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Delectos heroas; erunt etiam altera bella;

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Atque iterum ad Trojam magnus mittetur Achilles.

Hinc, ubi jam firmata virum te fecerit aetas,

Cedet et ipse mari vector; nec nautica pinus"
Mutabit merces; omnis feret omnia tellus ;
Non rastros patietur humus, non vinea falcem ; ;
Robustus quoque jam tauris juga solvet arator,
Nec varios discet mentiri-lana colores: ·
Ipse sed in pratis aries jam suave rubenti:
Murice, jam croceo mutabit vellera luto;"
Sponte sua sandyx pascentes vestiet agnos.,
Talia saecla, suis dixerunt, currite, fusis
Concordes stabili fatorum numine Parcae. P
Aggredere o magnos (aderit jam tempus) honores,
Cara Deum soboles, magnum Jovis incrementum !
Aspice convexo nutantem pondere mundum;
Terrasque tractusque maris coelumque profundum;
Aspice, venturo laetantur ut omnia saecló.

O mihi tam longae maneat pars ultima vitae,
Spiritus et, quantum sat erit tua dicere facta!

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u Nautica pinus. Ships used to be built of the wood of pinetrees; whence it is usual with the poets to use pinus for a ship.

• The plant here alluded to, Martyn believes to be the Reseda luteola, fig. 17.

P The Parcae, according to Hesiod, were the daughters of Night; their names were Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos: they had the disposal of good and evil to men, according to their deserts.

Non me carminibus vincet nec Thracius Orpheus,

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Nec Linus; huic mater quamvis, atque huic pater adsit : Orphei Calliopea, Lino formosus Apollo.

r

Pan etiam, Arcadia mecum si judice certet,
Pan etiam, Arcadia dicat se judice victum.
Incipe, parve puer, risu cognoscere matrem ;
Matri longa decem tulerunt fastidia menses.
Incipe, parve puer; cui non risere parentes,
Nec Deus hunc mensa, Dea nec dignata cubili est.

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9 Linus was the son of Apollo by the muse Terpsichore, and the master of Orpheus, and others, whom he instructed in music and poetry.

■ Calliope, one of the nine muses, esteemed to preside over heroic poetry.

ECLOGA V.a

MENALCAS, MOPSUS.

Me. Cur non, Mopse, boni quoniam convenimus ambo, Tu calamos inflare leves, ego dicere versus,

Hic corylis mixtas inter consedimus ulmos?

5

Mo. Tu major; tibi me est aequum parere Menalca.
Sive sub incertas Zephyris mutantibus umbras,
Sive antro potius succedimus. Aspice, ut antrum
Sylvestris raris sparsit labrusca racemis.

Me. Montibus in nostris solus tibi certet Amyntas.
Mo. Quid, si idem certet Phoebum superare canendo?

a In this Eclogue, two Shepherds meet under the shade of elms, intermixed with hazels, and retire for better shade into a cave, covered by wild vines, where they sing alternately the death and deification of Daphnis. Menalcas and Mopsus are fictitious names of Shepherds, introduced to form the dialogue. Daphnis is thought, by Scaliger and others, to represent Julius Caesar; but on this point there are various opinions. From some passages in the Eclogue is it supposed to have been written after the battle of Phi712, A.V.C.

b Labrusca.

From various passages in ancient authors, the labrusca appears to be a vine, running wild without culture.

Mo. Incipe, Mopse, prior: si quos aut Phyllidis ig

nes,

Aut Alconis habes laudes, aut jurgia Codri.e

Incipe; pascentes servabit Tityrus hoedos.

Mo. Immo haec, in viridi nuper quae cortice fagi Carmina descripsi, et modulans alterna notavi, Experiar: tu deinde jubeto certet Amyntas.

Me. Lenta salix quantum pallenti cedit olivae,f Puniceis humilis quantum saliunca rosetis :

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c Phyllis was the daughter of Lycurgus, King of Thrace, and was enamoured of Demophoon, the son of Theseus and Phædra, having given him entertainment as he was returning from the Trojan war. Demophoon being obliged to go to Athens to settle his affairs, promised to return soon and marry her; but when he was unex. pectedly detained beyond the appointed time, Phyllis hung herself in despair.

d Alcon was a celebrated Cretan archer, so skilful as never to miss his aim.

When his country

Oracle at Delphi,

e Codrus was the last king of the Athenians. was invaded by a powerful army, and the foretold that the victory should fall to that people, whose king should be slain; the enemy gave strict command to the army, that every one should abstain from hurting Codrus. But he disguising himself in the habit of a shepherd, took occasion to quarrel with some of the enemies' foragers, by which means he lost his life, and thus preserved his country.

f Olea Europæa, fig. 17.

8 The Saliunca is a plant not known with certainty, but by comparing different descriptions of it in Pliny and Dioscorides, the bestConjecture is, that it is the Valeriana celtica of Linnæus.

Judicio nostro tantum tibi cedit Amyntas.

Mo. Sed tu desine plura, puer; successimus antro.
Extinctum nymphae crudeli funere Daphnin
Flebant vos coryli testes, et flumina nymphis :
Cum, complexa sui corpus miserabile nati,

Atque Deos atque astra vocat crudelia mater.

Non ulli

pastos illis egere diebus

20

26

30.

Frigida, Daphni, boves ad flumina; nulla neque amnem
Libavit quadrupes, nec graminis attigit herbam.
Daphni, tuum Poenos etiam ingemuisse leones
Interitum, montesque feri sylvaeque loquuntur.
Daphnis et Armenias currus subjungere tigres
Instituit; Daphnis thiasosh inducere Bacchi,
Et foliis lentas intexere mollibus hastas.
Vitis ut arboribus decori.est, ut vitibus uvae,
Ut gregibus tauri, segetes ut pinguibus arvis :
Tu decus omne tuis; postquam te fata tulerunt :
Ipsa Pales agros, atque ipse reliquit Apollo.
Grandia saepe quibus mandavimus hordea sulcis,
Infelix lolium, et steriles nascuntur avenae.

k

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g Curru for currui.

h Thiasus was a solemn singing and dancing, used at festivals. i Pales is the goddess of Shepherds. The feast called Palilia, in which milk was offered to her, was celebrated on the twentieth of April, on which day Rome was founded by Romulus.

k Lolium temulentium, fig. 19.

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