Virgil: GEORGICON

Te quoque, magna Pales, et te memorande canemus
pastor ab Amphryso, uos, siluae amnesque Lycaei.
cetera, quae uacuas tenuissent carmine mentes,
omnia iam uulgata: quis aut Eurysthea durum
aut inlaudati nescit Busiridis aras?

You also, great Pales, and you, to-be-remembered shepherd from Amphrysus, we shall sing, you, woods and rivers of Lycaeus.
the other things, which would have held vacant minds with song,
are now all divulged: who is unaware either of harsh Eurystheus
or the altars of unlauded Busiris?

cui non dictus Hylas puer et Latonia Delos
Hippodameque umeroque Pelops insignis eburno,
acer equis? temptanda uia est, qua me quoque possim
tollere humo uictorque uirum uolitare per ora.
primus ego in patriam mecum, modo uita supersit,

Who has not been told of the boy Hylas and Latonian Delos,
and Hippodamia and Pelops distinguished by an ivory shoulder,
keen with horses? The way must be tried, by which I too may be able
to lift myself from the ground and, as victor, to flit through the lips of men.
I first will, into my fatherland with me, so long as life remains,

Aonio rediens deducam uertice Musas;
primus Idumaeas referam tibi, Mantua, palmas,
et uiridi in campo templum de marmore ponam
propter aquam, tardis ingens ubi flexibus errat
Mincius et tenera praetexit harundine ripas.

Returning from the Aonian peak I will lead down the Muses;
first I will bring Idumaean palms to you, Mantua,
and in a green field I will set a temple of marble
beside the water, where the mighty Mincius wanders with slow bendings
and veils the banks with tender reed.

in medio mihi Caesar erit templumque tenebit:
illi uictor ego et Tyrio conspectus in ostro
centum quadriiugos agitabo ad flumina currus.
cuncta mihi Alpheum linquens lucosque Molorchi
cursibus et crudo decernet Graecia caestu.

in the midst for me Caesar shall be and shall hold the temple:
to him, I as victor and conspicuous in Tyrian purple,
I will drive a hundred four-horse chariots to the rivers.
all Greece for me, leaving Alpheus and the groves of Molorchus,
will contend in races and with the raw caestus.

ipse caput tonsae foliis ornatus oliuae
dona feram. iam nunc sollemnis ducere pompas
ad delubra iuuat caesosque uidere iuuencos,
uel scaena ut uersis discedat frontibus utque
purpurea intexti tollant aulaea Britanni.

I myself, my head adorned with the leaves of the shorn olive,
will bear gifts. Already now it delights me to lead the solemn processions
to the shrines, and to see the slaughtered young bulls,
or that the scene may withdraw with its facades turned, and that
the Britons, embroidered in purple, may raise the hangings.

in foribus pugnam ex auro solidoque elephanto
Gangaridum faciam uictorisque arma Quirini,
atque hic undantem bello magnumque fluentem
Nilum ac nauali surgentis aere columnas.
addam urbes Asiae domitas pulsumque Niphaten

on the doors the battle from gold and solid ivory
of the Gangaridae I shall fashion, and the arms of Quirinus the victor,
and here, billowing with war and great in its flow,
the Nile, and columns rising with naval bronze.
I will add the cities of Asia subdued, and Niphates driven back

fidentemque fuga Parthum uersisque sagittis;
et duo rapta manu diuerso ex hoste tropaea
bisque triumphatas utroque ab litore gentis.
stabunt et Parii lapides, spirantia signa,
Assaraci proles demissaeque ab Ioue gentis

and the Parthian confident in flight and with arrows turned back;
and two trophies seized by hand from a different enemy,
and nations twice triumphed over from either shore.
there shall also stand Parian stones, breathing statues,
the offspring of Assaracus and of a race let down from Jove

nomina, Trosque parens et Troiae Cynthius auctor.
Inuidia infelix Furias amnemque seuerum
Cocyti metuet tortosque Ixionis anguis
immanemque rotam et non exsuperabile saxum.
interea Dryadum siluas saltusque sequamur

the names, and Tros the parent, and the Cynthian author of Troy.
Unlucky Envy will fear the Furies and the stern river
of Cocytus, and the twisted snakes of Ixion,
and the monstrous wheel and the insuperable rock.
meanwhile let us follow the forests and glades of the Dryads

intactos, tua, Maecenas, haud mollia iussa:
te sine nil altum mens incohat. en age segnis
rumpe moras; uocat ingenti clamore Cithaeron
Taygetique canes domitrixque Epidaurus equorum,
et uox adsensu nemorum ingeminata remugit.

untouched themes—your commands, Maecenas, by no means gentle:
without you my mind undertakes nothing lofty. Come now, sluggish one,
break off delays; with immense clamor Cithaeron calls,
and the hounds of Taygetus, and Epidaurus, tamer of horses,
and a voice, ingeminated by the assent of the groves, bellows back.

mox tamen ardentis accingar dicere pugnas
Caesaris et nomen fama tot ferre per annos,
Tithoni prima quot abest ab origine Caesar.
Seu quis Olympiacae miratus praemia palmae
pascit equos, seu quis fortis ad aratra iuuencos,

soon, however, I will gird myself to speak of the burning battles
of Caesar and to bear his name by fame through so many years
as Caesar is distant from Tithonus’s first origin.
Whether someone, marveling at the prizes of the Olympian palm,
feeds his horses, or someone stout breaks young bulls to the plough,

corpora praecipue matrum legat. optima toruae
forma bouis cui turpe caput, cui plurima ceruix,
et crurum tenus a mento palearia pendent;
tum longo nullus lateri modus: omnia magna,
pes etiam, et camuris hirtae sub cornibus aures.

let him choose especially the bodies of the mothers. the best form of the grim cow is that whose head is foul, whose neck is very full,
and from the chin the dewlaps hang down as far as the shanks;
then let there be no limit to the long flank: all things are great,
even the foot, and shaggy ears beneath curved horns.

nec mihi displiceat maculis insignis et albo,
aut iuga detrectans interdumque aspera cornu
et faciem tauro propior, quaeque ardua tota
et gradiens ima uerrit uestigia cauda.
aetas Lucinam iustosque pati hymenaeos

nor would she displease me, conspicuous with spots and with white,
or one declining the yokes and at times rough with the horn,
and with a visage more taurine, and one that is lofty all over
and, as she walks, sweeps the lowest tracks with her tail.
an age to suffer Lucina and just hymeneals

desinit ante decem, post quattuor incipit annos;
cetera nec feturae habilis nec fortis aratris.
interea, superat gregibus dum laeta iuuentas,
solue mares; mitte in Venerem pecuaria primus,
atque aliam ex alia generando suffice prolem.

it ends before ten, begins after four years;
at other ages, neither apt for fecundity nor strong for ploughs.
meanwhile, while glad youth prevails in the herds,
loosen the males; as to cattle-breeding, be first to send them into Venus,
and by generating supply offspring, one from another.

