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

by Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus

  V

  Diuis orte bonis, optume Romulae

  custos gentis, abes iam nimium diu;

  maturum reditum pollicitus patrum

  sancto consilio redi.

  Lucem redde tuae, dux bone, patriae; 5

  instar ueris enim uoltus ubi tuus

  adfulsit populo, gratior it dies

  et soles melius nitent.

  Vt mater iuuenem, quem Notus inuido

  flatu Carpathii trans maris aequora 10

  cunctantem spatio longius annuo

  dulci distinet a domo,

  uotis ominibusque et precibus uocat,

  curuo nec faciem litore dimouet,

  sic desideriis icta fedelibus 15

  quaerit patria Caesarem.

  Tutus bos etenim rura perambulat,

  nutrit rura Ceres almaque Faustitas,

  pacatum uolitant per mare nauitae,

  culpari metuit fides, 20

  nullis polluitur casta domus stupris,

  mos et lex maculosum edomuit nefas,

  laudantur simili prole puerperae,

  culpam poena premit comes.

  Quis Parthum paueat, quis gelidum Scythen, 25

  quis Germania quos horrida parturit

  fetus incolumi Caesare? Quis ferae

  bellum curet Hiberiae?

  Condit quisque diem collibus in suis

  et uitem uiduas ducit ad arbores; 30

  hinc ad uina redit laetus et alteris

  te mensis adhibet deum;

  te multa prece, te prosequitur mero

  defuso pateris et Laribus tuum

  miscet numen, uti Graecia Castoris 35

  et magni memor Herculis.

  ‘Longas o utinam, dux bone, ferias

  praestes Hesperiae!’ dicimus integro

  sicco mane die, dicimus uuidi,

  cum sol Oceano subest. 40

  ODE V.

  TO AUGUSTUS.

  O best guardian of the Roman people, born under propitious gods, already art thou too long absent; after having promised a mature arrival to the sacred council of the senators, return. Restore, O excellent chieftain, the light to thy country; for, like the spring, wherever thy countenance has shone, the day passes more agreeably for the people, and the sun has a superior lustre. As a mother, with vows, omens, and prayers, calls for her son (whom the south wind with adverse gales detains from his sweet home, staying more than a year beyond the Carpathian Sea), nor turns aside her looks from the curved shore; in like manner, inspired with loyal wishes, his country seeks for Caesar. For, [under your auspices,] the ox in safety traverses the meadows: Ceres nourishes the ground; and abundant Prosperity: the sailors skim through the calm ocean: and Faith is in dread of being censured. The chaste family is polluted by no adulteries: morality and the law have got the better of that foul crime; the child-bearing women are commended for an offspring resembling [the father; and] punishment presses as a companion upon guilt. Who can fear the Parthian? Who, the frozen Scythian? Who, the progeny that rough Germany produces, while Caesar is in safety? Who cares for the war of fierce Spain? Every man puts a period to the day amid his own hills, and weds the vine to the widowed elm-trees; hence he returns joyful to his wine, and invites you, as a deity, to his second course; thee, with many a prayer, thee he pursues with wine poured out [in libation] from the cups; and joins your divinity to that of his household gods, in the same manner as Greece was mindful of Castor and the great Hercules. May you, excellent chieftain, bestow a lasting festivity upon Italy! This is our language, when we are sober at the early day; this is our language, when we have well drunk, at the time the sun is beneath the ocean.

  VI

  Diue, quem proles Niobea magnae

  uindicem linguae Tityosque raptor

  sensit et Troiae prope uictor altae

  Pthius Achilles,

  ceteris maior, tibi miles impar, 5

  filius quamuis Thetidis marinae

  Dardanas turris quateret tremenda

  cuspide pugnax.

  Ille mordaci uelut icta ferro

  pinus aut inpulsa cupressus Euro 10

  procidit late posuitque collum in

  puluere Teucro;

  ille non inclusus equo Mineruae

  sacra mentito male feriatos

  troas et laetam Priami choreis 15

  falletet aulam;

  sed palam captis grauis, heu nefas, heu!

  nescios fari pueros Achiuis

  ureret flammis, etiam latentem

  matris in aluo, 20

  ni tuis flexus Venerisque gratae

  uocibus diuom pater adnuisset

  rebus Aeneae potiore ductos

  alite muros.

