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Pennis non homini datis.

Perrupit Acheronta Herculeus labor.
Nil mortalibus arduum est:

Coelum ipsum petimus stultitia, neque
Per nostrum patimur scelus

Iracunda Jovem ponere fulmina.

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and with his son Icarus flew over the sea, is well known.-36. Herculeus labor. One of the twelve tasks imposed on Hercules by Eurystheus, was to bring up Cerberus from the lower world. Here, therefore, Herculeus labor is a labour of Hercules.' The last syllable of perrupit in this line is made long by the ictus.-38. Stultitia, an ablative of cause, in or from our folly.'-40. An allusion to the belief that Jupiter killed several individuals, at whose conduct he was indignant (hence iracunda fulmina), by lightning.

CARMEN IV.

AD L. SESTIUM CONSULAREM.

AN exhortation to enjoy life merrily, since death is speedily and surely impending. L. Sestius, consul suffectus in the year 23 B. C., was an intimate friend of Horace from the time when they served together against the triumvirs, in the republican army of Brutus and Cassius.

SOLVITUR acris hiems grata vice veris et Favoni,
Trahuntque siccas machinae carinas,

Ac neque jam stabulis gaudet pecus aut arator igni,
Nec prata canis albicant pruinis.

Jam Cytherea choros ducit Venus imminente Luna,

Junctaeque Nymphis Gratiae decentes

Alterno terram quatiunt pede, dum graves Cyclopum
Vulcanus ardens urit officinas.

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2. Machinae trahunt siccas carinas; that is, naves: a part being poetically put for the whole. The ships of the ancients were in the beginning of winter drawn up on the beach, high and dry, and had of course to be taken down to the sea in spring by means of machines; that is, levers and rollers.-4. Canus, not gray,' but 'white.-5. Cytherea, an epithet given to Venus, from the island of Cythera, south of Laconia, which was one of the places where she was chiefly worshipped: imminente Luna, whilst the moon appears over them, and looks smilingly down upon their sports. -6. Decentes pulchrae; alterno terram quatiunt pede; that is, they keep time in their dancing.-8. In the spring the Cyclopes, under the superintendence of Vulcan, forge in Aetna the thunderbolts which Jupiter darts upon the earth during the summer. Vulcan, the god of fire, is here treated as fire itself, being called ardens,

Nunc decet aut viridi nitidum caput impedire myrto,
Aut flore, terrae quem ferunt solutae;

Nunc et in umbrosis Fauno decet immolare lucis,
Seu poscat agna sive malit haedo.

Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas

Regumque turres. O beate Sesti,

Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat inchoare longam.
Jam te premet nox, fabulaeque manes,

Et domus exilis Plutonia. Quo simul mearis,

Nec regna vini sortiere talis,

Nec tenerum Lycidan mirabere, quo calet juventus
Nunc omnis et mox virgines tepebunt.

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and said urere.-9. Nitidum, 'shining,' from the ointment which was used for the head. As to solutae, in line 10, compare line 1. -11. Faunus, the god of shepherds and peasants. These in the beginning of spring celebrated a festival in his honour, at which much mirth and jollity were always exhibited.-12. Agna-haedo, ablatives dependent on the infinitive sibi immolari understood; for we may say either immolare hostiam or hostia, with a victim.'-13. Aequo pede in prose it would have been simply aeque, equally.' 14. Palaces are called turres, on account of their height. Beate, 'happy;' that is, rich, and therefore happy.-16. Fabulae manes: the manes, spirits of the dead, are considered by Horace, because they have no bodies, to be a mere sound or name, and nothing real. He therefore gives them fabulae (shadowy beings') as an apposition.-17. Quo in quam domum, to which.-18. Talis, ablative of talus; originally, the ankle;' here and frequently a die' for gaming. The Romans, at their drinking-bouts, had a president, who was called king (hence regna vini.) He who made the highest throw with dice obtained the honour, the matter being thus left to a kind of lot (hence sortiere.)

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CARMEN VI.

AD M. AGRIPPAM.

