Complete Works of Horace (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics)

by Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus

utcumque mutata potentis

  ueste domos inimica linquis;

  at uolgus infidum et meretrix retro 25

  periura cedit, diffugiunt cadis

  cum faece siccatis amici,

  ferre iugum pariter dolosi.

  Serues iturum Caesarem in ultimos

  orbis Britannos et iuuenum recens 30

  examen Eois timendum

  partibus Oceanoque rubro.

  Heu heu, cicatricum et sceleris pudet

  fratrumque. Quid nos dura refugimus

  aetas, quid intactum nefasti

  liquimus? Vnde manum iuuentus 35

  metu deorum continuit? Quibus

  pepercit aris? O utinam noua

  incude diffingas retusum in

  Massagetas Arabasque ferrum! 40

  ODE XXXV.

  TO FORTUNE.

  O Goddess, who presidest over beautiful Antium; thou, that art ready to exalt mortal man from the most abject state, or to convert superb triumphs into funerals! Thee the poor countryman solicits with his anxious vows; whosoever plows the Carpathian Sea with the Bithynian vessel, importunes thee as mistress of the ocean. Thee the rough Dacian, thee the wandering Scythians, and cities, and nations, and warlike Latium also, and the mothers of barbarian kings, and tyrants clad in purple, fear. Spurn not with destructive foot that column which now stands firm, nor let popular tummult rouse those, who now rest quiet, to arms — to arms — and break the empire. Necessity, thy minister, alway marches before thee, holding in her brazen hand huge spikes and wedges, nor is the unyielding clamp absent, nor the melted lead. Thee Hope reverences, and rare Fidelity robed in a white garment; nor does she refuse to bear thee company, howsoever in wrath thou change thy robe, and abandon the houses of the powerful. But the faithless crowd [of companions], and the perjured harlot draw back. Friends, too faithless to bear equally the yoke of adversity, when casks are exhausted, very dregs and all, fly off. Preserve thou Caesar, who is meditating an expedition against the Britons, the furthest people in the world, and also the new levy of youths to be dreaded by the Eastern regions, and the Red Sea. Alas! I am ashamed of our scars, and our wickedness, and of brethren. What have we, a hardened age, avoided? What have we in our impiety left unviolated! From what have our youth restrained their hands, out of reverence to the gods? What altars have they spared? O mayest thou forge anew our blunted swords on a different anvil against the Massagetae and Arabians.

  XXXVI

  Et ture et fidibus iuuat

  placare et uituli sanguini debito

  custodes Numidae deos,

  qui nunc Hesperia sospes ab ultima

  caris multa sodalibus, 5

  nulli plura tamen diuidit oscula

  quam dulci Lamiae, memor

  actae non alio rege puertiae

  mutataeque simul togae.

  Cressa ne careat pulchra dies nota 10

  neu promptae modus amphorae

  neu morem in Salium sit requies pedum

  neu multi Damalis meri

  Bassum Threicia uincat amystide

  neu desint epulis rosae 15

  neu uiuax apium neu breue lilium.

  Omnes in Damalin putres

  deponent oculos nec Damalis nouo

  diuelletur adultero

  lasciuis hederis ambitiosior. 20

  ODE XXXVI.

  This is a joyful occasion to sacrifice both with incense and music of the lyre, and the votive blood of a heifer to the gods, the guardians of Numida; who, now returning in safety from the extremest part of Spain, imparts many embraces to his beloved companions, but to none more than his dear Lamia, mindful of his childhood spent under one and the same governor, and of the gown, which they changed at the same time. Let not this joyful day be without a Cretan mark of distinction; let us not spare the jar brought forth [from the cellar]; nor, Salian-like, let there be any cessation of feet; nor let the toping Damalis conquer Bassus in the Thracian Amystis; nor let there be roses wanting to the banquet, nor the ever-green parsley, nor the short-lived lily. All the company will fix their dissolving eyes on Damalis; but she, more luxuriant than the wanton ivy, will not be separated from her new lover.

