Horatius At the Bridge, Text and Study Guide

by Thomas Babington Macaulay

Horatius at the Bridge has been a favorite of school children and a staple of classical education for over a century. This text includes the full ballad plus a complete student guide with exercises, maps, history, and test.

76 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

About the author

Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay PC was an English poet, historian and Whig politician. He wrote extensively as an essayist and reviewer, and on British history. He also held political office as Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841 and Paymaster-General between 1846 and 1848.

As a young man he composed the ballads Ivry and The Armada, which he later included as part of Lays of Ancient Rome, a series of very popular ballads about heroic episodes in Roman history which he composed in India and published in 1842.

During the 1840s he began work on his most famous work, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, publishing the first two volumes in 1848. At first, he had planned to bring his history down to the reign of George III. After publication of his first two volumes, his hope was to complete his work with the death of Queen Anne in 1714. The third and fourth volumes, bringing the history to the Peace of Ryswick, were published in 1855. However, at his death in 1859, he was working on the fifth volume. This, bringing the History down to the death of William III, was prepared for publication by his sister, Lady Trevelyan, after his death.

Reviews

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have finished memorizing it!
So this is most certainly in my top five favorite poems.
I mean it begins:
'Lars Porsena of Clusium
By the nine gods he swore
That the great house of Tarquin
Should suffer wrong no more.'
What's not to like?
Now for the most famous (and justly so) quote:
'Then out spoke brave Horatius,
The captain of the gate.
'To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late,
And how can man die better
than facing fearful odds,
for the ashes of his fathers
and the temples of hids gods.

And for the tender mother
who dandled him to rest,
and for the wife who nurses
his baby at her breast
and for the holy maidens
to feed the eternal flame
to save them from false Sextus--
That wrought the deed of shame?''
That is just amazing.
And:
'Lie there' he [Horatius] cried, 'Fell pirate
No more agast and pale
from Ostia's walls the crowd shall mark
the track of thy destroying bark
No more Campania's hinds shall fly,
To woods and caverns when they spy,
Thy thrice acursed sasil.'

Points I love about this:
Well obviously how great it sounds: ('And nearer fast and nearer/doth the red whirlwind come/and louder still, and still more loud/from underneath the rollig cloud/is heard the trumpet's war note proud/the trampling and the hum')
Horatius himself: He's brave (as we are reminded many times in the poem) and patriotic and devout (it is to pagan gods but the poor chap doesn't know any better:-)) When he offers to fight on the bridge he doesn't care about the glory but as Chesterton puts it, "not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." (I think one can say he despises Sextus but that isn't what he fights for) And of course as Tolkien (in the person of Faramir) says: “I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” And when Horatius kills 'Lausulas or Ugro/ the rover of the sea' he doesn't gloat over that he killed him but rather that he stopped a pirate from killing and robbing people
Astur: I like Astur. He has got a sort of sass to him that is very engaging. 'Quoth he[Astur]: 'The she wolf's litter/hold savagly at bay/but will ye dare to follow/if Astus clears the way?'
He is also described in a really dashing way:
'But hark! the cry is Astur,
And lo! the ranks divide,
and the great lord of Luna
Comes with his stately stride,
Upon his ample shoulders
Clangs loud the four fold shield;
and in his hand he shakes the brand
Which none but he can wield.'
'He [Astur] smiled on those bold Romans,
A smile serene and high.
He eyed the flinching Tuscans
And scorn was in his eye.'
(I like Horatius better but Astur is fascinating. )
The ending: The ending is beautiful. Perfect:
'And in the nights of winter,
when the cold noth winds blow,
and the long howling of the wolves,
is heard amidst the snow.
When round the lonely cottage,
roars loud the tempests din
And the good logs of Algidus
roar louder yet within.

When the oldest cask is opened,
and the largest lamp is lit.
When chestnuts glow in the embers,
and the kid turns on the spit.
When young and old in circle,
Around the firebrand close;
when the girls are weaving baskets
And the lads are shaping bows.

When the goodman mends his armour,
and trims his helmet's plume;
and the goodwife's shuttle merrily
goes flashing through the loom;
with weeping and with laughter
still is the story told
how well Horatius kept the bridge,
in the brave days of old.'
Brilliant.

[Zachary Waltz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Its best parts are worthy of praise, though as a whole it lacks.

XXVII

Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the gate:
‘To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his Gods,


XXVIII

‘And for the tender mother
Who dandled him to rest,
And for the wife who nurses
His baby at her breast,
And for the holy maidens
Who feed the eternal flame,
To save them from false Sextus
That wrought the deed of shame?

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

an epic of a poem for sure!

[Rebeca Aristimuño · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for him I guess