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Tuesday, 21 November 2023

The Tyrian Landscape - Nonnus of Panopolis

Furrows the calm main
The Tyrian sailor with his oar,
And the ploughman, the green soil
By the sylvan shore.
The lowing of the oxen,
And the bird-song sweet and free,
Answer the deep roar
Of the tideless sea.
Under green boughs
The wood-nymph, reclining,
Hears the voice of the sea-nymph,
In love-songs repining.
The breezes from Lebanon,
Laden with perfume,
The tree-tops caress,
And their journey resume;
Fanning the cheek of the rustic,
Weary with labor at midday,
And speeding white sails
As they glide far away.

Nonnus of Panopolis (end 4th - early 5th century) Egypt
Translated by Frederic Rowland Marvin
Source: Flowers of song from many lands; being short poems and detached verses gathered from various languages and rendered into English by Frederic Rowland Marvin,  Pafraets Book Company, 1902

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