QUINTI HORATII FLACCI

EPISTOLARU M.

LIBER I.

EPIST. I.

Ad MECENATUM.

Se ludicra fua ftudia missa facere dicit. & ea, quæ ad virtutem ducunt, amplekti.

PRima
Rimâ dicte mihi, fumma dicende camœnâ,
Spectatum fatis, & donatum jam rude, quæris,
Mæcenas, iterum antiquo me includere ludo.

PROSE INTERPRETATION.

1

O Mæcenas! the fubject of my former fong, worthy to be. mentioned by my latest, you seek to intangle me again in the old lifts, having been feen fufficiently, and now presented with the rod of freedom. My time of life is not the same, nor is my inclination. Vejanius, his arms confecrated on a column of Hercules's temple, lives hidden in the country, that

he

THE

FIRST BOOK

OF THE

EPISTLES OF HORACE.

EPISTLE I.

TO MECENAS.

He affirms that he now throws matter of merriment afide, and adheres. only to fuch things as conduce to virtue.

● Subject of

my firft effays!
Whom as in duty bound to praise,
My mufe ev'n to the last persists,
Again you force me to the lifts,

With freedom's * rod difmifs'd the stage,
As far too much expos'd in age.

* A rod, or wand, given as a token of liberty, by the mafter-of the fencing-fchool, to gladiators, on their difmiffion.

Non eadem eft ætas, non mens. Vejanius armis
Herculis ad poftem fixis, latet abditus agro,
Ne populum extremâ toties exoret arenâ.
Eft mihi purgatam crebro qui perfonet aurem,
Solve fenefcentem mature fanus equum, ne
Peccet ad extremum ridendus, & ilia ducat.
Nunc itaque & verfus & cætera ludicra pono:
Quid verum atque decens curo, & rogo & omnis
in hoc fum:

Condo & compono, quæ mox depromere poffim.
Ac ne forte roges. quo me duce, quo lare tuter:
Nullius addictus jurare in verba magiftri,
Quo me cunque rapit tempeftas, deferor hofpes.
Nunc agilis fio, & merfor civilibus undis,
Virtutis veræ cuftos rigidufque fatelles:
Nunc in Aristippi furtim præcepta relabor,
Et mihi res, non me rebus fubmittere conor.

PROSE INTERPRETATION.

he may not, from the verge of the fandy amphitheatre, fo often implore the people's mercy. There is that feems frequently to ring in my purged ear, wifely in time dismiss the courfer, growing old, left derided he ftumble at last, and break his wind. Now therefore, I lay afide both odes, and all other ludicrous matters; my ftudy and enquiry is after what is true and becoming, and I am wholly taken up in this: treasure up, and collate rules which I may be able hereafter to draw out for ufe. And left you should perchance enquire, under what profeffor, in what fchool of philofophy, I enter myfelf a difciple: addicted to fwear implicitly to the definitions of no particular mafter, wherever the wind compels me, I am driven as a gueft. One while I become bustling, and am immersed in the waves of state affairs, a guard, and a rigid watchman of true virtue; then again, I lide back infenfibly to Ariftippus's tenets, and endeavour to accommo

date

No more I have the thirst for fame,
Nor is my time of day the fame.
Vejanius having fix'd his arms
Now fkreens him in the ground, he farms,
That from the theatre no more,
He may the mob for life implore.
Something keeps whifp'ring in my ear,
Which purg'd can in the fpirit hear,
Loose the old courfer, if you're wise,
Left, if he enter for the prize,
He may be fcorn'd, as coming laft,
And fetch his broken wind too faft.
Wherefore I now will throw away,
All verfe and toys of idle play,
And all enquiry, thought, and care,
But what is true, and what is fair,
And hoard up maxims, and for use
Arrange them, that I may deduce.
And left, perchance, you fhou'd enquire,
What school, what mafter, I admire,
Know I'm addicted to no fect,

Nor fwear, as other men direct,
But fuit the tenor of my way,
To the complexion of the day;
Now active and officious grown,
To ftate contentions am I prone,
A guard and ftedfaft partizan
Of virtue, and th' heroic man;
With Aristippus now agree,
Not I for things, but things for me.

Ut nox longa, quibus mentitur amica, diefque
Longa videtur opus debentibus; ut piger annus
Pupillis, quos dura premit cuftodia matrum;
Sic mihi tarda fluunt ingrataque tempora, quæ fpem
Confiliumque morantur agendi gnaviter, id quod
Æque pauperibus prodeft, locupletibus æque,

que neglectum pueris fenibufque nocebit,
Reftat ut his ego me ipfe regam folerque elementis
Non poffis oculo quantum contendere Lynceus,
Non tamen idcirco contemnas lippus inungi :
Nec, quia defperes invicti membra Glyconis,
Nodofâ corpus nolis prohibere chiragrâ.
Eft quoddam prodire tenus, fi non datur ultra,
Fervet avaritiâ, miferoque cupidine pectus ?
Sunt verba & voces, quibus hunc lenire dolorem

PROSE INTERPRETATION.

date things to myself, not myself to things. As the night feems tedious to those with whom a miftrefs has falfified appointment, and the day feems tedious to thofe who are indebted to do drudgery; as the year moves flow with minors, whom the fevere guardianship of their mothers oppreffes; fo all that time to me flows tedious and ungrateful, which retards my hope and intention of ftrenuously putting in practice that which is of equal emolument to the poor and to the wealthy, which, neglected, will be of equally hurt to the young and old. It remains, that I regulate and confole myfelf by thefe principles: you cannot fee with your eyes fo far as Lynceus; you will not, notwithstanding, fcorn being anointed, if you are fore-eyed; nor, because you despair of the limbs of the infuperable Glycon, will you be unwilling to preserve your body from the knotty gout. There is fome points we may compafs, if we can do no farther. Does your heart burn with avarice, and a wretched luft of gain? Words there are, and perfuafives, with which you may foften this