Eclogues

Virgil

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

  1. to the slim oaten reed my silvan lay.
  2. I sing but as vouchsafed me; yet even this
  3. if, if but one with ravished eyes should read,
  4. of thee, O Varus, shall our tamarisks
  5. and all the woodland ring; nor can there be
  6. a page more dear to Phoebus, than the page
  7. where, foremost writ, the name of Varus stands.
  8. Speed ye, Pierian Maids! Within a cave
  9. young Chromis and Mnasyllos chanced to see
  10. silenus sleeping, flushed, as was his wont,
  11. with wine of yesterday. Not far aloof,
  12. slipped from his head, the garlands lay, and there
  13. by its worn handle hung a ponderous cup.
  14. Approaching—for the old man many a time
  15. had balked them both of a long hoped-for song—
  16. garlands to fetters turned, they bind him fast.
  17. Then Aegle, fairest of the Naiad-band,
  18. aegle came up to the half-frightened boys,
  19. came, and, as now with open eyes he lay,
  20. with juice of blood-red mulberries smeared him o'er,