Spring is here again; hand in hand the Nymphs and Graces dance. The seasons change and wane, but come again. But we, when we are gone, come not back. So give thyself good cheer while yet thou mayst; thou canst not buy escape from nether gloom.'

The ode is a close parallel to 1, 4, with which it should be carefully compared. The Torquatus addressed was an intimate of Horace and an advocate of considerable prominence. See Epist. 1, 5. There is no hint of the date of composition. Metre, 78.

5

Diffugere nives, redeunt iam gramina campis
arboribusque comae;

mutat terra vices et decrescentia ripas

flumina praetereunt;

Gratia cum Nymphis geminisque sorpribus audet

ducere nuda choros.

Immortalia ne speres, monet annus et almum

2. comae: cf. 1, 21, 5 and n.; 4, 3, II.

3 f. mutat terra vices: the expression was frequently imitated by later writers e.g. Anth. Lat. 676, 3 R. alternant elementa vices et tempora mutant. - vices: the 'inner object' of mutat.

I.

Cf. I, 4, - decrescentia: since the winter floods are over. praetereunt : i.e. no longer overflow.

5 f. Cf. 3, 19, 16 Gratia nudis

iuncta sororibus; 1, 4, 6 iunctaeque Nymphis Gratiae decentes.

7. immortalia immortality. -ne speres: dependent on monet; cf. 1, 18, 7 f. With the sentiment, cf. Eurip. Frg. 1075 OvηTÒS γὰρ ὢν καὶ θνητὰ πείσεσθαι δόκει· | (ή) θεοῦ βίον ζῆν ἀξιοῖς ἄνθρωTOS v; For as thou art mortal, expect to bear a mortal's lot, or dost thou ask to live a god's life, when thou art but a man?'

ΙΟ

15

quae rapit hora diem :

frigora mitescunt Zephyris, ver proterit aestas,
interitura simul

pomifer autumnus fruges effuderit, et mox
bruma recurrit iners.

Damna tamen celeres reparant caelestia lunae :
nos ubi decidimus

quo pius Aeneas, quo Tullus dives et Ancus,
pulvis et umbra sumus.

-annus: the changing year, πepɩ-
πλόμενος ἐνιαυτός. quae rapit :
that hurries on, etc.; snatching
away from man the time of his en-
joyment. Cf. 3, 29, 48 quod fugi-
ens semel hora vexit.

occidere et redire possunt: | nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux, | nox est perpetua una dormienda.

14 f. decidimus: cf. Epist. 2, 1, 36 scriptor abhinc annos centum qui decidit. - pius: established by the Aeneid as the epithet of its hero. Tullus: the mythical king famed for his wealth. Ancus: whose goodness was immortalized by Ennius' line lumina sis (i.e. suis) oculis etiam bonus Ancus reliquit.

16. pulvis et umbra: in the grave and the lower world. Cf. Soph. Elec. 1158 f. ȧvrì piλTáTηS μορφῆς σποδόν τε καὶ σκιὰν ἀνωpen. Also Asclepiades' warning to a maiden, Anth. Pal. 5, 84 þeídŋ παρθενίης· καὶ τί πλέον; οὐ γὰρ ἐς yàp ᾅδην ἐλθοῦσ ̓ εὑρήσεις τὸν φιλέ[ οντα, κορή. | ἐν ζωοῖσι τὰ τερπνὰ τὰ Κύπριδος· ἐν δ ̓ ̓Αχέροντι | ὀστέα καὶ σποδιή, παρθένε, κεισόμεθα. 'Thou sparest thy maidenhood, and what advantage? For when thou goest to Hades, maid, thou wilt not there find thy lover. Among the living only are the delights of

Quis scit an adiciant hodiernae crastina summae

Cuncta manus avidas fugient heredis, amico

Cum semel occideris et de te splendida Minos fecerit arbitria,

non, Torquate, genus, non te facundia, non te restituet pietas.

Infernis neque enim tenebris Diana pudicum liberat Hippolytum,

nec Lethaea valet Theseus abrumpere caro vincula Pirithoo.

8

The two following odes treat a single theme--the immortality of song. 'Bronzes, marbles, pictures I have none to give, good friend Censorinus, nor wouldst thou desire them. Song is thy delight, and song I can bestow. The chiseled record of men's deeds is weaker than the Muse. Through her gift the great ones of the past escaped oblivion, and have their place in heaven.'

C. Marcius Censorinus, cos. 8 B.C., is known only from these verses and a single reference in Velleius. It has been conjectured not without reason that this ode was Horace's gift to his friend on the Calends of March or on the Saturnalia, when presents were exchanged as at our Christmas. Metre, 53.

5

IO

Donarem pateras grataque commodus,
Censorine, meis aera sodalibus,

donarem tripodas, praemia fortium
Graiorum, neque tu pessima munerum
ferres, divite me scilicet artium

quas aut Parrhasius protulit aut Scopas,
hic saxo, liquidis ille coloribus

sollers nunc hominem ponere, nunc deum.
Sed non haec mihi vis, non tibi talium
res est aut animus deliciarum egens:

1. donarem: the protasis is expressed in a general way by divite me v. 5, which, however, is closely joined with the words that follow

5 f. ferres equivalent to auferres: cf. 3, 16, 22. - scilicet: that is, of course. - artium: works of art.- Parrhasius: a famous painter born at Ephesus, a contemporary in Athens of Socrates. - Scopas: of Paros, a distinguished sculptor in the first half of the fourth century B.C.

8. ponere: at representing. For the mood, see Intr. 108.

9 f. non haec, etc.: I have not the power (to give such presents). Cf. Epod. 5, 94. aut animus: estate or tastes. That is,

- res

15

gaudes carminibus; carmina possumus.
donare et pretium dicere muneri.
Non incisa notis marmora publicis,
per quae spiritus et vita redit bonis
post mortem ducibus, non celeres fugae
reiectaeque retrorsum Hannibalis minae,
non incendia Carthaginis impiae

Censorinus is rich enough to buy
these rare things if he desired,
but is too simple in his tastes to
wish them. deliciarum: curios,
with disparaging force.

11. Horace will bring a gift which will please his friend, but such as money cannot buy.

The

12. pretium dicere muneri: tell the worth of, set a price on. common expression is pretium statuere, ponere. The following verses state the worth. The thought is the same as in Epist. 2, 1, 248 ff.

13 ff. Neither inscribed statues nor great deeds in war have secured Scipio the fame which he has gained from Ennius' poem.' –

...

spirantia mollius aera, | credo equidem, vivos ducent de marmore voltus.- non fugae, reiectae minae, incendia: all these confer fame, and might secure the memory of the leader under whom they were accomplished; yet all are inferior to song. fugae: from Italy or after the battle of Zama, or both. - reiectae . . . minae: Hannibal's threats against Rome were hurled back by the reduction of Carthage. incendia, etc.: this verse has troubled critics, both because it has no diaeresis and because the burning of Carthage was not accomplished until 146 B.C., when the Scipio who brought the Second Punic war to an end had been dead for seventeen, and Ennius, who celebrated his fame, for five years. It was the younger Scipio Aemilianus who razed Carthage. However, Horace may have consciously taken the name Scipio Africanus - inherited by the younger-simply as typical of one who had won great fame in war. Yet vv. 18 f. can strictly only apply to the elder Scipio.

— impiae: cf. n. to 4, 4, 46.