Virgil: GEORGICON

Protinus aerii mellis caelestia dona
exsequar: hanc etiam, Maecenas, adspice partem.
Admiranda tibi levium spectacula rerum
magnanimosque duces totiusque ordine gentis
mores et studia et populos et proelia dicam.

Forthwith I will set forth the celestial gifts of aerial honey:
look upon this part as well, Maecenas.
For you I will tell the admirable spectacles of light things,
and the magnanimous leaders, and, in order, the mores and pursuits and peoples and battles of the whole race.

In tenui labor; at tenuis non gloria, si quem
numina laeva sinunt auditque vocatus Apollo.

In slender things is the labor; but the glory is not slender, if the left-hand numina permit someone
and Apollo, when invoked, hears.

Principio sedes apibus statioque petenda,
quo neque sit ventis aditus—nam pabula venti
ferre domum prohibent—neque oves haedique petulci

In the beginning a seat and a station for the bees must be sought,
where there is no access for the winds—for the winds prohibit carrying fodder home—nor sheep and petulant kids

floribus insultent aut errans bucula campo
decutiat rorem et surgentes atterat herbas.
Absint et picti squalentia terga lacerti
pinguibus a stabulis meropesque aliaeque volucres
et manibus Procne pectus signata cruentis;

lest they trample the flowers, or a wandering heifer on the plain
shake down the dew and bruise the up-springing grasses.
Let there be absent, too, the painted lizards with scaly backs
from the rich stalls, and the Merops and other birds,
and Procne, her breast marked by bloody hands;

omnia nam late vastant ipsasque volantes
ore ferunt dulcem nidis immitibus escam.
At liquidi fontes et stagna virentia musco
adsint et tenuis fugiens per gramina rivus,
palmaque vestibulum aut ingens oleaster inumbret,

for they devastate everything far and wide, and the very ones flying
they bear in the mouth, sweet food for their pitiless nests.
But let liquid springs and pools green with moss
be present, and a slender rivulet running through the grasses,
and let a palm or a huge oleaster shade the vestibule.

ut, cum prima novi ducent examina reges
vere suo ludetque favis emissa iuventus,
vicina invitet decedere ripa calori,
obviaque hospitiis teneat frondentibus arbos.
In medium, seu stabit iners seu profluet umor,

so that, when the new kings lead out the first swarms
at their own springtime and the youth sent forth from the combs plays,
the neighboring bank may invite them to withdraw from the heat,
and a leafy tree, meeting them with hospitality, may hold them.
In the middle, whether the moisture will stand inert or will flow forth,

transversas salices et grandia conice saxa,
pontibus ut crebris possint consistere et alas
pandere ad aestivum solem, si forte morantes
sparserit aut praeceps Neptuno immerserit Eurus.
Haec circum casiae virides et olentia late

cast transverse willows and great stones,
so that on frequent bridges they may be able to stand and spread their wings
to the estival sun, if perchance, as they linger,
the East Wind has scattered them or headlong has plunged them in Neptune.
Around these set green cassias and things widely fragrant

serpylla et graviter spirantis copia thymbrae
floreat inriguumque bibant violaria fontem.
Ipsa autem, seu corticibus tibi suta cavatis,
seu lento fuerint alvaria vimine texta,
angustos habeant aditus: nam frigore mella

wild thyme and a rich supply of strongly-breathing savory
let flourish, and let violet-beds well-watered drink the spring.
But the hives themselves, whether sewn for you from hollowed bark,
or whether the bee-houses have been woven of pliant osier,
let them have narrow entrances: for in cold the honeys

cogit hiems, eademque calor liquefacta remittit.
Utraque vis apibus pariter metuenda; neque illae
nequiquam in tectis certatim tenuia cera
spiramenta linunt fucoque et floribus oras
explent collectumque haec ipsa ad munera gluten

winter compels, and the same heat releases what has been liquefied.
Both forces are equally to be feared by the bees; nor do they
to no purpose under their roofs, vying, smear with thin wax
the breathing-vents, and with dye and flowers they fill the borders,
and this very glue gathered for these duties

et visco et Phrygiae servant pice lentius Idae.
Saepe etiam effossis, si vera est fama, latebris
sub terra fovere larem, penitusque repertae
pumicibusque cavis exesaeque arboris antro.
Tu tamen et levi rimosa cubilia limo

and with birdlime and with the pitch of Phrygian Ida, more viscid, they seal.
Often too, if report is true, in dug-out hiding-places
beneath the earth they cherish their Lar,
and, found deep within,
in hollow pumices and in the cave of a tree eaten away.
Yet you too should plaster the cracked couches with light mud

ungue fovens circum et raras superinice frondes.
Neu propius tectis taxum sine, neve rubentes
ure foco cancros, altae neu crede paludi,
aut ubi odor caeni gravis aut ubi concava pulsu
saxa sonant vocisque offensa resultat imago.

fostering with your nail all around, and throw over sparse fronds.
Nor allow yew nearer to the roofs, nor burn reddening crabs at the hearth,
nor trust a deep marsh, or where the odor of slime is heavy, or where, at a stroke, concave rocks sound and the image of the voice, when struck, rebounds.

Quod superest, ubi pulsam hiemem sol aureus egit
sub terras caelumque aestiva luce reclusit,
illae continuo saltus silvasque peragrant
purpureosque metunt flores et flumina libant
summa leves. Hinc nescio qua dulcedine laetae

What remains, when the golden sun has driven the beaten-back winter beneath the earth and has thrown open the sky with summer light, they straightway traverse glades and woods and reap purple flowers, and they libate the rivers on the surface, light of touch. Hence, glad by I-know-not-what sweetness

progeniem nidosque fovent, hinc arte recentes
excudunt ceras et mella tenacia fingunt.
Hinc ubi iam emissum caveis ad sidera caeli
nare per aestatem liquidam suspexeris agmen
obscuramque trahi vento mirabere nubem,

they foster progeny and nests; from there by art they strike out fresh
waxes and fashion tenacious honeys.
From there, when you have now looked up at a column sent forth from the hives to the stars of the sky
to swim through the liquid summer,
you will marvel at a dark cloud being drawn by the wind,

contemplator: aquas dulces et frondea semper
tecta petunt. Huc tu iussos adsperge sapores,
trita melisphylla et cerinthae ignobile gramen,
tinnitusque cie et Matris quate cymbala circum.
ipsae consident medicatis sedibus, ipsae

contemplate: they seek sweet waters and leafy roofs always
They seek roofs. Hither do you sprinkle the bidden savors,
ground melisphylla and the ignoble grass of cerinthe,
and rouse a ringing and shake the cymbals of the Mother around.
they themselves settle on the medicated seats, they themselves

intima more suo sese in cunabula condent.

they themselves, in their own manner, will settle into their inmost cradles.

