Virgil

“ And climb the frozen Alps, and tread th' eternal Snow.
Ye Frosts and Snows her tender Body spare,
Those are not Limbs for Ysicles to tear.
For me, the Wilds and Desarts are my Choice;
The Muses, once my Care; my once harmonious Voice. ”

“ Thus have I sung of Fields, and Flocks, and Trees,
And of the waxen Work of lab'ring Bees;
While mighty Cæsar, thund'ring from afar,⁠810
Seeks on Euphrates Banks the Spoils of War:
With conqu'ring Arts asserts his Country's Cause,
With Arts of Peace the willing People draws:
On the glad Earth the Golden Age renews,
And his great Father's Path to Heav'n pursues.⁠815
While I at Naples pass my peaceful Days,
Affecting Studies of less noisy Praise;
And bold, thro' Youth, beneath the Beechen Shade,
The Lays of Shepherds, and their Loves have plaid. ”

“ His Heav'nly Limbs, and flow'd with such a Mane.
When, half surpriz'd, and fearing to be seen,
The Leacher gallop'd from his Jealous Queen:
Ran up the ridges of the Rocks amain;
And with shrill Neighings fill'd the Neigbouring Plain.
But worn with Years, when dire Diseases come, ⁠151
Then hide his not Ignoble Age, at Home:
In Peace t'enjoy his former Palms and Pains;
And gratefully be kind to his Remains.
For when his Blood no Youthful Spirits move, ⁠155
He languishes and labours in his Love. ”

“ MENALCAS.
Daphnis, the Guest of Heav'n, with wondring Eyes,
Views in the Milky Way, the starry Skies:
And far beneath him, from the shining Sphere,
Beholds the moving Clouds, and rolling Year,
For this, with chearful Cries the Woods resound;⁠⁠90
The Purple Spring arrays the various ground:
The Nymphs and Shepherds dance; and Pan himself is corwn'd.
The Wolf no longer prowls for nightly Spoils,
Nor Birds the Sprindges fear, nor Stags the Toils:
For Daphnis reigns above ”

“ Hoarse Tity'rus strive with Orpheus in the Woods:
And challenge fam'd Arion on the Floods.
Or, oh! let Nature cease; and Chaos reign:
Begin with me, my Flute, the sweet Mænalian Strain.
⁠Let Earth be Sea ”

“ As when the Woods by gentle Winds are stir'd.⁠380
Such stifled noise as the close Furnace hides,
Or dying Murmurs of departing Tides.
This when thou seest, Galbanean Odours use,
And Honey in the sickly Hive infuse.
Thro' reeden Pipes convey the Golden Flood,⁠385
T'invite the People to their wonted Food. ”

“ The winged Nation wanders thro' the Skies,
And o'er the Plains, and shady Forrest flies:
Then stooping on the Meads and leafy Bow'rs;⁠75
They skim the Floods, and sip the purple Flow'rs.
Exhalted hence, and drunk with secret Joy,
Their young Succession all their Cares employ:
They breed, they brood, instruct and educate,
And make Provision for the future State:⁠80
They work their waxen Lodgings in their Hives,
And labour Honey to sustain their Lives. ”

“ Steers thro' the whistling Winds their steddy Flight.
⁠But what's more strange, their modest Appetites,
Averse from Venus, fly the Nuptial Rites.
No lust enervates their Heroic Mind,⁠290
Nor wasts their Strength on wanton Woman-Kind.
But in their Mouths reside their Genial Pow'rs,
They gather Children from the Leaves and Flow'rs.
Thus make they Kings to fill the Regal Seat;⁠
And thus their little Citizens create:⁠295
And waxen Cities build, and Palaces of State.
And oft on Rocks their tender Wings they tear,
And sink beneath the Burthens which they bear. ”

“ And cluster'd Grapes shall blush on every Thorn.
The knotted Oaks shall show'rs of Honey weep,35
And through the Matted Grass the liquid Cold shall creep.
Yet, of old Fraud some footsteps shall remain,
The Merchant still shall plough the deep for gain:
Great Cities shall with Walls be compass'd round ”

