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Publius Vergilius Maro

GEORGICON


P. VERGILI MARONIS GEORGICON

LIBER PRIMVS   1

Quid faciat laetas segetes, quo sidere terram
uertere, Maecenas, ulmisque adiungere uitis
conueniat, quae cura boum, qui cultus habendo
sit pecori, apibus quanta experientia parcis,

BOOK I



What makes the cornfield smile; beneath what star
Maecenas, it is meet to turn the sod
Or marry elm with vine; how tend the steer;
What pains for cattle-keeping, or what proof
Of patient trial serves for thrifty bees;-

hinc canere incipiam. uos, o clarissima mundi   5
lumina, labentem caelo quae ducitis annum;
Liber et alma Ceres, uestro si munere tellus
Chaoniam pingui glandem mutauit arista,
poculaque inuentis Acheloia miscuit uuis;

Such are my themes.
Most glorious! ye that lead the gliding year
Along the sky, Liber and Ceres mild,
If by your bounty holpen earth once changed
Chaonian acorn for the plump wheat-ear,
And mingled with the grape, your new-found gift,

et uos, agrestum praesentia numina, Fauni   10
(ferte simul Faunique pedem Dryadesque puellae:
munera uestra cano); tuque o, cui prima frementem
fudit equum magno tellus percussa tridenti,
Neptune; et cultor nemorum, cui pinguia Ceae

The draughts of Achelous; and ye Fauns
To rustics ever kind, come foot it, Fauns
And Dryad-maids together; your gifts I sing.
And thou, for whose delight the war-horse first
Sprang from earth's womb at thy great trident's stroke,
Neptune; and haunter of the groves, for whom

ter centum niuei tondent dumeta iuuenci;   15
ipse nemus linquens patrium saltusque Lycaei
Pan, ouium custos, tua si tibi Maenala curae,
adsis, o Tegeaee, fauens, oleaeque Minerua
inuentrix, uncique puer monstrator aratri,

Three hundred snow-white heifers browse the brakes,
The fertile brakes of Ceos; and clothed in power,
Thy native forest and Lycean lawns,
Pan, shepherd-god, forsaking, as the love
Of thine own Maenalus constrains thee, hear
And help, O lord of Tegea! And thou, too,
Minerva, from whose hand the olive sprung;
And boy-discoverer of the curved plough;

et teneram ab radice ferens, Siluane, cupressum:   20
dique deaeque omnes, studium quibus arua tueri,
quique nouas alitis non ullo semine fruges
quique satis largum caelo demittitis imbrem.
tuque adeo, quem mox quae sint habitura deorum

And, bearing a young cypress root-uptorn,
Silvanus, and Gods all and Goddesses,
Who make the fields your care, both ye who nurse
The tender unsown increase, and from heaven
Shed on man's sowing the riches of your rain:
And thou, even thou, of whom we know not yet
What mansion of the skies shall hold thee soon,

concilia incertum est, urbisne inuisere, Caesar,   25
terrarumque uelis curam, et te maximus orbis
auctorem frugum tempestatumque potentem
accipiat cingens materna tempora myrto;
an deus immensi uenias maris ac tua nautae

Whether to watch o'er cities be thy will,
Great Caesar, and to take the earth in charge,
That so the mighty world may welcome thee
Lord of her increase, master of her times,
Binding thy mother's myrtle round thy brow,
Or as the boundless ocean's God thou come,

numina sola colant, tibi seruiat ultima Thule,   30
teque sibi generum Tethys emat omnibus undis;
anne nouum tardis sidus te mensibus addas,
qua locus Erigonen inter Chelasque sequentis
panditur (ipse tibi iam bracchia contrahit ardens

Sole dread of seamen, till far Thule bow
Before thee, and Tethys win thee to her son
With all her waves for dower; or as a star
Lend thy fresh beams our lagging months to cheer,
Where 'twixt the Maid and those pursuing Claws
A space is opening; see! red Scorpio's self
His arms draws in, yea, and hath left thee more

Scorpius et caeli iusta plus parte reliquit);   35
quidquid eris (nam te nec sperant Tartara regem,
nec tibi regnandi ueniat tam dira cupido,
quamuis Elysios miretur Graecia campos
nec repetita sequi curet Proserpina matrem),

Than thy full meed of heaven: be what thou wilt-
For neither Tartarus hopes to call thee king,
Nor may so dire a lust of sovereignty
E'er light upon thee, howso Greece admire
Elysium's fields, and Proserpine not heed
Her mother's voice entreating to return-
Vouchsafe a prosperous voyage, and smile on this

da facilem cursum atque audacibus adnue coeptis,   40
ignarosque uiae mecum miseratus agrestis
ingredere et uotis iam nunc adsuesce uocari.
Vere nouo, gelidus canis cum montibus umor
liquitur et Zephyro putris se glaeba resoluit,

My bold endeavour, and pitying, even as I,
These poor way-wildered swains, at once begin,
Grow timely used unto the voice of prayer.
In early spring-tide, when the icy drip
Melts from the mountains hoar, and Zephyr's breath
Unbinds the crumbling clod, even then 'tis time;

depresso incipiat iam tum mihi taurus aratro   45
ingemere et sulco attritus splendescere uomer.
illa seges demum uotis respondet auari
agricolae, bis quae solem, bis frigora sensit;
illius immensae ruperunt horrea messes.

Press deep your plough behind the groaning ox,
And teach the furrow-burnished share to shine.
That land the craving farmer's prayer fulfils,
Which twice the sunshine, twice the frost has felt;
Ay, that's the land whose boundless harvest-crops

ac prius ignotum ferro quam scindimus aequor,   50
uentos et uarium caeli praediscere morem
cura sit ac patrios cultusque habitusque locorum,
et quid quaeque ferat regio et quid quaeque recuset.
hic segetes, illic ueniunt felicius uuae,

Burst, see! the barns.
But ere our metal cleave
An unknown surface, heed we to forelearn
The winds and varying temper of the sky,
The lineal tilth and habits of the spot,
What every region yields, and what denies.
Here blithelier springs the corn, and here the grape,

arborei fetus alibi atque iniussa uirescunt   55
gramina. nonne uides, croceos ut Tmolus odores,
India mittit ebur, molles sua tura Sabaei,
at Chalybes nudi ferrum uirosaque Pontus
castorea, Eliadum palmas Epiros equarum?

There earth is green with tender growth of trees
And grass unbidden. See how from Tmolus comes
The saffron's fragrance, ivory from Ind,
From Saba's weakling sons their frankincense,
Iron from the naked Chalybs, castor rank
From Pontus, from Epirus the prize-palms
O' the mares of Elis.
Such the eternal bond

continuo has leges aeternaque foedera certis   60
imposuit natura locis, quo tempore primum
Deucalion uacuum lapides iactauit in orbem,
unde homines nati, durum genus. ergo age, terrae
pingue solum primis extemplo a mensibus anni

And such the laws by Nature's hand imposed
On clime and clime, e'er since the primal dawn
When old Deucalion on the unpeopled earth
Cast stones, whence men, a flinty race, were reared.

fortes inuertant tauri, glaebasque iacentis   65
puluerulenta coquat maturis solibus aestas;
at si non fuerit tellus fecunda, sub ipsum
Arcturum tenui sat erit suspendere sulco:
illic, officiant laetis ne frugibus herbae,

Up then! if fat the soil, let sturdy bulls
Upturn it from the year's first opening months,
And let the clods lie bare till baked to dust
By the ripe suns of summer; but if the earth
Less fruitful just ere Arcturus rise
With shallower trench uptilt it- 'twill suffice;
There, lest weeds choke the crop's luxuriance, here,

hic, sterilem exiguus ne deserat umor harenam.   70
Alternis idem tonsas cessare noualis
et segnem patiere situ durescere campum;
aut ibi flaua seres mutato sidere farra,
unde prius laetum siliqua quassante legumen

Lest the scant moisture fail the barren sand.
Then thou shalt suffer in alternate years
The new-reaped fields to rest, and on the plain
A crust of sloth to harden; or, when stars
Are changed in heaven, there sow the golden grain
Where erst, luxuriant with its quivering pod,
Pulse, or the slender vetch-crop, thou hast cleared,

aut tenuis fetus uiciae tristisque lupini   75
sustuleris fragilis calamos siluamque sonantem.
urit enim lini campum seges, urit auenae,
urunt Lethaeo perfusa papauera somno;
sed tamen alternis facilis labor, arida tantum

And lupin sour, whose brittle stalks arise,
A hurtling forest. For the plain is parched
By flax-crop, parched by oats, by poppies parched
In Lethe-slumber drenched. Nathless by change
The travailing earth is lightened, but stint not

ne saturare fimo pingui pudeat sola neue   80
effetos cinerem immundum iactare per agros.
sic quoque mutatis requiescunt fetibus arua,
nec nulla interea est inaratae gratia terrae.
saepe etiam sterilis incendere profuit agros

With refuse rich to soak the thirsty soil,
And shower foul ashes o'er the exhausted fields.
Thus by rotation like repose is gained,
Nor earth meanwhile uneared and thankless left.
Oft, too, 'twill boot to fire the naked fields,

atque leuem stipulam crepitantibus urere flammis:   85
siue inde occultas uiris et pabula terrae
pinguia concipiunt, siue illis omne per ignem
excoquitur uitium atque exsudat inutilis umor,
seu pluris calor ille uias et caeca relaxat

And the light stubble burn with crackling flames;
Whether that earth therefrom some hidden strength
And fattening food derives, or that the fire
Bakes every blemish out, and sweats away
Each useless humour, or that the heat unlocks
New passages and secret pores, whereby

spiramenta, nouas ueniat qua sucus in herbas,   90
seu durat magis et uenas astringit hiantis,
ne tenues pluuiae rapidiue potentia solis
acrior aut Boreae penetrabile frigus adurat.
multum adeo, rastris glaebas qui frangit inertis

Their life-juice to the tender blades may win;
Or that it hardens more and helps to bind
The gaping veins, lest penetrating showers,
Or fierce sun's ravening might, or searching blast
Of the keen north should sear them. Well, I wot,
He serves the fields who with his harrow breaks

uimineasque trahit cratis, iuuat arua, neque illum   95
flaua Ceres alto nequiquam spectat Olympo;
et qui, proscisso quae suscitat aequore terga,
rursus in obliquum uerso perrumpit aratro
exercetque frequens tellurem atque imperat aruis.

The sluggish clods, and hurdles osier-twined
Hales o'er them; from the far Olympian height
Him golden Ceres not in vain regards;
And he, who having ploughed the fallow plain
And heaved its furrowy ridges, turns once more
Cross-wise his shattering share, with stroke on stroke
The earth assails, and makes the field his thrall.

Vmida solstitia atque hiemes orate serenas,   100
agricolae; hiberno laetissima puluere farra,
laetus ager: nullo tantum se Mysia cultu
iactat et ipsa suas mirantur Gargara messis.
quid dicam, iacto qui semine comminus arua

Pray for wet summers and for winters fine,
Ye husbandmen; in winter's dust the crops
Exceedingly rejoice, the field hath joy;
No tilth makes Mysia lift her head so high,
Nor Gargarus his own harvests so admire.
Why tell of him, who, having launched his seed,

insequitur cumulosque ruit male pinguis harenae,   105
deinde satis fluuium inducit riuosque sequentis,
et, cum exustus ager morientibus aestuat herbis,
ecce supercilio cliuosi tramitis undam
elicit? illa cadens raucum per leuia murmur

Sets on for close encounter, and rakes smooth
The dry dust hillocks, then on the tender corn
Lets in the flood, whose waters follow fain;
And when the parched field quivers, and all the blades
Are dying, from the brow of its hill-bed,
See! see! he lures the runnel; down it falls,
Waking hoarse murmurs o'er the polished stones,

saxa ciet, scatebrisque arentia temperat arua.   110
quid qui, ne grauidis procumbat culmus aristis,
luxuriem segetum tenera depascit in herba,
cum primum sulcos aequant sata, quique paludis
collectum umorem bibula deducit harena?

And with its bubblings slakes the thirsty fields?
Or why of him, who lest the heavy ears
O'erweigh the stalk, while yet in tender blade
Feeds down the crop's luxuriance, when its growth
First tops the furrows? Why of him who drains
The marsh-land's gathered ooze through soaking sand,

praesertim incertis si mensibus amnis abundans   115
exit et obducto late tenet omnia limo,
unde cauae tepido sudant umore lacunae.
Nec tamen, haec cum sint hominumque boumque labores
uersando terram experti, nihil improbus anser

Chiefly what time in treacherous moons a stream
Goes out in spate, and with its coat of slime
Holds all the country, whence the hollow dykes
Sweat steaming vapour?
But no whit the more
For all expedients tried and travail borne
By man and beast in turning oft the soil,
Do greedy goose and Strymon-haunting cranes

Strymoniaeque grues et amaris intiba fibris   120
officiunt aut umbra nocet. pater ipse colendi
haud facilem esse uiam uoluit, primusque per artem
mouit agros, curis acuens mortalia corda
nec torpere graui passus sua regna ueterno.

And succory's bitter fibres cease to harm,
Or shade not injure. The great Sire himself
No easy road to husbandry assigned,
And first was he by human skill to rouse
The slumbering glebe, whetting the minds of men
With care on care, nor suffering realm of his

ante Iouem nulli subigebant arua coloni:   125
ne signare quidem aut partiri limite campum
fas erat; in medium quaerebant, ipsaque tellus
omnia liberius nullo poscente ferebat.
ille malum uirus serpentibus addidit atris

In drowsy sloth to stagnate. Before Jove
Fields knew no taming hand of husbandmen;
To mark the plain or mete with boundary-line-
Even this was impious; for the common stock
They gathered, and the earth of her own will
All things more freely, no man bidding, bore.
He to black serpents gave their venom-bane,

praedarique lupos iussit pontumque moueri,   130
mellaque decussit foliis ignemque remouit
et passim riuis currentia uina repressit,
ut uarias usus meditando extunderet artis
paulatim, et sulcis frumenti quaereret herbam,

And bade the wolf go prowl, and ocean toss;
Shook from the leaves their honey, put fire away,
And curbed the random rivers running wine,
That use by gradual dint of thought on thought
Might forge the various arts, with furrow's help

ut silicis uenis abstrusum excuderet ignem.   135
tunc alnos primum fluuii sensere cauatas;
nauita tum stellis numeros et nomina fecit
Pleiadas, Hyadas, claramque Lycaonis Arcton.
tum laqueis captare feras et fallere uisco

The corn-blade win, and strike out hidden fire
From the flint's heart. Then first the streams were ware
Of hollowed alder-hulls: the sailor then
Their names and numbers gave to star and star,
Pleiads and Hyads, and Lycaon's child
Bright Arctos; how with nooses then was found
To catch wild beasts, and cozen them with lime,

inuentum et magnos canibus circumdare saltus;   140
atque alius latum funda iam uerberat amnem
alta petens, pelagoque alius trahit umida lina.
tum ferri rigor atque argutae lammina serrae
(nam primi cuneis scindebant fissile lignum),

And hem with hounds the mighty forest-glades.
Soon one with hand-net scourges the broad stream,
Probing its depths, one drags his dripping toils
Along the main; then iron's unbending might,
And shrieking saw-blade,- for the men of old
With wedges wont to cleave the splintering log;-

tum uariae uenere artes. labor omnia uicit   145
improbus et duris urgens in rebus egestas.
prima Ceres ferro mortalis uertere terram
instituit, cum iam glandes atque arbuta sacrae
deficerent siluae et uictum Dodona negaret.

Then divers arts arose; toil conquered all,
Remorseless toil, and poverty's shrewd push
In times of hardship. Ceres was the first
Set mortals on with tools to turn the sod,
When now the awful groves 'gan fail to bear
Acorns and arbutes, and her wonted food
Dodona gave no more. Soon, too, the corn

mox et frumentis labor additus, ut mala culmos   150
esset robigo segnisque horreret in aruis
carduus; intereunt segetes, subit aspera silua
lappaeque tribolique, interque nitentia culta
infelix lolium et steriles dominantur auenae.

Gat sorrow's increase, that an evil blight
Ate up the stalks, and thistle reared his spines
An idler in the fields; the crops die down;
Upsprings instead a shaggy growth of burrs
And caltrops; and amid the corn-fields trim
Unfruitful darnel and wild oats have sway.

quod nisi et adsiduis herbam insectabere rastris   155
et sonitu terrebis auis et ruris opaci
falce premes umbras uotisque uocaueris imbrem,
heu magnum alterius frustra spectabis aceruum
concussaque famem in siluis solabere quercu.

Wherefore, unless thou shalt with ceaseless rake
The weeds pursue, with shouting scare the birds,
Prune with thy hook the dark field's matted shade,
Pray down the showers, all vainly thou shalt eye,
Alack! thy neighbour's heaped-up harvest-mow,
And in the greenwood from a shaken oak
Seek solace for thine hunger.
Now to tell

Dicendum et quae sint duris agrestibus arma,   160
quis sine nec potuere seri nec surgere messes:
uomis et inflexi primum graue robur aratri,
tardaque Eleusinae matris uoluentia plaustra,
tribulaque traheaeque et iniquo pondere rastri;

The sturdy rustics' weapons, what they are,
Without which, neither can be sown nor reared
The fruits of harvest; first the bent plough's share
And heavy timber, and slow-lumbering wains
Of the Eleusinian mother, threshing-sleighs
And drags, and harrows with their crushing weight;

uirgea praeterea Celei uilisque supellex,   165
arbuteae crates et mystica uannus Iacchi;
omnia quae multo ante memor prouisa repones,
si te digna manet diuini gloria ruris.
continuo in siluis magna ui flexa domatur

Then the cheap wicker-ware of Celeus old,
Hurdles of arbute, and thy mystic fan,
Iacchus; which, full tale, long ere the time
Thou must with heed lay by, if thee await
Not all unearned the country's crown divine.
While yet within the woods, the elm is tamed
And bowed with mighty force to form the stock,

in burim et curui formam accipit ulmus aratri.   170
huic a stirpe pedes temo protentus in octo,
binae aures, duplici aptantur dentalia dorso.
caeditur et tilia ante iugo leuis altaque fagus
stiuaque, quae currus a tergo torqueat imos,

And take the plough's curved shape, then nigh the root
A pole eight feet projecting, earth-boards twain,
And share-beam with its double back they fix.
For yoke is early hewn a linden light,
And a tall beech for handle, from behind
To turn the car at lowest: then o'er the hearth

et suspensa focis explorat robora fumus.   175
Possum multa tibi ueterum praecepta referre,
ni refugis tenuisque piget cognoscere curas.
area cum primis ingenti aequanda cylindro
et uertenda manu et creta solidanda tenaci,

The wood they hang till the smoke knows it well.
Many the precepts of the men of old
I can recount thee, so thou start not back,
And such slight cares to learn not weary thee.
And this among the first: thy threshing-floor
With ponderous roller must be levelled smooth,
And wrought by hand, and fixed with binding chalk,

ne subeant herbae neu puluere uicta fatiscat,   180
tum uariae inludant pestes: saepe exiguus mus
sub terris posuitque domos atque horrea fecit,
aut oculis capti fodere cubilia talpae,
inuentusque cauis bufo et quae plurima terrae

Lest weeds arise, or dust a passage win
Splitting the surface, then a thousand plagues
Make sport of it: oft builds the tiny mouse
Her home, and plants her granary, underground,
Or burrow for their bed the purblind moles,
Or toad is found in hollows, and all the swarm

monstra ferunt, populatque ingentem farris aceruum   185
curculio atque inopi metuens formica senectae.
contemplator item, cum se nux plurima siluis
induet in florem et ramos curuabit olentis:
si superant fetus, pariter frumenta sequentur

Of earth's unsightly creatures; or a huge
Corn-heap the weevil plunders, and the ant,
Fearful of coming age and penury.
Mark too, what time the walnut in the woods
With ample bloom shall clothe her, and bow down
Her odorous branches, if the fruit prevail,
Like store of grain will follow, and there shall come

magnaque cum magno ueniet tritura calore;   190
at si luxuria foliorum exuberat umbra,
nequiquam pinguis palea teret area culmos.
semina uidi equidem multos medicare serentis
et nitro prius et nigra perfundere amurca,

A mighty winnowing-time with mighty heat;
But if the shade with wealth of leaves abound,
Vainly your threshing-floor will bruise the stalks
Rich but in chaff. Many myself have seen
Steep, as they sow, their pulse-seeds, drenching them

grandior ut fetus siliquis fallacibus esset   195
et quamuis igni exiguo properata maderent.
uidi lecta diu et multo spectata labore
degenerare tamen, ni uis humana quotannis
maxima quaeque manu legeret: sic omnia fatis

With nitre and black oil-lees, that the fruit
Might swell within the treacherous pods, and they
Make speed to boil at howso small a fire.
Yet, culled with caution, proved with patient toil,
These have I seen degenerate, did not man
Put forth his hand with power, and year by year
Choose out the largest. So, by fate impelled,

in peius ruere ac retro sublapsa referri,   200
non aliter quam qui aduerso uix flumine lembum
remigiis subigit, si bracchia forte remisit,
atque illum in praeceps prono rapit alueus amni.
Praeterea tam sunt Arcturi sidera nobis

Speed all things to the worse, and backward borne
Glide from us; even as who with struggling oars
Up stream scarce pulls a shallop, if he chance
His arms to slacken, lo! with headlong force
The current sweeps him down the hurrying tide.
Us too behoves Arcturus' sign observe,

Haedorumque dies seruandi et lucidus Anguis,   205
quam quibus in patriam uentosa per aequora uectis
Pontus et ostriferi fauces temptantur Abydi.
Libra die somnique pares ubi fecerit horas
et medium luci atque umbris iam diuidit orbem,

And the Kids' seasons and the shining Snake,
No less than those who o'er the windy main
Borne homeward tempt the Pontic, and the jaws
Of oyster-rife Abydos. When the Scales
Now poising fair the hours of sleep and day
Give half the world to sunshine, half to shade,

exercete, uiri, tauros, serite hordea campis   210
usque sub extremum brumae intractabilis imbrem;
nec non et lini segetem et Cereale papauer
tempus humo tegere et iamdudum incumbere aratris,
dum sicca tellure licet, dum nubila pendent.

Then urge your bulls, my masters; sow the plain
Even to the verge of tameless winter's showers
With barley: then, too, time it is to hide
Your flax in earth, and poppy, Ceres' joy,
Aye, more than time to bend above the plough,
While earth, yet dry, forbids not, and the clouds

uere fabis satio; tum te quoque, medica, putres   215
accipiunt sulci et milio uenit annua cura,
candidus auratis aperit cum cornibus annum
Taurus et auerso cedens Canis occidit astro.
at si triticeam in messem robustaque farra

Are buoyant. With the spring comes bean-sowing;
Thee, too, Lucerne, the crumbling furrows then
Receive, and millet's annual care returns,
What time the white bull with his gilded horns
Opens the year, before whose threatening front,
Routed the dog-star sinks. But if it be
For wheaten harvest and the hardy spelt,

exercebis humum solisque instabis aristis,   220
ante tibi Eoae Atlantides abscondantur
Cnosiaque ardentis decedat stella Coronae,
debita quam sulcis committas semina quamque
inuitae properes anni spem credere terrae.

Thou tax the soil, to corn-ears wholly given,
Let Atlas' daughters hide them in the dawn,
The Cretan star, a crown of fire, depart,
Or e'er the furrow's claim of seed thou quit,
Or haste thee to entrust the whole year's hope
To earth that would not. Many have begun

multi ante occasum Maiae coepere; sed illos   225
exspectata seges uanis elusit auenis.
si uero uiciamque seres uilemque phaselum
nec Pelusiacae curam aspernabere lentis,
haud obscura cadens mittet tibi signa Bootes:

Ere Maia's star be setting; these, I trow,
Their looked-for harvest fools with empty ears.
But if the vetch and common kidney-bean
Thou'rt fain to sow, nor scorn to make thy care
Pelusiac lentil, no uncertain sign
Bootes' fall will send thee; then begin,

incipe et ad medias sementem extende pruinas.   230
Idcirco certis dimensum partibus orbem
per duodena regit mundi sol aureus astra.
quinque tenent caelum zonae: quarum una corusco
semper sole rubens et torrida semper ab igni;

Pursue thy sowing till half the frosts be done.
Therefore it is the golden sun, his course
Into fixed parts dividing, rules his way
Through the twelve constellations of the world.
Five zones the heavens contain; whereof is one
Aye red with flashing sunlight, fervent aye

quam circum extremae dextra laeuaque trahuntur   235
caeruleae, glacie concretae atque imbribus atris;
has inter mediamque duae mortalibus aegris
munere concessae diuum, et uia secta per ambas,
obliquus qua se signorum uerteret ordo.

From fire; on either side to left and right
Are traced the utmost twain, stiff with blue ice,
And black with scowling storm-clouds, and betwixt
These and the midmost, other twain there lie,
By the Gods' grace to heart-sick mortals given,
And a path cleft between them, where might wheel
On sloping plane the system of the Signs.

mundus, ut ad Scythiam Riphaeasque arduus arces   240
consurgit, premitur Libyae deuexus in Austros.
hic uertex nobis semper sublimis; at illum
sub pedibus Styx atra uidet Manesque profundi.
maximus hic flexu sinuoso elabitur Anguis

And as toward Scythia and Rhipaean heights
The world mounts upward, likewise sinks it down
Toward Libya and the south, this pole of ours
Still towering high, that other, 'neath their feet,
By dark Styx frowned on, and the abysmal shades.
Here glides the huge Snake forth with sinuous coils

circum perque duas in morem fluminis Arctos,   245
Arctos Oceani metuentis aequore tingi.
illic, ut perhibent, aut intempesta silet nox
semper et obtenta densentur nocte tenebrae;
aut redit a nobis Aurora diemque reducit,

'Twixt the two Bears and round them river-wise-
The Bears that fear 'neath Ocean's brim to dip.
There either, say they, reigns the eternal hush
Of night that knows no seasons, her black pall
Thick-mantling fold on fold; or thitherward
From us returning Dawn brings back the day;
And when the first breath of his panting steeds

nosque ubi primus equis Oriens adflauit anhelis   250
illic sera rubens accendit lumina Vesper.
hinc tempestates dubio praediscere caelo
possumus, hinc messisque diem tempusque serendi,
et quando infidum remis impellere marmor

On us the Orient flings, that hour with them
Red Vesper 'gins to trim his his 'lated fires.
Hence under doubtful skies forebode we can
The coming tempests, hence both harvest-day
And seed-time, when to smite the treacherous main

conueniat, quando armatas deducere classis,   255
aut tempestiuam siluis euertere pinum;
nec frustra signorum obitus speculamur et ortus
temporibusque parem diuersis quattuor annum.
Frigidus agricolam si quando continet imber,

With driving oars, when launch the fair-rigged fleet,
Or in ripe hour to fell the forest-pine.
Hence, too, not idly do we watch the stars-
Their rising and their setting-and the year,
Four varying seasons to one law conformed.
If chilly showers e'er shut the farmer's door,

multa, forent quae mox caelo properanda sereno,   260
maturare datur: durum procudit arator
uomeris obtunsi dentem, cauat arbore lintres,
aut pecori signum aut numeros impressit aceruis.
exacuunt alii uallos furcasque bicornis

Much that had soon with sunshine cried for haste,
He may forestall; the ploughman batters keen
His blunted share's hard tooth, scoops from a tree
His troughs, or on the cattle stamps a brand,
Or numbers on the corn-heaps; some make sharp
The stakes and two-pronged forks, and willow-bands

atque Amerina parant lentae retinacula uiti.   265
nunc facilis rubea texatur fiscina uirga,
nunc torrete igni fruges, nunc frangite saxo.
quippe etiam festis quaedam exercere diebus
fas et iura sinunt: riuos deducere nulla

Amerian for the bending vine prepare.
Now let the pliant basket plaited be
Of bramble-twigs; now set your corn to parch
Before the fire; now bruise it with the stone.
Nay even on holy days some tasks to ply
Is right and lawful: this no ban forbids,

religio uetuit, segeti praetendere saepem,   270
insidias auibus moliri, incendere uepres
balantumque gregem fluuio mersare salubri.
saepe oleo tardi costas agitator aselli
uilibus aut onerat pomis, lapidemque reuertens

To turn the runnel's course, fence corn-fields in,
Make springes for the birds, burn up the briars,
And plunge in wholesome stream the bleating flock.
Oft too with oil or apples plenty-cheap
The creeping ass's ribs his driver packs,
And home from town returning brings instead

incusum aut atrae massam picis urbe reportat.   275
Ipsa dies alios alio dedit ordine luna
felicis operum. quintam fuge: pallidus Orcus
Eumenidesque satae; tum partu Terra nefando
Coeumque Iapetumque creat saeuumque Typhoea

A dented mill-stone or black lump of pitch.
The moon herself in various rank assigns
The days for labour lucky: fly the fifth;
Then sprang pale Orcus and the Eumenides;
Earth then in awful labour brought to light
Coeus, Iapetus, and Typhoeus fell,

et coniuratos caelum rescindere fratres.   280
ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam
scilicet atque Ossae frondosum inuoluere Olympum;
ter pater exstructos disiecit fulmine montis.
septima post decimam felix et ponere uitem

And those sworn brethren banded to break down
The gates of heaven; thrice, sooth to say, they strove
Ossa on Pelion's top to heave and heap,
Aye, and on Ossa to up-roll amain
Leafy Olympus; thrice with thunderbolt
Their mountain-stair the Sire asunder smote.
Seventh after tenth is lucky both to set

et prensos domitare boues et licia telae   285
addere. nona fugae melior, contraria furtis.
Multa adeo gelida melius se nocte dedere
aut cum sole nouo terras inrorat Eous.
nocte leues melius stipulae, nocte arida prata

The vine in earth, and take and tame the steer,
And fix the leashes to the warp; the ninth
To runagates is kinder, cross to thieves.
Many the tasks that lightlier lend themselves
In chilly night, or when the sun is young,
And Dawn bedews the world. By night 'tis best
To reap light stubble, and parched fields by night;

tondentur, noctes lentus non deficit umor.   290
et quidam seros hiberni ad luminis ignis
peruigilat ferroque faces inspicat acuto.
interea longum cantu solata laborem
arguto coniunx percurrit pectine telas,

For nights the suppling moisture never fails.
And one will sit the long late watches out
By winter fire-light, shaping with keen blade
The torches to a point; his wife the while,
Her tedious labour soothing with a song,
Speeds the shrill comb along the warp, or else

aut dulcis musti Volcano decoquit umorem   295
et foliis undam trepidi despumat aeni.
at rubicunda Ceres medio succiditur aestu
et medio tostas aestu terit area fruges.
nudus ara, sere nudus. hiems ignaua colono:

With Vulcan's aid boils the sweet must-juice down,
And skims with leaves the quivering cauldron's wave.
But ruddy Ceres in mid heat is mown,
And in mid heat the parched ears are bruised
Upon the floor; to plough strip, strip to sow;
Winter's the lazy time for husbandmen.

frigoribus parto agricolae plerumque fruuntur   300
mutuaque inter se laeti conuiuia curant.
inuitat genialis hiems curasque resoluit,
ceu pressae cum iam portum tetigere carinae,
puppibus et laeti nautae imposuere coronas.

