The Peaceable Kingdom according to the fourth eclogue of Virgil

Isaiah 11:1-16 and the fourth eclogue of Virgil deserve to be read in tandem. Both describe an idealized peaceable kingdom. The language in both is deliberately idyllic.

The number of textual and thematic coincidences between Isaiah 11 and the fourth eclogue is striking. Below the fold, I provide the text and a new translation of the fourth eclogue. If you've never read the eclogue in its entirety, and if not in Latin, at least in a translation that hews closely to the original, you will be glad you did.

In a future post, I will present Isa 11:1-16, and draw attention to common themes.

Besides the Latin text, I consulted and drew from 8 different translations (in English, German, French, and Italian) in the preparation of my own. I mimic the medial caesura of the Latin verse in translation.

Sicelides Musae, paulo maiora canamus!
non omnis arbusta iuvant humilesque myricae;
si canimus silvas, silvae sint consule dignae.

Sicilian Muses, let us sing with loftier tone;
orchards please not everyone, nor lowly tamarisk;
if we sing of sylvan splendor, be it worthy of a consul.

Ultima Cumaei venit iam carminis aetas;
magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo.
iam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna;
iam nova progenies caelo demittitur alto.

Now the last age comes, of Cumaean song,
the great procession of the ages, born anew.
The Virgin now returns, returns the reign of Saturn,
now a new generation, sent from high heaven.

 tu modo nascenti puero, quo ferrea primum
desinet ac toto surget gens aurea mundo,
casta fave Lucina: tuus iam regnat Apollo.

You, to the child at birth – by whom first iron
will cease and throughout the world, a golden race arise –
you, pure Lucina, show favor: your Apollo rules now.

 
Teque adeo decus hoc aevi, te consule, inibit,
Pollio, et incipient magni procedere menses;
te duce, si qua manent sceleris vestigia nostri,
inrita perpetua solvent formidine terras.

 
With you as consul, the glorious age begins,
with you, Pollio, the mighty months off and march;
with you as leader, if traces of our wickedness remain,
they will, cancelled out, of constant fear free the lands.

ille deum vitam accipiet divisque videbit
permixtos heroas et ipse videbitur illis
pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbem.

He will take up the life of gods, and gods he will see
mingling with heroes, he himself seen by them,
with his father’s manly virtues, he will rule a world at peace.

 At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu
errantis hederas passim cum baccare tellus
mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho.

 And to you, child, small things first
untilled earth pours forth, ranging ivy everywhere, and cyclamens,
a mix of flowering bean and laughing-eyed acanthus.

ipsae lacte domum referent distenta capellae
ubera nec magnos metuent armenta leones;
ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores.
occidet et serpens et fallax herba veneni
occidet; Assyrium vulgo nascetur amomum.

 
By themselves, the milk of swollen udders
she-goats bring home; flocks are not afraid of mighty lions;
your own cradle, with captivating flowers flows over.
The serpent passes, the venom-hiding plant
passes, and everywhere, Assyrian spice-plants spring to life.

 
At simul heroum laudes et facta parentis
iam legere et quae sit poteris cognoscere virtus,
molli paulatim flavescet campus arista
incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva
et durae quercus sudabunt roscida mella.

By the time you, of hero’s fame and father’s deeds
can read, and learn thereby what manly virtue is,
slowly with soft grain the plain will turn golden,
from wild briar, red grape hang,
and stubborn oak sweat dewlike honey.

 
Pauca tamen suberunt priscae vestigia fraudis,
quae temptare Thetim ratibus, quae cingere muris
oppida, quae iubeant telluri infindere sulcos.
alter erit tum Tiphys et altera quae vehat Argo
delectos heroas; erunt etiam altera bella
atque iterum ad Troiam magnus mittetur Achilles.

Should a few traces of ancient wrong persist,
and bid they tempt the sea with ships, and gird with walls
the towns, and cut furrows in the ground,
another Tiphys will arise, another Argo carry
acclaimed heroes. There will be other wars,
and once again a great Achilles will be sent to Troy.

 
Hinc, ubi iam firmata virum te fecerit aetas,
cedet et ipse mari vector nec nautica pinus
mutabit merces: omnis feret omnia tellus.

 
Then, when the hard age makes you a man,
the mariner will abandon sea, and nautical pine
not exchange goods: every land will produce everything.

 
non rastros patietur humus, non vinea falcem;
robustus quoque iam tauris iuga solvet arator;
nec varios discet mentiri lana colores,
ipse sed in pratis aries iam suave rubenti
murice, iam croceo mutabit vellera luto,
sponte sua sandyx pascentis vestiet agnos.

 
The earth will not suffer the hoe, nor vine, the sickle,
then the strong plowman will loose the yoke from the bull,
wool not learn to put on various colors,
but in the meadows, the ram will change fleece,
now to sweet blushing purple, now to saffron yellow;
vermilion, on its own, will clothe the grazing lambs.

 
"Talia saecla" suis dixerunt "currite" fusis
concordes stabili fatorum numine Parcae.
 

“May such ages,” said the Parcae to the spindles, “race on,”
in agreement with Destiny’s immutable decrees.

adgredere o magnos - aderit iam tempus - honores,
cara deum suboles, magnum Iovis incrementum!
aspice convexo nutantem pondere mundum,
terrasque tractusque maris caelumque profundum,
aspice, venturo laetantur ut omnia saeclo!

Dear offshoot of the gods, great progeny of Jove,
assume great honors – the time draws nigh!
See how it totters, the world’s vaulted weight,
the earth, the sea’s expanse, and the deep of the sky,
see how all things rejoice for the coming age!
 

o mihi tum longae maneat pars ultima vitae,
spiritus et quantum sat erit tua dicere facta:
non me carminibus vincat nec Thracius Orpheus
nec Linus, huic mater quamvis atque huic pater adsit,
Orphei Calliopea, Lino formosus Apollo.
Pan etiam, Arcadia mecum si iudice certet,
Pan etiam Arcadia dicat se iudice victum. 

O may to me remain the last part of a long life,
may breath enough suffice to tell your deeds.
Thracian Orpheus could not surpass me in song,
nor Linus, though his mother be here, and his father,
Calliope for Orpheus, fair Apollo for Linus.
Even Pan, against me, with Arcadia for judge,
Even Pan would say he was surpassed, with Arcadia for judge.

Incipe, parve puer, risu cognoscere matrem:
matri longa decem tulerunt fastidia menses.
incipe, parve puer: qui non risere parenti,
nec deus hunc mensa, dea nec dignata cubili est. 

Begin, little child, to acknowledge mother with a smile,
To mother these ten months brought long weariness.
Begin, little child. The one who does not smile on parents,
no god honors at his table, no goddess in her bed.