Thee too, great Pales, will I hymn, and thee,Amphrysian shepherd, worthy to be sung,You, woods and waves Lycaean. All themes beside,Which else had charmed the vacant mind with song,Are now waxed common. Of harsh Eurystheus whoThe story knows not, or that praiseless kingBusiris, and his altars? or by whomHath not the tale been told of Hylas young,Latonian Delos and Hippodame,And Pelops for his ivory shoulder famed,Keen charioteer? Needs must a path be tried,By which I too may lift me from the dust,And float triumphant through the mouths of men.Yea, I shall be the first, so life endure,To lead the Muses with me, as I passTo mine own country from the Aonian height;I, Mantua, first will bring thee back the palmsOf Idumaea, and raise a marble shrineOn thy green plain fast by the water-side,Where Mincius winds more vast in lazy coils,And rims his margent with the tender reed.Amid my shrine shall Caesar's godhead dwell.To him will I, as victor, bravely dightIn Tyrian purple, drive along the bankA hundred four-horse cars. All Greece for me,Leaving Alpheus and Molorchus' grove,On foot shall strive, or with the raw-hide glove;Whilst I, my head with stripped green olive crowned,Will offer gifts. Even 'tis present joyTo lead the high processions to the fane,And view the victims felled; or how the sceneSunders with shifted face, and Britain's sonsInwoven thereon with those proud curtains rise.Of gold and massive ivory on the doorsI'll trace the battle of the Gangarides,And our Quirinus' conquering arms, and thereSurging with war, and hugely flowing, the Nile,And columns heaped on high with naval brass.And Asia's vanquished cities I will add,And quelled Niphates, and the Parthian foe,Who trusts in flight and backward-volleying darts,And trophies torn with twice triumphant handFrom empires twain on ocean's either shore.And breathing forms of Parian marble thereShall stand, the offspring of Assaracus,And great names of the Jove-descended folk,And father Tros, and Troy's first founder, lordOf Cynthus. And accursed Envy thereShall dread the Furies, and thy ruthless flood,Cocytus, and Ixion's twisted snakes,And that vast wheel and ever-baffling stone.Meanwhile the Dryad-haunted woods and lawnsUnsullied seek we; 'tis thy hard behest,Maecenas. Without thee no lofty taskMy mind essays. Up! break the sluggish bondsOf tarriance; with loud din Cithaeron calls,Steed-taming Epidaurus, and thy hounds,Taygete; and hark! the assenting grovesWith peal on peal reverberate the roar.Yet must I gird me to rehearse ere longThe fiery fights of Caesar, speed his nameThrough ages, countless as to Caesar's selfFrom the first birth-dawn of Tithonus old.
Te quoque, magna Pales, et te memorande canemuspastor ab Amphryso, vos, silvae amnesque Lycaei.Cetera, quae vacuas tenuissent carmine mentes,omnia iam volgata: quis aut Eurysthea durumaut inlaudati nescit Busiridis aras?Cui non dictus Hylas puer et Latonia DelosHippodameque umeroque Pelops insignis eburno,acer equis? Temptanda via est, qua me quoque possimtollere humo victorque virum volitare per ora.Primus ego in patriam mecum, modo vita supersit,Aonio rediens deducam vertice Musas;primus Idumaeas referam tibi, Mantua, palmas,et viridi in campo templum de marmore ponampropter aquam. Tardis ingens ubi flexibus erratMincius et tenera praetexit arundine ripas.In medio mihi Caesar erit templumque tenebit:illi victor ego et Tyrio conspectus in ostrocentum quadriiugos agitabo ad flumina currus.Cuncta mihi Alpheum linquens lucosque Molorchicursibus et crudo decernet Graecia caestu.Ipse caput tonsae foliis ornatus olivaedona feram. Iam nunc sollemnis ducere pompasad delubra iuvat caesosque videre iuvencos,vel scaena ut versis discedat frontibus utquepurpurea intexti tollant aulaea Britanni.In foribus pugnam ex auro solidoque elephantoGangaridum faciam victorisque arma Quirini,atque hic undantem bello magnumque fluentemNilum ac navali surgentis aere columnas.Addam urbes Asiae domitas pulsumque Niphatenfidentemque fuga Parthum versisque sagittis,et duo rapta manu diverso ex hoste tropaeabisque triumphatas utroque ab litore gentes.Stabunt et Parii lapides, spirantia signa,Assaraci proles demissaeque ab Iove gentisnomina, Trosque parens et Troiae Cynthius auctor.Invidia infelix Furias amnemque severumCocyti metuet tortosque Ixionis anguisimmanemque rotam et non exsuperabile saxum.Interea Dryadum silvas saltusque sequamurintactos, tua, Maecenas, haud mollia iussa.Te sine nil altum mens incohat; en age segnisrumpe moras; vocat ingenti clamore CithaeronTaygetique canes domitrixque Epidaurus equorumet vox adsensu nemorum ingeminata remugit.Mox tamen ardentis accingar dicere pugnasCaesaris et nomen fama tot ferre per annos,Tithoni prima quot abest ab origine Caesar.
