Horace, Ode 2.12

Nolis longa ferae bella Numantiae

nec durum Hannibalem nec Siculum mare

Poeno purpureeum sanguine mollibus

aptari citharae modis,

nec saevos Lapithas et nimium mero

Hylaeum domitosque Herculea manu

Telluris iuvenes, unde periculum

fulgens contremuit domus

Saturni veteris; tuque pedestribus

dices historiis proelia Caesaris,

Maecenas, melius ductaque per vias

regum colla minacium.

Me dulcis dominae Musa Licymniae

cantus, me voluit dicere lucidum

fulgentis oculos et bene mutuis

fidum pectus amoribus;

quam nec ferre pedem dedecuit choris

nec certare ioco nec dare bracchia

ludentem nitidis virginibus sacro

Dianae celebris die.

Num tu quae tenuit dives Achaemenes

aut pinguis Phyrgiae Mygdonias opes

permutare velis crine Licymniae,

plenas aut Arabum domos,

cum flagrantia detorquet ad oscula

cervicem, aut facili saevitia negat,

quae poscente magis gaudeat eripi,

interdum rapere occupet?

You would not want the long wars of wild Numantia

nor hard Hannibal nor the Sicilian sea

to be made purple by Punic blood

by a lyre with sweet measures,

nor the savage Lapiths and Hylaeus with too much

wine and the sons of Earth conquered by

Herculean hand, whence the house

of ancient Saturn trembles at

the flashing danger; and you, Maecenas, can better

tell the battles of Caesar in historical prose,

and the necks of threatening kings led

through the streets.

The Muse wished me to say the sweet songs

to mistress Licymnia, to speak (of/about) her eyes brightly

shining and her heart well faithful

to mutual loves;

she who had not been unsuited to bear her foot with the choruses

nor to fight with a joke nor to give her arms,

playing with the shining maidens on the sacred

day of festive Diana.

For would you wish to exchange the riches which

Achaemenes holds or the Mygdonian wealth of

fertile Phrygia for a hair of Licymnia,

or the full Arabic homes,

when she bends her neck to your burning

kisses, or she refuses, with easy rage,

the kisses which, more than a woman demanding,

she rejoices to be snatched, and sometimes she attacks to snatch?

Horace, Ode 1.20

Vile potabis modicis Sabinum

cantharis, Graeca quod ego ipse testa

conditum levi, datus in theatro

cum tibi plausus,

care Maecenas eques, ut paterni

fluminis ripae simul et iocosa

redderet laudes tibi Vaticani

montis imago.

Caecubum et prelo domitam Caleno

tu bibes uvam: mea nec Falernae

temperant vites neque Formiani

pocula colles.

You will drink cheap Sabine wine from

plain cups, which I myself sealed, put into

Greek jars, when applause had been given

to you in the theater,

dear knight Maecenas, as at the same time

the banks of the ancestral river and the funny

echo of the Vaticanus mountain return

praises to you.

You may drink Caecuban wine and the grape

crushed with a Calenian wine-press; neither

Falernian vines nor Formian wines

flavor my cups.

Horace, Ode 1.1

Maecenas atauis edite regibus,
o et praesidium et dulce decus meum,
sunt quos curriculo puluerem Olympicum
collegisse iuuat metaque feruidis
euitata rotis palmaque nobilis
terrarum dominos euehit ad deos;
hunc, si mobilium turba Quiritium
certat tergeminis tollere honoribus;
illum, si proprio condidit horreo
quicquid de Libycis uerritur areis.
Gaudentem patrios findere sarculo
agros Attalicis condicionibus
numquam demoueas, ut trabe Cypria
Myrtoum pauidus nauta secet mare.
Luctantem Icariis fluctibus Africum
mercator metuens otium et oppidi
laudat rura sui; mox reficit rates
quassas, indocilis pauperiem pati.
Est qui nec ueteris pocula Massici
nec partem solido demere de die
spernit, nunc uiridi membra sub arbuto
stratus, nunc ad aquae lene caput sacrae.
Multos castra iuuant et lituo tubae
permixtus sonitus bellaque matribus
detestata. Manet sub Ioue frigido
uenator tenerae coniugis inmemor,
seu uisa est catulis cerua fidelibus,
seu rupit teretis Marsus aper plagas.
Me doctarum hederae praemia frontium
dis miscent superis, me gelidum nemus
Nympharumque leues cum Satyris chori
secernunt populo, si neque tibias
Euterpe cohibet nec Polyhymnia
Lesboum refugit tendere barbiton.
Quod si me lyricis uatibus inseres,
sublimi feriam sidera uertice.

