To Thaliarchus in winter

ph: TroveRete, Rosmarino gelato

See how Soracte¹ shines in the height of snowfall,　
See how the toiling forests can hardly bear　
　their cold loads, how the streams stand frozen,
　　stilled with sharp ice in bewintering air.
Thaw off this cold. Throw logs on the hearth in warm　
welcome, and be more generous with the pure  　 
　wine drawn from that old Sabine² cask,        
　　dear Thaliarchus, good host and sure 
friend. Let the gods take care of the rest. Once they've　
brought all the winds that brawl on the boiling sea    　  
　to heel, then nothing shakes the ancient
　　alder and beautiful cypress tree.
Ask not of what tomorrow will bring. Each day　
fortune allows you, count as a blessed gain.　
　Young man, enjoy the sweet delights of 
　　loving and dancing. Do not abstain
while your green youth is free of old peevish gray.　　
Now is the time for Campus³ and plaza too,　
　for nights of sighs and whispered nothings    
　　when you and her keep a rendezvous,
Time for the lovely laugh from a secret corner　
giving away the girl where she hides at last,　
　for the love-bracelet from a hand whose
　　fingers pretend to resist your grasp. 

Notes:
1- Mount Soracte, a mountain north of Rome and visible from the city streets.
2 - Sabine wine, originating in an area near Horace's own farm. Not an especially expensive vintage.
3 - "Campus" i.e. the Campus Martius or Field of Mars.

Vidēs ut altā stet nive candidum　
Sōracte, nec iam sustineant onus　
　silvae labōrantēs, gelūque
　　flūmina cōnstiterint acūtō.
Dissolve frīgus, ligna super focō              　
largē repōnēns atque benignius　
　dēprōme quadrīmum Sabīnā,
　　ō Thaliarche, merum diōtā:
permitte dīvīs cētera, quī simul　
strāvēre ventōs aequore fervidō                  　     
　dēproeliantīs, nec cupressī
　　nec veterēs agitantur ōrnī.
Quid sit futūrum crās fuge quaerere et　
quem Fōrs diērum cumque dabit lucrō　
　appōne, nec dulcīs amōrēs                           
　　sperne puer neque tū chorēās,
dōnec virentī cānitiēs abest　
mōrōsa.  Nunc et campus et āreae　
　lēnēsque sub noctem susurrī
　　compositā repetantur hōrā,           
nunc et latentis prōditor intumō　
grātus puellae rīsus ab angulō　
　pignusque dēreptum lacertīs
　　aut digitō male pertinācī.

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