some time ago? The man who once bought a farm at Aricia or Veii bought the greens for his dinner, though he thinks otherwise; he bought the logs with which he boils the kettle in the chill of nightfall. Yet he calls it all his own, up to where the poplars, planted beside fixed boundaries, prevent the wrangling of neighbours: just as though anything were one's own, which in a moment of flitting time, now by prayer," now by purchase, now by force, now-at the last-by death, changes owners and passes under the power of another. Thus since to none is granted lasting use, and heir follows another's heir as wave follows wave, what avail estates or granaries—what avail Lucanian forests joined to Calabrian, if Death reaps great and small-Death who never can be won over with gold? 180 Gems, marble, ivory, Tuscan vases, paintings, plate, robes dyed in Gaetulian purple-there are those who have not; there is one who cares not to have. Of two brothers one prefers, above Herod's rich palm-groves,' idling and playing and the anointing of himself; the other, wealthy and untiring, from dawn to shady eve subdues his woodland farm with flames and iron plough. Why so, the Genius alone knows that companion who rules our star of birth, the god of human nature, though mortal for each single life, and changing in countenance, white or black. I shall use and from my modest heap take what need requires, nor shall I fear what my heir will think of me, because he does not find more than I have given him. And yet, withal, I shall wish to know how much the frank and cheerful giver is distinct from the spendthrift, how much the frugal Herod the Great had famous groves of date-palms near Cf. Epist. ii. 1. 144. Jericho. 194 discrepet et quantum discordet parcus avaro. distat enim, spargas tua prodigus, an neque sumptum invitus facias neque plura parare labores, ac potius, puer ut festis Quinquatribus olim, exiguo gratoque fruaris tempore raptim. 200 pauperies immunda domus1 procul absit1: ego, utrum nave ferar magna an parva, ferar unus et idem. non agimur tumidis velis Aquilone secundo : non tamen adversis aetatem ducimus Austris, viribus, ingenio, specie, virtute, loco, re2 extremi primorum, extremis usque priores. 204 Non es avarus: abi. quid? cetera iam simul isto cum vitio fugere3 ? caret tibi pectus inani ambitione? caret mortis formidine et ira? somnia, terrores magicos, miracula, sagas, nocturnos lemures portentaque Thessala rides ? natalis grate numeras? ignoscis amicis ? lenior et melior fis4 accedente senecta ? quid te exempta iuvat5 spinis de pluribus una ? vivere si recte nescis, decede peritis. lusisti satis, edisti satis atque bibisti : 210 215 1 domus and absit omitted, II (only absit omitted in R). Hence procul procul absit Bentley. 2 loco re, I, R: colore, II. 3 fugere D, II: fuge rite aEM. 4 sis E. 5 iuvit D: levat. 6 licentius 2. a The Quinquatrus, or festival of Minerva, was a schoolvacation of five days, from March 19 to March 23. For Thessalian witchcraft cf. Epod. v. 45; Odes, i. 27. 21. is at variance with the miserly. For it does differ whether you scatter your money lavishly, or whether, while neither reluctant to spend, nor eager to add to your store, you snatch enjoyment of the brief and pleasant hour, like a schoolboy in the spring holidays." Far from me be squalid want at home: yet, be my vessel large or small, I, the passenger aboard, shall remain one and the same. Not with swelling sails are we borne before a favouring north wind, yet we drag not out our life struggling with southern gales; in strength, in wit, in person, in virtue, in station, in fortune, behind the foremost, ever before the last. 205 You are no miser. Good! What then? Have all the other vices taken to flight with that? Is your heart free from vain ambition? Is it free from alarm and anger at death? Dreams, terrors of magic, marvels, witches, ghosts of night, Thessalian portents do you laugh at these? Do you count your birthdays thankfully? Do you forgive your friends? Do you grow gentler and better, as old age draws near? What good does it do you to pluck out a single one of many thorns? If you know not how to live aright, make way for those who do. You have played enough, have eaten and drunk enough. 'Tis time to quit the feast, lest, when you have drunk too freely, youth mock and jostle you, playing the wanton with better grace. c Cf. Sat. i. 1. 118, where, as here, Horace has in mind the famous passage in Lucretius, De rerum nat. iii. 938, cur non ut plenus vitae conviva recedis ? ARS POETICA OR EPISTLE TO THE PISOS THIS, the longest of Horace's poems, is found in nearly all мss. under the title Ars Poetica, which is also the name assigned to it by Quintilian and used by the commentator Porphyrio. Yet the composition is a letter rather than a formal treatise, and it is hard to believe that Horace himself is responsible for the conventional title. It has the discursive and occasionally personal tone of an Epistle, whereas it lacks the completeness, precision, and logical order of a well-constructed treatise. It must therefore be judged by the same standards as the other Epistles and Sermones, and must be regarded as an expression of more or less random reflections, suggested by special circumstances, upon an art which peculiarly concerned one or more of the persons addressed. These are a father and two sons of the Piso family, but nobody knows with certainty what particular Pisos and there are many on record-they are. Though the writer touches upon various kinds of poetry, yet as fully one-third of the whole poem is concerned with the drama, it is a plausible inference that one at least of the Pisos presumably the elder son (1. 366)—was about to write a play, perhaps one with an Homeric background (ll. 128, 129), and possibly one conforming to the rules of the Greek satyric drama (11. 220 ff.). Thus the special interests of the Pisos may have determined Horace's choice of topics. The following is a brief outline of the main subjects handled in the letter: (a) A poem demands unity, to be secured by harmony and proportion, as well as a wise choice of subject and good diction. Metre and style must be appropriate to theme and to character. A good model will always be found in Homer (ll. 1-152). (b) Dramatic poetry calls for special care-as to character drawing, propriety of representation, length of a play, number of actors, use of the chorus and its music, special features for the satyric type, verseforms, and employment of Greek models (l. 153294). (c) A poet's qualifications include common sense, knowledge of character, adherence to high ideals, combination of the dulce with the utile, intellectual superiority, appreciation of the noble history and lofty mission of poetry, and above all a willingness to listen to and profit by impartial criticism (11. 295-476). The following is a more detailed analysis : In poetry as in painting there must be unity and simplicity (1-23). We poets must guard against extremes, and while avoiding one error must not fall into its opposite (24-31). A good sculptor pays careful attention to details, but at the same time makes sure that his work as a whole is successful (32-37). A writer should confine himself to subjects within his power. He will then be at no loss for words and will follow a correct order, which will enable him to |