Manilius: ASTRONOMICON

Hic alius finisset iter signisque relatis
quis adversa meant stellarum numina quinque
quadriiugis et Phoebus equis et Delia bigis
non ultra struxisset opus, caeloque rediret
ac per descensum medios percurreret ignes

Here another would have finished the journey, and, the signs recounted
by which the adverse numina of the five stars go,
and Phoebus with his four-yoked horses and Delia with her two-horsed chariot,
would not have constructed the work further, and would return to the sky
and by descent would run through the middle fires

Saturni, Iovis et Martis Solisque, sub illis
post Venerem et Maia natum te, Luna, vagantem.
me properare etiam mundus iubet omnia circum
sidera vectatum toto decurrere caelo,
cum semel aetherios ausus conscendere currus

of Saturn, of Jove and of Mars and of the Sun, beneath these
after Venus and the son of Maia, you, Luna, wandering.
the world too bids me to hasten, having been borne around all
the stars, to run through the whole heaven,
since once I have dared to mount the aetherial chariots

summum contigerim sua per fastigia culmen.
hinc vocat Orion, magni pars maxima caeli,
et ratis heroum, quae nunc quoque navigat astris,
Fluminaque errantis late sinuantia flexus
et biferum Cetos squamis atque ore tremendo

I have reached the supreme summit by its own ascents.
from here Orion calls, the very greatest part of the great heaven,
and the raft of the heroes, which even now navigates among the stars,
and the Rivers, widely sinuating their wandering bends,
and the two-formed Cetus, with scales and a tremendous mouth

Hesperidumque vigil custos et divitis auri
et Canis in totum portans incendia mundum
araque divorum, cui votum solvit Olympus;
illinc per geminas Anguis qui labitur Arctos
Heniochusque memor currus plaustrique Bootes

and the vigilant guardian of the Hesperides and of rich gold
and the Dog bearing fires through the whole world
and the altar of the gods, to which Olympus pays a vow;
from there the Serpent which glides through the twin Bears
and Heniochus mindful of his chariot and Boötes of the Wain

atque Ariadnaeae caelestia dona coronae,
victor et invisae Perseus cum falce Medusae
Andromedanque necans genitor cum coniuge Cepheus,
quaque volat stellatus Equus celerique Sagittae
Delphinus certans et Iuppiter alite tectus,

and the celestial gifts of Ariadne’s crown,
and Perseus, the victor, with the sickle of the hated Medusa,
and Andromeda, and the father Cepheus with his consort, the slayer,
and where the starry Horse flies and the swift Arrow,
the Dolphin contending, and Jupiter veiled by his bird,

ceteraque in toto passim labentia caelo.
quae mihi per proprias vires sunt cuncta canenda
quid valeant ortu, quid cum merguntur in undas,
et quota de bis sex astris pars quaeque reducat.
Vir gregis et ponti victor, cui parte relicta

and the rest lapsing everywhere through the whole sky.
which through my own proper powers are all to be chanted by me,
what they avail at rising, what when they are merged into the waves,
and what quota from the twice-six stars each part brings back.
Man of the flock and victor of the sea, to whom, with a part left

nomen onusque dedit nec pelle immunis ab ipsa,
Colchidos et magicas artes qui visere Iolcon
Medeae iussit movitque venena per orbem,

he gave name and burden, nor immune from the very pelt,
who bade the magical arts of the Colchian Medea to visit Iolcus
and set venoms in motion through the orb,

nunc quoque vicinam puppi, ceu naviget, Argo
a dextri lateris ducit regione per astra.
sed tum prima suos puppis consurgit in ignes,
quattuor in partes cum Corniger extulit ora.
illa quisquis erit terris oriente creatus,

now too, near to the stern, as if she were sailing, Argo
leads along through the stars from the region of the right side.
but then the stern first rises into its own fires,
when the Horned One has lifted his face into four parts.
whoever will be created on earth at that rising,

rector erit puppis clavoque immobilis haerens
mutabit pelago terras ventisque sequetur
fortunam totumque volet tranare profundum
classibus atque alios menses altumque videre
Phasin et in cautes Tiphyn superare ruentem.

he will be the helmsman of the ship, and, clinging motionless to the tiller,
he will change lands by the sea and with the winds will follow Fortune,
and he will wish to swim across the whole deep with fleets,
and to see other months and the deep Phasis,
and to surpass Tiphys rushing upon the crags.

tolle sitos ortus hominum sub sidere tali,
sustuleris bellum Troiae classemque solutam
sanguine et appulsam terris; non invehet undis
Persida nec pelagus Xerxes facietque tegetque;
versa Syracusis Salamis non merget Athenas,

remove the origins of men set under such a constellation,
you will have taken away the war of Troy and the fleet loosed and, blood-stained, driven to the shores;
Xerxes will not convey the Persian on the waves, nor will he make the sea and roof it over;
with things reversed at Syracuse, Salamis will not drown Athens,

Punica nec toto fluitabunt aequore rostra
Actiacosque sinus inter suspensus utrimque
orbis et in ponto caeli fortuna natabit.
his ducibus caeco ducuntur in aequore classes
et coit ipsa sibi tellus totusque per usus

Nor will Punic prows float about on the whole level sea,
and, between the Actian bays, the orb suspended on both sides,
and on the deep the fortune of the sky will swim.
Under these leaders fleets are led on a blind sea,
and the earth itself unites to itself, and the whole through use

diversos rerum ventis arcessitur orbis.
Sed decima lateris surgens de parte sinistri
maximus Orion magnumque amplexus Olympum,
quo fulgente super terras caelumque trahente
ementita diem nigras nox contrahit alas,

a diverse world of things is summoned by the winds.
But, rising from the tenth part of the left side,
the greatest Orion, and having embraced mighty Olympus,
with him shining and drawing the sky over the lands,
night, having counterfeited the day, draws in its black wings,

sollertis animos, velocia corpora finget
atque agilem officio mentem curasque per omnis
indelassato properantia corda vigore.
instar erit populi totaque habitabit in urbe
limina pervolitans unumque per omnia verbum

it will fashion ingenious spirits, swift bodies,
and a mind agile for office, and hearts hurrying through every care
with indefatigable vigor.
it will be in the likeness of a people and will inhabit the whole city,
flitting over thresholds, and one word through all things

mane salutandi portans communis amicus.
Sed, cum se terris Aries ter quinque peractis
partibus extollit, primum iuga tollit ab undis
Heniochus clivoque rotas convellit ab imo,
qua gelidus Boreas aquilonibus instat acutis.

in the morning bringing the salutation, a common friend.
But, when Aries, with thrice five parts completed, lifts himself from the lands,
the Charioteer first raises his yokes from the waves,
and from the bottom of the slope wrenches up his wheels,
where icy Boreas presses with sharp north-winds.

ille dabit proprium studium caeloque retentas
quas prius in terris agitator amaverat artes:
stare levi curru moderantem quattuor ora
spumigeris frenata lupis et flectere equorum
praevalidas vires ac torto stringere gyro;

he will give his own zeal, and to the sky the skills retained
which the driver had previously loved on earth:
to stand on a light chariot, moderating the four mouths
bridled with foam-bearing wolf-bits, and to bend the horses’
over-mighty forces and to tighten with a twisted gyre;

at, cum laxato fugerunt cardine claustra,
exagitare feros pronumque antire volantis
vixque rotis levibus summum contingere campum
vincentem pedibus ventos, vel prima tenentem
agmina in obliquum cursus agitare malignos

but, when the barriers have fled with the hinge loosened,
to drive the fierce ones and, leaning forward, to go before the flying,
and scarcely with light wheels to touch the top of the plain,
outstripping the winds with his feet, or, holding the foremost
ranks, to drive oblique, obstructive courses

obstantemque mora totum praecludere circum,
vel medium turbae nunc dextros ire per orbes
fidentem campo, nunc meta currere acuta
spemque sub extremo dubiam suspendere casu.
nec non alterno desultor sidere dorso

and to preclude, with delay, the one obstructing, the whole circuit all around,
or now to go, through the middle of the throng, by rightward orbits,
confident in the plain, now to run at the sharp meta,
and to suspend a doubtful hope upon the utmost hazard.
and likewise the desultor to settle on an alternating back

quadrupedum et stabilis poterit defigere plantas,
pervolitans et equos ludet per terga volantum;
aut solo vectatus equo nunc arma movebit,
nunc leget in longo per cursum praemia circo.
quidquid de tali studio formatur habebit.

and, steady, he will be able to plant his soles upon quadrupeds,
and, flitting about, he will sport across the backs of the flying horses;
or, carried by a single horse, now he will wield arms,
now he will gather prizes along the course in the long circus.
whatever is fashioned from such a pursuit he will possess.

hinc mihi Salmoneus (qui caelum imitatus in orbe,
pontibus impositis missisque per aera quadrigis
expressisse sonum mundi sibi visus et ipsum
admovisse Iovem terris, dum fulmina fingit
sensit, et immissos ignes super ipse secutus

hence for me Salmoneus (who, having imitated the sky in a circuit,
with bridges set up and four-horse chariots sent through the air,
seemed to himself to have expressed the sound of the world and to have
brought Jove himself near to the lands, while he forges thunderbolts,
learned it, and, the fires sent down, he himself followed after from above

morte Iovem didicit) generatus possit haberi.
hoc genitum credas de sidere Bellerophonten
imposuisse viam mundo per signa volantem,
cui caelum campus fuerat, terraeque fretumque
sub pedibus, non ulla tulit vestigia cursus.

he learned Jove by death) may be considered begotten.
this one you would believe to have been born from that star, Bellerophon,
to have laid a way upon the world, flying through the constellations,
for whom the sky had been a plain, and the land and the sea
beneath his feet—no track bore the footprints of his course.