In the cold season farmers wont to taste
The increase of their toil, and yield themselves
To mutual interchange of festal cheer.
Boon winter bids them, and unbinds their cares,
As laden keels, when now the port they touch,
And happy sailors crown the sterns with flowers.

sed tamen et quernas glandes tum stringere tempus   305
et lauri bacas oleamque cruentaque myrta,
tum gruibus pedicas et retia ponere ceruis
auritosque sequi lepores, tum figere dammas
stuppea torquentem Balearis uerbera fundae,

Nathless then also time it is to strip
Acorns from oaks, and berries from the bay,
Olives, and bleeding myrtles, then to set
Snares for the crane, and meshes for the stag,
And hunt the long-eared hares, then pierce the doe
With whirl of hempen-thonged Balearic sling,

cum nix alta iacet, glaciem cum flumina trudunt.   310
Quid tempestates autumni et sidera dicam,
atque, ubi iam breuiorque dies et mollior aestas,
quae uigilanda uiris? uel cum ruit imbriferum uer,
spicea iam campis cum messis inhorruit et cum

While snow lies deep, and streams are drifting ice.
What need to tell of autumn's storms and stars,
And wherefore men must watch, when now the day
Grows shorter, and more soft the summer's heat?
When Spring the rain-bringer comes rushing down,
Or when the beards of harvest on the plain
Bristle already, and the milky corn

frumenta in uiridi stipula lactentia turgent?   315
saepe ego, cum flauis messorem induceret aruis
agricola et fragili iam stringeret hordea culmo,
omnia uentorum concurrere proelia uidi,
quae grauidam late segetem ab radicibus imis

On its green stalk is swelling? Many a time,
When now the farmer to his yellow fields
The reaping-hind came bringing, even in act
To lop the brittle barley stems, have I
Seen all the windy legions clash in war
Together, as to rend up far and wide
The heavy corn-crop from its lowest roots,

sublimem expulsam eruerent: ita turbine nigro   320
ferret hiems culmumque leuem stipulasque uolantis.
saepe etiam immensum caelo uenit agmen aquarum
et foedam glomerant tempestatem imbribus atris
collectae ex alto nubes; ruit arduus aether

And toss it skyward: so might winter's flaw,
Dark-eddying, whirl light stalks and flying straws.
Oft too comes looming vast along the sky
A march of waters; mustering from above,
The clouds roll up the tempest, heaped and grim
With angry showers: down falls the height of heaven,
And with a great rain floods the smiling crops,

et pluuia ingenti sata laeta boumque labores   325
diluit; implentur fossae et caua flumina crescunt
cum sonitu feruetque fretis spirantibus aequor.
ipse pater media nimborum in nocte corusca
fulmina molitur dextra, quo maxima motu

The oxen's labour: now the dikes fill fast,
And the void river-beds swell thunderously,
And all the panting firths of Ocean boil.
The Sire himself in midnight of the clouds
Wields with red hand the levin; through all her bulk

terra tremit, fugere ferae et mortalia corda   330
per gentis humilis strauit pauor; ille flagranti
aut Atho aut Rhodopen aut alta Ceraunia telo
deicit; ingeminant Austri et densissimus imber;
nunc nemora ingenti uento, nunc litora plangunt.

Earth at the hurly quakes; the beasts are fled,
And mortal hearts of every kindred sunk
In cowering terror; he with flaming brand
Athos, or Rhodope, or Ceraunian crags
Precipitates: then doubly raves the South
With shower on blinding shower, and woods and coasts
Wail fitfully beneath the mighty blast.

hoc metuens caeli mensis et sidera serua,   335
frigida Saturni sese quo stella receptet,
quos ignis caelo Cyllenius erret in orbis.
in primis uenerare deos, atque annua magnae
sacra refer Cereri laetis operatus in herbis

This fearing, mark the months and Signs of heaven,
Whither retires him Saturn's icy star,
And through what heavenly cycles wandereth
The glowing orb Cyllenian. Before all
Worship the Gods, and to great Ceres pay
Her yearly dues upon the happy sward
With sacrifice, anigh the utmost end

extremae sub casum hiemis, iam uere sereno.   340
tum pingues agni et tum mollissima uina,
tum somni dulces densaeque in montibus umbrae.
cuncta tibi Cererem pubes agrestis adoret:
cui tu lacte fauos et miti dilue Baccho,

Of winter, and when Spring begins to smile.
Then lambs are fat, and wines are mellowest then;
Then sleep is sweet, and dark the shadows fall
Upon the mountains. Let your rustic youth
To Ceres do obeisance, one and all;
And for her pleasure thou mix honeycombs
With milk and the ripe wine-god; thrice for luck

terque nouas circum felix eat hostia fruges,   345
omnis quam chorus et socii comitentur ouantes
et Cererem clamore uocent in tecta; neque ante
falcem maturis quisquam supponat aristis
quam Cereri torta redimitus tempora quercu

Around the young corn let the victim go,
And all the choir, a joyful company,
Attend it, and with shouts bid Ceres come
To be their house-mate; and let no man dare
Put sickle to the ripened ears until,
With woven oak his temples chapleted,

det motus incompositos et carmina dicat.   350
Atque haec ut certis possemus discere signis,
aestusque pluuiasque et agentis frigora uentos,
ipse pater statuit quid menstrua luna moneret,
quo signo caderent Austri, quid saepe uidentes

He foot the rugged dance and chant the lay.
Aye, and that these things we might win to know
By certain tokens, heats, and showers, and winds
That bring the frost, the Sire of all himself
Ordained what warnings in her monthly round
The moon should give, what bodes the south wind's fall,
What oft-repeated sights the herdsman seeing

agricolae propius stabulis armenta tenerent.   355
continuo uentis surgentibus aut freta ponti
incipiunt agitata tumescere et aridus altis
montibus audiri fragor, aut resonantia longe
litora misceri et nemorum increbrescere murmur.

Should keep his cattle closer to their stalls.
No sooner are the winds at point to rise,
Than either Ocean's firths begin to toss
And swell, and a dry crackling sound is heard
Upon the heights, or one loud ferment booms
The beach afar, and through the forest goes
A murmur multitudinous. By this

iam sibi tum a curuis male temperat unda carinis,   360
cum medio celeres reuolant ex aequore mergi
clamoremque ferunt ad litora, cumque marinae
in sicco ludunt fulicae, notasque paludes
deserit atque altam supra uolat ardea nubem.

Scarce can the billow spare the curved keels,
When swift the sea-gulls from the middle main
Come winging, and their shrieks are shoreward borne,
When ocean-loving cormorants on dry land
Besport them, and the hern, her marshy haunts
Forsaking, mounts above the soaring cloud.

saepe etiam stellas uento impendente uidebis   365
praecipitis caelo labi, noctisque per umbram
flammarum longos a tergo albescere tractus;
saepe leuem paleam et frondes uolitare caducas
aut summa nantis in aqua conludere plumas.

Oft, too, when wind is toward, the stars thou'lt see
From heaven shoot headlong, and through murky night
Long trails of fire white-glistening in their wake,
Or light chaff flit in air with fallen leaves,
Or feathers on the wave-top float and play.
But when from regions of the furious North

at Boreae de parte trucis cum fulminat et cum   370
Eurique Zephyrique tonat domus, omnia plenis
rura natant fossis atque omnis nauita ponto
umida uela legit. numquam imprudentibus imber
obfuit: aut illum surgentem uallibus imis

It lightens, and when thunder fills the halls
Of Eurus and of Zephyr, all the fields
With brimming dikes are flooded, and at sea
No mariner but furls his dripping sails.
Never at unawares did shower annoy:
Or, as it rises, the high-soaring cranes
Flee to the vales before it, with face

aeriae fugere grues, aut bucula caelum   375
suspiciens patulis captauit naribus auras,
aut arguta lacus circumuolitauit hirundo
et ueterem in limo ranae cecinere querelam.
saepius et tectis penetralibus extulit oua

Upturned to heaven, the heifer snuffs the gale
Through gaping nostrils, or about the meres
Shrill-twittering flits the swallow, and the frogs
Crouch in the mud and chant their dirge of old.
Oft, too, the ant from out her inmost cells,

angustum formica terens iter, et bibit ingens   380
arcus, et e pastu decedens agmine magno
coruorum increpuit densis exercitus alis.
iam uariae pelagi uolucres et quae Asia circum
dulcibus in stagnis rimantur prata Caystri—

Fretting the narrow path, her eggs conveys;
Or the huge bow sucks moisture; or a host
Of rooks from food returning in long line
Clamour with jostling wings. Now mayst thou see
The various ocean-fowl and those that pry
Round Asian meads within thy fresher-pools,
Cayster, as in eager rivalry,

certatim largos umeris infundere rores,   385
nunc caput obiectare fretis, nunc currere in undas
et studio incassum uideas gestire lauandi.
tum cornix plena pluuiam uocat improba uoce
et sola in sicca secum spatiatur harena.

About their shoulders dash the plenteous spray,
Now duck their head beneath the wave, now run
Into the billows, for sheer idle joy
Of their mad bathing-revel. Then the crow
With full voice, good-for-naught, inviting rain,
Stalks on the dry sand mateless and alone.

ne nocturna quidem carpentes pensa puellae   390
nesciuere hiemem, testa cum ardente uiderent
scintillare oleum et putris concrescere fungos.
Nec minus ex imbri soles et aperta serena
prospicere et certis poteris cognoscere signis:

Nor e'en the maids, that card their nightly task,
Know not the storm-sign, when in blazing crock
They see the lamp-oil sputtering with a growth
Of mouldy snuff-clots.
So too, after rain,
Sunshine and open skies thou mayst forecast,
And learn by tokens sure, for then nor dimmed

nam neque tum stellis acies obtunsa uidetur,   395
nec fratris radiis obnoxia surgere Luna,
tenuia nec lanae per caelum uellera ferri;
non tepidum ad solem pennas in litore pandunt
dilectae Thetidi alcyones, non ore solutos

Appear the stars' keen edges, nor the moon
As borrowing of her brother's beams to rise,
Nor fleecy films to float along the sky.
Not to the sun's warmth then upon the shore
Do halcyons dear to Thetis ope their wings,
Nor filthy swine take thought to toss on high

immundi meminere sues iactare maniplos.   400
at nebulae magis ima petunt campoque recumbunt,
solis et occasum seruans de culmine summo
nequiquam seros exercet noctua cantus.
apparet liquido sublimis in aere Nisus,

With scattering snout the straw-wisps. But the clouds
Seek more the vales, and rest upon the plain,
And from the roof-top the night-owl for naught
Watching the sunset plies her 'lated song.
Distinct in clearest air is Nisus seen

et pro purpureo poenas dat Scylla capillo:   405
quacumque illa leuem fugiens secat aethera pennis,
ecce inimicus atrox magno stridore per auras
insequitur Nisus; qua se fert Nisus ad auras,
illa leuem fugiens raptim secat aethera pennis.

Towering, and Scylla for the purple lock
Pays dear; for whereso, as she flies, her wings
The light air winnow, lo! fierce, implacable,
Nisus with mighty whirr through heaven pursues;
Where Nisus heavenward soareth, there her wings
Clutch as she flies, the light air winnowing still.

tum liquidas corui presso ter gutture uoces   410
aut quater ingeminant, et saepe cubilibus altis
nescio qua praeter solitum dulcedine laeti
inter se in foliis strepitant; iuuat imbribus actis
progeniem paruam dulcisque reuisere nidos.

Soft then the voice of rooks from indrawn throat
Thrice, four times, o'er repeated, and full oft
On their high cradles, by some hidden joy
Gladdened beyond their wont, in bustling throngs
Among the leaves they riot; so sweet it is,
When showers are spent, their own loved nests again
And tender brood to visit. Not, I deem,

haud equidem credo, quia sit diuinitus illis   415
ingenium aut rerum fato prudentia maior;
uerum ubi tempestas et caeli mobilis umor
mutauere uias et Iuppiter uuidus Austris
denset erant quae rara modo, et quae densa relaxat,

That heaven some native wit to these assigned,
Or fate a larger prescience, but that when
The storm and shifting moisture of the air
Have changed their courses, and the sky-god now,
Wet with the south-wind, thickens what was rare,
And what was gross releases, then, too, change

uertuntur species animorum, et pectora motus   420
nunc alios, alios dum nubila uentus agebat,
concipiunt: hinc ille auium concentus in agris
et laetae pecudes et ouantes gutture corui.
Si uero solem ad rapidum lunasque sequentis

Their spirits' fleeting phases, and their breasts
Feel other motions now, than when the wind
Was driving up the cloud-rack. Hence proceeds
That blending of the feathered choirs afield,
The cattle's exultation, and the rooks'
Deep-throated triumph.
But if the headlong sun
And moons in order following thou regard,

ordine respicies, numquam te crastina fallet   425
hora, neque insidiis noctis capiere serenae.
luna reuertentis cum primum colligit ignis,
si nigrum obscuro comprenderit aera cornu,
maximus agricolis pelagoque parabitur imber;

Ne'er will to-morrow's hour deceive thee, ne'er
Wilt thou be caught by guile of cloudless night.
When first the moon recalls her rallying fires,
If dark the air clipped by her crescent dim,
For folks afield and on the open sea
A mighty rain is brewing; but if her face

at si uirgineum suffuderit ore ruborem,   430
uentus erit: uento semper rubet aurea Phoebe.
sin ortu quarto (namque is certissimus auctor)
pura neque obtunsis per caelum cornibus ibit,
totus et ille dies et qui nascentur ab illo

With maiden blush she mantle, 'twill be wind,
For wind turns Phoebe still to ruddier gold.
But if at her fourth rising, for 'tis that
Gives surest counsel, clear she ride thro' heaven
With horns unblunted, then shall that whole day,
And to the month's end those that spring from it,

exactum ad mensem pluuia uentisque carebunt,   435
uotaque seruati soluent in litore nautae
Glauco et Panopeae et Inoo Melicertae.
sol quoque et exoriens et cum se condet in undas
signa dabit; solem certissima signa sequentur,

Rainless and windless be, while safe ashore
Shall sailors pay their vows to Panope,
Glaucus, and Melicertes, Ino's child.
The sun too, both at rising, and when soon
He dives beneath the waves, shall yield thee signs;
For signs, none trustier, travel with the sun,

et quae mane refert et quae surgentibus astris.   440
ille ubi nascentem maculis uariauerit ortum
conditus in nubem medioque refugerit orbe,
suspecti tibi sint imbres: namque urget ab alto
arboribusque satisque Notus pecorique sinister.

Both those which in their course with dawn he brings,
And those at star-rise. When his springing orb
With spots he pranketh, muffled in a cloud,
And shrinks mid-circle, then of showers beware;
For then the South comes driving from the deep,
To trees and crops and cattle bringing bane.

aut ubi sub lucem densa inter nubila sese   445
diuersi rumpent radii, aut ubi pallida surget
Tithoni croceum linquens Aurora cubile,
heu, male tum mitis defendet pampinus uuas:
tam multa in tectis crepitans salit horrida grando.

Or when at day-break through dark clouds his rays
Burst and are scattered, or when rising pale
Aurora quits Tithonus' saffron bed,
But sorry shelter then, alack I will yield
Vine-leaf to ripening grapes; so thick a hail
In spiky showers spins rattling on the roof.
And this yet more 'twill boot thee bear in mind,

hoc etiam, emenso cum iam decedit Olympo,   450
profuerit meminisse magis; nam saepe uidemus
ipsius in uultu uarios errare colores:
caeruleus pluuiam denuntiat, igneus Euros;
sin maculae incipiunt rutilo immiscerier igni,

When now, his course upon Olympus run,
He draws to his decline: for oft we see
Upon the sun's own face strange colours stray;
Dark tells of rain, of east winds fiery-red;
If spots with ruddy fire begin to mix,
Then all the heavens convulsed in wrath thou'lt see-

omnia tum pariter uento nimbisque uidebis   455
feruere: non illa quisquam me nocte per altum
ire neque a terra moneat conuellere funem.
at si, cum referetque diem condetque relatum,
lucidus orbis erit, frustra terrebere nimbis

Storm-clouds and wind together. Me that night
Let no man bid fare forth upon the deep,
Nor rend the rope from shore. But if, when both
He brings again and hides the day's return,
Clear-orbed he shineth, idly wilt thou dread

et claro siluas cernes Aquilone moueri.   460
denique, quid Vesper serus uehat, unde serenas
uentus agat nubes, quid cogitet umidus Auster,
sol tibi signa dabit. solem quis dicere falsum
audeat? ille etiam caecos instare tumultus

The storm-clouds, and beneath the lustral North
See the woods waving. What late eve in fine
Bears in her bosom, whence the wind that brings
Fair-weather-clouds, or what the rain South
Is meditating, tokens of all these
The sun will give thee. Who dare charge the sun
With leasing? He it is who warneth oft
Of hidden broils at hand and treachery,

saepe monet fraudemque et operta tumescere bella;   465
ille etiam exstincto miseratus Caesare Romam,
cum caput obscura nitidum ferrugine texit
impiaque aeternam timuerunt saecula noctem.
tempore quamquam illo tellus quoque et aequora ponti,

And secret swelling of the waves of war.
He too it was, when Caesar's light was quenched,
For Rome had pity, when his bright head he veiled
In iron-hued darkness, till a godless age
Trembled for night eternal; at that time
Howbeit earth also, and the ocean-plains,

obscenaeque canes importunaeque uolucres   470
signa dabant. quotiens Cyclopum efferuere in agros
uidimus undantem ruptis fornacibus Aetnam,
flammarumque globos liquefactaque uoluere saxa!
armorum sonitum toto Germania caelo

And dogs obscene, and birds of evil bode
Gave tokens. Yea, how often have we seen
Etna, her furnace-walls asunder riven,
In billowy floods boil o'er the Cyclops' fields,
And roll down globes of fire and molten rocks!
A clash of arms through all the heaven was heard

audiit, insolitis tremuerunt motibus Alpes.   475
uox quoque per lucos uulgo exaudita silentis
ingens, et simulacra modis pallentia miris
uisa sub obscurum noctis, pecudesque locutae
(infandum!); sistunt amnes terraeque dehiscunt,

By Germany; strange heavings shook the Alps.
Yea, and by many through the breathless groves
A voice was heard with power, and wondrous-pale
Phantoms were seen upon the dusk of night,
And cattle spake, portentous! streams stand still,
And the earth yawns asunder, ivory weeps

et maestum inlacrimat templis ebur aeraque sudant.   480
proluit insano contorquens uertice siluas
fluuiorum rex Eridanus camposque per omnis
cum stabulis armenta tulit. nec tempore eodem
tristibus aut extis fibrae apparere minaces

For sorrow in the shrines, and bronzes sweat.
Up-twirling forests with his eddying tide,
Madly he bears them down, that lord of floods,
Eridanus, till through all the plain are swept
Beasts and their stalls together. At that time
In gloomy entrails ceased not to appear

aut puteis manare cruor cessauit, et altae   485
per noctem resonare lupis ululantibus urbes.
non alias caelo ceciderunt plura sereno
fulgura nec diri totiens arsere cometae.
ergo inter sese paribus concurrere telis

Dark-threatening fibres, springs to trickle blood,
And high-built cities night-long to resound
With the wolves' howling. Never more than then
From skies all cloudless fell the thunderbolts,
Nor blazed so oft the comet's fire of bale.
Therefore a second time Philippi saw

Romanas acies iterum uidere Philippi;   490
nec fuit indignum superis bis sanguine nostro
Emathiam et latos Haemi pinguescere campos.
scilicet et tempus ueniet, cum finibus illis
agricola incuruo terram molitus aratro

The Roman hosts with kindred weapons rush
To battle, nor did the high gods deem it hard
That twice Emathia and the wide champaign
Of Haemus should be fattening with our blood.
Ay, and the time will come when there anigh,
Heaving the earth up with his curved plough,

exesa inueniet scabra robigine pila,   495
aut grauibus rastris galeas pulsabit inanis
grandiaque effossis mirabitur ossa sepulcris.
di patrii Indigetes et Romule Vestaque mater,
quae Tuscum Tiberim et Romana Palatia seruas,

Some swain will light on javelins by foul rust
Corroded, or with ponderous harrow strike
On empty helmets, while he gapes to see
Bones as of giants from the trench untombed.
Gods of my country, heroes of the soil,
And Romulus, and Mother Vesta, thou
Who Tuscan Tiber and Rome's Palatine

hunc saltem euerso iuuenem succurrere saeclo   500
ne prohibete. satis iam pridem sanguine nostro
Laomedonteae luimus periuria Troiae;
iam pridem nobis caeli te regia, Caesar,
inuidet atque hominum queritur curare triumphos,

Preservest, this new champion at the least
Our fallen generation to repair
Forbid not. To the full and long ago
Our blood thy Trojan perjuries hath paid,
Laomedon. Long since the courts of heaven
Begrudge us thee, our Caesar, and complain
That thou regard'st the triumphs of mankind,

quippe ubi fas uersum atque nefas: tot bella per orbem,   505
tam multae scelerum facies, non ullus aratro
dignus honos, squalent abductis arua colonis,
et curuae rigidum falces conflantur in ensem.
hinc mouet Euphrates, illinc Germania bellum;

Here where the wrong is right, the right is wrong,
Where wars abound so many, and myriad-faced
Is crime; where no meet honour hath the plough;
The fields, their husbandmen led far away,
Rot in neglect, and curved pruning-hooks
Into the sword's stiff blade are fused and forged.
Euphrates here, here Germany new strife

uicinae ruptis inter se legibus urbes   510
arma ferunt; saeuit toto Mars impius orbe,
ut cum carceribus sese effudere quadrigae,
addunt in spatia, et frustra retinacula tendens
fertur equis auriga neque audit currus habenas.

Is stirring; neighbouring cities are in arms,
The laws that bound them snapped; and godless war
Rages through all the universe; as when
The four-horse chariots from the barriers poured
Still quicken o'er the course, and, idly now
Grasping the reins, the driver by his team
Is onward borne, nor heeds the car his curb.

P. VERGILI MARONIS GEORGICON

LIBER SECVNDVS   1

 

GEORGIC II

Hactenus aruorum cultus et sidera caeli;
nunc te, Bacche, canam, nec non siluestria tecum
uirgulta et prolem tarde crescentis oliuae.
huc, pater o Lenaee: tuis hic omnia plena

Thus far the tilth of fields and stars of heaven;
Now will I sing thee, Bacchus, and, with thee,
The forest's young plantations and the fruit
Of slow-maturing olive. Hither haste,
O Father of the wine-press; all things here
Teem with the bounties of thy hand; for thee

muneribus, tibi pampineo grauidus autumno   5
floret ager, spumat plenis uindemia labris;
huc, pater o Lenaee, ueni, nudataque musto
tinge nouo mecum dereptis crura coturnis.
 
Principio arboribus uaria est natura creandis.

With viny autumn laden blooms the field,
And foams the vintage high with brimming vats;
Hither, O Father of the wine-press, come,
And stripped of buskin stain thy bared limbs
In the new must with me. First, nature's law
For generating trees is manifold;

namque aliae nullis hominum cogentibus ipsae   10
sponte sua ueniunt camposque et flumina late
curua tenent, ut molle siler lentaeque genistae,
populus et glauca canentia fronde salicta;
pars autem posito surgunt de semine, ut altae

For some of their own force spontaneous spring,
No hand of man compelling, and possess
The plains and river-windings far and wide,
As pliant osier and the bending broom,
Poplar, and willows in wan companies
With green leaf glimmering gray; and some there be
From chance-dropped seed that rear them, as the tall

castaneae, nemorumque Ioui quae maxima frondet   15
aesculus, atque habitae Grais oracula quercus.
pullulat ab radice aliis densissima silua,
ut cerasis ulmisque; etiam Parnasia laurus
parua sub ingenti matris se subicit umbra.

Chestnuts, and, mightiest of the branching wood,
Jove's Aesculus, and oaks, oracular
Deemed by the Greeks of old. With some sprouts forth
A forest of dense suckers from the root,
As elms and cherries; so, too, a pigmy plant,
Beneath its mother's mighty shade upshoots
The bay-tree of Parnassus. Such the modes

hos natura modos primum dedit, his genus omne   20
siluarum fruticumque uiret nemorumque sacrorum.
sunt alii, quos ipse uia sibi repperit usus:
hic plantas tenero abscindens de corpore matrum
deposuit sulcis, hic stirpes obruit aruo,

Nature imparted first; hence all the race
Of forest-trees and shrubs and sacred groves
Springs into verdure. Other means there are,
Which use by method for itself acquired.
One, sliving suckers from the tender frame
Of the tree-mother, plants them in the trench;
One buries the bare stumps within his field,

quadrifidasque sudes et acuto robore uallos.   25
siluarumque aliae pressos propaginis arcus
exspectant et uiua sua plantaria terra;
nil radicis egent aliae summumque putator
haud dubitat terrae referens mandare cacumen.

Truncheons cleft four-wise, or sharp-pointed stakes;
Some forest-trees the layer's bent arch await,
And slips yet quick within the parent-soil;
No root need others, nor doth the pruner's hand
Shrink to restore the topmost shoot to earth

quin et caudicibus sectis (mirabile dictu)   30
truditur e sicco radix oleagina ligno;
et saepe alterius ramos impune uidemus
uertere in alterius, mutatamque insita mala
ferre pirum et prunis lapidosa rubescere corna.

