Nature

Book IX, 439: On a Skull

by Crinagoras of Mytilene c. 70 BC – after AD 11

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

Nature

Once hairy crown, deserted shell of the eye, fabric of the tongueless mouth, feeble fence of the brain, relic of the unburied dead, set by the wayside to draw a tear from passers-by, thou liest there by the path near the tree-trunk, that looking on thee we may learn what profit there is in being thrifty of life.

This translation is printed as prose in its source edition.

MLA

Mytilene, Crinagoras of. “Book IX, 439: On a Skull.” Translated by W. R. Paton. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/crinagoras/36/.

Chicago

Mytilene, Crinagoras of. “Book IX, 439: On a Skull.” Translated by W. R. Paton. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/crinagoras/36/.

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