Eclogues
Virgil
Vergil. The Poems of Vergil. Rhoades, James, translator. London: Oxford University Press, 1921.
- good Mopsus, whether minded to sing aught
- of Phyllis and her loves, or Alcon's praise,
- or to fling taunts at Codrus. Come, begin,
- while Tityrus watches o'er the grazing kids.
- Nay, then, I will essay what late I carved
- on a green beech-tree's rind, playing by turns,
- and marking down the notes; then afterward
- bid you Amyntas match them if he can.
- As limber willow to pale olive yields,
- as lowly Celtic nard to rose-buds bright,