Eclogues
Virgil
Vergil. The Poems of Vergil. Rhoades, James, translator. London: Oxford University Press, 1921.
- a god is he, Menalcas’ Be thou kind,
- propitious to thine own. Lo! altars four,
- twain to thee, Daphnis, and to Phoebus twain
- for sacrifice, we build; and I for thee
- two beakers yearly of fresh milk afoam,
- and of rich olive-oil two bowls, will set;
- and of the wine-god's bounty above all,
- if cold, before the hearth, or in the shade
- at harvest-time, to glad the festal hour,
- from flasks of Ariusian grape will pour
- sweet nectar. Therewithal at my behest
- shall Lyctian Aegon and Damoetas sing,
- and Alphesiboeus emulate in dance
- the dancing Satyrs. This, thy service due,
- shalt thou lack never, both when we pay the Nymphs
- our yearly vows, and when with lustral rites
- the fields we hallow. Long as the wild boar
- shall love the mountain-heights, and fish the streams,
- while bees on thyme and crickets feed on dew,
- thy name, thy praise, thine honour, shall endure.