s: Thick storms of steel from either army fly,


s: And clouds of clashing darts obscure the sky;


s: Brands from the fire are missive weapons made,


s: With chargers, bowls, and all the priestly trade.


s: Latinus, frighted, hastens from the fray,


s: These on their horses vault; those yoke the car;


s: The rest, with swords on high, run headlong to the war.


s: Spurr'd his hot courser thro' the fighting prease,


s: A Tuscan prince, and by his regal crown;


s: And, with a shock encount'ring, bore him down.


s: Backward he fell; and, as his fate design'd,


s: There, pitching on his shoulders and his head,


s: Amid the scatt'ring fires he lay supinely spread.


s: His cuirass pierc'd, and thro' his body drove.


s: Then, with a scornful smile, the victor cries:


s: "The gods have found a fitter sacrifice."


s: Greedy of spoils, th' Italians strip the dead


s: Of his rich armor, and uncrown his head.


s: Priest Corynaeus, arm'd his better hand,


s: From his own altar, with a blazing brand;


s: Advanc'd to battle, dash'd it on his face:


s: His bristly beard shines out with sudden fires;


s: The crackling crop a noisome scent expires.


s: Following the blow, he seiz'd his curling crown


s: With his left hand; his other cast him down.


s: The prostrate body with his knees he press'd,


s: And plung'd his holy poniard in his breast.


s: While Podalirius, with his sword, pursued


s: The shepherd Alsus thro' the flying crowd,


s: Swiftly he turns, and aims a deadly blow


s: The broad ax enters with a crashing sound,


s: And cleaves the chin with one continued wound;


s: Warm blood, and mingled brains, besmear his arms around


s: An iron sleep his stupid eyes oppress'd,


s: And seal'd their heavy lids in endless rest.


s: Bare was his head, and naked were his hands,


s: In sign of truce: then thus he cries aloud:


s: "What sudden rage, what new desire of blood,


s: Inflames your alter'd minds? O Trojans, cease


s: From impious arms, nor violate the peace!


s: The terms are all agreed; the war is mine.


s: Dismiss your fears, and let the fight ensue;


s: This hand alone shall right the gods and you:


s: Our injur'd altars, and their broken vow,


s: To this avenging sword the faithless Turnus owe."


s: Thus while he spoke, unmindful of defense,


s: But, whether from some human hand it came,


s: Or hostile god, is left unknown by fame:


s: To boast the triumph of so base a wound.


s: When Turnus saw the Trojan quit the plain,


s: His chiefs dismay'd, his troops a fainting train,


s: Th' unhop'd event his heighten'd soul inspires:


s: At once his arms and coursers he requires;


s: Then, with a leap, his lofty chariot gains,


s: And with a ready hand assumes the reins.


s: He drives impetuous, and, where'er he goes,


s: He leaves behind a lane of slaughter'd foes.


s: These his lance reaches; over those he rolls


s: His rapid car, and crushes out their souls:


s: In vain the vanquish'd fly; the victor sends


s: The dead men's weapons at their living friends.


s: Thus, on the banks of Hebrus' freezing flood,


s: Clashing his sword against his brazen shield,


s: Let loose the reins, and scours along the field:


s: Groans the sad earth, resounds the rattling sky.


s: (Dire faces, and deform'd) surround the car;


s: Friends of the god, and followers of the war.


s: His smoking horses, at their utmost speed,


s: Their fetlocks run with blood; and, when they bound,


s: The gore and gath'ring dust are dash'd around.


s: Thamyris and Pholus, masters of the war,


s: Both taught to fight on foot, in battle join'd,


s: Or mount the courser that outstrips the wind.


s: Meantime Eumedes, vaunting in the field,


s: New fir'd the Trojans, and their foes repell'd.


s: This son of Dolon bore his grandsire's name,


s: His guileful father, sent a nightly spy,


s: Hard enterprise! and well he might require


s: But, met upon the scout, th' Aetolian prince


s: Fierce Turnus view'd the Trojan from afar,


s: And launch'd his jav'lin from his lofty car;


s: Then lightly leaping down, pursued the blow,


s: And, pressing with his foot his prostrate foe,


s: Wrench'd from his feeble hold the shining sword,


s: And plung'd it in the bosom of its lord.


s: "Possess," said he, "the fruit of all thy pains,


s: And measure, at thy length, our Latian plains.


s: Thus may they build their town, and thus enjoy the land!"


s: Whom o'er his neck his flound'ring courser threw.


s: As when loud Boreas, with his blust'ring train,


s: Stoops from above, incumbent on the main;


s: Where'er he flies, he drives the rack before,


s: And rolls the billows on th' Aegaean shore:


s: So, where resistless Turnus takes his course,


s: The scatter'd squadrons bend before his force;


s: His crest of horses' hair is blown behind


s: By adverse air, and rustles in the wind.


s: This haughty Phegeus saw with high disdain,


s: And, as the chariot roll'd along the plain,


s: Light from the ground he leapt, and seiz'd the rein.


s: Thus hung in air, he still retain'd his hold,


s: The coursers frighted, and their course controll'd.


s: The lance of Turnus reach'd him as he hung,


s: And pierc'd his plated arms, but pass'd along,


s: And only raz'd the skin. He turn'd, and held


s: Against his threat'ning foe his ample shield;


s: Then call'd for aid: but, while he cried in vain,


s: The chariot bore him backward on the plain.


s: He lies revers'd; the victor king descends,


s: And strikes so justly where his helmet ends,


s: He lops the head. The Latian fields are drunk


s: With streams that issue from the bleeding trunk.


s: While he triumphs, and while the Trojans yield,


s: The wounded prince is forc'd to leave the field:


s: Strong Mnestheus, and Achates often tried,


s: And young Ascanius, weeping by his side,


s: Conduct him to his tent. Scarce can he rear


s: His limbs from earth, supported on his spear.


s: Resolv'd in mind, regardless of the smart,


s: He tugs with both his hands, and breaks the dart.


s: The steel remains. No readier way he found


s: To draw the weapon, than t' inlarge the wound.


s: He begs; and his unwilling friends obey.


s: Whose blooming youth so fir'd Apollo's heart,


s: That, for his love, he proffer'd to bestow


s: The pious youth, more studious how to save


s: His aged sire, now sinking to the grave,


s: Preferr'd the pow'r of plants, and silent praise


s: Propp'd on his lance the pensive hero stood,


s: And heard and saw, unmov'd, the mourning crowd.


s: The fam'd physician tucks his robes around


s: With ready hands, and hastens to the wound.


s: With gentle touches he performs his part,


s: All soft'ning simples, known of sov'reign use,


s: He presses out, and pours their noble juice.


s: These first infus'd, to lenify the pain,


s: He tugs with pincers, but he tugs in vain.


s: Then to the patron of his art he pray'd:


s: Meantime the war approaches to the tents;


s: Th' alarm grows hotter, and the noise augments:


s: The driving dust proclaims the danger near;


s: And first their friends, and then their foes appear:


s: Their friends retreat; their foes pursue the rear.


s: The camp is fill'd with terror and affright:


s: The hissing shafts within the trench alight;


s: An undistinguish'd noise ascends the sky,


s: The shouts those who kill, and groans of those who die.


s: But now the goddess mother, mov'd with grief,


s: And pierc'd with pity, hastens her relief.


s: A branch of healing dittany she brought,


s: Which in the Cretan fields with care she sought:


s: Rough is the stern, which woolly leafs surround;


s: The leafs with flow'rs, the flow'rs with purple crown'd,


s: Well known to wounded goats; a sure relief


s: To draw the pointed steel, and ease the grief.


s: This Venus brings, in clouds involv'd, and brews


s: Th' extracted liquor with ambrosian dews,


s: Temp'ring the mixture with her heav'nly hands,


s: With juice of med'c'nal herbs prepar'd to bathe the wound.


s: Which aids the cure, with this foments the part;


s: And in a moment ceas'd the raging smart.


s: Stanch'd is the blood, and in the bottom stands:


s: The steel, but scarcely touch'd with tender hands,


s: Moves up, and follows of its own accord,


s: And health and vigor are at once restor'd.


s: Iapis first perceiv'd the closing wound,


s: And first the footsteps of a god he found.


s: "Arms! arms!" he cries; "the sword and shield prepare,


s: And send the willing chief, renew'd, to war.


s: This is no mortal work, no cure of mine,


s: Nor art's effect, but done by hands divine.


s: Some god our general to the battle sends;


s: Some god preserves his life for greater ends."


s: The hero arms in haste; his hands infold


s: His thighs with cuishes of refulgent gold:


s: Inflam'd to fight, and rushing to the field,


s: That hand sustaining the celestial shield,


s: This gripes the lance, and with such vigor shakes,


s: That to the rest the beamy weapon quakes.


s: Then with a close embrace he strain'd his son,


s: And, kissing thro' his helmet, thus begun:


s: In camps to suffer, and in fields to dare;


s: But happier chance than mine attend thy care!


s: This day my hand thy tender age shall shield,


s: And crown with honors of the conquer'd field:


s: Thou, when thy riper years shall send thee forth


s: To toils of war, be mindful of my worth;


s: Assert thy birthright, and in arms be known,


s: He said; and, striding, issued on the plain.


s: Anteus and Mnestheus, and a num'rous train,


s: Attend his steps; the rest their weapons take,


s: And, crowding to the field, the camp forsake.


s: A cloud of blinding dust is rais'd around,


s: Labors beneath their feet the trembling ground.


s: With him the Latins view'd the cover'd plains,


s: And the chill blood ran backward in their veins.


s: Juturna saw th' advancing troops appear,


s: And heard the hostile sound, and fled for fear.


s: Aeneas leads; and draws a sweeping train,


s: Clos'd in their ranks, and pouring on the plain.


s: As when a whirlwind, rushing to the shore


s: From the mid ocean, drives the waves before;


s: The painful hind with heavy heart foresees


s: The flatted fields, and slaughter of the trees;


s: With like impetuous rage the prince appears


s: Before his doubled front, nor less destruction bears.


s: And now both armies shock in open field;


s: (All fam'd in arms, and of the Latian train)


s: By Gyas', Mnestheus', and Achates' hand.


s: The truce was broken, and whose lance, embrued


s: With Trojan blood, th' unhappy fight renew'd.


s: Loud shouts and clamors rend the liquid sky,


s: And o'er the field the frighted Latins fly.


s: Nor moves to meet in arms the fighting few;


s: He seeks, and to the combat calls in vain.


s: Juturna heard, and, seiz'd with mortal fear,


s: Forc'd from the beam her brother's charioteer;


s: Assumes his shape, his armor, and his mien,


s: And, like Metiscus, in his seat is seen.


s: As the black swallow near the palace plies;


s: O'er empty courts, and under arches, flies;


s: Now hawks aloft, now skims along the flood,


s: To furnish her loquacious nest with food:


s: So drives the rapid goddess o'er the plains;


s: The smoking horses run with loosen'd reins.


s: She steers a various course among the foes;


s: Now here, now there, her conqu'ring brother shows;


s: Now with a straight, now with a wheeling flight,


s: She turns, and bends, but shuns the single fight.


s: Aeneas, fir'd with fury, breaks the crowd,


s: And seeks his foe, and calls by name aloud:


s: He runs within a narrower ring, and tries


s: To stop the chariot; but the chariot flies.


s: If he but gain a glimpse, Juturna fears,


s: What should he do! Nor arts nor arms avail;


s: And various cares in vain his mind assail.


s: The great Messapus, thund'ring thro' the field,


s: In his left hand two pointed jav'lins held:


s: Encount'ring on the prince, one dart he drew,


s: And with unerring aim and utmost vigor threw.


s: Beneath his buckler, shunn'd the threat'ning blow.


s: The weapon hiss'd above his head, and tore


s: The waving plume which on his helm he wore.


s: Forced by this hostile act, and fir'd with spite,


s: That flying Turnus still declin'd the fight,


s: The Prince, whose piety had long repell'd


s: His inborn ardor, now invades the field;


s: Their rites and injur'd altars to redress;


s: With blood and slaughter'd bodies fills the plain.


