Eclogues

Virgil

Vergil. The Poems of Vergil. Rhoades, James, translator. London: Oxford University Press, 1921.

Only do thou, at the boy's birth in whom

the iron shall cease, the golden race arise,

befriend him, chaste Lucina; 'tis thine own

apollo reigns. And in thy consulate,

this glorious age, O Pollio, shall begin,

and the months enter on their mighty march.

Under thy guidance, whatso tracks remain

of our old wickedness, once done away,

shall free the earth from never-ceasing fear.

He shall receive the life of gods, and see

heroes with gods commingling, and himself

be seen of them, and with his father's worth

reign o'er a world at peace. For thee, O boy,

first shall the earth, untilled, pour freely forth

her childish gifts, the gadding ivy-spray

with foxglove and Egyptian bean-flower mixed,

and laughing-eyed acanthus. Of themselves,