May honey flow for him, and (ever) may

The prickly bramble (sweet) amomum bear.

MEN. May he who Bavius likes, love Mævius' verse,

And may he foxes' yoke and milk he-goats.

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DAM. Swains, who cull flowers and ground-grown strawberries, Fly hence; a snake lurks cold beneath the grass.

MEN. Forbear, my sheep, from wandering too far;

It were not well for you to trust the bank.

The ram himself dries even now his fleece.

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DAM. Your browsing goats drive, Tityrus, from the stream;

All will I, bye-and-bye, wash in the pool.

MEN. Drive home the flocks; if th' heat dry up, as late, The milk, in vain our hands will press the teats.

DAM. How lean my bull is in a fertile field!

The same love ruins shepherds and their flocks.

MEN. Surely love's not the cause that these (are so); They scarce cling to their bones; I do not know

What evil eyes my tender lambs bewitch.

DAM. Say where shalt thou, my great Apollo, be?

The vault of heav'n's no more than three ells wide!

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MEN. Say in what lands flowers grow with names inscribed

Of kings; and Phyllis thou shalt have them all.

PAL. 'Tis not for me to settle such disputes;

Both you and he are worthy of the heifer,
And which soe'er shall fear successful love,

Or unsuccessfully experience.

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Now close your streams, the meads have drunk enough.

VOL. III.

P 2

ECLOGA IV. POLLIO.

SICELIDES Musæ, paullo majora canamus!
Non omnes arbusta juvant humilesque myricæ ;
Si canimus silvas, silvæ sint consule digna.

Ultima Cumæi venit jam carminis ætas ;
Magnus ab integro sæclorum nascitur ordo.
Jam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna;
Jam nova progenies cœlo demittitur alto.
Tu modo nascenti puero, quo ferrea primum
Desinet, ac toto surget gens aurea mundo,
Casta, fave, Lucina: tuus jam regnat Apollo.
Teque adeo decus hoc ævi, te consule, inibit,
Pollio, et incipient magni procedere menses;

Te duce, si qua manent, sceleris vestigia nostri
Irrita perpetua solvent formidine terras.
Ille deum vitam accipiet, divisque videbit
Permixtos heroas, et ipse videbitur illis,
Pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbem.

At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu
Errantes hederas passim cum baccare tellus
Mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho.
Ipsæ lacte domum referent distenta capellæ
Ubera, nec magnos metuent armenta leones.

ECLOGUE IV. POLLIO.

SICILIAN Nine, let us sing loftier strains!
Groves and low tamarisks delight not all;
If we sing woods, suffice it for the time!

The last term of Cumaan song's now here;
The cycle of vast ages starts afresh.
Justice returns now, and th' Saturnian reign;

A new race from high heaven is now sent down.

Be but propitious to the infant's birth,

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Under whom first the iron age shall cease,

O'er the whole globe the golden age arise,

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Now thy Apollo, chaste Lucina, reigns.
And while thou'rt consul, thou, O Pollio,
The glory of the age shall first appear,

And the great months commence to roll along.
'Neath thee, what signs still of our guilt remain
Shall banish'd be, and earth free from all fear.
He shall receive the life of gods, and see
Heroes with gods mix'd, and with them be seen,
And th' peaceful world rule with his father's fame.
But earth, boy, shall uncultured first pour forth
Her little offerings everywhere for thee:

The creeping ivies with the lady's-glove,

And Egypt's bean with smiling bear's-foot mix'd.

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Goats of themselves shall bring home milk-fill'd udders ; Nor shall the herds the mighty lions dread.

Ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores.
Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni
Occidet; Assyrium vulgo nascetur amomum.
At simul heroum laudes et facta parentis
Jam legere et quæ sit poteris cognoscere virtus:
Molli paulatim flavescet campus arista,
Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva,
Et duræ quercus sudabunt roscida mella.
Pauca tamen suberunt priscæ vestigia fraudis,
Quæ tentare Thetim ratibus, quæ cingere muris
Oppida, quæ jubeant telluri infindere sulcos.
Alter erit tum Tiphys, et altera quæ vehat Argo
Delectos heroas; erunt etiam altera bella,
Atque iterum ad Trojam magnus mittetur Achilles.
Hinc, ubi jam firmata virum te fecerit ætas,
Cedet et ipse mari vector; nec nautica pinus
Mutabit merces: omnis feret omnia tellus :
Non rastros patietur humus, non vinea falcem ;
Robustus quoque jam tauris juga solvet arator:
Nec varios discet mentiri lana colores,
Ipse sed in pratis aries jam suave rubenti
Murice, jam croceo mutabit vellera luto;

Sponte sua sandyx pascentes vestiet agnos.

Talia sæcla," suis dixerunt, "currite," fusis

Concordes stabili fatorum numine Parcæ.

Aggredere o magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores, Cara deum suboles, magnum Jovis incrementum ! Auspice convexo nutantem pondere mundum,

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Thy cradle e'en fair flowers shall pour thee forth;
The serpent die and poison's treach'rous herb;
Assyrian spikenard flourish everywhere.

But, soon as thou can'st read of heroes' praise,
Thy father's deeds, and know what virtue is,
The field shall ripen with soft ears of corn,
From the wild briar the blushing grape hang down,
And dewy honey rigid oaks distil.

Yet a few signs of former fraud will stay,

To make men tempt the sea in ships, surround
Cities with walls, and furrows dig on land.
Another Tiphys there shall be and Argo,

To bear (across the billows) chosen heroes;

There shall be, likewise, other wars; and great
Achilles shall again be sent to Troy.

Then, when full age shall thee have made a man,
The sailor shall himself renounce the sea,

Nor shall sea-pines exchange commodities;

(For) every land shall everything produce.

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The ground shall not feel rakes, nor vines the knife;
The sturdy plougher shall yokes loose from the steers;
Nor various colours wool shall learn to feign,
But in the meads the ram transform his fleece
With sweet blush-purple now, now saffron-dye;
Pink of itself shall clothe the browsing lambs.
Bound to their spindles by fix'd destiny,
The Fates have said: "Ages like this, run on."
Dear offspring of the gods, Jove's noble scion,
Approach great honours; th' time is now at hand!
See the globe nodding with its convex mass,