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The Epistles of Horace
My aim is to take familiar things and make
Poetry of them, and do it in such a way
That it looks as if it was as easy as could be
For anybody to do it . . . the power of making
A perfectly wonderful thing out of nothing much.
--from "The Art of Poetry"
When David Ferry's translation of The Odes of Horace appeared in 1997, Bernard Knox, writing in The New York Review of Books, called it "a Horace for our times." Now Ferry has translated Horace's two books of Epistles, in which Horace perfected the conversational verse medium that gives his voice such dazzling immediacy, speaking in these letters with such directness, wit, and urgency to young writers, to friends, to his patron Maecenas, to Emperor Augustus himself. It is the voice of a free man, talking about how to get along in a Roman world full of temptations, opportunities, and contingencies, and how to do so with one's integrity intact. Horace's world, so unlike our own and yet so like it, comes to life in these poems. And there are also the poems -- the famous "Art of Poetry" and others -- about the tasks and responsibilities of the writer: truth to the demands of one's medium, fearless clear-sighted self-knowledge, and unillusioned, uncynical realism, joyfully recognizing the world for what it is.
Poetry of them, and do it in such a way
That it looks as if it was as easy as could be
For anybody to do it . . . the power of making
A perfectly wonderful thing out of nothing much.
--from "The Art of Poetry"
When David Ferry's translation of The Odes of Horace appeared in 1997, Bernard Knox, writing in The New York Review of Books, called it "a Horace for our times." Now Ferry has translated Horace's two books of Epistles, in which Horace perfected the conversational verse medium that gives his voice such dazzling immediacy, speaking in these letters with such directness, wit, and urgency to young writers, to friends, to his patron Maecenas, to Emperor Augustus himself. It is the voice of a free man, talking about how to get along in a Roman world full of temptations, opportunities, and contingencies, and how to do so with one's integrity intact. Horace's world, so unlike our own and yet so like it, comes to life in these poems. And there are also the poems -- the famous "Art of Poetry" and others -- about the tasks and responsibilities of the writer: truth to the demands of one's medium, fearless clear-sighted self-knowledge, and unillusioned, uncynical realism, joyfully recognizing the world for what it is.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 21
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About the author
Horatius
3,531 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.
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April 21, 2018
Scorci di passato
"Fra le speranze e gli affanni, fra ciò che temi o t'adira, fa conto che ogni giorno che vivi per te sia quello supremo: grato sopravverà, domani, l'ora in cui non avevi sperato."
"Epistole e Ars poetica" di Orazio è un regalo donatomi da un'amica.
Questa è il principale motivo del perchè io mi sia cimentato in un'opera latina, non proprio il mio principale campo.
Al contrario degli iniziali dubbi e tentennamenti, la lettura delle ventidue epistole si è rivelata un'esperienza estremamente edificante e ricca di spunti.
I numerosi destinatari delle epistole (degni di nota Ottaviano e Mecenate, fra tutti) permettono di delineare, indirettamente, la personalità di Orazio.
Giunto agli ultimi anni della sua vita, Orazio abbandona la poesia per dare sfoggio di una predisposizione alla riflessione morale (intrisa di stoicismo).
La rivendicazione di una propria autonomia e di un pensiero totalmente svincolato ai giudizi del prossimo, peculiarità che emergeranno anche ne "l'Ars Poetica", fanno di Orazio un pensatore eclettico e sfaccettato, capace di toccare molteplici tematiche e aspetti esistenziali con una facilità disarmante.
Di particolare rilevanza la differenza tra l'essere e l'apparire (epistola 16), la concezione dell'amicizia (epistola 5), l'effimera essenza del successo (epistola 20) ed infine la presa di coscienza di un cambio caratteriale con il passare del tempo (epistola 14).
Le riflessioni di Orazio, ben lungi dall'essere etichettate come vetuste o sorpassate, si ergono con la consapevolezza di essere universali ed eterne nella loro essenza.
Il passato, spesso trascurato o ingiustamente sottovalutato, può tranquillamente insegnarci ed essere veicolo di emozioni: basterebbe, semplicemente, riscoprirlo.
"Fra le speranze e gli affanni, fra ciò che temi o t'adira, fa conto che ogni giorno che vivi per te sia quello supremo: grato sopravverà, domani, l'ora in cui non avevi sperato."
"Epistole e Ars poetica" di Orazio è un regalo donatomi da un'amica.