Maecenas having been put forth from kingly ancestors,

oh my sweet glory and my defence,

there are those whom it pleases him to collect Olympic

dust in a chariot, and whom the turning post having been

avoided by burning wheels and the noble palm lifts up

to the gods those who are lords of the earth;

it pleases this one if the mob of fickle Romans

strives to raise him with threefold honors, ;

it pleases that one if he has stored away in his own storehouse

whatever is swept from Lybian threshing floors.

Rejoicing to split from the fatherland fields with

a hoe, you could never dislodge him, even on

the terms of an Attalis, so that with

a Cyprian tree trunk a fearful sailor might cleave the Myrtoum sea.

The trader fearing Africus wrestling with the waves of Icarus;

he praises the leisure and farm of his hometown;

soon he repairs the shaking rafts untrained to suffer poverty.

He is he who never turns away the drinks of old Massicus

nor to remove the part from a solid day,

now having spread his limbs under a green tree,

now at the soft head of a sacred fountain.

The camps please many and war is detested by mothers.

The hunter forgetful of his young spouse

remains under cold Jupiter whether a deer has been

seen by his faithful dog or a Marsian boar has broken the nets.

Ivy mix me with the gods above,

the cool grove and the light chorus of the Nymphs

with the Satyrs divides me from the people,

if neither Euterpe withholds flutes nor

Polyhymnia refuses to stretch out on Lesbian lyre.

For if you insert me among the lyric poets,

I shall stroke the stars with my high head.

Horace, Satire 1.9

Ibam forte via sacra, sicut meus est mos

nescio quid meditans nugarum , totus in illis.

accurrit quidam notus mihi nomine tantum,

arreptaque manu: 'quid agis, dulcissime rerum?'

'suaviter, ut nunc est' inquam, 'et cupio omnia, quae vis.'

cum adsectaretur: 'numquid vis?' occupo, at ille

'noris nos' inquit, 'docti sumus.' hic ego: 'pluris

hoc' inquam 'mihi eris.' misere discedere quaerens

ire modo ocius, interdum consistere, in aurem

dicere nescio quid puero, cum sudor ad imos

manaret talos. 'o te, Bolane, cerebri

felicem' aiebam tacitus, cum quidlibet ille

garriret, vicos, urbem laudaret. ut illi

nil respondebam: 'misere cupis' inquit 'abire;

iam dudum video. sed nil agis; usque tenebo.

persequar hinc, quo nunc iter est tibi.' 'nil opus est te

circumagi: quendam volo visere non tibi notum;

trans Tiberim longe cubat is prope Caesaris hortos.'

'nil habeo, quad agam, et non sum piger: usque sequar te.'

demitto auriculas, ut iniquae mentis asellus,

cum gravius dorso subiit onus. incipit ille:

'si bene me novi, non Viscum pluis amicum,

non Varium facies: nam quis me scribere pluris

aut citius possit versus? quis membra movere

mollius? invideat quod et Hermogenes ego canto.'

interpellandi locus hic erat: 'est tibi mater,

cognati, quis te salvo est opus?' 'haud mihi quisquam;

omnis composui.' 'felices! nunc ego resto.

confice! manque instat fatum mihi triste, Sabella

quod puero cecinit divina mota anus urna:

hunc neque dira venena, nec hosticus auferet ensis,

nec laterum dolor aut tussis, nec tarda podagra:

garrulus hunc quando consumet cumque. loquaces,

si sapiat, vitet, simul atque adoleverit aetas.'

ventum erat ad Vestae, quarta iam parte diei

praeterita, et casu tum respondere vadato

debebat, quod ni fecisset, perdere litem.

