Meleager's Cicada Poem

#poem  #meleager #Greekanthology #cicada #greekpoetry 

Meleager's Cicada Poem

Written in the frist Century BCE

ἀχηεις τέττιξ, δροσεραῖς σταγόνεσσι μεθυσθείς,

ἀγρονόμαν μέλπεις μοῦσαν ἐρημολάλον.

ἄκρα δ᾿ ἐφεζόμενος πετάλοις, πριονώδεσι κώλοις.

αἰθίοπι κλάζεις χρωτὶ μέλισμαλύρας.

ἀλλά, φίλος, θθέγγου τι νέον δενδρώδεσι

παίγνιον, ἀντῳδὸν Πανὶ κρέκων κέλαδον,

ὄφρα φυγὼν τὸν Ἔρωτα, μεσηβρινὸν ὕπνον

ἐνθάδ᾿ ὑπὸ σκιερᾷ κεκλιμένος πλατάνῷ

Clear sounding Cicada drunken with dewy drops

Rural music you sing chattering in the wilderness

and sitting upon on the edge of leaves with saw shaped limbs

with your sunburnt body you shriek lyre like melody

but friend speak some new song for the woodland spirits

a response to pan's striking noise

that fleeing Eros noon tide sleep I will catch 

here under the shade of the elm lying down.

As well as being a lovely poem there is a beautiful variety of dative forms from all declensions in this poem and note that it is also a request for the Cicada to sing so that the woodland spirits will protect him from Pan .

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