The Works of Virgil (John Dryden)

"I envy not your fortune, but admire."

"Fool that I was, I thought imperial Rome Like Mantua."

"Freedom, which came at length, though slow to come."

"The rest among the Britons he confined; A race of men from all the world disjoined."

"Trust not too much to that enchanting face; Beauty's a charm, but soon the charm will pass."

"The trees are clothed with leaves, the fields with grass; The blossoms blow; the birds on bushes sing; And nature has accomplished all the spring."

"From the great father of the gods above My muse begins: for all is full of Jove."

"So nice a difference in your singing lies, That both have won, or both deserved the prize."

"Now dam the ditches, and the floods restrain: Their moisture has already drenched the plain."

"To sing thy praise, would heaven my breath prolong, Infusing spirits worthy such a song."

"O heavenly poet, such thy verse appears, So sweet, so charming to my ravished ears, As to the weary swain with cares oppressed, Beneath the sylvan shade, refreshing rest."

"Daphnis, the guest of heaven, with wondering eyes, Views in the milky way the starry skies, And far beneath him, from the shining sphere, Beholds the moving clouds, and rolling year."

"The mountain-tops unshorn, the rocks rejoice; The lowly shrubs partake of human voice."

"Loose me," he cried, "'twas impudence to find A sleeping god, 'tis sacrilege to bind."

"He sung the secret seeds of nature's frame; How seas, and earth, and air, and active flame, Fell through the mighty void, and, in their fall, Were blindly gathered in this goodly ball. The tender soil then, stiffening by degrees, Shut from the bounded earth the bounding seas. Then earth and ocean various forms disclose, And a new sun to the new world arose."

"Both young Arcadians, both alike inspired To sing, and answer as the song required."

"And I preferred my pleasure to my gains."

"I know thee, love! in deserts thou wert bred, And at the dugs of savage tigers fed; Alien of birth, usurper of the plains."

"But I discern their flattery from their praise."

"Come, see what pleasures in our plains abound: The woods, the fountains, and the flowery ground: As you are beauteous, were you half so true, Here could I live, and love, and die with only you."

"In hell, and earth, and seas, and heaven above, Love conquers all, and we must yield to love."

"Ye deities! who fields and plains protect, Who rule the seasons, and the year direct; Bacchus, and fostering Ceres, powers divine, Who gave us corn for mast, for water wine; Ye fauns, propitious to the rural swains, Ye nymphs, that haunt the mountains and the plains, Join in my work, and to my numbers bring Your needful succour; for your gifts I sing. And thou, whose trident struck the teeming earth, And made a passage for the courser's birth; And thou, for whom the Cean shore sustains The milky herds that graze the flowery plains; And thou, the shepherd's tutelary god, Leave for a while, O Pan! thy loved abode: And, if Arcadian fleeces be thy care, From fields and mountains to my song repair. Inventor, Pallas, of the fattening oil, Thou founder of the plough, and ploughman's toil; And thou, whose hands the shroud-like cypress rear, Come, all ye gods and goddesses, that wear The rural honours, and increase the year; You who supply the ground with seeds of grain; And you, who swell those seeds with kindly rain!"

"Whence men, a hard laborious kind, were born."

"Thus all below, whether by nature's curse, Or fate's decree, degenerate still to worse: So the boat's brawny crew the current stem, And, slow advancing, struggle with the stream: But if they slack their hands, or cease to strive, Then down the flood with headlong haste they drive."

"[They] change their savage mind, Their wildness lose, and, quitting nature's part, Obey the rules and discipline of art."

"And in short space the laden boughs arise, With happy fruit advancing to the skies. The mother plant admires the leaves unknown Of alien trees, and apples not her own."

"No room is left for death."

"The fatter earth by handling we may find, With ease distinguished from the meagre kind: Poor soil will crumble into dust; the rich Will to the fingers cleave like clammy pitch."

"So strong is custom, such effects can use In tender souls of pliant plants produce."

"Oh happy, if he knew his happy state! The swain, who, free from business and debate, Receives his easy food from nature's hand, And just returns of cultivated land!"

"[Here] easy quiet, a secure retreat, A harmless life that knows not how to cheat, With home-bred plenty the owner bless, And rural pleasures crown his happiness; Unvexed with quarrels, undisturbed with noise, The country king his peaceful realm enjoys: Cool grots, and living lakes, the flowery pride Of meads and streams that through the valley glide; And shady groves that easy sleep invite, And after toilsome days a soft repose at night."

"Ye sacred muses, with whose beauty fired, My soul is ravished, and my brain inspired: Whose priest I am, whose holy fillets wear; Would you your poet's first petition hear; Give me the ways of wandering stars to know, The depths of heaven above, and earth below. Teach me the various labours of the moon, And whence proceed the eclipses of the sun; Why flowing tides prevail upon the main, And in what dark recess they shrink again; What shakes the solid earth; what cause delays The summer nights, and shortens winter days."

"My next desire is, void of care and strife, To lead a soft, secure, inglorious life: A country cottage near a crystal flood, A winding valley, and a lofty wood."

"Happy the man, who, studying nature's laws, Through known effects can trace the secret cause. His mind possessing, in a quiet state, Fearless of fortune, and resigned to fate."

"Some to the seas, and some to camps, resort, And some with impudence invade the court."

"His cares are eased with intervals of bliss; His little children, climbing for a kiss, Welcome their father's late return at night; His faithful bed is crowned with chaste delight."

"New ways I must attempt, my groveling name To raise aloft, and wing my flight to fame."

"Without thee, nothing lofty can I sing."

"In youth alone, unhappy mortals live; But, ah! the mighty bliss is fugitive: Discoloured sickness, anxious labour, come, And age, and death's inexorable doom."

"Starting with a bound, He turns the turf, and shakes the solid ground: Fire from his eyes, clouds from his nostrils flow."

"In vain he burns, like hasty stubble fires."

"Thus every creature, and of every kind, The secret joys of sweet coition find. Not only man's imperial race, but they That wing the liquid air, or swim the sea, Or haunt the desert, rush into the flame: For love is lord of all, and is in all the same."

"But the commanding muse my chariot guides, Which o'er the dubious cliff securely rides; And pleased I am, no beaten road to take, But first the way to new discoveries make."

"A mighty pomp, though made of little things."

"Slight is the subject, but the praise not small."

"With secret joy, Their young succession all their cares employ."

"With mighty souls in narrow bodies prest."

"Yet all these dreadful deeds, this deadly fray, A cast of scattered dust will soon allay."

"If little things with great we may compare."

"Round the wide world in banishment we roam, Forced from our pleasing fields and native home."