The Works of Horace In English Verse By several hands. Collected and Published By Mr. Duncombe. With Notes Historical and Critical |
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| IV. | SATIRE IV. |
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 | The Works of Horace In English Verse |  |
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SATIRE IV.
A Dialogue between Horace and Catius, on the Art of Cookery.
Say, Catius, whence and whither?
Catius.
No Delay,
My Friend, I beg; no Time have I to stay:
Eager to treasure in my pensive Mind
Some Maxims new; and, trust me, you will find
That not Pythagoras, or Socrates,
Or Plato's self, e'er gave such Rules as these.
Horace.
I crave your Pardon. 'Twas indeed a Crime
To break your Chain of Thought at such a Time.
But you, who, both by Nature and by Art,
Can all the Rules of Memory impart,
Will soon unite the broken Links again.
Catius.
All I had heard I labour'd to retain.
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Horace.
Your Author's Name, I pray you, first unfold.
A Foreigner or Native?
Catius.
I conceal
His Name; his Precepts freely I'll reveal.
His Name; his Precepts freely I'll reveal.
Long Eggs prefer to round; with richer Juice
They always swell, and Cocks their Yolks produce.
They always swell, and Cocks their Yolks produce.
More sweet the Cale that grows in sandy Fields
Than what our City Soil, well-water'd, yields.
Than what our City Soil, well-water'd, yields.
Should an unlook'd-for Guest drop in at Night,
Thus learn to sooth his craving Appetite:
In Wine and Water dip your Fowl alive;
For thence the Flesh will Tenderness derive.
Thus learn to sooth his craving Appetite:
In Wine and Water dip your Fowl alive;
For thence the Flesh will Tenderness derive.
The Meadow-Mushroom you may safely prize;
But often in the others Poison lies.
But often in the others Poison lies.
The Man who eats, when Dinner-time is o'er,
Ripe Mulb'ries, gather'd from the Tree, before
Too fiercely rage the scorching solar Rays,
Will pass, secure of Health, the Summer Days.
Ripe Mulb'ries, gather'd from the Tree, before
Too fiercely rage the scorching solar Rays,
Will pass, secure of Health, the Summer Days.
Let not Aufidius' Morning-draught be thine!
With Honey sweeten'd, harsh Falernian Wine
He quaff'd; but to thy empty Veins alone
Let Liquors smooth, like lenient Mead, be known.
With Honey sweeten'd, harsh Falernian Wine
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Let Liquors smooth, like lenient Mead, be known.
Pound Cockle-shells, when Costiveness prevails,
And with Dwarf-sorrel mix and Juice of Snails;
Then fasting drink it in white Coan Wine:
So your heal'd Bowels will no more repine.
And with Dwarf-sorrel mix and Juice of Snails;
Then fasting drink it in white Coan Wine:
So your heal'd Bowels will no more repine.
With growing Moons the loos'ning Shell-fish swell:
The nobler Kinds not in all Oceans dwell.
The sweetest Oysters we at Circe take,
But far the largest in the Lucrine Lake.
Cray-fish Misenum's Promontory love,
While Cockles soft Tarentum's Coast approve.
The nobler Kinds not in all Oceans dwell.
The sweetest Oysters we at Circe take,
But far the largest in the Lucrine Lake.
Cray-fish Misenum's Promontory love,
While Cockles soft Tarentum's Coast approve.
What boots it that the choicest Fish you buy,
Unless with Critic Taste you well descry
Which needs most Sauce, which least, and thus excite,
By various Means, the languid Appetite.
Unless with Critic Taste you well descry
Which needs most Sauce, which least, and thus excite,
By various Means, the languid Appetite.
The Boar (if you're displeas'd with flabby Food)
Who crunches Acorns in the Umbrian Wood,
On your wide Dish may spread his ample Size;
Those which in Marshes feed we never prize.
Who crunches Acorns in the Umbrian Wood,
On your wide Dish may spread his ample Size;
Those which in Marshes feed we never prize.
Kids, which in Vineyards browze, forbear to eat.
The Wings of pregnant Hares are dainty Meat.
The Wings of pregnant Hares are dainty Meat.
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None before Me could by their Taste engage
To know of Fish and Fowl the Kind and Age.
To know of Fish and Fowl the Kind and Age.
