The Queen about to make a landing into Olympic Dust. Was she quoting Horace on the way down?
I’ve saved the first for last. It has taken me three years to read all of Horace’s carmina, but now in this year of the Olympic games in London, like some participant, I have finished the course. I don’t think there is a palma nobilis waiting for me (as Horace mentions in today’s ode), no Olympic gold. Rather, like some out of the way country with no chance of winning, I only came to participate.For two thousand years people have read Horace. Now I am one of them.
I cannot say that I understood all of the odes to their fullest. I cannot say that now I remember them all. I doubt that I could quote any lines, although I did, as I worked on each one, memorize what Horace had written; but each new ode obliterated the lines of the old. I cannot say now whether I fell in love with his poetry. All I can say is that I enjoyed the challenges they presented.
Horace is difficult, almost impenetrable. He is like reading the Persian poet Nezami or the Chinese Wang Wei or perhaps Shakespeare for a non-native speaker of English. The effort required is great, the rewards reaped under-appreciated. Under-appreciated? Yes, because there is so much more to reading a poet’s work than puzzling out the meaning. Just because you shine a bright light on a work by Monet doesn’t mean that you will understand it more. Just because you turn up the volume on a piece by Mozart doesn’t mean that you will get its full meaning. These are just first steps. So, after three years of Horace, this is all I can say: I have begun.
In the coming months, I will continue with Horace, but I hope to bring in other poets as well. That had been my intention at the start, but as his poems got longer and more difficult, I found I didn’t have the time to do poem pairings. I barely had the time to write these blogs.
Today’s ode, because it is the one Horace placed first, is a kind of introduction, a way of telling the reader what he hopes to accomplish (follow his bliss and become a great poet) and to thank his protector, Maecenas, who lived from 70 BC to 8 BC and who was a patron of a whole troop of poets: Virgil, Propertius, and Horace, to name but a few.
I have also decided with today’s ode not to make a literal translation. This is part of what I meant above. Instead of puzzling out the meaning, I think, after three years, I may be permitted to tell you what I feel it means.
At the end of today’s blog is a list of all of Horace’s carmina with references to the blogs in which they appeared.
Translation ::
Maecenas from a line of kings,
my refuge, my sweet glory—
Joy finds those in chariots
covered in Olympic dust,
the goal post cleared,
their wheels aflame,
the famed palm lifting
these lords of the world
up to the gods;
it finds those elevated to
the highest honors*
by the fickle Roman crowd;
it finds those hiding
in their storehouses
grain swept from
Libyan threshing floors.
And the one content
to hoe his father’s fields,
even with the promise of gold*,
you’ll never get to cleave,
like a frightened sailor,
the Myrtoan* Sea
in a Cyprus ship;
the merchant, too, fears
the African winds
wrestling Icarian* tides;
he praises the quiet country life,
but not for long:
not raised to be poor,
he’ll repair his leaky boats.
There’s the one who doesn’t
refuse a cup of old Massico*,
a break in a solid day’s work—
see him, arms and legs spread out
beneath the shade tree*,
there by a spring of sacred water?
Joy finds those who in army camps
are surrounded by
the jumbled sounds
of bugles and horns and
the battles so hated
by our mothers.
It finds the hunter out
under cold Jupiter skies,
with no thought
of his tender wife, if,
with his faithful hounds,
he sights a deer,
if a Marsian* boar rips through
the firmly woven nets.
Me? Ivy, the rewards of learning
upon my brow, put me
among the gods on high.
The icy woods, the fleeting bands
of nymphs and satyrs set
me apart from the rest,
if only Euterpe* keeps
playing her flute,
if only Polyhymnia* keeps
her Lesbian lyre in tune.
Place me with the lyric poets
and, head uplifted,
I’ll reach the stars!
_________
hightest honors: tergeminus/trigeminus: three of the highest honors: to be named consul, curule aedile (a kind of consulship), and praetor (magistrate).
promise of gold: Attalicis condicionibus: the ransom terms of the richest king in the world, which would be beyond all measure.
Myrtoan: Myrtous: a stormy part of the Aegean Sea off of Myrtos Island between the Peloponnesus and the Cyclades
Icarian: a stormy part of the Aegean Sea between Samos and Mykonos connected with the myth of Icarus.
Massico: a prized wine
shade tree: arbutus, the strawberry tree
Marsian: Marsi: a people in Latium
Euterpe: a muse of music
Polyhymnia: a muse
In Prose ::
[O] Maecenas, atavis regibus edite, et o praesidium et decus dulce meum, sunt [ii] quos iuvat pulverem Olympicum curriculo collegisse, [ubi] metaque rotis fervidis evitata [est], palmaque nobilis dominos terrarum ad deos evihit.
[Iuvat] hunc si turba Quiritium mobilium certat [eum] honoribus tergeminis tollere.
[Iuvat] illum si [in] horreo proprio condidit quidquid de areis Libycis verritur.