That gave it being. Nay, marvellous to tell,
Lopped of its limbs, the olive, a mere stock,
Still thrusts its root out from the sapless wood,
And oft the branches of one kind we see
Change to another's with no loss to rue,
Pear-tree transformed the ingrafted apple yield,
And stony cornels on the plum-tree blush.

Quare agite o proprios generatim discite cultus,   35
agricolae, fructusque feros mollite colendo,
neu segnes iaceant terrae. iuuat Ismara Baccho
conserere atque olea magnum uestire Taburnum.
tuque ades inceptumque una decurre laborem,

Come then, and learn what tilth to each belongs
According to their kinds, ye husbandmen,
And tame with culture the wild fruits, lest earth
Lie idle. O blithe to make all Ismarus
One forest of the wine-god, and to clothe
With olives huge Tabernus! And be thou
At hand, and with me ply the voyage of toil
I am bound on, O my glory, O thou that art

o decus, o famae merito pars maxima nostrae,   40
Maecenas, pelagoque uolans da uela patenti.
non ego cuncta meis amplecti uersibus opto,
non, mihi si linguae centum sint oraque centum,
ferrea uox. ades et primi lege litoris oram;

Justly the chiefest portion of my fame,
Maecenas, and on this wide ocean launched
Spread sail like wings to waft thee. Not that I
With my poor verse would comprehend the whole,
Nay, though a hundred tongues, a hundred mouths
Were mine, a voice of iron; be thou at hand,
Skirt but the nearer coast-line; see the shore

in manibus terrae. non hic te carmine ficto   45
atque per ambages et longa exorsa tenebo.
Sponte sua quae se tollunt in luminis oras,
infecunda quidem, sed laeta et fortia surgunt;
quippe solo natura subest. tamen haec quoque, si quis

Is in our grasp; not now with feigned song
Through winding bouts and tedious preludings
Shall I detain thee. Those that lift their head
Into the realms of light spontaneously,
Fruitless indeed, but blithe and strenuous spring,
Since Nature lurks within the soil. And yet

inserat aut scrobibus mandet mutata subactis,   50
exuerint siluestrem animum, cultuque frequenti
in quascumque uoles artis haud tarda sequentur.
nec non et, sterilis quae stirpibus exit ab imis,
hoc faciat, uacuos si sit digesta per agros;

Even these, should one engraft them, or transplant
To well-drilled trenches, will anon put of
Their woodland temper, and, by frequent tilth,
To whatso craft thou summon them, make speed
To follow. So likewise will the barren shaft
That from the stock-root issueth, if it be
Set out with clear space amid open fields:

nunc altae frondes et rami matris opacant   55
crescentique adimunt fetus uruntque ferentem.
iam quae seminibus iactis se sustulit arbos,
tarda uenit seris factura nepotibus umbram,
pomaque degenerant sucos oblita priores

Now the tree-mother's towering leaves and boughs
Darken, despoil of increase as it grows,
And blast it in the bearing. Lastly, that
Which from shed seed ariseth, upward wins
But slowly, yielding promise of its shade
To late-born generations; apples wane
Forgetful of their former juice, the grape

et turpis auibus praedam fert uua racemos.   60
scilicet omnibus est labor impendendus, et omnes
cogendae in sulcum ac multa mercede domandae.
sed truncis oleae melius, propagine uites
respondent, solido Paphiae de robore myrtus,

Bears sorry clusters, for the birds a prey.
Soothly on all must toil be spent, and all
Trained to the trench and at great cost subdued.
But reared from truncheons olives answer best,
As vines from layers, and from the solid wood
The Paphian myrtles; while from suckers spring

plantis edurae coryli. nascuntur et ingens   65
fraxinus Herculeaeque arbos umbrosa coronae,
Chaoniique patris glandes; etiam ardua palma
nascitur et casus abies uisura marinos.
inseritur uero et fetu nucis arbutus horrida,

Both hardy hazels and huge ash, the tree
That rims with shade the brows of Hercules,
And acorns dear to the Chaonian sire:
So springs the towering palm too, and the fir
Destined to spy the dangers of the deep.
But the rough arbutus with walnut-fruit

et steriles platani malos gessere ualentis,   70
castaneae fagos; ornusque incanuit albo
flore piri glandemque sues fregere sub ulmis.
     Nec modus inserere atque oculos imponere simplex.
nam qua se medio trudunt de cortice gemmae

Is grafted; so have barren planes ere now
Stout apples borne, with chestnut-flower the beech,
The mountain-ash with pear-bloom whitened o'er,
And swine crunched acorns 'neath the boughs of elms.
Nor is the method of inserting eyes
And grafting one: for where the buds push forth
Amidst the bark, and burst the membranes thin,

et tenuis rumpunt tunicas, angustus in ipso   75
fit nodo sinus; huc aliena ex arbore germen
includunt udoque docent inolescere libro.
aut rursum enodes trunci resecantur, et alte
finditur in solidum cuneis uia, deinde feraces

Even on the knot a narrow rift is made,
Wherein from some strange tree a germ they pen,
And to the moist rind bid it cleave and grow.
Or, otherwise, in knotless trunks is hewn
A breach, and deep into the solid grain
A path with wedges cloven; then fruitful slips

plantae immittuntur: nec longum tempus, et ingens   80
exiit ad caelum ramis felicibus arbos,
miratastque nouas frondes et non sua poma.
     Praeterea genus haud unum nec fortibus ulmis
nec salici lotoque neque Idaeis cyparissis,

Are set herein, and- no long time- behold!
To heaven upshot with teeming boughs, the tree
Strange leaves admires and fruitage not its own.
Nor of one kind alone are sturdy elms,
Willow and lotus, nor the cypress-trees
Of Ida; nor of self-same fashion spring

nec pingues unam in faciem nascuntur oliuae,   85
orchades et radii et amara pausia baca,
pomaque et Alcinoi siluae, nec surculus idem
Crustumiis Syriisque piris grauibusque uolemis.
non eadem arboribus pendet uindemia nostris

Fat olives, orchades, and radii
And bitter-berried pausians, no, nor yet
Apples and the forests of Alcinous;
Nor from like cuttings are Crustumian pears
And Syrian, and the heavy hand-fillers.
Not the same vintage from our trees hangs down,

quam Methymnaeo carpit de palmite Lesbos;   90
sunt Thasiae uites, sunt et Mareotides albae,
pinguibus hae terris habiles, leuioribus illae,
et passo psithia utilior tenuisque lageos
temptatura pedes olim uincturaque linguam,

Which Lesbos from Methymna's tendril plucks.
Vines Thasian are there, Mareotids white,
These apt for richer soils, for lighter those:
Psithian for raisin-wine more useful, thin
Lageos, that one day will try the feet
And tie the tongue: purples and early-ripes,

purpureae praeciaeque et, quo te carmine dicam,   95
Rhaetica? nec cellis ideo contende Falernis.
sunt et Aminneae uites, firmissima uina,
Tmolius adsurgit quibus et rex ipse Phanaeus,
argitisque minor, cui non certauerit ulla

And how, O Rhaetian, shall I hymn thy praise?
Yet cope not therefore with Falernian bins.
Vines Aminaean too, best-bodied wine,
To which the Tmolian bows him, ay, and king
Phanaeus too, and, lesser of that name,
Argitis, wherewith not a grape can vie

aut tantum fluere aut totidem durare per annos.   100
non ego te, dis et mensis accepta secundis,
transierim, Rhodia, et tumidis, bumaste, racemis.
sed neque quam multae species nec nomina quae sint
est numerus, neque enim numero comprendere refert;

For gush of wine-juice or for length of years.
Nor thee must I pass over, vine of Rhodes,
Welcomed by gods and at the second board,
Nor thee, Bumastus, with plump clusters swollen.
But lo! how many kinds, and what their names,
There is no telling, nor doth it boot to tell;

quem qui scire uelit, Libyci uelit aequoris idem   105
dicere quam multae Zephyro turbentur harenae
aut, ubi nauigiis uiolentior incidit Eurus,
nosse quot Ionii ueniant ad litora fluctus.
Nec uero terrae ferre omnes omnia possunt.

Who lists to know it, he too would list to learn
How many sand-grains are by Zephyr tossed
On Libya's plain, or wot, when Eurus falls
With fury on the ships, how many waves
Come rolling shoreward from the Ionian sea.
Not that all soils can all things bear alike.

fluminibus salices crassisque paludibus alni   110
nascuntur, steriles saxosis montibus orni;
litora myrtetis laetissima; denique apertos
Bacchus amat collis, Aquilonem et frigora taxi.
aspice et extremis domitum cultoribus orbem

Willows by water-courses have their birth,
Alders in miry fens; on rocky heights
The barren mountain-ashes; on the shore
Myrtles throng gayest; Bacchus, lastly, loves
The bare hillside, and yews the north wind's chill.
Mark too the earth by outland tillers tamed,

Eoasque domos Arabum pictosque Gelonos:  115
diuisae arboribus patriae. sola India nigrum
fert hebenum, solis est turea uirga Sabaeis.
quid tibi odorato referam sudantia ligno
balsamaque et bacas semper frondentis acanthi?

And Eastern homes of Arabs, and tattooed
Geloni; to all trees their native lands
Allotted are; no clime but India bears
Black ebony; the branch of frankincense
Is Saba's sons' alone; why tell to thee
Of balsams oozing from the perfumed wood,
Or berries of acanthus ever green?

quid nemora Aethiopum molli canentia lana,   120
uelleraque ut foliis depectant tenuia Seres?
aut quos Oceano propior gerit India lucos,
extremi sinus orbis, ubi aera uincere summum
arboris haud ullae iactu potuere sagittae?—

Of Aethiop forests hoar with downy wool,
Or how the Seres comb from off the leaves
Their silky fleece? Of groves which India bears,
Ocean's near neighbour, earth's remotest nook,
Where not an arrow-shot can cleave the air

et gens illa quidem sumptis non tarda pharetris.   125
Media fert tristis sucos tardumque saporem
felicis mali, quo non praesentius ullum,
pocula si quando saeuae infecere nouercae,
[miscueruntque herbas et non innoxia uerba,]

Above their tree-tops? yet no laggards they,
When girded with the quiver! Media yields
The bitter juices and slow-lingering taste
Of the blest citron-fruit, than which no aid
Comes timelier, when fierce step-dames drug the cup
With simples mixed and spells of baneful power,

auxilium uenit ac membris agit atra uenena.   130
ipsa ingens arbos faciemque simillima lauro,
et, si non alium late iactaret odorem,
laurus erat: folia haud ullis labentia uentis,
flos ad prima tenax; animas et olentia Medi

To drive the deadly poison from the limbs.
Large the tree's self in semblance like a bay,
And, showered it not a different scent abroad,
A bay it had been; for no wind of heaven
Its foliage falls; the flower, none faster, clings;
With it the Medes for sweetness lave the lips,

ora fouent illo et senibus medicantur anhelis.   135
     Sed neque Medorum siluae, ditissima terra,
nec pulcher Ganges atque auro turbidus Hermus
laudibus Italiae certent, non Bactra neque Indi
totaque turiferis Panchaia pinguis harenis.

And ease the panting breathlessness of age.
But no, not Mede-land with its wealth of woods,
Nor Ganges fair, and Hermus thick with gold,
Can match the praise of Italy; nor Ind,
Nor Bactria, nor Panchaia, one wide tract
Of incense-teeming sand. Here never bulls

haec loca non tauri spirantes naribus ignem   140
inuertere satis immanis dentibus hydri,
nec galeis densisque uirum seges horruit hastis;
sed grauidae fruges et Bacchi Massicus umor
impleuere; tenent oleae armentaque laeta.

With nostrils snorting fire upturned the sod
Sown with the monstrous dragon's teeth, nor crop
Of warriors bristled thick with lance and helm;
But heavy harvests and the Massic juice
Of Bacchus fill its borders, overspread
With fruitful flocks and olives. Hence arose

hinc bellator equus campo sese arduus infert,   145
hinc albi, Clitumne, greges et maxima taurus
uictima, saepe tuo perfusi flumine sacro,
Romanos ad templa deum duxere triumphos.
hic uer adsiduum atque alienis mensibus aestas:

The war-horse stepping proudly o'er the plain;
Hence thy white flocks, Clitumnus, and the bull,
Of victims mightiest, which full oft have led,
Bathed in thy sacred stream, the triumph-pomp
Of Romans to the temples of the gods.
Here blooms perpetual spring, and summer here
In months that are not summer's; twice teem the flocks;

bis grauidae pecudes, bis pomis utilis arbos.   150
at rabidae tigres absunt et saeua leonum
semina, nec miseros fallunt aconita legentis,
nec rapit immensos orbis per humum neque tanto
squameus in spiram tractu se colligit anguis.

Twice doth the tree yield service of her fruit.
But ravening tigers come not nigh, nor breed
Of savage lion, nor aconite betrays
Its hapless gatherers, nor with sweep so vast
Doth the scaled serpent trail his endless coils
Along the ground, or wreathe him into spires.

adde tot egregias urbes operumque laborem,   155
tot congesta manu praeruptis oppida saxis
fluminaque antiquos subter labentia muros.
an mare quod supra memorem, quodque adluit infra?
anne lacus tantos? te, Lari maxime, teque,

Mark too her cities, so many and so proud,
Of mighty toil the achievement, town on town
Up rugged precipices heaved and reared,
And rivers undergliding ancient walls.
Or should I celebrate the sea that laves
Her upper shores and lower? or those broad lakes?
Thee, Larius, greatest and, Benacus, thee

fluctibus et fremitu adsurgens Benace marino?   160
an memorem portus Lucrinoque addita claustra
atque indignatum magnis stridoribus aequor,
Iulia qua ponto longe sonat unda refuso
Tyrrhenusque fretis immittitur aestus Auernis?

With billowy uproar surging like the main?
Or sing her harbours, and the barrier cast
Athwart the Lucrine, and how ocean chafes
With mighty bellowings, where the Julian wave
Echoes the thunder of his rout, and through
Avernian inlets pours the Tuscan tide?
A land no less that in her veins displays

haec eadem argenti riuos aerisque metalla   165
ostendit uenis atque auro plurima fluxit.
haec genus acre uirum, Marsos pubemque Sabellam
adsuetumque malo Ligurem Volscosque uerutos
extulit, haec Decios Marios magnosque Camillos,

Rivers of silver, mines of copper ore,
Ay, and with gold hath flowed abundantly.
A land that reared a valiant breed of men,
The Marsi and Sabellian youth, and, schooled
To hardship, the Ligurian, and with these
The Volscian javelin-armed, the Decii too,
The Marii and Camilli, names of might,

Scipiadas duros bello et te, maxime Caesar,   170
qui nunc extremis Asiae iam uictor in oris
imbellem auertis Romanis arcibus Indum.
salue, magna parens frugum, Saturnia tellus,
magna uirum: tibi res antiquae laudis et artem

The Scipios, stubborn warriors, ay, and thee,
Great Caesar, who in Asia's utmost bounds
With conquering arm e'en now art fending far
The unwarlike Indian from the heights of Rome.
Hail! land of Saturn, mighty mother thou
Of fruits and heroes; 'tis for thee I dare
Unseal the sacred fountains, and essay

ingredior sanctos ausus recludere fontis,   175
Ascraeumque cano Romana per oppida carmen.
     
Nunc locus aruorum ingeniis, quae robora cuique,
quis color et quae sit rebus natura ferendis.
difficiles primum terrae collesque maligni,

Themes of old art and glory, as I sing
The song of Ascra through the towns of Rome.
Now for the native gifts of various soils,
What powers hath each, what hue, what natural bent
For yielding increase. First your stubborn lands
And churlish hill-sides, where are thorny fields

tenuis ubi argilla et dumosis calculus aruis,   180
Palladia gaudent silua uiuacis oliuae:
indicio est tractu surgens oleaster eodem
plurimus et strati bacis siluestribus agri.
at quae pinguis humus dulcique uligine laeta,

Of meagre marl and gravel, these delight
In long-lived olive-groves to Pallas dear.
Take for a sign the plenteous growth hard by
Of oleaster, and the fields strewn wide
With woodland berries. But a soil that's rich,
In moisture sweet exulting, and the plain

quique frequens herbis et fertilis ubere campus,   185
qualem saepe caua montis conualle solemus
despicere (huc summis liquuntur rupibus amnes
felicemque trahunt limum), quique editus Austro
et filicem curuis inuisam pascit aratris:

That teems with grasses on its fruitful breast,
Such as full oft in hollow mountain-dell
We view beneath us- from the craggy heights
Streams thither flow with fertilizing mud-
A plain which southward rising feeds the fern
By curved ploughs detested, this one day
Shall yield thee store of vines full strong to gush
In torrents of the wine-god; this shall be

hic tibi praeualidas olim multoque fluentis   190
sufficiet Baccho uitis, hic fertilis uuae,
hic laticis, qualem pateris libamus et auro,
inflauit cum pinguis ebur Tyrrhenus ad aras,
lancibus et pandis fumantia reddimus exta.

Fruitful of grapes and flowing juice like that
We pour to heaven from bowls of gold, what time
The sleek Etruscan at the altar blows
His ivory pipe, and on the curved dish
We lay the reeking entrails. If to rear

sin armenta magis studium uitulosque tueri   195
aut ouium fetum aut urentis culta capellas,
saltus et saturi petito longinqua Tarenti,
et qualem infelix amisit Mantua campum
pascentem niueos herboso flumine cycnos:

Cattle delight thee rather, steers, or lambs,
Or goats that kill the tender plants, then seek
Full-fed Tarentum's glades and distant fields,
Or such a plain as luckless Mantua lost
Whose weedy water feeds the snow-white swan:

non liquidi gregibus fontes, non gramina deerunt,   200
et quantum longis carpent armenta diebus
exigua tantum gelidus ros nocte reponet.
nigra fere et presso pinguis sub uomere terra
et cui putre solum (namque hoc imitamur arando),

There nor clear springs nor grass the flocks will fail,
And all the day-long browsing of thy herds
Shall the cool dews of one brief night repair.
Land which the burrowing share shows dark and rich,
With crumbling soil- for this we counterfeit

optima frumentis: non ullo ex aequore cernes   205
plura domum tardis decedere plaustra iuuencis;
aut unde iratus siluam deuexit arator
et nemora euertit multos ignaua per annos,
antiquasque domos auium cum stirpibus imis

In ploughing- for corn is goodliest; from no field
More wains thou'lt see wend home with plodding steers;
Or that from which the husbandman in spleen
Has cleared the timber, and o'erthrown the copse
That year on year lay idle, and from the roots
Uptorn the immemorial haunt of birds;

eruit; illae altum nidis petiere relictis,   210
at rudis enituit impulso uomere campus.
nam ieiuna quidem cliuosi glarea ruris
uix humilis apibus casias roremque ministrat;
et tofus scaber et nigris exesa chelydris

They banished from their nests have sought the skies;
But the rude plain beneath the ploughshare's stroke
Starts into sudden brightness. For indeed
The starved hill-country gravel scarce serves the bees
With lowly cassias and with rosemary;
Rough tufa and chalk too, by black water-worms
Gnawed through and through, proclaim no soils beside

creta negant alios aeque serpentibus agros   215
dulcem ferre cibum et curuas praebere latebras.
quae tenuem exhalat nebulam fumosque uolucris,
et bibit umorem et, cum uult, ex se ipsa remittit,
quaeque suo semper uiridi se gramine uestit

So rife with serpent-dainties, or that yield
Such winding lairs to lurk in. That again,
Which vapoury mist and flitting smoke exhales,
Drinks moisture up and casts it forth at will,
Which, ever in its own green grass arrayed,

nec scabie et salsa laedit robigine ferrum,   220
illa tibi laetis intexet uitibus ulmos,
illa ferax oleo est, illam experiere colendo
et facilem pecori et patientem uomeris unci.
talem diues arat Capua et uicina Vesaeuo

Mars not the metal with salt scurf of rust-
That shall thine elms with merry vines enwreathe;
That teems with olive; that shall thy tilth prove kind
To cattle, and patient of the curved share.
Such ploughs rich Capua, such the coast that skirts
Thy ridge, Vesuvius, and the Clanian flood,

ora iugo et uacuis Clanius non aequus Acerris.   225
     Nunc quo quamque modo possis cognoscere dicam.
rara sit an supra morem si densa requires
(altera frumentis quoniam fauet, altera Baccho,
densa magis Cereri, rarissima quaeque Lyaeo),

Acerrae's desolation and her bane.
How each to recognize now hear me tell.
Dost ask if loose or passing firm it be-
Since one for corn hath liking, one for wine,
The firmer sort for Ceres, none too loose
For thee, Lyaeus?- with scrutinizing eye

ante locum capies oculis, alteque iubebis   230
in solido puteum demitti, omnemque repones
rursus humum et pedibus summas aequabis harenas.
si deerunt, rarum pecorique et uitibus almis
aptius uber erit; sin in sua posse negabunt

First choose thy ground, and bid a pit be sunk
Deep in the solid earth, then cast the mould
All back again, and stamp the surface smooth.
If it suffice not, loose will be the land,
More meet for cattle and for kindly vines;

ire loca et scrobibus superabit terra repletis,   235
spissus ager: glaebas cunctantis crassaque terga
exspecta et ualidis terram proscinde iuuencis.
salsa autem tellus et quae perhibetur amara
(frugibus infelix ea, nec mansuescit arando

But if, rebellious, to its proper bounds
The soil returns not, but fills all the trench
And overtops it, then the glebe is gross;
Look for stiff ridges and reluctant clods,
And with strong bullocks cleave the fallow crust.
Salt ground again, and bitter, as 'tis called-
Barren for fruits, by tilth untamable,

nec Baccho genus aut pomis sua nomina seruat)   240
tale dabit specimen. tu spisso uimine qualos
colaque prelorum fumosis deripe tectis;
huc ager ille malus dulcesque a fontibus undae
ad plenum calcentur: aqua eluctabitur omnis

Nor grape her kind, nor apples their good name
Maintaining- will in this wise yield thee proof:
Stout osier-baskets from the rafter-smoke,
And strainers of the winepress pluck thee down;
Hereinto let that evil land, with fresh
Spring-water mixed, be trampled to the full;
The moisture, mark you, will ooze all away,

scilicet et grandes ibunt per uimina guttae;   245
at sapor indicium faciet manifestus et ora
tristia temptantum sensu torquebit amaro.
pinguis item quae sit tellus, hoc denique pacto
discimus: haud unquam manibus iactata fatiscit,

In big drops issuing through the osier-withes,
But plainly will its taste the secret tell,
And with a harsh twang ruefully distort
The mouths of them that try it. Rich soil again
We learn on this wise: tossed from hand to hand
Yet cracks it never, but pitch-like, as we hold,

sed picis in morem ad digitos lentescit habendo.   250
umida maiores herbas alit, ipsaque iusto
laetior. a, nimium ne sit mihi fertilis illa,
nec se praeualidam primis ostendat aristis!
quae grauis est ipso tacitam se pondere prodit,

But plainly will its taste the secret tell,
And with a harsh twang ruefully distort
The mouths of them that try it. Rich soil again
We learn on this wise: tossed from hand to hand
Yet cracks it never, but pitch-like, as we hold,
Clings to the fingers. A land with moisture rife  

umida maiores herbas alit, ipsaque iusto
laetior. a, nimium ne sit mihi fertilis illa,
nec se praeualidam primis ostendat aristis!
quae grauis est ipso tacitam se pondere prodit,
quaeque leuis. promptum est oculis praediscere nigram, 255

Breeds lustier herbage, and is more than meet
Prolific. Ah I may never such for me
O'er-fertile prove, or make too stout a show
At the first earing! Heavy land or light
The mute self-witness of its weight betrays.
A glance will serve to warn thee which is black,  

et quis cui color. at sceleratum exquirere frigus
difficile est: piceae tantum taxique nocentes
interdum aut hederae pandunt uestigia nigrae.
His animaduersis terram multo ante memento
excoquere et magnos scrobibus concidere montis, 260

Or what the hue of any. But hard it is
To track the signs of that pernicious cold:
Pines only, noxious yews, and ivies dark
At times reveal its traces.
All these rules
Regarding, let your land, ay, long before,
Scorch to the quick, and into trenches carve
The mighty mountains, and their upturned clods

ante supinatas Aquiloni ostendere glaebas
quam laetum infodias uitis genus. optima putri
arua solo: id uenti curant gelidaeque pruinae
et labefacta mouens robustus iugera fossor.
at si quos haud ulla uiros uigilantia fugit, 265


Bare to the north wind, ere thou plant therein
The vine's prolific kindred. Fields whose soil
Is crumbling are the best: winds look to that,
And bitter hoar-frosts, and the delver's toil
Untiring, as he stirs the loosened glebe.
But those, whose vigilance no care escapes,



ante locum similem exquirunt, ubi prima paretur
arboribus seges et quo mox digesta feratur,
mutatam ignorent subito ne semina matrem.
quin etiam caeli regionem in cortice signant,
ut, quo quaeque modo steterit, qua parte calores 270


Search for a kindred site, where first to rear
A nursery for the trees, and eke whereto
Soon to translate them, lest the sudden shock
From their new mother the young plants estrange.
Nay, even the quarter of the sky they brand
Upon the bark, that each may be restored,


austrinos tulerit, quae terga obuerterit axi,
restituant: adeo in teneris consuescere multum est.
collibus an plano melius sit ponere uitem,
quaere prius. si pinguis agros metabere campi,
densa sere (in denso non segnior ubere Bacchus); 275


As erst it stood, here bore the southern heats,
Here turned its shoulder to the northern pole;
So strong is custom formed in early years.
Whether on hill or plain 'tis best to plant
Your vineyard first inquire. If on some plain
You measure out rich acres, then plant thick;
Thick planting makes no niggard of the vine;

sin tumulis accliue solum collisque supinos,
indulge ordinibus; nec setius omnis in unguem
arboribus positis secto uia limite quadret:
ut saepe ingenti bello cum longa cohortis
explicuit legio et campo stetit agmen aperto, 280


But if on rising mound or sloping bill,
Then let the rows have room, so none the less
Each line you draw, when all the trees are set,
May tally to perfection. Even as oft
In mighty war, whenas the legion's length
Deploys its cohorts, and the column stands
In open plain, the ranks of battle set,


derectaeque acies ac late fluctuat omnis
aere renidenti tellus, necdum horrida miscent
proelia, sed dubius mediis Mars errat in armis.
omnia sint paribus numeris dimensa uiarum,
non animum modo uti pascat prospectus inanem, 285


And far and near with rippling sheen of arms
The wide earth flickers, nor yet in grisly strife
Foe grapples foe, but dubious 'twixt the hosts
The war-god wavers; so let all be ranged
In equal rows symmetric, not alone
To feed an idle fancy with the view,


sed quia non aliter uiris dabit omnibus aequas
terra, neque in uacuum poterunt se extendere rami.
Forsitan et scrobibus quae sint fastigia quaeras.
ausim uel tenui uitem committere sulco;
altior ac penitus terrae defigitur arbos, 290


But since not otherwise will earth afford
Vigour to all alike, nor yet the boughs
Have power to stretch them into open space.
Shouldst haply of the furrow's depth inquire,
Even to a shallow trench I dare commit
The vine; but deeper in the ground is fixed

aesculus in primis, quae quantum uertice ad auras
aetherias, tantum radice in Tartara tendit.
ergo non hiemes illam, non flabra neque imbres
conuellunt: immota manet multosque nepotes,
multa uirum uoluens durando saecula uincit, 295


The tree that props it, aesculus in chief,
Which howso far its summit soars toward heaven,
So deep strikes root into the vaults of hell.
It therefore neither storms, nor blasts, nor showers
Wrench from its bed; unshaken it abides,
Sees many a generation, many an age
Of men roll onward, and survives them all,


tum fortis late ramos et bracchia tendens
huc illuc media ipsa ingentem sustinet umbram.
Neue tibi ad solem uergant uineta cadentem,
neue inter uitis corylum sere, neue flagella
summa pete aut summa defringe ex arbore plantas 300


