ODE VII.-Tricolos tetrastrophos: Metre-The Alcaic or Horatian, of which the two first verses are Greater Alcaic, the third an Archilochian, and the fourth a Lesser Alcaic; thus Addressed to Pompeius Varus, an old friend who had fought and fled with the poet at Philippi, B.C. 42. Horace returned to Rome, and Pompeius appears to have served on the side of Sextus Pompeius and Antony till the battle of Actium, B.C. 31. Written probably in 30 B.C. SUBJECT The poet, after reminding his friend of their former intimacy, and congratulating him on the establishment of peace, gives him a cordial invitation to a banquet, probably at his Sabine farm, which he had got some two or three years before. 1. O is connected with Pompei, line 5. Saepe, &c.-duce-"often led with me into the utmost danger, under Brutus, the leader of our warfare." Tempus, like tempestas, often signifies "an emergency." Horace joined Brutus, B. C. 43, at Athens, where he had resided about five years, prosecuting his studies. He obtained the rank of military tribune, with the command of a legion, and may have been present in several engagements both in Macedonia and Asia Minor, previous to the battle of Philippi. 3. Quis te redonavit Quiritem-"who has restored thee as a Roman citizen?" This question seems to be an expression of surprise and joy, that Pompeius should have been restored at all, after the dangers he had incurred, rather than a suggestion that any one, such as Mæcenas, had procured his restoration from Octavianus. Redonavit is peculiar to Horace, and occurs again, with a slight difference of signification, in Ode iii. 3, 33. Quiris is a Roman citizen in the full enjoyment of his civil privileges, (sine ulla diminutione capitis,) and used only in the plural by prose authors. It implies that Pompeius had obtained full pardon for bearing arms against the triumvirate. 5. Pompei is here a dissyllable, as antet. in Ode i. 35, 17, or antehac in Ode i. 37, 15 Prime-"chief," or "foremost," i.e., "dearest," rather than "earliest." 6. Cum, &c.-fregi-"along with whom I have often broken the lingering day with wine." Cp. Notes, Ode i. 1, 20. 7. Coronatus, &c.-capillos-"having my locks crowned and shining with Syrian perfumes." Crowns and perfumes were common at Roman banquets. See Ramsay's Antiquities. Pliny (Hist. Nat. 12, 26) mentions three kinds of malobathrum-the Syrian, Egyptian, and Indian, of which the last was the best. The Indian, being con veyed across the deserts of Syria by the caravan trade to Antioch and the Mediterranean coast, received from the Romans, in common with the first mentioned species, the appellation of "Syrian." The name is supposed to be derived from Malabar and betre, the Indian word for a leaf, and to indicate the laurus cassia, from the leaves of which the oil of cassia was pressed. It is here used for the oil. Cp. Ode i. 31, 12, and ii. 11, 16. 9. Philippos-Philippi is in the east of Macedonia, and chiefly famous for the victory of Antony and Octavianus over Brutus and Cassius, B.C. 42, and as the place where Paul first preached the gospel in Europe, A.D. 53. The poet is too prudent to allude to the first engagement at Philippi, three weeks before, when Antony and Octavianus lost 16,000 men, and Brutus and Cassius only half that number. 10. Sensi-"I experienced." Relicta non bene parmula-"my shield being ingloriously abandoned," as in the case of Alcæus, Anacreon, and Archilochus. It is, however, perhaps too much to infer from this that Horace was deficient in valour, and fled before his party was defeated. Cp. Epist. i. 20, 23. All that may be meant is, that he abandoned war when success was hopeless. Parmula is the diminutive of parma, which was a circular shield, about three feet in diameter, with its framework of iron. It was used by the light-armed troops and the cavalry, and is represented in the cut. 11. Cum, &c.-mento-"when vanquished valour, and (lit. the threatening) those who threatened resistance touched the polluted ground with their chin," referring to Brutus, Cassius, and the other leaders of the republican party, who put themselves to death that they might not fall into the hands of the conquerors. Some supply fuit after fracta, which is too prosaic. Some also explain menaces as persons threatening boastfully before the battle, and turpe solum tetigere mento as representing them afterwards disgracefully prostrating themselves to the ground, and suing for mercy, as some of Pompey's soldier's are said by Cæsar to have done after the battle of Pharsalia, B.C. 48. This interpretation implies that Horace, to ingratiate himself with Octavianus, would vilify his former associates, which we have no conclusive evidence that he ever did. 12. Turpe-"polluted with gore." With solum tetigere mento, compare the Homeric form of expression (Il. ii. 41), envées κονίησιν ὀδὰξ λαζοίατο γαῖαν. 