s: What god can tell, what numbers can display,


s: What chiefs and champions fell on either side,


s: In combat slain, or by what deaths they died;


s: Whom Turnus, whom the Trojan hero kill'd;


s: Who shar'd the fame and fortune of the field!


s: Jove, could'st thou view, and not avert thy sight,


s: Two jarring nations join'd in cruel fight,


s: Whom leagues of lasting love so shortly shall unite!


s: Whose valor made the Trojans quit their ground;


s: Betwixt his ribs the jav'lin drove so just,


s: It reach'd his heart, nor needs a second thrust.


s: Now Turnus, at two blows, two brethren slew;


s: First from his horse fierce Amycus he threw:


s: Then, leaping on the ground, on foot assail'd


s: Their lifeless trunks he leaves upon the place;


s: Their heads, distilling gore, his chariot grace.


s: Three cold on earth the Trojan hero threw,


s: Whom without respite at one charge he slew:


s: Cethegus, Tanais, Tagus, fell oppress'd,


s: Turnus two brothers from the Lycian shore,


s: O'erthrew; nor Phoebus could their fate prevent.


s: Peaceful Menoetes after these he kill'd,


s: Who long had shunn'd the dangers of the field:


s: And with his nets and angle earn'd his bread;


s: Nor pompous cares, nor palaces, he knew,


s: But wisely from th' infectious world withdrew:


s: Poor was his house; his father's painful hand


s: Discharg'd his rent, and plow'd another's land.


s: As flames among the lofty woods are thrown


s: On diff'rent sides, and both by winds are blown;


s: The laurels crackle in the sputt'ring fire;


s: The frighted sylvans from their shades retire:


s: Or as two neighb'ring torrents fall from high;


s: And down the rocks precipitate their course:


s: Not with less rage the rival heroes take


s: Their diff'rent ways, nor less destruction make.


s: With spears afar, with swords at hand, they strike;


s: And zeal of slaughter fires their souls alike.


s: Like them, their dauntless men maintain the field;


s: And hearts are pierc'd, unknowing how to yield:


s: They blow for blow return, and wound for wound;


s: And heaps of bodies raise the level ground.


s: Murranus, boasting of his blood, that springs


s: Is by the Trojan from his chariot thrown,


s: Crush'd with the weight of an unwieldy stone:


s: Betwixt the wheels he fell; the wheels, that bore


s: His starting steeds, to shun the glitt'ring sword,


s: Paw down his trampled limbs, forgetful of their lord.


s: Fierce Hyllus threaten'd high, and, face to face,


s: The prince encounter'd him in full career,


s: And at his temples aim'd the deadly spear;


s: That thro' his helm it pierc'd his head.


s: Nor, Cisseus, couldst thou scape from Turnus' hand,


s: In vain the strongest of th' Arcadian band:


s: Which to his naked heart pursued the course;


s: Nor could his plated shield sustain the force.


s: Iolas fell, whom not the Grecian pow'rs,


s: Nor great subverter of the Trojan tow'rs,


s: Were doom'd to kill, while Heav'n prolong'd his date;


s: But who can pass the bounds, prefix'd by fate?


s: Two palaces, and was from each expell'd:


s: A little spot of foreign earth contains.


s: And now both hosts their broken troops unite


s: In equal ranks, and mix in mortal fight.


s: The Latin squadrons, and to battle leads.


s: They strike, they push, they throng the scanty space,


s: Resolv'd on death, impatient of disgrace;


s: And, where one falls, another fills his place.


s: The Cyprian goddess now inspires her son


s: To leave th' unfinish'd fight, and storm the town:


s: For, while he rolls his eyes around the plain


s: In quest of Turnus, whom he seeks in vain,


s: To dare beyond the task he first design'd.


s: Resolv'd, he calls his chiefs; they leave the fight:


s: Attended thus, he takes a neighb'ring height;


s: The crowding troops about their gen'ral stand,


s: All under arms, and wait his high command.


s: Then thus the lofty prince: "Hear and obey,


s: Ye Trojan bands, without the least delay


s: Jove is with us; and what I have decreed


s: Requires our utmost vigor, and our speed.


s: Your instant arms against the town prepare,


s: The source of mischief, and the seat of war.


s: This day the Latian tow'rs, that mate the sky,


s: Shall level with the plain in ashes lie:


s: The people shall be slaves, unless in time


s: They kneel for pardon, and repent their crime.


s: Twice have our foes been vanquish'd on the plain:


s: Then shall I wait till Turnus will be slain?


s: Your force against the perjur'd city bend.


s: There it began, and there the war shall end.


s: The peace profan'd our rightful arms requires;


s: Cleanse the polluted place with purging fires."


s: He finish'd; and, one soul inspiring all,


s: Form'd in a wedge, the foot approach the wall.


s: Some firebrands, others scaling ladders bear,


s: And those they toss aloft, and these they rear:


s: The flames now launch'd, the feather'd arrows fly,


s: And clouds of missive arms obscure the sky.


s: Advancing to the front, the hero stands,


s: And, stretching out to heav'n his pious hands,


s: Attests the gods, asserts his innocence,


s: Upbraids with breach of faith th' Ausonian prince;


s: Declares the royal honor doubly stain'd,


s: And twice the rites of holy peace profan'd.


s: Each will be heard, and all at once advise.


s: One part for peace, and one for war contends;


s: Some would exclude their foes, and some admit their friends.


s: The helpless king is hurried in the throng,


s: And, whate'er tide prevails, is borne along.


s: Thus, when the swain, within a hollow rock,


s: Invades the bees with suffocating smoke,


s: They run around, or labor on their wings,


s: Disus'd to flight, and shoot their sleepy stings;


s: To shun the bitter fumes in vain they try;


s: Black vapors, issuing from the vent, involve the sky.


s: But fate and envious fortune now prepare


s: To plunge the Latins in the last despair.


s: The queen, who saw the foes invade the town,


s: And brands on tops of burning houses thrown,


s: Cast round her eyes, distracted with her fear-


s: No troops of Turnus in the field appear.


s: Once more she stares abroad, but still in vain,


s: And then concludes the royal youth is slain.


s: The mighty grief, she loathes the vital air.


s: She calls herself the cause of all this ill,


s: And owns the dire effects of her ungovern'd will;


s: She raves against the gods; she beats her breast;


s: She tears with both her hands her purple vest:


s: Then round a beam a running noose she tied,


s: And, fasten'd by the neck, obscenely died.


s: Soon as the fatal news by Fame was blown,


s: And to her dames and to her daughter known,


s: And rosy cheeks; the rest her sorrow share:


s: With shrieks the palace rings, and madness of despair.


s: The spreading rumor fills the public place:


s: Confusion, fear, distraction, and disgrace,


s: And silent shame, are seen in ev'ry face.


s: Both for his public and his private woes;


s: With filth his venerable beard besmears,


s: And sordid dust deforms his silver hairs.


s: And much he blames the softness of his mind,


s: And soon seduc'd to change what he so well design'd;


s: To break the solemn league so long desir'd,


s: Nor finish what his fates, and those of Troy, requir'd.


s: Now Turnus rolls aloof o'er empty plains,


s: And here and there some straggling foes he gleans.


s: His flying coursers please him less and less,


s: Asham'd of easy fight and cheap success.


s: Thus half-contented, anxious in his mind,


s: The distant cries come driving in the wind,


s: Shouts from the walls, but shouts in murmurs drown'd;


s: "Alas!" said he, "what mean these dismal cries?


s: What doleful clamors from the town arise?"


s: Confus'd, he stops, and backward pulls the reins.


s: She who the driver's office now sustains,


s: Replies: "Neglect, my lord, these new alarms;


s: Here fight, and urge the fortune of your arms:


s: There want not others to defend the wall.


s: If by your rival's hand th' Italians fall,


s: So shall your fatal sword his friends oppress,


s: To this, the prince: "O sister- for I knew


s: The peace infring'd proceeded first from you;


s: I knew you, when you mingled first in fight;


s: And now in vain you would deceive my sight-


s: Who sent you down from heav'n, involv'd in air,


s: Your share of mortal sorrows to sustain,


s: And see your brother bleeding on the plain?


s: For to what pow'r can Turnus have recourse,


s: Or how resist his fate's prevailing force?


s: These eyes beheld Murranus bite the ground:


s: Mighty the man, and mighty was the wound.


s: I heard my dearest friend, with dying breath,


s: Brave Ufens fell with honor on the place,


s: To shun the shameful sight of my disgrace.


s: On earth supine, a manly corpse he lies;


s: His vest and armor are the victor's prize.


s: Which only wanted, to complete my shame?


s: How will the Latins hoot their champion's flight!


s: How Drances will insult and point them to the sight!


s: Is death so hard to bear? Ye gods below,


s: (Since those above so small compassion show,)


s: Receive a soul unsullied yet with shame,


s: Which not belies my great forefather's name!"


s: He said; and while he spoke, with flying speed


s: Fix'd on his wounded face a shaft he bore,


s: And, seeking Turnus, sent his voice before:


s: Our last relief: compassionate your friends!


s: Like lightning, fierce Aeneas, rolling on,


s: With arms invests, with flames invades the town:


s: The brands are toss'd on high; the winds conspire


s: All eyes are fix'd on you: your foes rejoice;


s: Ev'n the king staggers, and suspends his choice;


s: Whom to reject, or whom to call his son.


s: The queen, on whom your utmost hopes were plac'd,


s: Herself suborning death, has breath'd her last.


s: 'T is true, Messapus, fearless of his fate,


s: With fierce Atinas' aid, defends the gate:


s: The more they kill, the greater numbers grow;


s: An iron harvest mounts, and still remains to mow.


s: You, far aloof from your forsaken bands,


s: Stupid he sate, his eyes on earth declin'd,


s: And various cares revolving in his mind:


s: Rage, boiling from the bottom of his breast,


s: And sorrow mix'd with shame, his soul oppress'd;


s: And conscious worth lay lab'ring in his thought,


s: And love by jealousy to madness wrought.


s: The mists of passion, and resum'd her sway.


s: Then, rising on his car, he turn'd his look,


s: And saw the town involv'd in fire and smoke.


s: A wooden tow'r with flames already blaz'd,


s: Which his own hands on beams and rafters rais'd;


s: And bridges laid above to join the space,


s: And wheels below to roll from place to place.


s: "Sister, the Fates have vanquish'd: let us go


s: The way which Heav'n and my hard fortune show.


s: The fight is fix'd; nor shall the branded name


s: Of a base coward blot your brother's fame.


s: Death is my choice; but suffer me to try


s: My force, and vent my rage before I die."


s: He said; and, leaping down without delay,


s: Thro' crowds of scatter'd foes he freed his way.


s: Striding he pass'd, impetuous as the wind,


s: And left the grieving goddess far behind.


s: As when a fragment, from a mountain torn


s: By raging tempests, or by torrents borne,


s: Or sapp'd by time, or loosen'd from the roots-


s: Prone thro' the void the rocky ruin shoots,


s: Rolling from crag to crag, from steep to steep;


s: Down sink, at once, the shepherds and their sheep:


s: Involv'd alike, they rush to nether ground;


s: Stunn'd with the shock they fall, and stunn'd from earth rebound:


s: Should'ring and shoving, bore the squadrons down.


s: Still pressing onward, to the walls he drew,


s: Where shafts, and spears, and darts promiscuous flew,


s: And sanguine streams the slipp'ry ground embrue.


s: First stretching out his arm, in sign of peace,


s: He cries aloud, to make the combat cease:


s: "Rutulians, hold; and Latin troops, retire!


s: The fight is mine; and me the gods require.


s: 'T is just that I should vindicate alone


s: The broken truce, or for the breach atone.


s: This day shall free from wars th' Ausonian state,


s: Both armies from their bloody work desist,


s: And, bearing backward, form a spacious list.


s: The welcome sound, and heard the champion's name,


s: Soon leaves the taken works and mounted walls,


s: Greedy of war where greater glory calls.


