The Exile of Meliboeus and the Peace of Tityrus — Virgil, Eclogues 1.1–1.84, Latin & English

Tityre, tu patulae recubans sub tegmine fagi¹

Tityrus, you, reclining under the canopy of a spreading beech,

silvestrem tenui Musam meditaris avena;

meditate a woodland Muse upon a slender oat-pipe;

nos patriae fines et dulcia linquimus arva:

we leave our country’s bounds and sweet fields:

nos patriam fugimus; tu, Tityre, lentus in umbra

we flee our homeland; you, Tityrus, at ease in the shade,

formosam resonare doces Amaryllida² silvas.

teach the woods to re-echo beautiful Amaryllis.

O Meliboee, deus nobis haec otia fecit:

O Meliboeus, a god has wrought this leisure for us:

namque erit ille mihi semper deus; illius aram

for he will ever be a god to me; his altar

saepe tener nostris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus.

a tender lamb from our sheepfolds shall often stain.

Ille meas errare boves, ut cernis, et ipsum

He has permitted my kine to roam, as you see, and myself

ludere, quae vellem,³ calamo permisit agresti

to play what I would on my rustic reed.

Non equidem invideo; miror magis: undique totis

Indeed I envy you not; I marvel rather: so great is the turmoil

usque adeo turbatur agris. En, ipse capellas

on every side in all the fields. Lo, I myself, sick,

protinus aeger ago; hanc etiam vix, Tityre, duco:

drive my she-goats onward; this one, Tityrus, I can scarce lead:

hic inter densas corylos modo namque gemellos,

for here just now among the thick hazels, having kidded twins,

spem gregis, ah, silice in nuda conixa reliquit.

the hope of the flock, ah, she left them on the naked flint.

Saepe malum hoc nobis, si mens non laeva fuisset,⁴

Often this ill to us, had my mind not been fatuous,

de caelo tactas memini praedicere quercus:—

I remember the oaks blasted from heaven did foretell.

Sed tamen, iste deus qui sit, da, Tityre, nobis.

But yet, tell us, Tityrus, who is that god of yours?

Urbem, quam dicunt Romam, Meliboee, putavi

The city which they call Rome, Meliboeus, I thought,

stultus ego huic nostrae similem, quo saepe solemus

foolish as I was, like this of ours, whither we shepherds

pastores ovium teneros depellere fetus:

are oft wont to drive the tender offspring of our sheep.

sic canibus catulos similis, sic matribus haedos

Thus I knew puppies like dogs, thus kids like their mothers;

noram, sic parvis componere magna solebam:

thus was I wont to compare great things with small.

verum haec tantum alias inter caput extulit urbes,

But this city has reared her head as far above all others

quantum lenta solent inter viburna cupressi.

as cypresses are wont to do among the bending osiers.

Et quae tanta fuit Romam tibi causa videndi?

And what was the great cause of your seeing Rome?

Libertas; quae sera, tamen respexit inertem,

Liberty; which, though late, yet looked upon me in my sloth,

candidior postquam tondenti barba cadebat;

after my beard fell whiter to the barber;

respexit tamen, et longo post tempore venit,

yet she looked upon me, and came after a long time,

postquam nos Amaryllis habet, Galatea reliquit:

now that Amaryllis holds us, and Galatea has left us.

namque, fatebor enim, dum me Galatea tenebat,

For, indeed I will confess, while Galatea held me,

nec spes libertatis erat, nec cura peculi:⁵

there was neither hope of liberty nor care for thrift:

quamvis multa meis exiret victima saeptis,

though many a victim went out from my folds,

pinguis et ingratae premeretur caseus urbi,

and rich cheese was pressed for the ungrateful town,

non umquam gravis aere domum mihi dextra redibat.

never did my right hand return home heavy with coin.

Mirabar, quid maesta deos, Amarylli, vocares,

I used to wonder, Amaryllis, why you sadly called upon the gods,

cui pendere sua patereris in arbore poma:

for whom you suffered the apples to hang on their native tree:

Tityrus hinc aberat. Ipsae te, Tityre, pinus,

Tityrus was away. The very pines, Tityrus,

ipsi te fontes, ipsa haec arbusta vocabant.

the very springs, these very copses were calling for you.

Quid facerem? Neque servitio me exire licebat,

What was I to do? I could not escape from bondage,

nec tam praesentis alibi cognoscere divos.

nor elsewhere find gods so present to help.

hic illum vidi iuvenem, Meliboee, quot annis

Here I saw that youth, Meliboeus, for whom

bis senos cui nostra dies altaria fumant;

twelve days each year our altars smoke;

hic mihi responsum primus dedit ille petenti:

here he first gave this response to my petition:

“pascite, ut ante, boves, pueri, submittite tauros.”

”Feed your kine as before, boys; breed your bulls.”

