"Alas! now know I what is Love! a boy
"Not of our race or blood, but born on rocks
"Of Rhodopé, or Ismarus, or the race
"Of distant Garamantes—such is he.
"O flute, with me sing songs of Arcady!
"Fierce love has made a mother stain her hands
"With her own children's blood—fierce mother too
"Was she more cruel, or the boy more vile?
"A cruel mother, and an impious boy.
"O flute, with me sing songs of Arcady!
"Now let the wolf be coward of the sheep,
"Let golden apples be the hard oak's fruit,
"With sweet Narcissus may the alder bloom,
"May richest amber ooze from tamarisks,
"Owls vie with swans, and Tityrus in the woods
"Orpheus shall seem—Arion, dolphin led.
"For me now all is at an end, as though
"The deep sea covered me: farewell, ye woods,
"Headlong from yonder mountain-top I leap
"Into the waves: this dying gift receive,
"Now, my flute cease to sing Arcadian strains!"
These songs were sung by Damon—Muses, tell
What answer made Alphesibœus then?
We are not all sufficient for all things.
Alphesibœus."Bring water forth; then round these altars twine
"The sacrificial billet—burn thereon
"Rich vervain and the strength of frankincense,
"So I may seek by magic rites to turn
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