Horace et al.: Poetic Insolence

This poem is divided into two parts. In part one Horace apologizes to a witch named Canidia for being so nasty to her. In part two, the witch answers with appropriate arrogance. To me, Horace has created a perfect set up in this poem to talk about himself.

Why would I say this? Because, in reading and rereading this poem, I sometimes got confused—especially in the second part. “Who’s talking here?” I’d ask myself. “Is it Horace or Canidia?”

In part two, it is clear that Canidia is doing the talking when she says, using a very descriptive Latin idiomatic expression:

Quid obseratis auribus fundis preces?

Why are you prayer-seeding the depths of my ears?

But when she tells Horace that she can make wax images move, raise the dead, call the moon out of the sky, and mix up love potions, I think: Horace has said he can do this too—not with magic but with the power of poetry. And when she says that the world will yield to her insolentia, a word that can mean anything from insolence to unusual behavior and just plain weirdness, I think of Horace’s quirkiness and I think of his famous ‘non omnis moriar.’ And finally when she doesn’t give a damn if she has no effect on a critic, I recall Horace’s ‘invidiaque maior urbis relinquam (II:20; my blog of Oct 23, ’09). In short, Horace has been very clever in Epode 17—very tongue-in-cheek, and I enjoyed the poem for that.

This epode also revealed a grammar point that I think is worth noting: relative pronouns can act as subjects of the sentence. They help link what you want to say with what you've already said.

Quis autem librum lexit.

And he read the book.

In conversation, we might be able to say something like

And who read the book.

But we would have a hard time getting away with such a construction in writing. Romans, however, had no such qualms. Caesar's Bello Hispaniensi is filled with sentences that begin with relative pronouns, for example….so is the Vulgate Bible. Now with that in mind, take a look at the mess that begins on line 76 of today's ode. An is a question marker, but what is the meaning of quae? It could be feminine or neuter plural. The key is finding a verb that it governs.

an quae movere cereas imagines,

ut ipse nosti curiosus, et polo

deripere lunam vocibus possim meis,

possim crematos excitare mortuos

desiderique temperare pocula.

And isn’t it I who can move waxen images,

as curious you know, and from the sky

rip away with my words the moon,

can raise up the cremated dead

and mix up cups ‘o love.

What?! quae possim? That's right. Quae here stands for 'and I….can.' Very tricky. Very Latin-y. Very Pater noster qui es which produces the very difficult 'our Father, who art' in English church-ese. I suppose the important thing to remember is that a relative pronoun is still a relative pronoun: it relates to something that came before and can stand, not just for the third person (he, she, it, they) but for the first person (I, we) and the second person (you) as well.

Here are some exercises I made up.

Substitute a pronoun for the relative pronoun.
Qui autem librum lexit. > Ille autem librum lexit.
1 Qui autem libros suos lexerunt.
2 Qui libros legere possumus.
3 Quae librum legere vis.
4 Quae enim civem custodiunt.

Change the pronoun to an appropriate relative pronoun.
Vos in agris laboravastis. > Qui in agris laboravastis.
1 Nos autem iter fecimus.
2 Ea enim non volebat manducare.
3 Tu epistolam scribere vis.
4 Hi autem pecuniam custodiunt.

I have decided to change the format in this posting. I have combined the original text with my prose rewording. It might make it easier to read the original with an occasional glance at the reworded sentence, if only to get one’s bearings. Also I have added explanatory notes and synonyms of difficult Latin words, hoping that the notes and synonyms themselves are not too difficult.

Translation ::

Now, now I yield to science that works,

and bowed, I pray by Prosepina’s reign,

and by Diana, a goddess not to be riled,

and by books of incantations powerful

in calling down the sky-fixed stars,

o Canidia, spare then your sacred voice;

turn back, back the swift sorcerer’s wheel.

Telephus moves the Nereian grandson,

he’d ordered Mysoran troops against and

in whom he’d twisted a sharp weapon:

Illian mothers mourned him given up to wild

winged things and dogs—the killer Hector,

when the king, leaving the walls, fell down—

o God!—at the feet of Achilles the obstinate:

the skin on arms and legs, hog-bristle-rough,

they stripped off—those oarsmen of labor-beset

Ulysses, as Circes was willing, with mind and

voice and honor returning to their faces.

I have given you—much loved by sailors and

pedlars—more than enough troubles:

my youth has fled, any shade of modesty as well.

