self-shapen

Updated: July 7, 2026

Then I clapped my hands in their honour, and instantly gave each a gift, to Daphnis a staff that grew in my father's close, self-shapen, yet so straight, that perchance even a craftsman could have found no fault in it. Ye pastoral Muses, farewell! Bring ye into the light the song that I sang there to these shepherds on that day! Never let the pimple grow on my tongue-tip.

of Phlossa near Smyrna Bion - Theocritus Bion and Moschus Rendered into English Prose