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

by Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus

  XIII

  Horrida tempestas caelum contraxit et imbres

  nivesque deducunt Iovem; nunc mare, nunc siluae

  Threicio Aquilone sonant. rapiamus, amici,

  Occasionem de die dumque virent genua

  et decet, obducta solvatur fronte senectus.

  tu vina Torquato move consule pressa meo.

  cetera mitte loqui: deus haec fortasse benigna

  reducet in sedem vice. nunc et Achaemenio

  perfundi nardo iuvat et fide Cyllenea

  levare diris pectora Sollicitudinibus,

  nobilis ut grandi cecinit Centaurus alumno:

  ‘invicte, mortalis dea nate puer Thetide,

  te manet Assaraci tellus, quam frigida parvi

  findunt Scamandri flumina lubricus et Simois,

  unde tibi reditum certo Subtemine Parcae

  rupere, nec mater domum caerula te revehet.

  illic omne malum vino cantuque levato,

  deformis aegrimoniae dulcibus adloquiis.’

  EPODE XIII.

  TO A FRIEND.

  A horrible tempest has condensed the sky, and showers and snows bring down the atmosphere: now the sea, now the woods bellow with the Thracian North wind. Let us, my friends, take occasion from the day; and while our knees are vigorous, and it becomes us, let old age with his contracted forehead become smooth. Do you produce the wine, that was pressed in the consulship of my Torquatus. Forbear to talk of any other matters. The deity, perhaps, will reduce these [present evils], to your former [happy] state by a propitious change. Now it is fitting both to be bedewed with Persian perfume, and to relieve our breasts of dire vexations by the lyre, sacred to Mercury. Like as the noble Centaur, [Chiron,] sung to his mighty pupil: “Invincible mortal, son of the goddess Thetis, the land of Assaracus awaits you, which the cold currents of little Scamander and swift-gliding Simois divide: whence the fatal sisters have broken off your return, by a thread that cannot be altered: nor shall your azure mother convey you back to your home. There [then] by wine and music, sweet consolations, drive away every symptom of hideous melancholy.”

  XIV

  Mollis inertia cur tantam diffuderit imis

  oblivionem sensibus,

  pocula Lethaeos ut si ducentia somnos

  arente fauce traxerim,

  candide Maecenas, occidis Saepe rogando:

  deus, deus nam me vetat

  inceptos, olim promissum carmen, iambos

  ad umbilicum adducere.

  non aliter Samio dicunt arsisse Bathyllo

  Anacreonta Teium,

  qui persaepe cava testudine flevit amorem

  non elaboratum ad pedem.

  ureris ipse miser: quodsi non pulcrior ignis

  accendit obsessam Ilion,

  gaude sorte tua; me libertina, nec uno

  contenta, Phryne macerat.

  EPODE XIV.

  TO MAECENAS.

  You kill me, my courteous Maecenas, by frequently inquiring, why a soothing indolence has diffused as great a degree of forgetfulness on my inmost senses, as if I had imbibed with a thirsty throat the cups that bring on Lethean slumbers. For the god, the god prohibits me from bringing to a conclusion the verses I promised [you, namely those] iambics which I had begun. In the same manner they report that Anacreon of Teios burned for the Samian Bathyllus; who often lamented his love to an inaccurate measure on a hollow lyre. You are violently in love yourself; but if a fairer flame did not burn besieged Troy, rejoice in your lot. Phryne, a freed-woman, and not content with a single admirer, consumes me.

  XV

  Nox erat et caelo fulgebat Luna sereno

  inter minora sidera,

  cum tu, magnorum numen laesura deorum,

  in verba iurabas mea,

  artius atque hedera procera adstringitur ilex

  lentis adhaerens bracchiis;

  dum pecori lupus et nautis infestus Orion

  turbaret hibernum mare

  intonsosque agitaret Apollinis aura capillos,

  fore hunc amorem mutuom,

  o dolitura mea multum virtute Neaera:

  nam siquid in Flacco viri est,

  non feret adsiduas potiori te dare noctes

  et quaeret iratus parem

  nec semel offensi cedet constantia formae,

  si certus intrarit dolor.

  et tu, quicumque es felicior atque meo nunc

  superbus incedis malo,

  sis pecore et multa dives tellure licebit

  tibique Pactolus fluat

  nec te Pythagorae fallant arcana renati

  formaque vincas Nirea,

  heu heu, translatos alio maerebis amores,

  ast ego vicissim risero.

  EPODE XV.

  TO NEAERA.

