Translated from the Latin by William Webbe.
First published in Webbe’sA Discourse of English Poesie, 1586, to illustrate the principles of quantitative verse in English. Punctuation modified.
The Argument of the firstAeglogue.
Vnder the personne ofTityrus Vyrgillbeeing figured himselfe, declareth toMelibeusan nother Neateheard, the great benefittes that he receyued atAugustus hand, who in the spoyle ofMantuagaue him hys goods and substaunce againe. spoyle: sack, destruction
Melibæus. Tityrus.
[Melibæus.] Tityrus, happilie thou lyste tumbling vnder a beech tree, ?sprawled, All in a fine oate pipe these sweete songs lustilie chaunting [supine We, poore soules goe to wracke, and from these coastes be remooued,
And fro our pastures sweete: thou Tityr, at ease in a shade plott
Makst thicke groues to resound with songes of braueAmarillis. lovely, pretty Tityrus.OMelibæus, he was no man but a God who releeude me:
Euer he shalbe my God: from this same Sheepcot his alters
103 Dorik poesie]pastoral poetry. See 18n. 123-4 Orpheus, Alcides(Hercules),Vlisses]All of them visited the underworld (Pluto’s court). 127 Her]Persephone (Proserpine), abducted by Dis or Pluto from the plains below Etna. Orpheus appealed to him to return his wife Eurydice from the dead.Sicilian]pastoral, from Theocritus’ birthplace. The standard Greek text does not say Persephone sung Doric (i.e., pastoral) lays, only that she was familiar with them, so that Bion himself might charm her by singing them. 0.2 Neateheard]used of all herdsmen. Both speakers actually keep sheep and goats.spoyle of Mantua]After Octavian (the future Emperor Augustus) defeated Brutus and Cassius at Philippi in 42 BCE, he seized many farmlands in Mantua, Virgil’s native region, to settle his discharged soldiers. Virgil I is commonly read as the poet (as Tityrus) offering thanks to Augustus for saving his land and granting him its freehold. 4 Tityr]See 13n.shade plot]demanded by the metre: perhaps a compound, ‘shade-plot’.
Neuer a tender Lambe shall want, with blood to bedew them.
This good gift did he giue, to my steeres thus freelie to wander,
10 And to my selfe (thou seest) on pipe to resound what I listed. wished, fancied Melibæus.Grutch thee sure I doo not, but this thing makes me to wonder,
Whence comes all this adoo: with grieeuous paine not a little [begrudge, envy Can I remooue my Goates: here, Tityre, skant get I forward
Poore olde crone, two twyns at a clappe ith boysterous hasilles
Left she behind, best hope i’ my flock laid hard on a bare stone. hard: painfully Had not a lucklesse lotte possest our mindes, I remember unhappy fate Warnings oft fro the blast burnt oake we saw to be sent vs. lightning-struck Oft did a left hand crow foretell these thinges in her hull tree.
But this God let vs heare what he was, good Tityre tell me.
Tityrus.That same Cittie so braue which Rome was wont to be called, 20 Foole did I thinke, to be like this of ours, where we to the pastures Wonted were to remooue from dammes our young prettie Cattell.
Thus did I thinke young whelpes and Kids to be like to the mothers,
Thus did I wont compare manie great thinges with many little. I used to But this aboue all townes as loftily mounteth her high head,
As by the lowe base shrubbes tall Cypresse shooteth aboue them.
Melibæus.And what did thee mooue that needs thou must goe to see Rome?
Tityrus.Freedome: which though late, yet once lookt backe to my pore state,
After time when haires from my beard did ginne to be whitish: begin 30 Yet lookt back at last and found me out after a long time,
WhenAmarillwas once obtainde,Galateadeparted:
For (for I will confesse) whilst asGalateadid hold mee, Hope did I not for freedome, and care had I none to my cattell.
Though many faire young beastes our folde for the aulters aforded And manie cheeses good fro my presse were sent to the Cittie, Seldome times did I bring anie store of pence fro the markett.
