dinia:[1] not the goodly flocks of scorched Calabria:[2] not gold, or Indian ivory: not those countries, which the still river Liris eats away with its silent streams. Let those to whom fortune has given the Calenian vineyards, prune them with a hooked knife; and let the wealthy merchant drink out of golden cups the wines procured by his Syrian merchandize, favored by the gods themselves, inasmuch as without loss he visits three or four times a year the Atlantic Sea. Me olives support, me succories and soft mallows. O thou son of Latona,[3] grant me to enjoy my acquisitions, and to possess my health, together with an unimpaired understanding, I beseech thee; and that I may not lead a dishonorable old age, nor one bereft of the lyre.
ODE XXXII.
TO HIS LYRE.
We are called upon. If ever, O lyre, in idle amusement in the shade with thee, we have played anything that may live for this year and many, come on, be responsive to a Latin ode, my dear lyre—first tuned by a Lesbian citizen, who, fierce in war, yet amid arms, or if he had made fast[4] to the watery shore his tossed vessel, sung Bacchus, and the Muses, and Venus, and the boy, her ever-close attendant, and Lycus, lovely for his black eyes and jetty locks. O thou ornament of Apollo, charming shell, agreeable even at the banquets of
- ↑ Sardinia, an island of Italy, which formerly belonged to the Spaniards, but is now subject to its own king, who is of the family of Savoy. Watson.
- ↑ Calabria, a country in the uttermost part of Italy, which is almost an isle; it brings forth fruit twice a year, and abounds with bees and cattle. Watson.
- ↑ Latona, the daughter of Ceus, the son of Titan, who made war against Jupiter for ravishing his daughter; she, to fly Juno's wrath, fled to the island Ortygia that is, Delos. Watson.
- ↑ Relig irat. This verb has two significations entirely opposite, and might be construed either to set sail, or to cast anchor. The sense must here determine us to the latter meaning of the word, as the poet opposes the noise and tumult of battle to the calm and repose after a worm. San.
