QUESTIONS. To whom did the estate of Virgil fall in the distribution of the Mantuan lands? Did he receive any hard treatment from Arius? How did he save his life? What was the name of his steward? Who is Lycidas supposed to be? When does the pastoral open? Where is the scene laid? What is the time of the day? What is the subject of this pastoral? What is the character of it? What is the distinction between poeta, and Vates? What remarkable appearance was observed in the heavens about the time of Julius Cæsar's death? What does the poct call it? When did it appear the third time? ECLOGA DECIMA. GALLUS. THE subject of this fine pastoral is the love of Gallus for Lycoris, who refused his addresses, and gave her affections to an officer. This Gallus was a particular friend of Virgil, and was an excellent poet. He raised himself from a humble station to great favor with Augustus, who appointed him governor of Egypt after the death of Anthony and Cleopatra. THE scene of the pastoral is laid in Arcadia, whither the poet supposes his friend to have retired in the height of his passion. Here all the rural deitics assemble around him, inquire the cause of his grief, and endeavor to moderate it. This Eclogue is not surpassed by any of the preceding, except the fourth, in beauty and grandeur. Ilere, too, Virgil imitates Theocritus, particularly in his first Idyl. By Lycoris is meant Cytheris, a most beautiful woman, and celebrated actress. EXTREMUM hunc, Arethusa, mihi concede laborem. 2. Pauca carmina sunt Pauca meo Gallo, sed quæ legat ipsa Lycoris, dicenda Carmina sunt dicenda: neget quis carmina Gallo? NOTES. 1. Arethusa. A nymph of great beauty, the daughter of Nereus and Doris. Also, a fountain on the island Ortygia, in the bay of Syracuse, upon which stood a part of the city. Syracuse was famous for its being the birth place of Theocritus and Archime des; and for its valiant defence against the Roman fleet and army under Marcellus. It was taken after a siege of three years. Concede, &c. Grant me this last workfavor me in the execution of this my last pastoral essay. The reason that the poet invoked this nymph is, that she was the goddess of a fountain of that name, in the place where Theocritus was born, and where pastoral poetry was much cultivated. 4. Tibi: with thee-with thy water. 5. Amara Doris. Doris, a nymph of the the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, and married to her brother Nereus, of whom sea, 5 Sec he begat the nymphs called Nereides; here 6. Galli. There were several persons by the name of Gallus. The one here meant is Publius Cornelius Gallus. He raised himself by his extraordinary merit to great favor with Augustus, who appointed him Dum tenera attondent simæ virgulta capellæ. Omnes, unde amor iste, rogant, tibi? Venit Apollo. NOTES. governor of Egypt after the death of Antony and Cleopatra. His prince, however, for some cause or other, conceiving a violent enmity against him, sent him into banishment; which sentence was ratified by the senate. This cruel and undeserved treatment had such an effect upon his mind, that he killed himself. After his death, Augustus lamented his own severity and that of the senate toward so worthy a man. Gallus was a great friend of Virgil, and highly esteemed by Pollio and Cicero. He was a poet as well as statesman and soldier. It is said he wrote four book of elegies to Cytheris, whom Virgil calls Lycoris. He also translated some part of the works of Euphorion, a poet of Chalcis. 7. Sima: flat-nosed. 10 11. Nam neque vlla juga Parnassi, nam neque ulla juga Pindi, neque fons, Aonia Aganippe, fecere ullam mo15 ram vobis. Etiam laur fleverunt illum 20 21. Unde est iste amor tibi, O Galle 15. Manalus. A mountain in Arcadia, celebrated for its pines. Lycai. Lycæus, a mountain of the same country, noted for its rocks and snows; hence the epithet gelid. The whole of this passage is very fine. It contains a reproof to the nymphs for not assisting in alleviating the grief of Gallus. 16. Stant et oves, &c. His flocks too stand around him-nor are they ashamed of him -nor do they disregard his grief. Gallus is represented under the character of a swain, feeding his sheep on the mountains of Arcadia. Nostri: our friend--Gallus. 