100

his erit Heniochi surgens tibi forma notanda.
Cumque decem partes Aries duplicaverit ortus,
incipient Haedi tremulum producere mentum
hirtaque tum demum terris promittere terga
qua dexter Boreas spirat. ne crede severae

by these the rising form of the Heniochus will be for you to note.
And when Aries, at its rising, shall have doubled ten parts,
the Kids will begin to draw forth a trembling chin
and only then to promise their shaggy backs to the lands
where rightward Boreas breathes. Do not trust the severe

105

frontis opus fingi, strictosque hinc ora Catones
abruptumque pari Torquatum et Horatia facta.
maius onus signo est, Haedis nec tanta petulcis
conveniunt: levibus gaudent lascivaque signant
pectora; et in lusus facilis agilemque vigorem

to fashion the work of the brow, and here the faces as strict Catos,
and Torquatus abrupt, and Horatian deeds with an equal cast.
it is a greater onus for the sign, nor do such great things suit the petulant Kids:
they delight in light things and mark lascivious breasts;
and for play they are facile and for agile vigor

110

desudant; vario ducunt in amore iuventam;
in vulnus numquam virtus sed saepe libido
impellit, turpisque emitur vel morte voluptas;
et minimum cecidisse malum est, quia crimine vincunt.
nec non et cultus pecorum nascentibus addunt

they sweat it out; they lead their youth in varied love;
into the wound never does virtue but often libido
impels, and foul pleasure is purchased even at the price of death;
and to have fallen is the least evil, since they prevail by crime.
and likewise they add the care of herds for the newborn

115

pastoremque suum generant, cui fistula collo
haereat et voces alterna per oscula ducat.
Sed, cum bis denas augebit septima partes
Lanigeri, surgent Hyades. quo tempore natis
nulla quies placet, in nullo sunt otia fructu,

and they beget their own shepherd, to whose neck a pipe may cling, and who may lead alternate voices through little mouths.
But, when the seventh shall increase the parts of the Wool-bearer by twice ten, the Hyades will rise. at which time no rest pleases those born, leisure is of no fruit,

120

sed populum turbamque petunt rerumque tumultus.
seditio clamorque iuvat, Gracchosque tenentis
rostra volunt Montemque Sacrum rarosque Quirites;
pacis bella probant curaeque alimenta ministrant.
immundosque greges agitant per sordida rura;

but they seek the people and the crowd and the tumults of affairs.
sedition and clamor delight, and they want the rostra holding the Gracchi
and the Sacred Mount and the sparse Quirites;
they approve the wars of peace, and cares minister aliment.
and they drive unclean herds through sordid countrysides;

125

et fidum Laertiadae genuere syboten.
hos generant Hyades mores surgentibus astris.
Ultima Lanigeri cum pars excluditur orbi,
quae totum ostendit terris atque eruit undis,
Olenie servans praegressos tollitur Haedos

and they begot for the son of Laertes a faithful swineherd.
These mores the Hyades beget with the stars arising.
When the last part of the Wool-bearer is excluded from the orb,
the part which displays the whole to the lands and brings it forth from the waves,
preserving the Olenian Kids that have gone before, it is lifted up

130

egelido stellata polo, qua dextera pars est,
officio magni mater Iovis. illa Tonanti
fida alimenta dedit pectusque implevit hiantis
lacte suo, dedit et dignas ad fulmina vires.
hinc trepidae mentes tremebundaque corda creantur

starry in the cool pole, where the right-hand part is,
by her service the mother of great Jove. She to the Thunderer
gave faithful nourishment and filled the gaping breast
with her own milk, and gave powers worthy for the thunderbolts.
hence fearful minds and trembling hearts are begotten

135

suspensa ad strepitus levibusque obnoxia causis.
his etiam ingenita est visendi ignota cupido,
ut nova per montes quaerunt arbusta capellae,
semper et ulterius pascentes tendere gaudent.
Taurus, in aversos praeceps cum tollitur ortus,

suspended at noises and subject to slight causes.
in them also there is an ingenerate desire of seeing the unknown,
as she-goats seek new shrubs through the mountains,
and, while grazing, they always delight to stretch further.
Taurus, when headlong he is lifted into the averted risings,

140

sexta parte sui certantis luce sorores
Pleiadas ducit. quibus aspirantibus almam
in lucem eduntur Bacchi Venerisque sequaces
perque dapes mensasque super petulantia corda
et sale mordaci dulcis quaerentia risus.

with a sixth part of its own contending light he leads the sister Pleiads.
as they breathe favor, into the kindly light are brought forth the followers of Bacchus and of Venus,
and over banquets and above the tables, wanton hearts,
and sweet laughters seeking with mordacious salt.

145

illis cura sui cultus frontisque decorae
semper erit: tortos in fluctum ponere crines
aut vinclis revocare comas et vertice denso
fingere et appositis caput emutare capillis
pumicibusque cavis horrentia membra polire

for them there will always be care of their own grooming and of a decorous brow:
to set curled hair into a wave,
or to draw back the tresses with bands and, with a dense crown,
to fashion it, and to alter the head with applied hair,
and to polish bristling limbs with hollow pumice-stones

150

atque odisse virum teretisque optare lacertos.
femineae vestes, nec in usum tegmina plantis
sed speciem, fictique placent ad mollia gressus.
naturae pudet, atque habitat sub pectore caeca
ambitio, et morbum virtutis nomine iactant.

and to hate the male, and to desire well-turned upper arms.
feminine vestments, and coverings for the soles not for use
but for appearance; and feigned steps that please for a soft gait.
he is ashamed of nature, and blind ambition dwells beneath the breast,
and they vaunt the malady under the name of virtue.

155

semper amare parum est: cupient et amare videri.
Iam vero Geminis fraterna ferentibus astra
in caelum summoque natantibus aequore ponti
septima pars Leporem tollit. quo sidere natis
vix alas natura negat volucrisque meatus:

to love is always too little: they will also desire to seem to love.
Now indeed, with the Twins bearing their brotherly stars into heaven,
and with the sea’s topmost level floating, the seventh part lifts the Hare.
for those born under which star
nature scarcely denies wings and the courses of a bird:

160

tantus erit per membra vigor referentia ventos.
ille prius victor stadio quam missus abibit;
ille cito motu rigidos eludere caestus,
nunc exire levis missas nunc mittere palmas,
ille pilam celeri fugientem reddere planta

so great will be the vigor through his limbs, recalling the winds.
he will leave the stadium a victor before he is sent off;
he, with quick motion, will elude the rigid cestus-gauntlets,
now lightly slip out from launched palms, now launch palms,
he will return the fleeing ball with a swift sole

165

et pedibus pensare manus et ludere fulcro
mobilibusque citos ictus glomerare lacertis,
ille potens turba perfundere membra pilarum
per totumque vagas corpus disponere palmas,
ut teneat tantos orbes sibique ipse reludat

and to counterpoise the hands with the feet and to play with the fulcrum,
and with mobile biceps to mass swift strokes,
he, powerful, to suffuse his limbs with a throng of balls,
and to dispose his roaming palms over his whole body,
so that he may hold so many orbs and play them back to himself

170

et velut edoctos iubeat volitare per ipsum.
invigilat curis, somnos industria vincit,
otia per varios exercet dulcia lusus.
Nunc Cancro vicina canam, cui parte sinistra
consurgunt Iugulae. quibus aspirantibus orti

and as though taught, he bids them to flit about him.
he keeps watch with cares, industry conquers sleep,
he exercises his leisure through various pleasant games.
Now I will sing of those near Cancer, on whose left side
the Iugulae rise; with these breathing favor, those who have risen

175

te, Meleagre, colunt flammis absentibus ustum
reddentemque tuae per mortem munera matri,
cuius et ante necem paulatim vita sepulta est,
atque Atalantaeos conatum ferre labores,
et Calydonea bellantem rupe puellam

you, Meleager, they honor, burned with the flames absent,
and giving back through your death the gifts to your mother,
whose life too before death was gradually entombed,
and who attempted to bear the Atalantean labors,
and the maiden fighting on the Calydonian crag

180

vincentemque viros et quam potuisse videre
virgine maius erat sternentem vulnere primo.
quaque erat Actaeon silvis mirandus, et ante
quam canibus nova praeda fuit, ducuntur et ipsi,
retibus et claudunt campos, formidine montes.

and conquering men; and that it was a greater thing to have been able to see
a maiden laying it low with the first wound.
and with which Actaeon was wondrous in the woods, and before
he became a new prey to his dogs, even they themselves are led out,
and with nets they enclose the fields, with dread the mountains.

