Horace, Odes 1.37

Carm. 1.37.1Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede līberō
pulsanda tellūs;

Now is the time for drinking, now for beating the earth with a free foot;

Note. Metre: Alcaic stanza. Written on the news of Cleopatra's death (30 B.C.); it echoes the opening of a drinking song by Alcaeus. est bibendum, pulsanda tellūs: gerundives of obligation, 'now we must drink, now the earth must be beaten (in dance)'; pede līberō, 'with a free foot'.

Carm. 1.37.2nunc Saliāribus
ōrnāre pulvīnar deōrum
tempus erat dapibus, sodālēs.

now, friends, it was time to adorn the couch of the gods with a feast fit for the Salii.

Note. Saliāribus ... dapibus, 'with feasts fit for the Salii', priests of Mars famous for their banquets. pulvīnar, a couch on which images of the gods were placed at a thanksgiving. tempus erat, 'it was (high) time'.

Carm. 1.37.5Antehāc nefās dēprōmere Caecubum
cellīs avītīs, dum Capitōliō
rēgīna dēmentīs ruīnās,
fūnus et imperiō parābat
contāminātō cum grege turpium
10morbō virōrum quidlibet inpotēns
spērāre fortūnāque dulcī
ēbria.

Before this it was a sin to bring the Caecuban out of our grandfathers' cellars, while a queen, with her pack of men foul with disease, was plotting mad ruin for the Capitol and death for the empire, wild enough to hope for anything at all and drunk on sweet fortune.

Note. Antehāc nefās (erat), 'before this it was a sin'. Caecubum, choice Caecuban wine; cellīs avītīs, 'from our grandfathers' cellars'. dum ... rēgīna ... parābat, 'while the queen was preparing'; Capitōliō and imperiō are datives of disadvantage, 'for the Capitol', 'for the empire'. contāminātō cum grege turpium morbō virōrum, 'with her polluted herd of men foul with disease' (her eunuchs). quidlibet impotēns spērāre, 'wild enough to hope for anything'; fortūnā dulcī ēbria, 'drunk with sweet fortune'. Horace never names her.

Carm. 1.37.12Sed minuit furōrem
vix ūna sōspes nāvis ab ignibus
mentemque lymphātam Mareōticō
15redēgit in vērōs timōrēs
Caesar ab Ītaliā volantem
rēmīs adurgēns, accipiter velut
mollīs columbās aut leporem citus
vēnātor in campīs nivālis
20Haemoniae, daret ut catēnīs
fātāle mōnstrum.

But her frenzy was diminished by scarcely a single ship saved from the flames, and her mind, crazed with Mareotic wine, was brought back to real fears by Caesar, pressing hard with his oars as she flew from Italy, as a hawk pursues soft doves or the swift hunter the hare on the snowy plains of Thessaly, to put the fatal monster in chains.

Note. The subject is Caesar (Octavian). minuit furōrem ... vix ūna sospes nāvis, 'scarcely a single ship saved from the flames lessened her frenzy' (at Actium, 31 B.C.). mentemque lymphātam Mareōticō, 'her mind crazed with Mareotic wine', redēgit in vērōs timōrēs. volantem goes with the implied Cleopatra: Caesar pursued her as she fled. Two similes: like a hawk after doves, like a hunter after a hare. daret ut catēnīs fātāle mōnstrum, 'to put the deadly monster in chains'. But mōnstrum also means 'a portent, a wonder', and the poem turns on it.

Carm. 1.37.21Quae generōsius
perīre quaerēns nec muliebriter
expāvit ēnsem nec latentīs
classe citā reparāvit ōrās.

But she, seeking to die more nobly, neither feared the sword like a woman nor sought hidden shores with her swift fleet.

Note. Quae, 'she', a connecting relative, now admiring. generōsius perīre quaerēns, 'seeking to die more nobly'. nec muliebriter expāvit ēnsem, 'did not fear the sword like a woman'; nec latentīs (= -ēs) ... reparāvit ōrās, 'nor sought hidden shores in exchange' with her fleet.

Carm. 1.37.25Ausa et iacentem vīsere rēgiam
voltū serēnō, fortis et asperās
trāctāre serpentēs, ut ātrum
corpore conbiberet venēnum,
dēlīberātā morte ferōcior;

She dared even to look on her fallen palace with a calm face, and bravely to handle the rough snakes, so as to drink their black poison into her body, all the fiercer once she had resolved to die;

Note. Ausa (est), 'she dared'. iacentem ... rēgiam, 'her fallen palace'; vultū serēnō, 'with a calm face'. fortis et asperās tractāre serpentēs, 'brave also to handle the rough snakes'; ut ... combiberet venēnum, purpose, 'to drink in the poison'. dēlīberātā morte ferōcior, ablative absolute: 'fiercer, once death was decided upon'.

Carm. 1.37.30saevīs Liburnīs scīlicet invidēns
prīvāta dēdūcī superbō,
nōn humilis mulier, triumphō.

no doubt she begrudged the cruel Liburnian galleys that she should be led, no longer a queen, in a proud triumph, a woman not humble.

Note. saevīs Liburnīs ... invidēns, 'begrudging the cruel Liburnian galleys' (Octavian's fast ships) the honour of carrying her. prīvāta, 'as a private woman', no longer a queen; dēdūcī superbō triumphō, 'to be led in a proud triumph'. The last words, nōn humilis mulier, 'no humble woman', give her the final praise.