Lyric Poem · Love

From Vergil's Tenth Eclogue

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Reading room

1[VERSES 1-26.]

2Melodious Arethusa, o'er my verse

3Shed thou once more the spirit of thy stream:

4Who denies verse to Gallus? So, when thou

5Glidest beneath the green and purple gleam

6Of Syracusan waters, mayst thou flow

7Unmingled with the bitter Doric dew!

8Begin, and, whilst the goats are browsing now

9The soft leaves, in our way let us pursue

10The melancholy loves of Gallus. List!

11We sing not to the dead: the wild woods knew

12His sufferings, and their echoes...

13Young Naiads,...in what far woodlands wild

14Wandered ye when unworthy love possessed

15Your Gallus? Not where Pindus is up-piled,

16Nor where Parnassus' sacred mount, nor where

17Aonian Aganippe expands...

18The laurels and the myrtle-copses dim.

19The pine-encircled mountain, Maenalus,

20The cold crags of Lycaeus, weep for him;

21And Sylvan, crowned with rustic coronals,

22Came shaking in his speed the budding wands

23And heavy lilies which he bore: we knew

24Pan the Arcadian.

25...

26'What madness is this, Gallus? Thy heart's care

27With willing steps pursues another there.'

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“From Vergil's Tenth Eclogue” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/from-vergils-tenth-eclogue

Quick facts

Poem: From Vergil's Tenth Eclogue
Poet: Percy Bysshe Shelley
Length: 27 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Love, Nature, Death & Loss

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Shape: 27 lines · 4 stanzas of 1–23 lines

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Author record: Percy Bysshe Shelley1792–1822
Source record: PoetryDBFrom Vergil's Tenth Eclogue by percy-bysshe-shelley, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
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Text fingerprint: SHA-256 b076aba1e7018ea8…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Love Nature Death & Loss

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