OF THE U N I VLR.S ITY OF ILLINOIS T. W. BALDWIN ELIZABETHAN LIBRARY 871 V9g.m 1811 . •- ■• . I f 1 \ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/georgicorumlibri00virg_0 PUBLII VIRGILII MARONIS GEORGICORUM LIBRI QUATUOR. ^bEORGICKS OF VIRGIL, WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION ■ X AND NOTES. BY JOHN MARTYN, F.R.S. PROFESSOR OF BOTANY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. THE THIRD EDITION. LONDON: FEINTED FOR EOBEET DUTTON, 45 , GRACECHURCH-SIKEET. ^ i^i-: , ■ / . \ , -,-*ar^- ' ■ ' '■ A-: 7»fni , •, ,■ . . . ■„ a ■ -r: < ■>«. '■• JOYCE GOER, PRINTER, SHOE-LANE, LONDON". RICHARD MEAD, M.D. PHYSICIAN TO HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE II. SIR, J DESIRE leave to present to You the fol- lowing Work, which was begun with Your Approbation and Encouragement. You will find in almost every Page, v/hat Use has been made of those valuable Manuscripts of VIR- GIL, which make a Part of’ Your noble Library ; and which you was pleased to lend me with that Readiness, which You always shew in the Encouragement of Learning. Your exact Acquaintance with all the fine Authors of Antiquity, makes You a proper Patron of an Edition of any of their Composi- tions. But VIRGIL seems in a particular Manner to claim Your Patronage. He, if we may credit the Writers of his Life, had made no small Proficiency in that Divine Art, in the Profession of which You have for so A 2 many ir DEDICATION. many Years held the first Plaee, and aequired a Reputation equal to the great Knowledge and Humanity, with whieh you have exer- cised it. As the Georgicks were, in the- Opinion of their great Author himseJf, the most va- luable Part of his Works, You will not be displeased with the Pains that I have taken to illustrate the most difiieult Passages therein. And if I shall be so happy as to have Your Approbation of these Fruits of my Labours, I shall have no Reason to fear the Censure of others. But if they had not been com- posed with as mueh Exaetness and Care as I am Master of, I should not have ventured to desire Your Acceptance of them, from. SIR, Chelsey, March 16 , 1740 - 1 . Your most obliged Humble Servant, JOHN MARTYN. THE PREFACE. Husbandry is not only the most ancient, but also the most useful of all arts. This alone is absolutely neces- sary for the support of human life; and without it other pursuits would be in vain. The exercise therefore of this art was justly accounted most honourable by the Ancients. Thus in the earliest ages of the world, we find the greatest heroes wielding the share as well as the sword, and the fairest hands no more disdaining to hold a crook than a sceptre. The ancient Romans owed their glory and power to Husbandry : and that famous Republick never flourished so much, as when their greatest men ploughed with their own hands. Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus was found naked at the plough-tail, when he was summoned to take upon him the Dictatorship. And when he had settled the Com- monwealth, the glorious old man returned to the tillage of his small farm, laden with the praises of the Roman people. C. Fabricius and Curius Dentatus, those glorious patterns of temperance, who drove Pyrrhus out of Italy, and van- quished the Samnites and Sabines, were as diligent in culti- vat’mg their fields, as they were valiant and successful in war. But when the virtuous industry of this great people gave way to luxury and effeminacy, the loss of their glory attended on their neglect of Husbandry, and by degrees they fell a prey to barbarous nations. . This art has not only exercised the bodies of the greatest heroes, but the pens also of the most celebrated writers of Antiquity vi THE PREFACE. Antiquity. Hesiod, who lived in the generation immedi- ately succeeding the Trojan war, wrote a Greek poem on Husbandry. And though Homer did not write expressly on this subject, yet he has represented Laertes, the father of his favourite hero, as a wise prince, retiring from publick business, and devoting his latter years to the tillage of his land. Democritus, Xenophon, Aristotle, Theophrastus, and several other Grecian Philosophers, have treated of Agriculture in prose. Among the Romans, Cato the fa- mous Censor has written a treatise of rural affairs, in which he was imitated by the learned Varro. Cato writes like an ancient country gentleman, of much experience ; he abounds in short pithy sentences, intersperses his book with moral precepts, and was esteemed as a sort of rural oracle. Varro writes more like a scholar than a mart of much practice : he is fond of researches into antiquity, inquires into the etymo- logy of the names of persons and things ; and we are ob- liged to him for a catalogue of those who had written on this subject before him. But Virgil shines in a sphere far superior to the rest. His natural abilities, his education, his experience in Hus- bandry, conspired to render him the finest writer on this subject. No man was ever endowed with a more noble genius, which he took care to improve by the study of Greek Literature, Mathematicks, Astronomy, Medicine, and Philosophy. He cultivated his own lands near Man- tua, till he was about thirty years of age, when he appear- ed at Rome, and was soon received into the favour of Augustus Cassar. Virgil wanted nothing but the air of a court, to add a polish to his uncommon share of parts and learning. And here he had the happiness to live under the protection of the most pow^erful Pi ince in the world, and to converse familiarly with the greatest men that any age or nation ever produced. The Pastorals of Theocritus were much admired, and not undeservedly ; but the Romans had never seen any thing of that kind in their own lan- guage. Virgil attempted it, and with such success, that he has at least made the victory doubtful. The Latin Eclogues discovered such a delicacy in their composition, that the Author was immediately judged capable of arriving at THE PREFACE. vii at the nobler sorts of Poetry. The long duration of the civil wars had almost depopulated the country, and laid it waste; there had been such a scarcity in Horae, that Augustus had almost lost his life by an insurrection of the populace. A great part of the lands in Italy had been di- vided among the soldiers, who had been too long engaged in the wars, to have a just knowledge of Agriculture. Hence it became necessary that the ancient spirit of Husbandry should be revived among the Romans. And Msecenas, who wisely pursued every thing that might be of service to his Master, engaged the favourite Poet in this undertaking. Virgil, who had already succeeded so well in the conten- tion with one Greek Poet, now boldly entered the lists with another. And if it may be questioned whether he exceeded Theocritus ; there can be no doubt of his having gone far beyond Hesiod. He was now in the thirty-fifth year of his age, his imagination in full vigour, and his judgment ma- ture. He employed seven years in' the composition of this noble Poem, which he called Georgicks, and when it was finished, it did not fall short of the expectations of his patron. Those, who have been accustomed to see the noble art of Husbandry committed to the management of the mean- est people, may think the majestick style, which Virgil has used, not well adapted to the subject. But the Poet wrote for the delight and instruction of a people, whose Dictators and Consuls had been husbandmen. His expressions accord- ingly are every where so solemn, and every precept is de- livered with such dignity, that we seem to be instructed by one of those ancient farmers, who had just enjoyed the honours of a triumph. Never was any Poem finished with such exactness : there being hardly a sentence