rens abigo præ me capel cùm tantus sit tumultus Usque adeò turbatur agris. En ipse capellas erant spes gregis, proh in saxo, inter spissas co- Sæpe sinistra cavâ prædixit ab ilice cornix. cornix funesta admonuit ex ilice putri. Attamen Sic canibus catulos similes, sic matribus hædos demens, Melibœe, ex quam nos pastores con catur Roma, similem es- MEL. Et quæ tanta fuit Romam tibi causa videndi? canibus, et hædos capel lis esse similes: quemad- Namque (fatebor enim) dum me Galatea tenebat, urbs illa tantùm eminet Mel. Et quæ tanta ne cupressi solent eminere Non unquam gravis ære domum mihi dextra redibat. aspexit me desidem, cùm jam cana barba decideret TIT. Quid fascerem? neq; servitio me exire licebat, nos servitutis: ex quo lateam (fatebor enim) et reliqui Galateam. Sci-Hic mihi responsum primus dedit ille petenti : licet, quamdiu amavi Ga Pascite ut antè, boves, pueri : submittite tauros. nee speravi libertatem, MEL. Fortunate senex! ergo tua rura manebunt : nec curavi patrimoni- Et tibi magna satis : quamvis lapis omnia nudus, um licèt educerem ex Limosoque palus obducat pascua junco: ovilibus meis multas vic 13 20 25 30 35 40 45 timas, et coagularem optimos caseos ad usum ingratæ urbis ; nunquam referebam domum manus plenas ptcuniâ.-Mel. Mirabar cur tristis invocares Deos, ô Amarylli, cui servares poma pendentia suis quæque arboxibus. Tityrus hinc aberat: ipsæ pinus, ipsi fontes, hæ ipse arbores te repetebant.-Tit. Quid fecissem? nec poteram aliter abire è servitute: nee Deos experiri tam propitios in alio loco, quàm Roma. Illie vidi juvenem illum, ô Meliboe, propter quem aræ nostræ fumant singulis annis per duodecim dies. Illic ipse prior ita respondit roganti mihi: Pueri, pascite boves, ut priùs: et subligate tauros jugo.-Mel. O felix senex! itaq; agri tui relinquentur tibi, iiq; tibi satis ampli: licèt nuda saxa tegant cæteros undique, et palus operiat pascua cœnoso junco : NOTES. 19. Iste is the true reading; hic, iste, and ille, being thus distinguished: Hic Deus, is this god of mine, or whom I mentioned; iste Deus, is that god of yours; and ille Deus, that god of his, of theirs, or of any third per son. 23. Sic. He thought it only different in magnitude, not in kind: but, when he came to see Rome, he not only found it distinguished in degree, but even in species: it was a quite other sort of city, just as the cypress differs in species from a shrub. 28. Libertas. Not that Virgil or his fa ther were really slaves; but he speaks of the oppressions which he sustained at home in his own country as a kind of slavery. 33. Peculi. Peculium is the private stock of a slave; in which sense it is properly ap plied to Tityrus, who personates the cha racter of a slave. 35. Ingrate urbi. Unhappy city. 36. Non unquam, &c. Literally, My right hand never returned home loaded with money 46. Pueri. Puer has three significations Non insueta graves tentabunt pabula fœtas, Aut Ararim Parthus bibet aut Germania Tigrim, 50 insolita pabula non vitia. bunt gravidas pecudes, neque noxia contagics vicini greges inficiet eas, O felix senex! hic prope amnes cognitos, et fontes dicatos Nymphis 55 frueris umbra frigida. Ex aliâ parte sepes limitis propinqui, in quá flos salicum carpitur semper à Siculis apibus, sæpe tenui murmure apum te 60 invitabit, ut somno indulgeas. Ex aliâ parte putator frondium excelso in colle cantabit ad auras. Neque tamen in terim rauca palumbes, quæ sunt tuæ delicia, ne65 que turtur desinet queri ex ulmo sublimi.-Tit. Prius igitur agiles cervi pascent in aëre, et maria deserent in litore pisces defectos aquâ : Priùs extorris Parthia potabit 70 Ararim, aut Germania Tigrim, regionibus mutuò permutatis, quàm forma illius juvenis excidat mihi ex animo.Mel. Nos verò bine pulsi partim ibimus in Africam aridam, partim petemus Scythiam, aut eelerem Oaxem Crete, aut Britannos omnino sepa 75 ratos à cæteris populis. Nunquamne post diuturnum tempus, post aliquot annos, revisam cum admiratione patriam regionem, et tectum case pauperis extructum è glebâ, quæ tota erat mea possessio? Seeleratus miles possidebit hæc arva tam culta? peregrinus has messes? Ecce quò calamitatis dissensio adegit cives infortunatos; ecce propter quos seminavimus arva. Nunc, ô Melibce, insere pyros, digere vineas in ordinem. Ite, ite, meæ capellæ, grex olim fortunate. Non ego deinde stratus viridi in speluncâ aspiciam vos procul spinosa è rupe pendere : NOTES. 