Georgics

Virgil

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

  1. So Proteus ending plunged into the deep,
  2. And, where he plunged, beneath the eddying whirl
  3. Churned into foam the water, and was gone;
  4. But not Cyrene, who unquestioned thus
  5. Bespake the trembling listener: “Nay, my son,
  6. From that sad bosom thou mayst banish care:
  7. Hence came that plague of sickness, hence the nymphs,
  8. With whom in the tall woods the dance she wove,
  9. Wrought on thy bees, alas! this deadly bane.
  10. Bend thou before the Dell-nymphs, gracious powers:
  11. Bring gifts, and sue for pardon: they will grant
  12. Peace to thine asking, and an end of wrath.
  13. But how to approach them will I first unfold—
  14. Four chosen bulls of peerless form and bulk,
  15. That browse to-day the green Lycaean heights,
  16. Pick from thy herds, as many kine to match,
  17. Whose necks the yoke pressed never: then for these
  18. Build up four altars by the lofty fanes,
  19. And from their throats let gush the victims' blood,
  20. And in the greenwood leave their bodies lone.
  21. Then, when the ninth dawn hath displayed its beams,
  22. To Orpheus shalt thou send his funeral dues,
  23. Poppies of Lethe, and let slay a sheep
  24. Coal-black, then seek the grove again, and soon
  25. For pardon found adore Eurydice
  26. With a slain calf for victim.”