“ But if intestine Broils allarm the Hive,
(For two Pretenders oft for Empire strive)
The Vulgar in divided Factions jar;
And murm'ring Sounds proclaim the Civil War.⁠95
Inflam'd with Ire, and trembling with Disdain,
Scarce can their Limbs, their mighty Souls contain.
With Shouts, the Cowards Courage they excite,
And martial Clangors call 'em out to fight:
With hoarse Allarms the hollow Camp rebounds,⁠100
That imitates the Trumpets angry Sounds:
Then to their common Standard they repair;
The nimble Horsemen scour the Fields of Air. ”

“ Falls down and dies; and dying spews a Flood
Of foamy Madness, mix'd with clotted Blood.
The Clown, who cursing Providence repines,
His Mournful Fellow from the Team disjoins:⁠775
With many a groan, forsakes his fruitless care;
And in th' unfinish'd Furrow leaves the Share. ”

“ They stop his Nostrils, while he strives in vain
To breath free Air, and struggles with his Pain.
Knock'd down, he dyes: his Bowels bruis'd within,
Betray no Wound on his unbroken Skin.⁠426
Extended thus, in this obscene Abode,
They leave the Beast; but first sweet Flow'rs are strow'd
Beneath his Body, broken Boughs and Thyme,
And pleasing Cassia just renew'd in prime.⁠430
This must be done, e'er Spring makes equal Day,
When Western Winds on curling Waters play:
E'er painted Meads produce their Flow'ry Crops,
Or Swallows twitter on the Chimney Tops. ”

“ Through hills of Snow, and pitifully bray;⁠575
Assaults with dint of Sword, or pointed Spears,
And homeward, on his Back, the joyful burthen bears.
The Men to subterranean Caves retire;
Secure from Cold; and crowd the chearful Fire:
With Trunks of Elms and Oaks, the Hearth they load,
Nor tempt th' inclemency of Heav'n abroad.⁠581
Their jovial Nights, in frollicks and in play
They pass, to drive the tedious Hours away. ”

“ DAMÆTAS.
An honest Man may freely take his own;
The Goat was mine, by singing fairly won.30
A solemn Match was made; He lost the Prize,
Ask Damon, ask if he the Debt denies;
I think he dares not, if he does, he lies.
MENALCAS.
Thou sing with him, thou Booby; never Pipe
Was so profan'd to touch that blubber'd Lip:35
Dunce at the best; in Streets but scarce allow'd
To tickle, on thy Straw, the stupid Crowd.
DAMÆTAS.
To bring it to the Trial, will you dare
Our Pipes, our Skill, our Voices to compare? ”

“ And Nature has accomplish'd all the Spring.
The Challenge to Damætas shall belong,85
Menalcas shall sustain his under Song:
Each in his turn your tuneful numbers bring;
In turns the tuneful Muses love to sing. ”

“ Thus was his Life as chast as his Stile, and those who can Critick his Poetry, can never find a blemish in his Manners; and one would rather wish to have that purity of Mind, which the Satyrist himself attributes to him; that friendly disposition, and evenness of temper, and patience, which he was Master of in so eminent a degree, than to have the honour of being Author of the Æneis, or even of the Georgics themselves. ”

“ Often he turns his Eyes, and, with a Groan,
Surveys the pleasing Kingdoms, once his own.
And therefore to repair his Strength he tries: ⁠⁠355
Hardning his Limbs with painful Exercise,
And rough upon the flinty Rock he lyes.
On prickly Leaves, and on sharp Herbs he feeds,
Then to the Prelude of a War proceeds.
His Horns, yet sore, he tries against a Tree:⁠360
And meditates his absent Enemy.
He snuffs the Wind, his heels the Sand excite; ⁠
But, when he stands collected in his might,
He roars, and promises a more successful Fight. ”

