"Fly to Mount Ida, where the swain (men say)
And Aphroditè--to Anchises fly:
There are oak-forests; here but galingale,
And bees that make a music round the hives.
_Begin, sweet Maids, begin the woodland song_.
"Adonis owed his bloom to tending flocks
And smiting hares, and bringing wild beasts down.
_Begin, sweet Maids, begin the woodland song_.
"Face once more Diomed: tell him 'I have slain
The herdsman Daphnis; now I challenge thee.'
_Begin, sweet Maids, begin the woodland song_.
"Farewell, wolf, jackal, mountain-prisoned bear!
Ye'll see no more by grove or glade or glen
Your herdsman Daphnis! Arethuse, farewell,
And the bright streams that pour down Thymbris' side.
_Begin, sweet Maids, begin the woodland song_.
"I am that Daphnis, who lead here my kine,
Bring here to drink my oxen and my calves.
_Begin, sweet Maids, begin the woodland song_.
"Pan, Pan, oh whether great Lyceum's crags
Thou haunt'st to-day, or mightier Mænalus,
Come to the Sicel isle! Abandon now
Rhium and Helicè, and the mountain-cairn
(That e'en gods cherish) of Lycaon's son!
_Forget, sweet Maids, forget your woodland song_.
"Come, king of song, o'er this my pipe, compact
With wax and honey-breathing, arch thy lip:
For surely I am torn from life by Love.
_Forget, sweet Maids, forget your woodland song_.
"From thicket now and thorn let violets spring,