If eager for the prized Olympian palmOne breed the horse, or bullock strong to plough,Be his prime care a shapely dam to choose.Of kine grim-faced is goodliest, with coarse headAnd burly neck, whose hanging dewlaps reachFrom chin to knee; of boundless length her flank;Large every way she is, large-footed even,With incurved horns and shaggy ears beneath.Nor let mislike me one with spots of whiteConspicuous, or that spurns the yoke, whose hornAt times hath vice in't: liker bull-faced she,And tall-limbed wholly, and with tip of tailBrushing her footsteps as she walks along.The age for Hymen's rites, Lucina's pangs,Ere ten years ended, after four begins;Their residue of days nor apt to teem,Nor strong for ploughing. Meantime, while youth's delightSurvives within them, loose the males: be firstTo speed thy herds of cattle to their loves,Breed stock with stock, and keep the race supplied.Ah! life's best hours are ever first to flyFrom hapless mortals; in their place succeedDisease and dolorous eld; till travail soreAnd death unpitying sweep them from the scene.Still will be some, whose form thou fain wouldst change;Renew them still; with yearly choice of youngPreventing losses, lest too late thou rue.
Seu quis Olympiacae miratus praemia palmaepascit equos seu quis fortis ad aratra iuvencos,corpora praecipue matrum legat. Optuma torvaeforma bovis, cui turpe caput, cui plurima cervix,et crurum tenus a mento palearia pendent;tum longo nullus lateri modus; omnia magna,pes etiam; et camuris hirtae sub cornibus aures.Nec mihi displiceat maculis insignis et albo,aut iuga detractans interdumque aspera cornuet faciem tauro propior, quaeque ardua tota,et gradiens ima verrit vestigia cauda,Aetas Lucinam iustosque pati hymenaeosdesinit ante decem, post quattuor incipit annos;cetera nec feturae habilis nec fortis aratris.Interea, superat gregibus dum laeta iuventas,solve mares; mitte in Venerem pecuaria primus,atque aliam ex alia generando suffice prolem.Optuma quaeque dies miseris mortalibus aeviprima fugit; subeunt morbi tristisque senectuset labor, et durae rapit inclementia mortis.Semper erunt, quarum mutari corpora malis:semper enim refice ac, ne post amissa requiras,ante veni et subolem armento sortire quotannis.
Nor steeds crave less selection; but on thoseThou think'st to rear, the promise of their line,From earliest youth thy chiefest pains bestow.See from the first yon high-bred colt afield,His lofty step, his limbs' elastic tread:Dauntless he leads the herd, still first to tryThe threatening flood, or brave the unknown bridge,By no vain noise affrighted; lofty-necked,With clean-cut head, short belly, and stout back;His sprightly breast exuberant with brawn.Chestnut and grey are good; the worst-hued whiteAnd sorrel. Then lo! if arms are clashed afar,Bide still he cannot: ears stiffen and limbs quake;His nostrils snort and roll out wreaths of fire.Dense is his mane, that when uplifted fallsOn his right shoulder; betwixt either loinThe spine runs double; his earth-dinting hoofRings with the ponderous beat of solid horn.Even such a horse was Cyllarus, reined and tamedBy Pollux of Amyclae; such the pairIn Grecian song renowned, those steeds of Mars,And famed Achilles' team: in such-like formGreat Saturn's self with mane flung loose on neckSped at his wife's approach, and flying filledThe heights of Pelion with his piercing neigh.
