Flaws of Early Poets and the True Poet's Civic Value — Horace, Epistles Book 2 (2.1.68–2.1.134), Latin & English

et sapit et mecum facit et Iove iudicat aequo,¹

is both wise and sides with me, and judges with a favorable Jupiter.

non equidem insector delendave carmina Livi

I do not indeed attack the poems of Livius or think they should be destroyed,

esse reor, memini quae plagosum mihi parvo

which I remember the whipping Orbilius dictated to me when I was small;

Orbilium dictare;² sed emendata videri

but that they should seem polished and beautiful, and very little different from finished works, I am amazed.

pulchraque et exactis minimum distantia miror,

Among which, if by chance a graceful word has shone forth, and

inter quae verbum emicuit si forte decorum, et

if one or two verses are a little more elegant,

si versus paulo concinnior unus et alter,

it unjustly carries and sells the whole poem.

iniuste totum ducit venditque poema.

I am indignant that anything is blamed, not because it is thought to be composed

Indignor quicquam reprehendi, non quia crasse

crudely or without grace, but because it is recent;

compositum illepideve putetur, sed quia nuper,

and that for the ancients not indulgence, but honor and rewards are demanded.

nec veniam antiquis, sed honorem et praemia posci,

Whether or not Atta’s play walks rightly over the saffron and flowers,

recte necne crocum floresque perambulet Attae

if I should doubt, almost all the elders would cry out that shame has perished,

fabula³ si dubitem, clament periisse pudorem

when I endeavor to blame those things which

cuncti paene patres, ea cum reprehendere coner,

the grave Aesopus, which the learned Roscius acted;

quae gravis Aesopus, quae doctus Roscius egit;

either because they reckon nothing right except what has pleased themselves,

vel quia nil rectum, nisi quod placuit sibi, ducunt,

or because they think it shameful to submit to their juniors, and to confess that what

vel quia turpe putant parere minoribus, et quae

they learned when beardless must be destroyed now they are old.

imberbes didicere senes perdenda fateri.

Now, he who praises the Salian song of Numa and wants

iam Saliare Numae carmen qui laudat et illud,

to seem to be the only one to know that which he is ignorant of along with me,

quod mecum ignorat, solus volt scire videri,

he does not favor and applaud buried geniuses,

ingeniis non ille favet plauditque sepultis,

but attacks ours; envious, he hates us and our things.

nostra sed impugnat, nos nostraque lividus odit.

But if novelty had been as hateful to the Greeks

Quod si tam Graecis novitas invisa fuisset

as it is to us, what would now be ancient? Or what would

quam nobis, quid nunc esset vetus? aut quid haberet

the public use have to read and wear out man by man?

quod legeret tereretque viritim publicus usus?

As soon as Greece, having laid aside her wars, began to trifle

Ut primum positis nugari Graecia bellis

and to slide into vice with favorable fortune,

coepit et in vitium fortuna labier aequa,

now she burned with enthusiasm for athletes, now for horses,

nunc athletarum studiis, nunc arsit equorum,

she loved craftsmen of marble or ivory or bronze,

marmoris aut eboris fabros aut aeris amavit,

suspended her gaze and mind on painted tablets,

suspendit picta voltum mentemque tabella,

now she rejoiced in flute-players, now in tragic actors;

nunc tibicinibus, nunc est gavisa tragoedis;

just as if an infant girl were playing under a nurse,

sub nutrice puella velut si luderet infans,

what she eagerly sought, she quickly left when full.

100

quod cupide petiit, mature plena reliquit.

What pleases or is hated, which you would not believe mutable?

quid placet aut odio est, quod non mutabile credas?

This is what good peace and favorable winds brought.

hoc paces habuere bonae ventique secundi.

At Rome it was long pleasant and customary, with open house

Romae dulce diu fuit et sollemne reclusa

early in the morning, to be awake, to lay down the law for the client,

mane domo vigilare, clienti promere iura,

to pay out money secured by good names,

105

cautos nominibus rectis expendere nummos,

to hear elders, to tell the junior by what means

maiores audire, minori dicere, per quae

wealth could grow, and ruinous lust be diminished.

crescere res posset, minui damnosa libido.

