Syntra 87-98

The nymph encouraged me to report her words and reassure the princess. I demanded to know when exactly the prophecy would be fulfilled, and she said within a year.

87  vade: "go on!" The nymph is now speaking to Sigea.

87  timidae: "anxious," dative with referas. Timidae refers to the Infanta Maria. “Repeat to the one who is anxious!” Referas is a hortatory subjunctive in the 2nd person (AG 439 A).

87  quae: = ea quae dīximus, “the things which I have said.” Dīximus uses the "royal we.”

87-88  ōre fātidicō: ablative of means with dīximus, “with a prophetic mouth.” 

88  ut ... exigat: purpose clause, “so that she might spend" (LS exigo II.B.2).

89  Nec sīs: hortatory subjunctive in the 2nd person, “may you not be” with predicate nominative sollicita. 

89  aut metuās: hortatory subjunctive in the 2nd person. The nec from the previous clause carries over and makes this negative. “May you not fear” + praedīcere fāta. 

90  Succēdent: "will go well” (LS succedo II.B.2.d). The subject is cūncta.

90  ordine: "in turn," "in order."

90  vōtīs tuīs: “in accordance with your (Sigaea's) prayers.” 

91  repetō:  "please" = quaeso.

92  Rēctē … rogitās: “Right you are in asking.”

92  nosse: novisse, "to know," perfect for present tense, as is normal with noscō. The infinitive is governed by opus est.

93  epulīs dē mōre solūtīs: ablative absolute, “with the feast having been finished according to custom,” "when the feast ended." 

94  Fātōrum superīs tempora certa dedit: supply pater as the subject of dedit. “The father gave the gods fixed times for the fates.”

95-96  Ante polum quam sōl circum volvātur utrumque / saepius: order: antequam sol volvatur saepius  circum utrumque polum, “before the sun travels around the whole sky more than once,” i.e. within a year. For polum utrumque = "the whole sky," see Calpurnius Siculus, Eclogues 1.80. For volvo = "travel in a circular course," "orbit" see OLD volvo 1.a.

96  ā Cancrō versus ad Aegocerōn: "from Cancer towards Capricorn," i.e. the astrological signs of Cancer and Capricorn. According to the ancient system of astrological signs, the sun passes through the sign of Cancer from approximately June 22 to July 23, and through the sign of Capricorn from approximately December 22 to January 19. For volvere versus ad = "to travel towards," of heavenly bodies, see Cicero, Aratea 168, a passage Sigaea is evidently drawing from. versus is the adverb, "towards," rather than the participle > vertō.

97  quae:  ea quae, neuter plural, “the things which.” The two previous temporal clauses tell us when these predictions will come to fruition. 

97  vōtī rea: "bound by a vow," i.e., "having obtained her desire" (LS reus II.A.2.). rea is feminine, referring to the princess. The phrase is Vergilian.

97  princeps: "princess."

98  supplex: supplex is in apposition with maxima princeps. 

98  pia: modifies tura, but is a transferred epithet, or hypallage. Properly applied to the princess, the adjective is made to apply to the incense itself. The technique was a favorite of Vergil. Incense offerings were common in ancient Mediterranean religions, including Judaism and Christianity, but the phrase pia tura evokes ancient Roman piety specifically.