Frigoribus parto agricolae plerumque fruuntur, Invitat genialis hiems, curasque resolvit : Ceu pressae quum jam portum tetigere carinae, 300 Sed tamen et quernas glandes tum stringere tempus 305 autumnal equinox; see verse 210. Nudus here means no more than one who wears only his tunic. When Cincinnatus was summoned to be dictator, he was thus nudus, and sent for his toga, that he might appear before the senate. By hiems we are to understand, in agricultural language, the rainy season, about a fortnight before and as long after the bruma, or winter solstice. Cf. verse 211. Ignava, ' (is) a season of indolence' winter is the farmer's idle time."-300. Parto (abl.), 'what they have laid up,' or acquired.-301. Curant, turn all their attention to.'-303. Pressae carinae, heavy-laden barks.' 304. Coronas. It was customary with sailors, after coming into port, especially off a long or hazardous voyage, to deck their vessels with garlands. This verse is the same as that in 4. 4, 418, where it is quite unnecessary.-305. Sed tamen, &c. Though winter is the time of inactivity, still some things may be done even then: some of these the poet now goes on to specify. Quernas glandes, acorns.' Stringere, 'to gather.'-306. Oleam. From the end of October till January was the time for making oil. Cruenta myrta, myrtle-berries with blood-red juice.'-307. Tum gruibus, &c. The crane, with the ancients, as also with our ancestors of the middle ages, was an article of luxury. This bird visited Italy during the winter, and was taken with springtraps set in the water.-309. Stuppea verbera, the tow thong' (Voss); but Heyne takes verbera in its ordinary sense of blows,' and considers stuppea verbera fundae merely a periphrasis = funda. Balearis is an ornative epithet of funda, as the people of the Baleares Insulae were famous in the use of the sling. A Balearic sling was pre-eminently a 'good sling. Before figere is understood eum, with which torquentem agrees; and this eum is in apposition with colonum, understood before stringere. 6 6 311. The poet now, after alluding briefly to autumn and spring, the two stormy seasons of the year, gives a graphic picture of a storm in harvest-time. Sidera. According to Columella, the stormy constellations of autumn are-Arcturus, rising on the 12th of September; the Centaur, on the 23d of the same month; Hoedi or the Kids, on the 27th; and Corona or the Crown on the 5th of October. The Roman autumn began on the 12th of August, when Lyra set, and continued until the 9th of November, when the Sword of Orion set, and winter began. 315 320 Quae vigilanda viris? vel quum ruit imbriferum ver, 325 330 313. Ruit, rushes down:' the term refers to the heavy spring rains.314. Spicea jam campis, &c., when now the bearded harvest has begun to bristle in the fields.' Et quum. Virgil frequently thus begins a new clause in the sixth foot of the hexameter, by repeating the same particle which he has previously employed.-315. In viridi stipula, ‘on the green stalk.' Lactentia, milky.-317. Stringeret, was proceeding to reap; literally, was grasping.' Cf. verse 305. The term is descriptive of the mode of grasping the corn in the act of reaping. Hordea. Barley-harvest took place about the end of June, when the fireflies began to appear, and so preceded that of other grain (Plin. H. N. 18, 66; Pallad. 7, 2).-322. Immensum agmen aquarum, a vast body of water,' 'a thunder plump.'-324. Ex alto, sc. mari, from the sea. Heyne would supply coelo with alto, which makes Virgil a very careless observer of nature, to express thus the gathering together of the clouds twice, by glomerant and by collectae, which sounds rather like tautology. Ex marks the source whence the body of waters arise the sea.-325. Boum labores gya Boy (Hesiod, "Egy. 46); that is, the ploughed lands.'-329. Molitur, brandishes.'-330. Fugere. Observe here the peculiar fitness of the perfect in connection with the present (tremit) in denoting instantaneous action.-332. Athon. By thus naming particular mountains, the description becomes more graphic. The common reading here follows the Greek form of the accusative, Atho = "Aw, as in Theoc. 7, 77; but all manuscript authority is in favour of Athon, as given in the text. Athos is a mountainous peninsula, called also Acte, now Monte Santo,' which projects from Chalcidice, in Macedonia. It rises at its extremity to the height of = M Dejicit; ingeminant austri et densissimus imber; 335 340 Tum somni dulces densaeque in montibus umbrae. Cui tu lacte favos et miti dilue Baccho; 6 345 6350 feet. 333. Ingeminant, redouble,' 'increase.'-334. Plangunt, 'moan.'-335. Hoc metuens. After thus describing the tempest, Virgil proposes two methods of avoiding such dire calamities: a careful observation of the heavens; and a proper worship of the gods, especially Ceres, patroness of the husbandman. Coeli menses et sidera (hendiadis) = sidera coeli per omnes menses anni, the planets in their orbits, during all the months of the year.' Serva observa.336. Frigida. Under the general advice to attend to the motions of the planets, the poet exemplifies two of them: the one nearest to the sun, and that most remote from him, in his time. Saturn, on account of his distance, and his consequent paleness, was regarded as 'cold' and malignant. Sese receptet, betake himself to,' or, 'return to;' as he always pursues the same course in the sky. Quo in quos orbes, 'towards what orbs.'