SOURCE: “Introductory Essay” in Quintus Horatius Flaccus: A Selection of His Works, translated by Fred Bates Lund and Robert Montraville Green, Club of Odd Volumes, 1953, pp. vii-xiv.

In the following essay, originally published in 1947, Oliver explains that the best way to read Horace is in Latin, but barring this, that it is essential to have the Latin original beside the translation or translations and to avail oneself of commentary and notes.

The way to enjoy Horace is to read him and not about him, and the way to read him is in Latin. These translations, published by and for the friends of the two translators, at first consideration, then, avail little, for except for one ode quoted in full in this preface (with a half dozen or so translations of it) the Latin is not given. Happily, however, in this case, it may be taken for granted that...