Hic inter denfas corylos modo namque gemellos, Just now did she bring forth sruins bere among the thick baxles, "Mos erat Hefperio in Latio, quem which feem moft naturally to be un derstood in the fenfe which Nonius Marcellus gives to the paffage under confideration. In the third Aeneid we find, "Haec loca vi quondam, et vafta "convulfa ruina, "Tantum aevi longinqua valet 66 mutare vetuftas, "Diffiluiffe ferunt, cum protinus 66 utraque tellus "Una foret." and left alas! the hope of my Spem gregis, ah! filice in nuda connixa reliquit. 15 flock upon the naked flone. NOTES. "luftraffent oculis omnia," and Dr. Trapp tranflates this paffage, Now all the works "Throughout with curious eyes they "would have trac'd." Aequaffet nocti ludum, in lucemFelix, fi protinus illum " que tuliffet." Here Servius fays, protenus is put In the following paffage in the for porro tenus or continuo, which is feventh, peculiar to Virgil. Ruaeus alfo interprets it continuo. But furely it Tartaream intendit vocem, qua would be better to tranflate this "protinus omne "Contremuit nemus," That is, emphatically, let every man of the Tufcans add himself to the number. Servius indeed tells us, that fome interpret protinus, licet in this place. Ruaeus interprets it ftatim: but the fenfe, which I have here given it, feems the most natural. There remains, I think, but one paffage more to be confidered. It is alfo in the ninth book; where the Poet is fpeaking of the numbers flain by Euryalus and Nifus, Among thefe he mentions Sarranus, who had fpent paffage, happy, had be but made his play abfolutely or entirely equal to the night, and continued it till morning. Having thus confidered the word in all the places where Virgil has affent to Servius and his followers, made ufe of it, I can by no means tinue, which Servius himself fays is who interpret it porro tenus or conpeculiar to Virgil. And as there is not any one paffage, where it may not be rendered otherwife, we may juftly reject this fingular interpretation. I rather incline to the opinion of Nonius Marcellus, that it is in this place an emphatical adverb, and means valde or omnino, in which fenfe it may well be underflood in many paffages of our Poet. ༢. 13. Duco.] La Cerda would have us understand duco in this place to mean carrying on the fhoulders. To confirm this interpretation, he quotes feveral authors, who mention the fhepherd's taking up the fheep on his fhoulders. But all, or most of them, are Chriftians, and allude to the parable of the Good Shepherd in the Gofpel; which only fhews the frequency 1 Saepe malum hoc nobis, fi mens non laeva fuiffet, I remember, that the oak blafte ed from beaven often foretold me this calamity; only my mind was diftracted. Often did the finiftrous crow foretel it from a bollow bolm-oak. But tell me God TIT. Urbem, quam dicunt Romam, Meliboee, Tityrus, foolishly thought the 20 putavi Stultus ego huic noftrae fimilem, quo faepe folemus. like this of ours, Meliboent Paftores ovium teneros depellere foetus. Sic canibus catulos fimiles, fic matribus hoedos NOTES.- frequency of this cuftom. However not even one of these ufes duco to exprefs carrying on the fhoulders. It certainly fignifies to lead or draw. In the first fenfe it is ufed in the fecond Georgick, ver. 395. and in the latter fenfe in many places. Ruaeus renders it traha. Dryden tranflates it, city, which they call Rome, be to which we shepherds often ufe to drive the tender offspring of our fbeep. Thus I knew whelps were like dogs, and kids like goats: 1533, printed by Rob. Stephens, and 19. Qui.] Some read quis. "And this you fee I fcarcely drag tyrus, inftead of anfwering directly “ along." And Dr Trapp, "And this, dear Tityrus, I fcarce with pain "Can drag along.' 15. Connixa.] Servius fays it is ufed for enixa, only to avoid an hiatus. La Cerda will have it to exprefs a difficult delivery.; for which I do not find fufficient authority. 16. Laeva.] Servius interprets it fulta, contraria. See the note on ver.:7.0 of the fourth Georgick. 18. Saepe finiftra, &c.] This verfe is of doubtful authority, not being to be found in the most an cient manufcripts. Pierius found it added to fome copies in another hand. It istomitted in the printed copy of the Medicean, in the Milan edition of 1481, in the Paris edition of who the deity is, deviates, with a paftoral fimplicity, into a description of Rome, 21. Huic noftrae.] Mantua, near which Virgil was born. 23. Sic canibus, &c.] means, that Rome differs from "other cities, not only in magni tude, but alfo in kind, being, as "it were, another world, or a fort "of heaven in which he faw the "god Caefar. For in comparing a "whelp to a dog, or a kid to a goat, we only exprefs the diffe 66 rence of magnitude, not of kind. "But, when we fay a lion is bigger "than a dog, we exprefs the dif ference of kind as well as of mag<< nitude, as the Poet does now in "fpeaking of Rome. I thought "before, fays he, that Rome was " to be compared with other cities, "to 66 just Thus I used to compare great Noram: fic parvis componere magna folebam. things with fmall. But this Verum haec tantum alias inter caput extulit urbes, 25 bas lifted up ber bead among other cities, as much as cypreffes Quantum lenta folent inter viburna cupreffi. -do among the bending wayfar ing-trees. MEL. What great canfe bad. you to go to fee Rome ? MEL. Et quae tanta fuit Romam tibi caufa videndi ? TIT. Libertas: quae fera tamen refpexit inertem; TIT. Liberty which, bough I was flothful, looked upon me at last; NOTES. "just as a kid is to be compared "with it's dam: for though it was greater, yet I took it to be only a city but now I find, that it 5 differs alfo in kind: for it is a "mansion of deities. That this is "his meaning, is plain from Et quae.] Some read Ecquae. 