Odes ii. 3
Horace – Q. Horatius Flaccus (65BC- 8BC)
Odes ii. 3
Aequam memento rebus in arduis
servare mentem, non secus in bonis
ab insolenti temperatam
laetitia, moriture Delli,
seu maestus omni tempore vixeris
seu te in remoto gramine per dies
festos reclinatum bearis
interiore nota Falerni.
Quo pinus ingens albaque populus
umbram hospitalem consociare amant
ramis? Quid obliquo laborat
lympha fugax trepidare rivo?
Huc vina et unguenta et nimium brevis
flores amoenae ferre iube rosae,
dum res et aetas et Sororum
fila trium patiuntur atra.
Cedes coemptis saltibus et domo
villaque, flavus quam Tiberis lavit,
cedes, et exstructis in altum
divitiis potietur heres.
Divesne prisco natus ab Inacho
nil interest an pauper et infima
de gente sub divo moreris,
victima nil miserantis Orci;
omnes eodem cogimur, omnium
versatur urna serius ocius
sors exitura et nos in aeternum
exilium impositura cumbae.Doom Song
Remember, keep
a level mind when things get steep;
and in the good times equally
tone down your overweening joy:
Dooley, you’re bound to die,
whether you’ve been a lifelong glum,
or, sprawled through merry days on grass
remote, you’ve blessed your guts with glass
of Mouton from the adytum.
Do a pale poplar and a pine
give welcome shade, in love combine
their branches? Does the fleeting water
(nymph, lymph, serpentine)*
shudder and strain, where slant walls thwart her?
Send out for wines, for oils, perfumes,
and roses’ neverlasting blooms!
Defy decay! Forestall mischance!
No Norns with yarns! Act fast! Advance!
Write off your hoarded hills, your mansion,
your glebe with Tiber’s rolled gold sands on.
Your stack of wonga’s true possessor
is your successor.
A plutocrat with pedigree:
Blood-Sacrifice! or you could be
a destitute, obscure rough sleeper…
Slaughtered! Served up to Lord Grim Reaper.
One way! We’re forced, coerced, for sooner or l-
ater, our fate’s a well-urned funeral
that’s sure to dump us down the river.
Ferried out! Banned for ever.* A scholiast’s interpolation has enhanced the text.
Translation: Copyright © Timothy Adès