Questa è il principale motivo del perchè io mi sia cimentato in un'opera latina, non proprio il mio principale campo.
Al contrario degli iniziali dubbi e tentennamenti, la lettura delle ventidue epistole si è rivelata un'esperienza estremamente edificante e ricca di spunti.
I numerosi destinatari delle epistole (degni di nota Ottaviano e Mecenate, fra tutti) permettono di delineare, indirettamente, la personalità di Orazio.
Giunto agli ultimi anni della sua vita, Orazio abbandona la poesia per dare sfoggio di una predisposizione alla riflessione morale (intrisa di stoicismo).
La rivendicazione di una propria autonomia e di un pensiero totalmente svincolato ai giudizi del prossimo, peculiarità che emergeranno anche ne "l'Ars Poetica", fanno di Orazio un pensatore eclettico e sfaccettato, capace di toccare molteplici tematiche e aspetti esistenziali con una facilità disarmante.
Di particolare rilevanza la differenza tra l'essere e l'apparire (epistola 16), la concezione dell'amicizia (epistola 5), l'effimera essenza del successo (epistola 20) ed infine la presa di coscienza di un cambio caratteriale con il passare del tempo (epistola 14).
Le riflessioni di Orazio, ben lungi dall'essere etichettate come vetuste o sorpassate, si ergono con la consapevolezza di essere universali ed eterne nella loro essenza.
Il passato, spesso trascurato o ingiustamente sottovalutato, può tranquillamente insegnarci ed essere veicolo di emozioni: basterebbe, semplicemente, riscoprirlo.
August 27, 2025
What is it: the poet as virtuous moderate.
----
Why 4 stars: in a letter written to an aspiring poet/playwright, Horace provides us a characteristically frank description of his own poetry: "My aim is to take familiar things and make / Poetry of them [...] such is the power of making / A perfectly wonderful thing out of nothing much." Horace's epistles, all written (and here translated) as poems, are a kind of poetry not typically associated with classical writing. We think of ancient poetry and think of Homer and Virgil, or of Horace's Odes perhaps. Grandeur, scale, intricacy, allusion. These letters, though, are simpler, grounded, even plain at times. Horace speaks of everyday experiences--his and those he expects are understood by or shared by the various recipients of his letters; he is frequently funny, making biting remarks about some politician or orator or satirizing some party or social function; he remarks about money--the having of it, by the generosity of his patron, and the lack of it, should he return to poverty--and about etiquette, prudence, teaching, etc.
Above all, however, Horace spends these letters offering moral instruction. Sure, this instruction is couched within self-deprecation about his own laziness or health, or draped with instruction about writing and social norms, even framed by fiscal advice or comments about rural life vs. urban life. But, whatever the ostensible context of each letter, Horace takes every opportunity to provide some fundamental, underlying comment on virtue. These letters, as Horace himself compiled them for publication, comprise a sort of counter-education in an era of Roman society that Horace feared was increasingly caught up in unconsidered extremes.
The center of virtue, for Horace, is moderation. The middle-ground. He critiques men swept up in awe as much as he critiques men crushed by fear. He critiques careless reveling in wealth as much as he critiques blithe acceptance of poverty. He hates the crowds and expectations of the city as much as he struggles with the isolation and lack of culture in the countryside. He seeks, and advocates others seek, a way of life that permits them balance in their emotions, balance in their circumstances, balance in their relationships and interactions.
It is crucial, then, that when he describes the work of writing poetry, his own work, his own participation in the moral activity of Roman society, Horace emphasizes that poetry's power is moving the familiar into the realm of the wonderful. Nothing much becomes something significant in the hands of a poet. This is itself a kind of moderation. A kind of middle-ground. That the baseness of the world should not be left base but elevated. But equally that the grandeur of language should not be reserved only for aloof heroes and mythic monsters. The meeting of grand language with everyday life is a virtue uniquely found in the poetic work.
This matching of poetry and virtue is demonstrated in Horace's own self-evaluation. He self-deprecates often. He diminishes his circumstances. He keeps himself bowed before those he respects. He presents himself, in a word, as humble. Yet he does so in carefully crafted poetic form. He gives to his own humility the gift of beautiful verse, an elevating of his own baseness.
So I can't shake this feeling, persistent when reading these letters, that maybe Horace's humility isn't so humble as he presents. I'm trained, I suppose, to distrust Roman writers. Because language to a Roman, especially a notable public figure, was understood to be performative. Of course all language is always performative, but we often forget that, or trust that many of us simply want to perform what we actually feel or who we actually are. Roman writers and orators, however, have reason to foreground the performance. The craft of language was the skill that earned them authority and influence. The performance was the power of it.
