tions of the verses of Menalcas, which are admirable imitations of those of Theocritus. MOERIS. LYCIDAS.-MOERIS. Lyc. Quo te, Moeri, pedes? an, quo via ducit, in urbem? Lyc. Certe equidem audieram, qua se subducere colles 5 Usque ad aquam et veteris, jam fracta cacumina, fagos, 10 Moer. Audieras? et fama fuit; sed carmina tantum Nostra valent, Lycida, tela inter Martia, quantum 15 Lyc. Heu, cadit in quemquam tantum scelus? heu, tua nobis Paene simul tecum solatia rapta, Menalca? Quis caneret Nymphas? quis humum florentibus herbis 20 25 Moer. Immo haec, quae Varo necdum perfecta canebat: 1. Urbem, Mantua.-2. The construction is, Vivi pervenimus (we have lived to reach this pass) quod (a thing which) numquam veriti sumus, ut advena, possessor nostri agelli, diceret.-13. Chaonias, columbas. The Chaones anciently inhabited that district of Epirus where Dodona was, whose oracle depended on its doves.-14. Incidere, devitare, sinistra. Cornix a sinistra facit ratum. Cic., Div. i. 39, 85.-18. Paene. Alluding to Virgil's narrow escape.-19. What the poet celebrates, he is represented as doing. See Ecl. vi. 62, &c.-21. Vel quis caneret quae, &c.-sublegere tacitus; quietly to learn what another sings, without his noticing it (sub).-22. Love being the delight of the shepherd's (nostras) life.-26. Immo quis caneret haec. The poet's object seems to 'Vare, tuum nomen, superet modo Mantua nobis-- Lyc. Sic tua Cyrneas fugiant examina taxos, 30 35 Moer. Id quidem ago et tacitus, Lycida, mecum ipse Si valeam meminisse; neque est ignobile carmen. 40 Lyc. Quid, quae te pura solum sub nocte canentem 45 Moer. 'Daphni, quid antiquos signorum suspicis ortus? Ecce Dionaei processit Caesaris astrum, be to flatter Varus with the hope of immortal praise, to induce him to deal leniently with Mantua.-27. Superet. Equivalent to supersit. See Aen. ii. 597, iii. 339, v. 519.-28. Mantua is at a considerable distance from Cremona, but it became involved in its fate, as the lands attached to Cremona, which had taken the side of Brutus and Cassius, were found insufficient to satisfy the soldiery.-29. The Mincius abounded in swans.-30. Lycidas intreats Moeris to sing him more of the songs of Menalcas. Sic. A word introducing a prayer for some good to another (tua, &c. fugiant, &c.) depending on a condition (incipe, &c.) Cyrneas, from Kúgvos, Corsica. Honey made from the yew, in which Corsica abounded, was said to be bitter.-35. Varius and Cinna were distinguished poets, and contemporary with Virgil.-40. Purpureus is an epithet applied to all objects glorious in their beauty-as swans, the snow, bright eyes, and here the spring. See Georg. iv. 54; Aen. i. 590, vi. 490. 41. Candida populus. This is our silver poplar.-43. Verbs of permission and willingness, and, in general, verbs that are followed by ut with the subjunctive, may also be followed by the subjunctive without ut. Here ut feriant sine. Zumpt, § 624.-46. Antiquos signorum ortus, equivalent to antiquorum signorum ortus. This change is exceedingly common. See Georg. i. 52, 211; iv. 267; Aen. i. 169, iii. 411, v. 375, vi. 10, x. 426, xii. 199. Antiquos, 'long known.'-47. Dionaei. Dione was the mother of Venus, from whom Julius Caesar was said to be descended. In the year B. C. 43, a comet, probably that known in our time as Halley's comet, appeared during the celebration of the festival in Astrum, quo segetes gauderent frugibus, et quo Lyc. Causando nostros in longum ducis amores. Moer. Desine plura, puer, et, quod nunc instat, Carmina tum melius, cum venerit ipse, canemus. honour of Julius Caesar, and was held to be his deified spirit.—50. Pear-trees ingrafted now, under this propitious star, will produce fruit for posterity.