20

25

vos mala de nostris pellite limitibus,
neu seges eludat messem fallacibus herbis,
neu timeat celeres tardior agna lupos.
tum nitidus plenis confisus rusticus agris
ingeret ardenti grandia ligna foco,
turbaque vernarum, saturi bona signa coloni,
ludet et ex virgis extruet ante casas.
eventura precor: viden ut felicibus extis
significet placidos nuntia fibra deos?
nunc mihi fumosos veteris proferte Falernos

18. pellite: 'avert': used instead of the obsolete averruncare of the ancient formula.

19. eludat: originally a gladiatorial term, to 'parry' an enemy's thrust; hence to 'disappoint.' We should have expected messorem; but the 'crop' is represented as disappointed because it cannot fulfill its promise. herbis: the green blades which make only a fair show.

21. tum: 'in that case,' i.e. if my prayers are granted. — nitidus : 'trim.'

22. Cf. Hor. Epod. 2, 43: vetustis exstruat lignis

sacrum

focum.

ibus; Ovid, Fast. 3, 528: e ramis frondea facta casa est; Class. Rev., Vol. 22 (1908), p. 39.

25. extis: including theoretically the liver, heart, lungs, gall, and caul of the victims; but we need not suppose that a minute examination was made, if there were signs of a propitious omen.

26. fibra here in the proper signification of the filament terminating the exta; often by synecdoche for exta itself, as in 1, 8, 3: : nec mihi sunt sortes nec conscia fibra deorum.

27. fumosos: wine was commonly left in a fumarium, or smoke-chamber, where it gathered a flavor much relished by the ancients; cf. Ovid, Fast. 5, 518: fumoso condita vina cado. B. G., p. 489. Falernos : SC. cados. Falernian and Chian wines are types of the choicest vintages, native and foreign. As the former was acid and the latter sweet, they were favorites for mixing. Cf. Intr. § 42, I (4).

30

35

consulis et Chio solvite vincla cado.

vina diem celebrent: non festa luce madere
est rubor, errantes et male ferre pedes.
sed bene Messallam' sua quisque ad pocula dicat,
nomen et absentis singula verba sonent.
gentis Aquitanae celeber Messalla triumphis
et magna intonsis gloria victor avis,

huc ades adspiraque mihi, dum carmine nostro
redditur agricolis gratia caelitibus.

rura cano rurisque deos. his vita magistris
desuevit querna pellere glande famem:

34. intonsis: a common epithet of the Romans of early times, before the tonsorial art was in vogue. Cf. Hor. Car. 1, 12, 41: intonsis Curium capillis. Cf. 1, 7, 16, n.

35 ades adspiraque: Messalla is invoked, as if he were one of the Muses. So Vergil called upon Maecenas in Georg. 2, 39: tuque ades, inceptumque una decurre laborem, o decus. Maecenas.

36. agricolis: 'patrons of husbandry.'

38. glande: for acorns as a staple of food in the Golden Age, cf. Ovid, Met. 1, 106; Am. 3, 10, 9; Fast. 1, 676; Tib. 2, 3, 68:

40

45

50

illi conpositis primum docuere tigillis

exiguam viridi fronde operire domum,
illi etiam tauros primi docuisse feruntur

servitium et plaustro supposuisse rotam.
tum victus abiere feri, tum consita pomus,
tum bibit inriguas fertilis hortus aquas,
aurea tum pressos pedibus dedit uva liquores
mixtaque securo est sobria lympha mero.
rure terunt messes, calidi cum sideris aestu
deponit flavas annua terra comas.
rure levis verno flores apis ingerit alveo,
conpleat ut dulci sedula melle favos.
agricola adsiduo primum satiatus aratro
cantavit certo rustica verba pede

43. tum consita AG tunc consita V tunc insita w.

glans alat, et prisco more bibantur aquae. glans aluit veteres.

41. Ovid, Am. 3, 10, 13: prima iugis tauros supponere colla coegit et veterem curvo dente revellit humum. - illī for the elision cf. Intr. § 42.

44. inriguas: in the active sense, as in Ovid, Am. 2, 16, 2: inriguis ora salubris aquis.