Numquam [illum] gaudentem agros patrios sarculo condicionibus Attalicis findere demoveas, ut nauta pavidus [in] trabe Cypria mare Myrtoum secet.
Mercator, Africum luctantem, fluctibus Icariis, et otium oppidi metuens, rura sui laudat. Mox ratıs quassas reficit, pauperiem pati indocilis.
Est qui nec pocula Massici veteris spernit, nec partem de die solido demere, nunc membra sub arbuto viridi stratus, nunc ad caput lene aquae sacrae.
Castra multos iuvant—et lituo tubae sonitus permixtus bellaque matribus detestata.
Venator, coniugis tenerae immemor, sub Iove frigido manet, seu cerva [a] catulis fidelibus visa est, seu aper Marsus plagas teretes rupit.
Praemia hederae frontium doctarum me [cum] dis superis miscent. Nemus gelidum chorique leves nympharum cum Satyris me populo secernunt, si neque Euterpe tibias cohibet nec Polyhymnia refugit barbiton Lesboum tendere. Quodsi me lyricis vatibus inseres, sidera vertice sublimi feriam.
Delphin Ordo ::
O Mæcenas, orte à mjoribus proceribus, ô et meum columen, et cara mea gloria; sunt plerique qui decurrentes gaudent conspergi pulvere Olympico, et quos meta non tacta rotis calidis, ac illustris victoria extollit ad Deos orbis moderatores. Hunc, si conventus Romanorum inconstantium certatim evehit ad maximas dignitates: illum, si congessit in suum granarium quicquid colligitur ex areis Libyæ: gestientem scindere arculo rura paterna, nunquam deducas de propositio, etiam promissione opum Attali, ut nauta timidus findat navi Cypriâ undas pelagi Myrtoi. Mercator timens Africum ventum pugnantem eum aquis maris Icarii, commendat quietem, et agros sui pagi: paulò post tamen resarcit naves laceras, paurpertatis impatiens. Est alius qui non contemnit cyathos vini Massici veteris, neque detrahere aliquot horas ex die integro, modò jacentes habens artus sub arbuto virenti, modò ad originem placidam fontis sacrati. Militia placet multis, sonusque buccinæ ac litui mixtus, et bella matribus execranda. Venator oblitus delicatæ uxoris moratur sub aëre frigenti, sive canes fidi conspexerunt cervam, sive aper Marsus fregit retia rotunda. Ederæ verò, merces doctorum capitum, me collocant inter summos Deos: me sylva frigida et celeres choreæ Nympharum cum Satyris segregant à vulgo, si neque Euterpe fistulas coërcet, neque Polyhymnia dedignatur intendere lyram Lesbiam. Quòd si me annumemeres Poëtis Lyricis, cœlum attigam excelso capite.
Original Ode ::
Maecēnās, atavīs ēdite rēgibus,
ō et praesidium et dulce decus meum,
sunt quōs curriculō pulverem Olympicum
collēgisse iuvat, mētaque fervidīs
ēvītāta rotīs palmaque nōbilis
terrārum dominōs ēvehit ad deōs;
hunc, sī mōbilium turba Quirītium
certat tergeminis tollere honōribus,
illum, sī propriō condidit horreō
quidquid dē Libycīs verritur āreīs.
gaudentem patriōs findere sarculō
agrōs Attalicīs condiciōnibus
numquam dēmoveās ut trabe Cȳpriā
Myrtōum pavidus nauta secet mare.
luctantem īcariīs fluctibus Africum
mercātor metuens ōtium et oppidī
laudat rūra suī; mox reficit ratıs
quassās, indocilis pauperiem patī.
est quī nec veteris pōcula Massicī
nec partem solidō dēmere dē diē
spernit, nunc viridī membra sub arbutō
strātus, nunc ad aquae lēne caput sǎcrae.
multōs castra iuvant et lituō tubae
permixtus sonitus bellaque mātribus
dētestāta. manet sub Iove frīgidō
vēnātor tenerae coniugis immemor,
seu vīsa est catulīs cerva fidēlibus,
seu rūpit teretēs Marsus aper plagās.
mē doctārum hederae praemia frontium
dīs miscent superīs, mē gelidum nemus
nymphārumque levēs cum Satyrīs chorī
sēcernunt populō, sī neque tībiās
Euterpē cohibet nec Polyhymnia
Lesbōum refugit tendere barbiton.
quodsī mē lyricīs vātibus inserēs,
sublīmī feriam sīdera vertice.
(revised March 26, 2015)
:: Latin books by James Rumford ::
For all 102 odes purchase Carpe Diem, Horace De-Poetized, for $11.50 at
For a Latin translation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at $12, click here:
To find out more about Carpe Diem go to the blog of March 26, 2015;
for more about Pericla Thomae Sawyer, go to the blog of November 22, 2016.