185

mendacisque parant foveas laqueosque tenacis
currentisque feras pedicarum compede nectunt
aut canibus ferrove necant praedasque reportant.
sunt quibus in ponto studium est cepisse ferarum
diversas facies et caeco mersa profundo

and they prepare deceitful pits and tenacious snares
and they bind the running beasts with the fetter of foot-snares
or with dogs or with iron they slay and report back the prey.
there are those for whom on the sea the zeal is to have taken wild creatures
of diverse forms and submerged in the blind deep

190

sternere litoreis monstrorum corpora harenis
horrendumque fretis in bella lacessere pontum
et colare vagos inductis retibus amnes
ac per nulla sequi dubias vestigia praedas,
luxuriae quia terra parum, fastidit et orbem

to strew the bodies of monsters on the littoral sands
and to provoke the horrendous sea into wars in the straits
and to strain the wandering rivers with nets brought in
and through no paths to follow the doubtful tracks of prey,
because for luxury the earth is too little, and it even scorns the world

195

venter, et ipse gulam Nereus ex aequore pascit.
At Procyon oriens, cum iam vicesima Cancro
septimaque ex undis pars sese emergit in astra,
venatus non ille quidem verum arma creatis
venandi tribuit. catulos nutrire sagacis

the belly, and Nereus himself feeds the gullet from the sea.
But Procyon, rising, when now with Cancer the twenty-seventh part
out of the waves lifts itself into the stars,
has not indeed given the chase, but has bestowed arms
for hunting upon the creatures created: to nurture sagacious whelps.

200

et genus a proavis, mores numerare per urbes,
retiaque et valida venabula cuspide fixa
lentaque correctis formare hastilia nodis,
et quaecumque solet venandi poscere cura
in proprios fabricare dabit venalia quaestus.

and to reckon the breed from forefathers, to number the manners through the cities,
and nets and strong hunting-spears with the point fixed,
and to shape the pliant spear-shafts with the knots corrected,
and whatever the care of hunting is wont to require
to fabricate as for-sale goods, profit will grant into his own gains.

205

Cum vero in vastos surget Nemeaeus hiatus,
exoritur candens latratque Canicula flammas
et rabit igne suo geminatque incendia solis.
qua subdente facem terris radiosque vomente
divinat cineres orbes fatumque supremum

When indeed the Nemean rises into vast gulfs,
the gleaming Canicula rises and barks out flames,
and with its own fire raves and doubles the sun’s conflagrations.
by which, setting a torch to the lands and spewing rays,
the orbs divine ashes and the supreme fate

210

sortitur, languetque suis Neptunus in undis,
et viridis nemori sanguis decedit et herbis.
cuncta peregrinos orbes animalia quaerunt
atque eget alterius mundus; natura suismet
aegrotat morbis nimios obsessa per aestus

takes its lot, and Neptune languishes in his own waves,
and the verdant blood withdraws from the woodland and the herbs.
all animals seek foreign orbs
and the world is in want of another; nature with her very own
diseases falls sick, beset through excessive heats

215

inque rogo vivit: tantus per sidera fervor
funditur atque uno cessant in lumine cuncta.
haec ubi se ponto per primas extulit oras,
nascentem quam nec pelagi restinxerit unda,
effrenos animos violentaque pectora finget

and on the pyre it lives: such great fervor is poured through the stars,
and all things cease in a single light.
when this one has lifted herself from the sea along the foremost shores,
whom not even the wave of the deep has extinguished at her birth,
she will fashion unbridled spirits and violent hearts

220

irarumque dabit fluctus odiumque metumque
totius vulgi. praecurrunt verba loquentis,
ante os est animus nec magnis concita causis
corda micant et lingua rabit latratque loquendo,
morsibus et crebris dentes in voce relinquit.

and he will give surges of angers and the hatred and the fear of the whole mob. The words of the speaker run ahead,
the spirit is before the mouth, and, stirred by no great causes,
the hearts flicker, and the tongue raves and by speaking barks,
and with frequent bites he leaves teeth upon the voice.

225

ardescit vino vitium, viresque ministrat
Bacchus et in flammam saevas exsuscitat iras.
nec silvas rupesque timent vastosque leones
aut spumantis apri dentes atque arma ferarum,
effunduntque suas concesso in corpore flammas.

vice grows hot with wine, and Bacchus ministers strength and arouses savage wraths into flame.
nor do they fear forests and crags and vast lions or the foaming boar’s tusks and the arms of wild beasts,
and they pour out their own flames in the conceded body.

230

ne talis mirere artes sub sidere tali,
cernis ut ipsum etiam sidus venetur in astris;
praegressum quaerit Leporem comprendere cursu.
Ultima pars magni cum tollitur orta Leonis,
Crater auratis surgit caelatus ab astris.

Do not marvel at such arts under such a star,
you see how the very constellation too hunts among the stars;
it seeks to apprehend the Hare, gone on ahead, by its running.
When the last part of the great Lion, arisen, is lifted,
the Cup, chased, rises, wrought by the gilded stars.

235

inde trahit quicumque genus moresque, sequetur
irriguos ruris campos amnesque lacusque,
et te, Bacche, tuas nubentem iunget ad ulmos,
disponetve iugis imitatus fronde choreas,
robore vel proprio fidentem in bracchia ducet

thence whoever draws his stock and manners will follow
the irrigated fields of the countryside and the rivers and lakes,
and you, Bacchus, marrying your brides, he will join to the elms,
or will dispose on the ridges dances imitated with foliage,
or, trusting in its own strength, he will lead it into arms

240

teque tibi credet semperque, ut matre resectum,
abiunget thalamis, segetemque interseret uvis,
quaeque alia innumeri cultus est forma per orbem
pro regione colet. nec parce vina recepta
hauriet, emeritis et fructibus ipse fruetur

and he will entrust you to yourself, and always, as cut from your mother,
he will disjoin you from the bridal chambers, and will interplant grain among the grapes,
and whatever other form of the innumerable cultivation there is throughout the world
he will cultivate according to the region. nor will he drain the received wines sparingly,
and he himself will enjoy the merited fruits

245

gaudebitque mero mergetque in pocula mentem.
nec solum terrae spem credet in annua vota:
annonae quoque vectigal mercesque sequetur
praecipue quas umor alit nec deserit unda.
talis effinget Crater umoris amator.

and he will rejoice in pure wine and will plunge his mind into cups.
nor will he entrust the land’s hope to annual vows only:
the revenue of the grain-supply and merchandise too will follow,
especially those which moisture nourishes and the wave does not desert.
such a one Crater, lover of moisture, will fashion.

250

Iam subit Erigone. quae cum tibi quinque feretur
partibus ereptis ponto, tollentur ab undis
clara Ariadnaeae quondam monumenta coronae
et mollis tribuent artes. hinc dona puellae
namque nitent, illinc oriens est ipsa puella.

Now Erigone rises. who, when for you she will be borne with five parts
snatched from the sea, the bright monuments of Ariadne’s once crown will be lifted from the waves,
and the gentle arts will bestow. on this side the maiden’s gifts
for indeed they shine, on that side the maiden herself is rising.

255

ille colet nitidis gemmantem floribus hortum
caeruleumque oleis viridemve in gramine collem.

he will cultivate a garden gemming with shining flowers
and a hill cerulean with olives or verdant in the grass.

260

pallentis violas et purpureos hyacinthos

pale violets and purple hyacinths

257

liliaque et Tyrias imitata papavera luces
vernantisque rosae rubicundo sanguine florem
conseret et veris depinget prata figuris.

and lilies and poppies imitating Tyrian lights
and the flower of the vernant rose with rubicund blood
she will sow and will paint the meadows with the figures of spring.

261

aut varios nectet flores sertisque locabit
effingetque suum sidus similisque <coronas
Cnosiacae faciet; calamosque> in mutua pressos 263a
incoquet atque Arabum Syriis mulcebit odores
et medios unguenta dabit referentia flatus,
ut sit adulterio sucorum gratia maior.
munditiae <cordi> cultusque artesque decorae
et lenocinium vitae praesensque voluptas.
Virginis hoc anni poscunt floresque Coronae.
At, cum per decimam consurgens horrida partem

or she will weave various flowers and will place them in garlands
and will shape her own constellation and will make similar <crowns of the Cnossian; and reeds> pressed against one another 263a
she will infuse them and will mellow the odors of the Arabs with Syrian [scents]
and will supply unguents recalling wafts in their midst,
so that by the adulteration of juices the charm may be greater.
elegances <to the heart> and cultivation and decorous arts
and the allurement of life and present pleasure.
This the Maiden of the year and the flowers of the Crown demand.
But, when, rising through the tenth, the rough part

270

Spica feret prae se vallantis corpus aristas,
arvorum ingenerat studium rurisque colendi
seminaque in faenus sulcatis credere terris
usuramque sequi maiorem sorte receptis
frugibus innumeris atque horrea quaerere messi

Spica will bear before her a body bristling with ears like a palisade,
she ingenerates a zeal for fields and for cultivating the countryside,
and to credit seeds on interest to the furrowed lands,
and to pursue interest greater than the principal, with countless crops received,
and to seek granaries for the harvest

275

(quod solum decuit mortalis nosse metallum:
nulla fames, non ulla forent ieiunia terris;
dives erat census saturatis gentibus <olim
argenti venis aurique latentibus> orbi) 278a
et, si forte labor vires tardaverit, artes
quis sine nulla Ceres, non ullus seminis usus,
subdere fracturo silici frumenta superque
ducere pendentis orbes et mergere farra
ac torrere focis hominumque alimenta parare
atque unum genus in multas variare figuras.
et, quia dispositis habitatur spica per artem

