The Works of Virgil (Dryden)/Pastorals (Dryden)/Book 3

by Virgil

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The Third Pastoral.

OR,

PALÆMON.

Menalcas, Damætas, Palæmon.

The ARGUMENT.

Damætas and Menalcas, after some smart strokes of Country Railery, resolve to try who has the most Skill at a Song; and accordingly make their Neighbour Palæmon Judge of their Performances: Who, after a full hearing of both Parties, declares himself unfit for the Decision of so weighty a Controversie, and leaves the Victory undetermin'd.

MENALCAS.

O, Groom, what Shepherd owns those ragged Sheep?

DAMÆTAS.

Aegon's they are, he gave 'em me to keep.

MENALCAS.

Unhappy Sheep of an Unhappy Swain,$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$

While he Neæra courts, but courts in vain,
And fears that I the Damsel shall obtain;5

Illustration of Pastoral 3, "Ho, Groom, what Shepherd owns those ragged Sheep?"

Thou, Varlet, dost thy Master's gains devour:
Thou milk'st his Ewes, and often twice an hour;
Of Grass and Fodder thou defraud'st the Dams:
And of their Mothers Dugs the starving Lambs.

DAMÆTAS.

Good words, young Catamite, at least to Men:10

We know who did your Business, how, and when.
And in what Chappel too you plaid your Prize;$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
And what the Goats observ'd with leering Eyes:
The Nymphs were kind, and laught, and there your safety lyes.

MENALCAS.

Yes, when I crept the Hedges of the Leys;15

Cut Micon's tender Vines, and stole the Stays.

DAMÆTAS.

Or rather, when beneath yon ancient Oak,

The Bow of Daphnis and the Shafts you broke:
When the fair Boy receiv'd the Gift of right;
And but for Mischief, you had dy'd for spight.20

MENALCAS.

What Nonsense wou'd the Fool thy Master prate,

When thou, his Knave, canst talk at such a rate!
Did I not see you, Rascal, did I not!
When you lay snug to snap young Damon's Goat?
His Mungril bark'd, I ran to his relief,25
And cry'd, There, there he goes; stop, stop the Thief.
Discover'd and defeated of your Prey,
You sculk'd behind the Fence, and sneak'd away.

DAMÆTAS.

An honest Man may freely take his own;

The Goat was mine, by singing fairly won.30
A solemn Match was made; He lost the Prize,$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
Ask Damon, ask if he the Debt denies;
I think he dares not, if he does, he lies.

MENALCAS.

Thou sing with him, thou Booby; never Pipe

Was so profan'd to touch that blubber'd Lip:35
Dunce at the best; in Streets but scarce allow'd
To tickle, on thy Straw, the stupid Crowd.

DAMÆTAS.

To bring it to the Trial, will you dare

Our Pipes, our Skill, our Voices to compare?
My Brinded Heifer to the Stake I lay;40
Two Thriving Calves she suckles twice a day:
And twice besides her Beestings never fail
To store the Dairy, with a brimming Pail.
Now back your Singing with an equal Stake.

MENALCAS.

That shou'd be seen, if I had one to make.45

You know too well I feed my Father's Flock:
What can I wager from the common Stock?
A Stepdame too I have, a cursed she,
Who rules my Hen-peck'd Sire, and orders me.
Both number twice a day the Milky Dams;50
And once she takes the tale of all the Lambs.

But since you will be mad, and since you may
Suspect my Courage, if I should not lay;
The Pawn I proffer shall be full as good:
Two Bowls I have, well turn'd of Beechen Wood;55
Both by divine Alcimedon were made;
To neither of them yet the Lip is laid.
The Lids are Ivy, Grapes in clusters lurk,
Beneath the Carving of the curious Work.
Two Figures on the sides emboss'd appear;$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$60
Conon, and what's his Name who made the Sphere,
And shew'd the Seasons of the sliding Year,
Instructed in his Trade the Lab'ring Swain,
And when to reap, and when to sow the Grain?

DAMÆTAS.

And I have two, to match your pair, at home;65

The Wood the same, from the same Hand they come:
The kimbo Handles seem with Bears-foot carv'd;
And never yet to Table have been serv'd:
Where Orpheus on his Lyre laments his Love,
With Beasts encompass'd, and a dancing Grove:70
But these, nor all the Proffers you can make,
Are worth the Heifar which I set to stake.

MENALCAS.

No more delays, vain Boaster, but begin:

I prophecy before-hand I shall win.
Palæmon shall be Judge how ill you rhime,75
I'll teach you how to brag another time.

DAMÆTAS.

Rhymer come on, and do the worst you can:

I fear not you, nor yet a better Man.
With Silence, Neighbour, and Attention wait:
For 'tis a business of a high Debate.80

PALAEMON.

