Best Anacreon Poems
Despite the distance,
like moon and ocean,
I feel her close, but
touchless and tasteless.
Craving her comfort.
like a thief without
his precious treasure,
I yearn for one glimpse.
Tongue is silent, but
as spirits ignite,
'urges' call her name.
Her voice cools embers,
as souls dream to meet.
Soft tones of her heart
flutter so tranquil.
Calmness of her waves,
vibrate my heart's beam,
as my moonlight rays
fondle wet ripples,
absorbing deeper
like blended shadows,
merging ebony
and ivory strokes,
gently flowing like
lyrical lovers.
Adrift in her bliss,
hoping to merge like
tides kiss distant shores.
Her ink is my quill -
sprinkling our garden.
The Silent One
8 April 2021
Example for Anacreontic verse contest
Anacreontic verse is an Ancient Greek lyrical form, consisting of 20- to 30-
line poems with three to five syllables per line.
Developed by 6th century B.C. poet Anacreon. A form that emerged during the height of the dramatic, musical, artistic, and poetic culture.
The poems revolved around themes of love, infatuation, revelry, festivals, and observations of everyday life.
Like a mad man
without a plan,
slightly insane,
dancing in the rain,
pixilated dreams
like shallow streams,
leave me bemused,
restless, but amused,
but my soul is tried
from those bullets fired,
when loved ones depart,
leaves holes in my heart,
as guns aren't coded,
when locked and loaded.
Those memory lanes,
flying paper planes,
despite grey storms,
we had strong platforms.
I wrote my deep quotes
on lost paper boats,
like a budding rose
nobody knows.
Echoes of my mind
are not always kind,
as crows examine
soul's rainless famine.
This sun never shields
in desolate fields.
Yet, I know it's true,
all roads lead to you.
Anacreontic verse is an Ancient Greek lyrical form, consisting of 20- to 30-line poems with three to five syllables per line. Developed by 6th century B.C. poet Anacreon. A form that emerged during the height of the dramatic, musical,
artistic, and poetic culture. The poems revolved around themes of love, infatuation, revelry, festivals, and observations of everyday life. They do not normally rhyme, but I like the challenge.
Fulfilling perceptions
In flowery station
Of dew like life
In cool air
In your hair
Like blue sea shore
Watching the ocean
Making love with sun
Romantic alphabets
Of your breeze
In palm trees
In the spinal threads
My pleasure moments
There calls near the cloud
Forget-me- nots
From the horizon
Asks Anacreon
Better use two or three
Syllables
For the summer
Speaks in whisper
Yes, I answered
Season of eye contact
And lyric
With open palms
And dimples in cheek
Anacreontic
_________________________________
July 25, 2016
With kind, gentle eyes
Caressing with smiles
Whispering shyly
Within sapphire lights
Resembling fireflies
Flickering thru nights
Enchanting the stars
Passionate praises
Powerful prayers
Echoing through dreams
Coloring worlds whole
Soothing compassion
Filling my heart up
With graceful pure love
Promising my thoughts
Surely find a place
On silence that waits
Only to be breathed
On clouds of misty
Mornings, dawns delight
Startling with wonders
Beloved vows of
Song and poetry
In the eyes of one
Who knows me deeply
Completely, sweetly
And he still loves me
With perfect passion
Like a touch of lips
Moistened for his kiss
Anacreontic Verse Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Silent One
April 8, 2021
Anacreontic verse is an Ancient Greek lyrical form, consisting of 20- to 30- line poems with three to five syllables per line. Developed by 6th century B.C. poet Anacreon. A form that emerged during the height of the dramatic, musical, artistic, and poetic culture. The poems revolved around themes of love, infatuation, revelry, festivals, and observations of everyday life.
Anacreon the greek born circa 580 BC
loved to pen erotic poetry
alternating long&short in syllabic metric
lyrically untranslatable from the ionic
i
The women tell me, “Man, you’re old;
don’t be so bold.
Look into a mirror
to make it clearer:
your hair
ain’t there.”
But I can’t see what lies
above my eyes.
I do see more reason to play the game,
when Death takes aim.
ii
If wealth with all its money
could make us never die,
I'd give my life to earning,
and then, when Death came by,
I'd pay him and forget him.
But there’s no way to spend
yourself into forever.
So since my life must end,
what good does money do me,
or why then should I mourn
the certainty of dying,
which comes with being born?
My riches are in friendship
and drinking wine at ease,
and moon-lit celebrations
of Love’s solemnities.
iii
Old Gyges had a ton of gold
when he was Asia’s king;
his treasure houses leave me cold,
I don’t grudge him a thing.
What counts with me is scented hair,
rose garlands, and today;
so let’s drink while the weather’s fair:
tomorrow’s far away.
— from the Greek
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The poems are selected from the Anacreontea, a collection of anonymous Greek poems written in later antiquity in the style of the earlier Greek poet Anacreon.
Please note that this translation is Copyright 2026 by me, even though it is being translated from a text that is in the public domain in its original language.
Please note that I never have used and never will use AI to compose or revise any of my writings.
A random comment on poetry in general: A poem is self-expression, but the self a successful poem expresses is that of the reader, not that of the writer.