What remains? bones wrapped in sallow skin,

hair white from your perfumed potions;

no rest from my laboring lays me down;

night follows day, day night, no easing

my chest, straining with [each] breath

Denial you say? Poor me—lost, thus

I believe Sabellian chants weaken the heart,

and Marsian songs make the head explode.

What more do you want? Sea and land, I’m afire

more than Hercules, smeared in Ness’s black gore,

than a Sicilian flame in blazing Etna. You are,

aren’t you, a workshop with Colchian poisons aflame

until I, dry ash, am carried off by criminal winds?

What’s the finale or what do I have left to pay?

Speak: order me to pay the penalty in good faith,

I’m ready to make good, even were you to ask

a hundred cattle or to want to be extolled

on a harmless lyre: “thou chaste, thou fair,

thou star—thou walkest among the stars golden.”

Castor and his big brother, for a monstrous

offense to Helen, but won over by a prayer,

gave the poet back the eyes they had taken.

And you, for you can free me of madness,

O you—no trash from low-class parents,

no wise old woman to scatter the nine-day

ashes in the graves of the poor,

you have a welcoming heart and pure hands,

and from your womb—Pactumeius, and the midwife

washes the cloths red with your blood.
How strong you bounce back after giving birth!

¶“Why do you sow the depths of my ears with prayers—

rocks no more deafening to poor sailors when
Winter's Neptune beats them with a lead-white sea?

How is it you laugh unpunished for sharing
the Cotytia, the rite of free love,

and, as some pontiff of the sorcerers' Esquiline,

how is it you blithely fill the City with my name?

What good did it do me enriching the Paelignian hags

or mixing a faster-acting poison?

But a death slower than your prayers awaits you.

You'll have to live a disagreeable life in this misery

as you keep exposing yourself to new hardships.

The father of unfaithful Pelops desires rest,

Tantalus's ever in need of a damn good meal,

Prometheus, bound to a bird, has desires,

Sisyphus desires to set that rock

down on the hill’s tip-top, but Jove’s laws forbid it.

You’ll want at times to jump from high towers,

At times to open up your chest with a Noric sword,

And for fun with your chains you’ll bind your neck,

you—sad, disgusting ball of nerves.

I shall be carried then my enemy's shoulders—a knight,

and the earth will yield to my weirdness.

And isn’t it I who can move waxen images,

as curious you know, and from the sky

rip away with my words the moon,

can raise up the cremated dead

and mix up cups ‘o love. Should I weep
if my artistry has no effect on you?

Original Text + Reordered into Prose ::

Iam iam efficaci do manūs scientiae,

Iam iam scientiae efficaci manūs do,

scientiae efficaci: scientiae magicae potenti

manus do: cedo

supplex et oro regna per Proserpinae,

et supplex per regna Proserpinae oro,

supplex: submissus

Prosperina: coniunx Plutonis, dea Graeca Persephone

per et Dianae non movenda numina,

et per numina non movenda Dianae,

Diana: dea silvae, lunae, etc.

non movenda numina: potestates divinae quae tibi non sunt irritanda.

per atque libros carminum valentium

atque per libros carminum valentium

valentium: fortium

refixa caelo devocare sidera,

‹sidera [in] caelo refixa› devocare,

(sidera refixa [ex] caelo devocare)

Canidia, parce vocibus tandem sacris,

o Canidia, vocibus sacris tandem parce,

Canidia: mala mulier, venefica, etc.

tandem: denique, postremo

citumque retro solve, solve turbinem.

turbinemque citum retro solve, solve.

turbo: rota, rhombus magicus

movit nepotem Telephus Nereium,

Telephus movit nepotem Nereium,

Telephus: rex Mysiae in Asia Minore, filius Herculis, in Troia vulneratus ac ab hastā Achillei sanatus

nepotem Nereium: Achilles Nereius, id est, filius Neredis, filiae Oceani Tethidisque

in quem superbus ordinarat agmina

in quem [ille] superbus ordina[ve]rat agmina

Mysorum et in quem tela acuta torserat:

