Alta petens, pelagoque alius trahit humida lina. Prima Ceres ferro mortales vertere terram Dicendum, et quæ sint duris agrestibus arma: NOTES. The poet as 159. Solabere famem, &c. sures the farmer that, unless he follow the directions just given, he will behold the abundant crops of his neighbor, while his will fail him, and he be under the necessity of allaying the craving of nature upon nothing better than acorns. 160. Arma: implements, tools, &c. necessary to the farmer. Et: in the sense of quoque. 163. Tarda volventia: the slow-moving wagons of mother Ceres. Elusina: an adj. from Eleusis, a city of Attica, where she was worshipped. Inflexi: in the sense of curvi. 164. Tribula. This was a kind of sledge or carriage, used among the ancients to thresh their corn with. It was pointed with iron, and drawn over the grain by oxen. Trahea This was an instrument something like the tribulum, and made use of for the same purpose; a sledge. 164. Iniquo: Rumus says, magno. 165. Vilis virgeaque supellex: the cheap or common wicker-baskets. Celei: Celeus was the father of Triptolemus, whom Ceres, it is said, instructed in the art of tillage and husbandry. See Ecl. v. 79. 166. Arbuteæ crates: hurdles of the arbute tree. Vannus: a sieve, or winnowing machine. It is called mystica, mystic, because used in the mysteries of Bacchus. Iacchi: Iacchus, a name of Bacchus. Omnia quæ 169. Continuò in syl- Continuò in sylvis magnâ vi flexa domatur vis flexa ulmus domatur In burim, et curvi formam accipit ulmus aratri. magna vî in burim, et Huic à stirpe pedes temo protentus in octo, accipit 171. Huic buri temo Binæ aures, duplici aptantur dentalia dorso. protentus à stirpe in octo Cæditur et tilia antè jugo levis, altaque fagus, pedes aptatur ; binæ Stivaque, quæ currus à tergo torqueat imos; aures, et dentalia cum Et suspensa focis explorat robora fumus. duplici dorso aptantur. Possum multa tibi veterum præcepta referre, Ni refugis, tenuesque piget cognoscere curas. 178. Cum primis rebus Area cum primis ingenti æquanda cylindro, area est æquanda in- Et vertenda manu, et cretâ solidanda tenaci : genti 170 175 Ne subeant herbæ, neu pulvere victa fatiscat: 180 184. Bufo inventus est Inventusque cavis bufo, et quæ plurima terræ cavis, et plurima mon- Monstra ferunt: populatque ingentem farris acervum stra, quæ Curculio, atque inopi metuens formica senectæ. NOTES. 167. Omnia quæ memor: all which things, being provided long before hand, you should be mindful to lay up. 168. Divini ruris. The country is here called divine, either on account of its innocence and happiness, or because it was originally the habitation of the gods. Gloria: reward. Rumus says, laus; for divini, he says, beati. 171. Stirpe: from the back part, or bot tom. 172. Bina aures: two mould or earth boards, one on each side of the temo, or beam. The poet here mentions the several parts of the plough. The buris, or bura, was the part which the ploughman held in his left hand-the plough tail. The dentale, the chip, or part of the plough to which the vomer, or share, is fastened. Duplici dorso: with a double back. Some understand duplex in the sense of latus; but there is no need of this. The plough, which the poet is describing, is altogether of a singular kind to us. It had two inould-boards; two chips or share-beams we might supposed it to have had, one on each side of the temo, or main beam, which, being joined together, might not improperly be said to form a double back. Stiva: the handle, which the ploughman holds in his right hand. 173. Et levis tilia. Tilia, the linden, or lime-tree. It is a light wood, and therefore more suitable for the plough. 174. Que torqueat: which may turn the lowest wheels from behind-may turn the extreme or hinder part of the plough. The plough here described we may suppose run 186 upon wheels, which is the reason of the poet's calling it currus, a carriage. Ruæus says: quibusdam in regionibus_aratrum instruitur rolis; but commentators are by no means agreed as to the form and construction of this plough of the poet. 175. Fumus explorat. Wood seasoned in the way here mentioned will be less liable to crack or split, than if seasoned in the usual way, in the sun and open air. 180. Victa pulvere: overcome with dryness, should crack. Pulvere. Rumus says: siccitate, quæ creat pulverem. 181. Tum in the sense of prætereà. 183. Tulpæ capti oculis. Talpa, the mole, and living chiefly under the ground. a small animal, supposed to have no eyes, 184. Bufo: the toad. Monstrum, properly signifies any thing contrary to the ordinary course of nature; also, any mischievous animal, whether man or brute; which is the meaning here. 186. Curculio: the weavel; a mischievous animal among grain. 