Eclogues

Virgil

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

  1. So is thy song to me, poet divine,
  2. as slumber on the grass to weary limbs,
  3. or to slake thirst from some sweet-bubbling rill
  4. in summer's heat. Nor on the reeds alone,
  5. but with thy voice art thou, thrice happy boy,
  6. ranked with thy master, second but to him.
  7. Yet will I, too, in turn, as best I may,
  8. sing thee a song, and to the stars uplift
  9. thy Daphnis—Daphnis to the stars extol,
  10. for me too Daphnis loved.
MOPSUS
  1. Than such a boon
  2. what dearer could I deem? the boy himself
  3. was worthy to be sung, and many a time
  4. hath Stimichon to me your singing praised.
MENALCAS
  1. “In dazzling sheen with unaccustomed eyes
  2. daphnis stands rapt before Olympus' gate,
  3. and sees beneath his feet the clouds and stars.
  4. Wherefore the woods and fields, Pan, shepherd-folk,
  5. and Dryad-maidens, thrill with eager joy;
  6. nor wolf with treacherous wile assails the flock,