* LIBRARY
OF THE
University of California,
Class
1
ECLOGUES OF MANTUAN
THE ECLOGUES OF
BAPTISTA MANTUANUS
EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, BY
WILFRED P. MUSTARD, Ph.D.
COLLEGIATE PROFESSOR OF LATIN IN THE
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
BALTIMORE
THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS
19U
Copyright, 191 i
BY
THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS
TO
KIRBY FLOWER SMITH
225284
PREFACE
This edition has been prepared in the hope that some
scholars might be glad to study a set of forgotten poems
which had a very considerable influence upon the English
literature of the sixteenth century.
The Text is based upon that of the first printed edition,
of Mantua, 1498. The more important later variants are
mentioned in the notes. The spelling is modified to suit
the convenience of the modem reader. The punctuation is
my own.
The Introduction has grown to a portentous length, partly
because it seemed desirable to set down my authority for
almost every statement. And inasmuch as many of my
authorities are not easily accessible — at least, to American
scholars — it often seemed necessary to quote their actual
words. Hence the " leaden sediment " of footnotes. I am
rather ashamed of this unlovely feature, but I feel that any
one who has tried to find any modern account of Mantuan
which is at once definite and accurate will be inclined to
excuse it. Perhaps I should add that a part of my material
has already been printed, in the Transactions of the Ameri-
can Philological Association, vol. XL.
I have devoted a good deal of space to the story of
Mantuan's popularity in England, and tried to show some-
thing of the precise range and character of his influence
there. It would be interesting to know whether his
Eclogues exercised any such influence in Italy, or France,
or Germany; but that subject must be left to others.
My Notes are mainly concerned with the question of
Mantuan's sources, and only occasionally serve to explain
his meaning. I had thought of putting them below the
text, but they are hardly of sufficient importance to break
7
€- €/ «• t
< • *
8' "•'""• '-' ' ' ' PREFACE '
up the page, and, besides, the reader may be glad to have
the Eclogues printed, for once, so that he can see more than
a few lines at a time. Ever since Ascensius published his
long-lived commentary they have regularly been printed
with alternate stretches of text and notes on the same page.
I hope that most of my obligations to earlier writers are
duly acknowledged in the footnotes. My Introduction is
much better than it might have been because of the gener-
osity of Mr. Henry Walters, of Baltimore, who allowed
me the free use of his magnificent private library of Italian
incunabula. And it is further enriched by material which
I was able to collect last summer during a vacation tour
of the great public libraries of Italy. It gives me pleasure
to recall the uniform courtesy and kindness which I re-
ceived from various library officials in Turin, Milan,
Mantua, Ferrara, Bologna, and a dozen other cities. And
I am glad to say here that my book owes a great deal to
Cav. Alessandro Luzio, Director of the R. Archivio di
Stato at Mantua. From one of his published papers I
had learned most of what I have written about our poet's
family, and by his special knowledge and ready helpfulness
he made my own work at Mantua both profitable and
pleasant.
W. P. M.
Baltimore,
May, 191 1.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction
" Good old Mantuan " 1 1
His Life II
His Family and Friends i8
His Works 26
His Popularity 30
Composition and Publication of the Eclogues 35
Their Use as a School-book 3^
Quotations and Allusions 40
Imitations 4^
Mantuan's Sources 57
His Syntax 59
His Metre 59
His Vocabulary 59
Dedicatory Epistle 62
Text 63
Notes 121
Index I53
9
INTRODUCTION
" GOOD OLD MANTUAN "
In Love's Labour's Lost, iv, 2, 95, the schoolmaster
Holofernes quotes the Latin words " Fauste, precor, gelida
quando pecus omne sub umbra Ruminat, — and so forth,"
and then exclaims : " Ah, good old Mantuan ! I may speak
of thee as the traveller doth of Venice ;
Venetia, Venetia,
Chi non ti vede non ti pretia.
Old Mantuan, old Mantuan ! who understandeth thee not,
loves thee not." Here the modern reader is apt to think of
the Eclogues of Virgil ; but the reference is to another and
much later poet who was likewise a native of Mantua, and
likewise the author of ten Latin eclogues. This was Bap-
tista Spagnolo, or, as he was commonly called, Baptista
Mantuanus.^
HIS LIFE
This later Mantuan was born April 17, 1448. ^ He was
a pupil of Gregorio Tifernate and of Georgius Merula;^
1 In one of the letters of Isabella d' Este (Aug. 23, 1504) he is
called " R.*^° frate Bap.** Spagnolo " ; S. von Arx, Romanische
Forschungen, xxvi, 813. In a proclamation of the Marquis of
Mantua (June 25, 1514) he is " R.'*" inag/° Bap.*» Spagnolo"; Luzio-
Renier, Giornale storico della letteratura italiana, xxxiv, 57. In
the' closing novel of Sabadino's Porrettane he is "maestro Baptista
Spagnolo Mantoano."
2 Tiraboschi gives this date, " from documents of the Carmelite
monastery at Mantua." In a little poem Vitae suae Epitome our
author states that he was born in the reign of Pope Nicholas V —
*' istius accepi lucis primordia, quintus | in solio Petri cum Nicolaus
erat " — which means not earlier than March 6, I447- In the dedi-
catory epistle prefixed to his Eclogues, Sept. i, 1498, he calls him-
self " quinquagenarius ".
3 He seems to have studied under both of these teachers at Mantua :
F. Gabotto, Ancora un letter ato del Quattrocento, i8go, pp. 22-23.
II
12 INTRODUCTION
and he afterwards studied philosophy at P^dua.* About
1466 he entered the Carmelite monastery at Mantua.^ In
1472 he was appointed " lector " in the monastery of San
Martino at Bologna.^
During his term of service there his monastery was visited
by the plague;'^ but he was sheltered and nursed by a
wealthy friend in the city, Lodovico Foscarari:
Nuper in cenobium nostrum dirae pestilentiae immisso veneno toti
urbi coeperamus esse timori ; pellebamur non a colloquio tantum
verum etiam a conspectu hominum . . . interclusi eramus nee uUa
videbatur evadendi via : omnia mortem intentabant . . . tu cum Re-
frigerio nostro '. . . spem vitae confirmasti, xenia misisti, in amplas
ac magnificas aedes tuas hospitio me suscepisti, lautissime et ele-
gantissime pavisti.^
And he afterwards found a refuge at the villa of Gio. Bap-
tista Refrigerio, " on the upper waters of the torrent Cla-
terna, on the way to Rome " :
Gregorio seems to have been in Mantua from April, 1460, till
December, 146 1 ; Merula, from 1460 till 1463. Gregorio was the
" Umber" of the Eclogues (iv, 81, 95 if., 246 ff . ; v, loi ; vii, 10; IX,
200), as Mantuan himself explained to Thomas Wolf, Jr., in the
year 1500. See note on Eel. iv, 81. Cf. also the Apologia written
by the poet's brother Tolomeo : " Gregorium Tiphernatem quem
poeta noster habuit praeceptorem " (Lyons ed., 15 16, fol. Ee, v), and
a letter written by Mantuan to Pico della Mirandola, the Younger,
Jan. 3, 1495 : " mors Georgii Merulae primum condiscipuli postea
praeceptoris mei (nam sub Gregorio Tiphernate commilitavimus) tris-
titia me affecit " (loannis Pici Mirandulae Concordiae Comitis opera,
Bologna ed., 1496, fol. i6ib).
* See the dedication of his Eclogues: " ante religionem, dum in
gymnasio Paduano philosophari inciperem."
^ " Religio placuit iuveni," etc., Vitae suae Epitome. The date
usually given, 1464, seems to be too early. The first eight Eclogues
were written " ante religionem " ; the fourth laments the death of
Gregorio Tifernate; and Gregorio seems to have lived at least till
1464.
^ Florido Ambrogio, De rebus gestis ac scriptis operibus Bap-
tistae Mantuani, Turin, 1784, p. 28. In the title of the De vita
beata (printed in 1474) he is called "professor".
■^Probably c. 1478; see Muratori, Annali d' Italia, Anno 1478.
L. Frati gives the exact date as I479> Giorn. star. d. lett. ital., Xil,
327.
^Dedication of the first Parthenice, published Feb. 11, 1481.
LIFE OF MANTUAN 13
ipse quoque in silvis et vallibus Appennini
exilem ducens tecto sub paupere vitam
•delitui qua templa petit Romana viator
et qua Flaminios fugiens Claterna per agros
ducit ab angustis undosum vallibus amnem
area sub Ociami, nostris ubi dicta Camenis
tecta Refrigerius sublimi in colle tenebat.^
In 1479-80 he held the office of Prior at Mantua.^^ In
1483 he was elected Vicar-general of the Carmelite Congre-
gation of Mantua.^^ And to this office he was re-elected
five times — each time for a period of two years, with an in-
terval of four years— in 1489, 1495, 1501, 1507, 1513.^2
The first term of his office and the first interval were
spent mainly at Rome, on the business of his Congrega-
tion.^^ The city was disturbed by the Orsini and Colonna
^ De suorum temportim calamitatibus, Lib. i. The Claterna re-
ceives a grateful mention again in the poem Alfonsus, Bologna ed.,
1502, fol. 260.
i<* Florido Ambrogio, op. cit., 43, v(^ho adds that he was appointed
tutor of the Marquis Federico's children. On Jan. 23, 1479, he wrote
to his friend Refrigerio from Reggio, explaining that he had fled
from Mantua because of the plague ; on Jan. 29, 1480, and Feb. 16,
1480, he v/rote to him from Mantua. In 1476 (Apr. 28 and July
21) and in 1478 (Aug. 12) he had written to the same correspondent
from Bologna. In 148 1 and 1482 he seems to have been again in
Bologna. The first Parthenice was published at Bologna, Feb. II,
148 1, and in the same year Refrigerio could call himself Mantuan's
pupil: "ipse, qui eius disciplinas quotidie haurio " (L. Frati, Giorn.
star. d. lett. ital., xii, 327-8)- On Oct. 8, 1482, and Nov. 2, 1482,
he wrote to Caesar Napeus, of Brisighella, from Bologna. [There
are manuscript copies of the letters mentioned in this note in the
Library of the University of Bologna.]
1^ " Congregationis Mantuanae Observantium Carmelitarum Vicar-
ius,'' as he calls himself in his prose account of the Santa Casa at
Loreto (Sept. 22, 1489). In 1413, three Carmelite convents, Le
Selve (near Florence), Gerona, and Mantua, agreed to correct certain
abuses which had crept into the order ; and this combination de-
veloped into the Congregation of Mantua, or Mantuan Reform. In
1442, it achieved quasi-autonomy under a vicar-general. By Man-
tuan's time, it had brought under its authority several other houses
in northern Italy, Novellara, Modena, Ferrara, etc.
12 Florido Ambrogio, op. cit., 63, 69, 77, 78, 81, 84.
13 The Epigrammata ad Falconem were written during this period,
and so were some of the Silvae. In the Epistola contra Calum-
niator es he says, " dum Romae .sub Sixto quarto agerem " (Lyons
ed., 15 16, fol. Aa, vi) ; and Florido Ambrogio records (op. cit.,
14 INTRODUCTION
factions, and he found great difficulty in getting a hearing
for his case:
Turbida nunc Ursos clamat, nunc Roma Colunnam ;
esse quid attonita pacis in urbe potest?
et nisi Falconis scirem me numine tutum
iam mea populifer cerneret ora Padus.
propterea divi repetes cum limina Petri,
ne fluat in longos fac mea causa dies.^*
Still he received much assistance from a young friend,
Filippo Baveria:
tu mihi tractanti Romana negotia semper
assiduas operas auxiliumque dabas.
65) that it was through his efforts that in 1483 Sixtus IV con-
firmed the privileges granted to the Congregation of Mantua by
Eugenius IV. The poem Pro pacata Italia post bellum Ferrari-
ense (Silvae, viii, 6) seems to celebrate the peace of August, 1484;
and it is addressed to the Cardinal of Naples. The poem In Romam
bellis tumultuantem {Silvae, II, 7), with its allusion to the strife
of the Orsini and Colonna factions, probably belongs to the same
year. But the Consolatio addressed to his friend Sabadino is dated
at the end " Bononiae die secunda Februarii, 148?." And the Pane-
gyrictim on Roberto da San Severino (1485) was not written at
Rome: " i, decus Italiae, tantoque accinge labori " (Bologna ed.,
1502, fol. liii). Silvae, \, 3 and v, 4 (both addressed to Innocent
VIII) refer to the Spanish embassy which arranged peace between
the Pope and the King of Naples in August, i486 — and in one of
them our poet writes as an eye-witness. The Somnium Romanum
(1487) was Avritten at Rome: " nam tunc ego templa tenebam |. trans
Tiberim," Tolentinum, Bk. ill (Lyons ed., 1 5 16, fol. E, ii). The
Contra poet as impudice loquentes was finished at Rome, Oct. 20,
1487, as is stated at the end of the poem in the Bologna editions of
148Q and 1502. The second Parthenice was written at Rome (as
its dedication states), apparently in the summer of 1488. On Aug.
25, 1488, he wrote to his friend Refrigerio from Rome (Autograph
letter in the Library of the University of Bologna). And a letter to
Pico della Mirandola, Oct. I, 1490, seems to refer to the same year:
" nam dum ego Romae gravibus admodum rei publicae meae negotiis
insudarem, eo tempore quo tu quoque, ut meministi, tantis illis aemu-
lationum fluctibus laborabas," etc. (prefixed to the Bologna edition of
the collected poems, 1502). There is still another reference to his life
in Rome in the De Patientia, 11. 22 : " verum est id quod ad Fal-
conem, cum Romae essem, scripsi hoc disticho," etc.
^*This quotation and the next three which follow come from the
Epigrammata ad Falconem,
LIFE OF MANTUAN 15
Through the good offices of the papal treasurer, Falcone
de' Sinibaldi/^ he gained admission to the court:
te duce Pontificis summi mihi limen apertum,
et sancti patuit regia magna Patris.
And he must have received, or hoped for, some help from
another " great star of the Roman Senate," Oliviero Carafa,
Cardinal of Naples:^®
hi sunt Romulei duo sidera magna senatus
unde bonis lumen praesidiumque datur.
In the poem prefixed to the Epigrammata ad Falconem
he is still begging that the Carmelites of Mantua may have
a house of their own at Rome :
cur igitur, quoties Romana revisere tecta
cogimur, in propria non licet esse domo?
But in 1489 his long efforts were rewarded by the gift to
his Congregation of the church and monastery of S. Criso-
gono.^"^
In 1489 he went from Mantua to Loreto, at the head of a
company of Carmelite friars, who were to be put in charge
of the Santa Casa.^^ In 1490 — at least from March to
October — his correspondence shows that he was in Bologna.^®
^^ " Cuius beneficio ex omnibus periculis est liberatus." This is
the " Falco " of the ninth Eclogue, a poem which doubtless reflects
some of Mantuan's own experiences at court.
^® To whom the De suorum temporum Calamitatibus was dedi-
cated.
1"^ Florido Ambrogio, op. cit., 68. As an evidence of Mantuan's
personal success at Rome, Ambrogio mentions (p. 35) an oration
which he delivered in the presence of Innocent VIII, in 1488. In
one of his Silvae (i, 4) he celebrates the birthday feast of the Pope's
nephew, Lorenzo Cibo, Archbishop of Beneventum. And in the
Vita Lodovici Morbioli he could thank Pope Innocent for various
personal favors, including a gift of money — " aureaque aegroto mu-
nera missa mihi."
^8 Florido Ambrogio, op. cit., 69-70; U. Chevalier, Notre-Dame
de Lorette, Paris, 1906, p. 322.
^® A letter addressed to him, March 20, 1490, by Pico della Miran-
dola includes a greeting to Filippo Beroaldo, " saluta Beroaldum."
Another letter from the same correspondent, Sept. 19, 1490, asks for a
16 INTRODUCTION
But he probably spent most of his remaining life at Man-
tua.2^. On May 22, 1513, he was elected General of the
entire Carmelite Order; and he seems to have held this
office till his death. ^^ During his brief term of office he
consolidated the congregation of Albi, a French imitation
catalogue of the monastery library at Bologna: " indicem bibllothecae
vestrae Bononiensis, si id tuo commodo fieri potest " {loannis Pici
Mirandulae Concordiae comitis opera, Bologna, 1496, foil. 145, 150).
And Mantuan's reply to this second letter is dated at Bologna, Oct.
I, 1490 (quoted in the Bologna edition of his collected poems, 1502).
20 In 1493 (Oct. ,22) he delivered a funeral oration at Mantua, on
Leonora d' Aragona, the mother of Isabella d' Este (printed copy in
the Biblioteca Comunale at Bologna). In 1494 (Oct. 29 and Nov,
27) and in 1495 (Jan. 3) he writes to the younger Pico della Miran-
dola from Mantua (/•. P. Miraiidtdae opera, Bologna, 1496, foil.
164, 161, i6ib). [J. H. Lupton, Life of Dean CoJet, 1887, p. 67,
says that Colet may have met with Mantuan "in Paris, where (ac-
cording to Trittenheim) he was staying in 1494."] In November,
1496 he seems to have been at least temporarily absent from Mantua,
for his oration In funere Ferrandi Regis was delivered by his
friend Pietro da Novellara (Luzio-Renier, op. cit., 69). In 1497 he
was in Florence, as the dedication of his Eclogues states : " anno
praeterito, cum Florentia rediens Bononiam pervenissem," etc. In
1500 he was at Mantua: "Ego dum Bononiae ingenuis disciplinis
vacarem in ipso iubileo anno profectus sum Mantuam, ut Baptistam
quem ex libris noveram coram quoque viderem," etc. (Letter of
Thomas Wolf, Jr., to Jakob Wimpfeling, Feb. 24, 1503). In Au-
gust, 1504, a letter of Isabella d' Este promises to send to Giovanni
Sabadino " sei sacchi di frumento " ; and the gift is to go to Bologna
in charge of the " R.*^" frate Bap.*' Spagnolo " (S. von Arx, Roman.
For sell., XXVI, 813). On July i, i?o6, he wrote to his brother Tolo-
meo : " In questo tempo di questo nostro exilio ho fatto trascrivere
tutte le nostre cose nove " (F. Gabotto, Un poeta beatificato, 1892,
p. 17).
21 Ventimiglia, Hist. Chron. General. Carm., Naples, 1773, p.
171. Many ancient and modern accounts say that Mantuan soon re-
signed his high office — because his reforms were opposed, or in order
to devote himself entirely to literature. Possibly the tradition is based
upon a remark by Seb. Murrho, in the preface to his commentary
on the first Parihcnice: " audivimus ex Conrado Leontorio, quo a
secretis familiariter utimur, magistratu se quem in eo ordine sum-
mum gessit abdicavisse, ut liberius humanis divinisque litteris vacare
posset." This preface is not dated, but it was printed in 1513 (at
the beginning of Ascensius' Paris edition), and it may have been
taken to refer to that year. But Murrho died in 149? ; and his re-
port must refer to Mantuan's office of Vicar-general, not to his
office of General at all.
LIFE OF MANTUAN 17
of the Mantuan Reform." In 1515 he was appointed
Apostolic Legate to arrange peace between Francis I and the
Duke of Milan f^ but he was prevented by age and infirmity
from undertaking this mission. He died at Mantua, March
20, 1516.2* He was beatified December 17, 1885. ^^
In form and feature Baptista was not very handsome or
imposing. One of his admirers who visited him in the year
1500 can only say, with Odysseus, that " the gods do not give
every gracious gift to all, neither shapeliness nor wisdom nor
skilled speech " ^^ — " scias id rectissime posse de Baptista
dici quod Homerus et ceteri vates de Ulysse rettulerunt, qui
corpore parvus et forma indecorus sed ingenio maximus et
animo speciosissimus fuisse perhibetur." ^^ So Luca Gaurico
calls him " parvus et modicae staturae," in his Tractatiis
Astrologicusr^ And Bandello says that he was very^ugly:
" era brutto come il culo, e pareva nato dai Baronzi.
n 29
22 Catholic Encyclopedia, II (1907). 276.
23 Florido Ambrogio, op. cit., 93; A. Luzio, Archivio storico ital-
iano, XL (1907). Pt- 3» P- i-
24 His epitaph, in the Carmelite church at Mantua, is quoted
by Saverio Bettinelli, Delle Lettere e delle Arti Mantovane, Man-
tua, 1774, p. 99: " R. P. Magister Jo. Bapt. Mantuanus Carmelita
Theologus Philosofus Poeta Orator clarissimus latinae graecae &
hebraicae linguae peritissimus." His tomb is now in the Cathedral
at Mantua.
25 The Decrehim is quoted by Fanucchi, Delia Vita del Beato Bat-
tista Spagnoli, Lucca, 1887, pp. 217-18.
26 Homer, Od., vni, 167. Cf. Ov. A. A., n, 123, " non formosus
erat, sed erat facundus Ulixes."
27 Letter from Thomas Wolf, Jr., to Jakob Wimpfeling, written
at Strassburg, February 24, 1503.
2 8 Quoted by F. Gabotto, Un poeta beatificato, 1892, p. 8.
"^^ Nov ell e, lu, 52, fin. (quoted by Luzio-Renier, op. cit., 66).
The Baronzi were a Florentine family, proverbial for their homely
features. Bandello's lively description is hardly borne out by the
surviving portraits of the poet. There are at least three busts of
him at Mantua; and these suggest only a rather benevolent coun-
tenance with a very prominent nose. One is a contemporary portrait
in terra-cotta, now in the Museo Patrio ; another is a large bust, in
bronzed wood, now in the Palazzo degli Studi (it was transferred
thither "ex aede Carmelit." in 1783); while a third may be seen
above the poet's tomb in the Cathedral. There is another very in-
teresting bust, in bronze, ia the Royal Museum at Berlin; this is
beautifully reproduced for an article by W. Bode, Jahrbuch der
18 INTRODUCTION
HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS
As a member of a monastic order — Frater Baptista Man-
tuanus — our author never calls himself by his family name.
He was the son of Pietro Spagnolo, a Spanish nobleman
from Granada, Avho had himself lost his family name of
t Moduer (or Modover) and received the name Spagnolo,
from the name of his own country.^*' His father, and his
grandfather, "Antonius Cordubensis," ^^ took part in the
naval battle off Gaeta in 1435 — when Alfonso V of Aragon
W'as defeated by the Genoese. Being taken prisoner along
with their king, they spent some time at Milan; ^nd they
remained in Italy after Alfonso was released :
Hesperios inter proceres quos invida laudi
in praedam fortuna dedit turn prima ferebat
Alfonso sub rege merens Antonius arma
cui genus et patrium dederat sua Corduba nomen. . .
ipse pium casus dominum comitatus in omnes
venit ad Insubres ubi, postquam vincula passo
affuit Alfonso melior fortuna, relictus,
seu fuerit casus seu caeli immobile fatum,
egregium decus et nomen sibi fecit in armis.-^-
Koniglich Preussischen Kunsfsammlungen, i88g, Heft iv. These
busts are doubtless more reliable than the rude woodcut which
adorns the Lyons edition of Mantuan's later works, 15 16, the
frontispiece of the Cologne edition of the Eclogues, 1688, or the
highly idealized portrait which appears in the biography by Florido
Ambrogio, Turin, 1784.
.so « Petrus Spagnolus," as he is called in the title of the De vila
beata. In his epitaph (in the Carmelite church at Mantua) he was
called " Petrus Sp. Modover " (quoted in d'Arco's MS. history, in the
R. Archivio di Stato at Mantua).
3^ Cf. Baptista's oration hi funere Ferrandi regis (printed at
Brescia in 1496) : " sub hoc Alfonso avus meus Antonius Cordubensis
in Italiam venisse et meruisse se narrabat, cum ego adhuc puer senem
admirarer more veteranorum militum sui temporis bella recitantem."
In the Trophaeum pro Gallis expiilsis, Bk. v (Bologna ed., 1502,
fol. 374b), he says of his brother Tolomeo :
proavos fecunda virorum
magnanimorum altrix et mater Corduba vatum
huic dederat, proavos armis et sanguine claros.
So Paulus Jovius says "ex Hispaniola gente honesta " (E/ogia
virorum Uteris illustrium, Basel ed., I577» P- Ii7)-
^^ Alfonsus, Bk. v (Bologna ed., 1502, fol. 303). There is a similar
MANTUAN'S FAMILY 19
Pietro went to Mantua, and there rose to high favor with
the reigning house :
Petrus enim senis Antoni generosa propagn
Mintiadas adiit populos, iibi Gonzagarum
regia, et insignem claro sub principe nactus
eximia virtute locum primordia genti
condit ; et annoso cedet iam f rigidus aevo.
In 1457 he appears as steward {sescalco) of the Marquis
Lodovico, who in 1460 conferred upon him and his sons
the citizenship of Mantua.^^ He enjoyed the favor of the
next two marquises also, Federico and Francesco, and lived
to round out fifty years of faithful service to their house.
He died early in 1494.
In his Vitae suae Epitome Mantuan states that his father
encouraged his youthful studies:
a teneris colui Musas, mihi semper ad artes
ingenuas calcar cura paterna fuit.
There is a passage in the seventh Eclogue, 59 if., which has
been regarded as a reference to the author's own life:
. durus et immitis pater atque superba noverca
Pollucem graviore iugo pressere iuventae
tempore, cum dulces animos nova suggerit aetas.
et cum iam invalidae longo sub pondere vires
deficerent nuUaque odium mansuesceret arte,
constituit temptare fugam, etc.
" Videtur autem haec vera vitae ipsius poetae descriptio,"
account in the Epithalamium addressed to the poet's brother Tolomeo
(Antwerp ed., vol. ni, fol. 302). This gives a different explanation
of Antonio's remaining in Italy : " ad Ducis ascitus magno aere An-
tonius arma."
33 S. Davari, Delia famiglia Spagnola, quale risulia dai documenti
dell' Archivio Storico Gonzaga, Mantua, 1873, p. 4. Cf., also, the
Dialogus contra Detractores, Lyons ed., 1516, fol. e, i : *' Petrum vide-
licet patrum tuum, virum ornatissimum ac splendidissimum, sub
huius nostri principis patre atque avo domi forisque in praeclaris
negotiis summa cum laude semper versatum." In a letter to the
Marquis Francesco, Nov. 10, 1494, Baptista could say, of his father's
services to the Marquis' house : " el quale cinquanta anni continui
servi," etc. (Autograph letter preserved in the R. Archivio di State
at Mantua).
20 INTRODUCTION
as Ascensius immediately explained it. And Niceron saw
in the " superba noverca " a hint of the poet's illegitimate
birth. ^* But this interpretation hardly agrees with the
fact that his early treatise De vita beat a is addressed to
his father in terms of affection : " ego enim qui te mihi
carior sit inter mortales habeo neminem."
Baptista had many brothers and sisters. ^^ The eldest,
Tolomeo,^^ became the confidential secretary of the Mar-
quis Francesco, and rose to such favor that he was even
allowed to take the name of Gonzaga.^^ But he grossly
abused this- confidence — by forgery and fraud and traffick-
ing in justice — and after the death of the Marquis (1519)
he was forced to flee from the city."^ Another brother was
^* Me mo ires (Paris ed., 1734), xxvii, 107, " il se plaint, sous le
nom de Pollux, des rigueurs et de la fierte de sa belle-mere, qui ne
peut-etre autre que cette Constance."
^^ " ampla i nostra domus pollens numero fratrum atque sororum,''
Epithalamium (Antwerp ed., 1576, ill, fol. 302).
3^ Tolomeo seems to have been of illegitimate birth; and Baptista
himself may have been " ex damnato coitu natus," as Paulus Jovius
puts it : S. Davari, op. cit., 4-9. In the Epithalamium already
quoted, Baptista calls Tolomeo — and apparently himself — the son of
Costanza de' Madi (or de' Maggi), of Brescia:
haec est Maia domus pollens propagine tanta,
tot Claris ornata viris ; Constantia mater
hinc, germane, tibi nuribus praelata pudicis.
^■^ By a decree of the Marquis, Jan. 6, 1507: S. Davari, op. cit,
10. In the dedication of the Dialogus contra Detractores, and in a
letter of Mario Equicola (Nov. 10, 1508), he is called '' Ptolemeus
Gonzaga." At the close of the Dialogus, Baptista says of him : " ob
singularem fidem atque industriam in Gonzagarum familiam privi-
legio ascitus " (Lyons ed., 1516, fol. e, i) ; and Equicola has, " huic
cum Ptolemeus a secretis solus primus sit voluntatum et consiliorum
adiutor et particeps." In the Trophaeum pro Gallis expulsis, Bk. V
(a passage referring to the year 1496), he is introduced as com-
forting the Marchioness Isabella:
tristibus his curis aderat facundus et acri
ingenio praestans iuvenis Ptolemeus
(Bologna ed., 1502, fol. 374)-
3® Baptista addressed to him his sixth Parthenice (on St. Apol-
lonia), a poem on the death of their brother Federico Antonio
(1506), a Dialogus contra Detractores, and an Epistola contra Calum-
niator es. Tolomeo published a learned Apologia contra detrahentes
operibus B. M. (c. 1509), and after our poet's death we find him ar-
ranging for a worthy monument for him (Luzio-Renier, op. cit., 63).
MANTUAN'S FAMILY 21
the Canon Alessandro, who is mentioned in a document of
December 1497 as judge in a law-suit between the youth-
ful Raffaello Sanzio and his stepmother. There he is called
" decretorum doctor" and " vicario del vescovo urbinate." ^''*
About 1507 he is made one of the speakers in the Dialogiis
co7itra Detractores, and called " praeclarus iurisconsultus et
nostrae cathedralis ecclesiae canonicus." "^^ But Alessandro
became implicated in his brother's frauds, and after their
exposure he joined the erring Tolomeo in Rome.^^ There
is a pleasant glimpse of a third brother, Roberto Lucano, in
a letter written by Baptista to Tolomeo, Sept. 8, 1503. Here
it is reported that Roberto has returned to Mantua after
spending some time in the Levant, in the service of the
Venetian State. He has brought back a Venetian accent,
and a knowledge of spoken Greek, and all the air of a man
of the world. And now he wishes to return to Venice, and
hopes to go with the Venetian ambassador to the King of
Spain. *^ Still another of this talented family — " Claris de
tot mihi fratribus unum," as Baptista might well call him
— was Federico Antonio, who died of the plague in 1506.
This was the accomplished orator who had stood before
kings and princes, who knew all law and all histories, who
was loved of all the Muses, who spent his days and nights
in study, sitting among his books like a consul among the
senators and asking each in turn what advice or information
it could give :
lucra nihil curans, nihil emolumenta, sedebat
inter mille libros velut in coetu atque corona
mille senatorum consul, quid sentiat unus
quisque super rerum causis et origine tota
luce rogans et nocte domi, quam plurima chartis
lucubrata diu mandans studioque reponens
multa gravi, quae forte sequens mirabitur aetas.^^
3 9 Luzio-Renier, op. cit., 62.
^0 In a decree of April 28, 1515, he is called " canonico mantovano
e consigliere del Marchese :" S. Davari, op. cit., 14.
*^ Baldessar Castiglione had previously gone to Rome, to ask per-
mission to proceed against him : Luzio-Renier, op. cit., 62.
*2 Luzio-Renier, op. cit., 62. In a decree of Oct. 17, 151 1, he is
called " segretario marchionale " : S. Davari, op. cit., 14.
*3 De morte Federici Spagnoli fratris sui (Ascensius' ed., Paris,
1513, vol. II, fol. 161).
22 INTRODUCTION
Other members of the family were Berardo, whom Baptista
could recommend to the Marquis (Nov. 10, 1494) as "del
corpo prosperoso et assai litterato et di bono ingegno ;""*■*
Cesare, who is mentioned in a document of Aug. 14, 1512,
as " spectabilis et eximius artium et medicine doctor;" and
a Dominican friar (perhaps named Paolo) whom Baldessar
Castiglione found in Rome in 1519.^^ There were two
sisters, Anna and Margherita. And still another brother
was Egidio,**^ who died in battle in 1509 — when the Mar-
quis Francesco was surprised and captured in a night at-
tack, near Legnago :
nos quoque tempestas ista, o Ptolemaee, redegit
in luctum, in lacrimas, longa in suspiria, quando
Aegidius frater nobis cum Principe raptus
ante diem, missus Princeps in vincula, frater
in tumulum, datus in praedam furialibus armis.**"
From Mantuan's own writings we can collect a long list
of his friends and patrons in various cities. It must have
meant much to him in his later years that he enjoyed the
favor and the patronage of the Gonzagas — especially of the
Marquis Francesco, the Marchioness Isabella (who is best
knowm as Isabella d'Este), and the Cardinal Sigismondo.*^
*** Autograph letter in the R. Archie io di Stato at Mantua.
45 " un fratello del Tolomeo Spagnolo che e frate in S. Domenico
e si lamenta delle calunie che si spargono sul conte di Tolomeo e di
Alessandro " (S. Davari, op. cit., 15).
^6 '' Cancelliere della Segreteria di Corte " from 1504 to 1506: S.
Davari, op. cit, 15.
^~ De fortuna Fr. Gonzagae (Antwerp ed., 1576, ni, fol. 188).
The same events are mentioned in the De hello Veneto anni i5og
(Lyons ed., 15 16, fol. F, iii).
■*^ For the Marquis he wrote the five books Trophaeum pro Gallis
expulsis (c. 1498) and a Carmen de jortiina F. G. (1509). To the
Marchioness he dedicated the third, fourth, fifth, and seventh Parthe-
nicae (on St. Margarita, St. Agatha, St. Lucia, and St. Caecilia), an
elegy on the death of Pietro da Novellara (1504), a " silvula " De
Cupidine marmoreo dormienfe, and a poem on the death of Niccolo
da Correggio (1508). To Sigismondo (then " protonotarius ") he
dedicated the Silvae; to the same patron (when Bishop of Mantua)
a Tractatus de loco conceptionis Christi, and (when Cardinal) an
Apologia contra eos qui detrahtint ordini Carmelitaruni. The Marquis
is further complimented by being included in an address to the
various Christian potentates which urges them to take up arms against
PATRONS AND FRIENDS 23
And he had other good friends at Mantua, in Paride
Ceresara/^ Baptista Fiera,^^ Andrea Mantegna -'^ and Mario
Equicola.""^" But he had already made many friends in
Bologna, and Florence, and Rome. At Bologna, he owed
much to Gio. Baptista Refrigerio and Lodovico Foscarari
(who have been mentioned above, p. 12),^^ and he was on
intimate terms with the novelist Sabadino,"'* with Count
Andrea Bentivoglio,^^ Antonio Fantuzzi ^^^ and Filippo
Beroaldo.^^ Of friends made at Rome, we have already
mentioned Filippo Baveria, Falcone de' Sinibaldi and
the Turk. And a letter from Gioviano Pontano, June i, 1499, sug-
gests that Mantuan had tried to enlist his aid in celebrating the ex-
ploits of his patron : " de principe vero tuo illustrando. bonam tibi
promittere voluntatem possum ; verum quid promittat, cui nihil om-
nino est quod det in penu ? non deero tamen virtutibus fortissimi ac
magnanimi ducis " (printed in the Bologna edition of Mantuan's
collected poems, 1502). The new Catholic Encyclopedia (ll, 276)
states that it was " through the exertions of his former disciples,"
the Marquis and the Cardinal, that Mantuan was elected General
of his order.
■*^To whom the revised Eclogues were dedicated, Sept. i, 1498,
For some account of him, see p. 121.
^^ Who is praised as a physician and as a poet, Trophaeum pro
Gallis expulsis, Bk. v (Bologna ed., 1502, fol. 375). See, also,
Luzio-Renier, op. cit., 54-57. A sumptuous edition of his poems was
printed at Venice in 1537.
^^ The well known painter. His skill is celebrated in Silvae, n, 6.
52 Secretary to Isabella d' Este. In a letter of Nov. 10, 1508, he
expresses his readiness to reply to Baptista's detractors.
5^ The two friends to whom he dedicated the first Parthenice. For
Refrigerio, see L. Frati, Giorn. stor. d. lett. ital., xn, 327-8, and S.
von Arx, Roman. Forsch., xxvi, 770. In 148 1 he calls himself Man-
tuan's pupil.
5* To whom he wrote a Consolaiio on the death of a son (1485),
Silvae, I, 7. Mantuan is introduced in very complimentary fashion
in the closing novel of the Porretiane. See, further, S. von Arx, op.
cit., 771.
5^ To whom he dedicated the Somnium Romanum (c. 1487). See,
further, S. von Arx, op. cit., 771.
5^ For whom he composed the De Patientia.
^"^ Cf. Beroaldo's letter to the editor of the collected poems,
Bologna, 1502: " Gaudeo ipse mecum et gestio, quod talem virum
non solum familiariter noverim sed etiam habuerim confessorem.*'
See, also, Mantuan's poem De reditu Philip pi Beroaldi iuvenis litera-
tissimi ex Gallia {Silvae, \u, 4).
24 INTRODUCTION
Oliviero Caraf a, Cardinal of Naples ; and to these we should
add Pomponius Laetus,^^ Gio. Gioviano Pontano,^^ and per-
haps also Alessandro Cortese ^^ and Petrus Marsus.®^ At
Florence, he had very distinguished friends in Pico della
Mirandola (both the uncle and the nephew) and Angelo
Poliziano ; and his correspondence shows that his friendship
with these men (as with Beroaldo) was not merely a formal
matter, but something very real and intimate.
In a letter to Mantuan, Jan. 13, 1490, Pico answers a
request for the loan of a copy of Philostratus : " en tibi
Apollonium, quem si tuae virtuti, tuis in me officiis non de-
berem, deberem certe vel his litteris quibus eum efflagitas.
tantus in illis amor, tanta humanitas." ^- In a second letter,
Mar. 20, 1490, he has to speak of a passage of Philostratus,
and of a passage in the Book of Genesis :
de Apollonio Thyaneo nihil sentio magis quam quod tu sentis, super
qua re scribam ad te plura, cum erit otium, et quae tibi erunt fortasse
non ingrata. de diversitate translationis nostrae a littera Hebraica
in tertio capite libri Geneseos, ubi de Eva agitur et serpente, sic
equidem censeo, etc.
^^ To whom the Epigranimaia ad Falconem profess to have been
submitted for criticism. In the Epistola contra Calumtiiatores he is
called " mihi familiarissimus " (Lyons ed., 15 16, fol. Aa, vi).
^^ Pontano is mentioned in complimentary fashion in the second
book of the Trophaeum, where Fame carries the news of Fornovo to
King Ferdinand, " Pontanique ora poetae ' accipit." His letter to
Mantuan already cited begins : " Et initae Romae memor sum ami-
citiae, et ingenii tui excellens vis momentis paene singulis id efficit
ut doctrinae vel summa etiam cum admiratione meminerim tuae. an
eius ego obliviscar? quem Latinae Musae non memorabilem modo
verum maxime etiam admirabilem et nostris faciunt et facturae sunt
saeculis." He adds that he is sending some samples of his historical
work, and will send some of his other compositions later. And Man-
tuan acknowledges the receipt of some of these poems in Silvae, vi,
I. Pontano is mentioned also in Tolomeo's Apologia: " erat enim
ille vir poetae nostro sic addictus, sicut constat ex eius epistolis, ut
eum loco numinis habere videretur " (Lyons ed., 15 16, fol. E, e).
^^ Whose death he bewails in a poem addressed to Hermolaus Bar-
barus, Silvae, Viii, 2. Chevalier's Repertoire (Paris, 1905) puts Cor-
tese's death in 1499. But Hermolaus Barbarus died in 1493.
^^ Mantuan wrote a six-line epigram on his oration In die Sancti
Stephani primi martyris, describing it as "breve sed magnae re-
ligionis opus." And it was through his recommendation that the
speech was printed at Rome, c. 1490.
^- Quoted by Florido Ambrogio, op. cit., 178.
PATRONS AND FRIENDS 25
And the messages at the close seem to make the little circle
complete : " saluta Beroaldum. Politianus tuus est totus."
In a third letter, Sept. 19, 1490, he has enthusiastic praise
for Mantuan's religious poetry, and asks for the return of
his precious Greek author :
Olim ad te, optime pater, non scripsi, sed interim legi quae tu
scripsisti, divina scilicet atque sanctissima ilia tua poemata, in quibus
ea rerum maiestas, is splendor est eloquentiae, ut certatim in illis
palmam. sibi vendicare verba atque sententiae videantur . . . hoc
unum dixero, delectari me adeo lectione tuorum carminum, ut fere
quotidie, cum me vel taedium vel fatigatio ceperit, in ilia quasi in
hortum deliciarum solitus sim secedere. unde animo tanta semper
oboritur voluptas ut nihil cupiat magis quam iterum fatigari, ut
iterum recreetur. Philostratum de Apollonii vita, si satis illo es
usus, desidero, etc.^^
And the closing words are : " vale, et Beroaldum nostrum
saluta." Mantuan's reply to this third letter, Oct. 1, 1490,
is printed in the Bologna edition of his collected works,
1502: " Hodie mihi in sacrario nostro cum Beroaldo, ut
saepe soleo, fabulanti redditae sunt litterae tuae." As for
the Philostratus, he says: "Philostratum tuum prius lec-
tione eius apprime delectatus tradidi Beroaldo perlegen-
dum." And his letter ends : " vale, et Politianum nostrum
salutato." In a letter to the younger Pico della Mirandola,
Oct. 29, 1494, he says at the close: " cupio enim tecum esse,
ut possemus studiorum tu meorum et ego tuorum particeps
esse." And another of his letters to the same correspondent,
Jan. 3, 1495, ends with the message: "bene valeat Domina
tua, cui me commendo." ^* One short letter from Poliziano
may be quoted entire:
Nee dubito quin amer abs te, nee exigo quod sit incommodum ; sed
nee officio litterarum metior amicos, quippe quod et ab inimicis prae-
stari solet. gratulatione tua quod philosophiae sim deditus ipse mihi
medius fidius ita gratulor, daturus ut operam sim quo possis in dies
magis merito mihi gratulari. sed adulescens hie tuus consilio nostro
si fuisset usus, magis fortasse suis rationibus consuluisset. nunc
quoniam consilio noluit (ni frustra augurium) credo nee opera iam
63/. p. Mirandulae Concordiae Comitis opera, Bologna, 1496,
foil. 14s, 150.
^"^ lb., foil. 164, 161. In 1505 Pico submitted one of his poems to
Mantuan for criticism (Florido Ambrogio, op. cit., 104).
26 INTRODUCTION
volet uti. verumtamen ei cupio scribas, ut a me expectet omnia, tui
quidem causa, nihil enim molestius quam fuisse hunc mihi abs te
frustra commendatum. vale.*^^
And Still others who may be mentioned here are Carforo
Machiavelli, of Ferrara,'^*' Bernardo Bembo, of Venice,*^'
Georgius Merula, Hermolaus Barbarus/^ Giov. Pietro Arri-
vabene, Bishop of Urbino,*^^ Pamphilo Sasso, of Modena,'"
and the German scholar Thomas Wolf, Jr.'^
HIS WORKS
Mantuan achieved distinction in various fields — " sacrae
theologiae doctor, philosophus insignis, poeta et orator cele-
berrimus," as Trithemius, Abbot of Spanheim, could say in
1494.'- Trithemius mentions also his proficiency in Greek
— " Latinae linguae decus et Graecae clarus interpres " —
and Paulus Jovius makes especial mention of his interest in
Hebrew. Indeed, Jovius says that his interest in Hebrew —
" insatiabilis Hebraicorum studiorum cupiditas " — inter-
fered with the fullest exercise of his poetic gift: " ut
^^ Omnia opera Angeli Politiani, Venice, 1498, fol. 1, 5,
^^To whom he could appeal for financial help, in the poem Dt'
suscepto theologico magisterio.
^^ To whom the second Parthenice was dedicated. And it was
probably out of compliment to this Bembo that the umpire of the
tenth Eclogue was named " Bembus ".
6S '■'■ mors Georgii Merulae . . . tristitia me affecit . . . Hermolai
et Politiani duoruni illustrium virorum lamentabilis occasus attulit
et mihi et omnibus litteratis grave cordolium " (Letter to Pico della
Mirandola the Younger, Jan. 3, 1495).
^^ To whom a poem {Silvae, i, 6) is sent with a gift of Avine.
