blossom': the innumerable blossoms are spoken of collectively as a garment into which the tree clothes itself and under which it is hidden: 'puts on its robe of blossom.'

189. si superant fetus] supero has two meanings, (1) 'to be in excess' or 'to be superior,' (2) 'to survive.'

Taking the first meaning, we must render if the majority of the blossoms set,' lit. 'if the fruit (i.e. the blossoms which set) exceeds (the number of blossoms which do not set).'

Taking the second meaning, we may render if the fruit survives, explaining that this means if the blossoms on the whole set well instead of falling off and leaving little or no fruit.'

192. pingues palea] 'rich in chaff (not grain).' The phrase is a sort of oxymoron.

193. semina] It is clear from siliquis 195 that he refers to the seeds of leguminous plants.

194. nitro] This is said not to be our nitre' but a mineral alkali, native soda' or 'carbonate of soda'; it was found in Thrace and Egypt, and when mixed with oil used as soap; see L. & S. s. v. νίτρον.

prius] i.e. before sowing.

195. fallacibus] 'deceptive,' because, unless some such means were adopted, the pods would be large, but the beans inside undeveloped and small.

196. et...] and might quickly become soaked however little the fire'; lit. 'with however little fire.' The object aimed at was that the beans might cook easily and not need long boiling. quamvis is an adverb here.

197. lecta diu] sc. semina. By seeds long picked and laboriously examined' are meant those which have been carefully selected for a number of years. Artificial 'selection,' such as Virgil recommends, is the cause of the immense improvement in all our domesticated seeds (cf. Sutton's Catalogue, 1889, passim and p. 28 'it (onion seed) is carefully selected every year'), and unless this selection' is continually practised, degeneration' will certainly follow, and the plant revert to the character of its wild ancestor. Virgil says that he has seen even a carefully selected strain of seed degenerate notwithstanding, 'unless human effort continued year by year to pick out all the finest seeds with the hand (i.e. carefully; cf. 3. 395 n.).'

199. sic omnia...] 'So by fate do all things ever hasten to the worse and slipping backwards retrograde.' A characteristic

instance of Virgil's 'pessimism,' and also of the art by which he embellishes his subject with philosophical reflections.

200. ruere and referri are historic infinitives. Observe the alliteration in ruere, retro, referri, expressing the uninterrupted retrogression, cf. 203 praeceps prono rapit alveus amni.

201. non aliter...] 'not otherwise than (happens) if he who with difficulty forces his bark against the stream has by chance relaxed his arms, and at once the channel hurries it headlong away down the stream.'

Most editors now thus take this passage, though old editors (following Aulus Gellius 10. 29, who gives atque = statim) rendered 'not otherwise than a man who forces if by chance he has relaxed his arms, immediately the channel....' There is however no authority (except in Plautus) for taking atque as='immediately,' though it often, as here, marks that the second event follows instantaneously or the first and is very closely united with it; cf. 2. 402; Ecl. 7. 7; Aen. 6. 162.

illum is rightly referred to lembum by Kennedy, who says that the comparison is between the seed which retrogrades when man does not select, and the boat which retrogrades when man does not pull.'

=

To take illum 'the rower' and alveus = 'the boat' is very unnatural when the boat has just been called lembus.

203. in praeceps] 'towards headlong destruction.' praeceps is used as a noun, cf. 127 n.

204-258. The husbandman must watch the stars as carefully as the sailor. When the Balance brings the autumnal equinox, then plough and sow barley right up to the beginning of the winter rains which stop work. This is the time too, while the ground is still dry, to sow flax and poppies. Spring is the time for beans, lucerne, and millet, when the sun enters Taurus; if, however, you devote yourself to corn only, then wait until the setting of the Pleiads and the Crown before entrusting the seed to the earth; those who sow wheat before the setting of Maia are usually deceived in the crop. For vetches, kidney-beans, and lentils, begin with the setting of Bootes, and go on well into the frosts. It is to guide husbandmen that the sun moves annually through the twelve signs of the Zodiac. The heaven has five zones, the torrid zone in the centre, the two frigid zones on the North and South, while the two temperate zones, one on each side of the torrid zone, are granted to men by the kindness of Heaven, and between these two, crossing the torrid zone obliquely, is the Ecliptic. The heaven rises towards the North, and sinks towards the South, the north pole with its constellations is over our heads, the south pole is beneath our feet visible to the realms

below, and either wrapped in everlasting darkness or visited by the sun when it is night with us. Thus from the stars may we foretell the seasons, the time of harvest and of sowing, of sailing and of wood-cutting, nor is observation of the sky useless.

204. Arcturi, Haedorum, Anguis] Virgil mentions these as typical constellations, and also because the rising of the two first was accompanied by storms (cf. ventosa 206), and the third is situated near the north pole, so that they deserved the special notice of sailors.

206. quam quibus]=quam iis quibus 'as by those by whom.'

vectis' as they voyage,' 'while voyaging.' In the absence of a present participle passive Latin not unfrequently uses the past participle in its place, especially in the case of deponent verbs, cf. 293 solata solacing, 339 operatus sacrificing,' 442 conditus hiding himself,' 494 molitus as he works.'

207. Pontus...] Notice how Virgil embellishes his narrative by substituting the special for the general, and not talking of 'sailors at sea' but of those who 'as they voyage home dare the Pontus and the straits of oyster-bearing Abydus.'

