Eclogues

Virgil

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

  1. Now, Amaryllis, ply in triple knots
  2. the threefold colours; ply them fast, and say
  3. this is the chain of Venus that I ply.
  4. As by the kindling of the self-same fire
  5. harder this clay, this wax the softer grows,
  6. so by my love may Daphnis; sprinkle meal,
  7. and with bitumen burn the brittle bays.
  8. Me Daphnis with his cruelty doth burn,
  9. I to melt cruel Daphnis burn this bay.
  10. As when some heifer, seeking for her steer
  11. through woodland and deep grove, sinks wearied out
  12. on the green sedge beside a stream, love-lorn,
  13. nor marks the gathering night that calls her home—
  14. as pines that heifer, with such love as hers
  15. may Daphnis pine, and I not care to heal.
  16. These relics once, dear pledges of himself,