(the only metal it befitted mortals to know:
there would be no hunger, nor any fastings on the lands;
rich was the wealth of the world, with the peoples sated, <once
the veins of silver and of gold were lying hidden> to the globe) 278a
and, if by chance toil should slow the strengths, the arts
without which there is no Ceres, no use of seed,
to place the grains beneath the flint that is about to break, and above
to drive the hanging circles, and to plunge the spelt
and to toast it at the hearths and to prepare the aliments of men
and to vary one kind into many figures.
and, because the ear-of-grain is housed by art with things set in order

285

frugibus, ac structo similis componitur ordo,
seminibusque suis cellas atque horrea praebet,
sculpentem faciet sanctis laquearia templis
condentemque novum caelum per tecta Tonantis.
haec fuerat quondam divis concessa figura,

with the fruits, and an order like a built structure is composed,
and with its own seeds it provides cells and granaries,
and will make one sculpt coffered ceilings for holy temples
and set a new heaven across the roofs of the Thunderer.
this form had once been conceded to the gods,

290

nunc iam luxuriae pars est: triclinia templis
concertant, tectique auro iam vescimur auro.
Sed parte octava surgentem cerne Sagittam
Chelarum. dabit haec iaculum torquere lacertis,
et calamum nervis, glaebas et mittere virgis,

now already it is a part of luxury: triclinia vie with temples
and, covered with gold, we now feed on gold.
But in the eighth part behold the Arrow of the Claws rising.
This will grant to whirl the javelin with the arms,
and the reed-shaft with the strings, and to send clods with rods,

295

pendentemque suo volucrem deprendere caelo,
cuspide vel triplici securum figere piscem.
quod potius dederim Teucro sidusve genusve,
teve, Philoctete, cui malim credere parti?
Hectoris ille faces arcu taedamque fugavit,

and to catch the bird hanging in its own sky,
or to fix the carefree fish with a point or with a triple-pronged head.
which I would rather grant to Teucer—be it the constellation or the genus—,
or to you, Philoctetes, to which party I should prefer to entrust it?
he drove off Hector’s firebrands and torch with his bow,

300

mittebat saevos ignes quae mille carinis.
hic sortem pharetra Troiae bellique gerebat,
maior et armatis hostis subsederat exul.
quin etiam ille pater tali de sidere cretus
esse potest, qui serpentem super ora cubantem

she was sending savage fires which upon a thousand keels.
this man bore in his quiver the lot of Troy and of the war,
and, the greater, the exile had sat down as an enemy among men-at-arms.
nay even that father, begotten from such a star,
who the serpent lying above his features

305

infelix nati somnumque animamque bibentem
sustinuit misso petere ac prosternere telo.
ars erat esse patrem; vicit natura periclum
et pariter iuvenem somnoque ac morte levavit
tunc iterum natum et fato per somnia raptum.

the ill-fated father, seeing one drinking his son’s sleep and soul,
refrained from seeking to attack and prostrate with a hurled missile.
it was art to be a father; nature conquered the peril,
and at once he raised up the youth from sleep and from death,
then again his son, snatched by fate through dreams.

310

At, cum secretis improvidus Haedus in antris
erranti similis fratrum vestigia quaerit
postque gregem longo producitur intervallo,
sollertis animos agitataque pectora in usus
effingit varios nec deficientia curis

But, when in secret caverns the improvident Kid,
like one errant, seeks the vestiges of his brothers,
and behind the herd is led forth at a long interval,
he fashions his spirited mind and agitated breast to skillful uses,
various, and not failing in cares.

315

nec contenta domo. populi sunt illa ministra
perque magistratus et publica iura feruntur.
non illo coram digitos quaesiverit hasta,
defueritque bonis sector, poenamque lucretur
noxius et patriam fraudarit debitor aeris.

nor content with the home. those are ministers of the people,
and are borne through the magistracies and public laws.
not in that presence would the auction-spear have sought raised fingers,
nor would there have been lacking a purchaser for goods, and let the guilty one reap the penalty,
and the debtor of money defraud the fatherland.

320

cognitor est urbis. nec non lascivit amores
in varios ponitque forum suadente Lyaeo,
mobilis in saltus et scaenae mollior arte.
Nunc surgente Lyra testudinis enatat undis
forma per heredem tantum post fata sonantis,

He is the city’s advocate. And indeed he plays wanton, turns loves into various forms, and sets the forum, with Lyaeus urging, nimble for dances and softer in the art of the stage.
Now, with the Lyre rising, the form of the tortoise swims out from the waves only through its heir, which sounds after death.

325

qua quondam somnumque fretis Oeagrius Orpheus
et sensus scopulis et silvis addidit aures
et Diti lacrimas et morti denique finem.
hinc venient vocis dotes chordaeque sonantis
garrulaque <in> modulos diversa tibia forma

by which once the Oeagrian Orpheus gave sleep to the straits,
and to the crags perception and to the forests ears,
and to Dis tears, and to Death, finally, an end.
hence will come the endowments of voice and the sounding chord,
and the talkative pipe, diverse in form, into modulations

330

et quodcumque manu loquitur flatuque movetur.
ille dabit cantus inter convivia dulcis
mulcebitque sono Bacchum noctemque tenebit.
quin etiam curas inter secreta movebit
carmina furtivo modulatus murmure vocem,

and whatever speaks by hand and is moved by breath.
he will give sweet songs amid banquets
and will soothe Bacchus with sound and will hold the night.
nay even he will move cares in secret,
modulating his voice to songs with a furtive murmur,

335

solus et ipse suas semper cantabit ad aures,
sic dictante Lyra, cum pars vicesima sexta
Chelarum surget, quae cornua ducet ad astra.
Quid regione Nepae vix partes octo trahentis
Ara ferens turis stellis imitantibus ignem,

alone, and he himself, will always sing to his own ears,
thus with the Lyre dictating, when the twenty-sixth part
of the Claws rises, which will lead the horns to the stars.
What of the region of the Scorpion, scarcely drawing eight parts,
the Altar bearing incense, with stars imitating fire,

340

in qua devoti quondam cecidere Gigantes,
nec prius armavit violento fulmine dextram
Iuppiter, ante deos quam constitit ipse sacerdos?
quos potius fingent ortus quam templa colentis
atque auctoratos in tertia iura ministros,

in which once the devoted Giants fell,
nor did Jupiter arm his right hand with a violent thunderbolt
before the gods, before he himself stood as priest?
what origins will they rather feign than of one tending the temples
and ministers authorized in a third law,

345

divorumque sacra venerantis numina voce,
paene deos et qui possint ventura videre?
Quattuor appositis Centaurus partibus effert
sidera et ex ipso mores nascentibus addit.
aut stimulis agitabit onus mixtasque iugabit

and, with his voice, venerating the sacred rites of the gods and their numina,
almost gods themselves, and such as can see things to come?
The Centaur, in four adjacent parts, brings forth
the stars and from himself adds manners to those being born.
or he will drive the burden with goads and yoke mixed teams

350

semine quadrupedes aut curru celsior ibit
aut onerabit equos armis aut ducet in arma.
ille tenet medicas artes ad membra ferarum
et non auditos mutarum tollere morbos.
hoc est artis opus, non exspectare gementis

by breeding quadrupeds, or he will go loftier in a chariot,
or he will load the horses with arms or lead them into arms.
he masters the medical arts for the limbs of wild beasts
and to lift unheard diseases of the mute ones.
this is the work of the art: not to wait for one groaning

355

et sibi non aegrum iamdudum credere corpus.
Hunc subit Arcitenens, cuius pars quinta nitentem
Arcturum ostendit ponto. quo tempore natis
Fortuna ipsa suos audet committere census,
regalis ut opes et sancta aeraria servent

and to believe for himself that his body has long not been sick.
This one the Bow-bearer succeeds, whose fifth part shows shining Arcturus to the sea. at which time to those born Fortune herself dares to entrust her own wealth, so that royal resources and sacred treasuries may be preserved.

360

regnantes sub rege suo rerumque ministri,
tutelamque gerant populi, domibusve regendis
praepositi curas alieno limine claudant.
Arcitenens cum se totum produxerit undis,
ter decima sub parte feri formantibus astris

the rulers under their own king and the ministers of affairs,
and let them bear the guardianship of the people; or those set over the managing of households
let them shut their cares at another’s threshold.
When the Bow-bearer has brought himself wholly forth from the waves,
under the thirteenth part, with the stars shaping the savage one

365

plumeus in caelum nitidis Olor evolat alis.
quo surgente trahens lucem matremque relinquens
ipse quoque aerios populos caeloque dicatum
alituum genus in studium censusque vocabit.
mille fluent artes: aut bellum indicere mundo

the feathery Swan flies into heaven on gleaming wings.
as it rises, drawing the light and leaving its mother,
it too will summon the airy peoples and the winged race consecrated to the sky
into zeal and enrollment.
a thousand arts will flow: or to declare war upon the world

370

et medios inter volucrem prensare meatus,
aut nidis damnare suis, ramove sedentem
pascentemve super surgentia ducere lina.
atque haec in luxum. iam ventri longius itur
quam modo militiae: Numidarum pascimur oris

and to seize the mid-courses amid the bird’s flight,
or to doom it to its own nests, or, as it sits or feeds from a branch,
to draw the rising lines above. And these things are for luxury.
now we go farther for the belly than just now for the militia:
we are nourished from the shores of the Numidians

375

Phasidos et lucis; arcessitur inde macellum
unde aurata novo devecta est aequore pellis.
quin etiam linguas hominum sensusque docebit
aerias volucres novaque in commercia ducet
verbaque praecipiet naturae lege negata.

the Phasis and its groves; from there a market is fetched
whence the gilded fleece was conveyed over a new sea.
nay even, it will teach to airy birds the tongues and senses of men
and will lead them into new commerce
and will prescribe words denied by nature’s law.

