Pæne occupatam seditionibus

Delevit Urbem Dacus et Æthiops;1

Hic classe formidatus, ille

Missilibus melior sagittis.

Fecunda culpæ sæcula nuptias

2

Primum inquinavere, et genus, et domos ;?
Hoc fonte derivata clades

In patriam populumque fluxit.

Motus doceri gaudet Ionicos
Matura virgo, et fingitur artibus;
Jam nunc et incestos amores
De tenero meditatur ungui;3

Mox juniores quærit adulteros
Inter mariti vina; neque eligit,
Cui donet impermissa raptim
Gaudia, luminibus remotis ;

Sed jussa coram non sine conscio
Surgit marito, seu vocat institor,
Seu navis Hispanæ magister,

Dedecorum pretiosus emptor.

tenero ungui,' from earliest youth or tender years.' But another interpretation, which Orelli considers very ingenious and appears to approve, will be found in his note to the passage, 'penitus ex intimis nervis-as we say in English, tingling to the finger-ends;' or, as the French say, clever or wicked, au bout des ongles.'

6

Impermissa raptim

Gaudia, luminibus remotis.'

'Raptim non est "furtim" sed "celeriter," ita est statim post venerem in triclinium redeat,' &c.—ORELLI.

99 66 an agent, a trader in articles of dress or for the

"Institor,' toilet."-YONGE.

I have translated this man-milliner,' for there seems some kind of antithesis intended between the effeminate occupations of the institor' and the rough manners of the shipmaster.

Not from such parents sprang that race undaunted,
Who reddened ocean with the gore of Carthage,

Beat down stout Pyrrhus, great Antiochus,

And broke the might of direful Hannibal.

That manly race was born of warriors rustic,
Tutored to cleave with Sabine spades the furrow,
And, at some rigid mother's bluff command,

Shouldering the logs their lusty right hands hewed,

What time the sun reversed the mountain shadows,
And from the yoke released the wearied oxen,
As his own chariot slowly passed away,

Leaving on earth the friendly hour of rest.

What does time dwarf not and deform, corrupting!
Our father's age ignobler than our grandsires'
Bore us yet more depraved; and we in turn
Shall leave a race more vicious than ourselves.

Non his juventus orta parentibus
Infecit æquor sanguine Punico,
Pyrrhumque et ingentem cecidit
Antiochum, Hannibalemque dirum:

Sed rusticorum mascula militum
Proles, Sabellis docta ligonibus
Versare glebas, et severæ

Matris ad arbitrium recisos

Portare fustes, sol ubi montium
Mutaret umbras et juga demeret
Bobus fatigatis, amicum

Tempus agens abeunte curru.

Damnosa quid non imminuit dies!
Ætas parentum, pejor avis, tulit
Nos nequiores, mox daturos
Progeniem vitiosiorem.

ODE VII.

TO ASTERIA.

This poem tells its own tale.

It has that peculiar grace
Orelli says,

'On account

in which Horace is inimitable. of its elegant pleasantry, and the mode in which the action is brought out into evidence-although the whole scene, and

Nay, Asteria, why weep'st thou for Gyges,
Whom, enriched with Bithynia's rich cargoes,
The first sparkling zephyrs of spring

Shall waft back to thee, constant as ever?

By the south wind on Oricus driven,
At the rise of the turbulent goat-star,
Unsleeping, he weeps, through the night,
The dull chill of his partnerless pillow.

But the agent of Chloë, his hostess,
Tells the youth that in her he has kindled
A flame no less ardent than thine,

In a thousand ways craftily tempting:

Warns him how the false consort of Prœtus
Duped her credulous lord, by feigned charges,
Into plotting Bellerophon's death,

For too chastely regarding his hostess.'

Tells how Peleus Hippolyte slighted,

And was all but consigned to dark Hades;

the

1 Prœtus, believing the story of his wife Anteia, that Bellerophon had attempted to seduce her, but unwilling himself to slay his guest, sent him to his father-in-law Iobates, king in Lycia, with sealed letters, in which Iobates was requested to destroy the bearer.

This lady, otherwise called Astydamia, made the same charge against Peleus to her husband Acastor that Anteia did to Prœtus against

the three persons who play their part in it, are pure poetic inventions-it may be classed among Horace's happiest poems.' It is indeed a miniature lyrical comedy, and, slight though it be in substance, may be cited as an example of the skill with which Horace can give to a few stanzas the lively effect of a drama. The date is unknown, but is referred by some to A.U.C. 729.

CARM. VII.

Quid fles, Asterie, quem tibi candidi
Primo restituent vere Favonii

Thyna merce beatum,

Constantis juvenem fide,

Gygen? Ille Notis actus ad Oricum
Post insana Capræ sidera, frigidas
Noctes non sine multis

Insomnis lacrimis agit.

Atqui sollicitæ nuntius hospitæ,
Suspirare Chloën, et miseram tuis
Dicens ignibus uri,

Tentat mille vafer modis.

Ut Prœtum mulier perfida credulum
Falsis impulerit criminibus nimis.
Casto Bellerophonti

Maturare necem, refert.1

Narrat pæne datum Pelea Tartaro,

Magnessam Hippolyten2 dum fugit abstinens;

Bellerophon, and for the same reason. Acastor, like Proetus, having scruples of conscience which forbade him to slay his guest with his own hand, invited Peleus to hunt wild beasts in Mount Pelion; and when Peleus, overcome with fatigue, fell asleep on the mountain, Acastor concealed his sword, and left him alone and unarmed to be devoured by the beasts. Peleus on waking and searching for his sword was attacked by Centaurs, but saved by Chiron.