See West’s Notes at: West, D. Horace Odes I Carpe Diem: Text, Translation and Commentary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, (1995), pp. 158-161
Almond Version
In a way what I’m doing here is what Horace does in many of his odes which is to cast the narrator as a kind of professor of love – in this case the narrator is giving advice to a fellow-poet who has become obsessed and in love with a female poet who has two-timed him for a man who though not good looking, is powerful and strong. My version follows the same pattern as Horace, A loves B who loves C who the narrator predicts will eventually reject her. So my version also exposes the absurdity of love, accepting that so far as love is concerned, once Venus gets her claws into us, reason flies out of the window.
The idea of being unequal yet tied together is suggested in my opening stanza where I refer to Ann as a ‘fiery redhead’ and yet we have Phil writing poetry to her in terms of being ‘dear sweet Ann’. This idea of unequalness also comes in relation to Ricky and Bella where he ‘worshipped Bella and hung on her every word, only to find that she was unfaithful to him both in bed and in her poetry and finally, the unequalness between the narrator and a previous partner is highlighted in the last stanza where the narrator chose someone she saw as strong and whom she thought would give her space as an individual and as a writer, only to find out that she got neither and that her tongue was tied, (the worst thing possible since the narrator too is a poet!) In other words, as in Horace the tactic used to give advice is to point out that the narrator too has made mistakes in the past and got tied up with the wrong partner.
See West’s Notes at: West, D. Horace Odes I Carpe Diem: Text, Translation and Commentary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, (1995), pp.162-7
Almond Version
Just as Horace is having fun with Epicureanism I try to have fun with my Christian beliefs, pointing out at the start that although I still pray this is now with one eye open, indicating that since finding a new ‘god’ in poetry I have begun to pray less perfectly. Then as Horace does I admit that despite this new awareness as it were, nevertheless I find myself doubling back and attaching myself to my Christian beliefs and practices, so as Horace plays with Epicurean and Stoic ways of looking at life and will come down firmly and exclusively on either side, neither will I come down firmly as either a Christian or a poet in that I can see how viewing things through the eyes of a Christian and through the eyes of a poet, in other words taking a middle course, will give me what Horace seeks to do which is to be a ‘human being observing the sudden, drastic, and inscrutable events which overtake human beings from an incomprehensible source’[1]
I use the modern phrase ‘coach and horses’ to represent Jupiter’s thundering horses and flying chariot in the original. The ‘restless rivers’ in the original are represented by a ‘flooding of the mind’ in my version, Atlas wilting under the weight of the world is in mine represented by my wilting under the weight and breadth of knowledge and learning and where Horace refers to Taenarus, this was a dave on Cape Taenarus ‘which was supposed to give entry to the Underworld.’[2], hence my reference to being lost in a ‘labyrinth of learning’.
My stoicism is here represented by my Christian beliefs and my Epicureanism by poetry and I try to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of both. Whereas Horace attached his ‘crazy wisdom’ to Stoicism I attach my ‘insane wisdom’ to poetry. Here I am doing as Nisbet and Hubbard suggest – I’m poking fun at my own quest for knowledge via poetry and the study of poetry to the extent that by pursuing courses on poetry I have begun to lose all logic, and the more knowledge I gain the more unstable I become and the more it leads me into a kind of hell. This is of course, meant to be, as Horace was, tongue in cheek. Towards the end of the poem, as in Horace, I imply that nothing is above God, he has the power over all things and I also try to reflect the idea (also based in Christianity) that the first shall be last the last first, this by reference to the fact that the ivy crown (crown of the poet) could at any time, by a whim of God or by chance, be removed from the famous poet and placed on the head of the unknown. Yet again, we have the recurring Horace theme of trying to maintain an element of modesty and a warning that we none of us are completely in control of our own destiny. I too try to speak as a detached observer of life – one who will neither be cast down by disaster nor elated by success.