Mysorum et in quem tela acuta torserat:

luxere matres Iliae addictum feris

matres Iliae ‹Hectorem homicidam alitibus feris

luxere: luxerunt

addictum: traditum, datum

feris alitibus: avibus saevis

alitibus atque canibus homicidam Hectorem,

atque canibus addictum› luxer[unt],

postquam relictis moenibus rex procidit

postquam rex, moenibus relictis (Heu!),

procidit: cecidit infra, in terra

heu pervicacis ad pedes Achillei:

ad pedes Achillei pervicacis procidit:

pervicacis: obstinati

saetosa duris exuere pellibus

Circā volente, remiges Ulixei

saetosa: pilosa; saeta: crinis, e.g., saetae porci

exuere: destrinxerunt, deterserunt,

laboriosi remiges Ulixei

laboriosi membra saetosa

volente Circā membra; tunc mens et sonus

pellibus duris exuer[unt]; tunc mens [relapsa] et sonus

relapsus atque notus in vultus honor.

relapsus atque honor notus in vultus [eorum relapsus].

vultus: in sensu collectivo vultus neutrum est.

cf. et retrouvèrent l’esprit et la voix et le visage accoutumés (Leconte de Lisle)

dedi satis superque poenarum tibi,

Tibi, satis superque poenarum dedi,

satis superque: plusquam satis, abunde, nimium

dedisatis poenarum tibi: abs te satis punitus sum: hic sensus verbi “poena” est “satisfactio propter damna.”

amata nautis multum et institoribus:

[o dea] nautis et institoribus multum amata:

institoribus: venditoribus

fugit iuventas et verecundus color

iuventas fugit et color verecundus

reliquit ossa pelle amicta lurida;

ossa pelle luridā amicta reliquit;

amicta: involuta, circumdata

tuis capillus albus est odoribus;

capillus odoribus tuis albus est;

odoribus: hic sensus odoris dicitur veneficium aut odor veneficio mixtus.

nullum ab labore me reclinat otium;

nullum otium ab labore me reclinat;

urget diem nox et dies noctem, neque est

nox diem urget et dies noctem, neque est

levare tenta spiritu praecordia.

levare [cum] spiritū praecordia tenta.

ergo negatum vincor ut credam miser,

Ergo vincor ut [ego] miser negatum credam:

negatum: rem negatam, id quod negaveram

Sabella pectus macerare carmina

carmina Sabella pectus macerare

Sabella: ex gente Sabina, artis magicae et incantationum peritā

caputque Marsa dissilire nenia.

neniaque Marsa caput dissilire.

Marsa: ex gente in Latio, etiam incantationum peritā

dissilire: displodere, erumpere

quid amplius vis? o mare et terra, ardeo

Quid amplius vis? O mare et terra, ardeo

quantum neque atro delibutus Hercules

quantum neque Hercules cruore atro

quantum neque: non sicut

Nessi cruore nec Sicana fervidā

Nessi delibutus nec flamma Sicana

Nessi: Nessus erat centauri, Hercule occisus

Sicana: Siciliensis

The key to understanding nec Sicāna fervidā virens in Aetnā flamma is to know that the meter requires that flamma end in a short a, making it nominative. Thus the phrase sounds like this: neeec Sicaaana feeervidaaa viiiireeens in Aetnaaa flaaamma

virens in Aetnā flamma: tu, donec cinis

in Aetnā fervidā virens; donec

virens: viridis, recens. Quoniam flamma non est viridis, videmus in aliquot manuscriptis urens, furens.

cinis -eris: cinis mortui usti

iniuriosis aridus ventis ferar,

[ego] aridus ventis iniuriosis ferar,

iniuriosis: nefast, criminalibus, non iuriosis.

calēs venēnīs officina Colchicīs?

tu, officina venēnīs Colchicīs, calēs?

officina: fabrica

Colchicus: unus ex gente litoris Ponti Euxini in montibus Georgiae, artis magicae et venena factionis peritā

quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?

Quae finis aut quod stipendium me manet?

quae finis: locutio poetica pro quis finis

effāre: iussas cum fide poenas luam,

Effāre: iussas cum fide poenas luam,

poenas luam: poenas expendam,

paratus expiare, seu poposceris

paratus expiare, seu centum iuvencos

centum iuvencos, sive mendaci lyrā

poposceris, sive lyrā mendaci

mendaci: non verā; puto sensum esse: ‘lyra mea errat; menditur quia non potest te accurate describere; ergo lyra mea est innoxia.’

voles sonari, tu pudica, tu proba

sonari voles, tu pudica, ‹tu proba

perambulabis astra sidus aureum.

astra› sidus aureum perambulabis.

infamis Helenae Castor offensūs vice[m]

