lapsa cauis iterare mella;
fas et beatae coniugis additum
stellis honorem tectaque Penthei
disiecta non leni ruina, 15
Thracis et exitium Lycurgi.
Tu flectis amnes, tu mare barbarum,
tu separatis uuidus in iugis
nodo coerces uiperino
Bistonidum sine fraude crinis. 20
Tu, cum parentis regna per arduum
cohors Gigantum scanderet inpia,
Rhoetum retorsisti leonis
unguibus horribilique mala;
quamquam, choreis aptior et iocis 25
ludoque dictus, non sat idoneus
pugnae ferebaris; sed idem
pacis eras mediusque belli.
Te uidit insons Cerberus aureo
cornu decorum leniter atterens 30
caudam et recedentis trilingui
ore pedes tetigitque crura.
ODE XIX.
ON BACCHUS.
A DITHYRAMBIC, OR DRINKING SONG.
I saw Bacchus (believe it, posterity) dictating strains among the remote rocks, and the nymphs learning them, and the ears of the goat-footed satyrs all attentive. Evoe! my mind trembles with recent dread, and my soul, replete with Bacchus, has a tumultuous joy, Evoe! spare me, Bacchus; spare me, thou who art formidable for thy dreadful thyrsus. It is granted me to sing the wanton Bacchanalian priestess, and the fountain of wine, and rivulets flowing with milk, and to tell again of the honeys distilling from the hollow trunks. It is granted me likewise to celebrate the honor added to the constellations by your happy spouse, and the palace of Pentheus demolished with no light ruin, and the perdition of Thracian. Lycurgus. You command the rivers, you the barbarian sea. You, moist with wine, on lonely mountain-tops bind the hair of your Thracian priestesses with a knot of vipers without hurt. You, when the impious band of giants scaled the realms of father Jupiter through the sky, repelled Rhoetus, with the paws and horrible jaw of the lion-shape [you had assumed]. Thou, reported to be better fitted for dances, and jokes and play, you were accounted insufficient for fight; yet it then appeared, you, the same deity, was the mediator of peace and war. Upon you, ornamented with your golden horn, Orberus innocently gazed, gently wagging his tail; and with his triple tongue licked your feet and legs, as you returned.
XX
Non usitata nec tenui ferar
penna biformis per liquidum aethera
uates neque in terris morabor
longius inuidiaque maior
urbis relinquam. Non ego pauperum 5
sanguis parentum, non ego quem uocas,
dilecte Maecenas, obibo
nec Stygia cohibebor unda.
Iam iam residunt cruribus asperae
pelles et album mutor in alitem 10
superne nascunturque leues
per digitos umerosque plumae.
Iam Daedaleo ocior Icaro
uisam gementis litora Bosphori
Syrtisque Gaetulas canorus 15
ales Hyperboreosque campos.
Me Colchus et qui dissimulat metum
Marsae cohortis Dacus et ultimi
noscent Geloni, me peritus
discet Hiber Rhodanique potor. 20
Absint inani funere neniae
luctusque turpes et querimoniae;
conpesce clamorem ac sepulcri
mitte superuacuos honores.
ODE XX.
TO MAECENAS.
I, a two-formed poet, will be conveyed through the liquid air with no vulgar or humble wing; nor will I loiter upon earth any longer; and superior to envy, I will quit cities. Not I, even I, the blood of low parents, my dear Maecenas, shall die; nor shall I be restrained by the Stygian wave. At this instant a rough skin settles upon my ankles, and all upwards I am transformed into a white bird, and the downy plumage arises over my fingers and shoulders. Now, a melodious bird, more expeditious than the Daepalean Icarus, I will visit the shores of the murmuring Bosphorus, and the Gzetulean Syrtes, and the Hyperborean plains. Me the Colchian and the Dacian, who hides his fear of the Marsian cohort, land the remotest Gelonians, shall know: me the learned Spaniard shall study, and he that drinks of the Rhone. Let there be no dirges, nor unmanly lamentations, nor bewailings at my imaginary funeral; suppress your crying, and forbear the superfluous honors of a sepulcher.
