Pure Pagan: Seven Centuries of Greek Poems and Fragments

Agriculture

Trees:
All right,
Plant trees.
But first Plant Vines.

Bacchus

Give up? How stupid,
Just for bad luck!
Nothing will work.
But Bacchus, Bacchus, if we forget your name In our weariness, wine is the medicine To call for, the best medicine To drink deep, deep.

Courage

When courage is what he needs He finds it in himself.

Drink, and Get Drunk with Me

Melanippus: drink, and get drunk with me.
Once you’ve crossed the swirling Acheron And landed in darkness, what makes you think You’ll ever see sunlight again?
Don’t be a fool–don’t try too hard.
King Sisyphus, son of Aeolus, was the smartest man alive And thought he could run from death,
But Fate drove him across the Acheron, then drove him over again, And the king of darkness, Cronos’ son, Set him a miserable task down under the black earth. Don’t even hope for such things.

Drinking

Drink. Why wait for the lamps?
There’s only a finger of daylight left.
Get the big cups, the ones with pictures.
Bacchus gave us wine to drown our sorrows.
Mix one of water to two of wine,
Fill them to the brim,
And let one cup quickly follow the other.

Frankness

Speak As you please And hear What can never Please.

Friendship

Friends? My friends are nothing,
And I weep for them,
And for me.

History

Not us: no.
It began with our fathers,
I’ve heard.

Love

I loathe Love, wasting his arrows on me Instead of aiming at huge wild beasts.
Do gods win glory by burning up men?
Is my head a noble trophy to hang from his belt?

Mourning

Wine, now, and more wine, and more,
And more,
Now that Myrsillus is dead.

Movers and Shakers

If a man shakes loose stones To make a wall with,
Stones may fall on his head Instead.

Parvenu

Even if he came from somewhere else,
You would say you did, too.

Patience

Drink: the Dog Star Is coming back, so Drink.

Philosophy

Nothing Will Come Of Anything.

Piggery

Again Again Pigs whip up muck mud slop Again.

Politics

He wants power He has power He wants more And his country will break in his hands,
Is breaking now.

Poverty

Poverty:
Miserable,
Powerful,
O Poverty, you and your sister Helplessness Fall like wolves On this country Once so great.

Social Relations

I had you to dinner, once,
Gave you tender goat, juicy pork:
How to win friends And influence people.

Sorrow

Sorrow:
You’ve made me completely forget sorrow.

True Luxury

And the sky god pours down rain,
And the clouds whirl, and rivers freeze:
So: keep your fire high And pour out honey-sweet wine And lie back With a pillow on this side,
And a pillow on that side.

Truth

Boy:
Boy:
Wine And Truth.

Wine

Wine Opens Keyholes Wide.

Alkman

Fate and Necessity

The thread Runs thin,
The need Runs hard,
Hard.

Gluttonous Alkman

And a huge cauldron, hot With your dinner, soon.
But still cold, until that thick winter soup For gluttonous Alkman Comes boiling up.
No fancy slop for Alkman, no.
Like ordinary people he likes real food.

Not Aphrodite, No

Not Aphrodite, no. But like a child,
Wild, Love comes down,
Almost as though walking on flowers–
But should not touch them,
Should not,
No.

O Dancers

O dancers, singers, honey-voiced girls,
Loud, clear: no more, I cannot!
God, O God, if I were only a kingfisher,
Purple like the sea, flying never afraid Out over the waves Forever.

Set Seven Couches

Set seven couches And seven tables And cover them with poppy cakes,
And linseed cakes,
And sesame cakes,
In and among the wooden bowls.

Tantalus

Tantalus, Evil placed in the middle of Good,
Sat under a hanging rock, ready to fall,
And thought he saw,
And saw Nothing.

The Peaks Are Asleep

The peaks are asleep And gulleys And ravines are asleep And creeping things Out of the dark earth And the beasts on the hills are asleep And bees, all bees And monsters deep in the sea are asleep And asleep, too, every flying bird everywhere asleep.

Try Singing

For feasts For feasting For eating with men Try singing as you eat.

Anonymous

A Mirror

Look: I look back. You look with eyes But I am eyeless.
And I can speak, having no voice. You have A voice, but all I have is lips, and they move, soundless.

An Epitaph

I was Callicrita, I bore twenty-nine children And all of them lived, and still live.
I died at a hundred and five And never needed a cane to steady my hand.

An Oracle

This isthmus: no digging, no fencing.
If Zeus had wanted an island he’d have made one.

Aristo

He lived by his sling,
Hunting winged geese,
Creeping silently up As they fed, watching on every side But not seeing him.
He lived poor, he died poor.
Now he lives in the darkness And his sling hangs motionless,
No hand to whirl it Swift and sure,
And the geese fly over his tomb.

