whom the gens Julia, to which Caesar belonged, claimed descent. 36 Astrum, referring to the comet which appeared after the death of Caesar, and which was popularly believed to be the soul of the deified Caesar. 48. Quo = ut eo, that under it; ablat. of cause. A. & S. 264, 5;

Gauderent, might rejoice; subjunct. of purpose.

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= dies.

H. 500; B. 1205–7; A. 64, II.; G. 425. Frugibus, ablat. of cause. 50. Nepotes, i. e. not only yourself, but your descendants also. 51. Fert, bears away. Animum, i. e. the faculties of the mind. 52. Condere, lit. put away: = spent, passed. Soles: 53. Oblita (sunt), passively. Mihi, by me. A. & S. 2 225, II.; H. 388; B. 844; A. 51, VIII.; G. 2 150. 54. Lupi— priores, the wolves have seen Moeris first, i. e. before he saw them, and this, according to a strange superstition, would cost Moeris the loss of his voice. 55. Ista referet, will repeat those verses for which you ask. Notice the force of ista. Satis saepe, often enough. 56. Causando, by making excuses. In longum, sc. tempus, for a long time. Ducis, you put off. Amores, i. e. to hear more of those

verses.

57-67. Tibi, for you, that you may be better heard. Forb., As. 37 Stratum, smooth. Aequor, the sea. The scenery is taken from Sicily. Con. Others explain aequor as the surface of the lake, or rather swamp, formed by the Mincius. 58. Ventosi murmuris aurae, the breezes of the windy murmur, is poetic amplification of omnes venti. 59. Hinc adeo, and just here, lit. and just from this place. Media, the middle of; we are half-way to town. 60. Bianoris, the founder of Mantua. 61. Frondes. The leaves were stripped off both to allow free space for the vines, and for fodder. 62. Tamen, notwithstanding, though we stop awhile to sing. 63. Pluviam colligat, gather rain; collect rain-clouds, which precede rain. Ante, i. e. in urbem veniamus. 64. Licet (nobis ut) eamus we may go. Usque, all the way. But Con. and As. connect with eamus, and render, we may go straight on. Minus, less, by singing as we go. 65. Fasce. A. & S. 251; H. 425, 3, 2); B. § 187. 66. Plura, sc. dicere. Quod-instat, what is now urgent, "the business in hand," the delivery of my burden to my new master. 67. Ipse, i. e. Menalcas or Virgil.

916; A. 54, VI.; G.

10-E. & G.

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ECLOGUE X.

INTRODUCTION.

WHILE Cornelius Gallus, the famous soldier and poet, was absent from Rome, probably for the purpose of defending the coast of Italy against Sextus Pompeius, his favorite Lycoris, whose praises he had so often sung, became untrue to him and accompanied her new lover in his expedition, under Agrippa, against the Gauls. In his grief, Gallus had begged Virgil to compose a pastoral poem, which might, perhaps, have the effect of bringing the faithless fair one back to Gallus. This circumstance suggests

to Virgil the fiction, that Gallus has betaken himself to the shepherds of Arcadia. In the poem itself Virgil imitates, though with considerable freedom, the first Idyl of Theocritus. This Eclogue was probably written in B. C. 37. Ladewig.

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37 1-18. Extremum laborem. Virgil here states that this is his last pastoral. Arethusa, the nymph of the fountain Arethusa, near Syracuse. 2. Sed quae - Lycoris, but such that Lycōris herself shall read them. Quao here: talia ut ea, hence legat, subjunct. of result. A. & S. § 264, 1 (a) and (b); H. 501, I.; B. 1218-20; A. 65, I.; G. § 339, 6; 2348; 425. 3. Sunt dicenda, must be sung; the passive periphrastic form, denoting necessity. Neget, would deny; dubitative or deliberative subjunct. (in a question of appeal). A. & S. 260, II. Rem. 5; H. 486, II.; B. 1180; A. 60, 3; G. 254, 2. 4. Sic, tibi, etc., so may the bitter (i. e. briny) Doris (i. e. sea) not intermingle her wave with thee; sic indicates a form of conditional wish, and makes its force apparent in connection with incipe, begin; or, as we might expect, ut incipies, as you shall begin. Tibi, depending on intermisceat. Fluctus, governed by subter in composition. 6. Sollicitos, the anxious. 8. Surdis. If no one will listen, the woods will reëcho (respondent) our songs. 9. Habuere, held, detained. Puellae Naides, ye naiad maidens. 11. Parnasi juga. Parnassus had two peaks. Wr. The two mountains are mentioned with a reference to the springs belonging to each. Con., H. 12. Ulla, sc. juga. 13. Flevere, i. e. poetically, by murmuring in response to the laments of Gallus. 16. Nostri illas = neither are they discontented with us. A. & S. 50, IV. 3; G. 2 173. 17.

229, Rem. 6; H. 410, III.; B. 805; A. Poeta, i. e. Gallus. 18. Et, too, even.

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20-36. Uvidus hiberna de glande, wet from the wintry acorn. 38 Acorns were gathered and steeped in water; they were then used as food not only for swine, but, in winter, for cattle also. Con. 24. Agresti capitis honore, with the rustic honor of his head, i. e. adorned with a garland of fennel giant and lilies. As. Honore, ablat. of quality or description. 25. Florentes, flowering. 26. Ipsi, Gallus and I. 28. Ecquis — modus, will there be any limit, sc. tuis lacrimis. The form ecquis is peculiar to impassioned interrogation, and implies also some degree of impatience in the questioner. 29. Amor, sc. saturatur, from the next line. 31. Ille, Gallus. 32. Haec, these songs of my love. 33 Mihi = my, but dat. of advantage. Quam, how. Quiescant, will repose; subjunct. in apodosis. 34. The emphasis given to vestra places it before the connective si. 35. Ex-unus, instead of the partitive gen., vestrûm unus. Vestri agrees with gregis. Fuissem, subjunct. of wish. A. & S. 2 263, I.; H. 488, II. 1; B. 1195; A. 68, I.; G. 255. 36. Vinitor, a vintager.

