Welcome their father's late return at night;
His faithful bed is crowned with chaste delight.
His kine with swelling udders ready stand,
And, lowing for the pail, invite the milker's hand.
His wanton kids, with budding horns prepared,
Fight harmless battles in his homely yard:
Himself, in rustic pomp, on holidays,

To rural powers a just oblation pays ;

And on the green his careless limbs displays.

SOCIAL ENJOYMENTS OF THE FARMER; THE SABINES; ROMULUS AND REMUS.

The hearth is in the midst; the herdsmen round The cheerful fire provoke his health in goblets crowned.

He calls on Bacchus, and propounds the prize;
The groom his fellow-groom at buts defies;
And bends his bow, and levels with his eyes.
Or, stripped for wrestling, smears his limbs with oil,
And watches with a trip his foe to foil.
Such was the life the frugal Sabines led ;
So Remus and his brother-god were bred:
From whom the austere Etrurian virtue rose ;
And this rude life our homely fathers chose.

RUSTIC VIRTUES OF THE OLD ROMANS. SATURN AND THE
GOLDEN AGE.

Old Rome from such a race derived her birth The seat of empire, and the conquered earth — Which now on seven high hills triumphant reigns, And in that compass all the world contains. E'er Saturn's rebel son usurped the skies, When beasts were only slain for sacrifice : While peaceful Crete enjoyed her ancient lord; E'er sounding hammers forged the inhuman sword: E'er hollow drums were beat; before the breath Of brazen trumpets rung the peals of death; The good old god his hunger did assuage With roots and herbs, and gave the Golden Age. But, over-labored with so long a course, "T is time to set at ease the smoking horse.

BOOK III.

ARGUMENT.

This book begins with an invocation of some rural deities, and a compliment to Augustus; after which Virgil directs himself to Mæcenas, and enters on his subject. He lays down rules for the breeding and management of horses, oxen, sheep, goats, and dogs; and interweaves several pleasant descriptions of a chariot-race, of the battle of the bulls, of the force of love, and of the Scythian winter. In the latter part of the book he relates the diseases incident to cattle; and ends with the description of a fatal murrain that formerly raged among the Alps.

OLD AND WORN-OUT THEMES REJECTED FOR PASTORAL.

Thy fields, propitious Pales, I rehearse; And sing thy pastures in no vulgar verse, Amphrysian shepherd; the Lycæan woods; Arcadia's flowery plains, and pleasing floods. All other themes, that careless minds invite, Are worn with use; unworthy me to write,

Busiris' altars, and the dire decrees
Of hard Eurystheus, every reader sees :
Hylas the boy, Latona's erring isle,
And Pelops' ivory shoulder, and his toil
For fair Hippodame, with all the rest
Of Grecian tales, by poets are expressed :
New ways I must attempt, my grovelling name
To raise aloft, and wing my flight to fame.

THE POET BRINGS TROPHIES FROM GREECE AND PALESTINE.

I, first of Romans, shall in triumph come From conquered Greece, and bring her trophies home: With foreign spoils adorn my native place; And with Idume's palms my Mantua grace. Of Parian stone a temple will I raise, Where the slow Mincius through the valley strays : Where cooling streams invite the flocks to drink : And reeds defend the winding water's brink.

COMPLIMENT TO AUGUSTUS, AS CONQUEROR OF GREECE. AN ALLUSION TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES.

Full in the midst shall mighty Cæsar stand;
Hold the chief honors, and the dome command.
Then I, conspicuous in my Tyrian gown
(Submitting to his godhead my renown),
A hundred coursers from the goal will drive;
The rival chariots in the race shall strive.
All Greece shall flock from far, my games to see;
The whirlbat, and the rapid race, shall be
Reserved for Cæsar, and ordained by me.
Myself, with olive crowned, the gifts will bear :
Even now methinks the public shouts I hear;
The passing pageants, and the pomps appear.

I to the temple will conduct the crew:
The sacrifice and sacrificers view;
From thence return, attended with my train,
Where the proud theatres disclose the scene;
Which interwoven Britons seem to raise,

And show the triumph which their shame displays.

TROPHY TO CESAR IMAGINED.

