Rise to the clear sky with a double shadow;
The poet no longer lingers on the ground,
But also beyond the city, beyond jealousy.
I'm listening to you, dear Michaelis,
I am a child from a poor family.
I won't let the Styx water
Imprisonment and siege will not go away.
At this moment, although my skin is rough,
The upper part plumes into Bai Niao;
Look, from my arm, from my finger.
Grow white and soft feathers.
I'm more famous than Icarus,
Fly to the weeping shore of Bosphorus,
Become a singing bird and fly to Africa.
Vast quicksand and grassland in the far north.
Colzi, pretend not to be afraid of the Roman army.
The Dazia, the Gloons in the distance
Will know that me, the Spaniard and
Everyone in Rona will study my book.
You mistake me for death, but don't play lamentation.
There is no need to cry shamefully;
Control the noise of showing off,
From becoming a meaningless grave of sadness and glory.
(translated by Bai Fei)
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Is death the end of life or the continuation of life? Is it the beginning of endless darkness or a new destiny? People who are curious about everything naturally have a great desire for knowledge about death, but it is precisely because of the unrepeatable nature of life that their feelings about death are extremely complicated, among which fear is the main one.
Horace's poems have beautiful language and sincere feelings. However, it is particularly important that his own thoughts on life will be integrated into his poems, and he will explain them in a warning way and in the tone of Oracle. I will ride on strong and extraordinary wings is an important poem that embodies Horace's view of death. This fully shows that his thoughts were deeply influenced by Epicurus and Stoicism, the dominant philosophical schools at that time. When he was integrated into poetry, he paid attention to combining his own life experience and imagination to create situations, thus achieving high artistic achievements.
The poem begins with gorgeous imagination, showing a picture full of sacred glory: the poet rose to the sky with wings, and he left the city and jealousy behind without hesitation. This is the poet's imagination of the moment of death. It can be seen that this kind of death is not dark, but a kind of nirvana beyond the secular. Then, the poet began to talk with people, and the object of his conversation was Michenas. When the poet made his first appearance in poetry, he attracted the attention of Virgil, a great poet of his time, and introduced him to Michenas, Octavian's important assistant. From this, they established a profound friendship, and Horace's life was freed from embarrassment. It's talking, but it's more like a kind of muttering, muttering about your poor background. Horace does not deny his origin. On the contrary, he believes that poverty is an important source of motivation to inspire him to write poetry. Here, Horace thinks that poverty keeps him from being trapped by rivers, and reveals his great confidence that he will fly into the sky after his death.
Looking at the picture of the poet soaring into the sky from a distance, to the ghost river appearing in the poet's speech, now the picture is closer, and we seem to be able to observe the image of the poet after he emerged from the sky: a Bai Niao with white and soft feathers, holiness and detachment.
So, what gives the poet such great confidence that he will not fall into the Styx, but will rise out of it? First of all, this is a belief that comes from thinking and exploration. The winged poet declared, "I am more famous than Icarus ..." It is said that Icarus was the son of Daedalus, an ancient Greek craftsman, and his father and son were thrown into the maze by Minos, the king of Crete island. Daedalus glued feathers into two pairs of wings with beeswax to fly away from Crete. On the way, Icarus flew higher and higher because of his pride and desire to explore, and finally fell into the sea because the beeswax on his wings melted when he approached the sun. This is a martyr who explores the unknown, and Horace claims that he is more famous than this. With wings, before he dies, he will fly over the Bosphorus Strait, the quicksand in Africa and the grassland in the far north to explore the unknown world.
Secondly, this is undoubtedly the power of poetry. It is poetry that fills the poet with confidence, because he knows that his poems will be studied by friends and enemies and spread to countless people's hearts.
Epicurus and Stoicism are indifferent to the problem of death, and think that the inner peace of human beings is not disturbed by the secular, which is the realm that the wise should reach. In this poem, Horace shows his longing for the world of death and transcends his fear. The last paragraph of the poem is written in fresh language. When he dies, please don't make flashy sounds from relatives and friends. The graves of unnecessary sadness and glory can be abandoned and filled with penetrating feelings.
(Zhao Jiang)