 | Silenus |  |
“Thou hast, beloved Silenus, dear and true,
Been ever my companionable friend:
Fired with old love this is the wherefore I,
Leaving my ivied rocks in forest glades,
Lovely with laurel-holt and asphodel,
Gather my frolic troop and bring them now
To wake and comfort thee with pregnant cheer.
Been ever my companionable friend:
Fired with old love this is the wherefore I,
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Lovely with laurel-holt and asphodel,
Gather my frolic troop and bring them now
To wake and comfort thee with pregnant cheer.
“Gracious and fair, the nymph was meet for thee,
But thou by right of worth had been fit lord
To rule young Hebe, my bright sister, She
Who in Olympus filled the nectar bowls,
Now fast in wedlock with great Heracles.
But thou by right of worth had been fit lord
To rule young Hebe, my bright sister, She
Who in Olympus filled the nectar bowls,
Now fast in wedlock with great Heracles.
“Behold the symmetry and burning hues
Of flowers expanded to their shapes complete:
A passing storm or footfall levels them
Sullied or crushed to ruin. Who despairs?
Yet but a little while, again behold
Their like in splendour blooming as before!
Of flowers expanded to their shapes complete:
A passing storm or footfall levels them
Sullied or crushed to ruin. Who despairs?
Yet but a little while, again behold
Their like in splendour blooming as before!
“As they are, to the Gods are nymph and maid
Of mortal birth; grateful to clasp, and sweet
Are they to kiss; and bravely they endure
The burden of our love. Their longest lives
To the duration of Immortals pass
As gnats their sunset hour to mortal man.
Of mortal birth; grateful to clasp, and sweet
Are they to kiss; and bravely they endure
The burden of our love. Their longest lives
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As gnats their sunset hour to mortal man.
“Then why bewail a momentary joy?
Has love so fused thee with mortality
Thou art weighed down to earth, that thirsts for all
It once gave forth? Could sorrow bring her back,
Glowing and rosy to responsive life,
Sorrow were well bestowed. Now frets to waste
The glorious fervour that whole peoples fired
To feats beyond their wont. With me you loved
To mark the kindled passion we had roused
Achieve our purposes, when, casting thoughts
To men as sowers cast their seeds, we saw
Some wax in favour, and saw others sink,
Swilling the precious juices of the grape
That might have been their comforter and strength!
Has love so fused thee with mortality
Thou art weighed down to earth, that thirsts for all
It once gave forth? Could sorrow bring her back,
Glowing and rosy to responsive life,
Sorrow were well bestowed. Now frets to waste
The glorious fervour that whole peoples fired
To feats beyond their wont. With me you loved
To mark the kindled passion we had roused
Achieve our purposes, when, casting thoughts
To men as sowers cast their seeds, we saw
Some wax in favour, and saw others sink,
Swilling the precious juices of the grape
That might have been their comforter and strength!
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“Now shout, my jovial satyrs; lifting hoofs
Arouse Silenus to festivity!
If your sweet lives be brief, ye forest nymphs,
Brighten them while ye may. Enrich the round
Of bliss with grace surpassing birchen-trees,
When trembling in the wind their branches play.
Show him, ye stately naiades of the wave,
That loveliness is yet, and went not out
With one, however fair! Keep measure true,
Both voice and step; let every hand combine
By even clash and fingered stop to wake
The caverned echoes of harmonious mirth,
Till our delight becoming frenzied air
Our saddened one shall breathe it, and his soul
Inflame with high imaginings sublime.”
Arouse Silenus to festivity!
If your sweet lives be brief, ye forest nymphs,
Brighten them while ye may. Enrich the round
Of bliss with grace surpassing birchen-trees,
When trembling in the wind their branches play.
Show him, ye stately naiades of the wave,
That loveliness is yet, and went not out
With one, however fair! Keep measure true,
Both voice and step; let every hand combine
By even clash and fingered stop to wake
The caverned echoes of harmonious mirth,
Till our delight becoming frenzied air
Our saddened one shall breathe it, and his soul
Inflame with high imaginings sublime.”
| Silenus | |