s: He springs to fight, exulting in his force


s: His jointed armor rattles in the course.


s: Like Eryx, or like Athos, great he shows,


s: Or Father Apennine, when, white with snows,


s: His head divine obscure in clouds he hides,


s: And shakes the sounding forest on his sides.


s: The nations, overaw'd, surcease the fight;


s: Immovable their bodies, fix'd their sight.


s: Ev'n death stands still; nor from above they throw


s: Their darts, nor drive their batt'ring-rams below.


s: And drop their swords, unknowing, from their hands.


s: Th' Ausonian king beholds, with wond'ring sight,


s: Two mighty champions match'd in single fight,


s: Born under climes remote, and brought by fate,


s: With swords to try their titles to the state.


s: Now, in clos'd field, each other from afar


s: They view; and, rushing on, begin the war.


s: They launch their spears; then hand to hand they meet;


s: The trembling soil resounds beneath their feet:


s: Their bucklers clash; thick blows descend from high,


s: And flakes of fire from their hard helmets fly.


s: Courage conspires with chance, and both ingage


s: With equal fortune yet, and mutual rage.


s: As when two bulls for their fair female fight


s: In Sila's shades, or on Taburnus' height;


s: With horns adverse they meet; the keeper flies;


s: Mute stands the herd; the heifers roll their eyes,


s: And wait th' event; which victor they shall bear,


s: And who shall be the lord, to rule the lusty year:


s: With rage of love the jealous rivals burn,


s: And push for push, and wound for wound return;


s: Their dewlaps gor'd, their sides are lav'd in blood;


s: Loud cries and roaring sounds rebellow thro' the wood:


s: Such was the combat in the listed ground;


s: So clash their swords, and so their shields resound.


s: Jove sets the beam; in either scale he lays


s: The champions' fate, and each exactly weighs.


s: On this side, life and lucky chance ascends;


s: Loaded with death, that other scale descends.


s: Rais'd on the stretch, young Turnus aims a blow


s: Shrill shouts and clamors ring on either side,


s: As hopes and fears their panting hearts divide.


s: But all in pieces flies the traitor sword,


s: And, in the middle stroke, deserts his lord.


s: Now is but death, or flight; disarm'd he flies,


s: When in his hand an unknown hilt he spies.


s: Fame says that Turnus, when his steeds he join'd,


s: Hurrying to war, disorder'd in his mind,


s: Snatch'd the first weapon which his haste could find.


s: 'T was not the fated sword his father bore,


s: This, while the Trojans fled, the toughness held;


s: But, vain against the great Vulcanian shield,


s: The mortal-temper'd steel deceiv'd his hand:


s: The shiver'd fragments shone amid the sand.


s: Surpris'd with fear, he fled along the field,


s: And now forthright, and now in orbits wheel'd;


s: For here the Trojan troops the list surround,


s: And there the pass is clos'd with pools and marshy ground.


s: And oft his trembling knees their aid refuse-


s: Yet, pressing foot by foot, his foe pursues.


s: Thus, when a fearful stag is clos'd around


s: With crimson toils, or in a river found,


s: High on the bank the deep-mouth'd hound appears,


s: Still opening, following still, where'er he steers;


s: Turns here and there, to scape his Umbrian foe:


s: Steep is th' ascent, and, if he gains the land,


s: The purple death is pitch'd along the strand.


s: Stretch'd at his length, gains ground at ev'ry pace;


s: And now he holds, or thinks he holds, his prey:


s: Just at the pinch, the stag springs out with fear;


s: He bites the wind, and fills his sounding jaws with air:


s: The rocks, the lakes, the meadows ring with cries;


s: The mortal tumult mounts, and thunders in the skies.


s: Thus flies the Daunian prince, and, flying, blames


s: Demands his trusty sword. The Trojan threats


s: The realm with ruin, and their ancient seats


s: Thus menacing, he still pursues the course,


s: With vigor, tho' diminish'd of his force.


s: Ten times already round the listed place


s: One chief had fled, and t' other giv'n the chase:


s: No trivial prize is play'd; for on the life


s: Or death of Turnus now depends the strife.


s: Within the space, an olive tree had stood,


s: For vows to Faunus paid, the Latins' guardian god.


s: Here hung the vests, and tablets were ingrav'd,


s: Of sinking mariners from shipwrack sav'd.


s: With heedless hands the Trojans fell'd the tree,


s: To make the ground inclos'd for combat free.


s: Deep in the root, whether by fate, or chance,


s: Or erring haste, the Trojan drove his lance;


s: Then stoop'd, and tugg'd with force immense, to free


s: Th' incumber'd spear from the tenacious tree;


s: That, whom his fainting limbs pursued in vain,


s: His flying weapon might from far attain.


s: Confus'd with fear, bereft of human aid,


s: Then Turnus to the gods, and first to Faunus pray'd:


s: Where I thy foster son receiv'd my birth,


s: Hold fast the steel! If my religious hand


s: Your plant has honor'd, which your foes profan'd,


s: Propitious hear my pious pray'r!" He said,


s: Nor with successless vows invok'd their aid.


s: Th' incumbent hero wrench'd, and pull'd, and strain'd;


s: But still the stubborn earth the steel detain'd.


s: Juturna took her time; and, while in vain


s: To the despairing prince his Daunian sword.


s: The Queen of Love, who, with disdain and grief,


s: Saw the bold nymph afford this prompt relief,


s: T' assert her offspring with a greater deed,


s: From the tough root the ling'ring weapon freed.


s: Once more erect, the rival chiefs advance:


s: One trusts the sword, and one the pointed lance;


s: And both resolv'd alike to try their fatal chance.


s: Who from a shining cloud beheld the shock:


s: "What new arrest, O Queen of Heav'n, is sent


s: To stop the Fates now lab'ring in th' event?


s: What farther hopes are left thee to pursue?


s: Divine Aeneas, (and thou know'st it too,)


s: Foredoom'd, to these celestial seats are due.


s: What more attempts for Turnus can be made,


s: That thus thou ling'rest in this lonely shade?


s: Patient of human hands and earthly steel?


s: Or seems it just, the sister should restore


s: A second sword, when one was lost before,


s: And arm a conquer'd wretch against his conqueror?


s: For what, without thy knowledge and avow,


s: Nay more, thy dictate, durst Juturna do?


s: At last, in deference to my love, forbear


s: To lodge within thy soul this anxious care;


s: Reclin'd upon my breast, thy grief unload:


s: Who should relieve the goddess, but the god?


s: Now all things to their utmost issue tend,


s: While leave was giv'n thee, and a lawful hour


s: For vengeance, wrath, and unresisted pow'r,


s: Toss'd on the seas, thou couldst thy foes distress,


s: And, driv'n ashore, with hostile arms oppress;


s: Deform the royal house; and, from the side


s: Of the just bridegroom, tear the plighted bride:


s: Now cease at my command." The Thund'rer said;


s: And, with dejected eyes, this answer Juno made:


s: "Because your dread decree too well I knew,


s: From Turnus and from earth unwilling I withdrew.


s: Else should you not behold me here, alone,


s: Involv'd in empty clouds, my friends bemoan,


s: But, girt with vengeful flames, in open sight


s: Engag'd against my foes in mortal fight.


s: 'T is true, Juturna mingled in the strife


s: By my command, to save her brother's life-


s: At least to try; but, by the Stygian lake,


s: (The most religious oath the gods can take,)


s: With this restriction, not to bend the bow,


s: Or toss the spear, or trembling dart to throw.


s: And now, resign'd to your superior might,


s: And tir'd with fruitless toils, I loathe the fight.


s: This let me beg (and this no fates withstand)


s: Both for myself and for your father's land,


s: That, when the nuptial bed shall bind the peace,


s: (Which I, since you ordain, consent to bless,)


s: But let the Latins still retain their name,


s: Speak the same language which they spoke before,


s: Wear the same habits which their grandsires wore.


s: Call them not Trojans: perish the renown


s: And name of Troy, with that detested town.


s: Then thus the founder of mankind replies


s: (Unruffled was his front, serene his eyes)


s: "Can Saturn's issue, and heav'n's other heir,


s: Be mistress, and your full desires obtain;


s: But quench the choler you foment in vain.


s: From ancient blood th' Ausonian people sprung,


s: Shall keep their name, their habit, and their tongue.


s: The Trojans to their customs shall be tied:


s: I will, myself, their common rites provide;


s: The natives shall command, the foreigners subside.


s: All shall be Latium; Troy without a name;


s: And her lost sons forget from whence they came.


s: From blood so mix'd, a pious race shall flow,


s: No nation more respect to you shall pay,


s: Or greater off'rings on your altars lay."


s: Juno consents, well pleas'd that her desires


s: Had found success, and from the cloud retires.


s: The peace thus made, the Thund'rer next prepares


s: To force the wat'ry goddess from the wars.


s: Deep in the dismal regions void of light,


s: Three daughters at a birth were born to Night:


s: These their brown mother, brooding on her care,


s: With serpents girt alike, and crown'd with hissing hair.


s: In heav'n the Dirae call'd, and still at hand,


s: Before the throne of angry Jove they stand,


s: The minds of mortal men with fears to fill,


s: Whene'er the moody sire, to wreak his hate


s: On realms or towns deserving of their fate,


s: Hurls down diseases, death and deadly care,


s: And terrifies the guilty world with war.


s: One sister plague if these from heav'n he sent,


s: The pest comes whirling down: by far more slow


s: Springs the swift arrow from the Parthian bow,


s: Or Cydon yew, when, traversing the skies,


s: And drench'd in pois'nous juice, the sure destruction flies.


s: Shot thro' the clouds the daughter of the night.


s: Soon as the field inclos'd she had in view,


s: Contracted, to the boding bird she turns,


s: Which haunts the ruin'd piles and hallow'd urns,


s: And beats about the tombs with nightly wings,


s: Where songs obscene on sepulchers she sings.


s: Thus lessen'd in her form, with frightful cries


s: Flaps on his shield, and flutters o'er his eyes.


s: Chok'd was his voice; his hair with horror stood.


s: And knew th' ill omen, by her screaming cry


s: And stridor of her wings. Amaz'd with fear,


s: Her beauteous breast she beat, and rent her flowing hair.


s: "Ah me!" she cries, "in this unequal strife


s: What can thy sister more to save thy life?


s: Now, now, I quit the field! forbear to fright


s: My tender soul, ye baleful birds of night;


s: The lashing of your wings I know too well,


s: The sounding flight, and fun'ral screams of hell!


s: These are the gifts you bring from haughty Jove,


s: Did he for this exempt my life from fate?


s: Tho' born to death, not privileg'd to die,


s: Take back your envious bribes, and let me go


s: The joys are vanish'd: nothing now remains,


s: What earth will open her devouring womb,


s: She drew a length of sighs; nor more she said,


s: But in her azure mantle wrapp'd her head,


s: Then plung'd into her stream, with deep despair,


s: And her last sobs came bubbling up in air.


s: Against his foe, and thus upbraids his fear:


s: "What farther subterfuge can Turnus find?


s: What empty hopes are harbor'd in his mind?


s: 'T is not thy swiftness can secure thy flight;


s: Not with their feet, but hands, the valiant fight.


s: Vary thy shape in thousand forms, and dare


s: What skill and courage can attempt in war;


s: Wish for the wings of winds, to mount the sky;


s: Or hid, within the hollow earth to lie!"


s: The champion shook his head, and made this short reply:


s: "No threats of thine my manly mind can move;


s: 'T is hostile heav'n I dread, and partial Jove."


s: He said no more, but, with a sigh, repress'd


s: The mighty sorrow in his swelling breast.


s: Then, as he roll'd his troubled eyes around,


s: An antique stone he saw, the common bound


s: Of neighb'ring fields, and barrier of the ground;


s: So vast, that twelve strong men of modern days


s: Th' enormous weight from earth could hardly raise.


s: He heav'd it at a lift, and, pois'd on high,


s: But so disorder'd, that he scarcely knew


s: His way, or what unwieldly weight he threw.


