te, Moeri, pedes? an, quo via ducit, in urbem?
Say whither, Moeris?—Make you for the town,
O Lycida, vivi pervenimus, advena nostri
or on what errand bent?
(quod numquam veriti sumus) ut possessor agelli
O Lycidas,
diceret: “Haec mea sunt; veteres migrate coloni!”
we have lived to see, what never yet we feared,
5
nunc victi, tristes, quoniam Fors omnia versat,
an interloper own our little farm,
hos illi—quod nec vertat bene—mittimus haedos.
and say, “Be off, you former husbandmen!
Certe equidem audieram, qua se subducere colles
These fields are mine.” Now, cowed and out of heart,
incipiunt, mollique iugum demittere clivo,
since Fortune turns the whole world upside down,
usque ad aquam et veteres (iam fracta cacumina) fagos
we are taking him—ill luck go with the same!—
10
omnia carminibus vestrum servasse Menalcan.
these kids you see.
Audieras, et fama fuit; sed carmina tantum
But surely I had heard
nostra valent, Lycida, tela inter Martia, quantum
that where the hills first draw from off the plain,
Chaonias dicunt aquila veniente columbas.
and the high ridge with gentle slope descends,
quod nisi me quacumque novas incidere lites
down to the brook-side and the broken crests
15
ante Sinistra cava monuisset ab ilice cornix,
of yonder veteran beeches, all the land
nec tuus hic Moeris, nec viveret ipse Menalcas.
was by the songs of your Menalcas saved.
Heu, cadit in quemquam tantum scelus? Heu, tua nobis
Heard it you had, and so the rumour ran,
paene simul tecum solatia rapta, Menalca?
but 'mid the clash of arms, my Lycidas,
quis caneret nymphas; quis humum florentibus herbis
our songs avail no more than, as 'tis said,
20
spargeret, aut viridi fontes induceret umbra?
doves of Dodona when an eagle comes.
vel quae sublegi tacitus tibi carmina nuper,
Nay, had I not, from hollow ilex-bole
cum te ad delicias ferres, Amaryllida, nostras?
warned by a raven on the left, cut short
Tityre, dum redeo—brevis est via—pasce capellas,
the rising feud, nor I, your Moeris here,
et potum pastas age, Tityre, et inter agendum
no, nor Menalcas, were alive to-day.
25
occursare capro, cornu ferit ille, caveto.
Alack! could any of so foul a crime
Immo haec, quae Varo necdum perfecta canebat:
be guilty? Ah! how nearly, thyself,
“Vare, tuum nomen, superet modo Mantua nobis—
reft was the solace that we had in thee,
Mantua, vae miserae nimium vicina Cremonae—
Menalcas! Who then of the Nymphs had sung,
cantantes sublime ferent ad sidera cycni.”
or who with flowering herbs bestrewn the ground,
30
Sic tua Cyrneas fugiant examina taxos;
and o'er the fountains drawn a leafy veil?—
sic cytiso pastae distendant ubera vaccae!
who sung the stave I filched from you that day
Incipe, si quid habes: et me fecere poetam
to Amaryllis wending, our hearts' joy?—
Pierides; sunt et mihi carmina; me quoque dicunt
“While I am gone, 'tis but a little way,
vatem pastores, sed non ego credulus illis.
feed, Tityrus, my goats, and, having fed,
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Nam neque adhuc Vario videor, nec dicere Cinna
drive to the drinking-pool, and, as you drive,
digna, sed argutos inter strepere anser olores.
beware the he-goat; with his horn he butts.“
Id quidem ago et tacitus, Lycida, mecum ipse voluto,
Ay, or to Varus that half-finished lay,
si valeam meminisse; neque est ignobile carmen:
“Varus, thy name, so still our Mantua live—
`huc ades, O Galatea; quis est nam ludus in undis
Mantua to poor Cremona all too near—
40
hic ver purpureum; varios hic flumina circum
shall singing swans bear upward to the stars.”
fundit humus flores; hic candida populus antro
So may your swarms Cyrnean yew-trees shun,
imminet, et lentae texunt umbracula vites.
your kine with cytisus their udders swell,
huc ades: insani feriant sine litora fluctus.
begin, if aught you have. The Muses made
Quid, quae te pura solum sub nocte canentem
me too a singer; I too have sung; the swains
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audieram? Numeros memini, si verba tenerem.
call me a poet, but I believe them not:
“Daphni, quid antiquos signorum suspicis ortus?
for naught of mine, or worthy Varius yet
Ecce Dionaei processit Caesaris astrum,
or Cinna deem I, but account myself
astrum, quo segetes gauderent frugibus, et quo
a cackling goose among melodious swans.
duceret apricis in collibus uva colorem.
'Twas in my thought to do so, Lycidas;
50
insere, Daphni, piros: carpent tua poma nepotes.”
even now was I revolving silently
Omnia fert aetas, animum quoque: saepe ego longos
if this I could recall—no paltry song:
cantando puerum memini me condere soles:
“Come, Galatea, what pleasure is 't to play
nunc oblita mihi tot carmina; vox quoque Moerim
amid the waves? Here glows the Spring, here earth
iam fugit ipsa; lupi Moerim videre priores.
beside the streams pours forth a thousand flowers;
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Sed tamen ista satis referet tibi saepe Menalcas.
here the white poplar bends above the cave,
Causando nostros in longum ducis amores:
and the lithe vine weaves shadowy covert: come,
et nunc omne tibi stratum silet aequor, et omnes,
leave the mad waves to beat upon the shore.”
aspice, ventosi ceciderunt murmuris aurae.
What of the strain I heard you singing once
hinc adeo media est nobis via; namque sepulcrum
on a clear night alone? the notes I still
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incipit adparere Bianoris: hic ubi densas
remember, could I but recall the words.
agricolae stringunt frondes, hic, Moeri, canamus;
“Why, Daphnis, upward gazing, do you mark
hic haedos depone: tamen veniemus in urbem.
the ancient risings of the Signs? for look
aut si, nox pluviam ne colligat ante, veremur,
where Dionean Caesar's star comes forth
cantantes licet usque (minus via laedit) eamus;
in heaven, to gladden all the fields with corn,
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cantantes ut eamus, ego hoc te fasce levabo.
and to the grape upon the sunny slopes
Desine plura, puer, et quod nunc instat agamus:
her colour bring! Now, the pears;
carmina tum melius, cum venerit ipse, canemus.
so shall your children's children pluck their fruit.”
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