v^ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THE ODES AND CARMEN SECULARE OF HORACE PUBLISHED BY JAMES MACLEHUSE AND SONS, GLASGOW, flnblishsis to the Stntbtrsitii. MACMILLAS AND CO., LONDON AND NEW YORK. London, - ■ Sivipkin, Hamilton and Co. Cambridge, - Macmillan and Bowes. Edinburgh, ■ Douglas and Foulis. MDCCCXCVI. THE ODES & CARMEN SECULARE OF HORACE TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE BY A. S. AGLEN, iM.A. ARCHDEACON OF ST. ANDREWS Diilce periculuvi GLASGOW JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS publishers to the S^nibcvsitg 1896 ?A PREFACE. If I owe to any one an apology for this rash adventure it is to the Shade of Horace himself. But the genial bard would, I am sure, forgive. He was always indulgent to those who would make a friend of him, and if he could know what a solace through many a sleepless night, what an amusement during many a solitary walk, the attempt to translate his Odes has been, he would be indulgent to me. Besides, every fresh proof that his style was too perfect to admit of translation must gratify that vanity which was so transparent, and at the same time so harmless. And if any blame must be incurred for not keeping to myself the versions which it was so pleasant to make, it must be laid at the door of the too kind friends who have urged publication. 818554 vi PREFACE. I cannot, however, expect my critics, if I find any, to be so indulgent, and I hasten to anticipate one censure which I am conscious is not unde- served. I have followed no rule in my choice of metres, or to be more exact, I found that the rule with which I started, to appropriate to each Ode some particular metre, must have exceptions. I have examined the theories on which other translators have worked, and they all seem to me to break down somewhere. I doubt if Horatian translation admits of a workable theory. A rigid adherence to any rule tends to introduce, what is never apparent in the original, a mark of effort. Even when it becomes common-place the verse of Horace is "inevitable." The right word comes in the right place. And he handles all subjects, grave or gay, with the same exquisite felicity of touch and lightness of phrase. He may be occasionally dull, but he never halts. Even in the Odes which deal with the serious themes from which he pro- fesses to long to escape to his favourite mood, and non praeter soiihwi levis to sing of mirth and love, the verse trips along with an ease all its own. My chief aim in selecting a metre has been to try — PREFACE. vii how imperfectly no one knows better than myself — to preserve something of the feeling of freedom from restraint with which even the prolix political Odes glide along. It is, perhaps, for the metre which I have most frequently employed to render the Alcaic stanza that I shall incur most blame. I readily acknow- ledge its defects. It has six lines instead of four, and presents no equivalent to the stately third line which gives the Latin stanza its characteristic grandeur, and has won for it the name " the solemn Alcaic."' But I could not light upon any English four-lined verse which did not seem to me too monotonous to represent the Alcaic with its three varieties of measure. The incomparable imi- tation of it invented and so skilfully handled by Tennyson I found beyond my capacity. I owe my thanks to Professor Ramsay of the University of Cilasgow for kindly consenting to help this book into the world by some introductory remarks ; but I must not claim the shelter of his name for the defects of the translations, since many of them were already printed before I had the benefit of a criticism which, could I have viii PREFACE. availed myself of it throughout, would have been invaluable. I have indeed many friends to thank for kind encouragement and helpful suggestions, and among them cannot refrain from naming the Rev. S. A. Y. Thompson Yates, Mr. H. H. House, and, last, not least, the Rev. J. Bedford, of Stanmore, to whom Menior Adae non alio rege puertiae, I here express my obligation for his kind and careful revision of my proofs. A. S. AGLEN. Alyth, December i,th, 1895. INTRODUCTORY NOTE. I FEEL proud to have been asked to add a few words of introduction to this volume. Generation after generation pronounces the Odes of Horace to be untranslatable : yet each girds itself anew to the attempt. Every phase and stage of our advancing civilization claims Horace for its own ; each seeks to bring itself into line with the common senti- ment of humanity by discovering in his imperishable phrases an expression of its own thoughts and feelings. The range of his vision was not wide, nor his penetration deep ; he had not the gift of the higher imagination. But perhaps all the more for that very reason — just because he confined himself so strictly to the range of average human emotion — he has exercised a unique influence over the cultivated, and even uncultivated, minds of the modern world. The young and the old : men of letters, men of affairs, men of pleasure : all alike have been X INTRODUCTION. attracted by his good sense, his good feeling, and good taste ; have felt the charm of his verse, and admired its exquisite artistic workmanship ; have been fascinated by the matchless skill with which he probes the ordinary motives of mankind, and crystallizes his views of life into flawless gems of speech. As a life-long lover of Horace ; as one who has found in him an unrivalled master for awakening in young minds a sense of what is pure in style, of what is good, what bad, in literary form, I rejoice that the task of interpreting him to this fin de siecle should have been undertaken by one who is so fine a scholar as Archdeacon Aglen, and so completely steeped in the spirit of all that is best in our own literature. G. G. RAMSAY. University of Glasgow, November 22nd, 1895. THE ODES OF HORACE. BOOK I. I. Maecenas atavis. Maecenas, ancient monarchs'' son, My glory and my strength in one ! Some among men their wish attain, If dust of the Olympic plain Gather round chariot-wheels that burn. So fast, so close they take the turn, And the proud prize once captured they Mount to the Gods whom worlds obey. This man is blest if thrice allowed To office by Rome's fickle crowd ; That if in his own barn he stores The wealth of Libyan threshing-floors. ^"I am the son of ancient kings." — Isaiah xix. ii. A ODES OF HORACE. [book i. Not Attains could bribe the swain Content to hoe his sire's domain, As seaman Cyprian bark to steer, And plough Myrtoan waves in fear. Fresh from the Afric gales that fight Icarian waves, and fresh from fright, The merchant to his country seat Retires, and praises his retreat ; But loth to learn a poor man's cares, His battered ships he soon repairs. Some for their wine — old Massic say — Will steal an hour from working day, Stretch'd where green arbute branches spread, Or at some sacred fountain-head. Many love wars, which mothers all Detest, the camp, the bugle-call. And blare of trumpet. Sportsmen stay 'Neath frosty skies from eve to day. Nor thought for tender wife can spare, If the good hound a doe but scare. Or Marsian boar burst corded snare. My heaven is this, to crown my brow With learning's meed, the ivy bough ; And find from men a cool retreat, A grove where nymphs with satyrs meet And lightly dance, on Lesbian lyre If Polyhymnia strike the wire, Nor of her flute Euterpe tire ; ODES I. u.] MAECENAS ATAVIS. Then style me Lyric Bard, and I With head aloft shall strike the sky. II. Ja7n satis. Dire hail and snow enough the Sire Has sent our land, and red with fire. His right hand, blasting fane and spire, Has frightened Rome; Has frightened earth, lest come once more Sights strange as Pyrrha did deplore, When Proteus drove his herds where o'er Hill-tops they clomb, And on the top of elms would rest The finny tribe, where doves should nest. While timid hinds an ocean breast, A flooded plain. We saw old Tiber's tawny tide In mad recoil from Tuscan side Surge back to wreck the Monarch's pride, And Vesta's fane. Such long complaint his Ilia made. He vowed revenge, broke bounds, and strayed O'er his left bank, though Jove forbade, — Fond river-swain ! ODES OF HORACE. [book i. Of brands made sharp for civil fray, Which better Persian foes might slay, Our youths will hear ; but few are they — Their parents' sin ! What God a tottering nation's prayer Will hear? Must holy maids, howe'er They sing to Vesta, not despair Her ear to win ? To whom will Jove the part allow Of expiator? Now, O now, Thy shoulders bright cloud-veiled, come Thou, Apollo, Seer ! Or Erycina smiles may bring. With jocund Loves round fluttering; Or Mars one glance of pity fling On sons once dear ! The war-game even Thee must sate. Whom shouts and glancing helms elate. And Marsian soldier's look of hate On blood-stained foe. Or if, mild Maia's winged son. Thou, in chang'd semblance, dost not shun The name of Caesar's champion. Wait Youth below ; Return not soon to heaven, but stay Awhile with Romans, glad as they. Nor speed on too quick breeze away To flee our stain ; ODES II. III.] JAM SATIS. 5 Choose triumphs here ; here styled, with pride, Our prince, our father, long preside, Nor shall the Mede unpunished ride If Caesar reign. III. Sic te diva. The Cyprian Queen divine Direct thy course, and Helen's brothers bright Lend thee their starry light, And the winds' Father all his brood confine Save Zephyr, so thou pay Virgil, thy debt, O ship, to Attic shore ! Protect him, I implore. And safe this half of mine own life convey ! Heart of oak and triple fold Of brass engirt his bosom bold, Who first to ocean's ruthless might Trusted a bark, thing frail and slight ; Nor at the war of winds did quail, Though southern blast met northern gale ; Nor feared the gloomy Hyades, Nor maddened Notus, — lord of seas, Since Hadria knows no stronger will To lift her waves, or bid be still. ODES OF HORACE. [book k Could death's approach in any guise Fright him who saw with tearless eyes Sea-monsters swim the turgid deep, Saw cursed Acroceraunian steep? With caution wise, but caution vain, Jove interposed the sundering main 'Twixt land and land, if, spite decree, Ships impious leap the barrier sea. Bold to dare al], the human race, To sin forbidden, sins apace. Bold was the son of Japhet when Unhappy fraud brought fire to men. From its ethereal home the flame He stole, and wasting sickness came : New fevers, an invading troop. Began upon the earth to swoop, And death, the doom to man decreed. Once far and slow, now quickened speed. Men have no wings to float in air, Yet Daedalus that feat did dare : To burst the bars of Acheron Asks toil ; by Hercules 'twas done. Nothing there is so hard or high. But men will do it or will try, Our folly e'en would scale the sky; Nor may Jove, by our sins defied, His angry thunders lay aside. ODES III. IV.] SOLVITUR ACRIS HIEMS. 7 IV. Solvitur acris hiems. Grateful change the zephyrs bring, winter's chain is loosed by spring, And the ships laid high and dry are dragged again to sea ; Now the flocks forsake the byre, and the ploughman leaves the fire, And no longer in the morning is there hoar frost on the lea. 'Neath the moon's bright countenance Cytherea leads the dance, While the nymphs are taking hands with the Graces fair to view. Then with graceful rhythmic feet, they the ground in cadence beat, While fierce Vulcan fires the workshops of his monstrous Cyclop crew. Twine now each shining head with green myri ,, or instead. With such flowers as earth, released from her wintry prison, bears, And in the woodland shade let a sacrifice be made To our Faunus, of a lamb, or a goat if he prefers. Pallid Death's impartial feet at the poor man's hovel beat, 8 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. And the rich man's lordly tower. Oh my Sestius, thought so blest, Lengthened hope to entertain is forbidden, for in vain We look forward in a life-time, which is but short at best. Soon the weight of night must fall on your spirit, and the hall, The narrow hall of Pluto, hold you fast with fabled shades ; There the dice will not assign the kingship of the wine, And your friend you must abandon to the care of loving maids. V, Quis multa gracilis. What slender youth with liquid scents bedew'd Is courting you on roses thickly strew'd, Pyrrha, in pleasant grot? For whom twist you that golden hair in knot So charming-simple ? Ah ! how oft he'll weep For heaven's changed looks, the troth you would not keep, ODESiv.-V].] C^UIS MULTA GRACILIS. 9 And wonder, slow to learn, How rough in murky winds Love's sea can turn. Now, lapped in golden joys, he fondly sees You always pleasing, always free to please; Poor fool ! he little knows The fickle breeze that now so softly blows. The wretch is lost on whom you smile untried ; My votive tablet on that wall, inside The mighty Sea-God's shrine, Shows where I've hung my garments dripping brine. VI. Scriberis Vario. Let Varius, whose Maeonian wing Such flights can dare, thy prowess tell. And of thy frequent triumphs sing. Chief of the band that fought so well ; What feats by land, what feats by sea, That band achieved when led by thee ! But I, Agrippa, on my lyre Dare not attempt such lofty themes; Achilles, staunch, but fierce and dire ; Or that sea-rover with his schemes, 10 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. Ulysses ; Pelops' cruel hall ; Small men grand deeds may not recall. My lyre obeys a peaceful Muse, She lets no war-song thrill its string; And I from dififidence refuse Illustrious Caesar's praise to sing, Or thine ; thy deeds might suffer wrong, From some defect within the song. Where is the worthy pen to write Of Mars in adamantine mail? Meriones from Trojan fight Dust-blackened? or to tell the tale Of Diomed, by Pallas' aid A match for Gods in battle made? Of feasts I love to sing, or war — If war at all— that lovers wage. Where sharpened nails the weapons are. And youths are met by maidens' rage; I'm fancy-free one day, one day On fire with love, but always gay. ODES VI. VII.] LAUDABUNT ALII. ji VII. Laudabunt alii. Sunny Rhodes and Mitylene, let some other tell their merits, Praise Ephesus and Corinth with her walls from sea to sea; The Bacchic Thebes, and Delphi which Apollo's fame inherits, And the vale of Tempe, fairest of the vales of Thessaly. There are some who have one passion, in music ever-flowing, All their life to sing the praises of the maiden- Goddess' town, Or to search the wide world over where the olive may be growing. That its leaves upon their forehead may be woven as a crown. In Juno's honour many will delight to tell the story Of Argos good for horses, or Mycenae famed for gold; But for me not Lacedaemon, whose endurance is her glory, Nor Larissa's fertile meadows on my fancy took a hold 12 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. Like the spot wherein Albunea the voiceful has her dwelling, 'Mid the sound of falling waters as the Anio takes her leap, Tibur's woodlands and her orchards where the moist leaves still are telling How the streamlets move among them, after falling from the steep. There are times when even Notus a beclouded sky will brighten, For, though of showers prolific, he not always brings the rain ; So my Plancus, it were wisdom with a mellow draught to lighten A life's laborious trouble, and a grief's protracted pain. Whether duty now detains you, where the martial standards glisten, Or you're bound for home and Tibur, where your trees their shadows spread. Teucer — to the tale of Teucer, it were well for you to listen ; — When from father and from Salamis, his island home, he fled. Round his brows a poplar garland — they were wet with deep potations — As he fastened, he addressed him to each sad and weary friend, ODES VII. VIII.] LAUDABUNT ALII. 13 " Wheresoever Fortune leads us — she is kinder than relations — ^Ve will go, my trusty comrades, we will follow to the end. Why despair? 'Tis Teucer leads you, Teucer's fortunes that you follow, There's a new world all before us, let us leave the world behind ; From the God I have a promise, it is safe to trust Apollo, We have lost the ancient Salamis, another we shall find. O my friends, my gallant comrades, vve have fought through stormier weather ! How often by my side have ye quit yourselves like men ! Drink and drown the present troubles, let us drain one cup together, And to-morrow venture forward on the great sea once again ! " VIII. Lydia, die, per omnes. By all the Gods above I do beseech you, Lydia, tell me this. Why you on Sybaris Are eager to bring ruin by your love? 14 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. Why now the sunny mead Detests he, patient once of dust and sun? Why does he riding shun With his compeers, nor curbs his Gallic steed ? Why touch of yellow flood Of Tiber does he dread, and why recoil From use of olive oil. More cautiously than if 'twere viper's blood? Why lets he idle rest Those wrists the cestus bruised so black and blue, Who quoit or javelin threw Across the mark, a champion confest? Why lurks he, as they tell Nymph Thetis' son on eve of Troy's sad day Lurked, lest his man's array To rush on death 'mid Lycian bands impel? IX. Vides, lit alia. Look at Soracte standing there So white, so deep in snow ! Look how the branches strain to bear The weight that bends them low ! ODES VIII. IX.] VIDES, UT ALTA. 15 The frost "bites shrewdly,"^ and with force To stay the downward rivers' course. Go thaw the cold by piUng up Fresh logs to burn, and pour From out the two-eared Sabine cup, More freely than before ; The wine is four years old, and may Be largely, Thaliarch, quaff'd to-day. Leave to the Gods all else ! When they The winds have laid to sleep, And calmed the fury of the fray Upon the boiling deep, No more the ancient ash will rock. The cypress own the tempest's shock. To-morrow's fate ask not to know ! Each day's a gain from chance ; Then be content, and count it so, And give it to the dance; With dance and love the hours employ, Nor scorn the pleasures of a boy. For youth's fresh bloom will turn to grey ; And age is hard to please ; The wrestling-ground, the field for play, Now is the time for these ; '"The air bites shrewdly: it is very cold." — Hamlet. J 5 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. Now as eve falls, let whisper sweet Oft tell how lovers planned to meet. Now try from secret nook to catch The laugh that will betray Some sweet girl, hiding till you snatch A pledge of love away, From arm, or finger which pretends To grudge the ring it ill defends. X. Mercuri, facnnde. Grandson of Atlas, eloquent Mercurius, thou whose craft and skill To early man sweet manners lent, By song and athlete's graceful drill ! Heaven's herald and great Jove's I sing. Who gave the rounded lyre its birth. Who, if he wants to steal a thing, Will steal it— in the way of mirth. What threats Apollo used to fright The little thief! He stormed "Restore My cows— or else"— then laughed outright, Robbed of his quiver, robbed once more. ODESix.-xi.] MERCURI, FACUNDE. 17 Wert tliou not wealthy Priam's guide, Who past the proud Atridae crept From Troy, though fires on every side Show'd where ThessaHan foemen slept ? Just souls to seats of bliss apart Thou lead'st, and ghosts obedient know Thy golden rod, and dear thou art To Gods above and Gods below. XI. Tn ne quaesieris. ask not, for 'tis wrong to know what date of death for you and me The gods have fixed : have naught to do with Babylon's astrology. But take, Leuconoe — 'tis best — whatever Jupiter ordain, More winters yet, or this the last that drains the strength from Tuscan main Ujion the rugged headlands breaking. Wisely pour your wine, nor plan For aught beyond the curtailed hope, that suits the brevity of man. i8 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. We talk, and as we talk, unkind the moment will have sped away; Then count not, count not on to-morrow, but mistrustful, snatch to-day. XII. Quern virum aut heroa. What man, what hero dost incline On piercing flute or lyre to praise, Clio? or is the theme Divine? Whose name will Echo, when she plays. From Helicon's dark sides repeat? From Pindus' crest? from Haemus' cold? Whence following Orpheus' voice so sweet, The woods at random streamed of old. He by his mother's art delayed The streams that flowed, the winds that sped; His tuneful strings such music made, Oaks heard, and followed where he led. Whose praise but His whom men agree To praise, the Parent's,^ claims my lay, ^ Reading " parentis." ODES XI. XII.] QUEM VIRU.M AUT IIEROA. 