40 45 50 errat ad obscuros pallida turba lacus. et calidam fesso conparat uxor aquam. duxit araturos sub iuga curva boves, Pax aluit vites et sucos condidit uvae, funderet ut nato testa paterna merum: pace bidens vomerque nitent - at tristia duri militis in tenebris occupat arma situs 39. quam GP quin AV. 40. occupat 0 occulit P. 46. curva AV panda P. 49. bidens PV nitens A. vomerque PV vomer A. nitent Guyetus nitet P vident A viderit V vigent sec. man. V w. funeral pyre. 38. lacus: the rivers of the lower world are continually represented as sluggish, like standing water; cf. 3, 5, 24; Prop. 4, II, 15; Verg. Aen. 6, 323: Cocyti stagna alta vides Stygiamque paludem. 39. laudandus: 'to be deemed happy.'— hic: rare quantity. 40. occupat: 'overtakes.' pigra: cf. I, I, 58. 42. aquam: for bathing. Cf. Hor. Epod. 2, 43: exstruat lignis focum lassi sub adventum viri. 43. sic ego sim: cf. the close of the previous paragraph, v. 29; 55 60 rusticus e lucoque vehit, male sobrius ipse, at lascivus Amor rixae mala verba ministrat, sit satis e membris tenuem rescindere vestem, sit lacrimas movisse satis: quater ille beatus 51. Haupt conjectured the loss of a distich before this v. O obtusa Némethy. 61. rescindere o perscindere AV. et vomer aduncus, ruris opes, niteant; inquinet arma situs. 51. lucoque: the sacred grove where the religious rites of a rural holiday would be celebrated, followed by the festive amusements of the day. Cf. Prop. 4, 6, 71; Ovid, Fast. 3, 525 sqq.; Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 140-144. For the position of the que, cf. Intr. § 28; Munro's note on Lucr. 2, 1050; Ovid, Fast. 2, 177, etc. male = non; Ovid, Fast. 6, 785: ecce suburbana rediens male sobrius aede; Her. 7, 27: ille quidem male gratus; Verg. Aen. 2, 23: statio male fida carinis. ipse as distinguished from the wife and children. Cf. for the customary indulgence 2, I, 29. 52. Cf. Livy, 5, 40, 10. cf. 55. subtusa 53. scissosque capillos: with this passage cf. Prop. 2, 5, 21 sqq.; Hor. Car. 1, 17, 26–28. 56. flet: cf. 2, 5, 103. 58. iratum . . . utrumque: 'the angry pair' (Cranst.). - lentus : 'calmly'; cf. Ovid, Am. 3, 6, 59– 60: ille habet et silices et vivum in pectore ferrum, qui tenero lacri mas lentus in ore videt. 59. Cf. v. 2; 1, 1, 63. 60. deripit: cf. 1, 2, 82: sertaque de sanctis deripuisse focis. The idea here is borrowed from the attack of the Giants upon heaven. 62. sit satis cf. the repetition in I, I, 43. — dissoluisse: for the tense cf. I, 1, 46, n. 63. For another point of view see I, 1, 51. —quater: a variation 65 quo tenera irato flere puella potest. sed manibus qui saevus erit, scutumque sudemque at nobis, Pax alma, veni spicamque teneto, LIBER SECVNDVS I Quisquis adest, faveat: fruges lustramus et agros, 68. perfluat o prefluat AV profluat G. on the common formula, terque quaterque; cf. 3, 3, 26; Verg. Aen. I, 94. 65. scutumque . . . gerat: i.e. let him rather than me go to war. 67. Representations of Pax (found mostly on coins) commonly have not only an olive branch and a cornucopia, but also a bundle of ears of corn in one hand. - teneto: the colloquial impv. in -to without special fut. force. Cf. PAPA., Vol. 26 (1895), p. lxi. 68. ante: adv. of place. 2, I As different Roman festivals had certain features in common, it is not always easy to decide positively which occasion may be in the mind of a poet like Vergil or Tibullus. Some of the features in the following description have led editors to suppose the poet to refer to the Sementivae, or Paganalia, celebrated in January; cf. Ovid, Fast. 1, 657-680; Fowler, Rom. Fest., pp. 294 sqq. But the poet is more commonly supposed to be describing the Ambarvalia. Cf. Fowler, Rom. Fest., pp. 124 sqq. Cf. also Fowler, Class. Rev., Vol. 22 (1908), pp. 37-40. Besides the public festival of the Ambarvalia, celebrated annually in May, every Roman possessor of a farm used to perform similar rites of purification for his own fields and crops about the last of April or first of May. The name of the festival is derived from the custom of leading thrice around the estate (arva and ambire) the sacrificial victim or victims before slaying them. At the greater celebration the victims were a boar, a ram, and a bull (suovetaurilia); but private citi 5 Bacche, veni, dulcisque tuis e cornibus uva pendeat, et spicis tempora cinge, Ceres. luce sacra requiescat humus, requiescat arator, et grave suspenso vomere cesset opus. zens might employ the lesser suovetaurilia (pig, lamb, calf), or offer only one of these. The divinities especially worshiped were Mars (in early times), Ceres, and Bacchus. This description of the Ambarvalia must have been written after 27 B.C. (cf. v. 33), perhaps the next spring. Another picture of the same festival may be seen in Verg. Georg. 