that we could wish omitted, or a word that could be changed, without injuring the propriety or delicacy of the expression. He never sinks into any thing low and mean ; but by a just distribution of Grecisms, antique phrases, figurative expres- sions, and noble allusions, keeps up a true poetical spirit through the whole composition. But we cannot be surprised at this extraordinary exactness, if we consider, that every line of this charming Poem cost more than an entire day to vm THE PREFACE. to the most judicious of all Poets, in the most vigorous part of his life. Besides, it appears that he was continually re- vising it to the very day of his death, ^ It would be an endless labour to point out all the several beauties in this Poem : but it would be an unpardonable omission in an Editor, to pass them wholly over in silence. The reader will easily observe the variety which Virgil uses in delivering his precepts. A writer less animated with a spirit of Poetry, would have contented himself with dryly telling us, that it is proper to break the clods with harrows, and by drawing hurdles over them ; and to plough the fur- rows across ; that moist summers and fair winters are to be desired ; and that it is good to float the field after it is sown. These precepts are just ; but it is the part of a Poet to make them beautiful also, by a variety of expression. Virgil therefore begins these precepts by saying, the hus- bandman, who breaks the clods with harrows and hurdles, greatly helps the fields ; and then he introduces Ceres look- ing down from heaven with a favourable aspect upon him, and on those also, who plow the field across, which he beau- tifully calls exercising the earth, and commanding the fields*. He expresses the advantage of moist summers and dry winters, by advising the farmers to pray for such seasons; and then immediately leaves the didactic style, and repre- sents the fields as rejoicing in winter dust, and introduces the mention of a country famous for corn, owing it’s fer- tility to nothing so much as to this weather, and, by a bold metaphor, makes the fields astonished at the plenty of their * Multum adeo rastris glebas qui frangit inertes., Vimineasque trahit crates, juvat arva, neque illum Flava Ceres alto nequicquam spectat Olympo ; Et qui, proscisso qucB suscitat oequore terga, Rursus in obliquum verso perrumpit aratro. Exercetqae frequens tellurem, atque imperat arvis. THE PREFACE. IX their harvest *. The Poet now changes his style to the form of a question, and asks why he needs to mention him that floats the ground : he then describes the field gasping with thirst, and the grass withering, and places before our eyes the labourer inviting the rill to descend from a neighbouring rock; we hear the stream bubble over the stones, and are delighted with the refreshment that is given to the fields, "j* To mention every instance of this variety of expression, M'ould be almost the same thing with reciting the whole Poem. Virgil has exceeded all other Poets in the justness and beauty of his descriptions. I’he summer storm in the first book is, I believe, not to be equalled. We see the adverse winds engaging, the heavy corn torn up by the roots, and whirled aloft, the clouds thickening, the rain pouring, the rivers overflowing, and the sea swelling, and to conclude the horror of the description, Jupiter is introduced darting thunder with his fiery right-hand, and overturning the mountains ; earth trembles, the beasts are fled, and men are struck with horror; the south wind redoubles, the shower increases, ^ Humida solstitia atque hyemes orate serenas^ A^ricolce : hyberno loetissima pulvere farra^ Lcetus ager : nullo tantum se Mysia cultu J actaty et ipsa suos mirantur Gargara messes. f Quid dicam ^ jacto qui semine cominus arva Insequitur^ cumulosque ruit male pinguis arence ^ Deinde satis fluvium inducit rivosque sequentes ? Et, cum exustus ager morientibus cestuat herbis^ Ecce supercilio clivosi tramitis undam Elicit ; illa cadens raucum per Icevia murmur Saxa ciet, scatebrisque arentia temperat arva* X THE PREFACE. increases, and the woods and shores rebellow. The descrip- tion of the spring, in the second book, is no less pleasing, than that of the storm is terrible. We there are entertained with the melody of birds, the loves of the cattle, the earth opening her bosom to the warm zephyrs, and the trees and herbs unfolding their tender buds. I need not mention the fine descriptions of the cesculus, the citron, the amellus, or the several sorts of serpents, which are all excellent. The descriptions of the horse, the chariot race, the fighting of the bulls, the violent effects of lust, and the Scythian win- ter, can never be too much admired. The use of well adapted similes is in a manner essential to a Poem. None can be more just, than the comparison of a well ordered vineyard to the Roman army drawn out in rank and file ; nor could any have been more happily imagined, than that of a bull rushing on his adversary, to a great wave rolling to the shore, and dashing over the rocks. But above all that celebrated simile of the nightingale, in the fourth book, has been no less justly than universally applauded. But nothing is more, generally admired in Poetry, than that curious art of making the numbers of the verse expres- sive of the sense that is contained in it. When the giants strive to heap one huge mountain upon another, the very line pants and heaves and when the earth is to be broken up with heavy drags, the verse labours as much as the hus- bandman. f We hear the prancing steps of the war horse, the swelling of the sea, the crashing of the mountains, the resounding * Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam* -j- . Omne quotannis Terque quaterque solum scindendum^ ghhaque versis JEternum frangenda bidentibus. I Insultare soloy et gressus gloinerare superbos* THE PREFACE. xi resounding of the shores, and the murmuring of the woods*, in the Poet’s numbers. The swift rushing of the North windf, and the haste required to catch up a stone to de- stroy a serpent j;, are described in words as quick as the sub- ject. Digressions are not only permitted, but are thought orna- mental in a Poem ; provided they do not seem to be stuck on unartfally, or to ramble too far from the subject. Virgil’s are entertaining and pertinent; and he never sutfers them to lose sight of the business in hand. The most liable to ob- jection seems to be the conclusion of the first Georgick, where he entertains the reader with a long account of the prodigies that attended Ctesar’s death, and of the miseries occasioned by the civil wars among the Romans. But here it may be observed what care the Poet takes not to forget his subject. He introduces a husbandman in future ages turning up rusty spears witla the civil plough-share, striking harrows against empty helmets, and astonished at the gi- gantic size of the bones. And when he would describe the whole world in arms, he expresses it by saying the plough does not receive its due honour, the fields lie uncultivated by the absence of the husbandmen, and the sickles are beaten into swords. The praises of Italy, and the charms of a country life, in the second Georgick, seem naturally to flow from the subject. The vmlent effects of lust, in the third book, are described with a delicacy not to be paralleled. This was a dangerous undertaking; it -was venturing to steer between Scylla and Charybdis. We need but consult the ^ - - - . - Freta ponti Incipiunt agitata tumescere^ et aridus alth Montibus audiri fragor : aut resonantia longe Littora misceri^ et nemorum increbrescere murmur* f Ille volat y simul arva fuga^ simul wquora verrens* t - • - Cape saxa manu^ cape robora pastor* XU THE