Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

WORKS OF VIRGIL.

WORKS OF VIRGIL:

WITH THE

LATIN INTERPRETATION OF RUÆUS,

AND

THE ENGLISH NOTES OF DAVIDSON.

WITH A CLAVIS.

TO WHICH IS ADDED

A LARGE VARIETY OF BOTANICAL, MYTHOLOGICAL, AND HISTORICAL

NOTES,

SELECTED AND ORIGINAL,

WITH A VIEW TO FACILITATE THE ACQUISITION OF THE MEANING, AND TO PROMOTE
A TASTE FOR THE BEAUTIES OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS AUTHOR,

BY WILLIAM STAUGHTON, D. D.

SECOND EDITION:

PHILADELPHIA:

H. C. CAREY AND I. LEA-CHESTNUT STREET.

[ocr errors]

EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, TO WIT:

BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-ninth day of August, in the fiftieth year of the Independence of the United States of America, A. D. 1825, H. C. Carey and Í. Lea, of the said district, have deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit:

"The Works of Virgil: with the Latin Interpretation of Ruæus, and the English Notes of Davidson. With a Clavis. To which is added a large variety of Botanical, Mythological, and Historical Notes, selected and original, with a view to facilitate the acquisition of the Meaning, and to promote a Taste for the Beauties of the Illustrious Author, by William Staughton, D. D. Second edition."

In conformity to the act of the congress of the United States, intituled, " An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned."And also to the act, entitled, "An act supplementary to an act, entitled "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned," and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints."

D. CALDWELL,

Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

P. VIRGILII MARONIS

BUCOLICA.

MEL.

ECLOGA I.

TITYRUS.

MELIBUS, TITYRUS.

5

INTERPRETATIO. Mel. Tityre, tu jacens sub umbraculo fagi opaca, modularis cantilenam pastoralem cum parvâ fistulâ : nos deserimus terminos patrie, et agros amœnos; nos eximus è patriá: tu, Tityre, otiosus sub umbra, doces arbores referre nomen pulchra Amaryllidis.--Tit. O Melibore, Deus nobis 10 dedit bane quietem. Nam

TITYRE, tu patulæ recubans sub tegmine fagi,
Sylvestrem tenui Musam meditaris avenâ:
Nos patriæ fines, et dulcia linquimus arva ;
Nos patriam fugimus: Tu, Tityre, lentus in umbrâ
Formosam resonare doces Amaryllida sylvas.
TIT. O Melibœe, Deus nobis hæc otia fecit.
Namque erit ille mihi semper Deus: illius aram
Sæpe tener nostris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus.
Ille meas errare boves, ut cernis, et ipsum
Ludere, quæ vellem, calamo permisit agresti.
MEL. Non equidem invideo: miror magis: undiq; totis habebo semper illum Dei
electus ex ovili nostro tinget illius aram sanguine. Ille permisit vaccas mens vagari, ut vides, et me ipsum
canere fistulâ rusticâ quicquid vellem.-Mel. Ego quidem non invideo, imò admiror,

NOTES.

The occasion of the first pastoral was this: When Augustus had settled himself in the Roman empire, that he might reward his veteran troops for their past service, he distributed among them all the lands that lay about Mantua and Cremona, turning out the right owners for having sided with his enemies. Virgil (or his father) was a sufferer among the rest; but he recovered his estate by the intercession of Mecenas, Pollio, and Varus. Virgil, as an instance of his gratitude, composed the following pastoral; where he sets out his father's good fortune in the person of Tityrus, and the calamities of his Mantuan neighbours in the character of Melibaus. To this piece of history Martial refers in the following lines:

Sint Mæcenates, non deerunt, Flacce, Ma

[blocks in formation]

loco: sæpe tener agnus

plainly distinguishes them. Metam. lib. x. v. 91, 92.

2. Silvestrem Musam, i. e. rusticum carmen, Lucretius, lib. II.

Fistula silvestrem ne cesset findere Mu

sam.

2. Meditaris, i. e. exerces, exercise your rural muse, as in Plautus, Stich. II 1.34. Ad cursum meditabor me. And Cic. 1. de Orat. 62. Demosthenes perfecit meditando, ut nemo planius eo locutus putaretur.

2. Avená. For fistula avenacea. The musical instruments used by shepherds were at first made of oat and wheat straw; then of reeds and hollow pipes of box; afterwards of the leg bones of cranes, horns of animals, metals, &c. Hence they are called, avena, stipula, calamus, arundo, fistula, buxus, tibia, cornu, æs, &c.

4. The primitive meaning of lentus is slow: but here it implies being at rest, and at leisure.

5. Amaryllida. By Amaryllis some understand Rome, and Virgil's friends at Rome: but there is no occasion for such refinement: the pastoral will appear more beautiful by considering Amaryllis simply as the shepherd's mistress, whose praises he sings at his ease. See Theocritus, Idyl 9. Errare. To feed at large.

III.

B

« ZurückWeiter »