Cantantes licet usque (minus via laedat) eamus ; M. Desine plura, puer; et, quod nunc instat, 85 agamus, ECLOGA X.a GALLUS. b EXTREMUM hunc, Arethusa, mihi concede laborem. C Pauca meo Gallo, sed, quae legat ipsa Lycoris,d Carmina sunt dicenda : neget quis carmina Gallo? a Though the first Eclogue, in the order of publication, is not thought to be Virgil's first pastoral composition, yet this tenth is generally considered as his last. The subject of it is, an amour of his friend Gallus, whom Virgil represents under the character of a Shepherd, complaining of the cruelty of Lycoris, who deserted him. b Arethusa. Virgil invokes a Sicilian nymph, because he writes in imitation of Theocritus. < Meo Gallo, shews that Gallus was the intimate friend of Virgil. d Lycoris. The commentators agree that Cytheris, an actress of those times, is meant under the fictitious name of Lycoris; and that Gallus himself celebrated her under the same name, in some poems which he had written in her praise. e Cum fluctus subter labere, &c. Alpheus, a river of Peloponnesus, was in love with the nymph Arethusa, who, flying from his pursuit, was turned by Diana into a fountain. She made her escape under the sea to Ortygia, an island adjacent to Sicily, Doris famara suam non intermisceat undam. 5 Quae nemora, aut qui vos saltus habuere, puellae Naiades, indigno cum Gallus amore periret ? Nam neque Parnassi vobis juga, nam neque Pindi h Illum etiam lauri, etiam flevere myricae ; 10 where she rose up; but Alpheus pursuing her the same way, mix. ed his waters with her's. The Poet here wishes, that in her passage under the Sicilian sea, Doris, or the sea, may not mix the salt waves with her pure waters. f Doris, the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. She was married to her brother Nereus, by whom she became mother of the sea Nymphs, who, from their father, are called Nereids. Doris is here used for the sea itself. She is here called amara, because the sea water is brackish. g Parnassi. A mountain of Phocis, sacred to Apollo and the Muses. h Pindi. A mountain on the confines of Macedonia, Epirus, and Thessaly, whence it is equally ascribed to these three regions. i Aonia Aganppe. A fountain of Boeotia, sacred to the Muses, rising in the mountain Helicon, not far from Thebes. k Lycaeus is a mountain of Arcadia, famous for sheep, and sacred to Pan, being accounted one of his habitations. Stant et oves circum; (nostri nec poenitet illas; Et formosus oves ad flumina pavit Adonis) Uvidus hiberna venit de glande Menalcas. 20 Omnes, unde amor iste, rogant, tibi? Venit Apollo: Perque nives alium perque horrida castra secuta est. Florentes ferulas et grandia lilia quassans. Pan deus Arcadiae venit: quem vidimus ipsi 25 30 Atque utinam ex vobis unus, vestrique fuissem 35 1 Sambucus ebulus, fig. 22. m This colour was probably vermilion, as the minium of the Romans was made from cinnabar, whereas our minium is the red calx of lead. Seu quicumque furor, (quid tum si fuscus Amyntas? 45 40 Me sine sola vides. Ah te ne frigora laedant! Ibo, et, Chalcidico" quae sunt mihi condita versu : 50 55 n Chalcidico.... versu. Chalcis is a city of the island of Euboea, the native place of Euphorion, whose works Gallus is said to have translated into Latin. o Pastoris Siculi. Theocritus. P Parthenius is a mountain of Arcadia, so called, according to Servius, ânò tãy wagdivav, from the Virgins who used to hunt there. |