59

It is But the

some in thee who hast thy temples wreathed with pine. Thee too, Silenus, of lust inextinguishable, they inflame. lust alone that precludes thee from being aged. ruddy Priapus, the deity and guardian of the gardens, was charmed by Lotis above them all. Her he desires-her he longs after for her alone he sighs; he signifies his wishes by his nods, and entreats her by signs. Cold disdain is innate in the fair, and haughtiness accompanies beauty. By her countenance, she despises and she scorns him.

It was night, and, wine producing slumber, their bodies lay overpowered by drowsiness, in various places. Lotis, as she was wearied with sport, lay, the most remote of all, on the grassy earth, beneath the overshadowing boughs of a maple. Her lover rises, and, holding his breath, stealthily advances his silent footsteps, treading on tiptoe. When now he had reached the sequestered resting place of the nymph, fair as snow, he takes care lest the very drawing of his breath should make a noise. And now was he poising his body on the grass close by her, yet still was she sunk in deep sleep. He is overjoyed, and drawing aside her garment from her feet, began to proceed along the blissful path to the accomplishment of his desires. When, lo! braying with hoarse throat, the ass that bore Silenus sent forth unseasonable sounds. Alarmed, the nymph starts up, and with her hands flings back Priapus, and then flying62 arouses the whole grove. The god, already too well prepared for his lustful attempt, was an object of ridicule to all by the light of the moon. The author of the outcry paid the penalty by death, and hence is an acceptable victim to the god of the Hellespont. You, ye birds, charmers of the fields, a race accustomed to the groves, and guiltless, had been as yet unharmed; you, who build your nests, who cherish your eggs

4

59 With pine.]—Ver. 412. i. e. Pan.

60 By his nods.]—Ver. 417, 418. These lines remind us of those of Milton, in L'Allegro ::

61 And sneers.]-Ver. 420.

She turns up her nose at him.'

As we should say in common parlance,

62 Then flying.]-Ver. 436. The gods, in compassion for this gross attempt on the nymph, changed her into the lotus tree.

with your plumage, and warble delightful strains from your ready throats. But these things avail you nothing, because you are accused of the power of utterance, and the gods believe that you disclose their purposes. And this charge not entirely groundless; for, as each is most familiar with the gods, at one time, by your wings, at another, by your voices, you give true indications.62 The race of the fowls, for so long a time secure, at length came to be slain in its turn, and the entrails of the informer against them then delighted the gods. For that reason, often is the white ring-dove, the consort, torn from her mate, burned on the glowing hearths. Nor does the defence of the capitol avail, to prevent_the_goose from affording its liver for thy dishes, O dainty daughter of Inachus.64 On the night of this day, the crested bird is slain in honour of the goddess Night, because with watchful throat he calls forth the warm day. In the mean time the Dolphin, a bright constellation, rises over the deep, and puts forth his head from his native waters.

66

63

65

62* True indications.]-Ver. 447. The poet refers to the omens obtained from the flight and voices of birds.

63 Defence of the capitol.]—Ver. 453. The city of Rome being taken by the Gauls, Marcus Manlius, with a body of men, retired into the capitol, which during the night was attacked by the enemy. Their approach was discovered in time, through the cackling of some geese that were kept in the temple of Juno, and from that time geese were held sacred with the Romans.

64 Daughter of Inachus.]-Ver. 453, 454. Inachis, supposed to have been the same with Io, daughter of Inachus, the river god. From the epicurean taste which she is here represented as indulging, she would probably have been more than usually pleased by a taste of the 'patè de foies gras' of the present day. Gower translates these lines thus,

'Nor can the guarded capitol release

The goose's liver from choice Inach's mess.'

65 Goddess Night.]-Ver. 455. 'Nox,' 'Night,' was one of the most ancient deities, being a daughter of Chaos. By her brother Erebus she produced the Day and the Light. She was the mother of the Fates, Dreams, Discord, Death, Momus, and others, and was worshipped in the temple of Diana at Ephesus.

