Farmers, pray for summers with lots of rain,
And winters with lots of sun.[Humida solstitia atque hiemes orate serenas,
agricolae.]Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
Georgics [Georgica], Book 1, l. 100ff (1.100) (29 BC) [tr. Ferry (2015)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Swaines pray for winters faire, and summers wet.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]Ye Swains, invoke the Pow'rs who rule the Sky,
For a moist Summer, and a Winter dry.
[tr. Dryden (1709), ll. 146-147]Ye husbandmen! intreat the gods by pray'r
For wat'ry solstices, and winters fair.
[tr. Nevile (1767)]Swains! pray for wintry dust, and summer rain.
[tr. Sotheby (1800)]Pray, ye swains, for moist summers and serene winters.
[tr. Davidson (1854)]For winters dry, and showery summers, pray.
[tr. Blackmore (1871), l. 116]Pray for showery summers and dry winters, husbandmen.
[tr. Wilkins (1873)]Pray for wet summers and for winters fine,
Ye husbandmen.
[tr. Rhoades (1881)]Now pay thy vows: be this the ploughman’s prayer:
Bright be the winter day, and moist the summer air.
[tr. King (1882), ll. 99-100]Pray, ye swains, for moist summers and serene winters.
[tr. Bryce (1897)]Pray for dripping midsummers and clear winters, O husbandmen.
[tr. Mackail (1899)]Pray for wet summers and for winters fine,
Ye husbandmen.
[tr. Greenough (1900)]For drizzling summers and sunny winters, husbandmen, pray.
[tr. Way (1912)]For summers moist and windless winters fair
Pray heaven, ye farmer-folk.
[tr. Williams (1915)]For moist summers and sunny winters, pray, farmers!
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1916)]Wet midsummers and fair winters are what the farmer
Should ask for.
[tr. Day-Lewis (1940)]Pray for wet midsummers, farmer friends,
And clear, cold winter skies.
[tr. Bovie (1956)]Wet skies in midsummer and clear in winter
Farmers should pray for.
[tr. Wilkinson (1982)]Farmers, pray for moist summers and mild winters.
[tr. Kline (2001)]Farmers pray for wet summers and winters with clear blue skies.
[tr. Lembke (2004)]The countryman should pray for wet summers and mild winters.
[tr. Fallon (2006)]For humid summers and winters mild, pray, O farmers.
[tr. Johnson (2009)]O farmers, pray that your summers be wet and your winters clear.
[Bartlett's]
Quotations about:
farmer
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LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Reaper Man (1991)
You know, farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Speech, Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois (25 Sep 1956)
I am persuaded that the people of the world have no grievances, one against the other. The hopes and desires of a man who tills the soil are about the same whether he lives on the banks of the Colorado or on the banks of the Danube.
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
Speech (1947-05-07), House of Representatives
(Source)
As part of an argument that the increasing tension between the Soviet Union and the US was over ideology and government actions, not between peoples.
And he gave it for his opinion, that whosoever could make two ears of corn or two blades of grass to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together.
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) English writer and churchman
Gulliver’s Travels, ch. 6 “Voyage to Brobdingnag” (1726)
