The unfortunate Lyce has the same name as the haughty woman who was locking Horace out in the cold in Ode 2.10, so this, some years later, looks like her come-uppance and his revenge. Editors point out that resentment of unco-operative women is a conventional theme in Greek epigram, but the mention of another mistress, Cynara, and her early death, suggests the possibility that may be more autobiography in this than in most of Horace’s odes on erotic themes.
A number of commentators claim to find empathy on Horace’s part for Lyce’s predicament in the poem, especially in the fourth, fifth and sixth stanzas. How they can square that with what Horace says in the first three and (especially) the last is beyond comprehension. Scholars understandably look for new and original readings of established texts, but sometimes the obvious interpretation is the true one.
Coan cloth, not actually silk, but similarly fine, was very diaphanous. Crows were proverbial for being long-lived.
Metre: fifth Asclepiad (two standard Asclepiadic lines of twelve syllables, followed by one seven-syllable (pherecretean) and one eight-syllable (glyconic) line).
See the illustrated blog post here.
Reading coming soon.