[1] West, D. Horace Odes I Carpe Diem: Text, Translation and Commentary, Oxford: Clarendon Press,
(1995), p. 167
[2] West, D. (1997) Horace: The Complete Odes and Epodes. Oxford University Press,:Oxford , 154
See West’s Notes at: West, D. Horace Odes I Carpe Diem: Text, Translation and Commentary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, (1995), pp170-175
Almond Version
In the Almond version Fortuna is replaced by ‘chance’ and the poor farmers to pray at the opening of the poem become the unemployed of Teesside – with Ironopolis replacing Antium. In the Almond version Fortune doesn’t actually kill, but it does throw people onto the scrapheap of life leaving Necessity as the mother of invention – of make-do-and-mend. The original, suggestive of self-criticism says, ‘Shame on our scars, our crimes, / our brothers! Our brutal age has shrunk / from nothing. We have left no impiety / untouched. Our young men have never // stayed their hand for fear of the gods / but have polluted every altar. If only you would reforge our blunted swords / for use against Massagetes and Arabs.’ [1]. So the Almond version too, carries the notion of self-criticism “Shame on us up here, who’ve dumped our own” and then calls for the return of better fortune, “We need you back, fortune; back from oily eastern shores. Rehone us all. Fabricate your workers and your poets” This play on words with ‘iron’ connotation is deliberate because of the background against which this poem is set.
I have writers being whipped up into a ‘fighting writing frenzy’, almost to the point of ‘war’ or at least to a point of upsetting the equilibrium to match ‘to whip the laggards to war’ in the original. Necessity the mother of invention uses tools of survival to match the beam nails often used by Necessity when she is ‘a slave to suit the servile connections of Fortuna[2] My reference to an ‘optimistic politician’ is to reflect the fact that Fortuna is the agent of change and political revolution. ‘In this poem Fortuna is not here merely to account for the unpredictability of the world – that theme is there by stanza 1, and 4 i.e. like Tyche, [she is] the agent of change and political revolution’[3] The phrase ‘Stantem columnam’ in the fourth stanza of the original means ‘the pillar that props the edifice of society, but itself is vulnerable’[4], which is why I use the phrase, ‘scholastic posts might crumble’ in the fourth stanza of my version; this to suggest that what props the poet up; the edifice of the poetry world, is also vulnerable, but there is a double meaning here; not just posts as in ‘pillars’, but posts as in ‘jobs’ . The ‘faithless mob and lying prostitute’ of the original are represented in my version by entrepreneurs and good-time girls, all of whom, along with ‘false friends’ have fallen away from the north-east coast. In Horace warriors were compared with bees and the phrase ‘recens examens’ suggests ‘new’ swarm which is why in my poem the bees become workers to be given ‘new’ buzz/energy. The reason I use ‘black-lead’ her eyes in stanza five is to create an image of crying, but also to re-emphasise the connection with iron. The other main reason I chose the iron-worker of the Tees Valley as one of the main subjects of this poem is that ‘Necessity is associated with metals put to figurative use. The final stanza, where Fortuna is asked to busy herself at her anvil, continues the image’[5] and finally, poets like everyone else are tended by chance.
[1] ibid
[2] Ibid 171
[3] R.G.M. Nisbet & Margaret Hubbard, Horace: A commentary on Odes Book I, Oxford, 1970, 387
[4] Ibid 392
[5] West, D. Horace Odes I Carpe Diem: Text, Translation and Commentary, Oxford: Clarendon Press,
(1995), 173
See West’s Notes at: West, D. Horace Odes I Carpe Diem: Text, Translation and Commentary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, (1995), 176-181
Almond VersionIn my version of this ode ‘Dave’ replaces the less important Numida and it is ‘Danny’ (Lamia’s equivalent) who is praised in this ode. As in the original Dave’s return is being celebrated, but his status as lesser than Danny is conveyed by the idea that Danny was Dave’s boyhood hero, so although they are roughly the same age (i.e. they took their first pint together, (this to equal the taking on of the toga of manhood together), it is obvious that Dave has always deferred to Danny who later in life has become more prominent. In my version Molly replaces Damalis as the ‘great drinker’ and Bassus is replaced by Kev.
The incense of the original is replaced by a ‘rollie’ (home-made cigarette and the lyre by a guitar. The blood of the calf is replaced by the sweat of my own brow from making a poem to celebrate Dave’s return. Numida’s ‘guardian gods’ are replaced by Dave’s odd gods. This to continue the idea that I am using the things special to Dave to celebrate his home-coming, he is associated with ‘rollies’ and guitars and he follows not my ‘one’ god, but various ones of his own.
The garlands of roses and celery are replaced in my version by the scattering of poetry light-weight, short-lived poetry pamphlets and hard-backs respectively. This is an attempt to reflect both the short-life and long-life expectancy of words. The threat of ultimate death for everything, lurking in the background is represented by the idea thay they will float on dust motes up before they finally go up in smoke.