optima quaeque dies miseris mortalibus aeui
prima fugit; subeunt morbi tristisque senectus
et labor, et durae rapit inclementia mortis.
semper erunt quarum mutari corpora malis:
semper enim refice ac, ne post amissa requiras,

the best days for wretched mortals of their age are the first to flee; diseases come on, and sad senescence and labor, and the inclement harshness of stubborn death snatches away. there will always be those whose bodies are to be changed by ills: for always renew, and, lest you seek them after they are lost,

ante ueni et subolem armento sortire quotannis.
Nec non et pecori est idem dilectus equino:
tu modo, quos in spem statues summittere gentis,
praecipuum iam inde a teneris impende laborem.
continuo pecoris generosi pullus in aruis

come beforehand and allot the progeny to the herd each year.
Nor indeed is the same selection otherwise for equine stock:
only, those whom you decide to rear for the hope of the breed,
bestow exceptional care upon them already from tender years.
straightway the foal of noble stock in the fields

altius ingreditur et mollia crura reponit;
primus et ire uiam et fluuios temptare minacis
audet et ignoto sese committere ponti,
nec uanos horret strepitus. illi ardua ceruix
argutumque caput, breuis aluus obesaque terga,

he steps higher and sets down his supple legs;
and is first both to go the road and to try the menacing rivers,
and he dares to commit himself to the unknown sea,
nor does he shudder at empty noises. For him a lofty neck
and a keen head, a short belly and well-fleshed backs,

luxuriatque toris animosum pectus. honesti
spadices glaucique, color deterrimus albis
et giluo. tum, si qua sonum procul arma dedere,
stare loco nescit, micat auribus et tremit artus,
collectumque premens uoluit sub naribus ignem.

and the spirited chest luxuriates in its muscles. honorable
are the spadices and the glaucous; the very worst color is the whites
and the gilvous (pale-yellow). then, if any arms from afar have given a sound,
he knows not to stand in place; his ears flicker and his limbs tremble,
and, pressing the pent-up fire, he rolls it beneath his nostrils.

densa iuba, et dextro iactata recumbit in armo;
at duplex agitur per lumbos spina, cauatque
tellurem et solido grauiter sonat ungula cornu.
talis Amyclaei domitus Pollucis habenis
Cyllarus et, quorum Grai meminere poetae,

a dense mane, and, when tossed, it reclines upon the right shoulder;
but a double spine is driven along through the loins, and it hollows
the earth, and the hoof with solid horn sounds heavily.
such was Cyllarus, tamed by the reins of Amyclaean Pollux,
and those whom the Greek poets remembered,

Martis equi biiuges et magni currus Achilli.
talis et ipse iubam ceruice effundit equina
coniugis aduentu pernix Saturnus, et altum
Pelion hinnitu fugiens impleuit acuto.
Hunc quoque, ubi aut morbo grauis aut iam segnior annis

The two-horsed steeds of Mars and the great chariot of Achilles.
just so he himself flings out his mane from his equine neck,
nimble Saturn at the arrival of his spouse, and, fleeing,
he filled lofty Pelion with a sharp whinny.
This one too, whenever either heavy with sickness or now more sluggish with years

deficit, abde domo, nec turpi ignosce senectae.
frigidus in Venerem senior, frustraque laborem
ingratum trahit, et, si quando ad proelia uentum est,
ut quondam in stipulis magnus sine uiribus ignis,
incassum furit. ergo animos aeuumque notabis

fails, hide him at home, and do not pardon shameful old age.
an elder, cold for Venus, and in vain he drags
an ungrateful labor, and, if ever it has come to battles,
as sometimes in stubble a great fire without strength,
he rages in vain. therefore you will note the spirits and the age

100

praecipue: hinc alias artis prolemque parentum
et quis cuique dolor uicto, quae gloria palmae.
nonne uides, cum praecipiti certamine campum
corripuere, ruuntque effusi carcere currus,
cum spes adrectae iuuenum, exsultantiaque haurit

especially: from this, other arts and the progeny of the parents,
and what grief belongs to each when conquered, what glory of the palm.
do you not see, when with headlong contest they have seized the field,
and the chariots, poured out from the starting-gate, rush,
when the hopes of the youths are raised, and exultation drinks in

105

corda pauor pulsans? illi instant uerbere torto
et proni dant lora, uolat ui feruidus axis;
iamque humiles iamque elati sublime uidentur
aera per uacuum ferri atque adsurgere in auras.
nec mora nec requies; at fuluae nimbus harenae

hearts, with fear beating? They press on with the twisted lash,
and, bent forward, give the reins; the fervid axle flies by force;
and now low, and now lifted, they seem on high
to be borne through the vacuum of the air and to surge up into the auras.
no delay nor rest; but a cloud of fulvous sand

110

tollitur, umescunt spumis flatuque sequentum:
tantus amor laudum, tantae est uictoria curae.
primus Ericthonius currus et quattuor ausus
iungere equos rapidusque rotis insistere uictor.
frena Pelethronii Lapithae gyrosque dedere

it is lifted up, it grows moist with foams and with the breath of those following:
such is the love of praises, so great are the cares for victory.
Erichthonius was the first who dared to yoke four horses to a chariot
and, a rapid victor, to set foot upon the wheels.
the bridles the Pelethronian Lapiths gave, and the gyres

115

impositi dorso, atque equitem docuere sub armis
insultare solo et gressus glomerare superbos.
aequus uterque labor, aeque iuuenemque magistri
exquirunt calidumque animis et cursibus acrem,
quamuis saepe fuga uersos ille egerit hostis

set upon the back, and they taught the rider under arms
to prance upon the ground and to gather proud steps.
each labor is equal, alike the masters seek a youth
hot in spirit and keen for courses, although often he has driven enemies turned in flight

120

et patriam Epirum referat fortisque Mycenas,
Neptunique ipsa deducat origine gentem.
His animaduersis instant sub tempus et omnis
impendunt curas denso distendere pingui,
quem legere ducem et pecori dixere maritum,

and let him recall Epirus as his fatherland and mighty Mycenae,
and let him derive his race by origin from Neptune himself.
These things observed, they press at the fitting time and expend all their cares to distend him with dense rich fat,
him whom they chose as leader and declared the husband to the herd,

125

florentisque secant herbas fluuiosque ministrant
farraque, ne blando nequeat superesse labori
inualidique patrum referant ieiunia nati.
ipsa autem macie tenuant armenta uolentes,
atque, ubi concubitus primos iam nota uoluptas

and they cut blooming herbs and minister rivers and spelt, lest it be unable to survive the alluring labor and the sons reproduce the fastings of their sires in invalidity. But they themselves, willing, attenuate the herds with leanness, and, when now a familiar pleasure attends the first couplings

130

sollicitat, frondesque negant et fontibus arcent.
saepe etiam cursu quatiunt et sole fatigant,
cum grauiter tunsis gemit area frugibus, et cum
surgentem ad Zephyrum paleae iactantur inanes.
hoc faciunt, nimio ne luxu obtunsior usus

it arouses them, and they deny them leaves and keep them from the springs.
often too they shake them by running and weary them with the sun,
when the threshing-floor groans with the grain heavily beaten, and when
the empty chaff is tossed toward the rising Zephyr.
this they do, lest by excessive luxury the use become more blunted.

135

sit genitali aruo et sulcos oblimet inertis,
sed rapiat sitiens Venerem interiusque recondat.
Rursus cura patrum cadere et succedere matrum
incipit. exactis grauidae cum mensibus errant,
non illas grauibus quisquam iuga ducere plaustris,

let him be in the genital field and mire the idle furrows,
but, thirsting, let him snatch Venus and lay it up within.
Again the care of the fathers begins to fall and that of the mothers to succeed;
when, the months completed, the gravid ones wander,
let no one lead them under yokes to heavy wagons,

140

non saltu superare uiam sit passus et acri
carpere prata fuga fluuiosque innare rapacis.
saltibus in uacuis pascunt et plena secundum
flumina, muscus ubi et uiridissima gramine ripa,
speluncaeque tegant et saxea procubet umbra.

let him not have permitted them to overleap the road by a leap and to seize upon the meadows with a keen flight, and to swim in the rapacious rivers.
let them pasture in empty forest-glades and along the full streams,
where there is moss and a bank most green with grass,
and let caves cover them and let a rocky shade recline.