Nec non et pecori est idem dilectus equino.Tu modo, quos in spem statues submittere gentis,praecipuum iam inde a teneris impende laborem.Continuo pecoris generosi pullus in arvisaltius ingreditur et mollia crura reponit;primus et ire viam et fluvios temptare minacesaudet et ignoto sese committere pontinec vanos horret strepitus. Illi ardua cervixargutumque caput, brevis alvus obesaque terga,luxuriatque toris animosum pectus. Honestispadices glaucique, color deterrimus albiset gilvo. Tum, si qua sonum procul arma dederestare loco nescit, micat auribus et tremit artuscollectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem.Densa iuba, et dextro iactata recumbit in armo;at duplex agitur per lumbos spina, cavatquetellurem et solido graviter sonat ungula cornu.Talis Amyclaei domitus Pollucis habenisCyllarus et, quorum Grai meminere poetae,Martis equi biiuges et magni currus Achilli.Talis et ipse iubam cervice effundit equinaconiugis adventu pernix Saturnus et altumPelion hinnitu fugiens implevit acuto.
Even him, when sore disease or sluggish eldNow saps his strength, pen fast at home, and spareHis not inglorious age. A horse grown oldSlow kindling unto love in vain prolongsThe fruitless task, and, to the encounter come,As fire in stubble blusters without strength,He rages idly. Therefore mark thou firstTheir age and mettle, other points anon,As breed and lineage, or what pain was theirsTo lose the race, what pride the palm to win.Seest how the chariots in mad rivalryPoured from the barrier grip the course and go,When youthful hope is highest, and every heartDrained with each wild pulsation? How they plyThe circling lash, and reaching forward letThe reins hang free! Swift spins the glowing wheel;And now they stoop, and now erect in airSeem borne through space and towering to the sky:No stop, no stay; the dun sand whirls aloft;They reek with foam-flakes and pursuing breath;So sweet is fame, so prized the victor's palm.'Twas Ericthonius first took heart to yokeFour horses to his car, and rode aboveThe whirling wheels to victory: but the ringAnd bridle-reins, mounted on horses' backs,The Pelethronian Lapithae bequeathed,And taught the knight in arms to spurn the ground,And arch the upgathered footsteps of his pride.Each task alike is arduous, and for eachA horse young, fiery, swift of foot, they seek;How oft so-e'er yon rival may have chasedThe flying foe, or boast his native plainEpirus, or Mycenae's stubborn hold,And trace his lineage back to Neptune's birth.
Hunc quoque, ubi aut morbo gravis aut iam segnior annisdeficit, abde domo nec turpi ignosce senectae.frigidus in Venerem senior, frustraque laboremingratum trahit, et, si quando ad proelia ventum est,ut quondam in stipulis magnus sine viribus ignis,incassum furit. Ergo animos aevumque notabispraecipue; hinc alias artis prolemque parentumet quis cuique dolor victo, quae gloria palmae.Nonne vides, cum praecipiti certamine campumcorripuere ruuntque effusi carcere currus,cum spes arrectae iuvenum, exsultantiaque hauritcorda pavor pulsans? Illi instant verbere tortoet proni dant lora, volat vi fervidus axis;iamque humiles, iamque elati sublime videnturaera per vacuum ferri atque adsurgere in auras;nec mora nec requies; at fulvae nimbus harenaetollitur, umescunt spumis flatuque sequentum:tantus amor laudum, tantae est victoria curae.Primus Erichthonius currus et quattuor aususiungere equos rapidusque rotis insistere victorFrena Pelethronii Lapithae gyrosque dedereimpositi dorso atque equitem docuere sub armisinsultare solo et gressus glomerare superbos.Aequus uterque labor, aeque iuvenemque magistriexquirunt calidumque animis et cursibus acrem,quamvis saepe fuga versos ille egerit hostiset patriam Epirum referat fortisque MycenasNeptunique ipsa deducat origine gentem.
