"format enim natura prius nos intus ad omnem / fortunarum habitum: iuvat aut inpellit ad iram / aut ad humum maerore gravi deducit et angit: / post effert animi motus interprete lingua" [For nature forms us first within to every modification of circumstances; she delights or impels us to anger, or depresses us to the earth and afflicts us with heavy sorrow: then expresses those emotions of the mind by the tongue, its interpreter].
— Quintus Horatius Flaccus [Horace] (65 BC - 8 BC)
Work Title
Date
c. 10-8 BC
Metaphor
"format enim natura prius nos intus ad omnem / fortunarum habitum: iuvat aut inpellit ad iram / aut ad humum maerore gravi deducit et angit: / post effert animi motus interprete lingua" [For nature forms us first within to every modification of circumstances; she delights or impels us to anger, or depresses us to the earth and afflicts us with heavy sorrow: then expresses those emotions of the mind by the tongue, its interpreter].
Metaphor in Context
[...] tristia maestum
voltum verba decent, iratum plena minarum,
ludentem lasciva, severum seria dictu.
format enim natura prius nos intus ad omnem
fortunarum habitum: iuvat aut inpellit ad iram
aut ad humum maerore gravi deducit et angit:
post effert animi motus interprete lingua.
si dicentis erunt fortunis absona dicta,
Romani tollent equites peditesque cachinnum.
intererit multum, Davusne loquatur an heros,
maturusne senex an adhuc florente iuventa
fervidus, et matrona potens an sedula nutrix,
mercatorne vagus cultorne virentis agelli,
Colchus an Assyrius, Thebis nutritus, an Argis.
(ll. 105-118)
Pathetic accents suit a melancholy countenance; words full of menace, an angry one; wanton expressions, a sportive look; and serious matter, an austere one. For nature forms us first within to every modification of circumstances; she delights or impels us to anger, or depresses us to the earth and afflicts us with heavy sorrow: then expresses those emotions of the mind by the tongue, its interpreter. If the words be discordant to the station of the speaker, the Roman knights and plebians will raise an immoderate laugh. It will make a wide difference, whether it be Davus that speaks, or a hero; a man well-stricken in years, or a hot young fellow in his bloom; and a matron of distinction, or an officious nurse; a roaming merchant, or the cultivator of a verdant little farm; a Colchian, or an Assyrian; one educated at Thebes, or one at Argos.
voltum verba decent, iratum plena minarum,
ludentem lasciva, severum seria dictu.
format enim natura prius nos intus ad omnem
fortunarum habitum: iuvat aut inpellit ad iram
aut ad humum maerore gravi deducit et angit:
post effert animi motus interprete lingua.
si dicentis erunt fortunis absona dicta,
Romani tollent equites peditesque cachinnum.
intererit multum, Davusne loquatur an heros,
maturusne senex an adhuc florente iuventa
fervidus, et matrona potens an sedula nutrix,
mercatorne vagus cultorne virentis agelli,
Colchus an Assyrius, Thebis nutritus, an Argis.
(ll. 105-118)
Pathetic accents suit a melancholy countenance; words full of menace, an angry one; wanton expressions, a sportive look; and serious matter, an austere one. For nature forms us first within to every modification of circumstances; she delights or impels us to anger, or depresses us to the earth and afflicts us with heavy sorrow: then expresses those emotions of the mind by the tongue, its interpreter. If the words be discordant to the station of the speaker, the Roman knights and plebians will raise an immoderate laugh. It will make a wide difference, whether it be Davus that speaks, or a hero; a man well-stricken in years, or a hot young fellow in his bloom; and a matron of distinction, or an officious nurse; a roaming merchant, or the cultivator of a verdant little farm; a Colchian, or an Assyrian; one educated at Thebes, or one at Argos.
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Text and translation from Perseus: drawn from The Works of Horace, trans. Christopher Smart (Philadelphia. Joseph Whetham, 1836). <Link to perseus.org><Link to Google Books>
See also the Ars Poetica at The Latin Library.
See also the Ars Poetica at The Latin Library.
Date of Entry
07/08/2015