'si me amas' inquit, 'paulum hi ades.' 'inteream, si

aut valeo stare aut novi civilia iura,

et propero, quo scis.' 'dubius sum, quid faciam' inquit,

''tene relinquam, an rem.' 'me, sodes.' 'non faciam' ille

et praecedere coepit. ego, ut contendere durum

cum victore, sequor. 'Maecenas quomodo tecum?'

hinc repetit, 'paucorum hominum et mentis bene sanae;

nemo dexterius fortuna est usus. haberes

magum adiutorem, posset qui ferre secundas,

hunc hominem velles si tradere. dispeream, ni

summosses omnis.' 'non isto vivimus illic,

quo tu rere, modo. domus hac nec purior ulla est,

nec magis his aliena malis. nil mi officit, inquam,

ditior hic aut est quia doctior: est locus uni

cuique suus.' 'accendis, quare cupiam magis illi

proxumus esse.' 'velis tantummodo: quae tua virtus,

expugnabis, et est, qui vinci possit, eoque

difficilis aditus primos habet.' 'haud mihi dero:

muneribus servos corrumpam; non, hodie si

exclusus fuero, destistam; tempora quaeram,

occurram in triviis, deducam. nil sine magno

vita labore dedit mortalibus.' haec dum agit, ecce

Fuscus Aristius occurrit, mihi carus et illum

qui pulchre nosset. consistimus. 'unde venis?' et

'quo tendis?' rogat et respondet. vellere coepi

et pressare manu lentissima brachia, nutans,

distorquens oculos, ut me eriperet. male salsus

ridens dissumulare, meum iecur urere bilis:

'certe nescio quid secreto velle loqui te

aibas mecum.' 'memini bene, sed meliore

tempore dicam: hodie tricesima sabbata. vin tu

curtis Iudaeis oppedere?' 'nulla mihi' inquam

'religio est.' 'at mi! sum paulo infirmior, unus

multorum. ignosces; alias loquar.' huncine solem

tam nigrum surrexe mihi! fugit inprobus ac me

sub cultro linquit. casu venit obvius illi

adversarius et 'quo tu, turpissime?' magna

inclamat voce, et 'licet antestari?' ego vero

oppono auriculam. rapit in ius: clamor utrimque,

undique concursus. sic me servavit Apollo.

By chance I was going by the sacred way, as is my custom,

contemplating I don't know what of trifles, totally in these things.

A certain man familiar to me only in name ran up

and seized my hand: "How are you, the sweetest thing of the world?"

"Pleasantly, just as it is now," I say, "and I want you to have everything which you wish."

Since he followed closely: "Surely you don't want something?" I take the lead over, but he

says, "You should get to know me. I am learned." At this I say, "You will

be to me worth more for this reason." Miserably seeking to depart,

I go now more quickly, at times I stop, I say

I don't know what to the boy in his ear, while sweat was flowing

to the bottom or my ankles. "Oh you, Bolanus, lucky

for your temper," I was silently saying, while he was chattering whatever,

he was praising the city, the neighborhoods. Since

I was responding nothing to him: "You miserably wish to leave," he said.

"For a long time I see that. But you do nothing; I continuously persist.

Henceforth I will pursue to where you are now going." "It is not necessary

to be led out of your way: I wish to go see a certain friend not known to you;

far across the Tiber near the gardens of Caesar he is confined to bed by illness."

"I have nothing which I am doing, and I am not lazy: I will follow you all the way."

I send down my ears, just as a young donkey discontented of mind,

when he undergoes a rather heavy burden on a hill. He said:

"As certainly as I know myself, you will not regard Viscus Varius as a friend

of more value: for who can write more verses

or quicker than me? Who can more limbs

more gently? Even Hermogenes would envy what I sing."

This was a location for interrupting: "Do you have a mother,

whose concern is it that you are healthy?" "I don't have anyone;

I buried them all." "What lucky people! Now I remain.

Finish me off! For a sad fate looms over me, which

an old Sabine woman having shaken her urn said to me when I was a boy:

neither terrible poison nor the hostile sword will kill this boy,

nor pain of his sides nor gout:

a chatterbox will destroy this one at some point or other. If he is wise,

he will avoid talkative people, up until he reaches the prime of his life."

We had come to the temple of Vesta, now with the fourth part of the day

having passed by, and by chance he had to respond to a plaintiff,

which, unless he did it, he would have to loose the case.