  XXXVII

  Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero

  pulsanda tellus, nunc Saliaribus

  ornare puluinar deorum

  tempus erat dapibus, sodales.

  Antehac nefas depromere Caecubum 5

  cellis auitis, dum Capitolio

  regina dementis ruinas

  funus et imperio parabat

  contaminato cum grege turpium

  morbo uirorum, quidlibet impotens 10

  sperare fortunaque dulci

  ebria. Sed minuit furorem

  uix una sospes nauis ab ignibus,

  mentemque lymphatam Mareotico

  redegit in ueros timores 15

  Caesar, ab Italia uolantem

  remis adurgens, accipiter uelut

  mollis columbas aut leporem citus

  uenator in campis niualis

  Haemoniae, daret ut catenis 20

  fatale monstrum. Quae generosius

  perire quaerens nec muliebriter

  expauit ensem nec latentis

  classe cita reparauit oras,

  ausa et iacentem uisere regiam 25

  uoltu sereno, fortis et asperas

  tractare serpentes, ut atrum

  corpore conbiberet uenenum,

  deliberata morte ferocior:

  saeuis Liburnis scilicet inuidens 30

  priuata deduci superbo,

  non humilis mulier, triumpho.

  ODE XXXVII.

  TO HIS COMPANIONS.

  Now, my companions, is the time to carouse, now to beat the ground with a light foot: now is the time that was to deck the couch of the gods with Salian dainties. Before this, it was impious to produce the old Caecuban stored up by your ancestors; while the queen, with a contaminated gang of creatures, noisome through distemper, was preparing giddy destruction for the Capitol and the subversion of the empire, being weak enough to hope for any thing, and intoxicated with her prospering fortune. But scarcely a single ship preserved from the flames bated her fury; and Caesar brought down her mind, inflamed with Egyptian wine, to real fears, close pursuing her in her flight from Italy with his galleys (as the hawk pursues the tender doves, or the nimble hunter the hare in the plains of snowy Aemon), that he might throw into chains this destructive monster [of a woman]; who, seeking a more generous death, neither had an effeminate dread of the sword, nor repaired with her swift ship to hidden shores. She was able also to look upon her palace, lying in ruins, with a countenance unmoved, and courageous enough to handle exasperated asps, that she might imbibe in her body the deadly poison, being more resolved by having pre-meditated her death: for she was a woman of such greatness of soul, as to scorn to be carried off in haughty triumph, like a private person, by rough Liburnians.

  XXXVIII

  Persicos odi, puer, apparatus,

  displicent nexae philyra coronae,

  mitte sectari, rosa quo locorum

  sera moretur.

  Simplici myrto nihil adlabores 5

  sedulus, curo: neque te ministrum

  dedecet myrtus neque me sub arta

  uite bibentem.

  ODE XXXVIII.

  TO HIS SERVANT.

  Boy, I detest the pomp of the Persians; chaplets, which are woven with the rind of the linden, displease me; give up the search for the place where the latter rose abides. It is my particular desire that you make no laborious addition to the plain myrtle; for myrtle is neither unbecoming you a servant, nor me, while I quaff under this mantling vine.

  Liber II

  I

  Motum ex Metello consule ciuicum

  bellique causas et uitia et modos

  ludumque Fortunae grauisque

  principum amicitias et arma

  nondum expiatis uncta cruoribus, 5

  periculosae plenum opus aleae,

  tractas et incedis per ignis

&n
bsp; suppositos cineri doloso.

  Paulum seuerae Musa tragoediae

  desit theatris; mox, ubi publicas 10

  res ordinaris, grande munus

  Cecropio repetes coturno,

  insigne maestis praesidium reis

  et consulenti, Pollio, curiae,

  cui laurus aeternos honores

  Delmatico peperit triumpho. 15

  Iam nunc minaci murmure cornuum

  perstringis auris, iam litui strepunt,

  iam fulgor armorum fugacis

  terret equos equitumque uoltus. 20

  Audire magnos iam uideor duces

  non indecoro puluere sordidos

  et cuncta terrarum subacta

  praeter atrocem animum Catonis.

