The Odes of Horace

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About The Odes Of Horace

Amazon.com Review David Ferry's The Odes of Horace represents the first truly distinguished translation of the complete odes into the American idiom. The translator has managed to retain the poet's moral tone while purging any taint of sententiousness. How? By recasting the structure of "Carpe Diem," for example, he gives this familiar poem a power one would have not thought possible. Ferry even manages a Latin-English rhyme at the end, by shifting the position of the addressee's name: "Leuconoe-- / Hold on to the day." Ferry's Horace is always a specific personality, with his own identity, background, and attitude. Yet he is also a conduit of history. Turning to "Delicta maiorum immeritus lues..." (which Ferry straightforwardly calls "To the Romans"), we are plunged into a devastating meditation on the imperium. At this point, of course, it's commonplace to point out similarities between the American empire and that of ancient Rome. But this translation gives us a feeling for just how contemporary Horace really is. The best example would probably be "To Dellius": Dellius, don't be Too unrestrainedly joyful in good fortune. You are going to die. It doesn't matter at all whether you spend Your days and nights in sorrow, Or, on the other hand, in holiday pleasure. Drinking Falernian wine Of an excellent vintage year, on the river bank. It helps to know that the historical Dellius was exiled in Egypt at the time, making those Italian vintages strictly off-limits to him. What's more, he was a double or perhaps triple agent, which gives him an additional Cold War coloration. In any case, the allusiveness of the odes--and the taut, bone-dry English of Ferry's translation--should gain Horace a legion or so of new readers. --Mark Rudman Language Notes Text: English, Latin (translation) From Library Journal This is a delightful translation of the Odes by poet, scholar, and translator Ferry, who with apparent effortlessness manages to render Horace's Latin poems into fine, unsmeared American idiom. Horace, along with his friend Virgil, is the most celebrated and influential poet of Augustus's reign and is renowned for his ability to make the ordinary (the commonplace events and situations of life) extraordinary. There are few surprises or dramatic aberrations in Horace's odes, but the absence of unusual subject matter only serves to draw attention to the simple beauty of its rendering. This will be a superb addition to any library's collection.?Thomas F. Merrill, formerly with Univ. of DelawareCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review David Ferry's translation of Horace's odes in this bilingual edition brings to the modern reader a splendid rendition of Horace's style and meaning. Ferry, an emeritus professor of English at Wellesley College, is a poet and essayist. His verse excellently captures Horace's often conversational and sometimes ironic mode, which at times resembles that of Robert Frost or W.H. Auden. -- The Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review, Anthony Day