Love
Book XII, 84
Translated by W. R. Paton (1916–18) · From The Greek Anthology (Loeb, vol. IV, 1918)
Save me, good sirs! No sooner, saved from the sea, have I set foot on land, fresh from my first voyage, than Love drags me here by force, and as if bearing a torch in front of me, turns me to look on the loveliness of a boy. I tread in his footing, and seizing on his sweet image, formed in air, I kiss it sweetly with my lips. Have I then escaped the briny sea but to cross on land the flood of Cypris that is far more bitter ?
This translation is printed as prose in its source edition.
Cite this poem
MLA
Gadara, Meleager of. “Book XII, 84.” Translated by W. R. Paton. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/meleager/94/.
Chicago
Gadara, Meleager of. “Book XII, 84.” Translated by W. R. Paton. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/meleager/94/.
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