Sin autem ad pugnam exierint, nam saepe duobus
regibus incessit magno discordia motu,
continuoque animos vulgi et trepidantia bello
corda licet longe praesciscere; namque morantes

But if they shall have gone out to battle, for often upon two kings discord has advanced with great commotion,
and straightway one may from afar foreknow the spirits of the multitude and the hearts trembling with war; for the lingerers

Martius ille aeris rauci canor increpat et vox
auditur fractos sonitus imitata tubarum;
tum trepidae inter se coeunt pennisque coruscant
spiculaque exacuunt rostris aptantque lacertos
et circa regem atque ipsa ad praetoria densae

That martial song of hoarse bronze clatters, and a voice
is heard, imitating the broken notes of trumpets;
then the anxious ones gather among themselves and with their wings they flash,
and they sharpen their darts with their beaks and make ready their arms,
and, dense, around the king and even to the praetoria itself

miscentur magnisque vocant clamoribus hostem.
Ergo ubi ver nactae sudum camposque patentes,
erumpunt portis; concurritur, aethere in alto
fit sonitus, magnum mixtae glomerantur in orbem
praecipitesque cadunt; non densior aëre grando,

they mingle and with great clamors call the enemy.
Therefore, when they have got spring, clear sky, and open plains,
they erupt from the gates; they run together, in the lofty ether
a sound arises; mingled, they are massed into a great orb,
and they fall headlong; not denser is hail in the air,

nec de concussa tantum pluit ilice glandis.
ipsi per medias acies insignibus alis
ingentes animos angusto in pectore versant,
usque adeo obnixi non cedere, dum gravis aut hos
aut hos versa fuga victor dare terga subegit.

nor from a shaken ilex does it rain so much of acorn.
they themselves, through the midst of the battle-lines, with insignia-bearing wings,
turn mighty spirits in a narrow breast,
so stubbornly determined not to yield, until the grim victor has compelled either these
or those, with flight reversed, to give their backs.

Hi motus animorum atque haec certamina tanta
pulveris exigui iactu compressa quiescent.
Verum ubi ductores acie revocaveris ambo,
deterior qui visus, eum, ne prodigus obsit,
dede neci; melior vacua sine regnet in aula.

These movements of spirits and these so great contests
will be stilled, compressed by the casting of a little dust.
But when you have recalled both leaders from the battle line,
the one who seemed the inferior—lest, being prodigal, he harm—give to death; let the better—allow him—reign in an empty hall.

Alter erit maculis auro squalentibus ardens;
nam duo sunt genera: hic melior, insignis et ore
et rutilis clarus squamis, ille horridus alter
desidia latamque trahens inglorius alvum.

Another will be blazing with spots, encrusted with gold;
for there are two kinds: this one is better, distinguished even in his face
and renowned with rutilant scales; that other rough,
inglorious, dragging a broad belly in sloth.

Ut binae regum facies, ita corpora plebis.

As the faces of kings are twofold, so are the bodies of the plebs.

Namque aliae turpes horrent, ceu pulvere ab alto
cum venit et sicco terram spuit ore viator
aridus; elucent aliae et fulgore coruscant
ardentes auro et paribus lita corpora guttis.
Haec potior suboles, hinc caeli tempore certo

For indeed some, unsightly, bristle, as when with dust from aloft
when the traveler comes and, parched, spits earth from a dry mouth;
others shine out and coruscate with brilliance,
ardent with gold and bodies smeared with matching drops.
This is the better offspring; hence from the sky at a fixed season

100

dulcia mella premes, nec tantum dulcia, quantum
et liquida et durum Bacchi domitura saporem.

you will press sweet honey, and not only sweet, but
also liquid and destined to subdue the hard savor of Bacchus.

At cum incerta volant caeloque examina ludunt
contemnuntque favos et frigida tecta relinquunt,
instabiles animos ludo prohibebis inani.

But when they fly uncertainly and the swarms play in the sky,
and scorn the honeycombs and leave the chilly roofs,
you will prohibit their unstable spirits from inane play.

105

Nec magnus prohibere labor: tu regibus alas
eripe; non illis quisquam cunctantibus altum
ire iter aut castris audebit vellere signa.
Invitent croceis halantes floribus horti
et custos furum atque avium cum falce saligna

Nor is it a great labor to prohibit: you, from the kings, strip the wings;
not, with them hesitating, will anyone dare to go a journey aloft or to pluck up the standards from the camp.
Let gardens, exhaling with saffron-hued flowers, invite them,
and a guardian of thieves and birds with a willow sickle

110

Hellespontiaci servet tutela Priapi.
Ipse thymum pinosque ferens de montibus altis
tecta serat late circum, cui talia curae;
ipse labore manum duro terat, ipse feraces
figat humo plantas et amicos inriget imbres.

Let the tutelage of Hellespontian Priapus keep watch.
He himself, carrying thyme and pines from the lofty mountains,
let him plant the homestead far and wide around, for whom such things are a care;
let him himself wear his hand with hard labor, let him fix fertile plants in the soil and irrigate with friendly showers.

115

Atque equidem, extremo ni iam sub fine laborum
vela traham et terris festinem advertere proram,
forsitan et, pingues hortos quae cura colendi
ornaret, canerem, biferique rosaria Paesti,
quoque modo potis gauderent intiba rivis

And indeed, if I were not now, at the very last end of my labors,
drawing in the sails and hurrying to turn the prow toward the lands,
perhaps I too would sing what care of cultivating would adorn
rich gardens, and the rose-gardens of twice-bearing Paestum, and in what way endives might be able to rejoice in rivulets

120

et virides apio ripae, tortusque per herbam
cresceret in ventrem cucumis; nec sera comantem
narcissum aut flexi tacuissem vimen acanthi
pallentesque hederas et amantes litora myrtos.
Namque sub Oebaliae memini me turribus arcis,

and the banks green with celery, and the cucumber, twisted through the grass,
would swell into a belly; nor would I have kept silent about the late-tressed
Narcissus or the withe of the bent acanthus, and the pale ivies and the myrtles
that love the shores. For beneath the towers of the Oebalian citadel I remember me,

125

qua niger umectat flaventia culta Galaesus,
Corycium vidisse senem, cui pauca relicti
iugera ruris erant, nec fertilis illa iuvencis
nec pecori opportuna seges nec commoda Baccho.
Hic rarum tamen in dumis olus albaque circum

where the black Galaesus moistens the yellowing cultivated fields,
I recall having seen a Corycian old man, to whom there were a few
iugera of abandoned countryside, and that field was not fertile for young oxen,
nor was the crop suitable for the herd, nor convenient for Bacchus.
Here, however, among the thickets a rare vegetable, and white around

130

lilia verbenasque premens vescumque papaver
regum aequabat opes animis seraque revertens
nocte domum dapibus mensas onerabat inemptis.
Primus vere rosam atque autumno carpere poma,
et cum tristis hiems etiamnum frigore saxa

pressing lilies and vervains and the mealy poppy,
he matched the wealth of kings in spirit; and returning late
at night home he would load the tables with banquets unbought.
He was the first in spring to pluck the rose and in autumn the apples,
and when gloomy winter even yet with cold the rocks

135

rumperet et glacie cursus frenaret aquarum,
ille comam mollis iam tondebat hyacinthi
aestatem increpitans seram Zephyrosque morantes.
Ergo apibus fetis idem atque examine multo
primus abundare et spumantia cogere pressis

when it would shatter and with ice would rein in the courses of the waters,
he already was shearing the tresses of the soft hyacinth,
rebuking summer as late and the Zephyrs for delaying.
Therefore, with the bees fertile and with a numerous swarm,
he was the first to make them abound and to collect the foaming honey from pressed combs.

