Renouncing Poetry and Devoting to Philosophy — Horace, Epistles Book 1 (1.1.1–1.1.54), Latin & English

Prima dicte mihi, summa dicende Camena,¹

Sung by my earliest, to be sung by my latest Muse,

spectatum satis et donatum iam rude quaeris,

after being tested enough and already presented with the wooden sword, you seek,

Maecenas, iterum antiquo me includere ludo.

Maecenas, to shut me up again in the old school.

non eadem est aetas, non mens. Veianius armis

My age is not the same, nor is my mind. Veianius, his arms

Herculis ad postem fixis latet abditus agro,

fixed to the doorpost of Hercules, lies hidden in the country,

ne populum extrema totiens exoret harena,

that he may not so often plead with the crowd from the edge of the arena.

est mihi purgatam crebro qui personet aurem:

I have one who constantly rings into my well-cleared ear:

“solve senescentem mature sanus equum, ne

”Release the aging horse in time, while you are wise, lest

peccet ad extremum ridendus et ilia ducat.”

he stumble at the end to be laughed at, and pant with broken wind.”

Nunc itaque et versus et cetera ludicra pono;

Now therefore I lay aside both verses and all other playthings;

quid verum atque decens curo et rogo et omnis in hoc sum;

what is true and fitting is my care and quest, and in this I am wholly absorbed;

condo et compono quae mox depromere possim.

I store and arrange what I may soon be able to bring forth.

ac ne forte roges,² quo me duce, quo lare tuter:

And lest by chance you ask under what leader, under what hearth I protect myself:

nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri,

bound to swear allegiance to the words of no master,

quo me cumque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes.

wherever the tempest drags me, I am carried as a guest.

nunc agilis fio et mersor civilibus undis,

Now I become active and plunge into the civic waves,

virtutis verae custos rigidusque satelles;

the rigid guardian and attendant of true virtue;

nunc in Aristippi furtim praecepta relabor

now I slip back stealthily into the precepts of Aristippus,

et mihi res, non me rebus, subiungere conor.

and try to subject things to myself, not myself to things.

Ut nox longa quibus mentitur amica, diesque

As the night is long to those whose mistress cheats them, and as the day

longa videtur opus debentibus, ut piger annus

seems long to those who owe their labor, as the year is slow to wards

pupillis, quos dura premit custodia matrum;

whom the harsh guardianship of mothers oppresses;

sic mihi tarda fluunt ingrataque tempora, quae spem

so slowly and unpleasantly flow the times for me, which delay

consiliumque morantur agendi naviter id quod

my hope and design of actively doing that which

aeque pauperibus prodest, locupletibus aeque,

is equally profitable to the poor and to the rich,

aeque neglectum pueris senibusque nocebit,

and which, if neglected, will equally harm boys and old men.

restat ut his ego me ipse regam solerque elementis,

It remains for me to guide and solace myself with these elementary principles.

non possis oculo quantum contendere Lynceus,

Though you cannot see as far with your eyes as Lynceus,

non tamen idcirco contemnas lippus inungui;

you would not therefore, when blear-eyed, disdain to be anointed;

nec quia desperes invicti membra Glyconis,

nor, because you despair of the limbs of the unconquered Glycon,

nodosa corpus nolis prohibere cheragra.

would you refuse to protect your body from the knotty gout.

est quadam prodire tenus, si non datur ultra.

It is possible to advance up to a certain point, even if it is not given to go further.

Fervet avaritia miseroque cupidine pectus:

Does your breast burn with avarice and wretched desire?

sunt verba et voces, quibus hunc lenire dolorem

There are words and spells with which you can soothe this pain

possis et magnam morbi deponere partem.

and cast off a great part of the disease.

laudis amore tumes; sunt certa piacula, quae te

Are you swollen with the love of praise? There are certain remedies which

ter pure lecto poterunt recreare libello.

can restore you, if the book is purely read three times.

invidus, iracundus, iners, vinosus, amator,

Envious, wrathful, slothful, drunken, amorous,

nemo adeo ferus est, ut non mitescere possit,

no one is so wild that he cannot become gentle,

si modo culturae patientem commodet aurem.

if only he lends a patient ear to cultivation.

Virtus est vitium fugere et sapientia prima³

Virtue is to flee vice, and the primary wisdom

stultitia caruisse, vides, quae maxima credis

is to have been free of folly. You see with how much labor

esse mala, exiguum censum turpemque repulsam,

of mind and body you avoid what you believe to be the greatest evils,

quanto devites animi capitisque labore;

a small fortune and a shameful defeat;

impiger extremos curris mercator ad Indos,

an active merchant, you run to the farthest Indies,

per mare pauperiem fugiens, per saxa, per ignis:

fleeing poverty through the sea, through rocks, through fires:

ne cures⁴-ea, quae stulte miraris et optas,

that you may not care for those things which you foolishly admire and wish for,

discere et audire et meliori credere non vis?

do you not wish to learn and hear and trust a better man?

quis circum pagos et circum compita pugnax

What pugilist who fights around villages and crossroads

magna coronari contemnat Olympia, cui spes,

would despise being crowned at the great Olympia, if he had the hope

cui sit condicio dulcis sine pulvere palmae?

and the sweet prospect of winning the palm without dust?

Vilius argentum est auro, virtutibus aurum.

Silver is cheaper than gold, gold than virtues.

“o cives, cives, quaerenda pecunia primum est;

”O citizens, citizens, money must be sought first;

virtus post nummos!” haec Ianus summus ab imo

virtue after coins!” This the top of Janus to the bottom

Syntax notes4 items

1.1.1prima ... Camena
prima and summa are ablative feminine singular, modifying Camena (here metonymically for 'poetry' or 'song'). They express the instrument or means for the vocatives dicte and dicende (referring to Maecenas), meaning 'you who have been celebrated by my first, and must be celebrated by my last Muse.'
1.1.13ne ... roges
A purpose clause (ne with subjunctive present roges) where the governing main clause (such as 'I tell you beforehand') is omitted. It is used independently to anticipate and forestall a potential question from the reader.
1.1.41sapientia prima
The adjective prima predicatively modifies the subject sapientia ('primary wisdom'), and the perfect infinitive caruisse (governing the ablative stultitia, meaning 'to have been free from folly') functions as the complement.
1.1.47ne cures
A purpose clause consisting of ne with the subjunctive present cures. It modifies the main interrogative clause non vis in line 48, creating the logical structure: 'Do you not wish to learn... in order that you may not care for [those things which you foolishly admire]?'

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0893.phi005.humanitext-lat2:1.1.1-1.1.54