Idyl I: The Stray Cupid - Moschus

As Cupid from his mother Venus strayed,
Thus crying him aloud the goddess said,
"If any one a wandering Cupid see,
The little fugitive belongs to me:
And if he tell what path the rogue pursues.
My kisses shall reward him for the news.
So plain, so numerous his marks, you '11 own
That e'en among a score he may be known.

"Bright clustering locks his lovely forehead grace.
But insolent expression marks his face ;
Though little are his hands, those hands can fling
Darts e'en to Acheron, the infernal king ;
Though bare his body, yet no art can find
A clue to trace the motions of his mind.
If you secure the wanderer, bring him bound,
Nor heed him, though he cry and stamp the ground."

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Moschus (1st century BC) Greece
Translated by E. Pococke
Source: Greek poets in English verse, Selected by William Hyde Appleton, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1893