187. Contemplator item, &c. Observe in like manner when the nut-tree in the woods clothes itself abundantly with blooms. Of the nut-tree, there are several kinds. The one here meant is supposed to be the Armygdala, or almond-tree, because its flowers or blossoms were supposed to be an indication of the fertility of the year. Plurima: an adj. sup. agreeing with nux. This construction frequently occurs, and is more elegantly translated by its corresponding adverb. Induet in florem, et ramos curvabit olentes: NOTES. 189. Fœtus: in the sense of flores. 190. Magno calore. Calor here seems to mean the sweat and heat of the laborer or thresher, rather than the heat of the summer. 191. At si umbra: but if the boughs abound in a luxuriancy of leaves, in vain, &c. The meaning seems to be this: that if the blossoms upon the tree shall exceed the leaves, then you may expect a plentiful crop. But if, on the contrary, the leaves be the most numerous, you may expect a scanty crop a crop rich only in husks and chaff. Umbra: in the sense of rami. 193. Serentes: part. of the verb, sero, taken as a substantive: Sowers. The poet here gives the husbandınan to understand that the greatest care is to be taken in selecting his seeds; that it is sometimes useful to impregnate them with other qualities to prevent them from degenerating; and sometimes to soak and steep them over a slow fire, in order to hasten their sprouting and coming forward. And although care be taken in the selection, they will be found nevertheless to degenerate: and all that remains for him to do, is, to select every year with his own hand the fairest and best seeds; and in this way only he may keep his crops from degenerating to any great extent. This advice is worthy the attention of every farmer. 194. Perfundere: this may either mean to sprinkle them (semina) over with, or put them into. Ruæus says, spargere. 195. Fallacibus. The pods or ears are called fallacious, because they are sometimes large, when there is very little in them. Fatus: the grain or produce. 198. Humana vis: human care. In the sense of homines. Unless men should select with the hand, &c. Ruæus says, hominum industria. 201. Adverso flumine: against the current. 203. Atque. Ruæus, on the authority of Gellius, takes atque in the sense of statim. Davidson and Heyne take it in its usual signification as a conjunction, supposing an ellipsis of the words: ille ruit ac sublapsus refertur retrò. And carries him headlong down the stream. Alveus: properly the channel or bed of a river; here, the river in general: the current, or impetus of the water; by meton. 205. Hædi. Two stars in the shoulder of Auriga, a constellation in the heavens. Lucidus Anguis: a constellation called Draco. The poet here intimates that it is the duty of the farmer to observe the stars, and the various signs of the weather; and that he will find it as useful to him in the course of his business, as it is to the mariner. 207. Fauces Abydi. The Hellespont or straits, which separate Europe from Asia: called ostriferi, because abounding in Oyaters. Abydus: a city on the Asiatic shore, over against Sestus. sense of navigantúr. Tentantur: in the 208. Die for Diei. The gen, of the fifth declension was sometimes thus written, Somni, is elegantly put for noctis. Ubi Libra fecerit. Libra is one of the signs of the zodiac, which the sun enters the 23d of September; at which time he is on the equator, and makes the days and nights equal. 214. Dum licet tibi P. VIRGILII MARONIS 210 215 Et medium luci atque umbris jam dividit orbem Exercete, viri, tauros, serite hordea campis, Usque sub extremum brumæ intractabilis imbrem 213. Tempus est tegere Tempus humo tegere, et jamdudum incumbere rastris, Necnon et lini segetem et Cereale papaver et segetem lini et Ce- Dum siccá tellure licet, dum nubila pendent. reale papaver humo Vere fabis satio: tum te quoque, Medica, putres facere id, tellure sicca, Accipiunt sulci; et milio venit annua cura: 215. Satio fabis est in Taurus, et averso cedens canis occidit astro. Candidus auratis aperit cùm cornibus annum At si triticeam in messem robustaque farra Exercebis humum, solisque instabis aristis: Antè tibi Eoæ Atlantides abscondantur, Gnossiaque ardentis decedat stella coronæ ; Debita quàm sulcis committas semina, quàmque Invitæ properes anni spem credere terræ. et dum vere: tum rere ante 225. Multi cœpere se- Multi ante occasum Maiæ cœpêre: sed illos NOTES. 211. Brume: properly the shortest day of winter, or the winter solstice: this is its meaning here. By synec. it is sometimes put for the whole winter. The meaning is, that the farmer may extend his sowing as late as the winter solstice, which is about the 21st of December. Intractabilis: in the sense of duræ, vel aspera. 212. Cereale: an adj. from Ceres. The poppy was so called, most probably, because it was consecrated to her. were generally adorned with it. Necnon: Her statues in the sense of quoque. 