Quotes from book
Odes
The Odes are a collection in four books of Latin lyric poems by Horace. The Horatian ode format and style has been emulated since by other poets. Books 1 to 3 were published in 23 BC. According to the journal Quadrant, they were "unparalleled by any collection of lyric poetry produced before or after in Latin literature". A fourth book, consisting of 15 poems, was published in 13 BC.
“I have made a monument more lasting than bronze.”
Exegi monumentum aere perennius
Book III, ode xxx, line 1
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“As money grows, care follows it and the hunger for more.”
Crescentem sequitur cura pecuniam,
Maiorumque fames.
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“Leave all else to the gods.”
Permitte divis cetera.
Book I, ode ix, line 9
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“He will through life be master of himself and a happy man who from day to day can have said, "I have lived: tomorrow the Father may fill the sky with black clouds or with cloudless sunshine."”
Ille potens sui
laetusque deget, cui licet in diem
dixisse "vixi: cras vel atra
nube polum pater occupato
vel sole puro."
Book III, ode xxix, line 41
John Dryden's paraphrase:
Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He, who can call to day his own:
He who, secure within, can say,
To-morrow do thy worst, for I have lived to-day.
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“In adversity, remember to keep an even mind.”
Aequam memento rebus in arduis
servare mentem.
Book II, ode iii, line 1
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“Now is the time for drinking, now the time to dance footloose upon the earth.”
Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero
pulsanda tellus.
Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero
pulsanda tellus.
Book I, ode xxxvii, line 1
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“In vain did Nature's wife command
Divide the waters from the land,
If daring ships and men profane,
Invade th' inviolable main.”
Nequiquam deus abscidit
Prudens Oceano dissociabili
Terras, si tamen impiae
Non tangenda rates transiliunt vada.
Book I, ode iii, line 21 (trans. by John Dryden)
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“Death takes the mean man with the proud;
The fatal urn has room for all.”
Aequa lege Necessitas
Sortitur insignes et imos;
Omne capax movet urna nomen.
Book III, ode i, line 14 (trans. John Conington)
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“As we speak cruel time is fleeing. Seize the day, believing as little as possible in the morrow.”
Dum loquimur, fugerit invida
Aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.
Book I, ode xi, line 7
John Conington's translation:
:In the moment of our talking, envious time has ebbed away,
Seize the present, trust tomorrow e'en as little as you may.
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“Ah, Postumus! they fleet away,
Our years, nor piety one hour
Can win from wrinkles and decay,
And Death's indomitable power.”
Eheu fugaces, Postume, Postume,
labuntur anni nec pietas moram
rugis et instanti senectae
adferet indomitaeque morti.
Book II, ode xiv, line 1 (trans. John Conington)
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“It is sweet and honorable to die for one's country.”
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.
Book III, ode ii, line 13
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“We are but dust and shadow.”
Pulvis et umbra sumus.
Book IV, ode vii, line 16
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“O fairer daughter of a fair mother!”
O matre pulchra filia pulchrior
Book I, ode xvi, line 1
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“Enjoy the present smiling hour,
And put it out of Fortune's power.”
Quod adest memento
componere aequus.
Book III, ode xxix, line 32 (as translated by John Dryden)
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“The man who is tenacious of purpose in a rightful cause is not shaken from his firm resolve by the frenzy of his fellow citizens clamoring for what is wrong, or by the tyrant's threatening countenance.”
Iustum et tenacem propositi virum
non civium ardor prava iubentium,
non vultus instantis tyranni
mente quatit solida.
Book III, ode iii, line 1
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“I sing for maidens and boys.”
Virginibus puerisque canto.
Book III, ode i, line 4
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“Whoever cultivates the golden mean avoids both the poverty of a hovel and the envy of a palace.”
Auream quisquis mediocritatem
diligit, tutus caret obsoleti
sordibus tecti, caret invidenda
sobrius aula.
Auream quisquis mediocritatem
diligit, tutus caret obsoleti
sordibus tecti, caret invidenda
sobrius aula.
Book II, ode x, line 5
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
“If the world should break and fall on him, it would strike him fearless.”
Si fractus illabatur orbis,
impavidum ferient ruinae.
Si fractus illabatur orbis,
impavidum ferient ruinae.
Book III, ode iii, line 7
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
