§1.1Quid faciat laetas segetes, quo sidere terram §1.2vertere, Maecenas, ulmisque adiungere vitis §1.3conveniat, quae cura boum, qui cultus habendo §1.4sit pecori, apibus quanta experientia parcis, §1.5hinc canere incipiam.
What makes the crops joyous, under what star it is fitting to turn the earth, Maecenas, and to join the vines to the elms, what care of cattle there should be, what cultivation for keeping the flock, how much experience for the thrifty bees, from here I will begin to sing.
Vos, o clarissima mundi §1.6lumina, labentem caelo quae ducitis annum, §1.7Liber et alma Ceres, vestro si munere tellus §1.8Chaoniam pingui glandem mutavit arista, §1.9poculaque inventis Acheloia miscuit uvis; §1.10et vos, agrestum praesentia numina, Fauni, §1.11ferte simul Faunique pedem Dryadesque puellae: §1.12Munera vestra cano.
You, o brightest lights of the world, who lead the slipping year through the sky, Liber and nourishing Ceres, if by your gift the earth exchanged Chaonian acorns for the rich ear of grain, and mixed Acheloian cups with the discovered grapes; and you, the present deities of the country, Fauns, come together, both Fauns and Dryad maidens: I sing of your gifts.
Tuque o, cui prima frementem §1.13fudit equum magno tellus percussa tridenti, §1.14Neptune; et cultor nemorum, cui pinguia Ceae §1.15ter centum nivei tondent dumeta iuvenci; §1.16ipse nemus linquens patrium saltusque Lycaei, §1.17Pan, ovium custos, tua si tibi Maenala curae, §1.18adsis, o Tegeaee, favens, oleaeque Minerva §1.19inventrix, uncique puer monstrator aratri, §1.20et teneram ab radice ferens, Silvane, cupressum, §1.21dique deaeque omnes, studium quibus arva tueri, §1.22quique novas alitis non ullo semine fruges, §1.23quique satis largum caelo demittitis imbrem; §1.24tuque adeo, quem mox quae sint habitura deorum §1.25concilia, incertum est, urbisne invisere, Caesar, §1.26terrarumque velis curam et te maximus orbis §1.27auctorem frugum tempestatumque potentem §1.28accipiat, cingens materna tempora myrto, §1.29an deus inmensi venias maris ac tua nautae §1.30numina sola colant, tibi serviat ultima Thule §1.31teque sibi generum Tethys emat omnibus undis, §1.32anne novum tardis sidus te mensibus addas, §1.33qua locus Erigonen inter Chelasque sequentis §1.34panditur—ipse tibi iam bracchia contrahit ardens §1.35Scorpius et caeli iusta plus parte reliquit— §1.36quidquid eris,—nam te nec sperant Tartara regem §1.37nec tibi regnandi veniat tam dira cupido, §1.38quamvis Elysios miretur Graecia campos §1.39nec repetita sequi curet Proserpina matrem— §1.40da facilem cursum atque audacibus adnue coeptis §1.41ignarosque viae mecum miseratus agrestis §1.42ingredere et votis iam nunc adsuesce vocari.
And you, o, for whom the earth, struck by your great trident, first poured forth the neighing horse, Neptune; and you, cultivator of the groves, for whom three hundred snow-white bullocks crop the rich thickets of Ceos; leaving your native grove and the glades of Lycaeus, Pan, guardian of sheep, if your Maenalus is dear to you, be present and favoring, Tegeaean; and Minerva, inventor of the olive; and the youth, pointer of the curved plow; and you, Silvanus, carrying a tender cypress from its root; and all you gods and goddesses, whose care is to guard the fields, both you who nourish new fruits from no seed, and you who send down from heaven abundant rain upon the sown fields; and you especially, Caesar, whom it is yet uncertain what councils of the gods will soon hold—whether you wish to visit cities, Caesar, and care for the lands, and the vast world receives you as the author of fruits and ruler of tempests, binding your temples with your mother's myrtle; or whether you come as the god of the boundless sea and sailors worship your divinity alone, and furthest Thule serves you, and Tethys buys you for her son-in-law with all her waves; or whether you add yourself as a new star to the slow months, where a place is opened between Erigone and the following Claws— already the burning Scorpio himself contracts his arms for you and has left more than a just share of heaven— whatever you will be—for Tartarus does not hope for you as king, nor may so dire a desire for ruling come to you, though Greece admires the Elysian fields and Proserpina, demanded back, cares not to follow her mother— give an easy course, and nod assent to my bold undertakings, and pitying with me the rustics ignorant of the way, advance, and even now accustom yourself to be called upon with vows.