Stretching its titan arms and branches far,
Sole central pillar of a world of shade.
Nor toward the sunset let thy vineyards slope,
Nor midst the vines plant hazel; neither take
The topmost shoots for cuttings, nor from the top
Of the supporting tree your suckers tear;


(tantus amor terrae), neu ferro laede retunso
semina, neue oleae siluestris insere truncos.
nam saepe incautis pastoribus excidit ignis,
qui furtim pingui primum sub cortice tectus
robora comprendit, frondesque elapsus in altas 305


So deep their love of earth; nor wound the plants
With blunted blade; nor truncheons intersperse
Of the wild olive: for oft from careless swains
A spark hath fallen, that, 'neath the unctuous rind
Hid thief-like first, now grips the tough tree-bole,
And mounting to the leaves on high, sends forth


ingentem caelo sonitum dedit; inde secutus
per ramos uictor perque alta cacumina regnat,
et totum inuoluit flammis nemus et ruit atram
ad caelum picea crassus caligine nubem,
praesertim si tempestas a uertice siluis 310


A roar to heaven, then coursing through the boughs
And airy summits reigns victoriously,
Wraps all the grove in robes of fire, and gross
With pitch-black vapour heaves the murky reek
Skyward, but chiefly if a storm has swooped


incubuit, glomeratque ferens incendia uentus.
hoc ubi, non a stirpe ualent caesaeque reuerti
possunt atque ima similes reuirescere terra;
infelix superat foliis oleaster amaris.
Nec tibi tam prudens quisquam persuadeat auctor 315


Down on the forest, and a driving wind
Rolls up the conflagration. When 'tis so,
Their root-force fails them, nor, when lopped away,
Can they recover, and from the earth beneath
Spring to like verdure; thus alone survives
The bare wild olive with its bitter leaves.
Let none persuade thee, howso weighty-wise,


tellurem Borea rigidam spirante mouere.
rura gelu tum claudit hiems, nec semine iacto
concretam patitur radicem adfigere terrae.
optima uinetis satio, cum uere rubenti
candida uenit auis longis inuisa colubris, 320


To stir the soil when stiff with Boreas' breath.
Then ice-bound winter locks the fields, nor lets
The young plant fix its frozen root to earth.
Best sow your vineyards when in blushing Spring
Comes the white bird long-bodied snakes abhor,


prima uel autumni sub frigora, cum rapidus Sol
nondum hiemem contingit equis, iam praeterit aestas.
uer adeo frondi nemorum, uer utile siluis,
uere tument terrae et genitalia semina poscunt.
tum pater omnipotens fecundis imbribus Aether 325


Or on the eve of autumn's earliest frost,
Ere the swift sun-steeds touch the wintry Signs,
While summer is departing. Spring it is
Blesses the fruit-plantation, Spring the groves;
In Spring earth swells and claims the fruitful seed.
Then Aether, sire omnipotent, leaps down

coniugis in gremium laetae descendit, et omnis
magnus alit magno commixtus corpore fetus.
auia tum resonant auibus uirgulta canoris,
et Venerem certis repetunt armenta diebus;
parturit almus ager Zephyrique tepentibus auris 330


With quickening showers to his glad wife's embrace,
And, might with might commingling, rears to life
All germs that teem within her; then resound
With songs of birds the greenwood-wildernesses,
And in due time the herds their loves renew;
Then the boon earth yields increase, and the fields
Unlock their bosoms to the warm west winds;


laxant arua sinus; superat tener omnibus umor,
inque nouos soles audent se gramina tuto
credere, nec metuit surgentis pampinus Austros
aut actum caelo magnis Aquilonibus imbrem,
sed trudit gemmas et frondes explicat omnis. 335


Soft moisture spreads o'er all things, and the blades
Face the new suns, and safely trust them now;
The vine-shoot, fearless of the rising south,
Or mighty north winds driving rain from heaven,
Bursts into bud, and every leaf unfolds.


non alios prima crescentis origine mundi
inluxisse dies aliumue habuisse tenorem
crediderim: uer illud erat, uer magnus agebat
orbis et hibernis parcebant flatibus Euri,
cum primae lucem pecudes hausere, uirumque 340


Even so, methinks, when Earth to being sprang,
Dawned the first days, and such the course they held;
'Twas Spring-tide then, ay, Spring, the mighty world
Was keeping: Eurus spared his wintry blasts,
When first the flocks drank sunlight, and a race


terrea progenies duris caput extulit aruis,
immissaeque ferae siluis et sidera caelo.
nec res hunc tenerae possent perferre laborem,
si non tanta quies iret frigusque caloremque
inter, et exciperet caeli indulgentia terras. 345


Of men like iron from the hard glebe arose,
And wild beasts thronged the woods, and stars the heaven.
Nor could frail creatures bear this heavy strain,
Did not so large a respite interpose
'Twixt frost and heat, and heaven's relenting arms
Yield earth a welcome.


Quod superest, quaecumque premes uirgulta per agros
sparge fimo pingui et multa memor occule terra,
aut lapidem bibulum aut squalentis infode conchas;
inter enim labentur aquae, tenuisque subibit
halitus, atque animos tollent sata. iamque reperti 350


For the rest, whate'er
The sets thou plantest in thy fields, thereon
Strew refuse rich, and with abundant earth
Take heed to hide them, and dig in withal
Rough shells or porous stone, for therebetween
Will water trickle and fine vapour creep,
And so the plants their drooping spirits raise.


qui saxo super atque ingentis pondere testae
urgerent: hoc effusos munimen ad imbris,
hoc, ubi hiulca siti findit Canis aestifer arua.
Seminibus positis superest diducere terram
saepius ad capita et duros iactare bidentis, 355


Aye, and there have been, who with weight of stone
Or heavy potsherd press them from above;
This serves for shield in pelting showers, and this
When the hot dog-star chaps the fields with drought.
The slips once planted, yet remains to cleave
The earth about their roots persistently,


aut presso exercere solum sub uomere et ipsa
flectere luctantis inter uineta iuuencos;
tum leuis calamos et rasae hastilia uirgae
fraxineasque aptare sudes furcasque ualentis,
uiribus eniti quarum et contemnere uentos 360


And toss the cumbrous hoes, or task the soil
With burrowing plough-share, and ply up and down
Your labouring bullocks through the vineyard's midst,
Then too smooth reeds and shafts of whittled wand,
And ashen poles and sturdy forks to shape,
Whereby supported they may learn to mount,
Laugh at the gales, and through the elm-tops win


adsuescant summasque sequi tabulata per ulmos.
Ac dum prima nouis adolescit frondibus aetas,
parcendum teneris, et dum se laetus ad auras
palmes agit laxis per purum immissus habenis,
ipsa acie nondum falcis temptanda, sed uncis 365


From story up to story. Now while yet
The leaves are in their first fresh infant growth,
Forbear their frailty, and while yet the bough
Shoots joyfully toward heaven, with loosened rein
Launched on the void, assail it not as yet
With keen-edged sickle, but let the leaves alone


carpendae manibus frondes interque legendae.
inde ubi iam ualidis amplexae stirpibus ulmos
exierint, tum stringe comas, tum bracchia tonde
(ante reformidant ferrum), tum denique dura
exerce imperia et ramos compesce fluentis. 370


Be culled with clip of fingers here and there.
But when they clasp the elms with sturdy trunks
Erect, then strip the leaves off, prune the boughs;
Sooner they shrink from steel, but then put forth
The arm of power, and stem the branchy tide.


Texendae saepes etiam et pecus omne tenendum,
praecipue dum frons tenera imprudensque laborum;
cui super indignas hiemes solemque potentem
siluestres uri adsidue capreaeque sequaces
inludunt, pascuntur oues auidaeque iuuencae. 375


Hedges too must be woven and all beasts
Barred entrance, chiefly while the leaf is young
And witless of disaster; for therewith,
Beside harsh winters and o'erpowering sun,
Wild buffaloes and pestering goats for ay
Besport them, sheep and heifers glut their greed.


frigora nec tantum cana concreta pruina
aut grauis incumbens scopulis arentibus aestas,
quantum illi nocuere greges durique uenenum
dentis et admorsu signata in stirpe cicatrix.
non aliam ob culpam Baccho caper omnibus aris 380


Nor cold by hoar-frost curdled, nor the prone
Dead weight of summer upon the parched crags,
So scathe it, as the flocks with venom-bite
Of their hard tooth, whose gnawing scars the stem.
For no offence but this to Bacchus bleeds
The goat at every altar, and old plays


caeditur et ueteres ineunt proscaenia ludi,
praemiaque ingeniis pagos et compita circum
Thesidae posuere, atque inter pocula laeti
mollibus in pratis unctos saluere per utres
nec non Ausonii, Troia gens missa, coloni 385


Upon the stage find entrance; therefore too
The sons of Theseus through the country-side-
Hamlet and crossway- set the prize of wit,
And on the smooth sward over oiled skins
Dance in their tipsy frolic. Furthermore
The Ausonian swains, a race from Troy derived,


uersibus incomptis ludunt risuque soluto,
oraque corticibus sumunt horrenda cauatis,
et te, Bacche, uocant per carmina laeta, tibique
oscilla ex alta suspendunt mollia pinu.
hinc omnis largo pubescit uinea fetu, 390


Make merry with rough rhymes and boisterous mirth,
Grim masks of hollowed bark assume, invoke
Thee with glad hymns, O Bacchus, and to thee
Hang puppet-faces on tall pines to swing.
Hence every vineyard teems with mellowing fruit,


complentur uallesque cauae saltusque profundi
et quocumque deus circum caput egit honestum.
ergo rite suum Baccho dicemus honorem
carminibus patriis lancesque et liba feremus,
et ductus cornu stabit sacer hircus ad aram 395


Till hollow vale o'erflows, and gorge profound,
Where'er the god hath turned his comely head.
Therefore to Bacchus duly will we sing
Meet honour with ancestral hymns, and cates
And dishes bear him; and the doomed goat
Led by the horn shall at the altar stand,


pinguiaque in ueribus torrebimus exta colurnis.
Est etiam ille labor curandis uitibus alter,
cui numquam exhausti satis est: namque omne quotannis
terque quaterque solum scindendum glaebaque uersis
aeternum frangenda bidentibus, omne leuandum 400


Whose entrails rich on hazel-spits we'll roast.
This further task again, to dress the vine,
Hath needs beyond exhausting; the whole soil
Thrice, four times, yearly must be cleft, the sod
With hoes reversed be crushed continually,


fronde nemus. redit agricolis labor actus in orbem,
atque in se sua per uestigia uoluitur annus.
ac iam olim, seras posuit cum uinea frondes
frigidus et siluis Aquilo decussit honorem,
iam tum acer curas uenientem extendit in annum 405


The whole plantation lightened of its leaves.
Round on the labourer spins the wheel of toil,
As on its own track rolls the circling year.
Soon as the vine her lingering leaves hath shed,
And the chill north wind from the forests shook
Their coronal, even then the careful swain
Looks keenly forward to the coming year,


rusticus, et curuo Saturni dente relictam
persequitur uitem attondens fingitque putando.
primus humum fodito, primus deuecta cremato
sarmenta, et uallos primus sub tecta referto;
postremus metito. bis uitibus ingruit umbra, 410


With Saturn's curved fang pursues and prunes
The vine forlorn, and lops it into shape.
Be first to dig the ground up, first to clear
And burn the refuse-branches, first to house
Again your vine-poles, last to gather fruit.
Twice doth the thickening shade beset the vine,


bis segetem densis obducunt sentibus herbae;
durus uterque labor: laudato ingentia rura,
exiguum colito. nec non etiam aspera rusti
uimina per siluam et ripis fluuialis harundo
caeditur, incultique exercet cura salicti. 415


Twice weeds with stifling briers o'ergrow the crop;
And each a toilsome labour. Do thou praise
Broad acres, farm but few. Rough twigs beside
Of butcher's broom among the woods are cut,
And reeds upon the river-banks, and still
The undressed willow claims thy fostering care.


iam uinctae uites, iam falcem arbusta reponunt,
iam canit effectos extremus uinitor antes;
sollicitanda tamen tellus puluisque mouendus
et iam maturis metuendus Iuppiter uuis.
Contra non ulla est oleis cultura, neque illae 420


So now the vines are fettered, now the trees
Let go the sickle, and the last dresser now
Sings of his finished rows; but still the ground
Must vexed be, the dust be stirred, and heaven
Still set thee trembling for the ripened grapes.
Not so with olives; small husbandry need they,


procuruam exspectant falcem rastrosque tenacis,
cum semel haeserunt aruis aurasque tulerunt;
ipsa satis tellus, cum dente recluditur unco,
sufficit umorem et grauidas, cum uomere, fruges.
hoc pinguem et placitam Paci nutritor oliuam. 425


Nor look for sickle bowed or biting rake,
When once they have gripped the soil, and borne the breeze.
Earth of herself, with hooked fang laid bare,
Yields moisture for the plants, and heavy fruit,
The ploughshare aiding; therewithal thou'lt rear
The olive's fatness well-beloved of Peace.


Poma quoque, ut primum truncos sensere ualentis
et uiris habuere suas, ad sidera raptim
ui propria nituntur opisque haud indiga nostrae.
nec minus interea fetu nemus omne grauescit,
sanguineisque inculta rubent auiaria bacis. 430


Apples, moreover, soon as first they feel
Their stems wax lusty, and have found their strength,
To heaven climb swiftly, self-impelled, nor crave
Our succour. All the grove meanwhile no less
With fruit is swelling, and the wild haunts of birds
Blush with their blood-red berries. Cytisus


tondentur cytisi, taedas silua alta ministrat,
pascunturque ignes nocturni et lumina fundunt.
et dubitant homines serere atque impendere curam?
quid maiora sequar? salices humilesque genistae,
aut illae pecori frondem aut pastoribus umbram 435


Is good to browse on, the tall forest yields
Pine-torches, and the nightly fires are fed
And shoot forth radiance. And shall men be loath
To plant, nor lavish of their pains? Why trace
Things mightier? Willows even and lowly brooms
To cattle their green leaves, to shepherds shade,


sufficiunt saepemque satis et pabula melli.
et iuuat undantem buxo spectare Cytorum
Naryciaeque picis lucos, iuuat arua uidere
non rastris, hominum non ulli obnoxia curae.
ipsae Caucasio steriles in uertice siluae, 440


Fences for crops, and food for honey yield.
And blithe it is Cytorus to behold
Waving with box, Narycian groves of pitch;
Oh! blithe the sight of fields beholden not
To rake or man's endeavour! the barren woods
That crown the scalp of Caucasus, even these,


quas animosi Euri adsidue franguntque feruntque,
dant alios aliae fetus, dant utile lignum
nauigiis pinus, domibus cedrumque cupressosque;
hinc radios triuere rotis, hinc tympana plaustris
agricolae, et pandas ratibus posuere carinas. 445


Which furious blasts for ever rive and rend,
Yield various wealth, pine-logs that serve for ships,
Cedar and cypress for the homes of men;
Hence, too, the farmers shave their wheel-spokes, hence
Drums for their wains, and curved boat-keels fit;


uiminibus salices fecundae, frondibus ulmi,
at myrtus ualidis hastilibus et bona bello
cornus; Ituraeos taxi torquentur in arcus.
nec tiliae leues aut torno rasile buxum
non formam accipiunt ferroque cauantur acuto, 450


Willows bear twigs enow, the elm-tree leaves,
Myrtle stout spear-shafts, war-tried cornel too;
Yews into Ituraean bows are bent:
Nor do smooth lindens or lathe-polished box
Shrink from man's shaping and keen-furrowing steel;


nec non et torrentem undam leuis innatat alnus
missa Pado, nec non et apes examina condunt
corticibusque cauis uitiosaeque ilicis aluo.
quid memorandum aeque Baccheia dona tulerunt?
Bacchus et ad culpam causas dedit; ille furentis 455


Light alder floats upon the boiling flood
Sped down the Padus, and bees house their swarms
In rotten holm-oak's hollow bark and bole.
What of like praise can Bacchus' gifts afford?
Nay, Bacchus even to crime hath prompted, he


Centauros leto domuit, Rhoecumque Pholumque
et magno Hylaeum Lapithis cratere minantem.
O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint,
agricolas! quibus ipsa procul discordibus armis
fundit humo facilem uictum iustissima tellus. 460


The wine-infuriate Centaurs quelled with death,
Rhoetus and Pholus, and with mighty bowl
Hylaeus threatening high the Lapithae.
Oh! all too happy tillers of the soil,
Could they but know their blessedness, for whom
Far from the clash of arms all-equal earth
Pours from the ground herself their easy fare!


si non ingentem foribus domus alta superbis
mane salutantum totis uomit aedibus undam,
nec uarios inhiant pulchra testudine postis
inlusasque auro uestis Ephyreiaque aera,
alba neque Assyrio fucatur lana ueneno, 465


What though no lofty palace portal-proud
From all its chambers vomits forth a tide
Of morning courtiers, nor agape they gaze
On pillars with fair tortoise-shell inwrought,
Gold-purfled robes, and bronze from Ephyre;
Nor is the whiteness of their wool distained


nec casia liquidi corrumpitur usus oliui;
at secura quies et nescia fallere uita,
diues opum uariarum, at latis otia fundis,
speluncae uiuique lacus, at frigida tempe
mugitusque boum mollesque sub arbore somni 470


With drugs Assyrian, nor clear olive's use
With cassia tainted; yet untroubled calm,
A life that knows no falsehood, rich enow
With various treasures, yet broad-acred ease,
Grottoes and living lakes, yet Tempes cool,
Lowing of kine, and sylvan slumbers soft,


non absunt; illic saltus ac lustra ferarum
et patiens operum exiguoque adsueta iuuentus,
sacra deum sanctique patres; extrema per illos
Iustitia excedens terris uestigia fecit.
Me uero primum dulces ante omnia Musae, 475


They lack not; lawns and wild beasts' haunts are there,
A youth of labour patient, need-inured,
Worship, and reverend sires: with them from earth
Departing justice her last footprints left.
Me before all things may the Muses sweet,


quarum sacra fero ingenti percussus amore,
accipiant caelique uias et sidera monstrent,
defectus solis uarios lunaeque labores;
unde tremor terris, qua ui maria alta tumescant
obicibus ruptis rursusque in se ipsa residant, 480


Whose rites I bear with mighty passion pierced,
Receive, and show the paths and stars of heaven,
The sun's eclipses and the labouring moons,
From whence the earthquake, by what power the seas
Swell from their depths, and, every barrier burst,


quid tantum Oceano properent se tingere soles
hiberni, uel quae tardis mora noctibus obstet.
sin has ne possim naturae accedere partis
frigidus obstiterit circum praecordia sanguis,
rura mihi et rigui placeant in uallibus amnes, 485


Sink back upon themselves, why winter-suns
So haste to dip 'neath ocean, or what check
The lingering night retards. But if to these
High realms of nature the cold curdling blood
About my heart bar access, then be fields
And stream-washed vales my solace, let me love


flumina amem siluasque inglorius. o ubi campi
Spercheosque et uirginibus bacchata Lacaenis
Taygeta! o qui me gelidis conuallibus Haemi
sistat, et ingenti ramorum protegat umbra!
felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas 490


Rivers and woods, inglorious. Oh for you
Plains, and Spercheius, and Taygete,
By Spartan maids o'er-revelled! Oh, for one,
Would set me in deep dells of Haemus cool,
And shield me with his boughs' o'ershadowing might!
Happy, who had the skill to understand


atque metus omnis et inexorabile fatum
subiecit pedibus strepitumque Acherontis auari:
fortunatus et ille deos qui nouit agrestis
Panaque Siluanumque senem Nymphasque sorores.
illum non populi fasces, non purpura regum 495


Nature's hid causes, and beneath his feet
All terrors cast, and death's relentless doom,
And the loud roar of greedy Acheron.
Blest too is he who knows the rural gods,
Pan, old Silvanus, and the sister-nymphs!
Him nor the rods of public power can bend,


flexit et infidos agitans discordia fratres,
aut coniurato descendens Dacus ab Histro,
non res Romanae perituraque regna; neque ille
aut doluit miserans inopem aut inuidit habenti.
quos rami fructus, quos ipsa uolentia rura 500


Nor kingly purple, nor fierce feud that drives
Brother to turn on brother, nor descent
Of Dacian from the Danube's leagued flood,
Nor Rome's great State, nor kingdoms like to die;
Nor hath he grieved through pitying of the poor,
Nor envied him that hath. What fruit the boughs,
And what the fields, of their own bounteous will


sponte tulere sua, carpsit, nec ferrea iura
insanumque forum aut populi tabularia uidit.
sollicitant alii remis freta caeca, ruuntque
in ferrum, penetrant aulas et limina regum;
hic petit excidiis urbem miserosque penatis, 505


Have borne, he gathers; nor iron rule of laws,
Nor maddened Forum have his eyes beheld,
Nor archives of the people. Others vex
The darksome gulfs of Ocean with their oars,
Or rush on steel: they press within the courts
And doors of princes; one with havoc falls
Upon a city and its hapless hearths,


ut gemma bibat et Sarrano dormiat ostro;
condit opes alius defossoque incubat auro;
hic stupet attonitus rostris, hunc plausus hiantem
per cuneos geminatus enim plebisque patrumque
corripuit; gaudent perfusi sanguine fratrum, 510


From gems to drink, on Tyrian rugs to lie;
This hoards his wealth and broods o'er buried gold;
One at the rostra stares in blank amaze;
One gaping sits transported by the cheers,
The answering cheers of plebs and senate rolled
Along the benches: bathed in brothers' blood


exsilioque domos et dulcia limina mutant
atque alio patriam quaerunt sub sole iacentem.
agricola incuruo terram dimouit aratro:
hic anni labor, hinc patriam paruosque nepotes
sustinet, hinc armenta boum meritosque iuuencos. 515


Men revel, and, all delights of hearth and home
For exile changing, a new country seek
Beneath an alien sun. The husbandman
With hooked ploughshare turns the soil; from hence
Springs his year's labour; hence, too, he sustains
Country and cottage homestead, and from hence
His herds of cattle and deserving steers.


nec requies, quin aut pomis exuberet annus
aut fetu pecorum aut Cerealis mergite culmi,
prouentuque oneret sulcos atque horrea uincat.
uenit hiems: teritur Sicyonia baca trapetis,
glande sues laeti redeunt, dant arbuta siluae; 520


No respite! still the year o'erflows with fruit,
Or young of kine, or Ceres' wheaten sheaf,
With crops the furrow loads, and bursts the barns.
Winter is come: in olive-mills they bruise
The Sicyonian berry; acorn-cheered
The swine troop homeward; woods their arbutes yield;


et uarios ponit fetus autumnus, et alte
mitis in apricis coquitur uindemia saxis.
interea dulces pendent circum oscula nati,
casta pudicitiam seruat domus, ubera uaccae
lactea demittunt, pinguesque in gramine laeto 525


So, various fruit sheds Autumn, and high up
On sunny rocks the mellowing vintage bakes.
Meanwhile about his lips sweet children cling;
His chaste house keeps its purity; his kine
Drop milky udders, and on the lush green grass


inter se aduersis luctantur cornibus haedi.
ipse dies agitat festos fususque per herbam,
ignis ubi in medio et socii cratera coronant,
te libans, Lenaee, uocat pecorisque magistris
uelocis iaculi certamina ponit in ulmo, 530


Fat kids are striving, horn to butting horn.
Himself keeps holy days; stretched o'er the sward,
Where round the fire his comrades crown the bowl,
He pours libation, and thy name invokes,
Lenaeus, and for the herdsmen on an elm
Sets up a mark for the swift javelin; they


corporaque agresti nudant praedura palaestra.
hanc olim ueteres uitam coluere Sabini,
hanc Remus et frater; sic fortis Etruria creuit
scilicet et rerum facta est pulcherrima Roma,
septemque una sibi muro circumdedit arces.
535


Strip their tough bodies for the rustic sport.
Such life of yore the ancient Sabines led,
Such Remus and his brother: Etruria thus,
Doubt not, to greatness grew, and Rome became
The fair world's fairest, and with circling wall
Clasped to her single breast the sevenfold hills.


ante etiam sceptrum Dictaei regis et ante
impia quam caesis gens est epulata iuuencis,
aureus hanc uitam in terris Saturnus agebat;
necdum etiam audierant inflari classica, necdum
impositos duris crepitare incudibus ensis. 540


Ay, ere the reign of Dicte's king, ere men,
Waxed godless, banqueted on slaughtered bulls,
Such life on earth did golden Saturn lead.
Nor ear of man had heard the war-trump's blast,
Nor clang of sword on stubborn anvil set. >


Sed nos immensum spatiis confecimus aequor,
et iam tempus equum fumantia soluere colla.


But lo! a boundless space we have travelled o'er;
'Tis time our steaming horses to unyoke.

 

 

LIBER TERTIVS

Te quoque, magna Pales, et te memorande canemus
pastor ab Amphryso, uos, siluae amnesque Lycaei.
cetera, quae uacuas tenuissent carmine mentes,
omnia iam uulgata: quis aut Eurysthea durum
aut inlaudati nescit Busiridis aras?                
5

BOOK III

Thee too, great Pales, will I hymn, and thee,
Amphrysian shepherd, worthy to be sung,
You, woods and waves Lycaean. All themes beside,
Which else had charmed the vacant mind with song,
Are now waxed common. Of harsh Eurystheus who
The story knows not, or that praiseless king
Busiris, and his altars? or by whom

cui non dictus Hylas puer et Latonia Delos
Hippodameque umeroque Pelops insignis eburno,
acer equis? temptanda uia est, qua me quoque possim
tollere humo uictorque uirum uolitare per ora.
primus ego in patriam mecum, modo uita supersit,                10

Hath not the tale been told of Hylas young,
Latonian Delos and Hippodame,
And Pelops for his ivory shoulder famed,
Keen charioteer? Needs must a path be tried,
By which I too may lift me from the dust,
And float triumphant through the mouths of men.
Yea, I shall be the first, so life endure,

Aonio rediens deducam uertice Musas;
primus Idumaeas referam tibi, Mantua, palmas,
et uiridi in campo templum de marmore ponam
propter aquam, tardis ingens ubi flexibus errat
Mincius et tenera praetexit harundine ripas.                 15

To lead the Muses with me, as I pass
To mine own country from the Aonian height;
I, Mantua, first will bring thee back the palms
Of Idumaea, and raise a marble shrine
On thy green plain fast by the water-side,
Where Mincius winds more vast in lazy coils,
And rims his margent with the tender reed.

cursibus et crudo decernet Graecia caestu.   20
ipse caput tonsae foliis ornatus oliuae
dona feram. iam nunc sollemnis ducere pompas
ad delubra iuuat caesosque uidere iuuencos,
uel scaena ut uersis discedat frontibus utque

On foot shall strive, or with the raw-hide glove;
Whilst I, my head with stripped green olive crowned,
Will offer gifts. Even 'tis present joy
To lead the high processions to the fane,
And view the victims felled; or how the scene
Sunders with shifted face, and Britain's sons

purpurea intexti tollant aulaea Britanni.   25
in foribus pugnam ex auro solidoque elephanto
Gangaridum faciam uictorisque arma Quirini,
atque hic undantem bello magnumque fluentem
Nilum ac nauali surgentis aere columnas.

Inwoven thereon with those proud curtains rise.
Of gold and massive ivory on the doors
I'll trace the battle of the Gangarides,
And our Quirinus' conquering arms, and there
Surging with war, and hugely flowing, the Nile,
And columns heaped on high with naval brass.

addam urbes Asiae domitas pulsumque Niphaten   30
fidentemque fuga Parthum uersisque sagittis;
et duo rapta manu diuerso ex hoste tropaea
bisque triumphatas utroque ab litore gentis.
stabunt et Parii lapides, spirantia signa,

And Asia's vanquished cities I will add,
And quelled Niphates, and the Parthian foe,
Who trusts in flight and backward-volleying darts,
And trophies torn with twice triumphant hand
From empires twain on ocean's either shore.
And breathing forms of Parian marble there
Shall stand, the offspring of Assaracus,

Assaraci proles demissaeque ab Ioue gentis   35
nomina, Trosque parens et Troiae Cynthius auctor.
Inuidia infelix Furias amnemque seuerum
Cocyti metuet tortosque Ixionis anguis
immanemque rotam et non exsuperabile saxum.

