Dixit Damoetas; invidit stultus Amyntas. 40 45 50 40. Duo, sc. sunt mihi from verse 36. Nec tuta, &c. et reperti in valle non tuta: mihi depends on reperti, as the dative of the agent. The value of the present is enhanced by the danger of acquiring it. 42. Die = quotidie, daily.' Siccant, they suck quite dry.'43. Abducere.... orat. This construction is considered very unusual; the infinitive depending upon oro, and similar verbs, is expressive of the action of the one requested, not of the one who makes the request.-44. Et faciet, and she will succeed.'. Sordent tibi, 'are contemptible to thee.'-45. Ades (= accede), come at once. Lilia-violas-papavera-narcissum, are the produce of the country at successive seasons of the year, and not collected in the harvest as a single compliment to Alexis. They are intended not only as an expression of Corydon's attachment, but of its constancy.46. Nymphae. Nymphs had various appellations, according to the objects over which they were supposed to preside, or the places in which they dwelt. Calathis. The calathus was a basket of the shape of the cup or calyx of a lily. Candida implies beauty of colour or complexion, and denotes that species and degree of beauty which we call brilliant.-47. Pallentes violas may be rendered either 'white or yellow violets.' Pliny calls this flower viola alba: in Hor. occurs tinctus viola pallor amantium, Od. 3, 10, 14. Pliny asserts that 'yellow violets' were in the highest estimation. Martyn considers the flower here meant to be either stock gilliflower' or wallflower.' 48. Narcissum, daffodil:' the species is not now known. Anethi, anise' or 'dill.' It is more dwarfish, but much resembles fennel. It grows wild on the rocks in southern Europe. Its frequent use is injurious to the sight, and its seed a deadly poison to birds. 49. Casia, a species of mazereon, the Daphne cneoron or Thymelaea, spurge-flax,' or mountain 'widow-wail.'-50. Mollia, soft' or tender. Pingit, 'decks out,' 'diversifies,' or 'variegates.' Caltha, the marigold. (?) It is now impossible to determine accurately what flower is here meant.-51. Lanugine, bloom,' the technical name of the impalpable powder (really wax) that covers certain kinds of ripe fruits, as peaches, quinces, &c. Mala, apricots,' others say 'quinces' or 'peaches,' on account of the bloom' which covered them. 6 6 6 Castaneasque nuces, mea quas Amaryllis amabat; Heu, heu, quid volui misero mihi! floribus Austrum 55 Quem fugis, ah, demens habitarunt di quoque silvas? 60 Te Corydon, O Alexi: trahit sua quemque voluptas. 65 Et sol crescentes decedens duplicat umbras: Me tamen urit amor; quis enim modus adsit amori? 52. Nuces. This appellation was given to all kinds of fruit contained in shells, whereas poma was applied to all soft or unshelled fruit.53. Cerea pruna. Cerea is variously translated 'ripe,' 'yellow,' or "smooth; but it is generally believed to refer to the colour of the bloom (verse 51). In pruna the a is not elided. Honos erit, shall be honoured by your reception of it, as is the chestnut by its being preferred by Amaryllis.-54. Lauri, bays.' The laurel was brought into Europe by the Turks about three centuries ago, so that the plant here spoken of is not that known to us under the name laurel. Here Virgil speaks of its fragrance; and Lucretius (vi. 154) of its crackling when burnt. Both of these characteristics apply to the 'bay,' which is still plentiful in the woods and hedges of Italy; while neither of them applies to our laurel, a poisonous, inodorous shrub. Proxima, 'next' to the bays in position.-56. Rusticus, clown,' to hope to conciliate Alexis by such presents.-57. Iollas, the master of Alexis. -58. Corydon in these verses accuses himself of wantonly throwing away his peace of mind on a hopeless object of pursuit, one which will produce serious injury to him in the neglect of his private affairs. Austrum, a pernicious wind, now called 'the sirocco.'-60. Demens, 'fool.'-61. Arces, though plural, refers only to the citadel of Athens, of which Minerva was the tutelary deity.-62. Ipsa nearly sola, may be rendered without thee.'-63. Lupus ipse, the wolf in turn.' Observe this idiomatic use of ipse, as well as that of ipsa in the preceding verse.-65. Trahit. This verb is applied to what entices and retains one.-66. Wagner says that this passage signifies, that though all other things have gone to rest, his passion knew no cessation; and Voss, that notwithstanding the coolness of evening, his love was still burning as before. Aratra, &c., the steers are bearing home the plough suspended from the yoke.'-67. Duplicat umbras; cf. Ecl. 1, 84. 6 Semiputata tibi frondosa vitis in ulmo est. Invenies alium, si te hic fastidit, Alexim. 6 70 —70. Semiputata est, hangs half-pruned.'-71. Connect quin and potius, 'why not rather •?" Aliquid saltem, something, however trifling. -72. Molli, flexible,'' pliant.'