18. Adonis. He was the son of Cinyras, king of the island of Cyprus, by his daughter Myrrha. He was so beautiful, that Venus ranked him among her favorites, and honored him with her bed. When hunting, 8. Respondent: will answer-will echo he received a wound from a boar, of which back our song. 9. Habuere vos: in the sense of detinuerunt Nemora: properly signifies a grove or wood thinly set with trees, where flocks may feed and graze; derived from the Greek. Saltus: properly a thick wood, where bushes and fallen trees do not permit animals to pass without leaping; from salio. Habuere cos: detained you from coming to console Gallus in his grief. Puella: in the sense of nymphæ. 11. Juga: in the sense of cocumina. Parnassi. Parnassus was a mountain, or rather range of mounts ins in Phocis, sacred to the Muses. Pindi. Pindus was a range of mountains in the confines of Epirus and Macedonia, also sacred to the Muses. Aganippe was the name of a fountain issuing from mount Helicon in Beotia, and flowing into the river Permessus. It is called Aonian, from Aon, the son of Neptune, who reigned in Beotia. he died, and was greatly lamented by her. 19. Venit et upilio: the shepherd too came, and the slow moving herdsmen came. Upilio, for opilio, by metaphasmus. Opilio, probably from oves, by changing the v into p. The word et is often used to express emphasis, and has the force of etiam or quoque, as in the present case. When it has its correspondent et in the following member of the sentence, it is usually translated by the word both, and the following et by and. The conj. que, when it has its correspondent que, is rendered in the same way. 20. Uvidus de: wet from gathering the winter mast. 21. Apollo. He came, the first of the gods; because he was the god of poetry. 22. Tua cura: for tua amica. 24. Sylvanus. He was the god of the woods, and said to be the son of Mars. He always bore on his head a branch of cypress. Like Pan, he was represented as half man, dimus 29. Crudelis amor nec saturatur lacrymis 31. At ille tristis inquit: tamen, O Arcades, NOS Florentes ferulas et grandia lilia quassans. 26. Quem nos ipsi vi- Pan Deus Arcadia venit, quem vidimus ipsi Sanguineis ebuli baccis minioque rubentem. Ecquis erit modus? inquit: amor non talia curat. Nec lacrymis crudelis amor, nec gramina rivis, Nec cytiso saturantur apes, nec fronde capellæ. Tristis at ille: Tamen cantabitis, Arcades, inquit, Montibus hæc vestris: soli cantare periti Arcades. O mihi tum quàm molliter ossa quiescant, Vestra meos olim si fistula dicat amores! Atque utinam ex vobis unus, vestrique fuissem Aut custos gregis, aut maturæ vinitor uvæ! 37. Certe sive Phillis, Certè sive mihi Phyllis, sive esset Amyntas, sive Amyntas, seu qui- Seu quicumque furor (quid tum, si fuscus Amyntas? cumque esset mihi fuEt nigræ violæ sunt, et vaccinia nigra.) ror, jaccret Mecum inter salices lentâ sub vite jaceret. 42. Hic, O Lycori, Serta mihi Phyllis legeret, cantaret Amyntas. sunt gelidi 44. Insanus amor deHic gelidi fontes, hic mollia prata, Lycori: tinet me in armis duri Hic nemus: hìc ipso tecum consumerer ævo. Nunc insanus amor duri me Martis in armis 35. Utinam fuissem unus ex vobis Martis inter NOTES. and half goat. He fell in love with Cyparissus, the favorite of Apollo, who was changed into a trec of that name. Agresti honore capitis: with the rustic honor of his head-with a garland of leaves upon his head. Honore: in the sense of corona. 25. Florentes ferula:: blooming fennel. There are two kinds of ferula, or fennel, the small, or common, and the large, or giant fennel. This last grows to the height of six or seven feet. The stalks are thick, and filled with a fungous pith, which is used in Sicily for the same purpose as tinder is with us, to kindle fire. From this circumstance, the poets feigned that Prometheus stole the heavenly fire and brought it to earth in a stalk of ferula. Some derive the name from ferendo, because its stalk was used as a walking-stick; others derive it from feriendo, because it was used by school-masters to strike their pupils with on the hand. Hence the modern instrument, or ferula, wh.ch is used for the same purpose, though very different from the ancient one, and capable of giving much greater pain. 27. Rubentem: stained with the red berries of alder, and with vermilion. Ebuli. Ebulum is the plant called dwarf elder. It grows about three feet high, and bears red berries. In England it has obtained the name of dane-wort; because it was fabled to have sprung from the blood of the Danes, at the time of their massacre. It is chiefly found in church-yards. Minio. Mirium is the native cinnabar. It was the vermilion of the ancients; it is our present red-lead. 28. Modus: in the sense of finis. 