Pindar and Anacreon/Anacreon/Ode 48

by Anacreon

ODE XLVIII.—HAPPY LIFE.

Oh! for the harp, the harp of fire,
That godlike Homer strung:
But ah! on such a blood-stain'd lyre
Could love's soft notes be sung?

No! let the measured cups be brought,^[1]
And from this scroll divine
I'll read the laws which Bacchus taught
To votaries of the wine.

Then warm in heart, but wisely gay,^[2]
I'll join the sportive throng;

With joy the merry harp I'll play,
And thrill the jovial song.

1. The custom of appointing a master of the revels by the cast of a die has already been alluded to.—See ode xiv.
2. I find but few commentators who have noticed the very singular expression of the original in this passage. It means literally, "preserving the mind;" and is intended to express that degree of pleasurable excitement which exhilarates the spirits without overpowering the senses; or, as Cowper says,
   

   "Cups which cheer but not inebriate:"

   though the remark is certainly applied to a beverage of a very different nature.