[145] Ergo, its importance being such, v. 140. ‘Alte vestiga oculis’ is explained by v. 136. Serv. says, “‘rite carpe,’ id est, cum observatione; non ‘rite repertum,’” and later editors follow him. I am by no means sure however that Virg. did not intend to join ‘rite repertum,’ successfully, or, as we might say, duly found. At any rate, there does not appear to be any notion such as Forb. supposes, that the bough is to be plucked by the hand, not separated by the knife. What follows merely means that if the seeker is favoured, no force will be necessary; if not, no force will be sufficient. ‘Manu’ then will be, as it often is in Virg., semipleonastic, though it has not, as elsewhere, a notion of force or personal agency, but forms a kind of contrast with ‘oculis.’
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John Conington. P. Vergili Maronis opera. P. Vergili Maronis Opera. The works of Virgil, with a Commentary by John Conington, M.A. Late Corpus Professor of Latin in the University of Oxford. London. Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane. 1876.
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