Quo minor est illis curae mortalis egestas, In saltus utrumque gregem atque in pascua mittet, Carpamus, dum mane novum, dum gramina canent, = 319.]Curae mortalis 6 curae mortalium,' like 'mortalia corda,' 1. 123; 'mortales visus,' A. 2. 605; mortali sermone,' Lucr. 5. 121. Some MSS. have minus,' which was the old reading. 320.] Virgea pabula,' the arbutes mentioned v. 301. 'Laetus' seems rightly explained by Wagn. as = 'largus,' the epithet belonging rather to the gift than to the giver. 321.] Let them have good store of hay the winter through.' · 322-338.] In summer let them graze early in the morning; as the heat comes on, take them to water; at midday let them rest in the shade, and in the cool of the evening graze again.' 323.] Utrumque gregem,' sheep and goats. 'Mittet' is the reading of Med. a m. pr., and of some copies mentioned by Ursinus, and is clearly right. The rest have mittes' or 'mittas.' 320 325 330 335 327.] 'Caeli' with 'hora,' like 'caeli menses 1. 335, 'caeli tempore' 4. 100. 'Sitim collegerat' is used of becoming thirsty, Ov. M. 5. 446, like 'frigus colligere,' of catching cold, so that the sense of thirst is here attributed to the time of day. 328.] Comp. E. 2. 13. With 'rumpent arbusta' Serv. comp. "assiduo ruptae lectore columnae," Juv. 1. 12. For the change from collegerit' to 'rumpent' see on 4. 282. Temperat, et saltus reficit iam roscida luna, 336.] Temperat aera' like 'temperat arva' 1. 110, where the sense of the word is further defined by 'arentia,' denoting the thing to be relieved, as it is here by 'frigidus,' denoting the relief to be given. 337.] Iam roscida,' beginning to drop dew. The moon was called 'roriflua' and 'roris mater.' For the general sense comp. 2. 202. 338.] Resonant alcyonen, acalanthida :' a bolder variety for 'resonant cantum alcyones, acalanthidos.' For the 'alcyones' on the coast comp. 1. 398. 'Acalanthis' or acanthis' is the Greek name for the goldfinch or thistle-finch, in Latin 'carduelis,' because it lives among thorns and eats the seeds of thistles. The form ȧkaλανθίς would seem to point to ἀκάλανθος or ἀκάλανθα as a cognate of ἄκανθος οι akavoa, the latter being derived from akŋ, with Passow, the former from some connected word, äraλos or ȧkáλŋ. The old reading here was 'et acanthida,' but though acalanthida' is more or less corrupted in some of the MSS., none of them support 'et.' 6 339-383.] As an instance where summer-grazing is carried to the utmost, I might tell of shepherd life in Africa. There in those vast plains the cattle feed day and night from month to month, and the herdsman carries all his chattels with him, like a Roman soldier on march. The opposite extreme is in Scythia, where there is no grazing, and the cattle are always shut up. Ice and snow is there all the year round; day and night are alike; all liquids freeze; sudden snow storms kill the cattle; deer are not hunted, but butchered in the ice; the natives live under-ground by the fire, playing and drinking.' 339.] By the pastores Libyae' are probably meant the Numidians, with whom the notion of nomadic life was peculiarly identified.` 340.] The 'mapalia' or 'magalia,' which appear to differ only in quantity, are defined by Cato, as quoted by Fest. and by Serv. on A. 1. 421, "quasi cohortes rotundae," referring to the cohortes villa 340 ticae,' in which the live-stock, &c., were 341.] The elder Scaliger, a great Virgilian enthusiast, declares (Poet. 5. 16) that Apollo himself could produce nothing superior to these verses. 343.] Hospitiis' seems to denote fixed dwellings, where they could be received at their journey's end, as distinct from what the herdsmen carry with them. 'Tantum campi iacet' accounts for the absence of hospitia,' and for the continuous journeying. 'Omnia secum agit:' the same practice seems to have prevailed on a smaller scale in Italy. "Contra illi in saltibus qui pascuntur (pascunt?) et a tectis absunt longe, portant secum crates aut retia, quibus cohortes in solitudine faciant, ceteraque utensilia," Varro 2. 2. Possibly Virgil may intend his illustration to convey an indirect precept to the Italian shepherd. 344.] His roof and his home.' Sil. 2. 441 foll., imitating this passage, enumerates among the baggage of the Nomad, "tectumque focique In silicis venis." 346 Armaque Amyclaeumque canem Cressamque pharetram ; At non, qua Scythiae gentes Maeotiaque unda, 345.] The Spartan dog and the Cretan quiver' are rather unseasonable reminiscences, like those in E. 10. 