I will call up from the East,' which would be an omen of good weather, and the crow flying to the marsh, of bad. 'Oscines aves' were birds whose omens were taken from their note, as 'praepetes' from their flight.

13. Sis licet felix] There is a tenderness apart from familiarity in these two stanzas, which gives much reality to the Ode.

15. laevus vetet ire picus] The woodpecker was a bird of ill-omen. There was some confusion among the Romans as to the right hand and left in augury, as to which was the propitious side. The confusion may have arisen from the different practice of the Greeks and Romans in taking note of birds, the former facing the north and the latter the south, as is commonly supposed. But what is confusion to us, was none to a Roman. (C. 26. 5.)

18. Pronus Orion.] Orion sets about the beginning of November. On 'albus Iapyx,' see C. 3. 4 and 7. 15 of the first book.

21. Hostium uxores] So in C. i. 21. 13, sqq., he prays Apollo to turn away war, famine, and pestilence from his country to her enemies, the Parthians and Britons. Such diversion is common with the poets, as Virgil (Georg. iii. 513), "Di meliora piis erroremque hostibus illum." The Romans used 'pueri' for children of either sex. 'Oriens' is not usually applied to the rising of a wind, as Horace applies it here.

25. Sic et Europe] The story of Europa, the daughter of Agenor and sister of Cadmus, carried off from Phoenicia to Crete by Zeus, under the form of a bull, is told by Ovid, at the end of the second book of the Metamorphoses.

28. Palluit] So‘expalluit' (Epp.i. 3. 10) and 'contremuit? (C. ii. 12. 8) are used transitively.

33. centum- Oppidis] See Epod. ix. 29. The description is taken from Homer's Kpnrnu ékatóμπodɩv (Il. ii. 649). Europa's speech is that of one just awake to her real position, after the terror of her voyage and the departure of her companion; left alone in a strange land, with the consciousness of her folly first coming upon her. She begins distractedly, Father,alas! I have forfeited a daughter's name, and love hath given place to mad

ness.

37. Unde quo veni?] This implies, not that she was so distracted that she had forgotten whence she had come, but What an exchange have I made! So dear a home for this strange place!' It is all very natural and beautiful. Una mors' is perhaps an imitation of Sophocles (Antig. 308) : οὐχ ὑμιν Αιδης μοῦνος ἀρκέσει.

38. Vigilansne ploro] Am I awake and weeping for my foul fault, or, free from guilt, doth some vain image mock me, which, taking flight from out the ivory gate, brings me a dream?'

41. porta fugiens eburna] Homer (Odyss. xix. 562) describes two gates in the house of Sleep, one of them horn and the other ivory, for the exit of dreams, of which those which came out of the ivory gate were false, those out of the other, true. Virgil has imitated Homer's description, Aen. vi. 894, sqq.

44. Carpere flores?] Ovid makes her put flowers about the animal's neck: "flores ad candida porrigit ora," Met. ii. 861.

49. Impudens liqui] For lack of shame I left my father's house, for lack of shame I hesitate to die,' either because she deserved to die, or because her chastity was in danger. Orcum moror' is equivalent to 'dubito mori,' like Ovid (Heroid. ix. 146): "Impia quid dubitas Defanira mori"; but it is an unusual form. Seeing nothing but death before her, she prays to be killed at once, rather than die a lingering death by hunger, and go down to Hades robbed of her beauty. This notion is Greek, and from the Greek it is probably imitated. 'Ere ugly leanness seize my lovely checks, and their young victim's blood runs dry, thus in my beauty I would feed the tigers.'

Laedere collum] 'Lacdere' corresponds to Awßâobat in Soph. Ant. εκταῖσιν ἀρτάναισι λωβᾶται βίον. Several heroines ended their lives unromantic way, Antigone, Jocasta, Phædra, Amata; and the ans have no stronger expression for suffering, than that it is enough to One hang one's self.

Sive te rupes] As to 'sive,' see i. 6. 19, n. 'Acuta leto,' 'sharp to hose sharp edges are fatal.

Aderat querenti] Venus and Cupid come to laugh her out of her fears, teach her the greatness of her destiny.

remisso] Cupid's bow is unstrung, as the Scholiast says, because it ne its work with Europa.

Abstineto, — irarum] This is a Greek form, noticed before (C. ii.

invisus] They speak ironically.

esse nescis:] This may be you know not how to be' (that is, 'to bear If as'), or 'you know not that you are.' Scire' in this last sense ot usually govern the infinitive mood.

Nomina] The plural is thus used for the singular in C. iv. 2. 4, and (Tr. i. 1. 90): "Icarus Icariis nomina fecit aquis." Horace seems to urope half the world, and the other parts the rest. He is not speaking

xactness.

ODE XXVIII.

is Ode professes to be written on the day of the Neptunalia. The time afternoon, and the poet calls upon Lyde (an imaginary person) to and drink ́ with him, and sing an amebean address to the divinity of y and the other gods usually honored on such occasions.

