Horace, Odes 1.1

Carm. 1.1.1Maecēnās atavīs ēdite rēgibus,
ō et praesidium et dulce decus meum:
sunt quōs curriculō pulverem Olympicum
collēgisse iuvat mētaque fervidīs
5ēvītāta rotīs palmaque nōbilis
terrārum dominōs ēvehit ad deōs;

Maecenas, born of royal ancestors, O both my protection and my sweet glory: there are those whom it delights to have gathered Olympic dust in the chariot race, and the turning-post just grazed by glowing wheels and the noble palm raise them, lords of the earth, to the gods;

Note. Metre: First Asclepiadean (every line the same: — — | — ⏑ ⏑ — | — ⏑ ⏑ — | ⏑ —). Odes 1.1 opens the collection with a dedication to Maecenas, Horace's patron. Word groups: atavīs ... rēgibus (ablative of origin, 'from ancestral kings'); sunt quōs ... iuvat, 'there are those whom it pleases'; mētaque fervidīs ēvītāta rotīs, 'the turning-post grazed by glowing wheels'; palmaque nōbilis ... ēvehit, 'and the noble palm raises (them)'. terrārum dominōs goes with ad deōs: the victors are carried up to the gods as lords of the earth.

Carm. 1.1.7hunc, sī mōbilium turba Quirītium
certat tergeminīs tollere honōribus,
illum, sī propriō condidit horreō
10quidquid dē Libycīs verritur āreīs.

this man is pleased if the crowd of fickle Romans strives to lift him with triple honours, that man if he has stored in his own granary whatever is swept from the threshing floors of Libya.

Note. The sentence still depends on iuvat from the line before: hunc (iuvat) sī ..., illum (iuvat) sī .... mōbilium turba Quirītium, 'the crowd of fickle citizens'; tergeminīs honōribus, the 'triple honours' of the political ladder (aedile, praetor, consul). Africa's threshing floors (Libycīs āreīs) fed Rome with grain: the second man is a grain speculator.

Carm. 1.1.11Gaudentem patriōs findere sarculō
agrōs Attalicīs condiciōnibus
numquam dēmoveās, ut trabe Cypriā
Myrtōum pavidus nauta secet mare.

The man who loves to split his ancestral fields with the hoe you could never, on all the terms of Attalus, dislodge so as to make him, a frightened sailor, cut the Myrtoan sea in a Cyprian ship.

Note. Gaudentem ... findere is the object of dēmoveās, 'you could not dislodge the man who loves to split ...'. Attalicīs condiciōnibus, 'on the terms of an Attalus': the kings of Pergamum were proverbially rich. ut ... secet is result: 'so that he would cut the sea'. The Myrtoan sea lay between Greece and the Cyclades.

Carm. 1.1.15Luctantem Īcariīs flūctibus Āfricum
mercātor metuēns ōtium et oppidī
laudat rūra suī;

The merchant, fearing the south-west wind as it wrestles with the Icarian waves, praises leisure and the countryside of his own town;

Note. Luctantem Icariīs flūctibus Āfricum: the object of metuēns, 'fearing the south-west wind wrestling with the Icarian waves' (the sea where Icarus fell). laudat ōtium et rūra oppidī suī: in a storm the merchant praises a quiet country life.

Carm. 1.1.17mox reficit ratēs
quassās indocilis pauperiem patī.

soon he repairs his battered ships, unable to learn to put up with poverty.

Note. indocilis pauperiem patī: indocilis takes an infinitive, 'unteachable in enduring poverty'. The point: the merchant's resolve lasts only until the storm is over.

Carm. 1.1.19Est quī nec veteris pōcula Massicī
20nec partem solidō dēmere dē diē
spernit, nunc viridī membra sub arbutō
strātus, nunc ad aquae lēne caput sacrae.

There is one who does not scorn cups of old Massic wine, nor taking a part out of the solid working day, his limbs stretched out now under a green arbutus, now by the gentle source of a sacred stream.

Note. Est quī ... spernit, 'there is one who does not scorn'. pōcula veteris Massicī, 'cups of old Massic' (a fine Campanian wine). partem solidō dēmere dē diē: to take a part out of the 'solid' (unbroken, working) day, i.e. to start drinking early. viridī membra sub arbutō strātus: strātus is middle in sense, 'having stretched out his limbs'; membra is accusative of respect or direct object of a middle participle. caput here is a 'source' or 'spring'.

Carm. 1.1.23Multōs castra iuvant et lituō tubae
permixtus sonitus bellaque mātribus
25dētestāta.

Many delight in the camp, in the sound of the trumpet mingled with the clarion, and in wars that mothers curse.

Note. Three subjects of iuvant: castra, sonitus (permixtus lituō tubae, 'of the trumpet mingled with the clarion'), and bella. bella mātribus dētestāta: perfect participle of a deponent used passively, 'wars cursed by mothers'; mātribus is dative of agent.

Carm. 1.1.25Manet sub Iove frīgidō
vēnātor tenerae coniugis inmemor,
seu vīsa est catulīs cerva fidēlibus
seu rūpit teretēs Marsus aper plagās.

The hunter stays out under the cold sky, forgetting his young wife, whether a hind has been sighted by his faithful hounds or a Marsian boar has broken the twisted nets.

Note. sub Iove frīgidō: Jupiter as the sky, 'under the cold sky'. tenerae coniugis inmemor, 'forgetful of his young wife'. seu ... seu, 'whether ... or'. catulīs fidēlibus is dative of agent with vīsa est. teretēs plagās, the 'smooth-twisted nets' used to trap game.

Carm. 1.1.29Mē doctārum hederae praemia frontium
30dīs miscent superīs, mē gelidum nemus
Nymphārumque levēs cum Satyrīs chorī
sēcernunt populō, sī neque tībiās
Euterpē cohibet nec Polyhymnia
Lesbōum refugit tendere barbiton.

Me the ivy, the reward of learned brows, joins to the gods above; me the cool grove and the light dances of Nymphs with Satyrs set apart from the people, if Euterpe does not withhold her pipes and Polyhymnia does not refuse to tune the Lesbian lyre.

Note. The climax: Horace's own choice. Mē is emphatic, repeated (anaphora). hederae, ivy, sacred to Bacchus and the reward of poets (doctārum praemia frontium, 'the prize of learned brows'), puts him among the gods above (dīs miscent superīs). populō is ablative of separation with sēcernunt, 'set me apart from the crowd'. Euterpe and Polyhymnia are Muses; the Lesbian lyre (Lesbōum barbiton) is that of Sappho and Alcaeus, Horace's models.

Carm. 1.1.35Quodsī mē lyricīs vātibus īnserēs,
sublīmī feriam sīdera vertice.

But if you rank me among the lyric poets, I shall strike the stars with my head held high.

Note. quodsī, 'but if'. lyricīs vātibus is dative with īnserēs, 'insert me among the lyric bards' (the canon of nine Greek lyric poets). The last line is a famous hyperbole: 'I shall strike the stars with my lofty head.'