The First Eclogue

The biggest difficulty while studying poetry in a foreign language is being able to appreciate the peculiarities of the poetic language. Poets intentionally modify and stretch the grammar of their language for expressivity purposes, but this can result, to the eyes of an inexpert reader, in a great confusion, especially if we consider that poetry can well be obscure to native speakers as well. The word order in Latin poetry can easily look erratic or arbitrary to students.

In order to introduce them to the bucolic world without generating confusion and frustration, I resorted to Virgil's most important commentator, Servius. I derived from his commentary a prose version of the first verses of the first eclogue.

I eliminated any words belonging to the poetic language, so that the students could notice the discrepancy between poetic expression and prosastic language when reading the original text. I eliminated the rhetorical figures and used a standard word order, to make sure that anastrophes, enjambements, hyperbatons and other rhetorical figures could be noticed by contrast, and and their purpose understood. 

The result might look like an over-semplification and banalization of Virgil's poetry, but I do not think this is the case. This brief text is only meant to be an introduction to the original text, which the students have read in full. The preliminary work helped them eliminate some "interferences" which might disturb the appreciation of the text. Once the most common "mechanisms" typical of Vergil's poetical writing were understood and contextualised, the reading could proceed more smoothly. Needless to say, I was there for providing explanations whenever difficulties arose.

ECLOGAE PRIMAE ARGUMENTUM

Inducitur pastor quidam (Tityrus) iacens sub arbore securus et otiosus dans operam cantilenae, alter (Meliboeus) vero cum gregibus suis ex suis pellitur finibus; qui cum Tityrum respexisset iacentem, ita locutus est: "Iaces sub umbra fagi in agris tuis, tuas retentans possessiones quibus aleris, et rusticum carmen tenui tibia modularis. Sed nos patriam relinquimus, dum carmen tuum de amica tua Amaryllide in silvis resonat".

Respondit Tityrus: "O Meliboee, beneficus homo nobis ista beneficia contulit, quem ego deum semper putabo. Saepe agnos sacrificabo ab ovilibus nostris latos, quorum sanguine ara illius perfundetur. Ille enim boves permisit errrare meos, et me etiam permisit calamo agreste ludere quae vellem".

Meliboeus dicit se admirari potius quam invidere, quod ille tanta quiete frui possit dum undique agri publicationibus turbantur. Et ait: "En ipse capellas protimus aeger ago; hanc etiam vix, Tityre, duco, quae modo, in silice nuda conixa inter densas corylos gemellos reliquit, qui mihi spes gregis videntur. Perdituros nos quandoque agros quercus fulminatae (manifestum augurium) praedicebant, sed intelligere mentis imprudentia nequivimus. Sed nunc, Tityre, iste deus qui sit, dic nobis".

Responsum Tityri autem clarum non est,  qui de Caesare interrogatus Romam describit: "In urbem quam Romam dicunt, illum vidi, Meliboee. Stultus putabam illam urbem nostrae similem esse, in quam saepe agnos nostros depellere solemus. Putabam enim ante ita Romam comparandam esse aliis civitatibus ut solet haedus caprae comparari; nam quamvis maior esset, tamen eam civitatem esse ducebam: nunc vero probavi eam etiam genere distare; nam est sedes deorum.

Here is the link to Servius' commentary.