Victor equus; fontesque avertitur, et pede terram Ecce autem duro fumans sub vomere taurus 500 501. Et ille sudor quidem erat frigidus iis morituris 504. In processu tem 505 poris 510 515 Non umbræ altorum nemorum, non mollia possunt 520 Quid labor, aut benefacta juvant? quid vomere terras NOTES. Infelix: Unhappy-miserable, after all his noble deeds. This is the sense of Ruæus. 500. Incertus: uncertain-the cause of which was unknown: or, various-fluctuating-coming on, and going off, by turns. Crebrà: here used adverbially; a Grecism. 506. Spiritus attractus: their breath, drawn from the bottom of the breast, is sometimes heavy (interrupted) with a groan. Singultu: a sob, or sobbing. 508. Obsessas: swollen-obstructed. 510. Lenæos latices: simply, wine. Cornu inserto: a horn put down their throat, through which the wine was poured. 513. Dii meliora, &c. May the gods grant better things to the pious, and that madness, or destruc.on to our enemies. The verb reddant, or another of the like import, is understood. 523. Ima latera: their flanks are lank, or flabby. Flaccescunt, says Heyne. 509. Primò profuit. 511. Illi refecti illo vino 512. Ipsique jam sub ægra morte, laniabant suos artus discissos 525. Quid eorumlabor, 526 aut benefacta homini juvant eos? Quid juvat eos invertisse graves terras vomere? 530 Stupor: a stupor, or death-like appearance, rests upon their heavy eyes. 525. Juvant: Rumus says, prosunt. 526. Massica: the Massic gifts of Bacchus-wine. Massica: an adj. from Massicus, a mountain in Campania, famous for its rich wines. 530. Nec cura, &c. Nor does care interrupt their healthful slumbers. The whole account of this fatal murrain is one of Virgil's finest pieces. But from the 515th line, Ecce autem, &c. it is extremely tender, and inimitable in beauty; and particularly the last six lines. They were so much admired by Scaliger, that he declares, he had rather have been the author of them, than to have had the favor of Creaus, or Cyrus. 532. Quasitas: sought after-wanted. 533. Currus ejus duc- Imparibus ductos alta ad donaria currus. tos fuisse ad Ergò ægrè rastris terram rimantur, et ipsis 534. Ergò agricola Unguibus infodiunt fruges, montesque per altos ægrè rimantur Contentâ cervice trahunt stridentia plaustra. Non lupus insidias explorat ovilia circùm, 535 Nec gregibus nocturnus obambulat: acrior illum 540 Jam maris immensi prolem, et genus omne natantûm, Litore in extremo, ceu naufraga corpora, fluctus Vipera, et attoniti, squamis astantibus, hydri. 545 549. Magistri medicina Quæsitæque nocent artes: cessêre magistri, cesscre mederi. 552. Antè se Phillyrides Chiron, Amythaoniusque Melampus. 550 Balatu pecorum, et crebris mugitibus, amnes, Arentesque sonant ripæ, collesque supini. 555 Jamque catervatim dat stragem, atque aggerat ipsis discant tegere illa humo 558. Donec Agricole Donec humo tegere, ac foveis abscondere discant. 561. Nec possunt quidein tondere vellera, pe resa NOTES. 533. Uris imparibus: by buffaloes, unequally matched. Ductos: drawn. Rimantur: break up, or till. 560 551. Stygiis an adj. from Styx, a river of Arcadia, whose water was so cold and poisonous, that it proved fatal to all who drank 536. Contenta cervicê: with their strained it. This, together with the circumstance of neck, they draw, &c. 537. Explorat: meditates, or designs. Meditatur, says Ruæus. 541. Jam fluctus: now the waves wash up the race of the boundless, &c. Such was the extent, and degree of the infection of the air, that it reached even to the scaly tribes. But Aristotle observes, that infectious diseases never reach to, or invade, fishes. Natantum: a pres. part. of the verb nato, taken as a sub. of fishes. 543. Insolitæ; unusual-contrary to their custom. 550. Chiron. He was the son of Saturn and Phillyra. It is said he taught Esculapius in physic, Hercules in astronomy, and Achilles in music. Melampus: the son of Amythaon and Doripe. They were both famous physicians: here used for the masters of medicine in general. its disappearing under the earth, led the poets to feign it to be a river of hell, around which, they say, it flowed nine times. It was held in such veneration by the gods, that they usually swore by it; and if they violated their oath at any time, they were to be deprived of their divinity for 100 years. 553. In dies: daily-every day. 555. Supini colles: sloping hills. 556. Jamque dat: and now she (Tisi phone) deals destruction by herds, &c. 557. Dilapsa: wasted, or consumed. 559. Nec quisquam: nor could any one cleanse it with water, or purify it by fireconquer, or overcome the infection by fire. Viscera: the flesh in general; all that is under the skin. 560. Undus: in the sense of aqua. 562. Putres telas: the putrid, or infectious cloth-the cloth made of the filthy and corrupted wool. Telas: the web, put by synec. for the whole cloth. After finishing the main subject, does he consider the word Tithonus, as used by the poet in reference to Augustus? Who were the Lapithæ ? What are they said to have done? What was the name of their principal city? Can you mention any nation that began the day at the rising of the sun? How did they divide the day? What effect would this have upon the length of their hours? When do modern nations begin the day? For what is the word Lares taken by meton.? What was the usual weight which the Roman soldier carried on his march? Of what did it consist? What were all those nations called by the Romans that inhabited the northern part of Europe and Asia? Was there any particular part of this book much admired by Scaliger? What part was that? LIBER QUARTUS. THIS Book treats of the culture of bees. After proposing the subject, the poet shows the proper stations for placing their hives; and