13. Mercurius-As in the battles of Homer heroes are often carried away by protecting deities from the dangers of the fight, so, on the present occasion, Mercury, who presided over arts and sciences, and espe cially over the music of the lyre, is made to befriend the poet, and to save him from the dangers of the conflict. Cp. Ode ii. 17, 29, where Mercury is styled custos Mercurialium virorum, and Ode iii. 4, 26, where the poet attributes his safety to the Muses. 14. Denso―aëre—“in a thick cloud-ég Toλan, Hom. Il. iii. 381. 15. Te, &c.- aestuosis—"the receding swell carried thee away a second time to war on its boiling waters." Resorbens is literally "sucking back," and unda is equivalent to xuμa páxns, Tyrtaeus, 9, 22. 17. Obligatam-dapem-"thy votive sacrifice," i.e., due to the fulfilment of thy vow. He had vowed a sacrifice to Jove in case he escaped the dangers of the war. 20. Cadis-See Notes, Ode i. 36, 11, and 37, 6. 19. Lauru-The other form of the ablative is found in Ode iii. 30, 16. Lauru mea are understood to refer to the laurels on his Sabine farm, and to imply that he had been as successful in the pursuit of poetry and the arts of peace, as he had wished to become in war. 21. Oblivioso-Massico-"with care-for getting (or care-dispelling) Massic." The Massic was the best growth among the Falernian wines. It was produced on the southern declivities of the range of hills in A mountain near the site of Sinuessa is still the neighbourhood of the ancient Sinuessa. called Monte Massico. 22. Ciboria-The Ciborium was a large species of drinking cup, shaped like the follicule or pod of the Egyptian bean, which is the primitive meaning of the term larger below than above. It was fumes, shaped like shells. Cp. Martial, iii. 23. Conchis-"shells," or vases for per82, 27. Udovyg-"moist and pliant." 24. Apio-Cp. Notes, Ode i. 36, 16. tic particle, see Notes, Ode i. 30, 6. Regard25. Curatve-For the position of the encliing Venus and arbitrum bibendi, see Notes, Ode i. 4, 18. wildly as the Thracians." The Edoni, or 26. Non, &c.-Edonis-"I will revel as on the banks of the Strymon. Their name is often used by the Greek poets, as it is here by Horace, to express the whole of the nation of which they formed a part. Edones were a well known Thracian tribe 27. Recepto-furere-amico-"to revel madly on the recovery of a friend." Cp. Ode iii. 19, 18. ODE VIII.-Dicolos tetrastrophos: Metre-The Lesser Sapphic, of which the three first verses are Lesser Sapphic, and the fourth an Adonian; thus1-3. Addressed to Barine, apparently a foreigner of great beauty, but notorious for inconstancy. SUBJECT-Her oath is not to be trusted, since, on account of her beauty, she is unpunished by the gods, and courted by men notwithstanding her perjuries. These ideas are more fully developed by Ovid, Amor. iii. 3. 1. Juris-pejerati-perjurii, and analo- | lief, as it still is in some places, that lies gous to juris jurandi. It was a popular be- were punished by black spots on the teeth or nails, or by pimples on the nose or tongue. Cp. Theocr. ix. 30; xii. 24. 7. Juvenum-publica cura—“an object of admiration to all our youth," literally, "a common source of care on the part of our youths." 9. Expedit (tibi), &c.—fallere-"it is even advantageous for thee to deceive the buried ashes of thy mother." According to the poet, Barine comes forth lovelier than ever after her violated faith, even though the oaths she has taken have been of the most binding character. 14. Simplices-"good-natured." 16. Cote-The following is a representation, from an ancient gem, of Cupid sharpening his arrows on a grindstone (cos versatilis). ODE IX.-Tricolos tetrastrophos: Metre-The Alcaic or Horatian Stanza, of which the two first verses are Greater Alcaic, the third an Archilochian, and the fourth a Lesser Alcaic; thus Addressed to C. Valgius Rufus on the death of his favourite Mystes, probably in B.C. 20, soon after the restoration of the standards taken from Crassus in 53. Valgius appears to have been a poet of some distinction (Tibullus, iv. 1, 180). and in Sat. i. 10, 82, he is ranked by Horace as a critic, with Plotius, Varius, Mæcenas, and Virgil. Of his compositions only a few fragments remain. He is probably the Valgius who was consul suffectus, B.C. 12. SUBJECT-The unreasonableness of inconsolable grief, and an advice to sing the trophies of Augustus in preference to elegiacs. 