380

ipse deum Cycnus condit vocemque sub illo
non totus volucer, secumque immurmurat intus.
nec te praetereant clausas qui culmine summo
pascere aves Veneris gaudent et reddere caelo
aut certis revocare notis, totamve per urbem

the Swan himself conceals a god and, not wholly a bird, the voice beneath him,
and he murmurs within to himself.
nor let them escape you who, on the highest rooftop, delight
to pasture the birds of Venus and to give them back to the sky,
or to recall them by fixed signals, or through the whole city

385

qui gestant caveis volucres ad iussa paratas,
quorum omnis parvo consistit passere census.
has erit et similis tribuens Olor aureus artes.
Anguitenens magno circumdatus orbe draconis,
cum venit in regione tuae, Capricorne, figurae,

who bear in cages birds prepared for orders,
whose whole estate consists in a small sparrow.
the Golden Swan too, bestowing similar arts, will be for these.
the Snake-Holder surrounded by the great orb of the dragon,
when he comes into the region of your figure, Capricorn,

390

non inimica facit serpentum membra creatis.
accipient sinibusque suis peploque fluenti
osculaque horrendis iungent impune venenis.
At, cum se patrio producens aequore Piscis
in caelumque ferens alienis finibus ibit,

he makes the limbs of serpents not inimical to the newborn.
they will receive them, and in their own bosoms and in a flowing peplos,
and will join kisses to horrendous venoms with impunity.
But, when the Fish, drawing himself forth from his native sea
and bearing himself into the sky, will go into alien boundaries,

395

quisquis erit tali capiens sub tempore vitam,
litoribus ripisve suos circumferet annos,
pendentem et caeco captabit in aequore piscem,
et perlucentis cupiens prensare lapillos

whoever shall be taking up life at such a time,
will carry his years around the shores or the banks,
and will try to catch the fish hanging in the blind sea,
and, desirous to grasp translucent pebbles

531

verticibus mediis oculos immittet avaros
cumque suis domibus concha valloque latentis

into the mid vortices he will send greedy eyes,
and, with their own homes—the conch—and the rampart of those hiding

399

protrahet immersus. nihil est audere relictum:
quaestus naufragio petitur corpusque profundo
immissum pariter quam praeda exquiritur ipsa.
nec semper tanti merces est parva laboris:
censibus aequantur conchae, lapidumque nitore
vix quisquam est locuples.

submerged, he will drag them out. nothing is left un-dared:
profit is sought from shipwreck, and a body sent into the deep
is searched for just as much as the booty itself.
nor is the wage of such great labor always small:
shells are equated to estates, and by the luster of stones
hardly anyone is wealthy.

oneratur terra profundo.

the earth is burdened by the deep.

405

tali sorte suas artes per litora tractat,
aut emit externos pretio mutatque labores
institor aequoreae varia sub imagine mercis.
Cumque Fidis magno succedunt sidera mundo
quaesitor scelerum veniet vindexque reorum,

by such a lot he plies his arts along the shores,
or he buys foreign works for a price and barters them,
a pedlar under a varied semblance of sea-borne merchandise.
And when, in the great world, the stars succeed to the Lyre,
an inquisitor of crimes will come and an avenger of the accused,

410

qui commissa suis rimabitur argumentis
in lucemque trahet tacita latitantia fraude.
hinc etiam immitis tortor poenaeque minister
et quisquis verove favet culpamve perodit
proditur atque alto qui iurgia pectore tollat.

who will pry into the offenses committed by his own arguments,
and will drag into the light things lurking under tacit fraud.
hence too the ruthless torturer and the minister of punishment,
and whoever favors the truth or utterly loathes guilt,
is disclosed, and he who with a lofty breast lifts quarrels.

415

Caeruleus ponto cum se Delphinus in astra
erigit et squamam stellis imitantibus exit,
ambiguus terrae partus pelagique creatur.
nam, velut ipse citis perlabitur aequora pinnis
nunc summum scindens pelagus nunc alta profundi

When the cerulean Delphinus lifts itself from the sea into the stars
and emerges, with the stars imitating its scale,
an ambiguous offspring of land and of sea is created.
for, just as he himself glides through the waters with swift fins
now cleaving the sea’s surface, now the depths of the deep

420

et sinibus vires sumit fluctumque figurat,
sic, venit ex illo quisquis, volitabit in undis.
nunc alterna ferens in lentos bracchia tractus
<conspicuus franget spumanti limite pontum> 423a
et plausa resonabit aqua, nunc aequore mersas
diducet palmas furtiva biremis in ipso,
nunc in aquas rectus veniet passuque natabit
et vada mentitus reddet super aequora campum;
aut immota ferens in tergus membra latusque
non onerabit aquas summisque accumbet in undis
pendebitque super, totus sine remige velum.

and with his curves he takes strength and shapes the wave,
thus, whoever comes after him will flit upon the waves.
now, bearing alternating strokes with his arms into the compliant waters,
<conspicuous he will break the sea with a foaming track> 423a
and the water, struck, will resound; now, with palms plunged in the level,
he will draw them apart—the stealthy bireme upon the very surface—,
now straight he will come into the waters and will swim with a stride,
and, feigning shallows, will render above the waters a plain;
or, bearing motionless his limbs on back and side,
he will not burden the waters and will recline on the topmost waves,
and will hang above, a whole sail without a rower.

430

illis in ponto iucundum est quaerere pontum,
corporaque immergunt undis ipsumque sub antris
Nerea et aequoreas conantur visere Nymphas,
exportantque maris praedas et rapta profundo
naufragia atque imas avidi scrutantur harenas.

for them on the sea it is delightful to seek the sea,
and they immerse their bodies in the waves and try to behold Nereus himself beneath the caverns and the sea Nymphs,
and they carry out the spoils of the sea and the shipwrecks snatched from the deep,
and eagerly search the lowest sands.

435

par ex diverso studium sociatur utrumque
in genus atque uno digestum semine surgit.
adnumeres etiam illa licet cognata per artem
corpora, quae valido saliunt excussa petauro
alternosque cient motus, elatus et ante

an equal zeal from the opposite is joined, both into one kind, and, arranged from a single seed, it rises.
you may also enumerate among these the bodies cognate by art,
which leap, cast off by a sturdy springboard,
and set in motion alternating movements, borne aloft and forward

440

nunc iacet atque huius casu suspenditur ille,
membrave per flammas orbesque emissa flagrantis,
quae delphina suo per inane imitantia motu

now this one lies and that one is suspended by this one’s fall,
or limbs sent through flames and blazing rings,
which, imitating dolphins through the void by their own motion,

444

molliter ut liquidis per humum ponuntur in undis

softly, as across the ground they are placed in liquid waves

443

et viduata volant pinnis et in aere ludunt.

and, bereft of pinions, they fly and play in the air.

445

at, si deficient artes, remanebit in illis
materies tamen apta; dabit natura vigorem
atque alacris cursus campoque volantia membra.
Sed regione means Cepheus umentis Aquari
non dabit in lusum mores. facit ora severae

but, if the arts should fail, there will remain in them
nevertheless an apt material; nature will give vigor
and alacritous courses and limbs flying over the field.
But Cepheus, passing through the region of the moist Aquarius,
will not give a disposition for play. it makes the features severe

450

frontis <is> ac vultus componit pondere mentis.
pascentur curis veterumque exempla revolvent
semper et antiqui laudabunt verba Catonis.
componet teneros etiam qui nutriat annos

he composes the brow <is> and countenance by the weight of mind.
they will be nourished by cares and will turn over the examples of the ancients
and will always praise the words of ancient Cato.
he will also arrange one to nurture the tender years

455

et dominum dominus praetextae lege sequatur
quodque agat id credat, stupefactus imagine iuris,
tutorisve supercilium patruive rigorem.

and let a master follow a master by the law of the praetexta
and let him believe that whatever he does, he is stupefied by the image of right,
by the supercilious brow of a tutor or the rigor of an uncle.

