Minor Latin poets; with introductions and English translations

[187.IheI'. C'ALPUUNIUS SKULrS'the holy inner shrine of the Palatine Phoebus."Then you shall be to me such as he was whobrought Tityrus ^ of tuneful song from the woods tothe queen of cities, showed him the divine powers,and said, " We will scorn the sheepfold, Tityrus,and sing first the countryside but, later, theweapons of war.".. Oh, that a fairer fortune would look upon mylabours and that the God in person would showfavour to deserving youth ! Yet meanwhile wewill slay a tender kid and prepare withal the coursesof a hasty meal.I. Take forthwith the sheep to the river. Now 'tisthe raging heat of summer: now the sun curtailsthe shadows and brings them closer to our feet.*'ECLOGUE VMiCONIt fell out that the aged Micon and Canthus,Micon's foster-son, were seeking shelter from theblazing sun beneath a spreading holm-oak, whento give counsel to his fosterling the old man \vithshaky lips uttered these faltering w^ords" The she-goats you see straying among thethickets and cropping with playful bite the dewglisteninggrass, the flocks, Canthus, my boy, whichlo ! you see have left the mountain-side and are" The emperor was already associated with Apollo in verseThe palace was near the famous library of Apollo on thePalatine.* Tityrus means Virgil : under the patronage of Maecenasturned from tlie Eclogues {e silvis, 101) to the (,'eorgics{rura, 163) and, later, to the Aeneid (arma, 163).' I.e. it is the noontide of a summer day.s2