Horridior rusco, projecta vilior alga: Si mihi non haec lux toto jam longior anno est. CORYDON. Muscosi fontes, et somno mollior herba, THYRSIS. Hic focus et taedae pingues, hic plurimus ignis CORYDON. Stant et juniperi et castaneae hirsutae; 6 6 45 50 distorted affection of the mouth, resembling a laugh; hence Sardonic laugh.-42. Rusco, butcher's-broom,' 'oxymyrsine.' Projectā algā, 'stranded sea-weed;' sea-weed among the Romans was proverbial as 'a worthless thing:' cf. Hor. Od. 3, 17, 10.—43. Si mihi non hacc lux, &c.: cf. Ov. Her. 11, 29.-44. Ite domum; that is, 'let me have some indication that the day is closing at last.' Si quis pudor. His impatience for the time of meeting the object of his affections makes him burst out in vexation at the herds so tardily returning from the pasturage. 45. Muscosi fontes, moss-fringed streamlets.' Somno mollior herba, 'herbage softer than sleep'igia üzvw μaλazárga, Theocr. Idyll. 5, 50; and 15, 125.-46. Rarā umbrā; that is, by enallage, the shades of the scattered arbutuses,' or, literally, the intermitting or thin shadow.' The leaves on the branches of the arbutus are 'sparse.'-47. Solstitium, 'the solstice;' that is, the midsummer heat.' Solstitium is the 'summer solstice,' and bruma, that of winter.' Defendite, ward off:' cf. Hor. S. 1, 3, 14; and Od. 1, 17, 3, where this word has the same signification. Moss-covered fountains always contain the coolest water, and the tender succulent herbage on their margins affords refreshing food to cattle, oppressed and prostrated with the midday heat.-48. Gemmae, 'buds.' 49. Taedae, torches of pinewood.' Pingues, 'pitchy,' 'inflammable,' "rich with resin.'-50. Semper, at the beginning of a sentence, is emphatic. Fuligine nigri, black with smoke,' having no chimneys. Compare the terms atrium and μiλalgov.-51. Tantum, as little." 52. Numerum, as little as the wolf cares for the number of the sheep, or impetuous rivers for their banks.' 53. Stant is elegantly opposed to jacent in the next verse, and is properly applied to objects which present a stiff, rough, or bristly Strata jacent passim sua quaque sub arbore poma ; THYRSIS. Aret ager; vitio moriens sitit aëris herba ; CORYDON. Populus Alcidae gratissima, vitis Iaccho, THYRSIS. Fraxinus in silvis pulcherrima, pinus in hortis, appearance. Heyne regards it as synonymous with sunt, but it is much more expressive. Juniperi and castaneae have not the last syllables elided, on account of the arsis. The season now changes to autumn; the juniper-berries are ripe, and the chestnut in its rough husk is everywhere to be seen. The meaning then is: 'mild autumn is on the mountains; forest and fruit trees are laden with fruit; the mountain-streams are full; still without Alexis all would be a desert.' -54. Sua quaque; that is, sua poma jacent sub quaque arbore. Voss prefers sua quaeque (pronouncing sua, swa by synizesis). It is very improbable, however, that a poet of the Augustan age would adopt in such a passage so antiquated a mode of expression.-55. Omnia rident, all nature is bright, cheerful, smiles,' at the approach of Phyllis. -56. Videas et flumina sicca; that is, 'in deepest gloom would you behold everything plunged.' 57. Vitio aëris, by the impurity (sultriness) of the air.'-58. Liber invidit, 'Bacchus has withheld the shade of the vine-leaves; that is, 'the vines are parched, and their leaves become shrivelled and fall,' or the vine no longer gives any shade.'-60. Jupiter, the aether.' Laeto, ‘joy-giving,' communicating joy.' Join plurimus (by enallage) with imbri,with an abundant shower.' 6 61. Populus, the white poplar.' Alcides, Hercules.'-62. Myrtus Veneri, because among myrtles she concealed herself on emerging from the sea; or because myrtle is brittle, and thus emblematic of the inconstancy of love; or on account of its perfume. Laurea Phoebo, since it reminds him of Daphne. 65. Pinus, the garden, or evergreen pine;' it still flourishes wild in Italy, especially about the Ravenna.-66. In fluviis, on the riverbanks = ad fluvios. Saepius at si me, Lycida formose, revisas: MELIBOEUS. Haec memini, et victum frustra contendere Thyrsim. Ex illo Corydon, Corydon est tempore nobis. 70 69. Haec memini. Meliboeus now resumes his narration, and tells us that Corydon gained the victory.-70. Ex illo Corydon, &c.; that is, Corydon and poet have become synonymous. Heyne would reject this verse as utterly unworthy of Virgil. Voss explains it: 'from that time Corydon is a Corydon for me,' making Corydon synonymous with excellence. ECLOGA VIII. ASINIUS POLLIO, to whom this Eclogue is addressed, had in 40 B.C. completely crushed the Parthini, an Illyrian tribe on the confines of Macedonia. It is probable that the Eclogue was inscribed to him on his return in the subsequent year. The subject, apart from the address, 6-13, and the introductory verses, 1-5, 14-16, 62, 63, is twofold. The first part, 17-61, is occupied with the unsuccessful love of a shepherd for Nisa, as sung by Damon. In the second, Alphesiboeus represents the grief felt by a shepherdess when abandoned, as she supposed, by Daphnis, and the magical charms to which she had recourse to bring him back. Hence the title of the Eclogue, Qaguazurgía, an enchantress, borrowed from Theocritus. PHARMACEUTRIA. DAMON ALPHESIBOEUS. PASTORUM Musam Damonis et Alphesiboei, 6 = 1. Musam, by metonomy carmina, songs; it is governed by dicemus in verse 5, where, however, Musam is repeated.