19 Whom gods and men, and earth and sea, And changing seasons, all obey? From Him no greater can proceed, No match, no equal in degree ; Yet o'er all else one claims the meed, And Pallas, bold in fight, is she. Liber shall not my silence blame. The wild beasts' foe, the huntress maid. Nor Phoebus of the deadly aim. Who shoots, and all men are afraid. Alcides too, and Leda's twins I'll sing, of whom the one with blows. With steeds the other, always wins: Whose star no sooner brightly shows To seamen than subsides the deep, Nor longer beats a rocky shore ; Winds drop, clouds melt, and billows sleep, — For 'tis Their will — nor threaten more. But after these I hesitate; — Shall Romulus, king Numa's time. So peaceful, Tarquin's haughty state Be sung, or Cato's end sublime? 20 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. Make Regulus renowned, my lay ! The Scauri ; him who greatly threw His life in Punic fight away, And threw in vain ; Fabric! us too ; Him, Curius, with the unkempt hair ; Camillus ; — soldiers good and true ; These the ancestral farm could bear. And cottage where they hardship knew. As grows unseen the tree, so grows Marcellus' fame ; more bright than are All other lights the Julian shows, A moon 'mid many a lesser star. Parent and guardian of mankind ! Offspring of Saturn ! to maintain Great Caesar, fate to thee assigned; Thou first, and Caesar second, reign ! Triumph he must ; or Latium free From dread the Parthian march so far ; Or force some Eastern bend the knee, China or Ind, in righteous war ; Then as thy just vicegerent stand On earth; but thy great car shall shake Olympus, and at thy command On guilty groves the thunders break. ODES XII. XIII.] QUUM TU, LYDIA, TELEPHI. 21 XIII. Qimm tu, Lydia, Telephi. O Lydia, when you so admire The rosy neck of Telephus, The waxen arms of Telephus, My jealous heart is all on fire ; My bosom swells with rage and ire, To hear you praise him thus. Nay more, my reason quits her throne, Its native hue forsakes my face. Tears down my cheeks each other chase, Although I'd hide them ere 'tis known What slow fires eat into my bone. How woful is my case. It sets me all on fire to view Those shoulders, with their snowy shine All bruised in wrangle over wine, Or those sweet lips, to which are due Sweet kisses, bitten black and blue, A rough boy's passion-sign. Ah ! hear my words and take alarm, Nor think the monster will abide A constant lover at your side. 22 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. Who such a gracious mouth could harm, Which, with quintessence of her charm, The Queen of love has dyed. O happy, happy thrice and more. Are they whom wedlock's fastest tie, Has bound in lifelong constancy. Whose love will no sad jars deplore, Nor will dissolve itself before The day they come to die. XIV. O Navis, referent. O ship, new waves will rise to take You back upon the main ; What course is this? O haste to make The port, the harbour gain ; Your oars are torn away, your mast Has gone before the Afric blast. Ah ! see you not how sad your plight ? Nor hear your cordage groan? Quick ! ropes to make you watertight ! Their added help alone Can save your poor belaboured hull, On seas now grown too masterful. ODES XI 1 1. -XV.] O NAVIS, REFERENT. 23 Your tattered sails ! what hope is there ? Your Gods ! no Gods remain ; Though new distress may urge the prayer, To Gods you call in vain ; Nor will it now avail your crew, To boast the wood in which you grew, To boast yourself a Pontic pine, A tree of name and mark ; For not because its colours shine. Do sailors trust their bark In time of fear. Take care, or find You owe a plaything to the wind. O ship ! O trouble ! and of late A trouble sore to bear, Still on my yearning heart a weight, A heavy weight, of care ; O keep from those too dangerous seas That part the shining Cyclades ! XV. Pastor quuvi traheret. While o'er the sea the treacherous shepherd took His hostess Helen in Idaean bark. 24 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. The rapid winds, in calm he ill could brook, Were hushed, and Nereus bade him stay to hark How he would chant his fortunes wild and dark. " 111 bodes it for yourself, this bringing home A bride whom Greece, with mighty bands, from Troy Will ask again, Greece leagued in arms to come At once to interrupt your wedded joy. And Priam's ancient kingdom to destroy. " Alas ! alas ! what agony, what sweat, When horse and man go down ! What graves you make For the Dardanian race ! See Pallas set Her helm, upon her arm her aegis take, Prepare her car and all her fury wake. " False is the fire by Venus' aid supplied ; In vain you comb your locks, and with the lyre, Th' unwarlike lyre, your ordered rhymes divide, Those pretty rhymes that women folk admire ; In vain into your chamber you retire. " Not so will you escape the fatal darts ; The points of Cretan javelins will not spare; ODK XV.] PASTOR QUUM TRAHERET. 25 Hark to the clamour ! Ajax, once he starts, Is quick to follow, and, though late, your hair^ Will be begrimed with dust, adulterer ! " Do you not mark Ulysses, born the bane Of all your nation ? Pylian Nestor too ? And here come pressing on a fearless train, Teucer the Salaminian, and that true Soldier who knows the battle through and through, " Who when there's need for driving, drives so well, Of fighting, fights so well, brave Sthenelus ; And Merion by his bearing you may tell ; And there Tydides raging furious, Is hunting you — his father fought not thus. " Him you will tly from, as a stag that flies A wolf, across the valley sudden spied ; Forgetting now to graze, away he hies ; So coward, you ; I see your panting side ; Were these deep sobs your promise to your bride ? " Troy's day may tarry, but arrive it must ; Well may her matrons fear Achilles' fleet ; Its wrath will hurl their city into dust; A iQw short winters will the doom complete. And Grecian fires will flame from street to street." ^ Readiner " crines." 26 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. xvr. O Matre piilchra. O daughter of a mother fair, But fairer still than she, My sland'rous verses do not spare. But throw them in the sea, Yes, into Hadria's waters throw, Or burn them if you like it so. Not Dindymene can excite, Nor, in his Pythian cave, Apollo urge with equal might The heart of priest to rave ; Nor Corybants such passion-heat Into their clashing cymbals beat ; Nor Bacchus madden, as does ire — Sad ire, which once astir, Nor Noric sword nor cruel tire Can from its rage deter, Nor, though it wrecks the ships, the main. Nor Jove's loud thunder-rush and rain. Prometheus, forced to add, they say, From beasts of every kind, ODE XVI.] O MATRE PULCHRA. 27 A portion to our primal clay, A lion chanced to find, And from the wild beast carved a part, Its fury, for the human heart. Ask why Thyestes met so dire A fate, why cities tall Fell headlong to the ground ; 'twas ire — Ire always cause of all. 'Twas ire the wanton foemen sent To lay low tower and battlement, And plough them into ruins. So 'Twere well your rage to bind. What passion is I also know, And how it fires the mind ; In youth, and oh ! my youth was sweet, It drove me forth in rage and heat To swift iambic verse ; but now I would the wrong undo. And change from harsh to mild, if thou Would'st be forgiving too. When I recant the words that pain, And give me back thine heart again. 28 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. XVII. Velox amoenufii. Fleet Faunus, who will often roam, Lycaeus leaves to make Pleasant Lucretilis his home, And for my she-goats' sake, Keep ever from the healthful plain Fierce heats, and storms of wind and rain. Safe are the woods for them to stray. To hunt for thymy bank And arbute, picking out a way Beside their lords so rank. Green-coated adders will not harm, Nor fierce Haedilian ^ wolves alarm, Whenever, Tyndaris, we take The pipe, till with its strain Ustica's sleeping valleys wake, Its smooth rocks ring again ; The gods protect me, for they guard. As dear to Heaven, the pious bard. If country pleasures you desire, Here in full stream they flow, 1 Reading "Haediliae." ODE XVII.] VELOX AMOEXUM. 29 As from kind plenty's horn ; the fire Of dog-days' noontide glow, Will spare you while on Teian string In sheltered nooks you play and sing. Here^ of Penelope you'll tell, And Circe's crystal glance, And how both loved Ulysses well, Victims of one mischance ; And in the shade as you recline. You'll drain a cup of Lesbian wine. No dangers in this goblet hide. We drink as friends, not foes ; Mars will not sit at Bacchus' side, To make us come to blows ; Nor need you fear that Cyrus' eye Will here glare fierce with jealousy. His hands are rude, and you no match For these ; but have no dread ; He shall not from your tresses snatch The crown that decks your head ; Nor shall the saucy fellow tear — It harms him not — the robe you wear. 1 Readinsr "hie." 30 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. XVIII. Nullam, Vare, sacra. Varus, first of all your planting see you plant the sacred vine Where the walls of Catilus and Tibur crown a soil benign. Dry abstainers — God has willed it — find the world a scene of woe, Nor will gnawing sorrows fly before the wine begins to flow. Who, when wine has done its duty, cares to croak of empty purse And the hard lot of a soldier ? No ! of thee will we converse, Father Bacchus, and of thee, O Venus, in thy love- liness ! But beware ! Use Liber's gifts in moderation, not excess ! Mark the warning in the wine-cup which the deadly quarrels made 'Twixt the Lapithae and Centaurs ; in the hand so heavy laid By the wine-god on the Thracians, till their lusts alone define, Right and wrong as they desire it, by those same lusts' slender line. ODES xviii. XIX.] NULLAM, VARE, SACRA. 31 Thee, O shining Bassareus, I will not, till thou please, excite, Nor thy woodland secrets will I drag into the open light. Silence now the savage cymbals, silence Berecynthian horn, Else blind self-esteem will follow, and vainglory will be born, Empty-headed, too aspiring ; and, what once was honour true, Now will blab her secrets — glass, or worse than glass, for showing through. XIX. Mater saeva Cupidiiiuin. The cruel Dame whom Cupids call Their mother, and the son Of Theban Semele, though all My loves, I thought, were done, Have joined with my own lawless vein, To make me fall in love again. For Glycera has lit a flame ; Her beauty, shining fair, The Parian marble puts to shame ; Her sweet but saucy air 32 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. Inflames me, and I'm dazzled quite By looks too dangerously bright. Venus has left her Cyprian bovver, On my one heart to fling Herself, herself in all her power, Nor leaves me free to sing Of Scyths, and how the Parthians wheel Their horses, and fresh courage feel ; Nor aught but love. Then lay me down A fresh-cut turf, and twine Sweet boughs, and incense bring, and crown A bowl of last year's wine ; The Queen will come in gentler guise, If for her sake a victim dies. XX. Vile potabis. 'Tis Sabine you will have to drink. From cups both plain and small ; Poor stuft", the wine, you well may think ; But then I sealed it all In its Greek jar, the very year They cheered you in the theatre. ODES xix-xxi.] VILE POTABIS. 33 The river to your fathers dear Returned that glad acclaim ; From either bank we seemed to hear. Thrown back in play, your name ; " Maecenas Eques," so they ran, The echoes of the Vatican. A wine the Cales vats produce. There is ; and Caecuban ; These you shall drink of if you choose, But not Falernian ; No wine so choice my cups may fill, Nor such as grows on Formian hill. XXI. Dianam tenerae. Ye tender maids, Diana sing ; Ye boys, the beardless Phoebus praise; From both Latona claims her lays — Latona dear to Jove the King. Praise you the maid who loves each rill, Each tress in woods that darkly frown On Erymanthus, or that crown Cold Algidus, and Cragus hill. 34 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. Laud Tempe, you, in equal choir, And Delos whence Apollo sprung, His shoulder with the quiver hung, And glorious with his brother's lyre. For tearful war he'll keep away, And famine dire, and plague, from Rome And Caesar, and will chase them home To Made and Briton, if you pray. XXII. Integer vitae. The man of flawless life and clear, Need take no Moorish bow or spear; Fuscus, nor shafts with poison smear To fill his quiver. Whether where Syrtes rage he goes. Where Caucasus harsh welcome shows, Or where Hydaspes gently flows, A fabled river. For once, as in a Sabine glade In careless mood, unarmed, I made Rhymes on my Lalage and strayed, A wolf fled daunted. ODES XXI. -XXIII.] INTEGER VITAE. 35 Not Daunias, nurse of soldier deeds, In her oak woods such monster feeds, Nor Juba's arid desert breeds, Though Hon- haunted, — Place me where never tree can grow, Where no sweet airs of summer blow, An ice-bound world of mist and snow; Or place, where over A homeless waste draws all too near The sun-car, Lalage e'en here. With smile, with voice, both sweet, were dear. And I should love her. XXIII. Vitas hinnuleo. You shun me, Chloe, like a fawn that goes Seeking its timid dam 'mid pathless hills, And all the wood, and every breeze that blows, With vague alarms the little creature fills. For should Spring's herald breezes only make. When leaves hang light, a shiver in the trees. Or should an emerald lizard stir the brake. It trembles, trembles both in heart and knees. ^6 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. Yet I am no fierce tiger to pursue And tear, or lion in Gaetulia bred ; Leave your dam's side ; 'tis now no place for you, And take a husband, for 'tis time, instead. XXIV. Qiiis desiderio. For one so dear, who thinks regret Is shame, or endless sorrow long? Be thou the Mistress of our song, And our laments to music set, Melpomene, to whom the Sire Made gift of liquid voice and lyre. What ! endless sleep, perpetual night O'erwhelm Quintilius ! nay in sooth ! Ask Reverence and unvarnished Truth, And those two sister virtues, Right And Honour, all unstained and clear. If they will ever find his peer. Not few the good who mourn him dead I Thy grief, Virgilius, more than theirs I But all in vain the pious prayers By pious lips so duly said ! ODES xxiii.-xxvi.] QUIS DESIDERIO. 37 He was no loan to Heaven : 'tis vain To ask him of the Gods again. What if the magic of thy string Were more than his of Thrace, who stirred The waiting woodlands when they heard? Thy charming would not backward bring The stream of life to that wan shade, — Mercurius' wand must be obeyed. In vain to those stern ears you pray ! Prayer will not fate's closed doors unlock : Once driven within the grisly flock By that dread wand, thy friend must stay. 'Tis hard. But patience \ — To endure Will lighten ills we may not cure. XXVI. Musis amicus. Since to the Muses I am dear, I well may give all grief and fear Unto the wanton winds to bear Into the Cretan Sea, The tyrant of the North, I'm told, Spreads terror from his frozen hold, And cows e'en Tiridates bold, But what is that to me? 38 ODES OF HORACE. [book u O lover of the founts that spring Untainted, flowers, thy sunniest, bring And twine, Pimplea, while I sing, Oh twine my Lamia's crown. Unite with thy sweet sister choir To praise him on the Lesbian lyre, Not else may maiden string aspire To add to his renown. XXVI L Natis in usum. For joy the wine-cup had its birth, But o'er it Thracians fight; A barbarous custom ! — from your mirth Dismiss it ! use aright The wine-god's gifts, and brawling shun, 'Twill lead to bloodshed ere 'tis done. The Median scimitar but ill Suits wine and lighted hall ! Peace, let this wicked din be still, Propped on your elbows all. You must be quiet, friends, if 1 Your strong Falernian am to try; ODES XXVI. XXVII.] NATIS IN USUM. 39 For it is heady. And I make Conditions ; for I pray Megilla's brother here to take A confidant, and say What wound is this has made him blest, What deadly dart has pierced his breast? You do not like? My terms I've named, Before I drink, comply ! Come, man, you need not be ashamed ; Whate'er your passion, I Am sure a free-born girl inspires Your love ; you burn with honest fires. Come tell me ; I'll not blab ; my ears Are safe 1 What ! fallen to this ? Poor boy ! how hard your case appears : Charybdis? that abyss? Entangled all the while in shame. When worthy of a better flame ! What witch, what mage, can pull you out With charms of Thessaly ? Nay, did a god appear, I doubt If he could set you free ; The triple-formed Chimaera's prey, Scarce Pegasus will drag away. 40 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. XXVIII. Te maris. SAILOR. Sea and land to measure, countless sands to weigh, Such an art was thine, Archytas, in thy day ; Now of dust a handful, by the Matine shore, Hides both art and thee, a handful and no more. Quest 'mid homes of air, soul-voyage through the sky, What did they avail Archytas doomed to die? E'en the sire of Pelops, though a welcome guest At the high Gods' banquets, perished with the rest ; Perished too Tithonus, though conveyed above; Minos, though admitted to the confidence of Jove ; And the son of Panthus, — lo ! the world below Holds him as in a prison \ twice he had to go Down to gloomy Dis ; although at first he gave Naught but nerves and skin to the darkness of the grave, And to prove this wonder that he saw Troy's day, Down he took the shield, once his, and brought away. Was he least of Truth and Nature's prophets?- — say! — Night awaiting all has darkened o'er his head ; He has trod the path of death all feet must tread. ODE XXVIII.] TE MARIS. 41 ARCHYTAS. Yes ! and some are doomed to glut Mars' savage eyes ; Sailors are by fate the greedy ocean's prize ; Heaps on heaps of corpses, young and old they lie, Never yet was one stern Proserpine could fly. Me the wind that speeds Orion's downward ride, Plunged in watery death beneath th' Illyrian tide. Sailor ! mark those limbs, and that unburied head ; Grudge not grain of shifting sand to hide the dead ; Then o'er Western waves, though raging Eastern gale Lash Venusia's woods, all safely may you sail, And may Jove be kind as great, and profits pour, While Tarentum's guardian, Neptune, makes them more ! What ! refuse ? and wrong your guiltless sons, as yet All unborn ? Beware ! For fate will not forget Dues that you must pay, and pride may have a falli Nor shall I in vain to Heaven for vengeance call ; While all expiations fail for you — yes, all. Short the service asked — three handfuls thrown of dust : Hasten then away, content, if haste you must. 42 ODES OF HORACE. [book k XXIX. Icci^ beatis. Arabia's boasted wealth ! can greed Of this, my Iccius, fill you now, Or have you vowed a martial vow, To bind in chains the dreaded Mede, Or fight till you as captive bring Some yet unconquered Eastern king? What ! will you have barbarian girls Attend you, weeping for a swain, Or husband, in your battles slain? Shall some court page with scented curls Quit his sire's bow, his archer's skill With Seric shaft, your cup to fill? Is this your wish? Then I for one Will not deny that rivers may Forsake at will their downward way, And up their native mountains run ; Or Tiber backward turn, if you To your great promise prove untrue. ODES XXIX. -XXXI.] ICCI, BEATIS. 43 If you can leave your library, Panaetius' noble books, your pride. Bought with such sums from far and wide, And from Socratic wisdom fly, And all a Spanish mail to wear — "O what a falling off were there" !^ XXX. Venus, regina. Queen Love, thy Cnidos leave ! away From Paphos and dear Cyprus ! stray To Gycera's fair home ; repay Her incense and her prayer. The glowing Boy thy comrade be ! Let nymphs and unzoned Graces three. And Youth, ungenial wanting thee. And Mercury hasten there. XXXL Quid dedicatiitn. They dedicate Apollo's shrine : The bard is here to pray ; ^O Hamlet, what a falling-off was there!" 