1. A slave. 2. A boy, in opposition to a girl. 3. Puerilis atas. 50. Graves fætas, i. e. prægnantes: Nam feta sine addito, et de gravida, et de puerpera dicitur. In the first sense it occurs, En, VIII. 640. Fecerat et viridi fetam Mavortis in antro 52. Inter flumina. The Mincio and the Po. 53. Frigus opacum. Literally, the shady coolness. 54. Ab vicino limite. The same as in, &c. 55. Florem depasta salicti. A Grecism, the same as habens florem salicti depastum. 55. Hyblais apibus, i. e. bees such as those of Hybla, a mountain in Sicily, productive of the finest honey. 57. Frondator. Servius gives it three significations: 1. The woodman in general: 2. The vine-dresser, who clears away the vineleaves when they are too thick, and lays the grapes more open to the sun: 3. Any bird that sings among the boughs; whence some render it the nightingale. 57. Ad auras. To the breezes or per haps it means aloud, so as to pierce the skies, as the phrase is used elsewhere. 63. Parthus is not here to be taken for a particular native of Parthia, but for the Parthian nation in general; as Germania in the other part of the verse signifies the Germans in a body. The meaning therefore is, That these two nations shall sooner exchange countries with one another, than, &c. Had the critics attended to this, it might have saved them a great deal of needless trouble. 70. Aliquot aristas. Some years, accord. ing to some, as Claudian says, decimas emensus aristas. But this agrees not with longo post tempore; the one implying a long and the other a short duration; or at best it would be an idle repetition of the same idea. Therefore by aristas it seems better to understand thin fields of corn, where are but a few ears to be seen; which also suits best with mea regna, which in the natural order of construction must refer to aliquat aristas, not to culmen pauperis tuguri. cantilenam nullam mo-Carmina nulla canam : non, me pascente, capellæ dulabor: non tondebitis, Florentem cytisum et salices carpetis amaras. 6 capella, cytisum flo rentem et salices amaras, TIT. Hic tamen hanc mecum poteris requiescere noctem me custode.--Tit. Ta-Fronde super viridi. Sunt nobis mitia poma, men poteris hâc nocte Castaneæ molles, et pressi copia lactis. quiescere hic mecum super foliis virentibus. Et jam summa procul villarum culmina fumant, Habemus matura poma, Majoresque cadunt altis de montibus umbræ. castaneas molles, et mul 79 tum coacti lactis. Et jam summa pagorum tecta procul fumant, et umbræ grandiores porriguntur ex altis montibus. NOTE. 82. Castaneæ molles. Molles may either signify ripe, or such chestnuts as were called soft, in opposition to the hirsuta, Ecl. VII. 53. the one being smooth in the husk, the other rough and jagged. ECLOGA II. ALEXIS. qui erat voluptas domi INTERPRETATIO. FORMOSUM pastor Corydon ardebat Alexim, Pastor Corydon ama- Delicias domini: nec, quid speraret, habebat. bat pulchrum Alexim, Tantùm inter densas, umbrosa cacumina, fagos ni: nec erat ipsi spes ul- Assiduè veniebat: ibi hæc incondita solus la: solummodo veniebat Montibus et sylvis studio jactabat inani. frequenter ad spissas faO crudelis Alexi, nihil mea carmina curas: opacum est: illic solus Nil nostri miserere: mori me denique coges, fundebat inutiliter mon- Nunc etiam pecudes umbras et frigora captant: tibus et nemoribus hæc Nunc virides etiam occultant spineta lacertos : gos, quarum cacumen verba incomposita. 