Virgil_0563 10/14/2005 05:34 PM THE ONLINE LIBRARY OF LIBERTY © Liberty Fund, Inc. 2005 http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/index.php VIRGIL, THE GEORGICS (1STC BC) URL of this E-Book: http://oll.libertyfund.org/EBooks/Virgil_0563.pdf URL of original HTML file: http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/HTML.php?recordID=0563 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Virgil is regarded as the greatest of the Roman poets. His epic poem, the Aeneid, has been of continuing importance to Western literature. Products of the chaos of the Roman civil war years, Virgil’s works show a longing for a more peaceful ordering of society. Virgil’s importance to world literature is difficult to underestimate. Later poets and writers have venerated and sought to imitate him. Among his more famous admirers were Dante and Milton who composed epic poems on his model. ABOUT THE BOOK A bi-lingual edition with facing Latin and English pages. THE EDITION USED The Georgics of Virgil, by Arthur S. Way (London: Macmillan and Co., 1912). COPYRIGHT INFORMATION The text of this edition is in the public domain. FAIR USE STATEMENT This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit. _______________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS P. VERGILI MARONIS GEORGICON LIBER PRIMUS. THE GEORGICS OF VIRGIL. BOOK I. P. VERGILI MARONIS GEORGICON LIBER SECUNDUS. THE GEORGICS OF VIRGIL. BOOK II. P. VERGILI MARONIS GEORGICON LIBER TERTIUS. THE GEORGICS OF VIRGIL. BOOK III. P. VERGILI MARONIS GEORGICON LIBER QUARTUS. THE GEORGICS OF VIRGIL. BOOK IV. _______________________________________________________ VIRGIL, THE GEORGICS (1STC BC) http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/EBook.php?recordID=0563 Page 1 of 32 Virgil_0563 10/14/2005 05:34 PM THE Latin text is based on a collation of Conington’s edition with that of the Pitt Press. The spelling of the former has been generally preferred; but in punctuation the translator has used his own judgment. P. VERGILI MARONIS GEORGICON THE GEORGICS OF VIRGIL. LIBER PRIMUS. BOOK I. QUID faciat laetas segetes, quo sidere terram WHAT maketh the harvests’ golden laughter, what star-clusters guide Vertere, Maecenas, ulmisque adiungere vites The yeoman for turning the furrow, for wedding the elm to his bride, Conveniat, quae cura boum, qui cultus habendo All rearing of cattle, all tending of flocks, all mysteries Sit pecori, apibus quanta experientia parcis, By old experience taught of the treasure-hoarding bees— Hinc canere incipiam. Vos, o clarissima mundi 5 These shall be theme of my song. O ye bright stars of the sphere, Lumina, labentem caelo quae ducitis annum; Who pilot, as softly it glides o’er the sea of the heavens, the year; Liber et alma Ceres, vestro si munere tellus Bacchus and fostering Ceres, if earth, through your kindness, in scorn Chaoniam pingui glandem mutavit aristis, Turned from the acorns wild to the glory and gold of the corn, Poculaque inventis Acheloia miscuit uvis; And mingled her water-chalice with grapes of your bounty born; Et vos, agrestum praesentia numina, Fauni, 10 And ye, Fauns, Gods of the country-folk, ever mighty to aid, Ferte simul Faunique pedem Dryadesque puellae: Draw nigh, O Fauns, and with you draw nigh each Dryad-maid; Munera vestra cano. Tuque o, cui prima frementem For yours are the gifts that I chant; and thou, at whose trident-stroke Fudit equum magno tellus percussa tridenti, Snorting the first of steeds from the earth like a fountain broke, Neptune; et cultor nemorum, cui pinguia Ceae Neptune; and Orchard-haunter, for whom by the Cyclad Sea Ter centum nivei tondent dumeta iuvenci; 15 Steers snow-white are browsing the fertile copses by hundreds three; Ipse nemus linquens patrium saltusque Lycaei Thou too from thy forest-cradle, from glades of Lycaeus, draw near Pan, ovium custos, tua si tibi Maenala curae, Pan, Tegea’s Lord, O Guardian of sheep—if thou holdest dear Adsis, o Tegeaee, favens, oleaeque Minerva Maenala, graciously come! Minerva, creator thou Inventrix, uncique puer monstrator aratri, Of the olive; and thou, young hero, sire of the curvèd plough; Et teneram ab radice ferens, Silvane, cupressum; 20 And, Wood-king, thou, with a slim young cypress uptorn in thine hand. Dique deaeque omnes, studium quibus arva tueri, Come, Gods and Goddesses all who are zealous to ward tilth-land; Quique novas alitis non ullo semine fruges, Come, ye who nurture the new-born crops that no hands sow; Quique satis largum caelo demittitis imbrem; Come, ye who cause from the heavens the plenteous showers to flow! Tuque adeo, quem mox quae sint habitura deorum And thou—O thou!—none knows what place in the courts of the sky Concilia, incertum est—urbesne invisere, Caesar, 25 Thou, Caesar, wilt choose. To our cities wilt thou descend from on high, Terrarumque velis curam, et te maximus orbis And watch o’er the weal of the world?