And great names of the Jove-descended folk,
And father Tros, and Troy's first founder, lord
Of Cynthus. And accursed Envy there
Shall dread the Furies, and thy ruthless flood,
Cocytus, and Ixion's twisted snakes,
And that vast wheel and ever-baffling stone.

interea Dryadum siluas saltusque sequamur   40
intactos, tua, Maecenas, haud mollia iussa:
te sine nil altum mens incohat. en age segnis
rumpe moras; uocat ingenti clamore Cithaeron
Taygetique canes domitrixque Epidaurus equorum,

Meanwhile the Dryad-haunted woods and lawns
Unsullied seek we; 'tis thy hard behest,
Maecenas. Without thee no lofty task
My mind essays. Up! break the sluggish bonds
Of tarriance; with loud din Cithaeron calls,
Steed-taming Epidaurus, and thy hounds,
Taygete; and hark! the assenting groves

et uox adsensu nemorum ingeminata remugit.   45
mox tamen ardentis accingar dicere pugnas
Caesaris et nomen fama tot ferre per annos,
Tithoni prima quot abest ab origine Caesar.
     
Seu quis Olympiacae miratus praemia palmae

With peal on peal reverberate the roar.
Yet must I gird me to rehearse ere long
The fiery fights of Caesar, speed his name
Through ages, countless as to Caesar's self
From the first birth-dawn of Tithonus old.
If eager for the prized Olympian palm

pascit equos, seu quis fortis ad aratra iuuencos,   50
corpora praecipue matrum legat. optima toruae
forma bouis cui turpe caput, cui plurima ceruix,
et crurum tenus a mento palearia pendent;
tum longo nullus lateri modus: omnia magna,

One breed the horse, or bullock strong to plough,
Be his prime care a shapely dam to choose.
Of kine grim-faced is goodliest, with coarse head
And burly neck, whose hanging dewlaps reach
From chin to knee; of boundless length her flank;
Large every way she is, large-footed even,

pes etiam, et camuris hirtae sub cornibus aures.   55
nec mihi displiceat maculis insignis et albo,
aut iuga detrectans interdumque aspera cornu
et faciem tauro propior, quaeque ardua tota
et gradiens ima uerrit uestigia cauda.

With incurved horns and shaggy ears beneath.
Nor let mislike me one with spots of white
Conspicuous, or that spurns the yoke, whose horn
At times hath vice in't: liker bull-faced she,
And tall-limbed wholly, and with tip of tail
Brushing her footsteps as she walks along.

aetas Lucinam iustosque pati hymenaeos   60
desinit ante decem, post quattuor incipit annos;
cetera nec feturae habilis nec fortis aratris.
interea, superat gregibus dum laeta iuuentas,
solue mares; mitte in Venerem pecuaria primus,

The age for Hymen's rites, Lucina's pangs,
Ere ten years ended, after four begins;
Their residue of days nor apt to teem,
Nor strong for ploughing. Meantime, while youth's delight
Survives within them, loose the males: be first
To speed thy herds of cattle to their loves,

atque aliam ex alia generando suffice prolem.   65
optima quaeque dies miseris mortalibus aeui
prima fugit; subeunt morbi tristisque senectus
et labor, et durae rapit inclementia mortis.
semper erunt quarum mutari corpora malis:

Breed stock with stock, and keep the race supplied.
Ah! life's best hours are ever first to fly
From hapless mortals; in their place succeed
Disease and dolorous eld; till travail sore
And death unpitying sweep them from the scene.
Still will be some, whose form thou fain wouldst change;
Renew them still; with yearly choice of young

semper enim refice ac, ne post amissa requiras,   70
ante ueni et subolem armento sortire quotannis.
     Nec non et pecori est idem dilectus equino:
tu modo, quos in spem statues summittere gentis,
praecipuum iam inde a teneris impende laborem.

Preventing losses, lest too late thou rue.
Nor steeds crave less selection; but on those
Thou think'st to rear, the promise of their line,
From earliest youth thy chiefest pains bestow.

continuo pecoris generosi pullus in aruis   75
altius ingreditur et mollia crura reponit;
primus et ire uiam et fluuios temptare minacis
audet et ignoto sese committere ponti,
nec uanos horret strepitus. illi ardua ceruix

See from the first yon high-bred colt afield,
His lofty step, his limbs' elastic tread:
Dauntless he leads the herd, still first to try
The threatening flood, or brave the unknown bridge,
By no vain noise affrighted; lofty-necked,

argutumque caput, breuis aluus obesaque terga,   80
luxuriatque toris animosum pectus. honesti
spadices glaucique, color deterrimus albis
et giluo. tum, si qua sonum procul arma dedere,
stare loco nescit, micat auribus et tremit artus,

With clean-cut head, short belly, and stout back;
His sprightly breast exuberant with brawn.
Chestnut and grey are good; the worst-hued white
And sorrel. Then lo! if arms are clashed afar,
Bide still he cannot: ears stiffen and limbs quake;

collectumque premens uoluit sub naribus ignem.   85
densa iuba, et dextro iactata recumbit in armo;
at duplex agitur per lumbos spina, cauatque
tellurem et solido grauiter sonat ungula cornu.
talis Amyclaei domitus Pollucis habenis

His nostrils snort and roll out wreaths of fire.
Dense is his mane, that when uplifted falls
On his right shoulder; betwixt either loin
The spine runs double; his earth-dinting hoof
Rings with the ponderous beat of solid horn.
Even such a horse was Cyllarus, reined and tamed
By Pollux of Amyclae; such the pair

Cyllarus et, quorum Grai meminere poetae,   90
Martis equi biiuges et magni currus Achilli.
talis et ipse iubam ceruice effundit equina
coniugis aduentu pernix Saturnus, et altum
Pelion hinnitu fugiens impleuit acuto.

In Grecian song renowned, those steeds of Mars,
And famed Achilles' team: in such-like form
Great Saturn's self with mane flung loose on neck
Sped at his wife's approach, and flying filled
The heights of Pelion with his piercing neigh.

Hunc quoque, ubi aut morbo grauis aut iam segnior annis   95
deficit, abde domo, nec turpi ignosce senectae.
frigidus in Venerem senior, frustraque laborem
ingratum trahit, et, si quando ad proelia uentum est,
ut quondam in stipulis magnus sine uiribus ignis,

Even him, when sore disease or sluggish eld
Now saps his strength, pen fast at home, and spare
His not inglorious age. A horse grown old
Slow kindling unto love in vain prolongs
The fruitless task, and, to the encounter come,
As fire in stubble blusters without strength,
He rages idly. Therefore mark thou first

incassum furit. ergo animos aeuumque notabis   100
praecipue: hinc alias artis prolemque parentum
et quis cuique dolor uicto, quae gloria palmae.
nonne uides, cum praecipiti certamine campum
corripuere, ruuntque effusi carcere currus,

Their age and mettle, other points anon,
As breed and lineage, or what pain was theirs
To lose the race, what pride the palm to win.
Seest how the chariots in mad rivalry
Poured from the barrier grip the course and go,

cum spes adrectae iuuenum, exsultantiaque haurit   105
corda pauor pulsans? illi instant uerbere torto
et proni dant lora, uolat ui feruidus axis;
iamque humiles iamque elati sublime uidentur
aera per uacuum ferri atque adsurgere in auras.

When youthful hope is highest, and every heart
Drained with each wild pulsation? How they ply
The circling lash, and reaching forward let
The reins hang free! Swift spins the glowing wheel;
And now they stoop, and now erect in air
Seem borne through space and towering to the sky:

nec mora nec requies; at fuluae nimbus harenae   110
tollitur, umescunt spumis flatuque sequentum:
tantus amor laudum, tantae est uictoria curae.
primus Ericthonius currus et quattuor ausus
iungere equos rapidusque rotis insistere uictor.

No stop, no stay; the dun sand whirls aloft;
They reek with foam-flakes and pursuing breath;
So sweet is fame, so prized the victor's palm.
'Twas Ericthonius first took heart to yoke
Four horses to his car, and rode above
The whirling wheels to victory: but the ring
And bridle-reins, mounted on horses' backs,

frena Pelethronii Lapithae gyrosque dedere   115
impositi dorso, atque equitem docuere sub armis
insultare solo et gressus glomerare superbos.
aequus uterque labor, aeque iuuenemque magistri
exquirunt calidumque animis et cursibus acrem,

The Pelethronian Lapithae bequeathed,
And taught the knight in arms to spurn the ground,
And arch the upgathered footsteps of his pride.
Each task alike is arduous, and for each
A horse young, fiery, swift of foot, they seek;

quamuis saepe fuga uersos ille egerit hostis   120
et patriam Epirum referat fortisque Mycenas,
Neptunique ipsa deducat origine gentem.
     
His animaduersis instant sub tempus et omnis
impendunt curas denso distendere pingui,

How oft so-e'er yon rival may have chased
The flying foe, or boast his native plain
Epirus, or Mycenae's stubborn hold,
And trace his lineage back to Neptune's birth.
These points regarded, as the time draws nigh,
With instant zeal they lavish all their care
To plump with solid fat the chosen chief

quem legere ducem et pecori dixere maritum,   125
florentisque secant herbas fluuiosque ministrant
farraque, ne blando nequeat superesse labori
inualidique patrum referant ieiunia nati.
ipsa autem macie tenuant armenta uolentes,

And designated husband of the herd:
And flowery herbs they cut, and serve him well
With corn and running water, that his strength
Not fail him for that labour of delight,
Nor puny colts betray the feeble sire.
The herd itself of purpose they reduce

atque, ubi concubitus primos iam nota uoluptas   130
sollicitat, frondesque negant et fontibus arcent.
saepe etiam cursu quatiunt et sole fatigant,
cum grauiter tunsis gemit area frugibus, et cum
surgentem ad Zephyrum paleae iactantur inanes.

To leanness, and when love's sweet longing first
Provokes them, they forbid the leafy food,
And pen them from the springs, and oft beside
With running shake, and tire them in the sun,
What time the threshing-floor groans heavily
With pounding of the corn-ears, and light chaff
Is whirled on high to catch the rising west.

hoc faciunt, nimio ne luxu obtunsior usus   135
sit genitali aruo et sulcos oblimet inertis,
sed rapiat sitiens Venerem interiusque recondat.
     Rursus cura patrum cadere et succedere matrum
incipit. exactis grauidae cum mensibus errant,

This do they that the soil's prolific powers
May not be dulled by surfeiting, nor choke
The sluggish furrows, but eagerly absorb
Their fill of love, and deeply entertain.
To care of sire the mother's care succeeds.
When great with young they wander nigh their time,

non illas grauibus quisquam iuga ducere plaustris,   140
non saltu superare uiam sit passus et acri
carpere prata fuga fluuiosque innare rapacis.
saltibus in uacuis pascunt et plena secundum
flumina, muscus ubi et uiridissima gramine ripa,

Let no man suffer them to drag the yoke
In heavy wains, nor leap across the way,
Nor scour the meads, nor swim the rushing flood.
In lonely lawns they feed them, by the course
Of brimming streams, where moss is, and the banks
With grass are greenest, where are sheltering caves,

speluncaeque tegant et saxea procubet umbra.   145
est lucos Silari circa ilicibusque uirentem
plurimus Alburnum uolitans, cui nomen asilo
Romanum est, oestrum Grai uertere uocantes,
asper, acerba sonans, quo tota exterrita siluis

And far outstretched the rock-flung shadow lies.
Round wooded Silarus and the ilex-bowers
Of green Alburnus swarms a winged pest-
Its Roman name Asilus, by the Greeks
Termed Oestros- fierce it is, and harshly hums,
Driving whole herds in terror through the groves,

diffugiunt armenta; furit mugitibus aether   150
concussus siluaeque et sicci ripa Tanagri.
hoc quondam monstro horribilis exercuit iras
Inachiae Iuno pestem meditata iuuencae.
hunc quoque (nam mediis feruoribus acrior instat)

Till heaven is madded by their bellowing din,
And Tanager's dry bed and forest-banks.
With this same scourge did Juno wreak of old
The terrors of her wrath, a plague devised
Against the heifer sprung from Inachus.
From this too thou, since in the noontide heats

arcebis grauido pecori, armentaque pasces   155
sole recens orto aut noctem ducentibus astris.
     Post partum cura in uitulos traducitur omnis;
continuoque notas et nomina gentis inurunt,
et quos aut pecori malint summittere habendo

'Tis most persistent, fend thy teeming herds,
And feed them when the sun is newly risen,
Or the first stars are ushering in the night.
But, yeaning ended, all their tender care
Is to the calves transferred; at once with marks
They brand them, both to designate their race,
And which to rear for breeding, or devote

aut aris seruare sacros aut scindere terram   160
et campum horrentem fractis inuertere glaebis.
cetera pascuntur uiridis armenta per herbas:
tu quos ad studium atque usum formabis agrestem
iam uitulos hortare uiamque insiste domandi,

As altar-victims, or to cleave the ground
And into ridges tear and turn the sod.
The rest along the greensward graze at will.
Those that to rustic uses thou wouldst mould,
As calves encourage and take steps to tame,

dum faciles animi iuuenum, dum mobilis aetas.   165
ac primum laxos tenui de uimine circlos
ceruici subnecte; dehinc, ubi libera colla
seruitio adsuerint, ipsis e torquibus aptos
iunge pares, et coge gradum conferre iuuencos;

While pliant wills and plastic youth allow.
And first of slender withies round the throat
Loose collars hang, then when their free-born necks
Are used to service, with the self-same bands
Yoke them in pairs, and steer by steer compel
Keep pace together. And time it is that oft

atque illis iam saepe rotae ducantur inanes   170
per terram, et summo uestigia puluere signent.
post ualido nitens sub pondere faginus axis
instrepat, et iunctos temo trahat aereus orbis.
interea pubi indomitae non gramina tantum

Unfreighted wheels be drawn along the ground
Behind them, as to dint the surface-dust;
Then let the beechen axle strain and creak
'Neath some stout burden, whilst a brazen pole
Drags on the wheels made fast thereto. Meanwhile
For their unbroken youth not grass alone,

nec uescas salicum frondes uluamque palustrem,   175
sed frumenta manu carpes sata; nec tibi fetae
more patrum niuea implebunt mulctraria uaccae,
sed tota in dulcis consument ubera natos.
     Sin ad bella magis studium turmasque ferocis,

Nor meagre willow-leaves and marish-sedge,
But corn-ears with thy hand pluck from the crops.
Nor shall the brood-kine, as of yore, for thee
Brim high the snowy milking-pail, but spend
Their udders' fullness on their own sweet young.
But if fierce squadrons and the ranks of war
Delight thee rather, or on wheels to glide

aut Alphea rotis praelabi flumina Pisae   180
et Iouis in luco currus agitare uolantis,
primus equi labor est animos atque arma uidere
bellantum lituosque pati, tractuque gementem
ferre rotam et stabulo frenos audire sonantis;

At Pisa, with Alpheus fleeting by,
And in the grove of Jupiter urge on
The flying chariot, be your steed's first task
To face the warrior's armed rage, and brook
The trumpet, and long roar of rumbling wheels,
And clink of chiming bridles in the stall;

tum magis atque magis blandis gaudere magistri   185
laudibus et plausae sonitum ceruicis amare.
atque haec iam primo depulsus ab ubere matris
audeat, inque uicem det mollibus ora capistris
inualidus etiamque tremens, etiam inscius aeui.

Then more and more to love his master's voice
Caressing, or loud hand that claps his neck.
Ay, thus far let him learn to dare, when first
Weaned from his mother, and his mouth at times
Yield to the supple halter, even while yet
Weak, tottering-limbed, and ignorant of life.

at tribus exactis ubi quarta accesserit aestas,   190
carpere mox gyrum incipiat gradibusque sonare
compositis, sinuetque alterna uolumina crurum,
sitque laboranti similis; tum cursibus auras
tum uocet, ac per aperta uolans ceu liber habenis

But, three years ended, when the fourth arrives,
Now let him tarry not to run the ring
With rhythmic hoof-beat echoing, and now learn
Alternately to curve each bending leg,
And be like one that struggleth; then at last
Challenge the winds to race him, and at speed
Launched through the open, like a reinless thing,

aequora uix summa uestigia ponat harena:   195
qualis Hyperboreis Aquilo cum densus ab oris
incubuit, Scythiaeque hiemes atque arida differt
nubila; tum segetes altae campique natantes
lenibus horrescunt flabris, summaeque sonorem

Scarce print his footsteps on the surface-sand.
As when with power from Hyperborean climes
The north wind stoops, and scatters from his path
Dry clouds and storms of Scythia; the tall corn
And rippling plains 'gin shiver with light gusts;
A sound is heard among the forest-tops;

dant siluae, longique urgent ad litora fluctus;   200
ille uolat simul arua fuga simul aequora uerrens.
hinc uel ad Elei metas et maxima campi
sudabit spatia et spumas aget ore cruentas,
Belgica uel molli melius feret esseda collo.

Long waves come racing shoreward: fast he flies,
With instant pinion sweeping earth and main.
A steed like this or on the mighty course
Of Elis at the goal will sweat, and shower
Red foam-flakes from his mouth, or, kindlier task,
With patient neck support the Belgian car.

tum demum crassa magnum farragine corpus   205
crescere iam domitis sinito; namque ante domandum
ingentis tollent animos, prensique negabunt
uerbera lenta pati et duris parere lupatis.
     Sed non ulla magis uiris industria firmat

Then, broken at last, let swell their burly frame
With fattening corn-mash, for, unbroke, they will
With pride wax wanton, and, when caught, refuse
Tough lash to brook or jagged curb obey.
But no device so fortifies their power

quam Venerem et caeci stimulos auertere amoris,   210
siue boum siue est cui gratior usus equorum.
atque ideo tauros procul atque in sola relegant
pascua post montem oppositum et trans flumina lata,
aut intus clausos satura ad praesepia seruant.

As love's blind stings of passion to forefend,
Whether on steed or steer thy choice be set.
Ay, therefore 'tis they banish bulls afar
To solitary pastures, or behind
Some mountain-barrier, or broad streams beyond,
Or else in plenteous stalls pen fast at home.

carpit enim uiris paulatim uritque uidendo   215
femina, nec nemorum patitur meminisse nec herbae
dulcibus illa quidem inlecebris, et saepe superbos
cornibus inter se subigit decernere amantis.
pascitur in magna Sila formosa iuuenca:

For, even through sight of her, the female wastes
His strength with smouldering fire, till he forget
Both grass and woodland. She indeed full oft
With her sweet charms can lovers proud compel
To battle for the conquest horn to horn.
In Sila's forest feeds the heifer fair,

illi alternantes multa ui proelia miscent   220
uulneribus crebris; lauit ater corpora sanguis,
uersaque in obnixos urgentur cornua uasto
cum gemitu; reboant siluaeque et longus Olympus.
nec mos bellantis una stabulare, sed alter

While each on each the furious rivals run;
Wound follows wound; the black blood laves their limbs;
Horns push and strive against opposing horns,
With mighty groaning; all the forest-side
And far Olympus bellow back the roar.
Nor wont the champions in one stall to couch;

uictus abit longeque ignotis exsulat oris,   225
multa gemens ignominiam plagasque superbi
uictoris, tum quos amisit inultus amores,
et stabula aspectans regnis excessit auitis.
ergo omni cura uiris exercet et inter

But he that's worsted hies him to strange climes
Far off, an exile, moaning much the shame,
The blows of that proud conqueror, then love's loss
Avenged not; with one glance toward the byre,
His ancient royalties behind him lie.
So with all heed his strength he practiseth,

dura iacet pernox instrato saxa cubili   230
frondibus hirsutis et carice pastus acuta,
et temptat sese atque irasci in cornua discit
arboris obnixus trunco, uentosque lacessit
ictibus, et sparsa ad pugnam proludit harena.

And nightlong makes the hard bare stones his bed,
And feeds on prickly leaf and pointed rush,
And proves himself, and butting at a tree
Learns to fling wrath into his horns, with blows
Provokes the air, and scattering clouds of sand
Makes prelude of the battle; afterward,

post ubi collectum robur uiresque refectae,   235
signa mouet praecepsque oblitum fertur in hostem:
fluctus uti medio coepit cum albescere ponto,
longius ex altoque sinum trahit, utque uolutus
ad terras immane sonat per saxa neque ipso

With strength repaired and gathered might breaks camp,
And hurls him headlong on the unthinking foe:
As in mid ocean when a wave far of
Begins to whiten, mustering from the main
Its rounded breast, and, onward rolled to land
Falls with prodigious roar among the rocks,

monte minor procumbit, at ima exaestuat unda   240
uerticibus nigramque alte subiectat harenam.
     Omne adeo genus in terris hominumque ferarumque
et genus aequoreum, pecudes pictaeque uolucres,
in furias ignemque ruunt: amor omnibus idem.

Huge as a very mountain: but the depths
Upseethe in swirling eddies, and disgorge
The murky sand-lees from their sunken bed.
Nay, every race on earth of men, and beasts,
And ocean-folk, and flocks, and painted birds,
Rush to the raging fire: love sways them all.
Never than then more fiercely o'er the plain

tempore non alio catulorum oblita leaena   245
saeuior errauit campis, nec funera uulgo
tam multa informes ursi stragemque dedere
per siluas; tum saeuus aper, tum pessima tigris;
heu male tum Libyae solis erratur in agris.

Prowls heedless of her whelps the lioness:
Nor monstrous bears such wide-spread havoc-doom
Deal through the forests; then the boar is fierce,
Most deadly then the tigress: then, alack!
Ill roaming is it on Libya's lonely plains.

nonne uides ut tota tremor pertemptet equorum   250
corpora, si tantum notas odor attulit auras?
ac neque eos iam frena uirum neque uerbera saeua,
non scopuli rupesque cauae atque obiecta retardant
flumina correptosque unda torquentia montis.

Mark you what shivering thrills the horse's frame,
If but a waft the well-known gust conveys?
Nor curb can check them then, nor lash severe,
Nor rocks and caverned crags, nor barrier-floods,
That rend and whirl and wash the hills away.

ipse ruit dentesque Sabellicus exacuit sus   255
et pede prosubigit terram, fricat arbore costas
atque hinc atque illinc umeros ad uulnera durat.
quid iuuenis, magnum cui uersat in ossibus ignem
durus amor? nempe abruptis turbata procellis

Then speeds amain the great Sabellian boar,
His tushes whets, with forefoot tears the ground,
Rubs 'gainst a tree his flanks, and to and fro
Hardens each wallowing shoulder to the wound.
What of the youth, when love's relentless might
Stirs the fierce fire within his veins? Behold!

nocte natat caeca serus freta, quem super ingens   260
porta tonat caeli, et scopulis inlisa reclamant
aequora; nec miseri possunt reuocare parentes,
nec moritura super crudeli funere uirgo.
quid lynces Bacchi uariae et genus acre luporum

In blindest midnight how he swims the gulf
Convulsed with bursting storm-clouds! Over him
Heaven's huge gate thunders; the rock-shattered main
Utters a warning cry; nor parents' tears
Can backward call him, nor the maid he loves,
Too soon to die on his untimely pyre.
What of the spotted ounce to Bacchus dear,
Or warlike wolf-kin or the breed of dogs?

atque canum? quid quae imbelles dant proelia cerui?   265
scilicet ante omnis furor est insignis equarum;
et mentem Venus ipsa dedit, quo tempore Glauci
Potniades malis membra absumpsere quadrigae.
illas ducit amor trans Gargara transque sonantem

Why tell how timorous stags the battle join?
O'er all conspicuous is the rage of mares,
By Venus' self inspired of old, what time
The Potnian four with rending jaws devoured
The limbs of Glaucus. Love-constrained they roam
Past Gargarus, past the loud Ascanian flood;

Ascanium; superant montis et flumina tranant.   270
continuoque auidis ubi subdita flamma medullis
(uere magis, quia uere calor redit ossibus), illae
ore omnes uersae in Zephyrum stant rupibus altis,
exceptantque leuis auras, et saepe sine ullis

They climb the mountains, and the torrents swim;
And when their eager marrow first conceives
The fire, in Spring-tide chiefly, for with Spring
Warmth doth their frames revisit, then they stand
All facing westward on the rocky heights,
And of the gentle breezes take their fill;

coniugiis uento grauidae (mirabile dictu)   275
saxa per et scopulos et depressas conuallis
diffugiunt, non, Eure, tuos neque solis ad ortus,
in Borean Caurumque, aut unde nigerrimus Auster
nascitur et pluuio contristat frigore caelum.

And oft unmated, marvellous to tell,
But of the wind impregnate, far and wide
O'er craggy height and lowly vale they scud,
Not toward thy rising, Eurus, or the sun's,
But westward and north-west, or whence up-springs
Black Auster, that glooms heaven with rainy cold.
Hence from their groin slow drips a poisonous juice,

hic demum, hippomanes uero quod nomine dicunt   280
pastores, lentum destillat ab inguine uirus,
hippomanes, quod saepe malae legere nouercae
miscueruntque herbas et non innoxia uerba.
     Sed fugit interea, fugit inreparabile tempus,

By shepherds truly named hippomanes,
Hippomanes, fell stepdames oft have culled,
And mixed with herbs and spells of baneful bode.
Fast flies meanwhile the irreparable hour,

singula dum capti circumuectamur amore.   285
hoc satis armentis: superat pars altera curae,
lanigeros agitare greges hirtasque capellas;
hic labor, hinc laudem fortes sperate coloni.
nec sum animi dubius uerbis ea uincere magnum

As point to point our charmed round we trace.
Enough of herds. This second task remains,
The wool-clad flocks and shaggy goats to treat.
Here lies a labour; hence for glory look,
Brave husbandmen. Nor doubtfully know

quam sit et angustis hunc addere rebus honorem;   290
sed me Parnasi deserta per ardua dulcis
raptat amor; iuuat ire iugis, qua nulla priorum
Castaliam molli deuertitur orbita cliuo.
nunc, ueneranda Pales, magno nunc ore sonandum.

How hard it is for words to triumph here,
And shed their lustre on a theme so slight:
But I am caught by ravishing desire
Above the lone Parnassian steep; I love
To walk the heights, from whence no earlier track
Slopes gently downward to Castalia's spring.
Now, awful Pales, strike a louder tone.

Incipiens stabulis edico in mollibus herbam   295
carpere ouis, dum mox frondosa reducitur aestas,
et multa duram stipula filicumque maniplis
sternere subter humum, glacies ne frigida laedat
molle pecus scabiemque ferat turpisque podagras.

First, for the sheep soft pencotes I decree
To browse in, till green summer's swift return;
And that the hard earth under them with straw
And handfuls of the fern be littered deep,
Lest chill of ice such tender cattle harm
With scab and loathly foot-rot. Passing thence

post hinc digressus iubeo frondentia capris   300
arbuta sufficere et fluuios praebere recentis,
et stabula a uentis hiberno opponere soli
ad medium conuersa diem, cum frigidus olim
iam cadit extremoque inrorat Aquarius anno.

