HORAT. OD. LIB. V. OD. II.

VITE RUSTICE LAUDES.

Beatus ille, qui procul negotiis,
Ut prisca gens mortalium,
Paterna rura bobus exercet suis,
Solutus omni fænore:

Nec excitatur classico miles truci,
Nee horret iratum mare:
Forumque vitat, et superba civium
Potentiorum limina.

Ergo aut adultâ vitium propagine
Altas maritat populos:
Inutilesque falce ramos amputans,
Feliciores inserit:

Aut in reducta valle mugientium

Prospectat errantes greges:

Aut pressa puris mella condit amphoris,
Aut tondet infirmas oves:

Vei cum decorum mitibus pomis caput
Autumnus arvis extulit:

Ut gaudet insitiva decerpens pyra,

Certantem et uvam purpuræ,
Quâ muneretur te, Priape, et te, paler
Sylvane, tutor finium!
Libet jacere modò sub antiqua ilice;
Modò in tenaci gramine.
Labuntur altis interim ripis aquæ :
Queruntur in sylvis aves,

Fontesque lymphis obstrepunt manantibus,
Somnos quod invitet leves.

At cum tonentis annus hybernus Jovis
Imbres nivesque comparat;

Aut trudit acres hinc, et hinc multâ cane
Apros in obstantes plagas:

Aut amite levi rara tendit retia;

Turdis edacibus dolos;

Pavidumque leporem, et advenam laqueo gruem,
Jucunda captat præmia:

Quis non malarum, quas amor curas habet,
Hæc inter obliviscitur?

Quòd si pudica mulier in partem juvet

Domum, atque dulces liberos,

(Sabina qualis, aut perusta solibus
Pernicis uxor Appuli)

Sacrum vetusti extruat lignis focum
Lassi sub adventum viri:

Claudensque textis cratibus lætum pecus
Distenta siccet ubera;

Et horna dulci vina promens dolio,
Dapes inemptas apparet ;

Non me Lucrina juverint conchylia,
Magisve rhombus, aut scari,
Si quos Eois intonata fluctibus

Hyems ad hoc vertat mare:

Non Afra avis descendat in ventrem meum
Non attagen Ionicus,

Jucundior, quam lecta de pinguissimis
Oliva ramis arborum:

Aut herba lapathi prata amantis, et gravi
Malva salubres corpori;

Vel agna festis cæsa Terminalibus:
Vel hædus ereptus lupo.

Has inter epulas, ut juvat pastas oves
Videre properanteis domum!
Videre fessos vomerem inversum boves
Collo trahentes languido !

THE

PRAISES OF A COUNTRY LIFE.

Happy is he, that from all business clear,
As the old race of mankind were,
With his own oxen tills his sire's left lands,
And is not in the usurer's bands:
Nor soldier-like, started with rough alarms,

Nor dreads the sea's enraged harms: [boards,
But flies the bar and courts, with the proud
And waiting-chambers of great lords.
The poplar tall he then doth marrying twine
With the grown issue of the vine;
And with his hook lops off the fruitless race,
And sets more happy in the place:
Or in the bending vale beholds afar

The lowing herds there grazing are: Or the prest honey in pure pots doth keep Of earth, and shears the tender sheep: [round Or when that autumn through the fields lifts His head, with mellow apples crown'd, How plucking pears, his own hand grafted had, And purple-matching grapes, he's glad! With which, Priapus, he may thank thy hands, And, Sylvan, thine, that kept'st his lands! Then now beneath some ancient oak he may Now in the rooted grass him lay, Whilst from the higher banks do slide the floods The soft birds quarrel in the woods, The fountains murmur as the streams do creep, And all invite to easy sleep. [showers Then when the thund'ring Jove his snow and Are gathering by the wintry hours: [hourd Or hence, or thence, he drives with many a Wild boars into his toils pitch'd round: Or strains on his small fork his subtle nets

For th' eating thrush, or pit-falls sets: [crane, And snares the fearful hare, and new-come And 'counts them sweet rewards so ta'en. Who amongst these delights, would not forget Love's cares so evil and so great?

