4.125–148

The digression continues, where Vergil introduces a farmer of fantastical skills. 

Vergil recalls an old man he once met, a Corycian living in Tarentum (the Oebalian city on the Galaesus River). He had only a few acres, which were unsuitable for grain crops or pasturing livestock. Yet, he was able not only to grow all kinds of flowers, vegetables and fruits, but his land was also exceptionally productive, and he harvested sooner than anyone else. His plot hardly experienced winter or cold weather. Likewise, his hives abounded in honey, each bloom on his trees produced fruit, and his trees offered shade even to passersby.

125  sub Oebaliae…turribus arcis: the city of Tarentum, a town in the heel of Italy’s boot in Apulia. The Spartans colonized Tarentum in the 8th century BCE, and Oebalia refers to the mythical Spartan king Oebalus. Vergil now begins a famous set piece on the Corycian farmer, a gardening wizard, who is able to turn the least productive piece of land into a virtual paradise.

126  quā: “where.” 

126  niger…Galaesus:a small river that flowed into the gulf of Tarentum, whose banks were famed for the pasturing of herds, especially sheep. Its identity now is disputed, though some identify it as the Cervaro River. niger perhaps refers to the depth of the stream and the clarity of the water, as opposed to the flāvus Tiberis. 

126  flāventia culta: yellow fields of grain.

127  Cōrycium vīdisse senem: continuation of the indirect statement begun in line 125, meminī mē…Cōrycium vīdisse senem. Cōrycium can refer either to a cave on Mount Parnassus (in Greece) or Corycus (in Cilicia). In either case he is not a native Italian. 

127  cui: dative of possession with erant (AG 373).

127-128  relictī…rūris: abandoned land, wasteland.

128-129  nec fertilis…Bacchō = nec illa seges (ground, soil) erat fertilis iuvencīs, nec opportūna pecorī, nec commode Bacchō. The land was not good for young bulls to draw a plow (that is, not good for crops), nor suitable for flocks, nor favorable to vines. Notice that Vergil here names the topics of Georgics 1-3, grain crops, livestock and viticulture.

129  Bacchō: Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, and a common metonym for wine, the cultivation of vines and winemaking. 

130  hīc: more likely “here,” than “this man.” The old man plants a variety of plants—the greens, lilies, verbenas, and poppies—amid the scrub. These crops represent plants for food, medicine, and ritual. 

130  rārum: “scattered.” 

130  olus: accusative singular; the same as holus, any cultivated herbs or greens that one might eat. 

130  circum: adverb.

131  līlia: lilies, Lilium sp. 

131  verbēnās: these are aromatic plants sacred to a particular deity (such as olive, myrtle, cypress or laurel), carried by Roman priests (fetiales) or used for medical purposes. 

131  premēns: “planting.” 

131  vescum papāver: “small poppy seeds,” probably Papaver rhoeas or Papaver somniferum, both of which have culinary and medicinal uses, and tiny seeds. 

132  animīs: scholars cannot agree on a translation, some suggestions being “by his spirit,” “in the pride of his heart” and “in his mind.” It is clear that the farmer judges his own situation to be enviable. 

132-133  sērā…nocte: ablative of time when (AG 423).

133  domum: “(to) home.” domus (like rūs and humus) does not require ad to show motion toward an end (AG 427.2).

134  prīmus: supply erat; the subject is the farmer. Take carpere closely with prīmus, as an epexegetical infinitive (AG 461). The same construction follows at line 140. 

134  vēre < vēr, vēris (n); “in the spring,” ablative of time when (AG 423).

135-136  cum…rumperet et…frēnāret: cum concessive clause in secondary sequence (AG 549). 

136  glaciē: ablative of means with frēnāṝet (AG 409a).

136  cursūs: accusative plural (4th declension); take aquārum with cursūs. 

137  comam: the flowering part of the hyacinth. 

137  tondēbat: the final syllabus scans long. This is a phenomenon more common in Greek verse, where a line ends in a four-syllable word, requiring a short syllable at the beginning of the fifth foot to be lengthened (called lengthening in arsis). \

137  hyacinthī: likely the hyacinth, Hyacinthus orientalis, though a much less showy flower than the hyacinths typically cultivated today. The flower was named for a young man, Hyacinthus, whose story Ovid retells (Metamorphoses 10.162-219), naming him a son of Oebalus. 

138  Zephyrōs: the Zephyrus is the west wind, and as such gentle, warm and often associated with pleasant weather. 

139  ergō: This establishes the connection between the Corycian farmer’s garden (which blooms so incredibly early because of his skill) and his bees, who produce copious amounts of honey, also earlier that expected. 

139  apibus fētīs…exāmine multō: ablatives of means with abundāre (AG 409a).

139  fētīs: “teeming,” “prolific.” fētus refers either to something about to give birth or just having given birth. It indicates a hive that is thriving and full of bees. 

139  īdem: supply erat; “this same (old man) was.”

140  abundāre: “to abound in” (rather than “overflow,” since he is harvesting the abundant honey). abundāre and cōgere are epexegetical infinitives with primus, as in line 134 (AG 461).

140  pressīs…favīs: ablative absolute (AG 419) or source (from the pressed comb, AG 403). On the pressing of honey, see line 101.

141  illī: supply erant; dative of possession (AG 373); again, this is the old man. 

141  tiliae: linden trees, likely Tilia cordata, which produces a lovely and distinctive honey. 

141  tīnus: laurustinus (Viburnum tinus), a kind of laurel. Some manuscripts read pīnus, “pine,” instead (as above in line 112). There are plausible reasons for cultivating either laurustinus or pine trees near a hive, but tīnus is the better reading, as laurastinus blooms in early, is known as good forage for honeybees even today, and flowers luxuriantly.

142-143  quotque…tenēbat = quotque (“and with as many”) pōmīs fertilis arbōs induerat sē in novō flōre, totidem mātūra <pōma> autumnō tenēbat. 

142  arbōs = arbar. The tree “crowns itself” with fruit “in first bloom.” The farmer’s trees lost no fruit from fertilization to harvest!

144  in versum: “in a row.” 

144  sērās…ulmōs: “late elms,” perhaps slow-growing, aged trees, possibly Ulmus minor, which can live hundreds of years. 

145  pirum: the pear tree, Pyrus communis. 

145  spīnōs: blackthorn or sloe, Prunus spinosa, a bush with spiny branches. 

145  prūna: here, the sloes or fruit of the blackthorn (which are not true plums). 

146  platanum: the plane tree, Platanus orientalis. 

146  pōtantibus umbrās: equivalent to iīs quī pōtant sub eius umbrā.

147  Vergil’s assertion that he has no time to describe gardening, though he has just devoted over thirty lines to the subject, is a lovely example of praeteritio.

147  vērum   “but.” ipse: “I myself.” 

147  spatiīs…inīquīs: “inadequate time,” ablative of separation (AG 402).

148  aliīs: dative of indirect object or personal agent with the gerundive memoranda (AG 362, AG 374). Eventually, Vergil’s challenge to recall this topic is taken up by someone who comes after him, Columella in Book 10 of his De re rustica.