Now thy Apollo reigns. And Pollio, thou
Shalt be our Prince, when he that grander age
Opens, and onward roll the mighty moons:
Thou, trampling out what prints our crimes have left,
Shalt free the nations from perpetual fear.
While he to bliss shall waken; with the Blest
See the Brave mingling, and be seen of them,
Ruling that world o’er which his father’s arm shed peace.[54]
But the atmosphere of the Eclogues is generally that of the country, and the form that of dialogue, with competitive songs by the herdsmen. The opening lines of the fifth Eclogue may serve as an example. The characters are Menalcas and Mopsus:
Men. Mopsus, suppose now two good men have met—