REVISION NOTES ON THE POEMS OF HORACE 1.

GATHER YE ROSEBUDS This ode is translated by Sir Thomas Hawkins in the 17th century. To sum up, the poet advises his friend, Leucenoe not to try to look into the future, that it is a pointless exercise. He urges him to drink freely, not to hope for a long life as time slips by , we have today but maybe not tomorrow. "This day's thine own; the next may be denied" 2. ENJOY THE PRESENT HOUR The theme of this ode, translated by John Dryden in the 17th century is similar to the first one. It is divided here into six stanzas. First the poet gives the image of the mountain covered in white, the woods weighed down with snow, and the river frozen over. He then urges his friend to throw logs on the fire, to open some wine and chat. Leave the rest to God. In the third stanza he says that the winds and waves are God's domain, leave them to him. In the fourth stanza he urges his friend to "lay hold upon the present hour" and not to look down on the delights of love. In the second last verse he advises us to enjoy our youth while we have it and while we have the capacity to take pleasure in things. In the last stanza he specifically mentions the delights of love and wooing, whispering in the dark, flirting and kissing. These, he says, are what the young are supposed to enjoy. " Lay hold upon the present hour" ("Carpe diem"). "The best is but in season best" "The half-unwilling, willing kiss". 3. A QUIET LIFE The emphasis in this ode is somewhat different to the previous two. It is translated by Thomas Otway in the 17th century. The first stanza says that the boldest sailor at sea longs for peace . The second stanza says the bravest soldier also longs for peace. Then the poet says that even wealth and power does not give us peace of mind. The only happy man is one who has little and thus has fewer desires or fears. Why do we follow useless desires when life is so short, whatever we do we cannot escape ourselves. Worries can catch up with even the great man. So try to enjoy today, don't worry about tomorrow. Life is not perfect. Some are lucky, some are not. Some die young and some live long but not necessarily happily. You may have wealth, but all I ask for is a humble dwelling, to be inspired by my Muse and to be content, away from fools and bad people. "Since wealth and power too weak we find to quell the tumults of the mind" "Happy the man with little blest" "From shore to shore why should we run, when none his tiresome

self can shun". "And what of life they take from thee, the gods may give to punish me".

2. 4. WE ALL MUST DIE This is a translation by the famous diarist Samuel Johnson from the early 18th century. Unlike the last three odes the mood of this one is more fatalistic and gloomy. Like the last poems the shortness of life is a main theme but here the emphasis is on the inevitability of death rather than on the sweetness of life. It starts with the observation that no matter how much you pray and sacrifice to the gods, time goes by. Nothing we can do will defer the moment of death by an instant. We can try to avoid war or travelling at sea, we fear the illnesses of winter but no matter how we try to avoid the underworld we will all end up there. The things in this life that give you pleasure, all of them you will lose except the cypress tree which will be at your grave. Once you are dead, your heir will soon be happy again and your carefully preserved wine will be spilled on the marble floor. " After your death the lavish heir will quickly drive away his woe; The wine you kept with so much care along the marble floor shall flow". 5. RUSTIC JOYS This is an epode, a longer poem than the last four. It is in praise of the country life. The poet says that the man is blest who lives free of troublesome business but instead works inherited land. He has no debts to worry him or wars to fight, no seas to sail nor law suits to waste his money on. He does not have to wait in humility at his patron's gate but instead does such tasks as tying up his vines, sheering lambs, picking fruit, offering thanks to the gods or resting by a rippling stream, listening to birdsong. In winter he chases the wild boar with his hounds or hunts thrushes, cranes or hares. To finish off the picture ideally, he comes home to a sunburnt, thrifty, pure and pleasant wife who works industriously and fills his table with good home-made things. I would not long for foreign luxuries, exotic seafood or game. Enough for me are herbs or lambs the wolf has killed, to be pleased to see my cattle and happy slaves returning home and the oxen drawing the plough. These are the thoughts of Alfius the moneylender, he collects his money to buy a rural retreat but longing for more money is like a disease for him and the next month he lends it

