Vergil, Eclogue IV, 46-52

46–52  The whole universe rejoices at the destined and imminent coming of the divine child.

The poem now moves from the natural phenomena of the Golden Age back to celebrating the birth of the boy.

46–47  'Tālia saecla' suīs dīxērunt 'currite' fūsīs / concordēs stabilī fātōrum nūmine Parcae: order: Parcae, concordēs stabilī nūmine fātōrum, dīxērunt suīs fūsīs ‘currite talia saecla’ … 

Tālia saecla: could be vocative and the subject of currite (“come quickly, o ages such as these”) or accusative, with currite = ēvolvite (“hasten to spin such ages as these”), addressed by the Fates to their spindles. 

47  concordēs stabilī fātōrum nūmine: “agreeing in the steadfast will of destiny.” The Parcae or Fates were, in Greek and Roman mythology, three sisters, Lachesis, Clotho, and Atropos, who spun the threads of destiny (Gould).

48  Adgredere: probably spoken by the poet, rather than the Fates. The verb is a normal one for going to or setting about an act or employment (LS aggredior II.C)

48  māgnōs … honōrēs: could refer to achieving important political offices, or more likely, "dignities" in general.

49  cāra deum subolēs, māgnum Iovis incrēmentum!: deum is often used in place of deōrum, especially in poetry (AG 49g); the genitive specifies to whom the offspring is dear (AG 349). The parallel structure (adjective-genitive-noun) of the two phrases suggests the second phrase explains or expands upon the meaning of the first.

49  māgnum Iovis incrēmentum: “great seed of a (future) Jupiter.” An incrementum is that from which something will grow. The child is destined to be the lord of the universe (Gould).

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With its sonorous m-alliteration and spondaic cadence these words give a majestic climax to the sentence. Two meanings are possible: (i) “a mighty addition to Jupiter,” viz. his offspring, like Bacchus or Hercules, or his adjutant, the representative of his power on earth, as Augustus is depicted in Horace, Odes 1.12.57–60, 3.5.1–4; or (ii) “that which will grow into a second Jupiter.” This sense of the noun is found in Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.103. Whichever meaning Vergil had in mind the phrase can hardly refer to posthumous deification, such as Julius Caesar had recently been awarded, or to the divine titles conferred on living dynasts by admirers and grateful beneficiaries. Honors of this sort came from political and military achievements. By contrast the child here is to be magnum Iovis incrementum from birth; as nova progenies sent down from heaven he is to be born into a quasi-divine status, which will not depend upon the admiration and esteem of others. For this supernatural messianic role, compare the “Son of Man” in Daniel 7.13–14 (Coleman).

50  nutantem: a sign of cosmic joy (laetantur) (Clausen).

51  mundum: the three constituent parts of the mundus: 1) terras; 2) tractusque maris; and 3) caelumque profundum, encompassed by omnia in verse 52.

52  aspice, ventūrō laetantur ut omnia saeclō: aspice, … ut is best understood together as an exclamatory interjection (“Look, how!”); ventūrō … saeclō is ablative after laetor as normal (LS laetor I.α).