High o'er the gate, in elephant and gold, The crowd shall Cæsar's Indian war behold; The Nile shall flow beneath; and on the side His shattered ships on brazen pillars ride. Next him Niphates, with inverted urn, And dropping sedge, shall his Armenia mourn; And Asian cities in our triumph born. With backward bows the Parthians shall be there ;" And, spurring from the fight, confess their fear. A double wreath shall crown our Cæsar's brows; Two differing trophies, from two different foes. Europe with Afric in his fame shall join ; But neither shore his conquest shall confine. The Parian marble, there, shall seem to move In breathing statues, not unworthy Jove: Resembling heroes, whose ethereal root Is Jove himself, and Cæsar is the fruit. Tros and his race the sculptor shall employ; And he, the god, who built the walls of Troy.

Envy herself at last, grown pale and dumb
(By Cæsar combated and overcome),

Shall give her hand; and fear the curling snakes
Of lashing furies, and the burning lakes:
The pains of famished Tantalus shall feel;
And Sisyphus that labors up the hill

The rolling rock in vain; and cursed Ixion's wheel.

DEDICATORY ADDRESS TO MECENAS.

Meantime we must pursue the sylvan lands,
The abode of nymphs, untouched by former hands:
For such, Mæcenas, are thy hard commands.
Without thee nothing lofty can I sing;

Come, then, and with thyself thy genius bring:
With which inspired, I brook no dull delay.
Citharon loudly calls me to my way;
Thy hounds, Taygetus, open and pursue their prey.
High Epidaurus urges on my speed,

Famed for his hills, and for his horses' breed:
From hills and dales the cheerful cries rebound ;
For echo hunts along, and propagates the sound.
A time will come, when my maturer muse,
In Cæsar's wars, a nobler theme shall choose,
And through more ages bear my sovereign's praise,
Than have from Tithon past to Cæsar's days.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BEST BREEDING COWS; AGE FOR
BREEDING.

The generous youth, who, studious of the prize,
The race of running coursers multiplies;
Or to the plough the sturdy bullock breeds,
May know that from the dam the worth of each
proceeds.

The mother-cow must wear a lowering look,
Sour-headed, strongly necked, to bear the yoke.
Her double dew-lap from her chin descends :
And at her thighs the ponderous burthen ends.
Long are her sides and large, her limbs are great;
Rough are her ears, and broad her horny feet.
Her color shining black, but flecked with white;
She tosses from the yoke; provokes the fight:
She rises in her gait, is free from fears;
And in her face a bull's resemblance bears :
Her ample forehead with a star is crowned;
And with her length of tail she sweeps the ground.
The bull's insult at four she may sustain;
But, after ten, from nuptial rites refrain.
Six seasons use; but then release the cow,
Unfit for love, and for the laboring plough.

YOUTH IS THE BREEDING SEASON.

Now, while their youth is filled with kindly fire, Submit thy females to the lusty sire. 2 * * In youth alone, unhappy mortals live; But, ah! the mighty bliss is fugitive; Discolored 'sickness, anxious labors come, And age, and death's inexorable doom.

Yearly thy herds in vigor will impair ;

1 In Bæotia, named from boves, cattle, in which it abounded; Taygetus was famed for hounds; Epidaurus, for horses; and these three classes of animals are the chief subjects of the Georgic.

2 Atque aliam ex alia generando suffice prolem.

Recruit and mend 'em with thy yearly care :
Still propagate, for still they fall away,
'Tis prudence to prevent the entire decay.

GOOD POINTS IN A STALLION.

Like diligence requires the courser's race;
In early choice, and for a longer space.
The colt, that for a stallion is designed,
By sure presages shows his generous kind;
Of able body, sound of limb and wind,
Upright he walks, on pasterns firm and straight;
His motions easy; prancing in his gait.
The first to lead the way, to tempt the flood;

To pass the bridge unknown, nor fear the trembling
Dauntless at empty noises; lofty necked; [wood.
Sharp-headed, barrel-bellied, broadly backed.
Brawny his chest, and deep; his color gray,
For beauty, dappled, - -or the brightest bay;
Faint white and dun will scarce the rearing pay.

