Vergil · Pastoral poetry
The complete
Eclogues.
Ten pastoral poems with J. B. Greenough’s Latin text, selectable translations by James Rhoades and John Dryden, and local Lewis & Short word study.
Introductions & notes →I→II→III→IV→V→VI→VII→VIII→IX→X→
Eclogue I · lines 1–84
Tityrus and Meliboeus
Pastoral ease and dispossession meet beneath the spreading beech.Eclogue II · lines 1–73
Corydon and Alexis
Corydon’s unrequited desire becomes a song of landscape and longing.Eclogue III · lines 1–111
The Singing Contest
Menalcas and Damoetas trade accusations, riddles, and alternating song.Eclogue IV · lines 1–63
The New Age
A mysterious child and the return of a golden age enlarge pastoral into prophecy.Eclogue V · lines 1–90
Daphnis
Two shepherds commemorate Daphnis in songs of death and apotheosis.Eclogue VI · lines 1–86
The Song of Silenus
Silenus sings creation, desire, metamorphosis, and poetic vocation.Eclogue VII · lines 1–70
Corydon and Thyrsis
A remembered singing match sets two visions of pastoral art against one another.Eclogue VIII · lines 1–109
Damon and Alphesiboeus
Two extended songs stage abandoned love and ritual enchantment.Eclogue IX · lines 1–67
Lycidas and Moeris
Civil violence threatens land, memory, and the continuity of song.Eclogue X · lines 1–77
Gallus
Pastoral poetry confronts the incurable force of erotic suffering.Latin: J. B. Greenough (1881) · English: James Rhoades (1921) and John Dryden (1697) · Digital texts: Perseus Digital Library, Internet Archive, and Project Gutenberg