"Bring Daphnis, O my songs, bring Daphnis home.
"For charms have power to draw the moon from Heav'n,
"By charms, the enchantress changed Ulysses' crew
"And, as men say, cold-blooded snakes can be
"Lured to their death, by songs, in the green meads.
"Bring Daphnis, O my songs, bring Daphnis home!
"First, I wind round thine image triple threads
"Of three-fold hues, and three times lead it round
"The altars. Gods unequal numbers love!
"Now, Amaryllis, tie the three-hued knots
"And say the while, 'I tie fair Venus' bands.'
"Bring Daphnis, O my songs, bring Daphnis home!
"As one same fire makes hard the clay, and yet
"Softens the wax, so love may Daphnis melt.
"Sprinkle the meal! quick! burn the laurel twigs
"With blazing tar. As Daphnis me consumes
"So may he pine with love, and I not care.
"May he go wand'ring thro' the woods and groves
"As do the unquiet heifers by the brooks,
"Forgetting when night falls, to seek their home
"That he may suffer so, is my desire.
"Bring Daphnis, O my songs, bring Daphnis home!
"Long since the false one left as pledge with me
"His cast-off garments—dear—for they were his.
"I to the earth commit them—by the gate,
"These pledges should bring Daphnis to my side,
"Bring Daphnis, O my songs, bring Daphnis home!
"Mœris himself gave me these herbs, and these
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