145

est lucos Silari circa ilicibusque uirentem
plurimus Alburnum uolitans, cui nomen asilo
Romanum est, oestrum Grai uertere uocantes,
asper, acerba sonans, quo tota exterrita siluis
diffugiunt armenta; furit mugitibus aether

there are groves around the Silarus and Alburnus green with holm-oaks,
where, flitting in great numbers, is that insect whose Roman name is asilus,
which the Greeks, rendering it, call oestrus,
harsh, sounding with a bitter buzz, at which, terrified, from the woods
the herds scatter in all directions; the upper air raves with lowings

150

concussus siluaeque et sicci ripa Tanagri.
hoc quondam monstro horribilis exercuit iras
Inachiae Iuno pestem meditata iuuencae.
hunc quoque (nam mediis feruoribus acrior instat)
arcebis grauido pecori, armentaque pasces

the woods are shaken, and the dry bank of the Tanagrus.
At this monster once the horrible Juno exercised her wraths,
having meditated a pest for the Inachian heifer.
this one also (for in the midmost fervors he presses on more keenly)
you will ward off from the gravid herd, and you will pasture the herds

155

sole recens orto aut noctem ducentibus astris.
Post partum cura in uitulos traducitur omnis;
continuoque notas et nomina gentis inurunt,
et quos aut pecori malint summittere habendo
aut aris seruare sacros aut scindere terram

with the sun newly risen or the stars drawing out the night.
After birth all care is transferred to the calves;
and immediately they brand the marks and the names of the breed,
and those whom they would prefer to assign to the herd for keeping,
or to preserve sacred for the altars, or to cleave the earth

160

et campum horrentem fractis inuertere glaebis.
cetera pascuntur uiridis armenta per herbas:
tu quos ad studium atque usum formabis agrestem
iam uitulos hortare uiamque insiste domandi,
dum faciles animi iuuenum, dum mobilis aetas.

and invert the field bristling with broken clods.
the rest, the green herds, graze through the grasses:
you, those whom you will form for rustic pursuit and use,
now exhort the calves and set your foot upon the way of taming,
while the spirits of the young are tractable, while the age is mobile.

165

ac primum laxos tenui de uimine circlos
ceruici subnecte; dehinc, ubi libera colla
seruitio adsuerint, ipsis e torquibus aptos
iunge pares, et coge gradum conferre iuuencos;
atque illis iam saepe rotae ducantur inanes

and first fasten loose circles from a thin withe to the neck; then, when their free necks have grown accustomed to servitude, from these very collars join them in fitting pairs, and compel the young bullocks to bring their step together; and let empty wheels now often be drawn by them

170

per terram, et summo uestigia puluere signent.
post ualido nitens sub pondere faginus axis
instrepat, et iunctos temo trahat aereus orbis.
interea pubi indomitae non gramina tantum
nec uescas salicum frondes uluamque palustrem,

through the earth, and let them mark their vestiges in the topmost dust.
afterward the beechwood axle, straining under the strong weight,
will creak, and let the bronze-rimmed wheel draw the yoked ones by the pole.
meanwhile for the unbroken youth not grasses only,
nor the edible leaves of willows and the marshy ulva,

175

sed frumenta manu carpes sata; nec tibi fetae
more patrum niuea implebunt mulctraria uaccae,
sed tota in dulcis consument ubera natos.
Sin ad bella magis studium turmasque ferocis,
aut Alphea rotis praelabi flumina Pisae

but you will reap with hand the sown grain; nor will cows that have calved, in the manner of the fathers, fill for you snowy milking-pails, but they will consume their whole udders upon their sweet offspring. But if your zeal is more toward wars and fierce squadrons, or to glide with wheels past the Alphean streams of Pisa

180

et Iouis in luco currus agitare uolantis,
primus equi labor est animos atque arma uidere
bellantum lituosque pati, tractuque gementem
ferre rotam et stabulo frenos audire sonantis;
tum magis atque magis blandis gaudere magistri

and to drive in Jove’s grove the flying chariots,
the first labor of the horse is to behold the spirits and arms of warriors
and to endure the lituus-trumpets, and to bear the groaning wheel
by the draught, and in the stall to hear the sounding bits;
then more and more to rejoice in the blandishments of his master

185

laudibus et plausae sonitum ceruicis amare.
atque haec iam primo depulsus ab ubere matris
audeat, inque uicem det mollibus ora capistris
inualidus etiamque tremens, etiam inscius aeui.
at tribus exactis ubi quarta accesserit aestas,

and to love praises and the sound of a patted neck.
and let him now, once driven from his mother’s udder,
venture these things, and in turn give his mouth to the soft halters,
though feeble and even trembling, still unknowing of age.
but when, three summers completed, the fourth has approached,

190

carpere mox gyrum incipiat gradibusque sonare
compositis, sinuetque alterna uolumina crurum,
sitque laboranti similis; tum cursibus auras
tum uocet, ac per aperta uolans ceu liber habenis
aequora uix summa uestigia ponat harena:

let him soon begin to take the gyre and to resound
with composed steps, and sinuate the alternate coils of his legs,
and be like one laboring; then let him with his courses summon the breezes,
then, flying through the open as if free from the reins,
over the level expanse let him scarcely set his footprints on the topmost sand:

195

qualis Hyperboreis Aquilo cum densus ab oris
incubuit, Scythiaeque hiemes atque arida differt
nubila; tum segetes altae campique natantes
lenibus horrescunt flabris, summaeque sonorem
dant siluae, longique urgent ad litora fluctus;

such as when Aquilo, dense, has settled from Hyperborean shores
and carries off the winters of Scythia and the arid clouds;
then the high crops and the floating fields
bristle at the gentle breezes, and the treetops give a sound,
and the long waves press toward the shores;

200

ille uolat simul arua fuga simul aequora uerrens.
hinc uel ad Elei metas et maxima campi
sudabit spatia et spumas aget ore cruentas,
Belgica uel molli melius feret esseda collo.
tum demum crassa magnum farragine corpus

he flies, at once over the fields in flight and sweeping the level plains.
hence either at the Elean turning-posts he will sweat through the very greatest stretches of the course,
and will drive bloody foams from his mouth, or he will more fitly bear the Belgic esseda with his supple neck.
then at last the great body with thick farraginous mash

205

crescere iam domitis sinito; namque ante domandum
ingentis tollent animos, prensique negabunt
uerbera lenta pati et duris parere lupatis.
Sed non ulla magis uiris industria firmat
quam Venerem et caeci stimulos auertere amoris,

allow them to grow now, once tamed; for before the taming
they will lift immense spirits, and, when seized, will refuse
to endure lingering lashes and to obey the hard curb-bits.
But no industry more strengthens their powers
than to avert Venus and the goads of blind love,