having noticed some particulars respecting the management of the swarms, &c. he digresses into a noble description of a battle between two discordant kings. He then proceeds to consider their different kinds and qualities, the nature and form of their government, and the diseases, which often rage among them-together with the proper remedies for each; and concludes with the story of Aristaus' recovery of his bees, after his swarms were lost, and of Orpheus' descent into hell after his wife Eurydice. This episode runs through 277 lines, and is one of the finest pieces of heathen poetry. tacula levium rerum admiranda tibi 5 PROTINUS aërii mellis cœlestia dona 2. Hanc partem Geo- Exequar: hanc etiam, Mæcenas, aspice partem. gicorum. Dicam spec- Admiranda tibi levium spectacula rerum, Magnanimosque duces, totiusque ordine gentis Mores, et studia, et populos, et prælia dicam. 6. Ille est labor in te- In tenui labor; at tenuis non gloria: si quem nui re Numina læva sinunt, auditque vocatus Apollo. nunt quem scriptorem Principio, sedes apibus statioque petenda, Quò neque sit ventis aditus (nam pabula venti Ferre domum prohibent) neque oves hædique petulci 10 10. Prohibent apes Floribus insultent; aut errans bucula campo Decutiat rorem, et surgentes atterat herbas. 13. Picti quoad squa- Absint et picti squalentia terga lacerti 7. Si læva Numina si exequi id ferre domum lentia Pinguibus à stabulis; meropesque, aliæque volucres, NOTES. 1. Aërii: an adj. from aër. Honey is here called aërial, because it was thought to come from the dew, which fell from the air upon the flowers, whence the bees collected it. For the same reason the poet uses the epithet cœlestra. 2. Exequar: in the sense of describam. 6. Tenui on a low subject. Re is understood. The consideration of bees may be considered low, or inferior to the subjects treated of in the preceding books. If, however, the farmer attend properly to them, he will find them very profitable; and their vernment and polity will afford to the philosopher and politician much useful instruction This is what we are to understand by the words, at gloria non tenuis. go 7. Læra numina. Lavus is used both in a good and a bad sense. Ruæus interprets it by adversa. By the deities, here called adverse, or inauspicious, we are probably to understand the infernal deities, Pluto, the Furies, &c. who were thought to be opposed to the welfare of men. Valpy under stands by lava, propitious, or favorable. Heyne seems to be of the same opinion. Gellius and Wakefield take it with Ruæus, to mean adverse. When words are indefinite, or are used in opposite senses, we can hardly expect unanimity among commentators. If the adverse deities should not interfere to prevent him, and Apollo should come to his aid, the poet promises to execute a work, worthy of his friend and patron, even upon the humble subject of the bee. 8. Principio in the sense of primò. Sedes. The poet proceeds to mention the proper places for the hives, and the form and fashion of constructing them. 11. Insultent: bruise-frisk about upon, the flowers. 13. Picti: in the sense of maculosi. 14. Meropes. These were a species of bird that fed upon bees; hence called the bce-eater. They were about the size of our blackbird, but of various colors. In medium, seu stabit iners, seu profluet humor, NOTES 15. Procne. By Procne, or Progne, is here meant the swallow, which has some red feathers on its breast. For the story of Procne, see Ecl. vi. 78. 17. Dulcem escam as a sweet morsel for their merciless young. Nidis: the nests; by meton. for the young ones in them. 18. Liquidi: in the sense of puri. Viren tia musco: either the banks of these ponds, or pools skirted with green moss, or the surface of them covered with it. 19. Fugiens: in the sense of fluens. 21. Nova examina: the new swarms. 22. Emissa: in the sense of egressa. The spring abounds in flowers more than any season of the year; honey is collected in greater abundance, and the bees are then most diligent. In this sense, the spring may emphatically be called theirs: suo vere, their own spring. 24. Obvia: in the sense of adversa: opposite, or in front of them. Teneat in the sense of accipiat. 25. Humor: in the sense of aqua. 26. Conjice, &c. These willows and rocks were to be cast into the water, whether running or stagnant, that the bees might rest upon them: if, by any means, they fell into it, that they might creep upon them, expand their wings to the warm sun, and dry themselves. 29. Neptuno: in the sense of aquâ. Geer, i. 14, See 30. Casia. Some take the casia to be the same with the rosemary; but Columella, speaking of the plants that should grow about an apiary, mentions casia and rosemary as two different plants. 31. Serpylla. There were two kinds of this plant; one of the gardens, and the other wild. It is a strong-scented herb, and resembles thyme. It is proper to be planted near bees, and is usually called wild-thyme. Thymbra: the herb savory. Spirantis: in the sense of olentis. It was a strong-scented herb. 32. Violaria: beds of violets-places sown or planted with the violet. Cor 33. Suta: in the sense of compacta. ticibus. The bark of the cork-tree is called cortex, by way of eminence. 34. Lento vimine: of limber osier, or wicker. 36. Cogit: thickens. Remittit: in the sense of reddit. 37. Vis: force-violence; the excess of heat or cold. 38. Tectis: in their hives. Certatim: in the sense of diligenter. 39. Fuco. Fucus was properly a kind of marine weed, resembling lettuce. It was anciently used in dying; used also by women as a kind of paint for the face. Hence all kinds of daubing obtained the name of fucus: not with the flowers (floribus) themselves, but rather with the substance ex |