Love

Fragment XI (Lang)

by Bion of Smyrna fl. c. 100 BC

Translated by Andrew Lang (1880) · From Theocritus, Bion and Moschus rendered into English Prose (Macmillan, 1889)

Love

Hesperus, golden lamp of the lovely daughter of the foam, dear Hesperus, sacred jewel of the deep blue night, dimmer as much than the moon, as thou art among the stars pre-eminent, hail, friend, and as I lead the revel to the shepherd’s hut, in place of the moonlight lend me thine, for to-day the moon began her course, and too early she sank. I go not free-booting, nor to lie in wait for the benighted traveller, but a lover am I, and ’tis well to favour lovers.

This translation is printed as prose in its source edition.

MLA

Smyrna, Bion of. “Fragment XI (Lang).” Translated by Andrew Lang. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/bion/28/.

Chicago

Smyrna, Bion of. “Fragment XI (Lang).” Translated by Andrew Lang. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/bion/28/.

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