1. The expressions semper, usque, and menses per omnes, in this and the succeeding stanza, convey a delicate reproof of the incessant sorrow in which Valgius unavailingly indulges-Cp. Ode i. 7, 15. Hispidosin agros-" on the rough fields." The epithet hispidos is here used proleptically with reference to the effect produced on the surface of the ground by the action of the descending rains, and is nearly equivalent to squalidus. seiban are crowned with perpetual snow. 7. Querceta Gargani-"the oak groves 9. Tu semper, &c. ademptum - "thou art always in tearful strains (lit. pressing Mystes taken away), deploring the loss of Ode ii. 1, 40, and with Mysten ademptum, Mystes." With flebilibus modis, compare Ode ii. 4, 10. 2. Aut, &c.-usque "nor do varying blasts continually disturb the Caspian Sea." Aut here, and in line 6, and et in line 8, are poetically used for nec, the former after non and the latter after nec. Inaequales may either be regarded as an epithet of procellae, or taken as descriptive of their effect upon the surface of the water-" causing inequalities," or "boisterous." The Caspian," from its situation, is much exposed to the fury of the northern and southern blasts. affectionate sorrows leave thee neither 10. Nec tibi, &c.—(vespero) fugienti solem when the evening star arises, nor when it 4. Armeniis in oris-" on the borders of neither night nor day. The planet Venus flees from the swift careering sun," i.e., Armenia." Armenia forms a very elevated plain, and is surrounded on all sides by lofty was by the Greeks styled swopógos or mountains when it appears as a morning star to the west of the sun, and when it was seen as an evening star to the east of the sun, it was called logos or vesperus. 18.-Nova-Augusti tropaea-Alluding to the successful operations of Augustus with the Armenians and Parthians, and to the repulse of the Geloni, who had crossed the Danube and committed ravages in the Roman territories. The preceding illustration of a trophy is from an imperial coin, and represents the arms of the vanquished suspended on the trunk of a tree. 13. Ter aevo functus-senex-"the aged warrior who had lived three generations," alluding to Nestor, who, according to Homer, II. i. 250, had passed through two generations, and was ruling at the time of the Trojan war over a third. Some con20. Rigidum Niphaten-"the ice-clad sider aevum in this sense as 30 years, Niphates." The ancient geographers give others with Ovid, Met. xii. 188, as 100. the name of Niphates to a range of moun14. Antilochum-Antilochus, son of Nes-tains in Armenia, forming part of the great tor, was slain in defence of his father, by chain of Taurus, and lying to the southMemnon, (Hom. Odyss. iii. 109, &c., and east of the Arsissa Palus (Lake Van). Their iv. 187). summits are covered with snow throughout the whole year; and to this circumstance 15. Parentes-Priam and Hecuba. 16. Troilum-Troilus, son of Priam, was slain by Achilles, (Virg. Æn. i 474), Phrygiae Trojanae. Sorores Creusa, Laodice, Polyxena, and Cassandra. 17. Desine, &c,-querelarum—“ cease, I beseech thee, unmanly complaints. Cp. any gidos, Hom. Il. i. 210. Abstinete irarum, Ode iii. 27, 69, and desistere pugnae, Virg. Æn. x. 441. In prose desinere is followed by an accusative, ablative, or infinitive. the name Niphates contains an allusion. (Nipάrns, quasi viQetwons, “snowy.") 21. Medum, &c.-vertices-" and how the Parthian river, added to the list of conquered nations, rolls humbler waves." By the Parthian river is meant the Euphrates. Gentibus additum victis=in populi Romani potestatem reductum. 23. Intraque, &c.-Campis-"and how the Geloni ride up and down within the limits prescribed to them, along their diminished plains." The Geloni, a Sarmatian race, having crossed the Danube and laid waste the confines of the empire in that quarter, were attacked and driven across the river by Lentulus, the Lieutenant of Augustus. Praescriptum refers to the Danube being interposed as a barrier by their conquerors; and the check given to their inroads, which were generally made by them on horseback, is alluded to in exiguis equitare campis.. ODE X.