Amarillis

 

I care not for these Ladies

That must be woode and praide,

Give me kind Amarillis

The wanton country maide;

Nature art disdaineth

Her beautie is her owne;

  Her when we court and kisse,

  She cries, forsooth, let go:

  But when we come where comfort is,

  She never will say no.

If I love Amarillis,

She gives me fruit and flowers,

But if we love these Ladies,

We must give golden showers;

Give them gold that will sell love,

Give me the Nutbrowne lasse,

  Who when we court and kisse,

  She cries, forsooth, let go:

  But when we come where comfort is,

  She never will say no.

These Ladies must have pillowes,

And beds by strangers wrought,

Give me a Bower of willowes,

Of mosse and leaves unbought,

And fresh Amarillis,

With milke and honie fed,

  Who when we court and kisse,

  She cries, forsooth, let go:

  But when we come where comfort is,

  She never will say no.

-Thomas Campion

Reading Longus' Daphnis and Chloe the other day sent me off to read Theocritus' Idylls. Virtually all the names in Longus are first found in Theocritus (about 400 years earlier). It may be I'll show up with some Theocritus one of these days, but today we have something else in the pastoral tradition from, oh, a few years later... 

In Daphnis and Chloe, Philetas is the elder herder whom everyone considers the best singer, and who passes on his panpipes to Daphnis; Philetas' beloved in Longus is Amarillis (spelling may vary) who becomes his wife. (And is his wife at the time of the story.) 

And then once I started thinking about Amarillises, (Amarilli?) there was Thomas Campion (1567-1620) and his beloved. Campion, of course, also wrote music:

"She gives me fruit and flowers," but in Longus, it's cheeses! In Daphnis and Chloe, somebody is always giving away a cheese.