THE WISH

by: Anacreon (c.572-488 BC)

      IOBE on Phrygian sands
      Turn'd a weeping statue stands,
      And the Pandionian Maid
      In a swallow's wings array'd;
      But a mirror I would be,
      To be look'd on still by thee;
      Or the gown wherein thou'rt drest,
      That I might thy limbs invest;
      Or a crystal spring, wherein
      Thou might'st bathe thy purer skin;
      Or sweet unguents, to anoint
      And make supple every joint;
      Or a knot, thy breast to deck;
      Or a chain, to clasp thy neck;
      Or thy shoe I wish to be,
      That thou might'st but tread on me.
       
      TRANSLATED BY THOMAS STANLEY, 1651

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