210

siue boum siue est cui gratior usus equorum.
atque ideo tauros procul atque in sola relegant
pascua post montem oppositum et trans flumina lata,
aut intus clausos satura ad praesepia seruant.
carpit enim uiris paulatim uritque uidendo

whether it be of cattle, or for whom the use of horses is more pleasing.
and therefore they relegate the bulls far away and into lonely
pastures behind the opposing mountain and across broad rivers,
or keep them shut within, sated, at the mangers inside.
for it little by little nibbles away their vigor and burns by mere seeing

215

femina, nec nemorum patitur meminisse nec herbae
dulcibus illa quidem inlecebris, et saepe superbos
cornibus inter se subigit decernere amantis.
pascitur in magna Sila formosa iuuenca:
illi alternantes multa ui proelia miscent

the female, nor does she permit the groves or the herbage—indeed with their sweet enticements—to be remembered, and often she compels the proud lovers to decide it among themselves with their horns. a beautiful heifer grazes in the great Sila: they, by turns, join battle with much force

220

uulneribus crebris; lauit ater corpora sanguis,
uersaque in obnixos urgentur cornua uasto
cum gemitu; reboant siluaeque et longus Olympus.
nec mos bellantis una stabulare, sed alter
uictus abit longeque ignotis exsulat oris,

with frequent wounds; black blood bathes their bodies,
and their horns, turned against those straining, are pressed with a vast
groan; the woods and long Olympus re-echo.
nor is it the custom of the combatant to stable together, but the other,
defeated, departs and far away exiles himself to unknown shores,

225

multa gemens ignominiam plagasque superbi
uictoris, tum quos amisit inultus amores,
et stabula aspectans regnis excessit auitis.
ergo omni cura uiris exercet et inter
dura iacet pernox instrato saxa cubili

groaning much at the ignominy and the blows of the proud
victor, then at the loves he lost unavenged,
and, looking toward the stalls, he departed from his ancestral realms.
therefore with all care he exercises his powers and among
hard things he lies all night, on a bed strewn with rocks

230

frondibus hirsutis et carice pastus acuta,
et temptat sese atque irasci in cornua discit
arboris obnixus trunco, uentosque lacessit
ictibus, et sparsa ad pugnam proludit harena.
post ubi collectum robur uiresque refectae,

fed on hirsute leaves and on sharp Carex-sedge,
and he tests himself and learns to grow irate into his horns,
straining against the trunk of a tree, and he provokes the winds
with blows, and he preludes to the fight on the scattered sand.
afterwards, when his hardihood is collected and his forces restored,

235

signa mouet praecepsque oblitum fertur in hostem:
fluctus uti medio coepit cum albescere ponto,
longius ex altoque sinum trahit, utque uolutus
ad terras immane sonat per saxa neque ipso
monte minor procumbit, at ima exaestuat unda

he moves the standards and, headlong, is borne against the unmindful enemy:
as when a billow has begun to whiten in mid-sea,
and from the deep draws out its curve farther, and when rolled
toward the land it roars immensely through the rocks and, no smaller
than the mountain itself, falls headlong, but the deepest billow seethes

240

uerticibus nigramque alte subiectat harenam.
Omne adeo genus in terris hominumque ferarumque
et genus aequoreum, pecudes pictaeque uolucres,
in furias ignemque ruunt: amor omnibus idem.
tempore non alio catulorum oblita leaena

with vortices and heaves up high the black sand.
Every kind indeed on the lands, both of men and of wild beasts,
and the seaborne kind, the flocks and the painted birds,
rush into furies and fire: love is the same for all.
at no other time does the lioness, forgetful of her cubs,

245

saeuior errauit campis, nec funera uulgo
tam multa informes ursi stragemque dedere
per siluas; tum saeuus aper, tum pessima tigris;
heu male tum Libyae solis erratur in agris.
nonne uides ut tota tremor pertemptet equorum

more savage she has roamed the plains, nor have misshapen bears given so many deaths and havoc through the forests; then the savage boar, then the most baleful tigress; alas, it goes ill then to stray in the fields of sunny Libya. do you not see how a tremor pervades all the horses

250

corpora, si tantum notas odor attulit auras?
ac neque eos iam frena uirum neque uerbera saeua,
non scopuli rupesque cauae atque obiecta retardant
flumina correptosque unda torquentia montis.
ipse ruit dentesque Sabellicus exacuit sus

their bodies, if only the odor has brought familiar breezes?
and now neither the men’s reins nor savage lashes,
not the crags and hollow cliffs nor rivers thrown in the way delay them
nor the wave, mountain-torquing, even when it has snatched them up.
he himself rushes, and the Sabellic boar sharpens his teeth

255

et pede prosubigit terram, fricat arbore costas
atque hinc atque illinc umeros ad uulnera durat.
quid iuuenis, magnum cui uersat in ossibus ignem
durus amor? nempe abruptis turbata procellis
nocte natat caeca serus freta, quem super ingens

and with his foot he presses down the earth, he rubs his ribs on a tree
and on this side and that he hardens his shoulders for wounds.
what of the youth, for whom hard love turns a great fire in his bones?
surely, with storms burst forth the straits troubled, he swims late the seas in blind night, over whom a huge

260

porta tonat caeli, et scopulis inlisa reclamant
aequora; nec miseri possunt reuocare parentes,
nec moritura super crudeli funere uirgo.
quid lynces Bacchi uariae et genus acre luporum
atque canum? quid quae imbelles dant proelia cerui?

the gate of heaven thunders, and the waters, dashed on the crags, cry back;
nor can his wretched parents call him back, nor the maiden, doomed to die, over the cruel funeral.
what of Bacchus’s variegated lynxes and the keen breed of wolves and of dogs?
what of the stags that wage unwarlike battles?

265

scilicet ante omnis furor est insignis equarum;
et mentem Venus ipsa dedit, quo tempore Glauci
Potniades malis membra absumpsere quadrigae.
illas ducit amor trans Gargara transque sonantem
Ascanium; superant montis et flumina tranant.

Surely before all others the fury of mares is remarkable;
and Venus herself gave them a mind, at that time when the Potnian four-horse team of Glaucus consumed his limbs with their jaws.
Love leads them across Gargara and across the resounding Ascanian;
they overtop mountains and swim across rivers.

270

continuoque auidis ubi subdita flamma medullis
(uere magis, quia uere calor redit ossibus), illae
ore omnes uersae in Zephyrum stant rupibus altis,
exceptantque leuis auras, et saepe sine ullis
coniugiis uento grauidae (mirabile dictu)

and immediately, when the flame has been applied to the eager marrow (more truly in spring, because in spring heat returns to the bones), they all, their faces turned toward Zephyr, stand on high crags, and catch the light breezes, and often, without any conjugal unions, are made gravid by the wind (marvelous to say)

275

saxa per et scopulos et depressas conuallis
diffugiunt, non, Eure, tuos neque solis ad ortus,
in Borean Caurumque, aut unde nigerrimus Auster
nascitur et pluuio contristat frigore caelum.
hic demum, hippomanes uero quod nomine dicunt

through rocks and crags and depressed valleys they scatter,
not, Eurus, to your quarters nor to the sun’s risings,
into Boreas and Caurus, or to where the very black Auster
is born and saddens the sky with pluvial chill.
here at last, the thing which they truly call by name hippomanes

280

pastores, lentum destillat ab inguine uirus,
hippomanes, quod saepe malae legere nouercae
miscueruntque herbas et non innoxia uerba.
Sed fugit interea, fugit inreparabile tempus,
singula dum capti circumuectamur amore.

shepherds, a sluggish fluid drips from the groin, hippomanes, which wicked stepmothers have often gathered and have mixed with herbs and with words not innoxious.
But meanwhile it flees, irreparable time flees,
while we, captive with love, are carried around each particular.