Melibæus.OAmarill, wherefore to thy Gods (very much did I meruaile) marvel, Heauilie thou didst praie? Ripe fruites vngathered all still: [wonder Tityrus is not at home: these Pyne trees Tityre mist thee.
40 Fountaines longd for thee: these hedgrowes wisht thy return home.
Tityrus.What was then to be doone? from bondage could not I wind out:
Neither I could haue found such gentle Gods anywhere els.
There did I see (Melibæe) that youth whose hestes I by course still in due order Fortnights whole to obserue on the Alters sure will I not faile.
Thus did he gentlie graunt to my sute when first I demaunded: nobly, generously Keepe your heardes, poor slaves, as erst, let bulles to the makes still. mates;
Melibæus.Happy olde man, then thou shalt haue thy farme to remaine still, always Large, and large to thy selfe, others nought but stonie grauell
And foule slymie rush wherewith their lees be besprinkled. leas, pastures,open land 50 Heere no unwoonted foode shall grieue young theaues who be laded, young ewes;
Nor the infections foule of neighbours flocke shall annoie them. [laden, pregnant Happie old man. In shaddowy bankes and coole prettie places,
Heere by the quainted floodes and springs most holie remaining,
Here, these quicksets fresh which lands seuer out fro thy neighbors mark off, 13 Tityre]So here and later, apparently as Lat. vocative (3 syllables); butTityr(4) presumably for the metre.skant get I forward]I can scarcely make it go. 14Ewes normally have one lamb at a time:
to give birth to two is specially laborious.crone]old ewe.at a clappe]at once.ith]in the.Boisterous]
‘Strong- or coarse-growing, rank’ (OED6). 18Corresponding line in Lat. usually omitted as mistaken import from Virgil IX.15.left hand crow]In Roman augury, a raven (Lat.cornix) croaking on the augur’s left was an ill omen, but a crow a good one.hull]holly (OED hulln3, citing this line); ? hollow (cf.hull, shell or outer covering:OED hulln1: no adjectival use recorded). 21-2 where we ... prettie Cattell]The original means ‘where we used to drive our new-weaned lambs’. 33 cattell]?chattels, property. Lat.peculi, ‘of [my] property or wealth’, thoughpeculiumtoo originally meant (property in the form of ) cattle. 34i.e. He sacrificed many beasts to placate the gods. 37-8Another inept rendering of the sense ‘Now I understand what I wondered at: why you, Amarillis, prayed so diligently to the gods’. 38 vngathered]not from neglect, but for Tityrus to enjoy. 43 hestes]vows, pledges (of sacrifice to Augustus). 44 Fortnights whole]Lat. has ‘twice six days a year’. 46 let ... still]
let bulls couple with their mates. 48 Large](a) free, in freehold (b) [sufficiently] big: a play only possible in English.48-9 others ... besprinkled]Lat. implies that Tityrus’ own fields are also damaged, but still good enough. 53 quainted floodes]acquainted (familiar) streams. 54 quicksets]live slips of plants used as hedges.
And greene willow rowes which Hiblæ bees doo reioice in, [divide Oft fine whistring noise shall bring sweete sleepe to thy sences. whispering Vnder a Rock side here will proyner chaunt merrie ditties. pruner, vine-dresser Neither on highe Elme trees, thy beloude Doues loftilie sitting,
Nor prettie Turtles trim, will cease to crooke with a good cheere. turtle-doves; coo 60 Tityrus.First, therefore swift buckes shall flie for foode to the skies ward,
And from fish withdrawn, broade seas themselues shal auoid hence: become First, (both borders broke) Araris shal run to the Parthanes, [void or empty And likewise Tygris shall againe runne backe to the Germanes:
Ere his countnaunce sweete shall slippe once out from my hart roote.
Melibæus.We poor soules, must some to the land cald Affrica packe hence, Some to the farre Scythia, and some must to the swift flood Oaxis, Some to Britannia coastes quite parted farre fro the whole world.
Oh these pastures pure, shall I nere more chance to behold yee? clear, undefiled And our cottage poore with warm turues couerd about trim.