PREFACE. the translations to be convinced of this. Dryden, endea- vouring to keep up the spirit of the original, could not avoid being obscene and lascivious in his expressions ; and Dr. Trapp, whose character laid him under a necessity of avoiding that rock, has -sunk into an insipid flatness, un- worthy of the Poet whom he has translated. But in the original, the sentiments are warm and lively, and the expres- sions strong and masculine. And yet he does not make use of a word unbecoming the gravity of a Philosopher, or the modesty of a virgin. The pestilence that reigned among the Alpine cattle is confessedly a master-piece ; and not in- ferior to the admired description which Lucretius has given of the plague at Athens. The story of Orpheus and Eury- dice is told in so delightful a manner, that, had it been less of a piece with the main Poem, we could not but have thanked the author for inserting it. These, and innumerable other beauties, which cannot ea- sily escape the observation of a judicious reader, are sufficient to make the Georgicks esteemed as the finest Poem that ever appeared. But the work is not only beautiful, but useful too. The precepts contained in it are so just, that the gravest prose writers among the Romans have appealed to \ irgil, as to an oracle, in affairs of Husbandry. And though the soil and climate of Italy are different from those of Eng- land ; yet it has been foun3 by experience, that most of his rules may be put in practice, even here, to advantage. This was the Poem on which Virgil depended for his re- putation with posterity. He desired on his death-bed, that his .Eneis might be burnt; but was willing to trust the Georgicks to future ages. The reason of this conduct seems to be obvious. The iEneis was unfinished, and had not received the last hand of the author. And though it has justly been the admiration of all succeeding times; yet this great master thought it unworthy of his pen. He was con- scious, that it fell short of the Iliad, which he had hoped to exceed ; and like a true Roman, could not brook a su- perior. But in the Georgicks, he knew that he had triumph- ed over the Greek Poet. This Poem had received the finish- ing stroke, and was therefore the fittest to give posterity an idea of the genius of its author. Nor was the Poet disap- ° pointed / THE PREFACE, xiii pointed in his expectations ; for the Georgicks have been universally admired, even by those who are unacquainted with the subject. The descriptions, the similes, the digres- sions, the purity and majesty of the style, have afforded a great share of delight to many whom I have heard lament, that they were not able to enjoy the principal beauties of this Poem. I had the good fortune to give some of my friends the satisfaction they desired in this point : and they were pleased to think, that my observations on this Poem would be as acceptable to the Publick, as they had been to themselves. I was without much difficulty persuaded to undertake a new edition of a work, which I had always ad- mired, and endeavoured to understand, to which the general bent of my studies had in some measure contributed. I was desirous in the first place, that the text of my author might be as exact as possible. To this end, I compared a consi- derable number of printed editions, valuable either for their age, their correctness, or the skill of the editor. I thought it necessary also to inquire after the manuscripts, that were to be found in England ; that by a collection of all the va- rious readings, I might be able to lay before the reader the true and genuine expression of my author. The manuscripts, which I collated, being all that I had any information of, are seven in number; One of them is in the King’s Library; one in the Royal Library at Cambridge : one in the Bodleian Library at Oxford ; two in the Arundelian Library, belong- ing to the Royal Society ; and two in Dr. Mead’s Library. I have collated all these myself, and the reader will find the various readings inserted in the following annotations. I have generally followed the edition of Heinsius, seldom departing from it, unless compelled by some strong reason; and I have never ventured to alter the text by any conjec- tural emendation, or on the authority of a single manu- script. In composing the annotations, I have carefully perused the grammatical .comments of Servius, the learned para- phrase of Grimoaldus, the valuable collections of observa- tions, various readings, and' comparisons with the Greek Poets, made by Fulvius Ursinus and Pierius; the learned and judicious criticisms of La Cerda and Rujeus, and the curious XiV ' THE PREFACE. curious remarks of Father Catrou, whose French edition of Virgil did not fall into my hands, till the greatest part of the first Georgick was printed, which is the reason that I have not quoted him sooner. But I did not depend entirely on these learned Commentators; and have often ventured to differ from them, for which I have assigned such reasons, as I believe will be found satisfactory. They were all un- acquainted with the subject, and therefore could not avoid falling into considerable and frequent errors. When the sense of any word or expression has been doubtful, or variously interpreted, I have endeavoured to find how it has been used by the Poet himself in other parts of his works, and by this means have sometimes removed the ambiguity. If this has failed, I have consulted the other authors, who wrote about the same time ; and after them, the earliest criticks, who are most likely to have retained the true meaning. With regard to the precepts themselves, I have compared them with what is to be found in Aristotle, Cato and Varro, whom our author himself evidently con- sulted ; and with those of Columella, Pliny, and Palladius, who wrote before the memory of Virgil’s rules was lost in the barbarous ages. I have generally given the very words of the author, whom I find occasion to cite, not taking them at second hand, as is too frequent, but having recourse to the originals themselves. I am not conscious of having assumed any observation, for which I am indebted to any other. The reader will find many, which I am persuaded are not to be met with in any of the commentators. I have been very particular in my criticisms on the plants mentioned by Virgil : that being the part, in which 1 am best able to inform him, and which, I believe, has been chiefly expected from me. The astronomical part has given me most trouble, being that with which I am the least acquainted. But yet I may ven- ture to lay the annotations on this subject before the reader, with some confidence, as they have had the good fortune to be perused by the greatest Astronomer of this, or perhaps of any age ; the enjoyment of whose acquaintance and friend- ship I shall always esteem as one of the happiest circum- stances of my life, I know THE PREFACE. XV I know not whether I need make any apology for publish- ing my notes in English. Had they been in Latin as I at first intended, they might have been of more use to foreign- ers : but as they are, I hope they will be of service to my own country, which is what I most desire. The prose translation will, I know, be thought to debase Virgil, But it was never intended to give any idea of the Poet’s style ; the whole design of it being to help the less learned reader to understand the subject. Translations of the ancient Poets into prose have been long used with success by the French : and I do not see why they should be rejected by the Eng- lish. But those who choose to read the Georgicks in Eng- lish verse, may find several translations by eminent men of our own country, to whom we are greatly obliged for their laudable endeavours, though