—shall the lands’ vast circle adore Auctorem frugum tempestatumque potentem Thee, as the Giver of Increase, the Lord of the Seasons Four, Accipiat, cingens materna tempora myrto, A monarch whose head is wreathed with his Mother’s myrtle-spray? An deus immensi venias maris ac tua nautae Wilt thou come to be god of the limitless main, and shall seafarers pray Numina sola colant, tibi serviat ultima Thule, 30 To thy godhead alone, and uttermost Thule be thrall to thy power, Teque sibi generum Tethys emat omnibus undis; And the Sea-queen give thee her daughter with all her waves for dower? Anne novum tardis sidus te mensibus addas, Or a new star, guiding the slowly-rolling months, wilt thou be, Qua locus Erigonen inter chelasque sequentes Where ’twixt the Virgin and Claws a wide space opens for thee:— Panditur; ipse tibi iam bracchia contrahit ardens Lo, now the Scorpion is drawing aside his arms of flame, Scorpius, et caeli iusta plus parte reliquit; 35 And hath left thee more than the space that a single Sign doth claim! Quidquid eris—nam te nec sperant Tartara regem, Whichsoe’er thou wilt be—not Tartarus hopes thee to sit on her throne; Nec tibi regnandi veniat tam dira cupido; And God forbid thou shouldst covet that awful crown for thine own! Quamvis Elysios miretur Graecia campos Though Greece may dream of a Paradise there, an Elysian Plain, Nec repetita sequi curet Proserpina matrem— Though oft-sought Proserpine care not to follow her mother again;— Da facilem cursum, atque audacibus adnue coeptis, 40 O speed my course, O smile upon this my bold emprise! Ignarosque viae mecum miseratus agrestes Look on the peasant who knows not the way with compassionate eyes! Ingredere et votis iam nunc adsuesce vocari. Come! Hear and answer prayer even now, ere thou mount to the skies! Vere novo, gelidus canis cum montibus humor In the birth-tide of spring, when melt from the mountains the ice and the snow, Liquitur, et Zephyro putris se glaeba resolvit, And the crumbling clods are breaking down as the west-winds blow, Depresso incipiat iam tum mihi taurus aratro 45 Then let the bull begin to groan, at the plough deep-thrust Ingemere, et sulco attritus splendescere vomer. As he strains, let the share gleam bright as the furrows scour it of rust. Illa seges demum votis respondet avari That field will grant to the prayers of the greediest husbandman more Agricolae, bis quae solem, bis frigora sensit; Than all, which twice to the sunglare, and twice to the winter frore Illius immensae ruperunt horrea messes. Hath been bared: his barns ever burst with their measureless golden store. At prius ignotum ferro quam scindimus aequor, 50 But, or ever we cleave with the share this chartless sea of good, Ventos et varium caeli praediscere morem The winds let us heedfully learn, and the sky’s ever-changing mood, Cura sit, ac patrios cultusque habitusque locorum, The inherited needs for nurture and dressing of soil and soil, Et quid quaeque ferat regio, et quid quaeque recuset. What fruits each region will yield, and what deny to our toil. Hic segetes, illic veniunt felicius uvae; Here corn-crops, yonder grapes in richer abundance glow, Arborei fetus alibi, atque iniussa virescunt 55 Otherwhere offspring of trees, or unbidden the green tides flow Gramina. Nonne vides, croceos ut Tmolus odores, Of the grass. Mark Tmolus—the odours of saffron are streaming thence: India mittit ebur, molles sua tura Sabaei, Her ivory India sends, Sabaeans their frankincense, At Chalybes nudi ferrum, virosaque Pontus The bare-armed Chalybes iron, and Pontus the beaver’s balm, Castorea, Eliadum palmas Epiros equarum? And Epirus the mares that win in the race the Olympian palm. Continuo has leges aeternaque foedera certis 60 Such laws and abiding covenant-pledges did Nature lay Imposuit natura locis, quo tempore primum On the several lands ordained, yea, since that far-off day Deucalion vacuum lapides iactavit in orbem, When Deucalion first cast stones o’er a world unpeopled yet, Unde homines nati, durum genus. Ergo age, terrae Whence sprang this flint-heart race of men. O come then, set Pingue solum primis extemplo a mensibus anni Thy sturdy steers with the year’s first months to upturn with the share Fortes invertant tauri, glaebasque iacentes 65 The mould of a rich soil: then, when the clods are so laid bare, Pulverulenta coquat maturis solibus aestas; Let summer scorch them to dust with her ripening suns’ hot glare. http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/EBook.php?recordID=0563 Page 2 of 32 Virgil_0563 10/14/2005 05:34 PM At si non fuerit tellus fecunda, sub ipsum But if fertile the soil be not, will a shallow furrow suffice Arcturum tenui sat erit suspendere sulco: For throwing it up in ridges light ere Arcturus rise:— Illic, officiant laetis ne frugibus herbae, Treat rich soils so, lest choking weeds mid the glad corn stand, Hic, sterilem exiguus ne deserat humor arenam.