Cosmic Zones, Constellations, and the Agricultural Calendar — Virgil, Georgics 1.219–1.295, Latin & English

219

At si triticeam in messem robustaque farraexercebis humum solisque instabis aristis,

But if you work the ground for a wheat harvest and sturdy spelt, and strive for ears of grain alone,

ante tibi Eoae Atlantides abscondanturGnosiaque ardentis decedat stella Coronae,

let the morning Pleiades be hidden for you, and let the Gnosian star of the blazing Crown depart,

debita quam sulcis committas semina quamque¹invitae properes anni spem credere terrae.

before you commit the due seeds to the furrows, and before you hasten to entrust the hope of the year to the unwilling earth.

225

Multi ante occasum Maiae coepere; sed illosexspectata seges vanis elusit avenis.

Many have begun before the setting of Maia; but the expected harvest mocked them with empty wild oats.

Si vero viciamque seres vilemque phaselumnec Pelusiacae curam aspernabere lentis,

But if you sow vetch and the cheap kidney-bean, and do not despise the care of the Pelusian lentil,

haud obscura cadens mittet tibi signa Bootes:incipe et ad medias sementem extende pruinas.

sinking Bootes will send you no obscure signs: begin, and extend your sowing into the midst of the frosts.

Idcirco certis dimensum partibus orbemper duodena regit mundi Sol aureus astra.

For this reason, the golden Sun rules the orbit measured out in fixed divisions through the twelve constellations of the world.

Quinque tenent caelum zonae; quarum una coruscosemper sole rubens et torrida semper ab igni;

Five zones hold the sky; of which one is always red with the flashing sun and always torrid with fire;

235

quam circum extremae dextra laevaque trahunturcaeruleae, glacie concretae atque imbribus atris;

around which on the right and left the outermost blue zones are drawn, frozen solid with ice and dark rains;

has inter mediamque duae mortalibus aegrismunere concessae divom, et via secta per ambas,

between these and the middle zone, two have been granted to weary mortals by the gift of the gods, and a path is cut through both,

obliquus qua se signorum verteret ordo.

where the oblique order of the signs might turn itself.

240

Mundus, ut ad Scythiam Rhipaeasque arduus arcesconsurgit, premitur Libyae devexus in austros.

The world, as it rises steep toward Scythia and the Rhipaean heights, sinks sloping down toward the south winds of Libya.

Hic vertex nobis semper sublimis; at illumsub pedibus Styx atra videt Manesque profundi.

This pole is always sublime for us; but that one beneath our feet dark Styx sees and the deep Manes.

Maximus hic flexu sinuoso elabitur Anguiscircum perque duas in morem fluminis Arctos,

Here the immense Serpent glides out with winding fold, like a river around and through the two Bears,

Arctos Oceani metuentis aequore tingui.

the Bears that fear to be dipped in the water of Ocean.

Illic, ut perhibent, aut intempesta silet nox,semper et obtenta densentur nocte tenebrae,

There, as they report, either timeless night keeps silence, and darkness thickens beneath the overspread night,

aut redit a nobis Aurora diemque reducit;nosque ubi primus equis Oriens adflavit anhelis,

or Aurora returns from us and brings back the day; and when the early Dawn first breathes on us with panting steeds,

illic, sera rubens accendit lumina Vesper.

there, blushing Evening kindles her late lights.

Hinc tempestates dubio praediscere caelopossumus, hinc messisque diem tempusque serendi,

Hence we can foreknow the weather in the doubtful sky, hence the day of harvest and the time of sowing,

et quando infidum remis inpellere marmorconveniat, quando armatas deducere classis,

and when it is fitting to impel the treacherous sea with oars, when to launch armed fleets,

aut tempestivam silvis evertere pinum.

or when to fell the pine tree in the woods in due season.

Nec frustra signorum obitus speculamur et ortus,temporibusque parem diversis quattuor annum.

Nor in vain do we watch the settings and risings of the constellations, and the year divided equally into four diverse seasons.

Frigidus agricolam si quando continet imber,multa, forent quae mox caelo properanda sereno,

If ever cold rain keeps the farmer indoors, many things which would soon have to be hurried under a clear sky

maturare datur: durum procudit aratorvomeris obtunsi dentem, cavat arbore lintres,

are allowed to be completed at leisure: the plowman sharpens the hard tooth of his blunt share, hollows out boats from trees,

aut pecori signum aut numeros inpressit acervis.

or brands a mark on his flock, or stamps numbers on his heaps of grain.