Fortunate senex, ergo tua rura manebunt,

Fortunate old man, so your lands will remain yours,

et tibi magna satis, quamvis lapis omnia nudus

and great enough for you, though naked stone and

limosoque palus obducat pascua iunco!

marsh with slimy rush coat all the pastures!

Non insueta gravis temptabunt pabula fetas,

No strange fodder shall tempt the sickly pregnant ewes,

nec mala vicini pecoris contagia laedent.

nor evil contagion from a neighbor’s flock shall harm them.

Fortunate senex, hic, inter flumina nota

Fortunate old man, here, amid familiar streams

et fontis sacros, frigus captabis opacum!

and sacred springs, you shall court the cool shade!

hinc tibi, quae semper, vicino ab limite, saepes

On this side, as ever, the hedge on your neighbor’s boundary,

Hyblaeis apibus⁶ florem depasta salicti

its willow-bloom fed upon by Hyblaean bees,

saepe levi somnum suadebit inire susurro;

shall often coax you to sleep with its gentle whisper;

hinc alta sub rupe canet frondator ad auras;

on that side, beneath the lofty rock, the pruner shall sing to the winds;

nec tamen interea raucae, tua cura, palumbes,

nor yet meanwhile shall the hoarse wood-pigeons, your delight,

nec gemere aëria cessabit turtur ab ulmo.

nor the turtle-dove cease to moan from the airy elm.

Ante leves ergo pascentur in aequore cervi,

Therefore sooner shall light stags feed in the air,

et freta destituent nudos in litore pisces,

and the sea leave the fish bare on the shore,

ante pererratis amborum finibus exsul

sooner, both their boundaries traversed, shall the exile

aut Ararim Parthus bibet, aut Germania Tigrim,

drink, the Parthian of the Arar, or Germany of the Tigris,

quam nostro illius labatur pectore voltus.

than his countenance shall fade from our heart.

At nos hinc alii sitientis ibimus Afros,

But we must go hence, some to the thirsty Africans,

pars Scythiam et rapidum Cretae veniemus Oaxen,

others shall reach Scythia and the swift Oaxes of Crete,

et penitus toto divisos orbe Britannos.

and the Britons utterly divided from the whole world.

En umquam patrios longo post tempore finis,

Ah, shall I ever, after a long time, beholding my native bounds,

pauperis et tuguri congestum caespite culmen,

and the turf-heaped roof of my poor cottage,

post aliquot mea regna videns mirabor aristas?

look with wonder thereafter at a few ears of corn, my kingdom?

Impius haec tam culta novalia miles habebit,

An impious soldier shall possess these well-tilled fallows,

barbarus has segetes? En, quo discordia civis

a barbarian these crops? Lo, whither discord has led

produxit miseros! His nos consevimus agros!

our wretched citizens! For these have we sown our fields!

Insere nunc, Meliboee, piros, pone ordine vitis.

Graft your pears now, Meliboeus; set your vines in order.

Ite meae, felix quondam pecus, ite capellae.

Go, my she-goats, once a happy flock, go.

Non ego vos posthac, viridi proiectus in antro,

Never hereafter, stretched in a green cave,

dumosa pendere procul de rupe videbo;

shall I see you hanging far off from a bushy cliff;

carmina nulla canam; non, me pascente, capellae,

no songs shall I sing; not under my tending, she-goats,

florentem cytisum et salices carpetis amaras.

shall you crop the flowering clover and bitter willows.

Hic tamen hanc mecum poteras requiescere noctem

Yet here for this night you might rest with me

fronde super viridi: sunt nobis mitia poma,

upon green boughs: we have ripe apples,

castaneae molles, et pressi copia lactis;

soft chestnuts, and store of pressed cheese;

et iam summa procul villarum culmina fumant,

and now the chimney-tops of the villas smoke in the distance,

maioresque cadunt altis de montibus umbrae.

and larger shadows fall from the high mountains.

Syntax notes6 items

1.1patulae... fagi
An example of hyperbaton, where the adjective 'patulae' and the noun 'fagi' are widely separated by the participle 'recubans' and the prepositional phrase 'sub tegmine'.
1.5Amaryllida
A Greek-style accusative form (third declension singular accusative in '-da'), reflecting the Greek literary background of pastoral poetry.
1.10quae vellem
A relative clause introduced by the accusative neuter plural relative pronoun 'quae', where the imperfect subjunctive 'vellem' expresses subjective desire or preference.
1.16si mens non laeva fuisset
A conditional clause expressing a past contrary-to-fact condition, utilizing the pluperfect subjunctive 'fuisset'.
1.33peculi
Refers to 'peculium', the private savings that a slave or dependent was allowed to accumulate. This is a contracted genitive singular form.
1.55Hyblaeis apibus
An ablative of agent or instrument, modifying the participle 'depasta' which functions in a middle-voice sense with the accusative of respect 'florem'.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi001.humanitext-lat2:1.1-1.84