0 dure Alexi! nullo modo curas meos cantus: nullo modo miserescis mei: denique coges me mori. pecora fruuntur umbrå et frigore: nunc lacerti ipsi virides latent in vepribus : NOTES. By Corydon here some would have us to understand Virgil himself, and by Alexis a young slave of Mecenas, for whom Virgil had conceived a violent affection, and solicited his patron to make him a present of the boy; to which Martial is thought to allude in the verses above quoted, Ecl. I. Be that as it will, Corydon is here represented making love to this beautiful youth. His way of courtship is wholly pastoral: he complains of the boy's coyness; recommends himself for his beauty and skill in piping; invites the youth into the country, where he promises him the diversions of the place, 5 Nunc ipsa with a suitable present of nuts and apples: but, when he finds that nothing will prevail, he resolves to quit his troublesome amour, and betake himself again to his former business. There is certainly something more intended in this pastoral than a description of friendship or Platonic love; the sentiments, though chaste, are too warm and passionate for a mere Platonic lover. But there is no reason to charge Virgil on that account with the unnatural love of boys; a poet may show his talent in describing a passion which he by no means approves. Thestylis et rapido fessis messoribus æstu Nonne fuit satius tristes Amaryllidis iras, Nec sum adeò informis : nuper me in litore vidi, Hæc eadem ut sciret, quid non faciebat Amyntas ? 1) et Thestylis conterit herbas odoriferas, allium et serpylam, messoribus fatigatis ob gravem æstum. Interim, dum sequor tua restigia mecum ad soem ferventem raucæ ci15 ada strepitant per loca onsita arboribus. Nonne fuisset melius tlerare graves iras et iaperiosa fastidia Amarilidis? Nonne fuisset mlius tolerare Menal20 ca? licèt ille fuscus sit, lict tu albus sis. O forhose puer, ne nimis conidas colori. Ligustra jacent humi, quamvis candida; vaccinia 25 colliguntur, quamvis niMe contemnis, & consideras nec quis ego sim, quàm multas possideam oves, quàm multum habeam lactis candiai. Mille oves meæ gra. 30 ragantur in montibus 35 Siciliæ lac novum non deest mihi per æstatem, nec per hyemem. Cane ea quæ Amphion Thebanus solebat canere in Aracyntho maritimo. Nec sum tam deformis : nuper vidi me è litore, cùm mare tranquillum non moveretur vento. Ego non timerem Daphnim, te ipso arbitro: ni40 si aliquando forma me decipiat. Utinam velis tantummodo mecum incolere agros tibi viles, doIn sylvis simuł mosque parvas: et transfodere cervos, et ducere gregem hedorum ad hibiscum virentem. mecum imitaberis Pana cantando. Pan primus in morem induxit nectere cerâ multas arundines: Pan protegit oves et pastores orium. Nec pigeat te labra atterere fistula. Quid non faciebat Amyntas, ut disceret hæc eadem à me? Habes fistulam conflatam è septem cicutis inæqualibus, quam Damætas quondam dona vit mihi: et dixit moriens: Tu nunc istam secundus possides. Damotas hoc dixit, Amyntas stolidus invidit. Insuper duo capreoli inventi à me in valle, non sine periculo: quorum pelles sunt adhuc distinctæ maculis candidis, quotidie exhauriunt gemina ovis ubera: hos servo tibi. NOTES. 18. Vaccinia. Some will have this to be bilberries; Servius makes it the violet; but from that Virgil himself plainly distinguishes it, Ecl. X. 39. Et nigra violæ sunt, et vaccinia nigra. Salmasius and others explain it of the hyacinth, chiefly because vaccinium answers to vaxives in that line of Theocritus, which Virgil here not only imitates, but almost literally translates: Και το ιον μέλαν εντι και άγραπτα ύακινθος. 24. Amphion. The famous king of Thebes who built the walls of that city; the stones whereof he is said to have made to dance into their places by the music of his lyre. He is called Dirceus, either from Dirce his stepmother, whom he put to death for the injuries she had done to his mother Antiope; or from a fountain in Bœotia of that name. 24. Aracyntho. Aracynthus was a town on the confines of Attica and Baotia, where was the fountain Dirce: it is called Actao, from Acta or Acte, the country about Attica, Ovid. Met. lib. II. 720. Sic super Acteas agilis Cyllenius arces inclinat cursus. 