44 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. What asks he as the new-made wine He pours from bowl to-day ? Not rich Sardinia's fruitful fields, Nor all the wealth their harvest yields, Nor the fine herds Calabria's sky Burns down on as they feed, Nor gold, nor Indian ivory. No ! nor the peaceful mead The silent Liris eats away. As on his quiet waters stray. At Cales let them tend their vines. Whom Fate gives vines to tend ; Let the rich merchant drain his wines From gold cups ; Heav'n's his friend. Since thrice or more, each year, he braves The terrors of Atlantic waves. And if his stock of wines runs low, A bargain makes it good. Such gains from Syrian barter flow ; But as for me, my food Is olives, endive, or, at best. The mallow easy to digest. Enjoyment in such wealth to find Latona's son, be mine; ODES XXXI. XXXII.] QUID DEDICATUM. 45 Healthy in body, sound in mind, May I in years decline ; Come age, but bring no base decay. Nor take the minstrel's harp away ! XXXII. Poscimur. Si quid. We're wanted, lyre ! If in the shade In vacant moments we have played, Lend for a Latin song your aid, To live a year or more. A Lesbian was the first to bring, A warrior, music from thy string, And 'mid the clash of arms he'd sing, Or, while on wave-washed shore He moored his bark, he'd sing of wine, Venus, her constant Boy, the Nine, Or how the eyes of Lycus shine So dark to match his hair. Apollo's glory ! Jove's delight When feasting ! O my sweet respite From labour, when I pray aright, O shell, attend my prayer. ^6, ODES OF HORACE. [book i. XXXIII. Albi, ne do leas. To make you, Albius, cease this fretting, These " dumps "^ and doleful elegies, And try the merit of forgetting Her who so much her name belies, This Glycera, unsweet, untrue, And for a younger lover too ; Know that in love 'tis quite the fashion ; Lycoris there, with forehead low, She doats on Cyrus; he his passion Has turned on Pholoe, although He does not in his wooing find The lady gentle, but unkind. For wolves Apulian will be mated With goats, ere she will for the sake Of one with lawless pleasures sated. Go wrong, and love a noted rake ; So all goes by cross purposes, And Venus is to blame for this. ' " Sing no more ditties, sing no moe. Of dumps so dull and heavy." Much Ado about Nothing. ODES xxxiii. XXXIV.] ALBI, NE DOLEAS. 47 For she has come to this decision, That when two persons she can find Unlike in shape and disposition, Those two she will together bind, And send them 'neath her brazen yoke; — 'Tis cruel, but a cruel joke. Myself here might have mated better ; But Myrtale, so late a slave, Has chained me in a silken fetter. Though fiercer she than wildest wave Of Hadria, when the raging deep Scoops bays along Calabria's steep. XXXIV. Parens deorum. To heaven a niggard, I confess The Gods I seldom heed. In wisdom that is foolishness To drift, my only creed ; But now I must sail back perforce. And try the old abandoned course ; For Jove, whose fires are wont to fly, In quivering flashes, through 48 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. The cloud-racks of a darkened sky. " A bolt from out the blue " Shot forth, and through a cloudless heaven His thundering steeds and car were driven. The earth, though solid, shook to hear, The streams forgot to flow, And Styx, and Taenarus, that drear And hateful seat below. And Atlas to his furthest bound. Were shaken by the dreadful sound. Highest and lowest God can shift, Can turn the grand to mean : Things hidden into liglit can lift; And with her grasp so keen. And flap of wings, will Fortune wrest From his for tliis man's head the crest. XXXV. O Diva, grattun. O Goddess, O fair Antium's queen, Ready from lowest grade Of human life to lift the mean, Or make proud glory fade. ODES XXXIV. XXXV.] O DIVA, GRATUM. 49 Till from their height the haughty fall, Their triumph turned to funeral, Thee the poor farmer dares beset With ever anxious prayer, Bithynian sailors ne'er forget, Carpathian seas who dare, To hail thee mistress of the wave, And favour for their vessels crave. Thee the rough Dacian, rovers too Of Scythia, hold in dread ; Nations and towns the whole world through, Fierce Latium at their head ; Mothers of barbarous monarchs shake With fear, and purple tyrants quake. Lest, though each seem a pillar strong, Thy fell foot hurl him low, Lest from the city's gathering throng The cry " To arms ! " should go ; " To arms ! " till even laggards fight, And rising crush the despot's might. Before thee stalks stern Doom ; of brass Her hand, that wedges grasps, And spikes that through great beams can pass ; Nor lacks the hook that clasps, D 50 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. And holds inexorably sure, Nor liquid lead to make secure. Thee Hope attends, and Honour rare, A maid in snowy vest : Nor will she from thy side repair, Though thou, so late their guest, Movest, as thy changed garments show. No friend to lordly halls, but foe. But in the herd no faith is found; The harlot swears and flies ; Friends, who are only friends around The wine-cask, when it dries Are gone ; 'twas false, their promise fair. That they the yoke would always share. Preserve our Caesar, bound for fight In Britain, earth's extreme. And that new swarm of youths, whose might Will be a dread, we deem. To tribes upon the Red Sea strand. And regions of the Eastern land. Alas ! the wounds ! alas ! the crime ! O shame on brothers' strife ! What wrong is strange to our fierce time ? Unventured in our life? ODES XXXV. XXXVI.] O DIVA, GRATUM. 51 From what, through fear of God's just law. Does youth of ours its hand withdraw? What altar's spared ? O sacrilege ! Oh, would on anvil new, Thou'dst forge our weapons' blunted edge, And make them keen and true, Against the fierce Massagetae, And the wild tribes of Araby ! XXXVI. Et thiire et fidibus. Bring incense, and bring music too, And let them now the bullock slay; I like to give the gods their due. The gods who guarded Numida; For safe he comes, their care professed, From that far country of the West. And now 'mongst comrades, thick and fast, He scatters greetings, in his joy; To Lamia most of all; the past Recalling, how the darling boy With him at school his book had conn'd, With him the manly dress had donn'd. 52 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. This day deserves a mark as fair, As ever chalk for day impressed ; Bring out the jar of wine, nor spare, Nor let the graceful dancers rest, Who in the Salian measure beat The ground with never-tiring feet. If Bassus, in the Thracian way, Should challenge Damaris to try Who takes the deepest draught, he may, I trust, obtain the victory, Although, where tippling is, 'tis known. She's able well to hold her own. Flowers must not fail our banquet hall. Rose, short-lived lily, parsley green ; But Damaris amid them all Of melting eyes would still be queen ; Not that she'll leave her lover new, But cling like ivy strong and true. XXXVII. Nunc est bibendum. Now drink and dance, the time allows, And deck the couch divine; ODES XXXVI. XXXVII.] NUNC EST BIBENDUM. 53 In Saliaric mode carouse, And broach our grandsires' wine, The Caecuban, 'twas wrong before From the old bins to fetch and pour. P'or Egypt's Queen her mad emprize Was plotting in those days, How amid Rome's death agonies The Capitol to raze. Urged on by her abandoned crew, And hopes which no sane limits knew. For, drunk with Fortune's giddy draught. She let her fury burn, Till from the fires a single craft Scarce found a safe return ; Then frenzy, Egypt's wine had bred, Gave way to veritable dread. For Caesar, swift as falcon's flight The tender pigeons scare. As huntsmen on Haemonia's height Through snow might chase a hare, Rowed hard the dangerous Queen to chain, A monster fatal to his reign. 'to' She fled from Italy to hail A death might fame afford. 24 ODES OF HORACE. [book i. Her's was no woman's heart to quail In terror at a sword ; Nor, though her ships were swift, would she To distant hiding-places flee. With steadfast eye she dared to look Where once her palace stood ; The serpent in her hand she took, Its poison in her blood ; And spread a name through every land, For daring, by the death she planned. No fierce, Liburnian galley's crew, She whispered in her pride. Should bring her for all Rome to view, Who once all Rome defied ; " What ! be unqueened, and made a show For Rome, in Caesar's triumph? No." XXXVIII. Persicos odi. Boy ! not for me this Persian state, Your linden-woven crowns I hate ; Care not to search if somewhere late. There linger roses : ODES XXXVII. XXXVIII.] I'ERSICOS ODI. 55 Plain myrtle, only myrtle, twine ; It suits you as you pour my wine, Me, as I drink it, where a vine My bower encloses. BOOK II. Motiim ex Metello. Metellus' fatal consulate,— What brought that evil time, — The civil war that rent the state, — Its every phase and crime, — The freaks of fortune, men's intrigues. And mischief sprung from chieftains' leagues, From which our swords are reeking yet With blood, which none appease ; — The die is cast for those who set Their hand to themes like these ; Over still smouldering fires you tread ; The treacherous ashes are not dead. Let your stern Tragic Muse awhile Be still and quit the stage; BOOK II. ODE I.] .MOTUM EX METELLO. cy Our public annals now compile, With history fill the page; Then don the Attic sock once more, And tragedy's high scenes explore. The sad accused, my Pollio, turn To your renown'd defence ; The Senate will no cause decern, AVithout your eloquence ; Ne'er can your martial laurels die. Won in Dalmatian victory. E'en as we read, the trumpet blares, The clarion loud replies, The glint of flashing armour scares The horse, and blinds the eyes Of the dazed trooper as he rides. And scarce his startled charger guides. And hark ! great chieftains' battle-cries ! I hear their challenge plain ; The dust of battle on them lies ; I see its glorious stain, A sign of all the world subdued. Save Cato and his stubborn mood. For Juno, and the gods whose power, When Libya claimed their aid, 5 8 ODES OF HORACE. [book ii. Had failed her in her direst hour, And left her wrongs unpaid, Now offered at Jugurtha's tomb, His victors' grandsons in their room. If blood can fatten earth, what plain But teems through that we spilt In wicked wars, whose graves remain To witness to our guilt. And still the dreadful sounds recall, That told the Mede Italia's fall. Each river-voice a sadder moan Has borrow'd from our strife. And every sea has crimson grown From loss of Daunian life ; And is there coast the wide world o'er That has not tasted Latin gore? to^ But Muse ! why quit your sportive vein ? Your tone so blithe and gay? To Cean change the playful strain, To dirge the roundelay? No ! you in Venus' bower must sing, And touch with lighter quill the string. ODES I. II.] NULLUS ARGENTO. 59 11. Nullus ar^etito. The silver hid in greedy mines Lacks colour, Crispus, and inclines Your soul to loathing, till it shines. When used aright. A father to his brothers ! — long Shall fame bear up on wing of song The name of Proculeius — strong That plume for flight ! To curb desire makes wide domain, Wider than Libya joined to Spain, Or if o'er Carthage you should reign, Both Old and New. Fell dropsy thirsts, and drinks to grow ; To cure that thirst, its cause must go From veins, pale body cease to show A wat'ry hue. On Cyrus' throne Phraates rest. Styled happy by the vulgar test ! 6o ODES OF HORACE. [book ii. But Virtue from the list of blest Thy name has razed ; Correcting false esteem, a throne, Safe crown, and bays she makes his own, Who piles of gold, and his alone, Beholds undazed. III. Aequam memento. Remember in misfortune's strain. To keep an equal mind ; Nor less when things grow bright again To keep your joy confined In bounds, nor let it soar too high, For Dellius ! you are sure to die. Whether through all the years behind, A housemate grief would stay ; Or, in some grassy nook reclined, You passed each holiday. Glad, with the wine-cup in your hand, Falernian of the choicest brand. Why does huge pine, and poplar white, With branches interlaced, ODES II. in.] AEQUAM MEMENTO. 6l To hospitable shade invite ? Why- does the streamlet haste To let its eager waters go In zig-zag passage to and fro ? Hither bring unguents — tell your boy — And wines, and roses too, Sweet flowers that yield too short a joy, While Fortune favours you, And youth permits, and Destiny — Dark thread spun by the Sisters three. From woods, for which such sums you gave. From dwelling, you must flit : The villa, which the yellow wave Of Tiber laves, must quit ; The wealth you piled to such a height, Your heir will take it as his right. 'O' What matters whether rich you trace To Tnachus of old Your birth, or, of the lowest race And poor, beneath the cold You linger, of the open sky; Death pities none ! we all must die ! -Reading "quid." 62 ODES OF HORACE. [book ii. We all are driven one road ; for all Is shaken, soon or late, The lot of destiny to fall. From out the urn of fate, And us to our sure doom devote, The endless exile of the boat. IV. Ne sit ancillae. You love a waiting maid ? What then ! My Xanthus, where's the shame? Achilles, proudest among men. Before you did the same ; Briseis' snowy charms he spied. And loved a slave, for all his pride. Tecmessa with her beauty won, Though but a captive maid. Her captor Ajax Telamon ; And in the full parade Of triumph, great Atreides knew That fire of love can triumph too. The foes had fallen, (ireat Hector lay, By bold Achilles slain; ODES III. IV.] NE SIT ANCILLAE. 6^ The towers of Troy, an easier prey, Were waiting to be ta'en ; But ere the wearied victor brought His captive home, the flame had caught. How know you but the yellow hair Of Phyllis brings new pride ? A son-in-law may claim to share The birthright of his bride ; And yours, I'm sure, has sprung from kings, And 'tis t/ieir loss her bosom wrings. '&" Trust me, the girl beloved by you, From no vile stock was born ; You know her, and you know her true ; Base gain she holds in scorn ; Whoe'er her mother was, in shame You ne'er will have to speak her name. What ! jealous ! when you hear me praise Her ankles, face, and arms ! As if I could be in these days Susceptible to charms ; You surely can't suspect me, when My years run on to four times ten. 64 ODES OF HORACE. [book ii. No7idum subacta. Your heifer's neck can never bear The yoke with its oppressive weight ; If yoked she cannot work her share ; Nor is she old enough to mate. Where grass is green she loves to stray, Or in the stream her limbs to cool, Or with her sister calves to play, 'Mid willows dripping o'er a pool. Pluck not the unripe grape ! refrain, Till Autumn with its varied hues The livid berries purple stain, And' bid you a ripe cluster choose. The maid will soon to woo you come, Since Time with her runs swiftly too, And years it adds unto her sum. It first has snatched away from you. And in short time, this Lalage, With saucy forehead you will find. Herself upon the search to be. To get a husband to her mind ; ODES V. VI.] NONDUM SUBACTA. 65 How loved she'll be ! coy Pholoe Could never such affection share, Nor Chloris, though so fair to see, With both her gleaming shoulders bare, That not the moon more brightly shines Above the sea in calmest night ; Nor Cnidian Gyges, who combines All that in girl or boy is bright ; For if with girls you made him dance. He would deceive the wisest there, So puzzling is his countenance, So like a girl's his flowing hair. VI. Septiitii, Gades. Septimius you would go with me Where Cantabri still brave us free. To Cadiz' barbarous shoals, or sea Whose Moorish waters boil. But Argive Tibur — thither tend My steps, my few last years to spend. My wars and wanderings all to end, And rest from weary toil. E 66 ODES OP^ HORACE. [book ii. This if harsh fate will not permit, Galaesus, dear to sheep, will fit/ The country on whose throne did sit Phalanthus, Sparta's son. Of all the world that nook for me Hath charms, for not Hymettus' bee Makes sweeter honey; there you see Venafrum's fruits outdone. Long spring, mild winters, Jove assigns That favoured spot, and Anion's wines. So rich and rare, Falernian vines As rivals need not fear. Those blissful towers invite us two ; There, when your poet dies, shall you O'er his warm ashes drop his due — A kind and friendly tear. VII. O saepe viecum. O oft reduced to straits with me When Brutus led our fights, 1 " Some far removed place will fit." — // Penseroso. ODES VI. VII.] O SAEPE MECUM. 67 Who has restored alive and free The Roman to his rights ? The wanderer to Italian skies And his paternal deities ? Of friends, O Pompey ! first and best ! How oft in lagging hours Have we with wine made breach, all drest My head with festal flowers. And all my tresses redolent With odours breathed from Syrian scent. The headlong haste to quit the fray Upon Philippi's field, I shared with you, and, sad to say, I left my puny shield : Valour was crushed, and those who thrust Their hisrh threats forward bit the dust. 'O' But me the swift Mercurius drew Safe through the hostile crowd, Still trembling, though concealed from view By screen of gathered cloud. While you once more the restless wave Sucked back, and to the battle gave. But here you are ! To Jove you owe A feast ; then pay it now ! 68 ODES OF HORACE. [book ii. Your battle-battered limbs bestow Beneath my laurel bough ! And do not, while you rest, the wine, Label'd for your own use, decline. Fill the bright cups with Massic ! fill ! Drink and forget your care ! Pour from the shells their unguents ; still There's plenty and to spare; Who weaves our crowns? Some parsley, quick! All dripping, or some myrtle, pick ' Who's master of our feast to-day? Let Venus choose ! for me, I revel as a Thracian may, Or even more than he. My friend is back and I am glad, What harm to be a little mad? VIII. Ulla si juris. Did broken oaths inflict some harm, Earine, and reduce your charm By one discoloured nail or tooth, I then could think you spoke the truth. ODES VII. VIII.] ULLA SI JURIS. 69 But lo ! when once the word is said That binds with oaths your faithless head. You flash more lovely on the sight, Our youths' desire, a world's delight .' You gain whene'er you cheat with lies Your mother's buried corpse — the skies With silent signs of night aglow, The gods, chill death who cannot know. Venus at this must laugh, I say. And Nymphs, look simple as they may; O'er blood-stained stone fierce Cupid, while He whets his fiery darts, must smile. Our growing youths all grow for you. Grow a new batch of slaves, nor do The first, though often threatened, fly Your home and your impiety. Old man and mother dread you ; he To spare his gold ; her youngster she j And maids just wedded in alarm Wait lords belated by your charm. •JO ODES OF HORACE. [pook ik IX. JVoft semper imbres. The clouds do not with ceaseless pour Rain down upon the miry lea, The changeful tempest does not roar For ever o'er the Caspian sea \ Ice does not in Armenian plain, My Valgus, all the seasons last, Nor do Garganus oakwoods strain For ever 'neath a northern blast ; The ash does not of every leaf, Stand widowed all the year; but you, In endless elegies your grief, For Mystes, one sad theme, renew\ When Vesper rises, " He is dead, My Mystes ! I will weep," you cry ; The sun has chased him to his bed. And still for your lost friend you sigh. What if that aged hero thus. Who lived three times our mortal span, Had mourned his dear Antilochus, While all his weary seasons ran? For Troilus his parents wept, The Phrygian maids, his sisters, too, ODES IX. X.] NON SEMPER IMBRES. 