Syntra 99-108

The nymph departed and I was powerfully reassured about the fate of the Infanta. 

99  et liquidās resilit dea rūrsus in undās: a beautiful line with dea nestled right in the middle. Reorder: et dea rursus resilit in liquidas undas, “and the goddess jumped back into the liquid water.” 

100  praecipitī et saltū: ablative of means, “with a headfirst jump.” 

100  gurgite mersa latet: mersa latet goes together and gurgite is an ablative of place where, “she lurks submerged in the whirlpool.” 

101  īnfantis causā: "for the sake of the princess." Infanta is the term given to a princess who is not in the line of succession.

101  dubitāre: "to entertain doubts," "to worry."  

102  anteā: adverbial, “previously.” 

102  rediēns: “upon returning,” i.e. once she has heard the prophecy. 

102  omine: "because of the omen," ablative of cause.

103-104  Mercurium, crēdō, Nymphae sub imāgine, Olympō dēmissum: order: credo Mercurium demissum (esse) Olympo sub imagine nymphae, “I believe that Mercury was sent from Olympus disguised as a nymph.” Sets up the purpose clause that comes after. 

105  tendō iūnctās ad sīdera palmās: the gesture of raising both hands as an appeal to heaven to heaven to vouch for the fervent sincerity and of what is being said is familiar from Vergil, Ovid, and other Latin poets. The addition of iunctas makes the gesture one of Christian prayer.

106  prō tālī auguriō: “for the sake of such a prophecy,” “in return for such a (favorable) prophecy.” 

106  cassa: "empty, vain, unfulfilled," predicate, supply est.

106  fidēs: “promise," "assurance" (LS fides II.B.1), see Silius Italicus, Punica 3.17.

107  haec: "these (prophecies)."

107  cum cernam: "whenever I will see"

107  in prīncipe: "in regard to the princess"

107  Haec ego cum cernam complērī in prīncipe vātēs: reorder, cum ego, vates, cernam haec compleri in principe, “whenever I, the poet, will see these things fulfilled in regard to the princess." Cernam introduces indirect statement. 

107  vātēs: "a poet." Augustan poets often give themselves the title vates ("prophet") when they are inspired to prophesy the future, as inspired by a god.

108  sperō ... habēre: "I hope to have a place among the inhabitants of heaven." Alternatively, if eam is supplied from principe in the previous line: "I hope that she has a place among the inhabitants of heaven." The former interpretation seems more likely, since the Toledo manuscript reads inter caelicolas tunc mihi locus erit (Serrano y Sanz 1905, 405, see A Note on the Latin Texts). Sigea seems to be hoping for poetic immortality for herself (as a consequence of Maria's rise to imperial power). Similarly, Ovid ends the Metamorphoses with the hope that "I will be carried aloft over the stars, imperishable" (super alta perennis / astra ferar, 15.875-76). This interpretation is also made more plausible by the use of the word vates in the previous line, which calls attention to Sigea's status as a poet. On the other hand, in a Christian context inter caelicolas habere locum can mean simply "go to heaven." This is clearly the sense in the funerary epigram for Sir Edward Chamberlain of Oxford, dating to 1517, and quoted in the 1888 edition of Oxfordshire: Lords Lieutenant, High Sheriffs and Members of Parliament, &c, p. 48. But in this context such a meaning seems intolerably flat.