CLAUDIANUS

REASON AND NOT PASSION OUGHT TO GUIDE MAN.

xvii. 228.

Diis proximus ille est,

Quem ratio, non ira movet, qui facta rependens
Consilio punire potest.

That man approaches the gods, who is guided by reason and not by passion, and who, weighing the facts, can proportion the punishment with discretion.

HOW A KINGDOM OUGHT TO BE GOVERNED.

xvii. 239.

Peraget tranquilla potestas

Quod violenta nequit ; mandataque fortius urget

Imperii quies.

Power will accomplish more by gentle than by violent means; and calmness will best enforce the imperial mandates.

A BEGGAR ON HORSEBACK.

xviii. 181.

Asperius nihil est humili, cum surgit in altum. Nothing is more harsh than a low-born man raised to high estate.

MAN OF HONOUR.

xxi. 39.

Mens ardua semper

A puero, tenerisque etiam fulgebat in annis
Fortunæ majoris honos. Erectus et acer
Nil breve moliri, nullis hærere potentum
Liminibus.

Of an

He cherished lofty thoughts from his boyhood, and his high fortune threw its shadow before from his earliest years. erect and bold spirit, he aimed at mighty objects, and was no flatterer of the great.

A PIOUS KING.

xxiv. 113.

Fallitur egregio quisquis sub principe credet
Servitium. Nunquam libertas gratior extat
Quam sub rege pio.

That man is deceived who thinks it slavery to live under a noble prince. Liberty never appears in a more gracious form than under a pious prince.

REVERSES OF HIGH FORTUNE.

iii. 22.

Tolluntur in altum

Ut lapsu graviore ruant.

Men are raised to the highest pinnacle of fortune that they may fall with a heavier crash.

THE MISER.

iii. 200.

Semper inops, quicunque cupit.
The covetous is always poor.

GREAT AFFAIRS.

v. 49.

Eheu! quam brevibus pereunt ingentia causis. Alas! by what trivial means are great affairs brought to nought.

HONOURABLE CONDUCT.

viii. 266.

Sed comprime motus,

Nec tibi quid liceat, sed quid fecisse decebit,
Occurrat, mentemque domet respectus honesti.

Restrain your feelings, and consider not what you may do, but what it will become you to have done, and let the sense of honour restrain your conduct.

THE EXAMPLE OF THE REIGNING PRINCE.

viii. 301.

Componitur orbis

Regis ad exemplum; nec sic inflectere sensus
Humanos edicta valent, quam vita regentis.

The people follow the example of their prince; and laws have less influence in moulding their lives than the model which his life exhibits.

PRIDE. viii. 305.

Inquinat egregios adjuncta superbia mores.

The noblest conduct is stained by the addition of pride.

HORATIUS

A POET'S VANITY.

Od. i. 1. 36.

Sublimi feriam sidera vertice.

Swift to the noblest heights of fame
Shall rise thy poet's deathless name.

PRAYER FOR A FRIEND'S LIFE.
Od. i. 2. 45.

Serus in cœlum redeas, diuque
Lætus intersis populo Quirini.

Oh! late return to heaven, and may thy reign
With lengthen'd blessings fill thy wide domain.

PRESUMPTION OF MANKIND.

Od. i. 3. 25.

Audax omnia perpeti

Gens humana ruit per vetitum nefas.
No laws, or human or divine.
Can the presumptuous race of man confine.

Nil mortalibus arduum est;

Coelum ipsum petimus stultitiâ.

No work too high for man's audacious force.
Our folly would attempt the skies,
And with gigantic boldness impious rise.

DEATH.

Od. i. 4. 12.

Pallida Mors æquo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas, Regumque turres.

With equal pace impartial Fate

Knocks at the palace as the cottage gate.

SHORTNESS OF LIFE.

Od. i. 4. 15.

Vitæ summa brevis spem nos vetat inchoare longam.

Nor should our sum of life extend

Our growing hopes beyond their destined end.

SIMPLICITY IN DRESS.
Od. i. 5. 5.

Simplex munditiis.

Plain in thy neatness.

NEVER DESPAIR.

Od. i. 7. 27.

Nil desperandum Teucro duce, et auspice Teucro.
Avaunt, despair! when Teucer calls to fame,
The same your augur, and your guide the same.

ENJOY THE PRESENT.

Od. i. 9. 13.

Quid sit futurum cras, fuge quærere; et
Quem sors dierum cunque dabit, lucro
Appone.

To-morrow with its cares despise,

And make the present hour your own;
Be swift to catch it as it flies,

And score it up as clearly won.

FLEETNESS OF TIME.

Od. i. 11. 3.

Ut melius, quicquid erit, pati!

Seu plures hiemes, seu tribuit Jupiter ultimam,
Quæ nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare
Tyrrhenum. Sapias, vina liques, et spatio brevi
Spem longam reseces. Dum loquimur, fugerit invida
Etas; carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.
Nor impious magic vainly try,

To know our lives' uncertain date;

Whether th' indulgent power divine
Hath many seasons yet in store,
Or this the latest winter thine,

Which breaks its waves against the shore.

Thy life with wiser arts be crown'd,
Thy filter'd wines abundant pour;

The lengthen'd hope with prudence bound
Proportion'd to the flying hour;

Even while we talk in careless ease,
Our envious minutes wing their flight;
Then swift the fleeting pleasure seize,
Nor trust to-morrow's doubtful light.

GROWTH OF REPUTATION.
Od. i. 12. 45.

Crescit, occulto velut arbor ævo,
Fama Marcelli.

Marcellus, like a youthful tree, of growth
Insensible, high shoots his spreading fame.

WEDDED LOVE.

Od. i. 13. 17.

Felices ter et amplius,

Quos irrupta tenet copula, nec, malis
Divulsus querimoniis,

Supremâ citius solvet amor die.

Thrice happy they, whom love unites
In equal rapture and sincere delights,
Unbroken by complaints or strife,
Even to the latest hours of life.

RESOLUTE IN CONDUCT.
Od. i. 14. 2.

Portum.

Fortiter occupa

Cast firm your anchor in the friendly port.

ANGER.

Od. i. 16. 22.

Compesce mentem.

Thy wrath control.

WINE AND ITS ADVANTAGES.
Od. i. 18. 5.

Quis, post vina, gravem militiam aut pauperiem crepat? Of war, or of want, who e'er prates o'er his wine?

SELF-LOVE AND INDISCRETION.

Od. i. 18. 14.

Subsequitur cæcus Amor sui,