71 But even their great sorrow slept When woe had had its tribute due. But you these plaintive cries prolong, Indulging in unmanly verse ; But cease, I pray ; I claim your song, Great Caesar's glories to rehearse. We'll sing the trophies lately won, We'll sing Niphates frozen o'er. And Median river forced to run With smaller volume than before ; Through conquered tribes it now must glide, Gelonian plains are bounded now. Nor may the subject horseman ride Except where Caesar's arms allow. X. Redius vives. Licinius, in life's voyage keep The safer course, avoid the deep, Shun the lee shore, nor closer creep In dread of squall ! The golden mean ! who chooses this, All risk of squalid home will miss, Nor live an inmate, drunk with bliss, Of envied hall. 72 ODES OF HORACE. [book ii. Winds rock the pines when they are tall ; The highest towers have sorest fall ; The bolt strikes, when it strikes at all, The mountain crest. The heart that is attempered right For either lot, when days are bright Will fear, when dark will hope invite. At Jove's behest Storms come and go ; what's wrong may mend ; Apollo can his bow unbend. And wake his silent harp to lend A tuneful tale. Though poor, be brave ! Some spirit show ! And should the breeze too prosperous blow, ■ 'Tis time, as all wise seamen know, To shorten sail. XL Quid bellicosus. Quintius Hirpinus, why so keen To know what wara are planned ? The Adriatic lies between Us and the Scythian's land ; ODES X. XI.] QUID BELLICOSUS. 73 Then let the warlike projects go, Of Scythian or Cantabrian foe. Time flies so fast, so little needs, Why fret? youth speeds away, And to its beardless grace succeeds Dry age, and hair of grey ; Good-bye to all love's eager fires. And easy sleep, when youth retires. Spring brings the flower a grace ; it flies. Another takes its place ; The moon a changing light supplies, A blush on changing face ; Then why with these unresting plans Distress a soul so frail as man's ? Why not beneath this lofty pine, Or this tall plane instead. With me, just as you are, recline. Sweet roses round your head? With Eastern nard our locks, though grey. We'll curl, and revel while we may ! For wine disperses eating care ; But liquor should be cool ; Quick ! take these cups ; what boy is there ? — And dip in limpid pool ; 74 ODES OF HORACE. [book ii. That running stream will serve your turn ; Falernian, if nncooled, will burn. Run one of you and lure the shy, But wanton Lyde ! say, She fetch her harp of ivory And hasten here to play ; Her hair too she must neatly bind In knots of the Laconiah kind. XII. jVo/is loiiga ferae. The wars which fierce Numantia long Endured, or Hannibal's stern ire ; — You would not have me offer wrong To the soft measures of my lyre, By fitting to it themes like these, Telling how Punic blood made red Sicilian seas? No, nor the savage Lapithae, Nor drunk Hylaeus, nor the fight The youths, great Tellus' progeny, Waged, till Alcides, with his might Subdued them, yet with risk so near, Old Saturn's shining dwelling shook with fear. ODES XI. XII.] NOLIS LONGA FERAE. 75 Take Caesar's triumphs, even those Would with a nobler record live, Maecenas, in your stately prose, Than any form my art could give ; Tell you his wars, and how he brings Along the streets the necks of boastful kings. My Muse directs her minstrel's art, A lady's song for theme supplies, She bids me praise Licymnia's heart. She bids me praise Licymnia's eyes, Those eyes so bright, that constant breast, Of happy mutual love the guardian blest. She dances, and you praise her feet ; She laughs, you think her laugh divine ; And when on Dian's day there meet In sport, and shining arms entwine. Fair maids, you'll say Licymnia's place Is always there that festival to grace. The gold of rich Achaemenes, Or Mygdon's Phrygian treasures rare, — You would not change for all of these One tress of sweet Licymnia's hair, Nor for full Arab houses — all Would be a bargain many times too small, 76 ODES OF HORACE. [book ii. When once she turns her neck to meet Those burning kisses that you pour, Or with a wilfulness so sweet, Denies that you may try the more To snatch, not ask for : snatch your fill, Or, if you like it, let her snatch ; she will. XIII. Ille et nefasto. He who first planted thee, O Tree — O cursed day ! O hand profane ! Reared thee his own descendant's bane. Reared thee his hamlet's scorn to be. The wretch — yes, I believe it quite — The neck of his own father broke, And made his own guest-chambers soak With blood shed in the silent night. Poison of Colchis, every dread And impious crime he used, who thee Reared on my ground, O wretched Tree, To fall upon my guiltless head. From hour to hour what risks to shun Man is not warned ; the sailor who The Bosphorus fears, fears, once he's through, No ills lurk else beneath the sun. DDKS XII. XIII.] ILLE ET NEFASTO. 77 One dread our soldiers entertain, The Parthian arrows when they fly ; To frighten Parthians Italy Has a strong prison-house and chain. But what the strength of Death can stay? Death steals upon us unforeseen ; Away the nations that have been It swept, and still will sweep away. How nearly I, when this befell, Saw Proserpine, her realms of gloom. And Aeacus pronouncing doom. And where apart the pious dwell. x\nd Sappho, on Aeolian string. Of her land's maidens making moan. And one who wakes a fuller tone With golden quill; for he can sing, Alcaeus, of all woes by land And on the sea, in flight or fight; And ghosts, that each should themes recite Sacred to silence, wond'ring stand. Round him the greater crowd appears, Jostling each other in their haste To hear of wars, and tyrants chased, And drink all in with greedy ears. 7 8 ODES OP^ HORACE. [book ii. What wonder, when at that song's sound, The hundred-headed beast depress'd Black ears entranced, and paused for rest The snakes m Furies' tresses bound ! Prometheus too forgets his woe, And Pelops' sire — such song's sweet power ! — Orion leaves the lynx to cower, Unhunted lets the lion go. XIV. Eheu fiigaces. O Postumus, O Postumus, How fast the years glide by ! Old age and wrinkles threaten us. Nor pause for piety ! Nor may you death's approach defer. For death will still be conqueror ! Three hundred bulls, a bull each day. Offer at Pluto's shrine ; Nor bulls, nor tears, his destined prey Will tempt him to resign, Who keeps huge Geryon below, And Tityos, where the waters flow ODES XIII. \iv.] EHEU FUGACES. 79 Of that sad stream, which all, alas ! Who live by gifts of earth, Must sail across, yes, all must pass, Though back to kings our birth We trace, or with a peasant's toil We cultivate a needy soil. In vain from blood-stained fields to run ; In vain while breakers roar. The noise of Hadria's waves to shun ; In vain, till Autunui's o'er. To dread the wind that sets from East, The wind nor good for man nor beast. Cocytus we must visit, trace Him languid through the gloom ; And see the Danaid's cursed race, The Aeolid's long doom ; Yes, we must look — we cannot choose — While Sisyphus his task renews. Earth you must leave and home, away From charming wife must go ; Of all the trees you plant to-day, The Cypress, type of woe. Alone will follow when you yield The short-lived mastery of your field. 8o ODES OF HORACE. [book ii. Your heir will drink the Caecuban, Kept under lock and key, And think himself the better man, His revels flow so free. And sovereign pontiffs, when they dine, Scarce drench the floor with lordlier wine. XV. Jam paiica arairo. Few acres will they leave to plough. These piles the wealthy make ; The fish-ponds they are digging now Surpass the Lucrine lake ; Our elms must go — they plant instead The plane tree, which no vines will wed. Our orchards turn to gardens, fair With nosegays, for their scent, Where beds of violets, and where The myrtle redolent, Will nothing but perfumes afford. Where olives grew for former lord. The laurel too will lend thick shade Against the noontide ray; ODES xiv.-xvi.] JAM PAUCA ARATRO. 8i When Romulus or Cato made The laws, 'twas not our way ; Long beards and plainness were the rule With people of that antique school. Then private means were small ; but great The State's. No subject planned A measured space before his gate For private porch to stand ; Or raised a handsome colonnade, To catch the cool north wind and shade. Even the humble wayside sods Were not to spurn or waste ; The towns and temples of the Gods At public charge were graced, — Such buildings, such as these alone. Were beautified with quarried stone. XVI. Oilum divas. "Grant rest," the Aegean sailor cries To Heav'n, far out at sea, when skies All black with cloud deceive his eyes, And moon and stars withhold. F 82 ODES OF HORACE. [book ii. " Grant rest," prays Thrace, so fierce in fight, And Medes with gorgeous quiver dight ; But, Grosphus, rest, not purple bright Nor gems can buy, nor gold. For wealth removes not from the heart, Nor consul's lictor bids depart Its vexing woes, nor cares that dart Round fretted vaults in flight. The man lives well, though scant his hoard, Whose father's salt-dish decks his board, Whose light meals slumbers light afford Unvexed by lust or fright. Brief man, why venture aim on aim ? Seek climes with other suns aflame ? Though a new land the exile claim, From self is refuge there ? ^to^ Care climbs the brazen galley's side ; From carking care can troopers ride? Cloud-driving blasts, and stags, when spied, Are swift, but swifter care. • Glad hearts should not forestall their woe, But laugh at bitterness, and so Relieve their sorrows ; nought below Is happy all in all. ODES XVI. XVII.] OTIUM DIVOS. 83 Fam'd was Achilles, short his day ; Age to Tithonus brought decay ; And what Time has denied you may Perchance to my lot fall. Sheep bleat, Sicilian heifers low By hundreds, yours ; mares neigh that go In harness, yours : your fleeces show, Twice-dipp'd, the Afric stain. True to herself, Fate gave as mine Few acres, but has breathed a fine Strain of the songful Grecian Nine, For carping crowd disdain. XVII. Cur me qiierelis. Why kill me thus, Maecenas, with thy moan, As if about to die, When neither Heaven nor I Could wish thee gone before, me left alone. Grand glory of my life, supporting corner-stone? If I of half my soul must be bereft By some untimely blow, Why should / fail to go, 84 ODES OF HORACE. [book ii. The half least dear, and there be only left A broken fragment of one heart in two thus cleft? One day will bring the downfall of us both. We go, ah yes, we go, Two partners in one woe ; For I have sworn, and will not break the oath, To follow thee on that last journey, nothing loth. Not the Chimaera, with her breath of flame ; Nor, if alive he stands, Gyas with hundred hands, Shall tear me from thee. Take this in the name Of Justice who is mighty ; Fate has willed the same. Did Libra, or did Scorpio, dreadful star, Shed on my natal hour Its all too baneful power? Or was it Capricornus, who, afar. Reigns over western regions where great waters are ? In ways incredible our stars agree; Staying Fate's wings, Jove's star To shield thee shone, and far Snatched thee from impious Saturn, when in glee Crowds made the theatre resound with plaudits three. ODES XVII. XVIII.] CUR ME QUERELIS. 85 Me too a falling tree had snatched away, But Faunus broke its fall, To men Mercurial A guardian God. Thy victims haste to pay. Thy votive fane to build. A humble lamb / slay. XVIII. A'^on ebur. No ivory in my dwelling shines, No golden ceiling overhead ; No slabs from rich Hymettian mines An ample space of marble spread : No columns to support them rise, Of stone far Africa supplies. I did not find myself the heir Of Attalus, nor claim as mine His palace; nor do clients fair In honourable toil combine To spin for Horace, as for you, Laconian wools of purple hue. But honour, and a kindly vein Of genial wit, from rancour free, Bring rich men to my dwelling, fain To court me in my poverty; 86 ODES OF HORACE. [book ii. Nor do I ask the Gods for more, Nor my rich friends by begging bore. My Sabine farm, though only one, Gives all the happiness I need ; Day treads on day ; when one is done Another hastens to succeed ; New moons go climbing up the sky, Only, like all the rest, to die. But you, though death is close at hand. Contract for marbles to be hewn. Forgetful that, just where you stand, A grave for you will open soon, And try to lengthen out the shore At Baiae, where the billows roar. For now but passing rich you think Yourself, although of all the land The master, to the water's brink ; You let no neighbour landmark stand, But move it, and your clients' bound Leap over, greedy still for ground. And so come wending from their farms, In sad procession, two and two. Their squalid children in their arms, Husband and wife, expelled by you ; ODE XVIII.] NON EBUR. 87 The very Gods they bring away, To which their fathers used to pray. And yet what surer palace waits The wealthy heir of all this pelf, Than that within the gaping gates Of Orcus, greedy as himself; That is his limit, drawn by fate, And he must reach it soon or late. Why aim at more? Th' impartial earth Will open to receive us all, The poor and boys of royal birth ; The attendant guard at Pluto's hall, Though bribed with gold, would not convey Cunning Prometheus back to day. 'Tis Orcus Tantalus restrains And that proud hero's race will keep ; 'Tis he who, when the beggar's pains And toils are over, bids him sleep: The poor man prays. He hears him. Nay ! He hears him though he does not pray. 88 ODES OF HORACE. [book ii. XIX. Bacchuni in remotis. On rocks remote I've Bacchus seen, — Believe it after times ! — Dictating songs to Nymphs, all keen To learn the master's rhymes : Goat- footed Satyrs, too, were near, Each with his ears pricked up to hear. Evoe ! my heart with new unrest Beats fast, as in affright ; And, full of Bacchus' self, my breast Is thrill'd with wild delight: Evoe ! O spare me Liber, spare ! Who dost the dreaded Thyrsus bear ! Now I may sing — thou giv'st the right — Bold Thyiad crew my theme, The fount of wine, the river white With milk, a wealthy stream : Or I may tell of honey-bees. And trickling combs in hollow trees. 's Or how thine own blest spouse her crown 'Mid stars has set to glow; ODE XIX.] BACCHUM IN REMOTIS. 89 Or how the house of Pentheus down Fell with one headlong blow ; Or of Lycurgus I may sing, And his ill fate, mad Thracian king. Thy power can bend the river's flow, And curb barbarian seas : To distant mountains thou wilt go, When the Bistonides Hold revel, there, when moist with wine, With harmless snakes their locks to twine. And when thy father's realms on high By impious bands were scaled Of giants, mad to climb the sky. They at thy presence quailed : Then Rhoetus feared the lion's claws. And shunn'd the terror of his jaws. Yet fitter far than war for thee Seemed jest and game and dance. Nor was it thought that thou would'st be At home where weapons glance; Yet whether peace it were or strife, Thou wert its centre and its life. When Cerberus saw thy forehead shine, The golden horn he knew, 90 ODES OF HORACE. [book ii. And gently wagg'd his tail — a sign Of peace and homage true : With triple tongue, on thy retreat, The monster lick'd thy legs and feet. XX. Noil usitata. It is no common wing nor slight, That through the lucid air, The twy-formed bard, in willing flight, From earth aloft shall bear Quite out of reach of envy, when He leaves below the towns of men. Never, though poor my birth, shall I, Whom you have called your friend. Like other men, Maecenas, die ; Like other mortals end ; Could I, who found Maecenas kind, In Stygian waters be confined? Now, now, upon my legs I feel Clinging rough folds of skin, I grow a swan from head to heel, For downy plumes begin, ODES XIX. XX.] XON USITAT.V. 9: All white, upon my breast to show, Wings on my hands and shoulders grow. And now, but on more famous ^ wing, Like Icarus I soar, And soon as bird shall fly and sing Where Euxine waters roar; Shall pass Gaetulian Syrtes by. And Hyperborean plains descry. The Colchian soon my verse shall prize, The Dacian, who would fain His dread of Maesian troop disguise; While scholars ripe of Spain, And far Gelonians, me shall know, And they for whom Rhone's waters flow. You cannot bury me ; then stay Dirges and dismal cries ; Put all unsightly grief away; Silence your elegies ; Oh spare the mockery of a grave. And vain sepulchral honours waive ! 1 Reading "notior." BOOK III. Odi profanutn vuigus. The unhallowed crowd, the vulgar throng, I hate and warn away: Silence ! and list a strain of song Ne'er heard before to-day, Which I, the Muses' priest, will chant To boys and girls : all else, avaunt ! As flocks their shepherds, men their kings, Since they must fear, obey : Jove's nod those very monarchs brings Under his world-wide sway, Jove, who the giants overcame. And won, by victory, lasting fame. One man excels by planting — say — More acres with the vine; BOOK III. ODE I.] ODI PROFANUM VULGUS. 03 This to the Campus takes his way, Proud of a longer line Of ancestors of noble birth, While this trusts only to his worth. This one his client mob to swell Aspires ; but, after all, 'Tis Fate's imperial law will tell Which man will rise or fall : And then, for each of us in turn, A name leaps from the ample urn. The tyrant, if a naked sword Hangs o'er his impious neck, Will get no pleasure from the board Sicilian dainties deck : Elaborate cookery will not please, Nor birds, nor music, charm back ease. The kindly sleep of country folk To lowly roofs will deign : And shady river banks invoke Its presence, not in vain ; It visits Tempe, where the West Sends winds to lull to dreamless rest. The man who asks enough for need, And does not ask for more, 94 ODES OF HORACE. [book ill. Will rest, unvexed by anxious heed, When stormy oceans roar, Nor for the pelting tempests care Of rising Kid or setting Bear : Nor though his vines are crushed by hail ; His farm, that promised well. Deceives him ; nor though harvests fail, And trees some grievance tell Of flooded fields or scorching heat, Or cruel winter storms that beat. The fishes have no room to swim : Our piers obstruct the main : Here a contractor brings with him A large and busy train : They pile huge stones upon the ground : The owner comes to look around. How proud he is ! but where he goes Go threats ; and Fear attends : He mounts his galley, — three its rows Brass-bound — and Care ascends, Nor leaves him : then he rides, to find Black Care on saddle close behind. Well ! if the mind with grief opprest Lacks charm in Phrygian stone : ODES I. II.] ODI PROFANUM VULGUS. 95 If those in starlike purples drest, Or brighter, still must groan : If Achaemenian unguents shine In vain : if vain, Falernian wine : Why should I build a portico To dazzle passers-by? Why, the new style of art to show. Erect a mansion high? Why should I change my Sabine vale For riches which new cares entail? IL Angustam amice. To grow robust, your boy must learn. My friend, to bear a life Of pinching poverty, the stern, Sharp discipline of strife. That Parthians, though so fierce, may fear The knight, a terror with his spear. An out-door life, 'mid war's alarms : Give this, and by and by Some royal maid, of ripened charms, Will have deep cause to sigh, c,6 ODES OF HORACE. [book hi. Or matron, from beleaguered towers, Watching her lord's ill-handled powers, And dreading lest, amid the fight Upon the plain below, The king by rash assault excite That lion 'midst the foe ; Through heaps of slain, all blood and wrath, He rages, — death to cross his path ! How fair for fatherland, and sweet. Is death ! but all must die ; Death follows, and with footsteps fleet, E'en cowards when they fly ; Death has no pity for the young, Though limbs are weak and nerves unstrung. But virtue knows no base defeat; Her honours stainless shine ; The axe she wields, and can, when meet, Assume it or resign. But cares no fickle crowd to please. Nor veers round with the veering breeze. Virtue, to those who guiltless die. Shows heaven with open door ; Obstruct her path, and she will try To force her way the more; ODES II. III.] ANGUSTAM AMICE. 