Excerpt from The Odes of Horace and His Secular Hymn New times tempt forth new translations: for ideas about translation are ever changing. Especially is this so about poetry. Should it be rendered in metre, in rhyme, and how closely? I prefer metre, and rhyme; but shall not inflict on others my reasons. And the closer a translation is, the better, if it be good readable English but this if opens a wide door. About translating Horace's Odes, on two points only shall I dwell. I. Ought a certain Latin metre to be invariably rendered by the same English metre? 2. What is the proper length of English for a Latin line or stanza? As to some (i believe) answer Yes: but I do not. Why Because Horatian Odes in the same metre are undeniably not all in the same mood. Almost any Horatian' metre supplies odes widely differing: grave, gay, moral, convivial, earnest, trifling. Now though different feelings may be expressed in the same English metre, yet some English metres are by use appropriated to particular moods; and Horace's variety of moods can be more surely shown by varying the metre. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.