28. Tibi sordida rura. Servius, and all the commentators after him, join tibi with sordida, the country which gives you such disgust. But that construction seems not so natural; perhaps it would be better to join tibi with libeat. As for sordida, it is a proper epithet for cottages and villages, which are mean and poorly furnished. Or he speaks in the character of a lover, who thinks nothing good enough for his beloved object. 30. Hibisco. A slender twig or rush; as appears from Ecl. X. 71. Dum sedet, et gracili fiscellam texet hibisco. 36. Cicutis. Hemlock, here used for any hollow reeds. 38. Te nunc, &c. Literally, now it has you its second master. natur precibus obtinere illos à me, et obtinebit, Jamdudum Thestylis co-ampridem à me illos abducere Thestylis orat: Naïs tibi colligens viols Tum casiâ, atque aliis intexens suavibus herbis, verum, addit nareissun et florem anethi odorie- Ipse ego cana legam tenerâ lanugine mala, cibus, ornat mollia ac ri: deinde miscens em Castaneasque nuces, mea quas Amaryllis amabat. Duces castaneas, quai mea Amaryllis diligebat Nec si muneribus certes, concedat Iolas. Adjungam pruna flava, Eheu, quid volui misero mihi? floribus Austrum et laus erat quoque buic Perditus, et liquidis immisi fontibus apros. fructui. Et vos decer 45 50 55 pam, 6 lauri; et te, myr. Quem fugis, ah, demens! habitârunt dii quoq; sylvas, 60 te, lauris vicina: quia Dardaniusq; Paris. Pallas, quas condidit arces, ita junctæ emittitis gra- Ipsa colat: nobis placeant ante omnia sylvæ. tos odores. Agrestis es, 8 Corydon, et Alexis non Torva leæna lupum sequitur: lupus ipse capellam : movetur tuis donis: et Florentem cytisum sequitur lasciva capella: si contendas donis, Iolas Te Corydon, ô Alexi: trahit sua quemq; voluptas. non cedet tibi. Heu mi ser, quid feci? immisi Aspice, aratra jugo referunt suspensa juvenci, Austrum floribus, et Et sol crescentes decedens duplicat umbras. apros puris fontibus, im- Me tamen urit amor : quis enim modus adsit amori? prudens ! Ah. stulte, quem fugis? Dii ipsi Ah, Corydon, Corydon, quæ te dementia cepit ! incoluerunt nemora, et Semiputata tibi frondosâ vitis in ulmo est. incolat ipsa urbes quas Paris Trojanus. Pallas Quin tu aliquid saltem potiùs, quorum indiget usus, extruxit: sylvæ autem Viminibus molliq; paras detexere junco ? placeant nobis præ ca- Invenies alium, si te hic fastidit, Álexim. teris rebus. Ferox le 65 70 æna sectatur lupum, lupus ipse capellam, petulans capella sectatur cytisum: te Corydon sectacur, ô Alexi : unusquisque rapitur sua voluptate. Vide, en juvenci referunt domum aratra sublevata jugo: et sol occidens auget crescentes umbras: me tamen amor inflammat: nam quis potest esse finis in amore? Ah Corydon, Corydon, quænam insania te occupavit! Habes in ulmo frondosâ vitem mediâ ex parte recisam: cur non potiùs conaris saltem texere vimine, aut junco flexili, aliquid earum rerum, quarum eget vita rustica ? Reperies alium Alexim, si hic te despicit. NOTES. 51. Mala. We would translate it quinces, with Servius, and all the commentators; whereof the white are the best and most fragrant. See Pliny, XXI. 6. But the description here given seems rather to suit the peach, as Mr. Dryden renders it. 53. Cerea. Of a beautiful colour as wax. See La Cerda. 57. Iolas. Those who think Corydon personates Virgil, and Alexis the slave of Macenas whom he loved, by Iolas here of course understand Mæcenas. 58. Floribus Austrem immisi. A prover. bial expression, applicable to those who wish for things that prove destructive to them; the south wind by its hot sultry quality being noxious to flowers. Hence Papin. lib. III. Sylv. Pubentesque rosæ primos moriuntur ad austros. 61. Dardaniusque Paris. Paris was exposed by his father in a wood, in order to elude the oracle, which foretold that he was to be the destruction of Troy. 61. Pallas condidit. Meaning that she first invented and taught persons to build stately structures. 66. Aratra jugo suspensa. These words allude to the manner of bringing home the plough, when the labour of the day is over. It is then drawn backward: thus the share, not entering the ground, glides easily along, and may be said to be only just hung upon the yoke. |