These were among the first considerations in publishing this • edition of Virgil. It was believed, also, that a more correct text than any in common use might be put into the hands of learners, by publishing in a popular form that which is the result of the combined labours of Heyne, Heinsius, Burmann, Wakefield, and others. Such is the text now offered to the youthful student of Virgil. It is substantially Heyne's, which is undoubtedly the most perfect text extant, but with such slight variations as a careful collation of the abovementioned authorities seemed to recommend. It is printed from Didot's stereotype edition. And it is confidently believed, should any instructers examine the work, who have hitherto been confined to the use of the Delphin text, that they will in this find many perplexities and stumblingblocks
In preparing the Notes, free use has been made of all the materials within the editor's reach. In all cases where it could consistently be done, the authority has been given, except where the notes of Mr. Valpy's edition have been adopted. These, as his own remarks are frequently blended with other authorities, have not been particularly designated. The notes of the learned I. H. Voss were first made English for that edition, to which notes this is likewise indebted. The notes are explanatory of the text, and not designed to supersede the use of the Classical Dictionary; which should never be out of the student's reach. In the vast variety of materials presented, it has been found difficult to be sufficiently concise. For it is easy to say much upon Virgil, but difficult to say a little to the point. Boys will not voluntarily read long notes, even in their vernacular tongue; much less in a foreign language. But, when embarrassed, they will seek relief from notes, if they are short.
As no boy should be permitted to read Virgil without being able to scan every verse before he reads it, it was thought advisable to subjoin a list of the most difficult verses with the method of scanning each; as this will save the teacher from frequent interruptions while the student is preparing for recitation. The authority of Dr. Carey has been followed in the Metrical Key. A few questions have also been added, at the suggestion of some of our most respectable instructers, which may expedite the labour of the teacher in ascertaining whether the pupil has consulted his notes and his Classical Dictionary, and lead to a more connected and definite view of the subject than the pupil would otherwise obtain.
TITYRE, tu, patulæ recubans sub tegmine fagi,
Silvestrem tenui musam meditaris avenâ :
Nos patriæ fines et dulcia linquimus arva;
Nos patriam fugimus; tu, Tityre, lentus in umbra,
Formosam resonare doces Amaryllida silvas.
O Melibœe, deus nobis hæc otia fecit :
Namque erit ille mihi semper deus; illius aram
Sæpè tener nostris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus.
Ille meas errare boves, ut cernis, et ipsum
Ludere, quæ vellem, calamo permisit agresti.
Non equidem invideo; miror magis, undique totis
Usquè adeò turbatur agris. En, ipse capellas
Protenus æger ago: hanc etiam vix, Tityre, duco;
Hîc inter densas corylos modò namque gemellos,
Spem gregis, ah! silice in nudâ connixa reliquit.
Sæpè malum hoc nobis, si mens non læva fuisset,
De cœlo tactas memini prædicere quercus;
[Sæpè sinistra cava prædixit ab ilice-cornix.]
Sed tamen, iste deus qui sit, da, Tityre, nobis.
Urbem quam dicunt Romam, Melibœe, putavi
Stultus ego huic nostræ similem, quò sæpè solemus
Pastores ovium teneros depellere fœtus:
Sic canibus catulos similes, sic matribus hædos
Nôram; sic parvis componere magna solebam.
Verùm hæc tantùm alias inter caput extulit urbes,
Quantùm lentæ solent inter viburna cupressi.
Et quæ tanta fuit Romam tibi causa videndi?
Libertas: quæ, sera, tamen respexit inertem,
Candidior postquam tondenti barba cadebat:
Respexit tamen, et longo post tempore venit,
Postquam nos Amaryllis habet, Galatea reliquit.
Namque, fatebor enim, dum me Galatea tenebat,
Nec spes libertatis erat, nec cura peculî:
Quamvis multa meis exiret victima septis,
Pinguis et ingratæ premeretur caseus urbi,
Non unquam gravis ære domum mihi dextra redibat.
Mirabar, quid mesta deos, Amarylli, vocares;
Cui pendere suâ patereris in arbore poma:
Tityrus hinc aberat. Ipsæ te, Tityre, pinus,
Ipsi te fontes, ipsa hæc arbusta, vocabant.
Quid facerem? neque servitio me exire licebat,
Nee tam præsentes alibi cognoscere divos.
Hîc illum vidi juvenem, Melibœe, quotannis
Bis senos cui nostra dies altaria fumant.
Hîc mihi responsum primus dedit ille petenti:
Pascite, ut antè, boves, pueri; submittite tauros.
Fortunate senex! ergo tua rura manebunt!
Et tibi magna satis, quamvis lapis omnia nudus
Limosoque palus obducat pascua junco:
Non insueta graves tentabunt pabula fœtas,
Nec mala vicini pecoris contagia lædent.