  It was night, and the moon shone in a serene sky among the lesser stars; when you, about to violate the divinity of the great gods, swore [to be true] to my requests, embracing me with your pliant arms more closely than the lofty oak is clasped by the ivy; that while the wolf should remain an enemy to the flock, and Orion, unpropitious to the sailors, should trouble the wintery sea, and while the air should fan the unshorn locks of Apollo, [so long you vowed] that this love should be mutual. O Neaera, who shall one day greatly grieve on account of my merit: for, if there is any thing of manhood in Horace, he will not endure that you should dedicate your nights continually to another, whom you prefer; and exasperated, he will look out for one who will return his love; and though an unfeigned sorrow should take possession of you, yet my firmness shall not give way to that beauty which has once given me disgust. But as for you, whoever you be who are more successful [than me], and now strut proud of my misfortune; though you be rich in flocks and abundance of land, and Pactolus flow for you, nor the mysteries of Pythagoras, born again, escape you, and you excel Nireus in beauty; alas! you shall [hereafter] bewail her love transferred elsewhere; but I shall laugh in my turn.

  XVI

  Altera iam teritur bellis civilibus aetas,

  suis et ipsa Roma viribus ruit.

  quam neque finitimi valuerunt perdere Marsi

  minacis aut Etrusca Porsenae manus,

  aemula nec virtus Capuae nec Spartacus acer

  novisque rebus infidelis Allobrox

  nec fera caerulea domuit Germania pube

  parentibusque abominatus Hannibal:

  inpia perdemus devoti sanguinis aetas

  ferisque rursus occupabitur solum:

  barbarus heu cineres insistet victor et Vrbem

  eques sonante verberabit ungula,

  quaeque carent ventis et solibus ossa Quirini,

  (nefas videre) dissipabit insolens.

  forte quid expediat communiter aut melior pars,

  malis carere quaeritis laboribus;

  nulla sit hac potior sententia: Phocaeorum

  velut profugit exsecrata civitas

  agros atque lares patrios habitandaque fana

  apris reliquit et rapacibus lupis,

  ire, pedes quocumque ferent, quocumque per undas

  Notus vocabit aut protervos Africus.

  sic placet? an melius quis habet suadere? Secunda

  ratem occupare quid moramur alite?

  sed iuremus in haec: ‘simul imis saxa renarint

  vadis levata, ne redire sit nefas;

  neu conversa domum pigeat dare lintea, quando

  Padus Matina laverit cacumina,

  in mare seu celsus procurrerit Appenninus

  novaque monstra iunxerit libidine

  mirus amor, iuvet ut tigris subsidere cervis,

  adulteretur et columba miluo,

  credula nec ravos timeant armenta leones

  ametque salsa levis hircus aequora.’

  haec et quae poterunt reditus abscindere dulcis

  eamus omnis exsecrata civitas

  aut pars indocili melior grege; mollis et exspes

  inominata perpremat cubilia.

  vos, quibus est virtus, muliebrem tollite luctum,

  Etrusca praeter et volat
e litora.

  nos manet Oceanus circum vagus: arva beata

  petamus, arva divites et insulas,

  reddit ubi cererem tellus inarata quotannis

  et inputata floret usque vinea,

  germinat et numquam fallentis termes olivae

  suamque pulla ficus ornat arborem,

  mella cava manant ex ilice, montibus altis

  levis crepante lympha desilit pede.

  illic iniussae veniunt ad mulctra capellae

  refertque tenta grex amicus ubera

  nec vespertinus circumgemit ursus ovile

  nec intumescit alta viperis humus;

  pluraque felices mirabimur, ut neque largis

  aquosus Eurus arva radat imbribus,

  pinguia nec siccis urantur semina glaebis,

  utrumque rege temperante caelitum.

  non huc Argoo contendit remige pinus

  neque inpudica Colchis intulit pedem,

  non huc Sidonii torserunt cornua nautae,

  laboriosa nec cohors Vlixei.

  nulla nocent pecori contagia, nullius astri

  gregem aestuosa torret impotentia.

  Iuppiter illa piae secrevit litora genti,

  ut inquinavit aere tempus aureum,

  aere, dehinc ferro duravit saecula, quorum

  piis secunda vate me datur fuga.

  EPODE XVI.

  TO THE ROMAN PEOPLE.

