Horace and His Influence

Horace and His Influence

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Title: Horace and His Influence
Author: Grant Showerman

Release Date: October 4, 2005 [eBook #16801]
Language: English
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HORACE AND HIS INFLUENCE
by
GRANT SHOWERMAN
* * * * * *

Our Debt to Greece and Rome
Editors
George Depue Hadzsits, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania
David Moore Robinson, Ph.D., Ll.D. The Johns Hopkins University
[Illustration]

Contributors to the "Our Debt to Greece and Rome Fund," Whose Generosity Has Made Possible the Library
Our Debt to Greece and Rome
Philadelphia
DR. ASTLEY P.C. ASHHURST WILLIAM L. AUSTIN JOHN C. BELL HENRY H. BONNELL JASPER YEATES BRINTON GEORGE BURNHAM, JR. JOHN CADWALADER MISS CLARA COMEGYS MISS MARY E. CONVERSE ARTHUR G. DICKSON WILLIAM M. ELKINS H.H. FURNESS, JR. WILLIAM P. GEST JOHN GRIBBEL SAMUEL F. HOUSTON CHARLES EDWARD INGERSOLL JOHN STORY JENKS ALBA B. JOHNSON MISS NINA LEA HORATIO G. LLOYD GEORGE MCFADDEN MRS. JOHN MARKOE JULES E. MASTBAUM J. VAUGHAN MERRICK EFFINGHAM B. MORRIS WILLIAM R. MURPHY JOHN S. NEWBOLD S. DAVIS PAGE (memorial) OWEN J. ROBERTS JOSEPH G. ROSENGARTEN WILLIAM C. SPROUL JOHN B. STETSON, JR. DR. J. WILLIAM WHITE (memorial) GEORGE D. WIDENER MRS. JAMES D. WINSOR OWEN WISTER The Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Liberal Studies.
Boston
ORIC BATES (memorial) FREDERICK P. FISH WILLIAM AMORY GARDNER JOSEPH CLARK HOPPIN
Chicago
HERBERT W. WOLFF
Cincinnati
CHARLES PHELPS TAFT
Cleveland
SAMUEL MATHER
Detroit
JOHN W. ANDERSON DEXTER M. FERRY, JR.
Doylestown, Pennsylvania
"A LOVER OF GREECE AND ROME"
New York
JOHN JAY CHAPMAN WILLARD V. KING THOMAS W. LAMONT DWIGHT W. MORROW MRS. D.W. MORROW Senatori Societatis Philosophiae, [Greek: PhBK], gratias maximas agimus ELIHU ROOT MORTIMER L. SCHIFF WILLIAM SLOANE GEORGE W. WICKERSHAM And one contributor, who has asked to have his name withheld: _Maecenas atavis edite regibus,_ _O et praesidium et dulce decus meum._
Washington
The Greek Embassy at Washington, for the Greek Government.
* * * * * *
HORACE AND HIS INFLUENCE
by
GRANT SHOWERMAN
Professor of Classics The University of Wisconsin
George G. Harrap & Co., Ltd. London Calcutta Sydney
The Plimpton Press Norwood Massachusetts
1922

To HOWARD LESLIE SMITH LOVER OF LETTERS

SABINE HILLS
On Sabine hills when melt the snows, S_till level-full His river flows_; Each April now His valley fills W_ith cyclamen and daffodils_; And summers wither with the rose.
S_wift-waning moons the cycle close_: B_irth,--toil,--mirth,--death; life onward goes_ Through harvest heat or winter chills On Sabine hills.
Yet One breaks not His long repose, N_or hither comes when Zephyr blows_; I_n vain the spring's first swallow trills_; N_ever again that Presence thrills_; One charm no circling season knows On Sabine hills.
GEORGE MEASON WHICHER

EDITORS' PREFACE
The volume on Horace and His Influence by Doctor Showerman is the second to appear in the Series, known as "Our Debt to Greece and Rome."
Doctor Showerman has told the story of this influence in what seems to us the most effective manner possible, by revealing the spiritual qualities of Horace and the reasons for their appeal to many generations of men. These were the crown of the personality and work of the ancient poet, and admiration of them has through successive ages always been a token of aspiration and of a striving for better things.
The purpose of the volumes in this Series will be to show the influence of virtually all of the great forces of the Greek and Roman civilizations upon subsequent life and thought and the extent to which these are interwoven into the fabric of our own life of to-day. Thereby we shall all know more clearly the nature of our inheritance from the past and shall comprehend more steadily the currents of our own life, their direction and their value. This is, we take it, of considerable importance for life as a whole, whether for correct thinking or for true idealism.
The supremacy of Horace within the limits that he set for himself is no fortuity, and the miracle of his achievement will always remain an inspiration for some. But it is not as a distant ideal for a few, but as a living and vital force for all, that we should approach him; and to assist in this is the aim of our little volume.
The significance of Horace to the twentieth century will gain in clarity from an understanding of his meaning to other days. We shall discover that the eternal verity of his message, whether in ethics or in art, comes to us with a very particular challenge, warning and cry.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
CONTRIBUTORS TO THE FUND ii SABINE HILLS vii EDITORS' PREFACE ix INTRODUCTION: THE DYNAMISM OF THE FEW xiii
I. HORACE INTERPRETED The Appeal of Horace