ECLOGUE the Third.

A

PALAEMON.

MENALCAS, DAMOETAS, PALAEMON.
MENALCAS.

RE thefe, Damoetas, Meliboeus' fheep?

DAMOETAS.

No; these their mafter Aegon bade me keep.

MENALCAS.

Unhappy fheep! yet more unhappy fwain!
Whilft he Neaera wooes, but wooes in vain ;
And fears left I by fairer fortune bleft

Should win precedence in the virgin's breaft;
Lo! here an hireling waftes his master's gains,
And twice an hour of mik the cattle drains.
How lean, too deeply drain'd, appear the dams !
And cheated of their milk how pine the lambs!
DAMOETAS.

At least to men this fcoffing language spare;

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We know that you--with whom--and when--and where : We know the cave---'tis well the nymphs were kind, Nor to the deed the leering goats were blind.

MENALCAS.

Ay, the kind nymphs, forfooth, no notice took,
When Mycon's vine I tore with wicked hook.

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Ver. 12. We know that you.] Virgil here imitates Theocritus (Novimus, &c.) but is not fo grofs and indelicate as the Greek poet.

DAMOETAS.

Or rather when, yon ancient beech below,
In fpite you broke young Daphnis' darts and bow.
O fwain perverfe! nay, when the boy perceiv'd
The gift, oh! how your jealous foul was griev'd !
"Twas well you found that way, or you I ween,
Had died in very impotence of spleen.

MENALCAS.

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What daring fcandal must thy master prate,
Since thou, his flave, canst talk at fuch a rate!
Did not I fee thee, thief, fteal Damon's goat,
While loud Lycisca gave the warning note?
And when I cry'd,--- "See, where the rafcal speeds
-you fkulk'd behind the reeds.

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DAMOETAS.

"Tit'rus take care"

The goat was mine, and won beyond difpute;

The lawful prize of my victorious flute.

Not Damon's felf the just demand denies,

But owns he could not pay the forfeit prize.

MENALCAS.

You win a goat by mufic? did thy hand
E'er join th' unequal reeds with waxen band?
Vile dunce! whofe fole ambition was to draw

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35

The mob in streets to ftare at thy harsh-grating straw.

36. To fare.] Nothing can be fo fatyrical as this line. All thefe R's (with a repetition of ft in ftridenti & slipula) could not concur without fome defign. Milton imitates this paffage in his beautiful poem entitled Lycidas.

Grate on their ferannel pipes of wretched straw..

DAMOETAS.

Howe'er that be, suppose we trial make?
I to provoke you more, yon heifer stake.
Two calves fhe rears, twice fills the pails a-day,
Now for the ftrife 'tis your's fome pledge to lay.
MENALCAS.

You cannot from my flock a pledge require,
You know I have at home a peevish fire,

A cruel step-dame too---strict watch they keep,
And twice each day they count my goats and sheep.

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But fince your proffer'd prize fo much you boast,
I'll take a pledge of far fuperior coft.

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Two beauteous bowls of beechen wood are mine,

The sculpture of Alcimedon divine ;

Whose easy chiffel o'er the work has twin'd,

A vine with berries of pale ivy join'd.

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48. Alcimedon.] As there is no account left us of any famous artist called Alcimedon; Dr. Martyn imagines that he was a friend of our poet, who was therefore willing to tranfmit his name to pofterity. By his name, he appears to have been a Greek. How highly the arts of painting and carving were esteemed in Greece, appears from this very remarkable paffage in Pliny; fpeaking of Eupompus, he fays, "It was enjoined by his authority, firft in Sicyon, and next "throughout all Greece, that ingenuous youths fhould above "all things learn the art of carving, that is, of making de"figns in box; and that this art should be ranked among the "firft of the liberal ones. He thought the laws of honour were violated, if any but gentlemen, or at least those that 66 were reputably born, practifed this art; and made a perpetual prohibition that flaves never fhould be admitted to "learn it. Hence it is that we fee no celebrated pieces of 66 carving, neither of engraving, or relievo, [Toreutice] done " by any person in the degree of a slave.”

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Nat. Hift. b. 35. c. 10.

Full in the midft two comely forms appear,

Conon, with him who fram'd that wond'rous sphere,
Which points the change of seasons to the fwain,
And when to plough the foil, or reap the grain.
These are my pledge; which yet with care I keep 55
Untouch'd, and unpolluted by the lip.

DAMOETAS.

I have a pair by the fame artist made,

Their handles with acanthus' leaves o'erlaid,

Where Orpheus in the midst attracts the grove

But my first-proffer'd prize is ftill above

All we can stake; tho' yet my cups I keep
Untouch'd, and unpolluted by the lip.

MENALCAS.

Name your own terms, nor think the field to fly,
We'll chufe, for judge, the first who paffes by
Palaemon comes- -let him the cause decide;
For once I'll tame an empty boaster's pride.
DAMOETAS.

I fear the threats of no vain-glorious swain,
No proud Menalcas, nor his vaunted ftrain.
The fong, Palaemon, with attention hear,
No mean debate demands thy liftening ear.

PALAEMON.

Begin, fince on the tender turf we rest,

And fields and trees in fruitful stores are dreft.
The lofty groves their verdant livery wear,
And in full beauty blooms the laughing year.

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Begin Damoetas; next, Menalcas, prove

Thy fkill; the Nine alternate measures love.
DAMOETAS.

Mufes from mighty Jove begin the theme;
With mighty Jove all nature's regions teem:
With liberal hand he fows the plenteous plains,
Nor unpropitious hears my rural ftrains.

MENALCAS.

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E'en me, mean fhepherd, Phoebus deigns to love,
Sacred to him I rear a laurel-grove :

And fill along my lavish borders rife,

His hyacinths of fweetly-blooming dies.

DAMOETAS.

At me an apple Galatea threw,

Then to the willows, wily girl, withdrew;
Yet as with hafty fteps fhe skimm'd the green,
Wifh'd, e'er the gain'd the willows, to be feen.

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77. Mufes from mighty.] Virgil feems to have laid it down as an indifpenfible rule to himself, in thefe Amoebaean verses, to make the refpondent fhepherd anfwer his opponent, in exactly the fame number of lines. Either this rule was never taken notice of, by any former tranflator; or the extreme difficulty of obferving it, hath deterred them from attempting to follow it. How I have fucceeded (both in this and the feventh Eclogue) must be left to the determination of the judicious reader, who, it is hoped, will make proper allowances for fuch a constraint.

82. Laurel.] The ancient poets feem to ufe laurus indif. ferently for laurels, or bays: ftrictly speaking, lauro, or lauro regio, fignifies the former in Italian, and alloro the latter; but their best poets ufe lauro indifferently for both.

SPENCE.