Aut coniurato descendens Dacus ab Histro,
Non res Romanae, perituraque regna; neque ille
Aut doluit miserans inopem aut invidit habenti.
Vergil.
Demonstration V.
Vergil, Georg. ii. 490-499.
Read the Passage carefully.—Notice as you read the many allusions and key-words in the passage, e.g. Acherontis, Pana, Silvanum, Nymphas, Dacus ab Istro, res Romanae, rerum causas, and populi fasces. These, taken in connection with the main predicates felix, fortunatus, non flexit, neque doluit, aut invidit, will readily suggest to you the main thought of the passage:—
Happy is Nature’s bard who knows and fears not: happy he too who knows the gods of the country. He is not distressed by ambition, nor wars, nor pain, nor envy.
I. Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas,
Atque metus omnes et inexorabile fatum
Subiecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari!
(i.) Vocabulary.—