Horace 1.37-A Formal and Structural Analysis

XXXVII

Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero

pulsanda tellus, nunc Saliaribus

     ornare puluinar deorum

     tempus erat dapibus, sodales.

Antehac nefas depromere Caecubum               5

cellis auitis, dum Capitolio

     regina dementis ruinas

     funus et imperio parabat

contaminato cum grege turpium

morbo uirorum, quidlibet impotens               10

     sperare fortunaque dulci

     ebria. Sed minuit furorem

uix una sospes nauis ab ignibus,

mentemque lymphatam Mareotico

redegit in ueros timores               15

     Caesar, ab Italia uolantem

remis adurgens, accipiter uelut

mollis columbas aut leporem citus

     uenator in campis niualis

      Haemoniae, daret ut catenis               20

fatale monstrum. Quae generosius

perire quaerens nec muliebriter

     expauit ensem nec latentis

     classe cita reparauit oras,

ausa et iacentem uisere regiam               25

uoltu sereno, fortis et asperas

     tractare serpentes, ut atrum

     corpore conbiberet uenenum,

deliberata morte ferocior:

saeuis Liburnis scilicet inuidens               30

     priuata deduci superbo,

     non humilis mulier, triumpho.

Est-3rd person singular present active indicative of "esse" meaning "to be"

Ornare-present active infinitive meaning "to decorate"

Erat-3rd person singular imperfect active indicative of "esse" meaning "to be"

Depromere-present active infinitive meaning "to draw out"

Parabat-3rd person singular imperfect active indicative of "parare" meaning "to prepare"

Sperare-present active infinitive meaning "to hope"

Minuit-3rd person singular present active indicative of "minuere" meaning "to lessen"

Redegit-3rd person singular perfect active indicative of "redigere" meaning "to drive back"

Daret-3rd person singular imperfect active subjunctive of "dare" meaning "to give"

Perire-present active infinitive meaning "to die"

Expauit-3rd person singular perfect active indicative of "expavescere
 meaning "to become"

Reparauit-3rd person singular perfect active indicative of "reperare" meaning "to prepare"

Uisere-present active infinitive meaning "to visit"

Sereno-1st person singular present active indicative of "serenare" meaning "to clear up"

Tractare-present active infinitive meaning "to haul"

Conbiberet-3rd person singular imperfect active subjunctive of "conbibere" meaning "to drink completely"

Ferocior-1st person singular present passive indicative of "ferocire" meaning "to rampage"

Triumpho-1st person singular present active indicative of "triumphare" meaning "to triumph over"

Now is the time to drink, now the earth

Beats with the feet of free men, now,

Comrades, is the time for a splendid banquet

To decorate the couch of the gods.

Before this time, to fetch the Caecuban wine

From the ancestral wine cellar was a sin,  while deranged

Queen of the Capitol prepares for

The fall of death and authority.

You will defile the impure herd with

The sickness of venom, drunk was her hope

To do whatever was her fortune and

Pleasure. But her ships on a fire frenzy,

Barely a ship safe and sound,

In Marea, madness of mind

Was lessened to pure fear

Of Caesar, his oars close as she fled

From Italy, Just as a hawk hunts

A cowardly pigeon or a swift hare

In a snow-covered plain

Of Thessaly, so that he might give restraint

To a deadly monster. Anybody can seek

To die nobly:  She was not frightened

Like a woman by the sword, and her

Fast navy moved to no hidden coasts,

To visit her palace that had fallen to ruins

Boldly and with an expression of gladness, to handle

The snake was strong and violent, while

The body drank completely the deadly venom,

Being determined for her death:

Certainly jealous of the savage Liburnian galleys

Descended from her personal arrogance,

Humble was this woman who was not in triumph.

The poem has a title, it is Horace's "Odes 1.37"

The theme is to rejoice over the fall of a great and terrible woman, named Cleopatra.

The theme is directly stated.

There are two themes, and the poem shifts between them. The first theme is to celebrate the fall of the power-hungry Cleopatra (Hor. Odes 1.37.11), but the second theme paints Cleopatra in a nobler light, showing that she was bold (Hor. Odes 1.37.25) and unafraid even in death. The second theme is that even the terrible Cleopatra has some honorable characteristics.

The setting of the poem is in the Sea of Marea (Hor. Odes 1.37.14) near the city of Actium, where Cleopatra eventually loses and commits suicide. The battle took place September 2nd, 31 BC.

The narrator is someone making a speech at a celebration, so it might very well be Horace. The narrator is implicit and is third person omniscient.

The implied reader is the assumed audience.

The  characters in the poem are Cleopatra and Octavian, and these characters acted in their own right. Horace is reporting on their actions.

The mood of the poem is celebratory, then triumphant, then humble.

Octavian has just finished off Mark Antony and Cleopatra, ending the Final War of the Roman Republic.

The poem had just summarized the battle, and is anticipating a new Rome under Octavian.

The poem alludes to sweet Caecuban wine (Jor.Odes 1.37.5) in the celebration. It also refers to the Roman Capitol, on which Jupiter's temple was located (Hor. Odes 1.37.6). There is also an allusion to the Sea of Marea (Hor. Odes 1.37.14). These allusions reinforce the explicit meaning.

Horace's "Odes 1.37" tells of the Battle of Actium and celebrates Octavian's victory over Antony and Cleopatra.

Celebrations are starting (Hor. Odes 1.37.1-4) because of the fall of Cleopatra. Cleopatra was losing a naval battle (Hor. Odes 1.37.12), and so fled to Actium, with Octavian in hot pursuit. Cleopatra knew she had lost, so she committed suicide by asp bite (Hor. Odes 1.37.28)

The poem has a pretty solid pattern of two long lines with 11 syllables each, followed by two short lines with 10 syllables each. This pattern really only deviates at line seven (Hor. Odes 1.37).

The connotation of an animal like the hawk (Hor. Odes 1.37.17) is that of a predator animal, making Cleopatra the prey.

The asp and its bite (Hor. Odes 1.37.26-27) is used as a symbol of death. The venomous asp's bite is fatal. Cleopatra chose life over death, and found the fastest way possible to get there.

The poem alludes to the sweet Caecuban wine (Hor. Odes 1.37.5). It also alludes to the Sea of Marea (Hor. Odes 1.37.14), where Cleopatra was losing a naval battle to Octavian.

Horace chooses to begin the poem with word "nunc" (Hor. Odes 1.37.1), showing that he is enjoying living in the now, after the fall of Cleopatra. He also choose s to end the poem with the word "triumpho" (Hor. Odes 1.37.32), ending the poem on a good note, a note of looking forward to a better Rome, a note of celebration.

Horace chooses a little after the middle of the poem to completely switch sides on his opinions of Cleopatra, showing a little more that there are two sides to every story.