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vellem . . . posset, ‘would only that my death could escape my mother's ken,’ Roby, §§ 1536, 1606, R. §§ 644, 672. The frequency with which this construction occurs is worth noticing: cf. 805, IX. 490, “tu me vellem generosior esses”, ib. 531, X. 355, XI. 696, XIV. 482. It should be observed that vellem in the subjunctive strictly corresponds in its reference to volebam of the indicative, and is limited to past time; here it is used to express a wish which is impossible, because it is concerned with what has already been determined otherwise. For fallere used of things which escape notice, cf. 771 n. VI. 657, where is described the gradation of colour in the rainbow: “in quo diversi niteant cum mille colores transitus ipse tamen spectantia lumina fallit; usque adeo quod tangit idem est, tamen ultima distant.”
Charles Simmons. Metamorphoseon XIII. xiv. The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books XIII. and XIV. Edited, with introduction, analysis, and notes by Charles Simmons. New York. Macmillan. 1899.
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