Horace and His Influence

Horace and His Influence

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Horace and His Influence, by Grant
Showerman
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Title: Horace and His Influence
Author: Grant Showerman

Release Date: October 4, 2005 [eBook #16801]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HORACE
AND HIS INFLUENCE***
E-text prepared by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Leonard Johnson, and
the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
(http://www.pgdp.net/)

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