Page:A translation of the Latin works of Dante Alighieri.djvu/393

374 Under an oak, I and my Melibœus Had taken stand; when he (by longing urged To learn the song) cried, 'Tell me, Tityrus, What Mopsus wills.' I laughed, Mopsus; but he Urged me until for very love at last I yielded; and, scarce covering my mirth— 'Ah, fool!' I said, 'What madness this? Thy care The goats bespeak, though by lean fare distressed! Where Mænalus' high peak the sinking sun Conceals, lie shady pastures all to thee Unknown; with many a varying hue inlaid Of flowers and grasses; round them gently flows, Under the osiers, with perpetual wave His banks bedewing from his brimming verge, A streamlet; offering a ready way Wherein may gently flow the watery store Furnished by mountain heights. There, even there, Whilst in lush grass his oxen sport, the toils Of men and gods doth Mopsus contemplate, Exultant! Then through breath-receiving reeds His inward joy reveals; until the herds Follow the dulcet strain, and from the mount Lions, no longer fierce, haste to the fields. The waves are stayed, and Mænalus himself Inclines his foliage.' 'Tityrus! what though Mopsus in unknown pastures sings; yet I Those unknown songs might practise for my goats, Poor wanderers, if thou wouldst show the way.' So he, and what could I, when thus he pressed