-337. Ignis Cyllenius, Mercury,' who was fabled to be born on Mount Cyllene, in Arcadia, on the borders of Achaia. He is called ignis on account of his fiery brightness, as in Greek he was called oríacov, the brilliant.' Erret. Mercury, from his proximity to the sun, appears to an observer on the earth to be particularly erratic in his course. In quos orbes. The meaning is, in what one of his own circuits Mercury may be at the time, and not with what other planets he may be in conjunction; for in his rapid course he would make many circuits, while Saturn, for example, would be performing but one (Wagner).—338. Atque refer, and especially celebrate' the festival of Ambarvalia, in honour of Great Ceres.-340. Extremae by hypallage for extremum: sub extremum casum hiemis, towards the end of winter,' as winter draws to a close.' The time for this sacrifice was about the 22d of April, when the Pleiades rose, and brought with them more constant warmth.-342. Somni dulces. The slumbers of the shepherds are meant, on the woody mountains to which they drove their flocks at the rising of the Pleiades (Voss).-344. Cui, in honour of whom; that is, in libation to whom.' This libation of wine and honey was poured either upon the fire on the altar, or upon the victim that was intended to be sacrificed.-345. Felix hostia, the propitiating victim; that is, of happy omen for the produce of the fields,' since it propitiates the goddess. The victim offered on this occasion was a sow, called praecidanea porca (Cato, R. R. 134). Omnis quam chorus et socii comitentur ovantes, Atque haec ut certis possemus discere signis, Litora misceri, et nemorum increbrescere murmur. = 350 355 346. Chorus et socii, for chorus sociorum. These soci were the companion assistants in rural labours. Ovantes laetantes, 'with joyous feelings.'-347. Vocent, let them invite.' Vocare in tecta ut adsit invocare.-349. Torta-quercu, having his temples encircled with a garland of oak.' Wreaths of oak were worn in honour of Ceres, because she first taught men to substitute grain for acorns.--350. Det motus incompositos, perform his rude dance.' Cf. Hor. Od. 3, 6, 21; Liv. 7, 2, 4. 351-356. Atque, &c. Virgil now, after having shewn the necessity of astronomical knowledge to the husbandman, proceeds to shew in what manner he may be able, even without this, to foresee the changes of weather, and to prevent the misfortunes that may attend them. The method proposed is to watch the signs afforded by the moon, and to draw prognostics likewise from natural phenomena. Haec points to what follows aestus, pluvias, ventos, &c. Possemus we give with the best editors, instead of the common reading, possimus. Possemus denotes the intention of Jove, whereas possimus expresses merely a present result.-352. Agentes secum advehentes, driving onward with them.'-353. Statuit; that is, as a fixed and certain law.-354. Caderent =residerent. Quid saepe videntes, in allusion to the frequent recurrence of any prognostic.-355. Propius stabulis, so that they might the more easily drive them in quickly when the storm came on.-356. Continuo, in the first place.' The poet now goes on to enumerate no fewer than eleven signs of approaching storms, giving them in their natural order, beginning with the more remote, and concluding with those that indicate the storm as close at hand. This whole passage is in imitation of Aratus, and itself becomes the model of imitation for Thomson in his Seasons: Winter, 113. These eleven signs are: 1. The agitation of the sea; 2. Noise from the hills; 3. On the sea-shore; 4. In the woods; 5. The flight of sea-birds; 6. Their playing on the shore; 7. Flight of herons; 8. Fall of meteors; 9. Nocturnal streams of light; 10. Straws rising and floating in the air; 11. Play of floating feathers.-357. Aridus fragor, a dry crashing sound,' such as that of dry branches breaking. 359. Misceri, to be disturbed,' by the dashing of the waves. Verses 357-359 are peculiarly beautiful and expressive in their rhythmn. 6 ; Jam sibi tum a curvis male temperat unda carinis, 360 365 At Boreae de parte trucis quum fulminat, et quum 370 Humida vela legit. Nunquam imprudentibus imber Angustum formica terens iter; et bibit ingens 375 380 -360. A curvis carinis; as to the preposition with the ablative, cf. A. 2, 8. Temperat sibi, restrain itself." With the accusative, tempero means 'regulate,' arrange;' with the dative, as here, 'set bounds to,' restrain.-362. Clamoremque ferunt; that is, clamore se ferunt, fly to land with loud cries.'-365. Stellas. According to Pliny, shooting-stars portend a storm from the quarter towards which they proceed; but according to Aratus and Seneca, from the quarter whence they shoot (Plin. H. N. 2, 36; 18, 80: Aratus, 194: Sen. N. Q. 1, 14).—367. A tergo, after them.-370. At Boreae de parte, &c. Here Virgil proceeds to give the prognostics of rain, and in doing this imitates Aratus. For all the quarters of the heavens he names only three, as in A. 1, 85, and elsewhere.-373. Nunquam-obfuit. Rain never takes any one unawares, such a variety of signs presage it. Observe that it is not the elevated flight, but the descent of the crane that prognosticates rain.-376. Captavit, aorist, snuffs in.'-377. Arguta, 'twittering." Circumvolitavit, has skimmed around.'-378. Et-querelam. Virgil is supposed in this to refer to the metamorphosis of the Lycian peasantry into frogs for insulting Latona (Ov. Met. 6, 376). Cecinere, by the Romans pronounced kěkinērě, croaked,' the poet thus imitating the croaking of the frogs. Cf. the Beezexszeg of Aristophanes, Ran. 209, &c.— 379. Saepius. Virgil now proceeds to mention certain prognostics of a still more frequent occurrence than those already described.-380. Angustum terens iter; very strikingly descriptive of the toilsome efforts of this insect. Et bibit ingens arcus; the ancients popularly believed that the rainbow drew up water with its horns. Aratus, followed by Pliny, 6 |