213. Incumbere rastris: to ply the har. rows. The poet is speaking of sowing, or committing to the earth the several crops: which could not be done til after the ploughing. Besides it requires dry weather to use the harrow: to which reference is made in the following line. But the plough may be used in wet weather. Heyne reads aratris. But he informs us that Heinsius, Pierius, and others read rastris, which the sense seems to require. 214. Pendent: in the sense of suspensa sunt. 215. Medica. A species of grass, or plant, brought into Greece by the Medes in the time of the Persian wars. medica, now lucerne. It made the best proHence called vender for cattle, and when sown, it is said to last in the ground thirty years. 216. Milio. The milium was a species of grass, or plant, which required to be sown every year. Hence annua cura. Now called millet. 218. Cum candidus Taurus. Taurus is a sign of the ecliptic. The sun enters it about the 21st of April. The year was commonly thought to be opened by Aries, or the 220 225 month of March: but Virgil dissents from ïades; that is, when they set in the morn- tion in the heavens called Ariadne's Crown. 222. Corona. The Corona is a constellathe island of Crete, where Minos reigned, whose daughter Ariadne was carried off by Gnossia: an adj. from Gnossus, a town in she married Bacchus. At the time of their Theseus, and left in the island Narus, where nuptials, among the other presents she recrown from Venus; which Bacchus transceived from the gods, was a Corona or lated to the heavens. Ardentis: in the sense of splendentis. 225. Maia. The name of one of the Plez- pulse called the vetch. Faselum: the faso- Nec Pelusiacæ curam aspernabere lentis; NOTES. cheap, which is the meaning of vilis, in this place. 228. Lentis. The lens was a kind of pulse, which abounded in Egypt, and particularly t Pelusium, a town situated near the eastern mouth of the Nile. Hence the adj. Pelusiaca. 229. Bootes cadens: the Bootes setting will give, &c. Bootes, a star in the constellation of the same name, near the north pole. It sets acronically, or with the sun, about the beginning of November; and cosmically, or at the time of his rising, about the beginning of March. The former is here meant. Mittet: in the sense of dabit. 232. Duodena astra. Astronomers divide the ecliptic, or the circle in which the sun appears to move, into 12 equal parts, called signs, and each of these signs into 30 equal parts called degrees. A space 8 degrees in breadth on each side of this circle is called the zodiac, because it contains the 12 constellations, which take the names of certain animals: as Aries, Taurus, &c. It also contains the orbits of the planets. 233. Quinque zona. Geographers divide the surface of the earth into five grand portions called zones: one of which they denominate the torrid or burning; two the temperate; and two the frozen zones. The torrid is that portion of the earth's surface included between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. In every part of which the sun is vertical twice in every year. The ancients supposed it to be uninhabitable on account of its great heat. Those parts of the earth's surface that lie between the two tropics and polar circles, are denominated the temperate zones. The two frozen zones embrace those parts between the polar circles and the poles. 235. Trahuntur: are extended-stretched out. 239. Obliquus ordo: the ecliptic. It is called obliquus, because it makes an angle with the equator. The quantity of the angle is 23° 28'. 240. Scythiam: a vast country lying toward the arctic circle. See Ecl. i. 66. Ri phaas arces: the Riphæan mountains. An extensive range stretching along the north of Europe, and covered with perpetual snow. Ut as. In austros: simply, to the south. 242. Hic vertex. The poles are two imaginary points in the heavens directly in a line with the axis of the earth. On the equator these points are in the horizon. In all places on the north of the equator, the north pole is visible; while the south pole will be depressed below the horizon. Illum : the south pole. 244. Maximus anguis. The dragon, (Draco,) the keeper of the garden of the Hesperides, after he was killed by Hercules, was translated to heaven, and made a constellation near the north pole. With his tail he touches Ursa major, and with the flexure of his body embraces Ursa minor: the greater and lesser bears: here called Arctos. This will be seen by looking upon a celestial globe. 246. Arctos metuentes: fearing to be touched in the waters of the ocean. The elevation of the pole at any given place is always equal to the latitude of that place. Consequently all those stars that are nearer the pole than the distance any place is from the equator in degrees, will not set below the horizon at that place, but continue to revolve about the pole. This is the case with the two constellations here mentioned, in the latitude of Italy. |