This short poem is the source of the well-known phrase carpe diem.
Tu ne quaesieris--scire nefas!--quem mihi, quem tibi
finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios
temptaris numeros. Ut melius, quidquid erit, pati,
seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,
quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare
Tyrrheneum. Sapias, vina liques, et spatio brevi
spem longam reseces; dum loquimur, fugerit invida
aetas: Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.
Linked text from Perseus
English Translation
Vocabulary/Grammar:
di - Nom. plur. of deus.
Leuconoe - Greek vocative, the name of the woman to who the poem is addressed (final o and e are separate vowels).
Ut melius - "How much better"; Ut = "how", melius is an adverb modifying pati.
pluris- -is for -es is a common substitution for i-stem nouns and adjectives in poetry.
ultimam - Assume another hiemem.
quae - Refers back to the assumed hiemem; to untangle this, try the following word order: quae nunc debilitat mare tyrrheneum oppositis pumicibus.
sapio, -ere - lit. "taste, savor", but also "be wise"; what form is this?
liquo, -are - lit. "liquefy", but here "strain, filter". Roman vintners had to filter their wine to eliminate thick sediment.
credula - "credulous, easy to believe"; the adj. is feminine because Horace is addressing a woman.
posterum, -i - "future". Or possibly postremus, -a, -um borrowing the idea of dies from the first part. What case is this?
Questions:
* What's the mood/tense for quaesieris, dederint, and temptaris (are they the same?). What does this grammar imply?
* nefas is an interesting word choice; how does it work in context?
* What do you think are the Babylonios numeros?
* Why hiemes in line 4?
* What's your impression of the side-remark concerning the Tyrrheneum sea?
* What are your thoughts on the meaning behind spatio brevi and spem longam. How does Horace amplify the contrast between the underlying ideas?
* Why is aetas described as invida?
* What image is Horace painting by using words like sapias, vina liques, reseces, and specifically carpe? Does this compare/contrast with the earlier part of the poem?
* Has the poem changed your interpretation of the famous phrase carpe diem?
Habete ludum!
Tu ne quaesieris--scire nefas!--quem mihi, quem tibi
finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios
temptaris numeros. Ut melius, quidquid erit, pati,
seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,
quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare
Tyrrheneum. Sapias, vina liques, et spatio brevi
spem longam reseces; dum loquimur, fugerit invida
aetas: Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.
Linked text from Perseus
English Translation
Vocabulary/Grammar:
di - Nom. plur. of deus.
Leuconoe - Greek vocative, the name of the woman to who the poem is addressed (final o and e are separate vowels).
Ut melius - "How much better"; Ut = "how", melius is an adverb modifying pati.
pluris- -is for -es is a common substitution for i-stem nouns and adjectives in poetry.
ultimam - Assume another hiemem.
quae - Refers back to the assumed hiemem; to untangle this, try the following word order: quae nunc debilitat mare tyrrheneum oppositis pumicibus.
sapio, -ere - lit. "taste, savor", but also "be wise"; what form is this?
liquo, -are - lit. "liquefy", but here "strain, filter". Roman vintners had to filter their wine to eliminate thick sediment.
credula - "credulous, easy to believe"; the adj. is feminine because Horace is addressing a woman.
posterum, -i - "future". Or possibly postremus, -a, -um borrowing the idea of dies from the first part. What case is this?
Questions:
* What's the mood/tense for quaesieris, dederint, and temptaris (are they the same?). What does this grammar imply?
* nefas is an interesting word choice; how does it work in context?
* What do you think are the Babylonios numeros?
* Why hiemes in line 4?
* What's your impression of the side-remark concerning the Tyrrheneum sea?
* What are your thoughts on the meaning behind spatio brevi and spem longam. How does Horace amplify the contrast between the underlying ideas?
* Why is aetas described as invida?
* What image is Horace painting by using words like sapias, vina liques, reseces, and specifically carpe? Does this compare/contrast with the earlier part of the poem?
* Has the poem changed your interpretation of the famous phrase carpe diem?
Habete ludum!