The Bucolics and Eclogues

Virgil · c. 42–37 BCE (composed in parts; Eclogues chiefly during the 40s BCE) primary

passage 15 of 15 · (15/15)

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in brief

Eclogue X ends with the poet’s frame: the Pierian Muses are told the songs have been sung, Gallus is praised as love grows, and the shepherds rise to avoid harmful shade while heading home.

the bark of the tall elm-tree bole Of drought is dying, should, under Cancer's Sign, In Aethiopian deserts drive our flocks. Love conquers all things; yield we too to love!"

These songs, Pierian Maids, shall it suffice Your poet to have sung, the while he sat, And of slim mallow wove a basket fine: To Gallus ye will magnify their worth, Gallus, for whom my love grows hour by hour, As the green alder shoots in early Spring. Come, let us rise: the shade is wont to be Baneful to singers; baneful is the shade Cast by the juniper, crops sicken too In shade. Now homeward, having fed your fill-- Eve's star is rising-go, my she-goats, go.

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topics: festivals, games, and spectacle · honor, shame, and reputation · poetry and the poets

The Bucolics and Eclogues · Virgil · 42–37 BCE