“ MENALCAS.
⁠Receive you first this tuneful Pipe; the same
That play'd my Coridon's unhappy Flame.
The same that sung Neæra's conqu'ring Eyes;⁠135
And, had the Judge been just, had won the Prize.
MOPSUS.
⁠Accept from me this Sheephook in exchange,
The Handle Brass; the Knobs in equal range.
Antigenes, with Kisses, often try'd⁠
To beg this Present, in his Beauty's Pride;⁠140
When Youth and Love are hard to be deny'd. ”

“ The lowly Shrubs partake of Humane Voice.
Assenting Nature, with a gracious nod,
Proclaims him, and salutes the new-admitted God.⁠100
Be still propitious, ever good to thine:
Behold four hallow'd Altars we design ”

“ Th' inspected Entrails, cou'd no Fates foretel.
Nor, laid on Altars, did pure Flames arise;⁠739
But Clouds of smouldring Smoke, forbad the Sacrifice.
Scarcely the Knife was redden'd with his Gore,
Or the black Poison stain'd the sandy Floor.
The thriven Calves in Meads their Food forsake,
And render their sweet Souls before the plenteous Rack.
The fawning Dog runs mad; the wheasing Swine⁠745
With Coughs is choak'd; and labours from the Chine:
The Victor Horse, forgetful of his Food,
The Palm renounces, and abhors the Flood. ”

“ For Winds, when homeward they return, will drive
The loaded Carriers from their Ev'ning Hive.
Far from the Cows and Goats insulting Crew,⁠14
That trample down the Flow'rs, and brush the Dew:
The painted Lizard, and the Birds of Prey,
Foes of the frugal Kind, be far away.
The Titmouse, and the Peckers hungry Brood,
And Progne, with her Bosom stain'd in Blood:
These rob the trading Citizens, and bear⁠⁠20
The trembling Captives thro' the liquid Air;
And for their callow young a cruel Feast prepare. ”

“ My lingring Daphnis to my longing Arms.⁠146
Bear out these Ashes; cast 'em in the Brook;
Cast backwards o'er your head, nor turn your look:
Since neither Gods, nor Godlike Verse can move,
Break out ye smother'd Fires, and kindle smother'd Love.
Exert your utmost pow'r, my lingring Charms,⁠151
And force my Daphnis to my longing Arms.
See, while my last endeavours I delay,
The waking Ashes rise, and round our Altars play!
Run to the Threshold, Amaryllis, hark,⁠155
Our Hylas opens, and begins to bark.
Good Heav'n! may Lovers what they wish believe ”

“ And therefore a true Lover considers Beauty and Proportion as so many Steps and Degrees, by which he may ascend from the particular to the general, from all that is lovely of Feature, or regular in Proportion, or charming in Sound, to the general Fountain of all Perfection. And if you are so much transported with the sight of Beautiful Persons, as to wish neither to eat or drink, but pass your whole Life in their Conversation ”

“ Deep in their Bones when Feavers fix their seat,
And rack their Limbs; and lick the vital heat;
The ready Cure to cool the raging Pain,
Is underneath the Foot to breath a Vein.⁠700
This remedy the Scythian Shepherds found:
Th' Inhabitants of Thracia's hilly Ground,
And Gelons use it; when for Drink and Food
They mix their cruddl'd Milk with Horses Blood. ”

“ And Crimes shall threat the guilty world no more.
The Son shall lead the life of Gods, and be
By Gods and Heroes seen, and Gods and Heroes see.
The jarring Nations he in peace shall bind,20
And with paternal Virtues rule Mankind. ”

“ Unfit for Love, and for the lab'ring Plough.
⁠Now while their Youth is fill'd with kindly Fire,
Submit thy Females to the lusty Sire:
Watch the quick motions of the frisking Tail,⁠⁠105
Then serve their fury with the rushing Male,
Indulging Pleasure lest the Breed shou'd fail.
⁠In Youth alone, unhappy Mortals live;
But, ah! the mighty Bliss is fugitive ”

“ What Lawns or Woods withheld you from his Aid,
Ye Nymphs, when Gallus was to Love betray'd;
To Love, unpity'd by the cruel Maid?
Not steepy Pindus cou'd retard your Course,15
Nor cleft Parnassus, nor th' Aonian Source:
Nothing that owns the Muses cou'd suspend
Your Aid to Gallus, Gallus is their Friend.
For him the lofty Laurel stands in Tears;19
And hung with humid Pearls the lowly Shrub appears.
Mænalian Pines the Godlike Swain bemoan;
When spread beneath a Rock he sigh'd alone ”