285

hoc satis armentis: superat pars altera curae,
lanigeros agitare greges hirtasque capellas;
hic labor, hinc laudem fortes sperate coloni.
nec sum animi dubius uerbis ea uincere magnum
quam sit et angustis hunc addere rebus honorem;

this is enough for the herds: the other part of the care remains,
to drive the wool-bearing flocks and the shaggy she-goats;
here is labor; from here hope for praise, brave husbandmen.
nor am I in doubt of mind to conquer these things with words
how great it is, and to add this honor to straitened affairs;

290

sed me Parnasi deserta per ardua dulcis
raptat amor; iuuat ire iugis, qua nulla priorum
Castaliam molli deuertitur orbita cliuo.
nunc, ueneranda Pales, magno nunc ore sonandum.
Incipiens stabulis edico in mollibus herbam

but a sweet love snatches me through the steep deserts of Parnassus; it delights me to go along the ridges, where no path of the predecessors is diverted to the Castalian by a gentle slope. now, venerable Pales, now it must be sounded with a great mouth.
Beginning, I prescribe fodder for the soft stalls

295

carpere ouis, dum mox frondosa reducitur aestas,
et multa duram stipula filicumque maniplis
sternere subter humum, glacies ne frigida laedat
molle pecus scabiemque ferat turpisque podagras.
post hinc digressus iubeo frondentia capris

let the sheep crop, while soon the leafy summer is brought back,
and strew beneath the ground with much hard straw and with bundles of ferns,
lest cold ice injure the tender flock and bring scab and ugly podagras.
after this, going on from here, I bid the leafy fodder for the goats

300

arbuta sufficere et fluuios praebere recentis,
et stabula a uentis hiberno opponere soli
ad medium conuersa diem, cum frigidus olim
iam cadit extremoque inrorat Aquarius anno.
hae quoque non cura nobis leuiore tuendae,

to make arbutus-berries suffice and to provide fresh streams,
and to set the stalls away from the winds and toward the winter sun,
turned toward midday, when frigid at length
Aquarius now descends and bedews the year at its far end.
these too are to be guarded by us with no lighter care,

305

nec minor usus erit, quamuis Milesia magno
uellera mutentur Tyrios incocta rubores.
densior hinc suboles, hinc largi copia lactis;
quam magis exhausto spumauerit ubere mulctra,
laeta magis pressis manabunt flumina mammis.

nor will the use be less, although Milesian fleeces are changed at great cost into Tyrian, unboiled blushes.
denser hence the progeny, hence the plenty of copious milk;
the more the milking-pail foams with the udder drained,
the more gladly will streams flow from pressed udders.

310

nec minus interea barbas incanaque menta
Cinyphii tondent hirci saetasque comantis
usum in castrorum et miseris uelamina nautis.
pascuntur uero siluas et summa Lycaei,
horrentisque rubos et amantis ardua dumos,

nor, meanwhile, any the less do Cinyphian he-goats have their beards and hoary chins shorn, and their shaggy bristles— for the use of camps and as coverlets for wretched sailors.
they truly graze the woods and the heights of Lycaeus,
the bristling brambles and thickets loving the steep places,

315

atque ipsae memores redeunt in tecta suosque
ducunt et grauido superant uix ubere limen.
ergo omni studio glaciem uentosque niualis,
quo minor est illis curae mortalis egestas,
auertes, uictumque feres et uirgea laetus

and they themselves, mindful, return into the roofs and lead their own young
and with a heavy udder scarcely overpass the threshold.
therefore with all zeal you will avert the ice and the snowy winds,
so that for them the care of mortal indigence may be less,
and you will bring victuals, and be glad with wicker-work

320

pabula, nec tota claudes faenilia bruma.
At uero Zephyris cum laeta uocantibus aestas
in saltus utrumque gregem atque in pascua mittet,
Luciferi primo cum sidere frigida rura
carpamus, dum mane nouum, dum gramina canent,

fodder, and you will not shut the haylofts for the whole winter.
But indeed when cheerful summer with the Zephyrs calling
will send both the herd and the flock into the glades and into the pastures,
at the first star of Lucifer let us range the chilly fields
while the morning is new, while the grasses are hoary,

325

et ros in tenera pecori gratissimus herba.
inde ubi quarta sitim caeli collegerit hora
et cantu querulae rumpent arbusta cicadae,
ad puteos aut alta greges ad stagna iubebo
currentem ilignis potare canalibus undam;

and the dew on the tender grass most pleasing to the herd.
then when the fourth hour has collected the sky’s thirst
and with their song the querulous cicadas will break the groves,
to the wells, or to the deep pools, I will bid the flocks
to drink the running water in oaken channels;

330

aestibus at mediis umbrosam exquirere uallem,
sicubi magna Iouis antiquo robore quercus
ingentis tendat ramos, aut sicubi nigrum
ilicibus crebris sacra nemus accubet umbra;
tum tenuis dare rursus aquas et pascere rursus

but in the mid heats to seek out a shady valley,
wherever a great oak of Jove, with ancient vigor, may extend its huge branches,
or wherever a dusky grove may recline with sacred shade, thick with holm-oaks;
then to give again tenuous waters and to pasture again

335

solis ad occasum, cum frigidus aera Vesper
temperat, et saltus reficit iam roscida luna,
litoraque alcyonen resonant, acalanthida dumi.
Quid tibi pastores Libyae, quid pascua uersu
prosequar et raris habitata mapalia tectis?

to the setting of the sun, when chilly Vesper tempers the air, and the dewy moon now refreshes the woodland glades, and the shores resound with the halcyon, and the brambles with the acalanthis.
What in verse shall I recount to you of the shepherds of Libya, what of the pastures and the mapalia huts inhabited beneath roofs few and far between?

340

saepe diem noctemque et totum ex ordine mensem
pascitur itque pecus longa in deserta sine ullis
hospitiis: tantum campi iacet. omnia secum
armentarius Afer agit, tectumque laremque
armaque Amyclaeumque canem Cressamque pharetram;

often day and night, and an entire month in sequence,
the herd grazes and goes through long deserts without any
lodgings: so much plain lies outspread. Everything with himself
the African herdsman carries, both roof and hearth,
and arms and an Amyclaean dog and a Cretan quiver;

345

non secus ac patriis acer Romanus in armis
iniusto sub fasce uiam cum carpit, et hosti
ante exspectatum positis stat in agmine castris.
At non qua Scythiae gentes Maeotiaque unda,
turbidus et torquens flauentis Hister harenas,

no differently than, in his fatherland’s arms keen the Roman,
when under an unjust pack he picks his way, and, before the enemy
expects it, he stands, the camp having been pitched, in the marching column.
But not where the peoples of Scythia and the Maeotian wave,
the turbid Ister twisting its yellow sands,

350

quaque redit medium Rhodope porrecta sub axem.
illic clausa tenent stabulis armenta, neque ullae
aut herbae campo apparent aut arbore frondes;
sed iacet aggeribus niueis informis et alto
terra gelu late septemque adsurgit in ulnas.

and where Rhodope, outstretched, returns beneath the mid axis.
there herds, shut in, keep to the stables, nor do any
grasses appear on the plain or leaves on the tree;
but the land lies formless with snowy embankments and with deep
frost far and wide, and it rises to seven cubits.