  Doctor argutae fidicen Thaliae, 25

  Phoebe, qui Xantho lauis amne crinis,

  Dauniae defende decus Camenae,

  leuis Agyieu.

  Spiritum Phoebus mihi, Phoebus artem

  carminis nomenque dedit poetae. 30

  Virginum primae puerique claris

  patribus orti,

  Deliae tutela deae, fugacis

  lyncas et ceruos cohibentis arcu,

  Lesbium seruate pedem meique 35

  pollicis ictum,

  rite Latonae puerum canentes,

  rite crescentem face Noctilucam,

  prosperam frugum celeremque pronos

  uoluere mensis. 40

  Nupta iam dices: ‘Ego dis amicum,

  saeculo festas referente luces,

  reddidi carmen docilis modorum

  uatis Horati.’

  ODE VI.

  HYMN TO APOLLO.

  Thou god, whom the offspring of Niobe experienced as avenger of a presumptuous tongue, and the ravisher Tityus, and also the Thessalian Achilles, almost the conqueror of lofty Troy, a warrior superior to all others, but unequal to thee; though, son of the sea-goddess, Thetis, he shook the Dardanian towers, warring with his dreadful spear. He, as it were a pine smitten with the burning ax, or a cypress prostrated by the east wind, fell extended far, and reclined his neck in the Trojan dust. He would not, by being shut up in a [wooden] horse, that belied the sacred rights of Minerva, have surprised the Trojans reveling in an evil hour, and the court of Priam making merry in the dance; but openly inexorable to his captives, (oh impious! oh!) would have burned speechless babes with Grecian fires, even him concealed in his mother’s womb: had not the father of the gods, prevailed upon by thy entreaties and those of the beauteous Venus, granted to the affairs of Aeneas walls founded under happier auspices. Thou lyrist Phoebus, tutor of the harmonious Thalia, who bathest thy locks in the river Xanthus, O delicate Agyieus, support the dignity of the Latian muse. Phoebus gave me genius, Phoebus the art of composing verse, and the title of poet. Ye virgins of the first distinction, and ye youths born of illustrious parents, ye wards of the Delian goddess, who stops with her bow the flying lynxes, and the stags, observe the Lesbian measure, and the motion of my thumb; duly celebrating the son of Latona, duly [celebrating] the goddess that enlightens the night with her shining crescent, propitious to the fruits, and expeditious in rolling on the precipitate months. Shortly a bride you will say: “I, skilled in the measures of the poet Horace, recited an ode which was acceptable to the gods, when the secular period brought back the festal days.”

  VII

  Diffugere niues, redeunt iam gramina campis

  arboribus comae;

  mutat terra uices et decrescentia ripas

  flumina praetereunt;

  Gratia cum Nymphis geminisque sororibus audet 5

  ducere nuda chorus.

  Inmortalia ne speres, monet annus et almum

  quae rapit hora diem.

  Frigora mitescunt Zephyris, uer proterit aestas,

  interitura simul 10

  pomifer autumnus fruges effuderit, et mox

  bruma recurrit iners.

  Damna tamen celeres reparant caelestia lunae:

  nos ubi decidimus

  quo pater Aeneas, quo diues Tullus et Ancus, 15

  pul
uis et umbra sumus.

  Quis scit an adiciant hodiernae crastina summae

  tempora di superi?

  Cuncta manus auidas fugient heredis, amico

  quae dederis animo. 20

  Cum semel occideris et de te splendida Minos

  fecerit arbitria,

  non, Torquate, genus, non te facundia, non te

  restituet pietas;

  infernis neque enim tenebris Diana pudicum 25

  liberat Hippolytum,

  nec Lethaea ualet Theseus abrumpere caro

  uincula Pirithoo.

  ODE VII.

  TO TORQUATUS.

