from The Epistles of Horace
Book I: Epistle 4
What are you doing these days, friend?
Am I to report that you're writing something new,
Or just pottering quietly about,
Living the good life of a sensible man.
You've a soul as well as a body, you're blessed
With a decent physique, enough to live on,
And you know how to enjoy yourself.
What more could anyone wish for you?
To think straight, say what you think,
And count your blessings–health, reputation, charm–
So in this world of delusion and angst and fear
Live every day as if it were your last.
Each hour you didn't count on counts as a bonus.
And when you feel like a chat, come over and see me.
—Horace [Quintus Horatius Flaccus] (65 B.C.-8 B.C.)
(From Horace in English, Carne-Ross and Haynes, ed., p. 450. Version by K. W. Gransden)
COMMENTARY
“Man can immortalize only when he accepts the apeirontic burden of mortality. The balance of consciousness between the height and the depth, between Nous and Apeiron, becomes the balance of immortality and mortality in the bios theoretikos, in the life of reason in this world.” The Ecumenic Age, 237 (1974 ed).
This version of Horace Epistle I:4 (the literal reader will note various compressions) looks so simple that it is easily passed off as an array of sentimental clichés. It sounds typical of an earlier age but in its cultural finesse it may yet preserve something worth preserving.
The opening sets up a dubious claim: with all these goods, you [should] know how to enjoy yourself.” Since that’s not the end of the matter, there appears to be more to say. Indeed, the question posed in the middle -- “what more . .?” -- is answered by a series of symbols arranged to climax in what Voegelin calls “the apeirontic burden of mortality.” The futility of measuring one’s life in terms of days is shown to be absurd. Faced by all this, one may well need to talk about it: that is, have a proper conversation (recalling Plato’s dialogue as the symbol par excellence) to fulfill the promise of the bios theoretikos.
—Thomas D'Evelyn
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