140

mella favis; illi tiliae atque uberrima pinus,
quotque in flore novo pomis se fertilis arbos
induerat, totidem autumno matura tenebat.
Ille etiam seras in versum distulit ulmos
eduramque pirum et spinos iam pruna ferentes

honey into the combs; for him the lime-trees and the richest pine,
and as many fruits as the fruitful tree had put on itself with the new blossom
it held just so many ripe in autumn. He too set out in a row the late elms
and the hard pear, and the blackthorns now bearing sloes

145

iamque ministrantem platanum potantibus umbras.
Verum haec ipse equidem spatiis exclusus iniquis
praetereo atque aliis post me memoranda relinquo.

and now the plane-tree ministering shades to drinkers.
But indeed I myself, excluded by iniquitous spaces,
pass over these things and leave them to others after me to be remembered.

Nunc age, naturas apibus quas Iuppiter ipse
addidit, expediam, pro qua mercede canoros

Now come, I will expound the natures which Jupiter himself added to the bees,
for which reward the tuneful

150

Curetum sonitus crepitantiaque aera secutae
Dictaeo caeli regem pavere sub antro.
Solae communes natos, consortia tecta
urbis habent magnisque agitant sub legibus aevum,
et patriam solae et certos novere penates,

Having followed the sound of the Curetes and the crepitating bronzes,
they are said to have nourished the king of heaven beneath the Dictaean cave.
They alone have offspring in common, the shared roofs
of a city, and they drive their lifetime under great laws,
and they alone know a fatherland and fixed household gods,

155

venturaeque hiemis memores aestate laborem
experiuntur et in medium quaesita reponunt.
Namque aliae victu invigilant et foedere pacto
exercentur agris; pars intra saepta domorum
Narcissi lacrimam et lentum de cortice gluten

and, mindful of the coming winter, in summer they undergo labor
and put what has been gathered into the common stock.
For some keep watch over victuals and, by a pact compact,
are employed in the fields; a part, within the enclosures of the homes,
gathers the tear of Narcissus and the sticky glue from bark

160

prima favis ponunt fundamina, deinde tenaces
suspendunt ceras: aliae spem gentis adultos
educunt fetus, aliae purissima mella
stipant et liquido distendunt nectare cellas.
Sunt quibus ad portas cecidit custodia sorti,

first they set the foundations for the honeycombs, then the tenacious
hang the waxes: others, the hope of the race, the grown
bring forth offspring, others pack the most pure honeys
and distend the cells with liquid nectar.
There are those for whom, at the gates, the guard has fallen by lot,

165

inque vicem speculantur aquas et nubila caeli
aut onera accipiunt venientum aut agmine facto
ignavum fucos pecus a praesepibus arcent.
Fervet opus, redolentque thymo fragrantia mella.
ac veluti lentis Cyclopes fulmina massis

and in turn they keep watch on the waters and the clouds of the sky
or they receive the burdens of those arriving, or, with a column formed,
they ward off from the stalls the drones, the slothful herd.
The work seethes, and the honeys, fragrant, are redolent with thyme.
and just as the Cyclopes with slow-malleable masses fashion thunderbolts

170

cum properant, alii taurinis follibus auras
accipiunt redduntque, alii stridentia tingunt
aera lacu; gemit impositis incudibus Aetna;
illi inter sese magna vi bracchia tollunt
in numerum versantque tenaci forcipe ferrum:

when they hasten, some with bullhide bellows receive and give back the breezes,
others plunge the hissing bronzes in the tank; Aetna groans with the anvils set upon it;
they among themselves raise their arms with great force in time
and turn the iron with the tenacious forceps:

175

non aliter, si parva licet componere magnis,
Cecropias innatus apes amor urget habendi,
munere quamque suo. Grandaevis oppida curae
et munire favos et daedala fingere tecta.
At fessae multa referunt se nocte minores,

not otherwise, if it is permitted to compare small things with great,
Cecropian bees an inborn love of possessing urges on, each to her own office.
For the very old, the cares are towns, and to fortify the honeycombs
and to fashion daedal roofs. But the younger, wearied, betake themselves back late at night,

180

crura thymo plenae; pascuntur et arbuta passim
et glaucas salices casiamque crocumque rubentem
et pinguem tiliam et ferrugineos hyacinthos.
Omnibus una quies operum, labor omnibus unus:
mane ruunt portis; nusquam mora; rursus easdem

their legs full of thyme; they pasture too on arbute here and there
and on the glaucous willows and cassia and the reddening crocus
and the rich linden (tilia) and ferruginous hyacinths.
For all there is one rest from works, one labor for all:
in the morning they rush from the gates; nowhere delay; again the same

185

vesper ubi e pastu tandem decedere campis
admonuit, tum tecta petunt, tum corpora curant;
fit sonitus, mussantque oras et limina circum.
Post, ubi iam thalamis se composuere, siletur
in noctem fessosque sopor suus occupat artus.

when evening, at last, has admonished to withdraw from pasturing and from the fields,
then they seek the roofs, then they tend their bodies;
a sound arises, and they murmur around the borders and thresholds.
afterward, when now they have settled themselves in their chambers, there is silence
into the night, and their own sleep takes possession of their weary limbs.

190

Nec vero a stabulis pluvia impendente recedunt
longius aut credunt caelo adventantibus Euris,
sed circum tutae sub moenibus urbis aquantur,
excursusque breves temptant et saepe lapillos,
ut cumbae instabiles fluctu iactante saburram,

Nor indeed, with rain impending, do they withdraw farther from the stalls,
nor do they trust the sky with the East winds drawing near,
but, safe, they take on water around the city’s walls,
and they attempt brief excursions and often little pebbles,
as unstable skiffs, with the wave tossing, take on ballast,

195

tollunt, his sese per inania nubila librant.
Illum adeo placuisse apibus mirabere morem,
quod neque concubitu indulgent nec corpora segnes
in Venerem solvunt aut fetus nixibus edunt:
verum ipsae e foliis natos, e suavibus herbis

they lift them; with these they poise themselves through the empty clouds.
You will marvel that that custom has so pleased the bees,
because they neither indulge in concubital intercourse nor, sluggish, loosen their bodies into Venus, nor bring forth offspring by birth-pangs:
but they themselves have their young from leaves, from sweet herbs

200

ore legunt, ipsae regem parvosque Quirites
sufficiunt aulasque et cerea regna refigunt.
Saepe etiam duris errando in cotibus alas
attrivere ultroque animam sub fasce dedere:
tantus amor florum et generandi gloria mellis.

with the mouth they gather, they themselves supply the king and the little Quirites,
and refix the halls and the waxen realms.
Often too, by wandering on hard crags, they have worn away their wings
and of their own accord have given up their life beneath the burden:
so great is the love of flowers and the glory of generating honey.

205

Ergo ipsas quamvis angusti terminus aevi
excipiat, neque enim plus septima ducitur aestas,
at genus immortale manet multosque per annos
stat fortuna domus et avi numerantur avorum.
Praeterea regem non sic Aegyptus et ingens

Therefore, although the bound of a narrow lifespan overtakes them,
for indeed no more than a seventh summer is drawn out,
yet the race remains immortal, and for many years
the fortune of the house stands fast, and grandfathers are counted of grandfathers.
Moreover, the king not so Egypt and vast

210

Lydia nec populi Parthorum aut Medus Hydaspes
observant. Rege incolumi mens omnibus una est;
amisso rupere fidem constructaque mella
diripuere ipsae et crates solvere favorum.
Ille operum custos, illum admirantur et omnes

Lydia nor the peoples of the Parthians nor the Median Hydaspes show such observance.
With the king unharmed, one mind is in all;
when he is lost, they have broken faith, and the honey they built
they themselves have plundered, and have loosened the lattices of the combs.
He is the guardian of their works; at him they all admire.