they have sometimes deviated from the sense and spirit of the author. I have therefore pointed out most of their errors, that have occurred to me ; which I thought myself the more obliged to do, because I have found Virgil himself accused of some mistakes, which are wholly to be ascribed to a translator. Isay not this to detract from the merit of any of those learned and ingeni- ous gentlemen. I am no Poet myself, and therefore cannot be moved by any envy to their superior abilities. But as I have endeavoured to rectify the errors of others ; so I shall be heartily glad to have my own corrected. I hope they are not very numerous, since I have spared no labour, to do all the justice to my author that was in my power ; and have be- stowed as inuch time in attempting to explain this incom- parable Work, as Virgil did in composing it. AS nothing is more necessary for Scholars, than the right understanding of the Authors which are put into their Hands; and as among the Poets VIRGIL is the chief; so the accurate English Translation, and learned Notes which Dr. Martyn has made, with much Pains and Labour, upon the GEORGICKS, the most complete and exactly finished Work of that Poet, deserve to be recommended for the use of Publick and Private Schools of this Kingdom. The Author’s Preface to this his Performance, is very well worth the Reader’s careful Perusal and particular Attention. M. MAITTAIRE. Southampton-RoWf J July, 1746. ^ PUBLII VIRGILII MARONIS GEORGICORUM LIBER PRIMUS, Q uid faciat laetas segetes, quo sidere terram Vertere, Maecenas, ulmisque adjungere vites What may make the fields rejoice, under what signs it may be proper to turn the earth, and join the Vines to £lms: NOTES. 1. Quid faciat^ SfC,] Virgil begins this Poem with a brief account of the subjects of his four books : Corn and plowing being the subject of the first, Vines and other trees of the second, Cattle of the third, and Bees of the fourth. Loetas segetes ] Seges is common- ly used by Virgil to signify the field. Joyful is a noble epithet : we have the same metaphor used in some passages of the Bible. Thus it is in the 65lh Psalm, ver. 14. The vallies shall stand so thick with corn, that they shall laugh and sing." Quo sidere.] This expression is very poetical. Dryden has debase^ it by translating it, << to turn “ The fruitful soil, and when to sow ‘‘ the corn : “ And when to raise on elms the “ teeming vine.^^ And yet in the essay on the Geor- gicks, prefixed to Dryden’s transla-* tion, Addison observes that “ Virgil, “ to deviate from the common form ** of words, would not make use of “ tempore^ but sidere in his first “ versf B 3. Qui 2 V. VIRGILII MARONIS rilfhow^orter^^camel^^^ Coiivetiiat : quae cura boum, qui cultus habendo managed: what experience is o*. • «i ^ • . required to treat the frugal pecoi'i : apibus quaiita expcrientia parcis : Bees: NOTES. 3. Qui cuUus.] Pierius tells us, that ill the Roman, the Lombard, the Medicean, and some antient manuscripts it is qui. The same reading is in all the manuscripts I have collated, except that of the King's Library, and one of Dr. Mead's, where it is quis. La Cerda, and some other printed editions, have qfiis: but Heinsius, and most of the best editors read qui. 4. Pecori: apibus.] Some editions have atque, between pecori and api- bus, to avoid the synaloepha. But Pierius assures us, that in all the most antient manuscripts he had seen, atque is left out. It is wanting in the King's, the Cambridge, the Bodleian, and in one of Dr. Mead's manuscripts. In another of Dr. Mead's, there is only que, which Pierius observes to have been gene- rally inserted in the Lombard manu- script, where there would be a syna- loepha. This figure however is fre- quent in Virgil : Pierius quotes many instances. I shall mention only one, which is in the third Georgick : Arcebis gravido pecori; armenta- “ que pasces." Heinsius and Masvicius leave out at- que: but La Cerda, Ruasus, and most of the common editions keep it in. Experientia.] This is generally un- derstood to mean the experience which is required in us to manage Bees. Ruseus interprets it in this sense, “ quanta industria, iit alan- tur apes frugales." But in his notes he proposes another sense, mak- ing experientia to signify the expe- rience, prudence, or ingenuity, of the Bees. “ Praeter interpretatio- nem jam traditam afferri potest “ haec altera: Dicam quae sit apum “ experientia, prudentia, ingenium, ars quaedam : non usu quidem ‘‘ comparata, sed ingenita.'^ L)ry- den translates apibus quanta experien- tia The birth and genius of the frugal “ bee." Mr. B — translates it ‘‘ What mighty arts to thrifty bees ^ “ belong." ■ Dr. Trapp has it The experience of the parsimonious ‘‘ bee." < He is very fond of this new interpre* | tation of Ruaeus": “ To me (says \ “ he) it is much the best sense ; be- 1 “ cause it is literal, and yet most ‘‘ poetical. According to the other construction, the expression is ve- j ry harsh ; and not to be support- i ed by any parallel place that I I know of." This learned gentle- man is mistaken, when he thinks that 07ilp Ruceus mentions this sense; GEORG. LIB. If. S Hinc canere incipiam. Vos, 6 clarissima mundi 5 Lumina, labentem caelo quae ducitis annum : sliding through the sky ; NOTES. for Grimoaldus had interpreted this passage the same way long before: postremo quam frugalem solertiam ipsis apibus, in congregando, et “ custodiendo meile, divina provi- dentia concesserit, explicabo. But, for my part, I do not see any reason to reject the common inter- pretation ; nor do I perceive why we may not interpret this passage, qui cultus sit habendo pecori ; quanta expC'^ rientia sit habendis apibus. Besides it rather seems harsh to ascribe ex- perience to Bees, whose prudence, as Ruseus himself confesses, is non usu comparata sed mgenita. Parcis.] This epithet is frequent- ly applied to Bees: thus Aristotle, €^i\ccvvov(ny y,xl ra5 a^yxs ccl ^EKirioe,t^ x.sd ras fj(.i tuisse." Si.] Servius thinks si is used in this place for siquidem. Munere,^ Fulvius Ursinus says, that, in an ancient manuscript of A. Colotius, it is numine. The same reading is in one of the Arundelian manuscripts. 8. Chaoniam glandemJ^ Epirus is often called Chaonia, because the Chaones, a people of Epirus, for- merly ruled over the whole country. Dodona was a city of Epirus, near which was the famous grove of oracular oaks. Thus Virgil poeti- cally mentions Chamian or Dodonean acorns^ for acoiyis in general ; those of Dodona being the most cele- brated. 9. Pocula Acheloia . The river Acheloiis is said to be the first that brake out of the earth : whence the name of that river was frequently put for water by the ancients. Thus Eustathius observes, that, as all high mountains were called ld=a, so all water was called Achelous. This expression might still be more pro- per in the invocation of deities, as being more solemn ; for we find in Macrobius, that water was called Acheloiis, chiefly in oaths, prayers, and sacrifices : 7«^ ro uythwof ey rol$ o/?xo/r. GEORG. LIB. I. 5 Et VOS agrestum prasseritia numina Fauni, 10 . 1 • 1 Tx 1 11 . thsG Fauns, together with FcrtC silTlul FclUnKJUe pcdcIH; X./ryactCS(JU6 pil6ll9S . the Dryads, the Nymphs who /V * • r preside over trees .* 1 sing your Munera vestra cano. Tuque o, cui pnma ire- gins. And uiou, o Neptune, mentem NOTES. iixi rxTs )i»t h ^valccis. Fulvius Ursinus quotes many passages out of antient authors, to the same purpose. Dryden has quite lost the solemnity of the expression, by trans- lating it, Who gave us corn for mast, for water wine.^' Vida alludes to this passage, when he tells us that the Poets sometimes put Acheloiis, for w^ater in general : Nec deerit tibi, pro fluviis, pro- que omnibus undis, Pocula qui pressis Acheloia mis- ceat uvis.'