Alexis
The shepherd Corydon with love was firedFor fair Alexis, his own master's joy:No room for hope had he, yet, none the less,The thick-leaved shadowy-soaring beech-tree groveStill would he haunt, and there alone, as thus,To woods and hills pour forth his artless strains."Cruel Alexis, heed you naught my songs?Have you no pity? you'll drive me to my death.Now even the cattle court the cooling shadeAnd the green lizard hides him in the thorn:Now for tired mowers, with the fierce heat spent,Pounds Thestilis her mess of savoury herbs,Wild thyme and garlic. I, with none beside,Save hoarse cicalas shrilling through the brake,Still track your footprints 'neath the broiling sun.Better have borne the petulant proud disdainOf Amaryllis, or Menalcas wooed,Albeit he was so dark, and you so fair!Trust not too much to colour, beauteous boy;White privets fall, dark hyacinths are culled.You scorn me, Alexis, who or what I amCare not to ask- how rich in flocks, or howIn snow-white milk abounding: yet for meRoam on Sicilian hills a thousand lambs;Summer or winter, still my milk-pails brim.I sing as erst Amphion of Circe sang,What time he went to call his cattle homeOn Attic Aracynthus. Nor am ISo ill to look on: lately on the beachI saw myself, when winds had stilled the sea,And, if that mirror lie not, would not fearDaphnis to challenge, though yourself were judge.Ah! were you but content with me to dwell.Some lowly cot in the rough fields our home,Shoot down the stags, or with green osier-wandRound up the straggling flock! There you with meIn silvan strains will learn to rival Pan.Pan first with wax taught reed with reed to join;For sheep alike and shepherd Pan hath care.Nor with the reed's edge fear you to make roughYour dainty lip; such arts as these to learnWhat did Amyntas do?- what did he not?A pipe have I, of hemlock-stalks compactIn lessening lengths, Damoetas' dying-gift:'Mine once,' quoth he, 'now yours, as heir to own.'Foolish Amyntas heard and envied me.Ay, and two fawns, I risked my neck to findIn a steep glen, with coats white-dappled still,From a sheep's udders suckled twice a day-These still I keep for you; which ThestilisImplores me oft to let her lead away;And she shall have them, since my gifts you spurn.Come hither, beauteous boy; for you the NymphsBring baskets, see, with lilies brimmed; for you,Plucking pale violets and poppy-heads,Now the fair Naiad, of narcissus flowerAnd fragrant fennel, doth one posy twine-With cassia then, and other scented herbs,Blends them, and sets the tender hyacinth offWith yellow marigold. I too will pickQuinces all silvered-o'er with hoary down,Chestnuts, which Amaryllis wont to love,And waxen plums withal: this fruit no lessShall have its meed of honour; and I will pluckYou too, ye laurels, and you, ye myrtles, near,For so your sweets ye mingle. Corydon,You are a boor, nor heeds a whit your giftsAlexis; no, nor would Iollas yield,Should gifts decide the day. Alack! alack!What misery have I brought upon my head!-Loosed on the flowers Siroces to my bane,And the wild boar upon my crystal springs!Whom do you fly, infatuate? gods ere now,And Dardan Paris, have made the woods their home.Let Pallas keep the towers her hand hath built,Us before all things let the woods delight.The grim-eyed lioness pursues the wolf,The wolf the she-goat, the she-goat herselfIn wanton sport the flowering cytisus,And Corydon Alexis, each led onBy their own longing. See, the ox comes homeWith plough up-tilted, and the shadows growTo twice their length with the departing sun,Yet me love burns, for who can limit love?Ah! Corydon, Corydon, what hath crazed your wit?Your vine half-pruned hangs on the leafy elm;Why haste you not to weave what need requiresOf pliant rush or osier? Scorned by this,Elsewhere some new Alexis you will find."
Words in this poem 27
- cooling a.
- Adapted to cool and refresh; allaying heat.
- savoury n.
- An aromatic labiate plant (Satireia hortensis), much used in cooking; -- also called summer savory. [F. savorée; cf. It. santoreggia, satureja, L. satureia,]
- petulant a.
- Forward; pert; insolent; wanton. Burton. [L. petulans, -antis, prop., making slight attacks upon, from a lost dim. of petere to fall upon, to attack: cf. F. pétulant. See Petition.]
- amaryllis n.
- A pastoral sweetheart.
