University of Virginia Library

IDYLLIUM I. Thyrsis, or the Himeræan Ode.

THYRSIS.
Sweet are the whispers of yon vocal pine,
Whose boughs, projecting o'er the springs, recline;
Sweet is thy warbled reed's melodious lay;
Thou, next to Pan, shalt bear the prize away:
If to the God a horn'd he-goat belong,
The gentler female shall reward thy song;
If he the female claim, a kid's thy share,
And, till you milk them, kids are dainty fare.

GOATHERD.
Sweeter thy song, O shepherd, than the rill
That rolls its music down the rocky hill:
If one white ewe content the tuneful Nine,
A stall-fed lamb, meet recompence, is thine;
And if the Muses claim the lamb their due,
My gentle Thyrsis shall obtain the ewe.

THYRSIS.
Wilt thou on this declivity repose,
Where the rough tamarisk luxuriant grows,
And gratify the Nymphs with sprightly strain?
I'll feed thy goats, and tend the browsing train.

GOATHERD.
I dare not, dare not, shepherd, grant your boon,
Pan's rage I fear, who always rests at noon,
When tir'd with hunting, stretch'd in sleep along,
His bitter rage will burst upon my song:
But well you know Love's pains, which Daphnis rues,
You the great Master of the rural muse;
Let us beneath yon shady elm retreat,
Where Nature forms a lovely pastoral seat,
Where sculptur'd Naiads and Priapus stand,
And groves of oaks extending o'er the land;
There if you sing as sweetly as of yore,
When you the prize from Lybian Chromis bore,
This goat with twins I'll give, that never fails
Two kids to suckle, and to fill two pails:
To these I'll add, with scented wax o'er-laid,
Of curious workmanship, and newly made,
A deep two-handled Cup, whose brim is crown'd
With ivy join'd with helichryse around;
Small tendrils with close-clasping arms uphold
The fruit rich speckled with the seeds of gold.
Within, a woman's well-wrought image shines,
A vest her limbs, her locks a caul confines;
And near, two neat-curl'd youths in amorous strains
With fruitless strife communicate their pains:
Smiling, by turns, she views the rival pair;
Grief swells their eyes, their heavy hearts despair.
Hard by, a fisherman advanc'd in years,
On the rough margin of a rock appears;
Intent he stands t'enclose the fish below,
Lifts a large net, and labours at the throw:
Such strong expression rises on the sight,
You'd swear the man exerted all his might;
For his round neck with turgid veins appears—
‘In years he seems, yet not impair'd by years.’
A vineyard next, with intersected lines,
And red ripe clusters load the bending vines:
To guard the fruit a boy sits idly by,
In ambush near, two sculking foxes lie;
This plots the branches of ripe grapes to strip,
But that, more daring, meditates the scrip;
Resolv'd ere long to seize the savoury prey,
And send the youngster dinnerless away:
Meanwhile on rushes all his art he plies,
In framing traps for grasshoppers and flies;
And earnest only on his own designs,
Forgets his satchel, and neglects his vines:
All round the soft acanthus spreads its train—
This Cup, admir'd by each Æolian swain,
From far a Calydonian sailor brought,
For a she-goat and new-made cheese I bought;
No lip has touch'd it, still unus'd it stood;
To you I give this masterpiece of wood,
If you those Himeræan strains rehearse
Of Daphnis' woes—I envy not your verse—
Dread Fate, alas! may soon demand your breath,
And close your music in oblivious death.

THYRSIS.

GOATHERD.