"If you love me," he said, "be by my side for a little bit." "May I perish, if

either I am strong enough to stand or if I know civil laws,

and I hasten, whither you know." "I am uncertain what I am to do," he said,

"Will I abandon you or the thing." "Me, please." "I will not do that," he

said and began to go on ahead. I, since it is hard to compete

with the victor, follow. "How are things with you and Maecenas?"

he resumed, "well sound in mind of a few men;

fortune enjoys nobody more favorably. You have

a great helper, he who can play second,

if you wish to introduce this man. May I perish, lest

you have banished all others." "We are not living in that manner there,

in which you think. His house is neither more clean in this way than any other,

nor more evil to this aliens. It does not impede me, I say,

whether he is more wealthy or more learned: to each one

there is is own spot." "You tell a great thing, scarcely believable." "But

it is so." "You arouse me, wherefore I will wish to be next

to him more." "You would only wish it: which is your virtue,

you will conquer, he who is able to be conquered, for that

reason he keeps the first approach exclusive." "I will hardly fail myself:

I will corrupt the slaves with gifts; if I am excluded

today, I will not stop. I will search out the right times,

I will hurry to meet him in the streets, I will escort him. Life has given

nothing to mortals without great labor." While he was saying these things, behold,

Aristius Fuscus rain up, dear to me and the kind who

would know him well. We stop. "From where are you coming?" and

"For what purpose are you proceeding?" He asks and responds. I begin to tug

and to press my hand against his most unresponsive arms with nodding,

twisting my eyes this way and that, in order that he would rescue me. Laughing, he

pretends to misunderstand, bile burns my liver:

"Certainly you are saying that you wish to speak

with me secretly." "I remember well, but I will speak at a

better time: today is the thirtieth sabbath. You don't

wish to fart in the face of a circumcised Jew, do you?" "No religion is

for me," I say. "But I am! I am a little weak, one

of many. For give me; I will speak at another time." This day

rose so dark for me! The shameless fled and

abandoned me under the knife. By chance a hostile enemy came

to that place and "Where are you going, saddest of men?" he cried

in a great voice, and "Is it permitted for me to call you as a witness?" Indeed, I

offered my ear. He hurries to court: shouting is on both sides,

running to and fro on all sides. Thus Apollo protects me.

Horace, Epode 1

Ibis Liburnis inter alta navium,

amice, propugnacula,

paratus omne Caesaris periculum

subire, Maecenas, tuo.

Quid nos, quibus te vita si superstite

iucunda, si contra, gravis?

Utrumne iussi persequemur otium

non dulce ni tecum simul,

an hunc laborem, mente laturi decet

qua ferre non mollis viros?

Feremus, et te vel per Alpium iuga

inhospitalem et Caucasum

vel occidentis usque ad ultimum sinum

forti sequemur pectore.

Roges, tuum labore quid iuvem meo,

imbellis ac firmus parem?

Comes minore sum futurus in metu,

qui maior absentis habet;

ut adsidens implumibus pullis avis

serpentium allapsus timet

magis relictis, non ut adsit auxili

latura plus praesentibus.

Libenter hoc et omne militabitur

bellum in tuae spem gratiae,

non ut iuvencis illigata pluribus

aratra nitantur mea,

pecusve Calabris ante sidus fervidum

Lucana mutet pascuis,

neque ut superni villa candens Tusculi

Circaea tangat moenia.

Satis superque me benignitas tua

ditavit; haud paravero,

quod aut avarus ut Chremes terra premam,

discinctus aut perdam nepos.

You will go among the Liburnian ships, between the tall

bullwarks of ships, my friend,

prepared to undergo every danger of Caesar,

Maecenas, by your danger.

What about us, for whom life is pleasant if you

survive, if otherwise, heavy?

Will we, as ordered, pursue leisure

not sweet unless at the same time with you,

or this labor, ready to bear in mind

with which it is proper for not-soft men to bear?

We will bear it, and we will follow you either through

the summits of the Alps and the inhospitable Caucasus

or all the way to the farthest curve of the west

with a strong heart.

You may ask, how will I help your labor with mine,

I who am unwarlike and not at all firm?

I will be your companion less in fear

which holds those who are absent more;

just as a bird sitting near her unfledged chicks

fears the slitherings of serpents,

more when they are abandoned, not as if she were present

she would bring more help to those present.

This and every war gladly will be waged

by me in the hopes of your favor,

not so that my plows strain having been fastened

to many cows,

or that the herd may exchange Lucanian fields for

Calabrian pastures before the fiery star

nor that my shining house touches the Circian walls of

lofty Tusculum.

Your kindness enriched me enough and

more; I would hardly have obtained money,

which just as greedy Chremes I bury it in the earth,

or waste it like a spendthrift.