The fickle people has changed its mind and burns with a single

mutavit mentem populus levis et calet uno

passion for writing; boys and grave fathers alike,

scribendi studio; pueri patresque⁴ severi

their hair bound with leaves, dine and dictate poems.

110

fronde comas vincti cenant et carmina dictant.

I myself, who affirm that I write no verses,

ipse ego, qui nullos me adfirmo scribere versus,

am found more lying than the Parthians, and awake before the rising

invenior Parthis mendacior, et prius orto

sun, I call for pen and paper and writing cases.

sole vigil calamum et chartas et scrinia posco,

He who is ignorant of a ship fears to steer a ship; to a sick man

navem agere ignarus navis timet; habrotonum aegro

none dares to give southernwood except he who has learned; what belongs to doctors,

115

non audet nisi qui didicit dare; quod medicorum est

doctors undertake; craftsmen handle craftsmen’s tools.

promittunt medici; tractant fabrilia fabri:

We write poems everywhere, unlearned and learned alike.

scribimus indocti doctique poemata passim.

Yet how great virtues this error and this light madness

Hic error tamen et levis haec insania quantas

has, gather thus: the mind of a poet is rarely

virtutes habeat, sic collige, vatis avarus

greedy; he loves verses, this alone he studies;

120

non temere est animus; versus amat, hoc studet unum;

losses, flight of slaves, fires he laughs at;

detrimenta, fugas servorum, incendia ridet;

he plans no fraud against a partner or a boy

non fraudem socio puerove incogitat ullam

ward; he lives on pods and second-rate bread;

pupillo; vivit siliquis et pane secundo;

though slow and bad for military service, he is useful to the city,

militiae quamquam piger et malus, utilis urbi,

if you grant this, that great things are helped by small things too.

125

si das hoc, parvis quoque rebus magna iuvari.

The poet fashions the tender and stammering mouth of the boy,

os tenerum pueri balbumque poeta figurat,

turns away his ear even now from obscene words,

torquet ab obscenis iam nunc sermonibus aurem,

presently also forms his heart with friendly precepts,

mox etiam pectus praeceptis format amicis,

corrector of roughness and envy and anger,

asperitatis et invidiae corrector et irae,

he relates right deeds, instructs the rising times with famous

130

recte facta refert, orientia tempora notis

examples, consoles the poor and the sick.

instruit exemplis, inopem solatur et aegrum,

With chaste boys, how would the girl ignorant of a husband

castis cum pueris ignara puella mariti

learn prayers, unless the Muse had given a poet?

disceret unde preces, vatem ni Musa dedisset?⁵poscit opem chorus et praesentia numina sentit,

The chorus demands help and feels the present divinities,

Syntax notes5 items

2.1.68Iove iudicat aequo
Iove aequo is an ablative absolute. aequus here means 'favorable' or 'impartial,' indicating the divine favor under which the public makes a correct judgment.
2.1.70memini quae plagosum mihi parvo Orbilium dictare
An accusative with infinitive construction (Orbilium dictare) dependent on memini ('I remember'). The relative pronoun quae refers back to carmina in the preceding line.
2.1.79recte necne crocum floresque perambulet Attae fabula
This indirect question clause depends on dubitem (line 80). crocum floresque perambulet is a figurative expression referring to the performance of a play on a stage sprinkled with saffron water and flowers.
2.1.108populus levis et calet uno scribendi studio; pueri patresque
Although the singular collective noun populus is the subject of the singular verbs mutavit and calet, the participle vincti and verbs cenant and dictant in line 110 are in the plural, agreeing with the appositive plural subjects pueri patresque.
2.1.133disceret unde preces, vatem ni Musa dedisset?
A mixed conditional sentence consisting of the apodosis disceret (imperfect subjunctive) and the protasis dedisset (pluperfect subjunctive), expressing what would have been the ongoing result in the past or present of a past contrary-to-fact condition.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-22)

2026-09-22 AI review — source 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0893.phi005.humanitext-lat2:2.1.68-2.1.134