Aeneid by Virgil
ARMS, and the man I sing, who, forc’d by fate, And haughty Juno’s unrelenting hate, Expell’d and exil’d, left the Trojan shore. Long labors, both by sea and land, he bore, And in the doubtful war, before he won The Latian realm, and built the destin’d town; His banish’d gods restor’d to rites divine, And […]
Eclogue VIII by Virgil
TO POLLIO, DAMON, ALPHESIBOEUS Of Damon and Alphesiboeus now, Those shepherd-singers at whose rival strains The heifer wondering forgot to graze, The lynx stood awe-struck, and the flowing streams, Unwonted loiterers, stayed their course to hear- How Damon and Alphesiboeus sang Their pastoral ditties, will I tell the tale. Thou, whether broad Timavus’ rocky banks […]
Eclogue VI by Virgil
TO VARUS First my Thalia stooped in sportive mood To Syracusan strains, nor blushed within The woods to house her. When I sought to tell Of battles and of kings, the Cynthian god Plucked at mine ear and warned me: “Tityrus, Beseems a shepherd-wight to feed fat sheep, But sing a slender song.” Now, Varus, […]
Eclogue IV by Virgil
POLLIO Muses of Sicily, essay we now A somewhat loftier task! Not all men love Coppice or lowly tamarisk: sing we woods, Woods worthy of a Consul let them be. Now the last age by Cumae’s Sibyl sung Has come and gone, and the majestic roll Of circling centuries begins anew: Justice returns, returns old […]
Eclogue III by Virgil
MENALCAS, DAMOETAS, PALAEMON Menalcas. Who owns the flock, Damoetas? Meliboeus? Damoetas. Nay, they are Aegon’s sheep, of late by him Committed to my care. Menalcas. O every way Unhappy sheep, unhappy flock! while he Still courts Neaera, fearing lest her choice Should fall on me, this hireling shepherd here Wrings hourly twice their udders, from […]
Eclogue V by Virgil
MENALCAS, MOPSUS Menalcas. Why, Mopsus, being both together met, You skilled to breathe upon the slender reeds, I to sing ditties, do we not sit down Here where the elm-trees and the hazels blend? Mopsus. You are the elder, ’tis for me to bide Your choice, Menalcas, whether now we seek Yon shade that quivers […]
Ecologue IX by Virgil
LYCIDAS, MOERIS Lycidas. Say whither, Moeris?- Make you for the town, Or on what errand bent? Moeris. O Lycidas, We have lived to see, what never yet we feared, An interloper own our little farm, And say, “Be off, you former husbandmen! These fields are mine.” Now, cowed and out of heart, Since Fortune turns […]
Ecologue I by Virgil
MELIBOEUS, TITYRUS Meliboeus. You, Tityrus, ‘neath a broad beech-canopy Reclining, on the slender oat rehearse Your silvan ditties: I from my sweet fields, And home’s familiar bounds, even now depart. Exiled from home am I; while, Tityrus, you Sit careless in the shade, and, at your call, “Fair Amaryllis” bid the woods resound. Tityrus. O […]
Eclogue X by Virgil
GALLUS This now, the very latest of my toils, Vouchsafe me, Arethusa! needs must I Sing a brief song to Gallus- brief, but yet Such as Lycoris’ self may fitly read. Who would not sing for Gallus? So, when thou Beneath Sicanian billows glidest on, May Doris blend no bitter wave with thine, Begin! The […]