I bid the goats with arbute-leaves be stored,
And served with fresh spring-water, and their pens
Turned southward from the blast, to face the suns
Of winter, when Aquarius' icy beam
Now sinks in showers upon the parting year.

hae quoque non cura nobis leuiore tuendae,   305
nec minor usus erit, quamuis Milesia magno
uellera mutentur Tyrios incocta rubores.
densior hinc suboles, hinc largi copia lactis;
quam magis exhausto spumauerit ubere mulctra,

These too no lightlier our protection claim,
Nor prove of poorer service, howsoe'er
Milesian fleeces dipped in Tyrian reds
Repay the barterer; these with offspring teem
More numerous; these yield plenteous store of milk:
The more each dry-wrung udder froths the pail,

laeta magis pressis manabunt flumina mammis.   310
nec minus interea barbas incanaque menta
Cinyphii tondent hirci saetasque comantis
usum in castrorum et miseris uelamina nautis.
pascuntur uero siluas et summa Lycaei,

More copious soon the teat-pressed torrents flow.
Ay, and on Cinyps' bank the he-goats too
Their beards and grizzled chins and bristling hair
Let clip for camp-use, or as rugs to wrap
Seafaring wretches. But they browse the woods
And summits of Lycaeus, and rough briers,

horrentisque rubos et amantis ardua dumos,   315
atque ipsae memores redeunt in tecta suosque
ducunt et grauido superant uix ubere limen.
ergo omni studio glaciem uentosque niualis,
quo minor est illis curae mortalis egestas,

And brakes that love the highland: of themselves
Right heedfully the she-goats homeward troop
Before their kids, and with plump udders clogged
Scarce cross the threshold. Wherefore rather ye,
The less they crave man's vigilance, be fain
From ice to fend them and from snowy winds;

auertes, uictumque feres et uirgea laetus   320
pabula, nec tota claudes faenilia bruma.
At uero Zephyris cum laeta uocantibus aestas
in saltus utrumque gregem atque in pascua mittet,
Luciferi primo cum sidere frigida rura

Bring food and feast them with their branchy fare,
Nor lock your hay-loft all the winter long.
But when glad summer at the west wind's call
Sends either flock to pasture in the glades,
Soon as the day-star shineth, hie we then

carpamus, dum mane nouum, dum gramina canent,   325
et ros in tenera pecori gratissimus herba.
inde ubi quarta sitim caeli collegerit hora
et cantu querulae rumpent arbusta cicadae,
ad puteos aut alta greges ad stagna iubebo

To the cool meadows, while the dawn is young,
The grass yet hoary, and to browsing herds
The dew tastes sweetest on the tender sward.
When heaven's fourth hour draws on the thickening drought,
And shrill cicalas pierce the brake with song,
Then at the well-springs bid them, or deep pools,

currentem ilignis potare canalibus undam;   330
aestibus at mediis umbrosam exquirere uallem,
sicubi magna Iouis antiquo robore quercus
ingentis tendat ramos, aut sicubi nigrum
ilicibus crebris sacra nemus accubet umbra;

From troughs of holm-oak quaff the running wave:
But at day's hottest seek a shadowy vale,
Where some vast ancient-timbered oak of Jove
Spreads his huge branches, or where huddling black
Ilex on ilex cowers in awful shade.

tum tenuis dare rursus aquas et pascere rursus   335
solis ad occasum, cum frigidus aera Vesper
temperat, et saltus reficit iam roscida luna,
litoraque alcyonen resonant, acalanthida dumi.
     Quid tibi pastores Libyae, quid pascua uersu

Then once more give them water sparingly,
And feed once more, till sunset, when cool eve
Allays the air, and dewy moonbeams slake
The forest glades, with halcyon's song the shore,
And every thicket with the goldfinch rings.
Of Libya's shepherds why the tale pursue?

prosequar et raris habitata mapalia tectis?   340
saepe diem noctemque et totum ex ordine mensem
pascitur itque pecus longa in deserta sine ullis
hospitiis: tantum campi iacet. omnia secum
armentarius Afer agit, tectumque laremque

Why sing their pastures and the scattered huts
They house in? Oft their cattle day and night
Graze the whole month together, and go forth
Into far deserts where no shelter is,
So flat the plain and boundless. All his goods
The Afric swain bears with him, house and home,

armaque Amyclaeumque canem Cressamque pharetram;   345
non secus ac patriis acer Romanus in armis
iniusto sub fasce uiam cum carpit, et hosti
ante exspectatum positis stat in agmine castris.
     At non qua Scythiae gentes Maeotiaque unda,

Arms, Cretan quiver, and Amyclaean dog;
As some keen Roman in his country's arms
Plies the swift march beneath a cruel load;
Soon with tents pitched and at his post he stands,
Ere looked for by the foe. Not thus the tribes
Of Scythia by the far Maeotic wave,

turbidus et torquens flauentis Hister harenas,   350
quaque redit medium Rhodope porrecta sub axem.
illic clausa tenent stabulis armenta, neque ullae
aut herbae campo apparent aut arbore frondes;
sed iacet aggeribus niueis informis et alto

Where turbid Ister whirls his yellow sands,
And Rhodope stretched out beneath the pole
Comes trending backward. There the herds they keep
Close-pent in byres, nor any grass is seen
Upon the plain, nor leaves upon the tree:
But with snow-ridges and deep frost afar

terra gelu late septemque adsurgit in ulnas.   355
semper hiems, semper spirantes frigora Cauri;
tum Sol pallentis haud umquam discutit umbras,
nec cum inuectus equis altum petit aethera, nec cum
praecipitem Oceani rubro lauit aequore currum.

Heaped seven ells high the earth lies featureless:
Still winter? still the north wind's icy breath!
Nay, never sun disparts the shadows pale,
Or as he rides the steep of heaven, or dips
In ocean's fiery bath his plunging car.

concrescunt subitae currenti in flumine crustae,   360
undaque iam tergo ferratos sustinet orbis,
puppibus illa prius, patulis nunc hospita plaustris;
aeraque dissiliunt uulgo, uestesque rigescunt
indutae, caeduntque securibus umida uina,

Quick ice-crusts curdle on the running stream,
And iron-hooped wheels the water's back now bears,
To broad wains opened, as erewhile to ships;
Brass vessels oft asunder burst, and clothes
Stiffen upon the wearers; juicy wines

et totae solidam in glaciem uertere lacunae,   365
stiriaque impexis induruit horrida barbis.
interea toto non setius aere ningit:
intereunt pecudes, stant circumfusa pruinis
corpora magna boum, confertoque agmine cerui

They cleave with axes; to one frozen mass
Whole pools are turned; and on their untrimmed beards
Stiff clings the jagged icicle. Meanwhile
All heaven no less is filled with falling snow;
The cattle perish: oxen's mighty frames
Stand island-like amid the frost, and stags
In huddling herds, by that strange weight benumbed,

torpent mole noua et summis uix cornibus exstant.   370
hos non immissis canibus, non cassibus ullis
puniceaeue agitant pauidos formidine pennae,
sed frustra oppositum trudentis pectore montem
comminus obtruncant ferro grauiterque rudentis

Scarce top the surface with their antler-points.
These with no hounds they hunt, nor net with toils,
Nor scare with terror of the crimson plume;
But, as in vain they breast the opposing block,
Butcher them, knife in hand, and so dispatch

caedunt et magno laeti clamore reportant.   375
ipsi in defossis specubus secura sub alta
otia agunt terra, congestaque robora totasque
aduoluere focis ulmos ignique dedere.
hic noctem ludo ducunt, et pocula laeti

Loud-bellowing, and with glad shouts hale them home.
Themselves in deep-dug caverns underground
Dwell free and careless; to their hearths they heave
Oak-logs and elm-trees whole, and fire them there,
There play the night out, and in festive glee

fermento atque acidis imitantur uitea sorbis.   380
talis Hyperboreo Septem subiecta trioni
gens effrena uirum Riphaeo tunditur Euro
et pecudum fuluis uelatur corpora saetis.
     Si tibi lanitium curae, primum aspera silua

With barm and service sour the wine-cup mock.
So 'neath the seven-starred Hyperborean wain
The folk live tameless, buffeted with blasts
Of Eurus from Rhipaean hills, and wrap
Their bodies in the tawny fells of beasts.
If wool delight thee, first, be far removed
All prickly boskage, burrs and caltrops; shun

lappaeque tribolique absint; fuge pabula laeta;   385
continuoque greges uillis lege mollibus albos.
illum autem, quamuis aries sit candidus ipse,
nigra subest udo tantum cui lingua palato,
reice, ne maculis infuscet uellera pullis

Luxuriant pastures; at the outset choose
White flocks with downy fleeces. For the ram,
How white soe'er himself, be but the tongue
'Neath his moist palate black, reject him, lest
He sully with dark spots his offspring's fleece,

nascentum, plenoque alium circumspice campo.   390
munere sic niueo lanae, si credere dignum est,
Pan deus Arcadiae captam te, Luna, fefellit
in nemora alta uocans; nec tu aspernata uocantem.
     At cui lactis amor, cytisum lotosque frequentis

And seek some other o'er the teeming plain.
Even with such snowy bribe of wool, if ear
May trust the tale, Pan, God of Arcady,
Snared and beguiled thee, Luna, calling thee
To the deep woods; nor thou didst spurn his call.
But who for milk hath longing, must himself
Carry lucerne and lotus-leaves enow

ipse manu salsasque ferat praesepibus herbas:   395
hinc et amant fluuios magis, et magis ubera tendunt
et salis occultum referunt in lacte saporem.
multi etiam excretos prohibent a matribus haedos,
primaque ferratis praefigunt ora capistris.

With salt herbs to the cote, whence more they love
The streams, more stretch their udders, and give back
A subtle taste of saltness in the milk.
Many there be who from their mothers keep
The new-born kids, and straightway bind their mouths
With iron-tipped muzzles. What they milk at dawn,

quod surgente die mulsere horisque diurnis,   400
nocte premunt; quod iam tenebris et sole cadente,
sub lucem: exportant calathis (adit oppida pastor),
aut parco sale contingunt hiemique reponunt.
     Nec tibi cura canum fuerit postrema, sed una

Or in the daylight hours, at night they press;
What darkling or at sunset, this ere morn
They bear away in baskets- for to town
The shepherd hies him- or with dash of salt
Just sprinkle, and lay by for winter use.
Nor be thy dogs last cared for; but alike

uelocis Spartae catulos acremque Molossum   405
pasce sero pingui. numquam custodibus illis
nocturnum stabulis furem incursusque luporum
aut impacatos a tergo horrebis Hiberos.
saepe etiam cursu timidos agitabis onagros,

Swift Spartan hounds and fierce Molossian feed
On fattening whey. Never, with these to watch,
Dread nightly thief afold and ravening wolves,
Or Spanish desperadoes in the rear.
And oft the shy wild asses thou wilt chase,

et canibus leporem, canibus uenabere dammas;   410
saepe uolutabris pulsos siluestribus apros
latratu turbabis agens, montisque per altos
ingentem clamore premes ad retia ceruum.
     Disce et odoratam stabulis accendere cedrum

With hounds, too, hunt the hare, with hounds the doe;
Oft from his woodland wallowing-den uprouse
The boar, and scare him with their baying, and drive,
And o'er the mountains urge into the toils
Some antlered monster to their chiming cry.
Learn also scented cedar-wood to burn
Within the stalls, and snakes of noxious smell

galbaneoque agitare grauis nidore chelydros.   415
saepe sub immotis praesepibus aut mala tactu
uipera delituit caelumque exterrita fugit,
aut tecto adsuetus coluber succedere et umbrae
(pestis acerba boum) pecorique aspergere uirus

With fumes of galbanum to drive away.
Oft under long-neglected cribs, or lurks
A viper ill to handle, that hath fled
The light in terror, or some snake, that wont
'Neath shade and sheltering roof to creep, and shower
Its bane among the cattle, hugs the ground,

fouit humum. cape saxa manu, cape robora, pastor,   420
tollentemque minas et sibila colla tumentem
deice! iamque fuga timidum caput abdidit alte,
cum medii nexus extremaeque agmina caudae
soluuntur, tardosque trahit sinus ultimus orbis.

Fell scourge of kine. Shepherd, seize stakes, seize stones!
And as he rears defiance, and puffs out
A hissing throat, down with him! see how low
That cowering crest is vailed in flight, the while,
His midmost coils and final sweep of tail
Relaxing, the last fold drags lingering spires.

est etiam ille malus Calabris in saltibus anguis   425
squamea conuoluens sublato pectore terga
atque notis longam maculosus grandibus aluum,
qui, dum amnes ulli rumpuntur fontibus et dum
uere madent udo terrae ac pluuialibus Austris,

Then that vile worm that in Calabrian glades
Uprears his breast, and wreathes a scaly back,
His length of belly pied with mighty spots-
While from their founts gush any streams, while yet
With showers of Spring and rainy south-winds earth

stagna colit ripisque habitans hic piscibus atram   430
improbus ingluuiem ranisque loquacibus explet;
postquam exusta palus terraeque ardore dehiscunt,
exsilit in siccum, et flammantia lumina torquens
saeuit agris asperque siti atque exterritus aestu.

Is moistened, lo! he haunts the pools, and here
Housed in the banks, with fish and chattering frogs
Crams the black void of his insatiate maw.
Soon as the fens are parched, and earth with heat
Is gaping, forth he darts into the dry,
Rolls eyes of fire and rages through the fields,
Furious from thirst and by the drought dismayed.

ne mihi tum mollis sub diuo carpere somnos   435
neu dorso nemoris libeat iacuisse per herbas,
cum positis nouus exuuiis nitidusque iuuenta
uoluitur, aut catulos tectis aut oua relinquens,
arduus ad solem et linguis micat ore trisulcis.

Me list not then beneath the open heaven
To snatch soft slumber, nor on forest-ridge
Lie stretched along the grass, when, slipped his slough,
To glittering youth transformed he winds his spires,
And eggs or younglings leaving in his lair,
Towers sunward, lightening with three-forked tongue.

     Morborum quoque te causas et signa docebo.   440
turpis ouis temptat scabies, ubi frigidus imber
altius ad uiuum persedit et horrida cano
bruma gelu, uel cum tonsis inlotus adhaesit
sudor, et hirsuti secuerunt corpora uepres.

Of sickness, too, the causes and the signs
I'll teach thee. Loathly scab assails the sheep,
When chilly showers have probed them to the quick,
And winter stark with hoar-frost, or when sweat
Unpurged cleaves to them after shearing done,
And rough thorns rend their bodies. Hence it is

dulcibus idcirco fluuiis pecus omne magistri   445
perfundunt, udisque aries in gurgite uillis
mersatur, missusque secundo defluit amni;
aut tonsum tristi contingunt corpus amurca
et spumas miscent argenti uiuaque sulpura

Shepherds their whole flock steep in running streams,
While, plunged beneath the flood, with drenched fell,
The ram, launched free, goes drifting down the tide.
Else, having shorn, they smear their bodies o'er
With acrid oil-lees, and mix silver-scum
And native sulphur and Idaean pitch,

Idaeasque pices et pinguis unguine ceras   450
scillamque elleborosque grauis nigrumque bitumen.
non tamen ulla magis praesens fortuna laborum est
quam si quis ferro potuit rescindere summum
ulceris os: alitur uitium uiuitque tegendo,

Wax mollified with ointment, and therewith
Sea-leek, strong hellebores, bitumen black.
Yet ne'er doth kindlier fortune crown his toil,
Than if with blade of iron a man dare lance
The ulcer's mouth ope: for the taint is fed
And quickened by confinement; while the swain

dum medicas adhibere manus ad uulnera pastor   455
abnegat et meliora deos sedet omina poscens.
quin etiam, ima dolor balantum lapsus ad ossa
cum furit atque artus depascitur arida febris,
profuit incensos aestus auertere et inter

His hand of healing from the wound withholds,
Or sits for happier signs imploring heaven.
Aye, and when inward to the bleater's bones
The pain hath sunk and rages, and their limbs
By thirsty fever are consumed, 'tis good
To draw the enkindled heat therefrom, and pierce

ima ferire pedis salientem sanguine uenam,   460
Bisaltae quo more solent acerque Gelonus,
cum fugit in Rhodopen atque in deserta Getarum,
et lac concretum cum sanguine potat equino.
quam procul aut molli succedere saepius umbrae

Within the hoof-clefts a blood-bounding vein.
Of tribes Bisaltic such the wonted use,
And keen Gelonian, when to Rhodope
He flies, or Getic desert, and quaffs milk
With horse-blood curdled. Seest one far afield
Oft to the shade's mild covert win, or pull

uideris aut summas carpentem ignauius herbas   465
extremamque sequi, aut medio procumbere campo
pascentem et serae solam decedere nocti—
continuo culpam ferro compesce, priusquam
dira per incautum serpant contagia uulgus.

The grass tops listlessly, or hindmost lag,
Or, browsing, cast her down amid the plain,
At night retire belated and alone;
With quick knife check the mischief, ere it creep
With dire contagion through the unwary herd.

non tam creber agens hiemem ruit aequore turbo   470
quam multae pecudum pestes. nec singula morbi
corpora corripiunt, sed tota aestiua repente,
spemque gregemque simul cunctamque ab origine gentem.
tum sciat, aerias Alpis et Norica si quis

Less thick and fast the whirlwind scours the main
With tempest in its wake, than swarm the plagues
Of cattle; nor seize they single lives alone,
But sudden clear whole feeding grounds, the flock
With all its promise, and extirpate the breed.
Well would he trow it who, so long after, still
High Alps and Noric hill-forts should behold,

castella in tumulis et Iapydis arua Timaui   475
nunc quoque post tanto uideat, desertaque regna
pastorum et longe saltus lateque uacantis.
     Hic quondam morbo caeli miseranda coorta est
tempestas totoque autumni incanduit aestu

And Iapydian Timavus' fields,
Ay, still behold the shepherds' realms a waste,
And far and wide the lawns untenanted.
Here from distempered heavens erewhile arose
A piteous season, with the full fierce heat
Of autumn glowed, and cattle-kindreds all

et genus omne neci pecudum dedit, omne ferarum,   480
corrupitque lacus, infecit pabula tabo.
nec uia mortis erat simplex; sed ubi ignea uenis
omnibus acta sitis miseros adduxerat artus,
rursus abundabat fluidus liquor omniaque in se

And all wild creatures to destruction gave,
Tainted the pools, the fodder charged with bane.
Nor simple was the way of death, but when
Hot thirst through every vein impelled had drawn
Their wretched limbs together, anon o'erflowed
A watery flux, and all their bones piecemeal

ossa minutatim morbo conlapsa trahebat.   485
saepe in honore deum medio stans hostia ad aram,
lanea dum niuea circumdatur infula uitta,
inter cunctantis cecidit moribunda ministros;
aut si quam ferro mactauerat ante sacerdos,

Sapped by corruption to itself absorbed.
Oft in mid sacrifice to heaven- the white
Wool-woven fillet half wreathed about his brow-
Some victim, standing by the altar, there

inde neque impositis ardent altaria fibris,   490
nec responsa potest consultus reddere uates,
ac uix suppositi tinguntur sanguine cultri
summaque ieiuna sanie infuscatur harena.
hinc laetis uituli uulgo moriuntur in herbis

Betwixt the loitering carles a-dying fell:
Or, if betimes the slaughtering priest had struck,
Nor with its heaped entrails blazed the pile,
Nor seer to seeker thence could answer yield;
Nay, scarce the up-stabbing knife with blood was stained,
Scarce sullied with thin gore the surface-sand.
Hence die the calves in many a pasture fair,

et dulcis animas plena ad praesepia reddunt;   495
hinc canibus blandis rabies uenit, et quatit aegros
tussis anhela sues ac faucibus angit obesis.
labitur infelix studiorum atque immemor herbae
uictor equus fontisque auertitur et pede terram

Or at full cribs their lives' sweet breath resign;
Hence on the fawning dog comes madness, hence
Racks the sick swine a gasping cough that chokes
With swelling at the jaws: the conquering steed,
Uncrowned of effort and heedless of the sward,
Faints, turns him from the springs, and paws the earth

crebra ferit; demissae aures, incertus ibidem   500
sudor et ille quidem morituris frigidus; aret
pellis et ad tactum tractanti dura resistit.
haec ante exitium primis dant signa diebus:
sin in processu coepit crudescere morbus,

With ceaseless hoof: low droop his ears, wherefrom
Bursts fitful sweat, a sweat that waxes cold
Upon the dying beast; the skin is dry,
And rigidly repels the handler's touch.
These earlier signs they give that presage doom.
But, if the advancing plague 'gin fiercer grow,

tum uero ardentes oculi atque attractus ab alto   505
spiritus, interdum gemitu grauis, imaque longo
ilia singultu tendunt, it naribus ater
sanguis, et obsessas fauces premit aspera lingua.
profuit inserto latices infundere cornu

Then are their eyes all fire, deep-drawn their breath,
At times groan-laboured: with long sobbing heave
Their lowest flanks; from either nostril streams
Black blood; a rough tongue clogs the obstructed jaws.
'Twas helpful through inverted horn to pour

Lenaeos; ea uisa salus morientibus una.   510
mox erat hoc ipsum exitio, furiisque refecti
ardebant, ipsique suos iam morte sub aegra
(di meliora piis, erroremque hostibus illum!)
discissos nudis laniabant dentibus artus.

Draughts of the wine-god down; sole way it seemed
To save the dying: soon this too proved their bane,
And, reinvigorate but with frenzy's fire,
Even at death's pinch- the gods some happier fate
Deal to the just, such madness to their foes-
Each with bared teeth his own limbs mangling tore.

ecce autem duro fumans sub uomere taurus   515
concidit et mixtum spumis uomit ore cruorem
extremosque ciet gemitus. it tristis arator
maerentem abiungens fraterna morte iuuencum,
atque opere in medio defixa reliquit aratra.

See! as he smokes beneath the stubborn share,
The bull drops, vomiting foam-dabbled gore,
And heaves his latest groans. Sad goes the swain,
Unhooks the steer that mourns his fellow's fate,
And in mid labour leaves the plough-gear fast.

non umbrae altorum nemorum, non mollia possunt   520
prata mouere animum, non qui per saxa uolutus
purior electro campum petit amnis; at ima
soluuntur latera, atque oculos stupor urget inertis
ad terramque fluit deuexo pondere ceruix.

Nor tall wood's shadow, nor soft sward may stir
That heart's emotion, nor rock-channelled flood,
More pure than amber speeding to the plain:
But see! his flanks fail under him, his eyes
Are dulled with deadly torpor, and his neck
Sinks to the earth with drooping weight. What now
Besteads him toil or service? to have turned

quid labor aut benefacta iuuant? quid uomere terras   525
inuertisse grauis? atqui non Massica Bacchi
munera, non illis epulae nocuere repostae:
frondibus et uictu pascuntur simplicis herbae,
pocula sunt fontes liquidi atque exercita cursu

The heavy sod with ploughshare? And yet these
Ne'er knew the Massic wine-god's baneful boon,
Nor twice replenished banquets: but on leaves
They fare, and virgin grasses, and their cups
Are crystal springs and streams with running tired,

flumina, nec somnos abrumpit cura salubris.   530
tempore non alio dicunt regionibus illis
quaesitas ad sacra boues Iunonis et uris
imparibus ductos alta ad donaria currus.
ergo aegre rastris terram rimantur, et ipsis

Their healthful slumbers never broke by care.
Then only, say they, through that country side
For Juno's rites were cattle far to seek,
And ill-matched buffaloes the chariots drew
To their high fanes. So, painfully with rakes
They grub the soil, aye, with their very nails

unguibus infodiunt fruges, montisque per altos   535
contenta ceruice trahunt stridentia plaustra.
non lupus insidias explorat ouilia circum
nec gregibus nocturnus obambulat: acrior illum
cura domat; timidi dammae ceruique fugaces

Dig in the corn-seeds, and with strained neck
O'er the high uplands drag the creaking wains.
No wolf for ambush pries about the pen,
Nor round the flock prowls nightly; pain more sharp
Subdues him: the shy deer and fleet-foot stags

nunc interque canes et circum tecta uagantur.   540
iam maris immensi prolem et genus omne natantum
litore in extremo ceu naufraga corpora fluctus
proluit; insolitae fugiunt in flumina phocae.
interit et curuis frustra defensa latebris

With hounds now wander by the haunts of men
Vast ocean's offspring, and all tribes that swim,
On the shore's confine the wave washes up,
Like shipwrecked bodies: seals, unwonted there,
Flee to the rivers. Now the viper dies,
For all his den's close winding, and with scales

uipera et attoniti squamis astantibus hydri.   545
ipsis est aer auibus non aequus, et illae
praecipites alta uitam sub nube relinquunt.
praeterea iam nec mutari pabula refert,
quaesitaeque nocent artes; cessere magistri,

Erect the astonied water-worms. The air
Brooks not the very birds, that headlong fall,
And leave their life beneath the soaring cloud.
Moreover now nor change of fodder serves,
And subtlest cures but injure; then were foiled

Phillyrides Chiron Amythaoniusque Melampus.   550
saeuit et in lucem Stygiis emissa tenebris
pallida Tisiphone Morbos agit ante Metumque,
inque dies auidum surgens caput altius effert.
balatu pecorum et crebris mugitibus amnes

The masters, Chiron sprung from Phillyron,
And Amythaon's son Melampus. See!
From Stygian darkness launched into the light
Comes raging pale Tisiphone; she drives
Disease and fear before her, day by day
Still rearing higher that all-devouring head.
With bleat of flocks and lowings thick resound

arentesque sonant ripae collesque supini.   555
iamque cateruatim dat stragem atque aggerat ipsis
in stabulis turpi dilapsa cadauera tabo,
donec humo tegere ac foueis abscondere discunt.
nam neque erat coriis usus, nec uiscera quisquam

Rivers and parched banks and sloping heights.
At last in crowds she slaughters them, she chokes
The very stalls with carrion-heaps that rot
In hideous corruption, till men learn
With earth to cover them, in pits to hide.
For e'en the fells are useless; nor the flesh

aut undis abolere potest aut uincere flamma;   560
ne tondere quidem morbo inluuieque peresa
uellera nec telas possunt attingere putris;
uerum etiam inuisos si quis temptarat amictus,
ardentes papulae atque immundus olentia sudor

With water may they purge, or tame with fire,
Nor shear the fleeces even, gnawed through and through
With foul disease, nor touch the putrid webs;
But, had one dared the loathly weeds to try,
Red blisters and an unclean sweat o'erran

membra sequebatur, nec longo deinde moranti   565
tempore contactos artus sacer ignis edebat.

His noisome limbs, till, no long tarriance made,
The fiery curse his tainted frame devoured.

  P. VERGILI MARONIS GEORGICON

LIBER QVARTVS   1

 

 

GEORGIC IV

Protinus aerii mellis caelestia dona
exsequar: hanc etiam, Maecenas, adspice partem.
Admiranda tibi levium spectacula rerum
magnanimosque duces totiusque ordine gentis

Of air-born honey, gift of heaven, I now
Take up the tale. Upon this theme no less
Look thou, Maecenas, with indulgent eye.
A marvellous display of puny powers,
High-hearted chiefs, a nation's history,
Its traits, its bent, its battles and its clans,

mores et studia et populos et proelia dicam.     5
In tenui labor; at tenuis non gloria, si quem
numina laeva sinunt auditque vocatus Apollo.
Principio sedes apibus statioque petenda,
quo neque sit ventis aditus--nam pabula venti

All, each, shall pass before you, while I sing.
Slight though the poet's theme, not slight the praise,
So frown not heaven, and Phoebus hear his call.
First find your bees a settled sure abode,
Where neither winds can enter (winds blow back
The foragers with food returning home)

ferre domum prohibent--neque oves haedique petulci     10
floribus insultent aut errans bucula campo
decutiat rorem et surgentes atterat herbas.
Absint et picti squalentia terga lacerti
pinguibus a stabulis meropesque aliaeque volucres

Nor sheep and butting kids tread down the flowers,
Nor heifer wandering wide upon the plain
Dash off the dew, and bruise the springing blades.
Let the gay lizard too keep far aloof
His scale-clad body from their honied stalls,
And the bee-eater, and what birds beside,

et manibus Procne pectus signata cruentis;     15
omnia nam late vastant ipsasque volantes
ore ferunt dulcem nidis immitibus escam.
At liquidi fontes et stagna virentia musco
adsint et tenuis fugiens per gramina rivus,

And Procne smirched with blood upon the breast
From her own murderous hands. For these roam wide
Wasting all substance, or the bees themselves
Strike flying, and in their beaks bear home, to glut
Those savage nestlings with the dainty prey.
But let clear springs and moss-green pools be near,
And through the grass a streamlet hurrying run,
Some palm-tree o'er the porch extend its shade,

palmaque vestibulum aut ingens oleaster inumbret,     20
ut, cum prima novi ducent examina reges
vere suo ludetque favis emissa iuventus,
vicina invitet decedere ripa calori,
obviaque hospitiis teneat frondentibus arbos.

Or huge-grown oleaster, that in Spring,
Their own sweet Spring-tide, when the new-made chiefs
Lead forth the young swarms, and, escaped their comb,
The colony comes forth to sport and play,
The neighbouring bank may lure them from the heat,
Or bough befriend with hospitable shade.
O'er the mid-waters, whether swift or still,

In medium, seu stabit iners seu profluet umor,     25
transversas salices et grandia conice saxa,
pontibus ut crebris possint consistere et alas
pandere ad aestivum solem, si forte morantes
sparserit aut praeceps Neptuno immerserit Eurus.

