Subscribe: by Email | in Reader

Odes: Book 1, Verse 11 -- Horace

Guest poem submitted by Divya Sampath:
(Poem #633) Odes: Book 1, Verse 11
 Stop these efforts to learn - knowing is banned - what will be my, and
your,
 final god-given end, Leuconoe, cease Babylonian
 divination by stars. Better by far: all that will come, endure!
 Whether Jupiter grants many a long winter, or this our last,
 which now tires, against pumice-strewn shores lying below us, that
 vast Tyrrhenian Sea. Learn to be wise, strain out the wine, and prune
 lavish hopes to the quick. While we converse, envious time will have
 vanished: harvest today, placing the least credence on what's to come.
-- Horace
Or, in the original:

 "Carmina, Liber Primus, XI"

 Tu ne quaesieris (scire nefas) quem mihi, quem tibi
 finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios
 temptaris numeros. Vt melius quicquid erit pati!
 Seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,
 quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare
 Tyrrhenum, sapias, uina liques et spatio breui
 spem longam reseces. Dum loquimur, fugerit inuida
 aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.

        -- Q. Horatius Flacci

[Notes]

I quote the Latin, because there is a definite music in Horace, especially
when read aloud. It's amazing, the vivid imagery he conjures, in the
sparest, most economical phrases.

The translation above is by Steven J. Willett. He is Professor of English
and Cultural Studies at the University of Shizuoka. This is excerpted from
his published translation of excerpts from Horace's Odes at Diotima:
http://www.stoa.org/diotima

My attachment to this particular verse stems, I confess, from the oft-quoted
last line :-)

[On the Odes]

Horace portrayed himself as a poetic craftsman working in the tradition of
Greek lyric poetry as it was practiced about 600BC on the island of Lesbos
by the Greek poets Alcaeus and Sappho. However, rather than any similarity
of emotion, tone, or content, what the Odes reflect are the meter of the
Greek poets. Of the 103 odes, 37 are Alcaic and 25 Sapphic. (The rhythms of
both Greek and Latin poetry are based on the absolute quantitative length of
syllables).

[References]

1. Babylonians were held to be diviners and mystics of repute. Their skills
in Astrology were well known in Rome, though Horace deprecates them here.
2. Jupiter - the supreme god in the Roman pantheon, often equated with the
Greek Zeus, but more probably finding his roots in the Etruscan
Patriarch-God, Tin/Tinia. The Romans worshipped him as Jupiter Optimus
Maximus - Jupiter, Best and Greatest. Most often associated with Juno and
Minerva.
3. Tyrhennian=Etruscan.

[Biography]

 b. December 65 BC, Venusia, Italy
 d. Nov. 27, 8 BC, Rome

QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS (Horace): outstanding Latin lyric poet and satirist
under the emperor Augustus. The most frequent themes of his Odes and verse
Epistles are love, friendship, philosophy, and the art of poetry. Horace was
probably of the Sabellian hillman stock of Italy's central highlands. His
father had once been a slave but gained freedom before Horace's birth and
became an auctioneer's assistant. In about 46 BC Horace went to Athens,
attending lectures at the Academy. After Julius Caesar's murder in March 44
BC, the eastern empire, including Athens, came temporarily into the
possession of his assassins Brutus and Cassius, who could scarcely avoid
clashing with Caesar's partisans, Mark Antony and Octavian (later Augustus),
the young great-nephew whom Caesar, in his will, had appointed as his
personal heir. Horace joined Brutus' army and was made tribunus militum, an
exceptional honour for a freedman's son.

In November 42, at the two battles of Philippi against Antony and Octavian,
Horace and his fellow tribunes (in the unusual absence of a more senior
officer) commanded one of Brutus' and Cassius' legions. After their total
defeat and death, he fled back to Italy--controlled by Octavian--but his
father's farm at Venusia had been confiscated to provide land for veterans.
Horace, however, proceeded to Rome, obtaining, either before or after a
general amnesty of 39 BC, the minor but quite important post of one of the
36 clerks of the treasury (scribae quaestorii). Early in 38 BC he was
introduced to Gaius Maecenas, a man of letters from Etruria in central Italy
who was one of Octavian's principal political advisers. He now enrolled
Horace in the circle of writers with whom he was friendly. Before long,
through Maecenas, Horace also came to Octavian's notice.

After Octavian had defeated Antony and Cleopatra at Actium, off northwestern
Greece (31 BC), Horace published his Epodes and a second book of eight
Satires in 30-29 BC. Then, while the victor, styled Augustus in 27 BC,
settled down, Horace turned, in the most active period of his poetical life,
to the Odes, of which he published three books, comprising 88 short poems,
in 23 BC. Horace, in the Odes, represented himself as heir to earlier Greek
lyric poets but displayed a sensitive, economical mastery of words all his
own. He sings of love, wine, nature (almost romantically), of friends, of
moderation; in short, his favourite topics. Some of the Odes are about
Maecenas or Augustus: although he praises the ancient Roman virtues the
latter was trying to reintroduce, he remains his own master and never
confines an ode to a single subject or mood. At some stage Augustus offered
Horace the post of his private secretary, but the poet declined on the plea
of ill health. Notwithstanding, Augustus did not resent his refusal, and
indeed their relationship became closer.

The best poems, Horace thought, edify as well as delight; the secret of good
writing is wisdom (implying goodness); the poet needs teaching and training
to give of his best. In 8 BC  Horace died, after naming Augustus as his
heir. He was buried on the Esquiline Hill near Maecenas' grave.

        -- EB

Divya.

14 comments: ( or Leave a comment )

Anonymous said...

I every time used to study paragraph in news papers
but now as I am a user of internet so from now I am using net for content, thanks to web.


Look into my website: Mateo Ian

Anonymous said...

Hi there, I enjoy reading all of your article.

I wanted to write a little comment to support you.


Also visit my webpage: Tristan Jaquez

Anonymous said...

An intriguing discussion is definitely worth comment. I do think that you ought to write more on this issue, it
might not be a taboo matter but usually people do not talk about
such issues. To the next! Best wishes!!

Feel free to visit my web blog Nathan Jameson

Anonymous said...

Hello there! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog.
Is it difficult to set up your own blog? I'm not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I'm thinking about making my own but I'm not sure where to begin. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? With thanks

Also visit my page :: Nicholas Jack

Anonymous said...

This paragraph is truly a fastidious one it assists new internet viewers,
who are wishing in favor of blogging.

My blog: Weston Davin

Anonymous said...

I believe that is one of the such a lot significant information
for me. And i am happy reading your article. However should remark on
few common things, The site style is perfect, the articles is in point of fact great : D.
Good task, cheers

Here is my blog post :: Moises Ivan

Anonymous said...

You should be a part of a contest for one of the greatest
blogs on the internet. I'm going to highly recommend this site!

Visit my blog post Terrell Markus

Anonymous said...

Howdy! I could have sworn I've visited your blog before but after looking at a few of the articles I realized it's new to me.
Anyhow, I'm definitely delighted I found it and I'll be book-marking
it and checking back frequently!

Here is my web site ... Warren Holden

Anonymous said...

Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates.
I've been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.

Also visit my webpage :: Trey Jamari

Anonymous said...

After exploring a number of the blog posts on your web site, I really like your technique of blogging.
I book-marked it to my bookmark site list and will be
checking back in the near future. Please visit my web site as well and tell me your opinion.


Feel free to visit my web-site :: Titus Hamza

Post a Comment