These points regarded, as the time draws nigh,With instant zeal they lavish all their careTo plump with solid fat the chosen chiefAnd designated husband of the herd:And flowery herbs they cut, and serve him wellWith corn and running water, that his strengthNot fail him for that labour of delight,Nor puny colts betray the feeble sire.The herd itself of purpose they reduceTo leanness, and when love's sweet longing firstProvokes them, they forbid the leafy food,And pen them from the springs, and oft besideWith running shake, and tire them in the sun,What time the threshing-floor groans heavilyWith pounding of the corn-ears, and light chaffIs whirled on high to catch the rising west.This do they that the soil's prolific powersMay not be dulled by surfeiting, nor chokeThe sluggish furrows, but eagerly absorbTheir fill of love, and deeply entertain.
His animadversis instant sub tempus et omnisimpendunt curas denso distendere pingui,quem legere ducem et pecori dixere maritum;florentisque secant herbas fluviosque ministrantfarraque, ne blando nequeat superesse laboriinvalidique patrum referant ieiunia nati.Ipsa autem macie tenuant armenta volentes,atque, ubi concubitus primos iam nota voluptassollicitat, frondesque negant et fontibus arcent.Saepe etiam cursu quatiunt et sole fatigant,cum graviter tunsis gemit area frugibus et cumsurgentem ad Zephyrum paleae iactantur inanes.Hoc faciunt, nimio ne luxu obtunsior usussit genitali arvo et sulcos oblimet inertis,sed rapiat sitiens Venerem interiusque recondat.
To care of sire the mother's care succeeds.When great with young they wander nigh their time,Let no man suffer them to drag the yokeIn heavy wains, nor leap across the way,Nor scour the meads, nor swim the rushing flood.In lonely lawns they feed them, by the courseOf brimming streams, where moss is, and the banksWith grass are greenest, where are sheltering caves,And far outstretched the rock-flung shadow lies.Round wooded Silarus and the ilex-bowersOf green Alburnus swarms a winged pest—Its Roman name Asilus, by the GreeksTermed Oestros—fierce it is, and harshly hums,Driving whole herds in terror through the groves,Till heaven is madded by their bellowing din,And Tanager's dry bed and forest-banks.With this same scourge did Juno wreak of oldThe terrors of her wrath, a plague devisedAgainst the heifer sprung from Inachus.From this too thou, since in the noontide heats'Tis most persistent, fend thy teeming herds,And feed them when the sun is newly risen,Or the first stars are ushering in the night.
Rursus cura patrum cadere et succedere matrumincipit. Exactis gravidae cum mensibus errant,non illas gravibus quisquam iuga ducere plaustris,non saltu superare viam sit passus et acricarpere prata fuga fluviosque innare rapacis.Saltibus in vacuis pascunt et plena secundumflumina, muscus ubi et viridissima gramine ripa,speluncaeque tegant et saxea procubet umbra.Est lucos Silari circa ilicibusque; virentemplurimus Alburnum volitans, cui nomen asiloRomanum est, oestrum Grai vertere vocantes,asper, acerba sonans, quo tota exterrita silvisdiffugiunt armenta; furit mugitibus aetherconcussus silvaeque et sicci ripa Tanagri.Hoc quondam monstro horribilis exercuit irasInachiae Iuno pestem meditata iuvencae.Hunc quoque, nam mediis fervoribus acrior instat,arcebis gravido pecori, armentaque pascessole recens orto aut noctem ducentibus astris.
