Chapter III: Her Portrait

Master of all the craftsmen,
Prince of the Rhodian art,
Interpret, master craftsman,
Each detail I impart,
And draw as were she present
The mistress of my heart.

First you must match those masses
Of darkly clustered hair,
And if such skill be in your wax
The scent that harbours there;
And where the flowing tresses cast
A warm-toned shadow, trace
A forehead white as ivory,
The oval of her face.
Her brows you must not quite divide
Nor wholly join, there lies
A subtle link between them
Above the dark-lashed eyes.
And you must borrow flame of fire
To give her glance its due,
As tender as Cithera's
And as Athena's blue.
For cheek and nostril rose-leaves
And milk you shall enlist,
And shape her lips like Peitho's
Inviting to be kissed.
Let all the Graces stay their flight
And gather round to deck
The outline of her tender chin,
The marble of her neck.
And for the rest--bedrape her
In robe of purple hue,
With here and there to give it life
The flesh tint peeping through.
Now hold thy hand,--for I can see
The face and form I seek,
And surely in a moment's space
I think your wax will speak.

Note 4

IV

METAMORPHOSIS

If she who, born to Tantalus,
As Niobe we know,
Was turned to stone among the hills
Of Phrygia long ago;
If Proene by such magic change
Was made a bird that flies,
Let me become the mirror
That holds my lady's eyes!
Or let me be the water
In which your beauty bathes,
Or the dress which clinging closely
Your gracious presence swathes;
Or change me to the perfume
You sprinkle on your skin,
Or let me be the pearl-drop
That hangs beneath your chin;
And if not these the girdle
You bind below your breast;
Or be at least the sandal
Your little foot hath pressed.

V

APOLOGIA

The brown earth drinks from heaven, and from the earth the tree,
The sea drinks down the vapour, and the sun drinks up the sea,
The moon drinks in the sunlight; now therefore, comrades, say
What fault have you to find in me if I would drink as they?

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

ANACREON'S GRAVE

You that pass this place of graves
Pause and spill a cup for me,
For I hold Anacreon's ashes,
And would drink as once would he.

SIMONIDES

556-467 B.C.

_THE PLATAEAN EPITAPHS_

I

ON THE SPARTANS

These who with fame eternal their own dear land endowed
Took on them as a mantle the shade of death's dark cloud;
Yet dying thus they died not, on whom is glory shed
By virtue which exalts them above all other dead.

II

ON THE ATHENIANS

If to die nobly be the meed that lures the noblest mind,
Then unto us of all men in this was fortune kind.
For Greece we marched, that freedom's arm should ever round her fold;
We died, but gained for guerdon renown that grows not old.

PLATO

429-347 B.C.

I

A GRAVE IN PERSIA

Far from our own Ægean shore
And the surges booming deep,
Here where Ecbatana's great plain
Lies broad, we exiles sleep.
Farewell, Eretria the renowned,
Where once we used to dwell;
Farewell, our neighbour Athens;
Beloved sea, farewell!

Note 5

II

STARWORSHIP

Thou gazest starward, star of mine, whose heaven I fain would be,
That all my myriad starry eyes might only gaze on thee.

III

THE UNSET STAR

Star that didst on the living at dawn thy lustre shed,
Now as the star of evening thou shinest with the dead!

IV

LAIS

I that through the land of Hellas
Laughed in triumph and disdain,
Lais, of whose open porches
All the love-struck youth were fain,
Bring the mirror once I gazed in,
Cyprian, at thy shrine to vow,
Since I see not there what once was,
And I would not what is now.

PERSES

4TH CENTURY B.C.

A RUSTIC SHRINE

I am the god of the little things,
In whom you will surely find,
If you call upon me in season,
A little god who is kind.
You must not ask of me great things,
But what is in my control,
I, Tychon, god of the humble,
May grant to a simple soul.

Note 6

ANYTE OF TEGEA

4TH CENTURY B.C.

I

A SHRINE BY THE SEA

This is the Cyprian's holy ground,
Who ever loves to stand
Where she can watch the shining seas
Beyond the utmost land;
That sailors on their voyages
May prosper by her aid,
Whose radiant effigy the deep
Beholding is afraid.