THE poet alleges inability as his excuse for not celebrating the
deeds of Augustus and M. Agrippa in heroic verse: he can only
write songs. This ode was written about the year 27 B. c.

SCRIBERIS Vario fortis et hostium
Victor, Maeonii carminis aliti,

Quam rem cunque ferox navibus aut equis
Miles te duce gesserit.

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Nos, Agrippa, neque haec dicere, nec gravem
Pelidae stomachum cedere nescii,

Nec cursus duplicis per mare Ulixei,
Nec saevam Pelopis domum

Conamur, tenues grandia, dum pudor
Imbellisque lyrae musa potens vetat
Laudes egregii Caesaris et tuas

Culpa deterere ingeni.

Quis Martem tunica tectum adamantina

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1. Scribēris must, on account of the verse, be taken as the future, 'thou shalt be celebrated by Varius.' L. Varius was an epic and dramatic poet, and a friend and patron of Horace. Of his poems, among which was a panegyric (Panegyricus) on Augustus, only a few lines have come down to us.-2. Maeonii carminis aliti, a bird of Maeonian song.' 'Maeonian' is equivalent to Homeric,' Maeonia being the ancient name of Lydia, in which is situated Smyrna, the alleged birth-place of Homer. A Maeonian bird or Maeonian swan is therefore an epic poet.-3. Quam rem cunque quamcunque rem: such a separation is not unusual, even in prose. Navibus aut

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equis, 'by sea or by land.'-4. Miles, collectively for milites, the
Roman soldiers.'-6. Pelidae stomachum, the wrath (vv) of Achil-
les, the son of Peleus, who did not know how to yield' (cedere nescii,
cedere being here used poetically for cedendi, see Gram. § 396, note
3.) Achilles did not know how to yield to Agamemnon.
anger of Achilles is the subject of Homer's Iliad.-7. Duplicis,
'crafty:' Ulixei, genitive of the form Ulixeus. The wanderings of
Ulysses form the subject of Homer's Odyssey.-8. Saevam Pelopis
domum, the horrible deeds of the sons of Pelops :' namely, Atreus
and Thyestes. The murder of Agamemnon, grandson of Peleus,
by his wife Clytaemnestra, and that of Clytaemnestra by her son
Orestes, were favourite subjects with the tragic poets. -9. Tenues
grandia, the reason why he can write neither epic poems nor tra-
gedies: his powers are too weak for such lofty subjects.-10. Musa
potens imbellis lyrae, 'my muse, my poetical talent, which has
power only over the unwarlike lyre.". 12. Deterere, to rub off;'
that is, to rob great Caesar and thee of your merited praise, by the
meagre, weak, unpoetical manner in which I should describe your
deeds.-13. Tunica tectum adamantina, Homer's xaλкoxíтwv, 'brass-

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Digne scripserit, aut pulvere Troico
Nigrum Merionen, aut ope Palladis
Tydiden superis parem?

Nos convivia, nos proelia virginum
Sectis in juvenes unguibus acrium
Cantamus, vacui sive quid urimur,
Non praeter solitum leves.

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clad,' for adamas is anything impenetrable.-15. Meriones was one of the heroes of the Trojan war. He was the charioteer of Idomeneus of Crete.-16. Tydiden, the son of Tydeus;' namely, Diomedes, who also, like Meriones, fought against Troy, and, by the help of Athena, wounded Ares and Aphrodite in battle.- 18. Sectis unguibus: neatly-cut nails were a sign of breeding and elegance, for the Romans devoted particular attention to this department of personal adornment.-19. Vacui sive quid urimur; that is, sive non amamus sive amamus. The import of the sentence is this: my poetry is indeed of a light, but yet not of a licentious nature.

CARMEN VII.

AD L. MUNATIUM PLANCUM CONSULAREM.

L. MUNATIUS PLANCUS, consul in 42 B. C., was one of the most distinguished statesmen of his time, but unstable in his political opinions; for he was in succession a follower of the dictator Caesar, an adherent of the senatorial party, and a partisan of Antony, whom he deserted shortly before the battle of Actium to join Octavianus. His political talents, however, and his activity, rendered his services necessary even to those who did not and could trust him. Horace exhorts him to seek recreation from the cares and annoyances of political life in the study and enjoyment of nature, and in conviviality. This ode was written shortly after the battle of Actium, when Plancus already belonged to the party of Octavianus.