My version ends with a warning that Molly has her eye on Dave and the ivy metaphor of the original, the ‘winding around’ is represented by the idea of Molly getting her tendrils round Dave.
See West Notes at: West, D. Horace Odes I Carpe Diem: Text, Translation and Commentary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, (1995), 182-90
Almond Version
Here I cast Margaret Thatcher as Cleopatra. I think the reason I did this was that in Horace, Cleopatra was a hated figure, yet her bravery in defeat was acknowledged by Octavian, so too Thatcher was to become a much despised figure, yet despite hating her policies, One could almost not resist acknowledging her strength and determination. As Horace opens his poem with an instruction that since Cleopatra was dead this was a time to celebrate. In mine, (at the time of writing) Thatcher is not physically dead, but her time as the first ever British woman prime minister was to end with her announcement to the country on 22 November, 1990, in other words, politically she was dead. In Horace there is a reference to Cleopatra’s ‘contaminated flock of men / diseased by vice’ this is a hint at eunuchs, ‘preparing the ruin of the Capitol’ In Thatcher’s government those men close to her were often accused of having no balls’, not standing up to her, the Latin for ‘rotten’ is in the original text.
As in the original I sneer by not naming, but rather describing through well known traits and characteristics and actions. E.g. Thatcher voted for a return of the birch. I also try to employ the technique of contrapuntal detail, by putting together descriptions like ‘honourable monster’. In my version capital is meant to suggest both Capital as in major city, and capital as in wealth. Like Cleopatra who initially escaped with 60 ships, the first time Thatcher was challenged she survived by 60 votes (made up of votes for her and rejected slips), eventually though she is brought down from inside her own party and Michael Heseltine is a prime mover. Like Cleopatra having to confront the rebellion within her own party, she sees this as the ‘real’ battle. The reference to The Carlton Club is because she was made an honorary member, the only woman to ever be so, and she was granted full membership rights. One of the reasons Caesar acknowledged Cleopatra was that she was brave in defeat and in that defeat she dared ‘to gaze with face serene upon her ruined palace, / and brave enough to take deadly serpents in her hand, and let her body / drink their black poison,’ Likewise in my version Thatcher, having once famously having denied there was any such thing as society, is made to face ‘her crushed society in the face’. Thatcher too, chose her own way of ‘dying’ (politically speaking), ‘She chose her poison’ and ‘took it like a man’ . This is to represent the method by which Cleopatra died. The reference to ‘took it like a man’ is to reflect stanza 6 in Horace, ‘But she looked / for a nobler death and did not have a woman’s fear’
Just as Cleopatra by her death, managed to escape the shame of being paraded in public, shown not to be a queen – humiliated. My version ends with an acknowledgement that rather than face the humiliation of defeat at a second ballot and the subsequent humiliation in front of the media, Thatcher resigned.
See West Notes at: West, D. Horace Odes I Carpe Diem: Text, Translation and Commentary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, (1995), 190-194
Almond Version
Not a partnership of master/slave which would not have an authentic contemporary feel, but rather two female, writer friends. Throughout my versions of these odes I have recommended that writers keep a sense of proportion, keep their feet on the ground, be modest, recognise that death comes to all, the great writer and the not-so-great, all are equal in death. In places acknowledgement has been given to great epic writers, in others writers have been taken to task. The politics of the country, and of politicians has been called into question. The behaviour of writers and the world of contemporary writing as a whole have been questioned, certain propositions have been put forward about what kind of behaviour is ethical and what is not in terms of making your way into the canon and here, at the end, like Horace, I turn back to a simple theme. The idea of chasing the luxury and recognition that comes to some through ‘perfect’ ‘establishment-accepted’ verse is abandoned for simple poetry – the love of it for its own sake.
In Horace we are presented with an image of Horace and his slave boy alone in a room, with Horace urging the boy to stop fussing and simply join him and drink. This is matched by my image of two women alone in a room together with one fussing around preparing a posh table so that they can sit and eat. The ‘perfect silver line’ here is a reference not only to a silver line of verse, but is also meant to suggest a line of cutlery and ‘measured formed and folded’ is a reference not only to perfect, controlled stanzas, but also to neatly folded napkins, and the ‘buffing’ of epics is meant to represent fruit being polished. Here then is the same sort of scenario, two people, one fussing around over trifles (and here again this is meant to carry a double meaning, i.e. trifles as in a dessert and trifles as in small unimportant things) while all the narrator wants is that they should sit down together under the shade/ umbrella of poetry and drink together.
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