Venice masks

Wednesday 30 January 2019

Erinna - Antipater of Sidon

Few are Erinna's verses nor is she wordy in her songs,
    but this her little work is inspired.
Therefore she does not fail to be remembered,
    and is not held hidden under the shadowy wing of black night.
But we, stranger, the countless myriads of later singers,
    lie in heaps withering from oblivion.
The low song of the swan is better than the cawing of jackdaws
    echoing far and wide through the clouds of spring.

Antipater of Sidon (2nd century BC) Lebanon (lived in Rome)
Translated by W. R. Paton
Source: Translations of Greek and Latin Poetry (taken from Greek Anthology, Volume II, edited by W. R. Paton, William Heinemann Ltd. 1917

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