LAUDABUNT alii claram Rhodon, aut Mitylenen,
Aut Epheson, bimarisve Corinthi

1. Alii corresponds to sunt quibus in line 5, and to plurimus =plu. rimi in line 8. Rhodes, a city on the island of that name, celebrated for its commerce and for the cultivation of the arts and sciences: Mitylene, a town on the island of Lesbos, much praised for the beauty of its situation and the tasteful architecture of its houses: the other places mentioned - Ephesus, Corinth, Thebes, Delphi, and the Vale of Tempe-were also admired for their natural beauties; for the Roman poets looked for fine scenes as subjects of description in their works, in Greece and Greek Asia Minor, just as we do in Italy; and naturally, too, their refinement and poetry being of Greek origin, as ours are of classical, particularly Roman.-2. Bimarisve Corinthi moenia. Corinth is called 'two

Moenia, vel Baccho Thebas vel Apolline Delphos
Insignes, aut Thessala Tempe ;

Sunt quibus unum opus est intactae Palladis urbem 5 Carmine perpetuo celebrare et

Undique decerptam fronti praeponere olivam;

Plurimus in Junonis honorem

Aptum dicet equis Argos ditesque Mycenas.
Me neque tam patiens Lacedaemon
Nec tam Larissae percussit campus opimae,
Quam domus Albuneae resonantis

Et praeceps Anio ac Tiburni lucus et uda
Mobilibus pomaria rivis.

Albus ut obscuro deterget nubila coelo
Saepe Notus, neque parturit imbres

Perpetuos, sic tu sapiens finire memento

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sea'd,' because, being situated on the isthmus, it is near both the Corinthian and Saronic gulfs. The citadel, called Acrocorinthus, was particularly admired for its strength (hence moenia.) The city had been rebuilt very shortly before this time, according to a plan of Caesar. — 5. Intactae, virgin,' the ordinary epithet of Athena, the protecting divinity of Athens.-6. Carmine perpetuo, in one continuous poem;' that is, a poem which celebrates the heroic deeds of the Athenians from the origin of the city in the mythical times downwards.-7. Olivam, properly, the olive-tree and its fruit; afterwards, a crown made of olive-twigs; and here, metaphorically, poems which relate the traditions and history of Athens, and which bring their authors crowns of honour. Consequently, to place a crown of olive-twigs, plucked from all quarters, upon their brow,' means to gain glory and fame by poems relating the history of Athens, and adorned with illustrative imagery drawn from all sources. -9. Argos, situated in a plain of Peloponnesus: its breed of horses, and the temple of Juno ('Hpatov) in its neighbourhood, are celebrated by Homer. Mycenae, the royal seat of the Pelopidae, a very ancient town, which did not exist in historic times, is also praised by him for its riches.-10. Patiens Lacedaemon: the principal virtue of the Spartans was patientia, the patient endurance of bodily pains.-11. Larissae opimae: Larissa, a town in Thessaly, famed for the fertility of the country around it. Percussit, has filled with love.'-12. Domus Albuneae, the grotto of Albunea,' the nymph of a small stream near Tibur (the modern Tivoli), a town on the Anio (now Teverone.) The Anio, which was far-famed for its falls, and is hence called in the next line praeceps, winds round the greater part of Tibur, and numerous canals go off from it into the orchards of the inhabitants (hence, in line 14, pomaria uda rivis mobilibus.) Tiburnus, the son or grandson of Amphiaraus, was one of the heroes whom tradition made the founders of Tibur. A grove near the city was sacred to him.-15. Transition to the proper subject of the ode. The connection of the thoughts is as follows:-' I, as a poet, find my chief gratification in contemplating the beautiful scenery in the neighbourhood of Tibur, and in occasionally composing light, easy poems, refraining from great efforts, which would

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