But if, to boot with these, a chaste wife meet
For household aid, and children sweet;
Such as the Sabines, or a sun-burnt blowse,
Some lusty quick Apulian's spouse,

To deck the hallow'd hearth with old wood fired
Against the husband comes home tired;
That penning the glad flock in hurdles by,
Their swelling udders doth draw dry:
And from the sweet tub wine of this year takes,
And unbought viands ready makes.
Not Lucrine oysters I could then more prize,
Nor turbot, nor bright golden eyes:

If with bright floods, the winter troubled much,
Into our seas send any such :

The Ionian godwit, nor the ginny-hen

Could not go down my belly then
More sweet than olives, that new-gather'd be
From fattest branches of the tree:

Or the herb sorrel, that loves meadows still,
Or mallows loosing bodies ill:

Or at the feast of bounds, the lamb then slain,
Or kid forc'd from the wolf again,
Among these cates how glad the sight doth come
Of the fed flocks approaching home:
To view the weary oxen draw, with bare
And fainting necks, the turned share!

Positosque vernas, ditis examen domûs,

Circum renidentes lares!

Hæc ubi locutus, fæenerator Alphius,
Jam jam futurus rusticus,
Omnem relegit Idibus pecuniam;
Quærit calendis ponere.

The wealthy household swarm of bondmen met,
And 'bout the steaming chimney sot!
These thoughts when usurer Alphius, now about
To turn mere farmer, had spoke cut;
'Gainst the ides, his moneys he gets in with pain,
At the calends puts all out again.

HORACE, ODE I. LIB. IV.

AD VENEREM.

Intermissa Venus diu,

Parce precor, precor:

Rursus bella moves?
Non sum qualis eram bonæ
Sub regno Cynara: desine dulcium,
Mater sava Cupidinum,

Circa lustra decem flectere mollibus
Jam durum imperiis: abi

Quò blande juvenum te revocant preces.

Tempestivius in domo

Pauli purpureis ales oloribus, Comessabere Maximi,

Si torrere jecur quæris idoneum. Namque et nobilis, et decens,

Et pro solicitis non tacitus reis,

Et centum puer artium,

Latè signa feret militiæ tuæ. Et quandoque potentior

Largi muneribus riserit æmuli, Albanos prope te lacus

Ponet marmoream sub trabe cypreâ. Illic plurima naribus

Duces thura, lyræque, et Berecynthia Delectabere tibiâ

Mistis carminibus non sine fistula. Illic bis pueri die,

Numen cum teneris virginibus tuum Laudantes, pede candido

In morem Salium ter quatient humum.

Me nec fœmina nec puer

Jam, nec spes animi credula mutui,

Nec certare juvat mero:

Nec vincire novis tempora floribus.

Sed cur, heu! Ligurine, cur

Manat rara meas lachryma per genas?

Cur facunda parum decoro

Inter verba cadit lingua silentio !

Nocturnis te ego somniis

Jam captum teneo, jam volucrem sequor

Te per gramina Martii

Campi, te per aquas, dure, volubiles.

ODE I. BOOK IV

TO VENUS.

Venus, again thou mov'st a war

Long intermitted, pray thee, pray thee spare: I am not such, as in the reign

Of the good Cynara I was: refrain Sour mother of sweet Loves, forbear

To bend a man now at his fiftieth year

[back.

Too stubborn for commands so slack:
Go where youth's soft entreaties call thee
More timely hie thee to the house,

With thy bright swans, of Paulus Maximus :
There jest and feast, make him thine host,
If a fit liver thou dost seek to toast:

For he's both noble, lovely, young,

And for the troubled client fills his tongue. Child of a hundred arts, and far

Will he display the ensigns of thy war. And when he smiling finds his grace

With thee 'bove all his rivals' gifts take placc, He'll thee a marble statue make

Beneath a sweet-wood roof near Alba lake, There shall thy dainty nostril take

In many a gum, and for thy soft ears' sake Shall verse be set to harp and lute,

And Phrygian hau'boy, not without the flute. There twice a day in sacred lays,

The youths and tender maids shall sing thy And in the Salian manner meet [praise.

Thrice 'bout thy altar with their ivory feet. Me now, nor wench, nor wanton boy,

Delights, nor credulous hope of mutual joy· Nor care I now healths to propound,

Or with fresh flowers to girt my temple round But why, oh why, my Ligurine, [of mine? Flow my thin tears down these pale cheeks Or why my well-grac'd words among

With an uncomely silence fails my tongue? Hard-hearted, I dream every night [light,

I hold thee fast! but fled hence, with the Whether in Mars his field thou be,

Or Tyber's winding streams, I follow thee

ODE IX. LIB. III. AD LYDIAM.