And in Horace's letters, I see signs too that for all he cares about moral education and proper virtues for Roman culture, these virtues, those morals, are equally foregrounded as performative. The context for Horace's moral instruction is always the context of social function--how one's behaviors and attitudes are perceived by, evaluated by, affect or are affected by, the people one interacts with. Moderation is not presented as a philosophical ideal. It is a socially useful ideal. The middle-ground, the temperance, the line between extremes, is a powerful position in a society increasingly polarized or dynamic. Horace sees this, advocates for it, and models it.
The humility of both his poetry and his life strikes me as more often than not a scheme devised to position Horace in a niche among his peers and patrons that he feels grants him respect from others and influence among them.
Within the same verses I quoted at the start, Horace includes in his description of his own poetry this too: "[...] and do it in such a way / That it looks as if it was easy as could be / For anybody to do it (although he'd sweat / And strain and work his head off, all in vain). / Such is the power of judgment, of knowing what / It means to put the elements together / In just the right way."
Poetry and virtue, both demonstrations of the power of judgment, of putting things together in the right way for others to witness and evaluate.
Yet even in all this performance, there are the briefest moments where what seems to me to be a more vulnerable Horace is visible. Glimpses of emotion not checked as much as perhaps he would have wished to. Glimpses of frustrations about his own character deeper than his usual self-deprecation. It is those moments that strike me as the most compelling reminders the poet cannot exist only in the world of performance. Language cannot be held always at arms-length. Even Horace, skillful as he certainly is, could not help but sometimes, briefly and rarely, speak his mind and his heart.
----
On the translation: I remain David Ferry's biggest fan. I have found no better modern translator of Latin, and specifically this era of Latin--Virgil and Horace both writing in Augustus' peace. I appreciate that this edition includes the original Latin beside the translation, because there's so many turns of phrase, so many moments of voice and tone, that require a kind of dance between languages. It is so easy to see Latin as inherently more formal than English, but Ferry's gift is recognizing that Latin is just as capable of several modes and moods, albeit with maybe subtler clues hidden in the grammar and syntax.
The testament to Ferry's skill in translating Horace, I think, is in recognizing those moments when Horace breaks from his performative poetry to speak genuinely of himself. It would be easy to translate these letters in a single voice that overwhelmed the dynamics of when Horace is speaking as a public figure and when as a private individual, but Ferry preserves those dynamics in his English text, leveraging English's meter and diction to accomplish what Latin's grammar accomplished.
----
You might also like: Cicero's essays. While writing a generation before poets like Horace and Virgil, and writing not poetry but essays on politics and society, Cicero shares Horace's foregrounding of performance. Takes it much further than Horace, in fact.
----
Why 4 stars: in a letter written to an aspiring poet/playwright, Horace provides us a characteristically frank description of his own poetry: "My aim is to take familiar things and make / Poetry of them [...] such is the power of making / A perfectly wonderful thing out of nothing much." Horace's epistles, all written (and here translated) as poems, are a kind of poetry not typically associated with classical writing. We think of ancient poetry and think of Homer and Virgil, or of Horace's Odes perhaps. Grandeur, scale, intricacy, allusion. These letters, though, are simpler, grounded, even plain at times. Horace speaks of everyday experiences--his and those he expects are understood by or shared by the various recipients of his letters; he is frequently funny, making biting remarks about some politician or orator or satirizing some party or social function; he remarks about money--the having of it, by the generosity of his patron, and the lack of it, should he return to poverty--and about etiquette, prudence, teaching, etc.
Above all, however, Horace spends these letters offering moral instruction. Sure, this instruction is couched within self-deprecation about his own laziness or health, or draped with instruction about writing and social norms, even framed by fiscal advice or comments about rural life vs. urban life. But, whatever the ostensible context of each letter, Horace takes every opportunity to provide some fundamental, underlying comment on virtue. These letters, as Horace himself compiled them for publication, comprise a sort of counter-education in an era of Roman society that Horace feared was increasingly caught up in unconsidered extremes.
The center of virtue, for Horace, is moderation. The middle-ground. He critiques men swept up in awe as much as he critiques men crushed by fear. He critiques careless reveling in wealth as much as he critiques blithe acceptance of poverty. He hates the crowds and expectations of the city as much as he struggles with the isolation and lack of culture in the countryside. He seeks, and advocates others seek, a way of life that permits them balance in their emotions, balance in their circumstances, balance in their relationships and interactions.
