PREFACE.

THIS version of Horace is a literal rendering of the original, the translators having kept in view the same objects as they had before them in their edition of Virgil in this series.

The style of the Satires and Epistles, "the prosaic Muse," as Horace himself calls it, appears to be not unsuited for actual prose; but with regard to the Odes, the case is certainly different. Yet, though few prose translations of the Odes have been written in this country, in France there have been many. Perhaps the most notable are the versions by M. Jules Janin and M. Léon Halévy. These are flowing and elegant, but have rather a tendency to paraphrase. It seems that one advantage is gained by adopting the form of rhythmical prose in translating the Odes: greater freedom is thus afforded for the attempt to make some approach towards the expression in another language of the

exquisite felicity and delicate lightness of phrase, so difficult to handle without spoiling, which characterise the Odes of Horace above all other poems.

The space given to the Notes has necessarily been somewhat limited: but it is hoped that difficulties of construction have not been passed over, and that the illustrations and references explain sufficiently the very numerous and various allusions which are found in the writings of Horace.