Odes

Horace

Horace. The Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace. Conington, John, translator. London: George Bell and Sons, 1882.

Slay we thus the cause of crime,

If yet we would repent and choose the good:

Ours the task to take in time

This baleful lust, and crush it in the bud.

Ours to mould our weakling sons

To nobler sentiment and manlier deed:

Now the noble's first-born shuns

The perilous chase, nor learns to sit his steed:

Set him to the unlawful dice,

Or Grecian hoop, how skilfully he plays!

While his sire, mature in vice,

A friend, a partner, or a guest betrays,