* 10. Agrestum prmentia numina Fauni, ^c.] The Fauns and Dryads were usually invoked together, as deities who presided over rural af- fairs. “ Quin el Sylvanos, says Pliny, Faunosque et Dearum ge- “ ncra sylvis, ac sua numina, tan- quam et caelo, attributa credi- “ mus."' The original of these Fauns is thought to be Faunus, who taught the ancient Italians their reli- gion, and was worshipped b}; them. He was the father of Latinus, and delivered his oracles in a grove, not by signs, but by voice. We have an account of this in the seventh jEneid : At Rex sollicitus monstris, oracula “ Fauni “ Fatidici genitoris adit, lucosque “ sub alta Consulit Albunea, nemorum quae maxima sacro Fonte sonat. “ — Subita ex alto vox reddita luco “ esU' The Fauns are so called a fando, be- cause they speak personally to men. They are generally thought to be the same with the satyrs. Horace seems to make Faunus the same with Pan : Velox amoenum saepe Lucretilem “ Mutat Lyeseo Faunus;'^ for Lycaeus was one of the habita- tions of Pan, as we find in this invo- cation : Ipse nemus linquens patrium, sal- ‘‘ tusque Lycaei, ‘‘ Pan ovium custos/^ The Dryads had their name from an oak. 12. Frima,\ Various are the opi- nions of commentators concerning the meaning of this epithet. Many, says Servius, take it to mean olhn. In this sense Grimoaldus has inter- preted it. La Cerda leaves his reader to choose which he pleases of four interpretations. 1. The earth may be called prima, because it ex- isted before the other elements. 2. Because the earth, together with hea- ven, was said to be the parent of the B 3 gods. 6 P. VIRGILII MARONIS ^li^TruT^th'^thy mighfy F“dit cquiim magno tellus percussa tridenti, 13 trident, first brought forth the neighing liorse : NOTES. gods. In this sense Dr. Trapp has translated it: Thou, at whose command, ‘‘ The parent earth a sprightly steed disclos’d.'^ 3. Tellus prima may signify the sea- shore, where the horse was produced by Neptune; for Virgil in another place uses^nwa terra in this sense : — Primaque vetant consistere terra.^' 4. The Poet may allude to Attica, the seat of this fable, for the Athe- nians pretended to be the most an- cient people in the world. I have ventured to take it in what seems to me the most obvious sense. I ima- gine that the adjective is put here only for the adverb, of which many examples may be produced from our Poet : as “ pede terram crebra fe- rit.'^ Nay, he has used prima in the same manner, in this very Geor- gick : Prima Ceres ferro mortales vertere terram ‘‘ Instituit.'' Mr. B — translates it in this sense Thou, whose trident's force ‘‘ First clave the earth and rais’d the ** neighing horse.'' 13. Fudit equuniy 8fcJ] This al- | ludes to the story of Neptune's pro- | ducing a horse at Athens. La Cerda ■ offers some strong reasons for read- | ing aquam instead of equum^ which emendation is mentioned also by Servius, who says the most ancient manuscripts have aquam. La Cerda's reasons are; 1. Herodotus says, that in the temple of Ercctheus, there was an olive-tree and the sea, in memory of the contention betw^een Neptune and Minerva. 2. Varro, when he relates this fable, mentions water, not a horse, to be produced by Neptune. 3. In the best and purest manuscripts of Ovid, he finds fretum, where the common editions ferum: “ Stare Deum pelagi, longoque ferire ? tridente Aspera saxa facit, medioque e vul- “ nere saxi “ Exsiluisse f return J* ? I have adhered to the common read- . ing, for the three following reasons : 1. Because I do not remember to have seen aquam in any manuscript, , or printed edition. 2. Because it ' seems proper for Virgil to invoke Neptune, on account of his bestow- ing the horse on mankind, that ani- mal being celebrated in the third | Georgick ; whereas the sea has no- « thing to do in this Poem. 3. Be- I cause in the third Georgick, when i he is speaking of the characters of a fine GEORG. LIB. I. 7 Neptune: et cultor nemorum, cui pinguia Ceas Ter centum nivei tondent dumeta juvenci : 15 Ipse nemus linquens patrium, saltusque Lycaei, Pan ovium custos, tua si tibi Mcenala curae, Adsis 6 Tegeaee favens : oleaeque Minerva and thou inhabitant of the groves, whose three-hundred milk white steers browze on the fruitful bushes of Ca?a : and thou O Tegeaean Pan, the protector of Sheep, if thy own Maenalus be thy care, leave the groves of thy own country, and the forests of Lycaeus, and come hither propitious: and thou, O Minerva, who disco- veredst the olive : NOTES. fine Stallion, he mentions as the most excellent, that he should be descended from the horse of Neptune : Et patriam Epirum referat, fortes- “ que Mycenas; Neptunique ipsa deducat origine “ gentem/' 14. Cultor fiemorum, ^c,~\ Ile means Aristaeus, the son of Apollo and Cy- rene. This Aristaeus was educated by the Nymphs, who taught him the arts of curdling milk, making bee-hives, and cultivating olive-trees. He communicated these benefits to mankind, on which account he had the same divine honours paid to him as to Bacchus. Cece.] A very fruitful island, in the Archipelago, to which Aristaeus retired after the unfortunate death of his son Actaeon. He was there first worshipped as a deity. 16. Ipse nemus linquens patrium, 4’C.] Pan's country is Arcadia, in which were the mountains Lycaeus and Maenalus, and the city Tegea. 17. Grimoaldus interprets si by quantumvis, and gives this passage the following sense : “And thee, O “ Arcadian Pan, the illustrious feed- “ er of sheep, 1 most earnestly iu- “ treat : that though thy mountain “ Maenalus, famous for the pastoral “ pipe, affords thee great pleasure; “ yet leave thy native soil a little “ while, and engage entirely in over- “ seeins our affairs." Ruseus mves it this sense : “ If thou hast any “ regard for Maenalus, Lycaeus, and “ the other mountains and woods of “ thy own Arcadia, leave now those “ places, and assist me whilst I speak “ of pastoral affairs and trees : for “ my discourse will do honour to “ these places, and be of use to them." I have followed this sense, as the most generally received. 18. Tegecee.'] Servius and Heinsius read Tegcee; one of the Arundefian manuscripts has TegeJie; in the Cam- bridge, the Bodleian, and one of Dr. Mead's manuscripts it is Tegee; in the King's manuscript, and in some of the old printed editions, it is Tegece ; La Cerda and Ruceus read Tegecee, which seems to be right, for the two first syllables are always short; the Greek name of the city being Tsy ioc. Oleceque Minerva Inventrix.^ This alludes to the story of the contention between Neptune and Minerva, about naming Athens. Pliny says the Olive-tree produced on that occasion by Minerva was to be seen in his time at Athens. B 4 19 . 8 P. VIRGILII MARONIS and thou, O youth, who didst teach the use of the crooked plough ; and thou, O S} Ivanus, who bea rest a young cypress- tree plucked up by the roots. And all ye Gods and God- desses, whose employment it is to protect the fields, ’ Inventrix : uncique puer monstrator aratri : Et teneram ab radice ferens, Sylvane, cupres- sum ; Dique Deaeque omnes, studium quibus arva tueri^ NOTES. 1 9 . Uncique puer monstrator aratriJ] Some will have this lo be Osiris, the Egyptian deity ; but others, with better reason, think that Triptolemus the son of Celeus meant, who was taught the art of husbandry by Ceres. La Cerda gives ihe following reasons: 1. It is not probable that Virgil would invoke the guds of the Egyptians, which he reproaches in the eighth iEneid. 2. Servius ob- serves that the Romans had not yet admitted the Egyptian worship un- der Augustus. 3. As he invokes Minerva and other Grecian gods, why not a Grecian inventor of the plough? 4. It was a generally re- ceived opinion, that the discovery of corn was made in Attica. 