What do you think?
Rate this book
Horace: Poems; Edited by Paul Quarrie
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.
--book jacket
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.
--book jacket
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
2 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
About the author
Horatius
3,530 books327 followers
Odes
and
Satires
Roman lyric poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus exerted a major influence on English poetry.
(December 8, 65 BC – November 27, 8 BC)
Horace, the son of a freed slave, who owned a small farm, later moved to Rome to work as a coactor, a middleman between buyers and sellers at auctions, receiving 1% of the purchase price for his services. The father ably spent considerable money on education of his son, accompanied him first to Rome for his primary education, and then sent him to Athens to study Greek and philosophy.
After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Horace joined the army, serving under the generalship of Brutus. He fought as a staff officer (tribunus militum) in the battle of Philippi. Alluding to famous literary models, he later claimed to throw away his shield and to flee for his salvation. When people declared an amnesty for those who fought against the victorious Octavian Augustus, Horace returned to Italy, only to find his estate confiscated and his father likely then dead. Horace claims that circumstances reduced him to poverty.
Nevertheless, he meaningfully gained a profitable lifetime appointment as a scriba quaestorius, an official of the Treasury; this appointment allowed him to practice his poetic art.
Horace was a member of a literary circle that included Virgil and Lucius Varius Rufus, who introduced him to Maecenas, friend and confidant of Augustus. Maecenas became his patron and close friend and presented Horace with an estate near Tibur in the Sabine Hills (contemporary Tivoli). A few months after the death of Maecenas, Horace died in Rome. Upon his death bed, Horace with no heirs relinquished his farm to Augustus, his friend and the emperor, for imperial needs, and it stands today as a spot of pilgrimage for his admirers.
(December 8, 65 BC – November 27, 8 BC)
Horace, the son of a freed slave, who owned a small farm, later moved to Rome to work as a coactor, a middleman between buyers and sellers at auctions, receiving 1% of the purchase price for his services. The father ably spent considerable money on education of his son, accompanied him first to Rome for his primary education, and then sent him to Athens to study Greek and philosophy.
After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Horace joined the army, serving under the generalship of Brutus. He fought as a staff officer (tribunus militum) in the battle of Philippi. Alluding to famous literary models, he later claimed to throw away his shield and to flee for his salvation. When people declared an amnesty for those who fought against the victorious Octavian Augustus, Horace returned to Italy, only to find his estate confiscated and his father likely then dead. Horace claims that circumstances reduced him to poverty.
Nevertheless, he meaningfully gained a profitable lifetime appointment as a scriba quaestorius, an official of the Treasury; this appointment allowed him to practice his poetic art.
Horace was a member of a literary circle that included Virgil and Lucius Varius Rufus, who introduced him to Maecenas, friend and confidant of Augustus. Maecenas became his patron and close friend and presented Horace with an estate near Tibur in the Sabine Hills (contemporary Tivoli). A few months after the death of Maecenas, Horace died in Rome. Upon his death bed, Horace with no heirs relinquished his farm to Augustus, his friend and the emperor, for imperial needs, and it stands today as a spot of pilgrimage for his admirers.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 30, 2016
I didn't understand a lot of it because poetry is like another language for me and I took forever to finish this. Still, it was worth it and I think I'll re-read again and hopefully, each time I re-read, I'll understand it a little better than before.
July 28, 2023
2023-07-28:
One the most famous poems and quotes. Old, classic.
“Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero”
“Seize the day, trusting tomorrow as little as possible.”
Or
“This day’s thine own; the next day may be denied.”
(p.39)
Horace wrote this during the time of the Roman emperor Augustus in 23 BCE.
It’s a short rebuke (Odes 1.11) to a woman - not to trust in future as predicted by the astrologers - but seize the day!
In logic the pattern is A —> B
If mortal, then this could be my last day.
I am mortal, so this could be my last day.
(Also read “a guide to the good life” by Irvine about negative visualization for a deeper meaning, or read Seneca)
While I agree that life is finite and seizing the day -planning the day and for the future is essential.
This Book: Everymans library (2015), small format
One the most famous poems and quotes. Old, classic.
“Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero”
“Seize the day, trusting tomorrow as little as possible.”
Or
“This day’s thine own; the next day may be denied.”
(p.39)
Horace wrote this during the time of the Roman emperor Augustus in 23 BCE.
It’s a short rebuke (Odes 1.11) to a woman - not to trust in future as predicted by the astrologers - but seize the day!
In logic the pattern is A —> B
If mortal, then this could be my last day.
I am mortal, so this could be my last day.
(Also read “a guide to the good life” by Irvine about negative visualization for a deeper meaning, or read Seneca)
While I agree that life is finite and seizing the day -planning the day and for the future is essential.
This Book: Everymans library (2015), small format
November 19, 2023
This is a selected anthology. I think the best works by far are the satires. They were the earliest things he published.
I don't know why everyone makes a big deal about his odes.
If I were to split out my star rating it would be:
Satires 4 stars
Epodes 3 stars
Odes and Letters 2 stars.
I don't know why everyone makes a big deal about his odes.
If I were to split out my star rating it would be:
Satires 4 stars
Epodes 3 stars
Odes and Letters 2 stars.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews