Horace's I.9 is a poem deeply infused with the Greek philosopher teachings Epicurus. The main theme in the poem is the attainment of pleasure.
In the first stanza, the poet muses over Soracte and its gleaming white snow, relishing in the aesthetic beauty of the scene, and clearly absorbing pleasure and contentment from it.
The next stanza is also one of the moment - Horace paints a wonderfully cozy picture of warming oneself by the hearth. The image is another one of contentment.
In both of these stanzas, winter is not depicted, as it often is, as a stark force that withers away everything around it. Instead, winter is seen as calm and soothing, a time to relax and enjoy oneself. This idea directly references Epicurean philosophy: the ultimate good is pleasure, therefore one should solely put all his efforts in pursuing pleasure.
In the third stanza, Horace continues to highlight Epicurean themes. He counsels his readers to not be greedy, and to not worry what will come tomorrow, but just to enjoy the present moment. He believes that the greatest amount of pleasure can only be attained during youth, so he encourages young love and passion. In the last stanza, he shows a scene straight out of a teenage love story: a young man chasing after a girl who is only pretending to not be interested. The boy snatching the bracelet off the arm of the girls is a frozen moment full of love and emotion; to Horace, pleasure is youth.
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