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Horace, Odes 1.38
Plain myrtle
Horace, Odes: selections. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in LectitōCarm. 1.38.1Persicōs ōdī, puer, adparātūs,
displicent nexae philyrā corōnae,
mitte sectārī, rosa quō locōrum
sēra morētur.
I hate Persian display, boy; garlands woven with linden bark displease me; stop searching for the place where the late rose lingers.
Note. Metre: Sapphic stanza. A miniature that closes Book 1. Persicōs ... apparātūs, 'Persian luxury'. nexae philyrā corōnae, 'garlands woven with linden bark' (elaborate ones). mitte sectārī, 'stop searching'; quō locōrum, 'in what place'; sēra, 'late' (out of season).
Carm. 1.38.5Simplicī myrtō nihil adlabōrēs
sēdulus cūrō: neque tē ministrum
dēdecet myrtus neque mē sub artā
vīte bibentem.
I want you to take pains to add nothing to plain myrtle: myrtle does not ill become you as you serve, nor me as I drink under the thick vine.
Note. Simplicī myrtō nihil allabōrēs, 'add nothing with effort to plain myrtle'; the subjunctive depends on cūrō: 'I want you to ...'. sēdulus, 'fussing'. neque tē ministrum dēdecet myrtus, 'myrtle does not disgrace you as a servant'; sub artā vīte, 'under the thick vine'.
Vocabulary
| Persicus, -a, -um | Persian; bellum Persicum: the Persian War |
| ōdī, ōdisse, used only in tenses of completed action with the force of tenses of incomplete action | hate |
| puer, puerī, m. | boy |
| apparātus, -ūs m. | preparation; display, splendour |
| displiceō, -ēre, -uī, -itum | displease (+ dat.) |
| nectō, -ere, nexuī, nexus | tie, bind; contrive (a plot) |
| philyra, -ae f. | inner bark of the linden tree (used to bind garlands) |
| corōna, -ae f. | crown, wreath (sub corōnā vēndere: sell as slaves) |
| mittō, mittere, mīsī, missus | send |
| sector, -ārī, -ātus sum | keep following, chase after |
| rosa, -ae f. | rose |
| quō, adv. | to what place? whither? to which place, whither; for which reason, wherefore, therefore; quō ūsque, till when? how long? |
| locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n. | place, situation |
| sērus, -a, -um | late |
| moror, -ārī, -ātus | delay, linger, stay |
| simplex, -icis | simple, unmixed, pure |
| myrtus, -ī (-ūs) f. | myrtle (sacred to Venus) |
| nihil, n., indecl. | nothing |
| adlabōrō, -āre | work hard to add (something) |
| sēdulus, -a, -um | busy, attentive |
| cūrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | take care of; (+ gerundive) have something done |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| tū, tuī, pers. pron. | thou, you |
| minister, -trī m. | servant, attendant, helper |
| dēdecet, -ēre, -uit (impers.) | it is unbecoming, it does not suit |
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| sub, prep. with acc. and abl. | under; sub vesperum, towards evening |
| artus, -a, -um | close, tight; dense, thick |
| vītis, -is f. | vine |
| bibō, bibere, bibī | drink |