Me. CUR nōn, Mopse, boni quoniam convenimus ambō, Mo. Tu mãior; tibi me est aequum pārēre, Menalcā, Sive antrō potius succedimus. Aspice, ut antrum Me. Montibus in nostris sõlus tibi certat Amyntas. 1-19. This introductory exchange of compliments is markedly unlike the exchange of scurrilities with which the third Eclogue opens. 4. Maior, sc. natu. 6. Aspice, etc., while disclaiming any choice, Mopsus modestly shows his preference for the grotto. Ut sparsit is not to be taken as a dependent question, as in Aen. I. 667, but as an exclamation only loosely dependent upon aspice. So in Cicero (Tusc. Disp. I. 5): Dic, quaeso, num te illa tenent? 5 10 9. Mopsus (ironically): "Why then the fellow would rival even Apollo!" 10. Ignes, here in the sense of lovesongs. 10, 11. Phyllis, Alcon, Codrus. These may be simply ideal names of pastoral characters; but it would not be out of place to take them as referring to characters in Greek legend. Here, | Phyllis was the daughter of Lycurgus, king of Thrace. Fancying that her lover, Demophoön, son of Theseus, had deserted her, she hung herself, and was changed into a leafless almond tree. 2. Inflare, dicere, 163.-9. Certet, 196. Incipe; pascentes servabit Tityrus haedōs. Mo. Immo haec, in viridi nuper quae cortice făgi This tree put forth leaves upon the embrace of the returned lover. Alcon was a celebrated archer of Crete, who shot a serpent that was coiled about his son with so true an aim that the son was uninjured. Codrus was a king of Athens at war with the Spartans. An oracle had declared that that side should win whose king was slain. In order to prevent the success of the Athenians the Spartan king had commanded his soldiers to spare Codrus at all hazards. But the latter, assuming peasant's garb, picked a quarrel with the Spartan soldiers, and so was slain. 13. Immo haec. "No, none of those songs, but here is one which I have recently composed and set to music." 15. Amyntas. There is still a little pique on account of the suggested rivalry in 1. 8. 16-18. Menalcas here makes ample amends. Con. quotes Keightley "Fully to understand the following comparisons, we must recollect that the leaves of the willow and the olive are of the same form, and of the same pale green color, while the difference in the value of the trees is immense. The 'saliunca,' or Celtic reed, in like manner resembles the rose in odour, but is so brittle that 15 20 it cannot be woven into garlands, the great use made of the rose by the ancients." Theocritus has a similar comparison (V. 92): ἀλλ ̓ οὐ σύμβλητ ̓ ἐντὶ κυνόσβατος οὐδ ̓ ἀνεμώνα πρὸς ῥόδα, τῶν ἄνδηρα παρ' αἱμασιαῖσι πεφύκη. 'Nay, ye may not liken dog-roses to the rose, or wind-flowers to the roses of the garden; by the garden walls their beds are blossoming." 19. Puer. Although Mopsus was himself the younger man (1. 4), this term is not inappropriate, as it seems to be a general term for "shepherd." 21. Flebant. "The rare rhythm of the overhanging spondee, which makes the line slow, is always used intention ally by Vergil: Geo. III. 317 of the weary goats. Atque ipsae memores redeunt in tecta, suosque Ducunt, et gravido superant vix ubere limen ; Geo. IV. 164 of the laboring bees Stipant et liquido Cum complexa sui corpus miserābile nātī Frigida, Daphni, boves ad flumina; nulla nec amnem nor they for eating or drinking Milton (Lycidas) presents the same thought of mourning nature: But oh, the heavy change now thou art gone, Now thou art gone, and never must re turn! Thee, shepherd, thee the woods and desert caves With wild thyme and the gadding vine o'ergrown, And all their echoes mourn. 27. Poenos leones, cf. Ecl. I. 54, note. 28. Loquuntur, i. e. by their echoes. 29. Curru, 104. Ipsa Pales agros atque ipse reliquit Apollo. Spargite humum foliis, inducite fōntibus umbras, 40 Et tumulum facite, et tumulo superaddite carmen: Me. Tale tuum carmen nobis, divine poēta, Nos tamen haec quocumque modo tibi nostra vicissim 36. Grandia hordea. The largest grains of barley were selected for seed. 36-39. The disastrous consequences of the withdrawal of Pales and Apollo, the tutelary deities of shepherds. Pales was a pure Italian deity, one of the most ancient. Her festival, called the Palilia, was celebrated on the 21st of April, and was regarded as the day on which Rome had been founded. For a full description of this festival see Ovid, Fast. IV. 721, seq. 40-42. Daphnis is to have a true shepherd's burial, under the flower strewn turf, hard by the shady fountain. 46, 47. By no other comparison could he better express the simple and innocent, though exquisite delight. 48. Magistrum, i. e. Daphnis. 50. Quocumque modo, the words of modesty, "as best I may." 51, 52. Daphnim. Daphnin. Which is the more usual form, and why this difference in spelling? Me. Candidus insuētum mirātur limen Olympi Ulla dolum meditantur; amat bonus ōtia Daphnis. Intōnsi montēs; ipsae iam carmina rūpēs, 60 65 joices in his joy, in like manner as she grieved for his death. 60. Lupus, sc. meditatur. 60, 61. This exaltation of Daphnis means the ushering in of the Golden Age. 62-64. To the poet's ears all nature is full of the voice of praise. The waste places unite with men and beasts in joy at the exaltation of their friend. Compare the similar language of Isaiah (xiv. 7, 8) descriptive of the joy of nature at the downfall of the wicked: "The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us." 65. Sis felix. The language of Aen. I. 330. 66. Altaria. This is to be taken in apposition with aras to be supplied with the second duas; two arae for Daphnis, two altaria for Apollo. Servius, on this 60. Pecori, cervis, 102. - 65. Aras, governed by the verbal idea in en (= vide). Cf. ecce duas. |