Georg. 4.103At cum incerta volant caelōque exāmina lūdunt
contemnuntque favōs et frīgida tēcta relinquunt,
105īnstabilēs animōs lūdō prohibēbis inānī.But when the swarms fly aimlessly and play in the sky, scorning the combs and leaving their hives cold, you will keep their fickle spirits from idle play. Georg. 4.106Nec magnus prohibēre labor: tū rēgibus alās
ēripe;Nor is it great labour to keep them: tear off the kings' wings; Georg. 4.107nōn illīs quisquam cūnctantibus altum
īre iter aut castrīs audēbit vellere signa.while they linger no one will dare to take the high road or pluck the standards from the camp. Georg. 4.109Invītent croceīs hālantēs flōribus hortī
110et custōs fūrum atque avium cum falce salignā
Hellēspontiacī servet tūtēla Priāpī.Let gardens fragrant with saffron flowers invite them, and let the guardianship of Hellespontine Priapus, watchman against thieves and birds with his willow sickle, protect them. Georg. 4.112Ipse thymum pīnōsque ferēns dē montibus altīs
tēcta serat lātē circum, cui tālia cūrae;Let him who cares for such things himself bring thyme and pines from the high mountains and plant them widely around their dwellings; Georg. 4.114ipse labōre manum dūrō terat, ipse ferācēs
115fīgat humō plantās et amīcōs inriget imbrēs.let him wear his own hand with hard toil, himself set fruitful plants in the ground and water them with friendly showers.
Lectitō › Vergil › Georgics › Georgics 4.103–115
Vergil · Georgics
Georgics 4.103–115
Keeping swarms at home
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Read in LectitōGrammar in this passage: ablative absolute ×1
Latin vocabulary for this passage (75 words)
| at, conj. | but |
| cum, conj. | when, while, after; since; although |
| incertus, -a, -um | uncertain, unreliable |
| volō, -āre, -āvī, -ātūrus | fly |
| caelum, -ī, n. | heaven, sky |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| exāmen, -inis n. | swarm; tongue of a balance, hence the balance itself |
| lūdō, -ere, lūsī, lūsum | play; mock, deceive |
| contemnō, -ere, -tempsī, -temptus | despise, scorn, think little of |
| favus, -ī m. | honeycomb |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| frīgidus, -a, -um | cold |
| tēctum, -ī n. | roof; house |
| relinquō, -linquere, -līquī, -lictus | leave behind, leave |
| īnstabilis, -e | unsteady |
| animus, -ī, m. | mind; heart; spirit, courage |
| lūdus, -ī, m. | game, sport |
| prohibeō, -hibēre, -hibuī, -hibitus | hold back, prevent, hinder |
| inānis, -e | empty |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| magnus, -a, -um | large, big, great, mighty; loud |
| labor, -ōris, m. | labor, toil |
| tū, tuī, pers. pron. | thou, you |
| rēx, rēgis, m. | king |
| ala, -ae, f. | wing |
| ēripiō, -ripere, -ripuī, -reptus | snatch out or away, rescue |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| ille, illa, illud, dem. pron. | that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc |
| quisquam, quicquam, indef. pron. | any one, anything |
| cūnctor, -ārī, -ātus sum | delay, hesitate |
| altus, -a, -um | high, deep; altum, -ī, n., the deep |
| eō, īre, iī, itus | go |
| iter, itineris, n. | a going, journey, march; iter facere, to journey, march |
| aut, conj. | or; aut ... aut, either ... or |
| castra, -ōrum, n. plur. | camp |
| audeō, audēre, ausus sum | dare |
| vellō, -ere, vellī, vulsum | pluck, pull |
| signum, -ī, n. | sign, signal |
| invītō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | invite |
| croceus, -a, -um | saffron-coloured, yellow |
| hālō, -āre | breathe out; be fragrant |
| flōs, flōris m. | flower |
| hortus, -ī, m. | garden |
| custōs, -ōdis m. | guard |
| fūr, fūris m. | thief |
| atque, ac (conj.) | and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants) |
| avis, -is, f. | bird |
| cum, prep, with abl. | with |
| falx, falcis, f. | sickle; curved sword, falchion |
| salignus, -a, -um | of willow wood |
| Hellēspontiacus, -a, -um | of the Hellespont (of Priapus, worshipped at Lampsacus) |
| servō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | save, preserve |
| tūtēla, -ae f. | protection, guardianship, care |
| ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron. | self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very |
| thymum, -ī n. | thyme |
| pīnus, -ūs or -ī f. | pine tree; (poetic) a ship |
| ferō, ferre, tulī, lātus | bear, bring |
| dē, prep, with abl. | down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of |
| mōns, montis, m. | mountain |
| serō, serere, sēvī, satus | sow, plant |
| lātē | widely |
| circum, prep. with acc. | around |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| tālis, -e | such |
| cūra, -ae f. | care, concern (cūrae esse: to be a concern) |
| manus, -ūs, f. | hand |
| dūrus, -a, -um | hard; harsh; difficult |
| terō, -ere, trīvī, trītus | rub, wear away; tempus terere: waste time |
| ferāx, -ācis | fertile |
| fīgō, fīgere, fīxī, fīxus | fix, fasten, plant firmly |
| humus, -ī f. | ground, earth; humī: on the ground |
| planta, -ae f. | sole of the foot; a young shoot, plant |
| amīcus, -ī, m. | friend |
| irrigō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | water, irrigate |
| imber, imbris, m. | rain, shower |
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.