■^^To whom Silvae, v, 5, is addressed. In the fourth book of
Pamphilo's Epigrams (Brescia ed., 1499) there is a poem of eighteen
lines addressed to Mantuan ; it closes with the words : " o felix copia
laudum, | quas aliis laudes vis dare tu tibi das." The first six epi-
grams of the second book are addressed to Paride Ceresara ; and then
come three on the death of Poliziano, of Pico della Mirandola, and of
Georgius Merula.
■^^Who visited our poet at Mantua in the year 1500. An epigram
printed at the end of the Silvae (Bologna ed., 1502) is entitled: /;/
Thomatn Wolfiufu Decretorufn doctorem ac aedis S. Petri et Michaelis
Argeutinensis Decanum qui habebat Basilisciim mortmim iocus.
'^2 Catalogus Scriptorum Ecclesiasiicorum, per JoJiaiinem a Triten-
heim, Cologne, 1531.
MANTUAN'S WORKS 27
. . . in excolendis Musis curam ac diligentiam remittere .
cogeretur." '^^
His writings were exceedingly numerous, and included
both prose and verse.^* Sabadino, writing before 1433,
mentions his work in philosophy'^ and gives a list of his
earlier Latin poems."^*^ Trithemius, writing in 1494, has a
longer list, and adds: " vivit adhuc in Italia celeberrima
opinione ubique nominatus et varia conscribit."
Apart from the Eclogues, his poems include eight books
of Silvae, or " subitaria carmina," ' ' three books De suorum
temporum Calamitatibus;'^ and seven poems each entitled
'^^Elogia virorum Uteris illustrium, Basel ed., 1577, p. Ii7-
■^^ Dr. H. H. Furness, the editor of the Variorum Shakespeare,
gives it as his opinion that Mantuan " wrote nothing but eclogues •'
(LLL, IV, 2, 95). But Filippo Beroaldo could say of him in 1502:
" fecundus prorsus artifex, utpote qui versuum millia plurima condi-
derit, adeo ut Musae, ut Apollo, ut Dionysus, ut di omnes poetici
nullum hoc saeculo indulgentius fovisse videantur " (Letter to the
editor of the collected poems, Bologna, 1502). Lilio Giraldi says
" extant illius versus paene innumerabiles " (De poetis nostrorum
temporum). And the amount of his literary output came to be almost
proverbial; cf.- Les Apres-Dinees du Seigneur de Cholieres (1587) :
" Direz vous que Baptiste Mantouan n'ait este habile homme, qu il
n'ait fait aucune chose? Ses oeuvres le nous tesmoignent treslabor-
ieux, et neantmoins il estoit carme " (Paris ed., 1879, p. 57)-, Indeed,
his brother Tolomeo could say of him: "qui tanta conscnpsit (de
poetis loquor) quanta nemo ahus Latinorum " {De licentiis anti-
quorum poetarum, Lyons ed., 15 16, fol. Kk, ii).
75 " El quale, seguendo in li studii dell a sacra philosophia la doc-
trina del subtilissimo Scoto, ha scripto in quella opre eximie et pre-
stante" {Novella LXi).
<6«E1 Suburbano, la Presidentia de 1' oratore et del poeta, Lo-
ciamo, la Morte contemnenda, el Cola, la Porreta, opre tutte scripte
et dedicate al suo carissimo Refrigerio, similmente la Calamita di
nostri tempi, la Vita della regina di cieli et altre sue excellentissime
opre, quale sarebbeno troppo lungo a numerare."
7 7 The Silvae are arranged in eight books in the Bologna edition
of 1502. The Antwerp edition of 1576 makes four books. Earlier
editions of his collected poems had been printed c. 1499 (place and
date not stated), and in 1500 (at Cologne). Another edition (in-
complete, but with copious commentaries) was published by Badius
Ascensius, Paris, 15 13. The most complete edition of his works was
issued at Antwerp in 1576.
7 8 Printed at Bologna in 1489. On Jan. 29, 1480, our poet writes
from Mantua to his friend Refrigerio : " Librum nostrum de calami-
tatibus hyemare apud nos oportuit, ut et si minus aliorum meis
28 INTRODUCTION
Parthenice, of which the first contains three books on the
life of the Blessed Virgin/^ the second devotes three books
to the story of St. Catharine of Alexandria,^^ while the
others deal with St. Margarita, St. Agatha, St. Lucia, St.
Apollonia and St. Caecilia.^^ And there are similar poems
on the lives of Lodovico Morbioli, of Bologna,^- Dionysius
the Areopagite (three books), ^^ St. George,** St. Blaise
(two books) and St. Nicholas of Tolentino (three books ).*^
There is a book of Epigrammata ad Falconem^^ six books
entitled Alfonsus,^'^ five books of a Trophaeum pro Gallis
tamen notis responderet. me et ilium simul videbis." Meanwhile,
he quotes a sample passage, thirty-nine lines from the close of the
second book : " Sylva vetus Dodona timet, gemuere Molossi | rura
soli," etc. There is a MS. copy of this letter in the Library of the
University of Bologna. [The poem is mentioned in the closing novel
of Sabadino's Porretiane, a collection which is commonly assigned
to the year 1478.]
"^^ Published at Bologna in 1481 — " Bononiae aeditum iii. id. Feb.
M.CCCC.LXXXI," as is stated at the end of the poem in the Bologna
edition of 1488 — but doubtless circulated before it was " published ",
like Shakespeare's " sugred Sonnets among his priuate friends." The
Apologeticon which is prefixed states that the author has consented
to publish it, " longis precibus expugnatus." [This poem also is
mentioned in Sabadino's closing novel.]
^0 Written at Rome (apparently in the summer of 1488), and
printed at Bologna in 1489.
^^The Caecilia was written too late to be included in the great
Bologna edition of 1502. It was printed at Milan in 1507.
82 Dedicated to Innocent VIII (1484-92).
^3 Here, as often, identified with the holy martyr of Gaul, Diony-
sius, the first Bishop of Paris. The poem is dedicated " ad lafredum
Carolum Mediolani Vicecancellarium et Delphinatus Praesidem." It
was printed at Milan as early as 1506.
8* Dedicated to Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, Grand Marshal of
France; printed at Milan as early as 1507.
8^ First printed at Milan in 1509; the dedication is dated, Mantua,
July 20, 1509.
^^ Printed at Bologna (along with the two poems on Roberto da
San Severino) in 1489.
^■^ A theological poem, which describes the journey of a young
Alfonsus through Purgatory and the Terrestrial Paradise. There is
ft brief and rather vague account of the conquest of Granada (1492)
at the beginning of the sixth book. In the fifth book (Bologna ed.,
1502, fol. 303, b) there is a reference to the death of the poet's father
(early in 1494).
MANTUAN'S WORKS 29
expulsis,^^ an Ohiurgatio cum exhortatio?ie ad capienda anna
contra infideles ad Potentatus Christianos,^^ an Exhortatio
ad Insubres et Ligiires, six books entitled Agellaria,^^ a
short poem Ad lulium Secundum Pont. Max.^^'^ a poem
De bello Veneto anni i^og, and twelve books De sacris
diebus which set forth and explain the various Saints' Days
of the Roman year.^^
Of his prose works, the most popular seem to have been
the De vita beata ^" and the three books De patientia.^^
^s Which deals with events of the years 1495 and 1496. In the
second book (Bologna ed., 1502, fol. 336) there is a reference to the
death of Charles VIII (April 7, 1498).
. 8 9 Printed at Milan in 1507.
^^ Dedicated to Don Gonzalo Hernand y Aguilar ("il Gran Capi-
tano ") ; quoted in Tolomeo's Apologia, c. 1508 (Lyons ed., 1516,
fol. Ff, ii).
^^ Which refers to events of the year 1506.
^2 Dedicated to Leo X (crowned Mar. 11, 1513), and first printed
at Lyons in 15 16. Among the later poems printed at Lyons in 15 16
there are two choruses from an unfinished tragedy. These were
printed at Milan in 151 1, along with the Viiae suae Epitome; there
is a copy in the Library of the University of Bologna. In a letter
printed in this edition Mantuan writes to Antonius Sabinus, of
Imola : " Dum pridem luderem uitae meae Epitomen Ant : Sab : vir.
litteratiss. tu Mediolano ueniens me reuisisti. Tibi ergo tanquam
hospiti : pro xeniolo hospitali carmen id dono : daturus libentius fei
esset longius atque limatius. Addo etiam duos choros ex tragoedia
olim a me inchoata sed non consumata (cui nomen est Atila) tunc
inter schedia mea casu repertos." Another letter is added, in which
*' F. Matthaeus Bandellus, C. ordinis prae." writes from Milan ("ex
aedib. Gratiarum calendis decembris ") urging Sabinus to have the
Epitome printed.
93 Printed at Alost in 1474.
°* First printed at Brescia in 1497 ("per Bernardinum Misintam
Papiensem, iii. Gal. lunias"). The careful article in Niceron's
Memoires (Paris, 1734), xxvii, 123, gives the date of composition as
1498, because of the statement, in, 29, " agitur enim nunc a Christo
annus millesimus quadringentesimus nonagesimus octavus." And so
the text runs in Ascensius' edition, Paris, 15 13. Biit this sentence
must have been " brought up to date " by some one who printed the
treatise in 1498 ; for both the Brescia edition of 1497 and the Venice
edition of 1499 have " nonagesimus septimus." And what Mantuan
actually wrote in this passage must have been something different
still ; for each of these early editions includes a letter from Helias
Capreolus to loannes Taberius (" Brixiae, iiii. Nonas Decembres,
1496 ") which states that the treatise has been brought to Brescia by
30 INTRODUCTION
Trithemius (writing in 1494) mentions also an Introduc-
toriiim subtilis Scoti, a book of " orationes elegantissimae,"
an Apologia pro /. Petro (in three books), ''•^ and " epistolae
multae ad diversos." Some of his later works (printed at
Lyons in 1516) were, Tractatiis de loco conceptionis
Christi,^^' De causa diversitatis inter inter prctcs sacrae scrip-
turae, Epistola contra calumniatores, Dialogus contra de-
tract ores, '^'^ Contra eos qui detrahiint ordini Carmelitarum
apologia.^^
HIS POPULARITY
He wrote with the greatest fluency and rapidity, ^^^ and is
even said to have published more than 55,000 verses. He
tells us himself that his poem on the Blessed Virgin — a
poem of about 2900 lines — was the w^ork of two years,
" duorum annorum lucubratio ;" and that his 2100 lines on
St. Catharine of Alexandria w^ere written in forty days —
merely by way of improving the time in an enforced sum-
mer vacation. ^"^^ But in spite of this rapid production his
writings were very popular, and he was hailed by many of
Pietro da Novellara, and asks that it be printed. The fact is, that
the composition of the De Patientia extended over a considerable
period of years.
9^ Pietro da Novellara, who had been charged with heresy (Fiorido
Ambrogio, op. cit., 79). The discovery, at Mantua, of another un-
published work, Tractatus de sanguine Christi (1492), is reported in
the Analecta Bollandiana, xiii (1894), 71-72.
rewritten in 1503: Donesmondi, Dell' Istoria Ecclesiastica di
Mantova, vol. ii (Mantua, 1616), p. 93.
^'Dedicated "ad Ptolemeum Gonzagam," i. e., after Jan. 6, 1507
(S. Davari, op, cit., 10).
^^ Dedicated to the Cardinal Sigismondo, " eiusdem ordinis pro-
tectorem," i. e., not earlier than 1508 (Donesmondi, op. cit., 11, no).
^^ ** Poema omne carptim composui, cursim absolvi, non fere aliter
quam canes aiunt bibere in Aegypto " {Epistola contra Calumniatores,
Lyons ed., 15 16, fol. Bb, vi).
100 « Quadraginta enim et non amjilius diebus opus absolutum est,
dum propter aestivum iustitium negotiis intermissis curamus otia
canicularia salubriter cum aliqua studiorum fruge transigere." So,
too, his three books on Dionysius the Areopagite were written in a
year : " lucubrationi huic annum impendi."
MANTUAN'S POPULARITY 31
his contemporaries as a second Virgil.^ Tn 1496 Erasmus
could speak of him as a " Christianus Maro," and add :
et nisi me fallit augurium, erit, erit aliquando Baptista suo con-
cive gloria celebritateque non ita multo inferior, simul invidiam anni
detraxerint.2 habet, habet fortunatissimus Carmelitarum Ordo quo
sibi placeat, quo cunctos provocet.
Even before his death, a portrait bust of him was set up
at Mantua, beside one of Virgil and one of the Marquis
Francesco.^ His works were carried abroad, often by mem-
^ Thus Sabadino could say of him (before 1483) : " che e iudicato
essere emulo e, se cossi e licito dire, equiperare el divin Marone suo
conterraneo " {Not^eUa LXi). Sebastian Murrho could write, in the
preface to his commentary on the first Parthenice (c. 1493) : " eius
me delectatum ingenio (quo concivem suum Andinum Vergilium
facile consequitur et aequat)," etc. Trithemius considered him the
equal of Cicero in prose, of Virgil in verse : " qui metro Virgilium,
Ciceronem prosa aequat, ne dicam superat " (quoted in the Antwerp
ed., 1576, iv^ 291). Thomas Wolf, Jr., had a high opinion of the
Eclogues in particular : " quae eruditorum sententia totae sunt aureae.
in quibus videre licet id quod in Theocriti et Maronis carmine
maxime admiramur " (Letter to Jakob Wimpfeling, Feb. 24, 1503).
Filippo Beroaldo ranked him next to Virgil : " proximus longo qui-
dem intervallo, sed tamen proximus" (Letter to the editor of the
collected poems, Bologna, 1502). And Teofilo Folengo (" Merlinus
Cocaius ") could write — just how seriously, it is hard to say —
mons quoque Carmelus Baptistae versibus altis
iam boat, atque novum Manto fecisse Maronem
gaudet, nee primo praefert tamen ilia Maroni,
namque vetusta nocet laus nobis saepe modernis,
Macaronea, xxv, fin.
2 Letter to Henry of Bergen, Opera omnia (Leyden, 1703), iii_,
1783; P. S. Allen, Erasmi Epistolae (Oxford, 1906), i, 163. This
amazing judgment suggests that Erasmus was more concerned with
Mantuan's religious tone than with his workmanship. So, in another
letter (iii^ 808), he contrasts the Carmelite poet with the ** pagan "
Marullus ; and in a third he writes : " malim hemistichium Mantuani
quam tres Marullicas myriadas." This last letter is addressed to
Jakob Wimpfeling (" Basileae postridie Purificationis. Anno xvii''').
It is apparently not included in the Leyden edition of the Opera
omnia, but it is prefixed to Mantuan's De Sacris Diebus in the Strass-
burg edition of 1520.
•^ By Baptista Fiera, in 1514. They are now in the Museo Patrio
at Mantua. They were set on an arch which joined Fiera's house to
the Convent of S. Francesco ( Luzio-Renier, op. cit., 56-57). They
are mentioned in Scipio Maffei's account of the Marquis Francesco,
32 INTRODUCTION
bers of his own order,* and promptly reprinted in many
European cities. The canons of an Augustinian monastery
in Westphalia could say, shortly before 1500:
ut vere de vobis David prophetasse putetur ubi inquit, in omnem
terram exivit sonus eortun et in fines orbis terrae verba eorum, re
vera in fines orbis terrae egressa sunt verba (super mel et favum
dulciora) vatis praestantissimi sacri ordinis Carmelitarum Baptistae
Mantuani.^
Annali di Mantova, xi^ 6 (quoted by Florido Ambrogio, op. cit.,
103) : " e presso S. Francesco fu scolpita la sua immagine tra quelia
di Virgilio e di Battista Carmelitano con questo verso :
ARGVMENTVM VTRIQVE INGENS, SI SECLA COIRENT/'
And an English traveller could report in 1608: " Over the gate of the
Franciscans Church is to be seen the true statue of that famous Poet
and Orator Baptista Mantuanus a Carmelite Frier borne in this Citie,
who flourished Anno 1496" (Coryat's Crudities, Glasgow ed., 1905,
\, 267). Paulus Jovius has what looks like an inaccurate story of the
same monument ; " Federicus autem Princeps marmoream effigiem
cum laurea posuit, quae in arcu lapideo iuxta Virgilii Maronis simul-
acrum, pia hercle si non ridenda comparatione, conspicitur " {Elogia
virorum Uteris illustrium, Basel ed., I577> P- 118). And this state-
ment received due comment from Petrus Lucius, Carmelitana Biblio-
iheca, Florence, 1593, fol. 15 : " Ceteruih quod ad eius statuam mar-
moream attinet, ea Mantuae (velit nolit lovius) pie conspicitur in
arcu triumphali e regione Franciscanorum monasterii, dextrum Vir-
gilio, sinistrum Mantuano, clarissimi Mantuanorum Marchionis latus
claudente, cum tali elogio : ar gumentum titrique ingens si saecla
cotrent.'^ [The three busts are not of marble, but of terra-cotta.]
Cf., further, Lilio Giraldi's remark : " quas ei statuas Mantuani erex-
erunt " {De poetis nostrorum temporum, ed. K. Wotke, Berlin, 1894,
p. 25).
* A letter from Badius Ascensius to the Carmelite Laurentius Bur-
ellus (Lyons, July 26, 1492) states that the latter has brought to
Lyons many excellent Italian books — among them, various works of
Baptista Mantuanus {Philippi Beroaldi Orationes et Poemata, Lyons,
1492, fol. 2). See, also, L. Thuasne, Roberti Gaguini Epistole et
Orationes, Paris, 1903, 11, 40.
•'' Letter to the Carmelite Prior at Bologna, printed in the edition
of 1502. The date is mutilated by the printer: "anno Domini mil-
lesimo quadringentesimo pridie Nonas Februarias " ; but the writers
mention a Deventer reprint of the De Patientia (first printed at
Brescia, 1497). Cf. Mantuan's Epistola contra Calumniatores : " le-
guntur ubique libelli mei, et videntur esse totius orbis iudicio appro-
bati ; non omnes tamen, sed qui iam pridem sunt editi ac Bononiae
per Benedictum Hectoris impressi ; fere enim in totum Christian-
ismum pervenerunt, quacumque L:.tina lingua est diflfusa . . . veniunt
MANTUAN'S POPULARITY 33
And the high esteem in which he was held is pleasantly
indicated in one of the Epistolae Ohscurorum Viroriim, ii,
12 (Guilhelmus Lamp to Ortuinus Gratius, c. 1517) — an
accomit of a journey from Cologne to Rome. The traveller
stops at Mantua:
et dixit socius meus, hic natus fuit Virgilius. respondi, quid ^'*Tr^^
euro ilium paganum? nos volumus ire ad Carmelitas et videre Bap- •
tistam Mantuanum qui in duplo est melior quam Virgilius . . . et
quando venimus ad Claustrum Carmelitarum, dicebatur nobis quod
Baptista Mantuanus est mortuus ; tunc dixi, requiescat in pace.^
But there were other critics who were less partial, or less
sympathetic. The inferiority of the later Mantuan is
stoutly asserted in the third Idyl of Helius Eobanus Hessus
(first printed in 1509, but here quoted from the third re-
vised edition, Frankfort, 1564) :
Cyg. ergo age, in hoc gelido postquam consedinius antro,
unde pecus patet atque oculis vicinia nostris,
estne aliquis gelida Faustus tibi lectus in umbra? ,
Phil, vidimus audaci fluidum pede currere Faustum,
cui nihil invideat noster nolitque secundum
Tityrus, et patria natum patiatur eadem.
Cyg. atqui pastores quosdam contentio nuper
ilia diu tenuit, paribusne in carmina surgant
viribus alteriusne an deferat alter honori.
Phil, ut lentas corylos damnosa securibus ilex,
quantum humiles superat cornus ramosa genistas,
tarn meus in versu praecedit Tityrus ilium
qui Faustum gelida cecinit resupinus in umbra.
ah, male quorundam trivialis iudicat error.
Ludovicus Vives called him " magis copiosus et facilis quam
tersus et sublimitati argumentorum respondens." '^ In 1515
ad me crebro epistolae ex Galliis, ex Britanniis, a Germania, ex
Dacia, ab oceano usque Cimbrico, quibus intelligo opuscula mea illic
esse in pretio, ab omnibus legi, ab omnibus laudari " (Lyons ed.,
15 16, fol. Aa, viii).
6 Mantuan was promptly accepted as an authority on poetical
usage by " Joannes Despauterius, Ravisius Textor, Hermannus Tor-
rentinus," and others (Florido Ambrogio, op. cit., 124). He is often
quoted in a Gradus ad Parnassiim printed at London, 1773. And the
Christian Remembrancer for 1847 (xiv, 323) says: "and even now,
in such dictionaries as Ainsworth and Young, Mantuan stands as
an authority."
" Dc iradendis disciplinis, ill (quoted by Florido Ambrogio, op.
cit., 127).
34 INTRODUCTION
Nicole Berault — Nicolas Beraldus — urged upon his students
the importance of the ancient authors, as opposed to certain
" neoterici " :
Video Vergilium quoque . . . jam vexari paeneque excuti e mani-
bus, proque eo cucuUatum quendam summitti bonum quidem ilium
rarumque et admirandum ; nihil tamen ad Homerum Man-
tuanum.*
Lilio Giraldi was moved to say :
Laudo institutum piumque propositum, verum extemporalis magis
quam poeta maturusi extant illius versus paene innumerabiles ex
quibus apud vulgus et barbaros quosdam laudem tantam est adeptus,
ut unus prope poeta et alter paene Maro haberetur. at bone Deus,
quam dispar ingenium ! nam ut ubique Maro perfectus, ita hie
immodica et paene temeraria ubique usus est licentia, quarn et magis
atque magis in dies auxit. . . . iuvenis ille quidem laudabilior poeta
fuit ; cum vero ei desedit calor ille et fervor iuvenilis, tamquam amnis
sine obice extra ripas sordide diffluens coerceri non potuit. vix
enim ea legere possumus, quae longius ille aetate provectus carmina
scripsit.^
The great champion of Virgil, Julius Caesar Scaliger, was
stirred to very vigorous language :
mollis, languidus, fluxus, incompositus, sine numeris, plebeius ; non
sine ingenio, sed sine arte. dum niodo scribat quod in mentem
venerit, edat quod scripserit, susque deque habet.
And as for the Eclogues in particular, he could express him-
self only by a parody of what Horace had said of Virgil :
putri atque caduco
Carmelum imbiierunt sordentes rure cicadae.^o
After this outburst we hear much less about the " pagan "
and the " Christian " Virgil. One man did revive the com-
parison, but he was a Carmelite historian.
11
8 L. Delaruelle, Le Musee Beige, xni (1909)- 290.
^ De poetis nostrorum temporum, ed. K. Wotke, Berlin, 1894. P- 24.
1" Poetice, vi, 4.
ii"Veteri Maroni in paucis minor, in multis par, in plurimis ali-
quot parasangis superior," Petrus Lucius, CarmrlHana Bibhoiheca,
Florence, 1593, fol. 13.
+
PUBLICATION OF THE ECLOGUES 35
COMPOSITION AND PUBLICATION OF THE ECLOGUES
The Eclogues ^2iT& ten in number, making a total of 2063
lines. The author tells us, in his dedicatory epistle, that the
first eight were written while he was a student at Padua,^^
and that the last two were added after he had joined the
Carmelite Order. He tells us, also, that he revised these
youthful compositions when he was about fifty years old ;
and we may be sure that this revision added much to the
value of the poems. But even after their revision he
seems to have regarded them as a rather frivolous and un-
important piece of work; and he probably never dreamed
that his ten Eclogues were to contribute more to his fame
and to his influence than all the rest of his 55,000 verses.
They were first printed, at least in their revised form, in
1498.^^ They were very popular from the beginning, and
soon came to be widely read — not only in Italy, but in
France and Germany and England.^* They were imme-
12 " Quendam libellum meum quern olim ante religionem, dum in
gymnasio Paduano philosophari inciperem, ludens excuderam et ab
ilia aetate Adulescentiam vi^caveram."
12 " Mantuae Impraessum per Vincentiu Berthocu Regiensem Anno
dni. MCCCCLXXXXVin. sexto decimo Kalendas Octobres," etc. So the
colophon of a copy in the Biblioteci Casanatense at Rome. [The
colophon of my own copy gives the same place, printer, and year,
but omits the day of the month.] The dedicatory epistle is addressed
to a friend at Mantua, and dated Sept. i. Both Brilnet's Manuel and
Graesse's Tresor mention an edition printed at Poitiers in 1498 ; and
both Graesse and Hain cite even an edition with a few notes by
Joh. Murmellius printed at Strassburg in the same year. Graesse
calls the Mantua edition a reprint of the Poitiers edition ; but there
was hardly time between Sept. i and Sept. 16 for an intermediary
edition to be printed abroad. Perhaps the date of the Poitiers edition
was only inferred from the date of the dedicatory epistle ; a copy
described in Pellechet's Catalogue general, I, 437, is " s. d. (1498?)."
[The " adnotamenta " of Murmellius were included in a letter ad-
dressed to Paulus Ruremundensis (printed in full in a Deventer edi-
tion of the Eclogues, 15 10). This letter is mainly a criticism of the
commentary of Ascensius ; and was certainly written later than
1498.]
i^They were printed at Erfurt in 1501, at Bologna, at Brescia,
and at Paris in 1502, at Venice and at Strassburg in 1503, at De-
venter in 1504, in 1505, and in 1510, at Tiibingen in 151 1, at London
in 1519, etc., etc. In 1504 they were printed at Florence, in a hand-
some Giuntine volume : " Eclogae Vergilii. Calphurnii. Nemesiani.
Francisci Pe. loannis Boc. loan. bap. Ma. Pomponii Gaurici."
36 INTRODUCTION
diately provided with a commentary, by lodocus Badius
Ascensius,^^ and for nearly two hundred years they were
commonly used, both on the Continent and in England, as
a text-book in schools.
THEIR USE AS A SCHOOL-BOOK
Their use as a school-book is attested by countless edi-
tions of Ascensius' commentary, ^^ but it is also definitely
stated at times, or clearly implied. There is a letter of
Thomas Wolf, Jr., to Jakob Wimpfeling, written at Strass-
burg, Feb. 24, 1503, which speaks of a school edition of a
thousand copies : ^"^
G. Brunet states that from 1500 to 1536 they were printed 22 times
{Dictionnaire de Bibliologie Catholique, Paris, i860, col. loii). "On
compte de plus 4 editions des Opera Omnia de cet auteur et 88
editions de divers de ses ouvrages."
1^ Both Graesse and Hain say that this commentary was printed
at Strassburg in 1500. It was printed at Paris in 1502 (with a dedi-
catory epistle dated March 27), at Strassburg in 1503, at Deventer
in 1504, at Tiibingen in I5ii,.etc., etc. It was printed in London at
least as late as 1676, and at Coloene at least as late as 1688. Mur-
mellius criticized it, and with good reason, as giving the schoolboy
much unnecessary help while leaving some real difficulties unex-
plained ; " deinde autem cum tardiusculis ingeniis totum se accomo-
dat: & quasi tenellis infantulorum rostris premansum cibum inserit
magis obesse studiis quam j^rodesse iudicatur " (Letter to Paulus
Ruremundensis, cited above).
^^ Another copious commentary (now very rare) was published by
Andreas Vaurentinus (of Lavaur, near Toulouse) in 1 5 19. There
is a copy of a revised edition, Lyons, 1529, in the Library of the
University of Ferrara : " Habes hie candide lector uberrima com-
mentaria Andree vauretini in buccolica fratris Baptiste Mantuani
carmelite Theologi et poete celeberrimi correcta ac emendata. Ad-
dita sunt preterea glossemata in prima Buccolica que culpa im-
pressorum lemovicorum {sic), et que summopere utilia erant. Nec-
non et loannis coronei Carnutensis Annotamenta perquam utilia no-
vissime (ut ab eiusdem Coronei scholaribus asseritur) superaddita:
cum annotationibus Remundi langano de 'alta Ripa in margine
positis : et nunq antea impressis," etc., etc. In the Biblioteca Na-
zionale at Naples there is a later edition of the same commentary,
published at Lyons (by a different printer) in 1536: " Bucolica Bap-
tistae Mantuani, diversis diversorum coirientariis utilissime declar-
ata," etc.
^''' Wolf's letter and Wimpfeling's reply are quoted in the Tiibingen
edition of the Eclogues, 15 1?. Wimpfeling preferred the Eclogues
of Mantuan to those of Virgil, " propter Latinitatis copiam, propter
USE AS A SCHOOL-BOOK 3^
Aeglogas Baptistae Mantuani (sicut audio) tradidisti loanni
Preusz chalcographo communi nostro amico, ut in mille exemplaria
transcriptae latissime diuulgentur. debet profecto tibi plurimum
Germana iuuentus, quae diligentia tua multis doctorum uirorum
monumentis facta est opulentior. semper enim ex officina tua litera-
toria aliquid depromis quod iuuet, quod delectet, quod linguas iuue-
num reddat politiores.
And Wimpfeling's reply, dated March 1, 1503, emphasizes
the fitness of Mantuan for school use :
Baptistam Mantuanum extollo, turn in poematibus suis tersis et
puris, quae absque ueneno a mature praeceptore iuuentuti tradi pos-
sunt, tum quod amor poeticae in eo non extinguit studium sacrae
paginae et philosophiae, nam ex eius libello de patientia magnum eum
et philosoplium et theologum esse liquido constat.
About 1508 a schoolboy at Schlettstadt wrote to his
father: " Wisse, dass unser Magister des Morgens friih den
Alexander mit uns treibt; um 9 Uhr lesen wir einige
Gedichte aus Horaz, Ovid, u. s. w. ; nach 10 Uhr lesen
wir im Mantuanus." ^* In 1533 the Eclogues were used
as a school-book at Wittenberg; in 1535 Mantuan was pre-
scribed by school orders at Braunschweig; and about the
same time he was read in the schools at Nordlingen, Mem-
mingen, and Emmerich. ^^
In St. Paul's School, London, he was prescribed by
statute, in 1518.^^ For Colet would have his " scolers "
taught in " goode auctors suych as haue the veray Romayne
eliquence joyned withe wisdome, specially Cristyn auctours
that wrote theyre wysdome with clene and chast laten other
in verse or in prose." And among such authors he names
" lactancius prudentius and proba and sedulius and Juuen-
cus and Baptista Mantuanus." This passage may suggest
some of Mantuan's religious poems rather than the
still planam dulcedinem, propter utiliora argumenta, propter pudi-
citiam et honestatem," Diatr. de proba pnerorum itistit., VI (quoted by
G. Knod, Aus der Bibliothek des Beatus Rhenanus, Schlettstadt,
1889, p. 10).
^8 G. Knod, op. cit., 17.
^^ Monumenta G ermaniae Paedagogica, i, 48, 544 ; vii, 426.
20 J. H. Lupton, Life of Dean Colet, London, 1887, p. 279.
38 INTRODUCTION
Eclogues,^^ though some of the latter may very well have
been included. And there may be a like uncertainty in the
statute which prescribed " B. Mantuanus, Palingenius,
Buchanani Scripta, Sedulius, Prudentius " for the Free
Grammar School of St. Bees in Cumberland, in 1583.^^
But the Eclogues are specifically fixed by school orders at
21 About 1493 Seb. Murrho wrote a commentary on the first Par-
thenice: "cum maxime trivialium ludorum magistris consulere sta-
tuerim iuvenilique aetati." Before 1498 Alexander Hegius wrote a
commentary on some of the poems for his school at Deventer (L.
Geiger, Renaissance und Humanismus, Berlin, 1882, p. 392). About
1502 Filippo Beroaldo says of Mantuan: "nee solum habetur in
manibus et ediscitur, verum etiam in scholis enarratur, et inde salu-
berrima tirunculis dictata grammatistae praescribunt " (Letter pre-
fixed to the Bologna edition of the collected poems, 1502). In one
of the Epistolae (xLi) of Ravisius Textor, one of Mantuan's epic
poems is mentioned as a school-book : " testatus Lucanum, Silium,
et Statium, ut duriusculos ; Mantuani Carmen, ut paulo flaccidius, a
plerisque non usquequaque probari " (London ed., 1683, p. 33). Cf.
also the Elegiae Morales of Johannes Murmellius (printed in 1507),
I. i, 53-60:
nobilis aethereo plenus Baptista furore
heroicam inflavit me moderante tubam ;
virgineis libros infersit laudibus almos,
lucida belligeros vexit in astra duces.
lUe graves huius deflevit temporis aestus,
ille Cupidineos vitat ubique iocos.
ergo frequentatis divina poemata ludis
dictantur summi non sine laude viri,
and in, i, 47-52 :
gloria Carmeli veteres Baptista poetas
gymnasiis pellens pulpita celsa tenet.
dum pia virginibus solventur vota sacratis,
dum populi flentes tristia fata gement,
crescet honor vatis maiorque videbitur annis,
rectius arbitrium posteritatis erit
(Miinster ed., by A. Bomer, 1893, pp. 9, 75)- In a letter of May I,
1 5 18, Jakob Wimpfeling suggests a school edition of the De Sacris
Diebus. And about a hundred years later Mantuan is mentioned as
being a favorite school author in Spain : " onde I'opere sue poetiche
leggonsi in Ispagna a' gioueni publicamente nelle scuole d' humanita
(per quanto ho udito dire) come in Italia si fanno quelle di Virgilio,"
Donesmondi, Dell' Istoria Ecdesiastica di Mantova, n (1616), T2I
(cited by Luzio-Renier, op. cit., 68).
22 T. Spencer Baynes, Shakespeare Studies, London, 1894, p. 174.
USE AS A SCHOOL-BOOK 39
the King's School, Durham, in 1593 ; -^ they were in use in
the Free School of St. Helens, c. 1635;-* and they were
recommended for the third form in Charles Hoole's New
Discovery of the Old Art of Teaching School^ 1660:
For Afternoon lessons on Mondayes and Wednesdayes let them
make use of Mantuanus, which is a Poet, both for style and matter,
very familiar and gratefull to children, and therefore read in most
Schooles. They may read over some of the Eclogues that are less
offensive than the rest, takeing six lines at a lesson, which they
should first commit to memory, as they are able, etc.^^
And as Hoole records, they were used in the Rotherham
Grammar School (in the fourth form) before he became
head master :
For afternoon lessons they read Terence two dayes, and Mantuan
two dayes, which they translate into English, and repeated on Fri-
dayes, as before. ^^
Julius Caesar Scaliger complained that some teachers actu-
ally preferred them to the Eclogues of Virgil : " hoc prop-
terea dico, quia in nostro tyrocinio literarum triviales quidam
paedagogi etiam Virgilianis pastoribus huius hircos praetu-
lere." -^ There is a similar complaint in the preface of
Thomas Farnaby's edition of Martial, London, 1615:
" quando ipsis paedagogulis Fcvuste prccor gelida sonet altius
quam Anna virumque canoT And Dr. Samuel Johnson
states that " Mantuan was read, at least in some of the
inferior schools of this kingdom, to the beginning of the
present century." -^
-^ Foster Watson, The Beginnings of the Teaching of Modern Sub-
jects in England, London, iQog, p. 187.
2* Id., The English Grammar Schools to 1660, Cambridge, 1908,
p. 486.
25 This was an exercise in " metaphrase," T. Spencer Baynes, op.
cit., 186. Professor Baynes says (p. 161) that Hoole's New Dis-
covery "was not published till 1659, but, as the title-page states, it
was written twenty-three years earlier." Professor Watson says,
"published in 16^0, written twenty years earlier."
-^ T. Spencer Baynes, op. cit., 172.
^■^ Poetice, vi, 4.
2 8 Lives of the Poets, Ambrose Philips.
40 INTRODUCTION
In 1579, Thomas Lodge could say, in his Defence of
Poetry: " Miserable were our state yf we wanted those
worthy volumes of Poetry: could the learned beare the losse
of Homer? or our younglings the wrytings of Mantuan?"
And so Drayton tells us that, when he expressed a boyish
wish to become a poet, his tutor
began
And first read to me honest Mantui^.n,
Then Virgil's Eclogues,-^
It will be observed that Shakespeare's quotation from Man-
tuan is put into the mouth of a schoolmaster ; and it may be
suggestive for our estimate of Holof ernes' learning that he
quotes the first line of the first Eclogue — as it were, the
opening phrase of his First Latin Reader. At any rate, the
same phrase is used to indicate s^ very little learning in one
of Gabriel Harvey's gibes at poor Greene : " he searched
euery corner of his Grammer-schoole witte (for his margine
is as deepelie learned as Faust e pre cor gelida) ." ^*^ And it
is used in the same way in one of the pleasant tales of Bona-
venture des Periers : " II y avoit un prebstre de village qui
estoit tout fier d'avoir veu un petit plus que son Caton.
Car il avoit leu De Syntaoci et son Fauste precor gelida^ ^^
QUOTATIONS FROM THE ECLOGUES
And this common use as a school-book may help to ex-
plain some other references in English, French, and Ger-
man authors.
Eel. I, 118 is quoted in Stephen Gosson's Schoole of
Abuse (1579) : " Now if any man aske me why my selfe
haue penned Comedyes in time paste, and inueigh so egerly
against them here, let him knowe that Scmel i?isafiivi?jius
omiies.^~
Eel. I, 52, " nee dcus, ut perhibent. Amor est," is quoted
^^ To my dearly loved Friend, Henry Reynolds, Esq., of Poets
and Poesy.
^^ Foure Letters (1592), ed. Grosart, I, 195.
^'^ Nouvelles Recreations et joyeux Devis, Nouvelle XL.
32 Arber's reprint, London, 1868, p. 41.
QUOTATIONS AND ALLUSIONS 41
in one of Gabriel Harvey's letters to Spenser (1579).^^
And the whole line appears as a motto on the title-page
of Alcilia : ParthenophiVs Loving Folly (1595) :
Nee Deus (ut perhibent) amor est, sed amaror et error.^*
In Robert Greene's Tritameron of Love (ed. Grosart, iii,
100) there is a mention of '"'' Mantuans principle . . . that
weal is neuer without woe, no blisse without bale, ech sweete
hath his sower, euery commodity hath his discommodity an-
nexed." This alludes to Eel. ii, 25-26,
commoditas omnis sua fert incommoda secum,
et sorti appendix est illaetabilis omni.
In the Historie of Orlando Furioso, ii, 1 (671), Greene
quotes Eel. iv, 110,
femineum servile genus, crudele, superbum ;
and in the ' Epistle to the Gentlemen Schollers of both Uni-
versities,' prefixed to his Mourning Garment (ix, 124), he
quotes the " semel insanivimus omnes " of Eel. i, 118. In
the first part of Mamillia (ii, 107) he has an allusion to the
famous diatribe against women, in the fourth Eclogue: " I
would correct Mantua^is Egloge, intituled Alphus: or els if
the Authour were aliue, I woulde not doubt to perswade him
in recompence of his errour, to frame a new one." And in
the second part (ii, 226) he returns to the same subject:
" yea the railing of Mantuan in his Eglogs, the exclaiming
of Euripides in his Tragedies, the tants of Martially and
prime quippes of Propertius, are more of course then cause,
and rather inforced by rage than inferred by reason."
The " semel insanivimus omnes" of Eel. i, 118, is twice
quoted by Thomas Nashe — in the Prologue to Summer's
Last Will and Testament (1600), and in Have with you to
Saffron-Walden (1596) : " and he replied with that wether-
beaten peice out of the Grammer, Semel insanivimus omnes,
once in our dayes there is none of vs but haue plaid the
^3 Grosart's edition, i, 25.
3* Arber's English Garner, iv (1882), 253.
42 INTRODUCTION
ideots." And in the Anatomie of Ahsiirditie (1589), Nashe
has his allusion to the fourth Eclogue:
To this might be added Mantuans inuectiue against them, but
that pittie makes me refraine from renewing his worne out com-
plaints, the wounds wherof the former forepast feminine sexe hath
felt. I, but here the Homer of Women hath forestalled an obiection,
saying that Mantuans house holding of our Ladie, he was enforced
by melancholic into such vehemencie of speech, and that there be
amongst them as amongst men, some good, some badde, etc.^'^
The story of Amyntas, Eel. ii-iii, is introduced, as thor-
oughly familiar matter, in the first eclogue of Francis
Sabie's Pan's Pipe (1595), 11. 76-93. ^^ And it seems to be
alluded to in Thomas Randolph's Eclogue occasioned by
Ttvo Doctors disputing upon Predestination:
Love-sick Amyntas, get a philtre here,
To make thee lovely to thy truly dear.
The motto of one of Bishop Hall's Satires (1598), vi, 1,
" Semel insanivimus," comes from Eel. i, 118; and in the
same satire we have the lines,
As did whilere the homely Carmelite,
Following Virgil, and he Theocrite.
^'' Ed. R. B. McKerrow, London, 1904, i, 12. This- seems to be
an inaccurate reference to a passage in Robert Greene's Mamillia
(ed. Grosart, 11^ 107) : " I would correct Mantuans Egloge, intituled
Alphus . . . for surely though Euripides in his tragedies doth greatly
exclaim against that sexe, yet it was in his choller, and he infered
a generall by a particular, which is absurd. He had an euyll wife,
what then?" Mr. McKerrow explains Nashe's phrase "Mantuans
house holding of our Ladie " to mean " his wife having the upper
hand of him, and ruling his household," and quotes Ascham's Schole-
master (ed. Wright, p. 205), "if the house hold of our Lady." And
he very justly insists that Greene is here referring to the wife of
Euripides, " and riot to Mantuan's wife at all." There is a bit of
gossip in one of the novels of Bandello (in, 52) which offers a little
different explanation of Mantuan's bitterness : " Intendo anche che
il mio compatriotta, il poeta carmelita, ha fatta un' ecloga in vituperio
delle donne, ove generalmente biasima tutte le donne. Ma sapete cio
che ne dice Mario Equicola segretario di madama di Mantova? Egli
afferma che il nostro poeta era innamorato d' una bella giovane, e
che ella non lo voile amare ; onde adirato compose quella maledica
ecloga" (quoted by Luzio-Renier, op. cit., 66).
'^^ Reprinted, by J. W. Bright, in Modern Philology, VII (1910),
446.
QUOTATIONS AND ALLUSIONS 45
The motto at the end of Three Pastoral Elegies^ by Wil-
liam Basse (1602), is taken from Eel. i, 9-10:
quando vacat, quando est iucunda relatu,
historiam prima repetens ab origine pandam.
Eel. V, 63-64:
sidera iungamus, facito mihi luppiter adsit ;
et tibi Mercurius noster dabit omnia faxo,
is the motto on the title-page of Thomas Middleton's
Familie of Love (1607). And Eel. iii, 87, " regia res amor
est," is set in like manner on the title-page of Richard
Brome's The Qiieenes Exehange.
The phrase " semel insanivimus omnes," Eel. i, 118,
served as the motto of Samuel Nicholson's Aeolastus his
After-witte (1600) ; ^" and it is quoted in The Return from
Parnassus (printed in 1606), iv, 2.
The quotation in Wily Beguiled (printed in 1602),^^
" optatis non est spes ulla potiri," comes from Eel. i, 53.
In Drayton's Old (1604), the playful mention of the
lark.
And for his reverence, though he wear a cowl,
alludes to Eel. vii, 4,
bardocucullatus caput, ut campestris alauda;
and the passage in the same poem,
O moral Mantuan, live thy verses long,
Honour attend thee, and thy reverend song !
Who seeks for truth (say'st thou) must tread the path
Of the sweet private life, ....
For adulation, but if search be made,
His daily mansion, his most usual trade,
Is in the monarch's court, in princes' halls.
Where goodly zeal he by contempt enthralls, etc.,
^'^ J. P. Collier, Biographical Account of Early English Literature,
ui, 58.
3 8 Dodsley's Old English Plays, ed. Hazlitt, ix, 232.
44 INTRODUCTION
seems to refer to EcL v, 166 ff. In his Epistle of Mrs.
Shore to Edward IV. there is an allusion to the fourth
Eclogue:
Nor are we so turn'd Neapolitan,
That might incite some foul mouth'd Mantuan
To all the world to lay out our defects,
And have just cause to rail upon our sex, etc.
In Thomas Heywood's Challenge for Beautie, i, 1, there
is yet another allusion to the fourth Eclogue. Here the
" proud Queen " Isabel says, of the compliments due to
women : '
Such as would give us our full character
Must search for Epithites and studie phrase;
»
and the honest Lord Bonavida replies :
Examine but plaine Mantuan, and hee'l tell you, what woman is.
