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Uxor invicti Iovis esse nescis:
Mitte singultus, bene ferre magnam

Disce fortunam; tua sectus orbis
Nomina ducet.

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
Non ante verso lene merum cado
Cum flore, Maecenas, rosarum et
Pressa tuis balanus capillis

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15

Iamdudum apud me est. Eripe te morae;
Nec semper udum Tibur et Aefulae
Declive contempleris arvum et
Telegoni iuga parricidae.

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
Ostendit ignem, iam Procyon furit
Et stella vesani Leonis,

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
Caliginosa nocte premit deus

Ridetque, si mortalis ultra

Fas trepidat. Quod adest memento
Componere aequus; cetera fluminis
Ritu feruntur, nunc medio alveo
Cum pace delabentis Etruscum

In mare, nunc lapides adesos

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35

Stirpesque raptas et pecus et domus
Volventis una non sine montium

Clamore vicinaeque silvae,

Cum fera diluvies quietos

Irritat amnes. Ille potens sui
Laetusque deget, cui licet in diem

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
Addant avaro divitias mari:

Tunc me biremis praesidio scaphae
Tutum per Aegaeos tumultus

Aura feret geminusque Pollux.

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ODE XXX.

EXEGI monumentum aere perennius
Regalique situ pyramidum altius,

Quod non imber edax, non Aquilo impotens
Possit diruere aut innumerabilis
Annorum series et fuga temporum.
Non omnis moriar multaque pars mei
Vitabit Libitinam: usque ego postera
Crescam laude recens, dum Capitolium
Scandet cum tacita virgine pontifex.
Dicar, qua violens obstrepit Aufidus.
Et qua pauper aquae Daunus agrestium
Regnavit populorum, ex humili potens
Princeps Aeolium carmen ad Italos
Deduxisse modos. Sume superbiam
Quaesitam meritis et mihi Delphica

Lauro cinge volens, Melpomene, comam.

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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

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