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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Divine Cicada Anacreontea 34

#anacreontea #cicada #poem

Its Cicada Season in Sydney so

ANACREONTEA 34 The cicada

μακαρίζομέν σε, τέττιξ,

ὅτε δενδρέων ἐπ̓ ἄκρων

ὀλίγην δρόσον πεπωκὸς

βασιλεὺς ὅπως ἀείδεις.

σὰ γάρ ἐστι κεῖνα πάντα,

ὁπόσα βλέπεις ἐν ἀγροῖς

χὠπόσα φέρουσιν ὗλαι.

σὺ δὲ φιλία γεωργῶν,

ἀπὸ μηδενός τι βλάπτων.

σὺ δὲ τίμιος βροτοῖσιν

θέρεος γλυκὺς προφήτης.

Φιλέουσι μέν σε Μοῦσαι,

Φιλέει δὲ Φοῖβος αὐτός,

λιγυρὴν δ̛ ἔδωκεν οἴμην.

τὸ δὲ γῆρας οὔ σε τείρει,

σοφέ, γηγενής, φίλυμνε.

ἀπαθής, ἀναιμόσαρκε,

σχεδὸν εἶ θεοῖς ὅμοιος.

literally 

we bless you cicada / when of trees from tops / small (amount of) dew having drunk / a king like you sing /  you yourself sa may be soos or su ? for are everything own these everything / whatever you see in the fields /and whatever they bear woodlands/ you and friendship for farmers (have)/ nothing in no way harming (them) / you and honored by mortals / summer sweet prophet / they love you (the) Muses/ he loves and Phoebus himself  ( the Muses and Apollo love you )/ clear and he give you song / the and aging not you wears out / wise earth born songlover / unsuffering unbloodflesh / nearly you are gods like