Ecl. 1.1Tityre, tū patulae recubāns sub tegmine fāgī
silvestrem tenuī Mūsam meditāris avēnā;Tityrus, you, lying back beneath the cover of a spreading beech, practise the woodland Muse on a slender reed; Ecl. 1.3nōs patriae fīnēs et dulcia linquimus arva:
nōs patriam fugimus;we are leaving the borders of our homeland and our sweet fields: we are fleeing our homeland; Ecl. 1.4tū, Tityre, lentus in umbrā
5fōrmōsam resonāre docēs Amaryllida silvās.you, Tityrus, at ease in the shade, teach the woods to echo the name of lovely Amaryllis. Ecl. 1.6Ō Meliboee, deus nōbīs haec ōtia fēcit:
namque erit ille mihi semper deus;O Meliboeus, a god has made this leisure for us: for he will always be a god to me; Ecl. 1.7illīus āram
saepe tener nostrīs ab ovīlibus imbuet agnus.a tender lamb from our folds will often stain his altar. Ecl. 1.9Ille meās errāre bovēs, ut cernis, et ipsum
10lūdere, quae vellem, calamō permīsit agrestī
Nōn equidem invideō;He has allowed my cattle to wander, as you see, and me myself to play what I wished on a rustic reed. I do not begrudge it, indeed; Ecl. 1.11mīror magis: undique tōtīs
ūsque adeō turbātur agrīs.rather I wonder: there is such turmoil everywhere throughout the countryside.
Ecl. 1.12Ēn, ipse capellās
prōtinus aeger agō;Look, I myself, sick at heart, am driving my she-goats onwards; Ecl. 1.13hanc etiam vix, Tityre, dūcō:
hīc inter dēnsās corylōs modo namque gemellōs,
15spem gregis, ah, silice in nūdā cōnīxa relīquit.this one too, Tityrus, I can scarcely lead: for just now, here among the thick hazels, she bore twins, the hope of the flock, and left them, ah, on the bare flint. Ecl. 1.16Saepe malum hoc nōbīs, sī mēns nōn laeva fuisset,
dē caelō tāctās meminī praedīcere quercūs:—
Sed tamen, iste deus quī sit, dā, Tityre, nōbīs.Often, I remember, oaks struck from the sky foretold this misfortune to us, had our minds not been perverse:— But still, Tityrus, tell us who this god of yours is. Ecl. 1.20Urbem, quam dīcunt Rōmam, Meliboee, putāvī
stultus ego huic nostrae similem, quō saepe solēmus
pāstōrēs ovium tenerōs dēpellere fētūs:
sīc canibus catulōs similīs, sīc mātribus haedōs
nōram, sīc parvīs compōnere magna solēbam:
25vērum haec tantum aliās inter caput extulit urbēs,
quantum lenta solent inter vīburna cupressī.The city they call Rome, Meliboeus, I, fool that I was, thought was like this town of ours, to which we shepherds often drive down the tender young of our ewes: so I knew puppies were like dogs, so kids like their mothers, so I used to compare great things with small: but this city has raised its head as high among other cities as cypresses do among the pliant wayfaring-trees.
Ecl. 1.27Et quae tanta fuit Rōmam tibi causa videndī?And what was so great a reason for you to see Rome? Ecl. 1.28Lībertās;Freedom; Ecl. 1.28quae sēra, tamen respexit inertem,
candidior postquam tondentī barba cadēbat;who, though late, still looked back on me in my idleness, after my beard was falling whiter under the razor; Ecl. 1.30respexit tamen, et longō post tempore vēnit,
postquam nōs Amaryllis habet, Galatēa relīquit:
namque, fatēbor enim, dum mē Galatēa tenēbat,
nec spēs lībertātis erat, nec cūra pecūlī:
quamvīs multa meīs exīret victimā saeptīs,
35pinguis et ingrātae premerētur cāseus urbī,
nōn umquam gravis aere domum mihi dextra redībat.she looked back nonetheless, and came after a long time, now that Amaryllis has me and Galatea has left me: for, I will confess it, while Galatea held me, I had neither hope of freedom nor care for savings: though many a victim went out from my pens, and rich cheese was pressed for the ungrateful town, my right hand never came home to me heavy with bronze. Ecl. 1.37Mīrābar, quid maesta deōs, Amarylli, vocārēs,
cui pendēre sua paterēris in arbore pōma:
Tityrus hinc aberat.I wondered why you called on the gods so sadly, Amaryllis, and for whom you let the apples hang on their tree: Tityrus was away from here.
