§7.1Et spes et ratio studiorum in Caesare tantum; §7.2solus enim tristes hac tempestate Camenas §7.3respexit, cum iam celebres notique poetae §7.4balneolum Gabiis, Romae conducere furnos §7.5temptarent, nec foedum alii nec turpe putarent §7.6praecones fieri, cum desertis Aganippes §7.7vallibus esuriens migraret in atria Clio; §7.8nam si Pieria quadrans tibi nullus in umbra §7.9ostendatur, ames nomen victumque Machaerae §7.10et vendas potius commissa quod auctio vendit §7.11stantibus, oenophorum tripedes armaria cistas, §7.12Alcitheon Pacti, Thebas et Terea Fausti.
Both the hope and the reason for our studies lie in Caesar alone; for he alone in this stormy season has looked back upon the sorrowful Camenae, when already famous and well-known poets were attempting to rent a small bath at Gabii, or bakeries at Rome, and others did not think it mean or disgraceful to become auctioneers, when hungry Clio, having deserted the valleys of Aganippe, was migrating into the courtyards of the rich; For if not a single farthing is shown to you in the Pierian shade, you may well love the name and livelihood of Machaera, and rather sell what the contested auction sells to the bystanders: the wine-jar, the three-legged tables, the chests, the boxes, the "Alcithoe" of Pactius, the "Thebes" and "Tereus" of Faustus.
§7.13hoc satius quam si dicas sub iudice
vidi §7.14quod non vidisti, faciant equites Asiani §7.16altera quos nudo traducit Gallia talo.
This is better than if you were to say before a judge "I saw" what you did not see, as the Asian knights do, and those whom the other Galatia exposes with bare ankles.
§7.17Nemo tamen studiis indignum ferre laborem §7.18cogetur posthac, nectit quicumque canoris §7.19eloquium vocale modis laurumque momordit.
Yet no one hereafter will be forced to endure labor unworthy of his studies, whoever weaves sounding words into melodious measures and has bitten the laurel.
§7.20hoc agite, o iuvenes, circumspicit et stimulat vos
To your task, young men!
§7.21materiamque sibi ducis indulgentia quaerit, §7.22si qua aliunde putas rerum expectanda tuarum §7.23praesidia atque ideo croceae membrana tabellae §7.24impletur, lignorum aliquid posce ocius et quae §7.25componis dona Veneris, Telesine, marito, §7.26aut clude et positos tinea pertunde libellos, §7.27frange miser calamum vigilataque proelia dele, §7.28qui facis in parva sublimia carmina cella, §7.29ut dignus venias hederis et imagine macra.
The indulgence of our leader looks around and stimulates you, and seeks material for itself; if you think that from elsewhere any protection for your affairs is to be expected, and therefore the parchment of your saffron tablet is being filled, ask quickly for some firewood, Telesinus, and what you compose, give as gifts to Venus' husband, or lock them up and let the bookworms bore through the stored volumes; break your pen, wretched man, and erase the battles watched over by night, you who write sublime poems in a small garret, that you may emerge worthy of ivy and a skinny bust.
§7.30spes nulla ulterior; didicit iam dives avarus §7.31tantum admirari, tantum laudare disertos, §7.32ut pueri Iunonis avem.
There is no further hope; the greedy rich man has now learned only to admire, only to praise the eloquent, as boys do the bird of Juno.
sed defluit aetas §7.33et pelagi patiens et cassidis atque ligonis.
But that age slips away, which is capable of enduring the sea, the helmet, and the spade.
§7.34taedia tunc subeunt animos, tunc seque suamque §7.35Terpsichoren odit facunda et nuda senectus.
Then weariness enters their minds; then an old age, eloquent yet naked, hates both itself and its own Terpsichore.
§7.36Accipe nunc artes ne quid tibi conferat iste §7.37quem colis et Musarum et Apollinis aede relicta, §7.38ipse facit versus, atque uni cedit Homero §7.39propter mille annos, et si dulcedine famae §7.40succensus recites, maculosas commodat aedes; §7.41haec longe ferrata domus servire iubetur, §7.42in qua sollicitas imitatur ianua portas,
Receive now the arts, lest he whom you court should bestow anything on you, having abandoned the temple of the Muses and Apollo; he writes verses himself, and yields only to Homer on account of his thousand years; and if, fired by the sweetness of fame, you recite, he lends you a dirty house; this house, locked up far away, is ordered to serve you, in which the door imitates anxious city-gates.
