plea of Polyphemus, in Theocritus: pecoris referring to sheep, and lactis to cows (for the genitive we § 218, c; G. 373; H. 399, i. 3).

21. meae agnae, ewe lamb; of mine. - Siculis, roosely used because many wealthy Romans had estates in Sicily; and hence, perhaps, taken as part of the stock imagery from Theocritus. - errant, cf. i. 9.

22. aestate, frigore, the times when fresh milk is most apt to fail. The lac novum is a curious recommendation of his love; but it accords with the conventional simplicity of pastoral verse.

23. quae solitus Amphion, etc.: what Amphion used (to sing). He was the mythic builder of Thebes, whose walls rose to the music of his lyre. He with his brother Zethus-sons of Zeus and Antiope-were exposed on the mountain ridge Aracynthus, which separates Bootia from Attica (Acte), and brought up by rustics. Dirce is a fountain near Thebes. These epithets and allusions are affected imitations of authors in whom they meant something. The hiatus after Actro is probably copied literally from the Greek. si quando whenever (literally, if ever, cf. § 316, footnotes).

25. nec sum adeo informis: see preliminary note. — adeo, so very. 26. placidum ventis: the ancients seem to have supposed that certain winds calmed the sea, perhaps by ceasing to blow (see Æn. v. 763). The sea-beach might possibly afford a mirror for the giant Cyclops in the original, but hardly for the shepherd Corydon here.- staret (§ 325; G. 586; H. 521, ii. 2). Daphnim, the mythic paragon of bucolic poetry (see Ecl. v.). -ego: the Latin likes to represent two persons in contrast: so here ego is expressed to set off Daphnim, but is not itself emphatic.

27. fudice te, simply, in your judgment.—si (like si quidem), since.

28. tantum, only ('tis all I ask), -libeat (root LUBH, as in love), (hortat. subj., § 266; H. 483) that it might please you. — sordida, rude, homely.

29. humilis, lowly, modest. figere, bring down (pierce with the spear).

30. hibisco, to the marsh-mallow for their grazing. [The dative in poetry often denotes the end of motion (§ 225, b; H. 380, 4): perhaps a relic of an earlier locative form.] This interpretation seems the better one, but it is possible to take the word as ablative, cf. x. 71.

31. canendo, in song.

32, 33. calamos, see note, Ecl. i. 2. These lines are doubtful, and are exceedingly awkward here. They are probably a parallel passage written in the margin, which has crept into the text.

34. nec paeniteat, and be not loath; cf. Tib. i. 4, 47.—trivisse

(§ 288, e; G. 275, 1; H. 537), i.e. by running it up and down along the scale of reeds. The whole idea is "come and learn of me to play the pipe: others have valued this and why not you?"-labellum (dim.), pretty lip. 35. faciebat, offered to do (would have done). § 277, c; H. 469, 1. 36. disparibus, see note, Ecl. i. 2.-cicutis, cf. calamo, v. 34, and avena, i. 2.

37. dono, see § 233; G. 350; H. 390.

secundum, i.e. it has in you a second master as good as

40. nec, and.. not (with tuta).

41. capreoli, fawns (of the roebuck), § 164, a; H. 321, 2. etiam nune: the spots are said to disappear at the age of six months. They are the more precious, from being found in a dangerous valley (nec tuta). The roebuck is the smallest European deer. A spotted fawn often appears as a pet on Greek vases.

42. bina (§ 95; H. 174, 2) die, i.e. they are so vigorous as to take the milk of two ewes every day.

43. orat abducere (see note on ardebat, v. 1), has begged (§ 276, a; G. 221; H. 467, 2) to get them (§ 273, c; H. 535, iv.).

44. faciet, she shall do it.-sordent tibi, are mean in your eyes (dat. of reference, § 235).-lilia, etc., a poetic way of offering these tributes, representing them as coming from the divinities.

FIG. 7.

46. calathis, wicker baskets, as in Figs. 7 and 8.

47. pallentis, i.e. yellow: the plant is said to be the wall - flower. (For the description of these plants, see Index.) -casia, abl. of means. intexens has vaccinia as object.

51. ipse ego, while the nymphs bring flowers, I will gather fruits. cana mala, i.e. quinces.

53. cerea pruna, yellow plums, sweeter than the purple (observe

FIG. 8.

the hiatus which is sometimes allowed at the main cæsura, § 359, e).quoque, following as usual the word to which it belongs, as etiam

regularly precedes. - pomo, fruit, including all except grapes, figs, and olives.

54. proxima: the myrtle and laurel are constantly associated:

"Yet once more, O ye laurels, and once more

Ye myrtles brown, with ivy never sere." - Lycidas.

55. quoniam, explaining proxima.

56. rusticus, a clown, no mate for the city-bred Alexis. The un happy lover answers his own offer.

57. Iollas, the master of Alexis, representing Pollio in the poem.· concedat, i.e. he could give more valuable presents, if you should enter that contest (§ 307, b; G. 598; H. 509).

...

- the

58. quid volui mihi, what woe have I voluntarily brought on myself (in allowing myself to be beguiled by love). — floribus. apros (a proverbial manner of speech), I have let — ah! wretch (perditus) scorching south-wind in upon my flowers, and the wild swine to my pure water-springs.

60. quem fugis, i.e. is it a rustic you flee; or, why should you be afraid of a rustic?

