§320fabula nullius veneris, sine pondere et arte, §321valdius oblectat populum meliusque moratur §322quam versus inopes rerum nugaeque canorae.
A play of no charm, without weight and art, sometimes delights the people more powerfully and holds them better than verses void of matter and tuneful trifles.
To the Greeks the Muse gave genius, to the Greeks she gave to speak with a well-rounded mouth, covetous of nothing except praise.
Roman boys learn by long calculations to divide an as into a hundred parts.
"Let the son of Albinus speak: if from five ounces one ounce is removed, what remains?
' 'triens. ' 'eu,
You could have told." "A third." "Excellent!
§329rem poteris servare tuam.
You will be able to preserve your property.
redit uncia, quid fit?' §330'semis. ' an, haec animos aerugo et cura peculi §331cum semel imbuerit, speremus carmina fingi §332posse linenda cedro et levi servanda cupresso?
An ounce is added, what does it become?" "A half." But when once this rust and care of property has imbued their minds, can we hope for poems to be fashioned worthy of being smeared with cedar oil and preserved in smooth cypress?
Poets wish either to profit or to delight, or to say at the same time both pleasant and useful things for life.
§335quidquid praecipies, esto brevis, ut cito dicta §336percipiant animi dociles teneantque fideles: §337omne supervacuum pleno de pectore manat.
Whatever you teach, be brief, so that docile minds may quickly perceive and faithfully retain what is said: everything superfluous flows away from a full breast.
§338ficta voluptatis causa sint proxima veris: §339ne quodcumque volet poscat sibi fabula credi §340neu pransae Lamiae vivum puerum extrahat alvo.
Let fictions meant to please be very close to truths: let not a play demand that whatever it wishes be believed, nor drag out a living boy from the belly of a well-dined Lamia.
§341centuriae seniorum agitant expertia frugis, §342celsi praetereunt austera poemata Rhamnes: §343omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci §344lectorem delectando pariterque monendo.
The centuries of elders drive out what is void of utility, the lofty knights pass over austere poems: he has carried every vote who has mixed the useful with the sweet by delighting and equally advising the reader.
This book earns money for the Sosoii, this even crosses the sea and prolongs a long age for the well-known writer.
§347sunt delicta tamen, quibus ignovisse velimus: §348nam neque chorda sonum reddit quem volt manus et mens, §349poscentique gravem persaepe remittit acutum, §350nec semper feriet quodcumque minabitur arcus.
Yet there are faults which we would wish to forgive: for neither does the string always return the sound which hand and mind wish, and to one demanding a deep note it very often sends back a sharp one, nor will the bow always strike whatever it threatens.
§351verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis §352offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit §353aut humana parum cavit natura.
But where many things shine in a poem, I shall not be offended by a few spots, which either lack of care has poured forth or human nature has not guarded against.
quid ergo est?
What then is the case?
§354ut scriptor si peccat idem librarius usque, §355quamvis est monitus, venia caret, et citharoedus §356ridetur, chorda qui semper oberrat eadem, §357sic mihi, qui multum cessat, fit Choerilus ille, §358quem bis terve bonum cum risu miror; et idem §359indignor, quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus; §360verum operi longo fas est obrepere somnum.
Just as a copyist, if he commits the same fault continually although he has been warned, is without excuse, and a harpist is laughed at who always errs on the same string, so to me he who fails much becomes like that Choerilus, whom I admire with a laugh when he is good twice or thrice; and yet I am annoyed whenever the great Homer falls asleep; but indeed, in a long work, it is allowable for sleep to creep on.
§361ut pictura poesis: erit quae, si propius stes, §362te capiat magis, et quaedam, si longius abstes; §363haec amat obscurum, volet haec sub luce videri, §364iudicis argutum quae non formidat acumen; §365haec placuit semel, haec deciens repetita placebit.
Poetry is like a picture: there will be one which, if you stand closer, will capture you more, and another if you stand further back; this loves the shadow, this will wish to be seen under the light, which does not dread the sharp judgment of the critic; this pleased once, this will please though repeated ten times.
§366o maior iuvenum, quamvis et voce paterna §367fingeris ad rectum et per te sapis, hoc tibi dictum §368tolle memor, certis medium et tolerabile rebus
O elder of the youths, though both by paternal voice you are formed to what is right and are wise of yourself, take this saying to heart and remember it: that in certain things mediocrity and tolerability are rightly granted.
§369recte concedi: consultus iuris et actor §370causarum mediocris abest virtute diserti §371Messallae nec scit quantum Cascellius Aulus, §372sed tamen in pretio est: mediocribus esse poetis §373non homines, non Di, non concessere columnae.
A counselor at law and a mediocre pleader of causes is far from the excellence of the eloquent Messalla, nor does he know as much as Cascellius Aulus, yet he is still in esteem: but to be mediocre poets, neither men, nor gods, nor booksellers' pillars have permitted.
§374ut gratas inter mensas symphonia discors §375et crassum unguentum et Sardo cum melle papaver §376offendunt, poterat duci quia cena sine istis: §377sic animis natum inventumque poema iuvandis, §378si paulum summo decessit, vergit ad imum.
As at a pleasant table a discordant concert and thick perfume and poppy seeds with Sardinian honey give offense, because the dinner could have been conducted without them: so a poem born and invented for helping minds, if it has declined but a little from the highest, verges to the lowest.
§379ludere qui nescit, campestribus abstinet armis §380indoctusque pilae discive trochive quiescit, §381ne spissae risum tollant inpune coronae: §382qui nescit versus, tamen audet fingere.
He who knows not how to play, abstains from the weapons of the Campus, and the uninstructed in ball, quoit, or hoop remains quiet, lest the crowded circles raise a laugh with impunity: he who knows not verses, yet dares to fashion them.
quidni?
Why not?
He is free and well-born, especially rated at an equestrian sum of money, and far removed from every vice.
You will say or do nothing against the will of Minerva: such is your judgment, such is your mind.
siquid tamen olim §387scripseris, in Meti descendat iudicis auris §388et patris et nostras nonumque prematur in annum §389membranis intus positis: delere licebit, §390quod non edideris, nescit vox missa reverti.
Yet if ever you write anything, let it descend into the ears of Metius the judge, and of your father, and mine, and let it be kept back until the ninth year, with the parchment put away inside: you will be allowed to destroy what you have not published; a voice once sent forth knows not how to return.
§391silvestris homines sacer interpresque Deorum §392caedibus et victu foedo deterruit Orpheus, §393dictus ob hoc lenire tigres rabidosque leones; §394dictus et Amphion, Thebanae conditor urbis, §395saxa movere sono testudinis et prece blanda §396ducere quo vellet.
Wild men were deterred from slaughter and foul living by Orpheus, the sacred interpreter of the Gods, said on this account to tame tigers and rabid lions; said too was Amphion, the builder of the Theban city, to move stones by the sound of his lyre and with soft entreaty to lead them whither he wished.
fuit haec sapientia quondam, §397publica privatis secernere, sacra profanis,
This was wisdom of old, to separate public things from private, sacred from profane,