Nature

Book IX, 222: A Dolphin speaks

by Antiphilus of Byzantium 1st century AD

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

Nature

I rook on my back the dripping corpse and bore it to the beach; the beast saved the man, the sea creature that of the land, the living the dead. But what did it avail me? I swam from sea to land, and receive death as payment for my porterage. We interchanged destinies. His land slew me, and my water slew him who belonged to the land.

This translation is printed as prose in its source edition.

MLA

Byzantium, Antiphilus of. “Book IX, 222: A Dolphin speaks.” Translated by W. R. Paton. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/antiphilus/30/.

Chicago

Byzantium, Antiphilus of. “Book IX, 222: A Dolphin speaks.” Translated by W. R. Paton. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/antiphilus/30/.

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