61. Paris: he was a shepherd on Mt. Ida when the famous dispute of the goddesses was referred to him. - Pallas, etc., let Pallas (the goddess of wisdom and skill) cherish the city towers she has buill, other gods have loved the woods as well.

65. trahit sua quemque, etc., each one's fancy draws him. Notice that quisque in Latin is always in the predicate or in the relative clause, and regularly follows the reflexive, as here; in English the corresponding distributive is in the subject or antecedent clause, as in the translation above. — O, observe the hiatus, § 359, e.

66. iugo suspensa, hung from the yoke, so as not to cut the ground as the oxen are driven home at night; i.e. night brings rest to all but me. 67. duplicat: in the summer months, it is said that the shadow is double the length of the object between four and five o'clock.

68. me tamen urit, yet I am still consumed, i.e. though all else is cooled by the approach of evening. It is well here as often to change the voice to keep the emphasis. — adsit, dubitative subj., § 268; referred by H. to 485.

70. semiputata (root PU, purify, whence purus, putus, puto, clean, then clear up, then reckon, think), frondosa: the half pruned vine and the elm overgrown with leaves are both signs of thriftless husbandry. Notice the interlocked order of the words semiputata. . frondosa, vitis. . ulmo, by which both adjectives come first, but still retain the same order as their nouns.

71. quin tu, etc., from Theocr. xi. 72-74: if the vineyard and garden are neglected, at least mind some light indoor task. - aliquid quorum

(§ 223; H. 410, v. 1), etc., something of WHAT need requires: supply eorum

(§ 216; H. 397, 3).

72. detexere, weave up, that is, get them done off your hands. From this sense of de in composition probably comes its intensive meaning: cf. deperdere.

73. invenies: addressed to himself. "You shall find perhaps a fairer Galatea" (Theocr.). - fastidit, disdains.

ECLOGUE III.

THE scene, in what is called Amoeban verse (i.e. responsive), represents the shepherds tending their flocks not far from each other, and joining in bantering conversation.

1. cuium (§ 105, ƒ; H. 185, 3, a form rustic or antiquated in Virgil's time). — an, alternative question (§ 211, b; G. 459; H. 353, N.^).

2. Aegonis: the name and the verse are taken literally from Theocr. iv. 2. Ægon is Menalcas's rival (v. 4).

3. infelix... pecus, poor sheep! a luckless flock (acc. of exclam., § 240, d; H. 381). — ipse, Ægon (compare ipse dixit, "the master said it").

4. fovet, wooes: the word is used in Æn. ix. 57 in the sense of constant attendance on the camp. praeferat (§ 331, ƒ; H. 498, iii.). 5. alienus custos = an unfaithful keeper (like a stranger, with no interest in his charge). - bis in hora, a bit of extravagance: twice a day would be full enough. The offence of secretly milking cattle was punished by whipping and loss of wages.

6. sucus (root in sugo) = the life-blood, the strength of the sheep. - pecori (§ 359, e). — subducitur, is stolen (taken secretly, sub, like Greek ró, and English underhand). — agnis, see § 229; H. 385, 2.

7. parcius, not so freely. — viris, contrasted with the pretended effeminacy of Menalcas. tamen, i.e. though it were true (ironically). — obicienda (§ 10, d), to be flung at.

9. faciles, good-natured. — sacello, the nymph's grotto (§ 164, a; H. 321, 4).

10. tum, credo, at the same time, I suppose (ironical, as almost always when used thus parenthetically): hinting that Damoetas was the real mischief-maker. — arbustum, see note, i. 40. — videre, i.e. the nymphs. II. incidere, hack. mala falce, with malicious knife; vitis novellas (dim.), tender vine-sprouts (notice the alternating order of the words). The falx was a large stout knife, hooked at the end, used for trimming sprouts and foliage, as in Fig. 9.

FIG. 9.

13. aut hic, following the same construction, Damotas replies with another charge. - calamos, arrows (reeds), used by shepherds in hunting, or to defend their charge. quae, referring loosely to the preceding nouns, although they are masculine. - perverse, spiteful.

14. puero, i.e. Daphnis. — et, not only.

15. aliqua, somehow (compare vii. 26). —mortuus,

16. quid, etc., what are masters to do, when thieves venture on such things (as these which follow)?

18. excipere, catch, a technical hunting term. — insidiis, by tricks, i.e. by coaxing it away. — lycisca, wolf-hound, said to be a mongrel between dog and wolf.

19. quo... ille, whither is that fellow hurrying? referring to the goat ("coge pecus"), or, as some think, the thief.

20. latebas, showing your guilt.

21. an, implying a previous question:

"could I not take my own?"

- non redderet, should he not have paid (§ 266, e; G. 266, R.3), as my due? hinting at a wager won by him.

22. meruisset, see § 342; H. 529, ii. reeds.

fistula, pipe of several

23. si nescis, if you did but know it, lit. if you don't know, then let me tell you so.

25. cantando, etc., you beat him in singing? did you ever so much as own a pipe of reeds joined with wax? You never aspired to anything higher than a simple pipe.

26. triviis, cross-roads: the scene seems to belong to the rustic worship of Proserpine or Hecate, at places where three roads met. The god

dess herself was called Trivia. — indocte, bungler.

27. stridenti ... carmen, mangle a wretched tune on a squeaking straw. Compare Lycidas, 123:

"Their lean and flashy songs

Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw."