Classic Poem

IDYLL VI

The D RAWN B ATTLE

Daphnis. Damaetas

D APHNIS the herdsman and Damaetas once
Had driven, Aratus, to the selfsame glen.
One chin was yellowing, one showed half a beard
And by a brookside on a summer noon
The pair sat down and sang; but Daphnis led
The song, for Daphnis was the challenger.
Daphnis . " See! Galatea pelts thy flock with fruit,
And calls their master " Lack love," Polypheme
Thou mark'sTher not, blind, blind, but pipest aye
Thy wood notes. See again, she smites thy dog:
Sea ward the fleeced flocks' sentinel peers and barks.
And, through the clear wave visible to her still,
Careers along the gently babbling beach
Look thaThe leap not on the maid new risen
From her sea bath and rend her dainty limbs.
She fools thee, near or far, like thistle waifs
In hot sweet summer: flies from thee when wooed,
Unwooed pursues thee: risks all moves to win;
For, Polypheme, things foul seem fair to Love. "
And then, due prelude made, Damaetas sang.
Damaetas . " I marked her pelt my dog, I was not blind,
By Pan, by this my one my precious eye
That bounds my vision now and evermore!
But Telemus the Seer, be his the woe,
His and his children's, thaThe promised me!
Yet do I too tease her; I pass her by,
Pretend to woo another: — and she hears
(Heaven help me!) and is faint with jealousy;
And hurrying from the sea wave as if stung,
Scans with keen glance my grotto and my flock
'Twas I hissed on the dog to bark aTher;
For, when I loved her, he would whine and lay
His muzzle in her lap. These things she'll note
Mayhap, and message send on message soon:
But I will bar my door until she swear
To make me on this isle fair bridal-bed,
And I am less unlovely than men say
I looked into the mere (the mere was calm),
And goodly seemed my beard, and goodly seemed
My solitary eye, and, half revealed,
My teeth gleamed whiter than the Parian marl
Thrice for good luck I spat upon my robe:
That learned I of the hag Cottytaris — her
Who fluted lately with Hippocoon's mowers. "

Damaetas then kissed Daphnis lovingly:
One gave a pipe and one a goodly flute
Straight to the shepherd's flute and herdsman's pipe
The younglings bounded in the soft green grass:
And neither was o'erinatched, but matchless both.