§1.43Vere novo, gelidus canis cum montibus humor §1.44liquitur et Zephyro putris se glaeba resolvit, §1.45depresso incipiat iam tum mihi taurus aratro §1.46ingemere et sulco attritus splendescere vomer.
In early spring, when icy moisture melts from the white mountains and the crumbling clod resolves itself under the West Wind, even then let my bull begin to groan under the deep-pressed plow, and the share shine, worn by the furrow.
§1.47Illa seges demum votis respondet avari §1.48agricolae, bis quae solem, bis frigora sensit; §1.49illius inmensae ruperunt horrea messes.
That field alone responds to the vows of the greedy farmer, which has twice felt the sun, twice the frosts; its boundless harvests burst the barns.
§1.50At prius ignotum ferro quam scindimus aequor, §1.51ventos et varium caeli praediscere morem §1.52cura sit ac patrios cultusque habitusque locorum §1.53et quid quaeque ferat regio et quid quaeque recuset.
But before we cleave with iron an unknown plain, let it be our care to learn beforehand the winds and the varying habit of the sky, and the traditional cultures and characters of the places, and what each region bears and what each rejects.
§1.54Hic segetes, illic veniunt felicius uvae, §1.55arborei fetus alibi, atque iniussa virescunt §1.56gramina.
Here crops, there grapes come more happily; elsewhere tree-fruits flourish, and grasses grow green unbidden.
Nonne vides, croceos ut Tmolus odores, §1.57India mittit ebur, molles sua tura Sabaei, §1.58at Chalybes nudi ferrum, virosaque Pontus §1.59castorea, Eliadum palmas Epiros equarum.
Do you not see how Tmolus sends saffron odors, India ivory, the soft Sabaeans their own frankincense, but the naked Chalybes iron, Pontus strong-smelling castor, Epirus the palms of Eliad mares?
§1.60Continuo has leges aeternaque foedera certis §1.61inposuit natura locis, quo tempore primum §1.62Deucalion vacuum lapides iactavit in orbem, §1.63unde homines nati, durum genus.
From the beginning Nature imposed these laws and eternal covenants on certain places, at which time Deucalion first cast stones into the empty world, whence men were born, a hardy race.
Ergo age, terrae §1.64pingue solum primis extemplo a mensibus anni §1.65fortes invertant tauri glaebasque iacentis §1.66pulverulenta coquat maturis solibus aestas; §1.67at si non fuerit tellus fecunda, sub ipsum §1.68Arcturum tenui sat erit suspendere sulco: §1.69illic, officiant laetis ne frugibus herbae, §1.70hic, sterilem exiguus ne deserat humor harenam.
Therefore come, let the strong bulls turn the rich soil of the earth straightway from the first months of the year, and let the dusty summer bake the lying clods with mature suns; but if the land is not fertile, it will be enough just before Arcturus itself to suspend it in a shallow furrow: in the former case, lest weeds harm the joyous crops; in the latter, lest the scanty moisture desert the sterile sand.
§1.71Alternis idem tonsas cessare novalis §1.72et segnem patiere situ durescere campum; §1.73aut ibi flava seres mutato sidere farra,
You will also allow the reaped fallow fields to rest in alternate years, and the idle plain to harden with neglect; or there, when the star is changed, you will sow golden spelt,