Horace and Me: Life Lessons from an Ancient Poet

A WISE AND WITTY REVIVIAL OF THE ROMAN POET WHO TAUGHT US HOW TO CARPE DIEM

How do we fill the void created by the excesses of a superficial society? How do we confront the inevitability of death? In Horace and Me: Life Lessons from an Ancient Poet, poet and critic Harry Eyres reexamines the Roman poet Horace's life, legacy, and verse. With a light, lyrical touch (deployed in new, fresh versions of some of Horace's most famous odes) and a keen critical eye, Eyres reveals a lively, relevant Horace, whose society―Rome at the dawn of the empire―is much more similar to our own than we might want to believe.

Eyres's study is not only intriguing―he retranslates Horace's most famous phrase,"carpe diem," as "taste the day"―but enlivening. Through Horace, Eyres meditates on how to live well, mounts a convincing case for the importance of poetry, and relates a moving tale of personal discovery. By the end of this remarkable journey, the reader too will believe in the power of Horace's "lovely words that go on shining with their modest glow, like a warm and inextinguishable candle in the darkness."