Pastorals Epistles Odes (1748)/The First Olympionique of Pindar

by Pindar

For works with similar titles, see Translations from Pindar.

Layout 2

 

TRANSLATIONS.

 

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THE
First Olympionique of PINDAR.

To Hiero of Syracuse, victorious in the Horse-race.

 

The ARGUMENT.

The Poet praises Hiero for his justice, his wisdom, and his skill in musick. He likewise celebrates the horse that won the race, and the place where the Olympick Games were performed. From the place (namely Peloponnesus) he takes an occasion of digressing to the known fable of Tantalus and Pelops; whence, returning to Hiero, he sets forth the felicity of the Olympian Victors. Then be concludes by praying to the gods, to preserve the glory and dignity of Hiero, admonishing him to moderation of mind, in his high station, and, lastly, glories in his own excellency in compositions of this kind.

 

STROPHE I.Measures 18.

ACH element to water yields;
Amidst the stores of wealth that builds
The mind aloft, is eminently bright
But if, my soul, with fond desire 5
To sing of games thou dost aspire,
As thou by day can'st not descry,
Through all the liquid waste of sky,
One burnish'd star, that like the sun does glow,
And cherish every thing below, 10
So, my sweet soul, no toil divine,
In song, does like the Olympian shine:
Hence do the mighty poets raise
A hymn, of every tongue the praise,
The son of Saturn to resound, 15
When far, from every land, they come
To visit Hiero's regal dome,
Where peace, where plenty, is for ever found:

ANTISTROPHE I.Measures 18.

Lord of Sicilia's fleecy plains,
He governs, righteous in his power, 20
And, all excelling while he reigns,
From every lovely virtue crops the flower:
In musick, blossom of delight,
Divinely skill'd, he cheers the night,
As we are wont, when friends design 25
To feast and wanton o'er their wine:
But from the wall the Dorian harp take down,
If Pisa, city of renown,
And if the fleet victorious steed,
The boast of his unrival'd breed, 30
Heart-pleasing raptures did inspire,
And warm thy breast with sacred fire,
When late, on Alpheus' crouded shore,
Forth-springing quick, each nerve he strain'd,
The warning of the spur disdain'd, 35
And swift to victory his master bore,

EPODE I.Measures 16.

The lov'd Syracusian, the prince of the course,
The king, who delights in the speed of the horse:
Great his glory, great his fame,
Throughout the land where Lydian Pelops came 40
To plant his men, a chosen race,
A land the ocean does embrace,
Pelops, whom Neptune, ruler of the main,
Was known to love, when into life again,
From the reviving cauldron warm, 45
Clotho produc'd him whole, his shoulder-blade,
And its firm brawn, of shining ivory made:
But truth, unvarnish'd, oft neglected lies,
When fabled tales, invented to surprise,
In miracles mighty, have power to charm, 50
Where fictions, happily combin'd,
Deceive and captivate the mind:

STROPHE II.Measures 18.

Thus Poësy, harmonious spell,
The source of pleasures ever new,
With dignity does wonders tell; 55
And we, amaz'd, believe each wonder true.
Day, after day, brings truth to light,
Unveil'd, and manifest to sight:
But, of the bless'd, those lips, which name
Foul deeds aloud, shall suffer blame. 60
Thee, son of Tantalus, my faithful song
Shall vindicate from every wrong,
The glories of thy house restore,
And baffle falshoods told before:
Now, in his turn, thy fire prepar'd 65
A banquet; when the gods appear'd
At Sipylus, his sweet abode,
To grace the due proportion'd feast:
There, first, the trident-bearing guest
Beheld thy lovely form; and now, he glow'd; 70

ANTISTROPHE II.Measures 18.

And now, his soul subdued by love,
Thee in his golden car he bore
Swift to the lofty towers of Jove,
Whose name the nations all around adore:
Thus Ganymede was caught on high, 75
To serve the power who rules the sky.
When thou no longer did'st appear,
And those, who sought a pledge so dear,
Without thee to thy widow'd mother came,
Some envious Neighbour, to defame 80
Thy father's feast, a rumour spread,
The rumour through the country fled,
That thou, to heighten the repast,
Wast into seething water cast,
Fierce bubbling o'er the raging fire, 85
Thy limbs without companion carv'd,
Thy sodden flesh in messes serv'd,
To gorge the gods and a voracious sire:

EPODE II.Measures 16.