07 Coarse haunts she loathes, and with a bound She soars above the reeking ground. For silence, too, so true and close, Sure guerdon waits ; and I Make solemn warning : " Let not those Who Ceres' mystery Divulge, attempt to share with me A home, or with me put to sea." For Jove, if cheated of his dues, The holy and the vile Will treat alike ; his doom pursues The sinner ; though, awhile Her lameness make the Fury slow, Rarely she lets her victim go. III. Justum et tenace7n. The righteous man, and resolute Of purpose, dreads no tyrant's glance. Nor menace in his countenance ; Nor can the rabble, though they hoot All hot for mischief, with their cry Shake from his rock-like constancy, 98 ODES OF HORACE. [book hi. Nor stormy Auster, whose control The restless waves of Hadria own ; Nor Jove's strong hand, from which are thrown His lightnings when his thunders roll ; The world may into fragments break About his head, he will not quake. This temper gave to Pollux might. And Hercules in his long quest ; By this each hero upward pressed. And touched at length the fiery height; With them Augustus, shining, sips The nectar with empurpled lips. Thy tigers, Father Bacchus, saw This worth in thee, which proved a spell That could those untamed beasts compel The yoke to bear, the car to draw ; By this Quirinus — Mavors' team Conveyed him — fled the woeful stream. For Juno spake, and speaking, spread High pleasure through the Gods' debate : " On Ilium, yes, on Ilium, fate, Through Paris, who, unchaste, had wed A foreign dame, has fallen at last ; Her glory in the dust is cast. ODE III.] JUSTUM ET TENACEM. 99 " Doomed was the city from the hour In which Laoniedon, untrue, The Gods defrauded of their due, Doomed, and surrendered to my power. And chaste Minerva's, chief and folk Who all the laws of honour broke. " No longer does his beauty please The fair Laconian girl, whose vows Were broken to her lawful spouse. For this base guest from over seas ; Falsehood made Priam's house too weak. Though Hector fought, to meet the Greek. " The war I plotted to prolong Now ends in peace, and I at last Can count my heavy wrath as past; To Mars, forgiving thus my wrong, My hated grandson I restore, Him whom the Trojan priestess bore. *' And now I yield him right to rise Up to the happy regions bright. And to quaff nectar, as of right, With all the natives of the skies ; And with the Gods a place to hold. In their blest ranks to be enrolled. loo ODES OF HORACE. [book hi. " While between Ilium and Rome Stretches a broad and angry main, These exiles where they will may reign, Find where they will a happy home ; I care not where they have their joy, So that they reign no more in Troy. " If there the herd with trampling hoof Paris' and Priam's grave deface. And wild beasts' young find hiding-place. The Capitol with shining roof May stand, and Rome's fierce arms succeed In giving laws to conquered Mede. " As far as to the utmost bound Of those wide seas that intervene Europe and Africa between, Rome's name may take its dreaded sound, And where the Nile with swelling waves O'erflows, and all the country laves. " But let her still despise the gold Now hidden, and with wise design. Deep in the yet unopened mine ; And thus deserve the name of bold Far more than if her hand should dare Heaven's treasures from their shrines to tear. ODE III.] JUSTUM ET TENACEM. loi '"The world's far end,'^ where'er it be, Let Rome not in her progress stay, Until on this her hand she lay ; Nor from her wish desist to see Where fires their revels hold, and dew And clouds and rain in retinue. " Yes, let the Roman fight ! But I Ordain this law, and thus foretell ; Let him not love old Troy too well; Nor push his patriot piety, So far, in winning, as to dare The walls of Ilium to repair. " Her second birth, if Troy again Be born, will presage only woe ; As once before, her streets will flow With blood, be piled with heaps of slain ; And I, Jove's sister and his wife, Will head the troops in glorious strife. "If thrice the brazen wall shall rise. And Phoebus thrice his succour lend, Thrice shall it come to violent end, Demolished by my Greek allies ; Thrice shall the wife to slavery borne. Her husband and her children mourn." * " How rolls the Wairoa at your world's far end?"— Browning. 102 • ODES OF HORACE. [book hi. But stay, my lyre for mirth was meant, And not for songs of fear and ire. Whither away, good Muse? Aspire No more a Goddess to present, Lest notes so thin and weak as thine, Take from her accents their Divine. IV. Descende coelo. Come down, O Queen Calliope, From heaven, and to the flute Sing some sustained melody, Or to Apollo's lute ; Choose for thyself the pipe or string, The grave or ringing voice, but sing. Listen ! she sings ! Or is it dream Of "fond illusion"! bred? I listen, and to wander seem, Through hallowed woodlands led, By pleasant sound of waters near, And gentle breeze that meets my ear. ^ I have ventured in borrowing this translation of amabilis insania from Wordsworth to follow Professor Conington. ODES III. IV.] DESCENDE COELO. 103 Once — of myself the legend tells — On Voltur, tired with play, — Nursed was he in Apulia's dells, But now had strayed away — A boy lay sleeping, and was found By doves — so runs the ston- — crowned. The leaves were fresh about my hair; The folk in wonder prest From Acherontia high in air, Perched on a hill, like nest: From Bantine woods, and where below. The crops of rich Forentum grow. Yes ! what a wonder to them all, That thus unharmed I lay. Where bears abound, and vipers crawl So deadly; m\Ttle spray And sacred laurel round my head : " A child inspired by God," they said. Yours, whatsoever place invite. Yours, Muses, I shall be. On Tibur's slope, on Sabine height, By Baiae's limpid sea. Or at Praeneste, if from heat I there raav find a cool retreat. I04 ODES OF HORACE. [book in. Dear to your founts and choirs am I ; They formed a guard for me; Three risks I ran, but did not die : Phihppi's rout ; curs'd tree ; And shipwreck in Sicihan wave, Where Pahnurus found his grave. Go you with me, and bhthe and bold I roam o'er sea and land ; The raging Bosphorus behold. Or pace the burning sand ; For Euxine waves, Assyrian shore, The Muses' friend may all explore. Britain, where guests fierce welcome meet, I'll see ; to Spain will fare. Where Concan finds mares' blood so sweet. Or where Gelonians wear The dreaded quiver; and will go Unharmed where Don's broad waters flow. You give the high prince Caesar rest When to the towns he sends His wearied troops, and he, in quest Of peace from toil, unbends ; To your Pierian cave you hie. To witch him with sweet minstrelsy. ODE IV.] DESCENDE COELO. 105 Kind, you give gentle counsel ; kind, You in your gift delight, — From gentle counsel gentle mind ! — We know, we men, the might Of Jove whose lightnings overthrew The impious Titans' monster crew. For windy sea and ponderous earth. Cities, and realms of woe. The Gods above, of human birth The busy throngs below, One sovereign Lord they all obey, Contented with his righteous sway. But what a crew was that ! [there went E'en to Jove's heart a fright] : Young giants, strong and confident, With arms just made for fight ; Those brothers too, who strove to heap Pelion on dark Olympus' steep ! But what could huge Typhoeus do? Strong Mimas, daring one? Enceladus, who wrenched and threw Tree trunks? Porphyrion, Wliose every gesture was a threat? Or Rhoetus, when the Gods they met? io6 ODES OF HORACE. [book hi. How could e'en these the ringing shield Of awful Pallas dare ? And Vulcan greedy for the field, And Juno's queenly air ; And Phoebus ? never will the foe See those strong arms without their bow. Phoebus, who bathes his flowing hair In pure Castalian dew, Who to his native woods will fare, Roam Lycian copses through, Apollo of the double name, Whom Patara and Delos claim. Brute force, unless good counsel guide, Meets failure from excess ; But force, with wisdom by its side, E'en Gods delight to bless. The Gods, who visit with their hate Tyrants who crime originate. As witness of my maxim take Gyas with hundred hands; And he who onslaught dared to make On Dian ; there he stands Proof that the maiden knew no stain, Orion, by her arrow slain. ODES IV. v.] DESCENDE COELO. 107 Their mother earth renews the groan Wrung by the cruel fate, Which on the monstrous brood, her own, Cast her precipitate, And mourns that by the bolt of heaven, To lurid Orcus they were driven. The swift fires gnaw in vain which burn 'Neath Aetna all the time ; From Tityos' liver will not turn The bird placed ward o'er crime ; Three hundred chains for ever must Pirithous bind, and curb his lust. Coelo tonantem. That Jove is king in heaven we know He thunders : we believe ; And now a God to dwell below, Among us we receive, Augustus, once he tames in fight The British and the Persian might. What ! Crassus' soldier, could he take A wife of barbarous race ? io8 ODES OF HORACE. [book in. Wear armour ^ for a foeman's sake? Grow old amidst disgrace? Shame on our Senate's lapse ! oh where Is gone the Roman character ? Apulian ! Marsian ! these confess A Mede as king? forget Rome's sacred shield, her name, her dress, And Vesta burning yet ? With Rome unharmed, and in the sky. Unharmed, Jove's sovereign majesty? xAlU this wise Regulus foresaw. And spurn'd the foul disgrace Of shameful terms, about to draw Destruction on the race. And in all coming time on Rome, Should pity bring the captives home. ' I saw in Carthage," so he cried, " Standards and arms of Rome On fanes displayed : no Roman died To save or fetch them home : Ay, I saw men, still free, alack ! With hands fast bound behind the back. ^ Readintr " armis." ODE v.] COELO TONANTEM. 109 " I saw the gates wide open stand, I saw the wasted field, — Our work, — now tilled by hostile hand A hostile crop to yield ; And men who would not this prevent, Would come back braver than they went " Ransomed with gold ! O foolish thought ! You add but loss to shame : Can vanished colours back be brought? Look wools once dyed the same Their hues all faded? Will, when men Decline, true virtue rise again ? " Do hinds fight when you break their snare ? Then these poor cozened men, To meet their treacherous foe might dare In open fight again : Dastards ! who meanly let men tie Their hands, and only feared to die. " How man must fight to save his life The coward knew not ; tried To patch a peace upon the strife ; Our shame ! for Carthage pride ! O Carthage, thus exalted high By the disgrace of Italy !" no ODES OF HORACE. [book iii. He spoke, then as all right in life Were lost, he sent, they say, His children and his faithful wife. Without one kiss, away, Turned sternly from their last embrace, And glued to earth his manly face, Nor stirred, till from his constant tone The Senate constant grew, Listened to counsel all his own, From him fresh courage drew, Then from his weeping friends he went, A noble soul, to banishment. Ay ! hastened, though he knows that there The barbarous foes provide Appalling torture ; he will bear ! And so he thrusts aside The citizens who bid him stay. And kinsmen who would fain delay, And goes with no less unconcern Than, suit decided fair, He might from tedious business turn. And clients, to repair To sweet Venafrum's fields, or see Sparta's Tarentine colony. ODES V. VI.] DELICTA MAJORUM. m VI. Delicta majonim. Though guiltless, Roman, you must pay The forfeit of your fathers' guilt, Till shrines now falling to decay, In seemly sort shall be rebuilt ; And the Gods' statues, blackened o'er With dust and smoke, shall shine once more. You rule the world, because you own The Gods are rulers over you; All issues spring from them alone; To them confess all issues due ! Woes, for neglect of God on high, Are piled on sorrowing Italy. For twice Monaeses, and the band Of Pacorus, our onset met ; Unblest, our troops could make no stand; They crushed us, proud the spoil to get, Ay, smiled to add to what before. But paltry necklaces, they wore. How nearly Rome beheld her walls Laid prostrate by a foreign might ! 112 ODES OF HORACE. [book hi. For occupied with factious brawls, She could not face her foes in fight — The Aethiop seaman's dreaded name, The Dacian with his deadly aim. Those ages that engendered vice, Times so prolific in disgrace. Polluted first the marriage ties. And then the home, and then the race ; And from this fountain death and woe Upon the land and people flow. Not from such stock as this they grew, Who dyed with Punic blood the main, The youths who Pyrrhus overthrew, By whom Antiochus was slain ; And Hannibal, our country's dread And scourge, was sent to join the dead. Their sires were country-bred, but knew The sword, as well as plough, to wield, And they in manly vigour grew ; With Sabine hoe they tilled the field. Or brought the firewood to the hall, Prompt at the rigorous mother's call. And yet by now the sun's decline. That makes the mountain shadows grow, ODES VI. VII.] DELICTA MAJORUM. 113 Announced at hand the hour benign That lets the wearied oxen go, Free from the yoke, to welcome rest, While still his chariot travelled west. What can escape Time's cank'ring curse? Each age comes fraught with new decay ; Our sons were than our grandsires worse, And we, their sons, are worse than they; Our sons in turn, it is their fate, Will prove still more degenerate. VII. Quid fles, Asterie? Why all these tears, Asterie, For Gyges? Early Spring, With zephyrs blowing fair for thee. Will Gyges homeward bring Rich with Bithynian wares, a youth Whose heart is constancy and truth. To Oricum, the gales that blow From out the southern skies, After the Goatstars' frenzied glow. Have driv'n him : there he lies H 114 ODES OF HORACE. [book in. All these long winter nights, there keeps Awake to think of thee, and weeps. And thither from his hostess came A post with anxious tale, How for thy lover all aflame Is Chloe : to prevail. He pleads the wretched woman's sighs j A thousand cunning tricks he tries. He tells how by his lying wife Proetus was hurried on. Believing her, to seek the life Of chaste Bellerophon; Too chaste, he hints, the crafty knave ! False charges dug that early grave. He tells how nearly Peleus went Below, because he fled Hippolyta, and continent Withstood her; men are led To sin by stories like to these. Seductive, guileful histories. In vain ! Thy Gyges cares no more For all the knave can urge Than rocks on the Icarian shore, All deaf to sounding surge ; ODES VII. viii.] QUID FLES, ASTERIE? 115 But thou ! Enipeus pleads ; he's near ; Take care he does not grow too dear ! Take care ! so deftly can he ride, His match is nowhere seen ; No hand like his a steed can guide Across the Martial green ; No one the wave so lightly skims, And down the Tuscan channel swims. Shut up the house when daylight falls ; If fifes squeal ^ in the streets Do not look down, and though he calls You cruel, and repeats His scolding often, let him find His words quite true ; remain unkind. VHI. Martiis caelcbs. You wonder I, a bachelor, These flowers, this box of incense, bear, Why coal on live-turf altar there. This first of March I lay, ^ " And when you hear the drum And the vile squeahng of the wry-ncck'd fife." Alerchant of Venice (Cambridge Text.) ii6 ODES OF HORACE. [book in. You Greek and Latin Scholar ! I, When the tree fell, was like to die, And vowed a white goat to supply For Liber's feast to-day. As every year the day I keep, A cork shall from its wine-jar leap, Sealed and laid by in smoke to steep, In TuUus' consulate. Then quaff, Maecenas, since your friend Is safe, a hundred cups, nor end Till day put out your lamps, nor blend With feasting noise and hate. Let all state cares and business go ; The band of Dacian Cotiso Is slain ; the Mede, to self a foe, In civil strife contends ; Our old Cantabrian foe in Spain Accepts, though late, the Roman chain ; The Scyth no more will scour the plain, His bow he now unbends. A private citizen may see A public grief, and let it be ; Then leave all care, and take with glee The gifts the present sends. ODES vm. IX.] DONEC GRATUS ERAM. uy IX. Donee gratus eram. " As long as I was dear to thee, And no more favoured youth had right, Around that neck of snowy white, A pair of lover's arms to fling, I throve, and my felicity Was more than that of Persian king." " As long as for no maid but me Thou wert consumed with inward flame, And did'st not let thy Lydia's name By that of Chloe be displaced, I throve, and Lydia's dignity Was more than Roman Ilia graced." " Chloe of Thrace is now my fair, Who on the lyre so deftly plays, So sweetly sings her roundelays, For whom to die I would not dread, If the three Sisters would but spare The girl to live when I am dead." " Calais now, of Thurium, heir To Ornytus, has lit a torch Of love, himself and me to scorch ; ii8 ODES OF HORACE. [book in. For him I'd twice to death be led, If the three Sisters would but spare The boy to live when I am dead." " What if the old love should return, And those who have been torn apart Be re-united heart to heart, In yoke as strong as brass, once more? And golden Chloe I should spurn, To jilted Lydia ope the door." " Why then, although no star can burn So bright as he in heaven above; Though lighter than a cork thy love, Thy temper worse than raging sea, To thee my love would all return; With thee I'd live, I'd die with thee." X. Extremum Taiiain. If, Lyce, distant Don supplied The water that you drink; Though there with savage mate allied, You still would weep, to think That stretched before your doors unkind, I shivered in your northern wind. ODES IX. X.] EXTREMUM TANAIN. n^ You hear yourself the creaking door, You hear the grove of trees, Amid fair buildings planted, roar And bellow with the breeze; You see beneath Jove's open skies The very snow freeze as it lies. Renounce this pride by love abhorred, Or you may find it true, That, as the wheel runs back, the cord Runs with it, backward too; Your Tuscan father, in his brood. Got no Penelope or prude. And oh, though gifts nor prayers prevail On you, nor lovers' vows, Who sue with cheeks as violets pale; Though careless that your spouse Confesses how his heart is won By a false girl from Macedon ; Though harder than an oak to bend, Unkind as Moorish snake. Yet to a suppliant's prayer attend, And some slight pity take ; These sides of mine can bear no more This cruel drenching at your door. ,2o ODES OF HORACE. [book in. XI. Mercuri, nam te. O great Song-master Mercury ! — For apt Amphion learnt of Thee To move e'en stones by minstrelsy ! — And thou, O seven-stringed shell, Once mute, nor loved ! now welcome where Rich men for feasting meet or prayer, For Lyde's stubborn ears prepare A song, a moving spell ! Like filly scampering o'er the plain, A three-year-old, so she the rein Resents, and suitors all in vain Woo one too young to wed. But thou canst tigers, ay ! and woods Woo to thy side, and rapid floods Canst stay ; and,— spite of all the broods Of snakes that guard his head, * And that foul foaming mouth, whence three Fierce tongues protrude, — the monster, he That guards hell's gate, was charmed by thee To yield, nor offer harm. ODE XI.] MERCURI, NAM TE. 121 Yes, and Ixion, spite of pain, And Tityos too, to smile was fain, The Danaids let their urn remain Unfilled, song has such charm ! Tell Lyde of them, of the vase In which the water never stays But runs away; how doom delays, But follows soon or late The guilty e'en to hell. O call Them impious, impious were they all. To stab their husbands, watch them fall ; Was ever crime so great? But one, of wedlock worthy, one A maiden famed while time shall run. Her perjured parent did not shun To cheat : O splendid lie ! " Rise," to her youthful mate she cries, " Or too long sleep will close those eyes, A gift from unknown enemies; O from my father fly, " And sisters ! lionesses they ! Alas ! each one now tears her prey ; But I am gentler. Could I slay My mate or chain him, I ! 122 ODES OF HORACE. [book iii. " My sire, because I pity showed, I care not, may with fetters load, Or ship me off to far abode, In fields Numidians sow; " Go you where foot or breeze shall bear, While night and love lend omen fair, And on my tomb, in grateful care, Engrave my tale of woe." XII. Miseranim est neqice. Hapless maidens ! love they may. But dare not let their love have play, Nor in sweet wine their care allay, Lest when an uncle's tongue they hear. Like beaten things they die of fear, O Neobule, your employ Is gone, for Venus' winged boy Has robbed you. First your basket went^ And then your web ; and you content Sit idle, and no longer ply Minerva's busy industry. 'Tis Hebrus who must bear the blame. Bright boy ! from Lipara he came ; ODES XI. -XIII.] MISERARUM EST NEQUE. 