Odes, 1.31

A Prayer to the poetry-God

by Horace

The setting is the new temple dedicated to Apollo in Rome on 9October 28 BCE. Horace passes up the opportunity to make his poem one of praise to Augustus, who according to ancient sources vowed the temple during the civil wars, in favour of a very personal reflection on the things that matter to him, and a prayer for them to Apollo as the patron God of the arts. He prays for a long life, provided that it can be a healthy one, with his faculties unimpaired and, most importantly, retaining the ability to write his poetry.

The metre is Alcaics.

See the illustrated blog post here.

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Quid dedicatum poscit Apollinem
vates? quid orat de patera novum
fundens liquorem? non opimae
Sardiniae segetes feracis,

non aestuosae grata Calabriae
armenta, non aurum aut ebur Indicum,
non rura, quae Liris quieta
mordet aqua taciturnus amnis.

premant Calenam falce quibus dedit
fortuna vitem, dives ut aureis
mercator exsiccet culillis
vina Syra reparata merce,

dis carus ipsis, quippe ter et quater
anno revisens aequor Atlanticum
inpune. me pascunt olivae,
me cichorea levesque malvae.

frui paratis et valido mihi,
Latoe, dones et precor integra
cum mente nec turpem senectam
degere nec cithara carentem.

What does the poet ask of Apollo on the dedication of his temple? What does he pray for as he pours the new wine from the libation cup? Not the fruitful cornfields of fertile Sardinia, not the fine herds of sultry Calabria, not gold or Indian ivory, not the fields that the quiet river Liris nibbles at with its gentle waters. Let those to whom fortune has given vines prune them with the Calabrian hook, and let the rich trader drain from golden goblets his wine paid for by his Syrian merchandise; why, he must be dear to the Gods themselves, revisiting the Atlantic Ocean three and even four times a year with impunity! Me? My nourishment is olives, endive and digestible salads of mallow. Apollo, Latona’s son, may you grant me to enjoy what I have to hand in bodily health and, I pray, in soundness of mind, and to pass an old age which is honourable – and does not lack for the lyre.

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More Poems by Horace

  1. Courage and decadence: the Regulus ode
  2. Soracte
  3. Pyrrha
  4. Horace rests from his labours
  5. Diffugere nives
  6. A garland from the Muses
  7. Horace the peacemaker
  8. Horace’s Cleopatra ode
  9. Carpe diem, Sestius
  10. What Roman youth should be
  11. Iccius goes soldiering
  12. Roman values for the new age
  13. Horace, the wolf and the upright life
  14. Awe for the Gods
  15. Horace’s Chloe
  16. Some advice for Dellius
  17. Horace welcomes his army comrade
  18. Diana and Apollo: a hymn
  19. Give me comfort, not riches
  20. The country is best
  21. O Fons Bandusiae
  22. A plea for burial
  23. Horace’s monument
  24. Don’t trust Barine
  25. Augustus, master of the world
  26. Luxury versus the simple life
  27. A prayer to Venus
  28. Lydia’s tragedy
  29. Relief from care
  30. An oath to Maecenas
  31. Postumus, the years slip by
  32. Horace’s wine
  33. Lovely mother, lovelier daughter
  34. Curse you, tree!
  35. Pollio’s histories of civil war
  36. Jealousy
  37. Mourning for a good man
  38. Love a slave-girl? Oh, Xanthias!
  39. The consolations of wine
  40. Wealth should be used, not hoarded
  41. Stormy seas
  42. Gathering rosebuds: carpe diem
  43. A prayer to Mercury
  44. Numida’s back
  45. Tibur or Tarentum: a poet’s dilemma?
  46. Housman and Horace
  47. Horace’s prayer to a wine-jar
  48. The Golden Mean
  49. Unrequited love
  50. Horace the swan
  51. A change of mind
  52. Here’s to Murena!
  53. A Farewell to arms
  54. Horace’s limitations
  55. Poscimur
  56. Don’t worry, be happy
  57. The fleeting years slip by
  58. The pleasures and dangers of wine
  59. Rome: disaster and salvation
  60. Fortuna
  61. Last love
  62. Glycera
  63. Lalage is too young
  64. Valgius and Mystes
  65. The tug-of-war for Nearchus
  66. An invitation to Maecenas
  67. Nereus prophesies the Trojan War
  68. Pindar and Augustus
  69. The final ode
  70. Horace’s first Ode
  71. Horace returns to lyric poetry
  72. Horace’s reverence to Bacchus
  73. Licymnia
  74. Celebrating Neptune’s feast day
    75. View Latin Poems