UMENT.- Lyde, bring out the best Cæcuban, and take wisdom by for what can I do better on Neptune's holiday? The noon is past, haste. Let us sing; I of Neptune and the Nereids, you of Latona and ; both of us together of Venus;—and we will not forget a song for

econditum] This is explained by (C. ii. 3. 8) "Interiore nota Falerni " ote). 'Strenua' is put instead of the adverb.

Munitaeque adhibe vim sapientiae.] This has something of the heroic in y siege to wisdom in her strong-hold.'

orreo] The apotheca' at the top of the house, where the 'amphorae ' cept (C. i. 37. 6; iii. 8. 11, n.).

Bibuli consulis] M. Calpurnius Bibulus was consul with Julius Cæsar, 9. See C. iii. 8. 12, n.

Vos cantabimus invicem] See Argument.

Cynthiae;] Diana, the Latin form of Artemis, was born, like her r Apollo, on Mount Cynthus, in the island of Delos. Latona (the name of Anto) was their mother, by Zeus.

Cnidon] See C. i. 30. 1. 'Summo carmine' is the conclusion of their not their last song.

Fulgentes] See C. i. 14. 19. We do not hear elsewhere of Venus nting the Cyclades. As to Paphon, see C. i. 30. 1.

oloribus; Compare Ovid (Met. x. 717):

Vecta levi curru medias Cytheraea per auras
Cypron olorinis nondum pervenerat alis."

16. Dicetur merita Nox] See C. iii. 19. 10. 'Nenia' is here a sort of lullaby. See Epod. xvii. 29, n.

ODE XXIX.

THIS is an invitation from the poet to his patron, pressing him to pay him a visit at his farm. He bids him throw off the cares of the state, and live for the enjoyment of the hour. The time is the dog-days. The year is uncertain.

ARGUMENT. Come, Mæcenas, the wine and oil and the flowers are ready. Stay not for ever gazing from a distance at the pleasant fields of Tibur, buried in the magnificence and the uproar, the wealth and the smoke, of the city. The rich man often likes to sup at the poor man's table. The days of drought are come back; the shepherd seeks the shade, the flock secks the stream, not a breath is on the river-banks: but thou art distracting thyself with imaginary dangers. Heaven has wisely hidden the future from man, and does but smile at his fears. Live for the present; all else is like the stream, that now flows in peace, now is swollen to a flood, and sweeps all with it to the sea. He lives happy who lives to-day, and leaves to-morrow to Heaven, secing that Jove himself cannot undo what is done.

As to Fortune, she is fickle, and changes from day to day. If she stays with me, I am glad; if she flies, I am resigned. If the storm rages, I have no merchandise to fear for, and can put out into any sea with safety in my little bark.

1. Tyrrhena regum progenies,] Compare C. i. 1. 1. Verso' is equivalent to moveri' in "moveri digna bono die " (C. iii. 21. 6). The 'balanus was an oleaginous nut of some kind, and is here put for the oil expressed from it.

5. Eripe te morae;]

'Morae' is the dative.

6. Ne semper udum] Udum' is an epithet commonly applied to Tibur, which stood on the banks of the Anio. The town itself was built on the side of a hill (C. iii. 4. 23), but the fields below seem to have been damp (see C. i. 7. 14) from a number of small streams which watered them. It appears that Mæcenas was sighing for the country all the time he was detained at Rome. Telegonus, son of Ulysses and Circe, was the reputed founder of Tusculum and Præneste. One of the legends of the death of Ulysses attributes it to this son. Esula was probably a town between Præneste and Tibur, but no traces of its site remain, and Pliny says that it no longer existed in his time (iii. 5).

10. Molem] This signifies Mæcenas's palace on the Esquiline Hill at Rome. It is mentioned in Epod. ix. 3.

11. Omitte This is the only instance in this book of an iambus at the beginning of the third verse. It occurs four times in the first book, and twice in the second. It does not occur in the fourth.

15. aulaeis et ostro] The meaning of 'aulacis' is explained in Sat. ii. 8. 54. It was usual to spread tapestry to catch any dust that might fall from the ceiling. Aulaeis et ostro' may form one subject, or 'ostro' may mean the coverings of the couches. See S. ii. 3. 118, n.

16. Sollicitam explicuere frontem.] This expression is repeated in Sat. ii. 2. 125: Explicuit vino contractae seriae frontis." The perfect has the force of the Greek aorist.

17. Andromedue pater] Cepheus, a northern star below Ursa Minor, rises at the beginning of July. Procyon, a star of the first magnitude, in the con

ion Canis Minor, and called 'Ante Canem' by a literal version of the name, rises about the same time, and the sun enters Leo: see above, 13. 8, n. 'Stella' is not commonly put for 'sidus,' the constellation, s here.

Tu civitatem] See Introduction. As to 'regnata,' see C. ii. 6. 11. Seres represent indefinitely the farthest Eastern nations known to the ans (see C. i. 12. 56). The Bactrians were formerly part of the Perempire, and were at this time partly subject to the Parthians and to a Scythian race, the Tochari. Bactra was their capital. The meanHorace is, that Mæcenas should not trouble himself about improbable

I's.

aequore] Aequore' is equivalent to alveo,' the channel of the river. has "viridesque secant placido aequore silvas" (Aen. viii. 96). The ine describes well the quiet flow of a river.

cras vel atra] Compare C. ii. 10. 15. On diffinget,' see C. i. 35. 39. t' is employed unusually for ' avexit.'