  The snows are fled, the herbage now returns to the fields, and the leaves to the trees. The earth changes its appearance, and the decreasing rivers glide along their banks: the elder Grace, together with the Nymphs, and her two sisters, ventures naked to lead off the dance. That you are not to expect things permanent, the year, and the hour that hurries away the agreeable day, admonish us. The colds are mitigated by the zephyrs: the summer follows close upon the spring, shortly to die itself, as soon as fruitful autumn shall have shed its fruits: and anon sluggish winter returns again. Nevertheless the quick-revolving moons repair their wanings in the skies; but when we descend [to those regions] where pious Aeneas, where Tullus and the wealthy Ancus [have gone before us], we become dust and a mere shade. Who knows whether the gods above will add to this day’s reckoning the space of to-morrow? Every thing, which you shall indulge to your beloved soul, will escape the greedy hands of your heir. When once, Torquatus, you shall be dead, and Minos shall have made his awful decisions concerning you; not your family, not you eloquence, not your piety shall restore you. For neither can Diana free the chaste Hippolytus from infernal darkness; nor is Theseus able to break off the Lethaean fetters from his dear Piri thous.

  VIII

  Donarem pateras grataque commodus,

  Censorine, meis aera sodalibus,

  donarem tripodas, praemia fortium

  Graiorum neque tu pessuma munerum

  ferres, diuite me scilicet artium 5

  quas aut Parrhasius protulit aut Scopas,

  hic saxo, liquidis ille coloribus

  sollers nunc hominem ponere, nunc deum.

  Sed non haec mihi uis, non tibi talium

  res est aut animus deliciarum egens. 10

  Gaudes carminibus; carmina possumus

  donare et pretium dicere muneri.

  Non incisa notis marmora publicis,

  per quae spiritus et uita redit bonis

  post mortem ducibus, non celeres fugae 15

  reiectaeque retrorsum Hannibalis minae,

  non incendia Carthaginis impiae

  eius, qui domita nomen ab Africa

  lucratus rediit, clarius indicant

  laudes quam Calabrae Pierides, neque, 20

  si chartae sileant quod bene feceris,

  mercedem tuleris. Quid foret Iliae

  Mauortisque puer, si taciturnitas

  obstaret meritis inuida Romuli?

  Ereptum Stygiis fluctibus Aeacum 25

  uirtus et fauor et lingua potentium

  uatum diuitibus consecrat insulis.

  Dignum laude uirum Musa uetat mori,

  caelo Musa beat. Sic Iouis interest

  optatis epulis impiger Hercules, 30

  clarum Tyndaridae sidus ab infimis

  quassas eripiunt aequoribus rates,

  ornatus uiridi tempora pampino

  Liber uota bonos ducit ad exitus.

  ODE VIII.

  TO MARCIUS CENSORINUS.

  O Censorinus, liberally would I present my acquaintance with goblets and beautiful vases of brass; I would present them with tripods, the rewards of the brave Grecians: nor would you bear off the meanest of my donations, if I were rich in those pieces of art, which either Parrhasius or Scopas produced; the latter in statuary, the former in liquid colors, eminent to portray at one time a man, at another a god. But I have no store of this sort, nor do your circumstances or inclination require any such curiosities as these. You delight in verses: verses I can give, and set a value on the donation. Not marbles engraved with public inscriptions, by means of which breath and life returns to illustrious generals after their decease; not the precipitate flight of Hannibal, and his menaces retorted upon his own head: not the flames of impious Carthage * * * * more eminently set forth his praises, who returned, having gained a name from conquered Africa, than the Calabrlan muses; neither, should writings be silent, would you have any reward for having done well. What would the son of Mars and Ilia be, if invidious silence had stifled the merits of Romulus? The force, and favor, and voice of powerful poets consecrate Aecus, snatched from the Stygian floods, to the Fortunate Islands. The muse forbids a praiseworthy man to die: the muse, confers the happiness of heaven. Thus laborious Hercules has a place at the longed-for banquets of Jove: [thus] the sons of Tyndarus, that bright constellation, rescue shattered vessels from the bosom of the deep: [and thus] Bacchus, his temples adorned with the verdant vine-branch, brings the prayers of his votaries to successful issues.