The phrase " melior vigilantia somno," Eel. i, 5, is quoted
in William Martyn's Youth's Instruction (1612),^^
Eel. Ill, 81, is quoted, freely, in Beaumont and Fletcher's
Wit at Several Weapons^ i, 2 : Ut node mecum pernoctat
egestas, luce quotidie paupertas habitat. This is quoted by
" Priscian, a poor Scholar " — much as Shakespeare's quota-
tion from Mantuan is put into the mouth of " Holof ernes,
a schoolmaster." ^^
In Witfs Recreations, the phrase " sorte tua contentus,"
Eel. V, 46, is used as the title of two separate epigrams.
And the " semel insanivimus," or " semel insanivimus
omnes," of Eel. i, 118, serves as the title of two others.
In Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy there are a whole
score of quotations. The phrase " semel insanivimus
omnes," Eel. i, 118, appears three times. The chapter on
Symptoms of Love- Melancholy has eight quotations :
^^ Report of U. S. Commissioner of Education for ig04, I, 664.
^^ " Larivey has some claim to the title of European master of ec-
centric pedantry on the comic stage " ; Sidney Lee, The French Re-
naissance in England, Oxford, 19 10, p. 423. Was the name of Lari-
vey's pedant M. Josse a delicate compliment to lodocus Badius
Ascensius — Josse Bade?
QUOTATIONS AND ALLUSIONS 45
Ed. I, 38; I, 100; 11, 104-6; i, 14-18; 11, 107-8; i, 114-15;
I, 47 ; I, 108. The chapter on Artificial Allurements of
Love quotes three passages: Eel. i, 104; i, 73; iv, 218.
And the first of these is introduced as very familiar matter ;
" and Gallons sweet smile quite overcame Faustus the
Shepherd :
me aspiciens motis blande subrisit ocellis."
The section on Beauty as a Cause of Love-Melancholy
quotes, and translates, Ed. i, 48-51, " ludit amor sensus,"
etc. :
Love mocks our senses, curbs our liberties,
And doth bewitch us with his art and rings,
I think some devil gets into our entrails,
And kindles coals, and heaves our souls from the hinges.
Other scattered quotations in the earlier part of Burton's
work are, Ed. i, 71 ; i, 174; i, 61 ; v, 46.
Indeed, some of Mantuan's phrases are repeated so often
that they have earned a place in our dictionaries of Latin
quotations. So, in particular, the " semel insanivimus
omnes," of Ed. i, 118, which has acquired a special interest
from a passage in Boswell's Life of Johnson:
When I once talked to him of some of the sayings which every
body repeats, but nobody knows where to find, ... he told me that
he was once offered ten guineas to point out from whence Semel in-
sanivimus omnes was taken. He could not do it ; but many years
afterwards met with it by chance in ' Johannes Baptista Mantuanus.'*^
A few Other references may be added here, to illustrate
the popularity of Mantuan's Eelogues in England.*- He
is mentioned in the prologue to the Egloges of Alexander
Barclay (c. 1514) — named after Theocritus and Virgil —
As the moste famous Baptist Mantuan,
The best of that sort since Poetes first began.
4^ London ed., 1890, iii, 266.
42 The first nine were translated into English fourteeners by
George Turbervile, in 1567. And this translation was reprinted in
1572, 1594, and 1597. "The whole ten Eclogues did not find a trans-
lator till 1656 when Thomas Harvey published a version in de-
casyllabic couplets " (Walter W. Greg, Pastoral Poetry and Pastoral
Drama, London, 1906, p. 78),
46 INTRODUCTION
His name appears again in ' E. K.'s' famous epistle to Ga-
briel Harvey (1579). He is mentioned in William Webbe's
Discourse of English Poetrie (1586) : " Onely I will add
two of later times, yet not farre inferiour to the most of
them aforesayde, Pallengcniiis and Bap. MantuanusT
And again (of pastoral poetry) Webbe says: "After Virgill
in like sort writ Titus Calphurnius and Baptista Mantuany
In George Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie (1589), i,
18, we read: "These Eglogues came after to containe and
enforme morall discipline, as be those of Mantuan and
other modern Poets." In Francis Meres' Sketch of English
Literature (1598) Mantuan is named among the " Neo-
terics " ( Jovianus Pontanus, Politianus, MaruUus Tar-
chionota, etc.) who "have obtained renown and good place
among the ancient Latin poets." And in the same sketch
it is stated that " Theocritus in Greek, Virgil and Mantuan
in Latin, Sannazar in Italian, ... are the best for Pastoral."
In Germany, the Eclogues are quoted as early as 1508,
in Heinrich Bebel's Adagia Germanica, No. 246 : " Catti
invalidi longius vivunt; dicitur in eos qui minus grati diu
vivunt, dum optati saepe cito moriantur, nam:
si qua placeni abeunt : inimica tenacius haerent." ^^
This is Eel. i, 174. And in the Lamentationes novae Oh-
scurorum Reuchlinistarum (1518), No. 118, there is an
echo of the dedicatory epistle: "Quid, obsecro, tanti facis
philosophi in physicis aenigmata, quae Oedipodes ipse non
solveret?^^
In the Pappa Puerorum of Johannes Murmellius (1513)
the sentence, " Vadam ad levandum ventrem post dumeta,"
is probably due to Eel. iv, 87. And two of his " protrita
proverbia " are, " semel insanivimus omnes " {Eel. i, 118),
and " amor est amaror " (cf. Eel. i, 52)
44
^3 Ed. Suringar, Leiden, 1879, p. 69. Other quotations may be
found in Wander's Deutsches Sprichworier-Lexicon, Leipzig, 1867,
e. g., under ' Erfahrung,' Ed. ix, 195, " facit experientia cautos " ;
under ' Liebe,' Ed. i, 48-49, " ludit Amor sensus," etc. ; under
' Bauch,' Ed. i, 61, "qui satur est pleno laudat ieiunia ventre."
*'* Ed. A. Bomer, Miinster, 1894, pp. 16, 34. In his Sroparius
(1517), Murmellius discusses the " patinam Aesopi " and the " cli-
peum Minervae " of Ed. \, 98 (ed. Bomer, p. 50).
QUOTATIONS AND ALLUSIONS 47
In the second Eclogue of Euricius Cordus there is a com-
plnnentary reference to Mantuan, and his first Eclogue:
omnes non unum facitis quotcumque poetam
qualem ego in Ausoniis audivi finibus olim.
One of the singers professes to have seen him at Mantua
during the year of jubilee :
hie nivei dominus pecoris prope flumina pastor
ad viridem recubans in opaco frigore clivum
sustulit argutos altum super aethera cantus,
quos non fagineae superent dulcedine glandes,
non mixtus butyro favus, et non molle colostrum.
Aeg. iam scio qui fuerit ; quo, die, indutus amietu?
Mop. quo peeus, hoc etiam fuit illi palla colore.
Aeg. Candidus est, gelida qui Faustum lusit in umbra,
ut retulit veteres Gallam quibus arserat ignes.
Mop. nunc age, die, isto tibi quid de vate videtur?
Aeg. omnia eonsequitur magnas per ovilia laudes.'*^
There are eleven quotations in the locoseria of Otho Me-
lander : Eel. vi, 203-207 ; vi, 181-182 ; vi, 198-202 ; v, 136 ;
II, 91-93; I, 48-51; i, 81-84; i, 114-116; ii, 66-67; x, 193;
II, 66-67 (again) .*«
Eel. IV, 110 ff., is quoted, and refuted, in one of the epi-
grams which go under the name of Creptindia Poetica (ed.
1648, p. 54) :
Cur mala femineo de sexu, Rustice, profers,
et bona quae eonfert non reticenda taces?
femineum est servile genus, crudele, superhum?
nobilis et clemens Virgo humilisque data est.
lege, modo, ratione caret, rectum ablcit, inquis?
at placet huie rectum, lex, ratio atque modus.
extremis ea gaudet, ais, mediocria vital ?
haec extrema fugit, sed mediocre tenet.
decepit ludaea virum prolemquc Rebecca'^
concipit alma virum Virgo paritque Deum.
Eva genus nostrum jelicibus expulit arvis?
in meliora facit nos ut eamus Ave.
cur bona femineo de sexu, Rustice, eelas,
et mala si qua facit non referenda refers?
*5 Leipsic ed., 1518.
46 Frankfort ed., 1626, pp. 2, 14, 36, 133, 137, 161, 177, 423-
48 INTRODUCTION
In France,*^ Eel. ix, 24-31, is quoted and discussed by
Ravisius Textor, Epistolae, 42, 43.*^ And the Eclogues
and other poems of Mantuan are occasionally quoted in the
same writer's Officina and Epitome}^
There are four quotations in the learned commentary
which Benedictus Curtius composed on the Ai-rets d' amour
of Martial d'Auvergne : ^^ Eel. i, 114-116; vi, 198-202;
III, 83-87; I, 118 (" Et Baptista Mantuanus nos insanivisse
omnes semel dicit : et ipsum cucullatum insanivisse eius
opera ostendunt").
Fontenelle was offended by the coarseness of Eel. iv, 87 :
"on ne s'imaginerait jamais quelle precaution prend un
autre berger avant que de s'embarquer dans un assez long
disco urs." And he had little sympathy with those who had
compared Mantuan with Virgil : " quoique assurement il
n'ait rien de commun avec lui que d'etre de Mantoue." ^^
In Italy, we have a summary of the first three Eelogues
in Mario Equicola's Lihro di Natura d' Amove (Venice ed.,
1554, pp. 68-69).
IMITATIONS OF THE ECLOGUES
The Eelogues were very promptly imitated in England,
in the five Egloges of Alexander Barclay (c. 1514).^-
Barclay's fourth is a paraphrase of Mantuan's fifth ; his
fifth is a paraphrase of Mantuan's sixth, with the insertion
of a long passage taken from Mantuan's seventh (9-56).
And even in his other eclogues a part of the pastoral setting
is borrowed from his Carmelite model.^^ The beginning of
^"^ The ten Eclogues were translated into French by Michel d'Am-
hoise, Paris, 1530, and by Laurent de la Graviere, Lyons, 1558.
*s London ed., 1683, pp. 35, 36.
49 Venice ed., 1566-1567, I, 23, 88; 11, 126; in, 13, 15, 20, 22, 23,
etc.
^0 Paris ed., 1566, pp. 137, 574, 725, 728.
^'^ Disc ours sur la nature de I'&glogue.
V ^2 pj-Jnted in Publications of the Spenser Society, No. 39 (1885).
^^ For details, see O. Reassert, Neuphilologische Beitrdge, Hann-
over, 1886, pp. 14-31 ; W. P. Mustard, Modern Language Notes
(1909), XXIV, 8-9. One item which is taken bodily from Mantuan
(vil, 42-54) is a "detailed notice of a mural painting in Ely Cathe-
dral, which has long since disappeared " — a painting which struck
IMITATIONS OF THE ECLOGUES 49
the first is due to the beginning of Mantuan's third (1-37),
and the punning allusion to Bishop Alcock (p. 5) is adapted
from Mantuan's allusion to Falcone de' Sinibaldi (ix,
213 ff.)- The beginning of the second repeats a passage
from Mantuan's second (1-16) ; the beginning of the fourth
reminds one of Mantuan's ninth (117-119) and tenth
(137-141, 182-186); and toward the close of the fifth
(p. 45) there is a passage which comes from Mantuan's
second (66-78).
In Barclay's ' Prologe,' too, there is an interesting parallel
to a passage in Mantuan's dedicatory epistle. This epistle,
dated 1498, begins with a playful riddle:
Audi, o Pari, aenigma perplexum, quod Oedipodes ipse non sol-
ueret. ego quinquagenarius et iam canescens adolescentiam meam
reperi, et habeo adolescentiam simul et senectam.
The explanation is, that in the previous year he had found a
certain youthful composition of his own, consisting of eight
eclogues and. '' ab ilia aetate," entitled Adolescentia. And
now he sends it forth again, in revised and augmented
form. But history repeats itself, and it was not long before
Barclay could report a similar experience :
But here a wonder, I fortie yere saue twajoie
Proceeded in age, founde my first youth agayne.
To finde youth in age is a'probleme diffuse,
But nowe heare the truth, and then no longer cause.
x\s I late turned olde bookes to and fro,
One little treatise I founde among the mo :
Because that in youth I did compile the same,
Egloges of youth I did call it by name.
And now he too has " made the same perfite " —
Adding and bating where I perceyued neede.^*
one of Barclay's editors as " very curious," Publications of the Percy
Society, xxii^ 43. It is cited also in the Dictionary of National
Biography (s.v. Alexander Barclay) as a proof that Barclay's Egloges
were written at Ely.
"'^ It is interesting to notice that Professor ten Brink found in
these lines the explanation of a peculiar quality of Barclay's Egloges,
namely, their combination of the freshness of youth with the maturity
of manhood : " So erklart es sich, wenn diese Pichtyngen in hoherem
50 INTRODUCTION
In 1563 we have eight English eclogues by Barnabe
Googe. Here again the model is Mantuan, though there
is very little verbal imitation or borrowing in detail. The
lines at the close of Eel. viii,
and Phoebus now descends,
And in the Clowdes his beams doth hyde,
which tempest sure portends,
come from the close of Mantuan's third,
et sol se in nube recondens,
dum cadit, agricolis vicinos nuntiat imbres.
And perhaps the ram whose battered condition symbolizes
his owner's fortunes {Eel. iii) should be compared with
Mantuan's ram, Eel. ix, 46-47 :
hie aries, qui fronte lupos cornuque petebat,
nunc ove debilior pavidoque fugacior agno est.
Spenser's Shepheards Calender (1579) owes a large debt
to Mantuan, especially in the eclogues for July, September,
and October. This was pointed out by F. Kluge, Anglia.
/ill, 266-274, and O. Reissert, ib. ix, 222-224; and it is now
1 set forth in C. H. Herford's edition of the poem. Perhaps
/ one further parallel should be suggested ; compare ' Octo-
' ber,' 100-101,
The vaunted verse a vacant head demaundes •''•''
Ne wont with crabbed care the Muses dwell,
with Eel. V, 18-19,
Grade als andere Werke Barclay's jugendliche Frische mit mann-
licher Reife in sich vereinigen " {Geschichte der englischen Litter-
atur, Strassburg, 1893, 11, 455). And Barclay's borrowed experience
is still accepted as fact in the new Cambridge History of English
Literature, ill (1909), 62.
' ''5' E. K.' says that line 100 " imitateth Mantuanes saying, ' va-
cuum curis divina cerebrum Poscit." But the ' saying ' is hard to
find; it is not in the Bologna edition of the collected poems, 1502,
or in Ascensius' edition, Paris, 15 13, or in the later poems published
at Lyons in 1516,
IMITATIONS OF THE ECLOGUES 51
laudabile carmen
omnem operam totumque caput, Silvane, requirit,
and Ed. v, 90-91,
^
pannosos, macie affectos, farragine pastes
Aoniae fugiunt Musae, contemnit Apollo.
'Ed. VII, 27 is quoted in Abraham Fraunce's Latin comedy
Vidoria (c. 1580), 156,
nam Paris Iliaca tria numina vidit in Ida;
and the same play (450, 1913) repeats the " vult, non vult "
of Ed. IV, 123, and the '' ludit Amor sensus " of Ed. i, 48.
Another Cambridge play, Pedantiiis, 37, borrows the phrase
" humeros vibrare natesque," from Ed. iv, 230 ; and a third,
entitled Fiicus, ii, 2, 32, repeats the " semel insanivimus
omnes" oi Ed. i, 118.^^
In Robert Greene's Orpharion (ed. Grosart, xii, 22) we
have an unusual version of the story of Orpheus and
Eurydice :
False harted wife to him that loued thee well,
To leaue thy loue and choose the Prince of hell,
and, again.
She slipt aside, backe to her latest loue.
His authority for this bit of mythology was probably Man-
tuan, Ed. iv, 178-179:
potuit, si non male sana fuisset,
Eurydice revehi per quas descenderat umbras.
In 1595 we have three " pastorall eglogues " by Francis
Sabie, entitled Pan's Pipe. The first of these is practically
5^ See the recent editions of these three plays by G. C. Moore
Smith : Pedantius and Victoria in Bang's Materialien zur Kunde des
dlteren Englischen Dramas, vni (1905) and xiv (1906), Fucus, at the
Cambridge University Press. See, also, my note on Ed, i, 62.
52 INTRODUCTION
a cento made up from the first four eclogues of Mantuan.^^
And in the third, Damon's " dittie " of the " stately progeny
of heardsmen " is a paraphrase of Eel. vii, 9-39.^*
In Milton's Lycidas, 128-129, ,
Besides what the grim wolf with privy paw
Daily devours apace, and nothing said,
there seems to be an echo of Eel. ix, 141-147,
mille lupi, totidem vulpes in vallibus istis
lustra tenent, .....
factum vicinia ridet
^ nee scelus exhorret nee talibus obviat ausis ;
and the abrupt close of the poem,
To-morrow to fresh woods and pastures new,
reminds one of Mantuan's closing line, ix, 232,
Candide, coge pecus melioraque pascua quaere.
On Paradise Lost, vi, 871, " Nine days they fell," the com-
mentators might perhaps quote Eel. ii, 112-114,
immo Satanum
pessimus ex illis quos noctibus atque diebus
ter tribus in terras fama est ex aethere lapsos —
as well as the description of the fall of the Titans in Hesiod.
The influence of Mantuan's Eelogues in sixteenth-century
Germany would be an interesting subject, but that must be
left to some one who has access to the necessary books.
Some traces of it may be found in the Latin eclogues of
Eobanus Hessus and Euricius Cordus.
Eobanus could claim to be a pioneer in the German field :
" primi Latias in Teutona pascua Musas | ducimus," Idyl
•^7 See Modern Philology, VII (iQio), 433-464, where Sable's three
Eglogues are reprinted, with some notes on his sources, by J. W.
Bright and W. P. Mustard.
5 8 K. Windscheid, Die englische Hirtendichtung von i^yg-ibzs,
Halle, 1895, p. 41.
IMITATIONS OF THE ECLOGUES 53
VIII, 2-3.^® In his third Idyl (quoted above, p. ?>?>) his
shepherds discuss the respective merits of Virgil and Man-
tuan ; and in his Achiotationes on the Bucolics and G e orgies
of Virgil he pays some attention to the later bucolic writers
— among them " Petrarca, Pontanus, Baptista (Man-
tuanus)." ^^ The beginning of his fifth Idylj
Montibus his mecum quondam, Philereme, solebas
pascere, et alternis nostras concentibus aures
mulcere, etc.,
reminds one of the beginning of Mantuan's fifth; and the
close of his tenth,
tempestas oritur, pastu discedere tempus,
is like the close of Mantuan's second or third. Idyl i, 72,
" iam lectas omnis grex ruminat herbas," and Id. vi, 19,
et pecus ilicea dum ruminat omne sub umbra,
may be compared with Mant. i, 1-2; Id. vii, 135,
quisquis amat iacet, et presso fert vincula colic,
with Mant. i, 114-116; Id. xi, 6^, " non tibi cum puero cer-
tandiun impubere," etc., with Mant. x, 124; Id. xi, 73-74,
est aliquid magno barbam attrectare prophetae ;
dicere sed volui (lapsa est mihi lingua) * poetae,'
with Mant. x, 126-127. The " ventrosus bufo " of Id, v,
55, the " multiforem buxum " of Id. xi, 18, the " impatienter
amantis " of Id. vii, 146, and the " somndlenti " of Id. xii,
6, may be compared with Mant. x, 140; i, 163; vii, 65;
III, 59.
^^ Frankfort ed., 1564, p. 44.
^^ C. Krause, Helius Eobanus Hessus, Gotha, 1879, 11, 26. In an
unfortunate footnote, Krause explains that the Pontanus referred
to is " Petrus Pontanus (aus Briigge)," and that "Baptista Man-
tuanus " means " Joh. Baptista Fiera."
• 54 INTRODUCTION
In Euricius Cordus *^ the imitation is still closer. The
complimentary reference to Mantuan in his second Eclogue
has been quoted above, p. 47. The historic dignity of the
shepherd's calling, Eel. in, is sSet forth as in Mantuan's
seventh, 23 ff. ; and the contrast between the shepherd's lot
and that of the farmer, in the middle of Eel. iv, reminds
one of the beginning of Mantuan's sixth. Compare,
further. Eel. i, Zd, for the intransitive " secundat," with
Mant. V, 29 ; Eel. ii, 82, " luxati . . . cultri," with Mant.
V, 140; Eel. ii, 91, " nuda rigent genua," etc., with Mant.
V, 23; Eel. ii, 118,
pollicitos plures vidi, qui multa dedissent
nullos,
with Mant. v, 105-106; Eel. iii, 34,
dum satur in gelidis grex pabula ruminat umbris,
with Mant. i, 1-2; Eel. in, 115,
sum puer, at memini quo magnum tempore munus
esse putabatur, si textam flore corollam
quis daret, etc.,
with Mant. iii, 85-86 ; Eel. iii, 148,
inter tot iuvenes quot festa luce sub ulmum
conveniunt, ducuntque leves de more choreas,
with Mant. ii, 63-65 ; Eel. iv, ZZ,
non sapies, r.isi torva pedum tibi cornua frangat,
with Mant. iv, 91 ; Eel. iv, 48,
in grandique mihi legisse volumine dixit,
with Mant. vii, 155; Eel. iv, 64 (and v, 26), " quando va-
cat," with Mant. i, 9 ; Eel. iv, 69, " desidiosa sumus pastores
^'^ He, too, has been called a pioneer : " fu lodato, e vero, per le
ecloghe, ma codesti componimenti, ch' egli introduce per la prima
volta in Germania, e imita da G. B. Mantovano, gia per lui cadono
in vuota pastorelleria," G. Manacorda, Delia poesia latina in Ger-
mania durante it RenascimentOj Rome, 1906, p. 280.
IMITATIONS OF THE ECLOGUES 55
turba," with Mant. vi, 19-20; Eel. vi, 68, "qui nostra
piacula solvunt," with Mant. viii, 162; Ed. vi, 142,
interea in pluvia pastor sitit, esurit aura,
with Mant. v, 12; Ed. vii, 32,
versaque dormit humus, missum requiescit aratrum,
with Mant. vi, 2-3; Ed. vii, 71, "grata laborantum re-
quies," with Mant. viii, 150; Ed. viii, 64-65,
succede sub ulmum,
dum redeo; mihi quid post saepta parumper agendum est.
with Mant. iv, 87-88; Ed. viii, 102, " inscius et nihil hoc
ratus," with Mant. iv, 54-55; Ed. viii, 109 (and ix, 65),
" cariceam casulam," with Mant. ix, 18; Ed. ix, 98,
me mea, te tua spes et opinio stulta fefellit,
with Mant. ix, 192 ; Ed. x, 6,
I
sed melior lento praestat vigilantia somno,
with Mant. i, 5 ; Ed. x, 22,
utile servitium fuit illius atque tidele,
donee, etc.,
with Mant. iv, 22 ; Ed. x, 28,
et nentes inter medius sub nocte puellas,
with Mant. v, 85; Ed. x, 123,
o quoties patriae moesti reminiscimur orae,
with Mant. ix, 90.«2
The famous diatribe against women, Ed. iv, 110 ff., has a
rather close parallel in one of the Dialogues of Ravisius
62 These passages of Euricius Cordus are quoted from the " se-
cunda aeditio," Leipsic, 1 518.
56 INTRODUCTION
Textor, Troia, Salomon, Samsori.^^ And it is very clearly
echoed in Luigi Pasqualigo's comedy, // Fedele, iii, 7.
Compare with lines 124 ff.,
mobilis, inconstans, vaga, garrula, vana, bilinguis,
imperiosa, minax, indignabunda, cruenta, etc.,
Fortunio's speech:
Non e dubbio, perche esse sono per natura superbe, uane, incon-
stanti, leggieri, maligne, crudeli, rapaci, empie, inuidiose, incredule,
bugiarde, ambitiose, piene di fraude, disleali, ingrate, impetuose, au-
daci, & senza freno, facilissime a dar ricetto a 1' odio & all' ira,
a placarsi durissime, portano ouunque uanno ribellione e lite, elle
sono uaghe di dir male, d' accender odio tra gli amici, di seminar
infamia sopra i buoni, sono pronte a riprender gli errori altrui, &
negligent! a conoscer i proprij vitij, sempre simulano, sempre fingono,
tramano inganni, & cercano di condur gli huomini alia morte, all'
insidie che tendono, hanno cosi pronti i gesti e il uiso, nel quale a
suo piacere possono dimostrar allegrezza, dolore, tema, & speranza,
& molti altri affetti, che alcuno non puo fuggire da loro, & quinci &
non altronde auengono tutti i nostri mali.^*
But there must be many such echoes in the literature
of Germany and France and Italy. One poem which will
at least serve to illustrate the fourth Eclogue is Tasso's
A7?iinta. The chorus at the close of the first act,
Ma sol perche quel vano
Nome senza soggetto,
Quell' idolo d' errori, idol d' inganno ;
Quel che dal volgo insano
Onor poscia fu detto
(Che di nostra natura '1 feo tiranno),
Non mischiava il suo affanno
®3 " Apud lacobum Stoer," 1609, pp. 192-202. A part of the dia-
logue is quoted by J. Vodoz, Le Theatre Latin de Ravisius Textor,
Winterthur, 1898, pp. 149-151.
*^ Venice ed., 1579. Pasqualigo's comedy is paraphrased in Lari-
vey's Le Fidelle; for this particular passage, see Ancien Theatre
franfois, vi, 397. It is adapted also in Abraham Fraunce's Latin
comedy Victoria; but Fraunce's play omits all this diatribe. So does
the English adaptation by Anthony Munday (recently printed by
F. Fliigge, Archiv fiir das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Liter-
aturen, cxxiii, 48-80).
MANTUAN'S SOURCES 57
Fra le liete dolcezze
Dell' amoroso gregge, etc.,^-'^
may be compared with Eel. ii, 161-166,
qui non communicat usum
coniugis invidus est ; livorem excusat honestas
introducta usu longi livoris iniquo.
nam dum quisque sibi retinet sua gaudia, nee vult
publica, communis mos ac longaevus honestas
factus, et hunc morem fecit dementia legem ;
and the passage in ii, 2,
Or, non sai tu com' e fatta la donna?
Fugge, e fuggendo vuol eh' altri la giunga;
Niega, e negando vuol ch' altri si toglia ;
Pugna, e pugnando vuol ch' altri la vinca,
with Ed. IV, 216-218,
currit, ut in latebras ludens perducat amantem,
vult dare, sed cupiens simplex et honesta videri
denegat et pugnat, sed vult super omnia vinci.
And with Eel. ii, 25,
commoditas omnis sua fert incommoda secum,
we may compare Guazzo's Civil Conversatione, Bk. i,^*
" anzi si ha da ricordare di quella sentenza: * Ogni agio
porta seco 11 suo disagio.' " The sentiment was doubtless
a commonplace, but Mantuan may have helped to make
it so.
mantuan's sources
Mantuan's chief model in pastoral was Virgil, and the
influence of Virgil may be traced on almost every page. But
there are many echoes of other Roman poets ^'^ — especially
«5 This chorus is literally translated in Samuel Daniel's * pastorall '
on the Golden Age,
^6 Venice ed., 1590, p. 12.
s^ Some of these are pointed out in the Notes. For Ovid, see
notes on Ed. ii, 85; iii, 171; iv, 132, 201; vii^ 147; for Tibullus,
58 INTRODUCTION
Ovid and Juvenal — and there are half a dozen passages in
which he imitates the Latin eclogues of Petrarch ^* and
Boccaccio. And he owes something to the Ecclesiastical
Writers — especially Prudentius ®^ — and to the language of
the Latin Bible."^*^
His style was formed on classical models, and he doubt-
less meant his Eclogues to be classical throughout. But
they contain a fair number of irregularities — in syntax,
in vocabulary, and in metre. Some of these are due to his
familiarity with Ecclesiastical Latin, while others can be
found only in the Latin of the Middle Ages. Some of them
are merely mistakes of a youthful author which remained
uncorrected even when the poems were revised.
notes on Ed. in, 103-8; vni, 98-101; ix, 107; for Juvenal, notes on
Ed. V, especially lines 90-91, 104; for Calpurnius, notes on Ed. ii, i ;
VI, 157; IX, 107; IX, 133.
68 See notes on Ed. i, 12-13; "i. i7-27> 32-33; v, 46, 136.
69 See notes on Ed. i\, 212; viii, 162; ix, 126-7. In an apology
for poetry prefixed to his first Parthenice, Mantuan cites several of
the Ecclesiastical Writers: Prudentius, Paulinus of Nola, Ambrosius,
Beda, and Juvencus. And of these his favorite would seem to be
Paulinus : " quid de Paulino Nolanae urbis episcopo Hieronymo con-
temporaneo et familiari? nonne pulcherrima quae adhuc extant,
et semper extabunt, excudit poemata? cum adhuc adolescentulus
essem et a studiis ecclesiasticis more illius aetatis abhorrerem, forte
in ea poemata incidi, et carminis suavitate delectatus animum ad res
divinas paulatim appuli, et ex illo tempore sacrarum litterarum stu-
diosior fui."
70 See notes on Ed. ii, 138; m, 188; v, 129; viii, 85-86; viii, 222.
Another possible " source " is mentioned by Ascensius, on Ed. v, loi,
where he guesses that " Umber " means Niccolo Perotti, Bishop of
Siponto : " quem nescio an Sipontinum dicam, a quo plurima sump-
sisse videtur." This refers to Perotti's great commentary on some
of the epigrams of Martial, entitled Cornucopiae: seu Commentarii
Linguae Latinae. It was printed as early as 1489. It was freely
used by Ascensius in his commentary on the Edogues, and it was
doubtless well known to Mantuan himself. Indeed, his brother
Tolomeo reports of him : " damnabatque episcopum Sipontinum quod,
cum esset primi ordinis in ecclesia, tantopere laboravit in enarratione
Martialis poetae gentilis epigrammatarii " {Apologia, Lyons ed., 15 16,
fol. Gg, iii).
SYNTAX, METRE, VOCABULARY 59 •
SYNTAX
One interesting bit of syntax is the use of the simple
subjunctive after a verb of thinking : credo . . . concitet et
. . . tollat, I, 50-51 ; puto sidera tangant, viii, 44. Another
is the use of putare, credere^ or aestimare, with a simple in-
finitive, apparently on the analogy of verbs of " hoping "
or "expecting": grande aes confiare putaham, iii, 75; qui
flectere divos \ creditis, \\\, 141-2; et verfere in aurum \
aestimat, vi, 133-4. Facer e is used with the infinitive, in
the sense of "to cause to": v, 58; ix, 221. Intendere
{-= aninium intendere) is used with the dative, i, 106 ; ii, 49 ;
suhintrare, with the accusative, i, 176; iv, 90; secundare,
with the dative, v, 29 ; obmare, with the dative, ix, 147.
The use of mood and tense with dum is largely a matter of
metrical convenience : cp. i, 25, dum mens erat ; vii, 147-8,
dum . . . obstaret . . . dum tepet ac timide insanit ; viii, 19,
dum . . . castraret; viii, 120, dum . . . perlegerem ; ix, 55,
licuit dum; x, 96-7, dum viximus una, \ dum . . . fuit.
METRE
Some of the metrical irregularities have been revised
out by editors. In the Mantua edition of 1498 we have
quottidie, I, 120; dmissa, ii, 5 (omisit, x, 69) ; sclderat, ii,
46; somnolentum, iii, 59; Sdtdnum, ii, 112; mulieribus, iv,
70 {muliere, iv, 206 and vi, 57, mulierum, iv, 245) ; gdneae,
IV, 129 {gdnea, v, 151) ; subicit, iv, 156; piilicum, viii, 10;
ctmicum, viii, 10; anglnoso, viii, 145; sdbuco, ix, 96;
cdcdbos, IX, 177; posted, viii, 47, and perhaps vii, 25.'^^
There are three spondaic verses, v, 120, v, 129, viii, 213.
There are five such cadences as terebintht: i, 31; vii, 133;
VIII, 10; IX, 69; ix, 168.
VOCABULARY
In the vocabulary, there a number of departures from
classical usage. Modo is used half a dozen times in the
sense of nunc, i, 4; ii, 151, etc.; parum means "a little
■^1 For anglnoso and sdbuco, he could cite the authority of Serenus
Sammonicus ; cdcdhos may be found in the Macaronea of his younger
contemporary, Teofilo Folengo ; for gdneae, he had the authority of
Prudentius; for sclderat, that of Servius.
60 INTRODUCTION
while," IX, 20 and 39. Inquis is used for memoras, or dicis,
Vj 67 ; VIII, 67 ; x, 53; ullus for aliquis, vi, 251. At i, 103
we'Tiave de sub, "from under," and at ix, 122, a longe,
" from afar." Semel means aliquando, i, 118; ipsis is used
for eis, ii, T47, viii, 112, 173; ista refers to what follows,
III, 122; VIII, 95. Accubitu means "bed," vi, 52; tegetis
means tecti, or tiigurii, ix, 51; tabellam is the "lid" or
" cover '*~~of a jug7 ix, 39. Polenta is used as a neuter
singular, vi, 5 ; viii, 23. There are some unusual words :
claviculo, II, 100; influxibus, ix, 149; rulla, i, 142;
runca, iv, 49; variantia, x, 91; callosa, viii, 25; cariceae,
IX, 18; fluvios, viii, 65; hernica, iv, 118; impetuosa, iv,
134; saltidico, i, 171; situosus, viii, 65; squarrgsa^ v, 72j,
suaviloquo, iv, 9; ventrosus, x, 140; appro^re, ix, 119:
fetant, ii, 30; incalluit, iii, 25; inj ortunarit , in, 167;
obtenebrescere, vi, 239 ; qbviat, ix, 147 ; o pules cunt, ix, 168;
praesentas, iv, 90. C^/w.r^ i, 59, is the animal; philomena
is the bird, i, 27; ii, 46, etc.; vulpes, vi, 26, means /'-f//^^-
vulpinas. There are Greek words, like artocopi, vi, 100;
artocreas, viii, 23; brucho, viii, 132; cercopithecos, vi^ 144;
eremum, x, 175; genetUiacos, y. 39: gynaecei, viii, 192;
lampy rides, \, 155; melotas, vi,, 27; ogdoas, viii, 181;
onocrotalus, viii, 59; orexis, i, 17; rhomphaea, iv, 211;
zelotypo, VI, 71. AV/^^- = " alms," vi, 157; luxuria —
"lust," IV, 161; j-w^^/a/z/f^ =" wealth," iii, 8; deltas —
divinitas,vi\, ZZ ; extimare^^ aestimare, iii, 16; intendere =
animum intendere, I, 106; ii, 49.
BAPTISTAE MANTUANl
ADULESCENTIA
F. BAPTISTA MANTUANUS CARMELITA
PARIDI CERESARIO D.S.
Audi, o Pari, aenigma perplexum quod Oedipodes ipse
non solveret. ego quinquagenarius et iam canescens adule-
scentiam meam repperi, et habeo adulescentiam simul et
senectam. sed ne longa ambage te teneam, nodum hunc dis-
solvo. anno praeterito, cum Florentia rediens Bononiam
pervenissem, intellexi apud quendam litterarium virum esse
quendam libellum meum quern olim ante religionem, dum
in gymnasio Paduano philosophari inciperem, ludens ex-
cuderam et ab ilia aetate Adulescentiam vocaveram. car-
men est bucolicum in octo eclogas divisum, quod iam diu
tamquam abortivum putabam abolitum. ubi id rescivi,
Saturnina fame repente sum percitus, et cogitavi quonam
pacto possem proli meae inferre perniciem. iuvantibus ergo
amicis libellum meum vindicavi, ut perderem quern suspica-
bar erratis non posse non scatere. at ubi intellexi et alia
quaedam exemplaria superesse, visum est praestare hoc quod
vindicaram emendare emendatumque edere, ut eius editione
cetera quae continent multa nimis iuvenilia deleantur. hoc
igitur sic castigatum duabus aliis eclogis quas in religione
lusi in calce subiunctis tibi, o Pari, iuvenis antiquae nobili-
tatis et studiorum ac omniiun bonarum artium amantissime
nostraeque urbis decus egregium, libentissime dono, ut,
.quando tetricis illis philosophiae ac theologiae lucubra-
tionibus quibus assidue vacas fatigatus fueris, habeas iucun-
dulam hanc lectiunculam qua tamquam ludo quodam blan-
dulo sed liberali lassum legendo reparetur ingenium. omnes
autem penes quos immatura ilia sunt exemplaria quae dixi
rogatos volo ut, si quid umquam fuit eis dulce meum, con-
festim exurant nee ullo pacto superesse permittant. accipe
ergo, Pari suavissime, libellum et auctorem, et ambobus
tamquam rebus tuis tuo deinceps utaris arbitrio. vale.
Kalendis vSeptembris, mcccclxxxxviii.
62
\
ECLOGA I, FAUSTUS,
DE HONESTO AMORE ET FELICI EIUS EXITU.
FORTUNATUS. FAUSTUS.
For. Fauste, precor, gelida quando pecus omne sub umbra
riiminat, antiques paulum recitemus amores,
ne, si forte sopor nos occupet, ulla ferarum
quae modo per segetes tacite insidiantur adultas
saeviat in pecudes ; melior vigilantia somno.
Fau. Hie locus, haec eadem sub qua requiescimus arbor
scit quibus ingemui curis, quibus ignibus arsi
ante duos vel (ni memini male) quattuor annos;
sed tibi, quando vacat, quando est iucunda relatu,
historiam prima repetens ab origine pandam. 10
Hie ego, dum sequerer primis armenta sub annis,
veste solo strata sedi iacuique supinus
cum gemitu et lacrimis mea tristia fata revolvens.
nulla quies mihi dulcis erat, nullus labor ; aegro
pectore sensus iners, et mens torpore sepulta
ut stomachus languentis erat quem nulla ciborum
blandimenta movent, quem nulla invitat orexis.
carminis occiderat studium, iam nulla sonabat
fistula disparibus calamis ; odiosus et arcus,
funda odiosa, canes odiosi, odiosa volucrum 20
praeda, nucum calyces cultro enucleare molestum ;
texere fiscellam iunco vel vimine, piscem
fallere, scrutari nidos, certare palaestra,
sortiri digitis res iniucunda, voluptas
magna prius, tanti dum mens erat inscia morbi.
colligere agrestes uvas et fraga perosus
maerebam ut pastu rediens philomena cibumque
ore ferens natis, vacuo sua pignora nido
cum sublata videt : rostro cadit esca remisso,
cor stupet et contra nidos super arboris altae 30
fronde sedet plorans infelices hymenaeos;
seu veluti amisso partu formosa iuvenca
63
64 BAPTISTAE MANTUANl
quae, postquam latos altis mugitibus agros
complevit, residens pallenti sola sub umbra
gramina non carpit nee fluminis attrahit undam.
Sed quid circuitu pario tibi taedia longo,
dum sequor ambages et verba et tempora perdo?
summa haec : vitales auras invitus agebam.
quod si forte volens cognoscere singula dicas,
' Fauste, quis in syrtes Auster te impegerat istas?' 40
me mea (verum etenim tibi, Fortunate, fatebor)
me mea Galla suo sic circumvenerat ore
ut captam pedicis circumdat aranea muscam.
namque erat ore rubens et pleno turgida vultu
et, quamvis oculo paene esset inutilis uno,
cum tamen illius faciem mirabar et annos,
dicebam Triviae formam nihil esse Dianae.
For. Ludit Amor sensus, oculos praestringit et aufert
libertatem animi et mira nos f ascinat arte ;
credo aliquis daemon subiens praecordia flammam 50
concitet et raptam tollat de cardine mentem.
nee deus (ut perhibent) Amor est, sed amaror et error.
Fan. Adde quod optatis nee spes erat ulla potiri,
quamvis ilia meo miserata f averet amori
monstraretque suos oculis ac nutibus ignes.
nam, quocumque isset, semper comes aspera: semper
nupta sequebatur soror et durissima mater,
sicque repugnabant votis contraria vota
non secus ac muri catus : ille invadere pernam
nititur, hie rimas oculis observat acutis. 60
For. Qui satur est pleno laudat ieiunia ventre,
et quem nulla premit sitis est sitientibus asper.
Fau. Tempus erat curva segetes incidere falce
et late albebant flaventibus hordea culmis.
affuit (ut mos est) natis comitata duabus
collectura parens quae praeterit hordea messor,
ignorabat enim vel dissimulabat amorem;
dissimulasse puto, quoniam data munera natae
noverat, exiguum leporem geminasque palumbes.
For. Pauperies inimica bonis est moribus ; omne 70
labitur in vitium, culpae scelerumque ministra est.
Fau. Farra legens ibat mea per vestigia virgo
nuda pedem, discincta sinum, spoliata lacertos.
ECLOGA I. 33-J14 65
ut decet aestatem quae solibus ardet iniquis,
tecta caput f ronde intorta, quia sole perusta
fusca fit et voto facies non servit amantum.
iam tergo vicina meo laterique propinqua
sponte mea delapsa manu f rumenta legebat.
nee celare suas nee vincere f emina euras
nee differre potest ; tantum levitatis in ilia est. 80
For. Quisquis amat levis est, nee femina sola sed ipsi
quos sapere et praestare aliis mortalibus aiunt,
quos operit latus fulgenti muriee elavus,
quos vidi elatos regali ineedere passu,
tu quoque sie affeetus eras dementior ilia
forsitan et levior. virgo data farra legebat,
at tu farra dabas; die, quae dementia maior?
perge ; opus est verbis aliquando areere soporem.
Fau. Continuo aspieiens aegre tulit aspera mater
et elamans ' quo ', dixit, ' abis? cur deseris agmen? 90
Galla, veni, namque hie alnos prope mitior umbra,
hie tremulas inter frondes immurmurat aura.'
o invisa meis vox auribus ! ' ite ', preeabar,
* ite, malam venti eeleres dispergite vocem.'
si quis pastor oves ad pinguia paseua ducat
et vetet adductas praesens decerpere gramen,
vel si iam pastas potum compellat ad amnem
et sitibundo ori salientem deneget undam,
nonne importunus, naturae inimieus et excors?
ilia mihi vox visa lovis violentior ira 100
cum tonat et pluvius terris irascitur aer.
non potui (et volui) frontem non fleetere; virgo
demissi in cilium de sub velaminis ora
me aspieiens metis blande subrisit oeellis.
id eernens iterum natam vocat improba mater ;
Galla operi magis intendens audire recusat.
ut pede, sic animo sequitur. tum providus ipse
(namque doles inspirat Amor fraudesque ministrat)
nunc cantu, nunc sollicitans clamore metentes
velamenta dabam sceleri, quo credere possent 110
et soror et mater non audivisse puellam.
falce repellebam sentes, ne crura sequentis
levia, ne teneras ausint offendere plantas.
For. Quisquis amat servit : sequitur captivus amantem,
66 BAPTISTAE MANTUANI
fert domita cervice iugum, fert verbera tergo
dulcia, fert stimulos, trahit et bovis instar aratrum.
Fan. Tu quoque, ut hinc video, non es ignarus amorum.
For. Id commune malum, semel insanivimus omnes.
Fau. Hoc animi tam triste bonum, tam duke venenum,
cottidie crudele magis crescebat in horas, 120
ut calor, in nonam dum lux attollitur horam.
pallebam attonito similis, lymphaticus, amens,
immemor, insomnis. nee erat res ardua morbi
nosse genus; frons est animi mutabilis index,
ut pater advertit, mitem se praebuit ultra
consuetum, quod et ipse suos expertus amorum
sciret onus, blandoque loquens humaniter ore
' die ', inquit, ' die, Fauste, quid hoe quod peetore volvis?
infelix puer, haee faeies testatur amorem.
die mihi ; ne pudeat euras aperire parenti.' 130
For. Sit lieet in natos faeies austera parentum,
aequa tamen semper mens est, et amiea voluntas.
Fau. Ut faeilem pater affectum prae se tulit, ultro
rem confessus opem petii. promisit; et ante
quam brumale gelu Borealibus arva pruinis
spargeret, agnati unanimes cum patre puellam
despondere mihi. nee adhue sine testibus illi
congrediebar ; eram medio sitibundus in amne
Tantalus, o quotiens misso cum bobus aratro,
ut vacuis aliquando esset sola aedibus, ibam ! 1 40
omnia causabar, stivam, dentale iugumque,
lora iugi, rullam ; deerant quaeeumque, petebam
e soceri lare. sola tamen deerat mihi virgo.
non deeram mihi ; piscator, venator et auceps
f actus eram, et sellers studia intermissa resumpsi.
quidquid erat praedae, quidquid fortuna tulisset,
ad soceros ibat ; gener officiosus habebar.
noete semel media subeuntem limina furtim
(sic etenim paetus fueram cum virgine) furem
esse rati invasere canes; ego protinus altam 150
transiliens saepem vix ora latrantia fugi.
