This pastoral contains the songs of Damon and Alphesibæus. The first of them bewails the loss of his mistress, and repines at the success of his rival Mopsus. The other repeats the charms of some enchantress, who endeavoured by her spells and magic to make Daphnis in love with her.

THE mournful muse of two despairing swains,
The love rejected and the lovers' pains;
To which the savage lynxes list'ning stood;
The rivers stood in heaps, and stopp'd the run-
ning flood;

The hungry herd their needful food refuse-
Of two despairing swains, I sing the mournful

muse.

Great Pollio! thou, for whom thy Rome prepares

The ready triumph of thy finish'd wars,
Whether Timavus or th' Illyrian coast,
Whatever land or sea, thy presence boast;
Is there an hour in fate reserved for me,
To sing thy deeds in numbers worthy thee?
In numbers like to thine, could I rehearse,
Thy lofty tragic scenes, thy labour'd verse,
The world another Sophocles in thee,
Another Homer should behold in me
Amidst thy laurels let this ivy twine :
Thine was my earliest muse, my latest shall
be thine,

Scarce from the world the shades of night

withdrew,

Scarce were the flocks refresh'd with morning dew,

When Damon, stretch'd beneath an olive shade,'
And wildly staring upwards, thus inveigh'd
Against the conscious gods, and curs'd the
maid:

"Star of the morning, why dost thou delay?
Come, Lucifer, drive on the lagging day,
While I my Nisa's perjur'd faith deplore-
Witness, ye pow'rs by whom she falsely swore!
The gods, alas! are witnesses in vain :
Yet shall my dying breath to heaven complain.
Begin with me, my flute, the sweet Manalian

strain.

"The pines of Mænalus, the vocal grove, Are ever full of verse and full of love: They hear the hinds, they hear their god complain,

Who suffer'd not the reeds to rise in vain. Begin with me, my flute, the sweet Mænalian strain.

"Mopsus triumphs; he weds the willing fair. When such is Nisa's choice, what lover can despair?

Now griffons join with mares; another age Shall see the hound and hind their thirst as

suage,

Promiscuous at the spring. Prepare the lights O Mopsus! and perform the bridal rites. Scatter thy nuts among the scrambling boys: Thine is the night, and thine the nuptial joys. For thee the sun declines: O happy swain! Begin with me, my flute, the sweet Mænalian strain.

"O Nisa' justly to thy choice condemn'd! Whom hast thou taken, whom hast thou contemn'd?

For him, thou hast refus'd my browzing herd, Scorn'd my thick eye-brows, and my shaggy beard.

Unhappy Damon sighs and sings in vain, While Nisa thinks no god regards a lover's pain,

Begin with me, my flute, the sweet Mænalian strain.

"I view'd thee first, (how fatal was the view!) And led thee where the ruddy wildings grew, High on the planted hedge, and wet with morning dew.

Then scarce the bending branches I could win ;
The callow down began to clothe my chin.
I saw, I perish'd, yet indulg'd my pain.
Begin with me, my flute, the sweet Mænalian
strain.

"I know thee, love! in deserts thou wert And at the dugs of savage tigers fed; [bred,

"See, while my last endeavours I delay, The waking ashes rise, and round our altars play!

Run to the threshold, Amaryllis-hark! Our Hylax opens, and begins to bark. Good heav'n! may lovers what they wish believe? [ceive?

Or dream their wishes, and those dreams deNo more! my Daphnis comes! no more, my charms! [arms." He comes, he runs, he leaps, to my desiring

PASTORAL IX.
OR,

LYCIDAS AND MERIS.

ARGUMENT.

When Virgil, by the favour of Augustus, had recovered his patrimony near Mantua, and went in hope to take possession, he was in danger to be slain by Arius the centurion, to whom those lands were assigned by the emperor, in reward of his service against Brutus and Cassius. This pastoral therefore is filled with complaints of this hard usage; and the persons introduced are the bailiff of Virgil, Mœris, and his friend Lyoidas.

LYCIDAS.

Ho, Moris! whither on thy way so fast? This leads to town.

MORIS.

O Lycidas! at last The time is come, I never thought to see, (Strange revolutions for my farm and me!) When the grim captain in a surly tone Cries out, "Pack up, ye rascals, and be gone." Kick'd out, we set the best face on't we could, And these two kids, t' appease his angry mood, I bear, of which the Furies give him good!

LYCIDAS.

Your country friends were told another taleThat from the sloping mountain to the vale, And dodder'd oak, and all the banks along, Menalcas sav'd his fortune with a song.

MORIS.

Such was the news, indeed; but songs and rhymes

Prevail as much in these hard iron times,
As would a plump of trembling fowl, that rise
Against an eagle sousing from the skies.
And had not Phoebus warn'd me, by the croak
Of an old raven from a hollow oak,
To shun debate, Menalcas had been slain,
And Moris not surviv'd him, to complain.

LYCIDAS.

Now heaven defend! could barbarous rage induce [Muse? The brutal son of Mars t' insult the sacred

Who then should sing the nymphs? or who re

hearse

The waters gliding in a smoother verse?
Of Amaryllis praise that heavenly lay,
That shorten'd, as we went, our tedious way-
"O Tityrus, tend my herd, and see them fed;
To morning pastures, ev'ning waters, led ;
And 'ware the Libyan ridgil's butting head."

