Why do words die? Ephemeral and poetic license in Horace's Ars poetica

• Grant number: 12/21454-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: January 14, 2013
• End date: February 28, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Classical Literatures
• Principal Investigator: Isabella Tardin Cardoso
• Grantee: Isabella Tardin Cardoso
• Host Investigator: Jürgen Paul Schwindt
• Host Institution: Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem (IEL). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Heidelberg University, Germany

Abstract

The focus of the present chapter lies on the passage from the Ars Poetica in which Horace presents his impressive image of the death of words (Ars 60-72). I shall start by discussing the famous simile which presents ancient words as old leaves that must fall in order to provide room for a new forest to arise (Ars 60-62). By exploring the possibility that the lines 60 to 61 would make sense just as they are transmitted (contra e.g. Brink, 1971, Shackleton Bailey 1985; Rudd, 1989), I will argue that their full meaning depends on the memory of a traditional poetic repertory which regards nature as a symbol of ephemera. Secondly, I shall consider the implications of assuming that such repertory enhances Horace's own lyric work (Brink 1971). The main point I wish to stress is that this repertory also includes what is considered to be the core of such lyric, that is, the carpe diem (Davis 1991). This is suggested by the presence of some topoi associated with it, such as the memento mori (this time concerning to words) in the subsequent verses (Ars 63-72). The main issue under investigation is how consistent Horacian representation of the death and birth of words is with a poetological reading of his carpe diem and with the request of a kind of poetic licence associated with it (Davis, 1991; Lowrie 1997; Schwindt 2009). Other voices are also taken in account, for instance Lucretius' discussion on the origin of language (Hardie 2009) and the ancient rhetorical discussion on the use (usus) of archaisms and neologisms in the Latin language (Brink 1971; Dufallo 2005). Here, I consider their contribution to the aimed perception of the effects and limits of Horacian lyrics within the context of Ars. (AU)