Horace, Odes 2.14

Carm. 2.14.1Ēheu fugācēs, Postume, Postume,
lābuntur annī nec pietās moram
rūgīs et īnstantī senectae
adferet indomitaeque mortī,
5nōn, sī trecēnīs quotquot eunt diēs,
amīce, plācēs inlacrimābilem
Plūtōna taurīs, quī ter amplum
Gēryonēn Tityonque trīstī
conpescit undā, scīlicet omnibus
10quīcumque terrae mūnere vēscimur
ēnāviganda, sīve rēgēs
sīve inopēs erimus colōnī.

Alas, Postumus, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by, and piety will bring no delay to wrinkles and pressing old age and unconquerable death, not even, my friend, if with three hundred bulls for every day that passes you appease pitiless Pluto, who confines the threefold giant Geryon and Tityos with his gloomy stream, which surely must be sailed by all of us who feed on the bounty of the earth, whether we are kings or poor farmers.

Note. Metre: Alcaic stanza. Ēheu fugācēs ... lābuntur annī, 'alas, the fleeting years slip by'; the double vocative Postume, Postume sounds like a sigh. pietās ... moram ... afferet, 'piety will bring delay' to wrinkles, old age and death. sī ... plācēs, 'if you were to appease' (placō, subjunctive), with trecēnīs tauris, 'three hundred bulls', quotquot eunt diēs, 'for every day that passes'. Geryon was a three-bodied giant (ter amplum), Tityos a giant punished in the underworld; tristī undā, 'with the gloomy stream' (the Styx). quīcumque terrae mūnere vēscimur, 'all of us who feed on the gift of the earth'; ēnāviganda (unda), 'must be sailed across'.

Carm. 2.14.13Frūstrā cruentō Mārte carēbimus
frāctīsque raucī flūctibus Hadriae,
15frūstrā per autumnōs nocentem
corporibus metuēmus Austrum:
vīsendus āter flūmine languidō
Cōcȳtos errāns et Danaī genus
īnfāme damnātusque longī
20Sīsyphus Aeolidēs labōris.

In vain shall we keep clear of bloody Mars and the broken waves of the roaring Adriatic, in vain shall we fear through the autumns the south wind that harms our bodies: we must look upon black Cocytus wandering with its sluggish stream, and the infamous race of Danaus, and Sisyphus son of Aeolus condemned to long labour.

Note. Frūstrā ... carēbimus, 'in vain shall we keep clear of' (+ ablative): Marte, war, and the waves of the Adriatic. per autumnōs, the season of fevers brought by the south wind (Austrum). vīsendus (est), 'must be visited': Cocytus, the river of wailing; the daughters of Danaus, punished for killing their husbands; Sisyphus, son of Aeolus, condemned (damnātus + genitive) to long labour.

Carm. 2.14.21Linquenda tellūs et domus et placēns
uxor neque hārum quās colis arborum
tē praeter invīsās cupressōs
ūlla brevem dominum sequētur.

You must leave your land and your home and your pleasing wife, and of these trees that you tend none except the hated cypresses will follow their short-lived master.

Note. Linquenda (est), 'must be left'. placēns uxor, 'your pleasing wife'. neque ... ulla ... sequētur, 'nor will any follow'; harum quās colis arborum, 'of these trees that you tend'; praeter invīsās cupressōs, 'except the hated cypresses', planted at Roman tombs. brevem dominum, 'their short-lived master'.

Carm. 2.14.25Absūmet hērēs Caecuba dignior
servāta centum clāvibus et merō
tinguet pavīmentum superbō,
pontificum potiōre cēnīs.

A worthier heir will drink up the Caecuban kept under a hundred keys and will stain the floor with proud wine, better than at the banquets of the priests.

Note. Absūmet hērēs Caecuba, 'an heir will use up the Caecuban'; dignior, 'more worthy' (because he will at least enjoy it). servāta centum clāvibus, 'kept under a hundred keys'. tinguet pavīmentum superbō merō, 'will stain the floor with proud wine'; pontificum potiōre cēnīs, 'better than (that at) the banquets of the priests', who were famous for luxury.