  Now is another age worn away by civil wars, and Rome herself falls by her own strength. Whom neither the bordering Marsi could destroy, nor the Etrurian band of the menacing Porsena, nor the rival valor of Capua, nor the bold Spartacus, and the Gauls perfideous with their innovations; nor did the fierce Germany subdue with its blue-eyed youth, nor Annibal, detested by parents; but we, an impious race, whose blood is devoted to perdition, shall destroy her: and this land shall again be possessed by wild beasts. The victorious barbarian, alas! shall trample upon the ashes of the city, and the horsemen shall smite it with the sounding hoofs; and (horrible to see!) he shall insultingly disperse the bones of Romulus, which [as yet] are free from the injuries of wind and sun. Perhaps you all in general, or the better part of you, are inquisitive to know, what may be expedient, in order to escape [such] dreadful evils. There can be no determination better than this; namely, to go wherever our feet will carry us, wherever the south or boisterous south-west shall summon us through the waves; in the same manner as the state of the Phocaeans fled, after having uttered execrations [against such as should return], and left their fields and proper dwellings and temples to be inhabited by boars and ravenous wolves. Is this agreeable? has any one a better scheme to advise? Why do we delay to go on ship-board under an auspicious omen? But first let us swear to these conditions — the stones shall swim upward, lifted from the bottom of the sea, as soon as it shall not be impious to return; nor let it grieve us to direct our sails homeward, when the Po shall wash the tops of the Matinian summits; or the lofty Apennine shall remove into the sea, or a miraculous appetite shall unite monsters by a strange kind of lust; Insomuch that tigers may delight to couple with hinds, and the dove be polluted with the kite; nor the simple herds may dread the brindled lions, and the he-goat, grown smooth, may love the briny main. After having sworn to these things, and whatever else may cut off the pleasing: hope of returning, let us go, the whole city of us, or at least that part which is superior to the illiterate mob: let the idle and despairing part remain upon these inauspicious habitations. Ye, that have bravery, away with effeminate grief, and fly beyond the Tuscan shore. The ocean encircling the land awaits us; let us seek the happy plains and prospering Islands, where the untilled land yearly produces corn, and the unpruned vineyard punctually flourishes; and where the branch of the never-failing olive blossoms forth, and the purple fig adorns its native tree: honey distills from the hollow oaks; the light water bounds down from the high mountains with a murmuring pace. There the she-goats come to the milk-pails of their own accord, and the friendly flock return with their udders distended; nor does the bear at evening growl about the sheepfold, nor does the rising ground swell with vipers; and many more things shall we, happy [Romans], view with admiration: how neither the rainy east lays waste the corn-fields with profuse showers, nor is the fertile seed burned by a dry glebe; the king of gods moderating both [extremes]. The pine rowed by the Argonauts never attempted to come hither; nor did the lascivious [Medea] of Colchis set her foot [in this place]: hither the Sidonian mariners never turned their sail-yards, nor the toiling crew of Ulysses. No contagious distempers hurt the flocks; nor does the fiery violence of any constellation scorch the herd. Jupiter set apart these shores for a pious people, when he debased the golden age with brass: with brass, then with iron he hardened the ages; from which there shall be a happy escape for the good, according to my predictions.

  XVII

  ‘Iam iam efficaci do manus scientiae,

  supplex et oro regna per Proserpinae,

  per et Dianae non movenda numina,

  per atque libros carminum valentium

  refixa caelo devocare sidera,

  Canidia: parce vocibus tandem sacris

  citumque retro solve, solve turbinem.

  movit nepotem Telephus Nereium,

  in quem superbus ordinarat agmina

  Mysorum et in quem tela acuta torserat.

  unxere matres Iliae additum feris

  alitibus atque canibus homicidam Hectorem,

  postquam relictis moenibus rex procidit

  heu pervicacis ad pedes Achillei.

  saetosa duris exuere pellibus

  laboriosi remiges Vlixei

  volente Circa membra; tunc mens et sonus

  relapsus atque notus in voltus honor.

  dedi satis superque poenarum tibi,

  amata nautis multum et institoribus.

  fugit iuventas et verecundus color

  reliquit ossa pelle amicta lurida,

  tuis capillus albus est odoribus,

  nullum a labore me reclinat otium;

  urget diem nox et dies noctem neque est

  levare tenta spiritu praecordia.

  ergo negatum vincor ut credam miser,

  Sabella pectus increpare carmina

  caputque Marsa dissilire nenia.

  quid amplius vis? o mare et terra, ardeo,

  quantum neque atro delibutus Hercules

  Nessi cruore nec Sicana fervida

  virens in Aetna flamma; tu, donec cinis

  iniuriosis aridus ventis ferar,

  cales venenis officina Colchicis.

  quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?

