Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Anacreonteion 21 (my translation)

ἡ γῆ μέλαινα πίνει, πίνει δὲ δένδρε' αὐτήν
The dark earth drinks; and trees drink her [i.e. Earth].
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πίνει θάλασσ' ἀναύρους, ὁ δ' ἥλιος θάλασσαν, τὸν δ' ἥλιον σελήνη.
The sea drinks the streams; the Sun, the sea; and the moon, the sun.
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τί μοι μάχεσθ', ἑταῖροι, καὐτῷ θέλοντι πίνειν ;
Why fight with me, mates, with my wanting also to drink?

[Henry M. Tyler, 'Selections From Greek Lyric Poets' (1906) has αὖ γῆν instead of αὐτήν at end of first line; notes also that ἀναύρους is the proper name of a Thessalian stream, but eventually became a generic term for any stream.]