Odes (Horace)

The Odes (Latin: Carmina) are a collection in four books of Latin lyric poems by Horace. The Horatian ode format and style has been emulated since by other poets. Books 1 to 3 were published in 23 BC. A fourth book, consisting of 15 poems, was published in 13 BC.

Quotes

Maecenas atavis edite regibus,
O et praesidium et dulce decus meum.
- Maecenas, in lineage the child of kings, but to me my protector, pride, and joy.
- I, i, 1 (tr. E. C. Wickham)

Bellaque matribus
Detestata.
- And the wars which mothers abhor.
- I, i, 24 (tr. E. C. Wickham)

Quodsi me lyricis vatibus inseres,
Sublimi feriam sidera vertice.
- If you will give me a place among the bards of the lyre, I shall lift my head till it strikes the stars.
- I, i, 36 (tr. E. C. Wickham)

Audiet pugnas vitio parentum
Rara iuventus.
- How they fought shall be told to a young generation scant in number for their parents' crimes.
- I, ii, 23 (tr. E. C. Wickham)

Illi robur et aes triplex
Circa pectus erat, qui fragilem truci
Commisit pelago ratem
Primus.
- His heart was mailed in oak and triple brass who was the first to commit a frail bark to the rough seas.
- I, iii, 9 (tr. E. C. Wickham)
- Cf. La Fontaine, "The Man who Runs after Fortune"

Nequiquam deus abscidit
Prudens Oceano dissociabili
Terras, si tamen impiae
Non tangenda rates transiliunt vada.
- Vain was the purpose of the god in severing the lands by the estranging main, if in spite of him our impious ships dash across the depths he meant should not be touched.
- I, iii, 21 (C. E. Bennett)
- John Dryden's translation:
  In vain did Nature's wife command
  Divide the waters from the land,
  If daring ships and men profane,
  Invade th' inviolable main.

Audax omnia perpeti
Gens humana ruit per vetitum nefas.
- In its boldness to bear and to dare all things, the race of man rushes headlong into sin, despite of law.
- I, iii, 25 (tr. E. C. Wickham)

Nil mortalibus ardui est.
- No height is too arduous for mortal men.
- I, iii, 37 (tr. E. C. Wickham)

Pallida Mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas
Regumque turres.
- Pale death with impartial foot knocks at the doors of poor men's hovels and of king's palaces.
- I, iv, 13 (tr. E. C. Wickham)

Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat inchoare longam.
- Life’s short span forbids us to enter on far-reaching hopes.
- I, iv, 15 (tr. E. C. Wickham)
- Cp. the poem so titled by Ernest Dowson in The Oxford Book of English Verse (1900), no. 914

Quis multa gracilis te puer in rosa
Perfusus liquidis urget odoribus
Grato, Pyrrha, sub antro?
Cui flavam religas comam,
Simplex munditiis?
- What delicate stripling is it, Pyrrha, that now, steeped in liquid perfumes, is wooing thee on the heaped rose-leaves in some pleasant grot? For whose eyes dost thou braid those flaxen locks, so trim, so simple!
- I, v, 1 (tr. E. C. Wickham)
- John Milton's translation, "Rendered almost word for word without Rhyme according to the Latin Measure, as near as the Language will permit":
  What slender Youth bedew’d with liquid odours
  Courts thee on Roses in some pleasant Cave,
  Pyrrha for whom bind’st thou
  In wreaths thy golden Hair,
  Plain in thy neatness.
- Cp. Ben Jonson, Epicœne, I, i: "Clerimont's Song"; Robert Herrick, Hesperides (1648): "Delight in Disorder"

Tiburni lucus et uda
Mobilibus pomaria rivis.
- The grove of Tiburnus, and the apple orchards wet with streamlets never still.
- I, vii, 13 (tr. E. C. Wickham)

Nil desperandum.
- Never despair.
- I, vii, 27 (tr. C. E. Bennett)

O fortes peioraque passi
Mecum saepe viri, nunc vino pellite curas;
Cras ingens iterabimus aequor.
- Brave hearts, heroes who have weathered with me worse storms than this, to-day chase your cares with wine: to-morrow we set out once more upon the boundless sea.
- I, vii, 30–32 (tr. C. E. Bennett)
- Cf. John Kenyon, "Champagne Rosée", in Poems (1838)

Permitte divis cetera.
- Leave to the gods all else.
- I, ix, 9 (tr. C. E. Bennett)

Dum loquimur, fugerit invida
Aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.
- Even while we speak, envious Time has sped. Reap the harvest of to-day, putting as little trust as may be in the morrow!
- I, xi, 7 (tr. C. E. Bennett)
- John Conington's translation:
  In the moment of our talking, envious time has ebbed away.
  Seize the present, trust tomorrow e'en as little as you may.
- Cf. Pseudo-Virgil, "De rosis nascentibus" ("Idyllium de rosis"), 49: Collige, virgo, rosas.—"Gather, girl, the roses." Imitated by Robert Herrick, "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time", 1–4:
  Gather ye Rose-buds while ye may,
  Old Time is still a-flying:
  And this same flower that smiles to day,
  To morrow will be dying.

