SOURCE: West, David. “Horace's Poetic Technique in the Odes.” In Horace, edited by C. D. N. Costa, pp. 29-58. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973.

In the following essay, West examines the Odes, focusing on a particular, frequently used poetic technique and giving examples to clarify the reader's understanding of the passages where it is used.

The English-reading student in 1973 is well-placed to study Horace's poetic technique. He might start with the work of Gordon Williams,¹ particularly helpful on Horace's originality and the organization of the Odes. He should then move to Nisbet and Hubbard's² massive commentary on the first book, which raises and solves a vast range of problems and abundantly deploys the common store on which Horace drew. This chapter will enter the still exhaustless mine of contemplation by a different shaft, narrow and hazardous. We shall start from a small point of technique and show that...