Nature

Book IX, 122: To a Swallow

by Anonymous (Greek Anthology) various, 7th c. BC – 10th c. AD

Translated by W. R. Paton (1916–18) · From The Greek Anthology (Loeb, vol. III, 1917)

Nature

Honey-nurtured child of Athens, is it a prattling cicada that thy prattling self has caught and carries for a feast to thy winged brood? Dost thou, the chatterer, prey on the chatterer; thou, the winged, on the winged; thou, the guest of summer, on the guest of summer? Wilt thou not drop it at once; it is neither meet nor just that singers should perish by mouths skilled in song.

This translation is printed as prose in its source edition.

✦ ✦ ✦

By some assigned to Evenus.

MLA

Anonymous (Greek Anthology). “Book IX, 122: To a Swallow.” Translated by W. R. Paton. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-greek-anthology/415/.

Chicago

Anonymous (Greek Anthology). “Book IX, 122: To a Swallow.” Translated by W. R. Paton. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-greek-anthology/415/.

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