THE

THIRD BOOK

OF THE

GEORGICS.

The Argument.

THIS Book begins with the 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 muriain that formerly raged among the Alps,

Thy fields, propitious Pales! I rehearse;
And sing thy pastures in no vulgar verse,
Amphrysian shepherd! the Lycæan woods,
Arcadia's flow'ry plains, and pleasing floods.
All other themes that careless minds invite, 5
Are worn with use, unworthy me to write.
Busiris' altars, and the dire decrees
Of hard Eurestheus, every reader seçs;

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 exprest:
New ways I must attempt, my grov'ling name
To raise aloft, and wing my flight to fame.

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I first of Romans, shall in triumph come From conquer'd Greece, and bring her trophies With foreign spoils adorn my native place, [home : And with Idume's palms my Mantua grace. Of Parian stone a temple will I raise,

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Where the slow Mincius thro' the valley strays; 20
Where cooling streams invite the flocks to drink;
And reeds defend the winding water's brink.
Full in the midst shall mighty Cæsar stand;
Hold the chief honours, 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 whorlbat and the rapid race shall be
Reserv'd for Cæsar, and ordain'd by me.
Myself, with olive crown'd, the gifts will bear;
Ev'n 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,

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Which interwoven Britons seem to raise,
And shew the triumph which their shame displays.
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 shatter'd ships on brazen pillars ride.
Next him, Niphates, with inverted urn,
And dropping sedge, shall his Armenia mourn;
And Asian cities in our triumph borne.
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, 50
Two diff'rent trophies, from two diff'rent 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 famish'd Tantalus shall feel;
And Sisyphus that labors up the hill

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

Conquests.

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Mean time we must pursue the Sylvan lands;
(Th'abode of nymphs)untouch'd by formerhands;
For such, Maecenas ! are thy hard commands.
Without thee, nothing lofty can I sing;
Come then, and with thyself thy genius bring,
With which inspir'd I brook no dull delay;
Cytheron loudly calls me to my way; [prey.
Thy hounds, Tayg'tus! open, and pursue their
High Epidaurus urges on my speed,

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Fam'd for his hills and for his horses' breed; From hills and dales the cheerful cries rebound; For Echo hunts along and propagates the sound.

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A time will come, when my maturer Muse In Cæsar's wars a nobler theme shall chuse ; 80 And through more ages bear my sovereign's praise, Than have from Tithon past to Cæsar's days. The gen'rous 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 proThe mother cow must wear a low'ring look, [ceeds. Sour-headed, strongly neck'd, to bear the yoke. Her double dew-lap from her chin descends, And at her thighs the pond'rous burden ends. 90 Long are her sides and large; her limbs are great; Rough are her ears, and broad her horny feet. Her color shining black, but fleck'd 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:

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Iler ample forehead with a star is crown'd;
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 lab'ring plough.

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Now while their youth is fill'd with kindly fire, Submit thy females to the lusty sire; Watch the quick motions of the frisking tail, 105 Then serve their fury with the rushing male, Indulging pleasure lest the breed should fail. In youth alone, unhappy mortals live ; But, ah! the mighty bliss is fugitive! Discolor'd sickness, anxious labour come, And age, and death's inexorable doom. Yearly thy herds in vigour will impair: Recruit and mend them with thy yearly care: Still propagate, for still they fall away; 'Tis prudence to prevent th' entire decay.

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Like diligence require the courser's race; In early choice, and for a longer space : The colt, that for a stallion is design'd, By sure presages shows his gen'rous 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 át empty noises; lofty neck'd; [wood: Sharp-headed, barrel-belly'd, broadly-back'd; 126

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