28. Libertas.] The Commentators generally understand Tityrus to have been a flave; because he makes mention here of his being grown old before he obtained his liberty. But it is very plain that Virgil does not represent him in any દ Quantum lenta folent inter vi- fuch condition; for he is poffeffed burna cupreffi, "For the wayfaring-tree is a low fhrub; but the cypress is a tall, and stately tree." SERVIUS. 26. Lenta viburna.] The Viburnum or Wayfaring-tree is a Thrub with bending, tough branches, which are therefore much ufed in binding faggots. The name is derived a viendo, which fignifies to bind. The ancient writers feem to have called any fhrub, that was fit for this purpofe, viburnum: but the more modern authors have restrained that name to exprefs only our Wayfaring-tree. 27. Et quae tanta, &c.] Tityrus having mentioned Rome, Meliboeus immediately afks him what was the occafion of his going thither to which he answers, that it was Liberty, which he did not enjoy till he was grown old, when Galatea forfook him, and he gave himfelf up to Amaryllis. of flocks and herds; and has a farm of his own; tua rura manebunt. The Poet therefore must mean by Liberty, either the restitution of the lands of Tityrus, or his releasement from the bondage of his paffion for Galatea. It seems to be the latter; because we are told he had no hopes of liberty, fo long as Galatea retained poffeffion of him. It will be objected perhaps, that Tityrus could have no occafion to go to Rome, to obtain a difmiffion from his affection to a miftrefs; and therefore this cannot be the liberty here mentioned. But to this it may be answered, that his having obtained his liberty, by. fhaking off the yoke of Galatea, was the cause of his going to Rome: for during his paffion for her, he neglected his affairs, and lived expenfively, fending great quantities of cattle and cheese to market, and yet not being the richer for it.. 29. Can Candidior poftquam tondenti barba cadebat: 29. Candidior poftquam, &c.] The Commentators, who generally affirm that Virgil defcribes himfelf under the name of Tityrus, are much confounded with this mention of his beard being grey, Virgil being but twenty-eight years old, when he wrote this Eclogue. Servius queftions, whether it may not be a changing of the perfon, putting an old peasant in this place instead of Virgil; but he does not feem perfectly fatisfied with this folution, and rather thinks, that the pointing fhould be altered, reading the paffage thus ; 2 Libertás, quae fera tamen refpexit inertem Candidior; poftquam tondenti barba cadebat. Thus candidior does not agree with barba, but with libertas; and the sense, such as it is, will be Liberty, which, though I was flothful, looked more favourably at last, after my beard fell from the barber. But then the mention of the beard at all is fuperfluous, unless we fuppofe that they did not use the barber till they were near thirty years old, which is not probable. Besides, if we should comply with Servius here in altering the pointing, we shall never be able to prove Tityrus to be a young man, fince he is twice called exprefsly fepex, which cannot be ftrained to fignify any thing but an old man. The fame objection will be in force against Pomponius alfo, who will after my beard fell white from. the barber: have the candidior barba to mean the firft down on the chin. Besides, this will make Tityrus too young to represent a perfon of Virgil's age. La Cerda is of opinion, that as Virgil had reprefented himself under the character of a flave, he was obliged to fuppofe himself old too; because it was not usual to enfranchife their flaves, till they were old. I have fhewn already, that Tityrus is not represented as a flave: therefore I need not give any answer to the latter part of the argument; though it would be eafy to produce many inftances of flaves being fet at liberty before they were old. Ruaeus thinks, that the allegory is not every where observed, and concludes with Probus, that the Poet only takes the fame liberty in reprefenting himself as an old man, that he does in making himself a fhepherd, or in affuming the feigned name of Tityrus. Catrou has found out a new folution of thefe difficulties. He has difcovered that Virgil's father was yet alive, and tells us it was he that obtained the reftitution of his lands, and therefore is reprefented with propriety as an old man; though I must confefs, that I can hardly be perfuaded to believe, that fo decent a writer as Virgil, would have made his father call himself fool, as he does in two or three places of this Eclogue. To conclude, the Commentators feem to think it neceffary, that fome one person should be reprefented under the name of Tityrus, and thereby lay themfelves under |