L. 1. _Toi, de Mopsus ami!_ Ironical. 'That thou never wast!' This
beginning shows that these lines were meant as part of an eclogue: the
subject to be two shepherds disputing the prize of singing. Mopsus is an
excellent singer and poet mentioned in Virgil, _Ecl._ v. Berecynthus is
a mountain in Phrygia on which the mysteries of Cybele were celebrated.
L. 3. _Hyagnis._ According to Apuleius, _Flor._ iii, Hyagnis was the
father and teacher of Marsyas, the flute-player.
L. 4. _énervé_, emasculate. '_Semiviro_ Cybeles cum _grege_ iunxit
iter,' Martial, iii. 91.
L. 7. _dans ce bui._ _Bui_ is spelt thus in order to rhyme for the eye
with _lui_. 'Buis' for 'flute'; a metonymy.
L. 15. _des chiens même._ In poetry the adjective _même_ often remains
uninflected. 'Les immortels _eux-même_ en sont persécutés,' Malherbe, i.
279, 26, _Éd. des Grands Écrivains_. 'Un éclat qui le rend respectable
aux dieux _même_,' Racine, _Esther_, II. vii. 678, same edition. Haase,
§ 53, C.