illa seges demum uotis respondet auari
agricolae, bis quae solem, bis frigora sensit;
Trial prose translation: Only that field, which twice has felt the sun, twice the frost, answers to the prayers of the covetous farmer
On the two suns and two frosts: my suggestion is that this is a rule for when the farmer should break land in the spring. That is, when it’s still cold enough to bring two frosty mornings in succession, but warm enough to have two pleasantly sunny days. Does this seem plausible?
In the Georgics, Virgil seems keen to relate the farmer’s work to the actions of celestial objects.
It’s interestingly ambiguous. Are we to suppose the sun and the frosts are both of one and the same day (so two presumably consecutive days in total) or each of different days (so four days in total)?
Either way, the self-referentially anaphoric use of bis is nice: twice twice.
MWH: Are we to suppose the sun and the frosts are both of one and the same day (so two presumably consecutive days in total) or each of different days (so four days in total)?
Either way, the self-referentially anaphoric use of bis is nice: twice twice.
A little searching turns up no support for my effort, so I’ll have to enjoy that idea by myself. Thanks to mwh for assigning a name to the “bis…bis” figure.