Georgics 2.35–46

Address to Maecenas

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Georg. 2.35Quārē agite ō propriōs generātim discite cultūs,
agricolae, frūctūsque ferōs mollīte colendō,
neu segnēs iaceant terrae.Therefore come, farmers, learn the cultivation proper to each kind, soften wild fruits by tending, and let no lands lie idle. Georg. 2.37Iuvat Ismara Bacchō
cōnserere atque oleā magnum vestīre Taburnum.It is a joy to plant Ismarus with Bacchus and to clothe great Taburnus with the olive. Georg. 2.39Tūque ades inceptumque ūnā dēcurre labōrem,
40Ō decus, ō fāmae meritō pars maxima nostrae,
Maecēnās, pelagōque volāns dā vēla patentī;And you, be at my side and run with me through the labour I have begun, O my glory, O you who rightly claim the greatest part of my fame, Maecenas, and, flying over the sea, spread your sails to the open water; Georg. 2.42nōn ego cūncta meīs amplectī versibus optō,
nōn, mihi sī linguae centum sint ōraque centum,
ferrea vōx;I do not wish to embrace everything in my verses, not if I had a hundred tongues and a hundred mouths and a voice of iron; Georg. 2.44ades et prīmī lēge lītoris ōram.be at my side and skirt the edge of the near shore.

Georg. 2.45In manibus terrae;The land is at hand; Georg. 2.45nōn hīc tē carmine fictō
atque per ambāgēs et longa exōrsa tenēbō.I will not detain you here with fictitious song, nor with digressions and long preambles.

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Grammar in this passage: gerunds and gerundives ×1, ablative absolute ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (68 words)

quārē (adv.)	why; for which reason
agō, agere, ēgī, āctus	drive; do; pass, lead; grātiās agere, see grātia
ō (interj.)	O! oh!
proprius, -a, -um	one's own, private; characteristic (of)
generātim (adv.)	by tribes, by kinds
discō, discere, didicī	learn
cultus, -ūs m.	way of life; civilization, refinement
agricola, -ae m.	farmer, tiller of the soil
frūctus, -ūs, m.	enjoyment; fruit
que, enclitic conj.	and
ferus, -a, -um	wild, savage
molliō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus	soften; make (a slope) easier
colō, colere, coluī, cultus	till, cultivate; inhabit; worship
nēve or neu, conj.	and that not, and not, nor
segnis, -e	slow, sluggish, idle
iaceō, -ēre, -uī	lie, be prostrate
terra, -ae, f.	land, earth
iuvō, -āre, iūvī, iūtum	help
cōnserō, -ere, -seruī, -sertus	join, fasten together; manum (manūs) cōnserere: come to blows, engage
atque, ac (conj.)	and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
olea, -ae f.	olive tree; olive
magnus, -a, -um	large, big, great, mighty; loud
vestiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītum	clothe, dress
tū, tuī, pers. pron.	thou, you
adsum, adesse, adfuī	be present, be at hand
incipiō, -ere, incēpī, inceptum	begin
ūnā	together, along
dēcurrō, -currere, -cucurrī, -cursus	run down
labor, -ōris, m.	labor, toil
decus, -oris n.	honour, glory; what is fitting, propriety
fāma, -ae, f.	report, rumor
meritō (adv.)	deservedly, rightly
pars, partis, f.	part, side, direction
noster, -tra, -trum	our
pelagus, -ī n.	the sea, the open sea
volō, -āre, -āvī, -ātūrus	fly
dō, dare, dedī, datus	give
vēlum, -ī n.	sail
pateō, -ēre, -uī	lie open; extend, stretch
nōn, adv.	not
ego, meī, pers. pron.	I
cūnctus, -a, -um	all, the whole
meus, -a, -um	my, mine
amplector, -plectī, -plexus sum	embrace, hug; welcome, adopt
versus, -ūs m.	line (of writing), verse
optō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	wish for, desire; pray for
sī, conj.	if
lingua, -ae f.	tongue; language
centum, indecl. adj.	one hundred
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
ōs, ōris, n.	mouth
ferreus, -a, -um	of iron, iron
vōx, vōcis, f.	voice; word
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
prīmus, -a, -um	first, foremost
lēx, lēgis f.	law
lītus, lītoris, n.	shore
ōra, -ae f.	coast, shore
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
manus, -ūs, f.	hand
hīc, adv.	here; hereupon
carmen, -minis, n.	song, charm
fingō, fingere, finxī, fictus	invent, make up
per, prep, with ace.	through, by means of
ambāgēs, -is f. (mostly pl.)	roundabout ways; riddles, dark hints
longus, -a, -um	long; tedious
exōrdior, -īrī, -ōrsus sum	begin, start; (n. pl. pple as noun) exōrsa: undertakings, beginnings
teneō, -ēre, -uī, -tus	hold, keep; hold back, restrain, stop

Vergil, Georgics. Latin text: J. B. Greenough, The Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics of Virgil (Boston, 1881), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.