of as alive: but though the latter date may be considered certain it is impossible to say whether some Odes may not have been written or partly written considerably before B.C. 30. The fourth Book was published about B.C. 13 being separated from the other three by a considerable interval, as is shewn by internal evidence' and definitely stated by Suetonius-Scripta ejus usque adeo probavit (Augustus) mansuraque perpetuo opinatus est ut non modo sæculare carmen componendum injunxerit, sed et Vindelicam victoriam Tiberii Drusique privignorum suorum, eumque coegerit propter hoc tribus carminum libris ex longo intervallo quartum addere. The Carmen Sæculare is a Sapphic Ode written to be sung publicly by a chorus of youths and maidens in the great 'Secular Games' exhibited by Augustus B.C. 172. All Latin poetry (except Satire) is copied from Greek models. Terence copies Menander, Propertius Callimachus, Lucretius Empedocles, Virgil Hesiod and Homer: so Horace in the Odes copies the Greek lyric writers. The sportive lays of Anacreon, 1 Cf. 4. 1. 1 intermissa, Venus, diu | rursus bella moves; the vocabulary too is considerably altered and there is a marked difference in the prosody. The full description of these games is given in an inscription, discovered in 1890, printed in Lanciani's Pagan and Christian Rome. occasionally the dirges of Simonides, but above all the passionate love-songs of Sappho and the patriotic odes of Alcæus are the models which he follows'. Sometimes he copies his model very closely especially at the beginning of an Ode (e.g. in Odes 9, 14 and 37 of Book I.), but as a whole it may be said that the form and outline of his Odes are copied rather than the details. The Odes may be roughly divided into two classes according as they are of a light or of a serious character. The former deal with love, wine, friendship; the latter are addressed to some eminent personage or are written by command' to celebrate some public event or advocate some public policy. The one exhibit grace, polish, elegance; the other aim at imposing stateliness and sonorous dignity. The two varieties are wholly different, and it would be as foolish to compare the lyrics of Herrick or Sir John Suckling with, say, Tennyson's Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington as to compare such exquisite gems as 1. 5 (quis multa...) or 3. 9 (donec gratus...) with the Roman-Odes at the commencement of the third Book. The characteristics of the Odes are (1) their wonderful charm of rhythm, and (2) their perfect literary finish. With regard to the first point 1 Pindar he makes no attempt to copy, for he knew that the 'Theban eagle' soared on pinions stronger than his own. Horace was proudly conscious' of the skill with which he had overcome the difficult task of adapting Greek metres to the requirements of the Latin tongue. To examine in detail how far he has succeeded would require a treatise, but anyone who will compare his Alcaics with those of Alcaus' will see that his Alcaic stanza is, though a copy, at the same time almost a new creation, the stately third line especially, which bears the weight of the stanza, being so changed that its original trochaic movement (see quotation in note) is hardly recognizable. The lofty ring and rhythmic force of Horace's best Odes in this metre has never been approached. The literary finish of the Odes has been acknowledged in all ages. Their apparently happy ease is really the result of infinite pains. Horace had no belief in geniuses who dash off verses. The poet must have natural power (ingenium) but technical skill (ars) is also indispensable and above all pains: 'correct',' 'erase,' 'polish', 'prune,' is Horace's κάββαλλε τὸν χείμων, ἐπὶ μὲν τίθεις πῦρ, ἐν δὲ κίρναις οἶνον ἀφειδέως μέλιχρον, αὐτὰρ ἀμφὶ κόρσα μάλθακον ἀμφιτίθεις γνόφαλλον. * curiosa felicitas Horatii, Petronius. constant cry; 'give back the verses to the anvil',' 'lock them up in your desk for nine years',' 'cut down and correct ten times until no criticism can find a flaw'.' The result of all this labour, in Horace's case, is that his verses seem perfectly unlaboured. Hence it is that they have for ages at once tempted and defied translation: it seems perfectly easy to reproduce them and it is, in fact, so hard that not one translation in a hundred is more than readable. This is not the highest praise, for the noblest poetry does not depend on form, and translations of Job or of Isaiah, of Homer or Lucretius may be not unworthy of the original, but it does shew that the shape in which Horace presents his ideas is of unsurpassed excellence. Indeed the strength, terseness and lucidity of Latin render it an unrivalled instrument for the expression of simple truths with monumental dignity and force: add therefore to complete mastery of such an instrument complete mastery of metrical effect, and it is clear how some of the Odes cling more readily to the memory than almost any poetry in the world. As however the technical skill of Horace is undoubted, so, on the other hand, he does not exhibit great powers of imagination. He is not a great creative poet; there are few new ideas in the Odes. 1 A. P. 441 incudi reddere versus. 2 A. P. 388 nonumque prematur in annum. 3 A. P. 294 perfectum decies...castigavit ad unguem. ! Some critics in consequence deny him all real poetical talent and treat him only as a versifier; Goethe, for instance, speaks of him as possessing technical skill 'side by side with a frightful realism, without any genuine poetry especially in the Odes'.' But this criticism is overdone. In the Regulus-Ode (3. 5) there is real poetic power and the closing stanzas exhibit true creative genius. In such a line as dulce et decorum est pro patria mori (3. 2. 13) there is something more than mere mastery over words, while in such a stanza as quo pinus ingens albaque populus lympha fugax trepidare rivo? there is 'realism' no doubt but to call it 'frightful realism' is absurd, and if the last seven words are not poetry it would be hard to say what is. It is needless however to pursue the question. Horace's own prophecy Non omnis moriar has been splendidly fulfilled, and the praise of nineteen centuries makes rash criticism of the Odes recoil upon the critic. His may not be a master mind, but he has succeeded in saying some common things better perhaps than they will ever be said again. Those who only respect what they do not understand will not esteem him 1 F. W. Riemer, Mittheilungen über Goethe, 11. 644, nebst einer furchtbaren Realität, ohne alle eigentliche Poezie besonders in den Oden. |