| Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891. | | | | Theocritus | | By Maurice Francis Egan (1852–1924) |
| | | DAPHNIS is mute, and hidden nymphs complain, | |
| And mourning mingles with their fountains’ song; | |
| Shepherds contend no more, as all day long | |
| They watch their sheep on the wide Cyprus plain; | |
| The master voice is silent, songs are vain; | 5 |
| Blithe Pan is dead, and tales of ancient wrong, | |
| Done by the gods when gods and men were strong, | |
| Chanted to waxéd pipes, no prize can gain. | |
| O sweetest singer of the olden days, | |
| In dusty books your idyls rare seem dead,— | 10 |
| The gods are gone, but poets never die; | |
| Though men may turn their ears to newer lays, | |
| Sicilian nightingales enrapturéd | |
| Caught all your songs, and nightly thrill the sky. | | | | |
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