1. He who set up virtues for people
As a distant shining goal

2. Scattered bounty with open hands -
He had but a single, unerring arrow.

3. With it he strikes again and again
Hitting distant targets, shooting back and forth.

4. Guarding him as he outstrips the rest,
Since he sees no peer, though fame's arrows fly.

5. Each points out some aspect of his glory -
O you who adorn its edges with harmony!

6. All people expressed astonishment
At my aims, and at the course of my verses,

7. Poetry that blows about, gale-force,
Around a destiny no sluggard can rise to,

8. Dew I envied for, so that when it humbled me,
My excessive generosity lifted sorrow from the envious.

9. Like rain the clouds surrendered it but it hasn't yet
Fallen to earth - my guide took corporeal form.

10. So if you sketch it, I'll remove my hopes from it,
Cutting off is more effective than curing corruption.

11. Or bring me speedy succour,
For as long as I live, I am not eternal,

12. Whether thirsty, sated, or midway between,
The shepherd's breast where all flock to drink is inevitable.