454

quin etiam tragico praestabunt verba coturno,

nay even the words will stand out with the tragic buskin,

458

cuius erit, quamquam in chartis, stilus ipse cruentus
nec minus hae scelerum facie rerumque tumultu
gaudebunt. vix una trium memorare sepulcra
ructantemque patrem natos solemque reversum
et caecum sine nube diem, Thebana iuvabit
dicere bella uteri mixtumque in fratre parentem,
quin et Medeae natos fratremque patremque,

whose stylus itself, although upon papers, will be bloodstained
nor less will these rejoice in the face of crimes and the tumult of affairs.
scarcely to recount one of three tombs
and a father belching up his sons, and the sun turned backward
and a blind day without cloud; it will please to tell Theban wars and the parent mingled in the brother by the womb,
nay even Medea’s sons and her brother and her father,

465

hinc vestes flammas illinc pro munere missas
aeriamque fugam natosque ex ignibus annos.
mille alias rerum species in carmina ducent;
forsitan ipse etiam Cepheus referetur in actus.
et, siquis studio scribendi mitior ibit,

from here the garments, from there the flames sent as a gift,
and the aerial flight and the years born from fires.
they will lead a thousand other forms of things into songs;
perhaps Cepheus himself also will be recounted into acts.
and, if anyone goes gentler in the zeal of writing,

470

comica componet laetis spectacula ludis,
ardentis iuvenes raptasque in amore puellas
elusosque senes agilisque per omnia servos,
quis in cuncta suam produxit saecula vitam
doctior urbe sua linguae sub flore Menander,

he will compose comic spectacles for joyful games,
ardent youths and maidens rapt in love,
and eluded old men and slaves agile in everything,
by whom into all ages he has prolonged his life,
Menander, more learned than his own city, beneath the flower of the language,

475

qui vitae ostendit vitam chartisque sacravit.
et, si tanta operum vires commenta negarint,
externis tamen aptus erit, nunc voce poetis
nunc tacito gestu referensque affectibus ora,
et sua dicendo faciet,              480a
scaenisque togatos              482b
aut magnos heroas aget,              482a
solusque per omnis              480b
ibit personas et turbam reddet in uno;
omnis fortunae vultum per membra reducet,

who showed life its life and consecrated it to pages.
and, if the powers of works so great should deny inventions,
yet he will be fit to others’ works, now with voice for poets
now with silent gesture and, matching his features to emotions,
and by speaking he will make them his own,              480a
and on the stages the togates,              482b
or he will play great heroes,              482a
and alone through all              480b
he will go among the personae and render a crowd in one;
he will reproduce through his limbs the countenance of every fortune,

483

aequabitque choros gestu cogetque videre
praesentem Troiam Priamumque ante ora cadentem.
Nunc Aquilae sidus referam, quae parte sinistra
rorantis iuvenis, quem terris sustulit ipsa,
fertur et extentis praedam circumvolat alis.
fulmina missa refert et caelo militat ales
bis sextamque notat partem fluvialis Aquari.

and he will match the choruses with his gesture and will compel them to see
present Troy and Priam falling before their eyes.
Now I shall recount the constellation of the Eagle, which on the left side
of the dripping youth, whom she herself lifted from the lands,
is said to circle its prey with outstretched wings.
it brings back the dispatched thunderbolts, and the winged one serves as a soldier for the sky,
and marks the twice-sixth part of the riverine Aquarius.

490

illius in terris orientis tempore natus
ad spolia et partas surget vel caede rapinas
nec pacem bello, civem discernet ab hoste,

born in the lands of the East in his time
he will rise to spoils and rapines acquired even by slaughter
nor will he discern peace from war, a citizen from an enemy,

494

cumque hominum derit strages, dabit ille ferarum.

and when the slaughter of men is lacking, he will give that of wild beasts.

493

ipse sibi lex est, et qua fert cumque voluntas

he himself is a law to himself, and whithersoever his will carries him

495

praecipitant vires; laus est contemnere cuncta.
et, si forte bonis accesserit impetus ausis,
improbitas fiet virtus, et condere bella
et magnis patriam poterit ditare triumphis.
et, quia non tractat volucris sed suggerit arma

they hurl forces headlong; praise is to contemn all things.
and, if by chance an impetus shall have joined to good daring deeds,
improbity will become virtue, and to found wars
and to enrich the fatherland with great triumphs he will be able.
and, since he does not handle winged weapons but suggests arms

500

immissosque refert ignes et fulmina reddit,
regis erit magnive ducis per bella minister
ingentisque suis praestabit viribus usus.
At, cum Cassiope bis denis partibus actis
aequorei iuvenis dextra de parte resurgit,

and he returns the launched fires and gives back the thunderbolts,
he will be, through wars, the minister of a king or of a great leader,
and he will furnish uses by his own immense forces.
But, when Cassiope, with twice ten parts having been passed,
the sea-youth from the right-hand side rises again,

505

artifices auri faciet, qui mille figuris
vertere opus possint caraeque acquirere dotem
materiae et lapidum vivos miscere colores.
hinc Augusta nitent sacratis munera templis,
aurea Phoebeis certantia lumina flammis

it will make artificers of gold, who can turn the work into a thousand figures,
and acquire a dowry for the dear material, and mix the living colors of stones.
hence the Augusta’s gifts gleam in the consecrated temples,
golden lights rivaling the Phoebean flames

511

gemmarumque umbra radiantes lucibus ignes.
hinc Pompeia manent veteris monumenta triumphi
et Mithridateos vultus induta tropaea,

and the shadow of the gems, fires radiant with lights.
from here the Pompeian memorials of ancient triumph remain
and trophies clothed with Mithridatic faces,

510

non exstincta die semperque recentia flammis.

not extinct by day and ever recent with flames.

515

hinc lenocinium formae cultusque repertus
corporis atque auro quaesita est gratia frontis
perque caput ducti lapides per colla manusque
et pedibus niveis fulserunt aurea vincla.
quid potius matrona velit tractare creatos

hence the allurement of beauty and the cultivation of the body was discovered,
and the grace of the brow was sought by gold;
and stones were drawn through the head, through necks and hands,
and on snowy feet golden bonds gleamed.
what rather would a matron wish to handle than her offspring

520

quam factum revocare suos quod possit ad usus?
ac, ne materies tali sub munere desit,
quaerere sub terris aurum furtoque latentem
naturam eruere <omnem> orbemque invertere praedae
imperat et glaebas inter deprendere gazam

than that which can recall what has been made to her own uses?
and, lest material be lacking under such a gift,
she orders gold to be sought beneath the earth and to dig out
nature hidden by theft, to tear out <all> nature and to invert the orb for prey,
and to seize the treasure amid the clods.

525

invitamque novo tandem producere caelo.
ille etiam fulvas avidus numerabit harenas
perfundetque novo stillantia litora ponto
parvaque ramentis faciet momenta minutis
Pactolive leget census spumantis in aurum;

and to draw forth, unwilling, at last into a new sky.
he too, greedy, will number the tawny sands
and will drench the dripping shores with a new sea
and will make small weights from minute filings
or he will gather from the Pactolus revenues foaming into gold;

530

aut coquet argenti glaebas venamque latentem

or he will smelt the lumps of silver and the hidden vein

533

eruet et silicem rivo saliente liquabit;
aut facti mercator erit per utrumque metalli,
alterum et alterius semper mutabit ad usus.
talia Cassiope nascentum pectora finget.
Andromedae sequitur sidus, quae Piscibus ortis
bis sex in partes caelo venit aurea dextro.
hanc quondam poenae dirorum culpa parentum

he will dig out even flint, and with a leaping rill he will liquefy it;
or he will be a merchant of wares made of both kinds of metal,
and will ever exchange the one for the uses of the other.
such nascent hearts will Cassiope fashion.
The constellation of Andromeda follows, which, when the Fishes have risen,
comes, golden, in twice six parts in the sky on the right.
her once the guilt of dire parents delivered to punishment

540

prodidit, infestus totis cum finibus omnis
incubuit pontus, fluitavit naufraga tellus,
et quod erat regnum pelagus fuit. una malorum

betrayed her, when the whole sea, hostile, lay upon all the borders,
the shipwrecked land floated, and what had been a kingdom was a sea.
one of the evils

514

proposita est merces, vesano dedere ponto

a reward was proposed, to surrender to the frenzied sea

543

Andromedan, teneros ut belua manderet artus.
hic hymenaeus erat, solataque publica damna
privatis lacrimans ornatur victima poenae
induiturque sinus non haec ad vota paratos,
virginis et vivae rapitur sine funere funus.
at, simul infesti ventum est ad litora ponti,
mollia per duras panduntur bracchia cautes;

Andromeda, so that a beast might chew her tender limbs.
here was the hymenaeal, and, the public losses consoled by private ones, the victim, weeping, is adorned for penalty,
and she is clothed with folds not prepared for such vows,
and the funeral of a living virgin is snatched away without a funeral.
but, as soon as they came to the shores of the hostile sea,
her soft arms are stretched over the hard crags;

550

astrinxere pedes scopulis, iniectaque vincla,
et cruce virginea moritura puella pependit.
servatur tamen in poena vultusque pudorque;
supplicia ipsa decent; nivea cervice reclinis
molliter ipsa suae custos est visa figurae.

they bound her feet to the crags, and the bonds were thrown on,
and on a virginal cross the girl, doomed to die, hung.
yet in punishment her countenance and her modesty are preserved;
even the torments are becoming; with snowy neck thrown back
softly she herself seemed the guardian of her own figure.

555

defluxere sinus umeris fugitque lacertos
vestis et effusi scapulis haesere capilli.
te circum alcyones pinnis planxere volantes
fleveruntque tuos miserando carmine casus
et tibi contextas umbram fecere per alas.

the folds flowed down from her shoulders and the garment fled her upper arms,
and her hair, poured out, clung to her shoulder-blades.
around you the halcyons, flying, beat with their wings in lament,
and they wept your misfortunes with a pitiable song,
and for you they made a shade woven from their wings.

