Book II: Ode XVIII: Non Ebur
Carven ivory have I none;No golden cornice in my dwelling shines;Pillars choice of Libyan stoneUpbear no architrave from Attic mines;'Twas not mine to enter inTo Attalus' broad realms, an unknown heir,Nor for me fair clients spinLaconian purples for their patron's wear.Truth is mine, and Genius mine;The rich man comes, and knocks at my low door:Favour'd thus, I ne'er repine,Nor weary out indulgent Heaven for more:In my Sabine homestead blest,Why should I further tax a generous friend?Suns are hurrying suns a-west,And newborn moons make speed to meet their end.You have hands to square and hewVast marble-blocks, hard on your day of doom,Ever building mansions new,Nor thinking of the mansion of the tomb.Now you press on ocean's bound,Where waves on Baiae beat, as earth were scant;Now absorb your neighbour's ground,And tear his landmarks up, your own to plant.Hedges set round clients' farmsYour avarice tramples; see, the outcasts fly,Wife and husband, in their armsTheir fathers' gods, their squalid family.Yet no hall that wealth e'er plann'dWaits you more surely than the wider roomTraced by Death's yet greedier hand.Why strain so far? you cannot leap the tomb.Earth removes the impartial sodAlike for beggar and for monarch's child:Nor the slave of Hell's dark godConvey'd Prometheus back, with bribe beguiled.Pelops he and Pelops' sireHolds, spite of pride, in close captivity;Beggars, who of labour tire,Call'd or uncall'd, he hears and sets them free.
Words in this poem
- carven a.
- Wrought by carving; ornamented by carvings; carved.
- libyan a.
- Of or pertaining to Libya, the ancient name of that part of Africa between Egypt and the Atlantic Ocean, or of Africa as a whole.
- upbear v. t.
- To bear up; to raise aloft; to support in an elevated situation; to sustain.
- laconian a.
- Of or pertaining to Laconia, a division of ancient Greece; Spartan.
- repine v. i.
- To fail; to wane. [Pref. re- + pine to languish.]
- sabine a.
- Of or pertaining to the ancient Sabines, a people of Italy. [L. Sabinus.]
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- mansion n.
- A dwelling place, -- whether a part or whole of a house or other shelter. [OF. mansion, F. maison, fr. L. mansio a staying, remaining, a dwelling, habitation, fr. manere, mansum, to stay, dwell; akin to Gr. Manse, Manor, Menagerie, Men]
- avarice n.
- An excessive or inordinate desire of gain; greediness after wealth; covetousness; cupidity. [F. avaritia, fr. avarus avaricious, prob. fr. av to covert, fr. a root av to satiate one's self: cf. Gr. av to satiate one's self, rejoice, protect.]
- squalid a.
- Dirty through neglect; foul; filthy; extremely dirty. [L. squalidus, fr. squalere to be foul or filthy.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- bribe n.
- A gift begged; a present. [F. bribe a lump of bread, scraps, leavings of meals (that are generally given to a beggar), LL. briba scrap of bread; cf. OF. briber, brifer, to eat gluttonousl]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II: Ode XVIII: Non Ebur is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Odes and Carmen Saeculare, Project Gutenberg ebook #5432, the John Conington translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Horace, Book II: Ode XVIII: Non Ebur, in The Odes and Carmen Saeculare (1863), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5432, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/horace-odes/book-ii-ode-xviii-non-ebur.html, id L13950.
Form and metre
Book II: Ode XVIII: Non Ebur is 40 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.6 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABACACAD-DEFEFGHGHIJIJK-K-LMLMNONOP-P- noneA · shinesB · stoneA · minesB · inA · heirC · spinA · wearC · mineA · doorD · repine · moreD · blestE · friendF · westE · endF · hewG · doomH · newG · tombH · boundI · scantJ · groundI · plantJ · farmsK · fly · armsK · family · plann'dL · roomM · handL · tombM · sodN · childO · godN · beguiledO · sireP · captivity · tireP · free
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Carven ivory have I none; | 8 | /˘/˘˘··· |
| No golden cornice in my dwelling shines; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Pillars choice of Libyan stone | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| Upbear no architrave from Attic mines; | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| 'Twas not mine to enter in | 7 | ····/˘· |
| To Attalus' broad realms, an unknown heir, | 10 | ·······˘/· |
| Nor for me fair clients spin | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Laconian purples for their patron's wear. | 11 | ˘/˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| Truth is mine, and Genius mine; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The rich man comes, and knocks at my low door: | 10 | ·········· |
| Favour'd thus, I ne'er repine, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Nor weary out indulgent Heaven for more: | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/·· |
| In my Sabine homestead blest, | 7 | ··˘//·· |
| Why should I further tax a generous friend? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Suns are hurrying suns a-west, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| And newborn moons make speed to meet their end. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| You have hands to square and hew | 7 | ······· |
| Vast marble-blocks, hard on your day of doom, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Ever building mansions new, | 7 | /˘/˘/˘· |
| Nor thinking of the mansion of the tomb. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Now you press on ocean's bound, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Where waves on Baiae beat, as earth were scant; | 9 | ········· |
| Now absorb your neighbour's ground, | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| And tear his landmarks up, your own to plant. | 10 | ···/······ |
| Hedges set round clients' farms | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Your avarice tramples; see, the outcasts fly, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/·· |
| Wife and husband, in their arms | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Their fathers' gods, their squalid family. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Yet no hall that wealth e'er plann'd | 7 | ······· |
| Waits you more surely than the wider room | 9 | ···/˘··/· |
| Traced by Death's yet greedier hand. | 8 | ·····˘˘· |
| Why strain so far? you cannot leap the tomb. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Earth removes the impartial sod | 8 | ·˘/·˘/˘· |
| Alike for beggar and for monarch's child: | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/·· |
| Nor the slave of Hell's dark god | 7 | ······· |
| Convey'd Prometheus back, with bribe beguiled. | 11 | ˘/˘/˘˘···˘/ |
| Pelops he and Pelops' sire | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Holds, spite of pride, in close captivity; | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Beggars, who of labour tire, | 8 | /˘··/·/˘ |
| Call'd or uncall'd, he hears and sets them free. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
Notes from the edition 2
John Conington's own notes to his translation of the Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace (3rd ed.; Project Gutenberg #5432).
- Line 15 Suns are hurrying suns a-west, And newborn moons make speed to meet their end. The thought seems to be that the rapid course of time, hurrying men to the grave, proves the wisdom of contentment and the folly of avarice. My version formerly did not express this, and I have altered it accordingly, while I have rendered "Novaeque pergunt interire lunae" closely, as Horace may perhaps have intended to speak of the moons as hastening to their graves as men do.
- Line 29 Yet no hall that wealth e'er plann'd Waits you more surely than the wider room Traced by Death's yet greedier hand. Fine is the instrumental ablative constructed with destinata, which is itself an ablative agreeing with aula understood. The rich man looks into the future, and makes contracts which he may never live to see executed (v. 17--"Tu secanda marmora Locas sub ipsum funus"); meantime Death, more punctual than any contractor, more greedy than any encroaching proprietor, has planned with his measuring line a mansion of a different kind, which will infallibly be ready when the day arrives.
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