123 And scarcely had he time to lave His shining limbs in Tiber's wave, You saw him, and the harm was done. For better than Bellerophon He rides ; and with his hands and feet, If he contends, 'tis still to beat. In hunting 'tis the same ; across The open plain he's ne'er at loss. The stag once started, with an aim That never fails, he marks his game. Or if the boar has found a lair In some close thicket, quick he's there, Nor can the wood, however deep. His quarry from this huntsman keep. XIII. O fans Bandusiae. O fountain of Bandusia, spring Than brightest crystal still more bright. Sweet wine were thy due offering, A goblet crowned with flowers thy right. To-morrow I a kid present, A ram, whose horns just budding, show He is for love and battle meant. Should the young creature live and grow. 124 ODES OF HORACE. [book in. Vain is the youthful promise, vain ; For thy cool stream must crimson run, His blood thy limpid wave must stain : His sport among the herd is done. The dog-days' sun, at fiercest noon. Can reach thee with no scorching heat; Cool fount, to wearied ox a boon, To wand'ring sheep a sweet retreat. 'Mid founts of fame thy fame shall be A fame secure, since now I sing, I sing the rocks and ilex tree, From which thy babbling freshets spring. XIV. Herculis ritu. " Like Hercules, he went away," Rome lately cried, " the martyr's bay To buy, but victor home to-day Great Caesar comes from Spain." Go meet thy lord, glad wife and true. And with our general's sister do The sacred office; matrons you. With suppliant wreaths, in train. ODES xin. XIV.] HERCULIS RITU. 125 Give thanks for children safe from strife; Boys, girls, all new to wedded life, Let no ill-omened words be rife, When you the chief attend. This feast will chase dark care from me ; While Caesar holds the world in fee, I dread no rabble mob to see, I fear no violent end. Fetch crowns and unguents, boy, and ask If from the Marsian war a cask Was left, or at the least a flask. By roving Spartacus. And bid clear-voiced Neaera bind Her scented hair in haste, and mind You run away, if that unkind Old porter makes a fuss. We gentler grow as hair grows grey, Young blood is hot and keen for fray. Were it in Consul Plancus' day I had not borne it thus. 1 26 ODES OF HORACE. [book hi. XV. Uxor pauperis Ibyci. You, wife of needy Ibycus, Should give these ways so naughty o'er, They only make you infamous, As death draws nearer to your door. Then leave the maidens to their play. Nor fleck their starlight with your cloud What Pholoe your daughter may, You cannot, Chloris, be allowed. Storming at young men's doors, to wit, Like Thyad mad at timbrel's sound, Or, by the love of Nothus smit. Like some young wanton kid to bound. Put harp and glossy rose aside. Nor to its wine dregs drain the jar; Keep to your wools, Luceria's pride. They suit you, beldame that you are. ODH8 XV. XVI.] INCLUSAM DANAEN. 127 XVI. Indusam Danaen. Caged Danae ! her tower of brass, The sturdy doors, the surly bark Of dogs that watch throughout the dark, And let no midnight lover pass ; These might have kept her safe from all \ Acrisius dreaded would befall. But Jove and Venus laughed to see His bolts and bars ; full well the pair Knew how to reach the hidden fair, And how to open passage free; 'Twas but for Jove — gods have the power — To change into a golden shower. Gold makes its way where'er it likes ; Through all your posted guards it goes, Stronger than thunderbolts its blows ; I The rocks burst open where it strikes ; ( The Argive who the future told \ Was lost, and all his house, through gold. V By bribes the man of Macedon The gates of cities opened wide ; By gold, perfidiously applied, 128 ODES OF HORACE. [book hi. Their power from rival kings he won ; Bribe high enough, no money spare, Rough naval captains you may snare. Care follows riches when they grow, And appetite for more. Shall I Do wrong to shrink from lifting high A crest that might become the show Of crowds that hail you with delight, Their order's crown, Maecenas, knight ! The more a man himself deny, The more the Gods will give. For me, Stripped of all superfluity, I to Contentment camp will hie, Deserting now the rich man's side. For scorn of money is my pride. Not pride alone, but splendid gain; By scorn of wealth made lord of more, Than if upon my granary floor I hoarded all Apulia's plain Can yield to the industrious boor, And 'mid great riches still were poor. I ask not much : a limpid stream, A wood some acres broad, a field That promises a crop to yield ODES XVI. XVII.] INCLUSAM DANAEN, 129 And will not cheat ; with these I seem, Howe'er he in delusion rest, Than Afric's glittering lord more blest. Calabria's bees no honey make For me, nor Laestrygonian vase Mellows my wine ; from flocks that graze In Gaul I never fleeces take; What, then? there's something in my store; No urgent need knocks at my door. Did I need more, you'd not refuse To give me all I might require; I find, by narrowing my desire, I stretch my little revenues. More than by joining Mygdon's plain To Alyattes' wide domain. For greed and need together go. Ask many things, you many want. He only his estate may vaunt As blest, when God has ordered so. That from His frugal hand proceeds Enough to meet all daily needs. 130 ODES OF HORACE. [book in. XVII. Aeli vetusto. Aelius ! from a stock of worth You get your ancient name ; The earhest Lamias trace their birth To Lamus, whence there came All other Lamias that we see Recorded in the pedigree. Or so they tell; you past a doubt Are of that founder's race Who first, 'tis said, as prince, about Wall'd Formiae, o'er a space As wide as to the Liris, swayed. Whose waves Marica's shores invade. To-morrow from the East will bring A storm our woodlands o'er, Strew all the ground with leaves, and fling Vile sea-weed on the shore; Unless the crow has croaked in vain, That long-lived prophet of the rain. Fetch in dry wood then while 'tis fine ; To-morrow, you may take ODES XVII. xviii.] AELI VETUSTO. 131 Your ease and soothe your heart with wine, With genial wine, and make A feast — a two-months' pig may slay — And all your house keep holiday. XVIII. Faiine, Nympharum. O Faunus, wooing Nymphs that flee, Traverse my grounds, this sunny lea, Indulgent, and departing be To my young herds benign ; If yearly a young kid is slain, With scents old altars smoke again. Nor love's boon comrade ask in vain, The bowl, its fill of wine. Oft as December brings your day, On green sward all our cattle play. Townsmen to meadows take their way, And with their oxen rest \ Wolves amid lambs undreaded go. Their leaves woods in your pathway throw. And on the ground, else hated so. The diggers dance with zest. 132 ODES OF HORACE. [book hi. XIX. Quantum distet ab Inacho. What years since Inachus went by Till Codrus for his country fell ; — This, and the genealogy Of Aeacus, you love to tell, And of the wars that raged below Troy's sacred walls, you make us know. But what a cask of Chian wine Should cost us, or what hand should heat The water for us when we dine. Or at whose house we are to meet. Or when from this Pelignian cold I shall be saved, we are not told. Quick, boy, some wine ! we are to toast The midnight, and the moon now new, And pledge Muraena, who can boast The Augur's insight. Measure true Nine cups of water, three of wine. Or else reverse as tastes incline. The lovers of the Nine, the bards Who live in raptures, three times three ODE XIX.] QUANTUM DISTET AB INACHO. 133 Of wine will ask ; the Grace awards But three of wine, no more, for she And her two bare-limbed sisters dread The quarrels that of wine are bred. I love to play the madman. Why- Does no one blow the Phrygian flute? Why does the pipe hang silent by The lyre, its comrade, also mute? The hand that's niggard I detest. Scatter me roses ! Play with zest ! What matter if the din we raise Rouse Lycus there beside our gate? Envious old man ' whose failing days Are ill-matched with a youthful mate. Not ill-matched, Telephus, for you Is Rhode, and she comes to woo. She loves that shining head, with hair That in thick clusters downwards streams ; She thinks it like the star, whose fair And radiant light at evening gleams ; I still love Glycera, nor tire Of my one slow-consuming fire. 134 ODES OF HORACE. [book iik XX. Non vides, quanto. O see you not what risk you run ? Gaetulian lioness ! to try To steal her whelps ! It won't be done Without hard fighting ; by-and-by His life the ravisher will save By flight, and feel in no way brave. When through the bands of youths that bar Her road she goes, to find again Handsome Naearchus, O the war ! Dread war, whose issue must make plain Which is to win of rivals two, Which gain more booty, she or you. Meantime while both are ready dight, Yoit aiming arrows swift to slay. She whetting teeth so fierce to bite ; The umpire of the fight, they say, Stands with one naked foot displayed, And on the prize of victory laid, And lets refreshing breezes blow Upon each shoulder, while his hair, ODES XX. XXI.] NON VIDES, QUANTO. In scented tresses streaming low, Makes him the look of Nireus wear ; Or with that other to be matched, From " many-fountained Ida" snatched. XXI. O nata mecum. O wine jar, you and I can date Our birthday from one year, The year of Manlius' consulate. And this would make you dear, Whatever potency there dwell In that old wine you keep so well. For bring you plaint, or bring you jest, Madden to love and fray. Or soothe our drowsy sense to rest. Dear jar, how glad the day That bids us to the table bring Your Massic, so long mellowing ! Corvinus calls for you : a man Steeped in Socratic lore, And yet he does not drinking ban, Nor churlish pass you o'er : OD 136 ODES OF HORACE. [book iii. E'en antique Cato, as we hear, With wine that sterHng heart would cheer. O jar, you have a kindly sting, For natures else morose, Mirth-making wine away can fling The veil, which hides so close Those thoughts that till a tongue they find Press heavy on the wise man's mind. Hope you restore to souls in dread ; Strength to the weak supply ; As 'twere with horns, the poor man's head 'Gainst wrongs you fortify ; No angry monarch's crest he fears When he has drunk, nor warriors' spears. O jar, the nights with you we'll see ! With Liber ! be she bland With Venus ! and the Graces three, So loth to loose their band ! Our torches never shall die out, Till Phoebus puts the stars to rout. ODEsxxi.-xxin.] MONTIUM GUSTOS. 137 XXII. Montium custos. Guardian of hills and woods, O maid, Young wives in labour ask thine aid. To three-formed Goddess prayer thrice said Will save from deadly throe ; Thine be the pine that rises o'er My roof, and every year shall pour His offering of blood, a boar Planning the sidelong blow. XXITI. Caelo supinas. If, rustic Phidyle, you turn. As each new moon is born, Your open hands to heaven, and burn Sweet incense, offering corn New-grown, and well-stuffed porker, prayer Will reach the Gods, and win their care. Your fruitful vines will never know The fierce Scirocco's spite, 138 ODES OF HORACE. [book iii. Your cornland all its crops will grow, Nor mildew fear nor blight; Nor will the sickly Autumn harm The tender younglings of your farm. On snowy Algid us at graze, Where ilex grows and oak, Or in rich Alban pasture, strays, All ready for the stroke, Which soon the Pontiff's axe must stain, A victim destined to be slain. Not such your household Gods demand ; For them no sheep must die ; But where their little statues stand, Bring wreaths of rosemary, And this with fragile myrtle twine. To crown those images divine. Pure hands upon their altars place. You turn their wrath aside E'en more than if to win their crrace A costly victim died ; For meal and salt with crackling grain, Those pure hands cannot pour in vain. ODE XXIV.] INTACTIS OPULENTIOR. 139 XXIV. Ititnctis opiilentior. Though more than India's wealth you boast, Than untouched Arab hoards contain, And though your piles the Apulian^ main And Tuscan filled from coast to coast, Yet, if Necessity, stern power, Just as your walls attain their height, With nails of adamantine might, Should fix her roof upon your tower, With all your wealth you could not snatch Your soul from fear, nor extricate Your head from death, which, soon or late. Must all things in its meshes catch. Far rather would I, on his plain, With the nomadic Scythian roam, Who, wont to wander, takes his home Still with him in his wandering wain. Far better life the Getan shares, Who does not call the field his own, That for the common good is sown, For common good its harvest bears ^Reading " Tyrrhenum, Apulicum." I40 ODES OF HORACE. [book hi. For one year, and then claims its rest. The labourer, on these terms, remits To other hands the task he quits. Stepchildren there are not oppressed By those who hold their mothers' place; Nor does the wife assume the power At home, in virtue of her dower, Nor trust a false and smiling face ; For she the best of dowers has brought, The virtue of a virtuous race. And chastity that shuns disgrace. And shrinks from e'en a lawless thought ^s' Of other men; for there, the wife Who breaks her marriage vow, commits A sin so heinous, it befits She pay the forfeit with her life. He who proposes as his end The course of impious strife to stay, And civic madness to allay, Thinking his name may thus descend To be by after-comers read Around his statue's base engraved, " Father of cities " ;— if he braved Lax licence towering to a head, ODE XXIV.] INTACTIS OPULENTIOR. 141 His may be this late-rendered fame, Grudged him before; for virtue, we, When living, envy ; when we see Her passed away, her worth proclaim. What good can sad laments attend. Unless some retribution keen Cut short our crime? For vain, I ween, Are laws that cannot morals mend. If all for greed our merchants face The lands that burning heats enclose. Or go where, next eternal snows. The north wind has his dwelling-place ; If dangers that at sea appal. The sailors craft and skill surmount ; If all men poverty account The greatest shame that can befall ; And rather than endure it, will Inflict or suffer any hurt, While they the road of right desert That mounts the steep and arduous hill ; Then vain indeed our laws ! But we. We have a duty to the state, Ill-gotten wealth to confiscate. If genuine our repentance be. 142 ODES OF HORACE. [book hi. Away then to the Capitol ! The people shout, the crowd applauds, With gold and gems and useless gauds, Or let the nearest waters roll Above the source of all our ill And drown it, for the base desire Of gain will not itself expire; Its roots we must force out and kill. To natures tender and inclined To be unmanly, best apply Some firmness and stability, By duties of a sterner kind. Your modern well-born boy is raw, And quite unversed in manly ways ; He dare not ride nor hunt, but plays At hoop or dice, against the law. Nor strange, — his sire can violate Each sworn engagement, cheat and lie. Break ties of hospitality, And all to heap at rapid rate A pile of wealth for sordid heir ! The filthy lucre grows, but yet He always thinks he more must get, Or leave a somewhat maimed affair. ODE XXV.] QUO ME, BACCHE, RAPIS? 143 XXV. Quo me, Bacc/ie, rapis? I follow, Bacchus, filled with Thee! But whither dost thou lead? What woods are these to which I flee } What caves to which I speed? Onward to eager motion pressed By this strange passion in my breast? Where'er these grots, a song shall rise, By which the world shall know A new star planted in the skies, Great Caesar's fame, to grow A splendour 'midst the lights above, And in the council-hall of Jove. Yes, I will tell a peerless tale, A tale no lips have told ; For as some frenzied Bacchanal, Whose wakeful eyes behold Hebrus, and Rhodope, where pace But foreign feet, and snowy Thrace. She raves with wonder and delight, So roam I in this mood, 144 ODES OF HORACE. [book hi. And gloat o'er every country sight, Stream, bank, and lonely wood. O leader of the Naiad bands ! Of Bacchae with their woman hands, Yet strong the towering ash to rend ! Song more than man's I dare. Ye who the winepress god attend, Of feeble strains beware ! 'Tis rash, yet sweet, to watch him twine Around his brows the verdant vine. XXVI. Vixi puellis. I lived, and not so Igng ago, For girls, and won renown, Love's soldier, apt to meet the foe ; But now, my weapons down I've laid; — sword, spear, and lyre and all. Their battles done, must line the wall. On this left wall, here, hang them here. In sea-born Venus' shrine ! Hang up the torch that burns so clear, The crowbars that combine ODES XXV. -XX VII.] VIXI I'UELLIS. 145 With bows, whene'er they threaten war To doors that lovers' passage bar. O (loddess, Queen of Cyprus, blest. And Memphis free from snow Sithonian, hear my last request, With lifted whip one blow Give Chloe, just one blow ; the pain May cure her of her proud disdain. XXVII. Impios parrae. Let omens that misfortune bode Attend, if I may have my will, The impious, when they take the road : The screech-owl's cry repeated shrill, A pregnant bitch, a fox with young, A grey wolf from Lanuvium sprung. And after starting, as they ride, Let signs unlucky still dismay : A serpent like an arrow glide. From side to side, across the way, And make their nags with terror shy ; Keen to observe such signs am I. K 146 ODES OF HORACE. [book iii. And so, since one, for whom I fear. Must travel, e'er the bird, whose cries Predict that heavy rains are near. Back to the stagnant marshes flies, The raven with prophetic croak I from the Eastern skies invoke. O Galatea, happy be. And, where it likes you, make your home, But, everywhere, remember me. And then good luck will surely come, Nor boding pie forbid to go Whene'er you start, nor vagrant crow. But look in what a troubled sky Orion sinks to find his rest ; There's mischief brewing. Well know I What means that white streak in the west, Whence blows the wind ; and what portends The night on Hadria that descends. Let foemen's wives and children feel. Not you and I, the blind turmoil, When all things in the tempest reel, And rising Auster makes a coil Amid the darkened waves that roar And beat upon the trembling shore. ODE XXVII.] IMI'IOS TARRAE. ' 147 Europa thus her limbs of snow Entrusted to the treacherous bull, Over the watery waste to go, With dread sea-monsters seething full. And daring as she was, grew pale At what might in the road assail. But late, intent on meadow flowers, And weaving for the Nymphs their due — A rosy crown — she passed the hours Till night shut all else out from view Save stars, and waters glimmering white Betwixt the darkness and the light. But scarcely on the shores of Crete, With her twice fifty cities strong. Had she, unhappy, set her feet, Than into words flamed all her wrong : " O Father ! dare I name that name ? O love, which frenzy overcame ! "Whence have I come, and where? To die, But once to die, could not atone For loss of maiden purity ! But am I waking? Do I moan An actual sin? Or do I dream, And, though cjuite guiltless, guilty seem ? 148 ODES OF HORACE. [book. in. " Phantoms may cheat us flying through The ivory gateway. But, for me, Which was the better? to pursue My journey o'er the boundless sea? Or wander, as in earlier hours, And pluck the newly-opened flowers? " Would someone, while my wrath is strong, Bring me the creature that I hate, The steer that wrought me grievous wrong. Whom yet I loved so much, so late ; I'd try what steel and hands could do Those horns from off his head to hew. " Shameless, I left the Oods of home ! Shameless, I shun the Gods below ! Ah I if to any dod should come The words I speak, ' O let me go ' — This is the death I crave, 'and walk Unguarded, where the lions stalk.' " Yes ! ere defacing waste should wear My frame, and wanness come to stain These cheeks, these limbs so passing fair, And from the prey its freshness drain ; Yes, ere my form its beauty lose, To feed the tigers I would choose." ODK XXVII.] IMPIOS I'ARRAE. 