§1.19.1Prisco si credis, Maecenas docte, Cratino, §1.19.2nulla placere diu nec vivere carmina possunt, §1.19.3quae scribuntur aquae potoribus.
If you believe old Cratinus, learned Maecenas, no poems can please long nor live, which are written by water-drinkers.
ut male sanos §1.19.4adscripsit Liber Satyris Faunisque poetas, §1.19.5vina fere dulces oluerunt mane Camenae.
Ever since Liber enrolled insane poets among Satyrs and Fauns, the sweet Camenae have almost always smelled of wine in the morning.
§1.19.6laudibus arguitur vini vinosus Homerus; §1.19.7Ennius ipse pater numquam nisi potus ad arma §1.19.8prosiluit dicenda.
Homer is proved to be fond of wine by his praises of wine; father Ennius himself never leaped forth to sing of arms unless he was drunk.
“Forum Putealque Libonis §1.19.9mandabo siccis, adimam cantare severis:” §1.19.10hoc simul edixi, non cessavere poetae §1.19.11nocturno certare mero, putere diurno,
"The Forum and the Puteal of Libo I will assign to the dry, and I will take away singing from the solemn:" as soon as I issued this edict, the poets did not cease to contend in wine by night, and to smell of it by day.
§1.19.12quid? si quis voltu torvo ferus et pede nudo
What?
If someone with a grim face, barefoot, and with the weaver of a scanty toga should imitate Cato, would he represent the virtue and morals of Cato?
§1.19.15rupit Iarbitam Timagenis aemula lingua, §1.19.16dum studet urbanus tenditque disertus haberi.
The envious tongue of Timagenes ruined Iarbitas, while he strove to be witty and struggled to be held eloquent.
§1.19.17decipit exemplar vitiis imitabile: quod si §1.19.18pallorem casu, biberent exsangue cuminum.
An exemplar imitable in its vices deceives: but if I should happen to be pale, they would drink bloodless cumin.
§1.19.19o imitatores, servum pecus, ut mihi saepe §1.19.20bilem, saepe iocum vestri movere tumultus!
Oh imitators, a slavish herd, how often your tumults have stirred my bile, how often my laughter!
I, the pioneer, set free footsteps through the void, I did not tread on other people's steps with my foot.
qui sibi fidet, §1.19.23dux reget examen.
He who trusts himself will rule the swarm as leader.
Parios ego primus iambos §1.19.24ostendi Latio, numeros animosque secutus §1.19.25Archilochi, non res et agentia verba Lycamben.
I first showed Parian iambics to Latium, following the rhythms and spirit of Archilochus, not his subject matter and the words that drove Lycambes.
§1.19.26ac ne me foliis ideo brevi oribus ornes, §1.19.27quod timui mutare modos et carminis artem, §1.19.28temperat Archilochi Musam pede mascula Sappho, §1.19.29temperat Alcaeus, sed rebus et ordine dispar, §1.19.30nec socerum quaerit, quem versibus oblinat atris, §1.19.31nec sponsae laqueum famoso carmine nectit,
And lest you crown me on that account with shorter leaves, because I feared to change his measures and poetic art, manly Sappho tempers the Muse of Archilochus with her own measure, Alcaeus tempers her, but different in his themes and arrangement, nor does he seek a father-in-law to besmear with black verses, nor weave a noose for his bride with a defamatory poem.
Him, never spoken before by another mouth, I, a Latin lyrist, made known.
iuvat immemorata ferentem §1.19.34ingenuis oculisque legi manibusque teneri.
It pleases me, bringing untold things, to be read by noble eyes and held by noble hands.
§1.19.35Scire velis, mea cur ingratus opuscula lector §1.19.36laudet ametque domi, premat extra limen iniquus: §1.19.37non ego ventosae plebis suffragia venor §1.19.38impensis cenarum et tritae munere vestis; §1.19.39non ego, nobilium scriptorum auditor et ultor, §1.19.40grammaticas ambire tribus et pulpita dignor.
You might wish to know why the ungrateful reader praises and loves my little works at home, but unfairly disparages them outside: I do not hunt for the votes of the fickle populace with the expenses of dinners and the gift of worn-out clothing; I, who listen to noble writers and avenge myself on them, do not deign to court the tribes of grammarians and their platforms.
§1.19.41hinc illae lacrimae.
Hence those tears.
“spissis indigna theatris §1.19.42scripta pudet recitare et nugis addere pondus,” §1.19.43si dixi,
rides,
ait, “et Iovis auribus ista §1.19.44servas: fidis enim manare poetica mella §1.19.45te solum, tibi pulcher. ” ad haec ego naribus uti §1.19.46formido et, luctantis acuto ne secer ungui, §1.19.47displicet iste locus,
clamo et diludia posco,
"I am ashamed to recite writings unworthy of crowded theaters and to add weight to trifles," if I say, you laugh, he says, "and those things for the ears of Jove you keep: for you trust that poetic honey flows from you alone, beautiful to yourself." At this, to use my nostrils I fear, and lest I be torn by the sharp nail of my opponent, "That place is displeasing," I cry out, and ask for a truce.