  IX

  Ne forte credas interitura quae

  longe sonantem natus ad Aufidum

  non ante uolgatas per artis

  uerba loquor socianda chordis:

  non, si priores Maeonius tenet 5

  sedes Homerus, Pindaricae latent

  Ceaeque et Alcaei minaces

  Stesichoriue graues Camenae;

  nec siquid olim lusit Anacreon,

  deleuit aetas; spirat adhuc amor 10

  uiuuntque commissi calores

  Aeoliae fidibus puellae.

  Non sola comptos arsit adulteri.

  crines et aurum uestibus inlitum

  mirata regalisque cultus 15

  et comites Helene Lacaena

  primusue Teucer tela Cydonio

  direxit arcu; non semel Ilios

  uexata; non pugnauit ingens

  Idomeneus Sthenelusue solus 20

  dicenda Musis proelia; non ferox

  Hector uel acer Deiphobus grauis

  excepit ictus pro pudicis

  coniugibus puerisque primus.

  Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona 25

  multi; sed omnes inlacrimabiles

  urgentur ignotique longa

  nocte, carent quia uate sacro.

  Paulum sepultae distat inertiae

  celata uirtus. Non ego te meis 30

  chartis inornatum silebo

  totue tuos patiar labores

  impune, Lolli, carpere liuidas

  obliuiones. Est animus tibi

  rerumque prudens et secundis 35

  temporibus dubiisque rectus,

  uindex auarae fraudis et abstinens

  ducentis ad se cuncta pecuniae,

  consulque non unius anni,

  sed quotiens bonus atque fidus 40

  iudex honestum praetulit utili,

  reiecit alto dona nocentium

  uoltu, per obstantis cateruas

  explicuit sua uictor arma.

  Non possidentem multa uocaueris 45

  recte beatum; rectius occupat

  nomen beati, qui deorum

  muneribus sapienter uti

  duramque callet pauperiem pati

  peiusque leto flagitium timet, 50

  non ille pro caris amicis

  aut patria timidus perire.

  ODE IX.

  TO MARCUS LOLLIUS.

  Lest you for a moment imagine that those words will be lost, which I, born on the far-resounding Aufidus, utter to be accompanied with the lyre, by arts hitherto undivulged — If Maeonian Homer possesses the first rank, the Pindaric and Cean muses, and the menacing strains of Alcaeus, and the majestic ones of Stesichorus, are by no means obscure: neither, if Anacreon long ago sportfully sung any thing, has time destroyed it: even now breathes the love and live the ardors of the Aeolian maid, committed to her lyre. The Lacedaemonian Helen is not the only fair, who has been inflamed by admiring the delicate ringlets of a gallan
t, and garments embroidered with gold, and courtly accomplishments, and retinue: nor was Teucer the first that leveled arrows from the Cydonian bow: Troy was more than once harassed: the great Idomeneus and Sthenelus were not the only heroes that fought battles worthy to be recorded by the muses: the fierce Hector, or the strenuous Deiphobus were not the first that received heavy blows in defense of virtuous wives and children. Many brave men lived before Agamemnon: but all of them, unlamented and unknown, are overwhelmed with endless obscurity, because they were destitute of a sacred bard. Valor, uncelebrated, differs but little from cowardice when in the grave. I will not [therefore], O Lollius, pass you over in silence, uncelebrated in my writings, or suffer envious forgetfulness with impunity to seize so many toils of thine. You have a mind ever prudent in the conduct of affairs, and steady alike amid success and trouble: you are an avenger of avaricious fraud, and proof against money, that attracts every thing; and a consul not of one year only, but as often as the good and upright magistrate has preferred the honorable to the profitable, and has rejected with a disdainful brow the bribes of wicked men, and triumphant through opposing bands has displayed his arms. You can not with propriety call him happy, that possesses much; he more justly claims the title of happy, who understands how to make a wise use of the gifts of the gods, and how to bear severe poverty; and dreads a reproachful deed worse than death; such a man as this is not afraid to perish in the defense of his dear friends, or of his country.