His tandem studiis hiemem transegimus illam.
ver rediit, iam silva viret, iam vinea f rondet,
iam spicata Ceres, iam cogitat hordea messor,
splendidulis iam noete volant lampyrides alis ;
EC LOG A I. 1 1 5-17 f> 67
ecce dies genialis adest, mihi ducitur uxor.
sed quid opus multis? nox exspectata duobus
venit, et in portum vento ratis acta secundo est.
turn bove mactato gemina convivia luce
sub patula instructis celebravimus arbore mensis. 160
affuit Oenophilus mul toque solutus laccho
tempestiva dedit toti spectacula vico.
et cum multif ori Tonius cui tibia buxo
tandem post epulas et pocula multicolorem
ventriculum sumpsit, buccasque inflare rubentes
incipiens oculos aperit ciliisque levatis
multotiensque altis flatu a pulmonibus hausto
utrem implet, cubito vocem dat tibia presso.
nunc hue, nunc illuc digito saliente vocavit
pinguibus a mensis iuvenes ad compita cantu 170
saltidico dulcique diem certamine clausit.
et iam tres hiemes abiere et proximat aestas
quarta : dies rapidis, si qua est bona, praeterit horis.
si qua placent, abeunt ; inimica tenacius haerent.
For. Fauste, viden? vicina pecus vineta subintrat;
iam (ne forte gravi multa taxemur) eundum est.
68 B APT I ST A E MANTUANI
ECLOGA II, FORTUNATUS,
DE AM ORIS INS AN I A.
FAUSTUS. FORTUNATUS.
Fau. Cur tarn serus ades? quid te (iam septima lux est)
detinuit? gregibusne nocent haec pascua vestris?
For. Fauste, Padus nostros qui praeterlabitur agros
creverat et tumidis iripas aequaverat undis ;
nos, cura gregis omissa, privata .coegit
publicaque utilitas ripam munire diurnis
nocturnisque operis fluviumque arcere furentem.
Fau. Fert Padus exundans mala saepius omina: noster
Tityrus est auctor, qui pascua dixit et arva.
For. Forsitan id verum, quando extra tempora et ultra 1 0
mensuram atque modum subito concreverit aestu.
nunc autem id poscit tempus, nam liquitur altis
nix hiberna iugis, implent cava flumina montes.
Fau. Se exonerant fluviosque onerant. sic flumina rursum
se exonerant pelagusque onerant ; hominum quoque mos est
quae nos cumque premunt alieno imponere tergo.
For. Sed iam contractum revocat suus alveus amnem.
Fau. Decrescente Pado (dictu mirabile) noster,
Fortunate, lacus maioribus aestuat undis.
urbs natat, obscurae fiunt cellaria fossae. 20
lintre cados adeunt ; labens ad vina minister
ridet, et ex imis fertur gravis obba lacunis.
multa, licet nati fuerint melioribus horis,
multa et magna ferunt aliquando incommoda cives.
For. Commoditas omnis sua fert incommoda secum,
et sorti appendix est illaetabilis omni.
Fau, Hactenus Eridanus ; nostros repetamus amores,
quandoquidem nunc alma Venus movet omnia, caelum
luce tepet nitida, tellus viret, arva volucres
cantibus exhilarant vernis, nunc omnia fetant. 30
For. Tu tua lusisti, sed nos aliena sequamur.
namque tibi noti referam pastoris amores,
Ut doceam Veneris nihil esse potentius igne,
EC LOG A II. 1-74 69
Pauper et infesto sub sidere natus Amyntas
sex vitulos totidemque pares aetate iuvencas
armentique patrem ducens in pascua taurum
venerat ad Coitum, nitidis ubi Mincius undis
alluit herbosos fugiens perniciter agros.
arx nova propter aquas pinnatis ardua muris
est Coitus, campo moles fundata palustri. 40
hie igitur recubans vitrei prope fluminis undam,
vitis ubi amplectens longis dunieta lacertis
in vada curvata ripae supereminet umbra,
piscibus insidias tendebat harundine et hamo.
messis erat : solis rapidi violentia campos
sciderat arentes, finem philomena canendi
f ecerat, et neque lux, passim morientibus herbis,
pascere oves poterat neque nox umore cicadas,
dumque incumbit aquis studioque intendit inani,
taurus (ut auditum est) primum vexatus ab oestro, SO
mox canibus, demum furaci a milite silvis
abditus ex toto confestim evanuit agro.
Quod puer ut novit, tumulum conscendit et alta
voce bovem damans longo rura omnia visu
prospicit. ut frustra niti se comperit, arcum
corripit et pharetram sequiturque per invia taurum.
ilium per caulas et per stabula omnia quaerens
per colles, Benace, tuos, per consita olivis
iugera, per virides iicis et vitibus agros,
venerat ad sublime iugum quod sulphuris arcem 60
sustinet et longis aperit prospectibus illinc
Benaciun, hinc campos longe lateque patentes.
lux ea sacra f uit Petro : f rondente sub ulmo
mixta erat ex omni pubes post prandia vico
ducebatque leves buxo resonante choreas.
Fau. Rustica gens, nulla genus arte domabile, semper
irrequietum animal, gaudet sudore. peracto
mane sacro festa (quando omnibus otia) luce
ipsa oti ac f amis impatiens epulatur et implet
ingluviem. audito properat tibicine ad ulmum; 70
hie furit, hie saltu fertur bovis instar ad auras,
quam rastris versare nefas et vomere terram
calcibus obduris et inerti mole fatigat
ac ferit, et tota Baccho facit orgia luce
70 BAPTISTAE MANTUANl
vociferans, ridens, saliens et pocula siccans.
For. Stulte, quid haec faris? solatia rustica damnas
rusticus ipse ? tuis malus es, tibi pessimus ipsi.
Fan. Dicta ioco fuerint ; nostrum repetamus Amyntam.
For. Continuit gressum baculoque innixus acerno
intermisit iter, donee mitesceret aestus. 80
ah puer inf elix, aestus te maior in umbra
corripiet. nudam videas ne in fonte Dianam,
Claude oculos, blandis neu des Sirenibus aurem.
sors tua Narcisso similis : Narcissus in undis
dum sedare sitim properat, sitit amplius ; at tu
exteriorem aestimi fugiens intrinsecus ardes.
quam melius fuerat (nisi te sic fata tulissent)
ad reliquum rediisse pecus, servasse iuvencas,
amissi bovis aequo animo dispendia ferre'
quam, dum conaris nil perdere, perdere te ipsum. 90
Fau. Sed post iacturam quis non sapit? utile non est
consilium post facta, dari quod oportuit ante,
consilium post facta, imber post tempora frugum.
For. Una puellares inter pulcherrima turmas
virgo erat, alba comas, aliis procerior, annos
nata quater quinos vel circiter, ore nitenti
urbanis certare potens et vincere nymphis,
aureolis radians guttis ad tempora limbus
ibat, et ad pectus clausum velamen aeno
claviculo ; mediam fulgenti fibula ferro 100
stringit in angustum ; nova candicat instita lapsu
linea rugoso pedibusque allabitur imis.
banc puer ut vidit, periit flammasque tuendo
hausit et in pectus caecos absorbuit ignes,
ignes qui nee aquis perimi potuere nee umbris
diminui neque graminibus magicisve susurris.
oblitusque greges et damna domestica totus
uritur et noctes in luctum expendit amaras.
Saepe gravescentem verbis compescere flammam
nixus et insanum iuvenis cohibere f urorem 1 1 0
dicebam : ' miserande puer, quis te deus istas
misit in ambages? sed non deus, immo Satanum
pessimus ex illis quos noctibus atque diebus
ter tribus in terras fama est ex aethere lapsos.
die, age, si nosti quemquam, reminiscere si quern
EC LOG A 11. 7 3- 1 50 71
videris hoc pacto ditescere, surgere in altum,
dilatare domum, maioribus horrea acervis
complere his studiis, extendere latius agios,
multiplicare greges, acquirere pascua bobus.
inter tot populos quot habet latissima tellus 120
sunt qui nostra ferant mensis epulanda cruentis
corpora et humanos absumant dentibus artus ;
sunt, inquam, quos tanta malis tot vexet Erinys ;
sed nullum est tarn immane genus, tarn barbara nusquam
gens, quae femineos non exsecretur amores.
hinc veniunt rixae, veniunt et iurgia et arma,
saepe etiam dirae multo cum sanguine mortes ;
hinc quoque deletis eversae moenibus urbes.
ipsae etiam leges rubrisque volumina loris
clausa vetant scelus hoc et detestantur amores.' 130
Ut leges audivit, ad haec respondit Amyntas
(civis enim fuerat puer et versatus in urbe)
* his monitis prudens et circumspectus haberi
niteris et sensu tetricos anteire Catones.
error hie, haec passim sapiens dementia regnat.
ipse sibi blanditur homo sollersque putari
vult animal ; tamen incautus sibi multa tetendit
retia et in foveam cecidit quam fecerat. ante
liber erat; servile iugum sibi condidit ipse;
pondus id est legum (vidi ipse volumina) quas nee 140
antiqui potuere patres, nee possumus ipsi,
nee servare aetas poterit ventura nepotum.
aspice quam stulta est hominum prudentia : caelum
sperat et esse sibi sedem inter sidera credit ;
forsitan in volucrem moriens transibit et altum
spiritus assumptis tranabit ad aethera pennis.'
Tunc ego : ' quid latras ? legum Deus auctor, et ipsis
non parere sapit magnam nimis impietatem.'
Fail. Grandia de magnis haec sunt certamina rebus.
For. Quid fuerim reris? quamvis pannosus et asper 150
sim modo, tunc animo, tunc vi, tunc ore valebam,
nee mihi sese alius poterat componere pastor.
Fau. Nunc quoque, si rectus vultu gradiare supino,
alter eris Marius ; raso ore videbere Carbo.
For. Talia respondit sic obiurgatus Amyntas :
' facto homini Deus invidit (concessa voluptas
72 BAPTISTAE MANTUANl
visa bonum nimis excellens) et vota repressit
legibus inventis, ut equi ligat ora capistro,
ne quocumque libet flectat vestigia, sessor.
quae mea sit me cogit amor sententia fari, 160
liberaque ora f acit : qui non communicat usum
coniugis invidus est; livorem excusat honestas
introducta usu longi livoris iniquo.
nam dum quisque sibi retinet sua gaudia, nee vult
publica, communis mos ac longaevus honestas
factus, et hunc morem fecit dementia legem.
invida res amor est, res invidiosa voluptas.'
Tunc ego non audens hominem contendere contra
amplius insano rediens ab amante recessi.
Fau. Cernis ut hie malus affectus sic lumina mentis 1 70
claudat, in errores ut sponte feramur apertos?
For. Cernis ut a summo liventia nubila Baldo
se agglomerent ? oritur grando ; ne forte vagantes
tempestas deprendat oves, discedere tempus.
EC LOG A II. 157— m- 33 73
ECLOGA III, AMYNTAS,
DE INSANI AMORIS EXITU INFELICI.
FAUSTUS. FORTUNATUS.
Fail. Ilia hesterna ruens Baldi de vertice grando,
Fortunate, fuit nobis innoxia (divis
gratia nostrarum quibus est custodia frugum)
sed, veluti ex illis veniens ait Harculus oris,
Veronensem agrum, pecudes et ovilia sic est
demolita, casas et pastoralia tecta
sic evertit, ut agricolis spes nulla supersit.
agricolis etenim pecus est substantia, et arva
his subiecta malis ; grandi thesaurus in area
civibus est quern nulla queat contundere grando, 10
nulla pruina, gelu nullum, nullae aeris irae.
For. Nescio quis ventos tempestatesque gubernat;
id scio (sed neque si scio sat scio, sed tamen ausim
dicere — quid? vitane ideo multabor in ipsa?)
numina si, ut perhibent, orbem moderantur ab alto,
extimo nil duros hominum curare labores.
aspice quo tenuem victum sudore paramus,
quot mala pro grege, pro natis, pro coniuge pastor
f ert miser, infestis aestate caloribus ardet,
f rigoribus riget hibernis ; dormimus ad imbrem 20
cotibus in duris vel humi ; contagia mille,
mille premunt morbi pecudes, discrimina mille
sollicitant, latro insidias intentat ovili
atque lupus milesque lupo furacior omni.
ut manus assiduo detrita incalluit usu,
squaluit os, barba obriguit, cutis aruit aestu,
una repentino rapit omnia turbine grando.
hoc Superi faciunt quibus inclinamur ad aras
et quibus offerimus faculas et cerea vota.
nescio quae pietas et quae dementia tantis 30
cladibus involvat pastores omnium egenos.
Faic. Fortunate, scelus nobis haec omnia nostrum
ingerit ; aetherei sententia ludicis aequa est.
74 BAPTISTAE MANTUANI
For, Quod scelus? an fuimus Christi vitae insidiati?
Fau. lurgia, furta, irae, Venus et mendacia, rixae.
For. Quid meruere boni? nee enim scelus obruit omnes,
et tamen una omnes pariter pessumdat Erinys.
Fau. Heu nescis male de Superis sentire nefandimi?
his igitur quae scire nef as, nescire necesse est,
posthabitis curas iterum repetamus Amyntae 40
quas sumus experti, quas ignorare negatum est;
res vulgaris amor, studium commune iuventae.
For. Maeror et affectus alii de cardine mentem
saepe levant ; animo sermo venit aeger ab aegro.
Fau. Intellecta licet pro re, pro tempore fari
(sic habitus Cosmas sapiens) incognita numquam.
. For. Fauste, sapis ; notos igitur repetamus amores.
restat Amyntaeos postrema in fata furores
ducere et in misero lacrimas impendere casu.
Praeteriens iliac parvo post tempore rursum 50
insanire hominem video et miseratus amantem
* 0,' iterum dixi, ' mens inconsulta veneno
ebria fatali. populo iam f abula factus
non resipiscis adhuc, et adhuc in amore sepultus
te ruis atque tuos, pecus atque mapalia, tecum
ut quondam moriens rapuit secum omnia Samson:
cum senio curvatus eris (si forte senectam
fata tibi dederint) quis sustentabit inertem,
somnolentum, inopem, cum iam def ecerit omne
robur et ingenium, sensusque recesserit omnis? 60
haec tibi cuncta feret (nisi mors praevenerit) aetas.
esto domi, vigila, observa, super omnia semper
prospice quo tendas, et quo venisse dolendum est
ire cave, discerne vias hominemque memento
non ad delicias, non ad muliebria natum.
blandimenta levi tam perniciosa iuventae.
ipse ego cui pecudes, cui lac, cui caseus, aegre
vitam ago ; tanta agros omnes invasit egestas,
tot duri rerum eventus, incommoda passim
tanta, tot adversis totus convolvitur orbis. 70
accipe rem non auditam, non tempore factam
praeterito, sed quam lux haec mihi protulit ipsi.
ut mos, autumno pecudes crescente totondi.
mane foro exposui lanae venalia pondo
ECLOGA III. 34-115 75
sexaginta hodie, grande aes conflare putabam ;
vix vitam gregis eduxi, vix pabula possum
mercari hibernis nivibus ; quo cetera pacto
sit victura domus nondum mihi constat, Amynta.
quisquis amat dominae munuscula mittat oportet ;
tu vero cui vix tectum fortuna reliquit 80
sub quo luce habitat, sub quo pernoctat egestas,
quid poteris cupidae gratum donare puellae?
mittere mala decem satis esse solebat amanti,
purpurei flores et raptus ab arbore nidus,
gramen odoriferum, memini quo tempore magnae
credebantur opes ; ventum est a gramine ad aurum.
regia res amor est hac tempestate; recessit
mos vetus et quaedam mala lex inolevit amandi.'
Talia suadenti torvo mihi rettulit ore:
* si cupis optatam mihi, Fortunate, salutem, " 90
da quod amo ; nostro haec una est medicina dolori.
cetera quae memoras mihi sunt tormenta. revelli
ex animo furor iste nequit ; mea pectora imago
virginis obsedit, mecum est, mecum itque reditque,
excubat et dormit mecum ; caput, ossa, medullas,
cor complexa potest cum sola excedere vita.
ac veluti quotiens aliena ex arbore secto
surculus inseritur trunco, natura duorum
iungitur et mixto coalescit corpore virga,
sic dominae dilecta mihi se immersit imago 100
et fecit duo corda unum, duo traxit in unum
pectora ; sensus inest nobis et spiritus idem,
o me felicem, si, cum mea fata vocabunt,
in gremio dulcique sinu niveisque lacertis
saltem anima caput hoc languens abeunte iaceret;
ilia sua nobis morientia lumina dextra
clauderet et tristi fleret mea funera voce,
sive ad felices vadam post funera campos,
seu ferar ardentem rapidi Phlegethontis ad undam,
nee sine te felix ero, nee tecum miser umquam. 110
o Dryades florumque deae Nymphaeque decentes,
o nemorum Silvane pater, servate (precamur)
collibus in vestris gelidisque in vallibus omne
silvarum rurisque decus; circumdate saltus
saepibus et prohibete pecus, ne floribus obsit;
76 BAPTISTAE MANTUANI
ista (precor) dominae servate in funera nostrae.
tunc omnis spargatur humus ; redolentia serta
texite, quae circa tumulum supraque iacentem
componantur heram. tristes ad busta puellae
Pierides aderunt et lamentabile carmen 120
ore canent madido signataque verba relinquent
ista sepulturae relegenda nepotibus olim:
HIC TEGITUR VIRGO GUI NIL QUIN DIVA VOCARI
DEBUERIT DEERAT^ NISI DURA FUISSET AMANTI.
0 virgo, si te tantus consumeret ardor,
per centum Scyllas ad te, per mille Charybdes,
tranarem laturus opem ; tu saevior Hydra
me fugis. at culpae nihil est in virgine, nam me
nescit adhuc; si sciret enim, succurreret ultro,
nee puto sub miti tam ferrea pectora vultu. 130
signa tamen vultus fallacia; sub cute molli
mens fera, sub blanda sunt corda immania fronte.
alloquar et faciam nostros intellegat ignes.
si tamen ilia meos vultus averterit, ibunt
in lacrimas oculi, triste in suspiria pectus.
oderit ilia licet semper fugiatque sequentem,
ista tamen, quocumque ferar, me cura sequetur.
ite procul medicae, non sum sanabilis, artes,
ite procul magico qui (quod nee credere dignum est)
carmine pallentes animas revocatis ab Oreo, 140
ite procul vanis precibus qui flectere divos
creditis ; adversum est et inexorabile caelum.
me rapit impatiens furor et iuvat ire per altos
solivagum montes, per lustra ignota ferarum.'
Talia iactantem verbis conabar amicis
flectere, sed vulnus nihil insanabile curat,
ilium per campos nox intempesta silentes,
ilium exorta dies inter dumeta videbat
insomnem semper, raro silvestria poma
carpentem et potu contentum simplicis undae. 150
post longos gemitus exhaustaque lumina fletu
assiduo, post lamenta et convulsa frequenti
pectora singultu, moriens finivit amores.
exanimum corpus tumuli sine honore relictum
nocturnae absumpsere ferae volucresque diurnae.
Fan. Heu funesta lues, fatalis machina passim
ECLOGA III. 116-194 77
corda venenatis penetrans humana sagittis,
aequiperans hominem pecudi. quae pocula Circe,
quae peiora umquam potuit dare philtra Calypso?
quae Styx, quis Phlegethon gravior ? quae maior Erinys ? 1 60
0 stulti, quicumque deum dixistis Amorem.
num natura nocens deus est? ubicumque locorum
sit deus, est homini clemens, innoxius, aequus.
For. Heu miserande puer tenera sublate iuventa,
quae tibi nascenti luxerunt sidera? quae tarn
noxia pars caeli est, ut te nil tale merentem
laeserit et primis infortunarit ab annis?
nee tamen omnino caelum tibi def uit ; omne
carmen et argutis quidquid modulamur avenis
doctus eras, nisi te mors immatura tulisset, 170
dignus eras hederis, dignus Parnaside lauro;
nee melius cecinit pugnas ac tristia bella,
hordea et agrorum cultus et pascua noster
Tityrus a magno tantum dilectus Alexi.
namque tui praecox animi sollertia nobis
cognita iam pridem magnam producere frugem
coeperat, et specimen tuleras virtutis et artis
non vulgare tuae ; poteras iam gloria dici
ruris et aetatis decus indelebile nostrae.
te Padus et noster lugubri Mincius ore 180
cum Nymphis flevere suis, ut Thracius Hebrus
Orphea ; te tristes ovium flevere magistri,
ut Daphnim luxisse ferunt ; te pascua et agri
undique ; et audita est totis querimonia campis.
spargite, pastores, tumulum redolentibus herbis
atque sacerdotiun cantus ac tura quotannis
ducite, et aeternam requiem cantate poetae.
Fau. Tu tamen arva tenes patriae melioris et altum
incolis Elysium; nos hie te flemus, Amynta.
For. Flendum hodie nobis fuerat ; nam tristia nocte 190
nescio quae maestis cernebam insomnia formis.
sed iam Vesper adest et sol se in nube recondens,
dimi cadit, agricolis vieinos nuntiat imbres ;
cogere et ad caulas pecudes convertere tempus.
78 BAPTISTAE MANTUANI
t
ECLOGA IV, ALPHUS,
DE NATURA MULIERUM.
ALPHUS. lANNUS.
A. lanne, caper (video) macer est tuus. esse solebat
acer et elatis in caelum cornibus ire ;
nunc deiectus humi flaccis piger auribus herbam
olfacit et summis attingit gramina labris.
/. Languet, et ex isto languore facetia surgit
quae, quotiens memini, risum ciet. edita nondum est;
edita cum fuerit, totus mirabitur orbis.
A. lanne, soles narrare sales lepidissime et ore
suaviloquo ; die ergo tuus cur langueat hircus.
/. Res non ficta (Deus testis) sed facta recenter. 10
at dulce id f acinus non est narrabile gratis ;
quid pretii sperare licet? quae dona reporto?
A. lanne, ubi congessit nidos philomena docebo.
/. Qui leviter spondet promisso eludit inani.
A. Qui non credit, inops fidei. sed pignore tutum
te f aciam ; .duo tela mea deprome pharetra.
/. Incipiam. Nymphae Parnasides, ora movete
et memorate mei dira inf ortunia capri,
ac philomenaeos Alpho concedite nidos.
Conductus mercede puer praefectus ovili 20
assidue pascebat oves, caprum atque capellas.
servitium nobis pueri fuit utile, donee
virgine conspecta quae tum hue veniebat aquatum
tabuit. ex illo vecors iam tempore factus
frigidius curare gregem, contemnere caulas
coepit et exhausto subvertere cuncta cerebro.
cum sopitus erat, poterat vigil esse videri,
nugabatur enim ; quando vigilabat, inert!
corporis officio volvebat somnia mente.
hunc ergo in saltu ludens per cornua caprum .'^O
viminibus validis inter dumeta ligarat
(quarta dies hodie) tentans an vincula possit
vincere cervice ac praedurae robore frontis,
EC LOG A IV. 1-74 79
quaesitum interea nidos nemus omne pererrat.
corda subit virgo, dilecta recogitat ora,
ora, sinus et quae f ari pudor ; omnia volvit.
lux fugit interea; capri redit immemor. alta
nocte recordatus surgit, pavidusque per umbras
dum graditur, ruit in f oveam quae fronde saligna
captandis obducta feris et stramine sicco 40
instar erat putei fundo irremeabilis alto.
est caper in vinclis, puer est in carcere, pastor
nuUus oves curat, iam tertia luxerat hora;
miror, oves resero ac numero caprumque requirens
obstupeo ; puerum clamo, magalia lustro.
vera loquar: magicis ne forte liquoribus unctus
extimui ascenso migrasset in aera capro.
namque striges tali fama est ope nocte vagantes
ad quaedam longinqua procul convivia f erri.
attonitus tandem pecudes ad pascua duco. 50
dumque pedum meditans subeo nemus, ecce per umbras,
ecce procul caper in dumis strepit atque reluctans
cornibus adversis contra sua vincula pugnat.
terruit incautum subito feralis imago
et nil tale ratum ; firmato pectore tandem
nosco animal subiensque rubos seco vincula runca.
sero domum rediens video per pascua longe
turbam exsultantem risu iuveniliter alto.
ut prope constitimus meque agnovere, salutant
et ' tuus ecce,' aiunt, ' puer hie, o lanne, luporum 60
erutus e foveis. dum nocte perambulat agros,
incidit in casses.' et sic inventus uterque,
et caper et pastor, caper haec incommoda passus
languet adhuc; puer imprudens insanior hirco est.
virgo superbivit mox, ut se audivit amari,
et pueri simulans curam ignorare pudorem
fingit, ut ad formam faciat pudor. ora sinumque
ornat et in terram versis incedit ocellis
callida; vulpina rem simplicitate gubernat.
haec studia, hi casses, haec sunt mulieribus arma. 70
ille sua sperans Galatea aliquando potiri
contempta mercede suos sectatur amores.
propterea plaustro, stiva bobusque relictis
ad pastoris opus redeo ; subiecta f urori
80 BAPTISTAE MANTUANI
ista iuventutis levitas rura omnia vexat.
A . Quod nequit ingenium, casus f acit. o stupor, o sors
ingeniosa, o res risu celebranda bimestri !
lanne, fides servanda; tibi philomena laborat.
sed quod tarn vafro memoras de virginis astu
rettulit in mentem quae psallere saepe solebat 80
carmina femineis olim de fraudibus Umber.
/. Die Umbri, die, si quid habes. meditare parum_per
et verba et numeros ; Umbri est memorabile carmen.
A. Est (ut ais) sed non gratis, memorabile carmen,
quas referes grates? et quid mercedis habebo?
/. Accipe : promissis absolvo et spicula reddo.
A. Dum vado ad ventrem post haec carecta levandum,
lanne, meum tu coge pecus, ne vitibus obsit.
/. O aries, aries, qui tortis cornibus atrum
daemona praesentas, semper vineta subintras. 90
non sapies donee fossa tibi lumina f route
eruero. non sunt porrecta in iugera centum
pascua sat, nisi pampineos populeris et agros.
A. lanne, recordatus redeo, sed plurima forsan
nondum nota tibi referam. cognoverat Umber
omnia quae fas est homini perdiscere, caelos,
sidera, tellurem, ventos, mare, flumina, fontes.
viderat et Rhodopen atque alta Ceraunia et Ossam,
Gallica regna, Ararim, Rhodanum Tiberimque Padumque,
Attica Romanis referebat carmina verbis 100
ore utroque potens et lingua primus utraque.
hunc unum nobis invidit Graecia et ipsi
Arcades et Thracum saltus et Thessala Tempe.
si quid erit quod forte velis tibi notius esse,
Candidus illius semper documenta secutus
non procul hinc ; haec ille tenet, nos ille docebit.
sed iam septiforem flatu experiamur avenam.
ante tamen Nymphae precor ut Libethrides adsint,
praesertim quae plus meminisse Pol3'mnia fertur.
' Femineum servile genus, crudele, superbimi, 110
lege, modo, ratione caret, confinia recti
neglegit, extremis gaudet, facit omnia voto
praecipiti, vel lenta iacet vel concita currit ;
femina semper hiems atque intractabile frigus,
aut Canis ardentes contristat sidere terras,
EC LOG A IV. 75-i5(> 81
temperiem numquam, numqiiam mediocria curat ;
vel te ardenter amat vel te capitaliter odit.
si gravis est, maeret torvo nimis hernica vultu ;
si studeat comis fieri gravitate remissa,
fit levis, erumpit blando lascivia risu 120
et lepor in molli radiat meretricius ore.
flet, ridet, sapit, insanit, formidat et audet,
vult, non vult, secumque sibi contraria pugnat
mobilis, inconstans, vaga, garrula, vana, bilinguis,
imperiosa, minax, indignabunda, cruenta,
improba, avara, rapax, querula, invida, credula, mendax,
impatiens, onerosa, bibax, temeraria, mordax,
ambitiosa, levis, maga, lena, superstitiosa,
desidiosa, vorax, ganeae studiosa, palatum
docta, salax, petulans et dedita mollitiei, 130
dedita blanditiis, curandae dedita formae.
irae odiique tenax in idonea tempora differt
ulciscendi animos infida, ingrata, maligna,
impetuosa, audax, fera, litigiosa, rebellis.
exprobrat, excusat tragica sua crimina voce,
murmurat, accendit rixas, nil foedera pendit,
ridet amicitias, curat sua commoda tantum.
ludit, adulatur, defert, sale mordet amaro,
seminat in vulgus nugas, auditaque lingua
auget et ex humili tumulo producet Olympum. 140
dissimulat, simulat doctissima fingere causas
ordirique dolos fraudique accomodat ora,
ora omnes facili casus imitantia motu.
non potes insidias evadere, non potes astum
vincere ; tantae artes, sollertia tanta nocendi.
et quamquam videas oculis praesentibus, audet
excusare nefas. potis est eludere sensus
sedulitate animi ; nihil est quod credere possis
et nihil est quod non, si vult, te credere cogat.
His facient exempla fidem. quae crimina non sunt 150
feminea temptata manu? dedit hostibus arcem
decepta ornatu l)racchi Tarpeia sinistri,
saeviit in natos manibus Medea cruentis,
Tyndaris Aegaeas oneravit navibus undas,
Scylla hostem sequitur patri furata capillum.
fratrem Byblis amat, subicit se Myrrha parenti,
82 BAPriSTAE MANTUANl
concubitus nati longaeva Semiramis ardet.
causa necis vati coniunx fuit Amphiarao,
occidere viros nocturnis Belides armis, ♦
Orphea membratim Cicones secuere poetam. 160
cognita luxuriae petulantia Pasiphaaeae,
Phaedra pudicitiam contra crudeliter ausa est.
decepit ludaea virum Rebecca suamque
progeniem velans hircino guttura tergo,
porrigit Alcidae coniunx fatale venenum,
decipit Hippodame patrem. Lavinia Troas
implicat ancipiti bello, Briseis Achillem
depulit e castris, demens Chryseide factus
fulminat Atrides et sentit Apollinis iras.
Eva genus nostrum felicibus expulit arvis. 170
credite, pastores (per rustica numina iuro)
pascua si gregibus vestris innoxia vultis,
si vobis ovium cura est, si denique vobis
grata quies, pax, vita, leves prohibete puellas
pellanturque procul vestris ab ovilibus omnes,
Thestylis et Phyllis, Galatea, Neaera, Lycoris.
dicite, quae tristem mulier descendit ad Orcum
et rediit? potuit, si non male sana fuisset,
Eurydice revehi per quas descenderat umbras ;
rapta sequi renuit fessam Proserpina matrem. 180
at pius Aeneas rediit, remeavit et Orpheus,
maximus Alcides et Theseus et duo fratres.
unus equis, alter pugnis bonus atque palaestra,
et noster Deus, unde salus et vita resurgit.
haec sunt, pastores, haec sunt mysteria vobis
advertenda: animi fugiunt obscena viriles,
femineas loca delectant infamia mentes.'
Ut semel in scopulos vento contortus et unda
nauta scit incautis monstrare pericula nautis,
sic senior longo f actus prudentior usu 190
praeteritos meminit casus aperitque futuri
temporis eventus vitaeque pericula monstrat.
' Si fugiunt aquilam fulicae, si retia cervi.
si agna lupum, si damma canem, muliebria cur non
blandimenta fugis tantum tibi noxia, pastor?
est in eis pietas crocodili. astutia hyaenae ;
cum flet et appellat te blandius, insidiatur.
ECLOGA IV. 157-238 83
femineos, pastor, fugito (sunt retia) vultus ;
non animis, non virtuti, non viribus uUis
fidito, non clipeo cuius munimine Perseus 200
vidit saxificae colubros impune Medusae.
monstra peremerunt multi, domuere gigantes,
evertere urbes, legem imposuere marinis
fluctibus, impetui fluviorum et montibus aspris,
sacra coronarunt multos certamina ; sed qui
cuncta subegerunt sunt a muliere subacti.
rex qui pastor erat f unda spolioque leonis
inclutus, et natus qui templa Sionia fecit
primus, et excellens invicto robore Samson
femineum subiere iugum; minus officit ignis, 210
saxa minus, rhomphaea minus, minus hasta, minus mors.
nee formae contenta suae splendore decorem
auget mille modis mulier : f rontem ligat auro,
purpurat arte genas et collocat arte capillos,
arte regit gressus et lumina temperat arte.
currit, ut in latebras ludens perducat amantem ;
vult dare, sed cupiens simplex et honesta videri
denegat et pugnat ; sed vult super omnia vinci.
femina Caeciaco (res mira) simillima vento est
qui trahit expellens mendaci nubila flatu. 220
quisquis es (expertus moneo) temptare recusa,
dum licet, hie fragilis quot habet fastidia sexus.
immundum natura animal, sed quaeritur arte
mundities ; id luce opus est, ea somnia nocte.
deglabrat, lavat et pingit, striat, unguit et ornat
tota dolus, tota ars, tota histrio, tota venenum.
consilio speculi gerit omnia ; labra movere
discit et inspecto vultimi componere vitro,
discit blandiri, discit ridere, iocari,
incedens umeros discit vibrare natesque. 230
quid sibi vult nudum pectus? quid aperta superne
rimula quae bifidam deducit in ubera vallem?
nempe nihil, nisi quo virus penetrabile sensum
plus premat et Stygiae rapiant praecordia flammae.
hi iuvenum scopuli, Syrtes, Scyllae atque Charybdes ;
hae immundae Phinei volucres quae ventre soluto
proluvie foeda thalamos, cenacula, mensas,
compita, templa, vias, agros, mare, flumina, montes
84 BAPTISTAE MANTUANI
•
incestare solent ; hae sunt Phorcynides ore
monstrifico extremis Libyae quae in finibus olim ' 240
aspectu mutare homines in saxa solebant.'
Carmina doctiloqui cursim recitavimus Umbri.
quae si visa tibi nimium prolixa, memento
ipsius id rei vitium, non carminis esse. '.
non longum est carmen, mulierum amentia longa est.
/. O memorande senex, quo se vetus Umbria tantum
iactat et ipse tuae Tiberis conterminus urbi,
Martia non ab re tantum te Roma vocabat.
ipsa tuas artes et non trivialia norat
carmina. te vita functum flevere Latinae * 250
Naiades et Graiae. tua molliter ossa quiescant
semper et in summo mens aurea vivat Olympo.
ECLOGA IV. 239— V. 33 85
ECLOGA V, CANDIDUS,
DE CONSUETUDINE DIVITUM ERG A POET AS.
SILVANUS. CANDIDUS.
S. Candide, nobiscum pecudes aliquando solebas
pascere et his gelidis calamos inflare sub umbris
et miscere sales simul et certare palaestra^
nunc autem quasi pastores et rura perosus
pascua sopito fugis et trahis otia cantu.
C. Vos quibus est res ampla domi, quibus ubera vaccae
plena ferunt, quibus alba greges mulctraria complent,
cymbia lacte nivent et pinguia prandia fumant,
carmina laudatis ; si quid concinnius exit,"\
plauditis ac laeti placidas extenditis aures. 10
pro numeris vanas laudes et inania verba
redditis ; interea pastor sitit, esurit, alget.
S. Nonne potes curare greges et dicere versus,
cum vacat, et positis vitam traducere curis?
C. Omnem operam gregibus pastorem impendere oportet,
ire, redire, lupos arcere, mapalia saepe
cingere, mercari paleas et pabula, victum
quaercre ; nil superest oti. laudabile carmen
omnem operam totumque caput, Silvane, requirit.
grande utrumque opus est et nostris viribus impar. 20
cum cecini, sitio ; sitienti pocula nemo
porrigit. irrident alii : ' tibi paenula,' dicunt,
' Candide, trita, genu nudum, riget hispida barba.'
iam silvae implumes et hiems in montibus albet ;
irascor, doleo, indignor. fert omnia victus,
lanitium f etusque mares ; non vendimus agnas,
sed, quia lac pascunt, premitur nihil; ubera siccant.
paenitet ingenii, si quid mihi, paenitet artis,
ga^nitet et vitae, postquam mihi nulla secundant
ex tot sideribus quot sunt in nocte serena. 30
hactenus (ut nosti) gratis cantavimus ; aetas
indiga paucorum merces fuit ; altera longe
condicio senii quod nunc subit : omnium egenos
86 B APT 1ST A E MANTUANI
reddit et exstinctis lucri spem viribus aufert.
mox erit utendum partis, modo quaerere tempus.
en formica, brevis sed provida bestia, condit
in brumam nova f arra cavis aestate latebris,
neve renascantur fruges secat ore sepultas.
S. Scire genethliacos fatalia sidera dicunt.
hi sub Mercuric vates et sub love reges 40
magnatesque locant ; istis dat luppiter aurum
atque magistratus, dat Maiae filius illis
ingenium, linguam, citharas et carminis artem.
haec tua sors; quid quaeris opes? Deus omnia in omnes
dividit, ut melius nobis videt esse futurum.
sorte tua contentus abi, sine cetera nobis.
C. Sunt tibi divitiae, mihi carmina; quid petis ergo
carmen et invadis partes, Silvane, alienas?
S. Non tibi surripio carmen nee Apollinis anna,
sed dare dulcisonis aures concentibus opto. 50
C. Si gaudere meis igitur concentibus optas,
nos gaudere tuis opibus, Silvane, decorum est.
S. lUe meis opibus gaudet qui diligit ; odit
invidus atque animo bona fert aliena molesto.
C. Sic quoque tu nostris absens gaudere Camenis
sat potes ; haec artis sat sint tibi gaudia no.strae.
carmina sunt auris convivia, caseus oris;
si cupis auditu, fac nos gaudere palato.
hoc amor, hoc pietas, hoc vult Deus ; omnia non dat
omnibus, ut nemo sibi sit satis indigeatque 60
alter ope alterius, quae res coniungit in unum
omne genus, Gallos, Mauros, Italos et Iberos.
sidera iungamus : f acito mihi luppiter adsit,
et tibi Mercurius noster dabit omnia faxo,
pilleolum, virgam, citharas, nodum Herculis, alas-
S. Vana supervacuis inculcas plurima verbis.
C. Vana inquis quae damna tuis inferre videntur
divitiis. ^si vis nostras audire Camenas,
erue sopitam de sollicitudine mentem ;
vult hilares animos tranquillaque pectora carmen. 70
torpeo, ut esuriem patiens et frigora milvus,
iamdudum squarrosa cutis, situs occupat ora, "
nee pecus in stabulis, nee in agro f arra, nee aurum
~ in loculis; et vis positis me vivere curis?
ECLOGA V. 34-tis 87
non facit ad nostros talis medicina dolores.
f ac alacrem, tege, pasce, gravi succurre senectae ;
invenies promptum versu et cantare paratum.
[plena domus curas abigit, cellaria plena,
plena penus pknique cadi plenaeque lagenae,
horrea plena, greges laeti, gravis aere crumena. 80
tunc iuvat hibernos noctu vigilare Decembres
ante focum et cineri ludos inarare bacillo,
torrere et tepidis tostas operire favillis
castaneas plenoque sitim restinguere vitro
fabellasque inter nentes ridere puellas.
Tityrus (ut fama est) sub Maecenate vetusto
rura, boves et agros et Martia bella canebat
altius et magno pulsabat sidera cantu. -
eloquium f ortuna dabat ; nos, debile vulgus,
pannosos, macie affectos, farragine pastos 90
Aoniae fugiunt Musae, contemnit Apollo.
S. Si sperata mihi dederit fortuna quod opto,
Candide, praesenti te sollicitudine solvam.
C. O utinam, Silvane, foret tibi tanta voluntas
quanta est hac etiam tibi tempestate facultas.
non ego divitias Cosmi, non Serica posco
pallia, non Tyrias chlamydes, non prandia regmn,
non patinam Aesopi f ameo clipeumve Minervae ;
nil opus est regis laribus cui ferrea nomen
tradidit aut, si mens non fallitur, aenea barba 100
(haec me iam pridem memini didicisse sub Umbro)
postulo vestitum, peto victum sub lare parvo
certior istud opis toti non def ore vitae ;
sint mihi Pythagorae mensae Codrique supellex. ^
saepe alios qui spem dederint invenimus ore
magnificos, sed re modicos ; tibi fidimus uni.
tu mihi si fueris mendax, praeciditur omnis
spes, ut solstitio fiam philomena reverso
mutus et elinguis. suspendere postibus arma
tempus erit clausoque abigi spectacula circo. ^ HO
5. Candide, vidisti Romam sanctique senatUs
pontifices, ubi tot vates, ubi copia rerum
tantarum? facile est illis ditescere campis.
C. Deciperis me velle putans ditescere. vesci
et lupus omne animal crudis existimat escis ^
S8 BAPTISTAE MANTUANI
tuque putas alios quo tu pede claudere passum.
non ego ditari cupio, sed vivere parvo.
f ac habeam tenuem sine soUicitudine victum ;
hoc contentus earn. Romana palatia vidi,
sed quid Roma, putas, mihi proderit? o Silvane, 120
occidit Augustus numquam rediturus ab Oreo.
si quid Roma dabit, nugas dabit. accipit aurum,
verba dat. heu Romae nunc sola pecunia reg'nat ;
exsilium virtus patitur. sperare iubemur
undique et in toto vates spe pascimur orbe.
*S. Die pugnas, die gesta virum, die proelia regum.
vertere ad hos qui seeptra tenent, qui regna gubernant ;
invenies qui te de sordibus eruat istis.
C. Inveniam qui me derideat et subsannet.
tempestate ista reverentia tanta poesi 130
quanta lupanari ; quid me, Silvane, laeessis?
S. Non deeet obseenis vatem prorumpere verbis^
C. Non possum non vera loqui. si vera taeeri
forte velis, levibus me paree laeessere dietis.
S. Utile consilium praestare laeessere non est.
C. Consilii loeuples ego, sed pauperrimus auri.
qui pugnas, qui gesta virum, qui proelia regum
dicet inops vates eui nee quo fistula possit
aptius ineidi fierique foramina eulter?
aspiee ut exeussis luxata manubria clavis, , 140
ut dentata aeies veterique simillima serrae.
hoc leve, sed mensae grave et intolerabile damnum,
utile consilium iirmat, sed inutile mentem
frangit et extenuat vires animumque retundit. \
magnates dare parva pudet, dare magna recusant. |
adde quod et nostri curant ita earmina reges
ut frondes Aquilo, mare Lil)s, vineta pruinae.
ipsi ad delicias reges et ad otia versi
quod celebrant laudari optant ; liinc earmina manant
perdita de studio Veneris, de scurrilitate, 150
de ganea, de segnitie, de infamibus actis
quae eastum capitale nefas celebrare poetam.
'tit qui dura manu gcsserunt bella potenti
fortiter utentes ferro, non molliter auro,
dilexere graves Musas ; heroica facta
qui faciunt reges heroica earmina laudant.
EC LOG A V. J 1 6-1 go 89
ut cessere viri fortes et mascula virtus,
dicendum altiloqui nihil invenere poetae ; --^
occidit ingenium vatum, ruit alta poesis.
at si forte aliquis regum gerit aspera bella 160
et decus armorum studiis belloque paravit,
nil genus externum venturaque saecula curat
laude suae gentis satur et praesentibus annis ;
barbarus est neque carmen amat vel avarus in auro
mergitur atque Midae curis flagrantibus ardet.
est et apud reges rudis, invida, rustica turba, ^
mimus, adulator, leno, assentator, adulter, ' •
histrio, scurra, quibus virtus odiosa; poetas
mille modis abigunt, ut quando cadavera corvi
invenere, fugant alias volucresque ferasque. 170
sunt etiam vates quidam sine lege petulci
qui sine lege aliti sine praeceptoribus audent
quidquid amant reges (et amant infamia solum)
scribere ; nam vates etiam dementia vexat.
hi se nescio qua mentis levitate poetas ,y
esse volunt. postquam trivialibus ora cicutis
applicuere, sibi applaudunt, sua carmina iactant
insulsi, illepidi, indociles, improvidi, inepti.
qui solet his vacuas praebere ambagibus aures
id vitium commune putat doctisque resistit 180
vatibus a vero indoctus discernere falsum.
