June Cunning of the Idyllists. 187 



pleasant place, where this or that species of tree was 

 growing. 'Let us sit down here,' the goatherd says, 

 ' under this elm, before this Priapus and these (carved) 

 Kraniades, where there are a rustic seat and oak-trees/ 

 When the poet describes a vase he takes the oppor- 

 tunity of doing a little leaf-painting at the same time, 

 by twining round the lips of it a garland of ivy mixed 

 with pelichrysum, giving a dainty little touch of color 

 just at the last, /cap icpoKoevTi, of saffron-colored 

 fruit. The vase, too, is varnished with 4 odorous wax,' 

 the simple mention of which carries the imagination 

 instantaneously to the bees and their labors, and thence 

 to the flowers where the odorous wax is found. Nor 

 is this all ; for, in continuing the description of the 

 vase, Theocritus, whilst speaking of the figures upon it, 

 says that near to one of them is a vine laden with 

 grapes, and round about the vase is a wreath of the 

 flexible acanthus. So in Virgil's third Eclogue the two 

 cups, made by the * divine Alcimedon,' are decorated 

 with carvings of vine and ivy ; whilst on two other cups 

 by the same artist, belonging to Damoetas, the acanthus 

 is used for the handles ; and in the midst the artist has 

 represented Orpheus and the forests following him 

 ' sylvasque sequentes.' How completely the sylvan 

 spirit flows into every thing here ! 



Mr. Symonds, whom I have already quoted, thinks 

 that, whilst it is difficult to speak in terms of exag- 

 gerated praise concerning the appreciation of scenery 

 by Theocritus, Virgil lacks his vigor and enthusiasm 

 for the open-air life of the country. The sentiment that 



