Scorpius, et cœli justâ plus parte reliquit. 36. Quicquid Numen Quicquid eris (nam te nec sperent Tartara regem, eris, da 41. Tuque miseratus agrestes ignaros viæ, mecum ingredere discere Nec tibi regnandi veniat tam dira cupido: At priùs ignotum ferro quàm scindimus æquor, 52. Cura sit nobis præ- Cura sit, ac patrios cultusque habitusque locorum: Arborei fœtus alibi, atque injussa virescunt 58. At nudi Chalybes India mittit ebur, molles sua thura Sabæi? mittunt ad nos ferrum NOTES. 39. Proserpina. See Ecl. v. 79. 42. Ingredere: enter upon your office of a god, and even now accustom yourself to be invoked by vows. 43. Gelidus humor: here, ice or snow. Humor is properly any kind of moisture or liquor. Novo vere. The poet advises the husbandman to begin his ploughing in the early part of the spring, as soon as the snow melts from the mountains, and the earth be sufficiently softened, that he may be in due season with the work of the year. 45. Depresso aratro: in the plough put, or laid, deep in the earth. Or the words may be put absolutely: the plough being put deep in the earth. 48. Quæ bis sensit, &c. Which feels twice the summer, and twice the winter; that is, lies fallow for two years together, or with out tillage. Seges: in the sense of terra, vel ager, says Heyne. 49. Ruperunt. The sense seems to require the present; accordingly Rumus hath interpreted it by rumpunt: his immense harvests burst his barns-his barns are not capable of containing his crops. 50. Equor: properly any plain or level surface, whether land or water. Here used in the sense of ager or campus. Ignotum: cujus natura ignota est nobis. 51. Prædiscere ventos, &c. To learn before hand the winds and the various qualities of the weather-to observe, to what winds the fields are most exposed, and whether the climate be moist or dry, cold or hot. Morem cœli: naturam vel temperiem aëris, says Heyne. 52. Patrios cultus: the culture of our fathers. This is the sense of Davidson and Heyne. Colendi rationem probatam usu majorum, says the latter. Rumus says: Propriam culturam. Habitus locorum: the habits of the places-the habit or peculiar nature of the various soils. Land, by being tilled in a certain way, acquires an aptitude to produce some kinds of grain better than others. This is what is meant here. 54. Feliciùs: more luxuriantly. 55. Arborei fœtus: nurseries, or young trees. Fatus signifies the young of any kind, animate or inanimate. Injussa: not sown--spontaneously. 56. Tmolus. A mountain in Phrygia, in the confines of Lydia, famous for its saffron : hence the epithet croceos. 57. Molles Sabai: the effeminate Sabeans. These were a people inhabiting Arabia Felix, which abounded in frankincense. 58. Chalybes nudi: the naked Chalybes send us iron, and Pontus, &c. The Chalybes were a people of Spain, according to Justin; but of Pontus, according to Strabo, said to have wrought naked, on account of the heat of their furnaces, or forges. Hence Chalybs came to signify the best kind of iron and steel. Pontus. See Ecl. viii. 95. Castorea, Eliadum palmas Epirus equarum ? Hic, sterilem exiguus ne deserat humor arenam. Et segnem patiere situ durescere campum. NOTES. 59. Virosa castorea: strong-scented castor. According to Pliny, the castor was contained in the testicles of the beaver. But the moderns have found that the castor is contained in certain odoriferous glands about the groin, and in both sexes. Epirus palmas, &c. Epirus (produces) the victors of the Olympic mares-produces those mares that obtain the palm of victory in the Olympic races. Palmas equarum; Rueus says equas victrices in Olympico cursu. Epirus, once a powerful kingdom, is bounded by the Ionian sea on the south and west, and by Thessalia, Macedonia, and Achaia on the north and east, famous for its excellent horses. Elidum: an adj. gen. plu. from Elis, or Elea, a maritime country of the Peloponnesus, the chief cities of which were Elis, on the river Peneus, and Olympia, on the river Alpheus, famous for the games there celebrated in honor of Jupiter. They were instituted 1458 years before Christ, and celebrated every fifth year. 60. Fœdera: in the sense of conditiones. 62. Deucalion. See Ecl. vi. 41. 63. Nati: in the sense of orti sunt. 66. Solibus: Sol, properly the sun, by meton. heat. Maturis: in the sense of vehementibus, vel ardentibus. Coquat: emoliat et rarefaciat, says Heyne. 68. Sub ipsum Arcturum: about the rising of Arcturus. This is a star of the first magnitude in the constellation Bootes, near the tail of the great Bear. The poet recommends, if the soil be rich, to turn it up with a deep furrow carly, that it may lie and bake through the heat of the summer; but if the land be of a thin soil, and light, it will be sufficient to turn it up with a thin furrow, and some time in the fall, about the rising of Arcturus. In the former case, (illic) that the grass and weeds may not injure the springing crop; in the latter case (hic) that the scanty moisture may not leave the barren land. 71. Tonsas novales, &c. You should suffer your reaped fallow grounds to rest every other year. Novalis terra, is properly new ground, or ground newly broken up. Hence it came to signify fallow ground, because by resting it is recruited, and, as it were, renewed. 