Note 29 — SUMMER:
Reading edition
Virg. Ecl. ii. 36:
Est mihi disparibus septem compacta cicutis Fistula, Damœtas dono mihi quam dedit olim, Et dixit moriens, Te nunc habet ista secundum.—Pope.
Pope's couplet originally ran thus:
Of slender reeds a tuneful flute I have. The tuneful flute which dying Colin gave.
"Objection," he says to Walsh, "that the first line is too much transposed from the natural order of the words, and that the rhyme is inharmonious." He subjoined the couplet in the text, and asked, "Which of these is best?" to which Walsh replies, "The second."