ODE 1X. To THALIARCHUS. YOU fee how the mountain Soracle stands whitened* with deep fnow, nor can the labouring woods any longer fupport the weight, and the rivers ftagnate with the fharpnefs of the froft. Diffolve the cold, liberally piling up billets on the hearth; and draw forth, O Thaliarchus, the more generous wine, four years old, out of the Sabine jar. Leave the reft to the Gods, who having once laid the winds warring with the fervid ocean, neither the cypreffes, nor the aged afhes, are moved. Avoid inquiring, what may happen to-morrow: and whatever day fortune fhall beftow on you, fcore it up for gain; nor difdain, being a young fellow, delicious loves nor dances, as long as ill-natured hoarinefs keeps off from your blooming age. Now let both the Campus Martius, and the public walks, and foft whifpers in the dark, be repeated at the appointed hour; now too the delightful laugh, the betrayer of the skulking damfel from a fecret corner, and the token ravifh'd from her arms or finger, pretendingly tenacious of it. As if it were an entire heap of fnow. ODE CARMEN X. HYMNUS AD MERCURIUM. TERCURI, facunde nepos Atlantis, Qui feros cultus hominum recentum Voce formati catus, & decora More palæftræ : Te canam, magni Jovis & Deorum Te, boves olim nifi reddidiffes Quin & Atridas, duce te, fuperbos, Tu pias lætis animas reponis CARMEN ΧΙ. AD LEUCONOEN. Une quæfieris (fcire nefas) quem mihi, quem Τυ tibi Finem Di dederint, Leuconoe; nec Babylonios Tentaris numeros. Ut melius, quidquid erit, pati! Sèu ! ODE X. To MERCURY. MERCURY, thou eloquent grandfon of Atlas, who artful formed the favage manners of the first men, by oratory, and the exercife of the graceful Paleftra. I will celebrate thee, the meffenger of Jupiter and the other Gods, and the fire of the bending harp; thee, ingenious to conceal whatevér you have a mind to, in a jocofe theft. While Apollo, in angry voice, threatened you, then but a boy, that unless you had reftored the oxen, fome time driven away by your fraud, he laughed, when he found himself deprived of his quiver alfo. Moreover, the wealthy Priam, at his departure from Ilium, under your guidance, deceived the proud fons* of Atreus, and the Theffalian watch-lights, and the camp inveterate against Troy. You place the fouls of good men in blifsful regions, and compel together the aery crowd with your golden rod, being acceptable both to the fupernal and infernal Gods. ODE XI, To LEUCONOE. INQUIRE not, Leuconoe ('tis not fitting you fhould know) how long a term of life the gods have granted to you or me: neither confult the Chaldean calculations. How much better is it to bear with patience whatever fhall happen! Whe Agamemnon and Menelaus. ther 5 Seu plures hiemes, feu tribuit Jupiter ultimam, Quæ nunc oppofitis debilitat pumicibus mare Tyrrhenum, fapias, vina liques, & fpatio brevi Spem longam refeces, dum loquimur, fugerit invida Etas: carpediem, quam minimum credula poftero. CARMEN XII. AD AUGUSTUM. Hymnus de Laudibus Deorum atque Hominum. QTibia unes celebrare, Clio? UEM virum aut heroa lyra vel acri Quem Deum? cujus recinet jocofa 1 Aut in umbrofis Heliconis oris, Arte materna rapidos morantem Ducere quercus. Quid prius dicam folitis Parentis (a). Unde nil magis generatur ipfo, Nec viget quidquam fimile, aut fecundum: Pallas honores. (a) Parentum. Prælii ther Jupiter hath indulged us with more winters, or this be the laft, which now breaks the Etrurian waves against the oppofing rocks. Be wife; rack off your wines, and abridge your hopes proportioned to the fhortnefs of your life. While we are converfing, envious age has been flying; feize the prefent day, not giving the leaft credit to the fucceeding one. ODE XII. To AUGUSTUS. A Hymn in praife of Gods and Men. WHAT man, what hero, O Clio, will you un dertake to celebrate on the harp, or the fhrill pipe? What God? Whose name fhall the fportive echo refound, either in the fhady borders of Helicon, or on the top of Pindus, or on the cold Hamus? Whence the woods follow'd promifcuously the tuneful Orpheus, who, by his maternal* art, retarded the rapid courfes of rivers, and the fleet winds; and was fo fweet, that he drew the listening oaks with his harmonious ftrings. But what can I fing prior to the ufual praifes of the father of us all, who governs the affairs of Men and Gods; who governs the fea, the earth, and the whole world with grateful viciffitudes of feafons? Whence nothing is produced greater than him; nothing fprings either like him, or even in a fecond degree to him: nevertheless, Pallas has acquired thofe honours, which are next after him. Calliope was the mother of Orpheus. Neither |