149 Then, vile Europa, why delay? Your absent sire your death demands ; Hang yourself on this ash, and slay Yourself with your own guilty hands ; Your girdle — for you have it still — This last sad office may fulfil. Or if these pointed rocks below Offer a death you would prefer, Leap quick ! and let the storm-wind blow You deathward ; else yourself prepare To go, blood-royal to degrade, As foreign lady's waiting-maid. And Venus, with her treacherous smile, And Cupid, with his bow unbent. Mock at her weeping all the while ; Till sated with their merriment : " These words of angry passion spare. Till the bull give his horns to tear. 1-1' *' What, know you not you are the mate Of sovereign Jove? No longer sigh. But learn to bear your high estate With all becoming dignity; One half the globe will wear your name, One half the globe preserve your fame." i^o ODES OF HORACE. [book iii. XXVIII. Festo quid pot ins die ? ' Tis Neptune's feast-day ; what had best be done ? Lyde, the Caecuban I stored so well, Go, broach a cask ; don't fear to let it run ; Lay siege to wisdom in her citadel. You see, the afternoon begins to die ; And yet, as if the wing'd hours stay'd, you stay, And let the bottle, like a laggard, lie Where it, when Bibulus was consul, lay. But here it comes! By turns we two will sing; Of Neptune I, and Nereids' sea-green hair; You to Latona your curved lyre shall string. And Cynthia's darts that swiftly cleave the air. Then to her fame our last joint song shall rise Who Cnidus haunts, and gleaming Cyclades. Or with her team of swans to Paphos hies ; Night, too, with her due sonnets we will praise. XXIX. Tyrrhena reguin. O scion of the Tuscan line Of kings, Maecenas, I for you ODE XXIX.] TVRRHENA REGUM. 151 Have kept a cask of mellow wine Unbroached, and there are roses, too, And oil — that sort that is so rare — Distilled expressly for your hair. All these have waited long; then why Make more delay? Shall Tibur still With its moist prospect please your eye. Or Aefula's corn-covered hill? Are you content those heights to view, Where Telegon his father slew ? Your sumptuous home must sometimes pall, Those buildings to the clouds you pile, You must grow weary of them all ; Then leave them for a little while ; Leave Rome, its smoke, and wealth, and noise, And come to look for other joys. Rich men are mostly fond of change. And oft have smoothed the brow of care At poor men's meals, to them so strange, And neatly-served but homely fare. The couch with no rich purple spread ; The board, no awnings overhead. Now does the lately hidden star Of Cepheus clearly show his flame 152 ODES OF HORACE. [book in. And those two other fires that are Wild beasts in madness and in name, The Lion and the Dog's Compeer, Which tell that days of drought are near. Now, with his weary flock, the shade The weary shepherd seeks, or stream. Or wanders listless to the glade Of rough Silvanus, there- to dream Of silent banks where winds should play With cooling gusts denied to-day. Yet you with anxious care must plan Some new improvement for the State, Or all the city's outlook scan, Some danger to anticipate From China, Cyrus' realm, or where Upon the Don they war prepare. Heaven's wisdom all the future hides Beneath a night all dark with cloud. And that poor mortal's wit derides Who strives to pass the ken allowed ; Arrange for, this is in your power, With tranquil mind, the present hour. And all the rest we cannot see Flows onward, as the river flows; ODE XXIX.] TYRRHENA REGUM. 153 Now in mid channel peaceably To join the Tuscan sea it goes; Anon it sweeps with torrent force All daring to impede its course. Rocks, that slow-eating waves have worn, Houses and cattle, side by side. Trees, with their very roots uptorn. Go rolling with the rolling tide. With noises in the woods and hills, When the wild deluge chafes the rills. *' Serene will be his days' and bright," Who, master of himself, can say. At every fading of the light, "To-day I've lived, I've lived to-day"; Be skies to-morrow overcast Or sunny, what is past is past. Not Jupiter himself can make What has been as it had not been, Or from the sum of actions take The good or ill each day has seen ; The hour flies by, and carries all That made it rich, beyond recall. Fortune that loves to vex and spite, Bent her capricious game to play, 154 ODES OF HORACE. [book hi. To shift her favours takes delight, Gives as she likes and takes away ; Now I, the next day you, may find, Then someone else, the goddess kind. I praise her while she's guest of mine. And when she spreads swift wings in flight, All that she gave I straight resign, And wrap me in my sense of right. Content, if I can honest be, To welcome want and poverty. When creaks the mast in Afric gale, I shall not need to haste to prayers, Nor heaven with anxious vows assail. To bargain, lest my precious wares From Tyre and Cyprus swell the gain And measure of the greedy main : But may, all safe, to some poor boat, A two-oared skiff, myself commend. And through Aegean surges float, With one soft-blowing breeze my friend, And those two brother lights that shine, Castor and Pollux, twins divine. ODE XXX.] EXEGI MONUMExNTU.M. 155 XXX. Exegi niomimentuin. 'Tis finished, and my work will stay When monuments of bronze decay, Above the pyramids to tower That stand confessing royal power. The biting rain, the northern gale, Though mad to overthrow, will fail ; Ages will fly, uncounted time Bring all its years, nor harm my rhyme. Not all of me will die, nor small The part to 'scape the funeral. Afresh I every age shall grow, By praise which every age will show, Nor while mute maid and priest ascend The Capitol, shall have an end. Where Aufid's raging waters roar. And where in rainless lands, of yore, Daunus of rustic tribes was king, Mankind will name me, for I sing, A bard grown great from low degree. The first to woo for Italy Aeolian song, and make it known. When set to measures all her own. 1^6 ODES OF HORACE. [book iii. Take thou, Melpomene, the praise Of proud success ! For me the bays ! With Delphic bays my hair to twine. If such thy grace, O Muse, be mine ! BOOK IV. Interfmssa, Venus, diu. What, Venus, trying to renew The wars whence I, long since, withdrew? Oh spare me, I implore, implore. What I was once I am no more. Say as in Cinara's kind sway ; But now, I'm fifty, if a day. Desist then, O thou cruel dame, Whom the sweet Loves their mother name. To try to bend to thy behest, So tender, this too stubborn breast. But let the young men's prayers prevail, And go where they thy presence hail. There's PauUus longing thou would'st come To hold thy revels in his home, There where 'tis fit love's flame to light, Thy lustrous swans shall wing thy flight. 1^8 ODES OF HORACE. [book iv, Noble is he, of comely mien, One whose good breeding may be seen ; With voice that ne'er declines to plead The cause of those who justice need; A youth too of a hundred arts, That cannot fail to capture hearts, And far and wide to spread thy sway, If once enlisted in thy pay. Let him but once in love prevail. And laugh to see his rival fail, With all his lavish gifts, and Thee, Beneath some spreading citron tree, In stately marble carved, he'll make The Goddess of the Alban Lake. There shall the fragrant incense rise To Thee in clouds, with harmonies Of pipe, and Berecynthian flute. And voices blending with the lute. Here twice a day, with dance and song, Will boys and blooming maids prolong Thy praises, and with gleaming feet The ground in Salian measure beat. But, as for me, I get no joy From company of maid or boy. Nor dare I cherish hope so fond, That hearts to mine will e'er respond. No longer crowned with flowers I sit, And o'er the winecup try my wit ; ODES 1. II.] INTERiMISSA, VENUS, DIU. j^g I've done with these, and love, and all. But have I ? why then does there fall Now and again adown my cheek A tear-drop? Why, when I could speak Just now so well, do I become, To my confusion, shy and dumb? I hold your image, yes, in dreams I hold your image : then, meseems, You fly as though you ran a race Across the Campus ; I in chase Pursue you, cruel, till the sea, Far-rolling, roll you far from me. II. Findariwi qiiisqiiis. Who, lulus, would with Pindar vie. Has learnt of Daedalus to fly On waxen wings, and by-and-by Will name some glassy sea. A mountam torrent fed by rain. Which frets till banks no more restrain. So deep-mouthed Pindar pours amain His boundless melody; i6o ODES OF HORACE. [book iv. In dithyrambic measure bold, His free word-coinage forth is rolled, A verse by number uncontrolled, His Delphic bay to claim ; Of Gods or kings his song may tell. By whose just wrath the Centaurs fell ; Gods' sons were they, with power to quell The dread Chimaera's flame. Of horse, or boxer, home with prize Elean, lauded to the skies, He sings ; a hundred effigies Were guerdon poorer far ! Or young bride weeps ; — an elegy Exalts her lost one's virtues high. His grace, his golden prime — the sky, Not hell, awaits a star. The breeze upbears him in its might, Antonius, when in cloudy height The swan Dircean plans a flight ; But as a Matine bee, That, robbing thyme of sweets, pursues Its " flowery work " ^ midst Tibur's dews '"While the bee with honied thigh, That at her flowery work doth sing." Milton, 11 Fcnseroso. ODE 11.] PINDARUM QUISQUIS. i6i From bank to grove, my tiny Muse Toils at her poesy. But you, whose touch is firm and strong. Make Caesar's well-earned bays your song, And fierce Sygambrians dragged along. And up the Sacred Hill. Gift of good Gods, and gift of Fate, Earth till the golden age might wait ■ Till one return more good or great, Nor then its hopes fulfil. Of Rome made glad by general play. When Caesar comes home, as we pray. Sing you, of courts, in holiday. Bereft of lawyer's plea. I'll sing, if men will hear me sing, My best : " O Sun ! fair Sun ! to bring Our Caesar home ! Hark, how they ring, The Roman streets, with thee ^ "Id Triumphe!" he draws near, " lo Triumphe ! " Romans cheer, Again, again, and then revere Kind heaven, and incense strew. ' Reading " Teqiie, dum procedit," after Orelli ; and per- sonifying " lo Triumphe" as the person addressed, as well as the cry uttered. L 1 62 ODES OF HORACE. [book iv. Ten bulls, ten cows, your rites fulfil, But I one tender calf will kill; Of dam forlorn, he grazes till My vows to heaven are due ; Upon his brow bright curves are shown, A crescent moon but three days grown, With one white spot, and one alone, The rest a tawny hue. III. Quem til, Melpoinejie. He whom, Melpomene, thine eyes Graced with one look on natal day, Will ne'er from Isthmian games a prize For brilliant boxing bear away ; Nor in Greek car victorious ride. And his fleet coursers homeward guide. Nor will it be his lot to bring From tented field a triumph home, For crushing some too haughty king Whose swollen pride had menaced Rome, And crowned with Delian laurel climb The Capitol, a sight sublime. ODES H. III.] QUEM TU, MELPOMENE. 163 Quite other gifts the poet wait ; The streams that in tlieir passage lave Rich Tibur vie to make him great, And all the woods their tresses wave, And nurture mid their leafy throng A master of Aeolian song. And I too am a bard ! Yes, me Rome, Queen of cities, deigns to grace, Rome and her youthful progeny, Amid sweet singers grants a place, And takes me out of reach of bite From envy's tooth, and jealous spite. O Mistress of the golden shell, Pierian Muse, whose skilful hand Controls its dulcet sounds so well. That swan-like, — did'st thou but command, Such gifts of song to thee belong, — Mute fishes would break out in song, 'Tis of thy grace, thy grace alone. That, minstrel of the Roman lyre, I'm pointed out in streets, and shown, And all the passers-by admire ; My very breath has come from thee. My power to please, if power there be. 1 64 ODES OF HORACE. [book iv. IV. Qualem ministmm. Like him who serves his bolts for Jove, The bird, whom in the air Heaven's king made king of birds that rove, Proved trusty by the care He took of Ganymede, the boy with yellow hair; His native spirit, from the nest, Drove, still but young, the bird, Unversed as yet in dangerous quest, But when Spring's breezes stirred And chased the clouds away, unwonted flights he dared, Though half afraid his wings to try ; Anon on folds he makes A fierce swoop from his watch on high ; Then strikes at writhing snakes. And still in feast and fight a fierce delight he takes; — Or like a lion watched with eyes Of fear by kid at graze ; His tawny dam the teat denies ; He weaned of milk essays Those keen young teeth that kill where'er he preys. ODK IV.] QUALEM MINISTRUM. 165 So Drusus fought 'neath Alpine heights, Watched by the Rhaetian foe ; (Now why they armed them for their fights, And always armed them so, With Amazonian axe, I have not cared to know ; For to know all things is not right) But hordes, which far and wide And long had conquered, learnt in fight How intellect can guide, And what, though young the chief, true genius can provide. When fostered in a kindly school, A home of noble deed ; They saw how the paternal rule Of Caesar must succeed, To those two Neros shown, two boys of noble breed. Brave sires and good brave sons create. In steer, in horse we see The sire his worth perpetuate And form a pedigree : Fierce eagles have not peaceful doves for progeny. But teaching, for an inbred worth. Means progress : train aright r66 ODES OF HORACE. [book iv. The soul that is of noble birth, And you increase its might ; Neglect its morals, faults will leap to shameful light. What, Rome, you to the Neros owe, Witness Metaurus' stream, And Hasdrubal's great overthrow ; Witness that welcome beam That put to flight the gloom of Latium by its gleam. Ah ! day of many days the first To smile and peace proclaim, Since on Italian cities burst The Afric fiend ; like flame Through pines, like Eastern blast o'er Sicel's waves, he came. From that day forward all went well, Rome's youth fresh strength attained In every conflict that befell ; And fanes, so late profaned By Punic mobs, once more their Gods, their statues, gained. At last perfidious Hannibal : " We stags," he cried, " the prey Of ravening wolves, gain nought by all This chasing day by day ; O splendid triumph this, to fail, then flee away ! OUE IV.] QUALEM MINISTRUM. 167 "This race escaped from Ilium's fires, O'er stormy Tuscan main, Carried their Gods, their sons, their sires, Italian towns to gain, A sturdy folk, as hard as mountain oak in grain. "Though shorn of all its leafy pride By axe's cruel stroke. Once dark on Algidus' rich side, Still stands erect that oak, Loss, death, the steel itself, fresh hope and strength evoke. " Not Hydra, which when cleft in twain, Alcides, by defeat Enraged, saw straight grow whole again, Was monster worse to beat ; No greater Colchus reared nor Thebes Echion's seat. " Drown it, and it will fairer rise ; Wrestle, it throws to ground The unscathed victor ; while the skies With long applause resound, And still at home its matrons talk of wars renowned. " I shall not now to Carthage send A messenger of pride, l68 ODES OF HORACE. [book iv. The death of Hasdrubal put end To us and ours : died, died With him all hope and all the fortune of our side." Nothing there is that Claudian hand And wit may not achieve ; ^ Jove's gracious aid they can command, And diligence will leave No turn of war untried Rome's perils to relieve. Divis orte bonis. Born when the Gods were kind on high, Thou guardian of the Roman race, Too long we miss thee from thy place; The Senate on thy word rely Their holy conclave soon to share ; O best and greatest, hear their prayer ! Restore to thine own land the light Of that auspicious countenance ; For like the sun of Spring, one glance From thee will make the world look bright ; Shine, and thy people will be gay, Shine, and bring in a better day. n^eading "perficiunt." ODES IV. v.] DIVIS ORTE BONIS. 169 ' A mother, when her soldier son Is stay'd on the Carpathian deep, By cruel blasts that o'er it sweep ; — Long since his voyage should be done, And he, instead of stormy seas. Should be enjoying home and ease ; — With vows and prayers she calls him back, And lingers, gazing o'er the bay, , And watching for him day by day ; So, struck with sudden sense of lack, His people for their Caesar yearn. And trustful watch for his return. What wonder ! when, beneath his care The ox may safely roam the field. Fortune is kind to make it yield, And Ceres strong to make it bear; The sailor sails a peaceful main, And stainless honour dreads a stain. From outrage our chaste homes are free, Both law and custom lewdness tame ; And mothers their own praise proclaim When in their sons themselves they see ; Each fault has its attendant due, Vengeance on sin doth still pursue. lyo ODES OF HORACE. [book iv, Why fear the Parthian foe, or dread The Scythian from the frozen north, Or what rough Germany brings forth, With Caesar safe and at our head? Why tremble at the news from Spain, Lest its fierce tribes break out again? On his own hills, each man in peace Closes each day, and weds the vine To trees which else like widows pine ; Then at his wine reclines at ease. And with the second course implores Thy presence, and a God adores. With many prayers he asks thy grace ; Libations oft he pours of wine, To give thee at his household shrine Amid his household Gods a place, Grateful as Greece which Heav'n decrees To Castor and great Hercules. " Propitious chief ! Oh let thy power Give Italy long festal days ! " This is the prayer our lips shall raise When dry, at morning's early hour; This be our prayer, when, steeped in wine, We watch the westering sun decline. ODES V. VI.] DIVE, QUEM PROLES. 171 VI. Dtve, quern proles. Did boastful tongue, and lust, and pride, O God, thy vengeance know? Ask Niobe whose children died, Tityos, and high Troy's foe, Phthian Achilles, who so nearly laid it low. Match'd by no warrior upon earth, He quailed before thy might; The sea-nymph Thetis gave him birth, He shook his spear in fight, And the Dardanian turrets trembled with affright. Yet as a pine will fall before The tooth of biting blade, .As cypress in the tempest's roar. So he to fall was made, His neck, and all his length, in Trojan dust he laid. Achilles was not one to lurk Within the horse, and pay Feigned rites to Pallas, harm to work On ill-starred holiday, To Troy and Priam's hall with dance and gladness gay- 172 ODES OF^ HORACE. [book iv. To captives with an open ire He would have spoken doom, Thrown merest infants in the fire, O horror ! made the womb — Alas, alas, for those poor wordless ones — a tomb ! Had not the father of the Gods, To thine and Venus' prayer, Vouchsafed by that great brow that nods, Aeneas should repair His fortunes, building walls once more with omen fair. Minstrel ! the Muse with voice that rings, Thalia, learnt thy lays ; O Phoebus, who in Xanthus' springs Lavest thy locks, the praise O Daunian song maintain, smooth guardian of the ways ! From thee my inspiration flows, From thee my gift of song, His name to thee the poet owes ; Let choirs thy praise prolong, Flower of our maidens, boys whose sires were brave and strong. Wards of the Delian Goddess sing I She stags and lynxes fleet ODES VI. VII.] DIVE, QUEM PROLES. 