out again. (The basic theme here is that however ideal the country life seems, we are what we are and cannot get away from that. Alternatively it could mean that money has a terrible power over us, even when we know that it is not the most important thing in life it can still control our actions. "His money he collected straight, resolved to purchase a retreat. But still desires of sordid gain fixed in his cankerous breast remain: Next month he sets it out again ". 6. CEASE TO MOURN This ode, translated by Stephen de Vere in the early 19th century urges the poet's friend Valgius not to mourn. The central theme is that sadness must not go on forever, one must also rejoice in this life, you must let time heal, in short, life must go on. In the original Mystes is mentioned as Valgius's lover,the object of his grieving. The first image of the poem is of dreadful rains , gales and darkness which, the poet says, do not last. Even in bleak places, such as Armenia, the snow melts, waters thaw and the sun shines. Storm tossed trees are once more calm. In contrast, Valgius weeps for Mystes endlessly, night and day. Not even Nestor wept so much for his lost son, Antilochus. (Reference to the Iliad). Not even the parents of Troilus (again, a Trojan hero) wept "forever and in vain". So Valgius, you must stop and instead sing of Caesar's great triumphs in the east, the Euphrates river dyed with blood of the Medes and the Phrygian tribes now confined to narrow lands. "Cease, Valgius, cease thy wailing, those sad soft sighs, that sorrow unavailing; And sing with me great Caesar's trophies won from conquered realms beneath the orient sun".

HORACE SUMMARIES CONTINUED. 7. THE GOOD MAN NEED FEAR NOTHING This short ode is about the unshakability of a good soul. It was translated by Lord Lytton in the 19th century. Its message is simple, it says that the good man need never be afraid of anything no matter how terrible. The first image is of a huge amount of evil, or the awful tyrant, neither is an object of fear to the good soul of the man of integrity. In the second stanza he says that not even the fierce south wind in a storm at sea nor Jupiter's thunderbolt nor even the smashing of the world to pieces will cause him dismay. It sums up much of Roman philosophy of this time which recommended remaining stoical and calm despite anything that life could throw at you. "If in framents were shattered the world, him its ruins would strike undismayed". 8. ENJOY YOUR POSSESSIONS WHILE THEY ARE YOURS. Again, a short ode with a self-explanatory title. It is translated by Robert Louis Stevenson (author of Treasure Island) in the 19th century. It urges you to enjoy what you

have while you can for the Three Sisters (the three Fates), may take it all from you at any time. It begins with an idyllic scene of trees, shade by a river, wine and flowers which the poet urges us to make the most of. For the "fateful threads" might not give you much time and soon the three sisters will force you to leave all that you own including your beautiful home by the Tiber. Then your heirs will seize it all. "Your heirs will seize upon the hoarded gold". 9. ODE TO SPRING. This ode, translated by A.E. Houseman, a well-known 20th century poet, is basically about death, despite its title. It begins with an evocation of the four seasons, each giving way to the other inevitably, starting with winter happily turning to Spring. This is an immutable pattern. But we will die and join the great heroes in the underworld and we do not know when, no one can say even if it will be tomorrow. So enjoy what you hold today, not even your lineage (good family), your eloquence nor your righteousness will do you any good in the afterlife. Diana's love did not save Hippolytus and the love of Theseus for Pirithous can not break the chains of death. In other words, even the greatest of love can not conquer death. Like many of the poems of Horace there is a mood change here from the delights of Spring beginning at the start of the poem to the fundamentally gloomy message at the end which is that even love is not enough to beat death. "The swift, hour and the brief prime of year say to the soul, Thou wast not born for aye" "We are dust and dreams, Torquatus, if the gods in heaven shall add the morrow to the day, what tongue hath told?" "And Theseus leaves Pirithous in the chain the love of comrades cannot take away".