Diffusos hedera vestit pallente corymbos. In medio duo signa, Conon: et quis fuit alter, Hedera pallente.] Many sorts of ivy are mentioned by the ancients; most of which seem to be rather varieties than distinct species. Theophrastus says the three principal sorts are the white, the black, and that which is called helix. The white ivy was esteemed more beautiful than the common sort, as appears from the following verse in the seventh eclogue: Candidior cycnis, hedera formosior alba. See the note on that passage. Conon.J Servius thinks the Conon here intended was the famous general of that name, whom the shepherd mentions expressly as being well known; but forgets the name of the philosopher. Et quis fuit alter, &c.] This is a true example of pastoral simplicity; for the shepherd is not here guilty of a blunder, which some commentators propose as an instance of it in other places: but he forgets the name of the other mathematician, and describes him by his works. But the commentators are as much at a loss for his name as the shepherd. Hardly any person noted for knowledge in astronomy, has wanted a patron to place his image on this poetical cup. Now, as Aratus has de 40 scribed the several constellations in his poem, with the prognos-, tics of the weather, he answers exactly to the character, which the shepherd gives of the philosopher, whose name he had forgotten. As he was an author admired by the greatest persons, and as he was thought worthy of imitation by our poet himself, it is most probable that he was the person intended in the passage now under consideration. Radio.] The radius is a staff or rod, used by the ancient mathematicians in describing the various parts of the heavens and earth, and in drawing figures in sand. Totum. . orbem.] He means the whole system of heavenly bodies. Aratus has particularly described the several constella tions. Tempora quæ messor, &c.] Aratus is very particular in describing the seasons, and signs of the weather. Necdum illis, &c.] The commendation of a cup, drawn from its having never been used, is to be found in the sixteenth Iliad, ver. 225. Et nobis idem, &c.] Damotas, unwilling to allow any superiority to his adversary, or to give him any opportunity of evading the contest, accepts his offer, and agrees to stake two other 45 Et molli circum est ansas amplexus acantho, vocaris. Audiat hæc tantum vel qui venit, ecce, Palamon: cups, made by the same workman, which he describes with equal beauty; but insists upon it, that they are not equal in value to the heifer, which he had offered at first. Idem Alcimedon duo pocula fecit.] Here Damotas preserves his equality; he offers two cups, as well as Menalcas; and they are both made by the hand of the same famous workman. Molli acantho.] The acanthus is spoken of at large in the note on ver. 123. of the fourth Georgick. Orphea.] See the note on ver. 454. of the fourth Georgick. Necdum illis, &c.] Here Damætas repeats the very words of Menalcas, that he may not allow him any superiority. Si ad vitulam spectes, &c.] In this line Damætas answers that of Menalcas, 50 rior in value to the cow, which he offered at first. Nunquam hodie effugies, &c.] Damotas had first provoked Menalcas to a trial of skill: but now Menalcas challenges him ; and that he may not get off, accepts of the wager, on his own terms; appeals to a neighbour, who happened to pass by, and proposes him for judge of the controversy between them. We must observe, that Damotas had closed his speech with a contempt of the cups which Menalcas had offered, affirming, that they were by no means to be put in competition with a good cow. Menalcas answers briskly, that this shall not serve him for an excuse; for though his father, and particularly his step-mother, would require an exact account of all the cattle from his hands; yet he was so sure of victory, that he would Verum id quod multo tute ipse venture a good cow, that Da fatebere majus. Menalcas had affirmed, that his cups were of far greater value than the cow which his adversary had offered. Here Damœtas answers, that he would stake two cups, in no degree inferior to his; but at the same time declares, that they are far infe mætus might have no pretence to decline the controversy, or to say that the prize was not worth contending for. Vel qui venit.] "Menalcas, seeing a shepherd at a distance, proposes to make him judge, let him be who he will. This is the force of the words vel qui venit. Efficiam posthac ne quemquam voce lacessas. DAM. Quin age, siquid habes; in me mora non erit ulla: Nec quemquam fugio, tantum, vicine Palæmon, Sensibus hæc imis, res est non parva, reponas. 56 PAL. Dicite, quandoquidem in molli consedimus herba; Et nunc omnis ager, nunc omnis parturit arbos : Nunc frondent sylvæ, nunc formosissimus annus. Incipe, Damota; tu deinde sequere, Menalca. Alternis dicetis; amant alterna Camenæ. As he comes nearer, he finds him to be Palæmon, and calls him by his name, and speaks with more confidence to his rival, Efficiam posthac ne, &c."— Ruaus. Palamon.] "Palæmon Remmius, a famous grammarian under Tiberius, boasted that Virgil had prophesied of him, when he made choice of Palæmon to be judge between two poets." Catrou. Voce.] Some understand voce to be meant of singing; but others, with better reason, think it alludes to the reproachful words that have been used, Quin age, &c.] Damotas bids him leave wrangling, and begin to sing, if he has any thing worth hearing; tells him he is ready to answer him; and calls upon Palæmon to hear attentively, and judge between them. Nec quemquam fugio.] This is a direct answer to what Menalcas had said, "Nunquam hodie effugies." Vicine Palamon.] Servius observes, that Damotas sooths Palamon, by giving him the friendly epithet of neighbour. Dicite, quandoquidem, &c.] Palæmon, being chosen judge of this controversy, exhorts them to begin, describes the beauty of the place and season, and appoints Damætas to sing first, and Menalcas after him. Dicite is used here for canite. It is very frequent among the poets, both Greek and Roman, to use say and sing promiscuously.