1In a Christian cento made of Virgil's lines, Meliboeus greets the shepherd Tityrus, who begins to sing of the one almighty God who fills and rules all things.
31Tityrus sings that souls are of heavenly origin and are called back by God at the resurrection, and Meliboeus, persuaded, asks to be taught the way to heaven.
61Tityrus teaches that contempt of wealth and faith lead to the blessed abodes while the greedy are punished, and then begins to sing of the Father's work from the creation.
91Tityrus sings in Virgil's lines of the creation, the giving of the law, the exodus and manna, Israel's decline into idolatry, and the folly of idols.
121The Father plans the gift of eternal life, sends his message through the angel and the prophets, and the singer turns to address the Virgin.
authentic · Ascribed to Pomponius in the manuscript; nothing else is known of him.
Standing
Not honoured as a saint or in a church calendar by the Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant traditions. Writer in the church of his time, not venerated by any of the three traditions.
Date
5th century(?) (disputed) · Date and author uncertain; the name Pomponius comes from the title in the manuscript.
Written at
unknown (disputed)
Language
Latin
Genre
poem
Reference system
line number in the CSEL edition (each ref is the first line of a passage of 30 lines; speaker labels Mel[iboeus] and Tit[yrus] are the edition's marginal labels)
SBL abbreviation
Vers. grat.Not yet checked
Text from
Michael Petschenig, Robinson Ellis, Georg Brandes, Karl Schenkl, eds., Poetae Christiani minores, part 1, CSEL 16.1 (Vienna: Tempsky, 1888) (Printed edition in the public domain; digital text CC BY-SA 4.0)
Critical editions
Schenkl (as above) (cited only) (cited, not reproduced)