But, yeaning ended, all their tender careIs to the calves transferred; at once with marksThey brand them, both to designate their race,And which to rear for breeding, or devoteAs altar-victims, or to cleave the groundAnd into ridges tear and turn the sod.The rest along the greensward graze at will.Those that to rustic uses thou wouldst mould,As calves encourage and take steps to tame,While pliant wills and plastic youth allow.And first of slender withies round the throatLoose collars hang, then when their free-born necksAre used to service, with the self-same bandsYoke them in pairs, and steer by steer compelKeep pace together. And time it is that oftUnfreighted wheels be drawn along the groundBehind them, as to dint the surface-dust;Then let the beechen axle strain and creak'Neath some stout burden, whilst a brazen poleDrags on the wheels made fast thereto. MeanwhileFor their unbroken youth not grass alone,Nor meagre willow-leaves and marish-sedge,But corn-ears with thy hand pluck from the crops.Nor shall the brood-kine, as of yore, for theeBrim high the snowy milking-pail, but spendTheir udders' fullness on their own sweet young.
Post partum cura in vitulos traducitur omnis,continuoque notas et nomina gentis inuruntet quos aut pecori malint submittere habendoaut aris servare sacros aut scindere terramet campum horrentem fractis invertere glaebis.Cetera pascuntur viridis armenta per herbas:Tu quos ad studium atque usum formabis agrestem,iam vitulos hortare viamque insiste domandi,dum faciles animi iuvenum, dum mobilis aetas.Ac primum laxos tenui de vimine circloscervici subnecte; dehinc, ubi libera collaservitio adsuerint, ipsis e torquibus aptosiunge pares et coge gradum conferre iuvencos;atque illis iam saepe rotae ducantur inanesper terram et summo vestigia pulvere signent;post valido nitens sub pondere faginus axisinstrepat et iunctos temo trahat aereus orbes.Interea pubi indomitae non gramina tantumnec vescas salicum frondes ulvamque palustrem,sed frumenta manu carpes sata; nec tibi fetaemore patrum nivea implebunt mulctraria vaccae,sed tota in dulcis consument ubera natos.
But if fierce squadrons and the ranks of warDelight thee rather, or on wheels to glideAt Pisa, with Alpheus fleeting by,And in the grove of Jupiter urge onThe flying chariot, be your steed's first taskTo face the warrior's armed rage, and brookThe trumpet, and long roar of rumbling wheels,And clink of chiming bridles in the stall;Then more and more to love his master's voiceCaressing, or loud hand that claps his neck.Ay, thus far let him learn to dare, when firstWeaned from his mother, and his mouth at timesYield to the supple halter, even while yetWeak, tottering-limbed, and ignorant of life.But, three years ended, when the fourth arrives,Now let him tarry not to run the ringWith rhythmic hoof-beat echoing, and now learnAlternately to curve each bending leg,And be like one that struggleth; then at lastChallenge the winds to race him, and at speedLaunched through the open, like a reinless thing,Scarce print his footsteps on the surface-sand.As when with power from Hyperborean climesThe north wind stoops, and scatters from his pathDry clouds and storms of Scythia; the tall cornAnd rippling plains 'gin shiver with light gusts;A sound is heard among the forest-tops;Long waves come racing shoreward: fast he flies,With instant pinion sweeping earth and main.A steed like this or on the mighty courseOf Elis at the goal will sweat, and showerRed foam-flakes from his mouth, or, kindlier task,With patient neck support the Belgian car.Then, broken at last, let swell their burly frameWith fattening corn-mash, for, unbroke, they willWith pride wax wanton, and, when caught, refuseTough lash to brook or jagged curb obey.
Sin ad bella magis studium turmasque ferocis,aut Alphea rotis praelabi flumina Pisaeet Iovis in luco currus agitare volantis:primus equi labor est, animos atque arma viderebellantum lituosque pati tractuque gementemferre rotam et stabulo frenos audire sonantis;tum magis atque magis blandis gaudere magistrilaudibus et plausae sonitum cervicis amare.Atque haec iam primo depulsus ab ubere matrisaudeat, inque vicem det mollibus ora capistrisinvalidus etiamque tremens, etiam inscius aevi.At tribus exactis ubi quarta accesserit aestas,carpere mox gyrum incipiat gradibusque sonarecompositis sinuetque alterna volumina crurumsitque laboranti similis; tum cursibus auras,tum vocet, ac per aperta volans ceu liber habenisaequora vix summa vestigia ponat harena;qualis Hyperboreis Aquilo cum densus ab orisincubuit, Scythiaeque hiemes atque arida differtnubila: tum segetes altae campique natanteslenibus horrescunt flabris summaeque sonoremdant silvae longique urgent ad litora fluctus;ille volat simul arva fuga, simul aequora verrensHinc vel ad Elei metas et maxuma campisudabit spatia et spumas aget ore cruentas,Belgica vel molli melius feret esseda collo.Tum demum crassa magnum farragine corpuscrescere iam domitis sinito: namque ante domandumingentis tollent animos prensique negabuntverbera lenta pati et duris parere lupatis.