  Iuno et deorum quisquis amicior 25

  Afris inulta cesserat impotens

  tellure, uictorum nepotes

  rettulit inferias Iugurthae.

  Quis non Latino sanguine pinguior

  campus sepulcris impia proelia 30

  testatur auditumque Medis

  Hesperiae sonitum ruinae?

  Qui gurges aut quae flumina lugubris

  ignara belli? Quod mare Dauniae

  non decolorauere caedes?

  Quae caret ora cruore nostro? 35

  Sed ne relictis, Musa procax, iocis

  Ceae retractes munera Neniae,

  mecum Dionaeo sub antro

  quaere modos leuiore plectro. 40

  ODE I.

  TO ASINIUS POLLIO.

  You are treating of the civil commotion, which began from the consulship of Metelius, and the causes, and the errors, and the operations of the war, and the game that fortune played, and the pernicious confederacy of the chiefs, and arms stained with blood not yet expiated — a work full of danger and hazard: and you are treading upon fires, hidden under deceitful ashes: let therefore the muse that presides over severe tragedy, be for a while absent from the theaters; shortly, when thou hast completed the narrative of the public affairs, you shall resume your great work in the tragic style of Athens, O Pollio, thou excellent succor to sorrowing defendants and a consulting senate; [Pollio,] to whom the laurel produced immortal honors in the Dalmatian triumph. Even now you stun our ears with the threatening murmur of horns: now the clarions sound; now the glitter of arms affrights the flying steeds, and dazzles the sight of the riders. Now I seem to hear of great commanders besmeared with, glorious dust, and the whole earth subdued, except the stubborn soul of Cato. Juno, and every other god propitious to the Africans, impotently went off, leaving that land unrevenged; but soon offered the descendants of the conquerors, as sacrifices to the manes of Jugurtha. What plain, enriched by Latin blood, bears not record, by its numerous sepulchres, of our impious battles, and of the sound of the downfall of Italy, heard even by the Medes? What pool, what rivers, are unconscious of our deplorable war? What sea have not the Daunian slaughters discolored? What shore is unstained by our blood? Do not, however, rash muse, neglecting your jocose strains, resume the task of Caean plaintive song, but rather with me seek measures of a lighter style beneath some love-sequestered grotto.

  II

  Nullus argento color est auaris

  abdito terris, inimice lamnae

  Crispe Sallusti, nisi temperato

  splendeat usu.

  Viuet extento Proculeius aeuo, 5

  notus in fratres animi paterni;

  illum aget pinna metuente solui

  Fama superstes.

  Latius regnes auidum domando

  spiritum quam si Libyam remotis 10

  Gadibus iungas et uterque Poenus

  seruiat uni.

  Crescit indulgens sibi dirus hydrops

  nec sitim pellit, nisi causa morbi

  fugerit uenis et aquosus albo 15

  corpore languor.

  Redditum Cyri solio Prahaten

  dissidens plebi numero beatorum

  eximit Virtus populumque falsis

  dedocet uti 20

  uocibus, regnum et diadema tutum

  deferens uni propriamque laurum

  quisquis ingentis oculo inretorto

  spectat aceruos.

  ODE II.

  TO CRISPUS SALLUSTIUS.

  O Crispus Sallustius, thou foe to bullion, unless it derives splendor from a moderate enjoyment, there is no luster in money concealed in the niggard earth. Proculeius shall live an extended age, conspicuous for fatherly affection to brothers; surviving fame shall bear him on an untiring wing. You may possess a more extensive dominion by controlling a craving disposition, than if you could unite Libya to the distant Gades, and the natives of both the Carthages were subject to you alone. The direful dropsy increases by self-indulgence, nor extinguishes its thirst, unless the cause of the disorder has departed from the veins, and the watery languor from the pallid body. Virtue, differing from the vulgar, excepts Phraates though restored to the throne of Cyrus, from the number of the happy; and teaches the populace to disuse false names for things, by conferring the kingdom and a safe diadem and the perpetual laurel upon him alone, who can view large heaps of treasure with undazzled eye.