MERIS.

Or what unfinish'd he to Varus read"Thy name, O Varus, (if the kinder pow'rs Preserve our plains, and shield the Mantuan tow'rs,

Obnoxious by Cremona's neighbouring crime) The wings of swans and stronger-pinion'd rhyme,

Shall raise aloft, and soaring bear above-
Th' immortal gift of gratitude to Jove."

LYCIDAS.

Sing on, sing on: for I can ne'er be cloy'd.
So may thy swarms the baleful yew avoid :

So
may thy cows their burden'd bags distend,
And trees to goats their willing branches bend.
Mean as I am, yet have the Muses made
Me free, a member of the tuneful trade:
At least the shepherds seem to like my lays;
But I discern their flatt'ry from their praise:
I nor to Cinna's ears, nor Varus', dare aspire,
But gabble, like a goose amidst the swan-like
choir.

MORIS

'Tis what I have been conning in my mind; Nor are thy verses of a vulgar kind. "Come, Galatea! come! the seas forsake? What pleasures can the tides with their hoarse murmurs make?

See, on the shore inhabits purple spring; Where nightingales their love-sick ditty sing: See, meads with purling streams, with flow'rs the ground,

The grottoes cool with shady poplars crown'd, And creeping vines on arbours weav'd around. Come then, and leave the waves' tumultuous

roar;

Let the wild surges vainly beat the shore."

LYCIDAS.

Or that sweet song I heard with such delight; The same you sung alone one starry night. The tune I still retain, but not the words. MERIS.

"Why, Daphnis, dost thou search in old records,

To know the seasons when the stars arise?
See, Cæsar's lamp is lighted in the skies-
The star, whose rays the blushing grapes adorn,
And swell the kindly rip'ning ears of corn.
Under this influence graft the tender shoot;
Thy children's children shall enjoy the fruit."

The rest I have forgot, for cares and time
Change all things, and untune my soul to rhyme.
I could have once sung down a summer's sun:
But now the chime of poetry is done :
My voice grows hoarse, I feel the notes decay;
As if the wolves had seen me first to-day.
But these, and more than I to mind can bring,
Menalcas has not yet forgot to sing.

LYCIDAS.

Thy faint excuses but inflame me more:
And now the waves roll silent to the shore;
Hush'd winds the topmost branches scarcely
bend,

As if thy tuneful song they did attend :
Already we have half our way o'ercome
Far off I can discern Bianor's tomb,

Here, where the lab'rer's hands have form'd a bow'r

Of wreathing trees, in singing waste an hour.
Rest here thy weary limbs; thy kids lay down:
We've day before us yet to reach the town
Or if, ere night, the gathering clouds we fear,
A song will help the beating storm to bear.
And that thou mayst not be too late abroad,
Sing, and I'll ease thy shoulders of thy load.

MERIS.

Cease to request me; let us mind our way:
Another song requires another day.
When good Menalcas comes, if he rejoice,
And find a friend at court, I'll find a voice.

PASTORAL X. OR, GALLUS.

ARGUMENT.

Gallus, a great patron of Virgil, and an excellent poet, was very deeply in love with one Cytheris, whom he calls Lycoris, and who had forsaken him for the company of a soldier. The poet therefore supposes his friend Gallus retired, in his height of melancholy, into the solitudes of Arcadia, (the celebrated scene of pastorals,) where he represents him in a very languishing condition, with all the rural deities about him, pitying his hard usage, and condoling his misfortune.

THY sacred succour, Arethusa, bring,
To crown my labour, ('tis the last I sing,)
Which proud Lycoris may with pity view:
The muse is mournful, though the numbers few,
Refuse me not a verse, to grief and Gallus due.
So may thy silver streams beneath the tide,
Unmix'd with briny seas, securely glide.
Sing then my Gallus, and his hopeless vows;
Sing while my cattle crop the tender browze.
The vocal grove shall answer to the sound,
And echo, from the vales, the tuneful voice re-
bound.

What lawns or woods withheld you from his aid,

Ye nymphs, when Gallus was to love betray'd,
To love, unpitied by the cruel maid?
Not steepy Pindus could retard your course,
Nor cleft Parnassus, nor the Aonian source:
Nothing that owns the Muses, could suspend
Your aid to Gallus :-Gallus is their friend.
For him the lofty laurel stands in tears,
And hung with humid pearls the lowly shrub
appears.

Mænalian pines the godlike swain bemoan,
When spread beneath a rock, he sigh'd alone;
And cold Lycæus wept from ev'ry dropping

stone.

The sheep suround their shepherd, as he lies.
Blush not, sweet poet, nor the name despise :
Along the streams, his flock Adonis fed;
And yet the queen of beauty blest his bed.
The swains and tardy neatherds came, and last
Menalcas, wet with beating winter mast.
Wond'ring they ask'd from whence arose thy
flame.

