1
Quisquis es ad nostros aperis qui iurgia cantus
Dicendi speculare modum, speculare medullas,
Corticis ingluviem placata mento sapores.
Si minus hec facias, Elicon quo numine pectus
5Magnificet perquire tuum, te nosce profecto:
Difficile est homini proprias bene noscere vires.
At si Pallas alit te, Stilbons, Phebus et alme
Pierides, spaciare sonis, spaciare soluta
Voce placens, scelus est alienas rumpere laudes.
10Non Cato, non Cesar, quibus est sapientia mater
Detraxit sermone probis, nec lusit Homerus,
Nec Maro concentu quevis preconia vatum.
Est sat magnanimo proprios bene ducere sensus
Et titulos; spoliare probris fastidit, iniquo
15Ore loquax, turbam celebri virtute potentem.
Marsia fit gurges si Phebo invexit, iambi
Inventor ruit ore tumax Misiusque poeta
Mopsopios ridens cecidit delusus Athenis.
Nec decet antiquis vates conferre modernos
20Si libres in utrisque melon; censere, poeta
Quis presens superet presentem, seminat iram.
Sepe timens censet vel amans vel nescius artis
Vel livor secreta virum: stat in arte peritis
Iuditium verax, quos passio nulla refringit.
25Passio queque cadit cuivis post busta canentum;
Carminibus miranda sacris sic laude pusillos
Tollimus et magnos ornata voce stupemus.
Cautius est igitur placidis applaudere verbis
Aut turpes reticere notas: tibi consule, livor,
30Ne sis infamis vicians quoscumque canentes.
This text is part of:
Click on a word to bring up parses, dictionary entries, and frequency statistics
1 hec in cribratura segetis | Pierie A. Baratelle Laurei Patavini | ad invidum siquis fuerit
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.