The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-01
Nv,

OWVC Huh, III Iooiluk, JUST - me- uoaltOu tno
golden mean, or aurea medtocrttds, of station.
A further point to Be noted 10 that. while
Horace seemh to attach more Importance to the
practical duties and the right management of
life than TO literary fame. yet he undoubtedly re-
garded literature as the serious business OF his
life. Tho proudest feeling of his being expresses
iteelf In the confident claim to Immortality
which he makes for his lyrical poetry. or his
patires and epistles, which have mot with nearly
as much favor In modern times, he speaks al
most slightingly as undeservinR Of tho title
of poetry, and As likely to be popular In
Rome only so long a. they are
new-Cdrus srts Roma doneo to dGssrct Gtds.
Thou shalt be liked at Rome till the lapse OF
time shall make thee stale" Yet even In thbse
works which he seems to regard 40 intended
merely for the current age, and which seem TO
be the result OF such easy workmanship. Horace
aims at correcting, both by precept and ex-
ample. tho fashion of careless composition which
had come down from ruder times.
Horace undoubtedly folt, however, that the
great work of his life wAs to discover and make
perfect tho Vehicle of expression for that vein
Of lyrical inspiration, spirttum Grdfde tenuem
Cdmende. "tho delicate spirit Of the Grecian
muse" the first trace Of which he finds in the
poetic fhnClos OF MS CnllunOou, ana OF WniCn No
must have become moro fully conscious through
the sympathetic study Of the early Greek lyric
poets. But q gift so exquisite and raro could not
be perfected. could. indeed. hardly be kept alive
amid tho hustle. distraction. and pleasures OF
Rome. BY q man Of Horace's social tempera-
ment the career OF o lyrical poet could
only be followed apart from the crowd
and amid the peace and beauty Of ma
ture; mo oelidun nenfts Nvmphdrumq,c
lepes cum Sdtvrts choft secernunt poptto. The
cool grove and the light footed choirs of nymphs
dancing with satyrs draw me away from the
crowd" It is to tho streams among tho or
chards Of Tiber and the thick foliage of the
grove that he attributes Ibis distinction in
!Folian song.' 1t 10 around 1.-The groves and
river hanks of Tiber" that like the Matine bee
slipping the sweets Of the Wild thyme" he, with
unremitting toll and joy, moulded his thoughts
and experience into form and melody. 1t 10 In
the same place. or among the Sabine highlands,
or In the cool mountain air of Praeneaste, or be-
meath the clear rkies of Baiae that he 10 most
conscious of his Inspiration; Vester, Cdmende,
tester in drduous tolor Sabinoe. " 1t is when I am
borne along the Sabine heights that I an yours,
20 Musss, wholly yours" That love OF nature
which 10 one of the greatest oharms in Horace's
lyrical art may DO said to DO the condition Of
Its existence.
Two other points remain to be marked by Prof.
Sellsr among the poets personal characters
tics, az these are clearly deduciblo from his
writing Tho first IL tho measure of his taste for
pictorial. plastic. and Rlyptic art. The Augustan
age and the age preceding 1t were times In which
tho Roman mind became eninently susceptible
to the beauty of art in the various forms of
architecture, sculpture. pictures, gems. cups,
and furniture. Tho desire to possess the most
precious works Of art became q strong passion
tha rI,kAr .1aaann and Nha ~
connoisseurship was apparently rs common as
In modern times. Horace hits at these weak
nesses in bis Satires. and even processes indlf-
ference to the possession Of such objects of de-
sire. and boasts of his own contentment with
the plain furniture. the I" mundd supeller which
suited his means. We are reminded, however.
by Prof. Sellar that we need not. In thescase of
Horace. any moro than in the case of Cicero,
who equally condemns the eItravagant devo-
tion to art yet whose early letters to Atticus
attest his anxiety to adorn bis villas with tho
works of Greek artists, take these professions
OF Philistine obtusenesa ,ae Indicative Of any
insensibility to tho refining Influence of the
pie rsures of tho eye. In the license which the
poet allows to Davus in the seventh satire of
tho second book no seems to admit the enjoy
mont which he derived from the pictures of
Papsias, who was famous for tho minute per-
lection and delicacy OF his workmanship.
There arc passages, also, In his Odes and Epis-
ties which show appreciation OF such ~delights,
though he will not permit Thorn to disturb the
balance Of his mind nor acknowledge that they
have an equal claim with the work of the poet
to perpetuate the great qualities Of men. It
10, however. the form and Workmanship of his
Odes which bear the most conclusive, though
indirect, testimony TO the power which art had
over his taste and Imagination. The mythology
of his Odes seems In many cases to be trans
!erred from the figures on groups Of tho sculp-
tor or painter. and especially from engravings
on gems. which probably had the same attrac-
ton for him as tho minute art OF Pauslas. The
finished form and delicate workmanship. and
the clear. sharp impressions of the Odes show a
power of representation akin to that of those
nameloss artists whose works have como down
to us. The power of musical sound. moreover.
equally with the power OF artistic form. has
pissed into his works, and It is In their song
and music that no hnds the chief charm of
Tyndaris and Phyllis when no invites those
ladies to his Sabine farm.