Liber III
I
Odi profanum uolgus et arceo.
Fauete linguis: carmina non prius
audita Musarum sacerdos
uirginibus puerisque canto.
Regum timendorum in proprios greges, 5
reges in ipsos imperium est Iouis,
clari Giganteo triumpho,
cuncta supercilio mouentis.
Est ut uiro uir latius ordinet
arbusta sulcis, hic generosior 10
descendat in campum petitor,
moribus hic meliorque fama
contendat, illi turba clientium
sit maior: aequa lege Necessitas
sortitur insignis et imos,
omne capax mouet urna nomen. 15
Destrictus ensis cui super impia
ceruice pendet, non Siculae dapes
dulcem elaboratum saporem,
non auium citharaequecantus 20
Somnum reducent: somnus agrestium
lenis uirorum non humilis domos
fastidit umbrosamque ripam,
non Zephyris agitata tempe.
Desiderantem quod satis est neque 25
tumultuosum sollicitat mare,
nec saeuus Arcturi cadentis
impetus aut orientis Haedi,
non uerberatae grandine uineae
fundusque mendax, arbore nunc aquas 30
culpante, nunc torrentia agros
sidera, nunc hiemes iniquas.
Contracta pisces aequora sentiunt
iactis in altum molibus: huc frequens
caementa demittit redemptor
cum famulis dominusque terrae 35
fastidiosus: sed Timor et Minae
scandunt eodem quo dominus, neque
decedit aerata triremi et
post equitem sedet atra Cura. 40
Quod si dolentem nec Phrygius lapis
nec purpurarum sidere clarior
delenit usus nec Falerna
uitis Achaemeniumque costum,
cur inuidendis postibus et nouo 45
sublime ritu moliar atrium?
Cur ualle permutem Sabina
diuitias operosiores?
ODE I.
ON CONTENTMENT.
I abominate the uninitiated vulgar, and keep them at a distance. Preserve a religious silence: I, the priest of the Muses, sing to virgins and boys verses not heard before. The dominion of dread sovereigns is over their own subjects; that of Jupiter, glorious for his conquest over the giants, who shakes all nature with his nod, is over sovereigns themselves. It happens that one man, arranges trees, in regular rows, to a greater extent than another; this man comes down into the Campus [Martius] as a candidate of a better family; another vies with him for morals and a better reputation; a third has a superior number of dependants; but Fate, by the impartial law of nature, is allotted both to the conspicuous and the obscure; the capacious urn keeps every name in motion. Sicilian dainties will not force a delicious relish to that man, over whose impious neck the naked sword hangs: the songs of birds and the lyre will not restore his sleep. Sleep disdains not the humble cottages and shady bank of peasants; he disdains not Tempe, fanned by zephyrs. Him, who desires but a competency, neither the tempestuous sea renders anxious, nor the malign violence of Arcturus setting, or of the rising Kid; not his vineyards beaten down with hail, and a deceitful farm; his plantations at one season blaming the rains, at another, the influence of the constellations parching the grounds, at another, the severe winters. The fishes perceive the seas contracted, by the vast foundations that have been laid in the deep: hither numerous undertakers with their men, and lords, disdainful of the land, send down mortar: but
anxiety and the threats of conscience ascend by the same way as the possessor; nor does gloomy care depart from the brazen-beaked galley, and she mounts behind the horseman. Since then nor Phrygian marble, nor the use of purple more dazzling than the sun, nor the Falernian vine, nor the Persian nard, composes a troubled mind, why should I set about a lofty edifice with columns that excite envy, and in the modern taste? Why should I exchange my Sabine vale for wealth, which is attended with more trouble?
II
Angustam amice pauperiem pati
robustus acri militia puer
condiscat et Parthos ferocis
uexet eques metuendus hasta
uitamque sub diuo et trepidis agat 5
in rebus. Illum ex moenibus hosticis
matrona bellantis tyranni
prospiciens et adulta uirgo
suspiret, eheu, ne rudis agminum
sponsus lacessat regius asperum 10
tactu leonem, quem cruenta
per medias rapit ira caedes.
