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Abstulit clarum cita mors Achillem,
Longa Tithonum minuit senectus,
Et mihi forsan, tibi quod negarit,
Porriget Hora.

Te greges centum Siculaeque circum
Mugiunt vaccae, tibi tollit hinnitum
Apta quadrigis equa, te bis Afro
Murice tinctae

Vestiunt lanae : mihi parva rura, et
Spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae
Parca non mendax dedit, et malignum
Spernere volgus.1

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The moral of this Ode is that we should avoid extremes, and seek the golden mean, which secures us, on the one hand, from the miseries of poverty, and, on the other, from the envy which pursues the rich and great. A wise man will be always prepared for change; in his prosperity he will never be unmindful of the possible nearness of adversity. Licinius Murena, to whom the Ode is addressed, was the son of the Murena whom Cicero defended. He was a scheming, restless man, and a bitter enemy to Augustus, and joined the conspiracy of Fannius Caepio against him. For this he was condemned and suffered death,

B. C. 22.

RECTIUS Vives, Licini, neque altum

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Semper urguendo, neque, dum procellas
Cautus horrescis, nimium premendo
Litus iniquum.

Auream quisquis mediocritatem
Diligit, tutus caret obsoleti

Sordibus tecti, caret invidenda
Sobrius aula.

Sæpius ventis agitatur ingens
Pinus, et celsae graviore casu
Decidunt turres, feriuntque summos
Fulgura montes.

1 vulgus.

2 urgendo.

3 littus.

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Sperat infestis, metuit secundis
Alteram sortem bene praeparatum
Pectus. Informis hiemes reducit
Juppiter, idem

Summovet. Non, si male nunc, et olim
Sic erit. Quondam cithara tacentem
Suscitat Musam, neque semper arcum
Tendit Apollo.

Rebus angustis animosus atque
Fortis appare; sapienter idem
Contrahes vento nimium secundo

Turgida vela.

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Varus, to whom this Ode is addressed, was a friend of Virgil and Horace, and appears to have been from a passage in the "Ars Poetica" (v. 438), an acute poetical critic. The subject of the Ode is the praise of the vine. Varus, it seems, had property in the neighbourhood of Tibur, and Horace advises him in laying out his grounds to give preference to the vine above all other trees. This leads him to dwell on the good effects of wine, while at the same time he mentions the bloody contests of the Centaurs and Lapithæ, and of the Thracians over their cups, as a warning against excess. It appears that this Ode was a close imitation of one of Alcaeus.

NULLAM, Vare, sacra vite prius severis arborem
Circa mite solum Tiburis et moenia Catili.
Siccis omnia nam dura deus proposuit, neque
Mordaces aliter diffugiunt sollicitudines.

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Quis post vina gravem militiam aut pauperiem crepat? 5
Quis non te potius, Bacche pater, teque, decens Venus?
At ne quis modici transiliat munera Liberi,
Centaurea monet cum Lapithis rixa super mero
Debellata, monet Sithoniis non levis Euhius,
Cum fas atque nefas exiguo fine libidinum
Discernunt avidi. Non ego te, candide Bassareu,
Invitum quatiam : nec variis obsita frondibus
Sub divum rapiam. Saeva tene cum Berecyntio
Cornu tympana, quae subsequitur caecus Amor sui,
Et tollens vacuum plus nimio Gloria verticem,
Arcanique Fides prodiga, perlucidior vitro.

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This Ode is probably addressed to the poet Virgil, on the occasion of his voyage to Athens, just before his death. Horace wishes him a safe and prosperous passage. He dwells on the daring of the man who first tempted the perils of the sea and defied the fury of the winds. To no purpose was it that God separated countries if men in their presumption are to leap across the waters. Human daring and wickedness had their first beginning when Prometheus stole fire from heaven and gave it to mankind. Then came in a host of diseases, and man's life was shortened. Dædalus ventured to soar on wings; Hercules burst through the confines of the infernal world. Thus man's wickedness and presumption are perpetually provoking the vengeance of Juppiter.

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Circa pectus erat, qui fragilem truci

Commisit pelago ratem

Primus, nec timuit praecipitem Africum
Decertantem Aquilonibus,

Nec tristes Hyadas, nec rabiem Noti,

Quo non arbiter Hadriae

Major, tollere seu ponere vult freta.

Quem Mortis timuit gradum,

Qui siccis oculis monstra natantia,

Qui vidit mare turgidum et

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Infames scopulos Acroceraunia?

Nequiquam Deus abscidit

Prudens Oceano dissociabili

Terras, si tamen impiae

Non tangenda rates transiliunt vada.
Audax omnia perpeti

Gens humana ruit per vetitum nefas.

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Audax Iapeti genus

Ignem fraude mala gentibus intulit:

Post ignem aetheria domo

Subductum, Macies et nova Febrium

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Terris incubuit cohors,

Semotique prius tarda necessitas

Leti corripuit gradum.

Expertus vacuum Daedalus aëra

Pennis non homini datis ;

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Perrupit Acheronta Herculeus labor.

Nil mortalibus arduist;

Caelum ipsum petimus stultitia, neque
Per nostrum patimur scelus

Iracunda Jovem ponere fulmina.

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There can hardly be any question that this Ode is allegorical, though it is not easy to say to what particular historical crisis Horace is referring. Perhaps the poet may have had in his mind the republican party which had been beaten at the battle of Philippi, B.C. 42, and which subsequently under the leadership of Sextus Pompeius, son of the great Pompeius, endeavoured to raise its head against the victorious side. Horace would naturally sympathize with the defeated cause, but he was inclined on the whole to make the best of things, and he thought it would be a dangerous experiment for the vessel of the State once more to trust itself to the stormy sea of civil commotion. There is extant a fragment of the Greek poet, Alcaeus, in which he compares his native Mitylene to a ship tossed on the waves, and Horace would seem to have borrowed from it the idea of this Ode.

O NAVIS, referent in mare te novi

Fluctus O quid agis? fortiter occupa
Portum. Nonne vides, ut

Nudum remigio latus,

Et malus celeri saucius Africo

Antennaeque gemant, ac sine funibus

Vix durare carinae

Possint imperiosius

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Acquor? Non tibi sunt integra lintea,
Non di, quos iterum pressa voces malo:
Quamvis Pontica pinus,

Silvae filia nobilis,

Jactes et genus et nomen inutile;
Nil pictis timidus navita puppibus
Fidit. Tu, nisi ventis

Debes ludibrium, cave.

Nuper solicitum quae mihi taedium,
Nunc desiderium, curaque non levis,
Interfusa nitentis

Vites aequora Cycladas.

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The following is a beautiful specimen of the dithyrambic Ode, and has all the enthusiasm of lyric poetry. It is in honour of Augustus. Horace imagines himself borne along by some new inspiration amid woods and caves to celebrate the Emperor's praises. He compares himself to a bacchante driven by her god through strange and wild regions, and gathering inspired frenzy from her wanderings. I will follow thee, O Bacchus, he exclaims, for the peril of following thee is sweet.

Quo me, Bacche, rapis tuil

Plenum? Quae nemora aut quos agor in specus, Velox mente nova? Quibus

Antris egregii Caesaris audiar

Aeternum meditans decus

Stellis inserere et consilio Jovis ?

Dicam insigne, recens, adhuc

Indictum ore alio. Non secus in jugis

Exsomnis stupet Euhias

Hebrum prospiciens, et nive candidam

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Thracen ac pede barbaro

Lustratam Rhodopen, ut mihi devio

Ripas et vacuum nemus

Mirari libet.

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