Michael Gilleland

Up to the present I have not obtained from any poet the same artistic delight as was given me from the first by a Horatian ode. In certain languages that which is obtained here cannot even be hoped for. The mosaic of words in which every word, by sound, by position and by meaning, diffuses its force right, left and over the whole, that minimum in the compass and number of signs, that maximum thus realized in their energy,--all that is Roman, and if you will believe me, it is noble par excellence. All other poetry becomes somewhat too popular in comparison with it - mere sentimental loquacity.

[Friedrich Nietzsche - The Twilight of the Idols]

I took this quote from a great web site dedicated to the Odes of Horace:

http://www.merriampark.com/horace.htm

As I want to post here some of the Odes in Latin, along with their English rendering (at least, if possible also translations in other tongues) and to add some stuff related to each one, I will use both the Hachette edition of the Book of Odes (I have talked here about it in my previous post) and the information from the web site mentioned above.

The author of that web site is Michael Gilleland, and he did a fantastic job. For each ode he gave the original in Latin, also as many English renderings as he could find (sometimes up to a dozen; his favorite translator is Franklin P. Adams).

But who is Michael Gilleland? A software developer passionate for Latin and Greek, natural history, 19th century American landscape painting, etymology, lexicography and gardening: wow! A scholar manqué, as he introduces himself with self-deprecating humor, antediluvian, bibliomaniac, and curmudgeon (if you ask me what curmudgeon means, it's synonym for cantankerous, which in turn indicates a person which is difficult to cope with). His favorite music begins with the Gregorian chant, passes through Bach and Mozart, and ends with Schubert songs and Brahms: nothing beyond. Lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

In two words, Mr. Gilleland is a fascinating person and I am glad I found his web site.

Let's give here just a glimpse from his blog (different from his site dedicated to the Odes): a line from Euripides.

τί δ᾽ ἄλλο; φωνὴ καὶ σκιὰ γέρων ἀνήρ.

(What else? An old man is but voice and shadow)

(Horace)