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori:
mors et fugacem persequitur uirum
nec parcit inbellis iuuentae
poplitibus timidoue tergo. 15
Virtus, repulsae nescia sordidae,
intaminatis fulget honoribus
nec sumit aut ponit securis
arbitrio popularis aurae. 20
Virtus, recludens inmeritis mori
caelum, negata temptat iter uia
coetusque uolgaris et udam
spernit humum fugiente pinna.
Est et fideli tuta silentio 25
merces: uetabo, qui Cereris sacrum
uolgarit arcanae, sub isdem
sit trabibus fragilemque mecum
soluat phaselon; saepe Diespiter
neglectus incesto addidit integrum, 30
raro antecedentem scelestum
deseruit pede Poena claudo.
ODE II.
AGAINST THE DEGENERACY OF THE ROMAN YOUTH.
Let the robust youth learn patiently to endure pinching want in the active exercise of arms; and as an expert horseman, dreadful for his spear, let him harass the fierce Parthians; and let him lead a life exposed to the open air, and familiar with dangers. Him, the consort and marriageable virgin-daughter of some warring tyrant, viewing from the hostile walls, may sigh — Alas! let not the affianced prince, inexperienced as he is in arms, provoke by a touch this terrible lion, whom bloody rage hurries through the midst of slaughter. It is sweet and glorious to die for one’s country; death even pursues the man that flies from him; nor does he spare the trembling knees of effeminate youth, nor the coward back. Virtue, unknowing of base repulse, shines with immaculate honors; nor does she assume nor lay aside the ensigns of her dignity, at the veering of the popular air. Virtue, throwing open heaven to those who deserve not to die, directs her progress through paths of difficulty, and spurns with a rapid wing grovelling cowards and the slippery earth. There is likewise a sure reward for faithful silence. I will prohibit that man, who shall divulge the sacred rites of mysterious Ceres, from being under the same roof with me, or from setting sail with me in the same fragile bark: for Jupiter, when slighted, often joins a good man in the same fate with a bad one. Seldom hath punishment, though lame, of foot, failed to overtake the wicked.
III
Iustum et tenacem propositi uirum
non ciuium ardor praua iubentium,
non uoltus instantis tyranni
mente quatit solida neque Auster,
dux inquieti turbidus Hadriae, 5
nec fulminantis magna manus Iouis:
si fractus inlabatur orbis,
inpauidum ferient ruinae.
Hac arte Pollux et uagus Hercules
enisus arces attigit igneas, 10
quos inter Augustus recumbens
purpureo bibet ore nectar;
hac te merentem, Bacche pater, tuae
uexere tigres indocili iugum
collo trahentes; hac Quirinus
Martis equis Acheronta fugit, 15
gratum elocuta consiliantibus
Ionone diuis: ‘Ilion, Ilion
fatalis incestusque iudex
et mulier peregrina uertit 20
in puluerem, ex quo destituit deos
mercede pacta Laomedon, mihi
castaeque damnatum Mineruae
cum populo et duce fraudulento.
Iam nec Lacaenae splendet adulterae 25
famosus hospes nec Priami domus
periura pugnaces Achiuos
Hectoreis opibus refringit
nostrisque ductum seditionibus
bellum resedit. Protinus et grauis 30
irae et inuisum nepotem,
Troica quem peperit sacerdos,
Marti redonabo; illum ego lucidas
inire sedes, discere nectaris
sucos et adscribi quietis
ordinibus patiar deorum. 35
Dum longus inter saeuiat Ilion
Romamque pontus, qualibet exules
in parte regnato beati;
dum Priami Paridisque busto 40
insultet armentum et catulos ferae
celae inultae, stet Capitolium
fulgens triumphatisque possit
Roma ferox dare iura Medis.