S. Candide, per Superos, per Olympica numina iuro
me tibi, si venti veniant ad vela secundi,
laturum auxilium. meliora in tempora vive
nee paulisper adhuc mecum sperare recusa.
C. Si mihi sic optas, tibi sit, Silvane, quod optas.
S. Opto equidem, dictumque fides non sera sequetur.^'
C. Vade malis avibus numquam rediturus, avare,
et facias subito quidquid tractaveris aurum
more Midae, quando virtus tibi vilior auro. 190
90 BAPTISTAE MANTUANl
ECLOGA VI, CORNIX,
DE DISCEPTATIONE RUSTICORUM ET CIVWM.
J
CORNIX. FULICA.
C. Ningit hiems, mugit Boreas, a culmine pendet
stiria ; depositis bobus requiescit arator,
dormit humus; clause pastor tunicatus ovili
cessat iners, sedet ante focum fumosa Neaera
atque polenta coquit. prius intolerabilis aestas
nunc laudatur, hiems aestu laudata molesto
displicet ; optatum damnat praesentia f rigus.
F. Omne bonum praesens minus est ; sperata videntur
magna, velut maius reddit distantia lumen.
C. Delicias habet omne suas et gaudia tempus. 10
aspice ut impexi tritaque in veste ligati
caede suum pueri exsultant. inflatur in utrem
immissis vesica f abis ; sonat et micat acta
nunc pede, nunc cubito, stricto nunc obvia pugno.
si cadit, attollunt ; cursu labor atque recursu
brumam abigit ; glaciale gelu pila rustica vincit.
nos tamen hie melius tepido sub stramine f oti
transigimus tempus, dum lac coit igne recoctum.
"^F. Pauperiem declarat hiems. improvida certe
turba sumus iuvenes ; securi aestate vagamur 20
immemores hiemis, nostrum aes tibicinis omne est;
ut redit e Scythia Boreas nidosque volucrum
frondibus ostendit nudata cadentibus arbor,
frigemus nudi scapulas, dorsum, ilia, plantas.
stultitiam declarat hiems./ sapientius urbes
congeriem nummum accumulant et ad ilia vulpes
melotasque trahunt maculosaque tergora lyncis.
C. Desipiunt omnes nee nos in crimine soli,
immo ipsos vexat gravior dementia cives,
verum illis mater nobis Fortuna noverca 30
nos premit. infelix sors est dementia, fac sim
fortunatus, ero locuples, ero primus in urbe,
audiar, assurgent omnes, me vertice nudo
EC LOG A VI. 1-74 91
vulgus adorabit, me plebs, me consulet omnis
turba, magistratus etiam populusque patresque.
F. O Comix, Cornix, non est Fortuna sed ipse
quo sapiunt homines animus. Fortuna potentem
non facit, immo Deus; causam recitabat Amyntas.
C. Est Fortuna Deus. sed quid recitarit Amyntas
die, precor ; in causis erat ingeniosus et acer. 40
ante tamen paulum pecus et praesepia vise,
vade, redi; calor est post frigora dulcior; ito.
F. Attingit nix alta genu, vix tecta resistunt
tanto oneri ; sublimis apex in vertice f urni
pyramidem fecit metaque assurgit acuta.
C. Da pecori cordum stipulisque foramina claude.
si paries hiat, et rediens laetamine muni
limina ; nulla gregi gravior quam frigora pestis.
iamne ades? oh quaenam haec solito properantia maior?
F. Sollicitum me reddit hiems ; in frigore et igni 50
maxima strenuitas ; f aeno recubare calenti
abscondique cavo accubitu post frigora dulce est.
C. Incipe, et enarra discrimina ruris et urbis.
F. Hoc igitur tantum ruris discrimen et urbis
taliter exortum noster recitabat Amyntas.
Principio rerum primaque ab origine mundi
cum muliere marem sociali f oedere iungens
caeli Opifex (sic namque Deum appellabat Amyntas;
nomen adhuc teneo) natos producere iussit
atque modum docuit fieri quo pignora possent. 60
accinxere operi, mandata fideliter implent ;
sicque utinam de pomi esu servata fuissent.
femina fit mater, puerum parit atque puellam,
atque puerperio simili fecunda quotannis
auxit in immensum generis primordia nostri.
post tria lustra Deus rediit. dum pignora pectit
femina prospiciens venientem a limine vidit.
Adam aberat, securus oves pascebat ; adulter ^
nullus adhuc suspectus erat; sed multiplicatis
conubiis fraudata fides, sine cornibus hirci 70
facti, et zelotypo coniunx suspecta marito.
nam quae quisque facit fieri sibi furta veretur.
erubuit mater nimiaeque libidinis ingens
indicium rata tot natos abscondere quosdam
92 B APT I ST A E MANTUANI
accelerat ; f aeno sepelit paleisque recondit.
iamque lares Deus ingressus salvere penates
iussit et * hue,' dixit, ' mulier, tua pignora profer.'
femina maiores natu procedere mandat.
his Deus arrisit, velut arridere solemus
exiguis avium puUis parvisve catellis. 80
et primo laetatus ait, ' cape regia sceptra ;
rex eris.' at ferrum et belli dedit arma secundo
et ' dux,' inquit, ' eris,' fasces populique secures
protulit et vites et pila insignia Romae.
iamque magistratus celebres partitus in omnem
progeniem humanos tacitus volvebat honores.
interea mater rebus gavisa secundis
evolat ad caulas et quos absconderat ultro
protulit ' haec,' dicens, ' nostri quoque pignora ventris ;
hos aliquo. Pater omnipotens, dignabere dono.' 90
setosum albebat paleis caput, haeserat armis
stramen et antiquis quae pendet aranea tectis.
non arrisit eis, sed tristi turbidus ore
* vos f aenum, terram et stipulas,' Deus inquit, ' oletis.
vester erit stimulus, vester ligo, pastina vestra ;
vester erit vomer, iuga vestra, agrestia vestra
omnia; aratores eritis pecorumque magistri,
faenisecae, solifossores, nautae atque bubulci.
sed tamen ex vobis quosdam donabimus urbe
qui sint fartores, lanii, lixae artocopique 100
et genus hoc alii soliti sordescere. semper
sudate et to to servite prioribus aevo.'
taliter Omnipotens fatus repetivit 01>Tnpum.
Sic factum est servile genus, sic ruris et urbis
inductum discrimen ait Mantous Amyntas.
C. Mirabar si quid recti dixisset Amyntas.
civis erat ; semper nobis urbana inventus
cui nihil est praeter stulta haec commenta negoti
ludit ; in agrestes semper iaculantur, et urbis
talia garrulitas et vaniloquentia fingit. 110
at neque de Superis pudet has componere nugas.
iste iocus manifesta gerit convicia secum,
sed tu tam rudis es, tam pleno inflatus omaso,
ut neque perpendas isto te scommate carpi,
nos quoque paulisper mentem extendamus ad urbis
EC LOG A II. 75-156 93
stultitiam, ne forte putes sapientius illos
vivere qui splendent auro, qui murice fulgent.
His oculis vidi tunicis plerosque superbis
vestiri atque foro regali incedere gressu
quos secreta fames premit atque domestica egestas. 120
stultius his certe nihil est ; opulentia ficta,
paupertas et segnities et inertia vitae
vera, quid est aliud quam desipientia vera?
vidi etiam patres (o rem indignam atque nefandam)
dum segnes dormire volunt et vivere laute,
prostituisse suas vulgo cum coniuge natas ;
quid peius? quid perfidius? quid stultius umquam?
F. Quid si vitam alio nequeunt traducere pacto?
C. Cum totidem quot nos habeant animasque manusque,
die cur vitam alio nequeant traducere pacto. 130
Est etiam cuius vecors industria vanas
quaerat opes, ubi nullus opes invenit ab aevo :
aes lavat herbarum sucis et vertere in aurum
aestimat ac nigra semper fuligine pallet,
est qui, dum tellure latens desiderat aurum,
dat magicis operam studiis et tempora perdit ;
quid levius? quid futilius? quid inanius umquam?
omnia, ne veniant ad opus telluris et agri,
omnia pertemptant ; ut agant nihil, omnia versant.
semper agunt, numquam peragunt. ex faenore victum 140
inf amem extorquent ; vi, f raude dolisque laborant.
mille viis opibus, mille insidiantur honori.
nos capras et oves armentaque pascimus, illi
accipitres, catulos et equos et cercopithecos.
rusticus est ovium pastor, volucrumque canumque
civis ; utrum melius, te iudice, nobiliusque,
0 Fulica, utilitas unde et opulentia maior ?
F. Si venit ex nostris operis opulentia maior,
civibus unde igitur tantarum copia rerum?
C. Ex vi, f raude, dolis ; vi, f rautie dolisque laborant. 150
nonne vides, insane, ut nos crudeliter urgent,
quo capiunt astu? nos irretire loquendo
sacrum offerre putant et opus sublime piumque.
hue aures oculosque adigunt, hue ora manusque.
F. Unde urbanarum tibi tanta peritia rerum?
C. Haec didici quondam ductis in moenia capris,
94 BAPTISTAE MANTUANI
cum lac vociferans ibam venale per urbem.
mansi apud artocopum. sapiens et ad omnia promptus
furta erat et crudum ferro subradere panem.
ipse, ut erat mores urbis doctissimus, ista 160
tradidit affirmans nihil esse nocentius urbe ;
se quoque furari didicisse aiebat ab urbe.
Sunt etiam qui parta ab avis patrimonia fundunt
in meretricum usus ; quid f oedius improbiusque ?
die, ubi moechandi ars, homicidia, seditiones?
nonne inter cives atque intra moenia regnant ?
quid reges qui regna hominum per vulnera quaerunt
in mortemque suos adigunt? quid pectora miles
obiciens telis, per mille pericula vadens?
pro stipe dat vitam; nulla est insania maior. 170
gloria praefertur vitae; quid gloria? quid laus?
quid fama est? quid honor? voces et opinio vulgi.
omnia longa dies abolet ; cum vivere cessas,
omnia sic abeunt, ut lux cum sole recedit.
qui mare sollicitant remis, cum vivere possint
in patria, stulti ; vento qui credit et undis,
stultus ; divitiae cui sunt et neglegit uti,
stultus ; qui, ut natis cumulet patrimonia, partis
abstinet et genium fraudat, stultissimus, et qui
quae facere ipse potest natis faciunda relinquit. 180
qui numerant Stellas et se comprendere fata
posse putant, stulti ; verum dementior istis
naturam quicumque Dei scrutatur et audet
figere in immensam lumen tam debile lucem.
nostra fides melior. civis ratione coactus
difficile assentit ; nudis nos omnia verbis
credimus et plures faculas accendimus aris.
civibus est infida fides ; inquirere numquam
mente sinunt arcana Dei. si numina scire
esset opus, poterant nobis se ostendere; verum, 190
quando latere volunt, quid vestigare necesse est
quae nos scire negant ipsi qui cuncta gubernant ?
nostra etiam pietas pietate potentior urbis.
namque viri qui sacra canunt templisque ministrant
quanta legunt ruri paucis alimenta diebus?
vidi ego quaesitas ex rure in moenia plenis
puppibus inferri (pietas ea rustica) fruges.
ECLOGA VI. T57-23S 95
stultorum est aliud genus immedicabile quoddam,
causidici latratores rabulaeque forenses
nummorum aucupium docti legumque tyranni. 200
aere patrocinium vendunt ; producere causas
et lites pendere diu vindemia quaedam est.
sunt et equestre genus medici qui tangere venas
non numquam illicitas audent et ponere quaedam
non intellectis temeraria nomina morbis.
his, etsi tenebras palpant, est facta potestas
excruciandi aegros hominesque impune necandi.
qui vero in populis praesunt hominesque gubernant
quo plus iuris habent quantoque licentia maior
insanire solent tanto amplius. 0 ubi sancti 210
rectores et iustitiae et pietatis amici
quos patres sero ante focum memorare solebant?
omnia nunc abeunt pessum. spoliata queruntur
templa, gemunt inopes, viduae lacrimantur, et huius
quaenam causa mali? quia stat pro lege libido.
F. Ista tua, o Cornix, excandescentia fines
transit honestatis ; scelus omnibus obicis omne.
innocuos habitare homines et in urbe memento.
C. Non habitant colubri quaedam Balearibus arva
proxima (non memini nomen) neque noctua Cretam, 220
nee nemus Egeriae sonipes, nee vir bonus urbem.
F. Vir bonus est animal rarum paucasque per urbes
et per rura locos habet ; est rarissima virtus.
C. Insanis, Fulica, insanis ; tot in urbibus hostes
sunt tibi quot cives. hi nos tondentque pilantque
non habita nostri capitis ratione ; coartant
nos ad furta, ipsi mox ad suspendia mittunt.
fas igitur, si quid nostris sese unguibus offert,
radere et insidiis ac nostra indagine captos
deplumare levi tactu sensim et pedepressim. 230
si videt, excusa ; si sunt secreta, negato
furta ; quod occultum est non est iniuria f urtum.
quidquid habent noster labor est, industria nostra est.
F. lam longe egrederis metam rationis et aequi.
C. O Fulica, improbitas urbana coinquinat orbem.
unde tot in terras veniunt aestate procellae,
fulmina, venti, amnes, grando? vidisse recordor
tellurem tremere ac postes et tecta labare,
96 BAPTISTAE MANTUANI
solem obscurari. noctu obtenebrescere lunam.
cur segeti lolium, messi dominantur avenae, 240
uva in capreolos transit, caligine verni
depereunt flores? mala parturit omnia nobis
haec civile nefas, pariet quoque plura deinceps.
unde venit furor armorum bellique tumultus
qui genus omne mali secum vehit? omnibus urbs est
fons et origo malis. descendit ab urbe Lycaon,
Deucalion Pyrrha cum coniuge rusticus. ille
intulit illuviem terris, hie abstulit ; ille
abstulit humanum terris genus, intulit iste.
si terra (ut perhibent) flammis abolebitur umquam, 250
istud grande nefas ulla descendet ab urbe.
F. O Cornix, iam pone modum sermonibus istis ;
audio iamdudum pueros de pulte loquentes.
cetera, si quicquam superest, post prandia dices ;
pulti indulgendum monet urbibus hora relictis.
EC LOG A VI. 23g—VII. 33 97
ECLOGA VII, POLLUX,
DE CONVERSIONE lUVENUM AD RELIGIONEM, CUM
I AM AUCTOR AD RELIGIONEM ASPIRARET.
ALPHUS. GALBULA.
A. Galbula, quid sentis? Pollux doctissimus olim
fistulicen subito quodam quasi numine tactus
destituit calamos, tunicas, armenta, sodales;
bardocucullatus caput ut campestris alauda
quattuor ante dies in religiosa recessit
claustra. f erunt ilium, pecudes dum solus in agris .
pasceret, effigiem quandam vidisse deorum.
cetera non memini, sed tu quid, Galbula, sentis?
G. Ut dixere patres, iaciens primordia reriun
(magna canam nobis quae quondam tradidit Umber) 10
instituit Deus agricolas pecorisque magistros.
primus agri cultor rudis, immansuetus et asper
qualis humus segnis, lapidosa, rebellis aratro.
ast ovium primus pastor, mitissima proles,
instar ovis quae bile caret, quae lacte redundat,
mitis erat, nullis umquam pastoribus asper.
de grege saepe suo sacrum ponebat ad aras;
nunc ove, nunc pingui vitulo faciebat, et agno
saepius, et magno divos ambibat honore.
sic profecit apud Superos, sic numina flexit, 20
ut fuerit primo mundi nascentis ab ortu
tempus ad hoc caelo pecoris gratissima cura.
Assyrios quosdam (sed nescio nomina; curae
diminuunt animum) Deus ex pastoribus olim
constituit reges qui postea murice et auro
conspicui gentes bello domuere superbas.
cum Paris Iliaca tria numina vidit in Ida
(aut Paris aut alius puerum qui obtruncat ad aram)
pastor erat. quando caelesti exterritus igne
venit ad ostentum pedibus per pascua nudis, 30
pastor erat Moses, Moses a fiiunine tractus.
exul apud Graios Amphrysia pastor Apollo
rura peragravit posito deitatis honore.
98 BAPTISTAE MANTUANI
caelestes animi Christo ad praesepia nato
in caulis cecinere Deum pastoribus ortum,
et nova divini partus miracula docti
pastores primi natum videre Tonantem,
et sua pastores infans Regnator Olympi
ante magos regesque dedit cunabula scire.
se quoque pastorem Deus appellavit, ovesque 40
mitibus ingeniis homines et mentibus aequis.
et, ne vana putes haec somnia, nuper ab urbe
rus veniens picto perlegi haec omnia templo.
sunt pecudes pictae, parvi sub matribus agni
in tellure cubant, ingens equitatus ab alto
monte venit, radiant auro diademata divum
et suspensa tenent vaga lumina praetereuntum.
non igitur mirum noster si numina Pollux
vidit ; amant villas et oves et ovilia divi.
simplicibus praesens Deus est, offenditur astu. 50
A. Vera refers, pecori sic sint innoxia nostro
pascua. vidi asinum, vidi praesepe bovemque.
iam memini turbae venientis, et ora videre
Tndica iam videor regum sua dona ferentum.
unum oro, quaenam Polluci occurrit imago?
Galbula, si nosti, ne sit labor omnia fari.
G. Et novi et memorare libet ; res digna relatu,
res digna auditu, pia, sancta, imitabile factum.
Durus et immitis pater atque superba noverca
Pollucem graviore iugo pressere iuventae 60
tempore cum dulces animos nova suggerit aetas ;
et cum iam invalidae longo sub pondere vires
deficerent nuUaque odium mansuesceret arte,
constituit temptare fugam. res una volentem
ire diu tenuit : nimis impatienter amabat ;
error enim communis amor iuvenilibus annis.
res est f ortis amor, violentia f ortior ; ivit.
et tales abiens (mihi namque solebat amores
enarrare suos) maesto dedit ore querellas:
' O virgo. lacrimaene tuis solventur ocellis 70
cum te tam caro cernes ab amante relictam?
ullane discessu duces suspiria nostro?
tune mei crudelis eris forte immemor umquam?
usqueadeone tuum poterit frigescere pectus,
EC LOG A VIL 34-115 99
pectus quod totiens quod lumina fletibus implet?
tune trahes crebros gemitus et pallida fies?
cerno oculos, cerno lacrimas, cerno anxia corda
virginis. heu tantum qua dissimulare dolorem
fas erit arte? dolor duplex mea pectora torquet,
illius atque meus. sed fas mihi flere, quod illi 80
non licet ; occultus longe magis aestuat ignis.
incolumem mihi vos, divi, servabitis illam,
ut, quando exsilio repetam mea rura peracto,
fiat amor felix saltem semel ante senectam.'
Talia pergebat memorans, voluitque reverti
(tantus amor iuvenem, vis tanta furoris agebat)
sed iam iacta fuga cunctis erat alea nota.
fronde sub Herculea fessus maerore sedebat;
ecce puellari virgo stipata corona
ora, manus, oculos habitumque simillima Nymphae, 90
et tali aff ata est puerum sermone dolentem :
' Care puer, quo tendis iter ? vestigia verte.
nescis, heu nescis quo te via ducat et audes
ignotis err are locis nihil insidiarum
per campos ratus herbosos, nihil esse pericli.
omnia tuta putas et quod placet utile credis
more iuventutis stolidae. collectus in orbem
saepe latet molli coluber sub graminis umbra ;
est facile incautos offendere. parvulus infans
innocuos rutilum digitos extendit in ignem 100
nee nisi iam laesus vires intellegit ignis,
haec regio intrantes aditu consuevit amoeno
fallere, delicias offert et gaudia; verum
ingressis, cum triste nihil superesse putatur,
mille parat laqueos et mille pericula profert.
trames hie, ut collem gressu superaveris ilium,
ducit in umbrosam silvam, crudele ferarum
hospitiuni, loca taetra situ et caligine opaca.
quisquis eo deceptus abit remeare vetatur,
et piceis primum velatur lumina vittis, 110
deinde per omne nemus, dumeta per aspera tractus
transit in effigiem monstri. dum volvere linguam
atque loqui temptat, mugit; dum attollere sese
credit, humi graditur quadrupes neque suspicit astra.
ima tenebrosae vallis lacus aequore nigro
100 BAPTIST AE MANTUANI
occupat et nigris mons plurimus imminet undis.
hue tracti in Stygios latices altumque barathrum
praecipites dantur rapidaque voragine mersi
in Styga et aeternas Erebi rapiuntur in umbras.
heu quot pastores istis ambagibus acti 120
cum gregibus periere suis ! ego sedula semper
monstro iter ; hie ad opem vigilo indef essa f erendam.
tolle moras igitur, mortis fuge blanda propinquae
atria; secreti tutam pete littoris oram
qua contra Idalios fluctus mihi tollit in altum
aera Carmelus viridi caput arbore einctum.
primus hie antiquis patribus spelaea domosque
praebuit arboreas intra nemus ilice densum.
ex hoe in vestros deducta cacumine montes
religio venit, sicut de fonte perenni 130
flumina, et ex uno multi genitore nepotes.
illius in silvis abies ubi plurima surgit,
pinguis ubi piceae sudat liber et terebinthi,
innocuum postquam f eliciter egeris aevum,
mox tua mutatis aetas renovabitur annis.
in loca te tollam meliora virentia semper ;
immortalis eris divum comes, ire per astra
inter Hamadryades et Oreadas atque Napaeas
flore coronatas caput et redolentibus herbis
fas erit ac super et subter cognoscere caelos.' 140
Sic effata leves virgo discessit in auras,
tum sua iuravit Pollux mutata repente
pectora et extemplo victum exspirasse furorem
non aliter quam flamma cadet, si ardentibus agris
effluat et totas praeceps Padus evomat undas.
sic abiit crudelis Amor qui saepe pharetram
in iuvenem, dum principiis obstaret amandi,
dum tepet ac timide insanit, consumpserat omnem.
sic igitur Pollux in claustra silentia venit.
A. Sunt quibus aspirent etiam nolentibus ultro, 150
sunt quibus infensi sine causa et crimine di sint.
G. Quod nos in pecudes, in nos id iuris habent di ;
hoc rus scire sat est, sapiant sublimius urbes.
sic docuit rediens aliquando ex urbe sacerdos
Tannus et in magno dixit sibi codice lectum.
A. Sol cadit et Baldi vix summa cacumina tangit ;
EC LOG A VII. ji6-i6i IQI
nos quoque iam sero cum sole recedere tempus.
Galbula, sarcinulas ne sit tibi ferre molestum,
pera levis, levis est et cantharus ; omnia parvus
ferre labor sero, grave mane sed utile pondus. 160
ipse pecus ducam, mihi pars erit ista laboris.
102 B APT I ST A E MANTUANl
ECLOGA VIII, RELIGIO,
DE RUSTICORUM RELIGION E.
CANDIDUS. ALPHUS.
C. Horrida solstitio tellus sitit, Alphe, reverse ;
ad solitos montes, ubi ros in gramme et aestas
rnitior, haec armenta monet deducere tempus.
A. Aerios montes et simima cacumina longe
prospicio; quid sint montes (tibi vera fatebor)
nescio, semper enim campestria rura lacusque
incolui. montanus ager qua fruge redundat?
C. O rude et illepidum ingenium. prope flmnina semper
versatus fulicae in morem limosa per arva,
sunt ubi ranarum, culicum, pulicum cimicumque 10
lustra, inter salices, ulvas viridesque papyros,
irridere audes et nauci pendere montes.
unde fluunt amnes? templis ubi tanta locandis
marmora caeduntur? fulgens ubi nascitur aurum?
quae parit antemnas tellus? medicamen ab herbis,
die, quibus est nisi montanis? de vertice Baldi
saepe melampodion legi; medicina capellis
nulla magis praesens. quondam Valsasinus Aegon
tradidit hoc, dum vere sues castraret et agnos;
tradidit et dixit, ' solus medicamen habeto.' 20
die, ubi castaneae plures? ubi copia maior
glandis? in excelsis fontes et pascua vidi
montibus, artocreas et pingue polenta comedi.
sunt populi fortes illic. robusta inventus
lata pedes, callosa umeros, nervosa lacertos,
hispida, dura manus, moli indefessa ferendae
vallibus ex illis, onera ut navalia curet,
confluit hue. nullum est hominum genus aptius urbi,
sive velis castrare peeus, seu seindere fagos,
sive fimum ferri e stabulis, haurire cloacas 30
latrinasque curare viamque aperire coactis
sordibus et sealis puteos descendere in altos ;
ingenio eallent et duro robore poUent.
EC LOG A VIII. 1-74 103
sed quid opus multis ? subeunt opus omne : popinis
inservire, focos lignis cumulare veruque
artilici versare manu, dare libera fumo
spiramenta, bourn ventres ad flumina ferre,
verrere humum immundam scopis doctissima gens est;
quodque magis miror, semper sub pondere currunt.
cotibus in duris oriuntur et ardua vivunt 40
per iuga ; cum capreis habitant spelaea f erarum.
adde quod in caelum brevis est e montibus altis
transitus ; erectum caput usque ad nubila toUunt.
nubila transcendunt aliqui, puto sidera tangant.
esse locum memorant, ubi surgit ab aequore Titan,
qui (nisi dedidici) contingit vertice lunam,
et vixisse illic hominem, sed postea abactum
improbitate gulae, quod scilicet omnia poma
manderet et magno servaret nulla Tonanti.
hinc divi sanctique patres in montibus altis 50
delegere domos tacitas ; Carthusia testis,
Carmelus, Garganus, Athos, Laureta, Laverna
et Sina et Soractis apex Umbrosaque Vallis
et iuga Nursini fato senis incluta et altis
abietibus turrita caput Camaldula sanctum.
cetera praetereo, nee enim sermonibus istis
omnia complecti statuo. montana frequentant
culmina caelicolae, sed anas et mergus et anser,
ibis, onocrotalus, milvi fulicaeque paludes,
A. Inter montanae tantos regionis honores 60
cur de messe nihil, nihil est de palmite dictum?
haec tamen humanae duo sustentacula vitae
maxima, monticolae veniunt e rupibus ad nos
hordea mercatum torvi, fuligine tincti,
saetosi, macie affecti, laceri ac situosi ;
indigenae ostendunt quae sit natura locorum.
sed quod montanis de religionibus inquis ^
rettulit in mentem quae de Polluce feruntur/
quae dea, si nosti, visa est, quae, Candide, Nympha?
die, age, nam coeptum certamen inutile nobis; 70
utilior sermo de religione tenendus.
C. Galbula qui solitus pecudes in pascua tecum
ducere te satis hoc potuit docuisse quod optas.
A. Plura quidem Polluce super narrata, sed ipsam
104 BAPTIST AE MANTUANI
nee docuit Nympham nee me quaesisse recordor.
nune subiit mentem, cum religionis oborta est
mentio, et illarum visa est mihi maxima laudum.
C. Non erat ilia Dryas neque Libethris nee Oreas ;
venerat e caelo Supermii Regina, Tonantis
Mater, anhelanti pacem latura iuventae. 80
huie Tethys, huie alma Ceres famulantur, et ipse
Aeolus aequoreis ventos qui frenat in antris.
hane Deus astrorum flammas super atque volantes
Solis equos, supra fulgentem Cassiopeiam
extulit et sacram bis seno sidere frontem
cinxit et adiecit subter vestigia lunam.
A. Candide, mira eanis nullis pastoribus umquam
cognita. quid Tethys? quid fulgens Cassiopeia?
Aeolus aequoreis ventos quis frenat in antris?
qui sunt Solis equi? magna atque ignota reeenses. 90
C. Sidera sunt partim, partim sunt numina prisea.
omnia quae Pollux mihi cum narrasset, in aedem
duxit et ' ista sacer paries,' ait, ' omnia monstrat.'
pictus erat paries signis et imagine multa.
omnia non memini (mens est mihi debilis) ista
vix tenui dum saepe animo volvo atque reVolvo ;
saepe recordari medicamine fortius omni.
ista potest nigro depellere nubila caelo,
ista potest siccis fluvios dare frugibus imbres.
cum volet, ista novos duris emittere campis, 100
cum volet, emissos poterit restringere fontes.
qui modo sunt steriles et nudi gramine campi,
si volet, in pingues poterit convertere glaebas.
frigida Saturni cum sidera suscipit atro
Scorpius hospitio, non auferet hordea grando
nee domus ardebit (nam tune haee omnia caelum
dieitur iratis in terram effundere ab astris)
si volet, haee nobis custodiet omnia virgo.
si favet haee nobis, complebunt horrea messes
adicietque gregi semper f etura gemellos. 1 1 o
si pecus infelix erit et sine vellere, solo
ipsa potest nutu dare lac, dare vellera et agnos
et curare greges omnemque avertere morbum.
nil opus est modo Pana sequi neque cetera ruris
numina quae veteres frustra coluisse feruntur.
ECLOGA VIIL 75-156 105
vidi ego circum aram Nymphae pendere capellas,
plaustra, boves et oves. hie lanni vidimus hircum
et memini inscriptam versu hoc legisse tabellam :
VOTUM PRO SALVO IanNUS BREVE REDDIDIT HIRCO.
Dumque ea perlegerem, Pollux haec carmina supplex 120
ante aram genibus positis in marmore dixit:
' O Dea, quae servas urbes et rura, precamur
ne Padus exundet nee strix nocturna per umbras
hauriat infantes nee eant per eompita larvae.
Diva, f ave agrieolis ; talpas oceide malignam
aggeribus pestem ; gelidis sata laeta pruinis,
quando bruma venit, eonspergere, Diva, memento,
ne tineae erodent anno frumenta sequenti.
a Boreae flatu pingues def ende mariseas,
a gruis ore fabas et ab ansere farra palustri, 130
a serpente boves, a vulpe et fure cohortem,
a brueho erucas, a bruma et grandine vites,
a vi et fraude lupi peeus, a robigine fruges,
a rabie eatulos, a flamma et fulmine villas,
a murum insidiis petasonem, a milite pernas,
a campe et pigris — pigris ' (heu eetera neseit
mens oblita sequi. numerus me in verba reduxit
saepius ; ad numerum rediens oblivia f orsan
mente abigam. retrogradior numerumque reeurro)
' a murum insidiis petasonem, a milite pernas, 140
a campe et pigris virides limaeibus hortos '
(Alphe, viden quae vis numeri? iam cetera cerno)
' a tonitru reboante cados, a frigore f etas,
a gravibus vitulos oestris, a gutture poreos
anginoso, operas pubes ne rustica perdat.
adsis, o Dea, nee laedant examina fuel
neu milium furentur aves neu vellera sentes
sueida neu lappas apprendat lana sequentes.
Diva gubernatrix hominum, eustodia vatum.
Diva laborantum requies, medicina dolentum 150
et tutela gregum, nostris, precor, annue votis.'
Talibus orabat Pollux ; ego postibus haerens
in baeulum pede porrecto reeitata notabam
altius ae memori condebam singula mente.
A. Candide, Polluei pro sollieitudine tanta,
pro precis officio, pro religione putasne
106 BAPTIST AE MANTUANl
daiidum aliquid nobis? pietate peculia crescunt.
C. Quid ni aliquid dandum est ? opus est persolvere crates.
A. Rusticus es, ' crates ' etenim pro ' gratibus ' inquis.
C. ' Crates ' et ' grates ' parvo discrimine distant. 160
dandum aliquid ; neu bis detur, sine Pascha reverti,
quando sacerdotes commissa piacula solvunt.
A. Quid dabimus? vituli gravis est iactura. vel agnum
vel leporem? pietas etiam laudabilis anser.
C. Dona docet tempus. lepores brumalia dona,
quando nive hiberna currendi erepta f acultas ;
anser ad autumni finem nonasque Kalendas
pertinet; aestatis coryli, nova poma, racemi,
munera; lactentes haedi sunt veris et agni.
tunc si de cordis aliquem conspexeris aegrum 170
ac tenuem qui nee vendi nee vivere possit
(munus erit sollemne satis) donabimus agnum.
Ipse mihi, cum iam regredi post prandia vellem,
carmina de Nymphae sollemnibus eruta fastis
tradidit et dixit, ' si quando gravabere curis,
haec cane ; pro mentis medicamine carmen habeto :
" Quando Molorchaeo Titan descendit ab astro
pronus et Astraeae iam limina virginis intrat,
Virgine laetetur pubes et cana senectus ;
transiit ad Superos et Olympica regna petivit. 180
Ogdoas ut toto iam tertia fluxerit orbe,
f esta dies iterum ; natalia Virginis aras
ignibus illustrant, offert nova liba sacerdos.
Libra redit noctes properans aequare diebus,
exsultat Picenus ager, vehit Hadria puppes
Illyricas et Chaonias, cum mercibus adsunt
Tusci, Umbri, Veneti, Siculi ; Lauretica templa
cum donis turmatim adeunt votisque solutis
in sublime iugum laeti ad commercia tendunt.
Et cum Thessalicas cursu breviore sagittas 190
sol subit et frigent urentibus arva pruinis,
clausa gynaecei sacris penetralibus hausit
corde Deum toto proprios oblita parentes.
Et cum semiferi fugiens Chironis ab arcu
languet ad hiberni glacialia limina Capri,
induat ornatas et mas et femina vestes
laetitiaque diem celebrent quo semine sacro
EC LOG A VIII. 157-224 107
coniugis annosus gravidam pater imbuit alvum.
ilia dies etenim sanctae primordia N)miphae
fecit et in nostras vetuit descendere sordes, 200
Cum volat imbrifera lampas Phoebea sub urna
ad vernos reditura dies, iam proxima veri,
ite, nurus omnes, sacros altaribus ignes,
tura focis, faculas manibus date, ducite pompam;
attulit in templum nova dona puerpera virgo.
Quando gregis Princeps aurato vellere fulgens
incipiet Zephyris aperire tepentibus annum
et dare maiores luci quam noctibus horas,
aliger occultam redeat Paranymphus in aedem
et nova miranti referat mandata puellae. 210
festa dies Tuscis populos de collibus omnes
cogit et Arnicolas vocat ad Florentia templa.
tum quoque sed tenui virgo prius intervallo
nupsit, et haec teneris lux est celebranda puellis.
Quando sub extrema Cancri testudine Phoebus
volvitur et revehit vicina Canicula morbos,
ture piam celebrate diem ; redit hospita mater
in proprios a matre lares, altaria circum
primitias Cereris geminae suspendite matri." '
Ista dedit Pollux vigilans quae in montibus olim 220
fecerat ad pecudum caulas, dum nocte serena
militiam caeli sparsosque examinat ignes.
his quoque plura dedit ; sed carmina plura ref erri
non sinit extremum deponens vespera solem.
108 BAPTIST AE MANTUANI
ECLOGA IX, FALCO,
DE MORI BUS CURIAE ROMAN AE, POST RELIGION IS
INGRESSUM.
FAUSTULUS. CANDIDUS.
F. Candide, quo casu patriis procul actus ab oris
haec in rura venis? hie pascua nulla nee amnes
nee liquidi f ontes nee ovilia tuta nee umbrae,
et tamen assiduos gregis haee paseuntur in usus.
C. Faustule, me noster Corydon (qui plurima quondam
his armenta loeis habuit magnamque peeuli
congeriem feeit) peeori me eredere adegit
esse salutares istis in montibus herbas ;
at postquam segnes agros et inertia saxa
vidimus et sieeis arentem fontibus undam, 10
paenituit longaeque viae patriaeque relietae.
F. Postquam te ineolumem saltus intrare Latinos
contigit, antiqui potes haee mea teeta subire
iure sodalitii. sunt hie mihi pauperis agri
iugera pauea meae vix suffieientia vitae ;
quidquid id est eommune puta. tibi forsitan ulla
prospera sors aderit ; f ortuna simillima vento est.
earieeae sueeede casae, dum praeterit aestus,
dum grex in gelida procumbens ruminat umbra,
pone pedum, discumbe parum, recreabere potu; 2Q
potu opus est, potu iste gravis compeseitur aestus.
pocula prende ; fluet melius post pocula sermo.
C. Pocula quis tanta demens aestate reeuset?
F. Vina sitim minuunt animique doloribus obstant,
vina ut amicitias vires ita corporis augent.
C. Haec parit ora bonos (si patria vina) racemos.
F. Funde iterum ; potare semel gustare, seeundus
colluit OS potus, calefacta refrigerat ora
tertius, arma siti bellumque indicere quartus
aggreditur, quintus pugnat, victoria sexti est, 30
Septimus (Oenophili senis haec doctrina) triumphat.
C. Res est consiliis secura fidelibus uti,
utile doctrinis praebere senilibus aures.
EC LOG A IX. 1-74 109
victa sitis, mens aegra manet curaeque supersunt.
F. Ut sedata sitis, sic mens sedabitur aegra.
f unde merum, bibe ; cardiaco medicina dolori haec,
utitur ad curas isto medicamine Roma.
C. Omne opus atque labor vult intervalla ; quiescat
obba parum, contra muscas impone tabellam.
non madet imbre dies nee habet nox umida rorem 40
crescere nee duris possunt in cotibus herbae.
importuna fames, labor improbus, aeris ardor
conf ecere gregem macie ; vix debile corpus
spiritus aeger agit, vacua cute porrigit ossa
clunis et exilis cava contrahit ilia venter,
hie aries qui fronte lupos cornuque petebat
nunc ove debilior pavidoque fugacior agno est.
haec mihi (sed nimium me ardentia vota ferebant)
omnia divino praedixerat omine comix.
vix egressus eram limen, cum tristia portans 50
auguria a dextra venit tegetisque sinistrae
culmine consedit pressoque minaciter ore
vociferans iter auspicio prohibebat aperto.
heu pecus infelix, quod lacte et prole solebas
affluere, in nostris licuit dum pascere campis,
gramina dum quaeris, suci plus perdis eundo
quam referas pastu. simul hie tabescimus ambo,
tu tenui victu, euris ego vietus amaris.
F. O nostrae regionis opes, o florida prata,
o campi virides, o pascua laeta feraxque 60
et numquam sine fruge solum, currentia passim
flumina per villas, rivi per rura, per hortos.
hine pecus, hinc agri pingues ; sub sidere Cancri,
cum tritura sonat passim, cum lulius ardet,
arva virent, textae lento de vimine saepes
poma ferunt, redolent ipsis in vepribus herbae.
C. O nemorum dulees umbrae mollesque susurri,
quos tecum memini gelidis carpsisse sub umbris
turturis ad gemitus, ad hirundinis ac philomenae
carmina, cum primis resonant arbusta cicadis. 70
aura strepens foliis nemorum veniebat ab Euro
et bacata super tendebat braeehia cornus.
ipse solo recubans pecudes gestire videbam
atque alacres teneris luctari cornibus agnos,
110 BAPTISTAE MANTUANI
post somnos per gramen humi nunc ore supino
aut flatu implebam calamos aut voce canebam,
pectore nunc prono rutilantia fraga legebam.
F. Vivere turn f elix poteras dicique beatus ;
sed bona (quod nondum fueras expertus acerbam)
vilis erat tibi teque ideo fortuna reliquit. 80
quando iterum X£B^£t(veniet si forsitan umquam)
sicut capreolis 'su^um nitentibus haerent
stipitibus vites stringuntque tenaciter ulmos,
sic illam tu prende manu neu desere prensam.
it, redit, effigiem mutat nee imagine constat
par lamiis quas nocte f erunt errare per umbras,
mobilis ut f acies, ita mens ; deludere gaudens
quod dederat tollit ; pensi nihil, omnia casu ;
qui nimium metuunt sapiuntve repellit et odit.
C. Delicias patrii quotiens reminiscimur agri, 90
ferre tot aerumnas animo non possumus aequo,
sed quo mente feror? casu afflictatus acerbo
unde magis crucier felicia tempora volvo.
Mains adest : florent vites humilesque genistae,
iam spicata seges, malus iam Punica multo
flore rubet, redolent saepes albente sabuco
in patria, per rura Padi, per pascua Minci ;
hie vero necdum incipiunt pubescere montes.
quod si vere solum torpet, quid frigora brumae
solstitiumque feret, gelidis cum terra pruinis 100
albicat et rapido cum caelum incanduit aestu?
sunt tamen hie armenta quibus cutis uvida, cervix
non signata iugis, gemino frons ardua cornu
luxuriansque toris pectus; nisi pabula carpant,
non erit hac tanta umectum pinguedine corpus.
F. Haec armenta quibus caput a tellure levatur
altius et cui sunt longa internodia crurum
cuncta vorant, herbas primum, mox ore supino
arboreas frondes summaeque cacumina silvae;
hoc imbelle pecus quod humi nascentia tantum 110
gramina decerpit vacuis ieiunat in arvis.
C. Quid verl:)is opus est? cunctis animantibus una est
condicio : semper maiora minoribus obsunt.
agna lupo, mites aquilis sunt praeda columhae,
jnnocuos delphin venatur jn aequore pisces,
EC LOG A IX. 75-156 111
unde fit hoc? (certe res prodigiosa videtur)
haec loca, si procul hinc videas e rupibus altis,
pingue solum et multo vestituni gramme dicas ;
quo magis appropias tanto magis omnia sordent.
F. Hoc est Roma viris avibus quod noctua: trunco 120
insidet et tamquam volucrum regina superbis
nutibus a longe plebem vocat. inscia fraudis
turba coit, grandes oculos mirantur et aures,
turpe caput rostrique minacis acumen aduncum ;
dumque super virgulta agili levitate feruntur
nunc hue, nunc illuc, aliis vestigia filum
illaqueat, retinent alias lita vimina visco,
praedaque sunt omnes veribus torrenda salignis.
C. O bellum hoc ; poterit dici nihil aptius umquam.
sed procul en coluber tortos in pulvere gressus 130
flectit et exsertis sitiens ferit aera Unguis.
F. Candide, quae moneo memori sub pectore serva.
quando inter silvas graderis, defende galero
lumina, namque rubi praetendunt spicula longis
dentibus et curvus discerpit pallia mucro.
nee depone pedum multaque armare memento
cote sinum, ne te subito novus opprimat hostis.
et perone pedem tegito ; spineta colubris
plena hominum vitae morsu insidiantur amaro,
et nunc longa dies aestu facit acre venenum. 140
mille lupi, totidem vulpes in vallibus istis
lustra tenent et, quod dirum ac mirabile dictu est,
ipse homines (huius tanta est violentia caeli)
saepe lupi effigiem moresque assumere vidi
inque suum saevire gregem multaque madere
caede sui pecoris ; factum vicinia ridet
nee scelus exhorret nee talibus obviat ausis.
saepe etiam miris apparent monstra figuris
quae tellus affecta malis influxibus edit;
saepe canes tantam in rabiem vertuntur, ut ipsos 150
vincant caede lupos, et qui tutela fuerunt
hostiles ineunt animos et ovilia mactant.
fama est Aegyptum coluisse animalia quaedam
et pro numinibus multas habuisse ferarum ;
ista superstitio minor est quam nostra, ferarum
hie aras habet omne genus, contraria cert^
112 BAPTISTAE MANTUANl
naturae res atque Deo qui dicitur olim
praeposuisse hominem cunctis animantibus unum.
saepe etiam morbosa aestas et pestifer annus
ingruit et passim languens pecus omne per arva 160
sternitur ; exstinctae dum balat ad ubera matris,
agnus obit, moritur duro sub pondere taurus.
nee modus est morbo, non est medicina veneno,
sed vicina domus vicino a limine mortem
haurit et assidue sumunt contagia vires.
ista feras raro pestis rapit, utile semper
f ert pecus ; exstinctas caulas epulantur atroci
dente lupi nostraque ferae iactura opulescunt.
C. Heu, heu quam praeceps miserum me insania traxit ;
credere fallaci gravis est dementia famae. 170
Romuleos colles, Tiberim Romanaque tecta
audieram et studio mens est accensa videndi
ducendique bonis in tot praestantibus aevum.
^ccessi cum parte gregis, tentoria demens,
totum paene larem cum pastoralibus armis
trans iuga summa tuli, mulctraria, cymbia, aena
et cacabos et quo formatur caseus orbem
f agineum ; impensam atque operas amisimus omnes.
quid faciam? quo me vertam? sperata negantur
pabula; tot casus, tot ubique pericula. cogor 180
in veteres remeare casas et coepta fateri
consiliis egressa malis iterumque per aestus
et montana pati longos per saxa labores.
heu pecus inf elix, o laevo sidere pastor
hue avecte. fuit multo praestantius istud
ignorasse solum patrioque in limine tutos
consumpsisse dies, gelidis senujsse sub antris
atque Padi circum ripas Athesisve per agros
aut ubi per virides campos et pascua nota
Mincius it vel qua vitreo natat Abdua cursu 190
consedisse, gregem pavisse salubribus herbis.