59, as the Numidian was not likely to be equipped with any thing foreign. 346.] Patriis' seems to refer to the manner of campaigning rather than to the actual armour. 347.] Iniusto' of excess, like 'iniquo pondere,' 1. 164. The Roman soldier, besides his armour, had to carry provisions, palisades for the camp, &c. (Cic. Tusc. 2. 16), altogether amounting to 60lb., according to Vegetius 1. 19. Carpit' implies haste, as the next line shows. 348.] Ante exspectatum' occurs again Ov. M. 4. 790., 8. 5, Sen. Ep. 114, &c. (Forb.) So we find exspectato maturius.' Unacquaintance with the phrase seems to have led to the various reading 'hostem,' which is found in Med. a m. pr. and some others. Keightley seems right in saying that 'in agmine' ought strictly to have been in acie.' There may be some rhetorical point in the catachresis, to show the rapidity with which the line of march is exchanged for line of battle. 349.] At non :' but things are not so,' or, but this comparison does not hold good, where' &c. The ellipse occurs 4. 530, A. 4. 529: in the latter place however it can be supplied at once from the words of the context. The geography is vague, as usual when he speaks of countries out of 350 355 360 the ordinary beat. Maeotia tellus' is mentioned A. 6. 799 as an extreme point. The old reading was 'Maeotica.' 350.] Turbidus' closely connected with 'torquens,' which it qualifies (Wagn. and Wund.). Hister,' 2. 497. 351.] 'Redit' expresses the form of the mountain, stretching first to the east and then to the north (Serv.). For the exaggeration which places Thrace in the extreme north see 4. 517. 354.] Informis,' shapeless, like Chaos; comp. E. 6. 36 note. 355.] The earth is said to rise, because its height is increased by the ice and snow. 357.] Tum' seems here merely to mark the transition, 'Nay, the sun,' &c. This and the two following lines are imitated from Hom. Od. 11. 15 foll., where the atmosphere of the Cimmerians is similarly described. Similar imitations occur Ov. M. 11. 592, Pseudo-Tibull. 4. 1. 65. ‘Pallentis umbras,' A. 4. 26, opposed here to the rosy brightness of the sun, 'rubro,' v. 359. 360.] Thomson's lines (Winter, 723 foll.) form a good comment on Virgil, "An icy gale, oft shifting, o'er the pool Breathes a blue film, and in its mid career Arrests the bickering stream." The language is from Lucr. 6. 626, "mollisque luti concrescere crustas." 361.]Ferratos orbis:' again from Lucr. 6. 551, where 'rotarum' is expressed. 362.] Illa,' as in A. 1. 3. Its force is Aeraque dissiliunt volgo, vestesque rigescunt very difficult to express, but it seems to be 363.] The splitting of copper vessels is a common thing. Volgo,' as in Lucr. 1. 238, generally or universally; or 'volgo' may mean that common copper utensils split. Strabo (2, C. 74) has an account from Eratosthenes of the splitting of a copper vessel by the cold, commemorated by an inscription in the temple of Aesculapius. Mr. Long suggests that the vessel (vdpia) contained water, the expansion of which, when it became ice, burst the copper. 364.] 'Clothes are congealed on the back.' 365.] The connexion of this line with the preceding is not very evident; Wund. accordingly proposes to understand lacunae' in the sense of its cognate 'lagena' (see Forcell. s. v., who refers to Gruter, p. 578, n. 4, for an instance of this), or to read 'lagenae.' Jahn however seems right in replying that 'totae' would be against this. A connexion will be seen if we suppose 'lacunae' to be the pools from which they drank or drew water, and this may be carried on into the next verse, the moisture of the beard, which immediately becomes an icicle, being caused by drops of the liquid drunk. In any case there is no anticlimax, as Wund. thinks, the freezing of a lake or pool to the bottom being worth mentioning after the formation of ice on a stream; nor need we suppose the line to be out of place with Keightley, even if we admit its want of connexion with the preceding. 366.] "Glacie riget horrida barba," A. 4. 365 370 367.] Non setius:' the snow is as bad as the frost,' as it is rightly explained by an anonymous critic referred to by Wagn. 368.] Looking back to v. 352, we must apparently either convict Virgil of an oversight, or suppose with Heyne that he means to allow some exceptions when the cattle are turned out to graze, and that during one of these a snow-storm comes on. But this last view can hardly be said to be borne out by the language. Ladewig may be right in saying that the oxen would be those which would be required to draw the 'plaustra,' v. 362. There is a simile from a snowstorm II. 12. 