In Greece and Italy 295 



" He who ventures to send verses to the eloquent Nerva 

 will present common perfumes to Cosmus, violets and 

 privet to the inhabitant of Psestum, and Corsican honey 

 to the bees of Hybla." 



In an epigram to Caecilianus he also says, — 



" You ask for lively epigrams, and propose lifeless sub- 

 jects. What can I do, Csecilianus? You expect Hybtean 

 or Hymethian honey to be produced, and yet offer the 

 Attic bee nothing but Corsican thyme." 



In the " Idyls of Theocritus " the bees play a delightful 

 part, and one here feels a slight sense of that comradeship 

 with them which makes the poetry of Kalidasa and his 

 Hindu fellow-poets so charming. 



In the " Song of Thyrsis " the shepherd, written by The- 

 ocritus, we read : — 



" Get thee to Ida, get thee to Anchises ! There are oak- 

 trees — here only galingale blows, here sweetly hum the 

 bees about the hives ! 



" Begin, ye Muses dear, begin the pastoral song ! " 



Again in the same song : " Come hither, my prince, 

 and take this fair pipe, honey-breathed with wax-stopped 

 joints ; and well it fits thy lip : for verily I, even I, by 

 Love am now haled to Hades. 



"^ Give o'er, ye Muses, come, give o'er the pastoral song! " 



Upon which the goatherd who had prevailed upon 

 Thyrsis to sing, hands him the cup he had promised as a 

 reward, and says, — 



" Filled may thy fair mouth be with honey, Thyrsis, and 

 filled with the honey-comb ; and the sweet dried fig mayst 

 thou eat of ^gilus, for thou vanquishest the cicala in song ! 

 Lo, here is thy cup, see, my friend, of how pleasant a 

 savor ! Thou wilt think it has been dipped in the well- 

 spring of the hours." 



A goatherd's song of Amaryllis contains the following : 



