Horace, Odes 3.1

Carm. 3.1.1Ōdī profānum volgus et arceō.

I hate the uninitiated crowd and keep them away.

Note. Metre: Alcaic stanza. The opening of the six 'Roman Odes' (3.1–6). Horace speaks as a priest at a sacred rite: profānum volgus, 'the uninitiated crowd', is told to keep away.

Carm. 3.1.2Favēte linguīs: carmina nōn prius
audīta Mūsārum sacerdōs
virginibus puerīsque cantō.

Keep a holy silence: I, priest of the Muses, sing songs never heard before to girls and boys.

Note. Favēte linguīs, 'keep holy silence' (literally 'be favourable with your tongues'), the formula at a sacrifice. carmina nōn prius audīta, 'songs not heard before'; Mūsārum sacerdōs, 'priest of the Muses', in apposition to the subject of cantō.

Carm. 3.1.5Rēgum timendōrum in propriōs gregēs,
rēgēs in ipsōs imperium est Iovis,
clārī Gigantēō triumphō,
cūncta superciliō moventis.

The power of feared kings is over their own flocks, over the kings themselves is the power of Jupiter, famous for his triumph over the Giants, who moves all things with his brow.

Note. Rēgum timendōrum ... imperium (est), 'the power of feared kings is over their own flocks' (their peoples); rēgēs in ipsōs (imperium) est Iovis, 'over the kings themselves is the power of Jupiter'. clārī Gigantēō triumphō, 'famous for his triumph over the Giants'; cūncta superciliō moventis, 'who moves everything with a nod of his brow'.

Carm. 3.1.9Est ut virō vir lātius ōrdinet
10arbusta sulcīs, hic generōsior
dēscendat in campum petītor,
mōribus hic meliorque fāmā
contendat, illī turba clientium
sit maior: aequā lēge Necessitās
15sortītur īnsignīs et īmōs,
omne capāx movet urna nōmen.

It may be that one man sets out his orchards in wider furrows than another, that one candidate of nobler birth comes down to the Campus, that another competes as better in character and reputation, that another has a bigger crowd of clients: Necessity allots the famous and the lowest by an impartial law; the roomy urn shakes every name.

Note. Est ut, 'it is (true) that, it may be that'. virō vir lātius ōrdinet arbusta sulcīs, 'one man sets out his orchards in wider furrows than another'. hic ... dēscendat in campum petītor, 'this one comes down to the Campus (for elections) as a candidate'. Necessitās, Necessity, allots (sortītur) high and low alike by an impartial law; the urn (capāx, 'roomy') shakes every name (as lots).

Carm. 3.1.17Dēstrictus ēnsis cui super inpiā
cervīce pendet, nōn Siculae dapēs
dulcem ēlabōrābunt sapōrem,
20nōn avium citharaeque cantūs
somnum redūcent: somnus agrestium
lēnis virōrum nōn humilīs domōs
fastīdit umbrōsamque rīpam,
nōn Zephyrīs agitāta Tempē.

For the man over whose impious neck a drawn sword hangs, Sicilian feasts will not produce a sweet taste, nor will the songs of birds and the lyre bring back sleep: gentle sleep does not scorn the humble homes of country men or a shady bank or Tempe stirred by the west winds.

Note. Dēstrictus ēnsis cui ... pendet, 'the man over whose impious neck a drawn sword hangs' (the sword of Damocles, at the court of Dionysius of Syracuse: hence 'Sicilian feasts'). nōn ... ēlabōrābunt, 'will not produce'. avium citharaeque cantūs, 'the songs of birds and the lyre'. somnus ... lēnis, 'gentle sleep', does not scorn humble homes; Tempē is the lovely valley in Thessaly.

Carm. 3.1.25Dēsīderantem quod satis est neque
tumultuōsum sollicitat mare
nec saevus Arctūrī cadentis
impetus aut orientis Haedī,
nōn verberātae grandine vīneae
30fundusque mendāx arbore nunc aquās
culpante, nunc torrentia agrōs
sīdera, nunc hiemēs inīquās.

The man who desires only what is enough is not troubled by the stormy sea or by the fierce onset of setting Arcturus or the rising Kid, nor by vines beaten by hail and a farm that breaks its promises, the trees blaming now the rains, now the stars that scorch the fields, now the harsh winters.

Note. Dēsīderantem quod satis est, 'the man who desires what is enough', object of sollicitat. The setting of Arcturus and the rising of the Kids (Haedī) marked stormy seasons. fundus mendāx, 'a farm that lies' (does not keep its promise of a harvest); arbore ... culpante, ablative absolute, 'the trees blaming' now the rains, now the stars that scorch the fields, now the harsh winters.

Carm. 3.1.33Contrācta piscēs aequora sentiunt
iactīs in altum mōlibus: hūc frequēns
35caementa dēmittit redēmptor
cum famulīs dominusque terrae
fastīdiōsus: sed Timor et Minae
scandunt eōdem, quō dominus, neque
dēcēdit aerātā trirēmī et
40post equitem sedet ātra Cūra.

The fish feel the seas shrink as piles of stone are thrown into the deep: here the contractor with his workmen and the master who is bored with the land send down the rubble; but Fear and Threats climb to the same place as the master, and black Care does not leave the bronze-beaked galley, and sits behind the horseman.

Note. The rich build villas out into the sea on piles of rubble: contracta piscēs aequora sentiunt, 'the fish feel the seas shrink'; iactīs in altum mōlibus, ablative absolute. redēmptor, 'the contractor'; dominus terrae fastīdiōsus, 'the master bored with dry land'. But Timor and Minae, Fear and Threats, climb to the same place, and black Care (ātra Cūra) sits behind the horseman: you cannot escape your worries.

Carm. 3.1.41Quodsī dolentem nec Phrygius lapis
nec purpurārum sīdere clārior
dēlēnit ūsus nec Falerna
vītis Achaemeniumque costum,
45cūr invidendīs postibus et novō
sublīme rītū mōliar ātrium?

But if neither Phrygian marble nor the wearing of purple brighter than a star nor Falernian wine nor Persian perfume soothes the man in pain, why should I build a lofty hall in the new style with doorposts to be envied?

Note. Quodsī, 'but if'. dolentem, 'the man in pain', object of dēlēnit. Phrygius lapis, Phrygian marble; purpurārum sīdere clārior ūsus, 'the use of purple brighter than a star'; Falerna vītis, Falernian wine; Achaemenium costum, Persian perfume. cūr ... mōliar, deliberative subjunctive, 'why should I build'; invidendīs postibus, 'with doorposts to be envied'; sublīme ... ātrium, 'a lofty hall'.

Carm. 3.1.47Cūr valle permūtem Sabīnā
dīvitiās operōsiōrēs?

Why should I exchange my Sabine valley for riches that bring more trouble?

Note. Cūr valle permūtem Sabīnā dīvitiās operōsiōrēs, 'why should I take in exchange for my Sabine valley riches that bring more trouble?' permūtō takes the ablative of the thing given up. Horace's farm was a gift from Maecenas.