Georgics Book I (lines 1-42) - Vergil

What makes crops smile,
beneath what star it befits to turn the soil, Maecenas,
and to train the vines to the elm-trees;
what is the management of cattle,
what the system for keeping a herd,
what skill is required for the thrifty bees,
henceforth I will take upon me to sing.

O brightest lights of the world,
leading the year which glides along the sky,
O Bacchus and bountiful Ceres —
if by your gift the earth hath exchanged
the Chaonian acorn for the full ear,
and hath mingled the draughts of Achelous
with the new-found grapes —
and ye, O Fauns, the ever-present deities of country folk,
advance together, both Fauns and Forest Nymphs;
of your gifts I sing.

And thou, O Neptune, for whom first the earth,
struck by thy mighty trident,
gave forth the snorting horse;
and thou, the dresser of groves,
for whom thrice a hundred snow-white bullocks
browse on Cea's fertile shrubs;
thyself, O Pan, leaving thy native grove and glades of Lycaeus,
O guardian of the sheep,
if to thee thy Maenalus is dear,
graciously be with us, O God of Tegea,
and Minerva, creator of the olive,
and the boy, revealer of the curved plough,
and Silvanus, bearing a young cypress torn from its roots;
and ye gods and goddesses all,
whose pleasure is to guard the fields,
both ye who rear the new fruits sprung from no seed,
and ye who send down upon the crops
plentiful rain from heaven, be present.

And thou above all, whom it is uncertain
what circles of the gods will by-and-by possess,
and whether thou wilt wish, O Caesar,
to take oversight of cities and the care of continents,
and the mighty world shall receive thee
as the author of its fruits and the lord of its seasons,
wreathing thy temples with thy mother's myrtle;
or whether thou wilt come as the god of the boundless sea,
and sailors worship thy deity alone, most distant Thule serve thee,
and Tethys buy thee as her son-in-law at the price of all her waves;
or whether thou wilt add thyself
as a new constellation to the lagging months,
where a place is open between Erigone and the Claws following after:
of his own accord the fiery Scorpion is already drawing in his arms for thee,
and hath relinquished more than the due share of heaven.

Whatever thou shalt be —
for neither doth Tartarus hope for thee as its king,
nor may such direful lust of power come to thee;
however Greece may admire the Elysian plains,
and Proserpina care not, when resought,
to follow her mother — grant me an easy course,
and approve my bold designs;
and, like me, taking pity on country-folk ignorant of the way,
enter upon thy reign and e'en now learn to be invoked with prayer.

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Vergil [also known as Virgil, full name: Publius Vergilius Maro] (70 BC – 19 BC) Italy (Ancient Rome)
Translated by Frank Percy Shipham
Source: Georgics, I., II. by Vergil, Frank Percy Shipham, W.B. Clive, 1900