  effare; iussas cum fide poenas luam,

  paratus expiare, seu poposceris

  centum iuvencos sive mendaci lyra

  voles sonare: ‘‘tu pudica, tu proba

  perambulabis astra sidus aureum.’’

  infamis Helenae Castor offensus vice

  fraterque magni Castoris, victi prece,

  adempta vati reddidere lumina:

  et tu, potes nam, solve me dementia,

  o nec paternis obsoleta sordibus

  neque in sepulcris pauperum prudens anus

  novendialis dissipare pulveres.

  tibi hospitale pectus et purae manus

  tuosque venter Pactumeius et tuo

  cruore rubros obstetrix pannos lavit,

  utcumque fortis exsilis puerpera.’

  ‘quid obseratis auribus fundis preces?

  non saxa nudis surdiora navitis

  Neptunus alto tundit hibernus salo.

  inultus ut tu riseris Cotytia

  volgata, sacrum liberi Cupidinis,

  et Esquilini pontifex venefici

  inpune ut Vrbem nomine inpleris meo?

  quid proderat ditasse Paelignas anus

  velociusve miscuisse toxicum?

  sed tardiora fata te votis manent:

  ingrata misero vita ducenda est in hoc,

  novis ut usque suppetas laboribus.

  optat quietem Pelopis infidi pater,

>   egens benignae Tantalus semper dapis,

  optat Prometheus obligatus aliti,

  optat supremo collocare Sisyphus

  in monte saxum; sed vetant leges Iovis.

  voles modo altis desilire turribus,

  frustraque vincla gutturi innectes tuo

  modo ense pectus Norico recludere

  fastidiosa tristis aegrimonia.

  vectabor umeris tunc ego inimicis eques

  meaeque terra cedet insolentiae.

  an quae movere cereas imagines,

  ut ipse nosti curiosus, et polo

  deripere lunam vocibus possim meis,

  possim crematos excitare mortuos

  desiderique temperare pocula,

  plorem artis in te nil agentis exitus?’

  EPODE XVII.

  DIALOGUE BETWEEN HORACE AND CANIDIA.

  Now, now I yield to powerful science; and suppliant beseech thee by the dominions of Proserpine, and by the inflexible divinity of Diana, and by the books of incantations able to call down the stars displaced from the firmament; O Canidia, at length desist from thine imprecations, and quickly turn, turn back thy magical machine. Telephus moved [with compassion] the grandson of Nereus, against whom he arrogantly had put his troops of Mysians in battle-array, and against whom he had darted his sharp javelins. The Trojan matrons embalmed the body of the man-slaying Hector, which had been condemned to birds of prey, and dogs, after king [Priam], having left the walls of the city, prostrated himself, alas! at the feet of the obstinate Achilles. The mariners of the indefatigable Ulysses, put off their limbs, bristled with the hard skins [of swine], at the will of Circe: then their reason and voice were restored, and their former comeliness to their countenances. I have suffered punishment enough, and more than enough, on thy account, O thou so dearly beloved by the sailors and factors. My vigor is gone away, and my ruddy complexion has left me; my bones are covered with a ghastly skin; my hair with your preparations is grown hoary. No ease respites me from my sufferings: night presses upon day, and day upon night: nor is it in my power to relieve my lungs, which are strained with gasping. Wherefore, wretch that I am, I am compelled to credit (what was denied, by me) that the charms of the Samnites discompose the breast, and the head splits in sunder at the Marsian incantations. What wouldst thou have more? O sea! O earth! I burn in such a degree as neither Hercules did, besmeared with the black gore of Nessus, nor the fervid flame burning In the Sicilian Aetna. Yet you, a laboratory of Colchian poisons, remain on fire, till I [reduced to] a dry ember, shall be wafted away by the injurious winds. What event, or what penalty awaits me? Speak out: I will with honor pay the demanded mulct; ready to make an expiation, whether you should require a hundred steers, or chose to be celebrated on a lying lyre. You, a woman of modesty, you, a woman of probity, shall traverse the stars, as a golden constellation. Castor and the brother of the great Castor, offended at the infamy brought on [their sister] Helen, yet overcome by entreaty, restored to the poet his eyes that were taken away from him. And do you (for it is in your power) extricate me from this frenzy; O you, that are neither defiled by family meanness, nor skillful to disperse the ashes of poor people, after they have been nine days interred. You have an hospitable breast, and unpolluted hands; and Pactumeius is your son, and thee the midwife has tended; and, whenever you bring forth, you spring up with unabated vigor.