“ DAPHNIS.
The ARGUMENT.
Mopsus and Menalcas, two very expert Shepherds at a Song, begin one by consent to the Memory of Daphnis; who is suppos'd, by the best Criticks, to represent Julius Cæsar. Mopsus laments his Death, Menalcas proclaims his Divinity. The whole Eclogue consisting of an Elegie and an Apotheosis.
MENALCAS.
INCE on the Downs our Flocks together feed,
And since my Voice can match your tuneful Reed,
Why sit we not beneath the grateful Shade,
Which Hazles, intermix'd with Elms, have made? ”

“ With staring Scales lies poison'd in his Bed:
To Birds their Native Heav'ns contagious prove,
From Clouds they fall, and leave their Souls above.⁠815
Besides, to change their Pasture 'tis in vain:
Or trust to Physick; Physick is their Bane. ”

“ Nor sought the Youthful Husband of the Herd,⁠⁠74
Tho' lab'ring Yokes on their own Necks they fear'd;
And felt for budding Horns on their smooth foreheads rear'd.
Ah, wretched Queen! you range the pathless Wood ”

“ They climb the steepy Hills, and stem the Flood.
⁠When at the Spring's approach their Marrow burns,
(For with the Spring their genial Warmth returns)
The Mares to Cliffs of rugged Rocks repair,⁠430
And with wide Nostrils snuff the Western Air:
When (wondrous to relate) the Parent Wind,
Without the Stallion, propagates the Kind.
Then fir'd with amorous rage, they take their Flight
Through Plains, and mount the Hills unequal height ”

“ There is hardly the Character of one good Woman to be found in his Poems: He uses the Word [Mulier] but once in the whole Æneis, then too by way of Contempt, rendring literally a piece of a Verse out of Homer. In his Pastorals he is full of invectives against Love: In the Georgics he appropriates all the rage of it to the Females. He makes Dido, who never deserv'd that Character, Lustful and Revengeful to the utmost degree ”

“ So profound a Naturalist, that he has solv'd more Phænomena of Nature upon sound Principles, than Aristotle in his Physics. He studied Geometry, the most opposite of all Sciences to a Poetick Genius, and Beauties of a lively imagination ”

“ Lest the fat Furrows shou'd the sense destroy ⁠220
Of Genial Lust; and dull the Seat of Joy.
But let 'em suck the Seed with greedy force;
And close involve the Vigour of the Horse.
The Male has done; thy care must now proceed
To teeming Females; and the promis'd breed. ⁠225
First let 'em run at large; and never know
The taming Yoak, or draw the crooked Plough.
Let 'em not leap the Ditch, or swim the Flood ”

“ In the First he has only dead Matter on which to work. In the second he just steps on the World of Life, and describes that degree of it which is to be found in Vegetables. In the third he advances to Animals. And in the last, singles out the Bee, which may be reckon'd the most sagacious of 'em, for his Subject.
In this Georgic he shews us what Station is most proper for the Bees, and when they begin to gather Honey: how to call 'em home when they swarm; and how to part 'em when they are engag'd in Battel. From hence he takes occasion to discover their different Kinds ”

“ With falling Fruits and Berries paint the Ground;⁠75
And lavish Nature laughs, and strows her Stores around.
But if Alexis from our Mountains fly,
Ev'n running Rivers leave their Channels dry.
THYRSIS.
⁠Parch'd are the Plains, and frying is the Field,
Nor with'ring Vines their juicy Vintage yield.⁠80
But if returning Phillis bless the Plain,
The Grass revives; the Woods are green again;
And Jove descends in Show'rs of kindly Rain.
CORYDON.
⁠The Poplar is by great Alcides worn:
The Brows of Phœbus his own Bays adorn.⁠85
The branching Vine the jolly Bacchus loves ”