THE WAR-HORSE DESCRIBED.

The fiery courser, when he hears from far The sprightly trumpets, and the shouts of war, Pricks up his ears; and, trembling with delight, Shifts place, and paws; and hopes the promised fight. On his right shoulder his thick mane reclined, Ruffles at speed, and dances in the wind. His horny hoofs are jetty black, and round; His chine is double; starting, with a bound He turns the turf, and shakes the solid ground. Fire from his eyes, clouds from his nostrils flow: He bears his rider headlong on the foe.

THE COURSER CYLLARUS; SATURN TRANSFORMED TO A HORSE.

Such was the steed in Grecian poets famed, Proud Cyllarus, by Spartan Pollux tamed: Such coursers bore to fight the god of Thrace; And such, Achilles, was thy warlike race. In such a shape, grim Saturn did restrain His heavenly limbs, and flowed with such a mane. When, half-surprised, and fearing to be seen, The lecher galloped from his jealous queen; Ran up the ridges of the rocks amain; [plain. And with shrill neighings filled the neighboring

THE OLD HORSE.

But worn with years, when dire diseases come, Then hide his not ignoble age at home: In peace to enjoy his former palms and pains; And gratefully be kind to his remains. For when his blood no youthful spirits move, He languishes and labors in his love.1 In vain he burns, like hasty stubble fires; And in himself his former self requires.

THE BLOOD HORSE; THE CHARIOT RACE DESCRIBED.

His age and courage weigh: nor those alone, But not his father's virtues nor his own; Observe if he disdains to yield the prize;

Of loss impatient, proud of victories.

1 Frigidus in Venerem senior; frustraque laborem Ingratum trahit; et, si quando ad prælia ventum est, etc.

Hast thou beheld, when from the goal they start, The youthful charioteers, with heaving heart, Rush to the race; and, panting, scarcely bear The extremes of feverish hope, and chilling fear; Stoop to the reins, and lash with all their force ; The flying chariot kindles in the course : And now a-low, and now aloft they fly,

As borne through air, and seem to touch the sky. No stop, no stay, but clouds of sand arise, Spurned and cast back upon the follower's eyes. The hindmost blows the foam upon the first: Such is the love of praise, an honorable thirst.

ERICHTHONIUS; THE LAPITIÆ, HORSE-BREAKERS.

Bold Erichthonius was the first, who joined
Four horses for the rapid race designed;
And o'er the dusty wheels presiding sat;
The Lapitha to chariots add the state

Of bits and bridles; taught the steed to bound,
To run the ring, and trace the mazy round;
To stop, to fly; the rules of war to know;
To obey the rider, and to dare the foe.

MANAGEMENT OF THE HORSE; BREEDING.

To choose a youthful steed, with courage fired;
To breed him, break him, back him, are required
Experienced masters; and in sundry ways:
Their labors equal, and alike their praise.
But once again the battered horse beware,
The weak old stallion will deceive thy care.
Though famous in his youth for force and speed,
Or was of Argos or Epirian breed,

Or did from Neptune's race, or from himself proceed.
These things premised, when now the nuptial time
Approaches for the stately steed to climb;
With food enable him to make his court;
Distend his chine, and pamper him for sport.
Feed him with herbs, whatever thou canst find,
Of generous warmth, and of salacious kind.
Then water him, and (drinking what he can)
Encourage him to thirst again, with bran. * *
For if the sire be faint, and out of case,
He will be copied in his famished race:
And sink beneath the pleasing task assigned.1

CARE OF BROOD MARES.

As for the females, with industrious care Take down their mettle, keep 'em lean and bare; When conscious of their past delight, and keen1 * * With scanty measure then supply their food; And, when athirst, restrain 'em from the flood: Their bodies harass, sink 'em when they run; And fry their melting marrow in the sun. Starve 'em, when barns beneath their burden groan, And winnowed chaff by western winds is blown.2 *

1 Two lines are omitted after bran, and one, each, after assigned and keen; their grossness is not in the original. J. 2 Six lines are here omitted; they are the translation of the following three:

Hoc faciunt, nimio ne luxu obtusior usus
Sit genitali arvo, et sulcos oblimet inertes:
Sed rapiat sitiens Venerem, interiusque recondat.

