classics - a Roman spring poem: Horace Odes 4.7

To: Classical Collectors 1 May 2021 Well the sun has been coming out for a few weeks, and this is the First of May, known as May Day, a time of celebrating spring. Here is a famous verse about spring from the Roman poet Horace:

‘Diffugere nives, redeunt iam gramina campis The snows have dispersed. Now the grass is returning to the fields arboribusque comae. and foliage to the trees

mutat terra vices et decrescentia ripas The earth is changing and with lessening flood

flumina praetereunt. the rivers pass their banks.’ Odes Book 4, poem 7, by Horace

Background Horace (65-8BC) (Roman name: Quintus Horatius Flaccus) was one of the greatest Roman poets, who lived at the same time as the epic poet Virgil. The emperor Augustus was patron of them both. The Odes are Horace’s masterpiece: a set of about one hundred exquisitely crafted short poems, written in the form of ancient Greek odes. They are one of the finest parts of classical literature. Ode 4.7, of which the above is the first verse, is one of the gems of the collection. Despite the optimistic tone of the first verse, overall it is really about the transitoriness of things in the world, so it ends on a more muted note. The English poet A E Housman (1859-1936) believed Odes 4.7 was the finest poem in Roman literature. Housman also wrote short poems with four-line verses and was a Latin scholar. Horace and Housman are both similar and dissimilar: Horace was cheery and enjoyed the good things in life, but was highly aware it was temporary; while Housman was more pessimistic overall. Here is the full text in Latin and English: https://www.johnderbyshire.com/Readings/odes-4-7.html Here is A E Housman’s translation: https://www.johnderbyshire.com/Readings/diffugere.html

Wiki: Horace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace

Wiki: A E Housman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._E._Housman