A Strange Eclogue

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Eclogue (ek´log), a term usually applied to what Theocritus called idyls—short, highly finished poems, principally of a descriptive or pastoral kind, and in which the loves of shepherds and shepherdesses are described. Eclogues flourished among the ancients (Bucolics of Virgil), and, under the name of pastorals, were fashionable in the sixteenth century, Spenser's Shepherds' Calendar being a good example. They were revived in the eighteenth century by Pope.

So when he slowly descended from the hill, with sun providing him with a blinding halo, the other ascended and regarded him in awe. "May I introduce myself? Hermes." He bowed and his wild blond curls shone like gold in the evening light. The sheep flocked, mixed and mingled. And watched them with mild but fleeting interest bordering on bored. They sat together under the tree, the one admiring youth and golden locks, the other admiring colors and warmth of playing flecks of dust blowing in the warm evening wind. "Then who are you?" Hermes asked amazed, while his companion, silent, only held his hand and caressed the slender fingers. "Where are your sheep", he wonderingly persisted. "Follow me, and I'll show you miracles and wishes fulfilled," his companion seductively replied. And as he put his flute to his lips, sheep, rats and Hermes, mesmerized, followed him, over the hills towards the brilliant sunset. *** January 31, 2017