355

semper hiems, semper spirantes frigora Cauri;
tum Sol pallentis haud umquam discutit umbras,
nec cum inuectus equis altum petit aethera, nec cum
praecipitem Oceani rubro lauit aequore currum.
concrescunt subitae currenti in flumine crustae,

always winter, always the northwesters breathing cold;
then the Sun never scatters the pallid shadows,
not when, borne by his horses, he seeks the high ether, nor when
he bathes his headlong chariot of Ocean in the ruddy waters.
sudden crusts congeal upon the running river,

360

undaque iam tergo ferratos sustinet orbis,
puppibus illa prius, patulis nunc hospita plaustris;
aeraque dissiliunt uulgo, uestesque rigescunt
indutae, caeduntque securibus umida uina,
et totae solidam in glaciem uertere lacunae,

and now the wave sustains on its back iron-shod wheels,
she who before for ships, now a hostess for open wagons;
and bronzes crack everywhere, and garments grow stiff
when donned, and they hew with axes the wet wines,
and whole pools turn into solid ice,

365

stiriaque impexis induruit horrida barbis.
interea toto non setius aere ningit:
intereunt pecudes, stant circumfusa pruinis
corpora magna boum, confertoque agmine cerui
torpent mole noua et summis uix cornibus exstant.

and icicles hardened, bristling on uncombed beards.
meanwhile, none the less, it snows through the whole air:
the flocks perish; the great bodies of oxen stand, surrounded with hoarfrost,
and deer, in a packed throng, grow torpid under the new mass, and hardly stand out with their topmost horns.

370

hos non immissis canibus, non cassibus ullis
puniceaeue agitant pauidos formidine pennae,
sed frustra oppositum trudentis pectore montem
comminus obtruncant ferro grauiterque rudentis
caedunt et magno laeti clamore reportant.

these they do not drive with dogs sent in, nor with any nets,
nor with the fear of the crimson feather do they harry the timid,
but, as they vainly shove the opposing mountain with their breast,
they cut them down at close quarters with iron, and, bellowing heavily,
they smite them and carry them back rejoicing with great clamor.

375

ipsi in defossis specubus secura sub alta
otia agunt terra, congestaque robora totasque
aduoluere focis ulmos ignique dedere.
hic noctem ludo ducunt, et pocula laeti
fermento atque acidis imitantur uitea sorbis.

they themselves in dug-out caverns, safe beneath the deep
earth, spend their leisure, and they roll to the hearths piled logs and whole
elms, and give them to the fire.
here they draw out the night with play, and, joyful, with ferment and tart
service-berries they imitate vine-wine in their cups.

380

talis Hyperboreo Septem subiecta trioni
gens effrena uirum Riphaeo tunditur Euro
et pecudum fuluis uelatur corpora saetis.
Si tibi lanitium curae, primum aspera silua
lappaeque tribolique absint; fuge pabula laeta;

such is the unbridled race of men, lying beneath the Hyperborean Septem Triones,
is battered by the Rhipaean Eurus and their bodies are clothed with the tawny bristles of cattle.
If woolliness is your concern, first let the rough woodland
and burdocks and caltrops be absent; shun the lush pastures.

385

continuoque greges uillis lege mollibus albos.
illum autem, quamuis aries sit candidus ipse,
nigra subest udo tantum cui lingua palato,
reice, ne maculis infuscet uellera pullis
nascentum, plenoque alium circumspice campo.

and straightway select flocks white with soft fleeces.
but that one, although the ram himself be gleaming-white,
whose tongue alone is black beneath the wet palate,
reject, lest he darken the fleeces with dusky spots
of the newborn; and on a full field look around for another.

390

munere sic niueo lanae, si credere dignum est,
Pan deus Arcadiae captam te, Luna, fefellit
in nemora alta uocans; nec tu aspernata uocantem.
At cui lactis amor, cytisum lotosque frequentis
ipse manu salsasque ferat praesepibus herbas:

thus by the snowy gift of wool, if it is worthy of belief,
Pan, the god of Arcadia, beguiled you, Luna, calling you into the high groves; nor did you spurn the one calling.
But he for whom there is a love of milk, let him himself with his own hand bring to the mangers abundant cytisus and lotus, and salted herbs:

395

hinc et amant fluuios magis, et magis ubera tendunt
et salis occultum referunt in lacte saporem.
multi etiam excretos prohibent a matribus haedos,
primaque ferratis praefigunt ora capistris.
quod surgente die mulsere horisque diurnis,

hence they also love rivers more, and more they stretch their udders,
and they carry back the hidden savor of salt in the milk.
many also keep the kids, separated, away from their mothers,
and first affix their mouths with iron-bound muzzles.
what they have milked at the day’s rising and in the diurnal hours,

400

nocte premunt; quod iam tenebris et sole cadente,
sub lucem: exportant calathis (adit oppida pastor),
aut parco sale contingunt hiemique reponunt.
Nec tibi cura canum fuerit postrema, sed una
uelocis Spartae catulos acremque Molossum

they press it by night; what now in the darkness and with the sun sinking,
toward dawn they carry out in baskets (the shepherd goes to the towns),
or they touch it with sparing salt and lay it up for winter.
Nor let the care of dogs be your last, but among your first,
whelps of swift Sparta and the keen Molossian

405

pasce sero pingui. numquam custodibus illis
nocturnum stabulis furem incursusque luporum
aut impacatos a tergo horrebis Hiberos.
saepe etiam cursu timidos agitabis onagros,
et canibus leporem, canibus uenabere dammas;

feed [them] late with rich fare. never, with those guardians, will you dread in the stables a nocturnal thief and the incursions of wolves, or shudder at untamed Iberians at your back. often too by running you will drive the timid onagers, and with dogs you will hunt the hare, with dogs the fallow-deer;

410

saepe uolutabris pulsos siluestribus apros
latratu turbabis agens, montisque per altos
ingentem clamore premes ad retia ceruum.
Disce et odoratam stabulis accendere cedrum
galbaneoque agitare grauis nidore chelydros.

often you will, with barking, trouble as you drive the boars beaten from their woodland wallows,
and through the high mountains you will press the huge stag with clamor to the nets.
Learn also to kindle fragrant cedar in the stalls
and with the heavy reek of galbanum to drive the water-snakes.

