The works of Horace : with English notes, critical and ... - Cristo Raul

EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK II., ODE XI. Sgf
mendo litus miquum. "By ieeping too near the perilous shore."—
5. Aurcam quisquis mcdiocritatem, &c. The change of meaning in caret
(which is required, however, more by the idiom of our own language than
by that of the Latin) is worthy of notice. The whole passage may be
paraphrased as follows: "Whoever makes cnoice of the golden mean,
safe from all the ills of poverty {tutus), is not compelled to dwell amid
{cant) the wretchedness of some miserable abode ; while, on the other
hand, moderate in his desires {sobrius), he needs not {caret) the splendid
palace, the object of envy."—9. Siepius. "More frequently," i. e., than
trees of lower size. Some editions have stevius.—^0. JEt celsts grtwiore
casu, &c. "And lofty structures fall to the ground with heavier rain,"
i. c, than humble ones.—11. Summos monies. " The highest mountains."
—14. Alteram sortem. "A change of condition." Sene prteparatuTn
pectus. "A well-regulated breast."— 15. Informes hiemes. "Gloomy
winters."—17. Non si Tnale' nunc, &c. " If misfortune attend thee now,
it will not also be thus hereafter."—18. Quondam cithara taceniem, &c.
" Apollo oftentinfts arouses with the lyre the silent muse, nor always
bends his bow." The idea intended to be conveyed is, that as misfortune
is not to last forever, so neither are the gods unchanging in their anger
toward man. Apollo stands forth as the representative of Olympus, pro
pitious when he strikes the lyre, offended when he bends the bow.
19. Suscitat musam. Equivident, in fact, to edit sonos, pulsa cithara.
The epithet tacentem refers merely to an interval of silence on the part
of the muse, i. e., of anger on the part of the god.—SI. Animosus atque
fortis. " Spirited and firm."
Obe XI. Addressed to duinctius, an individual of timid character, and
constantly tormented with the anticipation of future evil to himself and
his extensive possessions. The poet advises him to banish these gloomy
thoughts from his mind, and give to hilarity the fleeting hours of a brief
existence.
1-19. 1. Quid belUcosus Cantaber, &c. ^ Compare note on Ode ii., 6, S.
—2. Hadria divisus odjecto. " Separated from us by the intervening
Adriatic." The poet does not mean that the foes here mentioned were
in possession of the opposite shores of the Adriatic Sea ; such a supposition
would be absurd. - He merely intends to quiet the feai's of duinctiua
by a general allusion to the obstacles that intervened.—4. Nee trepides in
usum, &c. " And be not solicitous about the wants of a life that asks
but few things for its support."^5. Fugit retro. For recedit.—11. Quid
atemis minorem, &c. " Why dost thou disquiet thy mind, unable to take
in eternal designs 1" i.e., to extend its vision beyond the bounds of human
existence.—14. Sic temere. "Thus at ease."—15. Canos. Equivalent
to albescentes. "Beginning to grow gray."^17. £mM5. Bacchus. Compare
note on Ode i., 18, 9.—19. Restinguet ardentes, &c. " Will temper
the cups of fiery Falerniau with the stream that glides by our side." The
ancients generally drank their wine diluted with water, on accousl if its
treugth.
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