deme supercilio nubem: plerumque modestus occupat obscuri speciem, taciturnus acerbi. Inter cuncta leges et percontabere doctos, qua ratione queas traducere leniter aevum, num te semper inops agitet vexetque cupido, num1 pavor et rerum mediocriter utilium spes, virtutem doctrina paret Naturane donet, quid minuat curas, quid te tibi reddat amicum, quid pure tranquillet, honos an dulce lucellum, an secretum iter et fallentis semita vitae. 105 Me quotiens reficit gelidus Digentia rivus, quem Mandela bibit, rugosus frigore pagus, quid sentire putas ? quid credis, amice, precari? sit mihi quod nunc est, etiam minus, et2 mihi vivam quod superest aevi, si quid superesse volunt di; sit bona3 librorum et provisae frugis in annum copia, neu fluitem dubiae spe pendulus horae.4 Sed satis est orare Iovem, qui5 ponit et aufert, det vitam, det opes; aequum mi animum ipse parabo." a i.e. philosophers. 4 6 ponit V, II: donat, I. 110 These are things which may be contrasted with virtue, the summum bonum, e.g. our possessions, classed by the Stoics as ádiá popa, indifferent things. . Whether virtue can be taught (didaктý, cf. doctrina) is discussed in Plato's Meno. cloud from your brow; shyness oft gets the look of secrecy, silence of sour temper. C 96 Amid all this you must read and question the wise, how you may be able to pass your days in tranquillity. Is greed, ever penniless, to drive and harass you, or fears and hopes about things that profit little ? b Does wisdom beget virtue, or Nature bring her as a gift? What will lessen care ? What will make you a friend to yourself? What gives you unruffled calm-honour, or the sweets of dear gain, or a secluded journey along the pathway of a life unnoticed d? 104 For me, oft as Digentia refreshes me, the icy brook of which Mandela drinks, that village wrinkled with cold, what deem you to be my feelings? What, think you, my friend, are my prayers? May I have my present store, or even less; may I live to myself for what remains of life, if the gods will that aught remain. May I have a goodly supply of books and of food to last the year; nor may I waver to and fro with the hopes of each uncertain hour. 111 But 'tis enough to pray Jove, who gives and takes away, that he grant me life, and grant me means: a mind well balanced I will myself provide. a Cf. Epist. i. 17. 10. e Cf. Epist. i. 16. 5, with its note b. Mandela, now Cantalupo Bardella, is a lofty village, whose people came down to the Digentia for their water. i.e. the gods may give me life, and the means of existence, but, as Henley says, "I am the captain of my soul." XIX TO MAECENAS WRITING Shortly before the publication of this book, in 20 B.C., Horace replies to the adverse criticism which had been levelled against his Epodes and Odes (Books i.-iii.). These, it was claimed, lacked originality and were mere imitations of Greek exemplars. Horace therefore contrasts the rude and servile imitation, to which he has himself been subjected, with his own generous use of noble models, according to rules followed by the great Greek poets themselves (1-34). But the real reason why Horace has been assailed lies in the fact that the poet has not tried to please the general public or his offended critics. He refuses to resort to the usual methods of winning approval, and is therefore supposed to be arrogant. This is a charge which he declines to face (35-49). XIX. Prisco si credis, Maecenas docte, Cratino, nulla placere diu nec vivere carmina possunt, quae scribuntur aquae potoribus.1 ut male sanos adscripsit Liber Satyris Faunisque poetas, vina fere dulces oluerunt mane Camenae. laudibus arguitur vini vinosus Homerus ; Ennius ipse pater numquam nisi potus ad arma prosiluit dicenda. "Forum Putealque Libonis mandabo siccis, adimam cantare severis": hoc simul edixi,2 non cessavere poetae nocturno certare mero, putere diurno. quid? si quis voltu torvo ferus et pede nudo exiguaeque togae simulet textore3 Catonem, virtutemne repraesentet moresque Catonis ? rupit Iarbitam Timagenis aemula lingua,1 dum studet urbanus tenditque disertus haberi. 1 potioribus ERπ. 3 ex ore o extore R. 2 edixi E, Porph. : edixit a. 5 10 15 a On Cratinus see Index. In his IIurivn he jested upon his own intemperance. * Cf. Iliad, vi. 261 ἀνδρὶ δὲ κεκμηῶτι μένος μέγα οἶνος ἀέξει, and the use of epithets applied to wine, such as εὐήνωρ, ἡδύποτος, μελιηδής, μελίφρων. 66 Ennius says of himself, 'numquam poetor nisi si podager." |