Vina craterae, vetus ara multo

Fumat odore.

Ludit herboso pecus omne campo,
Quum tibi Nonae redeunt Decembres; 10

Jt is probable, though not certain, says Orellius, that Murena, the augur referred to in this Ode, was Horace's friend, Lucius Licinius Varro Muraena, the brother of Terentia, wife of Maecenas. This Muraena, whoever he may have been. appears to have celebrated his admissiom into the College of Angurs by entertaining his friends, of whom Horace was one, at a banquet; and the poet here rallies Telephus, the symposiarch, or one of the principal guests, on certain ill-timed discussions he had introduced in regard to subjects connected with Greciam antiquity ; and uvges him to direct or assist in the necessary prepara

{ions for the festivities of the evening.

This Ode was writtem probably about

A. U. c. 729 or 730, two years before the conspiracy of Muraena and Fammius

QUANTUM distet ab Inacho
Codrus, pro patria non timidus mori,

. 12. pardus, some Codd. (in allusiom to Isaiah 11. 6: Habitabit lupus cum agno,

et pardus cum haedo accubabit).

CARM. 19.—1. distat, some Codd.

cris, * to the goblet, the companion of
Venus.' Horace used the form cratera,
de. Virgil, crater, eris, thus below S. 2,
4, 80 : Sive gravis veteri craterae limus
adhaesit)--vetus, ' old, ancient,' includ-
img the meaning of venerable.
8. multo odore sc. turis, * with much
incense.'
13. inter audaces, &c., a picture of
ti;e greatest security enjoyed by the

flocks under the protection of the god.

15. pepulisse, aoristically for pellere (comp. above C. 1, 34, 16: posuisse gaudet)— fossor = Agricola seu vinitor —ter, i. e. damcing in a triple time.

Carm. 19.—1. qrutn':m distet, sc. tempore, * how far Codrus is removed ln time from Inachus.'

2. timidus, poetic. with theinfim. nori, * not afraid to die."

Narras, et genus Aeaci
Et pugnata sacro bella sub Ilio ;
Quo Chium pretio cadum

Mercemur, quis aquam temperet ignibus,

Quo praebente domum et quotâ
^ Pelignis caream frigoribus, taces.
Da lunae propere novae,
Da noctis mediae, da, puer, auguris
Murenae: tribus aut novem
Miscentur cyathis pocula commodis.
Qui Musas amat impares,
Ternos ter cyathos attonitus petet
Vates ; tres prohibet supra
Rixarum metuens tangere Gratia
Nudis juncta sororibus.
Insanire juvat: cur Berecyntiae
Cessant flamina tibiae ?
Cur pendet tacitâ fistula cum lyra?
Earcentes ego dexteras
Odi : sparge rosas ; audiat invidus
Dementem strepitum Lycus,

10

15

20

Et vicina seni non habilis Lyco.
Spissâ te nitidum comâ, 25

Puro te similem, Telephe, vespero
Tempestiva petit Rhode ;

Me lentus Glycerae torret amor meae.

12. miscentor, Bentl.—15. tris, Bentl.—27. Chloe, some Codd.

3. genus Aeaci, i. e. you relatethe genealogy, pedigree of the race of Aeacus.

6. quis aqua*m temperet ignιbus, i. e. quis balneum parabit.

7. quotó, sc. horâ.

8. Pelignis frigoribus = frigore, quale apudPelignos esse solet (i.e. very severe) - taces, note the expressive position of this verb atthe end of the whole phrase, in opposition to the verb narras, at the beginning of the third line.

9. da lunae novae (genit.), sc. * poculum ' or ' cyathum': give (me) a cup in honour of the new moon, &c. (comp. C. 3, 8, 13: sume cyathos amici sospitis).

12. commodis, poetic. = plenis, integris, * ful].'

14. attonitus, i. e. * enraptured.' 15. sq. construe: Gratia juncta nudis sororibus (= tres nudae Gratiaejunctae) metuens ricarum, prohibet tangere supra tres. 18. insanire = bacchari, * to rave'— (comp. above C. 2, 7, 27 : Non ego sanius Bacchabor Edonis, and below C. 4, 12, 28: Dulce est desipere in loco). 21. parcentes de.rteras, poetic. servos res ad convivium necessarias, vinum, flores, unguenta. parcius administrantes. 22. rosas, sc. hibernas. 24. non habilis = non apta, *ill-suited* (as much younger than he). 27. tempestiva, i. e. * we}]-suited ' (to thy youth).

The composition of this Ode is dated variously from A. U. c. 723 to 732. The poem is addressed to a wine-jar, which Horace had brought from the apotheca to drain its contents in the company of his friend Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus. Corvinus was born A. U. c. 685, and in the civil war joined the republican party under Brutus and Cassius. After the battle of Philippi, the remnant of the republicam party offered him the supreme command, which he refused. For some years subsequent to this period, he was an adherent of Antony ; after the peace of-Brundisium, he espoused the cause of Augustus; in the year 723, he was consul; in 727, after the conquest of the Aquitani, and the subjugation of the East, he celebrated his Aquitanian triumph. During the remainder of his life he applied himself to literary pursuits; and in the year of the

CARM. 21.—5. fetum numine (inst. of lectum nomine), Bentl. conj.—10. negligit, some Codd., Bentl.

Carm. 21.—1. nata, &c., i. e. pia testa (from v. 4= vinum) * brought into existence with me in the year when Manlius was consul' (i. e. B. c. 65, see Life).

2. querelas, ' complaint, lamentations' (on account ofunhappy love)— geris, * containest ' (in thyself the different affections, as it were, of sorrow or mirth).

3. ricam, i. e. the quarrels, brawls of the drinking companions.

4. pia, this epithet referring only to the last mentioned quality (of procuriug gentle sleep).

5. quocumque nomine (= quodcumque ad officium) lectum (= pressum atque conditum), * stored for whatever purpose.'

6. (testa) digna, poetic. with the infin. moveri (= promi) *worthy of being moved,' brought forth (from the cellar).

7. Corvino, i. e. the presence of Corvinus.

8. languidiora, i. e. mellower, older, (comp. C. 3, 16, 34: Bacchus in amphora languescit mihi).

9 madet, poetic. = imbutus est, * he is steeped in.'

Te Liber et, si laeta aderit, Venus
Segnesque nodum solvere Gratiae
Vivaeque producent lucernae,
Dum rediens fugat astra Phoebus.

The poet enumerates some of the attributes of Diana, consecrates to her a pine tree which overhung his Sabine villa, and vows to her the sacrifice of a boar at

MoNTIUM custos nemorumque, Virgo,

Quae laborantes utero puellas

Ter vocata audis adimisque leto,
IDiva triformis,

Imminens villae tua pinus esto, 5

Quam per exactos ego laetus annos

Verris obliquum meditantis ictum
Sanguine donem.

yeoman's wife, probably of Sabinum, who seems to have feared that her propitiatory sacrifices to the rural deities were too humble to secure their favourable interpositiom in behalf of her vineyards, corn-fields, and focks. The poet consoles her with the assurance that the merit of such a rite as that in which she was engaged consisted not in the material value of the oblation, but in the purity of heart and piety of intention with which it was presented.