208. Libra...] The sun is in Libra (cf. 33 n.) at the autumnal equinox. pares: 'equal in length.' The Romans divided the day,' i.e. the time between sunrise and sunset, into 12 equal hours,' and also the 'night,' i.e. the time between sunset and sunrise. The hours therefore of the day were longer than the hours of the night in summer and shorter in winter, while at the equinoxes the hours of day and night were equal.

die genitive, cf. Hor. Od. 3. 7. 4 constantis iuvenem fide. Aulus Gellius 9. 14 says that in a copy of the poem written by Virgil's own hand the form was dies.

209. medium] 'in half,' 'equally.' orbem: 'the circuit of the sky,''the heavens.'

210. viri] Emphatic, suggesting the idea of 'manfully.' 211. sub extremum...imbrem] This cannot mean to the last end of the winter rains,' for the winter is specially called 'impracticable,' i.e. unfit for work; we must therefore explain, with Kennedy, 'right up to the rain of winter which ends your work' directly the rain began, sowing became impossible.

212. Cereale] Ceres was represented carrying bunches of poppies, and was supposed to have soothed her sorrow for the loss of Proserpine by eating the seeds; cf. line 78.

213. iamdudum incumbere] lit. 'long since to be bending

P

over,' 'without a moment's delay to bend over.' iamdudum expresses that, however soon you begin, you will rather be too late than too soon. incumbere is a graphic word: Pliny says a ploughman not round-backed is a rogue.'

214. pendent] 'still hang,' i.e. do not yet fall in rain.

216. annua] The adj. has special force, because millet needs sowing every year, whereas lucerne is a crop which stands eight or ten years.

217. candidus...] 'When the bright bull with gilded horns opens the year.' The sun enters Taurus on April 17, the time when the earth seems to throw off its winter repose and all things begin to open, aperit being clearly used with reference to the common derivation of Aprilis from aperio as the month of opening' (cf. Ov. Fasti 4. 87 quia ver aperit tunc omnia). In his description of the Bull Virgil is thinking of the snowwhite bulls with gilded horns that were sacrificed in Roman triumphs (cf. 2. 146).

218. adverso] The dog is supposed to set 'retiring before the confronting constellation (of the Bull),' i.e. keeping face to face with the Bull as he backs away from his attack. Many MSS. give averso 'with averted star,' i.e. turning tail and retiring.

219. robustaque farra] far, called in early times adoreum, was a sort of spelt, and when cooked was made into pulse: it was the earliest food of the Romans, and is the Greek téa. Pliny describes it as the strongest of all cereals.

220. solisque instabis aristis] and shall make corn your only aim.'

221. Eoae] Predicative, 'let them hide themselves in the morning' they set in the morning on Nov. 11.

222. Gnosiaque...] Ariadne, daughter of Minos king of Crete, was beloved by Dionysus, who made her his wife, and placed among the stars the crown which he gave her on her marriage. Virgil supposes the crown to set in November, but is in error, for it rises early in that month (see Heyne).

224. invitae] 'unwilling,' because the proper time has not yet come. anni spem: 'the hope of the year,' i.e. that in which the year places its hopes.

226. aristis] Some good MSS. have avenis 'with worthless wild oats.'

227. phaselum] Not 'kidney-bean,' which J. Sargeaunt (Virgil's Trees, etc.) says is American and certainly will bear no touch of frost.' He adds: 'V.'s plant is Dolichus melan

ophthalmus, an Asiatic, still common in Italian eating-houses under the name of fagiolo dell'occhio, "the eye-bean.'

229. cadens] The setting of Bootes is about the end of October.

231. idcirco] 'Therefore,' i.e. in order that the seasons might be clearly marked: it is for this purpose that the 'sun directs his annual circuit measured out in fixed divisions through the twelve constellations of heaven.'

232. duodena] may be used loosely for duodecim, as the distributive numbers are frequently used in poetry for the cardinal, or strictly, meaning 'twelve each year.'

The twelve signs of the Zodiac are: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces.

mundi: 'heaven,' cf. Hor. Od. 2. 12. 15 qui mare ac terras rariisque mundum | temperat horis 'who governs sea and earth and sky.'

233. quinque...] This passage down to line 251 seems designed to illustrate the marvellous character of the universe, and so to suggest a connection between the change of the seasons and its mighty plan and purpose, thus bringing the labours of the husbandman into relation with universal order.

The description of the zones is taken from a poem called Hermes by Eratosthenes, an Alexandrian writer on astronomy and geography 276-196 B.C., and the passage may be found in Conington. To explain Virgil's description accurately is impossible, firstly, because his own view of the universe is necessarily conjectural and inaccurate; secondly, because his object is rather to write good poetry than to impart definite instruction. Speaking generally, the idea seems to be that the earth is stationary in the centre of the celestial sphere, which revolves round it on an axis which is inclined to the plane of the horizon, so that the north pole is always visible to us while the south pole is hidden from us and underneath us, being therefore in some mysterious manner visible to the underworld of the dead. This celestial sphere is divided into five zones (see Summary), and corresponding and parallel to these are five zones on the earth; through the torrid zone in heaven is the sun's path, and. parallel to it on earth is a corresponding zone of fierce heat; between this and the north frigid zone lies that zone which practically represents the civilised world as known to the Romans, the temperate region 'granted by favour of the gods to weary mortals.' Whether Virgil formed any clear conception of a south temperate zone equally habitable and inhabited it