Cast willow-branches and big stones enow,
Bridge after bridge, where they may footing find
And spread their wide wings to the summer sun,
If haply Eurus, swooping as they pause,
Have dashed with spray or plunged them in the deep.

Haec circum casiae virides et olentia late     30
serpylla et graviter spirantis copia thymbrae
floreat inriguumque bibant violaria fontem.
Ipsa autem, seu corticibus tibi suta cavatis,
seu lento fuerint alvaria vimine texta,

And let green cassias and far-scented thymes,
And savory with its heavy-laden breath
Bloom round about, and violet-beds hard by
Sip sweetness from the fertilizing springs.
For the hive's self, or stitched of hollow bark,
Or from tough osier woven, let the doors

angustos habeant aditus: nam frigore mella     35
cogit hiems, eademque calor liquefacta remittit.
Utraque vis apibus pariter metuenda; neque illae
nequiquam in tectis certatim tenuia cera
spiramenta linunt fucoque et floribus oras

Be strait of entrance; for stiff winter's cold
Congeals the honey, and heat resolves and thaws,
To bees alike disastrous; not for naught
So haste they to cement the tiny pores
That pierce their walls, and fill the crevices
With pollen from the flowers, and glean and keep

explent collectumque haec ipsa ad munera gluten     40
et visco et Phrygiae servant pice lentius Idae.
Saepe etiam effossis, si vera est fama, latebris
sub terra fovere larem, penitusque repertae
pumicibusque cavis exesaeque arboris antro.

To this same end the glue, that binds more fast
Than bird-lime or the pitch from Ida's pines.
Oft too in burrowed holes, if fame be true,
They make their cosy subterranean home,
And deeply lodged in hollow rocks are found,
Or in the cavern of an age-hewn tree.
Thou not the less smear round their crannied cribs

Tu tamen et levi rimosa cubilia limo     45
ungue fovens circum et raras superinice frondes.
Neu propius tectis taxum sine, neve rubentes
ure foco cancros, altae neu crede paludi,
aut ubi odor caeni gravis aut ubi concava pulsu

With warm smooth mud-coat, and strew leaves above;
But near their home let neither yew-tree grow,
Nor reddening crabs be roasted, and mistrust
Deep marish-ground and mire with noisome smell,
Or where the hollow rocks sonorous ring,

saxa sonant vocisque offensa resultat imago.     50
Quod superest, ubi pulsam hiemem sol aureus egit
sub terras caelumque aestiva luce reclusit,
illae continuo saltus silvasque peragrant
purpureosque metunt flores et flumina libant

And the word spoken buffets and rebounds.
What more? When now the golden sun has put
Winter to headlong flight beneath the world,
And oped the doors of heaven with summer ray,
Forthwith they roam the glades and forests o'er,
Rifle the painted flowers, or sip the streams,
Light-hovering on the surface. Hence it is

summa leves. Hinc nescio qua dulcedine laetae     55
progeniem nidosque fovent, hinc arte recentes
excudunt ceras et mella tenacia fingunt.
Hinc ubi iam emissum caveis ad sidera caeli
nare per aestatem liquidam suspexeris agmen

With some sweet rapture, that we know not of,
Their little ones they foster, hence with skill
Work out new wax or clinging honey mould.
So when the cage-escaped hosts you see
Float heavenward through the hot clear air, until
You marvel at yon dusky cloud that spreads

obscuramque trahi vento mirabere nubem,     60
contemplator: aquas dulces et frondea semper
tecta petunt.
Huc tu iussos adsperge sapores,
trita melisphylla et cerinthae ignobile gramen,
tinnitusque cie et Matris quate cymbala circum.

And lengthens on the wind, then mark them well;
For then 'tis ever the fresh springs they seek
And bowery shelter: hither must you bring
The savoury sweets I bid, and sprinkle them,
Bruised balsam and the wax-flower's lowly weed,
And wake and shake the tinkling cymbals heard
By the great Mother: on the anointed spots
Themselves will settle, and in wonted wise

ipsae consident medicatis sedibus, ipsae     65
intima more suo sese in cunabula condent.
Sin autem ad pugnam exierint, nam saepe duobus
regibus incessit magno discordia motu,
continuoque animos vulgi et trepidantia bello

Seek of themselves the cradle's inmost depth.
But if to battle they have hied them forth-
For oft 'twixt king and king with uproar dire
Fierce feud arises, and at once from far
You may discern what passion sways the mob,

corda licet longe praesciscere; namque morantes     70
Martius ille aeris rauci canor increpat et vox
auditur fractos sonitus imitata tubarum;
tum trepidae inter se coeunt pennisque coruscant
spiculaque exacuunt rostris aptantque lacertos

And how their hearts are throbbing for the strife;
Hark! the hoarse brazen note that warriors know
Chides on the loiterers, and the ear may catch
A sound that mocks the war-trump's broken blasts;
Then in hot haste they muster, then flash wings,
Sharpen their pointed beaks and knit their thews,

et circa regem atque ipsa ad praetoria densae     75
miscentur magnisque vocant clamoribus hostem.
Ergo ubi ver nactae sudum camposque patentes,
erumpunt portis; concurritur, aethere in alto
fit sonitus, magnum mixtae glomerantur in orbem

And round the king, even to his royal tent,
Throng rallying, and with shouts defy the foe.
So, when a dry Spring and clear space is given,
Forth from the gates they burst, they clash on high;
A din arises; they are heaped and rolled
Into one mighty mass, and headlong fall,

praecipitesque cadunt; non densior aëre grando,     80
nec de concussa tantum pluit ilice glandis.
ipsi per medias acies insignibus alis
ingentes animos angusto in pectore versant,
usque adeo obnixi non cedere, dum gravis aut hos

Not denselier hail through heaven, nor pelting so
Rains from the shaken oak its acorn-shower.
Conspicuous by their wings the chiefs themselves
Press through the heart of battle, and display
A giant's spirit in each pigmy frame,
Steadfast no inch to yield till these or those

aut hos versa fuga victor dare terga subegit.     85
Hi motus animorum atque haec certamina tanta
pulveris exigui iactu compressa quiescent.
Verum ubi ductores acie revocaveris ambo,
deterior qui visus, eum, ne prodigus obsit,

The victor's ponderous arm has turned to flight.
Such fiery passions and such fierce assaults
A little sprinkled dust controls and quells.
And now, both leaders from the field recalled,
Who hath the worser seeming, do to death,
Lest royal waste wax burdensome, but let

dede neci; melior vacua sine regnet in aula.     90
Alter erit maculis auro squalentibus ardens;
nam duo sunt genera: hic melior, insignis et ore
et rutilis clarus squamis, ille horridus alter
desidia latamque trahens inglorius alvum.

His better lord it on the empty throne.
One with gold-burnished flakes will shine like fire,
For twofold are their kinds, the nobler he,
Of peerless front and lit with flashing scales;
That other, from neglect and squalor foul,
Drags slow a cumbrous belly. As with kings,

Ut binae regum facies, ita corpora plebis.     95
Namque aliae turpes horrent, ceu pulvere ab alto
cum venit et sicco terram spuit ore viator
aridus; elucent aliae et fulgore coruscant
ardentes auro et paribus lita corpora guttis.

So too with people, diverse is their mould,
Some rough and loathly, as when the wayfarer
Scapes from a whirl of dust, and scorched with heat
Spits forth the dry grit from his parched mouth:
The others shine forth and flash with lightning-gleam,
Their backs all blazoned with bright drops of gold

Haec potior suboles, hinc caeli tempore certo     100
dulcia mella premes, nec tantum dulcia, quantum
et liquida et durum Bacchi domitura saporem.
At cum incerta volant caeloque examina ludunt
contemnuntque favos et frigida tecta relinquunt,

Symmetric: this the likelier breed; from these,
When heaven brings round the season, thou shalt strain
Sweet honey, nor yet so sweet as passing clear,
And mellowing on the tongue the wine-god's fire.
But when the swarms fly aimlessly abroad,
Disport themselves in heaven and spurn their cells,
Leaving the hive unwarmed, from such vain play

instabiles animos ludo prohibebis inani.     105
Nec magnus prohibere labor: tu regibus alas
eripe; non illis quisquam cunctantibus altum
ire iter aut castris audebit vellere signa.
Invitent croceis halantes floribus horti

Must you refrain their volatile desires,
Nor hard the task: tear off the monarchs' wings;
While these prove loiterers, none beside will dare
Mount heaven, or pluck the standards from the camp.
Let gardens with the breath of saffron flowers

et custos furum atque avium cum falce saligna     110
Hellespontiaci servet tutela Priapi.
Ipse thymum pinosque ferens de montibus altis
tecta serat late circum, cui talia curae;
ipse labore manum duro terat, ipse feraces

Allure them, and the lord of Hellespont,
Priapus, wielder of the willow-scythe,
Safe in his keeping hold from birds and thieves.
And let the man to whom such cares are dear
Himself bring thyme and pine-trees from the heights,
And strew them in broad belts about their home;
No hand but his the blistering task should ply,

figat humo plantas et amicos inriget imbres.     115
Atque equidem, extremo ni iam sub fine laborum
vela traham et terris festinem advertere proram,
forsitan et, pingues hortos quae cura colendi
ornaret, canerem, biferique rosaria Paesti,

Plant the young slips, or shed the genial showers.
And I myself, were I not even now
Furling my sails, and, nigh the journey's end,
Eager to turn my vessel's prow to shore,
Perchance would sing what careful husbandry
Makes the trim garden smile; of Paestum too,
Whose roses bloom and fade and bloom again;

quoque modo potis gauderent intiba rivis      120
et virides apio ripae, tortusque per herbam
cresceret in ventrem cucumis; nec sera comantem
narcissum aut flexi tacuissem vimen acanthi
pallentesque hederas et amantes litora myrtos.

How endives glory in the streams they drink,
And green banks in their parsley, and how the gourd
Twists through the grass and rounds him to paunch;
Nor of Narcissus had my lips been dumb,
That loiterer of the flowers, nor supple-stemmed
Acanthus, with the praise of ivies pale,
And myrtles clinging to the shores they love.

Namque sub Oebaliae memini me turribus arcis,     125
qua niger umectat flaventia culta Galaesus,
Corycium vidisse senem, cui pauca relicti
iugera ruris erant, nec fertilis illa iuvencis
nec pecori opportuna seges nec commoda Baccho.

For 'neath the shade of tall Oebalia's towers,
Where dark Galaesus laves the yellowing fields,
An old man once I mind me to have seen-
From Corycus he came- to whom had fallen
Some few poor acres of neglected land,
And they nor fruitful' neath the plodding steer,
Meet for the grazing herd, nor good for vines.
Yet he, the while his meagre garden-herbs

Hic rarum tamen in dumis olus albaque circum      130
lilia verbenasque premens vescumque papaver
regum aequabat opes animis seraque revertens
nocte domum dapibus mensas onerabat inemptis.
Primus vere rosam atque autumno carpere poma,

Among the thorns he planted, and all round
White lilies, vervains, and lean poppy set,
In pride of spirit matched the wealth of kings,
And home returning not till night was late,
With unbought plenty heaped his board on high.
He was the first to cull the rose in spring,
He the ripe fruits in autumn; and ere yet

et cum tristis hiems etiamnum frigore saxa     135
rumperet et glacie cursus frenaret aquarum,
ille comam mollis iam tondebat hyacinthi
aestatem increpitans seram Zephyrosque morantes.
Ergo apibus fetis idem atque examine multo

Winter had ceased in sullen ire to rive
The rocks with frost, and with her icy bit
Curb in the running waters, there was he
Plucking the rathe faint hyacinth, while he chid
Summer's slow footsteps and the lagging West.
Therefore he too with earliest brooding bees
And their full swarms o'erflowed, and first was he

primus abundare et spumantia cogere pressis     140
mella favis; illi tiliae atque uberrima pinus,
quotque in flore novo pomis se fertilis arbos
induerat, totidem autumno matura tenebat.
Ille etiam seras in versum distulit ulmos

To press the bubbling honey from the comb;
Lime-trees were his, and many a branching pine;
And all the fruits wherewith in early bloom
The orchard-tree had clothed her, in full tale
Hung there, by mellowing autumn perfected.
He too transplanted tall-grown elms a-row,

eduramque pirum et spinos iam pruna ferentes     145
iamque ministrantem platanum potantibus umbras.
Verum haec ipse equidem spatiis exclusus iniquis
praetereo atque aliis post me memoranda relinquo.
Nunc age, naturas apibus quas Iuppiter ipse

Time-toughened pear, thorns bursting with the plum
And plane now yielding serviceable shade
For dry lips to drink under: but these things,
Shut off by rigorous limits, I pass by,
And leave for others to sing after me.
Come, then, I will unfold the natural powers
Great Jove himself upon the bees bestowed,

addidit, expediam, pro qua mercede canoros     150
Curetum sonitus crepitantiaque aera secutae
Dictaeo caeli regem pavere sub antro.
Solae communes natos, consortia tecta
urbis habent magnisque agitant sub legibus aevum,

The boon for which, led by the shrill sweet strains
Of the Curetes and their clashing brass,
They fed the King of heaven in Dicte's cave.
Alone of all things they receive and hold
Community of offspring, and they house
Together in one city, and beneath
The shelter of majestic laws they live;

et patriam solae et certos novere penates,     155
venturaeque hiemis memores aestate laborem
experiuntur et in medium quaesita reponunt.
Namque aliae victu invigilant et foedere pacto
exercentur agris; pars intra saepta domorum

And they alone fixed home and country know,
And in the summer, warned of coming cold,
Make proof of toil, and for the general store
Hoard up their gathered harvesting. For some
Watch o'er the victualling of the hive, and these
By settled order ply their tasks afield;
And some within the confines of their home
Plant firm the comb's first layer, Narcissus' tear,

Narcissi lacrimam et lentum de cortice gluten     160
prima favis ponunt fundamina, deinde tenaces
suspendunt ceras: aliae spem gentis adultos
educunt fetus, aliae purissima mella
stipant et liquido distendunt nectare cellas.

And sticky gum oozed from the bark of trees,
Then set the clinging wax to hang therefrom.
Others the while lead forth the full-grown young,
Their country's hope, and others press and pack
The thrice repured honey, and stretch their cells
To bursting with the clear-strained nectar sweet.

Sunt quibus ad portas cecidit custodia sorti,     165
inque vicem speculantur aquas et nubila caeli
aut onera accipiunt venientum aut agmine facto
ignavum fucos pecus a praesepibus arcent.
Fervet opus, redolentque thymo fragrantia mella.

Some, too, the wardship of the gates befalls,
Who watch in turn for showers and cloudy skies,
Or ease returning labourers of their load,
Or form a band and from their precincts drive
The drones, a lazy herd. How glows the work!
How sweet the honey smells of perfumed thyme
Like the Cyclopes, when in haste they forge

ac veluti lentis Cyclopes fulmina massis     170
cum properant, alii taurinis follibus auras
accipiunt redduntque, alii stridentia tingunt
aera lacu; gemit impositis incudibus Aetna;
illi inter sese magna vi bracchia tollunt

From the slow-yielding ore the thunderbolts,
Some from the bull's-hide bellows in and out
Let the blasts drive, some dip i' the water-trough
The sputtering metal: with the anvil's weight
Groans Etna: they alternately in time
With giant strength uplift their sinewy arms,

in numerum versantque tenaci forcipe ferrum:     175
non aliter, si parva licet componere magnis,
Cecropias innatus apes amor urget habendi,
munere quamque suo.
Grandaevis oppida curae
et munire favos et daedala fingere tecta.

Or twist the iron with the forceps' grip-
Not otherwise, to measure small with great,
The love of getting planted in their breasts
Goads on the bees, that haunt old Cecrops' heights,
Each in his sphere to labour. The old have charge
To keep the town, and build the walled combs,
And mould the cunning chambers; but the youth,

At fessae multa referunt se nocte minores,     180
crura thymo plenae; pascuntur et arbuta passim
et glaucas salices casiamque crocumque rubentem
et pinguem tiliam et ferrugineos hyacinthos.
Omnibus una quies operum, labor omnibus unus:

Their tired legs packed with thyme, come labouring home
Belated, for afar they range to feed
On arbutes and the grey-green willow-leaves,
And cassia and the crocus blushing red,
Glue-yielding limes, and hyacinths dusky-eyed.
One hour for rest have all, and one for toil:

mane ruunt portis; nusquam mora; rursus easdem     185
vesper ubi e pastu tandem decedere campis
admonuit, tum tecta petunt, tum corpora curant;
fit sonitus, mussantque oras et limina circum.
Post, ubi iam thalamis se composuere, siletur

With dawn they hurry from the gates- no room
For loiterers there: and once again, when even
Now bids them quit their pasturing on the plain,
Then homeward make they, then refresh their strength:
A hum arises: hark! they buzz and buzz
About the doors and threshold; till at length
Safe laid to rest they hush them for the night,

in noctem fessosque sopor suus occupat artus.     190
Nec vero a stabulis pluvia impendente recedunt
longius aut credunt caelo adventantibus Euris,
sed circum tutae sub moenibus urbis aquantur,
excursusque breves temptant et saepe lapillos,

And welcome slumber laps their weary limbs.
But from the homestead not too far they fare,
When showers hang like to fall, nor, east winds nigh,
Confide in heaven, but 'neath the city walls
Safe-circling fetch them water, or essay
Brief out-goings, and oft weigh-up tiny stones,

ut cumbae instabiles fluctu iactante saburram,     195
tollunt, his sese per inania nubila librant.
Illum adeo placuisse apibus mirabere morem,
quod neque concubitu indulgent nec corpora segnes
in Venerem solvunt aut fetus nixibus edunt:

As light craft ballast in the tossing tide,
Wherewith they poise them through the cloudy vast.
This law of life, too, by the bees obeyed,
Will move thy wonder, that nor sex with sex
Yoke they in marriage, nor yield their limbs to love,
Nor know the pangs of labour, but alone

verum ipsae e foliis natos, e suavibus herbis     200
ore legunt, ipsae regem parvosque Quirites
sufficiunt aulasque et cerea regna refigunt.
Saepe etiam duris errando in cotibus alas
attrivere ultroque animam sub fasce dedere:

From leaves and honied herbs, the mothers, each,
Gather their offspring in their mouths, alone
Supply new kings and pigmy commonwealth,
And their old court and waxen realm repair.
Oft, too, while wandering, against jagged stones
Their wings they fray, and 'neath the burden yield
Their liberal lives: so deep their love of flowers,

tantus amor florum et generandi gloria mellis.     205
Ergo ipsas quamvis angusti terminus aevi
excipiat, neque enim plus septima ducitur aestas,
at genus immortale manet multosque per annos
stat fortuna domus et avi numerantur avorum.

So glorious deem they honey's proud acquist.
Therefore, though each a life of narrow span,
Ne'er stretched to summers more than seven, befalls,
Yet deathless doth the race endure, and still
Perennial stands the fortune of their line,
From grandsire unto grandsire backward told.

Praeterea regem non sic Aegyptus et ingens     210
Lydia nec populi Parthorum aut Medus Hydaspes
observant.
Rege incolumi mens omnibus una est;
amisso rupere fidem constructaque mella
diripuere ipsae et crates solvere favorum.

Moreover, not Aegyptus, nor the realm
Of boundless Lydia, no, nor Parthia's hordes,
Nor Median Hydaspes, to their king
Do such obeisance: lives the king unscathed,
One will inspires the million: is he dead,
Snapt is the bond of fealty; they themselves
Ravage their toil-wrought honey, and rend amain
Their own comb's waxen trellis. He is the lord

Ille operum custos, illum admirantur et omnes     215
circumstant fremitu denso stipantque frequentes
et saepe attollunt umeris et corpora bello
obiectant pulchramque petunt per vulnera mortem.
His quidam signis atque haec exempla secuti

Of all their labour; him with awful eye
They reverence, and with murmuring throngs surround,
In crowds attend, oft shoulder him on high,
Or with their bodies shield him in the fight,
And seek through showering wounds a glorious death.
Led by these tokens, and with such traits to guide,
Some say that unto bees a share is given

esse apibus partem divinae mentis et haustus     220
aetherios dixere; deum namque ire per omnes
terrasque tractusque maris caelumque profundum.
Hinc pecudes, armenta, viros, genus omne ferarum,
quemque sibi tenues nascentem arcessere vitas;

Of the Divine Intelligence, and to drink
Pure draughts of ether; for God permeates all-
Earth, and wide ocean, and the vault of heaven-
From whom flocks, herds, men, beasts of every kind,
Draw each at birth the fine essential flame;

scilicet huc reddi deinde ac resoluta referri     225
omnia nec morti esse locum, sed viva volare
sideris in numerum atque alto succedere caelo.
Siquando sedem angustam servataque mella
thesauris relines, prius haustu sparsus aquarum

Yea, and that all things hence to Him return,
Brought back by dissolution, nor can death
Find place: but, each into his starry rank,
Alive they soar, and mount the heights of heaven.
If now their narrow home thou wouldst unseal,
And broach the treasures of the honey-house,
With draught of water first toment thy lips,

ora fove fumosque manu praetende sequaces.     230
Bis gravidos cogunt fetus, duo tempora messis,
Taygete simul os terris ostendit honestum
Pleas et Oceani spretos pede reppulit amnes,
aut eadem sidus fugiens ubi Piscis aquosi

And spread before thee fumes of trailing smoke.
Twice is the teeming produce gathered in,
Twofold their time of harvest year by year,
Once when Taygete the Pleiad uplifts
Her comely forehead for the earth to see,
With foot of scorn spurning the ocean-streams,
Once when in gloom she flies the watery Fish,

tristior hibernas caelo descendit in undas.     235
Illis ira modum supra est, laesaeque venenum
morsibus inspirant et spicula caeca relinquunt
adfixae venis animasque in vulnere ponunt.
Sin duram metues hiemem parcesque futuro

And dips from heaven into the wintry wave.
Unbounded then their wrath; if hurt, they breathe
Venom into their bite, cleave to the veins
And let the sting lie buried, and leave their lives
Behind them in the wound. But if you dread
Too rigorous a winter, and would fain
Temper the coming time, and their bruised hearts

contunsosque animos et res miserabere fractas,     240
at suffire thymo cerasque recidere inanes
quis dubitet? nam saepe favos ignotus adedit
stellio et lucifugis congesta cubilia blattis
immunisque sedens aliena ad pabula fucus

And broken estate to pity move thy soul,
Yet who would fear to fumigate with thyme,
Or cut the empty wax away? for oft
Into their comb the newt has gnawed unseen,
And the light-loathing beetles crammed their bed,
And he that sits at others' board to feast,

aut asper crabro imparibus se immiscuit armis,     245
aut dirum tiniae genus, aut invisa Minervae
laxos in foribus suspendit aranea casses.
Quo magis exhaustae fuerint, hoc acrius omnes
incumbent generis lapsi sarcire ruinas

The do-naught drone; or 'gainst the unequal foe
Swoops the fierce hornet, or the moth's fell tribe;
Or spider, victim of Minerva's spite,
Athwart the doorway hangs her swaying net.
The more impoverished they, the keenlier all
To mend the fallen fortunes of their race
Will nerve them, fill the cells up, tier on tier,

complebuntque foros et floribus horrea texent.     250
Si vero, quoniam casus apibus quoque nostros
vita tulit, tristi languebunt corpora morbo--
quod iam non dubiis poteris cognoscere signis:
continuo est aegris alius color, horrida vultum

And weave their granaries from the rifled flowers.
Now, seeing that life doth even to bee-folk bring
Our human chances, if in dire disease
Their bodies' strength should languish- which anon
By no uncertain tokens may be told-
Forthwith the sick change hue; grim leanness mars

deformat macies, tum corpora luce carentum     255
exportant tectis et tristia funera ducunt;
aut illae pedibus conexae ad limina pendent,
aut intus clausis cunctantur in aedibus, omnes
ignavaeque fame et contracto frigore pigrae.

Their visage; then from out the cells they bear
Forms reft of light, and lead the mournful pomp;
Or foot to foot about the porch they hang,
Or within closed doors loiter, listless all
From famine, and benumbed with shrivelling cold.

Tum sonus auditur gravior, tractimque susurrant,     260
frigidus ut quondam silvis immurmurat Auster,
ut mare sollicitum stridit refluentibus undis,
aestuat ut clausis rapidus fornacibus ignis:
hic iam galbaneos suadebo incendere odores

Then is a deep note heard, a long-drawn hum,
As when the chill South through the forests sighs,
As when the troubled ocean hoarsely booms
With back-swung billow, as ravening tide of fire
Surges, shut fast within the furnace-walls.
Then do I bid burn scented galbanum,

mellaque harundineis inferre canalibus, ultro     265
hortantem et fessas ad pabula nota vocantem.
Proderit et tunsum gallae admiscere saporem
Arentesque rosas aut igni pinguia multo
defruta vel psithia passos de vite racemos

And, honey-streams through reeden troughs instilled,
Challenge and cheer their flagging appetite
To taste the well-known food; and it shall boot
To mix therewith the savour bruised from gall,
And rose-leaves dried, or must to thickness boiled
By a fierce fire, or juice of raisin-grapes
From Psithian vine, and with its bitter smell

Cecropiumque thymum et grave olentia centaurea.     270
Est etiam flos in pratis, cui nomen amello
fecere agricolae, facilis quaerentibus herba;
namque uno ingentem tollit de caespite silvam,
aureus ipse, sed in foliis, quae plurima circum

Centaury, and the famed Cecropian thyme.
There is a meadow-flower by country folk
Hight star-wort; 'tis a plant not far to seek;
For from one sod an ample growth it rears,
Itself all golden, but girt with plenteous leaves,

funduntur, violae sublucet purpura nigrae;     275
[saepe deum nexis ornatae torquibus arae;
asper in ore sapor; tonsis in vallibus illum
pastores et curva legunt prope flumina Mellae.
Huius odorato radices incoque Baccho

Where glory of purple shines through violet gloom.
With chaplets woven hereof full oft are decked
Heaven's altars: harsh its taste upon the tongue;
Shepherds in vales smooth-shorn of nibbling flocks
By Mella's winding waters gather it.
The roots of this, well seethed in fragrant wine,

pabulaque in foribus plenis adpone canistris.     280
Sed siquem proles subito defecerit omnis,
nec genus unde novae stirpis revocetur habebit,
tempus et Arcadii memoranda inventa magistri
pandere, quoque modo caesis iam saepe iuvencis

Set in brimmed baskets at their doors for food.
But if one's whole stock fail him at a stroke,
Nor hath he whence to breed the race anew,
'Tis time the wondrous secret to disclose
Taught by the swain of Arcady, even how
The blood of slaughtered bullocks oft has borne

insincerus apes tulerit cruor. Altius omnem     285
expediam prima repetens ab origine famam.
Nam qua Pellaei gens fortunata Canopi
accolit effuso stagnantem flumine Nilum
et circum pictis vehitur sua rura phaselis,

Bees from corruption. I will trace me back
To its prime source the story's tangled thread,
And thence unravel. For where thy happy folk,
Canopus, city of Pellaean fame,
Dwell by the Nile's lagoon-like overflow,
And high o'er furrows they have called their own
Skim in their painted wherries; where, hard by,

quaque pharetratae vicinia Persidis urget,     290
[et viridem Aegyptum nigra fecundat harena,
et diversa ruens septem discurrit in ora
usque coloratis amnis devexus ab Indis
omnis in hac certam regio iacit arte salutem.

The quivered Persian presses, and that flood
Which from the swart-skinned Aethiop bears him down,
Swift-parted into sevenfold branching mouths
With black mud fattens and makes Aegypt green,
That whole domain its welfare's hope secure
Rests on this art alone. And first is chosen

Exiguus primum atque ipsos contractus in usus     295
eligitur locus; hunc angustique imbrice tecti
parietibusque premunt artis et quattuor addunt,
quattuor a ventis obliqua luce fenestras.
Tum vitulus bima curvans iam cornua fronte

A strait recess, cramped closer to this end,
Which next with narrow roof of tiles atop
'Twixt prisoning walls they pinch, and add hereto
From the four winds four slanting window-slits.
Then seek they from the herd a steer, whose horns
With two years' growth are curling, and stop fast,

quaeritur; huic geminae nares et spiritus oris     300
multa reluctanti obstruitur, plagisque perempto
tunsa per integram solvuntur viscera pellem.
Sic positum in clauso linquunt et ramea costis
subiciunt fragmenta, thymum casiasque recentes.

