THE AGE PAYS TRIBUTE TO KINDLY HORACE

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 128, 1 June 1935, Page 25

THE AGE PAYS TRIBUTE TO KINDLY HORACE

Recently a pilgrimage was made to the haunts of Horace to mark the bimillennary of the poet's birth at Venusia, Italy, in the year B.C. 65, writes P. F. Jackson in the "Daily Telegraph." One of the most interesting visits included in this pilgrimage was to Littoria and Sabaudia, the new Fascist townships that have been built upon the recently-drained marshes, previously, as Horace knew to his cost, notoriously unhealthy and mosquito-infested. The route followed resembled as far as possible that taken by Horace himself during his famous journey to Brundisium in'*B.C. 38. This was an event of interest to more than just a handful of scholars. For though all may not be able to read Horace in the original Latin, most people are familiar with some of his most-quoted lines. Quintus Horatius Flaccus, a humble freedman's son, left the world an immortal legacy of brilliant and unforgettable phrases. Apt, terse, and untranslatable, they remain, to this day supreme examples of "what- oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed." If quotation is the hall-mark of fame, then is Horace one of the great men of all time. In his verse are to be found some of the best-known quotations in all literature. Some of them, indeed, are in such common use that we are apt to forget that they are quotations. "Nil desperandum," "Dulce est desipere in loco," "Carpe diem," "De mortuis nil nisi bonum," "Splendide mendax," "Labuntur, pnni," "Simplex

munditiis," "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." These phrases, to quote just a few, all represent everyday thoughts in unsurpassable language, and hackneyed though some of them may have become after centuries of service, they still "shine in use" and have not been improved upon. Why, it may be asked, is it that Horace's verse remains fresh and readable today, while that of some others has failed to stand the test of time? What particular qualities had Horace that the twentieth century should do him honour in a pilgrimage?. He had, above all, a charming gift of Selfrevelation and a shrewd knowledge of men and things. A broad outlook, varied tastes, and a tolerant, kindly moralising have won Horace friends throughout two millenniums. His is a ripe and seasoned philosophy. The spirit of adventure as youth knows it is lacking. There are no transports of delight, nor any corresponding sloughs of despond. Nevertheless, Horace knew how to get the most out of life, which is a secret known to few. He knew how to enjoy pleasure without becoming its slave, and he could be equally happy in the gay capital and in the seclusion of his .farm in the Sabine hills. He was a lovable, kindly person, and will go on making friends among generations yet to come because of his essential humanity. Of him it may be truly said that he never, lost ".the common touch."