66 The Dolphin ]-Ver. 457. The cosmic rising of the Dolphin on the 9th of January; being the fifth of the Ides. In Book ii. the poet relates how the Dolphin carried Arion to Tænarus, when the minstrel had been thrown into the sea by the sailors anxious to obtain his wealth. It was also said that the Dolphin was thus honoured for having gained the hand of Amphitrite for Neptune.

The next day marks the winter by a central line, 67 and the part of it which will then remain, will be equal to that which is past.

The next dawn, 66 Tithonus having been left by her, shall look upon the pontifical ceremonies of the Arcadian goddess. Thee too, sister of Turnus, 69 the same day received in thy temple, here where the Plain of Mars is traversed by the aqueduct of the Virgin. Whence shall I derive the causes and the forms of these sacred rites ?70 Who can guide my sails in the midst of the deep. Instruct me thyself, thou who hast a name derived from song, and favour my undertaking, lest thy glory be lost in uncertainty. Having an origin before that of the moon" (if we credit it when speaking of itself), the land derives its name from the great Arcas. 72 Here was Evander, 73 who, although on either side of illustrious origin, was more noble in the line of his sacred mother: who, as soon as she had conceived the inspiration of heaven in her soul, used to utter from her unerring lips verses redolent of the divinity. She had told her son that troubles were im

67 Central line.]-Ver. 459. Ovid makes the 10th of January the middle day of winter. Columella makes it the 4th of that month.

63 The next dawn.]—Ver. 461. Aurora was the goddess of the morning, and the daughter of Hyperion, or of Titan. She became enamoured of Tithonus, son of Laomedon, king of Troy, and took him with her to

heaven.

69 Sister of Turnus.]—Ver. 463. Juturna was a water nymph, who, according to Virgil, Æneid xii., was beguiled by Jupiter, and by him made a goddess of the streams. Her temple stood in the Campus Martius at Rome. She is again mentioned in the next book.

6

6

70 These sacred rites.]-Ver. 465. The Carmentalia, in honour of Carmenta, a goddess of Arcadian origin, called also Nicostrata and Themis. It is said below by the poet, that the name Carmenta was derived from her prophetic powers, carmen' being the Latin word for prophecy,' which being originally given in verse, the term 'carmen' afterwards became applicable to all kinds of verse. Carmenta had a temple in the forum consecrated to her by the Roman matrons.

6

71 That of the moon.]-Ver. 469. Indeed all the Arcadians styled themselves πρoσεηvoi, existing before the moon,' or 'Prælunites.' This circumstance is mentioned in the next book.

72 Arcas.]-Ver. 470. Arcas was son of Jupiter and Calisto, and transferred to heaven as a constellation after his death. Arcadia, to which he gave name, was in the centre of Peloponnesus, bounded by Achaia, Messenia, Elis, and Argolis.

73 Evander.]-Ver. 471. He was son of Carmenta, by Mercury, or, according to others. by Echemus.

pending over him and herself, and many things besides, which obtained their fulfilment in the lapse of time. For now the youth exiled with his mother, too true a prophetess, leaves Arcadia and his Parrhasian" home. To him, as he wept, his mother said, "Stay thy tears, my son, this turn of fortune must be borne by thee with manful spirit. This was thy destiny; it is no guilt of thy own that has exiled thee, but a god; thou hast been banished from thy city by the anger of a divinity. Thou art now enduring, not the penalty of a misdeed, but the wrath of a deity; it is some consolation that guilt does not accompany thy great misfortunes. As the mind of each man is conscious of good or evil, so does he conceive within his breast hope or fear, according to his actions. Mourn not as though thou wert the first that had suffered such ills; the same storm has borne down many a mighty man. The same did Cadmus 75 suffer, who long ago, when banished from the Tyrian shores, took up his abode, an outcast, on the Aonian soil. The same did Tydeus, the same did Pagasaan Jason" suffer; and others besides, whom to enumerate would be a task too tedious. To the brave man every land is a country, as, to the fishes the ocean, and as, to the bird the whole extent of space in the world of air. Nor does bleak winter freeze throughout the whole of the year; to thee too-believe me—the hours of spring will yet come.' Evander, with mind emboldened by the words of his parent, cuts the waves with his bark, and reaches Hesperia. 78