72. Situ: with a sword. Situs here means the grass, weeds, &c. which overspread the ground, and bind it down into what is commonly called a sword. Campum segnem: your field lying idle. 73. Sidere mutato: the year being changed. Some copies read semine mutato. Sidus, in the sense of annus, is frequently used by Virgil. 74. Lætum: in the sense of fertile vel copiosum. Siliqua: in the rattling pod, or shell. 75. Tristis: bitter. Tenues fœtus, Ruæus interprets by parva grana. 76. Sylvam. This word is frequently used for a thick luxurious crop or growth of any thing. The 78. Papavera perfusa: poppies impregnated with oblivious sleep, or possessing the quality of causing sleep. Lethao: an adj. from Lethe, a word of Greek origin, implying forgetfulness or oblivion. poets feigned it to be one of the rivers of hell, the water of which the dead were said to drink after they had been in the regions below some time. It was represented as 79. Labor erit facilis Sed tamen alternis facilis labor: arida tantùm Ne saturare fimo pingui pudeat sola; neve alternis annis: 80. Tantùm ne pudeat Effatos cinerem immundum jactare per agros. te saturare sola 91. Seu ille calor magis durat terram, et 92. Ne tenues pluvia Sic quoque mutatis requiescunt fœtibus arva. penetrent altiùs; acriorve terga, quæ suscitat in NOTES. having the power of causing them to forget whatever they had done, seen, or heard before. A river in Africa of that name, which flowed under ground for some distance, and then rose to its surface, is supposed to have given rise to this extravagant fable. 79. Labor facilis. The meaning appears to be this: that the above mentioned crops may be sown every other year, notwithstanding their injurious qualities, provided the land be well manured. 80. Arida sola: dry or thirsty soils. 81. Effatos: worn out-exhausted. 82. Fætibus: in the sense of segetibus. 83. Nec nulla gratia est inarata terræ: nor, in the mean time is there no gratitude in the land untilled-left fallow every other year. The whole of this section contains a number of excellent precepts and instructions for the husbandman. In the first place, he advises the farmer to let his land rest every other year; or, if he cannot do that with convenience, then to change the crops, and to sow wheat after the several kinds which he mentions, but not to sow flax, oats, or poppies for these burn and impoverish the land. He says, notwithstanding this, they may be sown in turn, provided care be taken to recruit and enrich the land by manure. The poet concludes by observing, that if the ground be left fallow, as he at first advised, instead of being sown with any of those grains, it would not be ungrateful—it would 80 85 90 95 100 abundantly repay the farmer for this indulgence. 3. 86. Sive inde, &c. The poet here gives four reasons for the farmer's firing his lands. 1. That they might hence receive an increase of nutriment. 2. That the noxious moisture might be dried up to them. That the close and dense soil might be loosened. And 4. That the loose soil might be rendered closer. This he founds upon the principle of those philosophers who taught that fire was the universal element. 88. Vitium: the bad quality. 90. Spiramenta cæca: secret avenues, or passages, by which moisture is drawn into the new plants. 93. Penetrabile: in the sense of penetrans, penetrating-searching. Rapidi: in the sense of ardentis. 97. Et qui, &c. The poet recommends to the farmer to harrow his ground well, before he commit the seed to it; but if it be hard and obstinate, and lie up in ridges, (terga) so that it will not yield to the har row, then it will be profitable to plough it again crosswise. Proscisso æquore: in breaking up his field. Suscitat: raises upmakes. 99. Exercet, &c. He exercises his land frequently, and commands his fields. This is a metaphor taken from a general training or exercising his troop giving them commands, and dispensing discipline among them. 100. Solstitia: summers. Agricola: hyberno lætissima pulvere farra, 101. Farra sunt lætissima hyberno pulvere: ager est lætus 104. Quid dicam de 105 eo, qui 110 111. Quid dicam de illo, qui, ne culmus pro. cumbat gravidis aristis, .⚫ depascit 113. Quique deducit 115 humorem collectum instar paludis bibula arenâ Nec tamen (hæc cùm sint hominumque, boumque labores NOTES. 101. Farra: in the sense of segetes. 102. Mysia. There were two countries of this name: the one in Europe, and bounded on the north by the Danube; the other in Asia Minor, near the Propontis and Hellespont. The latter is here meant. Mysia delights herself so much in no cultivation, as in moist summers and dry winters-no culture renders her so fruitful, as to have moist, &c. 103. Gargara: neu. plu. A part of mount Ida, the country near which was much famed for its fertility. 104. Quid dicam, &c. What shall I say of him, who, the seed being sown, closely plies his fields, and breaks down the clods or ridges (cumulos) of his barren soil? For malè pinguis; Ruæus says, malè compacta; and Valpy, too rich and adhesive. Ruit: in the sense of frangit. 106. Sequentes rivos: in the sense of fluentes rivulos. 108. Ecce, elicit aquam, &c. Lo! he leads down a stream of water from the brow of a hilly tract. Estuat: is parched, or burned. 110. Scatebris: with its streams, or rills. Temperat: Ruæus says, humectat. 