-2. Immemor herbarum, forgetful of their pasture.' Juvenca, the heifer,' by synecdoche for the whole herd.' The feminine form is generally preferred in such cases, as the herd consisted principally of females: cf. G. 3, 63. -3. Lynces, ounces,' or rather more accurately, 'caracals.' Voss has fixed the scene of this poem in Thessaly, on account of this allusion to lynces, which did not exist in Italy or Sicily; and the Et mutata suos requierunt flumina cursus; Tu mihi, seu magni superas jam saxa Timavi, Frigida vix coelo noctis decesserat umbra, DAMON. 5 10 15 Nascere, praeque diem veniens age, Lucifer, almum; Conjugis indigno Nisae deceptus amore mention of tibia, an instrument not known to the rustics of these countries. In Thessaly, besides, magic was principally understood and practised.-4. The construction, according to Voss, is flumina mutata (zarà) cursus suos, requierunt; that is, the rivers having flowed to the scene of the poetic contest, ceased to flow. 6 6. Tu, thou Pollio.' He was the first who urged Virgil to write pastorals. The sense of this passage is: whether you travel by land or by sea, whatever you are occupied in, engages my deepest interest. Mihi is the dativus ethicus, indicating that a thing relates also to one's self in a certain manner: construe it with superas, and not, as Heyne does, with accipe. Saxa Timavi, the rocks over which this torrent dashes, or the mountains whence it flows. This torrent, flowing through the province of Friuli, is now part of the boundary-line of modern Italy. On one border, the people speak Sclavonian; on the other, the Venetian dialect.-9. Erit ut, &c., will it ever be that I shall be permitted....?' 'Will circumstances ever permit....?'-10. Sola.... digna, alone worthy of comparison with the stately and dignified tragedies of Sophocles." This refers to Pollio as a writer of tragedy: cf. Hor. Od. 2, 1, 9. The tragic buskin was different from that mentioned in Ecl. 7, 32, which was used in hunting; cothurnus is frequently used by metonomy for the performance (tragedy), or for the performers (tragedians).-11. Construe: A te principium (sumet), tibi desinet (carmen); and compare Prima dicte mihi, summa dicende Camoena, Hor. Epist. 1, 1, 1; and Sat. 2, 6, 22. Jussis: cf. Ecl. 6, 9: this was in 711 or 712 A. U. c.-13. Victrices laurus: this construction of one substantive with another as an adjective is of frequent occurrence in poetry.-16. Incumbens tereti olivae, leaning upon his olive staff (or crook).' 17. Nascere surge, or orere, arise.' 6 Praeque diem veniens, by tmesis = praeveniensque, diem age almum, and preceding, usher in, Star of the morning, the genial day:' cf. Hor. Od. 3, 6, 44.-18. Conjugis, Dum queror, et divos, quamquam nil testibus illis Sparge, marite, nuces: tibi deserit Hesperus Oetam. 30 not in its usual acceptations as amicae, or amatae, but as one who had plighted her faith, and promised to be his love,' 'mistress.' Indigno,false,faithless.'-19. Quamquam nil, &c., although I have profited nothing by her adjuration of them; that is, as witnesses of her vows.-20. Moriens, about to die (voluntarily):' cf. verse 59. Alloquor obtestor, I address the gods.'-21. Maenalios versus, 'Arcadian strains,' Maenalus, sacred to Pan, being a mountain-range in Arcadia. This verse is technically designated intercalary, as is any one frequently repeated.-22. Argutum nemus pinosque loquentes, Servius translates, 'an echoing grove and vocal pines;' but we prefer, 'a whispering grove and rustling pines.' Wagner's idea is perhaps the best, making it refer to the pastoral music with which the grove continually resounds, which falls in admirably with Semper pastorum ille audit amores, in the next verse.-24. Non passus (est) inertes, '(first) rendered them musical.'-26. Quid non speremus? what are we not to expect?' This verb, like oba, is of the middle signification, implying not only agreeable but unwelcome anticipations.27. Jungentur amore, or jugo; Wagner prefers the latter. Gryphes, more accurately grypes (=ygures), a fabulous animal, with the head and wings of an eagle on the body of a lion. These mythological creatures are fabled to have inhabited the Riphaean Mountains, and defended the treasures of the earth from the Arimpasians, who employed horses; whence the settled aversion between the animals here alluded to.-28. Canibus (venaticis), 'hounds.' Ad pocula ad potum, to drink. Damae, here and in G. 3, 539, Virgil makes masculine. Cf. talpae also as masculine, G. 1, 183.-29. Novas incide faces, cut down wood for fresh torches.' The taedae, pine-torches," were used in the ceremony of conducting the bride to the house of her husband. See Adam's Roman Antiquities, Marriage Rites.'-30. Nuces. The husband, after his marriage, scattered nuts among the boys, thus intimating that he dropped all boyish amusements, and in future intended to act as a man. Cf. nuces relinquere in Persius, 1, 10, to throw away one's rattles, to betake one's self to the active and serious business of life. Also in Hor. Sat. 2, 5, 36, we find cassa nuce, empty nut,' for a thing of no value. Tibi.... Oetam, 'for thee (welcome to thee) Hesperus leaves Oeta; that is, rises from behind the mountain, bringing joy to thee, bringing on the happy day. = ' an |