It is crucial, then, that when he describes the work of writing poetry, his own work, his own participation in the moral activity of Roman society, Horace emphasizes that poetry's power is moving the familiar into the realm of the wonderful. Nothing much becomes something significant in the hands of a poet. This is itself a kind of moderation. A kind of middle-ground. That the baseness of the world should not be left base but elevated. But equally that the grandeur of language should not be reserved only for aloof heroes and mythic monsters. The meeting of grand language with everyday life is a virtue uniquely found in the poetic work.
This matching of poetry and virtue is demonstrated in Horace's own self-evaluation. He self-deprecates often. He diminishes his circumstances. He keeps himself bowed before those he respects. He presents himself, in a word, as humble. Yet he does so in carefully crafted poetic form. He gives to his own humility the gift of beautiful verse, an elevating of his own baseness.
So I can't shake this feeling, persistent when reading these letters, that maybe Horace's humility isn't so humble as he presents. I'm trained, I suppose, to distrust Roman writers. Because language to a Roman, especially a notable public figure, was understood to be performative. Of course all language is always performative, but we often forget that, or trust that many of us simply want to perform what we actually feel or who we actually are. Roman writers and orators, however, have reason to foreground the performance. The craft of language was the skill that earned them authority and influence. The performance was the power of it.
And in Horace's letters, I see signs too that for all he cares about moral education and proper virtues for Roman culture, these virtues, those morals, are equally foregrounded as performative. The context for Horace's moral instruction is always the context of social function--how one's behaviors and attitudes are perceived by, evaluated by, affect or are affected by, the people one interacts with. Moderation is not presented as a philosophical ideal. It is a socially useful ideal. The middle-ground, the temperance, the line between extremes, is a powerful position in a society increasingly polarized or dynamic. Horace sees this, advocates for it, and models it.
The humility of both his poetry and his life strikes me as more often than not a scheme devised to position Horace in a niche among his peers and patrons that he feels grants him respect from others and influence among them.
Within the same verses I quoted at the start, Horace includes in his description of his own poetry this too: "[...] and do it in such a way / That it looks as if it was easy as could be / For anybody to do it (although he'd sweat / And strain and work his head off, all in vain). / Such is the power of judgment, of knowing what / It means to put the elements together / In just the right way."
Poetry and virtue, both demonstrations of the power of judgment, of putting things together in the right way for others to witness and evaluate.
Yet even in all this performance, there are the briefest moments where what seems to me to be a more vulnerable Horace is visible. Glimpses of emotion not checked as much as perhaps he would have wished to. Glimpses of frustrations about his own character deeper than his usual self-deprecation. It is those moments that strike me as the most compelling reminders the poet cannot exist only in the world of performance. Language cannot be held always at arms-length. Even Horace, skillful as he certainly is, could not help but sometimes, briefly and rarely, speak his mind and his heart.
----
On the translation: I remain David Ferry's biggest fan. I have found no better modern translator of Latin, and specifically this era of Latin--Virgil and Horace both writing in Augustus' peace. I appreciate that this edition includes the original Latin beside the translation, because there's so many turns of phrase, so many moments of voice and tone, that require a kind of dance between languages. It is so easy to see Latin as inherently more formal than English, but Ferry's gift is recognizing that Latin is just as capable of several modes and moods, albeit with maybe subtler clues hidden in the grammar and syntax.
The testament to Ferry's skill in translating Horace, I think, is in recognizing those moments when Horace breaks from his performative poetry to speak genuinely of himself. It would be easy to translate these letters in a single voice that overwhelmed the dynamics of when Horace is speaking as a public figure and when as a private individual, but Ferry preserves those dynamics in his English text, leveraging English's meter and diction to accomplish what Latin's grammar accomplished.
----
You might also like: Cicero's essays. While writing a generation before poets like Horace and Virgil, and writing not poetry but essays on politics and society, Cicero shares Horace's foregrounding of performance. Takes it much further than Horace, in fact.