Castor ‹‹offensūs infamis› Helenae vice[m]››
vice(m): ob, propter

fraterque magni Castoris, victī prece,

fraterque Castoris magni, prece victi,

adempta vati reddidere lumina:

lumina vati adempta reddider[unt].

adempta: erepta

vati: poetae, qui est Stesichorus, qui Helenam, sororem Castoris Pollūcisque diffamaverant et ob hoc crimen, fratres duo oculos poetae eriperunt; sed postea oculos precibus restituerunt.

lumina: oculos

et tu, potes nam, solve me dementiā,

Et tu, nam potes, dementiā me solve!

o nec paternis obsoleta sordibus,

O [tu] nec-obsoleta-paternis-sordibus,

obsoleta: res contaminatae et dedecores

neque in sepulcris pauperum prudens anus

o tu] neque anus prudens in sepulcris pauperum

novendialıs dissipare pulveres.

pulveres novendialıs dissipare.

novendialis: nonum dies (post mortem alicuius)

tibi hospitale pectus et purae manūs,

Tibi pectus hospitale et manūs purae [sunt],

tuusque venter Pactumeius, et tuo

tuusque venter Pactumeius, et

venter: fructus uteri
Pactumeius: Canidiae filius [Porphyrionis Commentarium: Cum per ironiam et haec dicantur, vult intellegi illam Pactumeium, qui filius eius existimabatur, subposuisse sibi, non peperisse. Acronis Commentarium: Subpositicius filius aut adoptivus. Nomen eius, quem sibi filium esse dicebat. Supra enim subpositi partus ream fecit. Ventrem autem posuit pro partu.)

cruore rubros obstetrix pannos lavit,

obstetrix pannos rubros cruore tuo lavit,

utcumque fortis exsilis puerpera.

utcumque puerpera fortis exsilis.

¶“Quid obseratis auribus fundīs precēs?

¶“Quid [tu] precēs auribus fundīs obseratis?

non saxa nudis surdiora navitis

Neptunus hibernus saxa navitīs nudīs
nudīs: tristibus, egentibus, destitutīs,

Neptunus albo tundit hibernus salo.

surdiora [in] salo albo non tundit.

inultus ut tu riseris Cotytia

Ut tu inultus Cotytia vulgata riseris,

Cotytia / Cotyttia: sacra Cotytūs, deae Thracae, Bacchii orgiis similia

vulgata, sacrum liberi Cupidinis,

sacrum liberi Cupidinis,

et Esquilini pontifex venefici

et ut pontifex venefici Esquilini
Esquilini: unus ex montibus Romae, locus autem strigarum et sepulcreti vel coemeterii

impune ut Urbem nomine impleris meo?

impune Urbem nomine meo impleris?

quid proderat ditasse Paelignas anus,

Quid [me] proderat anūs Paelignas ditasse,

ditasse: ditem fecisse

Paeligna anus: striga, propterea quod Paeligni, Marsorum proximi, etiam veneficio periti erant.

velociusve miscuisse toxicum?

velociusve toxicum miscuisse?

sed tardiora fata te vōtīs manent:

Sed ‹fata vōtīs [tuīs] tardiora› te manent:

ingrata misero vita ducenda est in hoc,

vita ingrata ducenda est in hoc misero,

novis ut usque suppetas laboribus.

ut usque laboribus novis suppetas.

usque suppetas: semper mânes, perpetuas

optat quietem Pelopis infidi pater,

Pater Pelopis infidi quietem optat,

Pelopis pater: Tantalus

egens benignae Tantalus semper dapis,

Tantalus dapis benignae semper egens,

optat Prometheus obligatus aliti,

Prometheus aliti obligatus optat,

optat supremo collocare Sisyphus

Sisyphus optat saxum in supremo monte

in monte saxum; sed vetant leges Iovis.

collocare; sed leges Iovis vetant.

voles modo altis desilire turribus,

Modo voles turribus altis desilire,

modo ense pectus Norico recludere,

modo pectus ense Norico recludere,

recludere: aperire

frustraque vincla gutturi nectes tuo,

frustaque vinc[u]la gutturi tuo nectes,

fastidiosā tristis aegrimoniā.