DIALOGUS HORATII ET LYDIE.

Hor. Donec gratus eram tibi,
Nec quisquam potior brachia candida
Cervici juvenis dabat ;
Persarum vigui rege beatior.

ODE IX. BOOK III. TO LYDIA.
DIALOGUE OF HORACE AND LYDIA.

Hor. Whilst, Lydia, I was lov'd of thee,
And 'bout thy ivory neck no youth did fling
His arms more acceptably free,
I thought me richer than the Persian kir.g

Lyd. Donec non aliâ magis

Arsisti, neque erat Lydia post Chloën,
Multi Lydia nominis
Romana vigui clarior Iliâ.

Hor. Me nunc Thressa Chloe regit,
Dulces docta modos et cithara sciens:

Pro qua non metuam mori,
Si parcent animæ fata superstiti.

Lyd. Me torret face mutud

Thurini Calais filius Ornithi:

Pro quo his patiar mori,
Si parcent puero fata superstiti.

Hor. Quid si prisca redit Venus,
Diductosque jugo cogit aheneo?
Si flava excutitur Chloë,
Rejectaque patet janua Lydiæ?
Lyd. Quamquam sidere pulchrior
Ille est, tu levior cortice, et improbo
Iracundior Adriâ,

Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens.

Lyd. Whilst Horace lov'd no mistress more, Nor after Chloe did his Lydia sound;

In name, I went all names before, The Roman Ilia was not more renown'd. Hor. 'Tis true, I'm Thracian Chloe's I, [plays Who sings so sweet, and with such cunning As, for her, I'ld not fear to die,

So fate would give her life, and longer days Lyd. And I am mutually on fire

With gentle Calais, Thurine Ornith's son, For whom I doubly would expire, So fate would let the boy a long thread run. Hor. But say old love return should make,

And us disjoin'd force to her brazen yoke, That I bright Chloe off should shake, And to left Lydia, now the gate stood ope? Lyd. Though he be fairer than a star; Thou lighter than the bark of any tree, And than rough Adria angrier far; Yet would I wish to love, live, die with thee.

FRAGMENTUM PETRON. ARBITR. Foeda est in coitu, et brevis voluptas, Et tædet Veneris statim peractæ. Non ergo ut pecudes libidinosa, Caci protinus irruamus illuc : Nam languescit amor peritque flamma, Sed sic, sic, sine fine feriati, Et tecum jaceamus osculantes: Hic nullus labor est, ruborque nullus ; Hoc juvit, juvat, et diu juvabit: Hoc non deficit, incipitque semper.

FRAGMENT OF PETRON. ARBITER TRANSLATED. Doing, a filthy pleasure is, and short; And done, we straight repent us of the sport: Let us not then rush blindly on unto it, Like lustful beasts that only know to do it: For lust will languish, and that heat decay. But thus, thus, keeping endless holiday, Let us together closely lie and kiss, There is no labor, nor no shame in this; This hath pleas'd, doth please, and long will please; never Can this decay, but is beginning ever.

EPIGRAMMA MARTIALIS, Lib. viii. ep. 77. Liber, amicorum dulcissima cura tuorum, Liber in æterna vivere digne rosa; Si sapis, Assyrio semper tibi crinis amomo Splendeat, et cingant florea serta caput : Candida nigrescant vetulo crystalla Falerno, Et caleat blando mollis amore thorus. Qui sic, vel medio finitus vixit in ævo,

Longior huic facta est, quam data vita fuit.

EPIGRAM OF MARTIAL, viii. 77. — TRANSLATED.
Liber, of all thy friends, thy sweetest care,
Thou worthy in eternal flower to fare,
If thou be'st wise, with Syrian oil let shine
Thy locks, and rosy garlands crown thy head.
Dark thy clear glass with old Falernian wine,
And heat with softest love thy softer Ded.
He, that but living half his days, dies such,
Makes his life longer than 'twas given him,

much.

