Eclogues

Virgil

Vergil. The Poems of Vergil. Rhoades, James, translator. London: Oxford University Press, 1921.

  1. a god is he, Menalcas’ Be thou kind,
  2. propitious to thine own. Lo! altars four,
  3. twain to thee, Daphnis, and to Phoebus twain
  4. for sacrifice, we build; and I for thee
  5. two beakers yearly of fresh milk afoam,
  6. and of rich olive-oil two bowls, will set;
  7. and of the wine-god's bounty above all,
  8. if cold, before the hearth, or in the shade
  9. at harvest-time, to glad the festal hour,
  10. from flasks of Ariusian grape will pour
  11. sweet nectar. Therewithal at my behest
  12. shall Lyctian Aegon and Damoetas sing,
  13. and Alphesiboeus emulate in dance
  14. the dancing Satyrs. This, thy service due,
  15. shalt thou lack never, both when we pay the Nymphs
  16. our yearly vows, and when with lustral rites
  17. the fields we hallow. Long as the wild boar
  18. shall love the mountain-heights, and fish the streams,
  19. while bees on thyme and crickets feed on dew,
  20. thy name, thy praise, thine honour, shall endure.