GOLDEN MEAN.
Ep. i. 6. 15.
Insani sapiens nomen ferat, æquus iniqui,
Ultra quam satis est virtutem si petat ipsam.
Even virtue, when pursued with warmth extreme,
Turns into vice, and fools the sage's fame.
Quidquid sub terrâ est, in apricum proferet ætas ;
Defodiet condetque nitentia.
But time shall bring the latent birth to light,
And hide the present glorious race in night.
Si virtus hoc una potest dare, fortis omissis
Hoc age deliciis. Virtutem verba putas, ut
Lucum ligna? cave ne portus occupet alter.
If virtue can alone the blessing give,
With ardent spirit her alone pursue,
And with contempt all other pleasures view;
Yet if you think that virtue's but a name,
That groves are groves, nor from religion claim
A sacred awe-sail to the distant coast.
Scilicet uxorem cum dote, fidemque, et amicos,
Et genus, et formam, regina pecunia donat:
Ac bene nummatum decorat Suadela Venusque.
For gold, the sovereign queen of all below,
Friends, honour, birth, and beauty can bestow;
The goddess of persuasion forms his train,
And Venus decks the well-bemoney'd swain.
HOW HAPPINESS IS TO BE PROCURED.
Ep. i. 6. 47.
Si res sola potest facere et servare beatum,
Hoc primus repetas opus, hoc postremus omittas.
Si fortunatum species et gratia præstat,
Mercemur servum, qui dictet nomina.
Well then, if wealth alone our bliss insure,
Our first, our latest toil should wealth secure :
If popularity the blessing claims,
Let's buy a slave to tell our voters' names,
And give the hint, when through the crowded street To stretch the civil hand to all we meet.
LICENTIOUS.
Ep. i. 6. 63.
Remigium vitiosum Ithacensis Ulixi, Cui potior patriâ fuit interdicta voluptas. And, like th' abandon'd Ulyssean crew, Our Ithaca forgot, forbidden joys pursue.
Si, Mimnermus uti censet, sine amore jocisque
Nil est jucundum; vivas in amore jocisque.
Vive, vale. Si quid novisti rectius istis,
Candidus imperti; si non, his utere mecum.
If life's insipid without mirth and love,
Let love and mirth insipid life improve.
Farewell! and if a better system's thine,
Impart it frankly, or make use of mine.
THE GOOD MAN.
Ep. i. 7. 20.
Prodigus et stultus donat quæ spernit et odit.
Hæc seges ingratos tulit, et feret omnibus annis.
Vir bonus et sapiens dignis ait esse paratus;
Nec tamen ignorat quid distent æra lupinis.
When fools and spendthrifts give what they despise,
Thin crops of gratitude will always rise.
The wise and good with better choice bestow,
And real gold from playhouse counters know.
LITTLE FOLKS.
Ep. i. 7. 43.
Parvum parva decent.
For little folks become their little fate.
NOT TO VENTURE BEYOND ONE'S LAST.
Ep. i. 7. 98.
Metiri se quemque suo modulo ac pede.
For all should be confined
Within the bounds which nature hath assign'd.
Vivo et regno, simul ista reliqui,
Quæ vos ad cœlum effertis rumore secundo.
In short, I live and reign, whene'er I fly
The joys you vaunt with rapture to the sky.
Naturam expelles furcâ, tamen usque recurret,
Et mala perrumpet furtim fastidia victrix.
For Nature, driven out with proud disdain,
All-powerful goddess, will return again;
Return in silent triumph, to deride
The weak attempts of luxury and pride.
HIGH THINGS.
Ep. i. 10. 30.
Quem res plus nimio delectavere secundæ,
Mutatæ quatient: si quid mirabere, pones
Invitus. Fuge magna: licet sub paupere tecto
Reges et regum vitâ præcurrere amicos.
They who in Fortune's smiles too much delight,
Shall tremble when the goddess takes her flight;
For, if her gifts our fonder passions gain,
The frail possession we resign with pain,
Then fly from grandeur, and the haughty great;
The cottage offers a secure retreat,
Where you may make that heart-felt bliss your own,
To kings, and favourites of kings, unknown.
Sic qui, pauperiem veritus, potiore metallis Libertate caret, dominum vehet improbus, atque Serviet æternum, quia parvo nesciet uti.
Cui non conveniet sua res, ut calceus olim,
Si pede major erit, subvertet; si minor, uret.
So he, who poverty with horror views,
Nor frugal nature's bounty knows to use,
Who sells his freedom in exchange for gold,
(Freedom for mines of wealth too cheaply sold,)
Shall make eternal servitude his fate,
And feel a haughty master's galling weight.
Our fortunes and our shoes are near allied;
Pinch'd in the strait, we stumble in the wide.
MONEY A SLAVE OR TYRANT.
Ep. i. 10. 47.
Imperat aut servit collecta pecunia cuique,
Tortum digna sequi potius, quam ducere, funem.
Gold is the slave or tyrant of the soul;
Unworthy to command, it better brooks control.
ENJOY THE PRESENT.
Ep. i. 11. 22.
Tu, quamcunque deus tibi fortunaverit horam,
Grata sume manu, neu dulcia differ in annum ;
Ut, quocunque loco fueris, vixisse libenter
Te dicas: nam si ratio et prudentia curas,
Non locus effusi late maris arbiter, aufert;
Cœlum, non animum mutant, qui trans mare currunt.
Strenua nos exercet inertia : navibus atque
Quadrigis petimus bene vivere. Quod petis, hic est,
Est Ulubris, animus si te non deficit æquus.
While yet 'tis in your power; while Fortune smiles,
At Rome with rapture vaunt those happy isles,
Then with a grateful hand the bliss receive,
If Heaven an hour more fortunate shall give.
Seize on the present joy, and thus possess,
Where'er you live, an inward happiness.
If reason only can our cares allay,
Not the bold site, that wide commands the sea;
If they who through the venturous ocean range,
Not their own passions, but the climate change;
Anxious through seas and land to search for rest
Is but laborious idleness at best.
In desert Ulubræ the bliss you'll find,
If you preserve a firm and equal mind.
Pauper enim non est, cui rerum suppetit usus.
Si ventri bene, si lateri est pedibusque tuis, nil
Divitiæ poterunt regales addere majus.
Then cease complaining, friend, and learn to live;
He is not poor to whom kind Fortune grants,
Even with a frugal hand, what Nature wants.
Are you with food, and warmth, and raiment blest?
Not royal treasures are of more possest.
FALSE FRIENDS.
Ep. i. 12. 24.
Vilis amicorum est annona, bonis ubi quid deest. And friends are cheap, when good men are distrest.
DISCONTENT.
Ep. i. 14. 11.
Cui placet alterius, sua nimirum est odio sors.
Stultus uterque locum immeritum causatur inique ;
In culpâ est animus, qui se non effugit unquam.
Pleased with each other's lot, our own we hate :
But both are fools, and fools in like extreme;
Guiltless the place that we unjustly blame,
For in the mind alone our follies lie,
The mind, that never from itself can fly.
Nec lusisse pudet, sed non incidere ludum.
Nor do I blush to own my follies past,
But own, those follies should no longer last.
CONTENTMENT.
Ep. i. 14. 43.
Optat ephippia bos piger; optat arare caballus.
Quam scit uterque, libens, censebo, exerceat artem.
Thus the slow ox would gaudy trappings claim;
The sprightly horse would plough amidst the team :
By my advice, let each with cheerful heart,
As best he understands, employ his art.
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