F. Te tua credulitas, et me mea fallit in horas.
vidi ego supremae qui prosperitatis habebant
culmina, dum laudata petunt, cecidisse nee umquam
emersisse malis ; facit experientia cautos.
hi prius explorant et non laudata sequuntur
omnia ; laude carent (juae sunt meliora. fuerunt
EC LOG A IX. 157-232 113
(non nego) quae famam retinent ac nomina servant
(cuncta suis pollent vicibus) Luna, Hadria, Troia,
Salvia (quas nobis memorabat saepius Umber) 200
nomine sunt solo, delevit cetera tempus.
si minor est patriae forsan modo gloria nostrae,
res tamen est melior. laudatae gloria Romae
quanta sit in toto non est qui nesciat orbe;
fama quidem manet, utilitas antiqua recessit.
illi prisca quibus maduerunt pascua fontes
nunc umore carent, venis aqua defuit haustis,
nulla pluit nubes, Tiberis non irrigat agros,
tempus aquaeductus veteres contrivit et arcus
et castella ruunt; procul hinc, procul ite, capellae. 210
hie ieiuna fames et languida regnat egestas.
Hie tamen (ut fama est etnos quoque vidimus ipsi)
pastor adest quadam ducens ex alite nomen,
lanigeri pecoris dives, ditissimus agri,
carmine qui priscos vates atque Orphea vincat,
Orphea qui traxit silvas et saxa canendo.
hie alios omni tantum virtute Latinos
exsuperat quantum Tiberim Padus. Abdua Maeram,
lenta salix iuncum, tribulos rosa, populus algam.
credimus hune illi similem cui Tityrus olim 220
bis senos fumare dies altaria fecit,
hie ovium eustos ipso vigilantior Argo
Daphnide nee solum sed eo qui dicitur olim
Admeti pavisse greges per Thessala rura
doctior, omne pecus Solymi curare magistri
dignus et antiquo dignus succedere patri
qui fuit Assyrii pecoris post retia pastor.
"Tste potest servare gregem, depellere morbos,
umectare solum, dare pascua, solvere fontes,
conciliare lovem, fures arcere luposque. 230
si favet iste, mane, quod si negat iste favorem,
Candide, coge pecus melioraque pascua quaere.
114 BAPTIST A E M ANT U AN I
ECLOGA X, BEMBUS,
DE FRATRUM OBSERVANTIUM ET NON OBSERVANTIUM
CONTROVERSIAL POST RELIC ION IS INCRESSUM.
CANDIDUS. BEMBUS. BATRACHUS. MYRMIX.
C. Maxima pastores agitat discordia, Bembe,
qui Solymos colles Galilaeaque rura colebant ;
Batrachus hinc, Myrmix illinc certare parati
iudice te paucis, si non audire recusas
et nisi te revocant maiora negotia, dicent.
tu pater es vatum, tu scis componere lites
iurgiaque et blandis convicia toUere verbis ;
te quoque Pierios fama est potasse liquores
et vidisse deas quibus est custodia sacri
fontis et Eurotae campos ac Phocidis arva, 10
ipse ubi f ronde sua tibi tempora cinxit Apollo,
dona dedit citharam, nervos et eburnea plectra.
Be. Dicite, quandoquidem tepidos admovit ad ignes
nos hiberna dies, dum non sinit ire per agros
bruma gregem, flatu Boreas dum saevit acuto,
dum riget omne solum, tectis dum plurima pendet
stiria, dum torpent sub aquis glacialibus amnes ;
otia damnantur quae nulla negotia tractant.
M. Pastores, genus infelix, aestate vagamur
pro grege soUiciti, sed cum nos frigidus imber 20
continet in stabulis, lites et iurgia surgunt.
Ba. Qui veteres audent ritus mutare suoque
arbitrio et nullis ducunt sub legibus aevum,
hi sunt, o Myrmix, qui bella domestica gignunt.
Be. De veteri ritu, de consuetudine patrum
rixa agitur vobis? leges moresque parentum,
Batrache, die. die, cur nostrum venistis in orbem
ex Phoenice solo? nos pascua vidimus ilia,
vidimus herbosos felici uligine campos.
vertice Carmeli vitreis uberrimus undis 30
fons cadit et rauco densum nemus irrigat amne.
vidimus et lordanis aquas, ubi maximus olim
pastor oves mergens scabiem resecavit avitam.
EC LOG A X. 1-74 115
amnis hie a Libano veniens Galilaea per arva
transit et ampla lacu consurgit in aequora magno ;
unda coit rursum, rursum mare fundit apertum,
urbs ubi Romani de nomine dicta Tiberi ;
unda coit rursum, tandem lericunte relicta
intrat in infames Asphalti gurgitis undas.
hinc satis est nos oram omnem vidisse probatum; 40
dicite, et hinc tandem vestras demergite lites.
71/, Batrachus audaci semper sese ingerit ore
et mihi se praefert magno temerarius ausu.
Ba. Non ego me ingessi, processi a iudice iussus.
Be. Pone pedum, Myrmix, et tu quoque, Batrache ; non est
orandum armatis manibus, sed mentibus aequis.
Batrache, die ; Myrmix, animi compesce furorem
interea, ut venias magis ad responsa paratus.
qui furit insanit ; qui vero insanit amaro
impatiens animo nee corda nee ora gubernat ; 50
quidquid ait vanum est, quidquid molitur ineptum.
Ba. Bembe, genus nostrum generisque exordia dicam.
venimus Assyriis (ut Candidus inquit) ab oris,
est pater Elias nobis qui sustulit armis
pastorum genus omne malum, qui traxit Olympo
flammigeros ignes, qui ascendit in aethera curru.
Be. Nobile et antiquum genus hoc, et clara propago.
Ba. Pastores alii quotquot per rura vagantur
omnia sunt rivi nostris a f ontibus orti ;
nos dedimus leges, paseendi ostendimus artem. 60
quo magis hi peccant qui, cum sint ordine primi,
primatum amittunt studia inconsulta sequendo.
nos radix, alii rami; sed nos quoque rami
a veteri radice patrum iam aetate caduci.
tradidit Elias eertam pastoribus artem
qua curare greges, qua noxia pabula fas est
discere et occultos imbres ventosque latentes
quive salutaris f oret et qui pestif er annus ;
signa dedit, nihil omisit quod ovilia tangat.
sed fons ille fluens Carmeli e rupibus altis 70
tam nitidus quondam, tam dulci limpidus unda,
tramite mutato (patet id) modo currit in Austrum.
sed prius (extat adhue vetus alveus) ibat ad ortum.
hi cursus f ecere novos, liquere priores
116 BAPTISTAE MANTUANI
quos dederat rivo veterum prudentia patrum.
M. Quid tibi, sive novo currat seu tramite prisco,
dummodo fecundis umectet pascua lymphis?
et quid de caeli quereris regione? per Austrum
solis iter, melior vitis quae respicit Austrum.
et melior legitur Libycis de coUibus uva. 80
Ba. Est melior taxus Boream quae respicit ; ergo
in Boream melius poterat decurrere rivus.
pastor es, et cura pecoris male sane relicta
sermonem de vite facis quasi legibus isdem
grex et vitis eant, nee quod discrimen in undis
gramineque et ventis nosti et quam noxius Auster
sit pecori ; disce a Roma si noxius Auster.
cur Mutinensis agri pecudes sunt vellere fusco?
cur Clitumnus habet niveas? cur Mantua molli
lanitio excellit Veronaque proxima Manto? 90
unde haec multiplici rerum variantia forma?
non aliunde nisi a caelis, a gramine et unda.
Be. Candide, utrumque pedum procul hinc (rogo) pro-
tinus aufer;
inter eos hodie video bellum acre futurum.
clam cape et auf erto ; subter sarmenta reconde.
Ba. Bembe, mihi tecum sermo est. dum viximus una,
dum commune pecus nobis fuit, heu mihi quantum
dedecus, heu quot sunt pecudes incommoda passae.
nee mersare gregem fluvio nee vellera certis
temporibus (sicut mos est) tondere licebat. 100
nudabant spineta pecus. nudata secabant
terga rubi ; scabie cutis aspera, tabidus umor
pestis, et in totum serpebant ulcera corpus,
multum igitur refert pecudes quae pabula carpant,
flumina quae potent et qua regione morentur.
Die mihi, die, Myrmix, priscum cur lana colorem
perdidit? haec gregibus quidnam nova vellera fecit?
cur pecus est nigrum quod erat melioribus annis
clarum? immutarunt mutati vellera mores.
Bembe, ad te redeo. paucis absolvere nitar, 110
sed, quo digna omni tua sit sententia laude,
vera loquar. tu iura tenes, ego facta docebo ;
indicium reddit verum enarratio vera,
his animadversis aegre tot damna ferentes
ECLOGA X. 75-155 117
venimus ad f ontem, rivumque a vertice summo
scrutari mihi cura fuit; tu, provide Myrmix,
interea nidos avium vel dorcada parvam
venabare tuae quae dona darentur amatae.
M. Bembe, vides ut aperta in me convicia torquet?
auguror, ista manu lis est, non ore, agitanda; 120
mos mihi, non lingua, maledicta refellere dextra.
C. Batrache, ne verum taceam, linguosior aequo es ;
iurgia bilem acuunt, convicia pectus acerbant.
non tibi cum puero res est, nee homuncio Myrmix ;
res male tuta viros lingua irritare proterva.
Ba. Da veniam, Myrmix ; ' amitam ' prof erre volenti
nescio quis mihi misit in os malus error ' amatam.'
M. Do veniam ; cave ne rursum me voce lacessas.
Ba. Alveus excelsa saliens de rupe lacunam
foderat et clausis ripas aequaverat undis; 130
gurges erat textu silvarum umbrosus opaco
densaque saepierant tristem spineta lacunam.
mille venenorum species in gurgite vidi,
mille secus ripas in opaco margine, mille
per nemus ad lymphas sinuoso serpere gressu.
obstupui, et rapido rediens ad ovilia cursu
incipio paleas furca versare tricorni.
ecce caput tollit coluber linguaque trisulca
sibilat, inflantur fauces, nepa livida tendit
bracchia, ventrosus profert vestigia bufo, 140
vipera per stipulam gradiens strepit. * o loca,' dixi,
' non pecori tantum verum et pastoribus ipsis
noxia.' mox grege diviso de sedibus illis
pascua quaesitum tristis meliora recessi.
perque iter antiquum f ontis nova flumina duxi
in campos ubi prima suos Aurora colores
explicat et croceos Phoebi redeuntis ad ortus.
hie mihi fecundae pecudes, hie pascua laeta
et sine labe liquor, dulces sine crimine lymphae.
haec loca primaevi sunt quae coluere parentes ; 150
signa casae superant, puteus cariosaque ligna
fixa solo seiuncta pedum discrimine septem
et focus et lacera quae cingitur area saepe.
M. Cura viris levibus rerum solet esse novarum ;
propterea certe nova pascua quaeris et amnes
118 BAPTISTAE MANTUANI
iingis inauditos et vis novus auctor haberi.
Ba. Cura viris gravibus rerum solet esse suarum ;
propterea, Myrmix, nimis a gravitate recedis.
haec novitas non est novitas, sed vera vetustas.
religio et pietas patrum instaurata resurgit 160
quam tua corrupit levitas et nota tuorum
segnities. igitur si quis labentia tecta
erigat et sterilem qui mansuefecerit agrum
iudice te damnandus erit? non ponitur arbor
altera, sed veteri inseritur bona virgula trunco ;
segne prius ligtium nostro fit fertile cultu.
M. Quamvis pingue tuo pecori sit gramen et unda
defaecata, tamen multae cum matribus agnae
interiere ; lupi et pastae meminere volucres.
Ba. Hae (fateor) quae dira tuae contagia pestis 170
accepere. etiam procul aspicientibus obsunt ;
tantum virus inest, vestri vis tanta veneni.
propterea magis atque magis discedere semper
est animus, patitur pecus haec incommoda nostrum
sola, quod in vastam nondum discessit eremum
nee satis a vobis procul in deserta recessit.
M. Batrache, de gregibus mentiris plurima nostris.
certe alienarum tibi cura superflua rerum,
et temere assumis partes censoris iniqui.
cur mihi qui pasco cuium pecus ista tueri 180
non licuit? solisne domus mea cognita vobis?
Ba. Aethiopes una quoniam nigredine sordent,
ille color nulli vitio datur ; omnibus idem
vultus et alterius si quis reprenderet ora,
et sua damnaret. pecori pecorisque magistris
faex eadem, scabies eadem, cutis et color idem.
Be. Parcite ; iam satis est lis intellecta diesque
inclinata cadit, iam post iuga summa ruit sol.
audite, o magni generis longaeva propago
lite super vestra quae sit sententia nostra. 190
M. Batrache, me audaci totiens sermone lacessis.
Ba. Non ego, sed non aequa magis te causa lacessit
iudiciumque timet sibi mens male conscia iustum.
C. Quando inimicitias tempus deponere, rursum
vestra novas lites vecordia suscitat. ergo
perpetuis haec rixa odiis aeterna manebit?
ECLOGA X. 156-204 119
quae vos debilitas capitis, quae insania vexat?
non pudet his uti tanto sub iudice nugis?
ergo animis audite acquis odiisque sepultis
ultima doctiloqui quae sit sententia Bembi. 200
Be. Ferte per antiques patrum vestigia gressus
et veteres servate vias. revocate vagantes
per valles et saxa greges, per lustra ferarum.
figite in antiquis iterum magalia campis.
NOTES
THE DEDICATORY EPISTLE.
The Paride Ceresara to whom the revised Eclogues were dedicated
•was a nobleman of Mantua, distinguished for his great wealth and
wide learning. In one of the novels of Bandello (ii. 5) he is called
* nobilissimo e in ogni sorta di lettere dottissimo.' He translated the
Aulularia for the Bishop Lodovico Gonzaga, and perhaps also a
Greek comedy. And he had some knowledge of Hebrew. In his
later years he was interested in astrology and in the ' occult sciences ' ;
hence the mention of him by Luca Gaurico : ' erat facie et barbitio
rufus, procerae staturae, sed proportionatus ; ex love in horoscopo
cum Marte ditissimus et locuplex; habebat aedes regias ; ingeniosus,
legum professor, in litteris latinis et graecis eruditus. Quum senec-
tutis limina fuit ingressus, incepit dare operam astrologiae.' He was
born in 1466, and died in 1532. [Luzio-Renier, Giornale storico
della letteratura italiana, xxxiv (1899), 86-88].
ECLOGA I, FAUSTUS.
Antiquos repeti vult Fortunatus amoves;
Obsequitur Faustus referens conubia laeta.*
At Fortunatus' request, Faustus repeats the story of his love,
courtship, and marriage — the story of an honorable love and its happy
ending. This eclogue (with various details added from the second,
third, and fourth) is imitated in the first ' eglogue ' of Francis
Sable's Pan's Pipe (i595)-
1-2. Cp. Boccaccio, Eel. vi. 81, ruminat omne pecus. The same
phrase occurs in the Ecloga Theoduli, 248.
4. modo = «M«(r, as at ii. 151, v. 35, viii. 102, 114, ix. 202, x. 72,
So often in the Ecclesiastical Writers and in the Latin Bible: e. g.,
John, ix. 25, * scio quia, caecus cum essem, modo video.'
9-10. Virg. Aen. i. 372-3, ' O dea, si prima repetens ab origine
pergam, | et vacet annales nostrorum audire laborum ; ' Geor. iv.
285-6, ' altius omnem | expediam prima repetens ab origine famam.'
* loannis Murmellii argumentum.
121
122 ECLOGUE I. ii-sg
II. Ovid, Met. xiii. 595, primisque sub atinis.
12-13. Petrarch, Eel. vi. 78-79, '■ sedeo iaceoque sttpinus, \ multa
canens quae dictat Amor nee crastina curans.'
19. Virg. Eel. ii. 36, * disparibus septem compacta cicutis | fistula."
22. Virg, Eel. ii. 72, * viminibus mollique paras detexere iunco ; '
lb. X. 71, ' nscellam texit hibisco ; ' Geor. i. 266, ' texatur fiscina
virga ; ' Nemes. Eel. i. i, ' fiscella . . . iunco [ texitur.'
24. sortiri digitis : the ancient and modern game of ' mora '.
27-31. Cp. Virg. Geor. i. 381, *e pastu decedens ; ' Aen. vii. 70G,
'cum sese e pastu referunt ; ' Geor. iv. 511-12, ' qualis populea
maerens philomela sub umbra | amissos queritur fetus ; ' Stat. Theb.
V. 601-3, 'ilia redit, querulaeque domus mirata quietem | iam stupet
impendens advectosque horrida maesto | excutit ore cibos.'
philomena : this form of the word was already familiar in Italian ;
cp. Petrarch, Sonn. 269, ' piagner Filomena.' Du Cange cites it
from a Glossarium of the year 1348. hymenaeos : for the cadence,
cp. Virg. Aen. vii. 555; x. 720; also, Mantuan, Eel. vii. 133; viii.
10; ix. 69 ; ix. 168.
32-35. Cp. Stat. Theb. vi. 174-77, 'nunc vallem spoliata parens,
nunc flumina questu, | nunc armenta movet vacuosque interrogat
agros ; | tunc piget ire domum, maestoque novissima campo | exit
at oppositas impasta avertitur herbas ; ' Virg. Eel. v. 26, * nee
graminis attigit herbam.' pallenti . . . umbra : cp. Virg. Geor. iii.
357, ' tum sol palletites haud umquam discutit umbras^ (where Con-
ington translates, 'the wan shades of night').
38. Virg. Aen. i. 387, auras \ vitales ear pis.
45. 'Nam et Venus pacta dicitur ' (Ascensius). Cp. Francis
Sable's imitation, Pan's Pipe, i. 137-8, ' for where she squinted a
little, I That did grace her, I thought.' Fontenelle was offended by
the rustic realism of this passage ; also, of Eel. iv. 87-88.
48-51. Cp. Cic. C. M. xii. 42, ' impedit enim consilium voluptas,
rationi inimica est, mentis (ut ita dicam) praestringit oeulos.''
credo . . . concitet . . . tollat : cp. viii. 44, ' puto sidera tangant,^ and
perhaps also Mantuan's De Vita Beata, ' dicis Archimedem fecisse
mundum ; putasne feeerit nebulas? putasne aestatem, putasne sol-
stitia et aequinoctia posuerit ?' and Boccaccio, Eel. xiv. 46-48, ' Silvi,
quid dubitas? an eredis Olympia patrem | ludat, et in lucem sese sine
numine divum | praebeatT St. Augustine could say, Conf. i. 14, 23,
' eredo etiam Graecis pueris Vergilius ita sit, cum eum sic discere
coguntur ut ego ilium ; ' ix, 13, 36, ' et eredo iam feeeris quod te
rogo.' In a letter to his friend Refrigerio, Aug. 12, 1478, Mantuan
wrote: 'Audivistine Benedicti Morandi viri praestantissimi obitum?
eredo audiveris : et puto quem viventem tanto charitatis affectu com-
plectebaris mortuum defleveris' (MS. copy in the Library of the
University of Bologna).
58. Cp. Virg. Aen. i. 239, fatis contraria fata.
59. catus : the classical name is feles. The name eattus (cp. It.
gatto and late Or. kcltto^ ) appears first about 350 a. d. For the
history of the animal, see Mayor's note on Juvenal, xv. 7, and
O. Keller, Die antike Tierwelt, Leipzig, 1909, p. 74. Mantuan's
spelling reflects the popular etymology of his day; cp. Perotti's
ECLOGUE I. 61-148 123
Cornucopiae, ' est igitur felis quem vulgo catntn nominamus, nee
meo quidem iudicio inepte. veteres enim catum astutum dicebant et
quod nos in praesentia cautum ; a quo Catones primo volunt appel-
latos ' (Venice ed., 1494, fol. 108).
61. Fortunatus' comment explains the mother's lack of sympathy.
The expression was proverbial; cp. the words of Aeneas Silvius (in
a letter to Joannes Urunt, 1446), 'nam tu me pleno stomacho reris
ieiunium commendare.' St. Jerome, Ep. 58. 2, has ' plenus venter
facile de ieiuniis disputat.'
62. This line is borrowed in the Cambridge Latin play Laelia
(c- 1595)' i- 3) 176-7, ' quas nulla premit sitis | sunt illae asperiores
semper sitientibus ' (ed. G. C. Moore Smith. Cambridge, 1910).
64. albebant. Cp. Juvencus, ii. 313, albcntes cernite campos;
John, iv. 35, quia albae siuit iam ad niessetn.
74. Cp. Virg. Aen. vii. 227, plaga solis iniqui.
%2' Virg. A 671. ix. 614, fulgent i murice.
97. Virg. Eel. ix. 24, ef potuni pastas age ; lb. ii. 30, gregem
viridi compellere hibisco.
98. Virg. Eel. V. 47, saliente sitim restinguere rivo.
103. Cp. Mantuan's Alfonsus, Bk. i (Bologna ed., 1502, fol. 251),
* lumina demisso in cilium claudebat amictu.' de SUb : ' from under.'
For such double prepositions, see Ronsch, Itala und Vulgata, pp.
234-5, 475- In some later editions the line is rewritten : demissis
aliunde sui velatninis oris.
106. operi . . . intendens. Cp. Minuc. Fel. Oct. vii. 5, intende
templis; Augustine, Conf. ii. 10, 18, nolo in earn intendere; lb. xi.
2. 3, intende orationi tneae ', Psa. 54. 2, intende mihi.
1 13. Virg. Eel. X. 49, ' ah tibi ne teneras glacies secet aspera plantas.'
1 1 5-6. Cp. Tibullus, ii. 3. 79-80, ' ducite : ad imperium dominae sul-
cabimus agros : | non ego me vinclis verberibusque nego ; ' Ovid, Her.
vi. 97, ' scilicet ut tauros, ita te iuga ferre coegit ; ' Palingenius,
Zodiacus Vitae, v. 444, ' fert placida cervice iugum.'
116. bovis instar. Cp. ii. 71, bovis instar; vii. 15, instar ovis;
Ov. Met. iv. 135, exhorruit aequoris instar.
120. cottidie. For Mantuan's scansion, compare one of his Epi-
grammata ad Falconem (on the death of Filippo Baveria), 'cottidie
querimur, cottidie rapimur.'
121. in nonam . . . horam. See note on line 148.
138. Cp. Ov. Met. ix. 761, fnediis sitiemus in undis.
142. rullam : ' instrumentum ferreum quo vomis detergetur ' (Du
Cange). Perotti, Corn., ^ rulla significat instrumentum ferreum
stimulo rusticorum additum ad vomerem detergendum : Plin.
<^xviii. 49. 179^ purget vomerem subinde stimulus cuspidatus rulla.^
The modern texts of Pliny have rallo. deerant . . . deerat . . . deeram :
synizesis, as in Virg. Geor. ii. 200, 233.
148. semel = ' aliquando. Gall. Une fois, un jour' (Du Cange,
who quotes an example from a document of the year 1300). Mantuan's
use of semel was criticized by his contemporaries, and defended by
his brother Tolomeo : ' in quo vult innuere id non aliquando sim-
pliciter sed semel, hoc est non pluries, accidisse. ast hi vulgariter
loqui omnia consueti magis ad consuetudinem vulgi quam ad poetae
124 ECLOGUE I. 154— ECLOGUE 11. 5
sensum respexerunt. sed fingamus eos verum dicere et semel pro
aliquando illic poni ; si recte intelligerent, id non coarguerent. locus
enim et tempus multa excusant quae alias essent digna redargui.
locus ergo ille potuit illis, immo et debuit plene satisfacere, id enim
est in Bucolicis dictum, ubi ridentur mores rusticorum, et Minerva
pastoralis praesentatur. ibi etiam rusticus quidam Crates pro grates
g. m. c. versa fabulatur <Cviii. 158^, et ad imitandum pro ridiculo
villicos Pollux pro Paulus <[vii. i>, Har cuius pro Hercules
<[iii. 4>, Enophilus pro Onophryus <Ci. 161 ; ix. 3i]>, Coitus pro
Godio <Cii. 37^, hora nona pro meridie <^i, I2i]>, et huius modi alia
de industria ponuntur, non casu vel inscitia : ut fortasse isti crim-
inantur ' {Apologia contra detrahentes operibus B. M., Lyons ed.,
15 16, fol. Dd, ii).
154-55- Cp. Mantuan's De Sacris Diebus (of St. Urban's Day,
May 25), ' musca volans noctu, dicunt lampyrida Grai, | nunc latet
astrictis, nunc lucet hiantibus alis, | . . . iam spicata Ceres ; ' Perotti,
Corn., * cicendula a Graecis lampyris dicta . . . nunc pennarum hiatu
refulgens, nunc compressu obumbrata.'
156. Cp. Ov. Met. ix. 759, venit ecce optabile tempus, \ luxque
iugalis adest.
159. gemina . . . luce : ' solis et taedarum ' (Ascensius). Rather, it
was a two days feast.
161. Oenophilus. See note on line 148.
163. Ovid, Met. xii. 158, multifori delectat tibia buxi.
167. multotiens : 'satis humile adverbium quo idonei abstinere
dicuntur ' (Asc).
170. Cp. Catullus, 62. 3, iam pinguis linquere mensas.
173- Cp. Virg. Geor. iii. 66, 'optima quaeque dies miseris mortali-
bus aevi | prima fugit ; ' Plin. Ep. viii. 14. 10, ' tanto brevius omne
quanto felicius tempus.'
175. subintrat : for the transitive use. cp. Anthol. ii. p. 402 Burm.,
' forte subintrarunt unica tecta simul.' The intransitive use is com-
mon in the Vulgate.
176. taxemur : a post-Augustan word.
ECLOGA II, FORTUNATUS.
Quae Padus exundans tulerit dispendia primunt,
Insanum tnemorat mox Fortunatus Amyntatn.
The speakers are the same as in the first Eclogue. Here (and in
the third) Fortunatus discourses on the madness of unlawful love,
or unlawful desire, and its unhappy issue.
I. Cp. Calpurn. Eel. vi. i, ' serus ades, Lycida; ' lb. vii. i, * lentus
ab urbe venis, Corydon ; vicesima certe | nox fuit,' etc.
5. omissa : cp. x. 69, dmisit, and the poem Alfonsus, Bk. i (fol.
255). segniier dmisit. The Mantua edition of 1498 doubles the m —
as it does in amisso, i. 32 ; amissi, ii. 89. Cp. Boccaccio, Eel. xv. 86,
nee lacrimas omit to.
ECLOGUE 11. 8-82 125
8-9. Virg. Geor. i. 481-3, * proluit insano contorquens vertice silvas
I fluviorum rex Eridanus, camposque per omnes | cum stabulis
armenta tulit.' Tityrus means Virgil, as in Virgil's first Eclogue.
So, too, in Calpurn. iv. 62; Nemes. ii. 84; Boccaccio, Eel. i. 82-5,
X. 66; Mantuan, Eel. iii. 174, v. 86, ix. 220. In Spenser's imitation
of Mant. V. 86, he is called 'the Romish Tityrus' (5. C, x. 55).
He is mentioned here as the author of the Eelogues and Georgics.
12-13. Virg. Geor. i. 43, ' vere novo gelidus canis cum montibus
umor I liquiiur;^ lb. i. 326, ' implentur fossae et cava flumina
crescunt.'
17. Ovid, Met. viii. 559, ' dum tenues capiat suus alveus undas.'
18. Virg. Aen. i. 439, jnirabile dictu.
19. lacus : not Benacus (as Ascensius thought), but the lake
formed by the Mincio at Mantua. Cp. Mantuan's Vita Lodovici
Morbioli, ' et senior vitreo Mantua cincta lacu ; ' also, Eel. vi. 105,
' M anions Amyntas.'
25. This line is quoted in Mantuan's Dialogus eontra Detraetores
(Lyons ed., 15 16, fol. c. ii).
28. Cp. Virg. Eel. iii. 55-57, ' dicite, quandoquidem in molli con-
sedimus herba, | et nunc omnis ager, nunc omnis parturit arbos, |
nunc frondent silvae, nunc formosissimus annus ; ' Geor. ii. 328-30,
' avia tum resonant avibus virgulta canoris, [ et Venerem certis re-
petunt armenta diebus ; | parturit almus ager ; ' Lucr. i. 2, ' alma
Venus' (so Aen. i. 618; Ov. F. iv. 90); Lucr. i. 9, * nitet diffuso
lumine caelum.'
35. Virg. Aen. i. 705, ' centum aliae totidemque pares aetate
ministri.'
37. Coitum : Goito. See note on i. 148.
41. Virg. Eel. i. I, recubans sub tegmine fagi.
43. umbra. Cp. Virg. Eel. ix. 42, * lentae texunt umbracula vites.'
45-46. Cp. Virg. Geor. i. 92, ' rapidive potentia solis ; ' lb. ii. 353, '
' ubi hiulca siti findit Canis aestifer arva ; ' TibuU. i. 7. 21, ' arentes
cum findit Sirius agros.' sciderat. In the Bologna edition of the
collected poems, 1502, the passage is rewritten: messis erat: rapidi
violentia solis adustos \ prosciderat campos. Cp. Servius' comment
on Virgil's abscidit, Aen. iii. 418: 'propter metrum ' <:i ' corripuit
per poeticum morem..' philomena : for the spelling, see i. 27 «.
47-48. Cp. Virg. Eel. v. 77, ' dumque thymo pascentur apes, dum
rore cicadae ; ' Geor. i. 107, ' exustus ager morientibus aestuat herbis.'
49. intendit. Cp. i. 106, operi . . . intcndens.
60. sulphuris arcem : Solferino.
61. longis . . . prospectibus. Cp. viii. 4-5, longe \ prospicio; Virg.
Aen. iii. 206, aperire procul monies.
63. sacra ... Petro : the day of S. Pietro in Vincoli (Aug. i).
69. Virg. Geor. iii. 431, ingluviem . . . explei.
71. bovis instar. Cp. i. 116 n.
79. Cp. Virg. Aen. vi. 389, ' comprime gressum ; ' Ovid. Met. viii.
218, ' aut pastor baculo stivave innixus arator."
80. Cp. viii. 2-3, aestas mitior.
81. Cp. Virg. Eel. vi. 47, ah virgo infelix.
82. Cp. Ovid, Met. iii. 144 ff. (of Actaeon).
126 ECLOGUE II. 85-172
85. Ovid, Met. iii. 415 (of Narcissus), dumque sitim sedare cupit,
sitis altera crevit.
87. Ovid, Met. iii. 176, sic ilium fata ferehant.
98. limbus : 'head-band,' 'fillet.' Cp. iv. 213, fronietn ligat auro;
Claud. Cons. Mall. Theod. 118, frontem limbo velata pudicam;
Arnob. ii. 41, imminuerent frontes limbis.
100. claviculo : ' pin.' The word is very rare ; cp. Nonius, p. 140
M., ' Maeander est picturae genus, adsimili opere labyrinthorum,
claviculis inligatum.'
103-5. Cp. Virg. Ed. viii. 41, ' ut vidi, ut perii ; ' Aen. iv. 2, * et
caeco carpitur igni ; ' Ovid, Her. v. 143, * me miseram, quod amor
non est medicabilis herbis ; ' Met. i. 523, ' hei mihi, quod nullis amor
est sanabilis herbis ; ' Her. xvi. 190, ' flamma recens parva sparsa
resedit aqua.'
107-8. Ovid, Met. yi\\\. 761-2, ' validaque cupidine captus | uriiur,
oblitus pecorum antrorumque suorum.'
108. Cp. Gregorio Tifernate (Mantuan's teacher), Triumphus
Cupidinis, 'hie furit et noctes in fletu ducit amaras ' (Venice ed.,
1498, fob b. iii).
112. Satanum. Mantuan has also Sdtdnas (ace. pi.) and
Sdtdnibus (Ascensius' ed., Paris, 1513, Vol. i. fol. 164, 214 b).
121-2. Virg. Aen. iv. 602, epulandum ponere mensis; lb. iii. 257,
malis absumere mensas ; Geor. iii. 268, malis membra absumpsere.
124-5. Cp. Cic. Tusc. Disp. i. 13. 30, ' quod nulla gens tam fera,
nemo omnium tam sit immanis, cuius mentem non irnbuerit deorum
opinio.'
126-8. Cp. Cic. C. M. xii. 40, ' hinc patriae proditiones, hinc rerum
publicarum eversiones, hinc cum hostibus clandestina coUoquia nasci.'
134. tetricos . . . Catones. Cp. Mart. x. 20. 21, 'tunc me vel rigidi
legant Catones ; ' lb. 14, ' tetricae . . . Minervae ; ' Mantuan, Contra
Poet. 151, 'id cane quod tetrici possint audire Catones.' Lewis and
Short give only tetricus; Ovid and Martial have tetricus.
138. Psa. vii. 16, et incidit in foveam quam fecit.
140-2. Acts, XV. 10, 'nunc ergo quid tentatis Deum imponere iugum
super cervices discipulorum quod neque nos neque patres nostri por-
tare potuimus?' (Asc). Virg. Aen. iii. 158, ' venturos . . . nepotes.'
146. tranabit : cp. viii. 180, ' transHt ad Superos.'
147. ipsis. For this use of ipse, cp. viii. 112, 173. It is common
in the Vulgate; and it occurs in Minucius Felix, Oct. 9-3 5 ^8. 6;
30.4; 30.5. See the passage quoted from John (on Eel. iii. 75), the
letter of Thomas Wolf, Jr., quoted on Eel. iv. 81, the mediaeval
document quoted on Eel. ix. 20.
151. modo = nunc, as in i. 4.
154. Marius . . . Carbo. The early commentators could find very
little point in these proper names. Ascensius suspected a play on the
word carbo ; Andreas Vaurentinus suggested that the names were
loosely used, by a rustic speaker, 'like Pollux for Paulus (vii. i).'
167. Cp. Ovid, Her. vi. 21, credula res amor est.
172. Baldo: Monte Baldo (7275 ft.), east of the Lago di Garda.
ECLOGUE 111. 1-S9 127
ECLOGA III, AMYNTAS.
Agricolae duram sort em, miserique furores,
Fortunatus et exitium deplorat Amyntae.
In the third Eclogue Fortunatus completes the story which he had
begun in the second. A part of the preliminary discussion (17-27
and 32-33) may be compared with Petrarch, Eel. ix. (6-27 and 81-82).
I. Ilia , . . grando. The reference is to Eel. ii. 173, oritur grando.
2-3. Cp. Mantuan's 3 Parthen. (fol. 147 Asc), ' saepe boni quibus
est hominum custodia divi \ et suus ipse oculis se subiecere videndos '
(where Ascensius explains divi as meaning spiritns aut genii boni).
In the De Sacris Diebus, divi regularly means the ' saints.' For
divis gratia, cp. Ter. Ad. 121; Ovid, Pont. iii. 5. 48.
4. Harculus : see note on i. 148.
8. substantia = ' wealth,' as in the Ecclesiastical Writers and in
the Latin Bible. Cp. Juvencus, iv. 255; Paul. Nol. xviii. 56,
' geminos, quod ei substantia, nummos.'
12. gubernat. The earliest texts have the indicative, although the
clause seems to be interrogative. Contrast involvat, 1. 31.
16. Virg. Eel. viii. 35, 'nee curare deum credis mortalia quemquam.'
extimo : ' extimare pro aestimare, interdum apud Script. Ecclesias-
ticos ' (Du Cange). Mantuan has the form extimat again, 2
Parthen. ii. 509.
17-27. Petraioh, Eel. ix. 6-27, ' rastra manu versans rigida scabrosque
ligones | urget in arva boves sulcoque annixus inhaeret. | . • • post-
quam sudore exhaustus anhelo | spes cernit florere suas iamque horrea
laxat, I ecce, fremens sata culta truci vertigine nimbus | obruit, et
longos anni brevis hora labores | una necat,' etc. Virg. Eel. vui.
43, duris in cotibus. insidias intentat : cp. ii. 44, insidias tendebat.
incalluit : cp. viii. 25, callosa.
31. Virg. Aen. i. 599, omnium egenos.
32-33. Petrarch, Eel. ix, 81-82, ' falleris, ah demens ; nam iusta et
sera merentes | pastores ferit ira Dei populumque rebellem.'
39. Hor. Od. i. 11. i, scire nefas.
40. Cp. ii. 78, nostrum repetamus Amyntam.
41-42. Cp. i. 118, 'id commune malum, semel insanivimus omnes.'
43. Cp. i. 51, tollat de cardine mentem.
46. Cosmas is unfortunately hard to identify. Perhaps he is only
an ideal person.
47, Cp. ii. 27, nostros repetamus atnores.
50. Cp. Virg. Eel. i. 30 and 68, longo post tempore.
53. fabula. Cp. Hor. Epod. xi. 8, per urbem . . . fabula quanta fui\
Id. Ep. i. 13. 9, fabula fias ; Ov. Am. iii. i. 21; Tibull. i. 4, 83;
ii. '?. ^ I * etc.
57. Cp. Tac. Ann. i. 34. 3, curvata senio membra.
59. somnolentum. The word is used with the same quantity m a
mediaeval Latin poem (C. Pascal. Poesia lafina medievale, Catania,
1907, p. 1 14).
128 ECLOGUE III. 73-145
y^. Contrast Mantuan's De Sacris Diebus (St. Urban's Day, May
25), * iam tondentur oves.' Cp. Varro, R. R. ii. 11. 7-8, * oves hirtas
tondent circiter hordeaceam messem, in aliis locis ante faenisicia.
quidam has bis in anno tondent, ut in Hispania citeriore, ac semen-
stres faciunt tonsuras.'
75. conflare putabam. Cp. line 141, 'qui flectere dives | creditis;^
vi. 133, ' veriere in aurum | aestimat ; ' and Mantuan's Alfonsus, Bk.
iii (fol.. 278), ' Bucarem Maurum qui fortibus armis | Hesperiam
delere puians traiecerat aequor | perdomui.' So in the Latin Bible,
John, V. 39, * scrutamini scripturas. quia vos putatis in ipsis vitam
aeternam habere.'' Cp., also, Amm. Marc. xiv. 11, 34, scrutari puta-
bit ; Tertull. An. 38, tegere senserunt (E. Lofstedt, Beitrdge zur
Kenntnis der spdieren Latinitdt, Uppsala, 1907, pp. 59-62).
83-85. Virg. Eel. iii. 71, * aurea mala decern misi ; ^Ib. ii. 45-55,
' tibi lilia plenis [ ecce ferunt Nymphae calathis,' etc. ; lb. iii. 68-69,
' parta meae Veneri sunt munera : namque notavi | ipse locum, aeriae
quo congessere palumbes.' Cp. Prop. iii. 34. 71, * felix qui viles pomis
mercaris amores.'
86. Ovid, A. A. ii. 277-8, ' aurea sunt vere nunc saecula. plurimus
auro I venit honos ; auro conciliatur amor.'
87. Cp. ii. 167, invida res amor est.
Ql. Cd. Ter. Phorni. 504, quoi quod amas domisi.
97. Virg. Geor. ii. 76, aliena ex arbore gernien.
103-8. TibuU. i. I. 59-62, ' te spectem, suprema mihi cum venerit
hora, I te teneam moriens deficiente manu. | flebis et arsuro positum
me, Delia, lecto, [ tristibus et lacrimis oscula mixta dabis ; ' i. 3. 57-8,
' sed me, quod facilis tenero sum semper Amori, | ipsa Venus campos
ducet in Elysios.'
109. Virg. Aen. vi. 550, ' quae rapidus flammis ambit torrentibus
amnis, | Tartareus Phlegethon.'
115. Virg. Geor. ii. 371, * texendae saepes etiam et pecus omne
tenendum ;' lb. iv, 10, *neque oves haedique petulci | floribus insultent.'
117-24. Cp. Virg. Eel. V. 40-44, spargite hiunum foliis, etc. ista :
applied to what follows, as at viii. 95.
130. Cp. Tibull. i. I. 63-64, * flebis : non tua sunt duro praecordia
ferro ] vincta, neque in tenero stat tibi corde silex ; ' Ov. Am. i. II.
9, * nee silicum venae nee durum in pectore ferrum.'
134. meos vultus averterit : apparently a variation on such Bibli-
cal phrases as Ps. 21, 25, 'nee avertit jaciem suam a me ; ' Ps. 26, 9,
' ne averias faciem tuam a me.'
138. Ovid, Met. i. 523, ' hei mihi, quod nullis amor est sanabilis
herbis.'
139. Virg. Geor. iii. 391, si credere dignum est (repeated, Aen. vi.
173). So Ovid, Met. iii. 311.
141. Virg. Aen. vii. 312, flectere ... Superos. With flectere...
creditis cp. line 75, conflare putabam.
143-4. Cp. Virg. Geor. iii. 291-3, * sed me Parnasi deserta per ardua
dulcis I raptat amor ; iuvat ire iugis, qua nulla priorum | Castaliam
molli devertitur orbita clivo ; ' lb. ii. 471, ' ilHc saltus ac lustra
ferarum; ' Aen. iii. 646, 'in silvis inter deserta ferarum | lustra.'
145. talia iactantem: a Virgilian phrase, Aen. i. 102; ii. 588;
ix. 621,
ECLOGUE III. 147-194 129
147. nox intempesta : a Virgilian phrase, Geor. i. 247; Aen. iii.
587; xii. 846. Cp. Lucr. v. 986.
150. Cp. Virg. Geor. iii. 528, simplicis herbae.
151. Cp. Catull. 64. 242, * anxia in assiduos absumens lumina fletus.'
156. Virg. Aen. ii. 237, fatalis ynackina.
161. Cp. i. 52, 'nee deus (ut perhibent) Amor est, sed amaror et
error.'
164. Virg. Aen. vi. 882, hezi miserande puer.
165. Cp. Juv. vii. 194-6, ' distat enim, quae | sidera te excipiant
modo primos incipientem | edere vagitus et adhuc a matre rubentem.'
167. Virg. Aen. ii. 87, prirnis . . . ab annis. inf ortunarit : cp.
Mantuan's Trophaeum, Bk. ii (fol. 334), ' deo extremos inforiunante
labores.' Du Cange cites the verb only from a Paris missal: 'Deus
. . , quo benedicente nemo infortunabit.''
169. Virg. Eel. X. 51, modulabor avena; Calpurn. i. 93, modulemur
avena ; lb. iv. 63, carmen niodulatus avena.
171. Juv. vii. 29, ut venias dignus hederis ; Ovid, Met. xi. 165,
lauro Parnaside vinctus.
174. Tityrus means Virgil, as in ii. 9. Cp. Yirg.. Eel. ii. i, * for-
mosum pastor Corydon ardebat Alexim ' (on which Servius says,
' Corydonis in persona Vergilius intellegitur. Caesar Alexis in persona
inducitur'). In Juan del Encina's paraphrase of Virgil's second
Eclogue King Ferdinand takes the place of Alexis.
179. Virg. Eel. iv. ii, decus hoc aevi; lb. v. 34, tu decus omne
tuis; Ovid, Pont. ii. 8. 25, saecli decus indelebile nostri.
181. Ovid, Met. xi. 47, ' lacrimis quoque flumina dicunt | increvisse
suis ' (cited by loannes Murmellius).
182-5. Virg. Eel. v. 24, ' non ulli pastos illis egere diebus ] frigida,
Daphni, boves ad flumina ; ' lb. 35, ' ipsa Pales agros atque ipse re-
liquit Apollo ; ' lb. 40, ' spargite humum foliis.'
188. Hebr. xi. 16, ' meliorem [patriam] appetunt, id est, coelestem.'
192-4. Virg. Eel. vi. 85-86, ' cogere donee oves stabulis numerumque
referre | iussit et invito processit Vesper Olympo.' For the ' star
that bids the shepherd fold' (the o-arrip ahluK of Apoll. Rhod. iv.
1630) cp. Calpurn. ii. 93-94, ' sed fugit ecce dies revocatque crepus-
cula Vesper ; | hinc tu, Daphni, greges, illinc agat Alphesiboeus ;'
Nemes. ii. 89-90, ' frigidus e silvis donee descendere suasit | Hesperus
et stabulis pastos inducere tauros ; ' Boccaccio, Eel. ii. i52-3> ' ast
ocior Hesperus haedos | egit ut ad septas traherem, caprosque
Melampus.'