5. Pausanias says, that the Athenians and their neighbours relate that 'J'rip- tolemus was the inventor of sow- ing, 6. As Celeus is mentioned in this very book, it is not probable that he would omit the mention of his sen. 20. Et teneram ah radice ferens^ Sylvane, cupressum,] Syl vanus is the god of the woods. Achilles Statius, in his commentary on Catullus, tells us, that on ancient coins and mar- bles, Sylvan us is represented bearing a cypress-tree plucked up by the roots, which fully explains this pas- sage, Mr. B — seems not to have been aware of this, when he trans- lated itj “ And you, Sylvaims, with your cypress bought* Syl vanus is described in a different manner, by our Poet, in his tenth Eclogue : Venit et agresti capitis Sylvanus “ honore, ‘‘ Florentes ferulas et grandia lilia “ quassans.'^ But in the Georgicks, where the Poet speaks of trees, and designedly omits flowers, it was more proper to distinguish Sylvanus by his cypress. 21. Dique Deceque omnes,] Having invoked ihe particular Deities, he concludes with an invocation of all the rest. This is according to the custom of the priests, who used, after the particular invocation, to invoke all the gods in general. Fulvius Ursinus says he saw a marble at Rome with this inscription ; NOMIOIC 0EOIC lOYAIOC MAIOP ANTONINOC La Cerda mentions several inscripr tions to all the gods and goddesses in general. r- 22. Non GEORG. LIB. I. ' 9 Quique novas alitis non ullo semine fruges, Quique satis largum caelo demittitis imbrem. Tuque adeo, quem mox qu£e sint habitura deorum Concilia incertum est,urbesne invisere, C®sar> 25 Terrarumque velis curam, et te maximus orbis and ye who take care of the new fruits, that are produced without culture, and ye who send down tlie plenteous show* ers on those which are culti- vated. And chiefly thou, O Ctesar, whose future seat a- mongst the gods is at present uncertain; wiieiher thou wilt accept of tlie guar^dianship of cities, and the care of countries. NOTES. 22. Non ullo.] So I find it in the Cambridge, and in one of Dr. Mead s manuscripts. Heinsius, Masvicius, and several good editors have the same reading. Servius, Grimoaldus, La Cerda, Ruaeus, and many others read, nonnullo. Servius gives it this sense: you who nourish the seeds sown by us, with your own seed ; that is, with rain and warmth. La Cerda interprets it; you who pro- duce new fruits, with some newly discovered seed, I am loth to depart from that excellent manuscript of Heinsius, without very good reason. And here I think non ullo the best reading, notwithstanding the great authorities 1 have quoted against it. To produce new fruit with home seed seems to me a very poor expression, and by no means worthy of Virgil. But to produce new fnnts without any seed; that is, without being sown by men, is a very proper e.\pression. The Poet, in these two lines, invokes, first, those deities who take care of spontaneous plants, and then those who shed their influence on those which are sown. Thus, at the be- ginning of the second Georgick, he tells us, that some trees come up of their own accord, without culture, and that others are sown : Principio arboribus varia est na- “ tura creandis : Namque aliae, nullis hominum cogentibus ipsae “ Sponte sua veniunt. — - ‘‘ Pars autem posito surgunt de se* “ mine." 24. luque adeo, ^c.] After the invocation of these deities, he takes an opportunity of making his court to Augustus Caesar, by adding him to the number, and giving him his choice, whether he will be a god of earth, sea, or heaven. j4deo ] Some think adeo to be only an expb tive here, oihers interpret it also. Servius, and after him most of the commentators, take it to signify chieflij, Mox.] It is generally agreed that max in this place signifies hereafter ; as in Horace: “ iLtas parentum, pcjor avis, tulit' “ Nos nequiores, mox daturos Progeniem vitiosiorem.'^ It is usual with the Poets to pray that it may be long before their moiiarchs are received into heaven ; thus Ho* race : Serus in cceltim redeas, diuquc ‘‘ Lmtus intersis populo Quirini ; ‘‘ Neve te nostris vitiis iniquum “ Ocyor aura Tollat." 25. Urbes.] Almostall the editions have urbis; some read urheis. It is certainly 10 P. VJRGILII MARONIS acklwitdV^heertte Auctorem frugum, tempestatumque potentem 27 of fruits^-and ruler of storms, a * * ^ ^ ^ crowning thy temples witiuhy Accipiat, cingciis inatenia tcmpora niyrto : mother’s myrtle : NOTES. reriainly the accusative case plural, for the construction will not admit of its being the genitive singular ; wherefore, to avoid confusion, I have put urhes, Dryden imagined urbis to be the genitive case singular; and that Virgil meant particularly the city of Pwome: Whether in after times to be de- ‘‘ claEd, “ The patron of the world, and Rome's peculiar guard." hmsere."] La Cerda observes that this word is expressive of Divinity, and quotes several passages from the Poets in confirmation of his opi- nion. 27 . Tempestatumque potejitem.~\ These words are generally under- stood to mean, that Augustus should be the ruler of the seasons. But 1 think Virgil has seldom, if ever, used tempestates to signify the seasons. Sure I am that many passages may be produced where he has expressed storms by that word. I shall content myself with one in the first iEneid, where ALolus speaks in the following manner to Juno : Tu mihi quodciinque hoc regni, “ tu sceptra, Jovemque Concilias: tu das epulis accumbere “ divfim, Nimborumque facis, tempestatum^ “ quepotentemT Pliny explains tempestates^ hail, storms, and such like: Ante om- nia autem duo genera esse cse- “ lestis injurise meminisse debe- mus. Unum quod tempestates vocamus, in quibus grandines, pro- “ cella?, caeteraque similia intelli- guntur." Mr. B — translates it in this sense ; Parent of fruits, and powerful of “ the storm." The Poet means, no doubt, that Augustus shall govern the storms in such a manner, that they shall not injure the fruits of the earth. 28. Cingens materna tempora myr^ ^ 0 .] The myrtle w'as sacred to Venus, as Virgil tells us himself in the seventh Eclogue: “ Populus Alcidae gratissima, vitis “ Iaccho, ‘‘ Formosae myrtus Veneri." He pays a fine compliment to Au- gustus in this passage, making him, as he was very desirous to have it thought, to be descended from neas, who was the son of Venus. The same expression is used with regard to iEneas himself, in the fifth jEneid: Sic fatus, velat materna tempora “ myrto." 30. UU GEORG. LIB. I. II An deus immensi venias maris, ac tua nautee Numina sola colant; tibi serviat ultima Thule, 30 Teque sibi generum Tetbys emat omnibus undis : Anne novum tardis sidus te mensibus addas. Qua locus Erigonen inter, Chelasque sequentes or whether tliou wilt he a gort of tl.e vast ocean, and be the only one invoked by mariners, the farthest parts of the eartli shall worship thee, and I'ethys shall give thee all her waters to be her son-in-law : or whe- ther thou wilt put thyself, as a new sign, among those that rise slowly, in the space be- tween Virgo and Scorpio j NOTES. 30. Ultima ThileJ\ The King's manuscript, and one of Dr. Mead's have it Thile ; in another of Dr. Mead's, and in the Cambridge ma- nuscript, it is Tyle; in the Bod- leian manuscript it is Thyle. Thule was thought by the Antients to be the farthest part of the earth towards the north, and inaccessible; thus Claudian : Ratibusque impervia Thule." The place which the Romans meant by Thule seems to be Schetland ; for Tacitus tells us, it was in sight of the Roman fleet, when Agricola sailed round Britain, and conquered the Orkney islands ‘‘ Hanc orani “ novissimi maris tunc primum Ro- “ mana classis circumvecta, insulam esse Britanniam affirmavit, ac simul “ incognitas ad id tempus insulas, quas Oreadas vocant, invenit, do- “ muitque. Dispecta est et Thule, “ quam hactenus nix, et hyems ab- debat." 