the georgics-第9章
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Doubt not; to greatness grew; and Rome became
The fair world's fairest; and with circling wall
Clasped to her single breast the sevenfold hills。
Ay; ere the reign of Dicte's king; ere men;
Waxed godless; banqueted on slaughtered bulls;
Such life on earth did golden Saturn lead。
Nor ear of man had heard the war…trump's blast;
Nor clang of sword on stubborn anvil set。
But lo! a boundless space we have travelled o'er;
'Tis time our steaming horses to unyoke。
GEORGIC III
Thee too; great Pales; will I hymn; and thee;
Amphrysian shepherd; worthy to be sung;
You; woods and waves Lycaean。 All themes beside;
Which else had charmed the vacant mind with song;
Are now waxed common。 Of harsh Eurystheus who
The story knows not; or that praiseless king
Busiris; and his altars? or by whom
Hath not the tale been told of Hylas young;
Latonian Delos and Hippodame;
And Pelops for his ivory shoulder famed;
Keen charioteer? Needs must a path be tried;
By which I too may lift me from the dust;
And float triumphant through the mouths of men。
Yea; I shall be the first; so life endure;
To lead the Muses with me; as I pass
To mine own country from the Aonian height;
I; Mantua; first will bring thee back the palms
Of Idumaea; and raise a marble shrine
On thy green plain fast by the water…side;
Where Mincius winds more vast in lazy coils;
And rims his margent with the tender reed。
Amid my shrine shall Caesar's godhead dwell。
To him will I; as victor; bravely dight
In Tyrian purple; drive along the bank
A hundred four…horse cars。 All Greece for me;
Leaving Alpheus and Molorchus' grove;
On foot shall strive; or with the raw…hide glove;
Whilst I; my head with stripped green olive crowned;
Will offer gifts。 Even 'tis present joy
To lead the high processions to the fane;
And view the victims felled; or how the scene
Sunders with shifted face; and Britain's sons
Inwoven thereon with those proud curtains rise。
Of gold and massive ivory on the doors
I'll trace the battle of the Gangarides;
And our Quirinus' conquering arms; and there
Surging with war; and hugely flowing; the Nile;
And columns heaped on high with naval brass。
And Asia's vanquished cities I will add;
And quelled Niphates; and the Parthian foe;
Who trusts in flight and backward…volleying darts;
And trophies torn with twice triumphant hand
From empires twain on ocean's either shore。
And breathing forms of Parian marble there
Shall stand; the offspring of Assaracus;
And great names of the Jove…descended folk;
And father Tros; and Troy's first founder; lord
Of Cynthus。 And accursed Envy there
Shall dread the Furies; and thy ruthless flood;
Cocytus; and Ixion's twisted snakes;
And that vast wheel and ever…baffling stone。
Meanwhile the Dryad…haunted woods and lawns
Unsullied seek we; 'tis thy hard behest;
Maecenas。 Without thee no lofty task
My mind essays。 Up! break the sluggish bonds
Of tarriance; with loud din Cithaeron calls;
Steed…taming Epidaurus; and thy hounds;
Taygete; and hark! the assenting groves
With peal on peal reverberate the roar。
Yet must I gird me to rehearse ere long
The fiery fights of Caesar; speed his name
Through ages; countless as to Caesar's self
From the first birth…dawn of Tithonus old。
If eager for the prized Olympian palm
One breed the horse; or bullock strong to plough;
Be his prime care a shapely dam to choose。
Of kine grim…faced is goodliest; with coarse head
And burly neck; whose hanging dewlaps reach
From chin to knee; of boundless length her flank;
Large every way she is; large…footed even;
With incurved horns and shaggy ears beneath。
Nor let mislike me one with spots of white
Conspicuous; or that spurns the yoke; whose horn
At times hath vice in't: liker bull…faced she;
And tall…limbed wholly; and with tip of tail
Brushing her footsteps as she walks along。
The age for Hymen's rites; Lucina's pangs;
Ere ten years ended; after four begins;
Their residue of days nor apt to teem;
Nor strong for ploughing。 Meantime; while youth's delight
Survives within them; loose the males: be first
To speed thy herds of cattle to their loves;
Breed stock with stock; and keep the race supplied。
Ah! life's best hours are ever first to fly
From hapless mortals; in their place succeed
Disease and dolorous eld; till travail sore
And death unpitying sweep them from the scene。
Still will be some; whose form thou fain wouldst change;
Renew them still; with yearly choice of young
Preventing losses; lest too late thou rue。
Nor steeds crave less selection; but on those
Thou think'st to rear; the promise of their line;
From earliest youth thy chiefest pains bestow。
See from the first yon high…bred colt afield;
His lofty step; his limbs' elastic tread:
Dauntless he leads the herd; still first to try
The threatening flood; or brave the unknown bridge;
By no vain noise affrighted; lofty…necked;
With clean…cut head; short belly; and stout back;
His sprightly breast exuberant with brawn。
Chestnut and grey are good; the worst…hued white
And sorrel。 Then lo! if arms are clashed afar;
Bide still he cannot: ears stiffen and limbs quake;
His nostrils snort and roll out wreaths of fire。
Dense is his mane; that when uplifted falls
On his right shoulder; betwixt either loin
The spine runs double; his earth…dinting hoof
Rings with the ponderous beat of solid horn。
Even such a horse was Cyllarus; reined and tamed
By Pollux of Amyclae; such the pair
In Grecian song renowned; those steeds of Mars;
And famed Achilles' team: in such…like form
Great Saturn's self with mane flung loose on neck
Sped at his wife's approach; and flying filled
The heights of Pelion with his piercing neigh。
Even him; when sore disease or sluggish eld
Now saps his strength; pen fast at home; and spare
His not inglorious age。 A horse grown old
Slow kindling unto love in vain prolongs
The fruitless task; and; to the encounter come;
As fire in stubble blusters without strength;
He rages idly。 Therefore mark thou first
Their age and mettle; other points anon;
As breed and lineage; or what pain was theirs
To lose the race; what pride the palm to win。
Seest how the chariots in mad rivalry
Poured from the barrier grip the course and go;
When youthful hope is highest; and every heart
Drained with each wild pulsation? How they ply
The circling lash; and reaching forward let
The reins hang free! Swift spins the glowing wheel;
And now they stoop; and now erect in air
Seem borne through space and towering to the sky:
No stop; no stay; the dun sand whirls aloft;
They reek with foam…flakes and pursuing breath;
So sweet is fame; so prized the victor's palm。
'Twas Ericthonius first took heart to yoke
Four horses to his car; and rode above
The whirling wheels to victory: but the ring
And bridle…reins; mounted on horses' backs;
The Pelethronian Lapithae bequeathed;
And taught the knight in arms to spurn the ground;
And arch the upgathered footsteps of his pride。
Each task alike is arduous; and for each
A horse young; fiery; swift of foot; they seek;
How oft so…e'er yon rival may have chased
The flying foe; or boast his native plain
Epirus; or Mycenae's stubborn hold;
And trace his lineage back to Neptune's birth。
These points regarded; as the time draws nigh;
With instant zeal they lavish all their care
To plump with solid fat the chosen chief
And designated husband of the herd:
And flowery herbs they cut; and serve him well
With corn and running water; that his strength
Not fail him for that labour of delight;
Nor puny colts betr