1, 338 sqq. For a modern description see Walter Pater's Marius the Epicurean, pp. 3 sqq. 1-14 Invitation to the feast: 'Keep silence all! Come, Bacchus ! Come, Ceres! This is a sacred day, a day of rest for man and beast. Come purified to the sacred altars! 15-26: The solemn procession advances. Gods of my father, accept this offering, defend field and flock, and grant prosperity to my estate. Lo! the prayer is heard. 27-36: Now let us enjoy the festal banquet, and drink our fill; and while each pledges thy health, Messalla, come thyself and inspire my song of praise. 37-66: My theme is agriculture and its gods. They taught men to lead a civilized life. How delightful is rustic life, with its plenty and its joys! Hence came the drama, the forms of worship, and the art of weaving. 67-90: Cupid, too, they say, is a child of the fields. How skillful and bold he has grown! Neither old man, youth, nor maid is safe from his darts. Yet happy he who wins his favor! Come then, Cupid, to the feast, but leave thy quiver behind. Invoke, friends, the favor of this God for the flocks; for yourself too, if you will. Make merry! for night comes on apace.' 1. faveat: sc. lingua, i.e. let no inauspicious word fall. Cf. 2, 2, 1; Hor. Car. 3, 1, 2: favete linguis. — fruges lustramus: i.e. by anticipation. 3. cornibus: Bacchus was sometimes represented with horns, as an emblem of power and abundance (cf. cornucopia); cf. Baum. Denk., p. 435; Prop. 3, 17, 19: per te et tua cornua, vivam; Hor. Car. 2, 19, 29: te vidit insons Cerberus aureo cornu decorum; K. P. H. in AJA., Vol. 5 (1901), p. 7. 4. spicis ... cinge: the wreath of ears of corn was a stated attribute of Ceres; cf. I, 1, 15; 1, 10, 22; Hor. Car. Saec. 30: spicea donet Cererem corona. Baum. Denk., p. 417. IO 15 solvite vincla iugis: nunc ad praesepia debent plena coronato stare boves capite. omnia sint operata deo: non audeat ulla lanificam pensis inposuisse manum. vos quoque abesse procul iubeo, discedat ab aris, (for a description see Verg. Georg. 1, 169-175) that this word is literally correct. The plow was often hung on a limb in the same position as that of a scythe to-day. 7. iugis: the team,' just as we say, "a yoke of oxen." Best considered as a dat.; for the connection shows that everything is to be done on this occasion for the comfort and well-being of the cattle, as well as that of their owners. This does not prevent the emphasizing of the idea of separation in translation. Cf. A 229; H. 427. 8. Wreathing of cattle was practiced not merely when the animals were to be sacrificed. One of the most familiar decorative features in art is garlanded ox skulls. 9. operata: 'be performed in honor of,' i.e. 'praise'; cf. v. 65; 2, 5, 95; Prop. 2, 28, 45; Verg. Georg. 1, 339. non: instead of the regular ne, because it belongs to ulla; nullus is quite often divided in poetry. - ulla: sc. puella; cf. 1, 3, 87. Woman's work is to stop, as well as man's. 10. lanificam: a poetic adjective, perhaps first found in this passage. 11. vos explained by the following clause, where the construction changes; for a similar change from plural to singular, cf. 1, 6, 39: tum procul absitis, quisquis colit arte capillos. 14. fontis only living water would do for purposes of purifi cation. 15. agnus: the victim had been led three times around the farm, and is now about to be sacrificed. 16. candida: cf. I, 10, 27.turba: the whole familia, agrestes, etc. 17. di patrii: an indefinite term, including doubtless Mars, Bacchus, and Ceres, and all others under whose protection the ancestral estate had hitherto thrived. |