31. Teque sibi generum Tethys, 8fC.^ One of the Arundelian manuscripts, and one of Dr. Mead’s, have Thetis, which is certainly a mistake; for the first syllable of Thetis is short : “ Dilectae Thetidi halcyones." Tetbys is the wife of Oceanus, and mother of the nymphs. 32. Tardis mensibus.^ By the slow months he is generally understood to mean the summer months, because the days are then longest ; or per- haps, because the summer signs rise backwards, he might poetically feign them to move slower than the rest ; thus Manilius: “ Quod tria signa novem signis con* “ juncta repugnant, ‘‘ Et quasi seditio caelum tenet. As- “ pice Taurum Clunibus, et Geminos pedibus, “ testudine Cancrum, “ Surgere; cum rectis oriantur cae- tera membris. Ne mircre moras, cum Sol adversa “ per astra ,^Estivum tardis attollit mensibus annum." But Dr. Halley has favoured me with the true meaning of these words, which have given so much trouble to the commentators. Leo, Virgo, Libra, and Scorpio, are really of much slower ascension than the other eight signs of the Zodiack; to which Virgil no doubt alluded. 33. Qua locus Erigonen inter ^ S^c,^ Erigone is Virgo, Servius tells us, that the Egyptians reckoned twelve signs. 12 P. VIRGILII MARONIS read7i>«"is^bS'w^ Panditur j ipse tibi jam brachia contrahit ardens I NOTES. signs of the Zodiack, and the Chal- deans but eleven : that the Chaldeans allotted twenty degrees of the eclip- tick to some signs, and forty to others ; whereas the Egyptians al- lotted just thirty to each: and that the Chaldeans make the Scorpion to extend his claws into the place of Libra: thus Ovid: Est locus, in geminos ubi brachia concavat arcus Scorpius; et cauda flexisque utrin- que lacertis, Porrigit in spatium signorum mem- bra duorum/' It is certain that Libra was not uni- versally received as a sigti amongst the Antients; and that tlm Ckdve, or claws of the Scorpion, were reckoned instead of it. Virgil was by no means ignorant of Libra, for he mentions it in another place : Libra dies somnique pares ubi fe- ‘‘ cerit horas.” He takes advantage of this difference amongst the ancient Astronomers, and accommodates it poetically, by placing Augustus, instead of Libra, the emblem of Justice, between Vir- go and Scorpio; and describes the scorpion as already pulling back his claws to make room for him. He might also in this place, have a view to the birth of Augustus, which w^as under Libra. 34*. Panditur; ip^e tibi] Servius made the point after tibi: but I think it is better after Panditur, The sense is better if ipse be joined with Scorpius, than if it be made to agree with locus. Ardens Scorpius.] This epithet is thought to belong to Scorpio, be- cause it is the house of Mars j thus Manilius : Pugnax Mavorti Scorpius hceret.'' Those, who are born under this sign, are supposed by Astrologers to be of a fiery and turbulent disposition. Thus we find in Manilius: Scorpius armata violenta cuspide ‘‘ cauda, “ Qua sua cum Phoebi currum per “ sidera ducit, Rimatur terras, et sulcis semina miscet. In bellum ardentes animos, et mar- tia castra Efficit, et multo gaudentem san- ‘‘ guine civem, Nec praeda quam casda magis, “ Cumque ipsa sub armis “ Pax agitur, capiunt saltus, sylvas- “ (pie pererrant. ‘‘ Nunc hominum, nunc bella gerurrt “ violenta ferarum : “ Nunc caput in mortem vendunt, et “ fumus arenae: Atque hostem sibi quisque parat, “ cum bella quiescunt : Sunt quibus et simulachra placent, ‘‘ et ludus in armis. Tantus GEORG. LIB. I. 13 Scorpiiis, et caell jiista plus parte relinquit, 35 Quicquid eris, nam te nec sperent Tartara regem, Nec tibi regnandi veniat tam dira cupido, Quamvis Elysios miretur Graecia campos, Nec repetita sequi curet Proserpina matrem, Da facilem cursum, atque audacibus annue coeptis, Ignarosque viae mecum miseratus agrestes, 41 to leave for thee a more than equal share of the heavens : whatsoever tliou wilt be, for let not hell hope for thee to he her king, nor let so dire a thirst of reigning enter thy breast, though Greece admires the Ely- sian fields, arid Proserpine does not care to follow her mother to tlte upper regions, do thou direct my course, and favour my bold undertaking, and with me taking pity on the husband- men who are ignorant of the way, begin thy reign, NOTES. Tantus amor pugnse est, dlscunt- “ que per otia bellum, ** Et qUodcunque pari studium pro- “ ducitur arte.'' Servius hints at another interpreta- tation ; that by ardens the Poet may mean that the scorpion is ardent to embrace Augustus. 35. Et coeli justa plus parte relin- quit.^ Some manuscripts and printed editions have reliquit; but the best authority seems to be for the present tense. One of the Arundelian ma- nuscripts has ut cedi justa plus parte relinquatf which is a good reading. But as I find only the authority of this single manuscript for it, 1 choose to preserve relinquit. Justa plus parte may admit of two interpretations : either that the Scor- pion, by drawing in his claws, will relinquish to Augustus the unequal share of the heavens, which he now possesses: or that by so doing he will leave him a greater share than belongs to one sign. Dryden follows the for- mer interpretation : The Scorpion ready to receive thy ‘‘ laws. Yields half his region, and con- tracts his claws." And Mr, B— For thee his arms the Scorpion now ‘‘ confines, “ And his unequal share of heaven “ resigns." Dr. Trapp understands it in the latter sense : — see the burning Scorpion now, Ev'n now contracts his claws, and “ leaves for thee, A more than just proportion of tho ‘‘ sky." 36, Sperent.^ It is spernent in one of Dr. Mead’s manuscripts, and in an old edition printed at Nurenberg, in 1492: but I look upon it to be an error of the transcribers. 41. Ignarosque vice mecum misera- tus agrestes.^ Sei vi us* mentions two w^ays of interpreting this verse. One is agrestes mecum ignaros; in which sense Dryden has translated it ; Pity the Poet’s and the Plough-» man's cares." The other is rusticis ignaris fave me- cum; which seems to be much the best sense j for Virgil would hardly have 14 P. VIRGILII MARONIS and accustom thyself even now to be invoked* In the very beginning of tlie spring, as soon as the snow is melted from the hoary mountains, and the crumbling earth is unbound by the Zephyrs j then let my bul- lock begin to groan with plow- ing deep, and let the share be worn bright with the furrow. That land fulfils the wishes of the most covetous farmer, which has twice felt the cold, and twice the heat. That man’s crops have been so large, that they have even burst his barns. Ingredere, et votis jam nunc assuesce vocari* Vere novo, gelidus canis cum montibus humof Liquitur, et zephyro putris se gleba resolvit; Depresso incipiat jam tum mihi taurus aratro 45 Ingemere, et sulco attritus splendescere vomer. Illa seges demum votis respondet avari Agricolae, bis quae solem, bis frigora sensit ; Illius immensae ruperunt horrea messes. NOTES. have declared himself ignorant of the subject on which he had undertaken to write. This interpretation is ge- nerally received by the commenta- tors ; and thus INJr. B — has trans- lated it, “ Pity with me th’ unskilful Pea- “ sant’s cares.*' And Dr. Trapp : “ And pitying, with me, the simple “ swains “ Unknowing of their way.'' 42. Ingredere^ et votis jam nunc assuesce vocari.