Theocritus: A Villanelle

Oscar Wilde(1854–1900)

1881

O singer of Persephone!In the dim meadows desolateDost thou remember Sicily?

Still through the ivy flits the beeWhere Amaryllis lies in state;O Singer of Persephone!

Simætha calls on HecateAnd hears the wild dogs at the gate;Dost thou remember Sicily?

Still by the light and laughing seaPoor Polypheme bemoans his fate;O Singer of Persephone!

And still in boyish rivalryYoung Daphnis challenges his mate;Dost thou remember Sicily?

Slim Lacon keeps a goat for thee,For thee the jocund shepherds wait;O Singer of Persephone!Dost thou remember Sicily?

From The Poems of Oscar Wilde, via the English Wikisource transcription.

Public domainThis poem is in the public domain. You may read it, copy it, recite it and publish it without asking anyone.