Odes

Horace

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

Has closed Quirinian Janus' gate,

Wild passion's erring walk controll'd,

Heal'd the foul plague-spot of the state,

And brought again the life of old,

Life, by whose healthful power increased

The glorious name of Latium spread

To where the sun illumes the east

From where he seeks his western bed.

While Caesar rules, no civil strife

Shall break our rest, nor violence rude,

Nor rage, that whets the slaughtering knife

And plunges wretched towns in feud.

The sons of Danube shall not scorn

The Julian edicts; no, nor they

By Tanais' distant river horn,

Nor Persia, Scythia, or Cathay.

And we on feast and working-tide,

While Bacchus' bounties freely flow,

Our wives and children at our side,

First paying Heaven the prayers we owe,