Tuesday, February 03, 2009
THE WISH - by: Anacreon (c.572-488 BC)
IOBE on Phrygian sands - Turn'd a weeping statue stands,
- And the Pandionian Maid
- In a swallow's wings array'd;
- But a mirror I would be,
- To be look'd on still by thee;
- Or the gown wherein thou'rt drest,
- That I might thy limbs invest;
- Or a crystal spring, wherein
- Thou might'st bathe thy purer skin;
- Or sweet unguents, to anoint
- And make supple every joint;
- Or a knot, thy breast to deck;
- Or a chain, to clasp thy neck;
- Or thy shoe I wish to be,
- That thou might'st but tread on me.
- TRANSLATED BY THOMAS STANLEY, 1651
- The Muse of Anacreon, Arnold Böcklin 1873
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