Classic Poem

Gathering the bloom of all the fairest boys that be,
Love wove this varied crown, Venus, for thee.
A lily sweet, Diodorus, there he set;
Asclepiades breathed an odorous violet;
Like rose amid the thorns, Heraclitus next he placed,
While Dion's form, close-clinging vine, the garland graced;
A saffron crocus Theron blazed, the flame-haired lad,
And, bunch of mountain-thyme, Andiades did he add;
Myiscus of the girlish locks a bunch of olive made,
While all the charms of Aretas as foliage round he laid;
O holy Isle of Tyre, thrice blessed mayst thou be,
Since, like a fragrant grove, these boys all flower in thee.