- albeit conj.
- Even though; although; notwithstanding. [OE. al be although it be, where al is our all. Cf. Although.]
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- sicilian a.
- Of or pertaining to Sicily or its inhabitants. Sicilian vespers, the great massacre of the French in Sicily, in the year 1282, on the evening of Easter Monday, at the hour of vespers.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- straggling a.
- from Straggle, v.
- silvan a.
- Of or pertaining to woods; composed of woods or groves; woody. [L. silva, less correctly sylva, a wood or grove, perh. akin to Gr. "y`lh; cf. L. Silvanus Silvanus the god of woods: cf. F. sylvain silvan. Cf. Savage.]
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- spurn v. t.
- To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick. [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise,]
- naiad n.
- A water nymph; one of the lower female divinities, fabled to preside over some body of fresh water, as a lake, river, brook, or fountain. [L. naias, -adis, naïs, -idis, a water nymph, Gr naïade. Cf. Naid.]
- narcissus n.
- A genus of endogenous bulbous plants with handsome flowers, having a cup-shaped crown within the six-lobed perianth, and comprising the daffodils and jonquils of several kinds. [L. narcissus, and (personified) Narcissus, Gr. na`rkissos, Na`rkissos, fr. na`rkh torpor, in allusion to the narcotic properties of the flower. Cf. Narcotic.]
- posy n.
- A brief poetical sentiment; hence, any brief sentiment, motto, or legend; especially, one inscribed on a ring. [Contr. fr. poesy.]
- cassia n.
- A genus of leguminous plants (herbs, shrubs, or trees) of many species, most of which have purgative qualities. The leaves of several species furnish the senna used in medicine. [L. cassia and casia, Gr. qetsi\'beh, fr. qatsa' to cut off, to peel off.]
- hoary a.
- White or whitish."The hoary willows."
- withal adv.
- With this; with that. [With + all.]
- meed v. t.
- To reward; to repay. Waytt.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- whit n.
- The smallest part or particle imaginable; a bit; a jot; an iota; -- generally used in an adverbial phrase in a negative sentence. [OE. wight, wiht, AS. wiht a creature, a thing. See Wight, and cf. Aught, Naught.]
- alack interj.
- An exclamation expressive of sorrow. [Prob. from ah! lack! OE. lak loss, failure, misfortune. See Lack.]
- bane v. t.
- To be the bane of; to ruin. Fuller.
- pallas n.
- Pallas Athene, the Grecian goddess of wisdom, called also Athene, and identified, at a later period, with the Roman Minerva.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Alexis is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Bucolics and Eclogues, Project Gutenberg ebook #230; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Virgil, Alexis, in The Eclogues (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #230, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/virgil-eclogues/alexis.html, id L25448.
Form and metre
Alexis is 89 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ---------------------------A-A------------------B-B-------------------------------------- fired · joy · less · grove · thus · strains · songs · death · shade · thorn · spent · herbs · beside · brake · sun · disdain · wooed · fair · boy · culled · am · how · me · lambs · brim · sang · home · iA · beach · seaA · fear · judge · dwell · home · wand · me · pan · join · care · rough · learn · not · compact · gift · own · me · find · still · dayB · thestilis · awayB · spurn · nymphs · you · heads · flower · twine · herbs · off · pick · down · love · less · pluck · near · corydon · gifts · yield · alack · head · bane · springs · now · home · built · delight · wolf · herself · cytisus · on · home · grow · sun · love · wit · elm · requires · this · find
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The shepherd Corydon with love was fired | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| For fair Alexis, his own master's joy: | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| No room for hope had he, yet, none the less, | 10 | ·········· |
| The thick-leaved shadowy-soaring beech-tree grove | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Still would he haunt, and there alone, as thus, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| To woods and hills pour forth his artless strains. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| "Cruel Alexis, heed you naught my songs? | 10 | /˘˘/˘····· |
| Have you no pity? you'll drive me to my death. | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Now even the cattle court the cooling shade | 10 | ·/·/˘··/˘· |
| And the green lizard hides him in the thorn: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Now for tired mowers, with the fierce heat spent, | 10 | ··//˘····· |
| Pounds Thestilis her mess of savoury herbs, | 11 | ··········· |
| Wild thyme and garlic. I, with none beside, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Save hoarse cicalas shrilling through the brake, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Still track your footprints 'neath the broiling sun. | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Better have borne the petulant proud disdain | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| Of Amaryllis, or Menalcas wooed, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Albeit he was so dark, and you so fair! | 11 | ˘/˘········ |
| Trust not too much to colour, beauteous boy; | 11 | ·····/˘/˘˘· |
| White privets fall, dark hyacinths are culled. | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| You scorn me, Alexis, who or what I am | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| Care not to ask- how rich in flocks, or how | 10 | ·········· |