Fortunate senex! hîc, inter flumina nota
Et fontes sacros, frigus captabis opacum.
Hinc tibi, quæ semper vicino ab limite sepes
Hyblæis apibus florem depasta salicti,
Sæpè levi somnum suadebit inire susurro;
Hinc altâ sub rupe canet frondator ad auras:
Nec tamen interea raucæ, tua cura, palumbes,
Nec gemere aëriâ cessabit turtur ab ulmo.
Antè leves ergo pascentur in æthere cervi,
Et freta destituent nudos in littore pisces;
Antè, pererratis amborum finibus, exsul
Aut Ararim Parthus bibet, aut Germania Tigrim,
Quàm nostro illius labatur pectore vultus.
At nos hinc alii sitientes ibimus Afros;
Pars Scythiam, et rapidum Cretæ veniemus Oaxem,
Et penitùs toto divisos orbe Britannos.
En, unquam patrios longo pòst tempore fines,
Pauperis et tugurî congestum cespite culmen,
Post aliquot, mea regna videns, mirabor aristas?
Impius hæc tam culta novalia miles habebit?
Barbarus has segetes? En, quò discordia cives
Perduxit miseros! En, queis consevimus agros!
Insere nunc, Melibœe, piros! pone ordine vites !
Ite meæ, felix quondam pecus, ite, capellæ :
Non ego vos posthac, viridi projectus in antro,
Dumosâ pendere procul de rupe videbo :
Carmina nulla canam: non, me pascente, capellæ,
Florentem cytisum et salices carpetis amaras.
Hîc tamen hane mecum poteras requiescere noctem
Fronde super viridi: sunt nobis mitia poma,
Castaneæ molles, et pressi copia lactis :
Et jam summa procul villarum culmina fumant,
Majoresque cadunt altis de montibus umbræ.
FORMOSUM pastor Corydon ardebat Alexin,
Delicias domini; nec, quid speraret, habebat.
Tantùm inter densas, umbrosa cacumina, fagos
Assiduè veniebat: ibi hæc incondita solus
Montibus et silvis studio-jactabat-inani:
O crudelis Alexi, nihil mea carmina curas;
Nil nostri miserere; mori me denique coges!
Nunc etiam pecudes umbras et frigora captant;
Nunc virides etiam occultant spineta-lacertos:
Thestylis et rapido fessis messoribus æstu,
Allia serpyllumque, herbas-contundit olentes :
At mecum raucis, tua dum vestigia lustrō,
Sole sub ardenti resonant arbusta cicadis.
Nonne fuit satius tristes Amaryllidis iras
Atque superba pati fastidia? nonne Menalcan,
Quamvis ille niger, quamvis tu candidus esses ?
O formose puer, nimiùm ne crede colori;
Alba ligustra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur.
Despectus tibi sum, nec qui sim quæris, Alexi;
Quàm dives pecoris nivei, quàm lactis abundans.
Mille meæ Siculis errant in montibus agnæ;
Lac mihi non æstate novum, non frigore defit.
Canto, quæ solitus, si quando armenta vocabat,
Amphion Dirceus in Actæo Aracyntho.
Nec sum adeò informis; nuper me in littore vidi,
Quum placidumventis staret mare: non ego Daphnin,
Judice te, metuam, si nunquam fallat imago.
XO tantùm libeat mecum tibi sordida rura
Atque humiles habitare casas, et figere cervos,
Hædorumque gregem viridi compellere hibisco!
Mecum unâ in silvis imitabere Pana canendo:
Pan primus calamos cerâ conjungere plures
Instituit; Pan curat oves oviumque magistros.
Nec te pœniteat calamo trivisse labellum :
Hæc eadem ut sciret, quid non faciebat Amyntas ?
Est mihi disparibus septem compacta cicutis
Fistula, Damætas dono mihi quam dedit olim,
Et dixit moriens: Te nunc habet ista secundum.
Dixit Damætas; invidit stultus Amyntas.
Præterea duo, nec tutâ mihi valle reperti,
Capreoli, sparsis etiam nunc pellibus albo,
Bina die siccant ovis ubera; quos tibi servo.
Jam pridem a me illos abducere Thestylis orat;
Et faciet, quoniam sordent tibi munera nostra.
Huc ades, o formose puer: tibi lilia plenis
Ecce ferunt Nymphæ calathis; tibi candida Naïs,
Pallentes violas et summa papavera-carpens,...
Narcissum et florem jungit bene olentis anethi ;
Tum, casiâ atque aliis intexens suavibus herbis,
Mollia luteolâ pingit vaccinia calthâ.
Ipse ego cana legam tenerâ lanugine mala,
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