70 Oh these trim tilde landes, shall a rechlesse souldier haue them? tilled, cultivated And shall a Barbarian haue this croppe? see what a mischiefe
Discord vile hath araisde! for whom was our labour all tooke?
Now Melibæe, ingraft pearie stocks, sette vines in an order.
Now goe (my braue flocke once that were) O now goe my kidlings. handsome, Neuer againe shall I now in a greene bowre sweetelie reposed [splendid See ye in queachie briers farre a loofe clambring on a high hill. dense; aloft, Now shall I sing no Iygges, nor whilst I doo fall to my iunkets, [high up Shall ye, my Goates, cropping sweete flowres and leaues sit about me.
Tityrus.Yet thou maist tarrie heere, and keepe me companie this night,
80 All on a leauie couch: good Aples ripe I doo not lacke, made of leaves Chestnutts sweete good store, and plentie of curddes will I set thee.
Marke i’the Towne how chimnie tops doo beginne to be smoaking, village, And fro the Mountaines high how shaddowes grow to be larger [settlement.
7 Virgil Eclogue II
Translated from the Latin by Abraham Fraunce
First published in Fraunce’sThe Lawiers Logike(1588), Book II. Composed, in Fraunce’s words, ‘in English hexameters, verse for verse’ – i.e., each line of the English precisely matching a line in the Latin. Fraunce achieves this objective in most lines, despite the difference in syntax and word-order between the two languages.
Seelly shepheardCorydonlou’d hartily faire ladAlexis, His maisters dearling, but saw no matter of hoping.
Only amid the forest thick set with broad-shadoe beachtrees Daily resort did he make: thus alone to the woods, to the mountains With broken speeches, fond thoughts most vainly reuealing.
O hardhartedAlexis: I see my verse to be scorned, My selfe not pitied, my death by thee lastly procured.
Now do the beasts euen seeke for cooling shade to refresh them, Grene lyzards now too in bushes thorny be lurking;
10 And for faint reapers by the suns rage,Thestylishastning, Strong-smelling wilde thime and garlyke beates in a mortar.
But whilst I trace thee, with sun beames all to bescorched,
55 Hiblæ]Hybla, a town in Sicily renowned for its honey. The formHiblæmay reflect Lat. genitive.
61The seas will recede and leave their fish dry on the ground. Another inept rendering. 62 Araris]
a river in France.Parthanes]Parthians, from central Asia near the Caspian Sea.62-3The translation talks of natural cataclysms, but the Latin of the tribes being exiled. The ‘borders’ are of rivers in the English, territories in the Latin. 63 Tygris]The river Tigris in modern Iraq, while the Germanic tribes largely inhabited the region of modern Germany. 65 Affrica]northern Africa, a Roman province. 66 Scythia]an indeterminate region of east and north-east Europe and adjoining parts of Asia.Oaxis]a river in Crete. 69 turues]blocks of turf used to roof cottages. 70 rechlesse]
reckless, heedless (of the spirit and associations of the land). The Latin hasimpius,‘godless’. 73 ingraft pearie stocks]graft your pear trees: an ironic evocation of pursuits no longer possible. 77 Iygges]jigs, a kind of song as well as dance.iunkets]a kind of cream cheese; broadly, any pastoral repast. 1 Seelly]humble, rustic, simple-souled. ‘Seely’ or ‘silly shepherd(s)’ is a stock poetic phrase.
5 fond](a) foolish, futile (b) affectionate. 11To make soup for the men’s mid-day meal.
Groues by the hoarschirping grashoppers yeeld a resounding. echo Wast not far better t’haue borne with surlyMenalcas,
And sore displeased, disdainfull, proudAmaryllis,
Although thou white were, although but swartyMenalcas? swarthy O thou faire white boy, trust not too much to thy whitnes:
Faire white flowers fall downe, black fruits are only reserued.
