Horace, Odes, 1, 24

Latin Learning Latin
1

The poet addresses Vergil, concerning mourning for a friend Quintilius.


multis ille bonis flebilis occidit,
nulli flebilior quam tibi, Vergili.
tu, frustra pius, heu non ita creditum
poscis Quintilium deos.

Translation:

He fell, to the tears of the best,
None more tearful than you Vergil,
You, your devotion in vain, he’s no loan,
that you can call back from the gods.

2

This isn’t a literal translation, but it’s an imaginative one.

3

Thanks for the reply Qimmik. I was especially concerned with the rendering of “creditum . . . poscis”, which I read as a metaphor of a loan that might be urgently called in, by the lender. Do Horace and his language permit that reading?

4

I was especially concerned with the rendering of “creditum . . . poscis”, which I read as a metaphor of a loan that might be urgently called in, by the lender. Do Horace and his language permit that reading?

Yes, see Lewis and Short credo:

http://perseus.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:5609.lewisandshort

5

Thanks, Qimmik. Somehow you find just the right entry, the one that I overlooked.