Horace’s parvum opus: Ode 1.38

Thomas M. Cirillo (University of Southern California)

Many commentators have questioned whether Ode 1.38, the final piece in Horace’s first collection of poems, is a suitable finale to the book with respect to its length and content (Nisbet and Hubbard, 1970, p. 423.)  More recently, Classicists have given this poem its due credit as a programmatic piece deliberately placed after the epically inclined Cleopatra Ode, 1.37 (Lowrie, 1997, p. 164 and Fraenkel, 1957, p. 297.)  Fraenkel includes his discussion of 1.38 in his section on “The Three Epilogues,” but regards the piece only as an expression of the poet’s artistic creed, simplicity, mirrored in the form of the poem’s text (Fraenkel, pp. 297-298.)  This poem, however, is not just an aesthetic expression of simplicity, for in these few lines (cf. the brief space alluded to in 1.11.6, brevi spatio) Horace succeeds in recapitulating several of the themes found throughout Horatian poetry, such as living the simple life and “seizing the day” (carpe diem, 1.11.8.) 

This epilogue to Book I of the Odes serves not only to condense Horace’s poetic maxims, but also to moderate them.  The late rose (rosa . . . sera, 1.38.3-4), as an ephemeral object, is identified with Horace’s injunction “to seize the day,” but is too luxurious to chase after (see Gold, 1993, p.31).  Instead of the rose, Horace prefers simple myrtle (simplici myrto, 1.38.5), which Fraenkel (1957, p.297), Davis (1991, p.118), and Lowrie (1997, p. 164) identify as the poem’s emblem.  Just as an epilogue looks back over the preceding work it also surveys the future, and myrtle has appeared in Book I as the poet’s plant (1.1.29-30 and 1.4.9-10) and will come to be more closely associated with Horace in 3.4.17-18.  With its moderating theme this poem fits well in between the war-torn worlds described in 1.37 and 2.1, but it should not be regarded as just a charming breather before Horace resumes a more epic topic.  Rather, this poem ought to be thought of, together with the more lofty epilogues of the other three books (2.20, 3.30, 4.15), as a piece that coordinates Horace’s ideas about his own poetry, lifestyle and future influence.

In this paper I will examine the language and style of Ode 1.38 and demonstrate that the verbal form of the poem does not reflect the simplicity of life communicated in it.  Thus the poem is not just a simple praise of otium, but a sophisticated statement on lifestyle and poetry.  Through this examination of Horace’s words I will identify the two themes of Horatian poetry, living for the present and living the simple life, that are found in 1.38.  By including these themes in the final poem of Book I Horace recapitulates and reemphasizes these values.  These themes, however, are also moderated and because of this mediating tone (see Lowrie, 1997, p.80) the poem is a suitable bridge between 1.37 and 2.1.  I will also show, mainly by examining the simplex myrtus, that this poem looks forwards and backwards to other points in Horace’s poetic career (1.1 and 3.4).  The poem’s recapitulation of prominent Horatian ideals in only eight skillfully constructed lines, Horace’s moderation of these ideals, and the expansive backward and forward looking scope of 1.38 merit the poem’s inclusion among the final pieces of the other books as an indicator of Horace’s views on aesthetics, life, and own career.