Thou carest not for mee, my state thou knowst not,Alexis:
20 What flocks of white sheepe I do keepe, of milke what abundance.
OnSicilhigh mountains my lambs feed, more then a thousand:
New mylke in summer, new mylke in winter I want not. fresh My song’s likeThebane Amphionssong, when he called
His wandring bullocks, on Greekish mountAracynthus. Neyther am I so fowle: I saw my selfe by the seashore,
When seas al calme were: I doubt not, but by thy censure, except in your judgment DaphnisI shall surpasse, vnles my face do deceaue mee.
O, let this be thy will, to frequent my rustical harbors arbours And simple cotages, and sticke in forkes to vphold them,
30 And driue on forward our flocke of kids to the mallowes:
Wee wil amid the forest contendPanssong to resemble: imitate, emulate Panwas first that quils with waxe ty’de ioyntly together.
Panis good to the sheepe, andPanis good to the sheepsman.
Neither think it a shame to thy self t’haue plaid on a cornpipe:
For, that he might do the same with skil, what did notAmyntas? Damœtaslong since did giue me a pipe for a token,
Compact of seuen reedes, all placed in order, vnæquall:
And thus sayd, when he dy’de: One vsed it onely beefore thee.
Thus saydDamœtas, this greeued foolishAmyntas.
40 Also two prety kids doe I keepe, late found in a valley
Dangerus; and their skins with mylke white spots be bedecked, Of dams milke not a drop they leaue; and for thee I keepe them.
Thestylisof long time hath these kids of me desired;
And they shalbe her own, for that thou skornst what I giue thee.
Come neare, ô faire boy, see the nymphs bring here to the lillies to thee With full stuft baskets: faireNaisnow to thy comfort
White violets gathering, and poppies daintily topping,
Daffadil ads to the same, and leaues late pluckt fro the sweet Dill.
Then mingling Casia with diuers sauory sweet flowrs, fragrant 50 With yelowish Marygold, she the tender Crowtoe bedecketh. ? wild hyacinth
Ile plucke hoare quinces, with soft downe all to besmeared, greyish white And Chessnuts which were loued of my sweetAmaryllis. Chessnuts: standard Add wil I wheateplumbs too: for this fruit will be regarded, [variant form And you laurell leaues will I plucke, and thee, prety myrtle
Next to the laurell leaues: for so plast, yeeld ye the sweet sent.
Th’art but a fooleCorydon, for first gifts mooue notAlexis, Then, though thou giue much, yet much more giue wilIolas. But what alas did I mean, poore foole? I do let go the southwind Into the flowrs, and boares send forward into the cleare springs.
60 Whom flyest thou mad man? Many gods haue also resorted,
AndParisof oldeTroy, to the woods. Let towers byMinerua Built, byMineruabe kept; and woods of vs onely regarded.
20From this point, many echoes of Theocritus XI, where the Cyclops Polyphemus woos Galathea.
23 Amphion]Said to have raised a wall round Thebes by his music. He and his twin brother Zethus, sons of Zeus, were brought up as shepherds. He belonged to Boeotia, where Virgil places Mt Aracyn-thus(actually in Aetolia). 29 cotages]makeshift huts or shelters (OED2), like those of shepherds on remote pastures.forkes to vphold them]forked staves to prop them up. 31 contend ](a) en-deavour, attempt (b) compete (as in a singing-match). 32 quils]reeds, used to make a pan-pipe.
36 Damoetas]This passage has created the figure of a master-shepherd of song: cf. Milton, ‘Lycidas’
(no. 230) 36. 38 One]Damoetas himself. 40-44The clearest of many echoes of Theocritus III, where a shepherd pines for Amaryllis. 51 hoareUnripe quinces have greyish-white down. 53 wheateplumbs]‘wheat-plums’, misrenderingcerea pruna, ‘waxen plums’. 56 first gifts]?gifts given in advance of Iolas’, allowing the latter to outvie them. 58-9 I do let ... springs]I am destroying my own prosperity and happiness. 61 Paris]He kept sheep on Mount Ida.61-2 towers by Minerua Built]Athens, of which Athena (Minerva) was the tutelary goddess. This identifies the setting (as in most of Virgil’s eclogues) as Greece.
Grim Lionesse runneth to the wolfe, and wolfe to the yong gote, And wanton yong gote to the flowring tetrifol hastneth, AndCorydontoAlexis: a selfe joy draweth on each man.