Ecl. 1.39Ipsae tē, Tityre, pīnūs,
40ipsī tē fontēs, ipsa haec arbusta vocābant.The very pines, Tityrus, the very springs, these very orchards were calling for you. Ecl. 1.41Quid facerem?What was I to do? Ecl. 1.41Neque servitiō mē exīre licēbat,
nec tam praesentīs alibī cognōscere dīvōs.I could not escape from slavery, nor find gods so ready to help elsewhere. Ecl. 1.43hīc illum vīdī iuvenem, Meliboee, quot annīs
bis sēnōs cui nostra diēs altāria fūmant;here I saw that young man, Meliboeus, for whom our altars smoke twelve days every year; Ecl. 1.45hīc mihi respōnsum prīmus dedit ille petentī:
"pāscite, ut ante, bovēs, puerī, submittite taurōs."here he was the first to give me an answer when I asked: 'Pasture your cattle as before, boys; rear your bulls.' Ecl. 1.47Fortūnāte senex, ergō tua rūra manēbunt,
et tibi magna satis, quamvīs lapis omnia nūdus
līmōsōque palūs obdūcat pāscua iuncō!Fortunate old man, so your lands will remain yours, and large enough for you, though bare rock and marsh with muddy rushes cover all your pastures! Ecl. 1.50Nōn īnsuēta gravīs temptābunt pābula fētās,
nec mala vīcīnī pecoris contāgia laedent.No unfamiliar fodder will trouble your heavy pregnant ewes, nor will the evil contagions of a neighbour's flock harm them.
Ecl. 1.52Fortūnāte senex, hīc, inter flūmina nota
et fontīs sacrōs, frīgus captābis opācum!Fortunate old man, here, among familiar rivers and sacred springs, you will seek the shady cool! Ecl. 1.54hinc tibi, quae semper, vīcīnō ab līmite, saepēs
55Hyblaeīs apibus flōrem dēpāsta salictī
saepe levī somnum suādēbit inīre susurrō;on this side, as always, the hedge on your neighbour's boundary, its willow blossom fed on by Hyblaean bees, will often coax you with its gentle humming to fall asleep; Ecl. 1.57hinc altā sub rūpe canet frondātor ad aurās;on that side, beneath a high rock, the leaf-dresser will sing to the breezes; Ecl. 1.58nec tamen intereā raucae, tua cūra, palumbēs,
nec gemere āëriā cessābit turtur ab ulmō.nor meanwhile will the hoarse wood-pigeons, your delight, nor the turtle-dove cease to moan from the lofty elm. Ecl. 1.60Ante levēs ergō pāscentur in aequore cervī,
et freta dēstituent nūdōs in lītore piscēs,
ante pererrātīs ambōrum fīnibus exsul
aut Ararim Parthus bibet, aut Germānia Tigrim,
quam nostrō illīus lābātur pectore voltus.Sooner, then, will nimble stags graze on the sea, and the waters leave fish stranded bare on the shore, sooner, each wandering in exile through the other's lands, will the Parthian drink the Arar or Germany the Tigris, than his face will slip from our heart.
Ecl. 1.65At nōs hinc aliī sitientīs ībimus Āfrōs,
pars Scythiam et rapidum Crētae veniēmus Oaxēn,
et penitus tōtō dīvīsōs orbe Britannōs.But we must go from here, some to the thirsty Africans, some of us to Scythia and to the Oaxes, swift with chalk from Crete, and to the Britons, wholly cut off from all the world. Ecl. 1.68Ēn umquam patriōs longō post tempore fīnīs,
pauperis et tugurī congestum caespite culmen,
70post aliquot mea regna vidēns mīrābor aristās?Ah, will I ever, after a long time, look on my ancestral lands and the roof of my poor cottage piled with turf, and later marvel at a few ears of corn, once my kingdom? Ecl. 1.71Impius haec tam culta novālia mīles habēbit,
barbarus hās segetēs?Will an impious soldier possess these fallow fields so well tilled, a barbarian these crops? Ecl. 1.72Ēn, quō discordia cīvīs
prōdūxit miserōs!See where discord has brought our wretched citizens! Ecl. 1.73Hīs nōs cōnsēvimus agrōs!For these men we have sown our fields! Ecl. 1.74Īnsere nunc, Meliboee, pirōs, pōne ōrdine vītīs.Graft your pear-trees now, Meliboeus, set your vines in rows.
Ecl. 1.75Īte meae, fēlīx quondam pecus, īte capellae.Go, my she-goats, once a happy flock, go. Ecl. 1.76Nōn ego vōs posthāc, viridī prōiectus in antrō,
dūmōsā pendēre procul dē rūpe vidēbō;No more shall I, stretched out in a green cave, watch you hanging far off from a bushy crag; Ecl. 1.78carmina nūlla canam;I shall sing no songs; Ecl. 1.78nōn, mē pāscente, capellae,
flōrentem cytisum et salicēs carpētis amārās.you will not, my goats, with me to pasture you, crop the flowering clover and the bitter willows. Ecl. 1.80Hīc tamen hanc mēcum poterās requiēscere noctem
fronde super viridī: sunt nōbīs mītia pōma,
castaneae mollēs, et pressī cōpia lactis;Yet here you could have rested with me tonight on green leaves: we have ripe apples, soft chestnuts and plenty of pressed cheese; Ecl. 1.83et iam summa procul vīllārum culmina fūmant,
maiōrēsque cadunt altīs dē montibus umbrae.and already in the distance the rooftops of the farmhouses are smoking, and longer shadows are falling from the high mountains.