_Mop._ Menalcas, meet it is that I obey Mine elder. Lead, or into shade—that shifts At the wind’s fancy—or (mayhap the best) Into some cave. See, here’s a cave, o’er which A wild vine flings her flimsy foliage. _Men._ On these hills one—Amyntas—vies with you. _Mop._ Suppose he thought to out-sing Phœbus’ self? _Men._ Mopsus, begin. If aught you know of flames That Phyllis kindles, aught of Alcon’s worth, Or Codrus’ ill-temper, then begin; Tityrus meanwhile will watch the grazing kids. _Mop._ Ay, I will sing the song which t’other day On a green beech’s bark I cut; and scored The music as I wrote. Hear that, and bid Amyntas vie with me. _Men._ As willow lithe Yields to pale olive; as to crimson beds Of roses yields the lowly lavender, So, to my mind, Amyntas yields to you.[55] [Sidenote: The Georgics.] The _Eclogues_ were published not later than 38 B. C. In 29 B. C. the four books of the _Georgics_ were completed. One of the most important tasks of the new government, now that the civil strife was ended, was to ensure the continuance of tranquility by settling the veterans in the country and encouraging agriculture, which had been sadly neglected in Italy for many years. It was therefore with a practical end in view that Mæcenas suggested to Virgil the composition of a poem on agriculture. This was a subject which Virgil was especially qualified to treat with success, and the poem, to which he devoted seven years, is the most perfect of his works. It is a very free imitation of the _Works and Days_ of Hesiod, and contains many passages derived from Aratus and other Greek poets, but in its composition and its poetic beauty it is independent of all but Virgil’s own genius. It is dedicated to Mæcenas. The first book treats of the tilling of the soil, the beginning of agriculture, the instruments needed by the farmer, the tasks appropriate to the different seasons, and the signs of the weather, ending with a splendid passage describing the portents at the time of Cæsar’s death, and a prayer that Augustus may put an end to the wars and disorders of the times. This passage is closely connected with the preceding lines in which the signs of the weather given by the appearance of the sun are described. It begins: