The Two Workmen
MILO. BATTUS.
MILO.
Well, my poor ploughman, and what ails thee now?
Thy furrow lies not even as of yore:
They fellows leave behind thy lagging plough,
As the flock leaves a ewe whose feet are sore:
By noon and midday what will be thy plight
If now, so soon, thy coulter fails to bite?
BATTUS.
Hewn from hard rocks, untired at set of sun,
Milo, didst ne'er regret some absent one?
MILO.
Not I. What time have workers for regret?
BATTUS.
Hath love ne'er kept thee from thy slumbers yet?
MILO.
Nay, heaven forbid! If once the cat taste cream!
BATTUS.
Milo, these ten days love hath been my dream.
MILO.
You drain your wine, while vinegar's scarce with me.
BATTUS.
-Hence since last spring untrimmed my borders be.
MILO.
And what lass flouts thee?
BATTUS.
She whom we heard play
Amongst Hippocoon's reapers yesterday.
MILO.
Your sins have found you out-you're e'en served right:
You'll clasp a corn-crake in your arms all night.
BATTUS.
You laugh: but headstrong Love is blind no less
Than Plutus: talking big is foolishness.
MILO.
I don't talk big. But lay the corn-ears low
And sing the while some love-song-easier so
Will seem your toil: you used to sing, I know.
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poem by Theocritus
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