Uxor invicti Iovis esse nescis: Disce fortunam; tua sectus orbis ODE XXVIII. FESTO quid potius die Neptuni faciam? Prome reconditum Lyde strenua Caecubum Munitaeque adhibe vim sapientiae. Inclinare meridiem Sentis ac, veluti stet volucris dies, Parcis deripere horreo Cessantem Bibuli consulis amphoram. Nos cantabimus invicem Neptunum et virides Nereïdum comas; Tu curva recines lyra Latonam et celeris spicula Cynthiae, Summo carmine, quae Cnidon Fulgentesque tenet Cycladas et Paphon Iunctis visit oloribus; Dicetur merita Nox quoque nenia. ODE XXIX. TYRRHENA regum progenies, tibi 75 5 10 15 Iamdudum apud me est. Eripe te morae; Fastidiosam desere copiam et Molem propinquam nubibus arduis; Omitte mirari beatae Fumum et opes strepitumque Romae. Plerumque gratae divitibus vices Mundaeque parvo sub lare pauperum Coenae sine aulaeis et ostro Sollicitam explicuere frontem. Iam clarus occultum Andromedae pater Sole dies referente siccos: Iam pastor umbras cum grege languido Rivumque fessus quaerit et horridi Dumeta Silvani, caretque Ripa vagis taciturna ventis. Tu, civitatem quis deceat status, Curas, et Urbi sollicitus times, Quid Seres et regnata Cyro Bactra parent Tanaisque discors. Prudens futuri temporis exitum Ridetque, si mortalis ultra Fas trepidat. Quod adest memento In mare, nunc lapides adesos 5 ΙΟ 15 20 25 30 35 Stirpesque raptas et pecus et domus Clamore vicinaeque silvae, Cum fera diluvies quietos Irritat amnes. Ille potens sui Dixisse Vixi: cras vel atra Nube polum Pater occupato, Vel sole puro; non tamen irritum, Quodcunque retro est, efficiet neque Diffinget infectumque reddet, Quod fugiens semel hora vexit. Fortuna saevo laeta negotio et Ludum insolentem ludere pertinax Transmutat incertos honores, Nunc mihi, nunc alii benigna. Laudo manentem; si celeres quatit Pennas, resigno quae dedit et mea Virtute me involvo probamque Pauperiem sine dote quaero. Non est meum, si mugiat Africis Malus procellis, ad miseras preces Decurrere et votis pacisci Ne Cypriae Tyriaeque merces Tunc me biremis praesidio scaphae Aura feret geminusque Pollux. 40 45 50 55 60 ODE XXX. EXEGI monumentum aere perennius Quod non imber edax, non Aquilo impotens Lauro cinge volens, Melpomene, comam. 5 ΙΟ 15 INTRODUCTION TO BOOK IV. THERE is no reason to doubt the account given by Suetonius of the origin of this Book. The occasion and general date of it are fixed clearly on its own evidence. With the exception of Ode 6, which is manifestly written at the same time as the Carmen Seculare, i.e. in B.C. 17, all the Odes that can be dated refer immediately to two-events, viz. (1) the return of Augustus to Rome in B.C. 13, after three years' absence in Gaul, whither he had gone in the year 16, on the news of the defeat of Lollius by the Sygambri; (2) the double campaign of Drusus and Tiberius in Raetia and Vindelicia, which occupied the year 15. The general tone of the Book, as well as its particular references, suits the period thus assigned to it. Its opening bears witness to the interval which separates it from Horace's last essays in lyric verse. Cp. Epp. 1. 1. 1-10 and 2. I. III. That interval has brought marked changes in the poet's fortunes, as well as in the political world. The contrast of 4. 5 or 15 with 1. 12 or 3. 24, is hardly more striking than that of 4. 3 with 1. 1. The sons of Livia have taken the place of Marcellus; the military triumphs, and the moral and social reforms which in the earlier Books were prophecy, are now, if we may believe Horace, history; the Cantabrian, ‘non ante domabilis,' is no longer a cause of disquiet; the Parthians have restored the standards of Charrae, and Phraates and his quarrels are forgotten; the vague alarms about the Dacian, or projects of conquest in Britain, have given place to real dangers met on the Rhine, and substantial victories won in the Eastern Alps. The position of one name in the Book marks more clearly still the contrast between the two epochs, both in respect of the outer world and of Horace's own life. Maecenas, whom even in B.C. 19 he addressed as 'prima dicte mihi summa dicende camena,' is mentioned but once in this Book. His birthday is |