June 3, 2018
The Epistles contains some of my favorite poems from Horace. In Book One the poet looks back on his life and offers younger men his wisdom and experiences as a model for aging with dignity -- even though Horace is only 45! He writes with an effortless grace (a trait he later claims in “The Art of Poetry” is the primary duty of poets) with lines that seem ready-made to be classic epigrams sprinkled throughout. Poem one of Book Two purports to be an epistle to Augustus, but is really one of the great meditations on what makes a work classic or canonical. Horace skirts politics with a wink and a nod because his M.O. seems to be climbing up in the political world precisely by claiming to avoid politics, which it is the ultimate in political maneuvering. Horace writes a poem to Augustus appearing to have little to do with the emperor, but still managing to please readers and to impart gentle lessons (including to Augustus, one would assume). Just as Horace suggests that good poets make their verse seem effortless, he tends to write and live in a way that makes his political speech seem apolitical.
Throughout Book Two, Horace muses on the very same questions we still ask about literature: Does age make a work "classic"? Should we honor inferior works merely because they have survived, and do we ignore contemporary masterpieces because they happen to be written in our own age? The book concludes with “The Art of Poetry,” which lays out a set of aesthetic principles that set the stage for every future essay on poetic theory by poets, from Sidney to Lessing to Eliot.
David Ferry’s translation captures the voice of Horace as if he were speaking in our own lifetime. It’s so rare to find a translation that doesn't sound archaic or try too hard to be hip and modern. This translation in particular is a must-read for lovers of poetry, philosophy, and theory.
Throughout Book Two, Horace muses on the very same questions we still ask about literature: Does age make a work "classic"? Should we honor inferior works merely because they have survived, and do we ignore contemporary masterpieces because they happen to be written in our own age? The book concludes with “The Art of Poetry,” which lays out a set of aesthetic principles that set the stage for every future essay on poetic theory by poets, from Sidney to Lessing to Eliot.
David Ferry’s translation captures the voice of Horace as if he were speaking in our own lifetime. It’s so rare to find a translation that doesn't sound archaic or try too hard to be hip and modern. This translation in particular is a must-read for lovers of poetry, philosophy, and theory.
August 15, 2022
Lessons for living: seek wisdom, simplicity, happiness - and patronage. Lessons for writing: seek thought, control, and ease.
November 3, 2012
Il 'primo libro' è abbastanza interessante, tratta di varie lettere che Orazio scrive a vari destinatari. E' interessante da notare che dalle sue lettere traspare un mondo dell'antichità non molto differente da quello attuale.
Il 'secondo libro' è noioso.
Il 'secondo libro' è noioso.
April 23, 2021
Some unexpected gems of wisdom in this one. For example: you might achieve happiness, but are you sure you know how to use it?
February 9, 2022
Bit of history, bit of self help, bit of ars poetica
February 11, 2023
Há livros de poesia que deveriam estar sempre na nossa mesinha de cabeceira, este é um deles. Ocasionalmente o autor anunciou-se durante as minhas leituras como que aos bochechos, assim, a poética de Horácio não me é de todo estranha. Pena que nunca tinha lido um livro completo.
A primeira vez que ouvi falar de Horácio tinha 15 anos quando estudei Os Lusíadas de Luís de Camões, mais tarde quando estudei o heterónimo de Fernando Pessoa, Ricardo Reis, voltei a cruzar-me com Horácio. Esta edição das Epístolas de Horácio, foi traduzida para português por Pedro Braga Falcão, e editadas pelos Livros Cotovia, tendo sido apenas editados 1000 exemplares. Guarde bem este livro quem o tiver na sua biblioteca. Horácio mudou a sóbria e ática literatura romana, escreveu estas cartas aos grandes da política como Octaviano, o princeps César Augusto, também se dirigiu aos amigos, a todos com enorme liberdade, numa fase da vida em que não necessitava de se encostar aos patronos, e quando escreve as cartaz fá-lo para criar um estilo novo. Deixo-nos máximas de um anti-romantismo contundente como que uma prece cenobita, embora Horário tenha vivido tudo, e tinha pouco de monge. Enquanto lia o livro, observei que mesmo ao fim de 2000 mil anos existem como que partículas em certos versos deste livro que ligam a cultura portuguesa e a cultura romana. As vinhas de enforcado no Minho, que aproveitam árvores como o olmo para expandir as videiras, são uma técnica romana, ver verso 84 do poema VII "Enfim... o homem refinado transforma-se/ num rústico, só fala em sulcos e vinhas, e prepara os olmos,".
