Lucius Licinius Murena, to whom this Ode is inscribed, was son of Murena, the client of Cicero, and, being adopted by Aulus Terentius Varro, assumed the name of Aulus Terentius Varro Murena. He is supposed by some to have been the brother, and by others the cousin, of that Gaius Proculeius whose generosity to his brothers is so honourably commemorated in the second Ode of this Book. Licinius appears to have been of a restless and aspiring disposition, which perpetually involved him in political conspiracy and intrigue, till at last he was convicted by Tiberius of participation in a plot formed by him, along with Fannius Caepio, against the life of Augustus; and, notwithstanding the intercession of Proculeius, and of Terentia, his own sister by adoption, and the wife of Maecenas, he was put to death, A.U.C. 734. Horace, as if prescient of his fate, here warns him of the dangers attending those enterprises into which he was apt to be hurried by his fiery and adventurous spirit, and advises him to choose the golden mean as the most effectual method of attaining a secure and happy life. RECTIUS Vives, Licini, neque altum 17. desine, poetic. accord. to the Greek παύειν and λήγειν with the genit. querelarum. 21. sq. construe: et (cantemus) Medum flumen, additum victis gentibus volvere minores vertices, and how the (Parthian) river Medus, added to the list of conquered nations, rolls smaller waves,' i. e. flows onward with humbler wave. 23. intra praescriptum, i. e. within the limits prescribed to them by the Romans. 24. equitare, with regard to the skill in riding for which those tribes were celebrated (comp. above C. 1, 2, 51: Neu sinas Medos equitare inultos). เ Carm.10.-1. rectius, i. e. magis convenienter naturae (comp. below Ep. 1, 10, 12), more properly' (elliptically, supply: than following an opposite course of life")-altum, i. e. mare. 3 and 4. nimium premendo litus ini Auream quisquis mediocritatem Saepius ventis agitatur ingens Pinus, et celsae graviore casu Sperat infestis, metuit secundis Pectus. Informes hiemes reducit 15 Summovet. Non, si male nunc, et olim Rebus angustis animosus atque CARM. 10.-6. Diligit tutus, caret, Bentl.-10. excelsae (inst. of et celsae), some edd. 12. fulmina, some Codd.-18. citharae, some Codd., Bentl. quum (sc. propter vada et scopulos) i. e. by keeping too near, to hug the perilous shore.' 5. mediocritas, like the Greek peoórns, the right middle state between two extremes, 'the mean' (comp. Cic. Off. 1, 25: mediocritatem illam tenere quae est inter nimium et parum); Horace speaks here of the right mean in the care for fortune. 6. sq. tutus 'safe,' and sobrius 'sober,' express beautifully the state of mind in either condition (of oppressive poverty or maddening wealth and luxury) remark the expressive repetition of the verb caret, and the opposition of obsoletum tectum and invidenda aula (with the latter comp. C. 3, 1, 45: invidendis postibus). 9. note saepius and ingens, put em 10 5 Contrahes vento nimium secundo CARMEN XIII. IN ARBOREM, CUJUS CASU PAENE OPPRESSUS FUERAT. Variously dated from A.U.c. 724 to 733. The poet begins with a serio-comic imprecation of curses upon a tree, by the unexpected fall of which he had been nearly crushed to death on his Sabine farm. He afterwards proceeds to moralize on the uncertainty of human life, the blessedness of the pious in Elysium, and the enjoyment felt even by the wicked in Tartarus, who are allowed to listen to the strains of Sappho and Alcaeus. See also Odes II. 17, 27; III. 4. 27; III. 8.8. ILLE et nefasto te posuit die, Quicumque primum, et sacrilegâ manu Perniciem opprobriumque pagi; Illum et parentis crediderim sui Hospitis; ille venena Colcha Et quidquid usquam concipitur nefas In domini caput immerentis. CARM. 13.-1. Illum, o, nefasto, Bentl. conj.-8. Colchica, some Codd. 5 10 illum in the beginning of the verse, after ille in verse 1; and again ille in v. 8. 8. Colcha, alluding to the poisoner Medea, a native of Colchis. 10. tractavit praeparavit, miscuit. 11. triste = infelix, sorry, unlucky, fatal'-caducum, poetic. casurum, 'destined to fall' (on the head of thy master). Quid quisque vitet, numquam homini satis Cautum est in horas: navita Bosporum Poenus perhorrescit neque ultra Caeca timet aliunde fata, Miles sagittas et celerem fugam Vis rapuit rapietque gentes. Quam paene furvae regna Proserpinae Sappho puellis de popularibus, Dura fugae mala, dura belli. 17. reducem (inst. of celerem), Bentl. conj.-23. descriptas, some Codd. 14. cautum in horas (sc. singulas), 1, 2, 43; labitur et labetur, and ib. 1, 'is on his guard every moment'navita Poenus, i. e. Phoenician (Sidonian or Tyrian)-Bosporum, sc. Thracium, 'the Thracian Bosporus.' 16. caeca obscura, occulta, hidden'-timét, the last syllable lengthened by the arsis. 17. miles, i. e. Romanus-sagittas et celerem fugam, i. e. the arrows which the Parthians shot in their (feigned) flight, (comp. Virg. G. 3, 31: Fidentemque fugâ Parthum versisque sagittis). 8. Italum, belongs to catenas as well as to robur. 19. robur, here carcer, the prison at Rome, called also Tullianum (comp. Sall. Catil. 55). 20. rapuit rapietque, a frequent rhetorical turn (namely, to express the continuance of an action by the perf or pres. and future tense of the same verb), as below C. 4, 2, 38: quo nihil majus...fata donavere...nec dabunt; Ep. 7, 21 tulit et feret; comp. also Virg. A. 6, 617: sedet aeternumque sedebit. 'the 21. quam paene, belong together, 'how near' (was I to behold, &c.) 22. vidimus, i. e. Horace. 23. discretas (sc. a. Tartaro), abodes of the pious, separate from those of the wicked,' the Elysian fields, (comp. Virg. A. 8, 670: secretos pios). 24. Aeoliis fidibus, on the Lesbian lyre' (comp. the Excurs. II. to C. 1, 1.) 25. puellis de popularibus, of the maidens of her native country (who were less inclined to her friendship and love). On Sappho and Alcaeus see the Excurs. to this Ode. 26. plenius, in strains' loftier (as treating matters of higher interest). 27 and 28. note the beautiful repetition of dura. Utrumque sacro digna silentio Pugnas et exactos tyrannos Ďensum humeris bibit aure vulgus. Quid mirum, ubi illis carminibus stupens Demittit atras belua centiceps Aures, et intorti capillis Eumenidum recreantur angues? Quin et Prometheus et Pelopis parens Dulci laborum decipitur sono, Nec curat Orion leones Aut timidos agitare lyncas. 30 35 40 32. avida (inst. of humeris), Bentl. conj.-38. laborem, some Codd.-40. timidas, some Codd. 29. construe: Umbrae mirantur (= audiunt cum admiratione) utrumque (sc. Sappho et Alcaeum) dicere (= cantare) digna sacro silentio. 32. densum humeris, poetic. = confertissimum, crowded closely shoulder to shoulder' (comp. Virg. A. 10, 361: Concurrunt, haeret pede pes, densusque viro vir)-bibit aure, poetic. =audit cupidissime, imbibes with a more greedy ear.' 33. sq. construe: ubi (= siquidem ibi) belua centiceps (i. e. Cerberus), stupens illis carminibus, demittit ('hangs down') atras aures, et angues, intorti capillis (dative) Eumenidum, recreantur (sc. illis carminibus); comp. below C. 3, 11, 17 sq. |