76

74 Parrhasian.]-Ver. 478. Parrhasia was a town of Arcadia.

75 Cadmus.]-Ver. 490. Son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia. His sister Europa having been carried off by Jupiter, he was sent in search of her, and founded the colony of Boeotia, one of the ancient names of which was Aonia. These lines are thus translated by Gower :

This Cadmus, banished from the Tyrian Bay,
Endur'd, then settled in Aonia.'

76 Tydeus.]-Ver. 491. He was son of Eneus, king of Calydon. Having accidentally slain one of his friends, he fled to the court of Adrastus, king of Argos, whose daughter Deiphyle he married.

77 Pagasaan Jason.]-Ver. 491. Pagasa was a sea-port of Thessaly. Jason was the son of Eson, king of Iolchos, who headed the expedition to Colchis, in pursuit of the golden fleece, which he gained by the aid of Medea.

78 Hesperia.]-Ver. 498. So called from Hesperus,' or 'Vesper,' the evening star, as Italy was to the west of Greece, where it first received that appellation. Evander arrived in Italy in the reign of Faunus.

And now, by the advice of the skilled Carmentis, he had directed his bark into the river, and was proceeding against the stream of the Etrurian current. She beholds the bank

of the river, to which the fords of Terentus" are adjacent, and the cottages scattered over the lonesome districts. And as she was, with her locks all dishevelled, she stood before the poop, and with stern look withheld the hand of him who was guiding the vessel's course. Then stretching forth her arms towards the right bank afar, she thrice strikes the pine wood deck with frantic foot. Scarcely, yes, scarcely, was she restrained by the hand of Evander from springing forward, in her haste to stand upon he shore. "Hail, gods of the regions sought by us,' she said, "and thou country that shalt hereafter give new gods to Heaven, and ye rivers and fountains, which this strange land enjoys; ye too, nymphs of the groves, and ye choirs of the Naiads. 80 With favouring omens be ye seen by my son and by me, and may that bank be trodden with an auspicious step. Am I deceived? or shall these hills become a vast city, and shall the rest of the world seek laws from this land? To these mountains the sway of the whole earth is promised one day; who could suppose the place to have so high a destiny? And soon shall the Dardanian ships touch at these shores; here too shall a woman be the cause of a fresh war. Pallas, my beloved grandson, why dost thou put on 79 Terentus.]-Ver. 501. This was a place at the end of the Campus Martius, where was a subterranean altar to the infernal deities.

84

82

83

80 The Naiads.]-Ver. 512. The Naiads were deities who presided over rivers, springs, and fountains. They were represented as beauteous damsels, naked to the waist, and reclining on a vase, which was pouring forth a stream of water. Goats and lambs were offered to them, with wine, oil, milk, honey, fruits, and flowers. Gower translates these lines :'Ye springs and rivers of this land hospitious,

Ye fairies feat, and water-nymphs delicious.'

81 These hills.]-Ver. 515. Alluding prophetically to the future destinies of Rome. The heights on which it was built were the Palatine, Capitoline, Janiculan, Cælian, Esquiline, Viminal, and Quirinal Hills.

62 Dardanian ships.]-Ver. 519. Trojan. Dardanus was the son of Jupiter and Electra, and was considered as the founder of Troy. She alludes to the arrival of Æneas about sixty years after. His travels and his arrival in Italy, when rendered homeless by the destruction of Troy, form the subject of the Eneid of Virgil.

83 A woman be the cause.]—Ver. 520. Lavinia, the daughter of Latinus, was the cause of the war between Eneas and Turnus. Helen, the wife of Menelaus, had previously been the cause of the Trojan war.

Pallas.]-Ver. 521. Son of Evander. He led the auxiliaries which