Sing then; the Shade affords a proper place;

The Trees are cloath'd with Leaves, the Fields with Grass;
The Blossoms blow; the Birds on bushes sing;
And Nature has accomplish'd all the Spring.
The Challenge to Damætas shall belong,85
Menalcas shall sustain his under Song:
Each in his turn your tuneful numbers bring;
In turns the tuneful Muses love to sing.

DAMÆTAS.

From the great Father of the Gods above

My Muse begins; for all is full of Jove;90
To Jove the care of Heav'n and Earth belongs;
My Flocks he blesses, and he loves my Songs.

MENALCAS.

Me Phœbus loves; for He my Muse inspires;

And in her Songs, the warmth he gave, requires.
For him, the God of Shepherds and their Sheep,95
My blushing Hyacinths, and my Bays I keep.

DAMÆTAS.

My Phillis Me with pelted Apples plyes;$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$

Then tripping to the Woods the Wanton hies:
And wishes to be seen, before she flies.

MENALCAS.

But fair Amyntas comes unask'd to me;$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$100

And offers Love; and sits upon my knee:
Not Delia to my Dogs is known so well as he.

DAMÆTAS.

To the dear Mistress of my Love-sick Mind,

Her Swain a pretty Present has design'd:
I saw two Stock-doves billing, and e'er long105
Will take the Nest, and Hers shall be the Young.

MENALCAS.

Ten ruddy Wildings in the Wood I found,

And stood on tip-toes, reaching from the ground;
I sent Amyntas all my present Store;
And will, to Morrow, send as many more.110

DAMÆTAS.

The lovely Maid lay panting in my arms;

And all she said and did was full of Charms.
Winds on your Wings to Heav'n her Accents bear;
Such words as Heav'n alone is fit to hear.

MENALCAS.

Ah! what avails it me, my Love's delight,115

To call you mine, when absent from my sight!
I hold the Nets, while you pursue the Prey;
And must not share the Dangers of the Day.

DAMÆTAS.

I keep my Birth-day: send my Phillis home;

At Sheering-time, Iolas, you may come.120

MENALCAS.

With Phillis I am more in grace than you:$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$

Her Sorrow did my parting-steps pursue:
Adieu my Dear, she said, a long Adieu.

DAMÆTAS.

The Nightly Wolf is baneful to the Fold,

Storms to the Wheat, to Budds the bitter Cold;125
But from my frowning Fair, more Ills I find,
Than from the Wolves, and Storms, and Winter-wind.

MENALCAS.

The Kids with pleasure browze the bushy Plain,

The Show'rs are grateful to the swelling Grain:
To teeming Ewes the Sallow's tender tree;130
But more than all the World my Love to me.

DAMÆTAS.

Pollio my Rural Verse vouchsafes to read:

A Heyfar, Muses, for your Patron breed.

MENALCAS.

My Pollio writes himself, a Bull be bred,

With spurning Heels, and with a butting Head.135

DAMÆTAS.

Who Pollio loves, and who his Muse admires,

Let Pollio's fortune crown his full desires.
Let Myrrh instead of Thorn his Fences fill:
And Show'rs of Hony from his Oaks distil.

MENALCAS.

Who hates not living Bavius, let him be140

(Dead Mævius) damn'd to love thy Works and thee:

The same ill taste of Sense wou'd serve to join
Dog Foxes in the Yoak, and sheer the Swine.

DAMÆTAS.

Ye Boys, who pluck the Flow'rs, and spoil the Spring,

Beware the secret Snake, that shoots a Sting.145

MENALCAS.

Graze not too near the Banks, my jolly Sheep,

The Ground is false, the running Streams are deep:
See, they have caught the Father of the Flock;
Who drys his Fleece upon the neighb'ring Rock.

DAMÆTAS.

From Rivers drive the Kids, and sling your Hook;

Anon I'll wash 'em in the shallow Brook.151

MENALCAS.

To fold, my Flock; when Milk is dry'd with heat,

In vain the Milk-maid tugs an empty Teat.

DAMÆTAS.

How lank my Bulls from plenteous pasture come!

But Love that drains the Herd, destroys the Groom.155

MENALCAS.

My Flocks are free from Love; yet look so thin,

Their bones are barely cover'd with their Skin.
What magick has bewitch'd the woolly Dams,
And what ill Eyes beheld the tender Lambs?

DAMÆTAS.

Say, where the round of Heav'n, which all contains,$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$

To three short Ells on Earth our sight restrains:161
Tell that, and rise a Phœbus for thy pains.

MENALCAS.

Nay tell me first, in what new Region springs

A Flow'r, that bears inscrib'd the names of Kings:
And thou shalt gain a Present as Divine165
As Phœbus self; for Phillis shall be thine.

PALAEMON.

So nice a diff'rence in your Singing lyes,

That both have won, or both deserv'd the Prize.
Rest equal happy both; and all who prove
The bitter Sweets, and pleasing Pains of Love.170
Now dam the Ditches, and the Floods restrain:
Their moisture has already drench'd the Plain.