Persicos Odi

Persicos Odi (Ode I 38), concludes Horace's first Book of Odes. Was he a Persian hater? Well, no.

In other odes Horace recommends the very same roses and oriental perfumes which he rejects in ode 1.38! A poet is under no obligation to be consistent (Michael Gilleland)

One hesitates to take Persicos odi too seriously. If the odes which conclude the other books are parallel cases, it might be an elaborate leg-pull. Book II concludes with Horace's grotesque metamorphosis into a swan as he prepares to song the Roman Odes, and Book III ends with a self-tribute so stupendous that of late it has been called diffident if not mock-serious.

(JSTOR)

Here is what the Hachette edition has to say:

Sous la forme d’une recommandation à son esclave-échanson, Horace affirme son goût pour la simplicité dans cette petite pièce parfaitement appropriée à son but puisqu’elle est simple et brève, et d’ailleurs très poétique. Strophe saphique. Date inconnue, peut-être en l’an 30 AEC, après Actium, en tout cas, écrite à l’automne.

(In the form of a recommendation to its slave-wine waiter, Horace affirms his taste for simplicity in this small piece of poetry perfectly appropriate to its goal as it is simple and short, and very poetic anyway. Saphic stanza. Date unknown, perhaps in 30, BCE after Actium, in any case, written during autumn)

Persicos odi, puer, apparatus;
displicent nexae philyra coronae;
mitte sectari rosa quo locorum
sera moretur.

Simplici myrto nihil adlabores
sedulus curo; neque te ministrum
dedecet myrtus neque me sub arta
uite bibentem.

(http://www.merriampark.com/horcarm138.htm)

(video by Scorpio Martianus)

A crib authored by Michael Gilleland:

Boy, I dislike Persian finery;
garlands sewn with bast displease me;
don't try to find out in what spot the
late-blooming rose lingers.

I don't want you busily embellishing
plain myrtle; myrtle isn't
unsuitable, either for you as you serve or
for me as I drink beneath the trellised vine.

Also Michael Gilleland offers many English versions. I would present from his page two or three parodies. Here you go:

Boy, I detest the Persian pomp;
I hate those linden-bark devices;
And as for roses, holy Moses!
They can't be got at living prices!
Myrtle is good enough for us,--
For you, as bearer of my flagon;
For me, supine beneath this vine,
Doing my best to get a jag on!

Eugene Field (1850-1895)

Davus, I detest
Persian decoration;
Roses and the rest,
Davus, I detest.
Simple myrtle best
Suits our modest station:--
Davus, I detest
Persian decoration.

Austin Dobson (1840-1924)

I do not share the common craze
For food with jazzy singers;
Boy, tell me not of cabarets,
Where the late loophound lingers.

A glass of home brew cool and clear
Wets down my home-cooked victuals;
So long as I can have my beer,
I'll gladly miss the skittles.

Keith Preston (1884–1927)

and to conclude, an anonymous distich:

Persicos odi, puer, apparatus,
Bring me a chop and a couple of potatoes.

(Horace)