s: His knocking knees are bent beneath the load,


s: And shiv'ring cold congeals his vital blood.


s: The stone drops from his arms, and, falling short


s: For want of vigor, mocks his vain effort.


s: And as, when heavy sleep has clos'd the sight,


s: We seem to run; and, destitute of force,


s: Our sinking limbs forsake us in the course:


s: In vain we heave for breath; in vain we cry;


s: The nerves, unbrac'd, their usual strength deny;


s: And on the tongue the falt'ring accents die:


s: So Turnus far'd; whatever means he tried,


s: All force of arms and points of art employ'd,


s: The Fury flew athwart, and made th' endeavor void.


s: A thousand various thoughts his soul confound;


s: He star'd about, nor aid nor issue found;


s: His own men stop the pass, and his own walls surround.


s: Once more he pauses, and looks out again,


s: And seeks the goddess charioteer in vain.


s: Trembling he views the thund'ring chief advance,


s: Amaz'd he cow'rs beneath his conqu'ring foe,


s: Forgets to ward, and waits the coming blow.


s: Astonish'd while he stands, and fix'd with fear,


s: Aim'd at his shield he sees th' impending spear.


s: The hero measur'd first, with narrow view,


s: The destin'd mark; and, rising as he threw,


s: With its full swing the fatal weapon flew.


s: Not with less rage the rattling thunder falls,


s: Or stones from batt'ring-engines break the walls:


s: Swift as a whirlwind, from an arm so strong,


s: The lance drove on, and bore the death along.


s: Naught could his sev'nfold shield the prince avail,


s: Nor aught, beneath his arms, the coat of mail:


s: It pierc'd thro' all, and with a grisly wound


s: Transfix'd his thigh, and doubled him to ground.


s: With groans the Latins rend the vaulted sky:


s: Woods, hills, and valleys, to the voice reply.


s: Now low on earth the lofty chief is laid,


s: With eyes cast upward, and with arms display'd,


s: And, recreant, thus to the proud victor pray'd:


s: "I know my death deserv'd, nor hope to live:


s: Use what the gods and thy good fortune give.


s: Yet think, O think, if mercy may be shown-


s: Thou hadst a father once, and hast a son-


s: Or, if thy vow'd revenge pursue my death,


s: Give to my friends my body void of breath!


s: The Latian chiefs have seen me beg my life;


s: Thine is the conquest, thine the royal wife:


s: Against a yielded man, 't is mean ignoble strife."


s: In deep suspense the Trojan seem'd to stand,


s: And, just prepar'd to strike, repress'd his hand.


s: He roll'd his eyes, and ev'ry moment felt


s: His manly soul with more compassion melt;


s: When, casting down a casual glance, he spied


s: The golden belt that glitter'd on his side,


s: The fatal spoils which haughty Turnus tore


s: Then, rous'd anew to wrath, he loudly cries


s: (Flames, while he spoke, came flashing from his eyes)


s: "Traitor, dost thou, dost thou to grace pretend,


s: Clad, as thou art, in trophies of my friend?


s: 'T is Pallas, Pallas gives this deadly blow."


s: He rais'd his arm aloft, and, at the word,


s: Deep in his bosom drove the shining sword.


s: The streaming blood distain'd his arms around,


s: And the disdainful soul came rushing thro' the wound.


s: You, Tityrus, 'neath a broad beech-canopy


s: Your silvan ditties: I from my sweet fields,


s: And home's familiar bounds, even now depart.


s: Exiled from home am I; while, Tityrus, you


s: Sit careless in the shade, and, at your call,


s: Deem ever, and from my folds a tender lamb


s: Oft with its life-blood shall his altar stain.


s: His gift it is that, as your eyes may see,


s: Play on my shepherd's pipe what songs I will.


s: I grudge you not the boon, but marvel more,


s: Such wide confusion fills the country-side.


s: See, sick at heart I drive my she-goats on,


s: And this one, O my Tityrus, scarce can lead:


s: She dropped her new-yeaned twins on the bare flint,


s: Hope of the flock- an ill, I mind me well,


s: Which many a time, but for my blinded sense,


s: The thunder-stricken oak foretold, oft too


s: From hollow trunk the raven's ominous cry.


s: But who this god of yours? Come, Tityrus, tell.


s: I, simpleton, deemed like this town of ours,


s: Whereto we shepherds oft are wont to drive


s: The younglings of the flock: so too I knew


s: Whelps to resemble dogs, and kids their dams,


s: Comparing small with great; but this as far


s: And what so potent cause took you to Rome?


s: Freedom, which, though belated, cast at length


s: Her eyes upon the sluggard, when my beard


s: 'Gan whiter fall beneath the barber's blade-


s: Cast eyes, I say, and, though long tarrying, came,


s: No hope of freedom, and no thought to save.


s: Though many a victim from my folds went forth,


s: Or rich cheese pressed for the unthankful town,


s: You cried to heaven so sadly, and for whom


s: You left the apples hanging on the trees;


s: The very vineyards, cried aloud for you.


s: What could I do? how else from bonds be freed,


s: There, Meliboeus, I saw that youth to whom


s: Yearly for twice six days my altars smoke.


s: There instant answer gave he to my suit,


s: "Feed, as before, your kine, boys, rear your bulls."


s: So in old age, you happy man, your fields


s: Will still be yours, and ample for your need!


s: Though, with bare stones o'erspread, the pastures all


s: Be choked with rushy mire, your ewes with young


s: By no strange fodder will be tried, nor hurt


s: Through taint contagious of a neighbouring flock.


s: Happy old man, who 'mid familiar streams


s: And hallowed springs, will court the cooling shade!


s: Here, as of old, your neighbour's bordering hedge,


s: That feasts with willow-flower the Hybla bees,


s: Shall oft with gentle murmur lull to sleep,


s: While the leaf-dresser beneath some tall rock


s: Uplifts his song, nor cease their cooings hoarse


s: The wood-pigeons that are your heart's delight,


s: Nor doves their moaning in the elm-tree top.


s: Sooner shall light stags, therefore, feed in air,


s: The seas their fish leave naked on the strand,


s: Germans and Parthians shift their natural bounds,


s: And these the Arar, those the Tigris drink,


s: Than from my heart his face and memory fade.


s: But we far hence, to burning Libya some,


s: Some to the Scythian steppes, or thy swift flood,


s: Or Britain, from the whole world sundered far.


s: My native bounds- see many a harvest hence


s: With ravished eyes the lowly turf-roofed cot


s: Where I was king? These fallows, trimmed so fair,


s: Some brutal soldier will possess these fields


s: Has civil discord brought our hapless folk!


s: For such as these, then, were our furrows sown!


s: Now, Meliboeus, graft your pears, now set


s: Your vines in order! Go, once happy flock,


s: Stretched in green cave, behold you from afar


s: Hang from the bushy rock; my songs are sung;


s: On clover-flower, or bitter willows, browse.


s: Yet here, this night, you might repose with me,


s: On green leaves pillowed: apples ripe have I,


s: Soft chestnuts, and of curdled milk enow.


s: And, see, the farm-roof chimneys smoke afar,


s: And from the hills the shadows lengthening fall!


s: The shepherd Corydon with love was fired


s: No room for hope had he, yet, none the less,


s: The thick-leaved shadowy-soaring beech-tree grove


s: Still would he haunt, and there alone, as thus,


s: To woods and hills pour forth his artless strains.


s: "Cruel Alexis, heed you naught my songs?


s: Have you no pity? you'll drive me to my death.


s: Now even the cattle court the cooling shade


s: And the green lizard hides him in the thorn:


s: Now for tired mowers, with the fierce heat spent,


s: Pounds Thestilis her mess of savoury herbs,


s: Wild thyme and garlic. I, with none beside,


s: Save hoarse cicalas shrilling through the brake,


s: Still track your footprints 'neath the broiling sun.


s: Better have borne the petulant proud disdain


s: Trust not too much to colour, beauteous boy;


s: White privets fall, dark hyacinths are culled.


s: Care not to ask- how rich in flocks, or how


s: In snow-white milk abounding: yet for me


s: Roam on Sicilian hills a thousand lambs;


s: Summer or winter, still my milk-pails brim.


s: What time he went to call his cattle home


s: I saw myself, when winds had stilled the sea,


s: And, if that mirror lie not, would not fear


s: Daphnis to challenge, though yourself were judge.


s: Ah! were you but content with me to dwell.


s: Some lowly cot in the rough fields our home,


s: Shoot down the stags, or with green osier-wand


s: Round up the straggling flock! There you with me


s: In silvan strains will learn to rival Pan.


s: Pan first with wax taught reed with reed to join;


s: For sheep alike and shepherd Pan hath care.


s: Nor with the reed's edge fear you to make rough


s: Your dainty lip; such arts as these to learn


s: A pipe have I, of hemlock-stalks compact


s: In lessening lengths, Damoetas' dying-gift:


s: 'Mine once,' quoth he, 'now yours, as heir to own.'


s: Ay, and two fawns, I risked my neck to find


s: In a steep glen, with coats white-dappled still,


s: From a sheep's udders suckled twice a day-


s: These still I keep for you; which Thestilis


s: And she shall have them, since my gifts you spurn.


s: Come hither, beauteous boy; for you the Nymphs


s: Bring baskets, see, with lilies brimmed; for you,


s: And fragrant fennel, doth one posy twine-


s: With cassia then, and other scented herbs,


s: Blends them, and sets the tender hyacinth off


s: Quinces all silvered-o'er with hoary down,


s: Chestnuts, which Amaryllis wont to love,


s: And waxen plums withal: this fruit no less


s: Shall have its meed of honour; and I will pluck


s: You too, ye laurels, and you, ye myrtles, near,


s: You are a boor, nor heeds a whit your gifts


s: Should gifts decide the day. Alack! alack!


s: What misery have I brought upon my head!-


s: Loosed on the flowers Siroces to my bane,


s: And the wild boar upon my crystal springs!


s: Whom do you fly, infatuate? gods ere now,


s: And Dardan Paris, have made the woods their home.


s: Let Pallas keep the towers her hand hath built,


s: Us before all things let the woods delight.


s: The wolf the she-goat, the she-goat herself


s: By their own longing. See, the ox comes home


s: With plough up-tilted, and the shadows grow


s: To twice their length with the departing sun,


s: Yet me love burns, for who can limit love?


s: Ah! Corydon, Corydon, what hath crazed your wit?


s: Your vine half-pruned hangs on the leafy elm;


s: Why haste you not to weave what need requires


s: Of pliant rush or osier? Scorned by this,


s: Elsewhere some new Alexis you will find."


s: Who owns the flock, Damoetas? Meliboeus?


s: Nay, they are Aegon's sheep, of late by him


s: Still courts Neaera, fearing lest her choice


s: Should fall on me, this hireling shepherd here


s: Wrings hourly twice their udders, from the flock


s: Filching the life-juice, from the lambs their milk.


s: Hold! not so ready with your jeers at men!


s: We know who once, and in what shrine with you-


s: The he-goats looked aside- the light nymphs laughed-


s: Ay, then, I warrant, when they saw me slash


s: Micon's young vines and trees with spiteful hook.


s: Or here by these old beeches, when you broke


s: The bow and arrows of Damon; for you chafed


s: When first you saw them given to the boy,


s: Cross-grained Menalcas, ay, and had you not


s: Done him some mischief, would have chafed to death.


s: With thieves so daring, what can masters do?


s: For Damon's goat, while loud Lycisca barked?


s: And when I cried, "Where is he off to now?


s: Whom I had conquered still to keep the goat.


s: Which in the piping-match my pipe had won!


s: You may not know it, but the goat was mine.


s: You out-pipe him? when had you ever pipe


s: Wax-welded? in the cross-ways used you not


s: Each against each in turn? Lest you be loth,


s: I pledge this heifer; every day she comes


s: Twice to the milking-pail, and feeds withal


s: Two young ones at her udder: say you now


s: What you will stake upon the match with me.


