Meanwhile the passion of Dorinda for Silvio, and the accident whereby he is brought to return her affection at the moment when his dart has wounded her, form a picturesque underplot of considerable interest.

Both plot and underplot are so connected in the main action and so interwoven by links of mutual dependency that they form one richly varied fabric.

Regarded as a piece of cunning mechanism, the complicated structure of the _Pastor Fido_ leaves nothing to be desired.

In its kind, this pastoral drama is a monumental work of art, glittering and faultless like a polished bas-relief of hard Corinthian bronze.

Each motive has been carefully prepared, each situation amply and logically developed.