Ibykos Fragment 286, circa 564 BCE
loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Come spring, the grand
apple trees stand
watered by a gushing river
where the maidens’ uncut flowers shiver
and the blossoming grape vine swells
in the gathering shadows.
Unfortunately
for me
Eros never rests
but like a Thracian tempest
ablaze with lightning
emanates from Aphrodite;
the results are frightening—
black,
bleak,
astonishing,
violently jolting me from my soles
to my soul.
Originally published by The Chained Muse
Ibykos, also spelled Ibycus, was an ancient Greek lyric poet. Ibykos was included in the canonical list of melic poets by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria. Originally from Rhegium in Magna Graecia, Ibykos is believed to have moved to Samos during the reign of the tyrant Polykrates (c. 538–522 BCE).
Categories:
melic, desire, emotions, feelings, garden,
Form: Verse
Many times I’ve been around the world
resided in wondrous melic lands,
seen the beauty of diverse faces
muse at issues penned from poetic hands.
Yet! It was if written ironically
payment indeed for the good time,
a sentence one of sensitivity
an impediment in its prime.
A foreboding an inner fear
one immersed in utter confusion,
as the greyness festers within
drives one into self seclusion.
As I reminisce here behind this screen
that I once was a mighty mighty man,
although a shadow afraid of the dark
from here the poets that I love I scan.
So the creeping darkness draws forth
like clouds that mischievously roll in,
one is shackled to the proverbial
Oh God! Reliant upon one’s kin.
Alas as life becomes a faded love affair
and silhouettes haunt a torture soul,
I wince here with in my shyness
now a human being no longer whole!
© Harry J Horsman 2012
Categories:
melic, angst, love,
Form: Rhyme