“Originally, the poet was the leader of a totem-society of religious dancers. His verses were danced around an altar or in a sacred enclosure and each verse started a new turn or movement in the dance.” The White Goddess by Robert Grave (p. 422)
On a day with a lot of politics in between observing classrooms, I want to rest my brain and my heart in beauty beyond our time. I need a longer perspective on the slights, frustrations and conflicts of one day.
Anacreon
My lyre sings only songs of love
ΘΕΛΩ ΛΕΓΕΙΝ ΑΤΡΕΙΔΑΣ,
ΘΕΛΩ ΔΕ ΚΑΔΜΟΝ ΑΙΔΕΙΝ,
Ο ΒΑΡΒΙΤΟΣ ΔΕ ΧΟΡΔΑΙΣ
ΕΡΩΤΑ ΜΟΥΝΟΝ ΗΧΕΙ.
ΗΜΕΙΨΑ ΝΕΥΡΑ ΠΡΩΗΝ
ΚΑΙ ΤΗΝ ΛΥΡΗΝ ΑΠΑΣΑΝ·
ΚΑΓΩ ΜΕΝ ΗΙΔΟΝ ΑΘΛΟΥΣ ΗΡΑΚΛΕΟΥΣ,
ΛΥΡΗ ΔΕ ΕΡΩΤΑΣ ΑΝΤΕΦΩΝΕΙ.
ΧΑΙΡΟΙΤΕ ΛΟΙΠΟΝ ΗΜΙΝ, ΗΡΩΕΣ·
Η ΛΥΡΗ ΓΑΡ ΜΟΝΟΥΣ ΕΡΩΤΑΣ ΑΙΔΕΙ.
I, too, wish to sing of heroic deeds
(about the Atreides, and about Kadmus),
but the lyre’s strings
can only produce sounds of love.
Recently, I changed the strings,
and then the lyre itself,
and tried to sing of the feats of Hercules,
but still the lyre kept singing songs of love.
So, fare well, you heroes!
because my lyre sings only songs of love.
Simonides
There is a saying about virtue
ΕΣΤΙ ΤΙΣ ΛΟΓΟΣ
ΤΑΝ ΑΡΕΤΑΝ ΝΑΙΕΙΝ.
ΔΥΣΑΜΒΑΤΟΙΣ ΕΠΙ ΠΕΤΡΑΙΣ.
ΑΓΝΑΝ ΔΕ ΜΙΝ ΘΕΑΝ
ΧΩΡΟΝ ΑΓΝΟΝ ΑΜΦΕΠΕΙΝ.
ΟΥΔΕ ΠΑΝΤΩΝ ΒΛΕΦΑΡΟΙΣ
ΘΝΑΤΩΝ ΕΣΟΠΤΟΣ,
Ω ΜΗ ΔΑΚΕΘΥΜΟΣ ΙΔΡΩΣ
ΕΝΔΟΘΕΝ ΜΟΛΗ
ΙΚΗ Τ’ ΕΣ ΑΚΡΟΝ ΑΝΔΡΕΙΑΣ.
There is a saying about virtue:
She nestles in rough untroden rocks
And reigns a divine, sacred land.
Not all mortals can see her.
Only those,
whose burning desire in their heart
leads them to the greatest deeds