prælia vivunt, Forsitan et fiunt inde frequenter Anus Vivit & armiferæ Cornix invisa Minervæ, Illa quidem Sæclis vix moritura Novem.Namque Coturnices ... The lines in Latin are quoted from Ovid’s Amores, Bk. II, Elegy vi, lines 27–28 and 35–36. In the English translation in the Loeb Library edition by Grant Showerman: “Look! quails are ever battling with their kind; and perhaps that’s the cause of their living to old-wives’ ages” and “the raven, too, hated by armour-bearing Minerva, lives on—it, at least, will hardly die after nine generations.” Thus it appears that part of Goddaeus’s paradoxical praise of the owl includes an early death for this bird, in comparison with the longer lives of quails and ravens. Goddaeus might have included the concomitant issue of suicide, but did not—probably because it is not an idea or practice associated with the owl.

You are to esteem it as a peculiar Privilege granted to our Bird, that he is permitted to finish his Life in such a short Time, and not to lengthen it out with the Phœnix, or the Crow: It is certain, that Men cannot arrive at this Happiness, but are forced to endure many tedious Years of

Mis-

Misery. Well is it therefore for the OWL, that when he can live no longer, he calmly breathes out his departing Spirit thro’ his crooked Bill, without any Complaint against Fortune; much better than for those

Queis ante ora Patrum Troja sub minibus altis Contigit oppetere―――Queis ante ... Virgil, Aeneid I, 95–96. In Dryden’s translation: “Struck with unusual Fright the Trojan Chief, / With lifted Hands and Eyes, invokes Relief.” (Penguin edition, ed. Frederick M. Keener, Aeneid I, 135–136, page 6).

Henceforth, (O conscript Fathers) retain a particular Regard for this inestimable BIRD, and rescue him from all Contempt. Justly admire both his Wit and his Wisdom. Strictly imitate his Virtues. Delight your selves with his Pleasantry. And join with me, in spreading his deserved Fame:

P L A U D I T E.PLAUDITE. The reader of this work will already know, or else can guess, that “Plaudite” means “applaud.” This instruction or request has an interesting history. Before he died the Emperor Augustus recited a commonplace theatrical tag, in Greek, which Robert Graves translated as “Since well I've played my part, all clap your hands / And from the stage dismiss me with applause.” See Graves’s translation of Suetonius’s The Twelve Caesars (Penguin Classics, 1958), p. 106.