The male has done; thy care must now proceed To teeming females, and the promised breed. First let 'em run at large; and never know The taming yoke, or draw the crooked plough. Let 'em not leap the ditch, or swim the flood; Or lumber o'er the meads; or cross the wood. But range the forest, by the silver side Of some cool stream, where nature shall provide Green grass and fattening clover for their fare; And mossy caverns for their noontide lare: With rocks above to shield the sharp nocturnal air. THE GADFLY; EMPLOYED BY JUNO; PRECAUTION.

About the Alburnian groves, with holly green,
Of winged insects mighty swarms are seen :
This flying plague (to mark its quality)
Oestros the Grecians call; Asylus, we :

A fierce loud buzzing breeze; their stings draw blood,
And drive the cattle gadding through the wood.
Seized with unusual pains, they loudly cry,
Tanagrus hastens thence, and leaves his channel dry.
This curse the jealous Juno did invent,
And first employed for Io's punishment.
To shun this ill, the cunning leech ordains
In summer's sultry heats (for then it reigns)
To feed the females ere the sun arise,
Or late at night, when stars adorn the skies.

CARE OF CALVES; THEIR SELECTION AND TRAINING.

When she has calved, then set the dam aside;
And for the tender progeny provide.
Distinguish all betimes, with branding fire;
To note the tribe, the lineage, and the sire.
Whom to reserve for husband of the herd;
Or who shall be to sacrifice preferred;

Or whom thou shalt to turn thy glebe allow;
To smooth the furrows, and sustain the plough :
The rest, for whom no lot is yet decreed,
May run in pastures, and at pleasure feed.

BREAKING THE STEER TO THE YOKE.

The calf, by nature and by genius made To turn the glebe, breed to the rural trade. Set him betimes to school, and let him be Instructed there in rules of husbandry: While yet his youth is flexible and green; Nor bad examples of the world has seen. Early begin the stubborn child to break; For his soft neck a supple collar make Of bending osiers; and (with time and care Inured that easy servitude to bear) Thy flattering method on the youth pursue : Joined with his school-fellows, by two and two, Persuade 'm first to lead an empty wheel, That scarce the dust can raise; or they can feel: In length of time produce the laboring yoke And shining shares, that make the furrows smoke. E'er the licentious youth be thus restrained, Or moral precepts on their minds have gained, Their wanton appetites not only feed With delicates of leaves, and marshy weed,

But with thy sickle reap the rankest land; And minister the blade with bounteous hand. Nor be with harmful parsimony won

To follow what our homely sires have done; Who filled the pail with beastings of the cow; But all her udder to the calf allow.

[nurst:

TRAINING THE YOUNG HORSE; THE WAR-HORSE; THE RACER.
If to the warlike steed thy studies bend,
Or for the prize in chariots to contend;
Near Pisa's flood the rapid wheels to guide,
Or in Olympian groves aloft to ride,
The generous labors of the courser, first,
Must be with sight of arms and sound of trumpets
Inured the groaning axle-tree to bear,
And let him clashing whips in stables hear.
Soothe him with praise, and make him understand
The loud applauses of his master's hand:
This from his weaning let him well be taught,
And then betimes in a soft snaffle wrought :
Before his tender joints with nerves are knit ;
Untried in arms, and trembling at the bit.
But when to four full springs his years advance,
Teach him to run the round, with pride to prance;
And (rightly managed) equal time to beat;
To turn, to bound in measure, and curvet.
Let him to this with easy pains be brought :
And seem to labor, when he labors not.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RACE-HORSE; COMPARED TO THE
NORTH WIND.

Thus formed for speed, he challenges the wind; And leaves the Scythian arrow far behind: He scours along the field, with loosened reins, And treads so light, he scarcely prints the plains. Like Boreas in his race, when rushing forth, He sweeps the skies, and clears the cloudy north : The waving harvest bends beneath his blast; The forest shakes, the groves their honors cast; He flies aloft, and, with impetuous roar, Pursues the foaming surges to the shore. Thus o'er the Elean plains the well-breathed horse Impels the flying car, and wins the course. Or, bred to Belgian wagons, leads the way; Untired at night, and cheerful all the day.