29. Rivis: with streams, or rills of water. 30. Saturantur: are satisfied. 31. Arcades. This address of Gallus to the Arcadians is tender and pathetic, especially that part of it where he wishes he had been only a humble shepherd like them. 32. Hac: these my misfortunes. 33. O quàm molliter: O how softly then my bones, &c.; alluding to a superstitious notion of the ancients that the bodies of the dead might be oppressed by the weight of the earth cast upon them. Accordingly they crumbled it fine, and cast it lightly into the grave, using the words, sit tibi terra levis : may the earth be light upon thec. 34. Olim: hereafter. This word refers to future as well as to past time. Mihi: in the sense of mea, agreeing with ossa. 36. Vinitor: a vine-dresser. It seems to be used here in the sense of vindemiator, a gatherer of grapes--a vintager. 38. Furor. This word properly signifies any inordinate passion, such as love, anger, rage, fury, and the like; by meton. the object of such passion-the person loved.Fuscus: black. The verb sil is to be supplied. 39. Vaccinia: whortle-berries, or bil-berries. Mr. Martyn takes the word for the flower of the hyacinth. 41. Serta: garlands of flowers. 43. Consumerer, &c. I could spend my very life here with you in this pleasant retreat, gazing upon the beauty of your person. Rumus says: traducerem omnem ætatem tecum. But consumerer may be used in the sense of the Greek middle voice. Virgil was fond of the Greek idiom. 44. Nunc insanus amor, &c. The meaning of this passage appears to be: in this Tela inter media atque adversos detinet hostes. Me sinè sola vides. Ah te ne frigora lædant! NOTES. pleasant place, if you had consented, we might have both lived happy and secure. But now, on account of your cruelty, we are both unhappy and miserable. Through despair, I expose myself to the dangers and hazards of war; and in the mean time your love of a soldier hurries you to distant countries, over the snows of the Alps, &c. Gallus here supposes Cytheris to accompany her lover, and to undergo the fatigues and hardships incident to a military life. Me. This passage would be much easier, if we could read te in the room of me. The sense naturally leads to such reading; but we have no authority for making the substitution. Martis. Mars was esteemed the god of war. He was the son of Jupiter and Juno, as some say; others say, of Juno alone. His education was intrusted to Priapus, who taught him all the manly exercises. In the Trojan war, he took a very active part, and was always at hand to assist the favorites of Venus. His amours with that goddess have been much celebrated by the poets. Vulcan, her husband, being informed of their intrigue, made a net of such exquisite workmanship, that it could not be perceived. In this net he caught the two lovers, and exposed them to the ridicule of the gods. He kept them in this situation for a considerable' time, till Neptune prevailed upon him to set them at liberty. The worship of Mars was not very general among the Greeks, but among the Romans he received the most unbounded honors. His most famous temple was built by Augustus, after the battle of Phillippi, and dedicated to Mars Ultor. His priests were called Salii, and were first instituted by Numa. Their chief office was to keep the sacred ancyle, or shield, which was supposed to have fallen from heaven. Mars was sometimes called Gradivus, Mavors, and Quirinus; by meton. put for war in general -a battle-a fight, &c. 45. Adversos: in the sense of infestos. 46 Tantùm. only-nothing beside. 57. Alpinas: an adj. from Alpes, a very high range of mountains separating Italy from France, Switzerland, and Germany, and covered with almost perpetual snow. Rheni: the river Rhine. It rises in the mountains of Switzerland, and runs a northcrly course, forming the boundary between France and Germany, and falls into the German sea near the Hague. Its length is near six hundred miles. Dura: in the sense of crudelis. Sola: Lycoris was alone, as respected Gallus. 49. Plantas: in the sense of pedes. Aspera sharp. The whole of this address to his mistress is extremely tender and pathetic. 