s: Naught from the flock I'll venture, for at home


s: And twice a day both reckon up the flock,


s: And one withal the kids. But I will stake,


s: Seeing you are so mad, what you yourself


s: Will own more priceless far- two beechen cups


s: Wrought and embossed, whereon a limber vine,


s: Wreathed round them by the graver's facile tool,


s: Twines over clustering ivy-berries pale.


s: Two figures, one Conon, in the midst he set,


s: And one- how call you him, who with his wand


s: Marked out for all men the whole round of heaven,


s: That they who reap, or stoop behind the plough,


s: Might know their several seasons? Nor as yet


s: Have I set lip to them, but lay them by.


s: A pair of cups, and round the handles wreathed


s: The forests following in his wake; nor yet


s: Matched with a heifer, who would prate of cups?


s: You shall not balk me now; where'er you bid,


s: I'll see you play the challenger no more.


s: Out then with what you have; I shall not shrink,


s: Neighbour Palaemon, with your whole heart's skill-


s: For it is no slight matter-play your part.


s: Say on then, since on the greensward we sit,


s: And now is burgeoning both field and tree;


s: Now is the forest green, and now the year


s: At fairest. Do you first, Damoetas, sing,


s: Then you, Menalcas, in alternate strain:


s: Alternate strains are to the Muses dear.


s: "From Jove the Muse began; Jove filleth all,


s: Makes the earth fruitful, for my songs hath care."


s: "Me Phoebus loves; for Phoebus his own gifts,


s: Bays and sweet-blushing hyacinths, I keep."


s: Then hies to the willows, hoping to be seen."


s: "Gifts for my love I've found; mine eyes have marked


s: Where the wood-pigeons build their airy nests."


s: All that I could, to-morrow as many more."


s: "What words to me, and uttered O how oft,


s: Ye winds, I pray you, for the gods to hear."


s: That in your very heart you spurn me not,


s: If, while you hunt the boar, I guard the nets."


s: Send me your Phyllis; when for the young crops


s: I slay my heifer, you yourself shall come."


s: And, lingering on the word, 'farewell' she said,


s: "Fell as the wolf is to the folded flock,


s: Rain to ripe corn, Sirocco to the trees,


s: "As moisture to the corn, to ewes with young


s: Lithe willow, as arbute to the yeanling kids,


s: So sweet Amyntas, and none else, to me."


s: "My Muse, although she be but country-bred,


s: Pray you, a heifer for your reader feed!"


s: "Pollio himself too doth new verses make:


s: Feed ye a bull now ripe to butt with horn,


s: And scatter with his hooves the flying sand."


s: "Who loves thee, Pollio, may he thither come


s: Where thee he joys beholding; ay, for him


s: Let honey flow, the thorn-bush spices bear."


s: "Who hates not Bavius, let him also love


s: Thy songs, O Maevius, ay, and therewithal


s: Yoke foxes to his car, and he-goats milk."


s: "You, picking flowers and strawberries that grow


s: So near the ground, fly hence, boys, get you gone!


s: There's a cold adder lurking in the grass."


s: "Forbear, my sheep, to tread too near the brink;


s: The ram himself, see, dries his dripping fleece!"


s: "Back with the she-goats, Tityrus, grazing there


s: So near the river! I, when time shall serve,


s: Will take them all, and wash them in the pool."


s: "Boys, get your sheep together; if the heat,


s: As late it did, forestall us with the milk,


s: Vainly the dried-up udders shall we wring."


s: "How lean my bull amid the fattening vetch!


s: Alack! alack! for herdsman and for herd!


s: It is the self-same love that wastes us both."


s: "These truly- nor is even love the cause-


s: Scarce have the flesh to keep their bones together


s: Some evil eye my lambkins hath bewitched."


s: "Say in what clime- and you shall be withal


s: My great Apollo- the whole breadth of heaven


s: Opens no wider than three ells to view."


s: "Say in what country grow such flowers as bear


s: The names of kings upon their petals writ,


s: And you shall have fair Phyllis for your own."


s: You well deserve the heifer, so does he,


s: With all who either fear the sweets of love,


s: Or taste its bitterness. Now, boys, shut off


s: The sluices, for the fields have drunk their fill.


s: A somewhat loftier task! Not all men love


s: Coppice or lowly tamarisk: sing we woods,


s: Has come and gone, and the majestic roll


s: Justice returns, returns old Saturn's reign,


s: With a new breed of men sent down from heaven.


s: Only do thou, at the boy's birth in whom


s: The iron shall cease, the golden race arise,


s: Befriend him, chaste Lucina; 'tis thine own


s: This glorious age, O Pollio, shall begin,


s: And the months enter on their mighty march.


s: Under thy guidance, whatso tracks remain


s: Shall free the earth from never-ceasing fear.


s: He shall receive the life of gods, and see


s: Heroes with gods commingling, and himself


s: Be seen of them, and with his father's worth


s: Reign o'er a world at peace. For thee, O boy,


s: First shall the earth, untilled, pour freely forth


s: Her childish gifts, the gadding ivy-spray


s: And laughing-eyed acanthus. Of themselves,


s: Untended, will the she-goats then bring home


s: Their udders swollen with milk, while flocks afield


s: Shall of the monstrous lion have no fear.


s: Thy very cradle shall pour forth for thee


s: Caressing flowers. The serpent too shall die,


s: Die shall the treacherous poison-plant, and far


s: And wide Assyrian spices spring. But soon


s: As thou hast skill to read of heroes' fame,


s: And of thy father's deeds, and inly learn


s: What virtue is, the plain by slow degrees


s: With waving corn-crops shall to golden grow,


s: From the wild briar shall hang the blushing grape,


s: And stubborn oaks sweat honey-dew. Nathless


s: Yet shall there lurk within of ancient wrong


s: Some traces, bidding tempt the deep with ships,


s: Gird towns with walls, with furrows cleave the earth.


s: Therewith a second Tiphys shall there be,


s: New wars too shall arise, and once again


s: Some great Achilles to some Troy be sent.


s: Then, when the mellowing years have made thee man,


s: No more shall mariner sail, nor pine-tree bark


s: Shall all things bear alike: the glebe no more


s: Shall feel the harrow's grip, nor vine the hook;


s: The sturdy ploughman shall loose yoke from steer,


s: Nor wool with varying colours learn to lie;


s: But in the meadows shall the ram himself,


s: Now with soft flush of purple, now with tint


s: Of yellow saffron, teach his fleece to shine.


s: While clothed in natural scarlet graze the lambs.


s: "Such still, such ages weave ye, as ye run,"


s: Sang to their spindles the consenting Fates


s: Assume thy greatness, for the time draws nigh,


s: Dear child of gods, great progeny of Jove!


s: See how it totters- the world's orbed might,


s: Earth, and wide ocean, and the vault profound,


s: All, see, enraptured of the coming time!


s: Ah! might such length of days to me be given,


s: And breath suffice me to rehearse thy deeds,


s: Nor Thracian Orpheus should out-sing me then,


s: Nor Linus, though his mother this, and that


s: With Arcady for judge, my claim contest,


s: Should own him foiled, and from the field retire.


s: For him, on whom his parents have not smiled,


s: Gods deem not worthy of their board or bed.


s: You skilled to breathe upon the slender reeds,


s: Here where the elm-trees and the hazels blend?


s: Your choice, Menalcas, whether now we seek


s: Yon shade that quivers to the changeful breeze,


s: Or the cave's shelter. Look you how the cave


s: Is with the wild vine's clusters over-laced!


s: Good Mopsus, whether minded to sing aught


s: Of Phyllis and her loves, or Alcon's praise,


s: Or to fling taunts at Codrus. Come, begin,


s: While Tityrus watches o'er the grazing kids.


s: Nay, then, I will essay what late I carved


s: On a green beech-tree's rind, playing by turns,


s: And marking down the notes; then afterward


s: As lowly Celtic nard to rose-buds bright,


s: But hold awhile, for to the cave we come.


s: "For Daphnis cruelly slain wept all the Nymphs-


s: Ye hazels, bear them witness, and ye streams-


s: When she, his mother, clasping in her arms


s: To gods and stars unpitying, poured her plaint.


s: Then, Daphnis, to the cooling streams were none


s: That drove the pastured oxen, then no beast


s: Drank of the river, or would the grass-blade touch.


s: Nay, the wild rocks and woods then voiced the roar


s: Daphnis, 'twas thou bad'st yoke to Bacchus' car


s: Of revellers, and with tender foliage wreathe


s: The bending spear-wands. As to trees the vine


s: Is crown of glory, as to vines the grape,


s: Bulls to the herd, to fruitful fields the corn,


s: When the Fates took thee hence, then Pales' self,


s: Where the plump barley-grain so oft we sowed,


s: There but wild oats and barren darnel spring;


s: Thistle and prickly thorn uprear their heads.


s: Now, O ye shepherds, strew the ground with leaves,


s: And o'er the fountains draw a shady veil-


s: And rear a tomb, and write thereon this verse:


s: 'I, Daphnis in the woods, from hence in fame


s: Of a fair flock, myself more fair than they.'"


s: Or to slake thirst from some sweet-bubbling rill


s: In summer's heat. Nor on the reeds alone,


s: But with thy voice art thou, thrice happy boy,


s: Ranked with thy master, second but to him.


s: Yet will I, too, in turn, as best I may,


s: Sing thee a song, and to the stars uplift


s: Thy Daphnis- Daphnis to the stars extol,


s: What dearer could I deem? the boy himself


s: Hath Stimichon to me your singing praised.


s: "In dazzling sheen with unaccustomed eyes


s: Daphnis stands rapt before Olympus' gate,


s: And sees beneath his feet the clouds and stars.


s: Wherefore the woods and fields, Pan, shepherd-folk,


s: And Dryad-maidens, thrill with eager joy;


s: Nor wolf with treacherous wile assails the flock,


s: Nor nets the stag: kind Daphnis loveth peace.


s: The unshorn mountains to the stars up-toss


s: The very thickets, shout and sing, 'A god,


s: Propitious to thine own. Lo! altars four,


s: Twain to thee, Daphnis, and to Phoebus twain


s: And of rich olive-oil two bowls, will set;


s: If cold, before the hearth, or in the shade


s: At harvest-time, to glad the festal hour,


s: The dancing Satyrs. This, thy service due,


s: Shalt thou lack never, both when we pay the Nymphs


s: Our yearly vows, and when with lustral rites


s: The fields we hallow. Long as the wild boar


s: Shall love the mountain-heights, and fish the streams,


s: While bees on thyme and crickets feed on dew,


s: Thy name, thy praise, thine honour, shall endure.


s: To thee the swain his yearly vows shall make;


s: And thou thereof, like them, shalt quittance claim."


s: For not the whispering south-wind on its way


s: So much delights me, nor wave-smitten beach,


s: Nor streams that race adown their bouldered beds.


s: First this frail hemlock-stalk to you I give,


s: Which taught me "Corydon with love was fired


s: This shepherd's crook, which, howso hard he begged,


s: Prevailed not to obtain- with brass, you see,


s: And equal knots, Menalcas, fashioned fair!


s: First my Thalia stooped in sportive mood


s: To Syracusan strains, nor blushed within


s: The woods to house her. When I sought to tell


s: Of battles and of kings, the Cynthian god


s: Plucked at mine ear and warned me: "Tityrus,


s: Beseems a shepherd-wight to feed fat sheep,


s: But sing a slender song." Now, Varus, I-


s: For lack there will not who would laud thy deeds,


s: And treat of dolorous wars- will rather tune


s: I sing but as vouchsafed me; yet even this


s: If, if but one with ravished eyes should read,


s: And all the woodland ring; nor can there be


s: A page more dear to Phoebus, than the page


s: Where, foremost writ, the name of Varus stands.


s: Young Chromis and Mnasyllos chanced to see


s: Silenus sleeping, flushed, as was his wont,


s: Slipped from his head, the garlands lay, and there


s: By its worn handle hung a ponderous cup.


s: Approaching- for the old man many a time


s: Had balked them both of a long hoped-for song-


s: Garlands to fetters turned, they bind him fast.