Yet more amaz'd, thy own Apollo came.
Flush'd were his cheeks, and glowing were his

eyes:

"Is she thy care? is she thy care?" he cries, "Thy false Lycoris flies thy love and thee, And for thy rival tempts the raging sea, The forms of horrid war, and heav'n's inclemency."

Silvanus came: his brows a country crown Of fennel, and of nodding lilies, drown. Great Pan arriv'd; and we beheld him too, His cheeks and temples of vermilion hue. "Why, Gallus, this immod'rate grief?" he cried.

"Think'st thou that love with tears is satisfied? The meads are sooner drunk with morning dews,

The bees with flow'ry shrubs, the goats with browse."

Unmov'd, and with dejected eyes, he mourn'd: He paus'd, and then these broken words re

turn'd:

"'Tis past; and pity gives me no relief:
But you, Arcadian swains, shall sing my grief,
And on your hills my last complaints renew:
So sad a song is only worthy you.
How light would lie the turf upon my breast,
If you my suff'rings in your songs exprest!
Ah! that your birth and business had been
mine-

To pen the sheep, and press the swelling vine.
Had Phyllis or Amyntas caus'd my pain,
Or any nymph or shepherd on the plain,
(Tho' Phyllis brown, tho' black Amyntas were,
Are violets not sweet, because not fair?)

Beneath the sallows and the shady vine,
My loves had mix'd their pliant limbs with mine:
Phyllis with myrtle wreaths had crown'd my
hair,

And soft Amyntas sung away my care.
Come, see what pleasures in our plains abound;
The woods, the fountains, and the flow'ry
ground.

As you are beauteous, were you half so true,
Here could I live, and love, and die with only

you.

Now I to fighting fields am sent afar,
And strive in winter camps with toils of war;
While you, (alas, that I should find it so!)
To shun my sight your native soil forego,
And climb the frozen Alps, and tread th' eternal

snow,

Ye frosts and snows, her tender body spare!
Those are not limbs for icicles to tear.
For me, the wilds and deserts are my choice;
The Muses once my care, my once harmonious
voice.

There will I sing, forsaken and alone :

The rocks and hollow caves shall echo to my

moan.

The rind of ev'ry plant her name shall know;
And, as the rind extends, the love shall grow.
Then on Arcadian mountains will I chase
(Mix'd with the woodland nymphs) the savage

race;

Nor cold shall hinder me, with horns and hounds
To tread the thickets, or to leap the mounds.
And now methinks o'er steepy rocks I go,
And rush through sounding woods, and bend the
Parthian bow;

As if with sports my suff'rings I should ease,
Or by my pains the god of love appease.
My frenzy changes: I delight no more
On mountain tops to chase the tusky boar:
No
game but hopeless love my thoughts pursue:
Once more, ye nymphs, and songs, and sound-
ing woods, adieu!

Love alters not for us his hard decrees,
Not though beneath the Thracian clime we
freeze,

Or Italy's indulgent heav'n forego,

And in mid-winter tread Sithonian snow;
Or, when the barks of elms are scorch'd, we
keep

On Meroe's burning plains the Libyan sheep.
In hell, and earth, and seas, and heav'n above,
Love conquers all; and we must yield to love."
My Muses, here your sacred raptures end:
The verse was what I ow'd my suff'ring friend.
This while I sung, my sorrows I deceiv'd,
And bending osiers into baskets weav'd.
The song, because inspir'd by you, shall shine;
And Gallus will approve, because 'tis mine-
Gallus, for whom my holy flanes renew,
Each hour, and ev'ry moment rise in view:
As alders, in the spring, their boles extend,
And heave so fiercely, that the bark they rend,
Now let us rise: for hoarseness oft invades
The singer's voice, who sings beneath the
shades.

From juniper unwholsome dews distil,
That blast the sooty corn, the withering herbage

kill.

Away, my goats, away! for you have brows'd your fill.

GEORGIC I. ARGUMENT.

The poet, in the beginning of this book, propounds the general design of each Georgic: and, after a solemn invocation of all the gods who are any way related to his subject, he addresses himself in particular to Augustus, whom he compliments with divinity; and after strikes into his business. He shows the different kinds of tillage proper to different soils, traces out the orignal of agriculture, gives a catalogue of the husbandman's tools, specifies the employments peculiar to each season, describes the changes of the weather, with the signs in heaven and earth that forebode them; instances many of the prodigies that happened near the time of Julius Cæsar's death; and shuts up all with a supplication to the gods for the safety of Augustus, and the preservation of Rome. WHAT makes a plenteous harvest, when to turn The fruitful soil, and when to sow the corn;

The care of sheep, of oxen, and of kine;
And how to raise on elms the teeming vine;
The birth and genius of the frugal bee,
I sing, Mæcenas, and I sing to thee.

Ye deities! who fields and plains protect,
Who rule the seasons, and the year direct,
Bacchus and fost'ring Ceres, pow'rs divine,
Who gave us corn for mast, for water, wine-
Ye Fauns, propitious to the rural swains,
Ye nymphs that haunt the mountains and the
plains,

Join in my work, and to my numbers bring Your needful succour ; for your gifts I sing. And thou, whose trident struck the teeming

earth,

And made a passage for the courser's birth;