A primeira vez que ouvi falar de Horácio tinha 15 anos quando estudei Os Lusíadas de Luís de Camões, mais tarde quando estudei o heterónimo de Fernando Pessoa, Ricardo Reis, voltei a cruzar-me com Horácio. Esta edição das Epístolas de Horácio, foi traduzida para português por Pedro Braga Falcão, e editadas pelos Livros Cotovia, tendo sido apenas editados 1000 exemplares. Guarde bem este livro quem o tiver na sua biblioteca. Horácio mudou a sóbria e ática literatura romana, escreveu estas cartas aos grandes da política como Octaviano, o princeps César Augusto, também se dirigiu aos amigos, a todos com enorme liberdade, numa fase da vida em que não necessitava de se encostar aos patronos, e quando escreve as cartaz fá-lo para criar um estilo novo. Deixo-nos máximas de um anti-romantismo contundente como que uma prece cenobita, embora Horário tenha vivido tudo, e tinha pouco de monge. Enquanto lia o livro, observei que mesmo ao fim de 2000 mil anos existem como que partículas em certos versos deste livro que ligam a cultura portuguesa e a cultura romana. As vinhas de enforcado no Minho, que aproveitam árvores como o olmo para expandir as videiras, são uma técnica romana, ver verso 84 do poema VII "Enfim... o homem refinado transforma-se/ num rústico, só fala em sulcos e vinhas, e prepara os olmos,".
September 21, 2018
Like Ferry's other translations of the classics, his Epistles strikes an admirable balance between maintaining a distinct Roman flavor and voice with just enough transformation into modern colloquial speech to make the work feel intimate. This is especially effective here in Horace's prose pieces, which read similarly to Montaigne's essays, reflective yet conversational, imbued with enough casual contemporary references to make the reader feel like a confidant.
I was previously only familiar with the Ara Poetica, a major text in the history of dramatic criticism. Ferry's translation of this more famous piece is solid, but undistinguished. Partly because Horace's voice in this piece is so different than in the other epistles. The Ara Poetica sets out aesthetic principles, whereas nearly all the other epistles seem to be laying out the author's personal life philosophy presented as common sense and modesty.
I was previously only familiar with the Ara Poetica, a major text in the history of dramatic criticism. Ferry's translation of this more famous piece is solid, but undistinguished. Partly because Horace's voice in this piece is so different than in the other epistles. The Ara Poetica sets out aesthetic principles, whereas nearly all the other epistles seem to be laying out the author's personal life philosophy presented as common sense and modesty.
November 12, 2025
I enjoyed this book of poems a lot. Classic poetry provides a great lens into how people lived centuries or millennia ago. The final poem, To the Pisos, provides advice for writers that even many modern authors could stand to hear.
Favorite poem: To Julius Florus
Favorite poem: To Julius Florus
June 4, 2021
Very enjoyable translation of Horace’s pearls of wisdom
A thoroughly enjoyable experience.
The notes are sparse but I think they do the job
A thoroughly enjoyable experience.
The notes are sparse but I think they do the job
August 29, 2023
Accessible letters by Horace. His themes are straightforward and Horace continues to walk a fine line between patron and poet in these works which came later in his life.
October 3, 2023
Horace seems like a truly great guy. 10/10. Would love to read these letters in Latin someday.
August 15, 2007
David Ferry does very approachable translations, and this one is a fun, quick read. It's a collection of Horace's letters to his friends. He doles out a lot of advice, and it's solid advice--if he published this book today, it would be under self-help, although a very poetic self-help. It's self-help in the best sense--it's about improved living. Horace had a sense of humor, and was a good time guy, too--I especially like his letter "To Torquatus" about the virtues of alcohol.
A satisfying part of reading this is the sense of humanity that comes off these letters--you get to meet a guy who lived thousands of years ago! And, his concerns were not so different from our concerns today--people continue to struggle with the same issues of materialism, wealth, success, ego, and desire.
A satisfying part of reading this is the sense of humanity that comes off these letters--you get to meet a guy who lived thousands of years ago! And, his concerns were not so different from our concerns today--people continue to struggle with the same issues of materialism, wealth, success, ego, and desire.
March 10, 2011
there are moments of great insight and wit in these poems that still ring true despite them beimg a classic of the roman era and having been translated and kept the same iambic meter. I am impressed beyond words that the translator was able to do this although there was the occasional, and perhaps inevitable clumsy line.
March 13, 2008
An excellent translation of Horace, with facing text. Not meant as a textbook, but it could serve as one for a truly advanced class.
July 5, 2014
This book is a great read!
February 8, 2024
Crumbs of advice. Crazy given how old this text really is, it all still applies.
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