FEEDING; THE YOUNG HORSE; THE YOUNG BULL.

When once he's broken, feed him full and high:
Indulge his growth, and his gaunt sides supply.
Before his training, keep him poor and low;
For his stout stomach with his food will grow ;
The pampered colt will discipline disdain,
Impatient of the lash, and restive to the rein.
Wouldst thou their courage and their strength
improve?

Too soon they must not feel the stings of love,
Whether the bull or courser be thy care : * *
The youthful bull must wander in the wood;
Behind the mountain, or beyond the flood:
Or in the stall at home his fodder find,
Far from the charms of that alluring kind.

With two fair eyes his mistress burns his breast;
He looks, and languishes, and leaves his rest;
Forsakes his food, and, pining for the lass,
Is joyless of the grove, and spurns the growing grass.
The soft seducer, with enticing looks,

The bellowing rivals to the fight provokes.

A FIGHT OF BULLS.

A beauteous heifer in the woods is bred;
The stooping warriors, aiming head to head,
Engage their clashing horns; with dreadful sound
The forest rattles, and the rocks rebound.
They fence, they push, and pushing loudly roar ;
Their dewlaps and their sides are bathed in gore.
Nor when the war is over is it peace;

Nor will the vanquished bull his claim release:
But feeding in his breast his ancient fires,
And cursing fate, from his proud foe retires.
Driven from his native land to foreign grounds,
He with a generous rage resents his wounds;
His ignominious flight, the victor's boast,
And, more than both, the loves, which unrevenged he

[lost.

THE VANQUISHED BULL; HIS RETURN TO THE CONTEST; COM-
PARED TO THE MEETING OF WAVES.

Often he turns his eyes, and, with a groan,
Surveys the pleasing kingdoms, once his own.
And therefore to repair his strength he tries;
Hardening his limbs with painful exercise,
And rough upon the flinty rock he lies.
On prickly leaves and on sharp herbs he feeds,
Then to the prelude of a war proceeds.
His horns, yet sore, he tries against a tree;
And meditates his absent enemy.

He snuffs the wind, his heels the sand excite;
But, when he stands collected in his might,
He roars, and promises a more successful fight.
Then, to redeem his honor at a blow,
He moves his camp, to meet his careless foe.
Not with more madness, rolling from afar,
The spumy waves proclaim the watery war,
And mounting upwards, with a mighty roar,
March onwards, and insult the rocky shore.
They mate the middle region with their height;
And fall no less than with a mountain's weight:
The waters boil, and belching from below,
Black sands as from a forceful engine throw.

THE FORCE OF PHYSICAL LOVE; THE LIONESS; THE BEAR;
TIGERS; THE HORSE; THE WILD-BOAR.

Thus every creature, and of every kind,
The secret joys of [reproduction] find:
Not only man's imperial race; but they
That wing the liquid air, or swim the sea,
Or haunt the desert, rush into the flame:
For love is lord of all; and is in all the same.
"T is with this rage, the mother-lion stung,
Scours o'er the plain, regardless of her young ;
Demanding rites of love, she sternly stalks;
And hunts her lover in his lonely walks.
"Tis then the shapeless bear his den forsakes;
In woods and fields a wild destruction makes.

Boars whet their tusks; to battle tigers move;
Enraged with hunger, more enraged with love.
Then woe to him that in the desert land
Of Libya travels, o'er the burning sand.
The stallion snuffs the well-known scent afar,
And snorts and trembles for the distant mare;
Nor bits nor bridles can his rage restrain;
And rugged rocks are interposed in vain :
He makes his way o'er mountains, and contemns
Unruly torrents, and unforded streams.
The bristled boar, who feels the pleasing wound,
Now grinds his arming tusks, and digs the ground.
The sleepy lecher shuts his little eyes;
About his churning chaps the frothy bubbles rise :
He rubs his sides against a tree; prepares
And hardens both his shoulders for the wars.

ALLUSION TO THE STORY OF LEANDER.