278 foll., but it bears no great resemblance to Virgil. 369.] Comp. Thomson, Winter, 240, "Drooping, the labouring ox Stands covered o'er with snow, and then demands The fruit of all his toil." Virgil here simply gives the physical image; in v. 525 he brings out the pathos involved in the relation of beasts to man. 370.] Mole nova' is explained by Wagn. of the new-fallen snow. The meaning seems rather to be that they are oppressed with the weight of a bulk not their own, which is probably what Heyne intended by his brief note, "insolenti, nempe nivis." So Trapp and Martyn talk of unusual weight.' Torpent' of course expresses numbness as well as mere oppression. 372.]"Puniceae septum formidine pennae," A. 12. 750. 'Formido' was actually the name of the cord with red feathers which the hunters stretched along the openings of the woods to drive the game into the net (Sen. de Ira 2. 12), its Greek appellation being unpiveos. Here Virgil probably so far reverts to the commoner meaning of the word as to make 'formidine the terror inspired by the feathers. 373.] They are immersed in the snow, and in vain try to push it before them. Comminus obtruncant ferro, graviterque rudentis 374.] 'Rudere,' properly used of asses, is transferred to other animals, as to lions A. 7. 16, to the monster Cacus, A. 8. 248, and even to the prow of a vessel, A. 3. 561. So bray' is sometimes used of a deer in English, though according to Scott (Marmion 4. 16, note)' bell' is the more appropriate, and Spenser makes a tiger 'bray.' 376.] This Troglodytic life is reported of the Sarmatians by Mela 2. 1, of the Germans by Tac. Germ. 16, of the Armenians by Xenophon, an eye-witness, Anab. 4. 5. In Aesch. Prom. 452 it is part of the barbarism from which Prometheus raised the human race: κατώρυχες δ ̓ ἔναιον, ὥστ' ἀήσυροι Μύρμηκες, ἄντρων ἐν μυχοῖς ávnλious. The homes of the Esquimaux are built out of the snow, and rise but a small height above its level. 'Ipsi' distinguishes their own life from the state of things about them. 377.] Totasque :' many MSS. leave out the final que,' which is marked in Med. as if for omission. 379.] Noctem' refers to the whole time during which storms prevail and the sun does not shine. "Noctem sermone trahebat," A. 1. 748; "nos flendo ducimus horas," A. 6. 539. The notion is that of speeding along rather than of drawing out, though Hor. 1 Ep. 5. 11 has "Aestivam sermone benigno tendere noctem." 'Pocula' here seems to have the transferred sense of a draught (1. 9, E. 8. 28). In the sense of a cup it could hardly stand with 'vitea,' which would have to be understood of the wood, like 'pocula fagina,' E. 3. 36. 380.] By 'fermento Virgil evidently means beer, the national drink of Germany, Gaul, and other countries (Tac. Germ. 23, Pliny 14. 22., 22. 25); but whether he uses 'fermento' of "fermented grains, or mistakes the process, supposing that leaven is used, is not clear. Martyn very plausibly proposes to read 'frumento,' which is sup 375 380 -Sor ported by one MS., 'fromentoque.'- 381.]Septem triones' ('triones,' 'teriones,' oxen used for ploughing, Varro L. L. 7.74) was the Roman name for the constellation Ursa Major, the seven stars of which they figured to themselves as seven oxen. The plural is more common than the singular, the latter of course ignoring the etymology of the word. The tmesis is used by Cic. N. D. 2. 41 in the plural, by Ov. M. 1. 64 in the singular. 6 382.] Effrena' denoting the freedom of savage life. Rhipaeo,' 1. 240. Dryden's rendering of this and the preceding line is amusing, when we consider the various relations between Holland and England in his day: "Such are the cold Ryphean race, and such The savage Scythian, and unwarlike Dutch." 383.] Velatur,' the reading of three MSS., including Rom., was restored by Heins. for 'velantur.' The plural might be defended as a change of number, 'gens' being still the subject; but it seems more likely that it was introduced by those who wished to bring the verb into agreement with 'corpora.' The line is closely connected with the preceding; they are assailed by the wintry wind, and they arm themselves against it. 384-393.] 'If you breed sheep for wool, let them avoid prickly shrubs and luxuriant food, and be careful in the choice of your rams, rejecting even those whose fleeces are unimpeachably white, if their tongues be dark. Wool is a great object: it tempted even the moon-goddess.' |