Horace, Odes 4.7

Carm. 4.7.1Diffūgēre nivēs, redeunt iam grāmina campīs
arboribusque comae;

The snows have fled, already the grass returns to the fields and the leaves to the trees;

Note. Metre: First Archilochian (a dactylic hexameter followed by a half-line). Diffūgēre (= diffūgērunt) nivēs, 'the snows have fled'. comae, 'leaves', literally the trees' 'hair'. A. E. Housman called this the most beautiful poem in Latin.

Carm. 4.7.3mūtat terra vicēs et dēcrēscentia rīpās
flūmina praetereunt;

the earth goes through its changes, and the rivers, subsiding, flow past their banks;

Note. mūtat terra vicēs, 'the earth goes through its changes'. dēcrēscentia rīpās flūmina praetereunt, 'the rivers, shrinking, flow past their banks' (not over them, as in the spring floods).

Carm. 4.7.5Grātia cum Nymphīs geminīsque sorōribus audet
dūcere nūda chorōs:
inmortālia nē spērēs, monet annus et almum
quae rapit hōra diem.

the Grace with the Nymphs and her twin sisters dares to lead the dances naked: do not hope for what is immortal, warns the year and the hour that snatches away the kindly day.

Note. Grātia cum Nymphīs geminīsque sorōribus, 'one Grace with the Nymphs and her twin sisters'; nūda, 'naked', in the spring dance. immortālia nē spērēs, monet annus et ... hōra, 'the year and the hour warn you not to hope for immortal things'; almum quae rapit hōra diem, 'the hour that snatches away the kindly day'.

Carm. 4.7.9Frīgora mītēscunt Zephyrīs, vēr prōterit aestās
10interitūra, simul
pōmifer autumnus frūgēs effūderit, et mox
brūma recurrit iners.

The cold grows mild with the west winds, summer tramples on spring, itself about to die as soon as fruitful autumn has poured out its harvest, and soon sluggish winter runs back again.

Note. Frīgora mītēscunt Zephyrīs, 'the cold grows mild with the west winds'. vēr prōterit aestās interitūra, 'summer tramples spring, itself about to die'; simul, 'as soon as'; pōmifer autumnus, 'fruit-bearing autumn'; brūma iners, 'sluggish winter (solstice)'. The seasons chase each other.

Carm. 4.7.13Damna tamen celerēs reparant caelestia lūnae:
nōs ubi dēcidimus
15quō pius Aenēās, quō dīves Tullus et Ancus,
pulvis et umbra sumus.

Yet the swift moons make good their losses in the sky: we, when we have gone down where dutiful Aeneas, where rich Tullus and Ancus have gone, are dust and shadow.

Note. But nature's losses are repaired: damna caelestia, 'the losses in the sky', i.e. the waning of the moon, are made good by swift months (celerēs lūnae). nōs ubi dēcidimus, 'we, when we have gone down' to where Aeneas, Tullus and Ancus (kings of Rome) have gone, are pulvis et umbra, 'dust and shadow'.

Carm. 4.7.17Quis scit an adiciant hodiernae crāstina summae
tempora dī superī?

Who knows whether the gods above will add tomorrow's time to today's total?

Note. Quis scit an ..., 'who knows whether ...'. adiciant hodiernae crāstina summae tempora, 'add tomorrow's time to today's total' (as in an account).

Carm. 4.7.19Cūncta manūs avidās fugient hērēdis amīcō
20quae dederīs animō.

Everything you have given to your own dear self will escape the greedy hands of your heir.

Note. Cūncta ... quae dederis animō amīcō, 'everything that you have given to your own dear self (soul)'; fugient manūs avidās hērēdis, 'will escape the greedy hands of your heir'.

Carm. 4.7.21Cum semel occideris et dē tē splendida Mīnōs
fēcerit arbitria,
nōn, Torquāte, genus, nōn tē fācundia, nōn tē
restituet pietās;

Once you have died and Minos has given his splendid judgement on you, not your family, Torquatus, not your eloquence, not your piety will bring you back;

Note. Cum semel occiderīs, 'once you have died'. Mīnōs, judge of the dead; splendida ... arbitria, 'his splendid (solemn) judgements'. Torquātus was a lawyer of noble family: neither genus (birth), nor fācundia (eloquence), nor pietās will bring him back (restituet).

Carm. 4.7.25īnfernīs neque enim tenebrīs Diāna pudīcum
līberat Hippolytum
nec Lēthaea valet Thēseus abrumpere cārō
vincula Pīrithoō.

for Diana does not free chaste Hippolytus from the darkness below, nor does Theseus have the strength to break the Lethean chains from his dear Pirithous.

Note. Two examples of the irrevocable: Diana cannot free her chaste Hippolytus from the darkness below (īnfernīs tenebrīs), nor can Theseus break the Lethean chains (Lēthaea vincula) from his dear friend Pirithous (carō Pīrithoō, dative of separation).