What did the youth, when love's unerring dart Transfixed his liver, and inflamed his heart? Alone, by night, his watery way he took ; About him, and above, the billows broke : The sluices of the sky were open spread, And rolling thunder rattled o'er his head. The raging tempest called him back in vain, And every boding omen of the main. Nor could his kindred, nor the kindly force Of weeping parents, change his fatal course. No, not the dying maid, who must deplore His floating carcass on the Sestian shore.

EFFECTS OF LOVE ON LYNXES, WOLVES, DOGS, MARES. I pass the wars that spotted lynxes make With their fierce rivals, for the female's sake: The howling wolves, the mastiff's amorous rage; When even the fearful stag dares for his hind enBut far above the rest, the furious mare, [gage. Barred from the male, is frantic with despair.1 * * * For love they force through thickets of the wood, They climb the steepy hills, and stem the flood. When at the spring's approach their marrow burns For with the spring their genial warmth returns The mares to cliffs of rugged rocks repair, And with wide nostrils snuff the western air : When (wondrous to relate) the parent wind, Without the stallion, propagates the kind. Then, fired with amorous rage, they take their flight Through plains, and mount the hill's unequal Nor to the north, nor to the rising sun, [height; Nor southward to the rainy regions run, But boring to the west, and hovering there, With gaping mouths they draw prolific air : 2 ***

1 Instead of five gross lines of Dryden, Virgil has here simply:

Et mentem Venus ipsa dedit, quo tempore Glauci
Potniades malis membra absumpsere quadrigae.

2 Eight lines of Dryden are here omitted; Virgil has:
Hinc demum Hippomanes vero quod nomine dicunt
Pastores, lentum distillat ab inguine virus:
Hippomanes, quod saepe malæ legere novercæ,
Miscueruntque herbas et non innoxia verba.

But time is lost, which never will renew, While we too far the pleasing path pursue; Surveying nature with too nice a view.

CARE OF SHEEP AND GOATS; THE POET'S TASK TO RAISE
HIS SUBJECT.

Let this suffice for herds our following care
Shall woolly flocks and shaggy goats declare.
Nor can I doubt what toil I must bestow,
To raise my subject from a ground so low :
And the mean matter which my theme affords,
T' embellish with magnificence of words.
But the commanding muse my chariot guides,
Which o'er the dubious cliffs securely rides ;
And pleased I am no beaten road to take;
But first the way to new discoveries make.

WINTERING OF SHEEP AND GOATS.

Now, sacred Pales, in a lofty strain,
I sing the rural honors of thy reign.

First, with assiduous care, from winter keep,
Well foddered in the stalls, thy tender sheep.
Then spread with straw the bedding of thy fold,
With fern beneath to fend the bitter cold;
That free from gouts thou may'st preserve thy care,
And clear from scabs, produced by freezing air.
Next let thy goats officiously be nursed;
And led to living streams to quench their thirst.
Feed 'em with winter-browse, and for their lare
A cote that opens to the south prepare:
Where basking in the sunshine they may lie,
And the short remnants of his heat enjoy.
This during Winter's grisly reign be done :
Till the new ram receives the exalted sun :
For hairy goats of equal profit are
With woolly sheep, and ask an equal care.

UTILITY OF THE GOAT; MILK, HAIR.

'Tis true, the fleece, when drunk with Tyrian juice, Is dearly sold; but not for needful use: For the salacious goat increases more, And twice as largely yields her milky store. The still-distended udders never fail ; But, when they seem exhausted, swell the pail. Meantime the pastor shears their hoary beards, And eases of their hair the loaded herds. Their camelots warm in tents the soldier hold, And shield the shivering mariner from cold.

FEEDING OF GOATS AND SHEEP; WINTER BROWSE.

On shrubs they browse, and on the bleaky top Of rugged hills the thorny bramble crop. Attended with their bleating kids they come At night, unasked, and mindful of their home; And scarce their swelling bags the threshold overSo much the more thy diligence bestow [come. In depth of Winter, to defend the snow : By how much less the tender helpless kind For their own ills can fit provision find. Then minister the browse with bounteous hand, And open let the stacks all winter stand,