Odes

Horace

Horace. The Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace. Conington, John, translator. London: George Bell and Sons, 1882.

  • Come, Cnidian, Paphian Venus, come,
  • Thy well-beloved Cyprus spurn,
  • Haste, where for thee in Glycera's home
  • Sweet odours burn.
  • Bring too thy Cupid, glowing warm,
  • Graces and Nymphs, unzoned and free,
  • And Youth, that lacking thee lacks charm,
  • And Mercury.
  • What blessing shall the bard entreat
  • The god he hallows, as he pours
  • The winecup? Not the mounds of wheat
  • That load Sardinian threshing floors;
  • Not Indian gold or ivory—no,
  • Nor flocks that o'er Calabria stray,
  • Nor fields that Liris, still and slow,
  • Is eating, unperceived, away.
  • Let those whose fate allows them train
  • Calenum's vine; let trader bold
  • From golden cups rich liquor drain
  • For wares of Syria bought and sold,