215

circumstant fremitu denso stipantque frequentes
et saepe attollunt umeris et corpora bello
obiectant pulchramque petunt per vulnera mortem.

they surround with a dense buzzing and, in throngs, they press close
and often they lift him on their shoulders and throw their bodies into war,
and seek a beautiful death through wounds.

His quidam signis atque haec exempla secuti
esse apibus partem divinae mentis et haustus

Some, following these signs and these examples, have said that there is in bees a portion of the divine mind and draughts

220

aetherios dixere; deum namque ire per omnes
terrasque tractusque maris caelumque profundum.
Hinc pecudes, armenta, viros, genus omne ferarum,
quemque sibi tenues nascentem arcessere vitas;
scilicet huc reddi deinde ac resoluta referri

they have called ethereal; for the god goes through all
the lands and the tracts of the sea and the deep heaven.
Hence the flocks, the herds, men, every kind of wild creature,
and each, at its birth, summons to itself the tenuous lives;
assuredly hither to be returned thereafter and, unbound, to be borne back

225

omnia nec morti esse locum, sed viva volare
sideris in numerum atque alto succedere caelo.

that there is no place for death for all things, but, living, they fly into the number of the stars and ascend to the high heaven.

Siquando sedem angustam servataque mella
thesauris relines, prius haustu sparsus aquarum
ora fove fumosque manu praetende sequaces.

Whenever you lay open the narrow seat and the honey kept in their treasuries,
first, sprinkled with a draught of waters, warm the entrances and hold forth with your hand the pursuing smokes.

230

Bis gravidos cogunt fetus, duo tempora messis,
Taygete simul os terris ostendit honestum
Pleas et Oceani spretos pede reppulit amnes,
aut eadem sidus fugiens ubi Piscis aquosi
tristior hibernas caelo descendit in undas.

Twice they gather the gravid offspring, at the two seasons of reaping,
Taygete at the same time shows her honorable face to the lands,
and the Pleiad has with her foot repelled the streams of Ocean, spurned,
or likewise when the same constellation, fleeing, as the watery Fish,
more grim descends from the sky into wintry waves.

235

Illis ira modum supra est, laesaeque venenum
morsibus inspirant et spicula caeca relinquunt
adfixae venis animasque in vulnere ponunt.
Sin duram metues hiemem parcesque futuro
contunsosque animos et res miserabere fractas,

Their wrath is beyond measure, and, when injured, they breathe venom with their bites and, fixed to the veins, leave blind spicules, and lay down their souls in the wound. But if you will fear the hard winter and spare for the future and pity the bruised spirits and the shattered things,

240

at suffire thymo cerasque recidere inanes
quis dubitet? nam saepe favos ignotus adedit
stellio et lucifugis congesta cubilia blattis
immunisque sedens aliena ad pabula fucus
aut asper crabro imparibus se immiscuit armis,

but who would hesitate to fumigate with thyme and cut away the empty wax-combs?
for often an unknown stellion-lizard has eaten the honeycombs,
and light-fleeing cockroaches heap up their lairs,
and the drone, sitting exempt, goes to alien fodder,
or a harsh hornet has mingled himself in with unequal arms,

245

aut dirum tiniae genus, aut invisa Minervae
laxos in foribus suspendit aranea casses.
Quo magis exhaustae fuerint, hoc acrius omnes
incumbent generis lapsi sarcire ruinas
complebuntque foros et floribus horrea texent.

or the dire breed of moth, or the spider hateful to Minerva
hangs loose snares in the doorways.
The more they shall have been exhausted, the more keenly will all
press to suture the ruins of the fallen race,
and they will fill the galleries and weave their granaries with flowers.

250

Si vero, quoniam casus apibus quoque nostros
vita tulit, tristi languebunt corpora morbo—
quod iam non dubiis poteris cognoscere signis:
continuo est aegris alius color, horrida vultum
deformat macies, tum corpora luce carentum

But if indeed, since life has brought to the bees too our misfortunes, their bodies will languish with a sad sickness—
which you will now be able to recognize by no doubtful signs:
immediately there is for the sick a different color, horrid emaciation
deforms the countenance, then the light-bereft bodies

255

exportant tectis et tristia funera ducunt;
aut illae pedibus conexae ad limina pendent,
aut intus clausis cunctantur in aedibus, omnes
ignavaeque fame et contracto frigore pigrae.
Tum sonus auditur gravior, tractimque susurrant,

they carry out from the dwellings and conduct sad funerals;
or they, linked by their feet, hang at the thresholds,
or within, in the closed chambers, they linger, all
spiritless from hunger and, with contracted cold, sluggish.
Then a heavier sound is heard, and by degrees they murmur,

260

frigidus ut quondam silvis immurmurat Auster,
ut mare sollicitum stridit refluentibus undis,
aestuat ut clausis rapidus fornacibus ignis:
hic iam galbaneos suadebo incendere odores
mellaque harundineis inferre canalibus, ultro

Chill, as at times the Auster murmurs through the woods,
as the agitated sea hisses with refluent waves,
as the rapid fire seethes in closed furnaces:
here now I will urge them to kindle galbanum odors
and to bring honeys into reed canals, besides

265

hortantem et fessas ad pabula nota vocantem.
Proderit et tunsum gallae admiscere saporem
Arentesque rosas aut igni pinguia multo
defruta vel psithia passos de vite racemos
Cecropiumque thymum et grave olentia centaurea.

encouraging and calling the weary to the well-known pastures.
It will also be useful to mix in the pounded savor of the gallnut,
and dried roses, or defrutum rich with much fire,
or psithia, clusters dried from the vine,
and Cecropian thyme and the heavy-scented centauries.

270

Est etiam flos in pratis, cui nomen amello
fecere agricolae, facilis quaerentibus herba;
namque uno ingentem tollit de caespite silvam,
aureus ipse, sed in foliis, quae plurima circum
funduntur, violae sublucet purpura nigrae;

There is also a flower in the meadows, to which the farmers have given the name Amellus,
an herb easy for seekers; for from a single turf it lifts a huge wood,
golden itself, but in the leaves, which very many are poured around,
there gleams beneath the purple of the dark violet;

275

[saepe deum nexis ornatae torquibus arae;]
asper in ore sapor; tonsis in vallibus illum
pastores et curva legunt prope flumina Mellae.
Huius odorato radices incoque Baccho
pabulaque in foribus plenis adpone canistris.

[often the altars of the gods are adorned with interwoven torques;]
harsh the savor in the mouth; in shorn valleys it
the shepherds gather, and near the curved streams of the Mella.
Of this, boil the roots in fragrant Bacchus,
and set the feed at the doors in brimming baskets.

