Prologue i-ii 7 



Columella (fl. ca. 50 a. d.) has the following lines^ (10 



204-210) : 



Maximus ipse deum posito jam fulmine fallax 



Acrisioneos veteres imitatur amores, 



Inque sinus matris violento defluit imbre ; 



Nee genitrix nati nunc aspernatur amorem, 



Sed patitur nexus flammata cupidine tellus. 



Hinc maria, hinc montes, hinc totus denique mundus 



Ver agit. 



Of about Columella's period was probably Petronius, who 

 embodies the same conception {Sat. 127) in a somewhat vaguer 

 form than his predecessors. According to him, roses, violets, 

 and lilies spring up as the result of the union. 



The same note is heard as late as the Pervigilium Veneris 

 (ca. 350 A. D?) : 



Cras erit cum primus aether copulavit nuptias ; 

 Tunc cruore de superno spumeo et ponti globo, 



lap of his joyous bride, and in his might, mingling with her mighty frame, 

 nourishes every product. Then ring the thickets wild with tuneful birds, 

 and on their days the herds devote themselves to love ; the bounteous 

 field gives birth to life, and, beneath the west-wind's breezes warm, the 

 meadows unloose their folds, and all with delicate moisture overflow, and 

 the herbage safely dares to trust itself to meet the new-born suns.' 

 And thus by Dryden : 



The spring adorns the woods, renews the leaves ; 



The womb of earth the genial seed receives ; 



For then almighty Jove descends, and pours 



Into his buxom bride his fruitful showers ; 



And, mixing his large limbs with hers, he feeds 



Her births with kindly juice, and fosters teeming seeds. 



The joyous birds frequent the lonely grove, 



And beasts, by nature stung, renew their love. 



Then fields the blades of buried corn disclose, 



And, while the balmy western spirit blows. 



Earth to the breath her bosom dares expose. 



With kindly moisture then the plants abound; 



The grass securely springs above the ground. 



The tender twig shoots upward to the skies. 



And on the faith of the new sun relies. 



"Columella was at least known to Boccaccio (Hortis, Stud}', p. 436), 

 though probably not to Petrarch (Nolhac, Petrarque et I'Humanisme, 2d 

 ed., 2. 100, note 3). 