130 ECLOGUE IV. 3-70
ECLOGA IV, ALPHUS.
Amissum memorat caprum puerique furorem
I annus, et ingenium notat hinc Alphus muliebre.
The fourth Eclogue — the most famous of the series — is a satire on
the ways of women. The topic had been a prime favorite with
mediaeval writers : for some of the abundant literature on the subject,
see A. Tobler, Zeitschrift fiir romanische Philologie, ix (1885), 288-
290; D. Comparetti, Virgilio nel Medio Evo, ii.^ 112 ff. ; C. Pascal,
Poesia latina tnedievale (1907), pp. 1 51- 184, and Letteratura latina
medievale (1909), pp. 107-115. Mantuan's discourse (lines 110-241)
is put into the mouth of one of his early teachers, Gregorio Tifernate
—just how appropriately, it is hard to say. Certainly, there is noth-
ing in Gregorio's published poems to suggest that he was a misogynist
above all others of his day and generation. Possibly the youthful
author meant merely to imply that his knowledge of the subject was
only second-hand.
3-4. The symptoms of the sick animal are dutifully borrowed from
Virgil; cp. Geor. iii. 466, ?nedio procunibere campo \ pascentem; lb.
465, sumnias carpentem ignavius herbas ; Eel. v. 26, nee graminis
attigit her bam.
13. Virg. Eel. iii. 69, quo congessere palumbes. philomena : for
the spelling, see i. 27 «.
15. qui non credit, etc. ' Quia qualis quisque est, talem iudicat
quemlibet : et ita, qui fidus non est, neminem fidum existimat ' (As-
censius) ; 'quia infidus et alios infidos putat ' (Andreas Vaurentinus).
Cp. the two ' emblemes ' at the close of the May eclogue of Spenser's
Shepheards Calender : Haf fiev cntioTo^ airiaTei, and T^k' ^' o.pa TziaTiq
nTrioTif). Perhaps Alphus means that the man who does not trust his
neighbor is not trusted (or trustworthy) himself.
17- Virg, Aen. ii. 13. ineipiam. fraeti bello, etc.
41. Virg. Aen. v. 591, irremeabilis error.
44. resero. The poet's brother Tolomeo defended a similar use of
reserare, in the Alfonsus (animas reseraret ab Oreo), by citing Virgil,
Aen. ii. 258-9, ' inclusos utero Danaos et pinea furtim | laxat claustra
Sinon ' {Apologia, Lyons ed., 1516, fol. Cc. v).
46-49. Cp. Thomas Middleton, The Witch (ed. A. H. Bullen, vol.
V. p. 366). Further details as to the witches' flight, etc., may be
found in Delrio, Disquisitiones magicae, lib. ii, quaest. 16 (Moguntiae,
1624, pp. 167 if.).
52. pedum meditans. In some of the later editions the line is re-
written : dutnque nemus subeo meditans mecum, ecce per umbras.
56. runca : ' Runca dicitur ferreum instrumentum, seu sarculum,
quo sentes et herbae runcantur aut evelluntur ' (Du Cange).
70. mulieribus. Cp. muUere, iv. 206 and vi. 57; mulierum, iv.
245; Boccaccio, Eel. vii. 124, mulieribus. For the e in the obliqur
cases of mulier, Quicherat cites Venant. Fort. viii. 6; Dracontius,
Satis/. t6i ; and it is not uncommon in mediaeval Latin hexameters,
ECLOGUE IV. 81-100 131
The usage was criticized by Mantuan's contemporaries, but his
brother Tolomeo could cite the authority of Laurentius Valla and
Gregorio Tifernate {Apologia, Lyons ed., 1 5 16, fol. Ee, iv).
81. Umber means Gregorio Tifernate (Gregorio da Citta di Cas-
tello), as Mantuan himself explained to Thomas Wolf, Jr., in the
year 1500: 'Ego, mi lacobe, sicut multa alia ita hoc praecipue
quaesivi, quid ipse in aeglogis suis intelligi desyderaret per Vmbrum,
in cuius laudibus esset tam frequens ac assiduus. Aiebat ipse a se
notari Gregorium tiphernum praeceptorem suum,' etc. (Letter to
Jakob Wimpfeling, Feb. 24, 1503, printed in the Tubingen edition
of the Eclogues, 15 15). Gregorio was born about 1414- He studied
at Perugia, and afterwards spent some years in Greece. Returning
to Italy, he taught Greek at Naples, where (c. 1447) he had Gioviano
Pontano as one of his pupils. From 1449 to 1455 he was in the
service of Pope Nicholas V, for whom he made translations of
several Greek works. After the death of his patron (March 25,
1455) he taught for a short time at Milan; and toward the close of
1456 he went to France, to the court of Charles VIL On Jan. 19,
1458, he was appointed professor of Greek at the University of
Paris; but early in September, 1459, he returned to Italy. From
April, 1460, to December, 146 1, he seems to have taught at Mantua,
and the remainder of his life was spent at Venice. He seems to
have died about 1464. [The unpublished ' Vita ' of Gregorio, Cod.
Vat. Lat. 6845, foil. 157-161, contains very little information be-
yond what may be gleaned, or inferred, from his own poems. Some
additional facts are furnished by F. Gabotto, Ancora un letterato^
del Quattrocento (1890), pp. 7-23; L. Delaruelle, Melanges d'
archeologie et d' histoire, xix (1899), 9-33; L. Thuasne, Roberti
Gaguini E pistole et Orationes (1903), i. 10-12].
82-83. Virg. Eel. iii. 52, quin age, si quid habes\ Ibid. ix. 45,
numeros memini, si verba tenerem; lb. ix. 38, neque est ignobtle
carmen.
87-88. Cp. Virg. Ed. iii. 20, * Tityre, coge pecus;' tu post carecta
latebas. For the rustic realism, cp. i. 44-47. and note, obsit : cp.
iii. 115, ne floribus obsit.
90. Cp. i. 175, vineta subintrat.
93. ' et : i. e. etiam ; pampineos . . . agios : i. e. vineas ' (Asc).
98-99. Virg. Geor. i. 332, aut Rhodopen aut alia Ceraunia. Cp.
'Umber's' own reference to his long journeyings : ' lunior Eurotae
potavi fluminis undam, | de Ligeri factus grandior amne bibo. \
vidimus Oceanum mare, vidimus Hellespontum : | sic voluit longas
nos Deus ire vias,' Gregorii Tipherni Poetae clariss. Opuscula,
Venetiis, 1498, fol. c. iii. [This quotation is taken from a copy m
the Library of the University of Turin. There is another copy ol
the same edition at the University of Padua; and Voigt-Lehnerdt
report a third in the Royal Library at Berlin.]
100. referebat carmina. None of Gregorio's translations of Greek
verse have been preserved. His translations of prose authors (all
of them dedicated to Nicholas V) are as follows: (i) Aristotle.
Magna Moralia and Eudemian Ethics; (2) Dio Chrysostom, De
Regno- (3) Strabo, De Situ Orbis, lib. xi-xvii (the first ten books
132 ECLOGUE IV. io5-i4g
were translated by Guarino) ; (4) Theophrastus, four fragments
{Metaphysica, De Natura Ignis, De Piscibus, De Vertigine) ; (5)
Timaeus Locrensis, De Miindi Fabrica. [I owe this note to Dr. D.
P. Lockwood, of Columbia University.]
105. Candidus means Mantuan himself, as in Eclogues IX and
X. ^ Cp. the reference in Euricius Cordus, Ed. ii, ' Candidus est,
gelida qui Faustum lusit in umbra, | ut retulit veteres Gallam quibus
arserat ignes.'
108. Virg. Eel. vii. 21, Nymphae, noster amor, Libethrides.
109. plus: ' subaudi caeteris. alioqui dixisset plurimum ' (As-
censius).
no. Cp. a letter of Aeneas Silvius (to Hippolytus of Milan, 1446),
Remediuni contra amorem : ' Mulier est animal imperfectum, varium,
fallax, multis moribus passionibusque subiectum, sine fide, sine
timore, sine constantia, sine pietate. de his loquor mulieribus quae
turpes admittunt amores.' For a longer string of such uncompli-
mentary epithets (with a similar saving clause at the end) see
Martinez de Toledo, Corvacho (1438), Madrid ed., 1901, p. 61. Cp.,
also, Boccaccio's Corbaccio (Florence ed., 1828, p. 199): ' Ora io
non t' ho detto quanto questa perversa moltitudine sia golosa ritrosa
e ambiziosa, invidiosa accidiosa iracunda e delira, ne quanto ella
nel farsi servire sia imperiosa noiosa vezzosa stomacosa e importuna,
e altre cose assai,' etc.
112. extremis gaudet. So La Bruyere, Des Femtnes, 53, * Les
femmes sont extremes : elles sont meilleures ou pires que les homraes.'
114. Virg. Geor. i. 211, brumae intractabilis.
115. Virg. Aen. x. 273-5, ' aut Sirius ardor ] . . . laevo contristat
lumine caelum.' Canis is probably the genitive.
1 1 7. amat . . . odit. Cp. Publil. Syr. Sent., ' aut amat aut odit
mulier, nil est tertium ; ' also, the line in a mediaeval poem, 'Aut
amat aut odit: medium non femina novit ' (C. Pascal, Poesia laiina
medievale, Catania, 1907, p. 179). capitaliter odit: the expression
is cited from Amm. Marc. 21. 16. 11.
118. hernica: cp. Mantuan's Alfonsus, Bk. ii (fol. 269), ' facili
minus hernica vultu.'
124. Cp. Virg. Aen. iv. 569, varium et m.utabile semper \ femina.
129. ganeae : ' gluttony.' For the quantity, cp. Prud. Hamart.
322, gdneonis; Id. Psych. 343, gdnearum; Sidon. v. 340, gdnea.
132-3. Ovid, Met. ii. 467, distuleratque graves in idonea tempora
poenas.
134. litigiosa : cp. Juv. vi. 242, ' nulla fere causa est in qua non
femina litem | moverit.'
135 fT. : echoed in Two Italian Gentletnen (1584), 938-943, Malone
Society Reprint, 1910, through L. Pasqualigo (see p. 56) : ' Busie
they are with pen to write our vices in our face. But negligent to
knowe the blemish of their owne disgrace. Gestures and lookes in
readinesse at their command they haue. Mirth, sorrowe, feare, hope,'
etc.
146-9. Cp. the close of the fable ^ De muliere et proco sua' (L.
Hervieux, Les fabulistes latins, ii. 487) : ' Hie dicitur, quod mulier
habet omnes artes Dyaboli et adhuc ulterius artem unam. De visis
enim decipit veluti de non visis.'
ECLOGUE IV. 150-212 133
150 If. The examples cited, here and in lines 207 ff., had long
been stock examples in treatises on this subject. Cp. St. Jerome,
Adv. lov. Bk. i. (ii. 292 Migne), 'quid referam Pasiphaen, Clytem-
nestram, et Eriphylam . . . quidquid tragoediae tument, et domes
urbes regnaque subvertit, uxorum pellicumque contentio est. arman-
tur parentum in liberos manus : nefandae apponuntur epulae : et
propter unius mulierculae raptum Europa atque Asia decennali bello
confligunt.'
156. subicit : cp. Lucan, vii. 574, ipse inanu subicit gladios; Sil.
Ital. i. 113, subicitque haud niollia dicta.
161. luxuriae means Must', as in the Ecclesiastical Writers: Paul.
Nol. XXV. 10 ; Prudent. Perist. xiii. 25 ; etc.
176. The names all occur in Virgil's Eclogues.
178. An unusual version of the story. C. G. Leland, Legends of
Florence, New York, 1895, p. 236, mentions ' the fact that Eurydice
was lost for tasting a pomegranate,' but omits to state where the
* fact ' is recorded. Cp. Ovid, Met. ix. 600, si non male sana fuissem.
180. Virg. Geor. i. 39, ' nee repetita sequi curet Proserpina matrem.'
181-3. Virg. Aen. vi. 119-23, 'si potuit manes arcessere coniugis
Orpheus | ... si fratrem Pollux alterna morte redemit, | itque reditque
viam totiens — quid Thesea magnum, | quid memorem Alciden ? et mi
genus ab love summo;' Hor. Od. i. 12. 26, ' hunc equis, ilium su-
perare pugnis | nobilem.'
184. Boccaccio, Eel. xiv. 207 (of the Redeemer), inde salus venit
et vita renatis.
194-5. Cp. iii. 65-66.
196-7. Cp. Brunetto Latini, Li Tresors, i. 5. 132 (of the Cocodrille),
' Et se il vaint 1' ome, il le manjue en plorant ; ' lb. i. 5. 191 (of the
Hiene), * et ensuit les maisons et estables, et contrefait la voiz des
gens, et ainsi decoit sovent les homes et les chiens, et les devore ; '
Philippe de Thaiin, Bestiaire, 717-18 (of the Cocodrille), ' S' il pot,
ume devure, | Quant mangie 1' at, si plure ; ' Perotti, Cornucopiae
(of the crocodile), ' conspecto homine emittit lacrimas ; mox appro-
pinquantem devorat;' (of the hyena), ' humanum sermonem inter
pastorum stabula assimilare dicitur, nomenque alicuius discere quern
foras evocatum dilaceret. vomitionem etiam hominis imitari ad sol-
licitandos canes quos invadat ; ' Cecco d' Ascoli, XL (of the hyena),
* contraf a Ihumana uoce | per deuorar Ihumana creatura ' (Venice
ed. 1487); Mantuan, Alfonsus, Bk. v. fol. 293, * callida et, ut per-
hibent, nostrae aemula vocis hyaena.'
200-1. Ovid, Met. iv. 780-1, ' se tamen horrendae clipei quem laeva
gerebat | aere repercussam formam aspexisse Medusae;' lb. 551,
' saxificae ... Medusae ; ' Met. v. 217, ' saxificos vultus ... Medusae.'
204. fluvioriim : for the scansion, cp. Virg. Geor. i. 482, fluviorum
rex Eridanus. aspris : for the form, cp. Virg. Aen. ii. 379, aspris
. . . sentibus.
207 ff. ' Plebeii ac triviales sunt versiculi : Adatn, Samsonem, Lot,
Davidem, Solomonem, \ Femina decepit; quis modo tutus erii? '
(Ascensius).
212. Prud. Hamart. 264-5, 'nee enim contenta decore ] ingenito
externam mentitur femina formam.'
\
134 ECLOGUE IV. 213-251
213. Prud. Hamart. 272, ' aureolisque riget coma texta catenis/
216. Cp. Virg. Ed. iii. 64-5, ' malo me Galatea petit, lasciva puella,
I et fugit ad salices, et se cupit ante videri.'
217. dare. Cp. Catull. ex. 4, 'nee das et fers saepe.'
218. Cp. Ov. A. A. i. 665-6, 'pugnabit primo fortassis et ' improbe '
dicet : | pugnando vinci se tamen ilia volet.''
219. Gellius, ii. 22. 24, 'est etiam ventus nomine caecias, quern
Aristoteles ita flare dicit ut nubes non procul propellat, sed ut ad
sese ^vocet, ex quo versum istum proverbialem factum ait : "EAawv
k<f avTov (bare KaiKia^ vsipog.'
222. hie fragilis . . . sexus. Cp. Prud. Hamart. 277, ' haec sexus
male fortis agit, cui pectore in arto | mens fragilis facili vitiorum
fluctuat aestu.' Cp., also, the poem A Ida (du Meril, Poesies inedites
du nioyen age, Paris, 1854, p. 430), fragili rigor in sexu; and the
expression femina res fragilis, in two other mediaeval poems (C.
Pascal, Poesia latina medievale, pp. 154, 155).
^ZS- Cp. Virg, Geor. i. 93, penetrabile frigus.
234. Petrarch, Ed. i. 87, Stygias fiammas.
236. Virg. Aen. iii. 216, ■' foedissima ventris ! proluvies ; ' lb. 227,
' diripiuntque dapes contactuque omnia foedant | immundo.'
239-40. Lucan, Phars. ix. 624, ' finibus extremis Libyes, ubi fervida
tellusl accipit oceanum demisso sole calentem, | squalebant late Phor-
cynidos arva Medusae.' These lines are quoted by Perotti, and as-
cribed to Ovid; and Ascensius borrows both the quotation and the
false reference in his commentary on Mantuan.
244. rei. For the quantity, cp. Lucr. ii, 112, 548; vi. 918.
247, urbi : Citta di Castello, on the upper course of the Tiber. It
occupies the site of the ancient Tifernum Tiberinum. Cp. Virg.
Ed. vi. 73, quo se plus iactet Apollo.
249-50. Juv. vii. 55, carmen triviale.
251. Virg. Ed. X. 33, quam moUiter ossa quiescant.
EC LOG A V, CANDIDUS.
Otia Sylvanus miratur inertia vatis,
Candidus abiectos queritur nunc esse poetas.
The fifth Eclogue lifts up an old complaint against the niggardly
attitude of rich men toward poets — against ' these frugal patrons, who
begin | To scantle learning with a seruile pay.' Like the fourth, it
was a youthful composition on a traditional subject — a subject which
had been touched on by Theocritus, and Juvenal, and Martial, and
Petrarch — and it cannot reflect anything in the author's own ex-
])erience. It is paraphrased in Alexander Barclay's fourth Egloge
' treating of the behauour of Riche men agaynst Poetes,' and imitated
in the October Aeglogue of Spenser's Shepheards Calender. ' E, K.'s '
comment on S]:)enser's poem states that ' this Aeglogue is made in
imitation of Theocritus his xvi. Idilion,' adding — what most of his
V
Eclogue v. 2-58 135
readers were likely to know — ' and the lyke also is in Mantuane.'
But this comment is misleading, and must have been intended to be
misleading. Spenser's indebtedness to Theocritus is exceedingly
slight ; but it would doubtless be more impressive to refer one of
his poems to a great Greek model than to the * homely Carmelite '
whose Eclogues were a familiar text-book in almost every school.
2. Virg. Ed. V. 2, c alamos in flare.
6. Cp. Juv. iii. 165 (and vi. 357), res angusta domi; Cic. Phil.
xiii. 4. 8, res familiaris ampla.
7-8. Virg. Geor. iii. 177, nivea implebunt mulctraria vaccae \ Aen.
iii. 66, spumantia cymbia lacte.
9. Pers. i. 45, si forte quid aptius exit.
10. extenditis aures : cp. Seneca, Ep. xl. 3 (of the proper delivery
for philosophical teaching), nee extendat aures nee obruat.
11-12. Juv. vii. 30-32, ' didicit iam dives avarus | tantum admirari,
tantum laudare disertos, { ut pueri lunonis aVem ; ' ' So praysen babes
the Peacoks spotted traine,' Spenser, S. C. x. 31; T. Randolph, An
Eclogue to Master Jonson, ' Rich churls have learn't to praise us, and
admire, | But have not learn't to think us worth the hire.' Cp., also,
Juv. i. 74, ' probitas laudatur et alget.'
16. saepe : abl. of saepes.
25. Virg. Eel. ix. 51, omnia fert aetas.
27. Cp. TibuU. ii. 5. 25, pascebant herbosa Palatia vaccae; Virg.
Eel. ii. 42, bina die siccarit ovis ubera.
28. Cp. Juv. vii. 34-5, ' taedia tunc subeunt animos, tunc seque
suamque I Terpsichoren odit facunda et nuda senectus.'
29. secundant. For the intransitive use, cp. Boccaccio, Eel. vi.
47, da coepta secundent.
32. altera = alia.
IT^. Cp. Juv. vii. 32-3, ' sed defluit aetas | et pelagi patiens et
cassidis atque ligonis ; ' Virg. Aen. i. 599, omnium egenos.
38. fruges secat ore. This bit of natural history was recorded
in the famous Greek treatise Physiologus. Cp. E. Peters, Der
griechische Physiologus und seine orientalischen Uebersetzungen,
Berlin, 1898, p. 89, ' Wenn sie {sc. die Ameise) die Nahrung in der
Erde aufspeichert, so beisst sie die Korner in zwei Stiicke, damit
nicht die Korner wahrend des Winters keimen und sie Hunger
leidet.' Cp., also, Philippe de' Thaiiii, Bestiaire, 931-4, ' Le grenet
que il at | En dous parz le fendrat ; | Issi fait cuintement ] Qu' en
iver faim nel prent ; ' Guillaume le Clerc, 937-40, ' Chescun son grein
par mileu fent | E ensi le garde et defent, | Qu' il n' empire ne ne
porrist | Ne que nul germe n' i norrist ; ' Brunette Latini, Lt Tresors,
i. 5. 190, 'et ses grains brise tous parmi, porce que il ne puissent
naistre a la moistor de la terre ; ' and (for Mantuan's own day)
Perotti's Cornucopiae, ' semina condunt semirosa, ne rursus in fruges
46. Petrarch, Eel. iv. 68, ' sorte tua contentus abi, citharamque
relinque.' _ . . . , .
58. fac nos gaudere. Facere with the infinitive m the sense ol
" to cause to " is common in the Ecclesiastical Writers. " This
\
*
136 ECLOGUE V. 6o-g8
construction seems to have been colloquial : we find it at least once
in Cic. {Brut. 142), in Lucr., Varr., Ou. and Col. Its presence in
Verg. A. 2. 538-9, is only one of many instances of V's taste for the
communis sermo " (W. C. Summers, Select Letters of Seneca, London.
1910, p. 350).
60-61. Cp. Theocritus, xxv. 50, oA/.ov 6' qaXov edr/Ks deog kinfinvm
fuTcjv (quoted by Florido Ambrogio, p. 131).
64. f axo : archaic, as in Aen. ix. 154; xii. 316.
65. nodum Herculis. Cp. Macrobius, i. 19. 16, ' in Mercurio solem
coli etiam ex caduceo claret, quod Aegyptii in specie draconum maris
et feminae coniunctorum figurauerunt Mercurio consecrandum. hi
dracones parte media uoluminis sui in uicem nodo, quern uocant
Herculis, obligantur,' etc.
67. mqMis=i die is. Cp. viii. 67, quod . . . inquis ; x. 53, ut Can-
didus in quit.
70. Cp. Ov. Tr. i. I. 39, ' carmina proveniunt animo deducta
sereno ;' Juv. vii. 53-56, ' sed vatem egregium . . . anxietate carens
animus facit ; ' lb. 63-64.
72. squarrosa : a rare word, cited only from Lucilius : ' squarrosi
a squamarum similitudine dicti, quorum cutis exsurgit ob assiduam
illuviem.' situs occupat ora : cp. Virg, Aen. iv. 499, pallor simul
occupat ora ; Tibull. i. 10. 50, occupat arma situs.
75. Cp. iv. 67, ' ut ad formam faciat pudor.'
78. Cp. * Itala,' Ps. 143. 13, cellaria eorum plena.
80. Virg. Eel. i. 36, ' gravis aere domum mihi dextra redibat.'
82. ludos inarare : ' id securi faciunt rustici, divinare facientes
quem sulcum tetigerint ' (Asc).
86. Tityrus means Virgil, as in ii. 9.
89. Cp. Mart. viii. 55. 5, ' sint Maecenates, non derunt, Flacce,
Marones ; ' Juv. vii. 69-71, 'nam si Vergilio puer et tolerabile desset
I hospitium, caderent omnes a crinibus hydri, | surda nihil gemeret
grave bucina.'
90-91. Cp. Juv. vii. 59-61, * nee enim cantare sub antro | Pierio
thyrsumque potest contingere maesta | paupertas ' (' Ne wont with
crabbed care the Muses dwell,' Spenser, S. C. x. loi).
96. Cosmi : Cosimo de' Medici, 'the Elder' (1389-1464). His
wealth was proverbial; cp. a letter of Aeneas Silvius (to Petrus
Noxetanus, 1446) : ' Non habes opes Cos^ni: at Marceili habes.'
97. Pers. i. 67, in luxum et prandia regiim.
98. patinam Aesopi. Plin. N. H. x. 51, 141, ' Clodi Aesopi
tragici histrionis patina HS C taxata, in qua posuit aves cantu aliquo
aut humano sermone vocales, HS vi singulas coemptas, nulla alia
inductus suavitate nisi ut in his imitationem hominis manderet,' etc.
This ' patin of Esope ', as Alexander Barclay translates it, was
proverbial. Beroaldo has, ' lam patina Esopi caedat : iam luxus
Apici : I et Ptolomeorum prodiga luxuries' (/« cacnam datam prin-
cipi Bentivolo a Mino Roscio, Lyons ed. 1492). Cp. also, the
Lamentationes novae obscurorum Reuchlinistarufn, xi (Henricus
Haversack to Joannes Smoerpot), 'Vale ad longos Nestoris annos, et
Aesopi patinas nobis ad caenam para.' clipeumve Minervae.
Sueton. Ft'/,, xiii. 2, * patinae, quam ob immensam magnitudinem
ECLOGUE V. gg-igo
citpeum Mincrvae TTokiohxov dictitabat. in hac scarorum iocinera,
phasianarum et pavonum cerebella, linguas phoinicopterum . . . com-
miscuit.' [These two phrases were explained by loannes Murmellius,
in his Scoparius (1517)-]
99. regis laribus. Nero's Golden House (Sueton. Nero, 31).
100. aenea barba : Aenobarbi, a family name of the Domitian
gens (Sueton. Nero, i).
loi. The speaker explains his more than pastoral enlightenment:
cp. vi. 58-59; vii. 10; viii. 153-5; ix. 200; also, vi. 220 and note.
104. Juv. XV. 173-4, 'Pythagoras, cunctis animalibus abstinuit qui
I tamquam homine et ventri indulsit non omne legumen ; ' lb. iii.
229, ' unde epulum possis centum dare Pythagoreis ; ' lb. iii. 203,
' lectus erat Codro Procula minor, urceoli sex,' etc.
108-9. Cp. ii. 45-47.
109. Hor. Ep. i. I. 4-5, artnis \ Herctilis ad postern fixis.
123. Cp. Hor. Ep. i. 6. 37, regina Pecunia; Juv. i. 112, inter nos
sanctissima divitiarum \ maiesias.
129. subsannet. The verb is a common one in the Latin Bible
and in the Ecclesiastical Writers : e. g. -2 Par. 30. 10, illis irridenti-
bus et subsannantibiis eos.
136. Petrarch, Eel. iv. 70, posceris auxilium: tu consulisl Mart,
ii. 30, 6, quod peto da, Gai: non peto consilium. sed. The
Bologna edition of 1502 reads sum.
145 ff. Cp. T. Lodge, A Fig for Momus (i595). E<^1- "i» 'To
Rowland ' : ' But now, these frugal patrons, who begin | To scantle
learning with a seruile pay, | Make Poets count their negligence no
sinne : | The cold conceit of recompence doth lay | Their fierie furie
when they should begin, j The priest unpaid, can neither sing nor
say, I Nor poets sweetlie write, excepte they meete | With sound
rewards, for sermoning so sweete.'
151. ganea. See iv. 129;?.
166 IT. Cp. Palingenius, Zodiacus Vitae, ii. 549 (Basel ed., 1548,
p. 29) : ' si qua tamen donant, dant scurris, dantque cynaedis, | dant
lenis potius, dant scortis callipareis : j nemo dabit vati, Musae
spernuntur ubique.'
176. trivialibus : cp. iv. 249-50, trivialia . . . carmina.
181. Cp. Hor. Ep, i. 10. 29, vero distinguere falsum.
190. Cp. Hor. Ep. i. I. 52, vilius argentum est aura, virtutibus aurum.
ECLOGA VI, CORNIX.
Comix enarrat discrimina ruris et urbis,
Et pergit varios stultorum carpere mores.
Fulica repeats a story which explains that the difference between
the lot of the countryman and that of the townsfolk was fixed at
the very beginning, when the Creator ordained that some of Eve's
younger children should be shepherds, and ploughmen, and laborers
in the field. Cornix retorts with a lively satire on the evils of life
138 ECLOGUE VI. 1-57
in a city. The poem is paraphrased in Alexander Barclay's fifth
Egloge ' of the disputation of Citizens and men of the Countrey.'
1-5. Cp. the winter picture at the close of Love's Labours Lost :
* When icicles hang by the wall . . . While greasy Joan doth keel
the pot.'
5. polenta, used as neuter singular ; cp. viii. 23, pingue polenta.
Mantuan's defence of this usage is quoted in his brother Tolomeo's
Apologia (Lyons ed., 15 16, fol. Co, vii) : "cum audisset sibi vitio
dari quod neutro genere polenta dixisset, paulum subrisit et, ut est
facetus, in me conversus ait : ' hui me miserum, Ptolemaee, vocor in
iudicium de polenta quod non edi ; ' et continue attulit versus illos
ex quinto libro Metamorphoseon Nasonis <^ 449-450^ :
prodit anus divamque videt lymphamque roganti
duke dedit testa quod coxerat ante polenta,
et paulo infra <453-454> :
offensa est, nee adhuc epota parte loquentem
cum liquid© mixta perfudit diva polenta.
in primis duobus versibus iungit dulce cum polenta ; in aliis duobus
dicit cum liquido polenta, quo essent et critici nostri iure perfun-
dendi, et in stelliones deformesque bestiolas convertendi. Philippus
Beroaldus in sextum librum Apulei de aureo Asino loquens de
polenta dicit : ' apud Ovidium neutraliter enuntiatur illo versu, dulce
dedit testa quod coxerat ante polenta.'' " \_Met. v. 450 is quoted by
Mantuan, and by Beroaldo (Bologna ed., 1500, fol. Y. ii), as it stands
in the fifteenth-century editions, Vicenza, 1480, Venice, i486, etc.
Modern editors give an ' emended ' line : ' dulce dedit tosta quod
iexerat ante polenta.']
22-23. Cp. / Parthen. iii (of the Nativity), * deciderant umbrae
nemorum, sine crinibus omnis | arbor erat nidosque avium mon-
strabat inanes.'
26. vulpes = /'^//^i' vulpinas (Asc).
27. melotas = /(^//^j ovinas (Asc). Cp. Hebr. ii. 37, ' circuier-
unt in melotis, in pellibus caprinis.' tiahunt ^= contrahunt (Asc).
Virg. A en. i. 323, tnaculosae tegmine ly?tcis.
30. mater . . . noverca. Beroaldo has a similar fancy, Fortuna, ad
Minum Roscium, ' hos ut mater alit : illos ut saeva noverca | exagitat :
fovet hos : his inimica nocet ' (Orationes et Poemata, Lyons ed.,
1492). Cp. the beginning of Pliny's seventh book (of Nature),
* non ut sit satis aestimare, parens melior homini an tristior noverca
fuerit;' and Mantuan's Dialogus contra Detractores (Lyons ed.,
1516, fol. a, viii) : 'Dixit etiam Exopus, ut in eius vita legisse me
memini, terram malis herbis esse matrem, bonis novercam. est
etiam apud Graecos illud adagium : est quandoque dies mater, quan-
doque noverca' <Hesiod, Erg. 825, a'k'koTe firiTpvu) tteIei ijfiepv,
aXTiOTt fiijT7]p'^.
31-2. Cp. Juv. vii. 191, felix et sapiens et nobilis et generosus, etc
45. Virg. Geor. iii. 355, septemque assurgit in ulnas.
52. accubitu : 'bed'. ^Accubitus pro cubatu, aut cubitu. Gall.
la couchee' (Du Cange).
57. muliere. Cp. iv. 70, and note.
ECLOGUE VI. 58-2 ig 139
58. Ov. Met. i. 79, ille opifex rerum; Prud. Hamart. 1 16, ipse
opifex rerum.
61. Virg. Aen. ii. 235, accinguni onines operi.
70. sine cornibus hirci = /(p^-fl?/ adulteri (Asc.)-
97. Virg. £f/. iii. 10 1, pecorisqxce magistro.
10 1, genus hoc. Cp. Hor. 5"^/. ii. 6. 44, nugas hoc genus.
105. Mantous Amyntas. The same Amyntas as in Eel. ii ; cp.
107, civis erat, with ii. 132, civis enim fuerat puer et versatus in urbe.
113. Alexander Barclay, Ed. v, translates, 'But thou art so rude,
thy paunche is so fatte.' And, as Shakespeare's Longaville remarks,
* Fat paunches have lean pates ' {L.L.L. i. i. 26) ; or, as Thomas
Lodge puts it, A Fig for Momus ('To his Mistres A. L.'), 'Of
such doe Basile, Galen, Plato, write, | That fattest bellie hath the
weakest sprite.' Cp. Hor. 6"^/. ii. 5. 40, pingui tentus omaso ;
Perotti, Corn., 'nam omasum appellamus intestinum pingue ' (Venice
ed., 1494, fol. 24). There is a Greek proverb, yaarr^p nax^la ZcTrrov
ov TLKret v6ov.
115. Cp. V. 10, placidas extenditis aures.
117. Cp. i. 83, fulgenti murice.
119. Cp. i. 84, guos vidi elatos regali incedere passu.
128. Cp. V. 14, vitam traducere.
132. ab aevo. Cp. Vulg. Sirach, i. 4, ' prior omnium creata est
sapientia, et intellectus prudentiae ab aevo ; ' Tert. Scarp. 6, * ab
aevo dignissimum creditum est.'
133-4. vertere . . . aestimat. Cp. iii. 75, conflare putabam.
fuligine pallet. Cp. Mantuan's Trophaeum, Bk. v. (fol. 367), caede
madens et pulvere pallidus atro ; also, his First Parthenice, Bk. iii,
obscurae pallentia flumina Lethes (Ascensius' ed., Paris, 1513, fol 74).
140. Cp. Mart. iii. 79. i, rem peragit nullam Sertorius, inchoat
om,nes.
149. Cp. V. 112, copia rerum \ tantarum; Virg. Aen. iv. 233,
tantarum gloria rerum.
157. Cp. Calpurn. Eel. iv. 25, et lac venale per urbem non tacttus
porta.
167. quid reges: the verb omitted, as in Virg. Geor. 111. 258,
quid iuvefiis, etc.
175. Virg. Geor. ii. 503, sollicitanf alii remis fret a caeca.
177-9- Cp. Hor. A. P. 170, inventis miser abstinet ac timet uti;
Ep. i. 5- 13, parcus ob heredis curam nimiumque severus \ assidet
insano; Ter. Phorm. 44, suom defrudans genium.
189. sinuut z=i desinunt (Asc).
193. pietas. Cp. viii. 157, 164; also, Du Cange, ' pitie, idem quod
aumone, in testam. ann. 1366.'
199. Prud. Hamart. 401, inde canina foro latrat facundta toto;
Quint, xii. 9. 12, si a bono viro in rabulam latratoremque convertitur ;
Cic. Or. XV. 47, rabulam de foro.
203. equestre genus. ' Et hoc quoque satyrice. Equestres sunt,
quia mulis fere vehuntur medici ' (Asc).
206. Cp. Deut. 28. 29, sicut palpare solet caecus in tenebris.
210. Cp. Virg. Geor. ii. 486, o ubi campi, etc.
219. Plin. A^. H. iii. 8. 78, ' Ebusi terra serpentes f ugat ; ' Perotti.
140 ECLOGUE VI. 22a— VII. 37
Corn. fol. 112, 'inter hanc {sc. Ophiusam) et Pytiusam Ebosus est
cuius terra serpentes fugat.'
220. Plin. N. H. X. 29. 76, ' quarum (^sc. noctuarum) genus in
Creta non esse, etiam, si qua invecta sit, emori ; ' Perotti, Corn. fol.
151, 'quae in Creta non est, et si qua invehatur non multo post
moritur.' The unlettered speaker forgets the name, as in Virgil,
Eel. iii. 40, quis fuit alter, etc. Cp. the pastoral simplicity of vii.
28; viii. 87; viii. 150; and contrast v. loi, and note.
221. Virg, A en. vii. 778, ' unde etiam templo Triviae lucisque
sacratis | cornipedes arcentur equi.'
240. Virg. Geor. i. 153-4, ' interque nitentia culta | in/elix lolium
et steriles dominantur avenae ; ' Ed. v. 2>1'
246. fons et origo. Cp. Flor. Epit. i. 41. 12, in originem fon-
tetnque belli Ciliciam; Prud. Sym. i. 72, haec causa est et origo
mali; Palingenius, Zod. Vitae, vi. 191, stultitiae fons est et origo
philautia vestrae.
252. ulla. Cp. Mantuan's Trophaeum. Bk. v. fol. 369, ' iacturam
hanc lucro ullo alias fortuna rependet.'
ECLOGA VII, POLLUX.
Galbula pastores ad sidera laudibus effert,
Et canit, ut viso versus sit nuniine Pollux.
The seventh Eclogue reports a vision in which the youthful Pollux
is warned against the dangers of the world, and pointed to the safe
retreat of Mount Carmel. Here Pollux is commonly supposed to
mean Mantuan himself; but the poem was written before he joined
his religious order. See, also Introduction, p. 19. Lines 9-56 are
paraphrased in Alexander Barclay's fifth Egloge; lines 14-31 are
echoed in Spenser's July Aeglogue, 129-157; lines 9-39 are para-
phrased in the third Eglogue of Francis Sable's Pan's Pipe, Damon's
* dittie ', of the ' stately progeny of heardsmen.'
I. Pollux : see note on i. 148.
10. Umber. See iv. 81 n.
II. Cp. vi. 97, and Virg. Eel. iii. loi, peeorisque magistro.
14. ast. An archaic form, as in Virg. A en. i. 46; ii. 467.
18. Virg. Eel. iii. 77, ctim faciam vitula.
20. Cp. iii. 141, fleetere divos; Virg. Aen. vii. 312, fleetere . . .
Superos.
23. Assyrios : ' ut Abraham, Lot, lacob, et caeteros patriarchas '
(Asc). Cp. the excuse for forgetting at viii. 95.^
25. postea : here probably a dactyl, as it is at viii. 47.
26. Virg. Aen. i. 21, populum late regem belloque superbum.
33. deitatis: late Latin for divinitatis, as in Aug. Civ. Dei, vii.
I, Prud. Apoth. 144, etc.
37. Tonantem: cp. Ov. Met. i. 170; ii. 466, etc. It is a bit of
ECLOGUE VII. 3g-i25 141
traditional criticism to say that Mantuan made too free use of pagan
imagery ; and his frequent use of Tonans is always cited in this con-
nection. But he had good authority for borrowing the word for
Christian use: Paul. Nol. xxii. 149; Juvencus, ii. 795; iv. 553, 672,
786; Prud. Apoth. 171; Caih. xii. 83.
39. magos regesque. In the De Sacris Diebus (' De Epiphania ')
Mantuan rejected the tradition that the Magi who came to worship
the infant Saviour were kings : nee reges, ut opinor, erant.
40. John, X. 14, ego sum pastor bonus.
43. Cp. Virg. A en. vi. T^2>y omnia perlegerent ocidis.
46. divum : ' aut regum aut angelorum Christi et parentum eius '
(Asc). The 'kings' were a regular feature in paintings of the
Nativity. Or divum may be used as it is used in the First Par-
thenice, of the 'multitude of the heavenly host' which appeared to
the shepherds : agmen divorum.
59. Cp. Virg. Eel. iii. 2)Z'> ' ^'^^ mihi namque domi pater, est
iniusta noverca.'
72. duces suspiria. Cp. 76, trahes . . . gemitus; also, C. Erasmus
Laetus. Eel. v. 24, 'quid gemitus trahis et maestus suspiria ducis?'
75. Ovid, Met. iv. 683, lumina . . . laerimis implevit. quod lumina :
' legendum videtur tot, ut sit : pectus, inquam, quod implet toties
lumina tot fletibus ' (Asc). Perhaps Mantuan wrote tua lumina.
79. fas erit = Heebit. Cp. 80-81, sed fas mihi flere, quod illi \
nan lieet ; x. 66, qua noxia pabula fas est \ diseere.
81. Virg. Aen. i. 688, oecultum ignem; Ovid, Met. iv. 64, quoque
magis tegitur, teetus magis aestuat ignis. Cp., also. Two Gentlemen
of Verona, i. 2. 30, ' Fire that's closest kept burns most of all,' and
the Cambridge play Laelia, i. 3. 145-6, ' quantum potui, celavi, sed
amor ignis est : | quo magis foves, eo erumpit ardentius.'
87. Cp. Sueton, Jul. 32, iacta alea est.
88. fronde sub Herculea : an allusion to the ' Choice of Hercules.'
Cp. Virg. Eel. vii. 61, populus Aleidae gratissima.
89. Virg. Aen. i. 497, magna iuvenum stipante eaterva.
90. Virg. Aen. i. 589, os umerosque deo similis; lb. iv. 558,
omnia Mer curio similis, voeemque color emque \ et crines flavos et
membra decora iuventa.
92. Virg. Aen. vii. 7, tendit iter; lb. i. 656, iter . . . tendebat.
93. Virg. Eel. ix. I, quo via ducit.
97. Virg. Geor. ii. 154, in spiram tractu se colligit anguis.
98. Virg. Eel. iii. 93, latet anguis in herba.
102 ff. Cp. the ' Laberinto d' Amore ' in Boccaccio's Corbaccio —
where the ' spirit ' of Boccaccio's vision corresponds to Mantuan's
* nymph '.
106-8. Ovid, Met. x. 53-54, frames \ ardttus, obscurus, ealigine
densus opaca.
1 12-14. Ovid, Met. xiv. 279-81, ' saetis horrescere coepi \ nee iam
posse loqui, pro verbis edere raucum | murmur et in terram toto
procumbere vultu.'
116. Virg. Aen. i. 419, collem qui plurimus urbi \ imminet.
125. mihi. The identity of the 'nymph' is disclosed: Our Lady
of Mount Carmel.
142 ECLOGUE VII. 130—VIIL 25
130. Cp. Ovid, Am. iii. 9, 25, * adice Maeoniden a quo, ceu fonte
Perenni, ] vatum Pieriis ora rigantur aquis ; ' Ronsard, Hymnes, ii.
7. 40, ' liomere, | De qui, comme un ruisseau d' age en age vivant,
I La Muse va tousjours les poetes abreuvant.'
138. Cp. Boccaccio, Eel. xiv. 213-21, ' stat Satyrum longaeva cohors
. . . roseis ornata coronis,' etc.
144. cadet. The earliest editions have the future.
147. Ovid, Rem. Am. 91, principiis obsta.
148. insanit. Cp. i. 118, semel insanivimus omnes.
152. Cp. Hor. Od. iii. i. 5-6, * re gum timendorum in proprios
greges, | reges in ipsos imperium est lovis.'
156. Baldi: cp. ii. 172.
ECLOGA VIII, RELIGIO.
lUe can it monies, rura hie campestria; nymphae
Polluci visae laudes et festa canuntur.
The eighth Eclogue returns to the same subject as the seventh, and
explains that the ' virgin ' who appeared to Pollux was no nymph,
but the Queen of Heaven, the ' Mater Tonantis ' herself. It adds a
list of the pastoral blessings which she can bestow, and gives a
calendar of the days which are to be kept in her honor. The pre-
liminary debate between an upland and a lowland shepherd is
imitated in Spenser's July Aeglogtie.
2. Virg. Eel. viii. 15 (repeated, Geor. iii. 326), cum ros in tenera
peeori gratissimus herba; Geor. i. 312, mollior aestas.
3. deducere. Cp. Livy, i. 18. 6, deductus in areem.
4. longe prospicio. Cp. ii. 61, longis . . . prospeeiibus.
9-1 1. In the Bologna edition of the collected poems, 1502, the
passage is rewritten : versatus lutrae in morem limosa per arva,
I halat ubi cimex Stygiae excrementa lacunae, \ est ubi ranarum,
pulicum, culicum, fulicarurn \ patria, per salices, etc. This revision
gets rid of the false quantity eimicum,^hvit still retains the pulicum.
16-18. Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, ii. 4. i. 2 (quoting Leander
Albertus), ' Baldus, a mountain near the lake Benacus, in the terri-
tory of Verona, to which all the herbalists in the Country continually
flock.' melampodion. Cp. Plin. N. H. xxv. 5. 21, ' Melampodis
fama divinationis artibus nota est. ab hoc appellatur unum hellebori
genus Melampodion. aliqui pastorem eodem nomine invenisse tra-
dunt, capras purgari pasto illo animadvertentem.'
18. Valsasinus : from the Val Sassina, on the east of Lake Como.
20. Cp. Virg. Eel. iii. 107, et Phyllida solus habeto.
23. pingue polenta : cp. vi. 5, polenta coquit.