O matre pulchra filia pulchrior.
- O maiden, fairer than thy mother fair.
- I, xvi, 1 (tr. C. E. Bennett)

Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero
Pulsanda tellus.
- Now is the time to drain the flowing howl, now with unfettered foot to beat the ground with dancing.
- I, xxxvii, 1 (tr. C. E. Bennett)

Aequam memento rebus in arduis
servare mentem.
- Remember, when life’s path is steep, to keep an even mind.
- II, iii, 1 (tr. C. E. Bennett)

Auream quisquis mediocritatem
Diligit, tutus caret obsoleti
Sordibus tecti, caret invidenda
Sobrius aula.
- Whoso cherishes the golden mean, safely avoids the foulness of an ill-kept house and discreetly, too, avoids a hall exciting envy.
- II, x, 5 (tr. C. E. Bennett)

Eheu fugaces, Postume, Postume,
labuntur anni nec pietas moram
rugis et instanti senectae
adferet indomitaeque morti.
- Alas, O Postumus, Postumus, the years glide swiftly by, nor will righteousness give pause to wrinkles, to advancing age, or Death invincible.
- II, xiv, 1 (tr. C. E. Bennett)
- John Conington's translation:
  Ah, Postumus! they fleet away,
  Our years, nor piety one hour
  Can win from wrinkles and decay,
  And Death's indomitable power.

Virginibus puerisque canto.
- I sing for maids and boys.
- III, i, 4 (tr. C. E. Bennett)

Aequa lege Necessitas
Sortitur insignes et imos;
Omne capax movet urna nomen.
- Necessity allots the fates of high and low alike. The ample urn keeps tossing every name.
- III, i, 14 (tr. C. E. Bennett)
- John Conington's translation:
  Death takes the mean man with the proud;
  The fatal urn has room for all.

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.
- 'Tis sweet and glorious to die for fatherland.
- III, ii, 13 (tr. C. E. Bennett)

Iustum et tenacem propositi virum
non civium ardor prava iubentium,
non vultus instantis tyranni
mente quatit solida.
- The man tenacious of his purpose in a righteous cause is not shaken from his firm resolve by the frenzy of his fellow citizens bidding what is wrong, nor by the face of threatening tyrant.
- III, iii, 1 (tr. C. E. Bennett)

Si fractus illabatur orbis,
impavidum ferient ruinae.
- Were the vault of heaven to break and fall upon him, its ruins would smite him undismayed.
- III, iii, 7 (tr. C. E. Bennett)

Vis consili expers mole ruit sua.
- Brute force bereft of wisdom falls to ruin by its own weight.
  - III, iv, 65 (tr. C. E. Bennett)

Ingratam Veneri pone superbiam,
Ne currente retro funiseat rota.
- Banish thy disdain, to Venus hateful, lest the rope run back as the wheel revolves.
- III, x, 9–10 (tr. C. E. Bennett)
- John Conington's translation:
  Cease that proud temper: Venus loves it not:
  The rope may break, the wheel may backward turn.

Mercuri, nam te docilis magistro
Movit Amphion lapides canendo,
Tuque testudo resonare septem
Callida nervis,
Nec loquax olim neque grata, nunc et
Divitum mensis et amica templis,
Dic modos, Lyde quibus obstinatas
Adplicet auris.
- O Mercury (for taught by thee as master, Amphion with his measures moved the rocks) and thou, O shell, trained to respond with thy seven strings, thou that once wast neither eloquent nor lovely, but now art welcome at the tables of the rich and in the temples of the gods, utter measures to which Lyde may incline her reluctant cars.
- III, xi, 1–8 (tr. C. E. Bennett)
- John Conington's translation:
  Come, Mercury, by whose minstrel spell
    Amphion raised the Theban stones,
  Come, with thy seven sweet strings, my shell,
        Thy "diverse tones,"
  Nor vocal once nor pleasant, now
    To rich man's board and temple dear:
  Put forth thy power, till Lyde bow
        Her stubborn ear.

Crescentem sequitur cura pecuniam,
Maiorumque fames.
- As money grows, care and greed for greater riches follow after.
- III, xvi, 17 (tr. C. E. Bennett)

Magnas inter opes inops.
- A beggar in the midst of mighty wealth.
- III, xvi, 28 (tr. C. E. Bennett)
- John Conington's translation:
  'Mid vast possessions poor.

Quod adest memento
Componere aequus.
- Remember to settle with tranquil heart the problem of the hour!
- III, xxix, 32 (tr. C. E. Bennett)
- John Dryden's translation:
  Enjoy the present smiling hour,
  And put it out of Fortune's power.

Ille potens sui
Laetusque deget, cui licet in diem
Dixisse "vixi: cras vel atra
Nube polum pater occupato
Vel sole puro."
- Master of himself and joyful will that man live who day by day can say: "I have lived to-day; to-morrow let the Father fill the heaven with murky clouds, or radiant sunshine!"
- III, xxix, 41 (tr. C. E. Bennett)
- John Dryden's paraphrase:
  Happy the man, and happy he alone,
  He, who can call to day his own:
  He who, secure within, can say,
  To-morrow do thy worst, for I have lived to-day.

Exegi monumentum aere perennius
- I have finished a monument more lasting than bronze.
- III, xxx, 1 (tr. C. E. Bennett)

Non sum qualis eram bonae
sub regno Cinarae.
- Trust me, I am not the same
  As in the reign of Cinara, kind and fair.
- IV, i, 3 (tr. John Conington)
- Cp. the poem so titled by Ernest Dowson in Verses (1896), p. 17

Pulvis et umbra sumus.
- We are but dust and shadow.
- IV, vii, 16 (tr. C. E. Bennett)

Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona.
- Many heroes lived before Agamemnon.
- IV, ix, 25 (tr. C. E. Bennett)
- Cf. Lord Byron, Don Juan, I, v, 1:
  Brave men were living before Agamemnon.

External links

Wikipedia

Wikipedia has an article about:

Odes (Horace)

E. C. Wickham, Horace for English Readers (Oxford, 1903)
C. E. Bennett, Horace: The Odes and Epodes, LCL 33 (1912)