372
��LATIN POEMS
��Et dixisse ' Vale ! nostri meniori bis ad
astra.' "Ite domuni impasti; domino jam non
vacat, agni. Quamquam etiam vestri nunquam memi-
nisse pigebit,
Pastores Thusci, Musis operata jtiventus, Hie Charis, atque Lepos; et Thuscus tu
quoque Damon, Antiqua genus nude petis Lucumonis ab
urbe. ego quantus eram, gelidi cum stratus ad
Arni Murmura, populeumque nemus, qua mol-
lior herba, 130
Carpere nunc violas, nunc summas carpere
myrtos, Et potui Lycidse certantem audire Menal-
cam ! Ipse etiam tentare ausus sum; nee puto
mul turn Displicui; nam sunt et apud me munera
vestra,
Fiscellse, calathique, et cerea vincla cicutse: Quin et nostra suas docuerunt nomina
fagos Et Datis et Francinus; erant et vocibus
ambo
Et studiis noti, Lydorum sanguinis ambo. " Ite domum impasti; domino jam non
vacat, agni.
Hsec mihi turn laeto dictabat roscida luna, 140 Dum solus teneros claudebam cratibus
hcedos.
Ah ! quoties dixi, cum te cinis ater babe- bat, ' N iiuc canit, aut lepori nunc tendit retia
Damon ; Vimina nunc texit varies sibi quod sit in
usus;' Et quse turn facili sperabam mente fu-
tura
Arripui voto levis, et prsesentia fiuxi. ' Heus bone ! numquid agis ? nisi te quid
forte retardat,
Imus, et arguta paulum recubamus in um- bra, Aut ad aquas Colni, aut ubi jugera Cassi-
belauni ? Tu mihi percurres medicos, tua gramina,
succos, 150
Helleborumque, hnmilesque crocos, foli-
umque hyacinthi, Quasque habet ista palus herbas, artesque
medentum.'
��dying eyes, and said, ' Farewell, do not for- get me as thou goest to the stars.'
" Go to your folds unfed, my lambs ; your master is troubled. Yet, for all, I shall never be weary of remembering you, Tuscan shepherds, youths devoted to the Muses; with you dwell Grace and Pleasant- ness. Thou, too, Damon, wert a Tuscan; thou tracest thy lineage from Lucca, an- cient city of Lucumon. Oh, how mighty was I, when I lay stretched by cool mur- muring Arno, where the poplar grove softens the herbage ! There I might pluck violets now, and now sprigs of myrtle, while I listened to Menalcas contending with Lycidas in song. I myself dared to enter the strife, and I think I did not much displease; for I have the gifts you gave me in reward, rush-baskets, and osier- plaits, and waxen reed-stops. Nay, Datis and Francinus, both of them famous schol- ars and singers, and both of Tuscan blood, taught my name in song to their native beeches.
" Go to your folds unfed, my lambs ; your master is troubled. Such strains as these the red moon used to whisper to my glad ear while I was shutting my kids in the close. Ah, how many times I said, even when though I knew it not the urn held thy ashes, ' Now Damon is sing- ing, or setting traps for the hare. Now he is plaiting osiers for his various uses.' With easy mind I hoped, and lightly I fitted the future to my wish, picturing it all present before my eyes. ' Heigh, friend,' I would say, ' art thou busy ? If nothing is to hinder, shall we go lie and chat in the shade, by the waters of Colne 1 or on the heights of Cassebelaunus ? 2 Thou shalt tell over to me thy herbs and medi- cines, hellebore, and crocus, and hyacinth- leaf; thou shalt tell me what simples are to be found in such and such a pond, and reveal to me all the arts of healing. Ah, perish the simples ! Perish the arts of
1 A river flowing past Horton. 1 Near St. Albans, in Herts.
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