s: Aegle came up to the half-frightened boys,


s: Came, and, as now with open eyes he lay,


s: With juice of blood-red mulberries smeared him o'er,


s: Both brow and temples. Laughing at their guile,


s: And crying, "Why tie the fetters? loose me, boys;


s: Enough for you to think you had the power;


s: Now list the songs you wish for- songs for you,


s: Then might you see the wild things of the wood,


s: With Fauns in sportive frolic beat the time,


s: And stubborn oaks their branchy summits bow.


s: Not Phoebus doth the rude Parnassian crag


s: So ravish, nor Orpheus so entrance the heights


s: How through the mighty void the seeds were driven


s: Of earth, air, ocean, and of liquid fire,


s: How all that is from these beginnings grew,


s: And the young world itself took solid shape,


s: Then 'gan its crust to harden, and in the deep


s: Shut Nereus off, and mould the forms of things


s: Little by little; and how the earth amazed


s: Beheld the new sun shining, and the showers


s: Fall, as the clouds soared higher, what time the woods


s: 'Gan first to rise, and living things to roam


s: Scattered among the hills that knew them not.


s: Then sang he of the stones by Pyrrha cast,


s: Of Saturn's reign, and of Prometheus' theft,


s: And the Caucasian birds, and told withal


s: Nigh to what fountain by his comrades left


s: The mariners cried on Hylas till the shore


s: Pasiphae with the love of her white bull-


s: O ill-starred maid, what frenzy caught thy soul


s: The daughters too of Proetus filled the fields


s: With their feigned lowings, yet no one of them


s: As with a beast to mate, though many a time


s: On her smooth forehead she had sought for horns,


s: And for her neck had feared the galling plough.


s: O ill-starred maid! thou roamest now the hills,


s: While on soft hyacinths he, his snowy side


s: Chews the pale herbage, or some heifer tracks


s: Amid the crowding herd. Now close, ye Nymphs,


s: Ye Nymphs of Dicte, close the forest-glades,


s: If haply there may chance upon mine eyes


s: The white bull's wandering foot-prints: him belike


s: Following the herd, or by green pasture lured,


s: Some kine may guide to the Gortynian stalls.


s: Then sings he of the maid so wonder-struck


s: With the apples of the Hesperids, and then


s: With moss-bound, bitter bark rings round the forms


s: Of Phaethon's fair sisters, from the ground


s: Of Gallus wandering by Permessus' stream,


s: The choir of Phoebus rose to greet him; how


s: The shepherd Linus, singer of songs divine,


s: Brow-bound with flowers and bitter parsley, spake:


s: "These reeds the Muses give thee, take them thou,


s: Wherewith in singing he was wont to draw


s: Time-rooted ash-trees from the mountain heights.


s: With these the birth of the Grynean grove


s: Be voiced by thee, that of no grove beside


s: Apollo more may boast him." Wherefore speak


s: Of Scylla, child of Nisus, who, 'tis said,


s: Her fair white loins with barking monsters girt


s: Vexed the Dulichian ships, and, in the deep


s: Swift-eddying whirlpool, with her sea-dogs tore


s: Of the changed limbs of Tereus- what a feast,


s: What gifts, to him by Philomel were given;


s: How swift she sought the desert, with what wings


s: Hovered in anguish o'er her ancient home?


s: All that, of old, Eurotas, happy stream,


s: And bade his laurels learn, Silenus sang;


s: Till from Olympus, loth at his approach,


s: Vesper, advancing, bade the shepherds tell


s: Their tale of sheep, and pen them in the fold.


s: Had gathered in the flock, Thyrsis the sheep,


s: And Corydon the she-goats swollen with milk-


s: Both in the flower of age, Arcadians both,


s: Ready to sing, and in like strain reply.


s: Hither had strayed, while from the frost I fend


s: Soon as he saw me, "Hither haste," he cried,


s: Rest here beneath the shade. Hither the steers


s: Will through the meadows, of their own free will,


s: Untended come to drink. Here Mincius hath


s: With tender rushes rimmed his verdant banks,


s: The bees are swarming." What was I to do?


s: I let my business wait upon their sport.


s: So they began to sing, voice answering voice


s: In strains alternate- for alternate strains


s: "Libethrian Nymphs, who are my heart's delight,


s: Grant me, as doth my Codrus, so to sing-


s: Here on this sacred pine shall silent hang."


s: "Arcadian shepherds, wreathe with ivy-spray


s: Then bind my brow with foxglove, lest his tongue


s: "This bristling boar's head, Delian Maid, to thee,


s: With branching antlers of a sprightly stag,


s: Young Micon offers: if his luck but hold,


s: Full-length in polished marble, ankle-bound


s: With purple buskin, shall thy statue stand."


s: "A bowl of milk, Priapus, and these cakes,


s: Thou art the guardian of a poor man's plot.


s: Wrought for a while in marble, if the flock


s: At lambing time be filled,stand there in gold."


s: Sweeter than Hybla-thyme, more white than swans,


s: Fairer than ivy pale, soon as the steers


s: Shall from their pasture to the stalls repair,


s: If aught for Corydon thou carest, come."


s: "Now may I seem more bitter to your taste


s: Than herb Sardinian, rougher than the broom,


s: More worthless than strewn sea-weed, if to-day


s: Hath not a year out-lasted! Fie for shame!


s: Go home, my cattle, from your grazing go!"


s: "Ye mossy springs, and grass more soft than sleep,


s: And arbute green with thin shade sheltering you,


s: Ward off the solstice from my flock, for now


s: Comes on the burning summer, now the buds


s: Upon the limber vine-shoot 'gin to swell."


s: "Here is a hearth, and resinous logs, here fire


s: Unstinted, and doors black with ceaseless smoke.


s: As the wolf heeds the number of the flock,


s: Or furious rivers their restraining banks."


s: "The junipers and prickly chestnuts stand,


s: And 'neath each tree lie strewn their several fruits,


s: Now the whole world is smiling, but if fair


s: Alexis from these hill-slopes should away,


s: Even the rivers you would ; see run dry."


s: "The field is parched, the grass-blades thirst to death


s: In the faint air; Liber hath grudged the hills


s: His vine's o'er-shadowing: should my Phyllis come,


s: Green will be all the grove, and Jupiter


s: "The poplar doth Alcides hold most dear,


s: Phyllis doth hazels love, and while she loves,


s: Myrtle nor bay the hazel shall out-vie."


s: Pine in the garden, poplar by the stream,


s: Fir on the mountain-height; but if more oft


s: Thou'ldst come to me, fair Lycidas, to thee


s: Both forest-ash, and garden-pine should bow."


s: These I remember, and how Thyrsis strove


s: For victory in vain. From that time forth


s: Those shepherd-singers at whose rival strains


s: The lynx stood awe-struck, and the flowing streams,


s: Unwonted loiterers, stayed their course to hear-


s: Their pastoral ditties, will I tell the tale.


s: Thou, whether broad Timavus' rocky banks


s: Thou now art passing, or dost skirt the shore


s: That day when I thy deeds may celebrate,


s: Ever that day when through the whole wide world


s: I may renown thy verse- that verse alone


s: With thee began, to thee shall end, the strain.


s: Take thou these songs that owe their birth to thee,


s: And deign around thy temples to let creep


s: This ivy-chaplet 'twixt the conquering bays.


s: Scarce had night's chilly shade forsook the sky


s: What time to nibbling sheep the dewy grass


s: Tastes sweetest, when, on his smooth shepherd-staff


s: "Rise, Lucifer, and, heralding the light,


s: Bring in the genial day, while I make moan


s: Fooled by vain passion for a faithless bride,


s: Call on the gods, though little it bestead-


s: The gods who heard her vows and heeded not.


s: "Begin, my flute, with me Maenalian lays.


s: And whispering pines, and ever hears the songs


s: Of love-lorn shepherds, and of Pan, who first


s: Brooked not the tuneful reed should idle lie.


s: We lovers look for? soon shall we see mate


s: Griffins with mares, and in the coming age


s: Shy deer and hounds together come to drink.


s: Now, Mopsus, cut new torches, for they bring


s: Your bride along; now, bridegroom, scatter nuts:


s: O worthy of thy mate, while all men else


s: Thou scornest, and with loathing dost behold


s: My shepherd's pipe, my goats, my shaggy brow,


s: And untrimmed beard, nor deem'st that any god


s: Once with your mother, in our orchard-garth,


s: Plucking the dewy apples. My twelfth year


s: I scarce had entered, and could barely reach


s: The brittle boughs. I looked, and I was lost;


s: "Begin, my flute, with me Maenalian lays.


s: Now know I what Love is: 'mid savage rocks


s: Tmaros or Rhodope brought forth the boy,


s: Fierce Love it was once steeled a mother's heart


s: With her own offspring's blood her hands to imbrue:


s: Mother, thou too wert cruel; say wert thou


s: More cruel, mother, or more ruthless he?


s: Ruthless the boy, thou, mother, cruel too.


s: Now let the wolf turn tail and fly the sheep,


s: Tough oaks bear golden apples, alder-trees


s: Bloom with narcissus-flower, the tamarisk


s: Sweat with rich amber, and the screech-owl vie


s: Be Orpheus, Orpheus in the forest-glade,


s: Yea, be the whole earth to mid-ocean turned!


s: Farewell, ye woodlands I from the tall peak


s: From dying lips bequeathed thee, see thou keep.


s: Cease now, my flute, now cease Maenalian lays."


s: We cannot all do all things- tell me how


s: "Bring water, and with soft wool-fillet bind


s: These altars round about, and burn thereon


s: Rich vervain and male frankincense, that I


s: May strive with magic spells to turn astray


s: There lacketh nothing save the power of song.


s: "Draw from the town, my songs, draw Daphnis home.


s: Songs can the very moon draw down from heaven


s: Circe with singing changed from human form


s: Is the cold meadow-snake, asunder burst.


s: These triple threads of threefold colour first


s: I twine about thee, and three times withal


s: Around these altars do thine image bear:


s: The threefold colours; ply them fast, and say


s: As by the kindling of the self-same fire


s: Harder this clay, this wax the softer grows,


s: So by my love may Daphnis; sprinkle meal,


s: As when some heifer, seeking for her steer


s: Through woodland and deep grove, sinks wearied out


s: On the green sedge beside a stream, love-lorn,


s: Nor marks the gathering night that calls her home-


s: As pines that heifer, with such love as hers


s: May Daphnis pine, and I not care to heal.


s: "Draw from the town, my songs, draw Daphnis home.


s: These relics once, dear pledges of himself,


s: The traitor left me, which, O earth, to thee


s: Pledges that bind him to redeem the debt.


s: These herbs of bane to me did Moeris give,


s: In Pontus culled, where baneful herbs abound.


s: With these full oft have I seen Moeris change


s: To a wolf's form, and hide him in the woods,


s: Oft summon spirits from the tomb's recess,


s: And to new fields transport the standing corn.


s: Take ashes, Amaryllis, fetch them forth,


s: And o'er your head into the running brook


s: Fling them, nor look behind: with these will


s: Nothing for gods, nothing for songs cares he.


s: Look, look I the very embers of themselves


s: Have caught the altar with a flickering flame,


s: While I delay to fetch them: may the sign


s: Prove lucky! something it must mean, for sure,


s: And Hylax on the threshold 'gins to bark!


s: Daphnis is coming from the town, give o'er."


s: Say whither, Moeris?- Make you for the town,


s: We have lived to see, what never yet we feared,


s: And say, "Be off, you former husbandmen!


s: These fields are mine." Now, cowed and out of heart,


s: Since Fortune turns the whole world upside down,


s: We are taking him- ill luck go with the same!-'


s: That where the hills first draw from off the plain,


s: And the high ridge with gentle slope descends,


s: Down to the brook-side and the broken crests


s: Was by the songs of your Menalcas saved.