25. callosa : cp. iii. 25, ut manus incalluit, and Mantuan's
? Parthen. fol. 147, duroque manus callosa laborc. The word is cited
four times from St. Jerome: e. g. Episi. 106. I, callosa tenendo capu-
ECLOGUE VIII. 30-86 143
Itim manus. Cp., also, Seneca, Dial. v. 17. 4, callosis . . . genibus
manibusque.
30. ferri. The earliest texts have the passive.
36. artifici . . . manu. Cp. Ov. Met. xv. 218; Id. Am. iii. 2. 52;
Prop. v. 2. 62, artifices . . . manus.
38-39. Cp. Virg. Ed. i. 9-10, ille meas err are boves . . . permisit.
40. Cp. iii. 21, cotibus in duris ; Virg. Eel. viii. 43 duris in cotibus.
44. puto sidera tangant. Cp. i. 50-1, credo . . . concitet et . . . tollat.
45-46. Mantuan reflects the common mediaeval tradition (based
upon Ezekiel, xxviii. 13-16) which placed the Terrestrial Paradise on
a lofty mountain in the far East. Cp. Claudius Marius Victor
(5th cent.), In Genesim, ' Eoos aperit foelix qua terra recessus |
editiore globo,' etc.; Alexander Neckam (d. 1227), De laudibus
divinae sapientiae, * quid quod deliciis ornatus apex Paradisi | lunarem
tangit vertice pene globum} ^ (quoted by Arturo Graf, II mito del
Paradiso terrestre, Turin, 1892, pp. 200, 210). Cp., also, Boccaccio,
Eel. xiv. 170-2, 'est in secessu pecori mons invius aegro, | lumine
perpetuo clarus, quo primus ab imis | insurgit terris Phoebus.' Dante
placed it on the top of the mountain of Purgatory; Ariosto, on the
mountain at the source of the Nile, Orl. Fur. xxxiii. st. iio.
47. postea. The word here forms a dactyl ; see, also, vii. 25.
49. Tonanti : see vii. 37 w.
51. Carthusia: La Grande Chartreuse, near Grenoble, France.
52. Garganus : Monte Gargano, with a famous sanctuary of St.
Michael. Athos : still the Holy Mountain, with its 22 convents.
Laureta : Loreto, 15 miles south of Ancona. Cp. line 189, in sublime
iugum. The house of the Blessed Virgin at Nazareth was conveyed
by angels, first to the heights above Fiume (1291), then to the plain,
and lastly (1295) to the hill, of Loreto. See U. Chevalier, Notre-
Dame de Lorette, Paris, i9o6./^Laverna : La Verna (or, Alverna),
in the Casentino, the ' rude rock between the Tiber and the Arno '
(Dante, Par. xi. 106), where St. Francis of Assisi founded a mon-
astery. Cp. Mantuan's De Sacris Diebus (of St. Francis' Day,
Oct. 4), 'Umber erat, coluit Tuscae montana Lavernae, 1 quae
furum tutela fuit.'
53. Soractis apex: cp. Virg. Aen. xi. 785, ' summe deum, sancti
custos Soractis Apollo.' In Mantuan's day there was a monastery
of S. Silvestro. Umbrosaque Vallis : Vallombrosa.
54. Nursini senis : St. Benedict, born at Nursia, a small town
near Spoleto, died at Monte Cassino.
55. Camaldula: Camaldoli, near Florence.
65. situosi: cp. v. 72, situs occupat ora, and Mantuan's Dionys.
Areop., fol. 205. naufragio situosus et ora recenti.
67. sed quod inquis, etc. The same device is employed in Eel.
iv. 79-81, ' sed quod tam vafro memoras de virginis astu | rettulit in
mentem,' etc. inquis: cp. v. 67, vana inquis; x. 53, ut Candidus
inquit.
79. Tonantis: cp. vii. 37, Tonantem.
81. Virg. Geor. i. 17, alma Ceres.
82. Virg. Aen. i. 52-54, Aeolus antro \ luctantes ventos . . . frenat.
85-86. Apocal. xii. i, ' mulier amicta sole, et luna sub pedibus eius,
et in capite eius corona stellarum duodecim ' (Asc).
y
144 ECLOGUE VIII. 93-180
93. Hor. Od. i. 5. 13-14, tabula sacer \ votiva paries.
95. ista refers to what follows, as at iii. 122. Cp. the excuse for
forgetting at vii. 23-24.
98-101. Tibull. i. 2. 49-50, 'cum libet, ti.^ec tristi depellit nubila
caelo, I cum libet, aestivo convocat orbe nives ; ' Ovid, Am. i. 8.
9-10, 'cum voluit, toto glomerantur nubila caelo: ] cum voluit, puro
fulget in orbe dies.'
102. modo =: «M«(r, as at line 114 and i. 4.
104-7. Cp. Virg. Geor. i. 335-6, ' sidera serva, | frigida Saturni
sese quo stella receptet,' etc., and the comment of Servius : ' Saturnus
deus pluviarum est . . . hie autem in capricorno facit gravissimas
pluvias, et praecipue in Italia... in scorpio grandines, item in alio
fulmina, in alio ventos.'
no. Virg. Ed. vii. 36, si fetura gregem suppleverii.
116. * capellas = ra/'rcj- cereas'' (Asc).
117. lanni hircum. See iv. 30 ff.
123-4. Cp. Ser. Samm. Med. Chap. 58, ' praeterea si forte premit
strix atra puellos | virosa immulgens exsertis ubera labris ; ' Perotti,
Corn., fol. 254, ' maleficae mulieres quae noctu gradientes infantium
corpora sanguine sugendo exhauriunt.'
126. Virg. Geor. i. 325, sata laeta.
129. Colum. X. 415, pingues mariscas.
137. Virg. Ed. ix. 45, numeros memini, si verba tenerefn.
141. campe. Perotti, Corn., fol. 117, " vermiculus est_ hortenses
maxime herbas et arborum frondes erodens : dicta awo tov Kafinreiv,
quod est flectere. unde Columella : ' nee solum teneras audent
erodere frondes | implicitus conehae Umax hirsutaque campe.' "
144. Virg. Geor. iii. 148, oestrum Graii vertere vocantes.
145. anginoso : for the quantity, cp. Ser. Samm.,^ 16, ' verum
angina sibi mixtum sale poscit acetum.' pubes . . . rustica : cp. Virg.
Geor. i. 343, puhes agrestis.
154. Cp. CatuU. 64. 231, memori tibi condita corde\ Virg. Aen.
ii. 388, tu condita mente teneto.
157. pietate: cp. vi. 193, nostra etiam pietas pietate potentior urbis.
158. Virg. Aen. i. 600, grates persolvere dignas; lb. ii. 537..
persolvant grates dignas.
162. commissa piacula solvunt. Cp. Virg. Aen. vi. 569, com-
7nissa piacula; Tac. Ann. i. 30. 3- soluti piaculo (where piaculo
seems to mean 'guilt'); Prud. Apoth. 543-4, ' Chnstique negati J
sanguine respersus commissa piacula solvit,' and Mantuans
/ Parthen. Bk. ii, ' iam Deus antiquae commissa piacula fraudis
I ponet' (ed Ascensius, 1513, fol. 59).
166. Cp. Virg. Geor. i. 308-10, ' auritosque sequi lepores . . . cum
nix alta iacet.' , . /, , u -n
167. nonas Kalendas — A'a/^«</a:r Novembris (by the old Koman
reckoning). , ,. •
170. Varro, R. R. ii. i. 19, ' dicuntur agm cordt qui post tempus
nascuntur ae remanserunt in volvis intimis.'
175. Cp. viii. 20, tradidit et dixit. .
177-80. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, Aug. 15. MOlor-
Chaeo . . . ab astro : ' id est, a leone clava Molorchi interempto. est
Q
ECLOGUE VII I. 182-222 145
autem longe petitum epithetum ' (Asc). The epithet is found also
in Palingenius, Zodiacus Vitae, ii. 234 (Basel ed. 1548, p. 18) :
* tunc quum per torva leonis | signa Molorchaei gradiens calidissimus
est sol.' transiit ad Superos : cp. ii. 146, tranabit ad aethera.
182. The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, Sept. 8.
187. Lauretica : of Loreto. See note on line 52.
190. Thessalicas . . . sagittas = Sagittarius. Cp. line 194, semi-
feri . . . Chironis.
192. The Presentation, or entrance of the Virgin Mary into the
temple, Nov. 21.
197. The Conception of the Blessed Virgin, Dec. 8.
199-200. primordia . . . fecit : cp. vii. 9, iaciens primordia. Here,
and in another of his earlier poems (/ Parthen. i. 223 ff.), Mantuan
affirms the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin. In one
of his latest poems, De Sacris Diebus, Bk. xii (' De conceptione
Beatae Virginis Mariae ') he deprecated the violent controversies
which raged about the question, and dismissed it as unessential :
* aequanimes autem volumus si vera fateri, | vanus uterque labor,
pietas temeraria, praeceps | religio, levitas velata scientiae amictu ;
I nee natura potest illuc extendere visum, | nee Deus hoc docuit, nee
re dependet ab ista | nostra salus. quae nos igitur dementia torquet
I ut studeamus in his consumere litibus annos? | . . . ergo nee in-
fectam dicas, nee labe carentem. | obmutesce ; Deus sciri haec arcana
negavit.' The Blessed Virgin's immunity from original sin became
an accepted dogma in 1854, by proclamation of Pope Pius IX.
201. Virg. Aeii. iv. 6, Phoebea . . . lanipade.
204. Cp. Ov. F. iii. 418, turaque pone focis.
205. The Purification, or the Presentation of Christ in the temple,
Feb. 2 ('Candlemas').
207. Virg. Geor. ii. 330, Zephyrique tepentibus auris', lb. i. 217,
candidus auratis aperit cum cornibus annum, etc.
209. Paranymphus. In the 'Apologeticon ' prefixed to his First
Parthenice Mantuan defended his use of this word : * legant Augus-
tini de Christi nativitate sermones . . . invenient angelum ad virginem
missum paranymphuni vocari.' It is used in the same way in a
poem formerly attributed to Venantius Fortunatus (see Leo's ed.,
Berlin, 1881, p. 379).
210. The Annunciation, Mar. 25.
217. The Visitation, July 2. * hospita, sc. Maria, redit a matre,
sc. loannis ' (Asc).
220. geminae . . . matri. Cp. Mantuan's poem De Sacris Diebus
(* De Visitatione '), *o geminae matres, quae pignora tanta tulistis.'
222. militiam caeli : trop. of the heavenly bodies, as in Acts, vii.
42, et tradidit eos servire militiae coeli; Deut. xvii. 3, et adoreut
eos . . . et omrtefn militiam. coeli.
146 ECLOGUE IX. 14-52
ECLOGA IX, FALCO.
Faustulus expertus Rotnani frigida iractus
Pascua, pastorum mores exponit iniquos.
The ninth Eclogue is a satire on the ways of the Roman curia,
and doubtless reflects some of Mantuan's own experiences when he
went to Rome on the business of his order. For similar criticism
of the state of things at Rome, cp. De Calamitatibus, Bk. iii,
' venalia nobis | templa, sacerdotes, altaria, sacra, coronae, | ignes,
tura, preces ; caelum est venale Deusque ' (Ascensius' ed., Paris, 1513,
fol. 61) ; Alfonsiis, Bk. vi, ' pastores odere pecus nee pascere curant,
I sed tondere greges pecorique illudere tonso ' (Bologna ed., 1502,
fol. 309); De Sdcris Diebus (' De Sanctis Leonibus'), ' Rom an a
gravi maculata veneno | curia, quae spargit terras contagia in omries.'
This eclogue had the fortune to be taken over into Protestant Eng-
land, and there made the model of an attack on the ' loose living
of Popish prelates ' in general. For it is imitated rather closely in
the September Aeglogue of Spenser's Shepheards Calender, wherein
' Diggon Davie is devised to be a shepheard that, in hope of more
gayne, drove his sheepe into a far countrye. The abuses whereof,
and loose living of Popish prelates, ... he discourseth at large.'
And it was probably in Milton's mind when he wrote the passage
in Lycidas about ' our corrupted clergy.'
14. Cp. Livy, i. i. i, vetusti iure hospitii.
19. Cp. i. I, gelida quando pecus otnne sub umbra \ rufninat.
20. parum : cp. line 39, quiescat obba parum ; also the mediaeval
use of unum parum (quoted by Du Cange from a document of the
year 1308) : * Vade, dixi ego, mecum unum parum ; libenter, dixit
ipse.' The poet's brother Tolomeo defended a similar use of
parum by citing Lucan, iv. 742, fraude sua cessere parum {Apologia,
Lyons ed., 1516, fol. Ee, vii). recreabere potu: ' invitat autem ad
potandum, nee abnuit Candidus, ut si qua petulantius in curiam
Romanam dicta sint, a potis dicta censeantur ' (Asc).
31. Oenophili : the name occurs in Eel. i. 161.
Z^'Zl' Cp. Ovid, Met. xii. 156, vinoque levant curasque sitimque;
Tibull. i. 2. I, adde merum vinoque novos compesce dolores.
cardiaco. Cp. Plin. A'. H. xxiii. 25. 50, ' cardiacorum morbo unicam
spem hanc e vino esse certum est ; ' also, Seneca, Ep. xv. 3 ; Cels.
iii. 19; Juv. V. 32. In the later medical writers (Cael. Aur., Cass.
Fel.) the word is used of disease of the heart, not of the stomach.
Here cardiaco dolori seems to mean grief, sorrow {cordolium).
41. Virg. Eel. viii. 43, duns m cotibus.
42. Virg. Geor. i. 145, labor . . . improbus.
50-52. Cp. Virg. ix. 15,- 'ante sinistra cava monuisset ab ilice
cornix ; ' Hor. Od. iii. 27. 15-16, ' teque nee laevus vetet ire picus
I nee vaga cornix.' tegetis. Du Cange quotes this word from
Joannes de Janua (1286) : ^ Teges, parva domus quae et Tugurium,
scilicet casula quam faciunt sibi custodes vinearum vel pastores ad
tegmen sui ; quasi Tegerium vel Tugurium.^ Cp. Ercole Strozzi (of
ECLOGUE IX. 52-107 147
the Nativity), 'nascitur ille Puer iegetis sub culmine parvo | regales
referunt cui pia dona manus,' Aldine ed., 15 13, p. 7.
52. Virg. Geor. i. 410, corvi presso . . . guiiure.
57. Cp. i. 27, pastu rediens.
65. Virg. Geor. ii. 198, texendae saepes etiam ; lb. iv. 34, lento
. . . alvaria vimine texta.
67-70. Virg. Ed. i. 53-59, * frigus captabis opacum . . . saepe levi
somnum suadebit inire susurro . . . nee gemere aeria cessabit turtur
ab ulmo ; ' Eel. ii. 13, * resonant arbusta cicadis.'
71. Cp. i. 92, hie tremulas inter frondes immurmurat aura.
73. Virg. Geor. ii. 527, ipse dies agitat festos fususque per herbam,
etc. ; Eel. i. i, reeubans sub tegmine fagi.
74. Virg. Geor. ii. 526, adversis luetantur eornibus haedi.
77. Virg. Eel. iii. 92, qui legitis flores et humi naseentia fraga.
88. ' pensi {i. e. exeogitati et deliberati) nihil (i. e. habens),
omnia casu (i. e. faeiens),' Asc. Cp. Mantuan's De Calam. Bk. i
(of Anger), 'nil pensi, nil mentis habet.' So in a letter of Aeneas
Silvius (1444), * et quia inexpertus est, parum pens* habet.' Cp.,
further, Sallust, Cat. xii. 2, ' nihil pensi neque moderati habere.'
92-93. Cp. Tennyson's Loeksley Hall, ' a sorrow's crown of sorrow
is remembering happier things,' with its allusion to Dante, Inf. v.
12 1-3, * Nessun maggior dolore, | Che ricordarsi del tempo felice |
Nella miseria.' The sentiment is an ancient one : cp. Boethius, Phil.
Cons. ii. prosa 4, ' nam in omni adversitate fortunae infelicissimum
est genus infortunii fuisse felicem,' Euripides, Iph. Taur. 1121,
TO de uer' tvTvx'io,v KaKov- | adat dvarolg (3apvg al6)v^ Here. Fur. 1 29 1,
K£K7[,T]{iev(^ 6e (purl jiaKapiif) irore \ al fiErajSoXal "kvTzrjpov.
94. Virg. Geor. ii. 434, humilesque genistae.
95. mains . . . punica : ' pomegranate '. Cp. Ov. Met. v. 536,
Puniceum . . . pomum.
96. sabuco. Andreas Vaurentinus, in his commentary on this
passage, suggested that this form of the word was due to metrical
convenience. But Mantuan might have cited the authority of Ser.
Samm. 50, vel tristia poma sdbuei, an author whom he mentions in
the Apologetieon prefixed to his First Partheniee (1481) : ' Quintus
Serenus et Ausonius, medici et poetae.' See, also, the note on
anginoso, viii. 145.
lOO-l. Hor. Od. i. 4. 4, nee prata eanis albieant pruinis; Virg.
Eel. ii. 10, rapido . . . aestu ; Geor. iii. 479, totoque autumni ineanduit
aestu.
102-3. Cp. De Calam. i (the picture of Gastrimargia), 'sub gutture
lato I surgit et inflatum tollit eiitis uvida pectus;' lb. ii (the ad-
dress to Pope Sixtus), 'stent ad praesepia tauri | qui signata iugis
longoque attrita labore | eolla gerunt.'
104. Virg. Geor. iii. 81, luxuriatque toris animosum peetus.
107. cui. loannes Murmellius defended this irregularity by citing
Sallust, Cat. 56. 5, * interea servitia repudiabat, euius initio ad eum
magnae copiae concurrebant,' and Tibullus, ii. i. 11-12, ' vos quoque
abesse procul iubeo, discedite ab aris, | eui tulit hesterna gaudia nocte
Venus' (Letter to Paulus Ruremundensis, quoted in the Deventer
edition of the Eelogues, 15 10). ' Ita et hie, cui -^subintellige^ gregi
14§ ECLOGUE IX. iig-igo
armentorum, vel armento.' [The edition of Tibullus 'cum com-
mentariis Bernardini Veronensis,' Brescia, i486, gives the text as
Murmellius quotes it; modern editions have discedat ah aris.'\ Cp.,
also, Calpurnius, EcL i. 27, longa . . . internodia.
119. appropias. Mantuan's defence of this word is quoted in his
brother Tolomeo's Apologia (Lyons ed., 1516, fol. Gg) : * usurpat
similiter^ hoc verbum appropio, id est, appropinquo, deductum a
prope, sicut elongo a longe. reperitur id verbum, ut inquit poeta,
fuisse in usu ante annos abhinc mille. legitur enim in editione vul-
gata psalmorum quae Hieronymum antecessit dum appropiant super
me nocentes.^ The word occurs a dozen times in the Vulgate, and the
* Itala ' often uses it where the Vulgate has appropinquate ; see
H. Ronsch, Itala und Vulgata, p. 181.
122. a longe = e longinquo. For such combinations of preposition
and adverb, see Ronsch, Itala und Vulgata, pp; 231-4, 475. So
Augustine, Conf. iii. 3. 5, has, ' et circumvolabat super me fidelis
a longe misericordia tua.'
127. illaqueat. Prud. Cath. iii. 41, ' callidus illaqueat volucres |
aut pedicis dolus aut maculis, | illita glutine corticeo | vimina
plumigeram seriem | impediunt et abire vetant.'
128. Virg. Geor. ii. 396, in verihus torrehimus exta colurnis.
"^S?)- Calpurn. i. 7, defendimus ora galero.
136-7. Virg. Geor. iii. 420, cape saxa manu, cape rohora, pastor.
138-9. spineta colubris | plena: cp. Virg. Geor. iv. 243, con-
gest a cub ilia blattis.
140. Virg. Geor. iii. 434, asperque siti atque exterritus aestu.
142. Virg. Geor. iv. 554, subitum ac dictu mirabile monstrum;
A en. vii. 680, subitum dictuque oritur mirabile monstrum.
143-5- Virg. Eel. viii. 97-99, his ego saepe lupum fieri, etc.
madere caede : cp. Ov. Met. i. 149 and xiv. 199, caede madentes;
xiii. 388, caede madebit.
147. obviat: cp. Ital. ovviare. Virg. Aen. ii. 535, pro talibus ausis.
153-4. The animal worship of the ancient Egyptians is often
mentioned: Cic. N. D. iii. 19, Tusc. Disp. v. 27. 78; Juv. xv. 1-8;
Arnob. i. 28; Cels. Epicur. ap. Orig. iii, etc.
158. Gen. i. 28, * dominamini . . . universis animantibus quae
moventur super terram ' (Asc).
159. Virg. Aen. iii. 139, letijer annus.
162. Virg. Geor. iii. 515, duro fumans sub vomere taurus \
concidit.
163. Petrarch, Eel. vi. 73, nee morbi modus ullus adest.
168. opulescunt. Gellius reports, xviii. 11. 3, that Furius Antias
was criticized for using such words as opulescere (= opulentum
fieri).
174-7. Cp. Virg. Geor. iii. 343-5, 'omnia secum [ armentarius Afer
agit, tectumque laremque | armaque,' etc. cacabos : Teofilo Folengo
has cdcdbi (Venice ed., 1555, fol. 16).
185-191. Cp. ii. 87-88, ' quam melius fuerat . . . rediisse . . . ser-
vasse,' etc.
188. Athesis : the Adige.
190. Abdua : the Addua.
■ ECLOGUE IX. 193— X. 3 149
193-5. Cp. vi. 124-6, ' vidi etiam patres . . . t/ww segnes dormire
volunt . . . prostituisse,^ etc.
199-200. Cp. Dante, Par. xvi. 73, ' Se tu riguardi Luni ed Urbis-
aglia I Come son ite,' etc. ; also, Petrarch, Fam. v. 3, ' Lunam olim
famosam potentemque, nunc nudum et inane nomen ' (ed. Fracassetti,
i. 254). Luna: famous in antiquity for its harbor (the Gulf of
Spezia) ; destroyed by the Arabs in 10 16. Hadria: an ancient seaport
between the Po and the Adige ; ruined by a war with Venice in 10 17.
Salvia : Urbs Salvia, or Urbesalvia (whence the modern name
Urbisaglia), an inland town in Picenum. Under the Empire it
was a place of some commercial importance, but it was completely
destroyed by Alaric. Umber: see iv. 8i«.
202. modo = nunc. See i. 4«.
210. Cp. Virg. Eel. i. 75> ^^^ meae, felix quondam pecus, ite
capellae.
211. Juv. V. 10, tarn ieiuna fames; Ov. Met. viii. 782, ieiuna
Fames.
213. pastor. Falcone de' Sinibaldi, papal treasurer under Inno-
cent VIII. From him Mantuan received much assistance, when he
went to Rome on the business of his order : ' cuius beneficio ex
omnibus periculis est liberatus.' See pp. 15 and 28.
214. Virg. Eel. ii. 20, quam dives peeoris; Aen. i. 343, and iii.
642, ditissimus agri; so Ovid, Met. v. 129.
218. Macram. Cp. Dante, Par. ix. 89, ' Macra che per cammin
corto I Lo Genovese parte dal Toscano.'
219. Cp. Virg. Eel. v. 16-17, * lenta salix quantum pallenti cedit
olivae, | puniceis humilis quantum saliunca rosetis,' etc. ; lb. i. 26,
* quantum lenta solent inter viburna cupressi.'
220. Tityrus means Virgil, as at ii. 9.
221. Virg. Eel. i. 43-4, quotannis \ bis senos eui nostra dies al-
taria fumant. fumare . . . fecit : see v. 58«.
230. Virg. Aen. i. 78-9, tu sceptra lovemque \ concilias.
EC LOG A X, B EM BUS.
Nunc verae et falsae discrimina relligionis
Narrat, ovesque pias Carmeli separat hoedis.
The tenth Eclogue is a debate between the two great divisions of
Mantuan's order, the Observantes, or Discalced Carmelites, and the
Conventuals, who followed a mitigated rule. The speakers discuss
the abuses which had crept into the order and caused the separation,
and the umpire advises a return to the good old ways.
I. Bembe. The name of the umpire (and the title of the poem)
is probably chosen out of compliment to Bernardo Bembo, of Venice,
to whom Mantuan dedicated the Second Parthenice (c. 1488).
3. Batrachus . . . Myrmix. Ascensius saw a certain fitness in the
two names. ' Nam fto-Tpaxoc rana dicitur, cui fere similem habent
Carmelitae de observatione interiorem tunicam, quia piceam aut, ut
dicunt, griseam ; Myrmix autem formica, quae nigra est, ut non
150 ECLOGUE X. 6-8g
observantium tunica.' There is a similar pair of names in Ed.
vi, Comix and Fulica. The name Batracos had been given to one
of the speakers in Boccaccio's ninth Eclogue ; the name Myrmix is
employed again in the second and fifth Eclogues of C. Erasmus
Laetus (Witebergae, anno 1560).
6-7. Cp. the aged Meliboeus in Nemes. Eel. i. 52-53, * tu ruricolum
discernere lites ] assueras, varias paeans mulcendo querellas ; ' Virg.
Eel. iii. 108, tantas componere lites.
10. Eurotae campos. Cp. Virg. Ed. vi. 82-83, ' omnia quae Phoebo
quondam meditante beatus | audiit Eurotas iussitque ediscere lauros.'
11. Virg. Ed. iii. 62, ' Phoebo sua semper apud me | munera sunt,
lauri,' etc. ; Ovid, Met. xi. 165, * ille caput flavum lauro Parnaside
vinctus.' '
13-14. Virg. Ed. iii. 55, dicite, quandoquidem, etc. ; Pars. vi. I,
admovit iam bruma joco te, Basse, Sabino?
16-17. Cp. vi. 1-2, a culniine pendet \ stiria.
20-21. Virg. Geor. i. 259, frigidus agricolam si quando continet
imber.
29. Cp. Virg. Geor. ii. 184, pinguis humus dulcique uligine laeta.
34. Juvencus, i. 414, Galilaea per arva ; so Sedulius, iv. 188.
35. lacu . . . magno : the Lacus Samachonitis (Waters of Merom).
36. mare . . . apertum : ' the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of
Tiberias' {John, vi. i).
39. Asphalti gurgitis: the Lacus Asphaltites, or Dead Sea.
inf ames . . . undas : cp. De Calam. i (of Luxuria), ' haec fera adul-
terium parit incestusque nefandos I stupraque et igne scelus dignum
quo barbara quondam | abstulit immixtis sulfur quinquurbia flammis ;
I nunc lacus est ubi tunc homines errare solebant,' etc.
54. Ellas. The Carmelite Order claimed for its founders the
prophets Elijah and Elisha. Mantuan often repeats the claim:
De Vita Beata; i Parthen. Bk. iii; De Patientia, ii. 27, iii. 31;
Alfonsus, Bk. v; Apologia pro Carmelitis. The first volume of the
Annales Carmelitarum by loan. Bapt. de Lezana (Rome, 1645) be-
gins with ' annus mundi 3123, ante Christum 930.'
59. Cp. vii. 130-1, sicut de fonte perenni \ flumina; Ronsard
((Euvres, ed. Blanchemain, vii. 128), Vos estes mes ruisseaux, je
suis vostre fonteine.
66. fas est z^ licet. Cp. vii. 80-81, sed fas mihi fiere, quod Hit \
non licet.
68. Cp. ix. 159, pestifer annus; Virg. Aen. iii. i^g, letifer annus.
69. omisit : cp. ii. 5, omissa. In the Bologna edition of the col-
lected poems, 1502, the line is rewritten: signa dedit, nil quod tangat
magalia omisit.
'j'j. Virg. Geor. iv. 126, umectat flaventia cult a Galaesus.
79-81. Virg. Geor. ii. 11 2- 13, apertos \ Bacchus amat colles, Aqut-
lonem et f rigor a taxi.
87. Cp. Hor. Od. ii. 14. 15-16, nocentem \ corporibus metuemus
Austrum.
89. Cp. Virg. Geor. ii. 146, hinc albi, Clitumne, greges', Prop. iii.
19. 26, et niveos abluit unda boves\ Sil. Ital, iv. 546; Stat.
Silv. i. 4. 129.
ECLOGUE X, gi-185 151
91. Lucr. iii. 318, unde haec oritur varianiia rerum.
99. Virg. Gear. i. 272, balantumque gregem fluvio mersare salubri;
lb. iii. 446-7, udisque aries in gurgite villis \ mersatur.
loi. Virg. Geor. iii. 444, hirsuti secuerunt corpora vepres.
102-3. Virg. Geor. iii. 441, turpis oves temptat scabies; Mart. i.
78. 1-2, indignas premeret pestis cum tabida fauces \ inque ipsos
vultus serperet atra lues.
104-5. Virg. Geor. iii. 481, corrupitque lacus, in fecit pabula iabo.
106-9. The correct color of the Carmelite habit has often been
the subject of animated discussion among the different branches of
the order. Mantuan himself regarded it as a matter of much im-
portance. In his first term as Vicar-general he came into conflict
with the General of the order, who had prescribed ' nigrum in
vestibus colorem ; ' and he obtained from Sixtus IV a special bull
which permitted the Congregation of Mantua to wear * habitum grisei
coloris, sive tane ' (tan color). In the third book of the De
Calamitatibus he records that the founder of the order, the prophet
Elias, wore, and prescribed for his followers, a garment of 'natural
wool ' : ' namque rudem tunicam tetrae fuliginis instar, | cui sim-
plex expersque artis natura colorem | fecerat, induitur ; per saecula
cuncta nepotum | progenies iussit similem gestaret amictum.'
109. Cp. Livy, xxxvii. 54. 18, 'nee terra mutata mutavit genus
aut mores.'
125. Virg. Eel. iii. 7, parcius ista viris tamen obicienda memento.
127. Virg. Eel. viii. 41, ut me malus abstulit error.
128. Virg. Eel. iii. 51, ne quemquam voce lacessas.
130. Cp. ii. 4, et tumidis ripas aequaverat undis.
132. saepierant. Neue cites the form sepivit from St. Jerome,
In les. V. 2.
135. Virg. Geor. i. 244, flexu sinuoso elabitur Anguis.
137. Virg. Geor. i. 264, furcasque bicornes ; Ovid, Met. viii. 637,
furca . . . bicorni.
138. Virg. A en. ii. 475, Unguis micat ore trisulcis.
143-4. grege diviso. An allusion to the disruption of the Car-
melite Order in 1459, when the Observantes, or Discalced Car-
melites separated from the Conventuals and went back to a more
rigid rule.
146. Aurora. Cp. line 73, ad ortum.
152. pedum. ..septem. An allusion to the separate cells m
which the early Carmelites lived ; ' tantum enim spatii cellis singulis
congruit ' (Asc).
153- Cp. v. 16, mapalia saepe \ cingere.
175-6. eremum. .. deserta. The early Carmelites were hermits.
Batrachus means that the Reformed body is not even yet close
enough to the old rigid rule.
180. cuium pecus : ' dictum id puto pro cuiumcuium, id est,
cuiuscumque pecus' (Asc). Cp. Virg. Ed. iii. i, cuium pecus.
182-5. Cp. Seneca, Dial. v. 26. 3, non est Aethiopis inter suos in-
signitus color', Juv. ii. 2. 23, loripedem rectus derideat, Aethiopem
alb us.
185. Virg. Eel. iii. lOl, pecori pecorisque magistro.
INDEX
The references in Arabic numerals are to the pages of this book.
Such references as iv. 167 mean the number and line of one of the
Eclogues.
ab aevo, vi. 132.
Abdua, ix. 190, 218.
Adam, vi. 68.
Adulescentia, 62.
Aeneas Silvius, 123, 132.
Ainsworth's Latin Dictionary, 33.
Alcilia, 41.
Alexis (= Augustus), iii, 174.
Allen, P. S., 31.
Ambrogio, Florido, 12, 13, 15, I7»
24, 25, 32, zi^ 136-
Analecta Bollandiana, 30.
Andreas Vaurentinus, 36, 126,
130, 147.
ant, wisdom of, v. 36-38.
Antonius Sabinus, 29.
d'Arco, 18.
Arienti, G. Sabadino degli, 11,
14, t6, 23, 27, 28, 31.
Arrivabene, G. P., 26.
Arx, S. von, 11, 16, 23.
Ascensius, 16, 20, 27, 32, 35, 36,
44, 58, 124, 125, 126, 130, 131,
132, 133. 138, 139. 140, 141.
143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148,
149. 151.
Athesis, ix. 188.
Athos, viii. 52.
Badius, lodocus, 32, 36, 44; see
Ascensius.
Baldus, ii. 172, vii. 156, viii, 16.
Bandello, Matteo, 17, 42, 121.
Bandellus, Mattheus, * C. ordinis
prae.', 29.
Barbaro, Ermolao, 24, 26.
Barclay, A., 45, 48, 49, 134, 136,
138, 139. 140.
Basse, W., 43.
Baveria, Filippo, 14, 23.
Baynes, T. S., 38, 39.
Beaumont and Fletcher, 44.
Bebel, H., 46.
Bembo, B., 26, 149.
Bembus, x. i.
Benacus, ii. 58, 62.
Bentivoglio, A., 23.
Berault, N., 34.
Beroaldo, Filippo, 15, 23, 24, 25,
27, 38, 138.
Bettinelli, S., 17.
Boccaccio, 121, 124, 132, 133,
141, 142, 143, 150.
Boswell, J., 45.
Bright, J. W., 42, 52.
Brink, B. ten, 49.
Brome, R., 43.
Brunet, G., 36.
Brunet, J. C, 35.
Bureau, Laurent, 32.
Burton, R., 44, 45.
I
Caecias, iv. 219.
Calpurnius (imitated), 58.
Camaldula, viii, 55-
Cambridge History of English
Literature, 50-
Carafa, Oliviero, 14, 15, 24.
Carbo, ii, I54.
Carmelite habit, 149, 151; found-
er of the order, x. 54.
Carmelus, vii, 126, x. 30, 70.
Carolus, lafredus, 28.
Carthusia, viii. 51.
Castiglione, B., 21, 22.
Catholic Encyclopedia, 17, 23.
Cecco d' Ascoli, 133.
Ceresara, Paride, 23, 26, 62, 121.
Chevalier, U., I5> 24.
Cholieres, N. de, 27.
Christian Remembrancer, 33.
clipeum Minervae, v. 98.
IS3
154
INDEX
Codri supellex, v. 104.
Coitus, ii. 37.
Colet, J., 16, 37.
Comparetti, D., 130.
Congregation of Mantua, 13, 14,
15.
Coroneus, loannes, 36.
Correggio, Niccolo da, 22.
Cortese, Alessandro, 24.
Coryat's Crudities, 32.
Cosmas, iii. 46.
Cosmus, V. 96.
Crepundia Poetica, 47-
crocodile's tears, iv. 196.
Curtius, Benedictus, 48.
Davari, S., 19, 20, 21, 22, 30.
Delaruelle, L., 34, 131.
Despauteres, J., ;^^.
des Periers, B., 40.
Dictionary of National Biog-
raphy, 49.
Donesmondi, F. Ippol., 30, 38.
Drayton, M., 40, 43, 44.
' E. K.,' 46, 50, 134.
Elias, X. 54, 65.
Eobanus Hessus, 33, 52, 53.
Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum,
33.
Equicola, Mario, 20, 23, 42, 48.
Erasmus, 31.
Este, Isabella d', 11, 16, 20, 22.
Euricius Cordus, 47, 54, 55, 132.
Eva, iv. 170, vi. 57 fT.
facit experientia cautos, ix. 195.
Falco, ix. 213; see Sinibaldi.
Fantuzzi, Ant., 23.
Fanucchi, L. G., I7«
Farnaby, T., 39.
Fauste, precor, gelida, ii, 39,
40 ; i. I.
femineum servile genus, 41, 47;
iv. no.
Fiera, Bapt., 23, 31.
Folengo, Teofilo, 31, 59, 148.
fons et origo, vi. 246.
Fontenelle, 48, 122.
Fortuna noverca, vi. 30.
Foscarari, L., 12, 23.
Frati, L., 12, 13, 23.
Fucus, 51.
Furness, H. H., 27.
Gabotto, F., II, 16, 17, 131.
Garganus, viii. 52.
Gaurico, Luca, 17, 121.
Geiger, L., 38.
Giraldi, L. G., 27, 32, 34.
Gonzaga, Federico, 13, 19.
Francesco, 19, 20, 22, 31.
Isabella; see Isabella d'
Este.
Lodovico, 19.
Sigismondo, 22, 30.
Tolomeo, 20, 30.
Googe, B., .i;o.
Gosson, S., 40.
Graesse, J. G. T., 35, 36.
Graf, Arturo, 143.
Gratius, Ortuinus, 33.
Greene, R., 40, 41, 42, 51.
Greg, W. W., 45-
Gregorio Tifernate, ii, 12, 126,
130, 131-
Guazzo, S., 57-
Guillaume le Clerc, 135.
Hadria, ix. 199.
Hain, L. F. T., 35, 36.
Hall, J., 42.
Harculus, iii. 4.
Harvey, G., 40, 41.
Harvey, T., 45.
Hegius, Alex., 38.
Hernand y Aguilar, G., 29.
Heywood, T., 44.
Hoole, C, 39.
hyena's cunning, iv. 196.
immaculate conception, viii. 197-
200.
Innocent VIII, 14, 15, 28.
instar ovis, vii. 15.
Itala, 136, 148.
lericus, x. 38.
Jerome, St., 123, 133.
loan. Bapt. de Lezana, 150.
Johnson, Sam., 39, 45.
lordanes, x. 32.
Jovius, Paulus, 18, 20, 26, 32.
Juan del Encina, 129.
INDEX
155
Julius II, 29.
Juvenal (imitated), 58.
Keller, O., 122.
Kluge, F., 50.
Knod, G., Z7-
Krause, C, 53.
Laelia, 123.
Laetus, C. Erasmus, 141, 150.
Laetus Pomponius, 24.
Lamentationes novae Obscurorum
Reuchlinistarum, 46.
Lamp, Guilhelmus, :i2-
Larivey, Pierre de, 44, 56.
Latini, Brunette, 133, 135.
Laurent de la Graviere, 48.
Laureta, 15; viii. 52, 187.
Laverna, viii. 52.
Lee, Sidney, 44.
Leo X, 29.
Leonora d' Aragona, 16.
Leontorius, C, 16.
Lezana, loan. Bapt. de, 150.
Libanus, x. 34.
Lockwood, D. P., 132.
Lodge, T., 40.
Lofstedt, E., 128.
ludit Amor sensus, i. 48.
Luna, ix. 199.
Lupton, J. H., 16, 37.
Luzio, A., 8, 17.
Luzio-Renier, 11, 16, i7> 20,
21, 23, 31, 38, 42, 121.
Machiavelli, Carforo, 26.
Macra, ix. 218.
MafTei, Scipio, 31.
Maggi, Costanza de', 20.
Manacorda, G., 54-
Mantegna, A., 23.
Mantua, Congregation of, 13, 151-
Mantuan: 'good old M.', ii;
a ' Christianus Maro ', 31 ;
' honest M.', 40 ; ' the homely
Carmelite ', 42 ; ' moral M.',
43 ; ' some foul-mouth'd M.',
44 ; ' plaine M.', 44.
Mantuan Reform, 13, 151.
Marius, ii. 154.
Marsus, Petrus, 24.
Martinez de Toledo, 132.
Martyn, W., 44. I
MaruUus, 31.
McKerrow, R. B., 42.
Melander, Otho, 47.
melior vigilantia somno, i. 5*
Meres, Francis, 46.
Merlinus Cocaius, 31.
Merula, Giorgio, 11, 12, 26.
metre (Mantuan's), 59.
Michel d' Amboise, 48.
Middleton, T., 43.
Milton. 52.
Mincius, ii. 37, iii. 180, ix. 190.
Modover, Antonio, 18.
Modover, Pietro, 18.
Molorchaeus, viii. 177.
Monumenta Germanica Paeda-
gogica, 37.
Morbioli, L., 28.
multotiens, i. 167.
Muratori, L. A., 12.
Murmellius, loan., 35, 36, 38,
46, 121, 129, 137, 147.
Murrho, Seb., 16, 31, 38.
Mustard, W. P., 48, 52.
Napeus, Caesar, 13.
Nashe, T., 41, 42.
Niccolo da Correggio, 22.
Niceron, J. P., 20, 29.
Nicholson, S., 43.
nodus Herculis, v. 65.
Nursinus, viii. 54.
Observantes, 149, 151.
Oedipodes, 62.
Oenophilus, i. 161, ix. 31.
Ovid (imitated), 57.
Palingenius, 38, 46, 123, 137, 145.
Paranymphus, viii. 209.
Pascal, C, 130.
Pasqualigo, L., 56, 132.
patina Aesopi, v. 98.
Pedaniius, 51.
Pellechet, M., 35.
Perotti, N., 58, 122, 123, 124,
133, 134, 135, 139, 140, 144.
Peters, E., 135.
Petrarch, 58, 127.
Petrus Lucius, 32, 34.
Philippe de Thaiin, 133, 135.
156
INDEX
Physiologus, 135.
Pico della Mirandola, 14, 15, 24,
25, 2b.
(the Younger), 12, 16, 24,
25, 26.
Pietro da Novellara, 16, 22, 30.
Poliziano, A., 24, 25, 26.
Pontano, G. G., 24, 131.
Prudentius (imitated), 58.
Puttenham, G., 46.
Pythagorae mensae, v. 104.
Raffaello Sanzio, 21.
Randolph, T., 42.
Refrigerio, G. B., 12, 13, 14, 23,
27, 122.
Reissert, O., 48, 50.
Remundus Langano de alta Ripa,
36.
Return from Parnassus, 43.
Roberto da San Severino, 14, 28.
Ronsch, H., 123, 148.
Sabadino : see Arienti.
Sabie, F., 42, 51, 52, 121, 122,
140.
Salvia, ix. 200.
Sammonicus, Serenus, 144, 147.
Sasso, Panfilo, 26.
Saturnina fames, 62.
Scaliger, J. C., 34, 39.
semel insanivimus omnes, 40-46,
48, 51 : i. 118.
Servius, 129, 144.
Shakespeare, 11, 40, 44.
Sina, viii. 53-
Sinibaldi, Falcone de', 14, 15,
23, 28, 149.
Sixtus IV, 13, 14.
Smith, G. C. Moore, 51, 123.
Solymus, ix. 224, x. 2.
Soracte, viii. 53.
sorte tua contentus abi, v. 46.
sortiri digitis, i. 24.
Spagnolo, Alessandro, 21, 22.
Baptista, 11.
Pietro, 18, 19, 28.
Tolomeo, 12, 16, 18, 20, 21,
22, 24, 27, 58, 123, 130, 131,
138, 146, 148.
Spenser, E., 50, 134, 135, 136,
140, 142, 146.
Strozzi, Ercole, 146.
Summers, W. C, 136.
syntax (Mantuan's), 59.
Tasso, T., 56, 57.
Textor, Ravisius, ^^, 38, 48, 56.
Theodulus, 121.
Thuasne, L., 32, 131.
Tibullus, 57.
Tifernate, Gregorio, 1 1, 12, 126,
130, 131-
Tiraboschi, G., 1 1.
Titan (=: the Sun), viii. 177.
Tityrus (= Virgil), ii. 9, iii.
174, V. 86, ix. 220.
Tobler, A., 130,
Tonans, vii. 37, viii. 49, 79.
Tonius, i. 163.
Torrentinus, H., t,^.
Trithemius, 16, 26, 27, 31.
Trivulzio, G. G., 28.
Turbervile, G., 45.
Umber, 12, 58, 131.
Umbrosa Vallis, viii. 53.
Valla, L., 131.
Valsasinus, viii. 18.
Ventimiglia, M., 16.
Victoria, 51.
Virgil (imitated) ; see Notes
passim.
Vives, L., z:i'
vocabulary (Mantuan's), 59.
Watson, F., 39.
Webbe, W., 46.
Wily Beguiled, 43.
Wimpfeling, J., 16, 17, 31, 36,
3^, 131-
Windscheid, K., 52.
Witt's Recreations, 44.
Wolf, T., Jr., 12, 16, 17, 26, 31,
36, T^l, 131.
woman's ways, iv. no ff.
Young's Latin Dictionary, 33.
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