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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


LOVE'S SUBTILTY; AN IDYLLIUM by MOSCHUS

First Line: BY PISA'S WALLS DOES OLD ALPHEUS FLOW
Last Line: THAT TAUGHT THE AM'ROUS RIVER THUS TO RUN.
Subject(s): LOVE - NATURE OF;

BY Pisa's walls does old Alpheus flow
To Sea, and thence to's Arethusa go,
With waters bearing presents as they move,
Leaves, flowers, and olive-branches, to his Love.

And of the sacred dust the heroes raise,
When at Olympic Games they strive for bays;
He sinks and dives with art beneath the sea,
And to Sicilia does his streams convey.

But still will he his purity retain,
Nor is his course obstructed by the main.
'Twas Love, whose subtil tricks will ne'er be done,
That taught the am'rous river thus to run.



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