~\ Ruseus interprets this ingredere viam, which is very low. Ingredior signifies to enter upon an office. Virgil therefore calls upon Augustus, to begin now to take the divine power upon liim. Dr. Trapp has very well translated this line ; Practise the god, and learn to hear “ our pniy'rs." The Poet is justified in this compli- ment, by the divine honours which began to be paid to Augustus about the tune that Virgil began his Geur- gicks. Thus Horace: Prsesenti tibi maturos largimur ho- “ nores. Jurandasque tuum per nomen po- “ nimus aras." 43. Vere novo, The invo- cation being finished, he begins his work with directions about plowing, which is to be performed in the very beginning of the spring. The beginning of the Spring was in the month of March ; but Virgil did not mean this by his Fere novo. The writers of agriculture did not confine themselves to the computa- tions of Astrologers, but dated their spring from the ending of the frosty weather. Thus Columella has ex-^ plained this very passage : “ Ne dis- ‘‘ cedamus ah optimo vate qui ait, “ ille vere novo terram proscindere incipiat. Novi autem veris prin- cipium non sic observare ruaticus ‘‘ debet, quemadmodum astrologus, ut expectet certum diem illuni, qui veris initium facere dicitur. Sed aliquid etiam sumat de parte “ hyemis, quoniam consumpta bni- ma, jam intepescit annus, permit- “ titque dementior dies opera moliri. ‘‘ Possunt igitur ab idibus Januariis, ut principem mensem Romani anni observet, auspicari culturarum of- ficia." 48. Bis quee solem, his frigora sensit The King's, the Cambridge, the GEORG. LIB. I. 15 At prius ignotum ferro quam scindimus aequor, 50 Ventos, et varium caeli praediscere morem Cura sit, ac patrios cultusque habitusque locorum, But before we plow an un- known plain, we must carefully obtain a knowledi^e of the winds, the various dispositions of the weather, the peculiar culture and nature of the place. NOTES. the Bodleian, and some of the old printed editions have sentit. The commentators have found great dif- ficulty in explaining this passage. Servius takes it to mean that land, which has twice felt the heat of the days and cold "of the nights; by which he supposes Virgil intends to express the two times of plowing, in spring and autumn. Others suppose that he means the ground should lie fallow every other year, and thus explain it's feeling both heat and cold twice : they say it is plowed about the end of winter, it rests the next summer, is sown about the beginning of winter, and yields it's crop the fol- lowing summer. They support their interpretation by several quotations: but these prove only that it was a common practice amongst the An- tients, to cultivate their fields after this manner. The Poet is here ad- vising the farmer to be very diligent in plowing, not to spare the labour of his oxen, and to polish his share with frequent use; and to encou- rage him, he adds, that if he would exceed the common rule, by letting his land lie fallow two years, and consequently plowing it four times, his crop would be so large, that his barns would scarce contain it. VVe have Pliny's authority, that this is thought to be the sense of Virgil ; quarto seri sulco Virgilius existi- malur voluisse, cum dixit opti- mam esse segetem, qua? bis solem, ‘‘ bis frigora sensisset." Drydeii erroneously translates ilia seges^ that crop : it is plain that ieges can mean nothing hut the land in this passage. 50. At prius^ In these lines the Poet advises us to consider well the nature of the place, before we begin to plow-. At.] The King's, the Cambridge, the Bodleian, and both Dr. Mead’s manuscripts have ac: it is the same also in Servius, Paul Stephens, La. Cerda, and some other printed edi- tions. The two Arundel ian manu- scripts, Heinsius, Ruasus, Masvi- cius, and most of the editors read at. 51. Cedi viorem.1 I take codum in this place to signify the weatheVy or temperature of the air. Thus Ser- vius interprets it ; cedi^ id est aeris ; and strengthens his opinion with these words of Lucretius : “In hoc cedo qui dicitur aerj* La Cerda quotes the authority of Pliny for rendering codum the con- stellations; but he is mistaken. Pliny's words are, “ Et confitendum est, “ caelo maxime constare ea: quippe ** Virgilio jubente praedisci ventos “ ante omnia, ac siderum mores, “ neque aliter quam navigantibus “ servari." In these last words it IS 16 P. VIRGILII MARONIS and uliat each country will produce, and what not. In one place corn succeeds, in another vines: anothef abounds with fruit-trees, and spontaneous herbs. Do you not see that Tmolus yields tlie odorous saf- fron, India ivory, the soft Sa- bcans frankincense, Et quid quseque ferat regio, et quid quaeque re-» cuset. 1 Hic segetes, illic veniunt felicius uvae :f Arborei foetus alibi, atque injussa virescunt 55 Gramina. Nonne vides croceos ut Tmolus odores, India mittit ebur, molles sua thura Sabaei ? NOTES, is plain that Pliny alludes to another passage in this Georgick ; Praeterea tam sunt Arcturi sidera “ nobis Hoedorumquc dies servandi, et lii- “ cidus anguis ; Quain quibus in patriam ventosa per aequora vectis Pontus et ostriferi fauces tentantur “ Abydi.*' 53. Et quid quetque ferat regio^ ct quid querque recuset,’] Pliriy alludes to this line, when he says. Lib, 18. cap, 18. In omni quidem parte “ culturae, sed in hac quidem max- “ ime valet oraculum illud, Quid “ queeque ?xgio patiatur Columel- la also seems, in his preface, to have had it in his view : Nam qui se in hac scientia perfectum volet pro- “ fiteri, sit oportet rerum naturae sa- “ gacissimus, declinationum mundi “ non ignarus, ut exploratum habe- “ at, quid cuique plagae comeniatj “ quid repugnet!* Iu Lib. 5, cap. 5. he quotes the very words of our Poet: “ Notandum itaque et dili- genter explorandum esse, et quid quaeque ferat regio ^ et quid ferre recuset!* 56, L roccos ut Tnwlus odores!] One of the Arundclian manuscripts has croceos Timolus odons. The name of this mountain is sometimes indeed spelt 'J imolus or Tymolus ; but then the first syllable is short, as in the sixth book of Ovid's Metamorpho* sis. Deseruere sui nymphae vineta Ti«- “ moli." One of Dr. Mead's manuscripts has croceos ut Timolus^ which cannot be right: the other has ut Molas Tmo- lus is a mountain of Lydia famous for the best saffron. Some of the commentators would fain understand the Poet to allude to the odorous wines which are made in that coun- try ; but the other interpretation seems to be the best, as well as the most obvious. 57, India mittit ebur!] All authors agree in preferring the elephants of India to those of all other countries. Ivory is the tusk of that animal, not the tooth, as is commonly ima-* gined. Molkssua tkura Sahoei.] The Sa^ beans are a people of Arabia Felix, in whose country only the frankin- cense-tree is said to grow ; thus wc find in the second Georgick : “ — Solis est thurea virga Sabaais.'* Theophrastus also and Pliny both affirm 17 GEORG. LTB.I. At Chalybes nudi ferrum, virosaque Pontus the naked Cluljbes iion, Pon- tus the powerful castor, MOTES. affirm that it is found only in Ara- bia. Dioscorides mentions an Indian as well as an Arabian frankincense. Garcias affirms that it does not grow in any part of India, and that the Indians have all their frankincense from Arabia. Bodaeus a Stapel, in his notes on Theophrastus, observes that the Greek writers called that sort of frankincense Indian, which grew in the islands near Arabia, be- cause those islands were formerly un- der the . government of the Indians. Virgil gives them the epithet of molles because of their effeminacy ; thus Manilius : Nec procul in molks Arabes, ter- ramque ferentem Delicias.’^ And again, Et molle s Arabes, sy I varum ditia regna.^* 58. Chalybes nudi ferrumJ\ There is some doubt who these Chalybes are. Strabo says the Chaldeans were anciently so called, and that their chief support is from iron and other metals \ TpaTrs^oyi/lo^ , y.cu TiCupvjvoi re y.ou XaX- Ot vvv XccX^ccioi, Xa^v^eg TO 'SJccXccdv uvofAx^o^o, ovq p.aAifa ^ [Av &Xpva-cc ev(puiccv riv k r^g nrpmfx ya^ U>!\^y,iTcci hrciv^o(. to q-^ov rovro ly y^g r