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Cognit. univers. In being able to counsel others, a man must be furnished with an universal store in himself, to the knowledge of all nature that is the matter, and seed plot; there are the scats of all argument, and invention. But especially you must be cunning in the nature of man: there is the variety of things which are as the elements, and letters, which his art and wisdom must rank, and order to the present occasion. For we see not all letters in single words; nor all places in particular discourses. That cause seldom happens, wherein a man will use all arguments.

Consiliarii adjunct. Probitas, Sapientia. The two chief things that give a man reputation in counsel, are the opinion of his honesty, and the opinion of his wisdom: the authority of those two will persuade, when the same counsels uttered by other persons less qualified, are of no efficacy, or working.

Wisdom without honesty is mere b craft, and cozenage. And therefore the reputation of honesty must first be gotten; which cannot be but by living well. A good life is main argument.

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Obsequentia. - Humanitas.—Solicitudo.-Next a good life, to beget love in the persons we counsel, by dissembling our knowledge of ability in ourselves, and avoiding all suspicion of arrogance, ascribing all to their instruction, as an ambassador to his master, or a subject to his sovereign; seasoning all with humanity and sweetness, only expressing care and solicitude. And not to counsel rashly, or on the sudden, but with advice and meditation: (Dat nox consilium.) For many foolish things fall from wise men, if they speak in haste, or be extemporal. It therefore behoves the giver of counsel to be circumspect; especially to beware of those, with whom he is not thoroughly acquainted, lest any spice of rashness, folly, or self-love appear, which will be marked by new persons, and men of experience in affairs.

Modestia. Parrhesia. And to the prince, or his superior, to behave himself modestly, and with respect. Yet free from flattery, or empire. Not with insolence, or precept; but as the prince were already furnished with the parts he should have, especially in affairs of state. For in other things they will more easily suffer themselves to be taught, or reprehended⚫ they will not willingly contend. But hear (with

Alexander) the answer the musician gave him Absit, 6 rex, ut tu meliùs hæc scias, quàm egc.1

Perspicuitas. Elegantia. - A man should soj deliver himself to the nature of the subject whereof he speaks, that his hearer may take knowledge of his discipline with some delight: and so apparel fair and good matter, that the studious of elegancy be not defrauded; redeem arts from their rough and brakey seats, where they lay hid, and overgrown with thorns, to a pure, open, and flowery light; where they may take the eye, and be taken by the hand.

Natura non effata. - I cannot think Nature is so spent and decayed, that she can bring forth nothing worth her former years. She is always the same, like herself; and when she collects her strength, is abler still. Men are decayed, and studies: she is not.

Non nimiùm credendum antiquitati. — I know JA nothing can conduce more to letters, than to examine the writings of the ancients, and not to rest in their sole authority, or take all upon trust from them; provided the plagues of judg ing and pronouncing against them be away; such as are envy, bitterness, precipitation, impudence, and scurril scoffing. For to all the observations of the ancients, we have our own experience; which if we will use, and apply, we have better means to pronounce. It is true they opened the gates, and made the way that went before us; but as guides, not commanders; Non domini nostri, sed duces jutre. Truth lies open to all; it is no man's several. Patet omnibus veritas; nondum est occupata. Multum ez illâ, etiam futuris 1 elicta cst.

Dissentire licet, sed cum ratione. If in some i things I dissent from others, whose wit, industry, diligence, and judgment I look up at, and admire; let me not therefore hear presently of ingratitude, and rashness. For I thank those that have taught me, and will ever: but yet dere not think the scope of their labor and inquiry was to envy their posterity, what they also could add, and find out.

Non mihi credendum sed veritati. — If I err, pardon me: Nulla ars simul et inventa est, et abcoluta. I do not desire to be equal to those that went before; but to have my reason examined with theirs, and so much faith to be given them, or me, as those shall evict. I am neither author nor fautor of any sect. I will have no man addict himself to me; but if I have any thing right, defend it as Truth's, not mine, save as i' conduceth to a common good. It profits not me to have any man fence or fight for me, to flourish, or take my side. Stand for Truth, and 'tis enough.

Scientiæ liberales. Arts that respect the 23 mind, were ever reputed nobler than those that serve the body: though we less can be without them. As tillage, spinning, weaving, building, &c., without which, we could scarce sustain life a day. But these were the works of every hand; the other of the brain only, and those the most generous and exalted wits and spirits, that cannot rest, or acquiesce. The mind of man is still fed with labor — Opere fascitur.

1 Plutarch in vita Alex.