Earthquake

Once corpses left the city behind them, dead,
But now the living carry the city to her grave.

Epigram

Take what you have while you have it: you’ll lose it soon enough. A single summer turns a kid into a shaggy goat.

Epitaph

Seafarer, don’t bother about my name.
Pray for a kinder sea.

Lovers’ Dialogue

He: Hello, pretty one.
She: Hello.
He: Who walks ahead of you?
She: None of your business.
He: But I have business in mind.
She: My mistress.
He: Is there any hope?
She: For what?
He: One night.
She: How much can you pay her?
He: Gold.
She: There’s hope.
He: Here’s what I have.
She: That’s all? Forget it.
She charges more for hope.

Message to the Living

I’m dead, but waiting for you, and you’ll wait for someone:
The darkness waits for everyone, it makes no distinctions.

Miracle

Here I lie, beneath this stone, the famous woman Who untied her belt for only one man.

On Being Old

I was young,
I was poor.
Now I’m old And I’m rich.
Only I of all men living Have been miserable In youth and in age.
I could have used riches When I had none,
And now I have them And what can I use them for?

On Homer

Let Homer be worshiped as a god, if he is a god.
But if not a god, let him appear godlike all the same.

On Love

Venus, who saves sailors: save me,
Dear goddess, who die, shipwrecked, here on dry land.

Patriots

Spring makes leaves,
Leaves make the earth lovely Just as stars make the heavens shine,
And these beautiful fields make Greece lovely,
And these brave men Make their country wonderful.

Prayer

Zeus, king, give us good even if we don’t pray for it,
And give us nothing evil even if that is what we pray for.

Antipater of Sidon

Alkmenes

My name was Alkmenes. I drove birds From the fields, starlings and high-flying robber cranes.
I was swinging my sling at a crowd Of birds when a viper bit my ankle,
Injected her bitter poison in my veins,
And stole the sunlight.
See? I was watching the air And never saw what was right on the ground in front of me.

Amyntor

Amyntor, Philip’s son, lies in this Lydian soil.
His hands were full of iron war.
No sickness led him into the darkness:
He died holding his shield over a wounded friend.

Ares, God of War

Who gave me these shining shields,
Hung them, unstained, on my walls?
Who gave me these unbroken helmets?
Murderous Ares needs no ornaments.
Will no one drag them out of my temple?
Give them to drunkards,
Give them to men of peace:
I have no use for tinsel and show.
I want trophies hacked by the sword,
I want the blood of dying men,
For I am Ares,
I am the Destroyer of men and weapons.

Diodorus

Diodorus, son of Calligenes of Olynthus,
Diodorus, who could take a ship as far as Atlas And knew the waters of Crete And could sail the Black Sea,
Diodorus died in port,
Dropping into the waves As he leaned over the bow And threw up what he’d eaten and drunk.
How shallow a depth of water Drowned him, he who had conquered All the wide oceans!

Antipater of Thessalonika

A Quarrel

The ship broke apart And two men fought in the water,
Fighting for a wooden beam.
Antagorus hit Pisistratus.
It was no crime,
For his life was at stake,
But Justice saw and frowned.
So Pisistratus swam to safety And Antagorus was swallowed by a shark.
Justice is always Justice,
Even out on the ocean.

Europa

Europa costs you a dollar. No one cares,
Including her. She’s got clean sheets And a fire in winter. Why bother Becoming a bull, O Zeus!

Poetic Gift

Antipater sends you a birthday poem,
Piso, a poem he wrote in one night.
Take it to your heart And praise its maker,
As Zeus is won By a gift of perfume.

Anyte

Epitaph for a Slave

He was a slave, alive.
Dead, he’s as great as mighty Darius.

Hermes

Here I stand At the crossroads,
Next to the windswept trees,
Near the gray cold beach.
I offer tired travelers rest.
The water I offer Is cold and pure.

Stranger

Stranger, weary from much walking: rest under this elm,
Hear the sweet breeze in its green leaves,
Drink cold water from this fountain: here Is where travelers always rest, in our burning heat.

Venus

This is Venus’ place,
For she loves to smile at the bright sea And make sailors happy.
All around her the sea trembles,
Seeing her loveliness.

Aratus

In the Beginning

Begin with Zeus, on every man’s lips.
The streets are full of Zeus, and all the marketplaces;
The sea is full of Him, and the harbors:
All of us need Zeus everywhere we go.
For Zeus has fathered us all, and smiles on us,
And shows us his kindness, and sends us off to our work, Reminding us what must be done. He tells us when to yoke up oxen, When to hoe, when to sow seed, and what to plant. For it was Zeus who gave us the heavens And divided the sky into stars, And shaped each star differently, And then made each star point to a season So men could read His heavens and understand, And all things could grow as they should. We pray to Him first, we pray to Him last: Hail, Father, wonder-worker, men’s great blessing, Hail to You and to those who came before You. And hail, gentle Muses, smiling on men: Guide my song, help me, For I bow to you and pray.