280

Sed siquem proles subito defecerit omnis,
nec genus unde novae stirpis revocetur habebit,
tempus et Arcadii memoranda inventa magistri
pandere, quoque modo caesis iam saepe iuvencis
insincerus apes tulerit cruor. Altius omnem

But if for someone all his progeny should suddenly fail,
nor will he have a lineage whence a new stock may be recalled,
it is time also to unfold the memorable inventions of the Arcadian master,
and in what way, with young bullocks now often slaughtered,
the impure gore has produced bees. More loftily the whole

285

expediam prima repetens ab origine famam.
Nam qua Pellaei gens fortunata Canopi
accolit effuso stagnantem flumine Nilum
et circum pictis vehitur sua rura phaselis,
quaque pharetratae vicinia Persidis urget,

I will set forth the tradition, returning to the first origin.
For where the fortunate race of Pellaean Canopus
dwells beside the Nile, stagnant with its outpoured river,
and is carried around its fields in painted skiffs,
and where the neighborhood of quiver-bearing Persia presses,

290

[et viridem Aegyptum nigra fecundat harena,
et diversa ruens septem discurrit in ora
usque coloratis amnis devexus ab Indis]
omnis in hac certam regio iacit arte salutem.
Exiguus primum atque ipsos contractus in usus

[and it fecundates verdant Egypt with black sand,
and, rushing in diverse ways, runs out into seven mouths,
the river descending from the colored Indians]
every region in this art casts its sure salvation.
Exiguous at first and contracted to the very uses themselves

295

eligitur locus; hunc angustique imbrice tecti
parietibusque premunt artis et quattuor addunt,
quattuor a ventis obliqua luce fenestras.
Tum vitulus bima curvans iam cornua fronte
quaeritur; huic geminae nares et spiritus oris

a place is chosen; this they press with the imbrex of a narrow roof
and with close walls they press it, and add four,
four windows toward the winds, with oblique light.
then a two-year-old bull-calf, already curving his horns on his brow,
is sought; for him the twin nostrils and the breath of the mouth

300

multa reluctanti obstruitur, plagisque perempto
tunsa per integram solvuntur viscera pellem.
Sic positum in clauso linquunt et ramea costis
subiciunt fragmenta, thymum casiasque recentes.
Hoc geritur Zephyris primum impellentibus undas,

much is piled upon the one resisting, and, slain by blows,
beaten, the viscera are loosened through the intact skin.
Thus, placed in a closed space, they leave it; and to the ribs
they put beneath woody fragments, thyme and fresh cassias.
This is carried out first, when the Zephyrs are driving the waves,

305

ante novis rubeant quam prata coloribus, ante
garrula quam tignis nidum suspendat hirundo.
Interea teneris tepefactus in ossibus umor
aestuat et visenda modis animalia miris,
trunca pedum primo, mox et stridentia pennis,

before the meadows redden with new colors, before
the garrulous swallow suspends her nest from the rafters.
meanwhile the moisture, warmed in the tender bones,
seethes, and animals to be seen in wondrous modes,
at first maimed of feet, soon too whirring with wings,

310

miscentur tenuemque magis magis aëra carpunt,
donec, ut aestivis effusus nubibus imber,
erupere aut ut nervo pulsante sagittae,
prima leves ineunt si quando proelia Parthi.

they mingle and more and more they seize the tenuous air,
until, as a shower poured out from estival clouds,
they burst forth, or as arrows with the string pulsing,
whenever the light-armed Parthians enter upon first battles.

Quis deus hanc, Musae, quis nobis extudit artem?

What god, Muses, what god has hammered out this art for us?

315

Unde nova ingressus hominum experientia cepit?
Pastor Aristaeus fugiens Peneia Tempe,
amissis, ut fama, apibus morboque fameque,
tristis ad extremi sacrum caput adstitit amnis
multa querens atque hac adfatus voce parentem:

Whence did the new experience of men take its inception?
The shepherd Aristaeus, fleeing the Peneian Tempe,
his bees lost, as report has it, to disease and to hunger,
sad stood at the sacred head of the farthest river,
complaining many things and thus addressed his parent with this voice:

320

'Mater, Cyrene mater, quae gurgitis huius
ima tenes, quid me praeclara stirpe deorum,
si modo, quem perhibes, pater est Thymbraeus Apollo,
invisum fatis genuisti? aut quo tibi nostri
pulsus amor? quid me caelum sperare iubebas?

'Mother, Cyrene mother, you who hold the depths of this whirlpool,
why, from the illustrious stock of the gods,
if indeed, as you aver, my father is Thymbraean Apollo,
have you begotten me hated by the Fates? Or whither has your
love for me been driven? Why were you bidding me hope for heaven?

325

En etiam hunc ipsum vitae mortalis honorem,
quem mihi vix frugum et pecudum custodia sollers
omnia temptanti extuderat, te matre relinquo.
Quin age et ipsa manu felices erue silvas,
fer stabulis inimicum ignem atque interfice messes,

Lo, even this very honor of mortal life,
which for me the skillful custody of fruits and of flocks,
as I tried everything, had scarcely hammered out, I leave, you being my mother.
Nay then, do you yourself with your own hand tear up the happy woods,
bring inimical fire upon the stables and kill the harvests,

330

ure sata et validam in vites molire bipennem,
tanta meae si te ceperunt taedia laudis.'
At mater sonitum thalamo sub fluminis alti
sensit. Eam circum Milesia vellera Nymphae
carpebant hyali saturo fucata colore,

burn the sown crops and ply the sturdy double-axe against the vines,
if such tedium of my praise has seized you.'
But the mother sensed the sound in her chamber beneath the deep river.
Around her the Nymphs were carding Milesian fleeces,
dyed with a hyaline, saturated hue,

335

drymoque Xanthoque Ligeaque Phyllodoceque,
caesariem effusae nitidam per candida colla,
Nesaee Spioque Thaliaque Cymodoceque,
Cydippeque et flava Lycorias, altera virgo,
altera tum primos Lucinae experta labores,

drymo and xantho and ligea and phyllodoce,
their glossy hair let loose flowing over their white necks,
nesaee and spio and thalia and cymodoce,
and cydippe and golden-blonde lycorias, the one a virgin,
the other then having experienced Lucina’s first labors,

340

Clioque et Beroe soror, Oceanitides ambae,
ambae auro, pictis incinctae pellibus ambae,
atque Ephyre atque Opis et Asia Deiopea
et tandem positis velox Arethusa sagittis.
Inter quas curam Clymene narrabat inanem

and Clio and Beroe her sister, both Oceanids,
both with gold, both girded with painted skins,
and Ephyre and Opis and Asian Deiopea,
and at last swift Arethusa with arrows laid aside.
Among whom Clymene was recounting her empty care

345

Vulcani Martisque dolos et dulcia furta,
aque Chao densos divum numerabat amores
carmine quo captae dum fusis mollia pensa
devolvunt, iterum maternas impulit aures
luctus Aristaei, vitreisque sedilibus omnes

the wiles of Vulcan and of Mars and their sweet thefts,
and from Chaos she was numbering the crowded loves of the gods;
by whose song, captivated, while with spindles the soft tasks of wool
they unwind, again the laments of Aristaeus struck his mother’s ears,
and on glassy seats all

350

obstipuere; sed ante alias Arethusa sorores
prospiciens summa flavum caput extulit unda
et procul: 'O gemitu non frustra exterrita tanto,
Cyrene soror, ipse tibi, tua maxima cura,
tristis Aristaeus Penei genitoris ad undam

they were stupefied; but before the other sisters Arethusa,
looking out, lifted her blond head from the topmost wave
and from afar: 'O not in vain terrified by so great a groan,
sister Cyrene, he himself to you, your greatest care,
sad Aristaeus at the wave of father Peneus

355

stat lacrimans et te crudelem nomine dicit.'
Huic percussa nova mentem formidine mater,
'duc, age, duc ad nos; fas illi limina divum
tangere,' ait. Simul alta iubet discedere late
flumina, qua iuvenis gressus inferret. At illum

