Horace 4.7- 'Diffugere nives' скачать в хорошем качестве

Horace 4.7- 'Diffugere nives'

One of Horace's most famous poems. Lots of readings of this out there, I'm not breaking any new ground here but wanted to give it a go. Topically, this ode is very similar to H 1.4 ('solvitur acris hiems') but it has some distinct differences. Here the addressee, Torquatus, is a lawyer rather than a politician. Venus doesn't seem to be partaking in the naked dance with the Graces- so hints of carefree love are replaced by either impotence, or Love's frustration. The topical transition to mortality is compared to the relentless speed of the seasons- a very common trope. Tullus and Ancus (line 15) were early kings of Rome, after 'Father Aeneas' King Minos of Crete (line 21) was a confidante of Jupiter, and became the judge of souls in the underworld after his death. This whole stanza (21-24) is tailored to Torquatus' legal profession. The final stanza (25-28) continues the metaphor, deserves some unpacking to understand the allusion, here is my attempt: Hippolytus was a son of Theseus (by the Amazon queen, Hippolyte). He was devoted to the cult of Diana, and when his stepmother Phaedra made advances on him he refused. She then seduced him, and he was cursed by Theseus, causing Neptune (Theseus' father) to summon a bull from the sea that kills him. Hippolytus wasn't a sinner, but he is dead (present tense denotes the continuing fact). And for all the injustice of his fate, he is beyond the rescue even of Diana. Perithous (Theseus' boyfriend) was sentenced by Minos to eternal bondage in the underworld, after his unsuccessful attempt to abduct Proserpina. When Theseus later visits the underworld, not only is he unable to help him, but tragically Pirithous has completely forgotten him, having drunk from the river Lethe. So in the end Venus (or rather her frustration) makes a powerful contribution to the impact of this ode. Meter: 2nd Archilochian- a shortened elegiac couplet with every 2nd line being only half of a pentameter. The recurring rhythm makes this ode naturally very musical-sounding, and indeed it is very easy to set to music. Diffugere nives, redeunt iam gramina campis arboribusque comae; mutat terra vices et decrescentia ripas flumina praetereunt; Gratia cum Nymphis geminisque sororibus audet ducere nuda choros. Inmortalia ne speres, monet annus et almum quae rapit hora diem. Frigora mitescunt Zephyris, ver proterit aestas, interitura simul pomifer autumnus fruges effuderit, et mox bruma recurrit iners. Damna tamen celeres reparant caelestia lunae: nos ubi decidimus quo pater Aeneas, quo dives Tullus et Ancus, puluis et umbra sumus. Quis scit an adiciant hodiernae crastina summae tempora di superi? Cuncta manus avidas fugient heredis, amico quae dederis animo. Cum semel occideris et de te splendida Minos fecerit arbitria, non, Torquate, genus, non te facundia, non te restituet pietas; infernis neque enim tenebris Diana pudicum liberat Hippolytum, nec Lethaea valet Theseus abrumpere caro vincula Pirithoo.