Fortuna saevo] The caprice of Fortune, represented as a coquette erring her favors from one favorite to another, and delighting to trifle the happiness of men, is the lowest Epicurean view of life and the 's government. But Horace writes conventionally. He has just as

6

I to the Father of all the ordering of men's lives. Transmutat incertos honores,] Compare C. i. 34. 12, sqq. si celeres quatit] Horace uses 'si' where other writers would use 'sin.' resigno] This is equivalent to rescribo' in a money sense, to pay 'Mea virtute me involvo' is a picture of self-satisfaction. The man his cloak of virtue complacently around him, and sits down in conindifference to the proceedings of Fortune, as if she had nothing to do im, and unites himself to poverty, as to a bride without a portion. Cypriae Tyriaeque merces] Cyprus abounded in copper and other , including gold and silver, together with precious stones. It exported also and oil. The trade of Phoenicia, which at this time formed part Roman province of Syria, was carried on through Sidon more largely Tyre, which, however, was a port of some consequence under the emperHorace is speaking generally, and Tyriae merces' answered his purs well as any other expression.

biremis - scaphae] A two-oared boat, éλárns dikwπov. 'Biremis' is used elsewhere, but for two banks of oars.

feret] See above, C. iii. 9. 12, n. Geminusque Pollux' is an ellipray of expressing 'Pollux cum gemino fratre.' See C. i. 3. 2.

ODE XXX.

Is Qde appears to have been written as an epilogue to the first three as C. i. I was the prologue. It expresses the conviction, which time stified, that, through his Odes, Horace had achieved an immortal name. ime just pride had been shown by poets before him; as by Sappho, in m of which the first line only has been preserved, μváoaoðaí tivá kaì vσtepov åμμéwv (16 Bergk); and by Ennius, in the lines (scc 20. 21, n.),

"Nemo me lacrimis decoret nec funera fletu

Faxit. Cur? volito vivu' per ora virum,"

words Virgil has made his own (Georg. iii. 9). Propertius (iii. 1), (Met. xv. 871, sqq.), and Martial (x. 2. 7, sqq.) have all imitated e very closely.

ARGUMENT. —I have built myself a monument which storms shall not destroy, nor Time himself. I shall not die, but live in freshness of fame so long as the world endures.

1: will be said, on the banks of my native river, that I, a humble man made great, was the first to fit the Grecian strain to the lyre of Italy.

Put on the bay that thou hast earned, my Muse.

2. situ] This word is nowhere else used in this sense. It here signifies the building, and not the site.

S. impotens] This word is equivalent to 'impotens sui,' 'violent,' 'intemperate.' See Epod. xvi. 62.

7. Libitinam:] See S. ii. 6. 19, n.

usque] In this sense of 'continually,' 'usque' only occurs in poetry, and is always joined to a verb. What follows means 'while the Pontifex Maximus shall, on the Ides of every month, go up to the Capitol to offer sacrifice, the Vestal virgins walking silently in the procession,' as they did, and the boys at the same time sang hymns. With a Roman this was equivalent to saying

*for ever.'

10. Dicar qua violens obstrepit Aufidus] See Introduction and C. iv. 9. 2, n. Violens' is not a common form of violentus.' It occurs again Epp. i. 10. $7, and in Persius (Sat. v. 171), "nunc ferus et violens." Obstrepere' is used absolutely again, Epod. ii. 27.

11. Et qua pauper aquae] Pauper' takes a genitive in S i. 1. 79; ii. 3. 142. As to Daunus, see C. i. 22. 14, n. Apulia was badly watered. Horace calls it elsewhere Siticulosa' (Epod. iii. 16, n ).

12. Regnavit] This word, though it is used in the passive voice (see last Ode, v. 27), here only has a noun after it. Horace gives it the genitive, in imitation of apxew. He wrote with his mind full of Greek constructions and words, and took the liberty of using them very freely.

ex humili potens,] Horace uses the expression potentium vatum' in the eighth Ode of the next book (v. 26). He considered Alcæus and Sappho as his chief models in lyric poetry, which he sums up in the formula 'Acolium carmen' here and in C. iv. 3. 12. 'Delphica lauro' is the same as 'laurea Apollinari' in the next book (C. iv. 2. 9).

ODES.-BOOK IV.

ODE I.

Ir is said that Augustus wished Horace to publish another book of Odes, order that those he had written in honor of Drusus and Tiberius (4, 14) wht appear in it. If so, he collected a few written since, and some perhaps fore, the publication of the three books, among which was this. He tells (v. 6) that he was about fifty, which age he attained 10th December, 15. He professes to deprecate the attacks of Love, now that he is old. The Ode is not unlike one he wrote when he was much younger (i. 19), and probable both are imitations from the Greek.

ARGUMENT. - Art thou at war with me again, Venus? Spare me, for I d. Go to the young. Go to Paullus, for he is noble, handsome, clever.