‘he stands weeping and calls you cruel by name.’
To him, his mother, struck in mind by a new dread,
‘lead, come, lead him to us; it is right for him
to touch the thresholds of the gods,’ she says. At once she orders the deep
rivers to part widely, where the youth might carry his steps. But him

360

curvata in montis faciem circumstetit unda
accepitque sinu vasto misitque sub amnem.
Iamque domum mirans genetricis et umida regna
speluncisque lacus clausos lucosque sonantes
ibat et ingenti motu stupefactus aquarum

the wave, curved into a mountain’s semblance, stood around
and received him in its vast bosom and sent him beneath the river.
And now, marveling at his mother’s home and the humid realms,
and at the caves, enclosed lakes, and sonorous groves,
he went, stupefied by the immense motion of the waters

365

omnia sub magna labentia flumina terra
spectabat diversa locis, Phasimque Lycumque
et caput, unde altus primum se erumpit Enipeus
unde pater Tiberinus et unde Aniena fluenta
saxosusque sonans Hypanis Mysusque Caicus,

he was beholding all the rivers lapsing beneath the great earth,
diverse in their places, the Phasis and the Lycus,
and the source whence the lofty Enipeus first erupts,
whence father Tiberinus and whence the streams of the Anio,
and the rocky and resounding Hypanis and the Mysian Caicus,

370

et gemina auratus taurino cornua vultu
Eridanus, quo non alius per pinguia culta
in mare purpureum violentior effluit amnis.
Postquam est in thalami pendentia pumice tecta
perventum et nati fletus cognovit inanes

and Eridanus, golden, with twin horns on a taurine countenance,
than which no other river through rich cultivated fields
flows more violently into the purple sea.
After it was come to the chamber whose roof hangs with pumice,
and he recognized the weeping of his son as in vain

375

Cyrene, manibus liquidos dant ordine fontes
germanae tonsisque ferunt mantelia villis;
pars epulis onerant mensas et plena reponunt
pocula, Panchaeis adolescunt ignibus arae;
et mater, 'Cape Maeonii carchesia Bacchi:

Cyrene, the sisters supply liquid springs for the hands in order
and bring napkins with shorn piles; some load the tables with feasts and replace
full cups, the altars are kindled with Panchaean fires; and the mother, ‘Take the carchesian cups of Maeonian Bacchus:

380

Oceano libemus,' ait. Simul ipsa precatur
Oceanumque patrem rerum Nymphasque sorores
centum quae silvas, centum quae flumina servant.
Ter liquido ardentem perfundit nectare Vestam,
ter flamma ad summum tecti subiecta reluxit.

"Let us pour a libation to Ocean," she says. At once she herself prays
to Ocean, the father of things, and to the sister Nymphs
who keep a hundred forests, who keep a hundred rivers.
Thrice she drenches burning Vesta with liquid nectar,
thrice the flame, set beneath, flashed back to the top of the roof.

385

Omine quo firmans animum sic incipit ipsa:

With this omen firming her spirit, thus she herself begins:

'Est in Carpathio Neptuni gurgite vates
caeruleus Proteus, magnum qui piscibus aequor
et iuncto bipedum curru metitur equorum.
Hic nunc Emathiae portus patriamque revisit

'There is in the Carpathian surge of Neptune a seer,
cerulean Proteus, who measures the great plain-of-sea among fishes
and with a chariot yoked of biped horses.
Here now he revisits the harbors of Emathia and his fatherland

390

Pallenen, hunc et Nymphae veneramur et ipse
grandaevus Nereus; novit namque omnia vates,
quae sint, quae fuerint, quae mox ventura trahantur;
quippe ita Neptuno visum est, immania cuius
armenta et turpes pascit sub gurgite phocas.

Pallene, him both we Nymphs venerate, and old Nereus himself; for the seer knows all things—what are, what have been, what soon are being drawn to come; for thus it seemed to Neptune, whose immense herds and ugly seals he pastures beneath the surge.

395

Hic tibi, nate, prius vinclis capiendus, ut omnem
expediat morbi causam eventusque secundet.
Nam sine vi non ulla dabit praecepta, neque illum
orando flectes; vim duram et vincula capto
tende; doli circum haec demum frangentur inanes.

Here for you, son, he must first be captured with bonds, so that he may expedite the whole cause of the malady and the event may second you.
For without force he will give no precepts, nor will you bend him by praying; stretch hard force and chains upon the captured one; around these at last his inane deceits will be shattered.

400

Ipsa ego, te, medios cum sol accenderit aestus,
cum sitiunt herbae et pecori iam gratior umbra est,
in secreta senis ducam, quo fessus ab undis
se recipit, facile ut somno adgrediare iacentem.
Verum ubi correptum manibus vinclisque tenebis,

I myself will lead you, when the sun has kindled the noonday heats,
when the grasses thirst and to the herd the shade is now more welcome,
into the old man’s secret places, where, weary from the waves,
he withdraws himself, so that you may easily approach him as he lies in sleep.
But when you hold him seized with your hands and with bonds,

405

tum variae eludent species atque ora ferarum
Fiet enim subito sus horridus atraque tigris
squamosusque draco et fulva cervice leaena,
aut acrem flammae sonitum dabit atque ita vinclis
excidet, aut in aquas tenues dilapsus abibit.

then various species and the faces of wild beasts will elude you
for he will suddenly become a bristly boar and a black tiger,
and a scaly dragon and a lioness with a tawny neck,
or he will give the sharp sound of flame and thus slip from the bonds
or, dissolved, he will depart into thin waters.

410

Sed quanto ille magis formas se vertet in omnes,
tanto, nate, magis contende tenacia vincla,
donec talis erit mutato corpore, qualem
videris, incepto tegeret cum lumina somno".

But the more he turns himself into all forms,
by so much, son, all the more tighten the tenacious bonds,
until he shall be such, with his body changed, as you
will have seen him, when he was veiling his eyes with incipient sleep".

Haec ait et liquidum ambrosiae defundit odorem,

She said these things and pours out the liquid odor of ambrosia,

415

quo totum nati corpus perduxit; at illi
dulcis compositis spiravit crinibus aura
atque habilis membris venit vigor. Est specus ingens
exesi latere in montis, quo plurima vento
cogitur inque sinus scindit sese unda reductos,

with which she suffused her son’s whole body; but for him
a sweet aura breathed upon his arranged hair,
and a handy vigor came to his limbs. There is a huge cavern
in the eroded flank of a mountain, where a great deal of water by the wind
is driven together, and the wave splits itself into bays drawn back,

420

deprensis olim statio tutissima nautis;
intus se vasti Proteus tegit obice saxi.
Hic iuvenem in latebris aversum a lumine Nympha
collocat; ipsa procul nebulis obscura resistit.
Iam rapidus torrens sitientes Sirius Indos

once, for sailors caught unawares, the safest station;
Within, Proteus hides himself with the barrier of a vast rock.
Here the Nymph places the youth in hiding, turned away from the light
she herself, afar, stands obscured in mists.
Now rapid, scorching Sirius parches the thirsty Indians

