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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THEOCRITUS, by MARY CAUGHEY First Line: Not of war, nor of tears did he Last Line: That haunt the flowers underneath those trees. Subject(s): Theocritus (310-250 B.c.) | |||
Not of war, nor of tears did he build his song, For the hills and the fields and the shepherd throng Are caught in his delicate net of words, With the dread wood-nymphs and the grey sea birds. Daphnis, he sang. Daphnis is dying now. Ye violets bear thorns, ye cattle bow Your heads and weep for Daphnis." And he sang Of Polyphemus till the meadows rang. Of Aeschines he sang; then bowed his head And sang of Amaryllis loved, yet dead. Then in a gladdened tone he told the tales Of goatherds' loves in still Sicilian vales. There the cicada with a noisy note Chirped in the pine tree while the poet wrote. Within his verse he caught the hum of bees That haunt the flowers underneath those trees. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FOR A COPY OF THEOCRITUS by HENRY AUSTIN DOBSON THEOCRITUS; FOR A. LANG'S TRANSLATION by EDMUND WILLIAM GOSSE BALLADE TO THEOCRITUS, IN WINTER by ANDREW LANG THEOCRITUS by CHARLES HARTLEY LANGHORNE TO THEOCRITUS by HELEN MURIEL MORRIS WILD COREOPSIS by CLINTON SCOLLARD ON A NIGHTINGALE IN APRIL by WILLIAM SHARP |
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