Index to My Blogs ::
LIBER I
1 Mæcenas Atavis Aug 10 12
2 Iam Satis Terris Mar 13 11
3 Sic Te Diva Jan 24 11
4 Solvitur Acris Hiems Dec 21 10
5 Quis Multa Gracilis Sep 14 09
6 Scriberis Vario Aug 27 10
7 Laudabunt Alii Dec 4 10
8 Dic Lydia Sep 18 09
9 Vides ut Alta Dec 26 10
10 Mercuri, Facunde Nepos Jul 7 10
11 Tu Ne Quaesieris Aug 28 09
12 Quem Virum aut Heroa Apr 23 11
13 Cum Tu, Lydia Jul 18 10
14 O Navis Nov 8 09
15 Pastor cum Traheret May 22 11
16 O Matre Pulchra Mar 25 11
17 Velox Amoenum Feb 14 11
18 Nullam Vare Sacra Aug 31 09
19 Mater Saeva Cupidinum Sep 20 09
20 Vile Potabis Modicis Sep 1 09
21 Dianam Tenerae Dicite Jul 23 10
22 Integer Vitae Jan 31 10
23 Vitas Inuleo Me Sep 2 09
24 Quis Desiderio Sep 27 09
25 Parcius Iunctas Aug 14 10
26 Musis Amicus Sep 3 09
27 Natis in Usum Aug 3 10
28 Te Maris et Terrae Jan 14 11
29 Icci, Beatis Nunc Mar 15 10
30 O Venus Regina Dec 30 10
31 Quid Dedicatum Sep 29 09
32 Poscimus Feb 19 10
33 Albi, Ne Doleas Mar 20 10
34 Parcus Deorum Cultor Mar 1 10
35 O Diva Gratum Mar 11 10
36 Et Ture et Fidibus Jan 27 10
37 Nunc Est Bibendum Feb 24 10
38 Persicos Odi Sep 9 09
LIBER II
1 Motum ex Metulle Jul 3 10
2 Nullus Argento Feb 5 10
3 Æquam Memento May 24 10
4 Ne Sit Ancillæ May 30 10
5 Nondum Subacta May 20 10
6 Septimi Gadis Aditure Apr 30 10
7 O Saepe Mecum May 7 10
8 Ulla Si Iuris Jun 9 10
9 Non Semper Imbres Oct 27 09
10 Rectius Vives Sep 15 09
11 Quid Bellicosus Apr 26 10
12 Nolis Longa Apr 15 10
13 Ille et Nefasto Apr 11 10
14 Eheu Fugaces Mar 21 10
15 Iam Pauca Aratro Mar 25 10
16 Otium Divos Rogat Jun 15 10
17 Cur Me Querellis Jun 23 10
18 Non Ebur Feb 12 10
19 Bacchum in Remotis Nov 2 09
20 Non Usitata Oct 23 09
LIBER III
1 Odi Profanum Vulgus Sep 15 10
2 Puer Robustus Dec 3 09
3 Iustum et Tenacem Dec 18 11
4 Descende Caelo Jan 31 12
5 Caelo Tonantem Sep 28 10
6 Delicta Maiorum Aug 10, 11
7 Quid Fles Nov 27 10
8 Martiis Caelebs Oct 11 09
9 Donec Gratus Tibi Oct 8 09
10 Extremum Tanaïn Dec 18 09
11 Mercuri, Nam Te Aug 21, 11
12 Miserarum Est Dec 15 09
13 O Fons Bandusiae Sep 12 09
14 Herculis Ritu Modo Aug 12 10
15 Uxor Pauperis Ibyci Sep 24 09
16 Inclusam Danaen Jul 26 10
17 Aeli Vetusto Oct 5 09
18 Faune Nympharum Oct 22 11
19 Quantum Distet Dec 12 09
20 Non Vides Quanto Sep 23 09
21 O Nata Mecum Oct 3 09
22 Montium Custos Oct 1 09
23 Caelo Supinas Oct 21 09
24 Intactis Opulentior Sep 20 11
25 Quo Me Bacche Sep 5 10
26 Vixi Puellis Nuper Sep 10 09
27 Impios Parrae Apr 18 12
28 Festo Quid Potius Aug 19 10
29 Tyrrhena Regum Progenies Oct 12 11
30 Exegi Monumentum Aug 27 09
LIBER IV
1 Intermissa Diu Jan 17 10
2 Pindarum Quisquis Studet Nov 19 10
3 Quem Tu Melpomene Dec 6 09
4 Qualem Ministrum Jul 19 12
5 Divis Orte Bonis Oct 7 10
6 Dive, Quem Proles Jun 17 11
7 Diffugere Nives Nov 6 09
8 Donarem Pateras Jan 11 10
9 Ne Forte Credas Oct 25 10
10 O Crudelis Adhuc Aug 29 09
11 Est Mihi Nonum Jan 22 10
12 Iam Veris Comites Jan 3 10
13 Audivere Lyce Dec 23 09
14 Quae Cura Patrum Jul 10 11
15 Phoebus Volentem Nov 3 10