50. Quæ condita sunt, &c. Which were composed by me in elegiac verse. Chalcidico: an adj. from Chalcis, a city of Eubœa, (hodie, Negropont,) the birth-place of Euphorion, an elegiac poet; some of whose verses, it is said, Gallus turned into Latin verse. To this, Ruæus thinks, the poet refers. However this may be, it cannot be made from the words without straining them. They simply imply that Gallus wrote some verses or poems in the same kind of verse, or measure, in which Euphorion wrote. 51. Modulabor: in the sense of canam. 52. Certum est, &c. It is certain-I am resolved, that I had rather suffer in the woods any dangers and hardships than follow after Lycoris. These, or words of the like import, seem to be necessary to make the sense complete. Spelaa: dens, or haunts of wild beasts; from the Greek. 53. Incidere: to cut, or inscribe. 55. Manala: neu. plu. a mountain in Arcadia. In the sing. Manalus. Lustrabo: in the sense of circumibo. Mixtis nymphis. The meaning is, that he was in company with the nymphs; or that they, in confused and irregular order, pursued their course. 56. Acres: fierce-dangerous. Velabunt. in the sense of prohibebunt. 57. Parthenios. Parthenius was a moun 60.Tanquam hæc om nia sint Jam mihi per rupes videor lucosque sonantes 65 Spicula: tanquam hæc sint nostri medicina furoris, 60 Aut Deus ille malis hominum mitescere discat. 61. Aut tanquam ille Jam neque Hamadryades rursùm, nec carmina nobis Deus Cupido 64. Illum Deum Cupi- Ipsa placent: ipsæ rursùm concedite sylvæ. dinem; nec equidem, si Non illum nostri possunt mutare labores; Nec si frigoribus mediis Hebrumque bibamus, Sithoniasque nives hyemis subeamus aquosæ : 67. Nec equidem, si Nec si, cùm moriens altâ liber aret in ulmo, versemus oves Ethiop- Ethiopum versemus oves sub sidere Cancri um, sub sidere cancri, Omnia vincit amor; et nos cedamus amori. Hæc sat erit, Divæ, vestrum cecinisse poëtam, Dum sedet, et gracili fiscellam texit hibisco, Pierides vos hæc facietis maxima Gallo: cùm 70. O Diva Pierides, sat erit vestrum poetam cecinisse hæc carmina 72, Facietis hæc fieri Gallo, cujus amor tantùm mihi crescit in horas, Quantùm vere novo viridis se subjicit alnus. Surgamus: solet esse gravis cantantibus umbra : NOTES. tain in Arcadia, where virgins used to hunt; from a Greek word signifying a virgin. It is here used as an adj. Circumdare: in the sense of cingere. 58. Sonantes: echoing-resounding. 59. Cydonia: an adj. from Cydon, a city of Crete, the arrows of which were held in great estimation. Partho cornu: a Parthian bow. The Parthians were a people famed for their skill in handling the bow, which they made of horn. Hence cornu: a bow. Libet in the sense of juvat. : 60. Medicina furoris: a remedy for our love. Tanquam: as if. 61. Malis: in the sense of miseriis. 62. Hamadryades: nymphs of the woods and trees. Their fate was supposed to be connected with that of particular trees, with which they lived and died. It is derived from the Greek. See Ecl. ii. 46. 63. Rursum concedite: again, ye woods, farewell. Concedite, is here elegantly put for valete. I wish you may grow and flourish, though I languish and die. 65. Hebrum. The Hebrus is the largest river of Thrace, rising out of mount Rhodope, near its junction with mount Hamus, and taking a southerly course, falls into the gean sea: hodie, Marisa. The ancient Thrace forms a province of the Turkish empire, by the name Romania. Frigoribus: in the sense of hyeme. 66. Sithonias: an adj. from Sithonia, a part of Thrace, bordering upon the Euxine Subeamus: endure-undergo. 67. Moriens liber: the withering bark, or rind. sea. 70 75 68. Versemus: feed, or tend upon; in the sense of pasceremus. Ethiopum: gen. plu. of Ethiops, an inhabitant of Ethiopia, an extensive country in Africa, lying principally within the torrid zone. Here it is put for the inhabitants of any country lying in a hot climate. Cancri. Cancer is one of the twelve signs of the Zodiac. The sun enters it about the twenty-first day of June, causing our longest day. 69. Amor vincit, &c. The poet here hath finely represented the various resolutions and passions of a lover. Gallus having tried various expedients to divert his affections, and finding nothing sufficiently enticing to him, to accomplish that end, finally abandons the vain pursuit with this reflection: Love conquers all things-let us yield to love. 71. Texit: formed-made. the sense of vimine. Hibisco: in |