To mold the brittle Paste is paltry Fame,
And far too trivial all our Care to claim.
As if, though richest Wines your Cellars store,
Yet on your Fish you stinking Oyl should pour.
And far too trivial all our Care to claim.
As if, though richest Wines your Cellars store,
Yet on your Fish you stinking Oyl should pour.
Expose your Massic when the Skies are clear;
If dreggy, 'twill be purg'd by nightly Air,
And lose that Odor which the Spirits wastes;
But through fine Linnen strain'd it vapid tastes.
If dreggy, 'twill be purg'd by nightly Air,
And lose that Odor which the Spirits wastes;
But through fine Linnen strain'd it vapid tastes.
He, who, his gross Falernian to refine,
Pours on the slimy Lees Surrentine Wine,
Should with the Liquor mix a Pigeon's Eggs;
The falling Yolk precipitates the Dregs.
Pours on the slimy Lees Surrentine Wine,
Should with the Liquor mix a Pigeon's Eggs;
The falling Yolk precipitates the Dregs.
Shrimps, Cockles to the Taste new Relish lend:
Lettuce, 'tis true, I dare not recommend;
So cold, it damps the loaded Appetite:
But your stanch Topers their dull Taste excite
With Ham or Chitterling, and some require
A Sausage, reeking from a Tavern Fire.
Lettuce, 'tis true, I dare not recommend;
So cold, it damps the loaded Appetite:
But your stanch Topers their dull Taste excite
With Ham or Chitterling, and some require
A Sausage, reeking from a Tavern Fire.
Two Sorts of Sauce deserve your utmost Care;
With Oyl alone the simplest we prepare:
Both Wine and Caviare too the other boasts,
(Caviare, the Produce of Byzantium's Coasts)
And shredded Herbs and Saffron; let it boil,
And, when it cools, infuse Venefrian Oyl.
With Oyl alone the simplest we prepare:
Both Wine and Caviare too the other boasts,
(Caviare, the Produce of Byzantium's Coasts)
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And, when it cools, infuse Venefrian Oyl.
With Form and Beauty Tibur's Fruits are grac'd,
But thine, Picenum, have a richer Taste.
But thine, Picenum, have a richer Taste.
Pots to preserve Venusia's Grape provide;
But in the Smoke the Alban may be dry'd.
The Roman Cooks this Grape before each Guest
With Apples, Salt and Pepper, at a Feast
To place on sep'rate Plates by Me were taught:
Caviare and Pickles into Use I brought.
But in the Smoke the Alban may be dry'd.
The Roman Cooks this Grape before each Guest
With Apples, Salt and Pepper, at a Feast
To place on sep'rate Plates by Me were taught:
Caviare and Pickles into Use I brought.
Monstrous the Fault to crowd the vagrant Fish
(So dearly purchas'd) in a scanty Dish!
(So dearly purchas'd) in a scanty Dish!
The simplest Fare a Zest from Neatness gains:
It turns one's Stomach when your Boy distains
The Glass with greasy Fingers; or when Dust
And Mold your ancient Goblet's Brim incrust.
How small of Mats and Rubbers is the Price!
But, O! of such Neglect how great the Vice!
Who with a greasy Broom an inlaid Floor
Would sweep, or spread a purple Carpet o'er
An unwash'd Couch? The less such Trifles claim
Of Care and Cost, the more will be your Blame.
Those Cates which, save among the Great, are rare,
With much more Credit you might justly spare.
It turns one's Stomach when your Boy distains
The Glass with greasy Fingers; or when Dust
And Mold your ancient Goblet's Brim incrust.
How small of Mats and Rubbers is the Price!
But, O! of such Neglect how great the Vice!
Who with a greasy Broom an inlaid Floor
Would sweep, or spread a purple Carpet o'er
An unwash'd Couch? The less such Trifles claim
Of Care and Cost, the more will be your Blame.
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With much more Credit you might justly spare.
Horace.
By all the Gods and Friendship I engage
Your Promise, Catius, to this learned Sage
To lead me strait, wherever he may live;
Though justly you translate, it sure must give
Much more Delight th'Original to hear
From his own Mouth, and mark his Voice and Air.
This Circumstance, though high in my Esteem,
To you, because enjoy'd, may trifling seem.
I, by the Love of sacred Science led,
Would quaff her Waters at the Fountain-head.
J. D.
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