§7.43scit dare libertos extrema in parte sedentis §7.44ordinis et magnas comitum disponere voces: §7.45nemo dabit regum quanti subsellia constant §7.46et quae conducto pendent anabathra tigillo, §7.47quaeque reportandis posita est orchestra cathedris.
He knows how to place his freedmen at the furthest part of the seating, and how to arrange the loud voices of his clients: but none of these patrons will pay what the benches cost, or the tiered seats that hang from rented beams, or the orchestra stalls with chairs that must be returned.
Yet we persist in this, and draw furrows in the thin sand, and turn over the shore with a sterile plow.
For if you try to escape, the snare of ambitious itch of writing holds you fast, and grows old in your sick heart.
§7.53Sed vatem egregium, cui non sit publica vena, §7.54qui nil expositum soleat deducere nec qui §7.55communi feriat carmen triviale moneta, §7.56hunc, qualem nequeo monstrare et sentio tantum, §7.57anxietate carens animus facit, omnis acerbi §7.58inpatiens, cupidus silvarum aptusque bibendis §7.59fontibus Aonidum.
But the outstanding poet, who has no common vein, who is not accustomed to spin out any commonplace theme, nor one who strikes out a trivial song with a common coin, such a one, whom I cannot point out and only feel, is created by a mind free from anxiety, impatient of all bitterness, eager for the woods and fit to drink from the fountains of the Aonides.
neque enim cantare sub antro §7.60Pierio thyrsumque potest contingere maesta §7.61paupertas atque aeris inops, quo nocte dieque §7.62corpus eget: satur est cum dicit Horatius
euhoe! §7.63quis locus ingenio, nisi cum se carmine solo §7.64vexant et dominis Cirrhae Nysaeque feruntur §7.65pectora vestra duas non admittentia curas?
For neither can sad poverty sing under the Pierian cave, nor grasp the thyrsus, when lacking the cash which night and day the body egets: Horace was full-fed when he cried "Euhoe!" What place is there for genius, except when your hearts, vexing themselves with song alone, are carried away by the lords of Cirrha and Nysa, admitting no double cares?
§7.66magnae mentis opus, nec de lodice paranda §7.67attonitae, currus et equos faciesque deorum §7.68aspicere et qualis Rutulum confundat Erinys.
It is the work of a great mind, not of one anxious about preparing a blanket, to behold the chariots and horses and faces of the gods, and what kind of Fury confounds the Rutulian Turnus.
§7.69nam si Vergilio puer et tolerabile desset §7.70hospitium, caderent omnes a crinibus hydri, §7.71surda nihil gemeret grave bucina: poscimus ut sit
For if a boy or a tolerable lodging had been lacking to Virgil, all the hydras would have fallen from his hair, and the silent horn would have wailed no heavy sound.
Do we demand that Rubrenus Lappa be not inferior to the ancient buskin, when Atreus has pawned both his small platters and cloak?
§7.74non habet infelix Numitor quod mittat amico: §7.75Quintillae quod donet habet, nec defuit illi §7.76unde emeret multa pascendum carne leonem §7.77iam domitum; constat leviori belua sumptu §7.78nimirum et capiunt plus intestina poetae.
Unfortunate Numitor has nothing to send to a friend; he has something to give to Quintilla, nor did he lack the means to buy a lion to be fed on much meat, already tamed; indeed, the beast costs less to maintain, no doubt, and the intestines of a poet hold more.
§7.79Contentus fama iaceat Lucanus in hortis §7.80marmoreis, et Serrano tenuique Saleio §7.81gloria quantalibet quid erit, si gloria tantum est?
Content with fame, let Lucan lie in his marble gardens; but to Serranus and thin Saleius, however great their glory, what will it be, if it is only glory?
§7.82curritur ad vocem iucundam et carmen amicae
People run to the pleasant voice and the song of a beloved...