560

ad tua sustinuit fluctus spectacula pontus
assuetasque sibi desit perfundere rupes,
extulit et liquido Nereis ab aequore vultus
et, casus miserata tuos, roravit et undas.
ipsa levi flatu refovens pendentia membra

the sea held back its waves at your spectacle
and ceased to drench the rocks accustomed to it,
and a Nereid lifted her countenance from the liquid sea
and, pitying your misfortunes, she bedewed the waves as well.
she herself, with a light breath, re-warming your drooping limbs

565

aura per extremas resonavit flebile rupes.
tandem Gorgonei victorem Persea monstri
felix illa dies redeuntem ad litora duxit.
isque, ubi pendentem vidit de rupe puellam,
deriguit, facie quem non stupefecerat hostis,

the breeze resounded plaintively over the farthest crags.
at last that happy day brought Perseus, victor over the Gorgonian monster,
back to the shores.
and he, when he saw a maiden hanging from the rock,
grew rigid, he whom no enemy had stupefied at the sight,

570

vixque manu spolium tenuit, victorque Medusae
victus in Andromeda est. iam cautibus invidet ipsis
felicisque vocat, teneant quae membra, catenas;
et, postquam poenae causam cognovit ab ipsa,
destinat in thalamos per bellum vadere ponti,

scarcely with his hand did he hold the spoil, and the victor of Medusa
was conquered in Andromeda. Now he envies the crags themselves
and calls happy the chains which hold her limbs;
and, after he learned the cause of the penalty from herself,
he resolves to go to the bridal-chambers by war against the sea,

575

altera si Gorgo veniat, non territus illa.
concitat aerios cursus flentisque parentes
promissu vitae recreat pactusque maritam
ad litus remeat. gravidus iam surgere pontus
coeperat ac longo fugiebant agmine fluctus

if another Gorgon should come, he would not be terrified by her.
he spurs his airy courses, and the weeping parents
he refreshes with a promise of life; and, having bargained for the bride,
he returns to the shore. the swollen sea had already begun
to rise, and the waves were fleeing in a long column

580

impellentis onus monstri. caput eminet undas
scindentis pelagusque vomit, circumsonat aequor
dentibus, inque ipso rapidum mare navigat ore;
hinc vasti surgunt immensis torquibus orbes
tergaque consumunt pelagus. sonat undique Phorcys

the burden of the driving monster. the head of the wave-rending one rises above the waves
and it spews the sea, and the level sea resounds around with its teeth,
and with its very mouth it navigates the rushing sea;
from here vast orbs arise in immense torsions
and their backs consume the sea. on every side Phorcys resounds

585

atque ipsi metuunt montes scopulique ruentem.
infelix virgo, quamvis sub vindice tanto
quae tua tunc fuerat facies! quam fugit in auras
spiritus! ut toto caruerunt sanguine membra,
cum tua fata cavis e rupibus ipsa videres

and the mountains themselves and the crags fear the rushing monster.
unhappy maiden, although under so great an avenger,
what was your face then! how your spirit fled into the breezes!
how your limbs lacked all blood,
when you yourself saw your fates from the hollow rocks!

590

adnantemque tibi poenam pelagusque ferentem
quantula praeda maris! quassis hic subvolat alis
Perseus et semet caelo iaculatur in hostem
Gorgoneo tinctum defigens sanguine ferrum.
illa subit contra versamque a gurgite frontem

and the punishment swimming toward you, and the sea bearing it—how tiny a prey for the sea!
Here Perseus, with shaken wings, flies up and hurls himself from the sky at the enemy,
planting the iron dyed with Gorgonean blood.
She rises to meet him and, from the surge, turns her brow

595

erigit et tortis innitens orbibus alte
emicat ac toto sublimis corpore fertur.
sed, quantum illa subit, semper, iaculata profundo,
in tantum revolat laxumque per aethera ludit
Perseus et ceti subeuntis verberat ora.

it rears and, leaning on its twisted coils, springs high,
and, aloft, is borne with its whole body.
but, so far as it rises, always, hurled from the deep,
by so far it flies back, and through the open ether Perseus plays,
and lashes the jaws of the oncoming sea‑monster.

600

nec cedit tamen illa viro, sed saevit in auras
morsibus, et vani crepitant sine vulnere dentes;
efflat et in caelum pelagus mergitque volantem
sanguineis undis pontumque exstillat in astra.
spectabat pugnam pugnandi causa puella,

nor, however, does that one yield to the man, but she rages into the airs
with bites, and her vain teeth rattle without wound;
she breathes out and blows the sea into the sky, and submerges the flier
with blood-red waves, and distils the deep into the stars.
the girl was watching the combat, the cause of the combating,

605

iamque oblita sui metuit pro vindice tali
suspirans animoque magis quam corpore pendet.
tandem confossis subsedit belua membris
plena maris summasque iterum remeavit ad undas
et magnum vasto contexit corpore pontum,

and now, forgetful of herself, she fears for such an avenger,
sighing, and she hangs more in spirit than in body.
at last the beast, its limbs stabbed through, subsided,
replete with the sea and returned again to the topmost waves,
and covered the great sea with its vast body,

610

tum quoque terribilis nec virginis ore videnda.
perfundit liquido Perseus in marmore corpus,
maior et ex undis ad cautes pervolat altas
solvitque haerentem vinclis de rupe puellam
desponsam pugna, nupturam dote mariti.

then too terrible, nor to be looked upon by a virgin’s face.
Perseus bathes his body in the liquid marble,
greater, and from the waves he flies to the high crags,
and he unbinds the maiden, clinging by fetters, from the rock—
betrothed by battle, about to wed with the dowry of a husband.

615

hic dedit Andromedae caelum stellisque sacravit
mercedem tanti belli, quo concidit ipsa
Gorgone non levius monstrum pelagusque levavit.
Quisquis in Andromedae surgentis tempora ponto
nascitur, immitis veniet poenaeque minister

here he gave to Andromeda the sky and consecrated her to the stars
the reward of so great a war, in which there fell
a monster no less than the Gorgon, and he lightened the sea.
Whoever at the time of rising Andromeda upon the sea
is born, will come ruthless and a minister of punishment

620

carceris et duri custos, quo stante superbe
prostratae iaceant miserorum in limine matres
pernoctesque patres cupiant extrema suorum
oscula et in proprias animam transferre medullas.
carnificisque venit mortem vendentis imago

a custodian of the harsh prison, beneath whose haughty stance
the mothers of the wretched lie prostrate on the threshold,
and fathers who pass the night long for the last kisses of their own,
and to transfer the spirit into their own marrow.
and the image of an executioner comes, a vendor of death

625

accensosque rogos, cui stricta saepe securi
supplicium vectigal erit, qui denique posset
pendentem e scopulis ipsam spectare puellam,
vinctorum dominus sociusque in parte catenae
interdum, poenis ut noxia corpora servet.

and the kindled pyres, for whom the drawn axe will often be revenue from punishment,
who at length could gaze upon the girl herself hanging from the crags,
master of the bound and sometimes a partner in a share of the chain,
so that by punishments he may preserve guilty bodies.

630

Piscibus exortis cum pars vicesima prima
signabit terrae limen, fulgebit et orbi,
aerius nascetur Equus caeloque volabit,
velocisque dabit sub tali tempore partus
omne per officium vigilantia membra ferentis.

When the Fishes have arisen and the twenty-first part
will mark the threshold of the earth, and will shine to the orb,
an aerial Horse will be born and will fly in the sky,
and under such a time the swift will give parturitions,
offspring that, for every office, will carry vigilant limbs.

635

hic glomerabit equo gyros dorsoque superbus
ardua bella geret rector cum milite mixtus;
hic stadium fraudare fide poteritque videri
mentitus passus et campum tollere cursu.
nam quis ab extremo citius revolaverit orbe

here he will mass gyres with a horse, and, proud on the back, the rector, mingled with the soldiery, will wage arduous wars;
here he will be able to defraud the stadium of good faith and even seem
to have feigned his paces and to lift the field with his course.
for who will have flown back again more swiftly from the farthest orb

640

nuntius extremumve levis penetraverit orbem?
vilibus ille etiam sanabit vulnera sucis
quadrupedum, et medicas herbas in membra ferarum
noverit, humanos et quae nascentur ad usus.
Nixa genu species et Graio nomine dicta

has a light messenger penetrated the farthest orb?
he too will heal the wounds of quadrupeds with cheap juices,
and will know medicinal herbs for the limbs of wild beasts,
and those which will be born for human uses.
A figure leaning on the knee and called by a Greek name

645

Engonasin, cui nulla fides sub origine constat,
dextra per extremos attollit lumina Pisces.
hinc fuga nascentum, dolus insidiaeque creantur,
grassatorque venit media metuendus in urbe.
et, si forte aliquas animus consurget in artes,

Engonasin, in whose origin no faith stands firm,
with his right hand uplifts the lights along the farthest Fishes.
hence are created the flight of those being born, guile and ambushes,
and a footpad comes, to be feared, in the midst of the city.
and, if by chance the spirit will rise to some arts,

650

in praerupta dabit studium, vendetque periclo
ingenium, ac tenuis ausus sine limite gressus
certa per extentos ponet vestigia funes
et caeli meditatus iter vestigia perdet
paene sua et pendens populum suspendet ab ipso.

into precipices he will give zeal, and will sell his ingenium to peril;
and, a slender daring, with steps without limit,
he will place sure footprints along stretched ropes;
and, having meditated a path of the sky, he will almost lose his own footprints,
and, hanging, he will suspend the people from himself.

