Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ALCESTIS: LAMENT FOR ALCESTIS, by EURIPIDES


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ALCESTIS: LAMENT FOR ALCESTIS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Daughter of pelias, with farewell from me
Last Line: O' the oar that dips the river, back to day!
Subject(s): Lament


Daughter of Pelias, with farewell from me,
I' th' house of Hades, have thy unsunned home!
Let Hades know, the dark-haired deity, --
And he who sits to row and steer alike,
Old corpse-conductor, let him know he bears
Over the Acherontian lake, this time,
I' the two-oared boat, the best -- oh, best by far
Of womanking! For thee, Alkestis Queen!
Many a time those haunters of the Muse
Shall sing thee to the seven-stringed mountain-shell,
And glorify in hymns that need no harp,
At Sparta when the cycle comes about,
And that Karneian month wherein the moon
Rises and never sets the whole night through.
So too at splendid and and magnificent
Athenai. Such the spread of thy renown,
And such the lay that, dying, thou hast left
Singer and sayer. O that I availed
Of my own might to send thee once again
From Hades' hall, Kokutos' stream, by help
O' the oar that dips the river, back to day!




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