425

ardebat, caelo et medium sol igneus orbem
hauserat; arebant herbae et cava flumina siccis
faucibus ad limum radii tepefacta coquebant:
cum Proteus consueta petens e fluctibus antra
ibat; eum vasti circum gens umida ponti

it was burning, and the fiery sun had drunk the middle orb from the sky;
the grasses were parching, and the hollow rivers, with dry throats,
the rays, warmed, were cooking down to the slime:
when Proteus, seeking his accustomed caverns from the billows,
was going; him the watery race of the vast sea surrounded

430

exsultans rorem late dispergit amarum.
Sternunt se somno diversae in litore phocae.
Ipse, velut stabuli custos in montibus olim,
vesper ubi e pastu vitulos ad tecta reducit,
auditisque lupos acuunt balatibus agni,

exulting, he widely scatters the bitter dew.
The seals, in various places, lay themselves down in sleep on the shore.
He himself, as once a custodian of the fold in the mountains,
when evening leads back the calves from pasture to the roofs,
and the lambs, their bleatings heard, whet the wolves,

435

considit scopulo medius numerumque recenset.
Cuius Aristaeo quoniam est oblata facultas,
vix defessa senem passus componere membra
cum clamore ruit magno manicisque iacentem
occupat. Ille suae contra non immemor artis

he sits midmost upon a crag and recounts the number.
Since to Aristaeus the opportunity of him was offered,
scarcely allowing the old man to compose his weary limbs
with a great shout he rushes and with manacles seizes him lying
down. He, not unmindful, on the contrary, of his own art

440

omnia transformat sese in miracula rerum,
ignemque horribilemque feram fluviumque liquentem.
Verum ubi nulla fugam reperit fallacia, victus
in sese redit atque hominis tandem ore locutus:
'Nam quis te, iuvenum confidentissime, nostras

he transforms himself into all miracles of things,
both fire and a horrible wild beast and a liquid river.
But when no deceit discovered escape, vanquished
he returns into himself and at last spoke with a man’s mouth:
'For who, most confident of youths, our

445

iussit adire domos? Quidve hinc petis?' inquit. At ille:
'Scis, Proteu, scis ipse; neque est te fallere quicquam
sed tu desine velle.

'Who has ordered you to approach the halls? Or what do you seek from here?' he said. But he:
'You know, Proteus, you yourself know; nor is there anything to deceive you,
but do you cease to will it.

Deum praecepta secuti
venimus hinc lapsis quaesitum oracula rebus".
Tantum effatus. Ad haec vates vi denique multa

"Having followed the precepts of the god
we have come hence to seek oracles for our lapsed affairs."
So much he uttered. To this the seer, at last by much force

450

ardentes oculos intorsit lumine glauco
et graviter frendens sic fatis ora resolvit.

she rolled her ardent eyes with glaucous light
and, gravely gnashing, thus unsealed her lips for the Fates.

"Non te nullius exercent numinis irae;
magna luis commissa: tibi has miserabilis Orpheus
haudquaquam ob meritum poenas, ni fata resistant,

"Not by the wraths of no divinity are you tormented;
you are paying for great things committed: to you pitiable Orpheus
would by no means exact these penalties, were the Fates not resisting,

455

suscitat et rapta graviter pro coniuge saevit.
Illa quidem, dum te fugeret per flumina praeceps,
immanem ante pedes hydrum moritura puella
servantem ripas alta non vidit in herba.
At chorus aequalis Dryadum clamore supremos

he stirs and rages grievously for his snatched spouse.
She indeed, while she fled from you headlong through the streams,
the girl, doomed to die, did not see before her feet the monstrous hydra
guarding the banks in the tall grass.
But the chorus of peer Dryads, with a shout, the last

460

implerunt montes; flerunt Rhodopeiae arces
altaque Pangaea et Rhesi mavortia tellus
atque Getae atque Hebrus et Actias Orithyia.
Ipse cava solans aegrum testudine amorem
te, dulcis coniunx, te solo in litore secum,

they filled the mountains; the Rhodopeian citadels wept,
and lofty Pangaeum and the Mavortian land of Rhesus,
and the Getae and the Hebrus and Athenian Orithyia.
He himself, consoling his heartsick love with the hollow tortoise-shell lyre,
you, sweet spouse, you on the lonely shore with himself,

465

te veniente die, te decedente canebat.
Taenarias etiam fauces, alta ostia Ditis,
et caligantem nigra formidine lucum
ingressus manesque adiit regemque tremendum
nesciaque humanis precibus mansuescere corda.

of you as day came, of you as it departed, he sang.
even the Taenarian jaws, the high doors of Dis,
and the grove caliginous with black dread,
having entered, he approached the shades and the dread king,
and hearts unacquainted with being softened by human prayers.

470

At cantu commotae Erebi de sedibus imis
umbrae ibant tenues simulacraque luce carentum,
quam multa in foliis avium se milia condunt
vesper ubi aut hibernus agit de montibus imber,
matres atque viri defunctaque corpora vita

But at the song, stirred from the deepest seats of Erebus,
the shades were going, the thin shadows and the simulacra of the light-bereft,
as many thousands of birds as hide themselves in the leaves
when evening comes, or a winter shower drives from the mountains,
mothers and men, and bodies discharged from life

475

magnanimum heroum, pueri innuptaeque puellae,
impositique rogis iuvenes ante ora parentum,
quos circum limus niger et deformis harundo
Cocyti tardaque palus inamabilis unda
alligat et noviens Styx interfusa coercet.

of the magnanimous heroes, boys and unwed maidens,
and youths set upon pyres before their parents’ faces,
whom around the black slime and misshapen reed
of Cocytus and the sluggish marsh with its unlovely wave
binds, and the Styx, interflowing nine times, restrains.

480

Quin ipsae stupuere domus atque intima Leti
tartara caeruleosque implexae crinibus angues
Eumenides, tenuitque inhians tria Cerberus ora
atque Ixionii vento rota constitit orbis.
Iamque pedem referens casus evaserat omnes;

Indeed even the very homes of Death and the inmost Tartarus were astounded,
and the Eumenides, with cerulean snakes entwined in their hair;
and gaping Cerberus held his three mouths,
and the Ixionian wheel stood still in the wind.
And now, retracing his step, he had escaped all mishaps;

485

redditaque Eurydice superas veniebat ad auras,
pone sequens, namque hanc dederat Proserpina legem,
cum subita incautum dementia cepit amantem,
ignoscenda quidem, scirent si ignoscere manes.
Restitit Eurydicenque suam iam luce sub ipsa

and Eurydice, restored, was coming to the upper airs,
following behind, for Proserpina had given this law,
when a sudden madness seized the incautious lover,
indeed pardonable, if the shades knew how to pardon.
He halted, and his Eurydice, now beneath the very light

490

immemor heu! victusque animi respexit. Ibi omnis
effusus labor atque immitis rupta tyranni
foedera, terque fragor stagnis auditus Avernis.
Illa, Quis et me, inquit, miseram et te perdidit, Orpheu,
quis tantus furor?

forgetful, alas! and, his spirit conquered, he looked back. There all
his labor was poured out and the cruel tyrant’s ruptured
covenants, and three times a crash was heard in the Avernian pools.
She, “Who has destroyed both me—wretched—and you, Orpheus,
what frenzy so great?”

