Singing Match of Damoetas and Menalcas Judged a Draw — Virgil, Eclogues 3.57–3.111, Latin & English

nunc frondent silvae, nunc formosissimus annus.

Now the woods are leafy, now is the fairest time of year.

Incipe, Damoeta; tu deinde sequere Menalca:

Begin, Damoetas; then do you follow, Menalcas.

alternis dicetis; amant alterna Camenae.

You shall sing in alternate verses; the Muses love alternate song.

Ab Iove principium, Musae; Iovis omnia plena:

From Jove is our beginning, Muses; all things are full of Jove:

ille colit terras, illi mea carmina curae.¹

he cherishes the earth, to him my songs are a care.

Et me Phoebus amat; Phoebo sua semper apud me

And Phoebus loves me; Phoebus always has his own gifts with me,

munera sunt, lauri et suave rubens hyacinthus.

gifts, laurels and the sweetly blushing hyacinth.

Malo me Galatea petit, lasciva puella,

Galatea pelts me with an apple, wanton girl,

et fugit ad salices, et se cupit ante videri.

and flees to the willows, and wishes to be seen first.

At mihi sese offert ultro, meus ignis, Amyntas,

But Amyntas, my flame, offers himself to me of his own accord,

notior ut iam sit canibus non Delia nostris.²

so that now not even Delia is better known to our dogs.

Parta meae Veneri sunt munera: namque notavi

Gifts are ready for my love; for I myself have marked

ipse locum, aëriae quo congessere palumbes.

the spot where the airy wood-pigeons have built.

Quod potui,³ puero silvestri ex arbore lecta

What I could do, I sent to my boy, ten golden apples

aurea mala decem misi; cras altera mittam.

picked from a wild tree; tomorrow I will send another ten.

O quotiens et quae nobis Galatea locuta est!

O how often and what words Galatea has spoken to us!

partem aliquam, venti, divom referatis ad auris!

Some part of them, O winds, may you carry to the ears of the gods!

Quid prodest, quod me ipse animo non spernis, Amynta.

What does it profit, Amyntas, that you do not despise me in your heart,

si, dum tu sectaris apros, ego retia servo?

if, while you chase boars, I watch the nets?

Phyllida mitte mihi: meus est natalis, Iolla;

Send Phyllis to me; it is my birthday, Iollas;

cum faciam vitula⁴ pro frugibus, ipse venito.

when I make sacrifice with a heifer for the crops, come yourself.

Phyllida amo ante alias; nam me discedere flevit,

I love Phyllis before others; for she wept at my departing,

et longum “formose, vale, vale,” inquit, “Iolla.”

and cried out long: “Farewell, fair youth, farewell, Iollas.”

Triste lupus stabulis,⁵ maturis frugibus imbres.

A grim thing is the wolf to the folds, rains to the ripe crops,

arboribus venti, nobis Amaryllidis irae.

winds to the trees, and to us the anger of Amaryllis.

Dulce satis umor, depulsis arbutus haedis,

A sweet thing to the sown crops is moisture, the arbutus to weaned kids,

lenta salix feto pecori, mihi solus Amyntas.

the pliant willow to breeding flock, to me Amyntas alone.

Pollio amat nostram, quamvis est rustica, Musam:

Pollio loves our Muse, although she is rustic:

Pierides vitulam lectori pascite vestro.

Pierian Muses, pasture a heifer for your reader.

Pollio et ipse facit nova carmina: pascite taurum,

Pollio himself also makes new songs: pasture a bull,

iam cornu petat et pedibus qui spargat arenam.

one that already butts with his horn and scatters sand with his feet.

Qui te, Pollio, amat, veniat quo te quoque gaudet:

Let him who loves you, Pollio, come where he rejoices that you too have come:

mella fluant illi, ferat et rubus asper amomum.

let honey flow for him, and let the rough bramble bear spice.