-73. Alium Alexim, another object of affection.' ' another' of the same kind; alius another' of a similar kind. Alter: = = ECLOGA III. THE subject of this Eclogue is a contest in amoebaean song between two shepherds-Menalcas and Damoetas. Such contests-still not uncommon among the Improvisatori of Italy-were carried on in verses, called carmen amoebaeum, from the Greek μabaos, alternately answering. In such productions, no sequence of ideas was necessary on the part of the challenger, but the party challenged was bound to exceed in language or ideas the thoughts of his opponent. The introduction, in which the challenge is given, occupies the first fifty-nine lines, introducing Palaemon as an arbiter. In the course of the amoebaean verses, Virgil takes occasion to laud his friend and patron Pollio, and to sneer at Bavius and Maevius, two envious satirists, who attacked both Virgil and Horace. This Eclogue is supposed to have been written about 42 B. C. PALAEMON. MENALCAS-DAMOETAS PALAEMON. MENALCAS. Dic mihi, Damoeta, cujum pecus? an Meliboei ? DAMOETAS. Non, verum Aegonis: nuper mihi tradidit Aegon. 1. Cujum is the neuter of cujus, a, um, whose? It is not used in polished Latin, but is admissible here as one of the old forms that linger in remote places among the rural population. Terence has Virgo cuja est? Eun. 2, 3, 29. When there are two interrogatives, the latter of which suggests an answer to the first, an introduces the latter. 6 MENALCAS. Infelix O semper, oves, pecus! ipse Neaeram DAMOETAS. Parcius ista viris tamen objicienda memento. MENALCAS. Tum, credo, quum me arbustum videre Miconis 10 Atque mala vites incidere falce novellas. DAMOETAS. Aut hic ad veteres fagos quum Daphnidis arcum ..... 3. Ipse refers to Aegon.-4. Ac occurs only twice in the Eclogues -here and in Ecl. 4, 9; probably as being a more emphatic connective than et, and so less suited to the easy style of a pastoral.6. Et sucus would in good prose be quo sucus. The i of pecori is not elided before the vowel of et. 7. Parcius 'but remember that such reproaches should be more sparingly hurled against men.' Observe the emphasis on viris, men, as contrasted with the effeminacy of the person admonished. Vespasian answered a person of infamous character with the words, 'Ego tamen vir sum.'-8. With qui supply viderunt; some suggest corruperunt. Transversa, the neuter plural (as frequently happens in both singular and plural accusatives of adjectives), is here adverbial— 'askance; or with Wagner, transversa tuentibus 'oculos (ab ista turpitudine) avertentibus.' 9. Faciles, indulgent,' 'good-natured.' Sacello. The sacellum, a diminutive of sacrum, was in general any consecrated place' open to the sky, Fest.; here it seems to mean grotto' or shrine' sacred to the rural deities, who are represented as rather lax in their morals. 6 Tum = a 10. Tum. Had it not been that tunc never ought to precede a word beginning with a consonant, it would have been preferable here, since tunc means one particular point of time, while tum implies succession of periods. TOTE, and tunc = τοτέγε. 11. Mală falce. Burmann translates mala, 'blunt ;' and Heyne, mischievous,' transferring the man's intention to the knife. In the Georgics (2, 301), Virgil animadverts upon the impropriety of using a blunt pruning-hook; and also on the injudiciousness of cutting young vines (Id. 2, 365-6). Incidere, to hack ;' the technical term is putare, to prune.' In the use of incidere, the poet may intend to convey an idea of unskilful cutting. 12. This sentence being elliptical, Forbiger supplies, aut etiam tum, quum viderunt, &c., 'the nymphs did then indeed smile, as well as when,' &c. Arcum. The bow was used by the shepherds, both in Fregisti et calamos: quae tu, perverse Menalca, MENALCAS. Quid domini faciant, audent quum talia fures! DAMOETAS. An mihi cantando victus non redderet ille, MENALCAS. Cantando tu illum? aut unquam tibi fistula cera DAMOETAS. Vis ergo, inter nos, quid possit uterque, vicissim 15 20 25 protecting their flocks from wild beasts and in hunting.-13. Calamos, arrows; cf. Hor. Od. 1, 15, 17.-14. Puero. Daphnis. Quae.. donata, are neuter, referring to arcum and et calamos, as inanimate objects, though calamus is masculine.-15. Aliqua (sc. via or ratione), "in some way.' 16. This verse has received various interpretations, but we think that of Forbiger the best: 'What can the owners of the flocks do, since their thievish neighbours dare to perpetrate such atrocities.'-18. Lyciscā is either the name of a dog, or designates the breed which we call wolf-dog,' from aúxes and xúwy.-20. Carecta, 'rushy banks,' 'rushbeds,' or 'thickets of rushes.' Carex, Italian careze, is the hard sharppointed pasture-rush, whereas juncus is the soft white-pith candle-rush. 21. Reddo, as very frequently, is here do.-23. Si nescis, if you are not aware of the fact,' I will inform you. = 25. After illum supply vicisse te ais. The passive victus in verse 21 suggests this supplying of the active vicisse here, SPOHN.-27. To murder a wretched song on a squeaking pipe:' disperdere = male perdere. Stipula was a pipe of one single straw or reed; but syrina, of several reeds of graduated lengths clasped together, and forming what is still called the Pandean Pipes. See Ecl. 1, 2, with the note on arena. Stridenti is here used as an adjective. |