114. Quique deducit. The probable meaning of this passage is: that the husbandman, for the purpose of watering his fields in the dry season, should form reservoirs or ponds, by collecting into them the water that fell in the rainy season. He had already advised the plan of bringing water from the higher grounds upon his fields. But where that could not be done, he advises to substitute the reservoir or pond, as the only alter 120 121. Colendi terram native. This appears to be the opinion of Heyne. Humorem: in the sense of aquam. 115. Incertis mensibus: in the variable months-those months when the weather is most changeable. 118. Nec tamen, &c. Though the farmer be never so careful in the culture of his land, the poet reminds him not to stop there. After the crop is put into the ground, it still requires his attention. For the foul or greedy goose, the Thracian cranes, the succory, or endive, as also the shade, injure it. The two negatives, nec―nihil, amount to an affirmative. 120. Strymoniæ: an adj. from Strymon, a river in the confines of Macedonia and Thrace, where cranes abounded. 121. Pater ipse voluit: father Jupiter himself willed that the way of cultivating the earth should not be easy. He was fabled to have been the son of Saturn and Ops; and called the father of gods, and king of men. Saturn, who received the kingdom of the world from his brother Titan, on the condition of his raising no male offspring, devoured his sons as soon as they were born; but his mother, regretting that so fair a child should be destroyed, concealed him from his father, as she also did Neptune and Pluto, and intrusted him to the care of the Corybantes, or Curetes, who educated him on mount Ida, in Crete. As soon as he came to mature years, he made war against the Titans, who had made his father a prisoner. He was victorious and set him at liberty. But growing jealous of his son's power, he conspired against him; whereupon Jupiter expelled him from his kingdom, and he fled 138. Appellans Pleiadas Haud facilem esse viam voluit, primusque per artem Nec torpere gravi passus sua regna veterno. Nec signare quidem, aut partiri limite campum NOTES. for safety to Italy, where Janus was king. After this, Jupiter divided the empire of the world with his two brothers, reserving to himself the empire of heaven and earth. The Giants, the offspring of the earth, to avenge the death of the Titans, whom Jupiter slew, rebelled against him. Piling mountains, one upon another, they hoped to scale heaven itself, and attack Jupiter in person. He, however, completely vanquished them, and inflicted on them the severest punishment for their crimes. He married his sister Juno, who was very jealous of him, and sometimes very troublesome. His power was the most extensive of any of the gods. His worship was general, and surpassed that of any of the gods in dignity and solemnity. He had several celebrated oracles, but that at Dodona, in Epirus, and at Ammon, in Lybia, perhaps took the lead. He had several names, chiefly derived from the places where he was worshipped, and from his offices and functions. He was called Hospitalis, because he was the protector of strangers; Optimus, because he was the best; Maximus, because he was the greatest; Olympius, because he was worshipped at Olympia, &c. Jupiter, is sometimes put for the air, or weather. 123. Movit: in the sense of coluit. 124. Gravi veterno. Veternus, or veternum, is a disease causing a stupor both of mind and body, something like the lethargy. Torpere gravimeterno, is highly metaphorical. Veterno: in the sense of otio, vel desidia, says Ruæus. 131. Removit ignem: he removed fire from the sight of men, and concealed it in the veins of the flint. Prometheus is said to have stolen it from heaven, because it was 125 130 135 140 Decussil: he found necessary to man. shook off the honey from the leaves, i. e. he caused the honey to cease. 133. Ut usus extunderet: that experience, by observation, might find out the various arts by degrees. 134. Sulcis: by agriculture-by the plough. 136. Cavalas alnos: simply, boats; because, at first, they were made of the aldertree. 138. Pleïadas: acc. plu. of Greek termination. They are seven stars in the neck of Taurus, and are called Pleiades, from a Greek word signifying, to sail; because by their rising, they indicated the proper time to put to sea. They were sometimes called Atlantides, from Atlas, a king of Mauritania, whose daughters they were fabled to be, by the nymph Pleione. The Romans sometimes called them Vergilia. Their names were, Electra, Alcynoë, Celano, Sterope, Taygeta, Maia, and Merope. Hyadas. These are seven stars in the front of Taurus, so called from a Greek word signifying, to rain. They were fabled to have been the daughters of Allas and Ethra. Refusing consolation for the death of their brother Hyas, who was slain by a lion, Jupiter, taking pity on them, changed them into as many stars. Their names are Ambrosia, Eudoxa, Pasithoë, Cirone, Plexauris, Pytho, and Syche. Arcton. A constellation near the north pole, called the Ursa Major. Lycaon was a king of Arcadia, whose daughter Calisto, out of jealousy, was transformed by Juno into a bear; and Jupiter, for his regard to her, translated her in that form to heaven, and made her the constellation Arcton. |