-This description of the season is very beautiful. The grass is soft and agreeable, the fields shew a fine verdure, the fruit-trees are full of blossoms, the woods are all covered with green leaves. The harmony of the numbers is as delicate as the season itself, which is here painted by the masterly hand of our poet. Parturit.] This word does not necessarily signify the trees bearing fruit, for we see it is applied also to the grass of the field. Frondent.] Frondes signifies not merely the leaves, but the annual shoots of a tree. Therefore frondent sylve means, that the trees are full of young shoots, and consequently clothed with leaves. Alternis dicetis.] "Palæmon, DAM. Ab Jove principium, Musæ : Jovis omnia plena: Ille colit terras, illi mea carmina curæ. 61 MEN. Et me Phoebus amat: Phobo sua semper apud me Munera sunt, lauri, et suave rubens hyacinthus. as being judge, orders the rivals to exercise themselves in the Amœbean way. We shall soon see that all its laws are strictly observed. I am not surprised, that this sort of poetry should be so pleasing to the Muses; for it has something particularly agreeable in it. Father Sanadon, in a collection of poems on the birth of the prince of the Asturias, has revived this sort of eclogue, and composed one worthy of the time of Virgil."— Catrou. Ab Jove principium, &c.] Damætas being willing to open his song in such a manner that it shall be impossible for his antagonist to surpass it, begins with Jupiter himself, whom he claims for his patron. Menalcas, in his turn, lays claim to the patronage of Apollo, which he enforces by saying he is always provided with gifts suitable to that deity. Jovis omnia plena.] Several of the ancient philosophers were of opinion, that one soul animated the universe, and that this soul was the Deity. Plutarch, in his treatise on the opinions of philosophers, tells us, that all, except those who assert the doctrine of a vacuum and atoms, held the universe to be animated. See the note on ver. 221. of the fourth Georgick. In the same treatise, we find that Thales, Pythagoras, Plato, Aris totle, Dicæarchus, and Asclepiades the physician, supposed the soul to be incorporeal, selfmoving, a thinking substance, and the constant action of a natural organ endued with life. Et me Phoebus amat, &c.] "Damotas had begun with Jupiter, and therefore it was difficult for his adversary to rise higher. Menalcas, however, according to the laws of the Amobean eclogue, carries the thought farther, and corrects that of his adversary. The first had boasted that Jupiter loved his verses : this was presumption. The second says he has presents always at hand, to offer to the god of verse this is piety and modesty." Catrou.-Servius thinks these words capable of a double interpretation; either he only equals his adversary, that god, whom each worships, being to him supreme : or else he intends to go farther, meaning by and Phœbus loves me, that not only Jupiter, but Apollo also loved him. Phœbus.] "The same with Apollo and Sol, the son of Jupiter and Latona, who bore him at the same time with Diana, in the island Delos, the inventor of physic; and the god of divination, poetry, and music."— Ruaus. Lauri.] The laurus is not our laurel, but bay, as is shewn in the note on ver. 306. of the first DAM. Malo me Galatea petit, lasciva puella; Georgick.-Apollo was in love with Daphne, the daughter of Peneus. She being pursued by him, and almost overtaken, besought her father to have pity on her; Peneus heard her prayer, and to preserve her chastity from the violation of Apollo, changed her into a baytree. The god, being disappointed of possessing the nymph, resolved that the tree should be his favourite, and enjoy the greatest honours. Suave rubens hyacinthus.] Hyacinthus, who was another favourite of Apollo, and unhappily killed by him, was changed into the flower called hyacinth by the poets. It is, however, very different from any of the sorts of hyacinth which we cultivate in our gardens. See the note on ver. 183. of the fourth Georgick.- It is certain, that the law of the Amoebean, or responsive verse, is this; that the last speaker must produce something better, or at least equal; otherwise he is overcome. Damotas therefore, in this contention for honour, begins most arrogantly. He assumes to himself Jupiter, who fills all things; he will leave nothing to his adversary, whom he intends to overwhelm with the power of so great a deity. Add to this the great haughtiness of the first verse. Menalcas being in these straits, lays hold on that deity whom he knows to be next to Jupiter, and supreme in poetry. adds an affection, which is wanting in the first; for it is more to say, he loves me, than he re He gards my verses. He adds a reciprocal love; he loves me and I love him, for I esteem and honour his gifts. What if you should admit the explication of Servius? Phœbus also loves me ;· that is, Jupiter loves me, and Phœbus also. I have two deities, and you have but one. Lastly, there is no pledge between Damotas and Jupiter; but a great one between Menalcas and Phoebus; he always keeps by him bays and hyacinths. There is no doubt of his being conqueror here." La Cerda. If I might venture to deliver my opinion in an affair which seems to have been determined by the general consent of the critics, I should say, that the law which they have enacted with regard to the Amoebean poetry is not just. If the last speaker must necessarily equal, if not excel, what has been said by the first, I do not see how it is possible for the last ever to come off with conquest; at the best, he can but make a drawn battle of it. In the present eclogue, the critics endeavour to prove that Menalcas is equal to Damotas in every couplet, and in some superior. Surely, then, he excels him, and ought in equity to obtain the prize; or else it is impossible for the last speaker ever to gain the victory. If this was the case, who would ever engage in such a contention, where the first speaker cannot possibly lose the victory, and the last can never get it? This imaginary law, therefore, seems to be absurd; |