En iterum crudelia retro

Lo, again the cruel things back

495

Fata vocant, conditque natantia lumina somnus.
Iamque vale: feror ingenti circumdata nocte
invalidasque tibi tendens, heu non tua, palmas!
dixit et ex oculis subito, ceu fumus in auras
commixtus tenues, fugit diversa, neque illum,

The Fates call, and sleep closes my swimming eyes.
And now farewell: I am borne, encompassed by vast night,
and stretching to you my feeble palms—alas, not yours!
she said, and suddenly from my eyes, like smoke into the airs
mingled with the tenuous, she fled away apart, nor him,

500

prensantem nequiquam umbras et multa volentem
dicere, praeterea vidit, nec portitor Orci
amplius obiectam passus transire paludem.
Quid faceret? Quo se rapta bis coniuge ferret?
Quo fletu Manis, quae numina voce moveret?

grasping the shadows in vain and wishing to say many things,
besides, he saw her; nor did the ferryman of Orcus
any longer allow the marsh set before them to be crossed.
What was he to do? Whither was he to carry himself with his spouse twice snatched away?
With what weeping was he to move the Manes, what numina by his voice?

505

Illa quidem Stygia nabat iam frigida cumba.
Septem illum totos perhibent ex ordine menses
rupe sub aëria deserti ad Strymonis undam
flesse sibi et gelidis haec evolvisse sub antris
mulcentem tigres et agentem carmine quercus;

She indeed, now frigid, was already afloat in the Stygian skiff.
They aver that for seven whole months in succession
beneath the airy crag by the wave of the desolate Strymon
he wept for himself and rolled out these things beneath the icy caverns,
soothing tigers and driving oaks by song;

510

qualis populea maerens philomela sub umbra
amissos queritur fetus, quos durus arator
observans nido implumes detraxit; at illa
flet noctem ramoque sedens miserabile carmen
integrat et maestis late loca questibus implet.

just as, beneath the poplar shade, the mourning Philomela
laments her lost offspring, whom a hard ploughman,
on the watch, has dragged down from the nest, unfledged; but she
weeps through the night, and, sitting on a branch, a miserable song
renews, and with sad complaints fills the places far and wide.

515

Nulla Venus, non ulli animum flexere hymenaei.
Solus Hyperboreas glacies Tanaimque nivalem
arvaque Riphaeis numquam viduata pruinis
lustrabat raptam Eurydicen atque inrita Ditis
dona querens; spretae Ciconum quo munere matres

No Venus, not any hymeneals bent his spirit.
Alone he traversed the Hyperborean ices and the snowy Tanais
and the fields never bereft of Riphaean hoarfrosts,
seeking Eurydice, snatched away, and complaining of Dis’s ineffectual
gifts; by which gift the mothers of the Ciconians, spurned,

520

inter sacra deum nocturnique orgia Bacchi
discerptum latos iuvenem sparsere per agros.
Tum quoque marmorea caput a cervice revulsum
gurgite cum medio portans Oeagrius Hebrus
volveret, Eurydicen vox ipsa et frigida lingua

among the sacred rites of the gods and the nocturnal orgies of Bacchus
they scattered, torn to pieces, the youth over the broad fields.
Then too, when the Oeagrian Hebrus, bearing the head
wrenched from the marble neck, in the middle of its current,
was rolling it along, the very voice and the frigid tongue “Eurydice”

525

ah miseram Eurydicen! anima fugiente vocabat:
Eurydicen toto referebant flumine ripae".

ah wretched Eurydice! as his soul was fleeing he kept calling:
Eurydice the banks were carrying back through the whole river".

Haec Proteus, et se iactu dedit aequor in altum,
quaque dedit, spumantem undam sub vertice torsit.
At non Cyrene; namque ultro adfata timentem:

Thus Proteus, and with a cast he gave himself into the deep sea,
and where he plunged, he twisted the foaming wave beneath his vortex.
But not Cyrene; for of her own accord she addressed the fearful one:

530

'Nate, licet tristes animo deponere curas.
Haec omnis morbi causa; hinc miserabile Nymphae,
cum quibus illa choros lucis agitabat in altis,
exitium misere apibus. Tu munera supplex
tende petens pacem et faciles venerare Napaeas;

'Son, you may set down the sad cares from your mind.
This is the whole cause of the disease; hence the pitiable
ruin the Nymphs, with whom she used to lead choruses
in the high groves, brought upon the bees. Do you, as a suppliant,
extend gifts, seeking peace, and revere the gracious Napaeae;

535

namque dabunt veniam votis irasque remittent.
Sed modus orandi qui sit, prius ordine dicam.
Quattuor eximios praestanti corpore tauros,
qui tibi nunc viridis depascunt summa Lycaei,
delige et intacta totidem cervice iuvencas.

for they will grant pardon to vows and will remit their wraths.
But what the mode of praying should be, I will first tell in order.
Choose four exceptional bulls with outstanding body, which now for you graze down the green summits of Lycaeus, and just as many heifers with an untouched neck.

540

Quattuor his aras alta ad delubra dearum
constitue et sacrum iugulis demitte cruorem,
corporaque ipsa boum frondoso desere luco.
Post, ubi nona suos Aurora ostenderit ortus,
inferias Orphei Lethaea papavera mittes

Set up for them four altars at the lofty shrines of the goddesses,
and let the sacred blood fall from their throats,
and leave the very bodies of the cattle in a leafy grove.
Afterwards, when Dawn has shown her ninth risings,
you will send Lethean poppies as funeral offerings to Orpheus.

545

et nigram mactabis ovem lucumque revises:
placatam Eurydicen vitula venerabere caesa".

and you will slaughter a black sheep and revisit the grove:
the placated Eurydice you will venerate with a heifer slain".

Haud mora; continuo matris praecepta facessit;
ad delubra venit, monstratas excitat aras,
quattuor eximios praestanti corpore tauros

No delay; immediately he carries out his mother’s precepts;
he comes to the shrines, he rouses the shown altars,
four exceptional bulls of outstanding body

550

ducit et intacta totidem cervice iuvencas.
Post, ubi nona suos Aurora induxerat ortus,
inferias Orphei mittit lucumque revisit.
Hic vero subitum ac dictu mirabile monstrum
adspiciunt, liquefacta boum per viscera toto

and he also leads just as many heifers with an untouched neck.
After, when Dawn had brought in her ninth risings,
he sends funeral offerings to Orpheus and revisits the grove.
Here indeed they behold a sudden and, to say, marvelous portent—
through the liquefied entrails of the oxen throughout the whole

555

stridere apes utero et ruptis effervere costis,
immensasque trahi nubes, iamque arbore summa
confluere et lentis uvam demittere ramis.

that bees were shrilling in the belly and seething out from the ruptured ribs,
and that immense clouds were being drawn, and now on the tree-top
they were flowing together and letting down a grape-cluster from the pliant branches.

Haec super arvorum cultu pecorumque canebam
et super arboribus, Caesar dum magnus ad altum

These things about the cultivation of fields and of flocks I was singing,
and about trees, while great Caesar to the heights

560

fulminat Euphraten bello victorque volentes
per populos dat iura viamque adfectat Olympo.
Illo Vergilium me tempore dulcis alebat
Parthenope studiis florentem ignobilis oti,
carmina qui lusi pastorum audaxque iuventa,

he fulminates against the Euphrates in war, and, victor, through willing peoples he gives laws and aims a way to Olympus.
At that time sweet Parthenope was nurturing me, Vergil, flourishing in the studies of ignoble leisure,
I who played the songs of shepherds, and in audacious youth,

565

Tityre, te patulae cecini sub tegmine fagi.

Tityrus, I sang of you beneath the covering of a spreading beech.