Death & Dying
Book VIII, 2: On St. Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia
Translated by W. R. Paton (1916–18) · From The Greek Anthology (Loeb, vol. II, 1917)
Methought, dear Basil, servant of Christ, that a body could sooner live without a soul than myself without thee. But I bore it and remained. Why do we delay? Wilt thou not lift me up on high and set me in the company of thyself and the blessed ones? Desert me not, I supplicate by thy tomb ! Never, even if I would, shall I forget thee. It is the word of Gregory.
This translation is printed as prose in its source edition.
Cite this poem
MLA
Nazianzus, Gregory of. “Book VIII, 2: On St. Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia.” Translated by W. R. Paton. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/gregory-nazianzus/3/.
Chicago
Nazianzus, Gregory of. “Book VIII, 2: On St. Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia.” Translated by W. R. Paton. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/gregory-nazianzus/3/.
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