Ode VI
Septimius, ready if need be to go with me to the ends of the world, may Tibur be the haven of repose for my old age, or, failing that, Tarentum, loveliest nook of earth, in the land of the olive and the vine. There, when the end comes, thou shalt drop the tear thou owest on the ashes of thy poet friend. Cf. Sellar, p.147. A Septimius is recommended to the good offices of Tiberius (Epist. 1. 9); and the name recurs in a letter of Augustus cited in Suetonius' life. Imitation in Dodsley, vol.4, p.280. l. Gadis: i.e. the pillars of Hercules, the proverbial limit of the known world (2.2.11; Pind. Nem. 4.69, and passim); now Cadiz. Cf. 1.34.11, Atlanteus finis. aditure: who would go; sc. si opus sit. Cf. 4.3.20, donatura . . . si libeat, and 2.3.4. n. 'Where thou goest I will go' was the conventional expression of friendship from the time of Pylades and Orestes. Cf. Cat. 11. 1, Furi et Aureli comites Catulli| sive in extremos penetrabit Indos.
Cantabrum: tribe of N . W. Spain attacked by Romans circa B.C. 29, rebelled and repressed by Augustus 27-25, finally subdued by Agrippa 19. Cf. 3.8.21; 4.14.41; Justin, 44, 5. 8; Flor. 4.12.47. These facts hardly date the ode. iuga: the image is from oxen or horses. Cf. 2.5.1; 1.33.11; Pind. Pyth. 2.93; Soph. Antig. 291. It has become a literary commonplace. Shaks. Henry VI. 3.3.1, 'Yield not thy neck to fortune's yoke'; Macaulay, Proph. of Capys, 22, 'Beneath thy yoke the Volscian| Shall veil his lofty brow'; Lucan, 1.19, sub iuga iam Seres iam barbarus isset Araxes. Perhaps there is a hint, too, of the 'passing the enemy under the yoke,' sub iugum mittere (Caes. B. G. 1.12).
Syrtis: 1.22.5; Verg. Aen. 4.41, inhospita Syrtis. - Maura: is accurate enough for poetry.
Cf. 1.7; 1.18. 2. Argēo: Ἀργείω. Cf. 3.16.12; 3.3.67; 4.6. 25. positum: Verg. Aen. 4.211-212, urbem . . . posuit.colono: colonist, not ruris colono (1.35.6; 2.14.12).
utinam: 'A melancholy utinam of my own,' in Sir T. Browne's phrase. Cf. l. 35. 38. senectae: dative. For sentiment, cf. Martial, 4.25.7, vos eritis nostrae requies portusque senectae.
sit: cf. 1.2.5. n. modus is felt first absolutely and then with the genitives. lasso maris: cf. fessi rerum (Verg. Aen. l. 178); peregrino labore fessi (Cat. 31.8); odio maris atque viarum (Epp. 1. 11.6). ῾αλίκμητος. Cf. Anth. Pal. 9.7.5. With lasso understand mihi from meae senectae.
Tibur and Tarentum similarly coupled Epp. 1.7.45.
unde: sc. Tibure. Parcae . . . iniquae: the unkindness of destiny. Cf. 2.4.10. n., and for iniquae, 2.4.16. prohibent: 1.27.4.
pellitis: covered with skins to protect their fine fleece, ne lana inquinetur (Varro, R. R. 2.2.18). Hence the breed some-times called tectae oves. Cf. Plin. N. H. 8.189. For quality of their wool, cf. Martial, 2.43.3; 5.37.2; 8.28.4. ovibus: dat. with dulce. Galaesi: the river near Tarentum (Verg. G. 4.126). The region was praised already by Archilochus as καλός and ἐφίμερος.
petam: subj. perhaps, putting conclusion as wish.
Phalantho: the Spartan Phalanthus was said to have founded Tarentum circa B.C. 707. Cf. Paus. 10.10.6; Strabo, 6.278. For syntax, cf. 3.29.27, regnata Cyro Bactra, and Verg. Aen. 6.794.
angulus: with terrarum. Cf. angulus iste, of his Sabine farm (Epp. 1.14.23). Sainte-Beuve wrote on the margin of his Horace, "Heureux Horace! quel n'a pas été son destin! quoi! parce qu'il a une fois exprimé en quelques vers charmants son bonheur champêtre et décrit son coin de terre préféré, voilà que les vers faits à plaisir pour lui seul et pour l'ami auquel il les adressait, se sont depuis emparés de toutes les mémoires, et s'y sont si bien logés qu'on n'en concoit plus d'autres, et qu'on ne trouve que ceux-là dès qu'il s'agit pour chacun de célébrer sa propre retraite chérie." ridet: note quantity. Hymetto: a mountain near Athens famed for its honey. Ὑμήττιον μέλι (Suidas) was proverbial (Otto, p. 169). CL 'And still his honied wealth Hymettus yields.' For Hymetto =melli Hymettio (comparatio compendiaria), cf. 2.14.28.
decedunt: personifies, does not yield to, i.e. is not inferior to. viridi: cf. 'Thine olive green as when Minerva smiled' (Byron); 'it is gray-green' (Ruskin); γλαυκόχροος (Pindar).
baca: the olive. Venafro: dat. (1.1.15. n.). Venafrum was a city in the north of Campania, noted for its olives. Cf. Varro, R. R. 1.2.6, quod vinum (conferam) Falerno? quod oleum Venafro? Cf. 3.5.55; Sat. 2.4.69.
Cf. 'Smooth life had flock and shepherd in old time,| Long springs and tepid winters on the banks| Of delicate Galaesus' (Words. Prelude).
tepidas: cf. Epist. 1.10.15, est ubi plus tepeant hiemes? Pers. Sat. 6.6, mihi nunc Ligus ora |intepet.
Iuppiter: cf. Epode 16. 56. Aulon: probably a mountain slope well adapted for vineyards. amicus: i.e. dilectus. Cf. 1.26.1. Bentley reads apricus, Heinsius amictus, i.e. clad with fertile vines. But for fertilis = giver of fertility, cf. Ov. Met. 5.642, dea fertilis. Cf. also Martial, 13.125, and Statius Silv. 2.2.4, qua Bromio dilectus ager, collesque per altos|uritur et prelis non invidet uva Falernis.
arces: heights (cf. 1.2.3), but with a hint of the Epicurean sapientum templa serena (Lucret. 2.8).. Cf. Wordsworth, 'Students with their pensive citadels.' calentem: cf. Verg. Aen. 6.212-228; Munro on Lucret. 3.906-907; Stat. Silv. 2.1. 2, et adhuc vivente favilla.
debita: cf. Shaks. Julius Caes. 5.3, 'Friends, I owe more tears| To this dead man than you shall see me pay'; Cowper, Loss of Royal George, 'And mingle with the cup| The tear that England owes.'
vatis: cf. 4.6.44; 1.31.2. n.
