Sappho of Lesbos (fragments)
7
Raise high the roofbeams, carpenters!
Hymenaon, Sing the wedding song!
Up with them!
Hymenaon, Sing the wedding song!
A bridegroom taller than Ares!
Hymenaon, Sing the wedding song!
Taller than a tall man!
Hymenaon, Sing the wedding song!
Superior as the singer of Lesbos—
Hymenaon, Sing the wedding song!
—to poets of other lands.
Hymenaon!
28
The Marriage of Hektor and Andromakhe
...Cyprus..
...The herald Idaios came...a swift messenger
...and the rest of Asia...unwilting glory (kleos aphthiton).
Hektor and his companions led the dark-eyed
luxuriant Andromakhe from holy Thebes and...Plakia
in ships upon the salty sea. Many golden bracelets and purple
robes..., intricately-worked ornaments,
countless silver cups and ivory.
Thus he spoke. And his dear father quickly leapt up.
And the story went to his friends through the broad city.
And the Trojans joined mules to smooth-running carriages.
And the whole band of women and...maidens got on.
Separately, the daughters of Priam...
And the unmarried men led horses beneath the chariots
and greatly...charioteers...
...like gods
...holy
set forth into Troy...
And the sweet song of the flute mixed...
And the sound of the cymbals, and then the maidens
sang in clear tones a sacred song
and a divinely-sweet echo reached the sky...
And everywhere through the streets...
Mixing bowls and cups...
And myrrh and cassia and frankincense were mingled.
And the older women wailed aloud.
And all the men gave forth a high-pitched song,
calling on Apollo, the far-shooter, skilled in the lyre.
And they sang of Hektor and Andromakhe like to the gods.
29
Blessed bridegroom,
The marriage is accomplished as you prayed.
You have the maiden you prayed for.
30
I don’t know what to do: I am of two minds.
31
For gold is Zeus’ child.
32
I have a beautiful daughter
Like a golden flower
My beloved Kleis.
I would not trade her for all Lydia nor lovely...
33
When you lie dead, no one will remember you
For you have no share in the Muses’ roses.
No, flitting aimlessly about,
You will wildly roam,
a shade amidst the shadowy dead.
34
Death is an evil.
That’s what the gods think.
Or they would die.
35
Because you are dear to me
Marry a younger woman.
I don’t dare live with a young man—
I’m older.
5 comments:
WOW! Deep ...
It's a walking-talking advert for Timothy Leary and LSD.
Good ol' fashioned ergot poisoning.
Humanity has been tripping balls for millennia.
Although I truly and thoroughly enjoyed my hallucinogenic dabblings with LSD-25 and psilocybin mushrooms in my experimental days (daze) I don't recommend them. One, because they don't put anything in your mind that was not already there even if you don't know about it, and two, because the experience is devastatingly euphoric and beautifully destructive - a nightmare and a good dream that you never want to end.
My I quit, seen enough, let's not play with that anymore moment was accessing a subconscious memory of corrective muscle reattachment eye surgeries I had as a child... what my eyes "saw" and images transmitted to my brain while knocked out and being operated on.
Wiggity wig out.
...And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die...
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