O DAUGHTER of Pelias, Hail to you in the house of Hades, In the sunless home where you shall dwell! Let Hades, the dark-haired God, Let the old man, Leader of the Dead, Who sits at the oar and helm, Know you: Far, far off is the best of women Borne beyond the flood of Acheron In the two-oared boat! Often shall the Muses' servants Sing of you to the seven-toned Lyre-shell of the mountain-tortoise, And praise you with mourning songs at Sparta When the circling season Brings back the month Carneius Under the nightlong upraised moon And in bright glad Athens. Such a theme do you leave by your death For the music of singers! Ah! That I had the power To bring you back to the light From the dark halls of Hades, And from the waves of Cocytus With the oar of the river of hell! O, you only, O dearest of women, You only dared give your life For the life of your lord in Hades! Light rest the earth above you, O woman. If your lord choose another bridal-bed He shall be hateful to me As to your own children. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FRAGMENTS WRITTEN WHILE TRAVELING...A MIDWESTERN HEAT WAVE by JAMES GALVIN BONDAGE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON A BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 8 by THOMAS CAMPION THE TEMPEST: PROLOGUE by JOHN DRYDEN PATIENCE by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE WHEN I HEARD AT THE CLOSE OF THE DAY by WALT WHITMAN A CHRONICLE by WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE |