ForEmily,becauseIoncetriedtoreadyouthispoemandIdidntmakemuch

senseofit.Thanksforbeingsuchagreatlibrarian.

MythankstoBertieVeres,forreadingthisthrough.

Thesyllablesin bold aretoindicatealongersoundthanthesyllablesthatremain
inordinaryfont.Youshouldfindyourselfpronouncingmostofthesenaturally,as
youfindthesyllablestakelongertosay.Insomecasesyouwillhavetolengthen
thevoweltomakeitlong.

Firstreadtheliteraltranslationforeachword.Thentryandmatchitupwiththe
sensetranslation.Afteryouhavemanagedthat,readthecommentary.

[
Tu ][ne][
quae sier is
],[
scire][ne fas],[
quem ][mihi],[quem ][tibi]
[you][donot][seek][know][againstcustom][which][forme][which][foryou]
Youknowitswrong,donttryandsearchwhatendthegodshaveinstoreforme
oryou,
[
finem ][
di][dede rint],[Leu cono e],[
nec ][Baby lon i
os ]
[theend][thegods][theygive],[Leuconoe],[nor][Babylonian]
OLeuconoe,anddonot
[
temp
ta
ris
][numer os].[
ut ][meli us],[
quid quid][e rit],[pa ti].
[tryout][numbers].[itisso][better][whatever][itwillbe][toexperience]
TryoutthoseBabylonianfortunecharts.Itisbetterwhatevermayhappento
experienceit.
[
seu ][
plu
ris
][hie mes ][seu ][tribu it
][Iup pite(r)][ulti
mam ],
[whether][more][storms][or][allots][Juppiter][thislastone]
WhetherJuppiter(intendstohurl)morestormsorifhehasallottedthishislast
[
quae ][
nunc ][
op posi tis][
deb ili
tat][pu micibus ][mare]
[which][now][againstopposing][collides][rocks][thesea]
TheonewhichnowthunderstheTyrrhenianseaupfromtheopposing
weatherbeatenrocks
[
Tyrr
hen
um ]:[sapi as],[
vina][liq ues ][
et o
][spati ][bre vi]
[Tyrrhenian][yououghttobewise][vines][turntoliquid][and][inspace][short]
 Bewise.Turnyourvinestowineandrestrainthatlonghopeforashortspaceof
time
[spem ][
long
am ][rese
ces].[
dum ][loqui
mur],[
fu
geri(t)][
invida]
[hope][long][cutloose][while][wespeak][shallfly][envious]
Evenaswespeak,offflythosetimesofenvy
[
aetas]:[
carpe][di
em ][
quam ][minimum ][
credula][
pos te
ro].
[age]:[pluck][theday][as][little][havingfaith][intheonethatcomesnext]
Seizethedayandholdaslittlefaithaspossibleintomorrow.

Commentary

Thiscommentarypicksupspecificwords,unpacksthemandexploresthem,as
wellasstructuresandthemes.Readthiscommentaryasyoureadthepoemfora
thirdtime.Thentryyourhandatreadingthepoemwithoutassistance,ontheblank
versionbeneath.WhenIsaytwowordsagree,Imeantheyshouldbetaken
together.So,inthephrasetheblackcat,bothblackandcatagree.

1:
LatindoesnotneedtosaytulikeFrenchorEnglishdoes.Itismoreakinto
Spanishinitspreferenceforkeepingthepronoun(theyouword)insidetheverb
form. Quaesieris alreadytranslatesveryhappilyasyoushouldseek.The tu
servestostrengthentheformandmakeitmoreemphatic.Thuswehaveavery
personaladdress(andwewaittillline2torealisewhomHoraceisaddressing)

Ne isanegativeandtakesareasonablyunusualverbforminthisline quaesieris .
Thetwocoupletocreatequiteacolloquialphrase,asiftosaydontyougo
searching.Theaddressistoafriend,itisnotaformphraselikedonotgo
searching.

Scirenefas isalovelyaside.Scireistoknowinthesenseoftohave
knowledge. Nefasisacombinationword:madeupoftheword ne(wevealready
seen)and fas Fas
. isacustom,atradition(generallyinareligioussense).
Thereforetheimplicationistheactofforesightisfundamentallyimpious.The
asideisalsocolloquialintone,youknowitswrong

Quem...quem bothagreewith finem

onthenextline.Theyreferto finem Mihi
. and
tibi
areinthesameform,fordifferentpronouns.ThisrepetitivestructureisHorace
athisfinest,makinguseofhismetretogeneratealivelystructure.

2:
Finem isawordweveinheritedintoEnglish,inthewordfinal,finishet
cetera.Horacedoesnotnecessarilymeandeathhere.Hedoesntusuallyshy
awayfromconfrontingthingsheadon.Hejustmeanswhenthegood/badtimesare
goingtoend.Wevejustseenthescenedevelopslightly,hescriticisingsomeone
forwastingtimewaitingforanend.Whentheendisgoingtocome.Youmightas
welljustwait.Thisistheoverarchingthemeinthispoem.

Babylonios areinreferencetothepractice,fromancientMesopotamia,oftryingto
divinethefutureusingmathematics.Heisreferringtoamysticalbranchofthe
scienceofprobability,inventedinthatregion.Theadjective babylonios agrees
withnumeros .

3:

Utmeliusquidquideritpati shouldbeoneveryoneslistoffavouritequotes.Its
certainlyonmine. Utdoesnotmeananythinglikeinorderto,getallthoseideas
rightoutofyourhead,theywillimpedeyoufromappreciatingthesimplicityof
thisphrase.Ut isaverrrryoldworld,inheritedfromthelanguagethatexisted
beforeGreek(whichwecallIndoEuropean).Inthatlanguageitwouldhave
lookedalittlelike*quu(asteriskjustmeansthatswhatwethinkitwouldhave
lookedlike).Itisthesamewordthatbroughtus howinEnglish.Youknowhow
howcanbeusedinhowgoodwasthat?!howdoIdothis?thisishowit
was.Wellthatsall utis.Imafraid,itreallyisntanymorecomplicatedthanthat.
Itdescribesthemannerofsomething. Melius isanadverbmeaningbetterly.
Quidquid isjustwhatever(asin,whatevermayhappen). Erit
isafutureoftheverb
tobewhateveritwillbe(thathappens). Patiisthemagicofthisphrase.Ifwe
unpackthatverbalittle,itstheabsolutebeeknees. Patiisawordwhich
meansto
feeltheemotionsofsomething,asyougothroughit.Itisthereforesomewhere
betweenexperienceandsuffer(inEnglish)andyetalsoextendstofeeling
elatedandhappy.Wereallydonthaveanequivalentforthisword.Itswell
chosenbecauseitreflectsthepotentialforchangeinevents,andperhaps
encouragesus2500yearslatertocontinuetorealisethatworryingwhatsgoingto
happenorwhenthegoodtimeswillendisjustatotalwasteoftime.

4:
Seuandseu hitoffeachother.Itwasoriginallyalongerword sive,whichwasa
combinationword. Sive
isacombinationof si(if)andve
(or).Itdescribesthe
alternativecondition,forwhenanotherconditionfailse.g.orifthatdoesntwork,
thenthis.Hence,itsawordofremotepossibility.Whentheyreinpairs,theyjust
worktopresentequallypossibleoutcomes.Ivetranslateditas whether or
... for
convenience,butitreallyislessdiscriminatethanthat.Horacecouldntcareless
whichoptionistrue,becausethewholepointofthepoemisthatyoushouldstop
caringaboutwhatwillhappenandfocusonwhatishappening.

Pluris(forplures) ultimam
and workoffeachother.Whethertherearemore
calamities,orthisisjustthelast.

Oniuppiter isshouldbenotedthatthroughoutHoracespoetryJupiterisperceived
tobethegiveroffate.

Hiemem isfemininesingularof hiemes Ultimam

. isafeminineadjective,soit
agreeswithanimaginary hiemem .Thatisthelaststorm. Hiemem isnotjusta
storm,itisalsothewholeseasonofwinter.Whileitseemstoworkwellwiththe
nextline(abouttheclashingoftherocks)itisalsotryingtocontrastthewinter
seasonwiththesummerseason,whichweseedevelopinthefollowinglines.