-51. Moeris laments his failing memory.-52. Memini condere. See Ecl. i. 17.-53. Oblita, used in a passive sense.-54. Lupi, &c. A rustic superstition, that, to be seen of a wolf first, was to lose one's voice.-57. Tibi. The dativus commodi, to give you a better opportunity of being heard.-59. Adeo, 'exactly.'-62. Tamen, after all.' -64. Usque, all the while.' Licet eamus. See ver. 43.-65. Fasce. To induce the old shepherd to sing, he proposes to relieve him of the kids he is carrying. See ver. 62.-66. Puěr, long by the arsis. ECLOGA X. C. CORNELIUS GALLUS, already mentioned by Virgil, (Ecl. vi. 64), a man descended of poor ancestors, had, by his military skill and his amiable qualities, secured the friendship of Octavianus, afterwards Augustus Caesar. His lover, Lycoris-celebrated by Ovid, Propertius, Martial, and Gallus himself-had deserted him; and this Eclogue, said to have been composed in the spring of B. c. 37, at Naples, after Virgil had begun to write the Georgics, commemorates his grief. It consists of an introduction, 1-8; an account of the sympathy that things inanimate, shepherds, and gods felt for him, 9-30; the mournful strains of Gallus himself, 31-69; and the concluding declaration of Virgil's affection for the deserted lover. GALLUS. EXTREMUM hunc, Arethusa, mihi concede laborem : 5 Quae nemora, aut qui vos saltus habuere, puellae 10 15 Stant et oves circum-nostri nec poenitet illas, Et formosus ovis ad flumina pavit Adonis Venit et upilio; tardi venere subulci; Uvidus hiberna venit de glande Menalcas. 20 Omnes, 'Unde amor iste,' rogant, 'tibi?' Venit Apollo: 1. The nymph Arethusa (see Aen. iii. 694-6), pursued by the rivergod Alpheius, was changed by Artemis into a stream, and flowing beneath the sea, rose again near Syracuse. An allusion here to the country of Theocritus. See Ecl. vi. 1.-4. Sic. Ecl. ix. 30. Fluctus, &c. See note to ver. 1.-5. Doris; a sea-goddess, wife of Nereus. See Ecl. vi. 35.-10. Naïdes. The nymphs of rivers, lakes, and fountains. Generally Naiades. The allusion here is probably to the Muses, who are called Nymphae, Ecl. vii. 21.-10. Cum peribat; others read periret. See Zumpt, § 579.-11. Parnassi. A two-topped mountain (hence juga) of Phocis, above Delphi, a favourite haunt of the Muses. Pindi. A mountain range, forming the western_boundary of Thessaly, another haunt of the Muses.-12. Aonie. The final e not elided. For the epithet, see Ecl. vi. 65. Aganippe. A fountain in mount Helicon, sacred to the Muses. - 15. Arcadian mountains.-18. Adonis. A beautiful youth, beloved by Venus.-19. For opilio, upilio.-20. Menalcas, a herdsman, was wet with the water in which he had soaked the acorns, the winter food of cattle as well as swine.-23. Comparing this line Venit et agresti capitis Silvanus honore, Arcades. O mihi tum quam molliter ossa quiescant, Atque utinam ex vobis unus, vestrique fuissem Aut custos gregis, aut maturae vinitor uvae! Certe, sive mihi Phyllis, sive esset Amyntas, Seu quicumque furor—quid tum, si fuscus Amyntas! Me sine sola vides. Ah, te ne frigora laedant! with ver. 47, we may infer that Lycoris had followed the army which, under Agrippa, marched into Gaul, and across the Rhine, in the early part of B. C. 37.-25. Quassans; that is, in capite.-31. Ille; Gallus. Tamen. Referring to a suppressed idea of grief: yet, as a consolation.' See Aen. iv, 329, x. 509.-32. Cantare. The genitive. See Ecl. v. 54. -44. Gallus was probably engaged in some of the military operations carried on under Octavianus Caesar.-46. Nec, &c. Gallus expresses a wish that he may have some ground to disbelieve a tale so strange. -47. See ver. 23.-50. Gallus had written verses (see Ecl. vi. 72) in imitation of Euphorion of Chalcis. |