  III

  Aequam memento rebus in arduis

  seruare mentem, non secus in bonis

  ab insolenti temperatam

  laetitia, moriture Delli,

  seu maestus omni tempore uixeris 5

  seu te in remoto gramine per dies

  festos reclinatum bearis

  interiore nota Falerni.

  Quo pinus ingens albaque populus

  umbram hospitalem consociare amant 10

  ramis? Quid obliquo laborat

  lympha fugax trepidare riuo?

  Huc uina et unguenta et nimium breuis

  flores amoenae ferre iube rosae,

  dum res et aetas et Sororum

  fila trium patiuntur atra. 15

  Cedes coemptis saltibus et domo

  uillaque, flauus quam Tiberis lauit,

  cedes, et exstructis in altum

  diuitiis potietur heres. 20

  Diuesne prisco natus ab Inacho

  nil interest an pauper et infima

  de gente sub diuo moreris,

  uictima nil miserantis Orci;

  omnes eodem cogimur, omnium 25

  uersatur urna serius ocius

  sors exitura et nos in aeternum

  exilium impositura cumbae.

  ODE III.

  TO QUINTUS DELLIUS.

  O Dellius, since thou art born to die, be mindful to preserve a temper of mind even in times of difficulty, as well an restrained from insolent exultation in prosperity: whether thou shalt lead a life of continual sadness, or through happy days regale thyself with Falernian wine of the oldest date, at case reclined in some grassy retreat, where the lofty pine and hoary poplar delight to interweave their boughs into a hospitable shade, and the clear current with trembling surface purls along the meandering rivulet. Hither order [your slaves] to bring the wine, and the perfumes, and the too short-lived flowers of the grateful rose, while fortune, and age; and the sable threads of the three sisters permit thee. You must depart from your numerous purchased groves; from your house also, and that villa, which the yellow Tiber washes, you must depart: and an heir shall possess these high-piled riches. It is of no consequence whether you are the wealthy descendant of ancient Inachus, or whether, poor and of the most ignoble race, you live without a covering from the open air, since you are the victim of merciless Pluto. We are all driven toward the same quarter: the lot of all is shaken in the urn; destined sooner or later to come forth, and embark us in [Charon’s] boat for eternal exile.

  IV

  Ne sit ancillae tibi amor pudori,

  Xanthia Phoceu: prius insolentem

  serua Briseis niueo colore

  mouit Anchillem;

  mouit Aiacem Telamone natum 5

  forma captiuae dominum Tecmessae;

  arsit Atrides medio in triumpho

  uirgine rapta,

  barbarae postquam cecidere turma
e

  Thessalo uictore et ademptus Hector 10

  tradidit fessis leuiora tolli

  Pergama Grais.

  Nescias an te generum beati

  Phyllidis flauae decorent parentes;

  regium certe genus et penatis 15

  maeret iniquos.

  Crede non illam tibi de scelesta

  plebe delectam, neque sic fidelem,

  sic lucro auersam potuisse nasci

  matre pudenda. 20

  Bracchia et uoltum teretisque suras

  integer laudo: fuge suspicari

  cuius octauum trepidauit aetas

  claudere lustrum.

  ODE IV.

  TO XANTHIAS PHOCEUS.

  Let not, O Xanthias Phoceus, your passion for your maid put you out of countenance; before your time, the slave Briseis moved the haughty Achilles by her snowy complexion. The beauty of the captive Tecmessa smote her master, the Telamonian Ajax; Agamemnon, in the midst of victory, burned for a ravished virgin: when the barbarian troops fell by the hands of their Thessalian conqueror, and Hector, vanquished, left Troy more easily to be destroyed by the Grecians. You do not know that perchance the beautiful Phyllis has parents of condition happy enough to do honor to you their son-in-law. Certainly she must be of royal race, and laments the unpropitiousness of her family gods. Be confident, that your beloved is not of the worthless crowd; nor that one so true, so unmercenary, could possibly be born of a mother to be ashamed of. I can commend arms, and face, and well-made legs, quite chastely: avoid being jealous of one, whose age is hastening onward to bring its eighth mastrum to a close.