Delectos heroas; erunt etiam altera bella; 35 Atque iterum ad Trojam magnus mittetur Achilles. Hinc, ubi jam firmata virum te fecerit aetas, Cedet et ipse mari vector; nec nautica pinus" O mihi tam longae maneat pars ultima vitae, 40: 455 50 u Nautica pinus. Ships used to be built of the wood of pinetrees; whence it is usual with the poets to use pinus for a ship. • The plant here alluded to, Martyn believes to be the Reseda luteola, fig. 17. P The Parcae, according to Hesiod, were the daughters of Night; their names were Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos: they had the disposal of good and evil to men, according to their deserts. Non me carminibus vincet nec Thracius Orpheus, 55 Nec Linus; huic mater quamvis, atque huic pater adsit : Orphei Calliopea, Lino formosus Apollo. r Pan etiam, Arcadia mecum si judice certet, 60 9 Linus was the son of Apollo by the muse Terpsichore, and the master of Orpheus, and others, whom he instructed in music and poetry. ■ Calliope, one of the nine muses, esteemed to preside over heroic poetry. ECLOGA V.a MENALCAS, MOPSUS. Me. Cur non, Mopse, boni quoniam convenimus ambo, Tu calamos inflare leves, ego dicere versus, Hic corylis mixtas inter consedimus ulmos? 5 Mo. Tu major; tibi me est aequum parere Menalca. Me. Montibus in nostris solus tibi certet Amyntas. a In this Eclogue, two Shepherds meet under the shade of elms, intermixed with hazels, and retire for better shade into a cave, covered by wild vines, where they sing alternately the death and deification of Daphnis. Menalcas and Mopsus are fictitious names of Shepherds, introduced to form the dialogue. Daphnis is thought, by Scaliger and others, to represent Julius Caesar; but on this point there are various opinions. From some passages in the Eclogue is it supposed to have been written after the battle of Phi712, A.V.C. b Labrusca. From various passages in ancient authors, the labrusca appears to be a vine, running wild without culture. Mo. Incipe, Mopse, prior: si quos aut Phyllidis ig nes, Aut Alconis habes laudes, aut jurgia Codri.e Incipe; pascentes servabit Tityrus hoedos. Mo. Immo haec, in viridi nuper quae cortice fagi Carmina descripsi, et modulans alterna notavi, Experiar: tu deinde jubeto certet Amyntas. Me. Lenta salix quantum pallenti cedit olivae,f Puniceis humilis quantum saliunca rosetis : 10 15 c Phyllis was the daughter of Lycurgus, King of Thrace, and was enamoured of Demophoon, the son of Theseus and Phædra, having given him entertainment as he was returning from the Trojan war. Demophoon being obliged to go to Athens to settle his affairs, promised to return soon and marry her; but when he was unex. pectedly detained beyond the appointed time, Phyllis hung herself in despair. d Alcon was a celebrated Cretan archer, so skilful as never to miss his aim. When his country Oracle at Delphi, e Codrus was the last king of the Athenians. was invaded by a powerful army, and the foretold that the victory should fall to that people, whose king should be slain; the enemy gave strict command to the army, that every one should abstain from hurting Codrus. But he disguising himself in the habit of a shepherd, took occasion to quarrel with some of the enemies' foragers, by which means he lost his life, and thus preserved his country. f Olea Europæa, fig. 17. 8 The Saliunca is a plant not known with certainty, but by comparing different descriptions of it in Pliny and Dioscorides, the bestConjecture is, that it is the Valeriana celtica of Linnæus. Judicio nostro tantum tibi cedit Amyntas. Mo. Sed tu desine plura, puer; successimus antro. Atque Deos atque astra vocat crudelia mater. Non ulli pastos illis egere diebus 20 26 30. Frigida, Daphni, boves ad flumina; nulla neque amnem k 35 g Curru for currui. h Thiasus was a solemn singing and dancing, used at festivals. i Pales is the goddess of Shepherds. The feast called Palilia, in which milk was offered to her, was celebrated on the twentieth of April, on which day Rome was founded by Romulus. k Lolium temulentium, fig. 19. |