Plunge madly as he may, the panting mouth
And nostrils twain, and done with blows to death,
Batter his flesh to pulp i' the hide yet whole,
And shut the doors, and leave him there to lie.
But 'neath his ribs they scatter broken boughs,
With thyme and fresh-pulled cassias: this is done

Hoc geritur Zephyris primum impellentibus undas,     305
ante novis rubeant quam prata coloribus, ante
garrula quam tignis nidum suspendat hirundo.
Interea teneris tepefactus in ossibus umor
aestuat et visenda modis animalia miris,

When first the west winds bid the waters flow,
Ere flush the meadows with new tints, and ere
The twittering swallow buildeth from the beams.
Meanwhile the juice within his softened bones
Heats and ferments, and things of wondrous birth,

trunca pedum primo, mox et stridentia pennis,     310
miscentur tenuemque magis magis aëra carpunt,
donec, ut aestivis effusus nubibus imber,
erupere aut ut nervo pulsante sagittae,
prima leves ineunt si quando proelia Parthi.

Footless at first, anon with feet and wings,
Swarm there and buzz, a marvel to behold;
And more and more the fleeting breeze they take,
Till, like a shower that pours from summer-clouds,
Forth burst they, or like shafts from quivering string
When Parthia's flying hosts provoke the fray.
Say what was he, what God, that fashioned forth

Quis deus hanc, Musae, quis nobis extudit artem?     315
Unde nova ingressus hominum experientia cepit?
Pastor Aristaeus fugiens Peneia Tempe,
amissis, ut fama, apibus morboque fameque,
tristis ad extremi sacrum caput adstitit amnis

This art for us, O Muses? of man's skill
Whence came the new adventure? From thy vale,
Peneian Tempe, turning, bee-bereft,
So runs the tale, by famine and disease,
Mournful the shepherd Aristaeus stood
Fast by the haunted river-head, and thus

multa querens atque hac adfatus voce parentem:     320
'Mater, Cyrene mater, quae gurgitis huius
ima tenes, quid me praeclara stirpe deorum,
si modo, quem perhibes, pater est Thymbraeus Apollo,
invisum fatis genuisti? aut quo tibi nostri

With many a plaint to her that bare him cried:
"Mother, Cyrene, mother, who hast thy home
Beneath this whirling flood, if he thou sayest,
Apollo, lord of Thymbra, be my sire,
Sprung from the Gods' high line, why barest thou me
With fortune's ban for birthright? Where is now
Thy love to me-ward banished from thy breast?

pulsus amor? quid me caelum sperare iubebas?     325
En etiam hunc ipsum vitae mortalis honorem,
quem mihi vix frugum et pecudum custodia sollers
omnia temptanti extuderat, te matre relinquo.
Quin age et ipsa manu felices erue silvas,

O! wherefore didst thou bid me hope for heaven?
Lo! even the crown of this poor mortal life,
Which all my skilful care by field and fold,
No art neglected, scarce had fashioned forth,
Even this falls from me, yet thou call'st me son.
Nay, then, arise! With thine own hands pluck up
My fruit-plantations: on the homestead fling

fer stabulis inimicum ignem atque interfice messes,     330
ure sata et validam in vites molire bipennem,
tanta meae si te ceperunt taedia laudis.'
At mater sonitum thalamo sub fluminis alti
sensit. Eam circum Milesia vellera Nymphae

Pitiless fire; make havoc of my crops;
Burn the young plants, and wield the stubborn axe
Against my vines, if there hath taken the
Such loathing of my greatness." But that cry,
Even from her chamber in the river-deeps,
His mother heard: around her spun the nymphs

carpebant hyali saturo fucata colore,     335
drymoque Xanthoque Ligeaque Phyllodoceque,
caesariem effusae nitidam per candida colla,
Nesaee Spioque Thaliaque Cymodoceque,
Cydippeque et flava Lycorias, altera virgo,

Milesian wool stained through with hyaline dye,
Drymo, Xantho, Ligea, Phyllodoce,
Their glossy locks o'er snowy shoulders shed,
Cydippe and Lycorias yellow-haired,
A maiden one, one newly learned even then

altera tum primos Lucinae experta labores,     340
Clioque et Beroe soror, Oceanitides ambae,
ambae auro, pictis incinctae pellibus ambae,
atque Ephyre atque Opis et Asia Deiopea
et tandem positis velox Arethusa sagittis.

To bear Lucina's birth-pang. Clio, too,
And Beroe, sisters, ocean-children both,
Both zoned with gold and girt with dappled fell,
Ephyre and Opis, and from Asian meads
Deiopea, and, bow at length laid by,
Fleet-footed Arethusa. But in their midst

Inter quas curam Clymene narrabat inanem     345
Vulcani Martisque dolos et dulcia furta,
aque Chao densos divum numerabat amores
carmine quo captae dum fusis mollia pensa
devolvunt, iterum maternas impulit aures

Fair Clymene was telling o'er the tale
Of Vulcan's idle vigilance and the stealth
Of Mars' sweet rapine, and from Chaos old
Counted the jostling love-joys of the Gods.
Charmed by whose lay, the while their woolly tasks
With spindles down they drew, yet once again
Smote on his mother's ears the mournful plaint

luctus Aristaei, vitreisque sedilibus omnes     350
obstipuere; sed ante alias Arethusa sorores
prospiciens summa flavum caput extulit unda
et procul: 'O gemitu non frustra exterrita tanto,
Cyrene soror, ipse tibi, tua maxima cura,

Of Aristaeus; on their glassy thrones
Amazement held them all; but Arethuse
Before the rest put forth her auburn head,
Peering above the wave-top, and from far
Exclaimed, "Cyrene, sister, not for naught
Scared by a groan so deep, behold! 'tis he,
Even Aristaeus, thy heart's fondest care,

tristis Aristaeus Penei genitoris ad undam     355
stat lacrimans et te crudelem nomine dicit.'
Huic percussa nova mentem formidine mater,
'duc, age, duc ad nos; fas illi limina divum
tangere,' ait. Simul alta iubet discedere late

Here by the brink of the Peneian sire
Stands woebegone and weeping, and by name
Cries out upon thee for thy cruelty."
To whom, strange terror knocking at her heart,
"Bring, bring him to our sight," the mother cried;
"His feet may tread the threshold even of Gods."
So saying, she bids the flood yawn wide and yield

flumina, qua iuvenis gressus inferret. At illum     360
curvata in montis faciem circumstetit unda
accepitque sinu vasto misitque sub amnem.
Iamque domum mirans genetricis et umida regna
speluncisque lacus clausos lucosque sonantes

A pathway for his footsteps; but the wave
Arched mountain-wise closed round him, and within
Its mighty bosom welcomed, and let speed
To the deep river-bed. And now, with eyes
Of wonder gazing on his mother's hall
And watery kingdom and cave-prisoned pools
And echoing groves, he went, and, stunned by that

ibat et ingenti motu stupefactus aquarum     365
omnia sub magna labentia flumina terra
spectabat diversa locis, Phasimque Lycumque
et caput, unde altus primum se erumpit Enipeus
unde pater Tiberinus et unde Aniena fluenta

Stupendous whirl of waters, separate saw
All streams beneath the mighty earth that glide,
Phasis and Lycus, and that fountain-head
Whence first the deep Enipeus leaps to light,
Whence father Tiber, and whence Anio's flood,
And Hypanis that roars amid his rocks,

saxosusque sonans Hypanis Mysusque Caicus,     370
et gemina auratus taurino cornua vultu
Eridanus, quo non alius per pinguia culta
in mare purpureum violentior effluit amnis.
Postquam est in thalami pendentia pumice tecta

And Mysian Caicus, and, bull-browed
'Twixt either gilded horn, Eridanus,
Than whom none other through the laughing plains
More furious pours into the purple sea.
Soon as the chamber's hanging roof of stone
Was gained, and now Cyrene from her son

perventum et nati fletus cognovit inanes     375
Cyrene, manibus liquidos dant ordine fontes
germanae tonsisque ferunt mantelia villis;
pars epulis onerant mensas et plena reponunt
pocula, Panchaeis adolescunt ignibus arae;

Had heard his idle weeping, in due course
Clear water for his hands the sisters bring,
With napkins of shorn pile, while others heap
The board with dainties, and set on afresh
The brimming goblets; with Panchaian fires
Upleap the altars; then the mother spake,

et mater, 'Cape Maeonii carchesia Bacchi:     380
Oceano libemus,' ait. Simul ipsa precatur
Oceanumque patrem rerum Nymphasque sorores
centum quae silvas, centum quae flumina servant.
Ter liquido ardentem perfundit nectare Vestam,

"Take beakers of Maconian wine," she said,
"Pour we to Ocean." Ocean, sire of all,
She worships, and the sister-nymphs who guard
The hundred forests and the hundred streams;
Thrice Vesta's fire with nectar clear she dashed,

ter flamma ad summum tecti subiecta reluxit.     385
Omine quo firmans animum sic incipit ipsa:
'Est in Carpathio Neptuni gurgite vates
caeruleus Proteus, magnum qui piscibus aequor
et iuncto bipedum curru metitur equorum.

Thrice to the roof-top shot the flame and shone:
Armed with which omen she essayed to speak:
"In Neptune's gulf Carpathian dwells a seer,
Caerulean Proteus, he who metes the main
With fish-drawn chariot of two-footed steeds;
Now visits he his native home once more,

Hic nunc Emathiae portus patriamque revisit     390
Pallenen, hunc et Nymphae veneramur et ipse
grandaevus Nereus; novit namque omnia vates,
quae sint, quae fuerint, quae mox ventura trahantur;
quippe ita Neptuno visum est, immania cuius

Pallene and the Emathian ports; to him
We nymphs do reverence, ay, and Nereus old;
For all things knows the seer, both those which are
And have been, or which time hath yet to bring;
So willed it Neptune, whose portentous flocks,

armenta et turpes pascit sub gurgite phocas.     395
Hic tibi, nate, prius vinclis capiendus, ut omnem
expediat morbi causam eventusque secundet.
Nam sine vi non ulla dabit praecepta, neque illum
orando flectes; vim duram et vincula capto

And loathly sea-calves 'neath the surge he feeds.
Him first, my son, behoves thee seize and bind
That he may all the cause of sickness show,
And grant a prosperous end. For save by force
No rede will he vouchsafe, nor shalt thou bend
His soul by praying; whom once made captive, ply
With rigorous force and fetters; against these

tende; doli circum haec demum frangentur inanes.     400
Ipsa ego, te, medios cum sol accenderit aestus,
cum sitiunt herbae et pecori iam gratior umbra est,
in secreta senis ducam, quo fessus ab undis
se recipit, facile ut somno adgrediare iacentem.

His wiles will break and spend themselves in vain.
I, when the sun has lit his noontide fires,
When the blades thirst, and cattle love the shade,
Myself will guide thee to the old man's haunt,
Whither he hies him weary from the waves,
That thou mayst safelier steal upon his sleep.

Verum ubi correptum manibus vinclisque tenebis,     405
tum variae eludent species atque ora ferarum
Fiet enim subito sus horridus atraque tigris
squamosusque draco et fulva cervice leaena,
aut acrem flammae sonitum dabit atque ita vinclis

But when thou hast gripped him fast with hand and gyve,
Then divers forms and bestial semblances
Shall mock thy grasp; for sudden he will change
To bristly boar, fell tigress, dragon scaled,
And tawny-tufted lioness, or send forth
A crackling sound of fire, and so shake of

excidet, aut in aquas tenues dilapsus abibit.     410
Sed quanto ille magis formas se vertet in omnes,
tanto, nate, magis contende tenacia vincla,
donec talis erit mutato corpore, qualem
videris, incepto tegeret cum lumina somno".

The fetters, or in showery drops anon
Dissolve and vanish. But the more he shifts
His endless transformations, thou, my son,
More straitlier clench the clinging bands, until
His body's shape return to that thou sawest,
When with closed eyelids first he sank to sleep."

Haec ait et liquidum ambrosiae defundit odorem,     415
quo totum nati corpus perduxit; at illi
dulcis compositis spiravit crinibus aura
atque habilis membris venit vigor. Est specus ingens
exesi latere in montis, quo plurima vento

So saying, an odour of ambrosial dew
She sheds around, and all his frame therewith
Steeps throughly; forth from his trim-combed locks
Breathed effluence sweet, and a lithe vigour leapt
Into his limbs. There is a cavern vast
Scooped in the mountain-side, where wave on wave

cogitur inque sinus scindit sese unda reductos,     420
deprensis olim statio tutissima nautis;
intus se vasti Proteus tegit obice saxi.
Hic iuvenem in latebris aversum a lumine Nympha
collocat; ipsa procul nebulis obscura resistit.

By the wind's stress is driven, and breaks far up
Its inmost creeks- safe anchorage from of old
For tempest-taken mariners: therewithin,
Behind a rock's huge barrier, Proteus hides.
Here in close covert out of the sun's eye
The youth she places, and herself the while
Swathed in a shadowy mist stands far aloof.

Iam rapidus torrens sitientes Sirius Indos     425
ardebat, caelo et medium sol igneus orbem
hauserat; arebant herbae et cava flumina siccis
faucibus ad limum radii tepefacta coquebant:
cum Proteus consueta petens e fluctibus antra

And now the ravening dog-star that burns up
The thirsty Indians blazed in heaven; his course
The fiery sun had half devoured: the blades
Were parched, and the void streams with droughty jaws
Baked to their mud-beds by the scorching ray,
When Proteus seeking his accustomed cave
Strode from the billows: round him frolicking

ibat; eum vasti circum gens umida ponti     430
exsultans rorem late dispergit amarum.
Sternunt se somno diversae in litore phocae.
Ipse, velut stabuli custos in montibus olim,
vesper ubi e pastu vitulos ad tecta reducit,

The watery folk that people the waste sea
Sprinkled the bitter brine-dew far and wide.
Along the shore in scattered groups to feed
The sea-calves stretch them: while the seer himself,
Like herdsman on the hills when evening bids
The steers from pasture to their stall repair,

auditisque lupos acuunt balatibus agni,     435
considit scopulo medius numerumque recenset.
Cuius Aristaeo quoniam est oblata facultas,
vix defessa senem passus componere membra
cum clamore ruit magno manicisque iacentem

And the lambs' bleating whets the listening wolves,
Sits midmost on the rock and tells his tale.
But Aristaeus, the foe within his clutch,
Scarce suffering him compose his aged limbs,
With a great cry leapt on him, and ere he rose
Forestalled him with the fetters; he nathless,

occupat. Ille suae contra non immemor artis     440
omnia transformat sese in miracula rerum,
ignemque horribilemque feram fluviumque liquentem.
Verum ubi nulla fugam reperit fallacia, victus
in sese redit atque hominis tandem ore locutus:

All unforgetful of his ancient craft,
Transforms himself to every wondrous thing,
Fire and a fearful beast, and flowing stream.
But when no trickery found a path for flight,
Baffled at length, to his own shape returned,

'Nam quis te, iuvenum confidentissime, nostras     445
iussit adire domos? Quidve hinc petis?' inquit. At ille:
'Scis, Proteu, scis ipse; neque est te fallere quicquam
sed tu desine velle.
Deum praecepta secuti
venimus hinc lapsis quaesitum oracula rebus".

With human lips he spake, "Who bade thee, then,
So reckless in youth's hardihood, affront
Our portals? or what wouldst thou hence?"- But he,
"Proteus, thou knowest, of thine own heart thou knowest;
For thee there is no cheating, but cease thou
To practise upon me: at heaven's behest
I for my fainting fortunes hither come
An oracle to ask thee." There he ceased.

Tantum effatus. Ad haec vates vi denique multa     450
ardentes oculos intorsit lumine glauco
et graviter frendens sic fatis ora resolvit.
"Non te nullius exercent numinis irae;
magna luis commissa: tibi has miserabilis Orpheus

Whereat the seer, by stubborn force constrained,
Shot forth the grey light of his gleaming eyes
Upon him, and with fiercely gnashing teeth
Unlocks his lips to spell the fates of heaven:
"Doubt not 'tis wrath divine that plagues thee thus,
Nor light the debt thou payest; 'tis Orpheus' self,
Orpheus unhappy by no fault of his,

haudquaquam ob meritum poenas, ni fata resistant,     455
suscitat et rapta graviter pro coniuge saevit.
Illa quidem, dum te fugeret per flumina praeceps,
immanem ante pedes hydrum moritura puella
servantem ripas alta non vidit in herba.

So fates prevent not, fans thy penal fires,
Yet madly raging for his ravished bride.
She in her haste to shun thy hot pursuit
Along the stream, saw not the coming death,
Where at her feet kept ward upon the bank
In the tall grass a monstrous water-snake.

At chorus aequalis Dryadum clamore supremos     460
implerunt montes; flerunt Rhodopeiae arces
altaque Pangaea et Rhesi mavortia tellus
atque Getae atque Hebrus et Actias Orithyia.
Ipse cava solans aegrum testudine amorem

But with their cries the Dryad-band her peers
Filled up the mountains to their proudest peaks:
Wailed for her fate the heights of Rhodope,
And tall Pangaea, and, beloved of Mars,
The land that bowed to Rhesus, Thrace no less
With Hebrus' stream; and Orithyia wept,
Daughter of Acte old. But Orpheus' self,
Soothing his love-pain with the hollow shell,

te, dulcis coniunx, te solo in litore secum,     465
te veniente die, te decedente canebat.
Taenarias etiam fauces, alta ostia Ditis,
et caligantem nigra formidine lucum
ingressus manesque adiit regemque tremendum

Thee his sweet wife on the lone shore alone,
Thee when day dawned and when it died he sang.
Nay to the jaws of Taenarus too he came,
Of Dis the infernal palace, and the grove
Grim with a horror of great darkness- came,
Entered, and faced the Manes and the King

nesciaque humanis precibus mansuescere corda.     470
At cantu commotae Erebi de sedibus imis
umbrae ibant tenues simulacraque luce carentum,
quam multa in foliis avium se milia condunt
vesper ubi aut hibernus agit de montibus imber,

Of terrors, the stone heart no prayer can tame.
Then from the deepest deeps of Erebus,
Wrung by his minstrelsy, the hollow shades
Came trooping, ghostly semblances of forms
Lost to the light, as birds by myriads hie
To greenwood boughs for cover, when twilight-hour
Or storms of winter chase them from the hills;

matres atque viri defunctaque corpora vita     475
magnanimum heroum, pueri innuptaeque puellae,
impositique rogis iuvenes ante ora parentum,
quos circum limus niger et deformis harundo
Cocyti tardaque palus inamabilis unda

Matrons and men, and great heroic frames
Done with life's service, boys, unwedded girls,
Youths placed on pyre before their fathers' eyes.
Round them, with black slime choked and hideous weed,
Cocytus winds; there lies the unlovely swamp
Of dull dead water, and, to pen them fast,

alligat et noviens Styx interfusa coercet.     480
Quin ipsae stupuere domus atque intima Leti
tartara caeruleosque implexae crinibus angues
Eumenides, tenuitque inhians tria Cerberus ora
atque Ixionii vento rota constitit orbis.

Styx with her ninefold barrier poured between.
Nay, even the deep Tartarean Halls of death
Stood lost in wonderment, and the Eumenides,
Their brows with livid locks of serpents twined;
Even Cerberus held his triple jaws agape,
And, the wind hushed, Ixion's wheel stood still.
And now with homeward footstep he had passed

Iamque pedem referens casus evaserat omnes;     485
redditaque Eurydice superas veniebat ad auras,
pone sequens, namque hanc dederat Proserpina legem,
cum subita incautum dementia cepit amantem,
ignoscenda quidem, scirent si ignoscere manes.

All perils scathless, and, at length restored,
Eurydice to realms of upper air
Had well-nigh won, behind him following-
So Proserpine had ruled it- when his heart
A sudden mad desire surprised and seized-
Meet fault to be forgiven, might Hell forgive.

Restitit Eurydicenque suam iam luce sub ipsa     490
immemor heu! victusque animi respexit. Ibi omnis
effusus labor atque immitis rupta tyranni
foedera, terque fragor stagnis auditus Avernis.
Illa, Quis et me, inquit, miseram et te perdidit, Orpheu,

For at the very threshold of the day,
Heedless, alas! and vanquished of resolve,
He stopped, turned, looked upon Eurydice
His own once more. But even with the look,
Poured out was all his labour, broken the bond
Of that fell tyrant, and a crash was heard
Three times like thunder in the meres of hell.
'Orpheus! what ruin hath thy frenzy wrought

quis tantus furor? En iterum crudelia retro     495
Fata vocant, conditque natantia lumina somnus.
Iamque vale: feror ingenti circumdata nocte
invalidasque tibi tendens, heu non tua, palmas!
dixit et ex oculis subito, ceu fumus in auras

On me, alas! and thee? Lo! once again
The unpitying fates recall me, and dark sleep
Closes my swimming eyes. And now farewell:
Girt with enormous night I am borne away,
Outstretching toward thee, thine, alas! no more,
These helpless hands.' She spake, and suddenly,

commixtus tenues, fugit diversa, neque illum,     500
prensantem nequiquam umbras et multa volentem
dicere, praeterea vidit, nec portitor Orci
amplius obiectam passus transire paludem.
Quid faceret? Quo se rapta bis coniuge ferret?

Like smoke dissolving into empty air,
Passed and was sundered from his sight; nor him
Clutching vain shadows, yearning sore to speak,
Thenceforth beheld she, nor no second time
Hell's boatman brooks he pass the watery bar.
What should he do? fly whither, twice bereaved?
Move with what tears the Manes, with what voice

Quo fletu Manis, quae numina voce moveret?     505
Illa quidem Stygia nabat iam frigida cumba.
Septem illum totos perhibent ex ordine menses
rupe sub aëria deserti ad Strymonis undam
flesse sibi et gelidis haec evolvisse sub antris

The Powers of darkness? She indeed even now Death-cold was floating on the Stygian barge!
For seven whole months unceasingly, men say,
Beneath a skyey crag, by thy lone wave,
Strymon, he wept, and in the caverns chill
Unrolled his story, melting tigers' hearts,

mulcentem tigres et agentem carmine quercus;     510
qualis populea maerens philomela sub umbra
amissos queritur fetus, quos durus arator
observans nido implumes detraxit; at illa
flet noctem ramoque sedens miserabile carmen

And leading with his lay the oaks along.
As in the poplar-shade a nightingale
Mourns her lost young, which some relentless swain,
Spying, from the nest has torn unfledged, but she
Wails the long night, and perched upon a spray
With sad insistence pipes her dolorous strain,

integrat et maestis late loca questibus implet.     515
Nulla Venus, non ulli animum flexere hymenaei.
Solus Hyperboreas glacies Tanaimque nivalem
arvaque Riphaeis numquam viduata pruinis
lustrabat raptam Eurydicen atque inrita Ditis

Till all the region with her wrongs o'erflows.
No love, no new desire, constrained his soul:
By snow-bound Tanais and the icy north,
Far steppes to frost Rhipaean forever wed,
Alone he wandered, lost Eurydice
Lamenting, and the gifts of Dis ungiven.

dona querens; spretae Ciconum quo munere matres     520
inter sacra deum nocturnique orgia Bacchi
discerptum latos iuvenem sparsere per agros.
Tum quoque marmorea caput a cervice revulsum
gurgite cum medio portans Oeagrius Hebrus

Scorned by which tribute the Ciconian dames,
Amid their awful Bacchanalian rites
And midnight revellings, tore him limb from limb,
And strewed his fragments over the wide fields.
Then too, even then, what time the Hebrus stream,
Oeagrian Hebrus, down mid-current rolled,
Rent from the marble neck, his drifting head,

volveret, Eurydicen vox ipsa et frigida lingua     525
ah miseram Eurydicen! anima fugiente vocabat:
Eurydicen toto referebant flumine ripae".
Haec Proteus, et se iactu dedit aequor in altum,
quaque dedit, spumantem undam sub vertice torsit.

The death-chilled tongue found yet a voice to cry
'Eurydice! ah! poor Eurydice!'
With parting breath he called her, and the banks
From the broad stream caught up 'Eurydice!'"
So Proteus ending plunged into the deep,
And, where he plunged, beneath the eddying whirl
Churned into foam the water, and was gone;

At non Cyrene; namque ultro adfata timentem:     530
'Nate, licet tristes animo deponere curas.
Haec omnis morbi causa; hinc miserabile Nymphae,
cum quibus illa choros lucis agitabat in altis,
exitium misere apibus. Tu munera supplex

But not Cyrene, who unquestioned thus
Bespake the trembling listener: "Nay, my son,
From that sad bosom thou mayst banish care:
Hence came that plague of sickness, hence the nymphs,
With whom in the tall woods the dance she wove,
Wrought on thy bees, alas! this deadly bane.

tende petens pacem et faciles venerare Napaeas;     535
namque dabunt veniam votis irasque remittent.
Sed modus orandi qui sit, prius ordine dicam.
Quattuor eximios praestanti corpore tauros,
qui tibi nunc viridis depascunt summa Lycaei,

Bend thou before the Dell-nymphs, gracious powers:
Bring gifts, and sue for pardon: they will grant
Peace to thine asking, and an end of wrath.
But how to approach them will I first unfold-
Four chosen bulls of peerless form and bulk,
That browse to-day the green Lycaean heights,

delige et intacta totidem cervice iuvencas.     540
Quattuor his aras alta ad delubra dearum
constitue et sacrum iugulis demitte cruorem,
corporaque ipsa boum frondoso desere luco.
Post, ubi nona suos Aurora ostenderit ortus,

Pick from thy herds, as many kine to match,
Whose necks the yoke pressed never: then for these
Build up four altars by the lofty fanes,
And from their throats let gush the victims' blood,
And in the greenwood leave their bodies lone.
Then, when the ninth dawn hath displayed its beams,

inferias Orphei Lethaea papavera mittes     545
et nigram mactabis ovem lucumque revises:
placatam Eurydicen vitula venerabere caesa".
Haud mora; continuo matris praecepta facessit;
ad delubra venit, monstratas excitat aras,

To Orpheus shalt thou send his funeral dues,
Poppies of Lethe, and let slay a sheep
Coal-black, then seek the grove again, and soon
For pardon found adore Eurydice
With a slain calf for victim."
No delay:
The self-same hour he hies him forth to do
His mother's bidding: to the shrine he came,
The appointed altars reared, and thither led

quattuor eximios praestanti corpore tauros     550
ducit et intacta totidem cervice iuvencas.
Post, ubi nona suos Aurora induxerat ortus,
inferias Orphei mittit lucumque revisit.
Hic vero subitum ac dictu mirabile monstrum

Four chosen bulls of peerless form and bulk,
With kine to match, that never yoke had known;
Then, when the ninth dawn had led in the day,
To Orpheus sent his funeral dues, and sought
The grove once more. But sudden, strange to tell
A portent they espy: through the oxen's flesh,

adspiciunt, liquefacta boum per viscera toto     555
stridere apes utero et ruptis effervere costis,
immensasque trahi nubes, iamque arbore summa
confluere et lentis uvam demittere ramis.
Haec super arvorum cultu pecorumque canebam

Waxed soft in dissolution, hark! there hum
Bees from the belly; the rent ribs overboil
In endless clouds they spread them, till at last
On yon tree-top together fused they cling,
And drop their cluster from the bending boughs.
So sang I of the tilth of furrowed fields,

et super arboribus, Caesar dum magnus ad altum     560 
fulminat Euphraten bello victorque volentes
per populos dat iura viamque adfectat Olympo.
Illo Vergilium me tempore dulcis alebat
Parthenope studiis florentem ignobilis oti,

Launched forth the levin-bolts of war by deep
Euphrates, and bare rule o'er willing folk
Though vanquished, and essayed the heights of heaven.
I Virgil then, of sweet Parthenope
The nursling, wooed the flowery walks of peace

carmina qui lusi pastorum audaxque iuventa,     565
Tityre, te patulae cecini sub tegmine fagi.
   

Inglorious, who erst trilled for shepherd-wights
The wanton ditty, and sang in saucy youth