415

saepe sub immotis praesepibus aut mala tactu
uipera delituit caelumque exterrita fugit,
aut tecto adsuetus coluber succedere et umbrae
(pestis acerba boum) pecorique aspergere uirus
fouit humum. cape saxa manu, cape robora, pastor,

often beneath motionless stalls, or a viper harmful to the touch
has skulked, and, terrified, has fled to the sky,
or a serpent accustomed to slip beneath the roof and into the shade
(a bitter pest of cattle) and to sprinkle venom upon the herd
has warmed the ground. take stones in hand, take oaken timbers, shepherd,

420

tollentemque minas et sibila colla tumentem
deice! iamque fuga timidum caput abdidit alte,
cum medii nexus extremaeque agmina caudae
soluuntur, tardosque trahit sinus ultimus orbis.
est etiam ille malus Calabris in saltibus anguis

and cast down the one lifting menaces and swelling his neck with sibilant hisses!
and now in flight he has hidden his timid head deep,
when the middle nexus and the farthest columns of the tail
are loosened, and the last circle drags slow folds.
there is also that baleful snake in the Calabrian glades

425

squamea conuoluens sublato pectore terga
atque notis longam maculosus grandibus aluum,
qui, dum amnes ulli rumpuntur fontibus et dum
uere madent udo terrae ac pluuialibus Austris,
stagna colit ripisque habitans hic piscibus atram

rolling his scaly backs, his breast raised,
and, mottled with large markings, his long belly,
who, while any rivers are burst from their fountains and while
in spring the lands are wet with moisture and with pluvial South Winds,
he haunts the pools, and, dwelling on the banks, this one on fishes black

430

improbus ingluuiem ranisque loquacibus explet;
postquam exusta palus terraeque ardore dehiscunt,
exsilit in siccum, et flammantia lumina torquens
saeuit agris asperque siti atque exterritus aestu.
ne mihi tum mollis sub diuo carpere somnos

the wicked one stuffs his gluttony with loquacious frogs;
after the marsh is burned and the lands split open from the heat,
he leaps onto dry ground, and, rolling his flaming eyes,
he rages through the fields, rough with thirst and terrified by the heat.
may it not be mine then to snatch soft sleep beneath the open sky

435

neu dorso nemoris libeat iacuisse per herbas,
cum positis nouus exuuiis nitidusque iuuenta
uoluitur, aut catulos tectis aut oua relinquens,
arduus ad solem et linguis micat ore trisulcis.
Morborum quoque te causas et signa docebo.

nor let it please you to have lain on your back through the forest’s grasses,
when, with his exuviae laid aside, new and gleaming with youth,
he rolls himself, either leaving his whelps in their coverts or his eggs,
reared toward the sun, and at his mouth he flashes with a three-forked tongue.
I will also teach you the causes and signs of diseases.

440

turpis ouis temptat scabies, ubi frigidus imber
altius ad uiuum persedit et horrida cano
bruma gelu, uel cum tonsis inlotus adhaesit
sudor, et hirsuti secuerunt corpora uepres.
dulcibus idcirco fluuiis pecus omne magistri

scabies tries the foul sheep, when a frigid shower
has settled deeper to the quick and rough midwinter,
hoary with gelid frost; or when, upon the shorn, unwashed
sweat has clung, and brambles have cut the hirsute bodies.
therefore to the sweet rivers the masters lead all the flock

445

perfundunt, udisque aries in gurgite uillis
mersatur, missusque secundo defluit amni;
aut tonsum tristi contingunt corpus amurca
et spumas miscent argenti uiuaque sulpura
Idaeasque pices et pinguis unguine ceras

they drench them, and the ram with wet fleeces is plunged in the whirlpool,
and, sent forth, floats down with the compliant stream;
or they touch the shorn body with grim amurca
and mix the foam of silver and living sulphurs
and Idaean pitches and waxes rich with unguent

450

scillamque elleborosque grauis nigrumque bitumen.
non tamen ulla magis praesens fortuna laborum est
quam si quis ferro potuit rescindere summum
ulceris os: alitur uitium uiuitque tegendo,
dum medicas adhibere manus ad uulnera pastor

and scilla and hellebores and black bitumen.
yet no more immediate expedient for the labors is
than if someone has been able with steel to cut away the mouth
of the ulcer: the taint is nourished and lives by being covered,
while the shepherd applies medical hands to the wounds

455

abnegat et meliora deos sedet omina poscens.
quin etiam, ima dolor balantum lapsus ad ossa
cum furit atque artus depascitur arida febris,
profuit incensos aestus auertere et inter
ima ferire pedis salientem sanguine uenam,

he even disowns the gods and sits asking for better omens.
nay more, when pain, having slipped down to the very bones of the bleating ones,
rages, and a parching fever devours the limbs,
it has profited to avert the inflamed heats and to strike, among the lowest part of the foot,
the vein leaping with blood,

460

Bisaltae quo more solent acerque Gelonus,
cum fugit in Rhodopen atque in deserta Getarum,
et lac concretum cum sanguine potat equino.
quam procul aut molli succedere saepius umbrae
uideris aut summas carpentem ignauius herbas

as the Bisaltae are wont, and the keen Gelonus,
when he flees into Rhodope and into the deserts of the Getae,
and drinks milk curdled with equine blood.
rather you would see him, from afar, more often take shelter beneath the soft shade,
or more slothfully plucking the topmost grasses.

465

extremamque sequi, aut medio procumbere campo
pascentem et serae solam decedere nocti—
continuo culpam ferro compesce, priusquam
dira per incautum serpant contagia uulgus.
non tam creber agens hiemem ruit aequore turbo

and to follow the rear, or to fall prostrate in the middle of the plain
while grazing, and alone to retire for the late night—
immediately restrain the fault with the iron, before
dire contagions creep through the incautious herd.
not so frequent, driving winter, does a whirlwind rush over the sea

470

quam multae pecudum pestes. nec singula morbi
corpora corripiunt, sed tota aestiua repente,
spemque gregemque simul cunctamque ab origine gentem.
tum sciat, aerias Alpis et Norica si quis
castella in tumulis et Iapydis arua Timaui

how many are the plagues of cattle. nor do diseases seize bodies one by one, but whole summer-pastures suddenly, and hope and herd together, and the entire race from the root. then would he know, if anyone knows, the airy Alps and the Noric forts on the mounds, and the fields of the Iapydian Timavus

475

nunc quoque post tanto uideat, desertaque regna
pastorum et longe saltus lateque uacantis.
Hic quondam morbo caeli miseranda coorta est
tempestas totoque autumni incanduit aestu
et genus omne neci pecudum dedit, omne ferarum,

now too let him behold, after so long, the deserted realms of shepherds
and the wood-pastures far away, lying empty far and wide.
Here once, by a disease of the sky, a pitiable tempest arose,
and it incandesced with the entire heat of autumn
and consigned every kind of cattle to death, every kind of wild beasts,

480

corrupitque lacus, infecit pabula tabo.
nec uia mortis erat simplex; sed ubi ignea uenis
omnibus acta sitis miseros adduxerat artus,
rursus abundabat fluidus liquor omniaque in se
ossa minutatim morbo conlapsa trahebat.

and it corrupted the lakes, infected the fodder with putrid gore.
nor was the way of death simple; but when fiery in the veins
the thirst driven through all had drawn together the wretched limbs,
again the fluid liquor overflowed, and into itself
it was dragging the bones, bit by bit, collapsed by disease.