66

37-57. Certe, at least, at any rate. Mihi esset I had. 38. Furor, love, flame, object of engrossing passion. Amyntas, 8c. sit. 43. Ipso aevo, by time itself, nothing else would bring on decay. 45. Tela-media in the midst of weapons. Adversos, confronting. 46. Nec sit mihi let me not, lit. let it not be to me. Tantum so dreadful a thing." 47. Dura-hard-hearted one. 48. Me sine = sine me. 50. Order: ibo et modulabor avena Siculi pastoris carmina quae sunt condita mihi Chalcidico versu. Chalcidico versu, i. e. like that of Euphorion, a Greek poet of Chalcis in Euboea. Mihi, by me; dat. of the agent. 51. Pastoris Siculi, alluding to Theocritus. 52. Certum est, sc. mihi=I am resolved. 54. Crescent- amores. The hallucination of a lovemad mind. 55. Mixtis may be translated with. As. 57. Parthenios, i. e. about Parthenius, a mountain in Arcadia.

58-77. Sonantes, the rustling; referring to the noise of the 39 wind through the branches. Some refer the word to the noise of the hunt. 59. Cydonia, Cydonian, i. e. Cretan. Both Cretans and Parthians were famous archers. Cornu, bow, the end of the bow somewhat resembling a horn. 60. Tamquam, as if. He feels that the remedy he is proposing will be insufficient, and that he is only deluding himself. 60. Sit, were. A. & S. 2 263, 2; H. 503, II. and 506; B. 1277; A. 61, 1; G. 389. 61. Ille deus, i. e. Amor. Malis, at the misfortunes; ablat. of cause. 62. Hama

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39 dryades, wood-nymphs, or hamadryads, which come into existence and perish with the particular trees to which they belong. Rursus, again, i. e. any more. 63. Concedite, take your leave = fare you well. 64. Illum, i. e. Amorem. Labores, hardships. 65. Nec si -nec si, if either -or if; whether either. -or whether. A. & S. 277, Rem. 5 (a); H. 585, 2; B. 999; G. 231. Frigoribus mediis in mid-winter; ablat. of time when. Hebrum, one of the first ice-bound rivers which the Romans encountered in their expeditions. Con. 66. Sithonias, Sithonian, i. e. Thracian, of Thrace, a cold country Aquosae, of rainy; i. e. when it does not snow, it rains. 67. Moriens liber, the dying bark ; the time indicated is mid-summer. 68. Aethiopum - Cancri, we tend the sheep of the Aethiopians under the constellation of the Crab, i. e. or lead a shepherd's life in the hot country of the Aethiopians. Cancri, a sign of the zodiac in which the sun is found at the time of the summer solstice. The sign Cancer does not now coincide with the constellation Cancer (owing to the precession of the equinoxes), though it did nearly in Virgil's time. 69. Et nos, (let) us too. 70. Haec, sc. carmina, these strains; the object of cecinisse. The poet, in the character of a goatherd, now speaks in his own person, addressing the muses. As. Divae=musae. 72. Maxima, i. e. very acceptable, of highest interest. 73 Cujus, for whom. Mihi = my; dat. of advantage. In horas: = every hour: cf. in dies. 74. Novo, i. e. early. Se subjicit—shoots up; lit. throws itself up. 75. Gravis, injurious. Cantantibus iis qui cantant. 76. Umbra, sc. est. 77. Saturae, i. e. well-fed. Venit. Present or perfect? Decide by scanning the line.

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NOTES

TO THE

GEORGICS.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION.

THE term Georgica is of Greek origin, coming from Fewpytká, and means, properly, "things appertaining to tillage or agriculture." The Greek genitive plural of Georgica is Georgicōn. An.

The poem entitled the Georgics is as remarkable for majesty and magnificence of diction as the Eclogues are for sweetness and harmony of versification. It is the most complete, elaborate, and finished poem in the Latin, or, perhaps, any other language; and though the choice of subject and the situations afforded less expectation of success than the pastorals, so much has been achieved by art and genius that the author has chiefly exhibited himself as a poet on topics where it was difficult to appear such.

From the time of Romulus to that of Caesar, agriculture had been the chief care of the Romans. Its operations were conducted by the greatest statesmen, and its precepts inculcated by the profoundest scholars. The long continuance and cruel ravages of the civil wars, however, had occasioned an almost general desolation. Italy was in a great measure depopulated of its husbandmen. The soldiers, by whom the lands were newly occupied, had too long ravaged the fields to think of cultivating them.

Under these circumstances Maecenas resolved, if possible, to revive the decayed spirit of agriculture, to recall the lost habits of peaceful industry, and to make rural improvement, as it had been in former times, the prevailing amusement of the great. At his suggestion, accordingly, Virgil commenced his Georgics, which was thus, in some degree, undertaken from a political motive, and with a view to promote the welfare of his country.

But though written with a patriotic object—by order of a Roman statesman and on a subject peculiarly Roman, the imitative spirit