Asclepiades

Dry Fruit

My arms hold Archansa, a shriveled old whore Whose wrinkles were once love’s sweetness.
O lovers who picked her young blossoms, piercing fresh, brilliant, What a fiery furnace you came through!

Pythias

Remember, O Night, how tricky Pythias Plays her usual games. I came When she called me; she called me, and I came. Just once Let her stand at my door and cry as I’m crying.

Rendezvous

Nico, famous Nico, swore by solemn Demeter She’d come tonight. But the night’s half gone And where is she? Could she have lied, and to me?
Slaves: blow out the lights.

Callimachos

An Epitaph

He was a stranger; he did not stay here long;
He needs no long-winded story.
“Here lies a man of Crete, Theris, Aristos’ son.”
But how long a story for me!

Charidas

A:Stone: do you stand on the grave of Charidas?
B:The son of Arimmas of Cyrene?
He lies here.
A:Charidas: what’s it like down there?
C:Dark, all dark.
A:And do the dead come back?
C:Lies, all lies.
A:And Pluto?
C:A myth, no more.
A:I’ve no hope left.
C:I speak the truth.
But I can tell you good news, too:
Meat is cheap, down here.

Critas’ Tomb

If you go to the north, you’ll find Hippacus and Dido with no trouble. Their family is famous.
Give them my painful message: tell them I stand Covering Critas’ tomb, Critas, their beloved son.

Grouse

I hate poems that go on and on and on.
I hate roads where everyone walks.
I loathe wandering lovers, nor will I drink from just any well. I detest everything common. Oh, you’re handsome, Lysus, you’re very handsome. But even as Echo says it again, I hear: “He belongs to someone else.”

My Hunter Love

Hunters in the hills track down every rabbit,
Every deer, running through the snow.
Show them a wounded animal And they leave it where it lies.
Just so my love: it hunts whatever runs And ignores what lies waiting.

My Mind

All the shining perfumes I splashed on my head,
And all the fragrant flowers I wore,
Soon lost their scent.
Everything I put between my teeth And dropped into my ungrateful belly Was gone by morning.
The only things I can keep Came in through my ears.

Stepmothers

A boy bent to drape flowers on his stepmother’s grave,
Thinking that death had changed her,
But the stone toppled and killed him.
Stepsons! Be wary even when they’re dead!

The Statue of Apollo at Delos

“Are you the Delian Apollo?”
“I am.”
“Are you thirty feet high?”
“By the god I am, I am.”
“All of gold?”
“All of gold.”
“And naked?”
“Wearing only a belt.”
“And why do the goddesses of beauty and charm stand in your right hand,
while you keep your great bow in your left?”
“My bow aims at fools. It keeps them from arrogance. But I offer beauty to the good, and I offer it freely.”

The Unknown’s Tomb

Who are you, shipwrecked stranger? Leontias found you,
Dead on this beach, and buried you,
Weeping for his own uncertain life, for he too skims The waves like a gull, and never rests.

Winning and Losing

The winning poet is brief.
“I won,” he says. No more.
But ask the losing poet.
“Oh, it’s a damned hard business!” he cries.
Zeus: let the miserable wail at length.
Give me shortness of breath.

Dionysios of Andros

An Epitaph

No wonder I slipped, and fell, and died,
Soaked by Zeus outside,
Soaked by Bacchus within.
The odds were two to one And they were gods.

Glaucos

Daphnis and Pan

A:Nymphs, O nymphs, tell me The truth. Did Daphnis pass here,
Rest with his white goats?
B:Yes, piper Pan, yes.
He cut a message in the bark of that poplar,
A message for you.
“Pan, Pan, go to Malea,
Come to the mountain of Sophis.
You’ll find me there.”
A:Farewell, nymphs!

Hegemon

Thermopylae

Passing this tomb, some somber stranger Might say: “Here the courage of a thousand Spartans Stopped a million Persians, and died facing The enemy. This is what Sparta means.”

Leonidas

On Clito

Here is his hut, the bit of land He planted, the thin old vines He grew, his patch of brushwood.
But he lived here eighty years!

Leonidas of Tarentum

An Epitaph

Stranger, listen to Orthon of Syracuse:
“Don’t go out drunk on a winter night.”
I died in the snow, drunk,
And instead of resting in my own rich country I lie forever wearing this foreign earth.

Production Manager, Composition North Market Street Graphics

From the Hardcover edition.