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...IPHIGENEIA AND AGAMEMNON, FR. THE HELLENICS by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR THE VICTOR AT ANTIETAM [SEPTEMBER 17, 1862] by HERMAN MELVILLE THE LAND O' THE LEAL by CAROLINA OLIPHANT NAIRNE SABBATH MORNING by L. DALE AHERN THE OLD BUFFALO TRAIL by ISABEL ANDERSON CIGARS AND BEER by GEORGE ARNOLD THREE SONGS OF LOVE (CHINESE FASHION): 1. THE MANDARIN SPEAKS by WILLIAM A. BEATTY |