Qui Bavium non odit, amet tua carmina, Maevi,

Let him who does not hate Bavius love your songs, Maevius,

atque idem iungat vulpes et mulgeat hircos.

and let the same man yoke foxes and milk he-goats.

Qui legitis flores et humi nascentia fraga,

You who gather flowers and strawberries growing on the ground,

frigidus, O pueri, fugite hinc, latet anguis in herba.

flee from here, boys, a cold snake lies hid in the grass.

Parcite, oves, nimium procedere; non bene ripae

Forbear, sheep, to advance too far; it is not well to trust

creditur;⁶ ipse aries etiam nunc vellera siccat.

the bank; the ram himself even now is drying his fleece.

Tityre, pascentes a flumine reice capellas:

Tityrus, drive back the grazing she-goats from the river:

ipse ubi tempus erit, omnis in fonte lavabo.

I myself, when the time comes, will wash them all in the spring.

Cogite ovis, pueri; si lac praeceperit aestus,

Gather the sheep, boys; if the heat forestalls the milk,

ut nuper, frustra pressabimus ubera palmis.

as recently, in vain shall we squeeze the udders with our hands.

100

Heu, heu, quam pingui macer est mihi taurus in ervo!

Alas, alas, how lean is my bull in a fat field of vetch!

Idem amor exitium est pecori pecorisque magistro.

The same love is destruction to the flock and to the master of the flock.

His certe neque amor causa est; vix ossibus haerent.

To these indeed love is not the cause; they scarcely cling to their bones.

nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos.

I know not what evil eye bewitches my tender lambs.

Dic, quibus in terris—et eris mihi magnus Apollo⁷—

Tell me in what lands—and you shall be to me great Apollo—

105

tris pateat caeli spatium non amplius ulnas.

the space of heaven opens three ells and no more.

Dic, quibus in terris inscripti nomina regum

Tell me in what lands flowers grow inscribed with the names of kings,

nascantur flores, et Phyllida solus habeto.

and have Phyllis for your own.

Non nostrum inter vos tantas componere lites.⁸

It is not for us to decide such great disputes between you.

Et vitula tu dignus, et hic, et quisquis amores

Both you are worthy of the heifer, and he, and whoever

110

aut metuet dulces, aut experietur amaros.

shall either fear sweet love, or experience bitter love.

Claudite iam rivos, pueri, sat prata biberunt.

Close now the sluices, boys, the meadows have drunk enough.

Syntax notes8 items

3.61illi mea carmina curae
curae is a dative of purpose/service, forming a double dative construction with illi (dative of reference), meaning 'my songs are a care to him'.
3.67notior ut iam sit canibus non Delia nostris
Delia (nominative) serves as the standard of comparison for the comparative notior. canibus... nostris is a dative depending on the adjective notus ('known to our dogs').
3.70Quod potui
The relative pronoun quod (neuter accusative) is the direct object of potui, forming a parenthetical restrictive relative clause meaning 'so far as I was able' or 'what I could do'.
3.77cum faciam vitula
The verb facere (here subjunctive faciam in a temporal clause) is used intransitively in a sacrificial sense ('to sacrifice'), taking vitula as an ablative of instrument/means.
3.80Triste lupus stabulis
triste is the neuter nominative singular of tristis, used substantively/predicatively ('a sad/grim thing') to agree with the masculine subject lupus.
3.94–95non bene ripae creditur
creditur is an impersonal passive of the intransitive verb credere. ripae is the dative object governed by the verb, which retains its case in the impersonal passive construction.
3.104et eris mihi magnus Apollo
The conjunction et following the imperative Dic functions as a connector introducing a logical consequence, equivalent to 'and then you will be...' or 'and if you do, you will be...'.
3.108Non nostrum inter vos tantas componere lites
The possessive genitive of the personal pronoun nostrum ('our part/duty') is used predicatively with the copula est omitted. The infinitive phrase tantas componere lites acts as the grammatical subject.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-22)

2026-09-22 AI review — source 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi001.humanitext-lat2:3.57-3.111