But see the plow coms home, hangd fast by the yoke to the bullocks, And shadoe byPhœbusdeclining double appeareth;
Yet do I burne with loue: for what meane can be to louing? middle course, AhCorydon, Corydon,what mad rage hath thee bewitched? [moderation 70 Thy vin’s scarce halfe cut, pestred with leaues of her elme tree: vine; burdened, Leaue this churlish boy, and bend thy selfe to thy busnes, [encumbered With twigs and bulrush some needefull thing be a making:
Thou shalt find others though th’art disdaind ofAlexis.
8 Virgil Eclogue IV
Translated from the Latin by Abraham Fleming.
First published in Fleming’sThe Bucoliks of Publius Virgilius Maro . . . together with his Georgiks or Ruralls(1589). These unrhymed translations are entirely different from Fleming’s rhymed versions of 1575. The text below omits random brackets around certain words in the 1589 text. Salient marginal notes by Fleming incorporated below with the marker ‘[Fleming]’. The eclogue appears to celebrate the birth of a son to the poet’s patron, the statesman Gaius Asinius Pollio. But so extravagant is the fantasy, postulating a return of the Golden Age, that the poem was later taken as a conscious or unconscious prophecy of the birth of Christ. In the Christian Middle Ages, Virgil thereby came to be venerated as a proto-Christian seer.
The fourth Eclog of Virgill intituledPollio, or the birth day ofSoloninus. The Argument
Asinius Pollio, an excellent orator and captaine of the Germane host vnderAugustus, after his taking of the citieSalonæinDalmatia, hauing triumphed, he was aduanced to the office of a consull. Not long after this, he begat a sonne, whom he namedSalonius, in memorie of the citieSalonæ, which he had conquered and taken. For this yoong babes sake newly borne, as also (and that principallie) to please the father, who was in great fauour, and might doo much withAugustus, Virgill(whomPolliogreatly esteemed, releeued and maintained) in this eclog describeth the birth day of the saidSalonius. Wherein this is to bee marked, that such thinges as the prophetesseSybillaofCuma foretold of the comming and birth of Christ (asLactantius, Eusebius, andAugustinedoo testifie), the poet, vtterly ignorant of that diuinitie, applieth to the happinesse ofAugustushis gouernment, and also to the child Salonine. And because this eclog, as likewise two more, are of somwhat a loftier stile than beseemeth the argument of a pastorall deuise, the poet beginneth very modestly with an honest confession or preface, as followeth.
In this eclog the poet speaketh alone.
O Muses ofSiciliaile let’s greater matters sing,
Shrubs groues and bushes lowe delight and please not euery man,
If we doo sing of woods, the woods be worthy of a consull. let the woods be 64 tetrifol]error for ‘tree-trefoil’ or ‘tree-clover’, Lat.cytisus. (SeeOED tetrifolie.) 65 a selfe joy]the same pleasure or desire. Corydon’s analogies for his love are of a predatory or devouring nature. 70 her elme tree]i.e., that up which the vine is trailed. 0.1 Soloninus] Pollio’s newborn son: ‘Salonius’
in the Argument. See headnote. 0.2 Germane host]the Germanian army of the Roman Empire.
Ancient Germania extended eastward to Dalmatia (modern Croatia). 0.7 releeued]assisted, saved from difficulties. 0.8 prophetesse Sibylla of Cuma]The Cumaean Sibyl, most celebrated of the Sibyllae or wise women of antiquity. Supposed author or propagator of the Sibylline books of prophecy, whose Book III largely concerns prophecies of a future Golden Age. These were discussed and imitated
Ancient Germania extended eastward to Dalmatia (modern Croatia). 0.7 releeued]assisted, saved from difficulties. 0.8 prophetesse Sibylla of Cuma]The Cumaean Sibyl, most celebrated of the Sibyllae or wise women of antiquity. Supposed author or propagator of the Sibylline books of prophecy, whose Book III largely concerns prophecies of a future Golden Age. These were discussed and imitated