Quintus Horatius Flaccus was born on Venusia, Italy, Roman Republic on this day in 65 BCE.
"Winter" by Horace
See how Soracte stands glistening with snowfall,
and the labouring woods bend under the weight:
see how the mountain streams are frozen,
cased in the ice by the shuddering cold?
and the labouring woods bend under the weight:
see how the mountain streams are frozen,
cased in the ice by the shuddering cold?
Drive away bitterness, and pile on the logs,
bury the hearthstones, and, with generous heart,
out of the four-year old Sabine jars,
O Thaliarchus, bring on the true wine.
bury the hearthstones, and, with generous heart,
out of the four-year old Sabine jars,
O Thaliarchus, bring on the true wine.
Leave the rest to the gods: when they’ve stilled the winds
that struggle, far away, over raging seas,
you’ll see that neither the cypress trees
nor the old ash will be able to stir.
that struggle, far away, over raging seas,
you’ll see that neither the cypress trees
nor the old ash will be able to stir.
Don’t ask what tomorrow brings, call them your gain
whatever days Fortune gives, don’t spurn sweet love,
my child, and don’t you be neglectful
of the choir of love, or the dancing feet,
whatever days Fortune gives, don’t spurn sweet love,
my child, and don’t you be neglectful
of the choir of love, or the dancing feet,
while life is still green, and your white-haired old age
is far away with all its moroseness. Now,
find the Campus again, and the squares,
soft whispers at night, at the hour agreed,
is far away with all its moroseness. Now,
find the Campus again, and the squares,
soft whispers at night, at the hour agreed,
and the pleasing laugh that betrays her, the girl
who’s hiding away in the darkest corner,
and the pledge that’s retrieved from her arm,
or from a lightly resisting finger.
who’s hiding away in the darkest corner,
and the pledge that’s retrieved from her arm,
or from a lightly resisting finger.
*
This wide-ranging selection showcases the work of one of ancient Rome’s master poets—and originator of the phrase “carpe diem”—whose influence on poetry can be traced through the centuries into our own time. Quintus Horatius Flaccus, who lived from 65 to 8 BCE, saw the death of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire and was personally acquainted with the emperor Augustus and the poet Virgil. He was famous during his lifetime and since for his odes and epodes, for his satires and epistles, and for Ars Poetica. His lyric poems, brief and allusive, have been translated into English by a range of famous poets, including Milton, Ben Jonson, John Dryden, William Cowper, A. E. Housman, Ezra Pound, Louis MacNeice, Robert Lowell—and even Queen Elizabeth I and the Victorian prime minister William Gladstone. Horace’s masterly verses have inspired poets from antiquity to modernity, and his injunction to “seize the day” has echoed through the ages. This anthology of superb English translations shows how Horace has permeated English literature for five centuries.
This wide-ranging selection showcases the work of one of ancient Rome’s master poets—and originator of the phrase “carpe diem”—whose influence on poetry can be traced through the centuries into our own time. Quintus Horatius Flaccus, who lived from 65 to 8 BCE, saw the death of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire and was personally acquainted with the emperor Augustus and the poet Virgil. He was famous during his lifetime and since for his odes and epodes, for his satires and epistles, and for Ars Poetica. His lyric poems, brief and allusive, have been translated into English by a range of famous poets, including Milton, Ben Jonson, John Dryden, William Cowper, A. E. Housman, Ezra Pound, Louis MacNeice, Robert Lowell—and even Queen Elizabeth I and the Victorian prime minister William Gladstone. Horace’s masterly verses have inspired poets from antiquity to modernity, and his injunction to “seize the day” has echoed through the ages. This anthology of superb English translations shows how Horace has permeated English literature for five centuries.
向瑞麟兄請教HORACE說「書」並談《蒙田隨筆全集》研究
從去年8-9月至2004年3月，我斷續研讀名著The Life of Samuel Johnson by Boswell【牛津大學本】，
「瑞麟兄： 這是（詳下文對照）Boswell 引的，他對傳主的雄心壯志，可能意思是寫此名人的50年史。
所以，方便將整段翻譯一下嗎？」【我（hc）當時沒將出處記下，
【我2004/6/24趁機補習，參考《蒙田隨筆全集》（南京：
讀這兩本翻譯本，讓我更深入感到：希臘文-拉丁文古典文本和《
****rl回信
HC,
如果你手邊有日前提到的《蒙田隨筆全集》，可以參考第二冊（中）
原文出自HORACE Satire II.i，記得我曾經提過書林有Sidney Alexander: The Complete Odes and Satires of Horace.
引文在該書P.248（英文）
以下為拉丁、法文、英文對照（均從網路載下）。
Latin:
Ille velut fidis arcana sodalibus olim
Credebat libris, neque, si male cesserat, usquam
Decurrens alio , neque si bene: quo fit ut omnis
Votiva pateat veluti descripta tabella
Vita senis.
Français:
Autrefois celui-là confiait à ses livres
Comme à de bons amis ses secrets, et jamais
Heureux ou malheureux n'ont d'autre confident:
Aussi sa longue vie est-elle là dépeinte
Tout étalée ainsi qu'en un tableau votif.
English:
He trusted to his booke, as to his trusty friend
His secrets, nor did he to other refuge bend,
How ever well, or ill, with him his fortune went.
Hence is it, all the life is seene the old man spent,
As it were in a Table noted,
Which were unto some God devoted.
他像告訴忠實的同伴那樣，
把他的秘密告訴他的書籍，
他失敗或成功的唯一傾聽者；
這樣，這位老人的一生都描繪了出來，
猶如寫在還願的板上一樣。
Or (translated by Sideny Alexander)
In the old days he entrusted the secrets
of his heart to his books as if to
faithful friends, never turning elsewhere
for recourse whether things went good or bad.
So that the life of that old man
appears entirely in his writings as if
painted on a votive-tablet.
RL
Latin poet Horace was a celebrity in his era, "halfway between Bob Dylan and Seamus Heaney". He died on this day in 8 BC, but his writings and aphorisms still furnish us with answers
