THE POEMS OF HADRIANUS VALLIUS

DAPHNIS,

AN ECLOGUE. An 'Eclogue' is a short pastoral poem, traditionally featuring shepherds in a rural setting.

Fostering protection, and at once a joyful delight,
O Nymphs of Scheveningen original: "Sceverinides Oceaninæ", beloved by Apollo;
Favor also this, my Pierian labor A reference to the Muses, who were born in Pieria:
We shall tell in song how Ancon the sailor passed
The watchful night: so may Pan never wash himself
In your waters, nor the shameful Fauns Nature spirits often depicted as lecherous defile your seas.
You, whom Fame carries in her chariot above the golden stars,
Do not be loath to lend a favoring ear to us,
HUYGENS, glory of the Huygens line, and of your brothers and father:
We bring gifts not unworthy of your intellect,
Fitted to Sicilian measures The style of pastoral poetry pioneered by Theocritus of Sicily by a Dutch poet,
Solemn inventions mixed with ancient verse original: "Palæphatio... versu",
With yourself and your famous discoveries interwoven.
Now Phoebe The Moon, emulating her brother's rays, had raised
Her head from the Ocean, surrounded by lesser stars,
When the pastoral youths were preparing their return;
They had delighted in gathering sea-shells by the full moon,
And catching crabs clinging to the shallows.
Yet they notice Ancon lingering on a high
Hill, so often guilty of his promised song.
Thestylis and Corydon themselves, followed by the rest of the crowd,
Surround him from behind, and encircle him in a ring.
They ask coaxingly what he is doing: then they pray for good omens;
They hold him to his vow, and demand the promised songs.
He replies: "O Boys, I sat as a scout to see what
The morrow's Dawn might bring: whether the gulls in their huddling troop,
Or the solitary crow, or the lonely kingfishers original: "alcyones"

* Scheveningen, a village among the Dutch, adjacent to the sea.