But no device so fortifies their powerAs love's blind stings of passion to forefend,Whether on steed or steer thy choice be set.Ay, therefore 'tis they banish bulls afarTo solitary pastures, or behindSome mountain-barrier, or broad streams beyond,Or else in plenteous stalls pen fast at home.For, even through sight of her, the female wastesHis strength with smouldering fire, till he forgetBoth grass and woodland. She indeed full oftWith her sweet charms can lovers proud compelTo battle for the conquest horn to horn.In Sila's forest feeds the heifer fair,While each on each the furious rivals run;Wound follows wound; the black blood laves their limbs;Horns push and strive against opposing horns,With mighty groaning; all the forest-sideAnd far Olympus bellow back the roar.Nor wont the champions in one stall to couch;But he that's worsted hies him to strange climesFar off, an exile, moaning much the shame,The blows of that proud conqueror, then love's lossAvenged not; with one glance toward the byre,His ancient royalties behind him lie.So with all heed his strength he practiseth,And nightlong makes the hard bare stones his bed,And feeds on prickly leaf and pointed rush,And proves himself, and butting at a treeLearns to fling wrath into his horns, with blowsProvokes the air, and scattering clouds of sandMakes prelude of the battle; afterward,With strength repaired and gathered might breaks camp,And hurls him headlong on the unthinking foe:As in mid ocean when a wave far ofBegins to whiten, mustering from the mainIts rounded breast, and, onward rolled to landFalls with prodigious roar among the rocks,Huge as a very mountain: but the depthsUpseethe in swirling eddies, and disgorgeThe murky sand-lees from their sunken bed.
Sed non ulla magis viris industria firmat,quam Venerem et caeci stimulos avertere amoris,sive boum sive est cui gratior usus equorum.Atque ideo tauros procul atque in sola relegantpascua post montem oppositum et trans flumina lata,aut intus clausos satura ad praesepia servant.Carpit enim viris paulatim uritque videndofemina nec nemorum patitur meminisse nec herbaedulcibus illa quidem inlecebris, et saepe superboscornibus inter se subigit decernere amantis.Pascitur in magna Sila formosa iuvenca:illi alternantes multa vi proelia miscentvolneribus crebris, lavit ater corpora sanguis,versaque in obnixos urguentur cornua vastocum gemitu, reboant silvaeque et longus OlympusNec mos bellantis una stabulare, sed altervictus abit longeque ignotis exulat oris,multa gemens ignominiam plagasque superbivictoris, tum, quos amisit inultus, amores;et stabula aspectans regnis excessit avitis.Ergo omni cura viris exercet et interdura iacet pernix instrato saxa cubilifrondibus hirsutis et carice pastus acuta,et temptat sese atque irasci in cornua discitarboris obnixus trunco ventosque lacessitictibus et sparsa ad pugnam proludit harena.Post ubi collectum robur viresque refectaesigna movet praecepsque oblitum fertur in hostem:fluctus uti medio coepit cum albescere pontolongius ex altoque sinum trahit, utque volutusad terras immane sonat per saxa neque ipsomonte minor procumbit, at ima exaestuat undaverticibus nigramque alte subiectat harenam.