173 Checks with an arrow from her string ; Keep Lesbian measure meet, And always watch my thumb from me to take the beat. Duly Latona's boy be sung, Duly night's queen, whose clear And growing torch is nightly hung, The moon of harvest cheer, Who rolls the prosperous months so swiftly up the year. And soon each girl, now made a bride, Will say, " Gods love the lay I sang at that glad festal-tide That brought the happy day, For did not Bard Horatius teach those numbers ? Yea! VII. Diffugere nives. Fled have the snows ; the fields grow green ; The trees their tresses fair renew ; The earth puts on her vernal hue ; And rivers, dwindling, flow between 174 ODES OF HORACE. [book iv. Their wonted banks. So mild the air, That now the Graces to the mead The Nymphs in merry dances lead, With all their shining beauties bare. Think not for ever here to stay ! Each year proclaims that man is frail, Each hour takes up the warning tale. And whirls away the kindly day. Spring breezes thaw the winter's snow ; On spring treads summer ; summer yields To autumn, which upon the fields Her lavish wealth of fruits will throw. Then lifeless cold is back once more. So range the seasons ; yet their waste By hastening moons is soon replaced ; But we, when once this life is o'er, And we have gone where went the just Aeneas, father of our line, Ancus, and TuUus the divine, Are nothing then but shade and dust. Who knows if, when to-day has fled, The Gods another morn will spare ? Spend on thyself, and cheat the heir, Dear heart, whose hands would rob the dead. ODES VII. VIII.] DIFFUGERE NIVES. Once Minos' august words declare Thy doom, Torquatus, eloquence, Nor rank, nor piety can thence Restore thee to the upper air. Not Dian chaste Hippolytus Could save from hell's all-dark domain, Nor Theseus from Lethean chain Could tear his loved Pirithous. VIII. Donarein pateras. My friends would find me generous Of handsome bronzes, cups, and bowls, And tripods won by noble souls, Greek prizes ; and while giving thus All that was mine of rich and rare, The best, not worst, should be your share, O Censorinus ! For, suppose You pictures wished or statues ; " these Parrhasius painted ; each who sees Can trace his touch ; or Scopas chose To make a God or hero live In marble " ; were such mine to give, ^75 j^6 ODES OF HORACE. [book iv. Painting and statue yours should be. But I no trifles of the kind Possess to give, and your own mind From such desires is wholly free; For if to art your fancy leans, Your fortune does not grudge the means. But 'tis in song you take delight. And song I'm able to bestow ; Of song too I the value know. Take some old hero famed in fight, And make him live again and breathe In marble ! would you then bequeath His deeds to all the time to come Like mighty song? "From Scipio fled, With his own curses on his head, The Carthaginian, and the doom Of fire on impious Carthage came, From whence the hero took his name Of Africanus " ; this were praise ! But not so great as to be sung By Ennius in his native tongue ! Such monument the Muses raise. Should poets cease to write, your deed, However great, would lose its meed. ODESViu. IX.] DONAREM PATERAS. 177 What were great Mars' and Ilia's son, If envious silence worth suppressed? Amid the islands of the Blest For Aeacus a place was won, Worth and the poet's grace can save A hero from the Stygian wave. Let but a man deserve to live, The Muses will not let him die, But make him happy in the sky. So to strong Hercules they give The place so coveted above, At the high banquet of great Jove. So, sons of Tyndareus, ye shine, Bright guiding stars, a ship to save Though battered by the boisterous wave ; So Liber, garlands of the vine About his temples, makes ascend Our vows to a successful end. IX. Ne forte credas. Think not my words can e'er expire Because alone I dare To wed them to a Latin lyre With music new and rare, M 1^8 ODES OF HORACE. [book iv. I, born by Aufidus, who o'er The distance makes his waters roar; For though Maeonian Homer hold Above all bards the throne, Nor are Alcaeus' measures bold, Nor Pindar's odes unknown ; The Cean left some songs to time, Stesichorus some stately rhyme. Not even trifles of the kind Anacreon wrote decay, The passion in her muse enshrined Still breathes through Sappho's lay; We feel her still her love rehearse In ardours of Aeolian verse. Helen is not the only spouse Curled love-locks have betrayed. And made untrue to marriage vows ; The dress with gold brocade, The regal state, the princely train, That charmed her eye will charm again. Ere Teucer shot, a shaft had flown From a Cydonian bow; Troy was assailed not once alone; When Sthenelus aim'd blow, Or huge Idomeneus, in fray. Were these the first fights meet for lay? ODE IX. J NE FORTE CREDAS. 179 Great Hector of the fiery heart, Deiphobus aye keen 'Mid sturdy strokes to play his part, Were not the first, I ween, To bear the brunt of deadly strife For tender child and faithful wife. Brave men there were, not few, before Brave Agamemnon ; they Have none to know them or deplore ; Long night has quenched their day, Because no bard with sacred song Appeared their mem'ry to prolong. A buried valour might as well Be cowardice ; shall I, Who in my page great deeds might tell, Pass yours in silence by ? Nor speak one word those feats to save From pale Oblivion's jealous grave? For in you, Lollius, is a mind Sagacious, able, wise ; Fair weather will it constant find, And constant stormy skies, A scourge of greedy fraud, nor prey To wealth that draws the world away. For one year Consul ? nay, true heart ! But oft as pure and just, i8o ODES OF HORACE. [book'iv. For right you take the judge's part, With lofty bearing thrust The guilty backward and their pay, And through whole armies take your way. You would not by the name of " blest " The man of millions call ; To that fair name his claim is best Who wisely uses all The gifts of heaven, and could endure Hard poverty, should he be poor. And from disgrace alone would run As worse than death ; yes, he Deserves the name of " blest " as one Who would not turn to flee, Should cherished friends, or fatherland, At any hour his life demand. XI. Est mihi nonum. I have a cask of Alban wine Quite full ; nine years and more Have made it old ; and, Phyllis mine. The garden holds a store Of ivy; — bind your shining hair; — Or if for weaving crowns to wear, ODES IX. XI.] EST MIHI NONUM. i8r You wish it, parsley you may find ; The house with silver plate Looks gay ; with holy vervain twined, The altar scarce can wait The moment when the lamb we slay, And with its blood our offering pay. All hands are busy ; to and fro Run troops of boys and girls ; The flickering fire is all aglow. Smoke mounts in sooty curls : All signs to warn you to prepare Of some great joy to take your share. Know then, you are to keep the Ides Of April, month of love, O'er which the sea-born Queen presides ; Its midmost day above All other days is dear to me, A day of great solemnity. And every year I own it right The day to celebrate ; For my Maecenas from its light His flowing years to date Begins, and makes it holy, yea, More almost than my natal day. 1 82 ODES OF HORACE. [book iv. Young Telephus, the man you thought To marry, though too high In rank for you, has just been caught By a young heiress' eye ; Her wanton fetters clasp him round. And he is happy to be bound. A fright ambitious hopes attends, As Phaethon singed could tell; And Pegasus grave warning lends, From whom his rider fell, Bellerophon, — a rider born Of our low earth winged horses scorn. Be warned, and when you seek a mate A seemly course pursue. Think sin to aim beyond what fate And heaven assign to you, Last of my loves, for I disclaim. From henceforth, any tender flame. Then learn by heart and practise o'er My songs, that I may hear The measures that I make, once more Sung by a voice so dear; And as you sing, the black distress That tortures me, will torture less. ODESXi. xii.] JAM VERIS CO.MITES. 183 XII. Jam Vert's comites. 'Tis spring, and now the Thracian gales, That form spring's retinue, are blowing, And as they fill the swelling sails, Their mastery o'er the sea are showing; The frosts are gone, and streams no more, Swoll'n by the snows of winter, roar. The bird of woe now builds her nest, The air with cries of anguish rending For Itys, ah ! poor tortured breast, To Cecrops' house shame never-ending, For though on barbarous kings it fell And lust, her vengeance was not well. Now may you hear from grassy plain, Where flocks grow fat, a jocund measure. For shepherd pipes give forth a strain That fills great Pan himself with pleasure, The God whom every flock delights, Who loves the dark Arcadian heights. 'Tis thirsty weather, Virgil mine ! You want a drink;— now don't deny it; 184 ODES OF HORACE. [book iv. Well if you wish a vintage wine From Cales, you with nard must buy it ; The noble youths, your friends, may well Provide you gratis ; / must sell. One little casket, you will find, Of nard, will coax from out its hiding, A cask of the most generous kind, Sulpicius' cellars are providing ; A wine that can defeat despair, And take its bitterness from care. If to such pleasures you would haste. Come; but don't leave the nard behind you; Or of my wine you do not taste ; For why should I in bumpers find you For nothing, just as if I rolled, Like some of your rich friends, in gold. But seriously, make no delay ! From money-making take some leisure ; The gloomy fires will claim their prey; Then while you can enjoy your pleasure, With some brief folly temper wit, Fooling is sweet when place is fit. ODES XII. XIII.] AUDIVERE, LVCE. 185 XIII. Audivere, Lyce. The Gods have heard me, Lyce, yes The Gods have heard my prayer : You grow a hag; yet none the less Conceited than you were, You wish to be admired, and play And drink in a most shameless way. Then in your cups you whine, and call For Cupid ; slow is he To come, nay, will not come at all ; But blooming Chia — see O'er her fair cheeks who harps so well, He watches, willing sentinel. Disdainfully he takes his flight From dry old oaks, and you ; He sees those wrinkles, ugly sight — Those teeth of yellow hue : He sees a head as white as snow ; No wonder that he hastes to go ! Bright is the Coan purple's stain. And pearls are rich and rare ; 1 86 ODES OF HORACE. [book iv. But these can never bring again The days when you were fair ; Winged Time as if with bolt and bar Has shut them in the Calendar. Whither has fled your charm ? your grace Of movement? and the hue That once made fair that face, that face That I so loved to view ? For love breathed from you then and stole From me my very heart and soul. For next to Cinaia you shone, Quite famed for winning ways; But Cinara's brief days are done. While Fate your end delays; For you she lets the seasons grow, To match you with the beldame crow. She means— I see her purpose clear — Our young men all on fire To look on Lyce shall but jeer; For who could still admire A beauty that has had her day, A torch to ashes fall'n away ? ODES XIII. XIV.] QUAE CURA I'ATRUM. tS; XIV. Quae cum pairiim. Should Senate, with all Romans, vie To give thy virtues endless fame. Could graven stones thy worth proclaim? Or could recorded page supply The honours due to thee from Rome, O Prince of Princes? Might like thine The sun beholds not though he shine Wherever man may make a home, Augustus ! whose resistless sword The Swiss, long strangers to the strength Of Latin law, have learned at length, Is wielded by their future lord. For Drusus, with thy eager hosts Laid low, with more than stroke for stroke, The fierce Genaunians, restless folk. And the fleet Breuni, from their posts Upon the dreaded Alpine heights Dislodged ; and scarce was struck this blow When down upon the Rhaetian foe (Fortune herself thy battle fights) i88 ODES OF HORACE. [book iv. The elder of the Neros bore : O glorious sight ! what havoc then He wrought among those desperate men, Sworn to live free, or live no more ! Whole squadrons, see, he routs, and where The fight is raging hottest, makes A passage, much as Auster breaks Through waves that still his fury dare, When cleave through yielding clouds the band Of Pleiads ; so, with eager force, The warrior spurred his neighing horse Through fiery foes on either hand. Recall how like a furious bull. The torrent Aufidus, whose waves Apulia, Daunus' kingdom, laves, Bursts downward when his stream is full, And, as if raging with intent To flood the crops, o'erflows his bank ; So Claudius, mowing rank by rank, Through mail-clad warriors slaughtering went, Until in one great overthrow. Without a single loss, — for thine Were luck, and men, and bold design, — Upon the earth he laid tliem low. ODE XIV.] QUAE CURA PATRUM. 189 Yes, thine own Gods decreed that day Thy orders with success to crown, Conferring the long-wished renown Thy troops must win when they obey, For lustres three had brought once more The day, when, port and palace set Wide open, Alexandria met Her victor on her suppliant shore. The wild Cantabrian, whom, till now No arm could tame, the Scythian fleet, Indian and Mede, before thy feet In awe and wonder learnt to bow. Thou guardian of fair Italy, Thou guardian of our queenly Rome, Where thy great presence has its home, All lands, all rivers, yield to thee; Old Nile that still conceals his source, Ister, and Tigris swift of stream, And Ocean, where the monsters teem, That round far Britain murmurs hoarse. The Gauls from death who never flee. And hardy Spaniards hear thy voice, Sygambri, who in feud rejoice, Lay down their arms, and worship thee. igo ODES OF HORACE. [book iv. XV. Phoebus vo lent em. Apollo, when I wished to sing Of conquered towns and fights, Smote somewhat sharply on his string, Forbidding daring flights, And bade me mark how slight my sail For Tuscan wave and Tuscan gale. O Caesar, what an age is thine ! Once more our fields with corn Are rich : once more within his shrine Jove sees the standards torn From Parthian portals : stripped and bare They now no boasted trophies wear. Now with closed gate, and free from fight Quirinian Janus stands, And those who wandered from the right Now own thy guiding hands; Thy curb on licence has been strong, To bridle or remove the wrong. Now ancient customs have revived. Whence Latin name was great, By which Italian interests thrived, Whence Rome derived her state. ODE XV.] PHOEBUS VOLENTEM. igi Until from East to furthest West, Her power was known, her fame confest. While Caesar guards the world and Rome, Our townsmen safe will dwell, No frenzy will disturb their home, No tumult sleep expel, Nor wrath that forges swords to slay, And plunges wretched towns in fray. Not those who drink deep Danube's stream, Or roam in eastern lands, Seres, perfidious Persians, dream Of breaking thy commands, Getae, nor tribes that range upon Their native banks of distant Don. Then let us sing whate'er the day. To feast or labour due, Gay Liber's gifts should make all gay, You wives and children you. If first in piety we go To pay to heaven the prayers we owe. Sing we, as sang our sires of yore, Of all the virtuous dead, Of Troy, and those kind Venus bore To great Anchises' bed, Let Lydian flutes their music lend, And with their notes our voices blend. CARMEN SECULARE. Phoebe sitvarumque. Phoebus, Diana silvan Queenj Bright glories of the sky, Ever adored since time has been. Adorable for aye. Our prayers at this glad season hear, For round has come the Sacred Year. And on this year — for thus commands Of old, Sibylline verse — Pure boys and maids in chosen bands, A sacred song rehearse, A song to Gods who from on high Watch our seven hills with favouring eye. " O kindly Sun, in chariot drawn, All bright to bring the day And hide it ; born at every dawn The same, yet different — may 192 PHOEBE SILVARUMQUE. 193 Thy light in all thy travels come Upon no greater thing than Rome ! " O Ilithyia, timely friend, At birth-hour be benign, And still with care our matrons tend, Whatever name be thine ! Shall we invoke ' Lucina bright,' Or 'Goddess of the natal rite?' " O Goddess, let our offspring know Thy fostering care and aid, And let to prosperous issue grow The laws the Fathers made To strengthen the chaste marriage tie. By which our race may multiply ! " So that the cycle may not fail — Its years eleven times ten — But through all time complete the tale ; Bring song and sport again, That thrice our throngs in shining day, Thrice in glad night, may sing and play. " Ye Fates, too, prophets making sure, Things once for all averred, (And may Time's landmark, still secure, Protect ^ the promised word,) ^ Reading ' ' servet. " N . ODES OF HORACE. [carmen Ordain to fortunes passed away A future with as bright a day ! " May earth, proHfic now to bear Its wealth of flocks and grain, Her spiky garland give to wear To Ceres; healthful rain, And breezes, taught by Jove to blow. Combine to make our harvests grow ! •" Apollo, mild and gracious be ! Lay down thy dart, and hear Our boys who bend the suppliant knee; Queen of the starlight clear, Two-horned Luna, let the strain Of maidens all thy favour gain ! ■"■ If Rome your work was ; if were brought Unharmed to Tuscan shore The squadrons that for Ilium fought. And, voyage safely o'er. The remnant here were charged to take New household Gods, new city make, ■•'For whom the pure Aeneas shaped. While Troy was burning— he Who his own country's fall escaped — Shaped passage safe and free, seculare] PHOEBE SILVARUMQUE. 195 And brought them where they yet might find Far more than all they left behind ; " Make our youth docile, Gods, and good. Right in their minds instil ; Grant, Gods, to age that quietude That should old age fulfil ; Increase and bless the Roman race With honour, wealth, and every grace ! " May he, since spotless ox is slain. Who draws illustrious birth From Venus and Anchises, gain His wish; supreme on earth Still conquer, ready to forego Advantage o'er his fallen foe ! "o^ " Now quails the Mede ; on land and sea The Alban axe is known ; Rome's awful might and majesty The Scyth and Indian own ; And while so proud they stood of late, Her words of doom now humbly wait. " Again neglected virtues dare Make Rome their dwelling place ; Honour, and Peace, and Truth are there. And Shame, that antique grace. 196 ODES OF HORACE. [carmen And Plenty comes again to pour From her full horn an ample store. " And Phoebus, he the seer divine, Adorned with shining bow, Accepted comrade of the Nine, Whose healing virtues flow To human limbs, with art to bless And charm them from their weariness ; " If still he views with favouring eyes The altars ^ Palatine, Bright while another lustre flies. He makes Rome's fortunes shine. While Latium waits- a better age, A still increasing heritage. " And Dian — Algidus her fane Can boast and Aventine — To her the Fifteen, not in vain. In humble prayer incline ; And as from boys the vow ascends A listening ear the Goddess bends." That thus it pleases Jove above, And all the Gods, I tell; ^Reading "aras." -Reading " prorogat, curat, applicat." SECULAKR] THOEBE SILVARUMQUE. jg-j I bring home hope, and time will prove This hope is founded well, For I was trained in Phoebus' choir ; His praise and Dian's claim my lyre. <;la,s(;ow : ikinted at the univeksity press hy kohekt maci.ehose andco. Messrs. MacLehose's Classical Books By WILLIAM WARDLAW WADDELL, M.A. The Parmenides of Plato. After the Paging of the Clarke Manuscript. Edited, willi Introduction, Fac-similes, and Notes, byAViLLiAM Wardlaw Waddell, M.A., Glasgow and Oxford, one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools. "Those wlio know how few really s;ood editions of the Platonic dialogues there are will warmly welcome this addition to their number. The student of Palaeography will be attracted by the fidelity with which not merely the spelling and division of sentences, but even the marking of erasures, the tall letters, the exact form of page and line in the ' Codex Clarkianus ' are here presented to the eye. The part of the introduction which deals with the authorship of the Parmenides is written in an eminently judicious and impartial manner. The commentary, on an elaborate scale and admirably executed, is everywhere lucid, ingenious, and in an eminent degree sympathetic. It is impossible within the limits of this notice to do justice to all the characteristics of the notes."--R. D. Hicks, in The Classical Reviczo. By PROFESSOR JEBB. Homer : An introduction to the Iliad and the Odyssey. For the use of Schools and Colleges. By R. C. jEBB, Litt.D., M.P., Professor of Greek in the University of Cambridge. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. "We heartily commend the handbook before us to the diligent study of all beginners, and many 'ripe scholars.'" — Atheiiaum. The Anabasis of Xenophon. Books III. and IV., with the Modern Greek Version of Professor Michael Constantinides. Edited by Profess'or J ebb. F'cap. 8vo. 4s. 6d. Glasgow : James MacLehose & Sons, Publishers to the University. London : Macmillan & Co. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. DEC 12 1956 >»"^ *> ffT ^ 19F" minx. FEB ^4 1967 ^EB 2 8 1867 MAY 6 i{^84 RK'D ID nor JUN - 'w; mo i^uii Ot APR 1 8 im t^-m< JAN 2 IMS MAY 9 IP! ^25 a? Form L9-100iii-9,'52(A3105)444 1974 3 1158 00893 9893 /f0 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 435 824 8