[tu] tristis aegrimoniā fastidiosā.

vectabor umeris tunc ego inimicis eques,

Tunc ego-eques umeris inimicis vectabor;

meaeque terra cedet insolentiae.

terraque insolentiae meae cedet.

an quae movere cereas imagines,

An [ego] quae possim imagines cereas movere—

ut ipse nosti curiosus, et polo

ut [tu] ipse curiosus nosti—et lunam

deripere lunam vocibus possim meis,

polo vocibus meis deripere,

possim crematos excitare mortuos

possim mortuos crematos excitare

desiderique temperare pocula,

‹poculaque desideri› temperare.

tempero: misceo / sunt qui dicunt sensum esse ‘informo, plasmo” vel “praeparo.”

plorem artis in te nil agentis exitūs?”

‹Exitūs artis nil in te agentis› plorem?”

nil agit: infructuosum, inane, sterile

Delphin Ordo ::

Jam cedo potenti scientiæ; veniam peto, et oro per regna Proserpinæ, et per numen Dianæ minimè lacessendum, et per codices incantationum vim habentium deducendi in terram astra cœlo abstracta, O, Canidia, tandem abstine verbis execrantibus, quàm primùm converte retrorsum, converte rhombum. Telephus exoravit nepotem Nerei, contra quem Mysorum exercitum superbus instruxerat, et sagittas acutas vibrarât.Trojanæ matronæ sepelièrunt Hectorem bellicosum feris volucribus et canibus damnatum postquam: rex urbe discedens advolvit se pedibus Achillis, eheu inexorabilis. Remiges Ulyssis laboribus exerciti setosos artus exuerint duris pellibus, concedente Circe; ac tum restituta sunt ratio, sermo et pristinus faciei decor. Abundè et plusculum à te sum punitus, ô dilecta valdè nautis et negotiatoribus. En juvenilis abiit vigor, et color purpureus deseruit ossa coöperta cute tabidà. Crines mei per tua pharmaca cani sunt facti: nulla me quies relaxat à pœnis. Nox premit diem, et dies noctem: necque licet recreare præcordia respiratione impeditâ. Itaque miser cogor credere quod negaram, nempe Sabellis incantationibus mentem dimoveri, et Marsorum carminibus caput disrupi. Quid ultra petis? O, mare, ac terra! flagro plusquam Hercules inuctus putrido guine, et plusquam Siculus ignis in ardente Ætnâ sæviens. Egòne tu fevebis officina venenorum Colchicorum, donec ego, sicca favilla, abripiar ventis injuriam facientibus? Quis terminus? vel quæ mulcta expectat me denique? Loquere; fideliter exolvam pœnas quascunque imperaveris; expeditus ad satisfaciendum, sive petieris centum juvencos, seu volueris mendaci lyrâ à me decantari. Tu casta, tu bona inter sidera fulgebis astrum insigne. Castor et magni Castoris frater ob Helenæ infamiâ notatæ contumeliam irati, ademerant Poëtæ visum, quem ei resituerunt exorati precibus. Tu quoque (nam potes) insaniam depelle à me. O, nec turpis es ignobilitate majorum; nec vetula sciens dispergere cineres novendiales in sepulchris pauperum. Tibi cor bignigum; et manus innoxiæ; uterusque tuus partui aptus; atque obstetrix lavit pannos tuo sanguine rubros, quoties exurgis puerpera minimè debilis. Mare hyemale tumidis fluctibus haud verberat scopulos surdiores erga natas nudos. Scilicet impunè tu deriseris Cotyttia mysteria revelata, amori libero consecrata? Et tanquam pontifex Esquilini incantamenti impleveris civitatem emo nome? Quid juvabit locupletasse vetulas Pelignas, aut violentius venenum parasse, si tibi mors accidit lentior, quàm cupis? Atqui vita misera infortunato protrahenda est tibi ad hoc tantùm, ut diutiùs novas ærumnas perpetuare. Tantalus Pelopis infidelis pater semper carens expetito cibo, requiem desiderat: poscit etiam Pometheus vulturi addictus. Sisyphus pariter cupit reponere lapidem in montis vertice. At non sinit edictum Jovis. Sic et tu cupies jam te dare præcipitem è celsis turribus; jam pectus confodere gladio Norico: quin etiam ægritudine tædiosâ mæstus collum tuum inseres laqueo, sed frustra. Ego verò tum infensis humeris inequitabo; orbisque vincetur audaciâ meâ. Numquid enimavero ego quæ valeo commovere cereas effigies, quemadmodum ipse curiosus observasti; quæque meis incatationibus devoco Lunam è cœlo; et combustis cadaveribus vitam reddere valeo, atque amatorias potiones conficere; nimirum defleam vannum exitum artis adversùm te inefficacis?

:: Latin books by James Rumford ::