The pleasure of country living- HORACE Flashcards
beatus ille qui procul negotiis,
Blessed is he who, far from business (affairs)
ut prisca gens mortalium,
Like the ancient race of mortals
paterna rura bobus exercet suis
He tills his father’s land with his own oxen
solutus omni faenore,
Set free from every debt
neque excitatur classico miles truci,
[Blessed is he who] is not woken by the fierce war-trumpet
neque horret iratum mare,
Nor does he shudder at the angry sea,
forumque vitat et superba civium
And he avoids the forum/market-place and the proud
potentiorum limina.
Doorways of rather powerful citizens. [Or: More powerful than him]
libet iacere modo sub antiqua ilice,
It is delightful/pleasant to sometimes lie beneath an ancient oak tree
modo in tenaci gramine.
Sometimes in the firm grass.
labuntur altis interim ripis aquae,
Meanwhile, streams glide between high banks,
queruntur in silvis aves,
Birds twitter/chatter in the woods
fontesque lymphis obstrepunt manantibus,
And springs gurgle with trickling sprays of water
somnos quod invitet leves.
Which would invite gentle sleep.