FOREST POEMS

Sylvanus The Roman god of the woods and uncultivated lands. often sends the hunter back empty of prey, weary and full of melancholy.
Even if the observer, crouching in his hiding place,
has spent twelve hours there.
To catch something, how often are you lost yourself?
How often do you steal yourself and your years from yourself?
For you will count those times of life as lost,
spent in the base wildness of this pursuit.

XII.

Foxes are disturbed by the rhythmic striking of stones,
roused from their caverns.
Though they carry a thousand tricks around their hearts,
they are deceived by the sound, their ears pricked up.
There are also dwarf dogs, a fierce breed from their very claws,
whom a mother named "Quarrel" brought forth. original: "Rixa." The poet personifies the aggressive nature of these small hunting dogs, likely terriers or dachshunds.
They are small, but nurtured by an anger all the more sharp,
and steeped in reproaches.
Driven by the stings of mischief into the bowels of the earth,
they harass the inhabitants trapped within.
They attempt to attack the fierce weavers original: "Textores." A metaphor for foxes, referring to the complex "weaving" of their underground tunnels. even in this way.
The barking is greater than the mouth.
The little fox hates nothing more than these pygmies;
it experiences nothing more savage.
Then comes the ridiculous part: when with a playful blow
we force it to undergo the cudgeling. original: "fuſtuarium." This refers to a Roman military punishment where a criminal was beaten with clubs. Here it describes a trap or a cruel game where the fox is caught on a rope.
You would think a tightrope walker was dancing through the air;
so does the fox leap up when the rope is pulled. original: "Schænobaten." From the Greek for one who walks on a rope.
Falling back onto the beams, it yelps a pitiable and funeral cry,
the cunning victim of death.
I would rather watch the sport of the fox's springboard
than the greatest games of Rome. original: "petauri." A petaurum was a type of moving stage or springboard used in ancient Roman spectacles to launch performers into the air.

ANTITHESIS.

But this hunt does not please me equally: it stinks.
The nostrils pay the penalty in due time.