s: Heard it you had, and so the rumour ran,


s: Our songs avail no more than, as 'tis said,


s: Warned by a raven on the left, cut short


s: The rising feud, nor I, your Moeris here,


s: Reft was the solace that we had in thee,


s: Menalcas! Who then of the Nymphs had sung,


s: Or who with flowering herbs bestrewn the ground,


s: And o'er the fountains drawn a leafy veil?-


s: Who sung the stave I filched from you that day


s: "While I am gone, 'tis but a little way,


s: Feed, Tityrus, my goats, and, having fed,


s: Drive to the drinking-pool, and, as you drive,


s: Beware the he-goat; with his horn he butts."


s: "Varus, thy name, so still our Mantua live-


s: Shall singing swans bear upward to the stars."


s: So may your swarms Cyrnean yew-trees shun,


s: Your kine with cytisus their udders swell,


s: Begin, if aught you have. The Muses made


s: Me too a singer; I too have sung; the swains


s: For naught of mine, or worthy Varius yet


s: "Come, Galatea, what pleasure is 't to play


s: Amid the waves? Here glows the Spring, here earth


s: Beside the streams pours forth a thousand flowers;


s: Here the white poplar bends above the cave,


s: And the lithe vine weaves shadowy covert: come,


s: Leave the mad waves to beat upon the shore."


s: What of the strain I heard you singing once


s: On a clear night alone? the notes I still


s: "Why, Daphnis, upward gazing, do you mark


s: The ancient risings of the Signs? for look


s: In heaven, to gladden all the fields with corn,


s: So shall your children's children pluck their fruit.


s: Time carries all things, even our wits, away.


s: But all those songs are from my memory fled,


s: And even his voice is failing Moeris now;


s: The wolves eyed Moeris first: but at your wish


s: Your pleas but linger out my heart's desire:


s: Now all the deep is into silence hushed,


s: And all the murmuring breezes sunk to sleep.


s: We are half-way thither, for Bianor's tomb


s: Begins to show: here, Moeris, where the hinds


s: Set down the kids, yet shall we reach the town;


s: Or, if we fear the night may gather rain


s: Our way to lighten; and, that we may thus


s: Go singing, I will case you of this load.


s: Cease, boy, and get we to the work in hand:


s: We shall sing better when himself is come.


s: Sing a brief song to Gallus- brief, but yet


s: Who would not sing for Gallus? So, when thou


s: May Doris blend no bitter wave with thine,


s: And the shrewd pangs he suffered, while, hard by,


s: The flat-nosed she-goats browse the tender brush.


s: We sing not to deaf ears; no word of ours


s: But the woods echo it. What groves or lawns


s: Held you, ye Dryad-maidens, when for love-


s: Gallus lay dying? for neither did the slopes


s: Even the laurels and the tamarisks wept;


s: For him, outstretched beneath a lonely rock,


s: Wept pine-clad Maenalus, and the flinty crags


s: Of cold Lycaeus. The sheep too stood around-


s: Nor of the flock be thou ashamed: even fair


s: Came shepherd too, and swine-herd footing slow,


s: And, from the winter-acorns dripping-wet


s: "From whence this love of thine?" Apollo came;


s: "Gallus, art mad?" he cried, "thy bosom's care


s: Silvanus came, with rural honours crowned;


s: The flowering fennels and tall lilies shook


s: Before him. Yea, and our own eyes beheld


s: Pan, god of Arcady, with blood-red juice


s: Of the elder-berry, and with vermilion, dyed.


s: "Wilt ever make an end?" quoth he, "behold


s: Love recks not aught of it: his heart no more


s: With tears is sated than with streams the grass,


s: Bees with the cytisus, or goats with leaves."


s: "Yet will ye sing, Arcadians, of my woes


s: "Arcadians, that alone have skill to sing.


s: If of my love, one day, your flutes should tell!


s: And would that I, of your own fellowship,


s: Or dresser of the ripening grape had been,


s: Or guardian of the flock! for surely then,


s: Among the willows, 'neath the limber vine,


s: Reclining would my love have lain with me,


s: Phyllis plucked garlands, or Amyntas sung.


s: Here are cool springs, soft mead and grove, Lycoris;


s: Here might our lives with time have worn away.


s: But me mad love of the stern war-god holds


s: Whilst thou- Ah! might I but believe it not!-


s: Look'st upon Alpine snows and frozen Rhine.


s: Ah! may the frost not hurt thee, may the sharp


s: And jagged ice not wound thy tender feet!


s: I will depart, re-tune the songs I framed


s: In the woods, rather, with wild beasts to couch,


s: Upon the tender tree-trunks: they will grow,


s: And you, my love, grow with them. And meanwhile


s: I with the Nymphs will haunt Mount Maenalus,


s: Or hunt the keen wild boar. No frost so cold


s: But I will hem with hounds thy forest-glades,


s: O'er rocks, through echoing groves, and joy to launch


s: As if my madness could find healing thus,


s: Delight me more: ye woods, away with you!


s: No pangs of ours can change him; not though we


s: In the mid-frost should drink of Hebrus' stream,


s: And in wet winters face Sithonian snows,


s: Or, when the bark of the tall elm-tree bole


s: Of drought is dying, should, under Cancer's Sign,


s: Love conquers all things; yield we too to love!"


s: These songs, Pierian Maids, shall it suffice


s: Your poet to have sung, the while he sat,


s: Gallus, for whom my love grows hour by hour,


s: As the green alder shoots in early Spring.


s: Come, let us rise: the shade is wont to be


s: Baneful to singers; baneful is the shade


s: In shade. Now homeward, having fed your fill--


s: Eve's star is rising-go, my she-goats, go.


s: What makes the cornfield smile; beneath what star


s: Or marry elm with vine; how tend the steer;


s: What pains for cattle-keeping, or what proof


s: Of patient trial serves for thrifty bees;-


s: Most glorious! ye that lead the gliding year


s: If by your bounty holpen earth once changed


s: And mingled with the grape, your new-found gift,


s: To rustics ever kind, come foot it, Fauns


s: And Dryad-maids together; your gifts I sing.


s: And thou, for whose delight the war-horse first


s: Sprang from earth's womb at thy great trident's stroke,


s: Neptune; and haunter of the groves, for whom


s: Three hundred snow-white heifers browse the brakes,


s: The fertile brakes of Ceos; and clothed in power,


s: Pan, shepherd-god, forsaking, as the love


s: Of thine own Maenalus constrains thee, hear


s: And help, O lord of Tegea! And thou, too,


s: Minerva, from whose hand the olive sprung;


s: And boy-discoverer of the curved plough;


s: And, bearing a young cypress root-uptorn,


s: Who make the fields your care, both ye who nurse


s: The tender unsown increase, and from heaven


s: Shed on man's sowing the riches of your rain:


s: And thou, even thou, of whom we know not yet


s: What mansion of the skies shall hold thee soon,


s: Whether to watch o'er cities be thy will,


s: Great Caesar, and to take the earth in charge,


s: That so the mighty world may welcome thee


s: Lord of her increase, master of her times,


s: Binding thy mother's myrtle round thy brow,


s: Or as the boundless ocean's God thou come,


s: Sole dread of seamen, till far Thule bow


s: Before thee, and Tethys win thee to her son


s: With all her waves for dower; or as a star


s: Lend thy fresh beams our lagging months to cheer,


s: Where 'twixt the Maid and those pursuing Claws


s: A space is opening; see! red Scorpio's self


s: His arms draws in, yea, and hath left thee more


s: Than thy full meed of heaven: be what thou wilt-


s: For neither Tartarus hopes to call thee king,


s: E'er light upon thee, howso Greece admire


s: Elysium's fields, and Proserpine not heed


s: Her mother's voice entreating to return-


s: Vouchsafe a prosperous voyage, and smile on this


s: My bold endeavour, and pitying, even as I,


s: These poor way-wildered swains, at once begin,


s: Grow timely used unto the voice of prayer.


s: Melts from the mountains hoar, and Zephyr's breath


s: Unbinds the crumbling clod, even then 'tis time;


s: Press deep your plough behind the groaning ox,


s: And teach the furrow-burnished share to shine.


s: That land the craving farmer's prayer fulfils,


s: Which twice the sunshine, twice the frost has felt;


s: Ay, that's the land whose boundless harvest-crops


s: An unknown surface, heed we to forelearn


s: The winds and varying temper of the sky,


s: The lineal tilth and habits of the spot,


s: What every region yields, and what denies.


s: Here blithelier springs the corn, and here the grape,


s: There earth is green with tender growth of trees


s: And grass unbidden. See how from Tmolus comes


s: The saffron's fragrance, ivory from Ind,


s: From Saba's weakling sons their frankincense,


s: Iron from the naked Chalybs, castor rank


s: From Pontus, from Epirus the prize-palms


s: And such the laws by Nature's hand imposed


s: On clime and clime, e'er since the primal dawn


s: When old Deucalion on the unpeopled earth


s: Cast stones, whence men, a flinty race, were reared.


s: Up then! if fat the soil, let sturdy bulls


s: Upturn it from the year's first opening months,


s: And let the clods lie bare till baked to dust


s: By the ripe suns of summer; but if the earth


s: With shallower trench uptilt it- 'twill suffice;


s: There, lest weeds choke the crop's luxuriance, here,


s: Lest the scant moisture fail the barren sand.


s: Then thou shalt suffer in alternate years


s: The new-reaped fields to rest, and on the plain


s: A crust of sloth to harden; or, when stars


s: Are changed in heaven, there sow the golden grain


s: Where erst, luxuriant with its quivering pod,


s: Pulse, or the slender vetch-crop, thou hast cleared,


s: And lupin sour, whose brittle stalks arise,


s: A hurtling forest. For the plain is parched


s: By flax-crop, parched by oats, by poppies parched


s: In Lethe-slumber drenched. Nathless by change


s: The travailing earth is lightened, but stint not


s: With refuse rich to soak the thirsty soil,


s: And shower foul ashes o'er the exhausted fields.


s: Nor earth meanwhile uneared and thankless left.


s: Oft, too, 'twill boot to fire the naked fields,


s: And the light stubble burn with crackling flames;


s: Whether that earth therefrom some hidden strength


s: And fattening food derives, or that the fire


s: Bakes every blemish out, and sweats away


s: Each useless humour, or that the heat unlocks


s: Their life-juice to the tender blades may win;


s: Or that it hardens more and helps to bind


s: The gaping veins, lest penetrating showers,


s: Or fierce sun's ravening might, or searching blast


s: Of the keen north should sear them. Well, I wot,


s: He serves the fields who with his harrow breaks


s: The sluggish clods, and hurdles osier-twined


s: Hales o'er them; from the far Olympian height


s: And he, who having ploughed the fallow plain


s: And heaved its furrowy ridges, turns once more


s: Cross-wise his shattering share, with stroke on stroke


s: The earth assails, and makes the field his thrall.


s: Pray for wet summers and for winters fine,


s: Ye husbandmen; in winter's dust the crops


s: Exceedingly rejoice, the field hath joy;


s: No tilth makes Mysia lift her head so high,


s: Nor Gargarus his own harvests so admire.


s: Why tell of him, who, having launched his seed,


s: Sets on for close encounter, and rakes smooth


s: The dry dust hillocks, then on the tender corn


s: Lets in the flood, whose waters follow fain;


s: And when the parched field quivers, and all the blades


s: Are dying, from the brow of its hill-bed,


s: See! see! he lures the runnel; down it falls,


s: Waking hoarse murmurs o'er the polished stones,


s: And with its bubblings slakes the thirsty fields?


s: O'erweigh the stalk, while yet in tender blade


s: Feeds down the crop's luxuriance, when its growth


s: First tops the furrows? Why of him who drains


s: The marsh-land's gathered ooze through soaking sand,


s: Chiefly what time in treacherous moons a stream


s: Goes out in spate, and with its coat of slime


s: For all expedients tried and travail borne


s: By man and beast in turning oft the soil,


s: Do greedy goose and Strymon-haunting cranes


s: And succory's bitter fibres cease to harm,


s: Or shade not injure. The great Sire himself


s: And first was he by human skill to rouse


s: The slumbering glebe, whetting the minds of men


s: With care on care, nor suffering realm of his


s: In drowsy sloth to stagnate. Before Jove


s: Fields knew no taming hand of husbandmen;


s: To mark the plain or mete with boundary-line-


s: Even this was impious; for the common stock


s: They gathered, and the earth of her own will


s: All things more freely, no man bidding, bore.


s: He to black serpents gave their venom-bane,


s: And bade the wolf go prowl, and ocean toss;


s: Shook from the leaves their honey, put fire away,


s: And curbed the random rivers running wine,


s: That use by gradual dint of thought on thought


s: Might forge the various arts, with furrow's help


s: The corn-blade win, and strike out hidden fire


s: From the flint's heart. Then first the streams were ware


s: Of hollowed alder-hulls: the sailor then


s: Their names and numbers gave to star and star,


s: Bright Arctos; how with nooses then was found


s: To catch wild beasts, and cozen them with lime,


s: And hem with hounds the mighty forest-glades.


s: Soon one with hand-net scourges the broad stream,


s: Probing its depths, one drags his dripping toils


s: Along the main; then iron's unbending might,


s: And shrieking saw-blade,- for the men of old


s: With wedges wont to cleave the splintering log;-


s: Then divers arts arose; toil conquered all,


s: Remorseless toil, and poverty's shrewd push


s: In times of hardship. Ceres was the first


s: Set mortals on with tools to turn the sod,


s: When now the awful groves 'gan fail to bear


s: Dodona gave no more. Soon, too, the corn


s: Gat sorrow's increase, that an evil blight


s: Ate up the stalks, and thistle reared his spines


s: An idler in the fields; the crops die down;


s: Upsprings instead a shaggy growth of burrs


s: And caltrops; and amid the corn-fields trim


s: Unfruitful darnel and wild oats have sway.


s: Wherefore, unless thou shalt with ceaseless rake


s: The weeds pursue, with shouting scare the birds,


s: Prune with thy hook the dark field's matted shade,


s: Pray down the showers, all vainly thou shalt eye,


s: Alack! thy neighbour's heaped-up harvest-mow,


s: The sturdy rustics' weapons, what they are,


s: Without which, neither can be sown nor reared


s: The fruits of harvest; first the bent plough's share


s: And heavy timber, and slow-lumbering wains


s: Of the Eleusinian mother, threshing-sleighs


s: And drags, and harrows with their crushing weight;


s: Then the cheap wicker-ware of Celeus old,


s: Iacchus; which, full tale, long ere the time


s: Thou must with heed lay by, if thee await


s: Not all unearned the country's crown divine.


s: While yet within the woods, the elm is tamed


s: And bowed with mighty force to form the stock,


s: And take the plough's curved shape, then nigh the root


s: A pole eight feet projecting, earth-boards twain,


s: And share-beam with its double back they fix.


s: And a tall beech for handle, from behind


s: To turn the car at lowest: then o'er the hearth


s: The wood they hang till the smoke knows it well.


s: I can recount thee, so thou start not back,


s: And such slight cares to learn not weary thee.


s: And this among the first: thy threshing-floor


s: With ponderous roller must be levelled smooth,


s: And wrought by hand, and fixed with binding chalk,


s: Splitting the surface, then a thousand plagues


s: Make sport of it: oft builds the tiny mouse


s: Her home, and plants her granary, underground,


s: Or burrow for their bed the purblind moles,


s: Or toad is found in hollows, and all the swarm


s: Of earth's unsightly creatures; or a huge


s: Corn-heap the weevil plunders, and the ant,


s: Mark too, what time the walnut in the woods


s: With ample bloom shall clothe her, and bow down


s: Her odorous branches, if the fruit prevail,


s: Like store of grain will follow, and there shall come


s: A mighty winnowing-time with mighty heat;


s: But if the shade with wealth of leaves abound,


s: Vainly your threshing-floor will bruise the stalks


s: Rich but in chaff. Many myself have seen


s: Steep, as they sow, their pulse-seeds, drenching them


s: With nitre and black oil-lees, that the fruit


s: Might swell within the treacherous pods, and they


s: Make speed to boil at howso small a fire.


s: Yet, culled with caution, proved with patient toil,


s: These have I seen degenerate, did not man


s: Put forth his hand with power, and year by year


s: Choose out the largest. So, by fate impelled,


s: Speed all things to the worse, and backward borne


s: Glide from us; even as who with struggling oars


s: Up stream scarce pulls a shallop, if he chance


s: His arms to slacken, lo! with headlong force


s: The current sweeps him down the hurrying tide.


s: And the Kids' seasons and the shining Snake,


s: No less than those who o'er the windy main


s: Borne homeward tempt the Pontic, and the jaws


s: Now poising fair the hours of sleep and day


s: Give half the world to sunshine, half to shade,


s: Then urge your bulls, my masters; sow the plain


s: Even to the verge of tameless winter's showers


s: With barley: then, too, time it is to hide


s: Your flax in earth, and poppy, Ceres' joy,


s: Aye, more than time to bend above the plough,


s: While earth, yet dry, forbids not, and the clouds


s: Are buoyant. With the spring comes bean-sowing;


s: Thee, too, Lucerne, the crumbling furrows then


s: Receive, and millet's annual care returns,


s: What time the white bull with his gilded horns


s: Opens the year, before whose threatening front,


s: For wheaten harvest and the hardy spelt,


s: Thou tax the soil, to corn-ears wholly given,


s: Let Atlas' daughters hide them in the dawn,


s: The Cretan star, a crown of fire, depart,


s: Or e'er the furrow's claim of seed thou quit,


s: Or haste thee to entrust the whole year's hope


s: To earth that would not. Many have begun


s: Ere Maia's star be setting; these, I trow,


s: Their looked-for harvest fools with empty ears.


s: Thou'rt fain to sow, nor scorn to make thy care


s: Bootes' fall will send thee; then begin,


s: Pursue thy sowing till half the frosts be done.


s: Therefore it is the golden sun, his course


s: Into fixed parts dividing, rules his way


s: Through the twelve constellations of the world.


s: Five zones the heavens contain; whereof is one


s: Aye red with flashing sunlight, fervent aye


s: From fire; on either side to left and right


s: Are traced the utmost twain, stiff with blue ice,


s: And black with scowling storm-clouds, and betwixt


s: These and the midmost, other twain there lie,


s: By the Gods' grace to heart-sick mortals given,


s: And a path cleft between them, where might wheel


s: On sloping plane the system of the Signs.


s: And as toward Scythia and Rhipaean heights


s: The world mounts upward, likewise sinks it down


s: Toward Libya and the south, this pole of ours


s: Still towering high, that other, 'neath their feet,


s: By dark Styx frowned on, and the abysmal shades.


s: Here glides the huge Snake forth with sinuous coils


s: 'Twixt the two Bears and round them river-wise-


s: The Bears that fear 'neath Ocean's brim to dip.


s: There either, say they, reigns the eternal hush


s: Of night that knows no seasons, her black pall


s: Thick-mantling fold on fold; or thitherward


s: From us returning Dawn brings back the day;


s: And when the first breath of his panting steeds


s: On us the Orient flings, that hour with them


s: Red Vesper 'gins to trim his his 'lated fires.


s: Hence under doubtful skies forebode we can


s: The coming tempests, hence both harvest-day


s: And seed-time, when to smite the treacherous main


s: With driving oars, when launch the fair-rigged fleet,


s: Or in ripe hour to fell the forest-pine.


s: Hence, too, not idly do we watch the stars-


s: Their rising and their setting-and the year,


s: Four varying seasons to one law conformed.


s: If chilly showers e'er shut the farmer's door,


s: Much that had soon with sunshine cried for haste,


s: He may forestall; the ploughman batters keen


s: His blunted share's hard tooth, scoops from a tree


s: His troughs, or on the cattle stamps a brand,


s: Or numbers on the corn-heaps; some make sharp


s: The stakes and two-pronged forks, and willow-bands


s: Of bramble-twigs; now set your corn to parch


s: Before the fire; now bruise it with the stone.


s: Is right and lawful: this no ban forbids,


s: To turn the runnel's course, fence corn-fields in,


s: Make springes for the birds, burn up the briars,


s: And plunge in wholesome stream the bleating flock.


s: The creeping ass's ribs his driver packs,


s: And home from town returning brings instead


s: A dented mill-stone or black lump of pitch.


s: The moon herself in various rank assigns


s: The days for labour lucky: fly the fifth;


s: Then sprang pale Orcus and the Eumenides;


s: Earth then in awful labour brought to light


s: And those sworn brethren banded to break down


s: The gates of heaven; thrice, sooth to say, they strove


s: Their mountain-stair the Sire asunder smote.


s: Seventh after tenth is lucky both to set


s: The vine in earth, and take and tame the steer,


s: And fix the leashes to the warp; the ninth


s: To runagates is kinder, cross to thieves.


s: Many the tasks that lightlier lend themselves


s: In chilly night, or when the sun is young,


s: And Dawn bedews the world. By night 'tis best


s: To reap light stubble, and parched fields by night;


s: For nights the suppling moisture never fails.


s: And one will sit the long late watches out


s: By winter fire-light, shaping with keen blade


s: The torches to a point; his wife the while,


s: Her tedious labour soothing with a song,


s: Speeds the shrill comb along the warp, or else


s: With Vulcan's aid boils the sweet must-juice down,


s: And skims with leaves the quivering cauldron's wave.


s: And in mid heat the parched ears are bruised


s: Upon the floor; to plough strip, strip to sow;


s: In the cold season farmers wont to taste


s: The increase of their toil, and yield themselves


s: Boon winter bids them, and unbinds their cares,


s: As laden keels, when now the port they touch,


s: And happy sailors crown the sterns with flowers.


s: Acorns from oaks, and berries from the bay,


s: Olives, and bleeding myrtles, then to set


s: Snares for the crane, and meshes for the stag,


s: And hunt the long-eared hares, then pierce the doe


s: With whirl of hempen-thonged Balearic sling,


s: While snow lies deep, and streams are drifting ice.


s: What need to tell of autumn's storms and stars,


s: And wherefore men must watch, when now the day


s: Grows shorter, and more soft the summer's heat?


s: When Spring the rain-bringer comes rushing down,


s: Or when the beards of harvest on the plain


s: On its green stalk is swelling? Many a time,


s: When now the farmer to his yellow fields


s: The reaping-hind came bringing, even in act


s: The heavy corn-crop from its lowest roots,


s: And toss it skyward: so might winter's flaw,


s: Dark-eddying, whirl light stalks and flying straws.


s: Oft too comes looming vast along the sky


s: A march of waters; mustering from above,


s: The clouds roll up the tempest, heaped and grim


s: With angry showers: down falls the height of heaven,


s: And with a great rain floods the smiling crops,


s: The oxen's labour: now the dikes fill fast,


s: And the void river-beds swell thunderously,


s: And all the panting firths of Ocean boil.


s: The Sire himself in midnight of the clouds


s: Wields with red hand the levin; through all her bulk


s: Earth at the hurly quakes; the beasts are fled,


s: In cowering terror; he with flaming brand


s: Precipitates: then doubly raves the South


s: With shower on blinding shower, and woods and coasts


s: This fearing, mark the months and Signs of heaven,


s: And through what heavenly cycles wandereth


s: Worship the Gods, and to great Ceres pay


s: Of winter, and when Spring begins to smile.


s: Then lambs are fat, and wines are mellowest then;


s: Then sleep is sweet, and dark the shadows fall


s: Upon the mountains. Let your rustic youth


s: And for her pleasure thou mix honeycombs


s: With milk and the ripe wine-god; thrice for luck


s: Around the young corn let the victim go,


s: Attend it, and with shouts bid Ceres come


s: To be their house-mate; and let no man dare


s: He foot the rugged dance and chant the lay.


s: Aye, and that these things we might win to know


s: By certain tokens, heats, and showers, and winds


s: That bring the frost, the Sire of all himself


s: Ordained what warnings in her monthly round


s: The moon should give, what bodes the south wind's fall,


s: What oft-repeated sights the herdsman seeing