Georg. 4.116Atque equidem, extrēmō nī iam sub fīne labōrum
vēla traham et terrīs festīnem advertere prōram,
forsitan et, pinguēs hortōs quae cūra colendī
ōrnāret, canerem, biferīque rosāria Paestī,
120quōque modō pōtīs gaudērent intiba rīvīs
et viridēs apiō rīpae, tortusque per herbam
crēsceret in ventrem cucumis;And indeed, were I not already furling my sails near the very end of my labours and hastening to turn my prow towards land, perhaps I would sing too what careful tillage adorns rich gardens, and the rose-beds of twice-bearing Paestum, and how endive rejoices in the streams it drinks, and banks green with celery, and how the cucumber, twisting through the grass, swells into a belly; Georg. 4.122nec sēra comantem
narcissum aut flexī tacuissem vīmen acanthī
pallentēsque hederās et amantēs lītora myrtōs.nor would I have kept silent about the late-flowering narcissus or the stem of the curling acanthus, and pale ivy and myrtle that loves the shore. Georg. 4.125Namque sub Oebaliae meminī mē turribus arcis,
quā niger ūmectat flāventia culta Galaesus,
Cōrycium vīdisse senem, cui pauca relictī
iūgera rūris erant, nec fertilis illa iuvencīs
nec pecorī opportūna seges nec commoda Bacchō.For I remember that under the towers of the Oebalian citadel, where dark Galaesus waters the yellowing fields, I saw an old Corycian who had a few acres of abandoned land, and that soil was neither fertile for bullocks nor suited to the flock nor favourable to Bacchus.
Georg. 4.130Hīc rārum tamen in dūmīs olus albaque circum
līlia verbēnāsque premēns vescumque papāver
rēgum aequābat opēs animīs sērāque revertēns
nocte domum dapibus mēnsās onerābat inēmptīs.Yet here, planting sparse vegetables among the brambles, and white lilies around them, and vervain and slender poppy, he matched the wealth of kings in spirit, and returning home late at night he would load his table with unbought feasts. Georg. 4.134Prīmus vērē rosam atque autumnō carpere pōma,
135et cum trīstis hiems etiamnum frīgore saxa
rumperet et glaciē cursūs frēnāret aquārum,
ille comam mollis iam tondēbat hyacinthī
aestātem increpitāns sēram Zephyrōsque morantēs.He was the first to pick the rose in spring and fruit in autumn, and when gloomy winter was still splitting rocks with cold and curbing the course of the waters with ice, he was already cutting the bloom of the soft hyacinth, chiding the late summer and the lingering West Winds. Georg. 4.139Ergō apibus fētīs īdem atque exāmine multō
140prīmus abundāre et spūmantia cōgere pressīs
mella favīs;So he too was the first to abound in breeding bees and a great swarm, and to collect the foaming honey from the pressed combs; Georg. 4.141illī tiliae atque ūberrima pīnus,
quotque in flōre novō pōmīs sē fertilis arbōs
induerat, totidem autumnō mātūra tenēbat.he had limes and the richest pine, and as many fruits as the fertile tree had clothed itself with in its fresh blossom, so many it kept ripe in autumn.
Georg. 4.144Ille etiam sērās in versum distulit ulmōs
145ēdūramque pirum et spīnōs iam prūna ferentēs
iamque ministrantem platanum pōtantibus umbrās.He also planted out in rows elms well grown, and the hardy pear, and blackthorns already bearing plums, and the plane already giving shade to drinkers. Georg. 4.147Vērum haec ipse equidem spatiīs exclūsus inīquīs
praetereō atque aliīs post mē memoranda relinquō.But these things I myself, shut out by the narrow limits of space, pass by, and leave for others after me to tell.