46. securo: another poetical active instead of the ordinary passive use; cf. Verg. Aen. 6, 715: securos latices et longa oblivia potant.

sidus might refer either to the sun, or to Sirius; most editors refer this passage to the sun, but without any very good reason think Horace is referring to the dog star in Epod. 1, 27: ante sidus fervidum. So Ovid, Met. 1, 424, aetherioque recens exarsit sidere limus, is quoted as referring to the sun; but Tibullus, 1, 7, 21, attributes the same result to Sirius as Vergil does in Aen. 3, 141: tum steriles exurere Sirius agros.

48. annua = quotannis, an odd adverbial use, with such a noun as terra. -comas: here used of the grain itself.

49. verno: agreeing with alveo, but used in the adverbial sense. -alveo: synizesis.

52. certo... pede: 'regular rhythm.'

55

60

et satur arenti primum est modulatus avena
carmen, ut ornatos diceret ante deos,
agricola et minio suffusus, Bacche, rubenti
primus inexperta duxit ab arte choros.
huic datus a pleno, memorabile munus, ovili
dux pecoris curtas auxerat hircus opes.
rure puer verno primum de flore coronam
fecit et antiquis inposuit laribus.

rure etiam teneris curam exhibitura puellis

molle gerit tergo lucida vellus ovis.

hinc et femineus labor est, hinc pensa colusque,

fusus et adposito pollice versat opus:

58. curtas auxerat hircus opes Waardenburg yrcus hauxerat yrcus oves A hauserat VG hirtas duxerat hircus oves Heinsius.

53. satur: after eating his fill.' avena: for a similar scene cf. Verg. Ec. 1, 1–2.

54. ornatos: with wreaths.

55. minio: originally, doubtless, made of the lees of wine, the most convenient substance on such occasions. Cf. Hor. Ep. 2, 3, 277: quae canerent agerentque peruncti faecibus ora. Later a prepared vermilion was used for both man and god; cf. I, 1, 17. From this custom masks came to be used in the dramatic representations originating in the same rustic festivals.

- Bacche: it was at the festivals of Dionysus that the Greek drama began, just as such native Italian dramatic forms as the Fescenninae and Saturae came from similar celebrations in Etruria.

56. ab used to make it clear that the idea is one of source here. Cf. Prop. 2, 27, II, n.

65

70

75

80

atque aliqua adsiduae textrix operata Minervae
cantat, et adplauso tela sonat latere.

ipse quoque inter agros interque armenta Cupido
natus et indomitas dicitur inter equas.

illic indocto primum se exercuit arcu :

hei mihi, quam doctas nunc habet ille manus!
nec pecudes, velut ante, petit: fixisse puellas
gestit et audaces perdomuisse viros.
hic iuveni detraxit opes, hic dicere iussit
limen ad iratae verba pudenda senem :
hoc duce custodes furtim transgressa iacentes
ad iuvenem tenebris sola puella venit
et pedibus praetemptat iter suspensa timore,
explorat caecas cui manus ante vias.

ah miseri, quos hic graviter deus urget! at ille
felix, cui placidus leniter adflat Amor.

67. quoque inter agros A quoque inter greges V interque greges Gapros

R. Klotz.

libratum tereti versabat turbine fusum; Ovid, Met. 6, 22: sive levi teretem versabat pollice fusum.

65. aliqua: i.e. here and there one. - operata: 'engaged in the service of'; cf. note on v. 9.– Minervae: the patroness of weaving; cf. H. & T. § 39. This is best considered not a case of metonymy.

66. latere used collectively, referring to the pieces of brick by which the threads of the warp were weighted to keep them taut, and which would often strike together as the web was moved back and forth for the passage of the shuttle; 'rings the web beneath the driven lay' (Cranst.).

ROM. EL. POETSII

161

67. Cf. Pervigilium Ven. 77: ipse Amor puer Dionae rure natus dicitur. Tibullus is fond of using ipse with the name of a divinity; cf. e.g. 1, 3, 58; 2, 2, 5; 1, 8, 5.

73. The perfect tenses express customary action.

74. iratae: sc. puellae.

76. iuvenem: her lover.' 77. pedibus praetemptat iter: 'her way on tiptoe feels' (Cranst.).

78. ante: adverb.

80. adflat: cf. 2, 4, 57: ubi indomitis gregibus Venus adflat

amores. - Amor: the more common name of this god in Tibullus.