Exacuunt alii vallos furcasque bicornisatque Amerina parant lentae retinacula viti.

Others sharpen stakes and two-pronged forks, and prepare Amerian ties for the pliant vine.

Nunc facilis rubea texatur fiscina virga,nunc torrete igni fruges, nunc frangite saxo.

Now let the light basket be woven from the bramble twig; now parch your grain with fire, now grind it with the stone.

Quippe etiam festis quaedam exercere diebusfas et iura sinunt; rivos deducere nulla

For indeed even on festival days divine and human laws permit certain tasks; no religion has forbidden to guide down streams,

270

religio vetuit, segeti praetendere saepem,insidias avibus moliri, incendere vepres,

to draw a fence before the harvest, to set snares for birds, to burn brambles,

balantumque gregem fluvio mersare salubri.

and to plunge the bleating flock into the healing river.

Saepe oleo tardi costas agitator asellivilibus aut onerat pomis, lapidemque revertens

Often the driver of the slow donkey loads its ribs with oil or cheap fruit, and returning,

275

incusum aut atrae massam picis urbe reportat.

brings back an indented stone or a mass of black pitch from the city.

Ipsa dies alios alio dedit ordine Lunafelicis operum.² Quintam fuge: pallidus Orcus

The Moon herself has assigned different days in different order as lucky for work. Avoid the fifth: pale Orcus and the Eumenides were born;

Eumenidesque satae; tum partu Terra nefandoCoeumque Iapetumque creat saevumque Typhoeaet coniuratos caelum rescindere fratres.

then in infamous birth Earth brings forth Coeus and Iapetus, and fierce Typhoeus, and the brothers who conspired to tear down heaven.

Ter sunt conati inponere Pelio Ossamscilicet, atque Ossae frondosum involvere Olympum;

Three times indeed they strove to pile Ossa on Pelion, and to roll leafy Olympus upon Ossa;

ter pater exstructos disiecit fulmine montis.

three times the Father scattered the piled-up mountains with his thunderbolt.

Septima post decimam³ felix et ponere vitemet prensos domitare boves et licia telae

The seventeenth is lucky both for planting the vine, and for taming caught oxen, and for adding leashes to the loom;

addere: nona fugae melior, contraria furtis.

the ninth is better for flight, but opposed to theft.

Multa adeo gelida melius se nocte dedere,aut cum sole novo terras inrorat Eous.

Many tasks indeed go better in the cool night, or when the Morning Star sprinkles the earth with dew at the rising sun.

Nocte leves melius stipulae, nocte arida pratatondentur, noctes lentus non deficit humor.

By night light stubble is better shorn, by night dry meadows are mown; at night the sticky moisture does not fail.

Et quidam seros hiberni ad luminis ignispervigilat ferroque faces inspicat acuto;

And one watches late by the fire of a winter light, and points torches with a sharp knife;

interea longum cantu solata laboremarguto coniunx percurrit pectine telas,

meanwhile his wife, comforting her long labor with song, runs through the loom with the shrill comb,

295

aut dulcis musti Volcano⁴ decoquit humorem

or boils down the moisture of sweet must with fire,

Syntax notes4 items

1.221ante ... quam ... quamque
A case of tmesis where 'ante' and 'quam' are split across lines. The conjunction 'antequam' is divided where 'abscondantur' and 'decedat' are main-clause jussive subjunctives, while 'quam... quamque' introduce the subordinate clauses ('committas', 'properes'), meaning 'before you commit...' and 'before you hasten...'.
1.277felicis operum
A poetic genitive of specification or relation. The adjective 'felicis' (an accusative plural variant 'felices' agreeing with 'alios [dies]') governs 'operum' (genitive plural), meaning 'fortunate in respect of works'.
1.284Septima post decimam
Literally 'the seventh after the tenth', referring to the seventeenth day of the lunar month. Although it could theoretically be interpreted as 'the seventh day is lucky, and next the tenth', the consensus in classical agricultural and astrological contexts is to read it as a compound ordinal for the 17th day.
1.295Volcano
The dative case of the fire god's name, Vulcanus. It is used here as a metonymy to represent the physical 'fire' used for boiling down the must.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — note 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi002.humanitext-lat2:1.219-1.295