CARMEN XXIX. AD MECENATEM. TYRRHENA regum progenies, tibi Jam dudum apud me est. Eripe te mora; 5 Ne semper udum Tibur, et Æsulæ Declive contempleris arvum, et Telegoni juga parricidæ. Fastidiosam desere copiam et Molem propinquam nubibus arduis ; 10 Omitte mirari beatæ Fumum et opes strepitumque Romæ. Plerumque gratæ divitibus vices, Mundæque parvo sub lare pauperum 15 Cœnæ, sine aulæis et ostro, Sollicitam explicuere frontem. Jam clarus occultum Andromeda pater 20 Circæa monia. Epod. i. 30. 10. molem, Mæcenas's house, which was on the Esquiline. It was remarkable for a tower of unusual height; its commanding view is implied, ver. 7. 16. explicuere,' can smooth.' Gr. ἐκτάνυσαι. ούτε παρειάων ἐκτανύσεις ῥυτίδας. Lucil. Epigr. in Anth. 17. Andromeda pater, Cepheus. The rising of these stars is in July. Jam pastor umbras cum grege languido Ripa vagis taciturna ventis. Tu civitatem quis deceat status Fas trepidat. Quod adest memento In mare, nunc lapides adesos, Stirpesque raptas, et pecus et domos Clamore vicinæque silvæ, Quum fera diluvies quietos Irritat amnes. Ille potens sui Lætusque deget, cui licet in diem 27. Seres. Carm. 1. xii. 56. regnata Cyro. See note on Carm. 1. ii. 22. The sense of the stanza is: You, at this period of relaxation, are unceasing in your care for the public peace, and the foreign relations of the state. But look not too forward; make sure of (quod adest) the present.' 33. fluminis ritu, &c. See Gray, Progress of Poesy, st. 1., an imita 25 30 35 40 42. in diem, at the close of every day;' not vixi in diem. 43. vixi. Cp. Martial, Ep. v. 58: Cras te victurum, cras dicis, Postume, semper: Dic mihi cras istud, Postume, quando venit? * * Cras vives hodie jam vivere, Pos- "Vel sole puro: non tamen irritum, Quod fugiens semel hora vexit." Fortuna sævo læta negotio, et Nunc mihi, nunc alii benigna. Laudo manentem: si celeres quatit Non est meum, si mugiat Africis Addant avaro divitias mari. 59. votis pacisci, 'to make a bargain in prayer with the gods.' Cp. prece poscis emaci, Pers. Sat. ii. 3. 62. biremis præsidio scaphæ. Biremis here used, not of a bireme (i. e. a ship with two banks of oars), but of a two-oared boat, in which, if the ship is wrecked, the passenger may escape. The sense is, even in the wreck of my fortunes I shall be unhurt.' 64. geminus Pollux. Carm. I. iii. 2. CARMEN XXX. EXEGI monumentum ære perennius, Quod non imber edax, non Aquilo impotens Non omnis moriar, multaque pars mei Quæsitam meritis, et mihi Delphica 5 10 15 tacitâ virgine, the Vestal vir gins. de10. dicar qua violens . . duxisse. i. e. it will be the boast of my countrymen (the Apulians), that I first adapted the poetry of Æolia (see Carm. 1. i. 34.) to Italian measures. 11. Daunus, the ancient legendary king of Apulia. 6 pauper aquæ. So Epod. iii. 16. 12. ex humili potens, raised from obscurity to fame.' 16. volens. Ex formulâ publicâ Dum domus Æneæ Capitoli immo-"volens propitius:" Gesn. (as in bile saxum Accolet. Liv. vii. 26.). Q. HORATII FLACCI CARMINUM LIBER QUARTUS. CARMEN I. AD VENEREM. INTERMISSA, Venus, diu Rursus bella moves? Parce, precor, precor. Non sum, qualis eram bonæ Sub regno Cinaræ. Desine, dulcium Mater sæva Cupidinum, Circa lustra decem flectere mollibus Jam durum imperiis. Abi, Quo blandæ juvenum te revocant preces. Paulli, purpureis ales oloribus, ODE I. 4. Cinare, a real person apparently, mentioned again, Carm. iv. xiii. 21. bonæ. Explained by Orelli from Tibull. II. iv. 45.: bona quæ nec avara ... Cp. Epist. I. xiv. 33. 5. Carm. 1. xix. 1. 6. circa lustra decem, at 50 years old.' In Carm. 11. iv. 24., Horace marks his 40th year by a similar phrase. Olympias is sometimes used as lustrum: Ov. Ex P. 1v. vi. 5., quinquennis Olympias; and Trist. IV. x. 96., 5 10 |