Horrenda late nomen in ultimas 45
extendat oras, qua medius liquor
secernit Europen ab Afro,
qua tumidus rigat arua Nilus;
aurum inrepertum et sic melius situm,
cum terra celat, spernere fortior 50
quam cogere humanos in usus
omne sacrum rapiente dextra,
quicumque mundo terminus obstitit,
hunc tanget armis, uisere gestiens,
qua parte debacchentur ignes,
qua nebulae pluuiique rores. 55
Sed bellicosis fata Quiritibus
hac lege dico, ne nimium pii
rebusque fidentes auitae
tecta uelint reparare Troiae. 60
Troiae renascens alite lugubri
fortuna tristi clade iterabitur,
ducente uictrices cateruas
coniuge me Iouis et sorore.
Ter si resurgat murus aeneus 65
auctore Phoebo, ter pereat meis
excisus Argiuis, ter uxor
capta uirum puerosque ploret.’
Non hoc iocosae conueniet lyrae;
quo, Musa, tendis? Desine peruicax 70
referre sermones deorum et
magna modis tenuare paruis.
ODE III.
ON STEADINESS AND INTEGRITY.
Not the rage of the people pressing to hurtful measures, not the aspect of a threatening tyrant can shake from his settled purpose the man who is just and determined in his resolution; nor can the south wind, that tumultuous ruler of the restless Adriatic, nor the mighty hand of thundering Jove; if a crushed world should fall in upon him, the ruins would strike him undismayed. By this character Pollux, by this the wandering Hercules, arrived at the starry citadels; among whom Augustus has now taken his place, and quaffs nectar with empurpled lips. Thee, O Father Bacchus, meritorious for this virtue, thy tigers carried, drawing the yoke with intractable neck; by this Romulus escaped Acheron on the horses of Mars — Juno having spoken what the gods in full conclave approve: “Troy, Troy, a fatal and lewd judge, and a foreign woman, have reduced to ashes, condemned, with its inhabitants and fraudulent prince, to me and the chaste Minerva, ever since Laomedon disappointed the gods of the stipulated reward. Now neither the infamous guest of the Lacedaemonian adulteress shines; nor does Priam’s perjured family repel the warlike Grecians by the aid of Hector, and that war, spun out to such a length by our factions, has sunk to peace. Henceforth, therefore, I will give up to Mars both my bitter resentment, and the detested grandson, whom the Trojan princes bore. Him will I suffer to enter the bright regions, to drink the juice of nectar, and to be enrolled among the peaceful order of gods. As long as the extensive sea rages between Troy and Rome, let them, exiles, r
eign happy in any other part of the world: as long as cattle trample upon the tomb of Priam and Paris, and wild beasts conceal their young ones there with impunity, may the Capitol remain in splendor, and may brave Rome be able to give laws to the conquered Medes. Tremendous let her extend her name abroad to the extremest boundaries of the earth, where the middle ocean separates Europe from Africa, where the swollen Nile waters the plains; more brave in despising gold as yet undiscovered, and so best situated while hidden in the earth, than in forcing it out for the uses of mankind, with a hand ready to make depredations on everything that is sacred. Whatever end of the world has made resistance, that let her reach with her arms, joyfully alert to visit, even that part where fiery heats rage madding; that where clouds and rains storm with unmoderated fury. But I pronounce this fate to the warlike Romans, upon this condition; that neither through an excess of piety, nor of confidence in their power, they become inclined to rebuild the houses of their ancestors’ Troy. The fortune of Troy, reviving under unlucky auspices, shall be repeated with lamentable destruction, I, the wife and sister of Jupiter, leading on the victorious bands. Thrice, if a brazen wall should arise by means of its founder Phoebus, thrice should it fall, demolished by my Grecians; thrice should the captive wife bewail her husband and her children.” These themes ill suit the merry lyre. Whither, muse, are you going? — Cease, impertinent, to relate the language of the gods, and to debase great things by your trifling measures.
Complete Works of Horace (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics) Page 82