Nay, every race on earth of men, and beasts,And ocean-folk, and flocks, and painted birds,Rush to the raging fire: love sways them all.Never than then more fiercely o'er the plainProwls heedless of her whelps the lioness:Nor monstrous bears such wide-spread havoc-doomDeal through the forests; then the boar is fierce,Most deadly then the tigress: then, alack!Ill roaming is it on Libya's lonely plains.Mark you what shivering thrills the horse's frame,If but a waft the well-known gust conveys?Nor curb can check them then, nor lash severe,Nor rocks and caverned crags, nor barrier-floods,That rend and whirl and wash the hills away.Then speeds amain the great Sabellian boar,His tushes whets, with forefoot tears the ground,Rubs 'gainst a tree his flanks, and to and froHardens each wallowing shoulder to the wound.What of the youth, when love's relentless mightStirs the fierce fire within his veins? Behold!In blindest midnight how he swims the gulfConvulsed with bursting storm-clouds! Over himHeaven's huge gate thunders; the rock-shattered mainUtters a warning cry; nor parents' tearsCan backward call him, nor the maid he loves,Too soon to die on his untimely pyre.What of the spotted ounce to Bacchus dear,Or warlike wolf-kin or the breed of dogs?Why tell how timorous stags the battle join?O'er all conspicuous is the rage of mares,By Venus' self inspired of old, what timeThe Potnian four with rending jaws devouredThe limbs of Glaucus. Love-constrained they roamPast Gargarus, past the loud Ascanian flood;They climb the mountains, and the torrents swim;And when their eager marrow first conceivesThe fire, in Spring-tide chiefly, for with SpringWarmth doth their frames revisit, then they standAll facing westward on the rocky heights,And of the gentle breezes take their fill;And oft unmated, marvellous to tell,But of the wind impregnate, far and wideO'er craggy height and lowly vale they scud,Not toward thy rising, Eurus, or the sun's,But westward and north-west, or whence up-springsBlack Auster, that glooms heaven with rainy cold.Hence from their groin slow drips a poisonous juice,By shepherds truly named hippomanes,Hippomanes, fell stepdames oft have culled,And mixed with herbs and spells of baneful bode.
Omne adeo genus in terris hominumque ferarumque,et genus aequoreum, pecudes pictaeque volucres,in furias. ignemque ruunt. Amor omnibus idem.Tempore non alio catulorum oblita leaenasaevior erravit campis, nec funera volgotam multa informes ursi stragemque dedereper silvas; tum saevus aper, tum pessima tigris;heu male tum Libyae solis erratur in agris.Nonne vides, ut tota tremor pertemptet equorumcorpora, si tantum notas odor attulit auras?Ac neque eos iam frena virum neque verbera saevanon scopuli rupesque cavae atque obiecta retardantflumina correptosque unda torquentia montis.Ipse ruit dentesque Sabellicus exacuit suset pede prosubigit terram, fricat arbore costasatque hinc atque illinc umeros ad volnera durat.Quid iuvenis, magnum cui versat in ossibus ignemdurus amor? Nempe abruptis turbata procellisnocte natat caeca serus freta; quem super ingensporta tonat caeli et scopulis inlisa reclamantaequora; nec miseri possunt revocare parentesnec moritura super crudeli funere virgo.Quid lynces Bacchi variae et genus acre luporumatque canum? Quid, quae imbelles dant proelia cervi?Scilicet ante omnis furor est insignis equarum;et mentem Venus ipsa dedit, quo tempore GlauciPotniades malis membra absumpsere quadrigae.Illas ducit amor trans Gargara transque sonantemAscanium; superant montis et flumina tranant.Continuoque avidis ubi subdita flamma medullis,vere magis, quia vere calor redit ossibus: illaeore omnes versae in Zephyrum stant rupibus altis,exceptantque levis auras et saepe sine ullisconiugiis vento gravidae, mirabile dictu,saxa per et scopulos et depressas convallisdiffugiunt, non, Eure, tuos, neque solis ad ortus,in Borean caurumque, aut unde nigerrimus austernascitur et pluvio contristat frigore caelum.Hic demum, hippomanes vero quod nomine dicuntpastores, lentum destillat ab inguine virus,hippomanes, quod saepe malae legere novercaemiscueruntque herbas et non innoxia verba.