655

Laeva sub extremis consurgunt sidera Ceti
Piscibus Andromedan ponto caeloque sequentis.
hoc trahit in pelagi caedes et vulnera natos
squamigeri gregis, extentis laqueare porfundum
retibus et pontum vinclis artare furentis;

On the left, beneath the farthest bounds, rise the stars of Cetus,
pursuing Andromeda with the Fishes over sea and sky.
this one draws into the sea the slaughters and wounds of the offspring
of the scaly flock, to ensnare the deep with outstretched
nets and to tighten the sea with fetters in their frenzy.

660

et velut in laxo securas aequore phocas
carceribus claudent raris et compede nectent
incautosque trahent macularum nemine thynnos.
nec cepisse sat est: luctantur corpora nodis
exceptantque novas acies ferroque necantur,

and just as on the open sea they will shut up carefree seals
in sparse enclosures and bind them with a fetter,
and will drag along unwary tunny, with no spots at all.
nor is it enough to have taken them: the bodies struggle with the knots
and they meet fresh edges and are slain by iron,

665

inficiturque suo permixtus sanguine pontus.
tum quoque, cum toto iacuerunt litore praedae,
altera fit caedis caedes: scinduntur in artus,
corpore et ex uno varius discribitur usus.
illa datis melior, sucis pars illa retentis.

and the deep is stained, commingled with their own blood.
then too, when the spoils have lain upon the whole shore,
another slaughter is made of the slaughter: they are cleft into limbs,
and from one body a various use is distributed.
that part better with juices given, that part with the juices retained.

670

hinc sanies pretiosa fluit floremque cruoris
evomit ex mixto gustum sale temperat oris;
illa putris turbae strages confunditur omnis
permiscetque suas alterna in damna figuras
communemque cibis usum sucumque ministrat.

From here precious ichor flows and the bloom of gore;
it belches out a savor from the mixed salt and tempers the taste of the mouth;
there the entire carnage of the putrid throng is confounded
and it mingles their forms into reciprocal harms
and ministers a common use for foods and a juice.

675

aut, cum caeruleo stetit ipsa simillima ponto
squamigerum nubes turbaque immobilis haeret,
excipitur vasta circum vallata sagena
ingentisque lacus et Bacchi dolia complet
umorisque vomit socias per mutua dotes

or, when she herself stood most like the cerulean sea,
a cloud of the scaly throng hangs motionless,
she is taken up, girdled all around by a vast seine-net,
and she fills huge tanks and the casks of Bacchus,
and, by mutual endowments, she vomits companion humors.

680

et fluit in liquidam tabem resoluta medullas.
quin etiam magnas poterunt celebrare salinas
et pontum coquere et ponti secernere virus,
cum solidum certo distendunt margine campum
appelluntque suo deductum ex aequore fluctum

and, the marrow dissolved, it flows into liquid corruption.
nay even they will be able to celebrate great salines
and to boil the sea and to separate the sea’s venom,
when they stretch a solid field with a fixed margin,
and bring in a wave drawn down from the level sea

685

claudendoque negant abitum: sic suscipit undas
area et epoto per solem umore nitescit.
congeritur siccum pelagus mensisque profundi
canities detonsa maris, spumaeque rigentis
ingentis faciunt tumulos, pelagique venenum,

and by shutting it in they deny a way out: thus the area receives the waves,
and, the moisture drunk up by the sun, it gleams.
thus a dry sea is heaped up, and the harvests of the deep—
the shorn hoariness of the sea—and the stiffened foam
make huge mounds, and the sea’s venom,

690

quo perit usus aquae suco corruptus amaro,
vitali sale permutant redduntque salubre.
At, revoluta polo cum primis vultibus Arctos
ad sua perpetuos revocat vestigia passus
numquam tincta vadis sed semper flexilis orbe,

whereby the use of water perishes, corrupted by a bitter juice,
they exchange it for vital salt and render it salutary.
But, when the Bears, revolved at the pole, with their foremost faces,
call back their perpetual paces to their own vestiges,
never dipped in the shallows but always flexile in their orb,

695

[aut Cynosura minor cum prima luce resurgit
et pariter vastusve Leo vel Scorpius acer
nocte sub extrema promittunt iura diei]
non inimica ferae tali sub tempore natis
ora ferent, placidasque regent commercia gentes.

[or when the Lesser Cynosura rises again with first light
and equally either the vast Lion or the keen Scorpion,
under the final part of the night, promise the rights of the day]
the wild beasts will not bear inimical mouths to those born under such a time,
and they will govern the placid commerce of peoples.

700

ille manu vastos poterit frenare leones
et palpare lupos, pantheris ludere captis,
nec fugiet validas cognati sideris ursas
inque artes hominum perversaque munera ducet;
ille elephanta premet dorso stimulisque movebit

he will be able with his hand to rein in vast lions
and to palpate wolves, to play with captured panthers,
nor will he flee the strong bears of the cognate star,
and he will lead them into the arts of men and perverse services;
that man will press the elephant’s back and with goads will set it in motion

705

turpiter in tanto cedentem pondere punctis;
ille tigrim rabie solvet pacique domabit,
quaeque alia infestant furiis animalia terras
iunget amicitia secum, catulosque sagacis
* 709a
has stellis proprias vires et tempora rerum

shamefully, despite so great a ponderous weight, yielding to punctures;
he will release the tiger from rabid rage and tame it to peace,
and whatever other animals infest the lands with furies
he will yoke to friendship with himself, and the whelps of the sagacious
* 709a
these the stars have as their proper powers and the times of things

constituit magni quondam fabricator Olympi.
* 709b
tertia Pleiadas dotavit forma sorores
femineum rubro vultum suffusa pyropo,
invenitque parem sub te, Cynosura, colorem,
et quos Delphinus iaculatur quattuor ignes
Deltotonque tribus facibus, similique nitentem
luce Aquilam et flexos per lubrica terga dracones.

once the craftsman of mighty Olympus established.
* 709b
a third fashion endowed the Pleiad sisters,
suffusing a feminine face with red pyrope,
and it found a matching color beneath you, Cynosura,
and the four fires that the Dolphin hurls,
and the Deltoton with three torches, and, shining with like
light, the Eagle and the dragons bent along slippery backs.

715

tum quartum sextumque genus discernitur omni
e numero, summamque gradus qui iungit utramque.
maxima pars numero censu concluditur imo,
quae neque per cunctas noctes neque tempore in omni
resplendet vasto caeli summota profundo,

then the fourth and the sixth kind is discerned from the whole number,
and the summit of the grade which joins the two.
the greatest part, in number, by assessment, is confined to the lowest,
which neither through all nights nor at every time
resplends, removed into the vast deep of the sky,

720

sed, cum clara suos avertit Delia cursus
cumque vagae stellae terris sua lumina condunt,
mersit et ardentis Orion aureus ignes
signaque transgressus permutat tempora Phoebus,
effulget tenebris et nocte accenditur atra.

but, when bright Delia turns aside her courses
and when the wandering stars hide their lights from the lands,
and the golden Sun has plunged the burning fires of Orion,
and Phoebus, having crossed the signs, changes the seasons,
it flashes forth in the darkness and is kindled in black night.

725

tum conferta licet caeli fulgentia templa
cernere seminibus <minimis> totumque micare
stipatum stellis mundum nec cedere summa

then it is permitted to behold the refulgent temples of heaven crowded
with the <smallest> seeds, and the whole world, packed with stars, to shimmer,
nor do the summits yield

729

floribus aut siccae curvum per litus harenae,
sed, quot eant semper nascentes aequore fluctus,
quot delapsa cadant foliorum milia silvis,
amplius hoc ignes numero volitare per orbem.
utque per ingentis populus discribitur urbes,
principiumque patres retinent et proximum equester

flowers or the dry sand along the curved shore,
but, as many as the ever-nascent waves go upon the sea,
as many thousands of leaves, slipped down, fall in the woods,
in a number greater than this do fires flit throughout the orb.
and as the people is distributed through vast cities,
and the Fathers retain the primacy, and next the Equestrian (order)

735

ordo locum, populumque equiti populoque subire
vulgus iners videas et iam sine nomine turbam,
sic etiam magno quaedam res publica mundo est
quam natura facit, quae caelo condidit urbem.
sunt stellae procerum similes, sunt proxima primis

the order its place, and you may see the people come under the equestrian
and, under the people, the inert mob, and now a crowd without a name,
thus also there is a certain republic in the great world
which Nature makes, who founded a city in the sky.
there are stars like to the nobles, there are those next to the first

740

sidera, suntque gradus atque omnia iusta priorum:
maximus est populus summo qui culmine fertur;
cui si pro numero vires natura dedisset,
ipse suas aether flammas sufferre nequiret,
totus et accenso mundus flagraret Olympo.

stars, and there are degrees and all the rightful prerogatives of the elders:
the greatest people is that which is borne on the topmost summit;
to which, if Nature had given forces in proportion to its number,
the aether itself could not sustain its own flames,
and the whole world would blaze, with Olympus kindled.

745