| In snow-white milk abounding: yet for me | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Roam on Sicilian hills a thousand lambs; | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Summer or winter, still my milk-pails brim. | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| I sing as erst Amphion of Circe sang, | 9 | ········· |
| What time he went to call his cattle home | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| On Attic Aracynthus. Nor am I | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| So ill to look on: lately on the beach | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I saw myself, when winds had stilled the sea, | 10 | ···/······ |
| And, if that mirror lie not, would not fear | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Daphnis to challenge, though yourself were judge. | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/·· |
| Ah! were you but content with me to dwell. | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Some lowly cot in the rough fields our home, | 10 | ·/˘·····/· |
| Shoot down the stags, or with green osier-wand | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Round up the straggling flock! There you with me | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| In silvan strains will learn to rival Pan. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Pan first with wax taught reed with reed to join; | 10 | ·········· |
| For sheep alike and shepherd Pan hath care. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Nor with the reed's edge fear you to make rough | 10 | ·········· |
| Your dainty lip; such arts as these to learn | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| What did Amyntas do?- what did he not? | 10 | ·········· |
| A pipe have I, of hemlock-stalks compact | 10 | ·····/··˘/ |
| In lessening lengths, Damoetas' dying-gift: | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| 'Mine once,' quoth he, 'now yours, as heir to own.' | 10 | ·········· |
| Foolish Amyntas heard and envied me. | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Ay, and two fawns, I risked my neck to find | 10 | ·········· |
| In a steep glen, with coats white-dappled still, | 10 | ········˘· |
| From a sheep's udders suckled twice a day- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| These still I keep for you; which Thestilis | 10 | ·········· |
| Implores me oft to let her lead away; | 10 | ˘/······˘/ |
| And she shall have them, since my gifts you spurn. | 10 | ·········· |
| Come hither, beauteous boy; for you the Nymphs | 11 | ·/˘/˘˘····· |
| Bring baskets, see, with lilies brimmed; for you, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Plucking pale violets and poppy-heads, | 10 | /˘·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Now the fair Naiad, of narcissus flower | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| And fragrant fennel, doth one posy twine- | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| With cassia then, and other scented herbs, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Blends them, and sets the tender hyacinth off | 11 | ·····/˘/˘·· |
| With yellow marigold. I too will pick | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Quinces all silvered-o'er with hoary down, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Chestnuts, which Amaryllis wont to love, | 10 | /˘··˘/˘··· |
| And waxen plums withal: this fruit no less | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Shall have its meed of honour; and I will pluck | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| You too, ye laurels, and you, ye myrtles, near, | 11 | ···/˘···/˘· |
| For so your sweets ye mingle. Corydon, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| You are a boor, nor heeds a whit your gifts | 10 | ·········· |
| Alexis; no, nor would Iollas yield, | 9 | ˘/˘······ |
| Should gifts decide the day. Alack! alack! | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘/ |
| What misery have I brought upon my head!- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Loosed on the flowers Siroces to my bane, | 10 | ···/······ |
| And the wild boar upon my crystal springs! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Whom do you fly, infatuate? gods ere now, | 11 | ····˘/˘···· |
| And Dardan Paris, have made the woods their home. | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Let Pallas keep the towers her hand hath built, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Us before all things let the woods delight. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The grim-eyed lioness pursues the wolf, | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/·· |
| The wolf the she-goat, the she-goat herself | 10 | ········˘/ |
| In wanton sport the flowering cytisus, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And Corydon Alexis, each led on | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| By their own longing. See, the ox comes home | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With plough up-tilted, and the shadows grow | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| To twice their length with the departing sun, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Yet me love burns, for who can limit love? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Ah! Corydon, Corydon, what hath crazed your wit? | 12 | ············ |
| Your vine half-pruned hangs on the leafy elm; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Why haste you not to weave what need requires | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Of pliant rush or osier? Scorned by this, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Elsewhere some new Alexis you will find." | 10 | /···˘/˘··· |
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