485

saepe in honore deum medio stans hostia ad aram,
lanea dum niuea circumdatur infula uitta,
inter cunctantis cecidit moribunda ministros;
aut si quam ferro mactauerat ante sacerdos,
inde neque impositis ardent altaria fibris,

Often, in honor of the gods, the sacrificial victim standing in the midst at the altar,
while the snowy woolen infula-fillet is being bound around,
fell dying among the delaying ministers;
or if a priest had previously slaughtered some victim with iron,
then neither do the altars blaze with the entrails placed upon them,

490

nec responsa potest consultus reddere uates,
ac uix suppositi tinguntur sanguine cultri
summaque ieiuna sanie infuscatur harena.
hinc laetis uituli uulgo moriuntur in herbis
et dulcis animas plena ad praesepia reddunt;

nor can the seer, when consulted, render responses,
and scarcely are the knives set beneath tinged with blood,
and the topmost, fasting sand is darkened with gore.
hence calves die en masse amid the lush grasses
and at full mangers they give back their sweet spirits;

495

hinc canibus blandis rabies uenit, et quatit aegros
tussis anhela sues ac faucibus angit obesis.
labitur infelix studiorum atque immemor herbae
uictor equus fontisque auertitur et pede terram
crebra ferit; demissae aures, incertus ibidem

from here to fawning dogs comes rabies, and a panting
cough shakes sick swine and throttles them in their fat throats.
the unlucky, forgetful of his trainings and of grass,
victor horse falls, and he turns away from the spring and with his hoof
strikes the ground in frequent blows; ears drooped, uncertain in the same place

500

sudor et ille quidem morituris frigidus; aret
pellis et ad tactum tractanti dura resistit.
haec ante exitium primis dant signa diebus:
sin in processu coepit crudescere morbus,
tum uero ardentes oculi atque attractus ab alto

and that sweat indeed, for those about to die, is cold; the skin
parches, and to the touch it resists hard against the handler.
these give signs before destruction in the first days:
but if in the process the disease has begun to grow more cruel,
then indeed burning eyes and a drawing of breath from deep within

505

spiritus, interdum gemitu grauis, imaque longo
ilia singultu tendunt, it naribus ater
sanguis, et obsessas fauces premit aspera lingua.
profuit inserto latices infundere cornu
Lenaeos; ea uisa salus morientibus una.

the breath, sometimes heavy with a groan, and the lowest flanks are stretched with long sobbing;
black blood goes from the nostrils, and a rough tongue presses the obstructed throat.
it has been helpful to pour in Lenaean liquors with an inserted horn;
this seemed the one salvation for the dying.

510

mox erat hoc ipsum exitio, furiisque refecti
ardebant, ipsique suos iam morte sub aegra
(di meliora piis, erroremque hostibus illum!)
discissos nudis laniabant dentibus artus.
ecce autem duro fumans sub uomere taurus

soon this very thing was for destruction, and, refreshed by the Furies,
they burned, and they themselves, their own limbs now under sickly death
(may the gods grant better to the pious, and that error to their enemies!)
were lacerating torn-asunder limbs with bare teeth.
but lo, a bull smoking beneath the hard ploughshare

515

concidit et mixtum spumis uomit ore cruorem
extremosque ciet gemitus. it tristis arator
maerentem abiungens fraterna morte iuuencum,
atque opere in medio defixa reliquit aratra.
non umbrae altorum nemorum, non mollia possunt

he falls and vomits from his mouth blood mixed with foams,
and he summons his last groans. The sad ploughman goes,
unyoking the young bull grieving at a brother’s death,
and leaves the plough fixed fast in the midst of the work.
not the shades of lofty groves, not soft things can

520

prata mouere animum, non qui per saxa uolutus
purior electro campum petit amnis; at ima
soluuntur latera, atque oculos stupor urget inertis
ad terramque fluit deuexo pondere ceruix.
quid labor aut benefacta iuuant? quid uomere terras

the meadows do not move his spirit, nor does the stream, rolled through rocks, purer than electrum, make for the plain; but the lowest flanks are loosened, and stupor presses upon his inert eyes, and his neck flows down to the earth with its down-sloping weight. What do labor or benefactions avail? Why plough the lands with the ploughshare

525

inuertisse grauis? atqui non Massica Bacchi
munera, non illis epulae nocuere repostae:
frondibus et uictu pascuntur simplicis herbae,
pocula sunt fontes liquidi atque exercita cursu
flumina, nec somnos abrumpit cura salubris.

to have inverted the heavy clods? and yet neither the Massic gifts of Bacchus, nor banquets set out again have harmed them:
they feed on leaves and on the victual of simple herbage,
their cups are liquid springs and rivers exercised by running,
and care for health does not break their slumbers.

530

tempore non alio dicunt regionibus illis
quaesitas ad sacra boues Iunonis et uris
imparibus ductos alta ad donaria currus.
ergo aegre rastris terram rimantur, et ipsis
unguibus infodiunt fruges, montisque per altos

at no other time, they say, in those regions
are oxen sought for the sacra of Juno and aurochs,
and wagons, drawn by unequal pairs, to the lofty shrines.
therefore with difficulty they furrow the earth with rakes, and with their very
nails they bury the grain, and over the high mountains

535

contenta ceruice trahunt stridentia plaustra.
non lupus insidias explorat ouilia circum
nec gregibus nocturnus obambulat: acrior illum
cura domat; timidi dammae ceruique fugaces
nunc interque canes et circum tecta uagantur.

with neck held taut they drag the creaking wagons.
nor does the wolf scout for ambush around the sheepfolds
nor does he, nocturnal, prowl about the flocks: a keener
care tames him; timid does and fleet stags
now wander even among the dogs and around the roofs.

540

iam maris immensi prolem et genus omne natantum
litore in extremo ceu naufraga corpora fluctus
proluit; insolitae fugiunt in flumina phocae.
interit et curuis frustra defensa latebris
uipera et attoniti squamis astantibus hydri.

already the offspring of the immense sea and every kind of swimmer the wave on the farthest shore washes like shipwrecked bodies; the unaccustomed seals flee into the rivers.
the viper too perishes, defended in vain by its curved lairs,
and the hydras, thunderstruck, with their scales standing on end.

545

ipsis est aer auibus non aequus, et illae
praecipites alta uitam sub nube relinquunt.
praeterea iam nec mutari pabula refert,
quaesitaeque nocent artes; cessere magistri,
Phillyrides Chiron Amythaoniusque Melampus.

for the birds themselves the air is not fair, and they
headlong abandon life beneath the high cloud.
moreover, now neither does it profit that the fodders be changed,
and the sought arts do harm; the masters have yielded,
Philyride Chiron and Amythaonian Melampus.

550

saeuit et in lucem Stygiis emissa tenebris
pallida Tisiphone Morbos agit ante Metumque,
inque dies auidum surgens caput altius effert.
balatu pecorum et crebris mugitibus amnes
arentesque sonant ripae collesque supini.

and also rages into the light, emitted from Stygian darkness,
pale Tisiphone drives before her Diseases and Fear,
and day by day, rising, she lifts her avid head higher.
with the bleating of flocks and frequent lowings the rivers
and the parched banks and the sloping hills resound.

555

iamque cateruatim dat stragem atque aggerat ipsis
in stabulis turpi dilapsa cadauera tabo,
donec humo tegere ac foueis abscondere discunt.
nam neque erat coriis usus, nec uiscera quisquam
aut undis abolere potest aut uincere flamma;

and now in crowds it deals slaughter and heaps up, in the very stalls, cadavers collapsed in foul gore,
until they learn to cover them with earth and hide them in pits.
for neither was there any use for the hides, nor can anyone either wash away the viscera with waves or conquer them with flame;

560

ne tondere quidem morbo inluuieque peresa
uellera nec telas possunt attingere putris;
uerum etiam inuisos si quis temptarat amictus,
ardentes papulae atque immundus olentia sudor
membra sequebatur, nec longo deinde moranti

not even can they shear the fleeces eaten away by disease and filth,
nor can they touch the rotten webs;
but even if anyone tried the detested garments,
burning papules and an unclean, reeking sweat
would follow the limbs, and then there was no long delay for one lingering

565

tempore contactos artus sacer ignis edebat.

in time the sacred fire was devouring the limbs that had been touched.