Virgil

“ Daphnis, the hills and woods tell wondrous tales
How Punic lions mourned at thy decease.
Ofttimes, at Daphnis' bidding, men did bind
Tigresses of Armenia to his car
And worshippers of Bacchus proudly stepped
Their tall wands twisted round with foliage soft.
The glory of the vine makes fair the elm
As do her grapes the vine. Bulls are the pride
Of the mild lowing herds: the golden corn
Adorns the smiling fields. ”

“ When from Time's course thy manhood thou hast gained,
No more shall men in tall ships cross the seas,
Nor merchandise be carried in the same:
All countries then all good things shall produce;
No harrow need the soil, no hook the vine ”

“ Corydon.Ye mossy founts, 'midst herbage slumb'rous soft
And the light shade of green arbutus boughs
Shelter my flock from the midsummer heat!
Now come the scorching days, now swell the buds
In the luxuriant branches of the vine.
Thyrsis.Here glows a ruddy hearth, with pitch pine logs
Ever alight—and doorposts, black with smoke.
We heed no more the northern cold, than does
The wolf the flock, or flooded streams their banks.
Corydon.Chestnuts and junipers in thick groves stand,
And fallen apples lie beneath the trees ”

“ To dwell in simple woodland. As for me,
As I was praising battles fierce, and kings,
Apollo twitched my ear, with this advice:
"A shepherd, Tityrus, may tend fat sheep,
But it becomes him to subdue his song." ”

“ He will accept his life as of the gods
With whom the heroes mingle; seen by them
The whole world will he rule, now set at peace
By his great father's power: to him shall bring
Uncultured earth her first small offerings,
Creeping wild ivy, arums, foxgloves too,
Smiling acanthus with bright polished leaf.
The teeming she-goats without call come home,
The flocks by lions shall be scared no more,
No more by serpents and by poison plants;
O'er all the land sweet spicy balsams grow.
When thou shalt learn thy father's glorious deeds,
The pride of heroes and what Virtue means. ”

“ Now, Daphnis, graft
"Thy pear trees, that thy children's children may
"Eat of their fruit. How time wears all things out!
"Even the memory. I can call to mind
"Long days of summer, in my boyhood spent,
"Singing the hours away—but now, alas!
"I have forgotten many of my songs—
"And Mœris too—his voice begins to fail
"As old folks say—Wolves caught first sight of him"
But for those songs—Menalcas willingly
Will sing them to thee. ”

“ When will the wicked cease? That we should risk
The loss of all our help and joy in thee!
Ah, who would then have chanted of the Nymphs
Who, with sweet flowering herbs, have strewn the ground
Or cast shade o'er the springs, or sung those lays
Which lately, from Menalcas, I have learned? ”

“ Our flat-nosed she-goats nibbling hard the while
The tender plants. To deaf ears sing we not,
The forest echoes all our tuneful lays.
What glades did ye frequent, ye Naiads young
While Gallus pined in chains of cruel Love? ”

“ I may aspire to tell of thy great deeds?
Of broad Timavus dost thou climb the rocks
Or sailest by the shores of the Illyrian sea?
Ah! when may I to the whole world make known
Thy verse, which can with Sophocles compare? ”

“ Gods dwell in woods, and Trojan Paris too.
Pallas may hold the towers herself has built;
For us, the woods shall be our chief delight.
Wolves are pursued by lions, goats by wolves,
Whilst in their turn, the goats devour the thyme. ”

“ Men.Phyllis I love above all women—she
Wept at my leaving, crying, "Now farewell,
A long farewell to thee, thou charming one!"
Dam.The wolf is fatal in the fold, and so
Are hailstones to ripe corn, wind blasts to trees—
Or—Amaryllis' anger to us all.
Men.How sweet is gentle rain! ”

“ My memory tells me, tis no common one.
"Come to us here, oh Galatea fair!
"Why ling'rest thou, rejoicing in the wave?
"We name the glowing spring.—The sparkling streams,
"Fill the warm earth with blossoms manifold—
"The tall white poplar overhangs the cave,
"And clinging vines weave for us bowers of shade. ”

“ Dam.Where thou dost love to be, O Pollio, there
Let him who loves thee come, and for his joy
Let honey flow amain, let brambles balsam yield.
Men.Who hates not Bavius' songs, he may love thine,
O, Mævius; may yoke foxes, he-goats milk! ”

“ Whose mind was turned to fancies base and wild.
Ah, hapless maid, of reason sweet bereft!
And sent to wander on the mountain drear,
Thy only friends the scattered herds of kine—
Ah, hapless maid! trod down by evil tongues! ”

“ Men.A luckless flock!
While with Neæra does their owner play,
Fearing lest she prefer my love to his,
This hireling robs his sheep, for hour by hour,
Twice does he milk the ewes, so cheats their lambs. ”

“ Then Phyllis shalt thou claim, as all thine own.
Palæmon.Such rivalry as yours, I cannot judge
The heifer both of you deserve, and so,
Whoever fears sweet love, or tasted has
Love's bitterness, that one is worthy too. ”

“ Next, thou canst call Amyntas to the strife.
Menalcas.⁠Ah, well! we all do judge thee to excel,
Amyntas, as the olive stronger stands
Than bending osier, or as low-grown reeds
Do yield in beauty to the crimson rose.
Mopsus.⁠Enough, my friend, for we have reached the cave.
Song.
"Sore wept the Nymphs at sight of Daphnis slain. ”

“ By lawless soldiery possessed? these crops
Of waving corn shall the barbarians own?
Lo! what great misery has discord wrought
Amongst us all! Ah to what end have we
Patiently sown our fields—for others' gain!? ”

“ She would have sung
"And Phyllis plucked sweet-scented Melilot,
"Lycoris, see what fountains cool are here,
"What downy meads, and woodlands that entice
"Lovers to spend their swiftly-passing hours! ”

“ Spoke thus to him: "Behold, the Muses give
"These pipes to thee: receive them as the same,
"That formerly they gave old Hesiod, he
"Who laid low by his songs stubborn ash-trees
"Upon the hills. On these pipes thou shalt sing
"The first beginning of the Grynean grove
"Than which not one is more Apollo's pride." ”

“ Or drive the kids, where the green mallows grow.
Then in the woods thou mightest sing me songs
To rival Pan himself. He first taught men
With wax to join together several reeds.
Pan guards our sheep, and faithful Shepherds too. ”

“ Tityrus.The city they call Rome, O Melibœus,
I likened in my foolish mind to ours,
Where we are wont to drive our new-weaned lambs.
So one compares the little things with large
Kids with their mothers, puppies with their sires ”