But, in thought ever pure, shall I deem it amiss,
Vile Gluttons to call the partakers of bliss: 90
Let me then refrain, and dread:
A curse hangs over the blasphemer's head.
If they, who supervise and ward
The heavens, did ever shew regard
To mortal man this Tantalus might boast, 95
Of mortal men that he was honoured most:
But he not able to digest
The glut, the surfeit, of immortal joys,
One heinous forfeit all his bliss destroys:
For over him the godhead hung, in air, 100
A ponderous stone, a dreadful poise of care!
From his head to remove it, with terrour oppress'd,
In vain he tries, and seeks in vain
One cheerful moment to regain:

STROPHE III.Measures 18.

A life of woe, beyond relief, 105
His portion' now; ordain'd before
To torments of a three-fold grief,
This fourth was added to compleat his store,
Since, high, presuming in his soul,
He nectar and ambrosia stole, 110
To give to men; by which he knew
That, tasting, he immortal grew:
But be not man deceiv'd: the gods reveal
What most we labour to conceal:
For this the powers, who deathless reign, 115
To earth sent down his son again,
To dwell with men, a short-liv'd race,
Whose sudden fate comes on apace.
His flowery age in all its pride,
When, o'er his chin, a blackening shade 120
Of down was cast, a vow he made,
Deep in his soul, to win the proffer'd bride

ANTISTROPHE III.Measures 18.

Hippodamia, boasted name,
From her great sire the Pisan proud.
Alone, by night, the lover came 125
Beside the hoary sea, and call'd aloud
On him who sways the triple spear,
And fills with din the deafen'd ear;
When, at his feet, the god arose:
Then Pelops, eager to disclose 130
His mighty care, "O Neptune, if thy mind
"In love did ever pleasure find,
"Let not Oenomaüs prevail,
"And let his brazen javelin fail:
"Oh! bear me hence, on wheels of speed, 135
"To Elis, to the glorious meed:
"To victory Oh! whirl me, strait:
"Since, after ten, and other three,
"Bold suiters slain, yet still we see,
"From year to year, the promis'd nuptials wait 140

EPODE III.Measures 16.

"Of his daughter. No perilous toil can excite
"The dastard in heart, who despairs of his might.
"Since we all are born to dy,
"Who, overcast, would in oblivion ly,
"In unreputed age decay, 145
"And meanly squander life away,
"Cut off from every praise? Then let me dare
"This conflict, in the dusty lists, to share;
"And prosper thou my glowing wheels.
Thus Pelops spoke; nor was his fervent pray'r 150
Pour'd forth in fruitless words, to waft in air:
The deity his whole ambition grants;
Nor shining car, nor coursers, now he wants:
In the golden bright chariot new vigour he feels,
Exulting in the horses' feet, 155
Unwearied ever, ever fleet:

STROPHE IV.Measures 18.

Oenomaüs, he triumphs o'er
Thy prowess, and, to share his bed,
Claims the bright maid; who to him bore
Six princely sons, to manly virtues bred. 160
Now, solemniz'd with steaming blood,
And pious rites, near Alpheus' flood
Intomb'd, he sleeps, where the altar stands,
That draws the vows of distant lands:
And round his tomb the circling racers strive; 165
And round the wheeling chariots drive.
In thy fam'd courses, Pelops, rise
The Olympian glories to the skies,
And shine afar: there we behold
The stretch of manhood, strenuous, bold, 170
In sore fatigues, and there the strife
Of winged feet. Thrice happy he,
Who overcomes! for he shall see
Unclouded days, and taste the sweets of life,

ANTISTROPHE IV.Measures 18.

Thy boon, O victory! thy prize. 175
The good that, in a day obtain'd,
From day to day fresh joy supplies,
Is the supreme of bliss to man ordain'd:
But let me now the rider raise,
And crown him with Æolian lays, 180
The victor's due: and I confide,
Though every welcome guest were try'd,
Not one, in all the concourse, would be found
For fairest knowledge more renown'd,
Nor yet a master more to twine, 185
In lasting hymns, each wreathing line.
The guardian god, who watchful guides
Thy fortunes, Hiero, presides
O'er all thy cares with anxious pow'r:
And soon, if he does not deny 190
His needful aid, my hopes run high
To sing more pleasing, in the joyful hour,

EPODE IV.Measures 16.

On thy chariot, triumphant when thou shalt appear,
And fly o'er the course with a rapid career,
Tracing paths of language fair, 195
As I to Cronion's sunny mount repair.
Even now the muse prepares to raise,
Her growth, the strongest dart of praise,
For me to wield. Approv'd in other things,
Do others rise, conspicuous: only Kings, 200
High mounting, on the summit fix:
There bound thy view, wide-spread, nor vainly try
Farther to stretch the prospect of thine eye:
Be, then, thy glorious lot to tread sublime,
With steady steps, the measur'd trail of time: 205
Be mine, with the prize-bearing worthies to mix,
In Greece, throughout the learned throng,
Proclaim'd unrival'd in my song.