Co.—Alcides takes most delight in the poplar, Iacchus in the vine, fair Venus in the myrtle, Phoebus in his own bay-tree: Phyllis loves hazels: while Phyllis loves them neither shall myrtle excel the hazels, nor Phoebus' bay.
Th.—The ash is most beautiful in the forest, the pine in the garden, the poplar by the river, the fir on the mountain heights: but if thou come back yet again to me, O fair Lycidas, the forest ash, the garden pine shall yield to thee.
These songs I remember, and how Thyrsis strove for victory in vain: henceforth Corydon, Corydon is ours.
ECLOGUE VIII.—THE SORCERESS.
Damon. Alphesiboeus.
The Muse of the shepherds Damon and Alphesiboeus, at whose strife the wondering heifer forgot the grass, at whose song the lynx stood breathless and the changed streams stilled their current, the Muse of Damon and Alphesiboeus we will tell.
Thou, my friend, whether thou climbest now great Timavus' rocks or dost skirt the coast of the Illyrian sea, ah shall ever the day come when I may tell of thy deeds? ah shall it come that I may blason over all the world thy strains that alone challenge the buskin of Sophocles? From thee I began; in thee shall I cease: take the songs that were
