University of Virginia Library

DAPHNIS AND CHLORIS.

FROM THE TWENTY-SEVENTH IDYLLIUM OF THEOCRITUS.

DAPHNIS.
The shepherd Paris bore the Spartan bride
By force away, and then by force enjoyed;
But I by free consent can boast a bliss,
A fairer Helen, and a sweeter kiss.

CHLORIS.
Kisses are empty joys, and soon are o'er.

DAPHNIS.
A kiss betwixt the lips is something more.

CHLORIS.
I wipe my mouth, and where's your kissing then?

DAPHNIS.
I swear you wipe it to be kissed again.

CHLORIS.
Go, tend your herd, and kiss your cows at home;
I am a maid, and in my beauty's bloom.

DAPHNIS.
'Tis well remembered; do not waste your time,
But wisely use it ere you pass your prime.

CHLORIS.
Blown roses hold their sweetness to the last,
And raisins keep their luscious native taste.

DAPHNIS.
The sun's too hot; those olive shades are near;
I fain would whisper something in your ear.

CHLORIS.
'Tis honest talking where we may be seen;
God knows what secret mischief you may mean;
I doubt you'll play the wag, and kiss again.

DAPHNIS.
At least beneath yon elm you need not fear;
My pipe's in tune, if you're disposed to hear.

CHLORIS.
Play by yourself, I dare not venture thither;
You, and your naughty pipe, go hang together.

DAPHNIS.
Coy nymph, beware, lest Venus you offend.

CHLORIS.
I shall have chaste Diana still to friend.

DAPHNIS.
You have a soul, and Cupid has a dart.

CHLORIS.
Diana will defend, or heal my heart.
Nay, fie, what mean you in this open place?
Unhand me, or I swear I'll scratch your face.
Let go for shame; you make me mad for spite;
My mouth's my own; and, if you kiss, I'll bite;

DAPHNIS.
Away with your dissembling female tricks;
What, would you 'scape the fate of all your sex?

CHLORIS.
I swear, I'll keep my maidenhead till death,
And die as pure as Queen Elizabeth.

DAPHNIS.
Nay, mum for that, but let me lay thee down;
Better with me, than with some nauseous clown.

CHLORIS.
I'd have you know, if I were so inclined,
I have been woo'd by many a wealthy hind;
But never found a husband to my mind.

DAPHNIS.
But they are absent all, and I am here.

CHLORIS.
The matrimonial yoke is hard to bear,
And marriage is a woful word to hear.

DAPHNIS.
A scarecrow, set to frighten fools away;
Marriage has joys, and you shall have assay.

CHLORIS.
Sour sauce is often mixed with our delight;
You kick by day more than you kiss by night.

DAPHNIS.
Sham stories all; but say the worst you can,
A very wife fears neither God nor man.

CHLORIS.
But childbirth is, they say, a deadly pain;
It costs at least a month to knit again.

DAPHNIS.
Diana cures the wounds Lucina made;
Your goddess is a midwife by her trade.

CHLORIS.
But I shall spoil my beauty, if I bear.

DAPHNIS.
But Mam and Dad are pretty names to hear.

CHLORIS.
But there's a civil question used of late;
Where lies my jointure, where your own estate?

DAPHNIS.
My flocks, my fields, my woods, my pastures take,
With settlement as good as law can make.

CHLORIS.
Swear then you will not leave me on the common,
But marry me, and make an honest woman.

DAPHNIS.
I swear by Pan, though he wears horns you'll say,
Cudgelled and kicked, I'll not be forced away.

CHLORIS.
I bargain for a wedding-bed at least,
A house, and handsome lodging for a guest.

DAPHNIS.
A house well furnished shall be thine to keep;
And, for a flock-bed, I can shear my sheep.

CHLORIS.
What tale shall I to my old father tell?

DAPHNIS.
'Twill make him chuckle thou'rt bestowed so well.

CHLORIS.
But, after all, in troth I am to blame
To be so loving, ere I know your name;
A pleasant sounding name's a pretty thing.

DAPHNIS.
Faith, mine's a very pretty name to sing.
They call me Daphnis; Lycidas my sire;
Both sound as well as woman can desire.
Nomæa bore me; farmers in degree;
He a good husband, a good housewife she.

CHLORIS.
Your kindred is not much amiss, 'tis true;
Yet I am somewhat better born than you.

DAPHNIS.
I know your father, and his family;
And, without boasting, am as good as he,
Menalcas; and no master goes before.

CHLORIS.
Hang both our pedigrees! not one word more;
But if you love me, let me see your living,
Your house, and home; for seeing is believing.

DAPHNIS.
See first yon cypress grove, a shade from noon.

CHLORIS.
Browse on, my goats; for I'll be with you soon.

DAPHNIS.
Feed well, my bulls, to whet your appetite,
That each may take a lusty leap at night.

CHLORIS.
What do you mean, uncivil as you are,
To touch my breasts, and leave my bosom bare?

DAPHNIS.
These pretty bubbies, first, I make my own.

CHLORIS.
Pull out your hand, I swear, or I shall swoon.

DAPHNIS.
Why does thy ebbing blood forsake thy face?

CHLORIS.
Throw me at least upon a cleaner place;
My linen ruffled, and my waistcoat soiling—
What, do you think new clothes were made for spoiling?

DAPHNIS.
I'll lay my lambkins underneath thy back.

CHLORIS.
My head-gear's off; what filthy work you make

DAPHNIS.
To Venus, first, I lay these offerings by.

CHLORIS.
Nay, first look round, that nobody be nigh:
Methinks I hear a whispering in the grove.

DAPHNIS.
The cypress trees are telling tales of love.

CHLORIS.
You tear off all behind me, and before me;
And I'm as naked as my mother bore me.

DAPHNIS.
I'll buy thee better clothes than these I tear,
And lie so close I'll cover thee from air.

CHLORIS.
You're liberal now; but when your turn is sped,
You'll wish me choked with every crust of bread.

DAPHNIS.
I'll give thee more, much more than I have told;
Would I could coin my very heart to gold!

CHLORIS.
Forgive thy handmaid, huntress of the wood!
I see there's no resisting flesh and blood!

DAPHNIS.
The noble deed is done!—my herds I'll cull;
Cupid, be thine a calf; and Venus, thine a bull.

CHLORIS.
A maid I came in an unlucky hour,
But hence return without my virgin flower.

DAPHNIS.
A maid is but a barren name at best;
If thou canst hold, I bid for twins at least.