Mæcenas, I conjure thee cease
To wake my harp's enamour'd strings
To tones, that fright recumbent Peace,
That Pleasure flies on rapid wings!
Slow conquest on Numantia's plain,
Or Hannibal, that dauntless stood,
Tho' thrice he saw Ausonia's main
Redden with Carthaginian blood;
The Lapithæ's remorseless pride,
Hylæus' wild inebriate hours;
The Giants, who the Gods defied,
And shook old Saturn's splendid towers;
These, dear Mæcenas, _thou_ should'st paint,
Each glory of thy Cæsar's reign,
In eloquence, that scorns restraint,
And sweeter than the Poet's strain;
Show captive Kings, who from the fight
Drag at his wheels their galling chain,
And the pale lip indignant bite
With mutter'd vengeance, wild and vain.
Enraptur'd by Licinia's grace,
My Muse would these high themes decline,
Charm'd that the heart, the form, the face
Of matchless Excellence is thine.
Ah, happy Friend! for whom an eye,
Of splendid, and resistless fire,
Lays all its pointed arrows by,
For the mild gleams of soft desire!
With what gay spirit does she foil
The Pedant's meditated hit!
What happy archness in her smile!
What pointed meaning in her wit!
Her cheek how pure a crimson warms,
When with the Nymphs, in circling line,
Bending she twines her snowy arms,
And dances round Diana's shrine[2]!
Mæcenas, would'st not thou exchange
The treasures gorgeous Persia pours,
The wealth of Phrygia's fertile range,
Or warm Arabia's spicy shores,
For one light ringlet of the hair,
Which shades thy sweet Licinia's face,
In that dear moment when the Fair,
In flying from thy fond embrace,
Relenting turns her snowy neck,
To meet thy kisses half their way,
Or when her feign'd resentments check
The ardors thy warm lips convey?
While in her eyes the languid light
Betrays a yielding wish to prove,
Amid her coy, yet playful flight,
The pleasing force of fervent Love;
Or when, in gaily-frolic guise,
She snatches her fair self the kiss,
E'en at the instant she denies
Her Lover the requested bliss.
1: Of that artful caution, which marks the character of Horace, this
Ode forms a striking instance. He declines the task appointed by his
Patron, that of describing the Italian Wars, because he foresees that
in its execution he must either disoblige the Emperor, and his
Minister, by speaking too favorably of their Enemies, or offend some
Friends, whom he yet retained amongst those, who had exerted
themselves against the Cæsars. Horace endeavours to soften the effect
of this non-compliance by a warm panegyric upon Licinia, the
betrothed bride of Mæcenas. She is in other places called Terentia.
Both these names have affinity to those of her Brothers, Licinius,
afterwards Augur, and her adopted Brother, Terentius.
Horace mentions _plainly_ the Numantian Wars, and those with
Hannibal, but artfully speaks of those of Brutus, and Cassius, and of
the Character of Antony, under _fabulous_ denomination, sufficiently
understood by Augustus, and his Minister. Dacier justly observes how
easy it is to discern, that by the Lapithæ, and Giants, defeated by
Hercules on the plains of Thessaly, the Poet means the Armies of
Brutus, and Cassius, defeated by Augustus, almost in the same place,
at the Battle of Philippi. He concludes also that by Hylæus is meant
Mark Antony, who assumed the name of Bacchus, and ruined himself by
his profligate passion for Cleopatra. Another Commentator observes,
that as the Giants, and Lapithæ, are said to have made the Palace of
Saturn shake, so also did Brutus, and Cassius, and afterwards Mark
Antony, make all Italy tremble, and that it is Rome itself that
Horace would have to be understood by the _magnificent Palace of
Saturn_. Some Critics seek to destroy all the common sense, beauty,
and character of this Ode, by denying the allegoric interpretation;
and also by insisting that Licinia was the Poet's _own_ Mistress, and
not the mistress of his Patron. It had been absurd, and inconceivably
unmeaning, if, when he was requested to sing the triumphs of Augustus
in the Italian Wars, he should, during the brief mention of them,
have adverted to old fables, uniting them, not as a simile, but in a
line of continuation with the Numantian, and Carthaginian Wars;
unless, beneath those fables, he shadowed forth the _Roman_ Enemies
of Augustus.
The idea that Licinia was the Mistress of Horace, has surely little
foundation:--for it were strange indeed if he could take pleasure in
describing amorous familiarities between Mæcenas, and the Person with
whom _himself_ was in love. One of these Critics alledges, as the
reason why this Lady could _not_ be the destined Bride of _Mæcenas_,
that it would have been as indiscreet in _him_ to have admitted
Horace to be a witness of his passion for Licinia-Terentia, as it
would have been impertinent in the _Poet_, to have invaded the
privacies of his Patron. It is not necessary, from this Ode, to
conclude that Horace had _witnessed_ the tender scene he describes.
He might, without any hazard of imputed impertinence, venture to
paint, from his imagination, the innocently playful endearments of
betrothed Lovers. The picture was much more likely to _flatter_ than
to _disgust_ the gay, and gallant Mæcenas.
2: The Roman Ladies, according to ancient custom, danced with
entwined arms, around the Altar of Diana, on the day of her Festival.