11 The glory of Latona and mighty Jove, their golden offspring, even Phoebus, shall be the fount and source of our song, and he with resounding harp shall inspire, whether Arna nurture him-Arna, steeped in the Chimaera's stream of Xanthus-or the glory of Asteria, or that land where Parnassus' ridge, with broad brow, spreads his horns this way and that, and Castalia's singing waves glide in their watery course.2 Wherefore, come, ye sister Naiads,3 glory of the Pierian spring, and throng about the god in sportive dance. Thou too, holy Pales, to whom, as they appear, the blessings of husbandmen return with increase, be thine the care of him who keeps the lofty forest-homes and woodlands green; whilst thou dost tend them, freely I roam among the glades and caves. 4 24 Thou also, O Octavius revered, who by the writings thou hast earned winnest confidence, graciously attend my venture, O holy youth! For thee, indeed, my page sings not Jove's gloomy war,5 nor plants the lines wherewith Phlegra once bristled, the land that was sprinkled with the Giants' blood, nor drives the Lapiths upon the Centaurs' swords; the East burns not the Erichthonian towers 6 with flames: 'tis not the piercing of Athos, not the casting of fetters upon the mighty deep, not the Hellespont, smitten with horses' hooves, what time Greece feared the Persians, as they streamed from every side, that at this late hour shall, through my book, seek fame : The epithets venerande and sanctus are suggested by the youth and innocence of the boy, "who wore the same toga as priests and magistrates" (Professor Warde Fowler). 5 The battle between Jupiter and the Giants, fought in Phlegra. 6.e. Athens, burnt by the Persians, of which Erichthonius was one of the early kings; cf. Georgics, III. 113. mollia sed tenui pede currere carmina, versu O bona pastoris (si quis non pauperis usum 36 apta] acta Ellis, after a Paris MS., 8207. 40 numeretur Sillig. 42 penetrabat, Leo, Vollmer. 45 laeta] nota Thilo. 47 rorida Haupt: florida Jacobs, Ellis. .. myrtus Phillimore. 50 tenerae ... 35 40 45 50 55 60 51 desertas (-is) herebant 2. ripis Ellis: rupes or rupis . 57 prostantis imaginis umbram Ellis. 60 somnia Haupt, Ellis: otia Phillimore: omnia . spretis V: pretiis. 61 inim. p.] nimia cuppedine Ellis. but 'tis her joy that her gentle songs run with slender foot, and sport, under Phoebus' guidance, as befits her strength. This she sings for thee, holy youth; for thee also may ennobling fame be zealous, shining for all time, and abiding throughout the ages; for thee also may a place be stablished in the blest abode, and as thy due may there be recorded a life preserved through happy years, shining for the joy of the good! But let me pass to my emprise. 42 The fiery sun had now made his way unto heaven's heights,1 and from gilded car was scattering his gleaming rays, and Dawn with roseate locks had routed darkness, when a shepherd drove forth his goats from their folds to the joyous pastures, and sought a lofty mountain's highest ridges, where pale grasses clothed the spreading slopes. As they roam, they hide themselves now in the woods and thickets, now in the vales, and now, wandering swiftly to and fro, they cropped the rich grasses with nibbling bite. Leaving the banks, they strayed toward rocky hollows, the o'erhanging arbute trees are shorn of their outstretching branches and the wild vines' thick shoots are greedily assailed. One, poised aloft, snatches with eager bite the tips, it may be of the pliant willow, or of fresh growing alder; this gropes amid the thickets' tender briars, while that hangs over the water of the stream, its wondrous mirror. 58 O the blessings of the shepherd 2-if one would not, with mind already schooled, disdain the poor man's ways, and in scorn of them give approval to dreams of wealth-blessings those cares know not, that rend greedy hearts within 1 i.e. from the lower world. The time is early morn, not midday. 2 cf. Georgics, 11. 458 ff. si non Assyrio fuerint bis lauta colore 65 70 75 Quis magis optato queat esse beatior aevo, quam qui mente procul pura sensuque probando 80 non avidas agnovit opes nec tristia bella nec funesta timet validae certamina classis nec, spoliis dum sancta deum fulgentibus ornet templa vel evectus finem transcendat habendi, adversum saevis ultro caput hostibus offert? illi falce deus colitur, non arte politus, ille colit lucos, illi Panchaia tura floribus agrestes herbae variantibus addunt; 62 fuerint] feriunt Phillimore: fervent Ellis. 67 referent CVг. Boethi] Rhoeci Lachmann. 85 warring breasts! What though fleeces, twice dipped in Assyrian dye, be not bought for wealth of Attalus, though gleam of gold beneath the fretted ceiling of a house, and brilliancy of painting, move not a greedy soul, though flashing gems be never deemed to have aught of worth, though goblets of Alcon and reliefs of Boëthus bring no joy,1 and the Indian Ocean's pearls be of no esteem; yet, with heart free from guile, upon the soft sward he oft outstretches his frame, while blossoming earth, painted with jewelled grasses, in sweet spring marks the fields, picked out with varied hues; and lo! as he delights in the mere's resounding reeds, and takes his ease apart from envy and deceit, and is strong in his own strength, the leafage of Tmolus and the sheen of green boughs enwraps him beneath a cloak of vines. His are pleasing goats that drip their milky dew, his the woodland and fruitful Pales, and, deep within the vales, shaded grottoes ever trickling with fresh springs. 79 Who in a happier age could be more blest than he who, dwelling afar, with pure soul and feelings well tested knows not the greed of wealth, and fears not grim wars or the fatal conflicts of a mighty fleet, nor yet, if so he may but adorn the gods' holy temples with gleaming spoils, or high uplifted may surpass the limits of wealth, wilfully risks his life, confronting savage foes? He reverences a god shaped by pruning-knife, not by artist's skill; he reverences the groves; for him the grasses of the field, mottled with flowers, yield Panchaean incense; 2 1 An Alcon is mentioned in E. v. 11. Like Boëthus, who is referred to by Pliny (N. H. XXXIII. 12, 55), he was probably a sculptor or engraver in metals. 13 cf. Georgics, II. 139. |
