Summary
“Happy the Man,” a translation of Horatian Ode 3.29, is a poem in the voice of an unnamed speaker who, in a didactic and optimistic voice, argues that one must live in the present in order to be truly happy.
The poem begins with the speaker stating that a hypothetical “happy man” would be one who “can call today his own,” i.e. who focuses on, and is satisfied by, his present. The speaker goes on to argue that one who is confident with oneself (“secure within”) does not fear the future (“can say / Tomorrow do thy worst [...] Be fair or foul or rain or shine”), because they prioritize the present (“for I have lived today”) and feel thankful for the past (“The joys I have possessed, in spite of fate, are mine.”) Closing the poem, the speaker states that no one and no force, not even “Heaven itself,” can change the past, and that the “happy man,” rather than being fixated upon his past, is grateful for his past glory (“I have had my hour.”)
Analysis
“Happy the Man” bears the appearance of a simple, aphoristic poem, yet a closer look reveals that Dryden in fact carefully engineers his language to highlight the spirit of confidence, positivity, and forward-mindedness.
Lines 1 to 2 establish both the thematic and prosodic characteristics of the piece. The speaker declares, in his assertive and optimistic voice, that the “happy man” of the poem is one “who can call today his own.” The didactic tone of this opening statement evokes the style of proverbs and aphorisms. On the other hand, the rhyme of “alone” with “own” initiates the heroic couplet pattern that persists throughout the piece. The irregular meter of the first two lines (iambic pentameter to iambic tetrameter) signal that the poem is unmetered, and that it approximates actual speech rather than being confined to a strict metric pattern. In addition to these markers of rhyme and meter, the alliteration of the “h” consonant in these opening lines both evokes the sound of laughter (in its breathiness) and contributes to the optimistic quality of the poem.
In lines 3 to 6, the speaker shifts to a direct quote of this hypothetical “happy man,” illustrating the mindset of one who finds happiness in the present. Constructing an anaphora across lines 2 and 3 (the repetition of “He who [...]”), the speaker implies that the sense of ownership over one’s present (“call today his own”) and one’s sense of inner security (“secure within”) are synonymous. In line 4, the “happy man,” confident and content, then dares “Tomorrow” to “do [their] worst, for [he has] lived today.” Using a personification/apostrophe, the speaker addresses "Tomorrow," rendering the abstract (and often elusive, unpredictable, and daunting) notion of the future as a concrete and humanized entity; because he lives in the now and is satisfied by the present (“today”), he is capable of challenging “Tomorrow” to battle and triumphing over it no matter what degree or form of adversity it may present to him. In lines 5 to 6, the “happy man” reiterates that he is confident about the “joys [he has] possessed” regardless of the vicissitudes of life, and in doing so utilizes a weather metaphor (“Be fair or foul or rain or shine”) to denote the ups and downs of life. The various prosodic features of this part of the poem—e.g., the caesura in “Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today,” the alliteration and consonances (“l,” “r”) in “Be fair or foul or rain or shine,” as well as the accentuation of iambs using the conjunction “or”—render the piece songlike and lively.
The final couplet (lines 7 and 8) closes the poem in the voice of the “happy man.” Shifting from concerns of the future to those of the past, the “happy man” asserts in line 7 that “Heaven itself” is powerless before what has already happened. This situationally ironic, and thus hyperbolic, statement—that even the omnipotent forces of the divine cannot control the past—emphasizes that the everyman has no choice but to accept the past and put it behind him. In the final line, the “happy man” declares that he shall not be fixated upon the past (“what has been, has been”), and that he is grateful for his past glory (“I have had my hour”). The final couplet features figurative devices such as symbolism (“Heaven” not as the literal heavens but as the divine), synecdoche (the happy man’s “hour” referring to a longer period of fame in his life), and alliteration (the powerful repetition of the plosive “p” in “Not Heaven itself upon the past has power”), attesting to Dryden’s meticulous engineering of sounds and symbols in the poem.
“Happy the Man” closes with the rhyming of “power” with “hour.” Perhaps this rhyme underscores the poem’s message that it is one’s perception of time (“hour”), as well as one’s confidence in the present, that frees one from concerns of the future or past, and grants one the ability (“power”) to live in the now. Dryden, in his rendition of Horace, lyricizes beautifully about the power of optimism, acceptance, and gratitude.