-Dicolos tetrastrophos: Metre-The Lesser Sapphic, of which the three first verses are Lesser Sapphic, and the fourth an Adonian: thus Addressed to Licinius Murena, the brother (frater) or perhaps the cousin (frater patruelis) of Terentia, wife of Mæcenas and of Proculeius, who is commended for his generosity and fraternal affection in Ode ii. 2. He appears to have been the son of L. Licinius Murena, who was defended by Cicero in his consulship against Serv. Sulpicius, on a charge of bribery, and to have been called also Aulus Terentius Varro Murena, from the name of his adoptive father. He was sent by Augustus in B.C. 25 against the Salassians, whom he completely reduced, and is said to have treated with great cruelty. He was consul suffectus in 23, and executed, notwithstanding the intercession of Pro culeius and Mæcenas, in the following year, on the accusation of being involved in the conspiracy of Fannius Cæpio against Augustus. In Ode iii. 19, 10, he is mentioned as an augur, and in Sat. i. 5, 37, as having a house at Formiæ, and entertaining Mæcenas and his party on their way to Brundusium. He appears to have been of a turbulent and ambitious disposition, and the following ode is a seasonable advice. SUBJECT-Extremes are dangerous: a middle course is safest. Cp. undèv äɣav, ö μέσος Βίος Βέλτιστος, and in medio tutissimus ibis. 1. Rectius-" more consistently with rea- i. 488, used for fulmina—“ thunderbolts," son," lit. "more rightly," than by pursu- which is found in some MSS. Similar sening an opposite course. Neque altum timents are found in Herod. vii. 10; Lucret. semper urguendo-" by neither always pur-vi. 420; and Juvenal, Sat. x. 105. suing the main ocean," i. e., by neither 13. With infestis and secundis, supply always launching out boldly into the deep. rebus. 3. Nimium premendo litus iniquum-" by keeping too near the unpropitious shore." 5. Auream, &c.-aula-"every one who loves the golden mean, (lit. keeps aloof being safe,) keeps at a safe distance from the shabbiness of a decayed dwelling, and prudently avoids a hall (lit. to be envied) that will expose him to envy." With auream mediocritatem, compare Prov. xxx. 8. Bentley places the comma after tutus instead of before it, which destroys the antithesis between tutus caret and sobrius caret. Carere is frequently used in the sense here given, but it more frequently signifies simply "to be without," in opposition to habere. Sobrius is the opposite of ebrius, Ode i. 37, 12. 9. Saepius -"more frequently," than trees of lower size. Some editions have saevius, but apparently without the authority of any MS. 10. For et celsae some read excelsae. Graviore casu-"with a heavier crash," than humbler structures. 11. Summos-montes-"the tops of mountains," rather than the bases. 12. Fulgura-Fulgur is properly "a flash of lightning," but is here, as in Virg. Geo. 14. Alteram sortem-"a change of condition." Bene praeparatum pectus—“ a well regulated breast." 15. Informes hiemes-"hideous winters.' 17. Non, si (est), &c.—erit—“though it is bad now, it will not continue to be so hereafter." The primary allusion is to the weather, the secondary to our worldly condition. Cp. Theocr. iv 41; and Tibul. ii. 6, 20. Olim is from ollam, the old form of illam (diem), and like quondam, from quamdam, may be used either with reference to the past or future. = interdum. 18. Quondam Cp. Sat. ii. 2, 82, and Virg. Geo. iv. 261; Æn. ii. 367; vi. 877. Tacentem refers merely to an interval of silence on the part of the muse, and of anger on the part of the god. 19. Suscitat-"awakes." 20. For Apollo as the god of vengeance, see Hom. Il. i. 34 and 601, &c. 21. Animosus, &c.—appare—" show thyself spirited and firm." 23. Contrahere and subtrahere with vela"to reef or furl," are opposed to pandere. Nimium should be translated with secundo, though in prose it would have been joined with turgida. ODE XI.-Tricolos tetrastrophos: Metre-The Alcaic or Horatian, of which the two first verses are Greater Alcaic, the third an Archilochian, and the fourth a Lesser Alcaic; thus Addressed to Quintius Hirpinus, who is otherwise unknown, unless, perhaps, as the individual to whom Epist. i. 16 is dedicated. For Hirpine, Cruquius suggests Crispine, and considers that both odes were inscribed to Quintius Crispinus, who was consul with Drusus B.C. 9. Hirpinus may have been a Sabine neighbour connected with the Hirpini. Written probably about B.C. 23, when the Cantabrians were meditating a revolt, and the Scythians the restoration of Phraates. SUBJECT-Let neither distant troubles nor the fear of want prevent the enjoyment of the present. |