Horace in his magnus opus Ars Poetica discusses the nature, function, and the theme of poetry in great detail. He has something important to say on the language of poetry as well. Horace seems to accept Plato’s and Aristotle’s views of poetry that it is imitation. Horace says that the ‘imitator’, that is the poet must “take his model from life and customs”. Not that the poet is to present the fact or ‘realities’ of life exactly as they are. The writer must mix the facts with fancy in such a way that they gel. The poet always makes his contribution. However, what the poet adds must not be something that is unbelievable. It should look like true and real.
When it comes to the function of poetry, Horace notes that poetry is to instruct and delight the reader. Thus he synthesizes Plato and Aristotle. He has something to say about the ‘practical use’ of poetry. He says that publishing poem earns money and reputation for the author. He recalls how poetry sought to inculcate moral values in the members of the society and restrained them from indulging in selfish and harmful pursuits. However, he notes, that the nature of poetry is to ‘charm the mind’.
A poem must have a beautiful form. It must also appeal to the heart rather than to the brain of the reader. Like Plato, Horace also thought that poetry appeals to emotions. All the same he does not think that it harms the society as Plato did. On this point he sides with Aristotle who held that poetry was closer to philosophy in the sense that both grapples with the mysteries of life.
On the theme of poetry Horace is not that specific. Anything can, provided it is ‘simple and uniform’, be an appropriate theme of poetry. He cautions the writers to be well aware of their strength and weakness. Any material derived from life and custom is simple. And any simple theme that does not incorporate irrelevant material is uniform. When the material from life is arranged in the right order, it will be beautiful according to Horace. He is of the view that sound judgment is the basis of good writing

Horace was one of the famous Latin literary figures. He was a poet and a literary critic rolled into one. Horace was born in December 65 BC. His father was a slave who was later freed from the bond. His father had made enough money to give a good education to his son. Horace was educated at Rome and Athens. In Athens he is believed to have studied philosophy and poetry at the Academy founded by Plato.
Horace served the Roman army for a short period and fought at Philippi in 42BC. After the war he returned to Athens and secured a government job. He began to write poetry. The great Virgil, a poet laureate and the author of Aeneid, the Latin epic impressed by his poems introduced Horace to the statesman Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, a patron of the arts and a friend of Octavian. Horace often visited and stayed at the estate in the Sabine Hills that Maecenas had given him.
Horace wrote satires, epodes, odes, and epistles. Book I of the Satires (35 BC) and Book II (30 BC), collections of dialogues in hexameter, were an imitation of the satirist Lucilius. The ten satires in Book I and the eight in Book II were tempered by tolerance.
The Epodes, published in 30 BC, contained an impassioned plea to end to the civil war. The poems in the Epodes were adaptations of the Greek lyric style created by the poet Archilochus.
Horace's major poetical works were the Odes, Books I, II, and III. Most of them were an imitation of poets such as Anacreon, Alcaeus, and Sappho. In them Horace celebrates patriotism, peace, friendship, love, wine and simplicity. Noted for their rhythm, irony, and cultivated urbanity, the Odes were often imitated by 18th- and 19th-century English poets.
The Epistle that appeared in about 20 BC contained 20 personal letters. They were on literature, philosophy and social issues. His philosophical writings reflect the influence of Epicurus
When his mentor Virgil died in 19BC, Horace was made the poet laureate. Emperor Augustus asked him to write Carmen Saeculare for the secular games in Rome. Though the dates of his last works are not certain it is believed that The Epistle to the Pisos, better known as Ars poetica belongs to his last period. In Ars Poetica he praises Greek masters and advises those who wish to take writing seriously to study them thoroughly.
Horace died on 27 November in 8 BC in Rome.

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