5:
Op posit is
andpum ici
busgotogether,andhavegotthesamerhythm. Oppositis
referstothings,asyoucantell,facingyou(inthiscase,facingthe mare(thesea)).
Pumicibus arethestonesthathavebeenhewnroughwithoverexposuretothe
scourgeofsaltyseasandthewindstheywhipup. Debilitat
seemstobean
experimentaluseoftheword,normallyitmeansunnerve.Hereitseemstobe
thatthewavesarecrashingwithincredibleforceagainstthefacingrocks.

6:
Sapias payingstrongattentiontotheending,youseethisisacommandingform.
TheendingtellsyouthatHoracewantsyoutothinkaboutthisverbwithashadeof
commandattachedtoit,butnotasanoutrightorder.Hesadvisingyoutobewise.

7:
Spem isthatfeelingyougetasakidwhenyourbirthdayiscoming,itsthat
hopeforthings.But spem isforgoodthingsandbadthings.Itisafearand
apprehensionquiteasmuchasthattiptoedexcitementweinHoracesview
knowalittletoowell. Longam spem
agreeswith andhasitsrootsinaGreekword
(langazo)whichmeanstoslackenorletloose. Longam meanssomethingthat
isfaroff,distantandcanevenmeantedious.HoracepicksupthisGreekyword
withtheword resecesnext,whichistheLatinforyoushallslacken.Theimage
isvery,veryvivid.Theideaofunravellingthatexpectationsofarthatitjust
vanishes,bybringingthepresentcloserandmoreandmorerelevanttoyou.Wise
wordsindeed.

8:
Invidaaetas aretobetakentogether(invidafromthepreviousline). Invidacomes
fromtheverb invideo,whichmeanstolookuponsomethingharshlyandtransfers
tomeantoenvyordislikeit(literallytogiveitthatlook,thoseevileyes). Invidais
theadjectivethatdescribesthatthingheldinenvy,andalsothethingthatin
beingheldinenvymakesyoubitter. Aetasisinreferencetowhateveryouwere
piningfor,itsspecificallyawordabouttime.

HerecomessomeofLatinsmostfamouswords: CarpeDiem .Seizetheday

totallyruinsthisphrase. Carpe meansbothpluckandharvest.Theideaisthat
youtakethedayasifyouwerepickingfruitsfromatree.Itisreadilyavailableto
youandyoujustsinkyourteethintotheimmediatesucculence.
Quamminimum asaphrasemeansaslittleaspossible.
Credula bringsusourEnglishcredulous.Itisalmostgullible.Someonewhohas
faithinwhims.TheLatinhasnegativeconnotations,justlikeourEnglishword
gulliblewhichHoraceleveragestoportrayhankeringaftertomorrowasavery
badthing.

Conclusion

Horace is telling you to do what most selfhelp gurus are really into nowadays,
from Buddha toEkhartTolle.Youneedto takepleasureinthemoment,thatsnot
to say dont plan (he expressly says do plan in later poems), but dont wait till
tomorrowtohavetodaysfun.Italsodoesntmean,asallthoseloonieswithcarpe
diem inscribed on their skin think it does, seizeyour day inrecklessabandon.
The phrase is simply about taking hold of what you have in front of you, the
imagery of the word carpe is far more powerful than just seizing. Its actually
about control, living in the moment for sure but only within that moments
means. Dontworry aboutthefutureorwhats goingto happen,leave that tofate.
Ithasaprettygoodtrackrecordofsortingthingsoutwithoutyourhelp.

This is one of Horaces shorter and simpler poems, but theimagery isstillsubtle
andyetvivid.Thephrasesarenotextraordinary,theyaresimpleandelegantlyput.
The metre is masterful.Thisisapoem tolearnbyheart,to read toyourselfwhen
youarethinkingtoomuchaboutthefuture,speculatingtoohard.Wisewords,from
a wise friend, and so comforting tohearsomeonesohuman from2500years ago
talkto uswith freshnessofbreathas ifitwere onlytodayovera coffeeinCovent
Garden.

Finallytheblankpoem.

Tunequaesieris,scirenefas,quemmihi,quemtibi
finemdidederint,Leuconoe,necBabylonios
temptarisnumeros.utmelius,quidquiderit,pati.
seuplurishiemesseutribuitIuppiterultimam,
quaenuncoppositisdebilitatpumicibusmare
Tyrrhenum:sapias,vinaliquesetspatiobrevi
spemlongamreseces.dumloquimur,fugeritinvida
aetas:carpediemquamminimumcredulapostero.