Georg. 3.349At nōn, quā Scythiae gentēs Maeōtiaque undā,
350turbidus et torquēns flāventīs Hister harēnās,
quāque redit medium Rhodopē porrēcta sub axem.But not so where the Scythian tribes are, and the Maeotic water, and the muddy Danube rolling its yellow sands, and where Rhodope turns back, stretched out beneath the middle of the pole. Georg. 3.352Illīc clausa tenent stabulīs armenta, neque ūllae
aut herbae campō appārent aut arbore frondēs;There they keep the herds shut in stalls, and no grass appears on the plain nor leaves on the tree; Georg. 3.354sed iacet aggeribus niveīs īnfōrmis et altō
355terrā gelū lātē septemque adsurgit in ulnās.but the earth lies shapeless far and wide under snowdrifts and deep ice, and rises seven ells high. Georg. 3.356Semper hiemps, semper spīrantēs frīgora caurī.Always winter, always north-west winds breathing cold. Georg. 3.357Tum Sōl pallentīs haud umquam discutit umbrās,
nec cum invectus equīs altum petit aethera, nec cum
praecipitem Oceanī rubrō lāvit aequore currum.And the Sun never scatters the pale shadows, neither when, borne by his horses, he seeks the high heaven, nor when he bathes his plunging chariot in the red water of Ocean.
Georg. 3.360Concrēscunt subitae currentī in flūmine crustae
undaque iam tergō ferrātōs sustinet orbīs,
puppibus illa prius, patulīs nunc hospita plaustrīs;Sudden crusts form on the running river, and the water now bears iron-rimmed wheels on its back, once host to ships, now to broad wagons; Georg. 3.363aeraque dissiliunt vulgō vestēsque rigēscunt
indūtae caeduntque secūribus ūmida vīna
365et tōtae solidam in glaciem vertēre lacūnae
stīriaque impexīs indūruit horrida barbīs.bronze vessels commonly burst, clothes freeze as they are worn, they cut the liquid wine with axes, whole pools turn to solid ice, and rough icicles have stiffened on uncombed beards. Georg. 3.367Intereā tōtō nōn sētius āere ninguit:
intereunt pecudēs, stant circumfūsa pruīnīs
corpora magna boum, cōnfertōque agmine cervī
370torpent mōle novā et summīs vix cornibus extant.Meanwhile it snows no less over all the sky: the cattle perish, the great bodies of oxen stand wrapped in frost, and the deer in a crowded herd are numb under the strange mass and scarcely show the tips of their horns above it. Georg. 3.371Hōs nōn immissīs canibus, nōn cassibus ūllīs
pūniceaeve agitant pavidōs formīdine pennae,
sed frūstrā oppositum trūdentīs pectore montem
comminus obtruncant ferrō graviterque rudentīs
375caedunt et magnō laetī clamōre reportant.These they hunt not by loosing hounds, nor with any nets, nor by scaring them with the terror of the crimson feather, but as they push in vain with their breasts against the mountain in their way, they slay them hand to hand with the steel, cut them down as they bellow loudly, and carry them home with glad shouting.
Georg. 3.376Ipsī in dēfossīs specubus sēcūra sub altā
ōtia agunt terrā congestaque rōbora tōtāsque
advolvēre focīs ulmōs ignīque dedēre.They themselves live in carefree leisure in caves dug deep under the earth, and have rolled heaps of logs and whole elms to their hearths and given them to the fire. Georg. 3.379Hīc noctem lūdō dūcunt et pōcula laetī
380fermentō atque acidīs imitantur vītea sorbīs.Here they spend the night in games, and gladly imitate draughts of the vine with ferment and sour service-berries. Georg. 3.381Tālis Hyperboreō septem subiecta triōnī
gēns effrēna virum Rhiphaeō tunditur eurō
et pecudum fulvīs vēlātur corpora saetīs.Such is the unbridled race of men that lives beneath the seven stars of the northern Wain, buffeted by the Rhipaean east wind, and they cover their bodies with the tawny pelts of beasts.