Eclogues

Virgil

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

  1. Now, O ye shepherds, strew the ground with leaves,
  2. and o'er the fountains draw a shady veil—
  3. so Daphnis to his memory bids be done—
  4. and rear a tomb, and write thereon this verse:
  5. ‘I, Daphnis in the woods, from hence in fame
  6. am to the stars exalted, guardian once
  7. of a fair flock, myself more fair than they.’”
MENALCAS
  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.