Nemean VIII
Queen of the beauty of youth, thou herald of Aphrodite's celestial yearning,Who on eyelids of boys and of maidens enthroned, in hands spell-weaving for ever art turningOur destinies to and fro, unto this man allotting joy, and to that man grief,Sweet is it for one who hath transgressed never in aught that he doeth the right's due measureTo be suffered to grasp the fulfilment of life's most noble aims, of his heart's dream-treasure.
Such spirits were they who dispensed the Cyprian's gifts in the hour of the love-communionOf Olympian Zeus and the Nymph Aegina, and born was Oenone's king of their union,One peerless in prowess and counsel; and many a time men prayed to behold that chief;For of all the heroes that dwelt around him exceeding fain were their goodliest flower,Unchallenged of any, to bow in subjection before him, obeying his sovran power,
Alike the heroes that marshalled the host in Athens' crag-built town,And they that in Sparta traced their long descent from Pelops down.Lo, I come as a suppliant clasping the holy knees of Aiakus, bringingFor his city and people a Lydian crown fair-woven, with sweet song ringing,For the foot-race victories Deinias and Megas his father at Nemea won;For longest enduring mid men is prosperity sown with the blessing of God thereon;
So of old were riches on Kinyras heaped in Cyprus ringed with the sea-crests hoary.Lo, upon light-poised feet do I stand, drawing breath till again I take up the story;For in manifold wise many tales have been told; but to coin new thoughts and to put to assayOf the touchstone—this is perilous all. A dainty morsel are heroes' praisesFor envy's fang: she leaps on the great, but against the mean not a hand she raises.
By her was Telamon's son devoured, by whose hand through his side was his own sword driven.For the tongue-tied, how stout soever of heart, when the bitter strife of words is striven,Is oblivion's thrall; but shiftful lying beareth the goodliest guerdons away.For by fraudful voting the Danaans showed to Odysseus favour, for truth uncaring;And Aias, robbed of the golden armour, wrestled with death in his mad despairing.
Ha, diverse the wounds were they tore in the quivering flesh of foes, these twain,When under the onset of storming spears men reeled in the battle-strainNow o'er the fresh-stricken corse of Achilles, anon in the conflict-travailOf days wide-ruining! Ay, for of old the hate of malignant cavilConsorted with cunning speech, and imagined deceit and the venomous sneer. Ah yes,The bright names still it assails, and exalts the abjects' fame which is rottenness.
Never in me be such spirit as this, O Father Zeus! May I still be cleavingTo the paths of a life of innocency, and so unto death may I pass down, leavingTo my sons no name of evil repute! Some pray for gold, and others for landWithout limit: be I to my fellow-men well-pleasing, ever extolling the loverOf righteousness, ever rebuking the doer of wrong, till the earth my limbs shall cover.
Ever groweth the fame of a noble life, as a tree that is quickened by dews down-drifted:Yea, so by poets inspired and righteous high as the heavens its glory is lifted.Of manifold sort be the uses of friends; but the chiefest of all is the helping handIn trouble. Yet also doth happiness crave some certain assurance of bliss to inherit.It is nowise within my power, O Megas, to call back again into life thy spirit:
Nay, vain is the end of baseless hopes! Yet for thee and thy Chariad lineI lightly may rear a pillar of song for feet of fair omen, thineAnd thy son's. With gladness unfeigned am I now the exultant praise outpealingThat befitteth your deeds. By the spell of song hath the singer oft brought healingTo the faintness of toil: yea, victory-chants processional rang in the olden days,Long ere the flame of the feud 'twixt Kadmus' sons and Adrastus began to blaze.
Words in this poem 33
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- prowess n.
- Distinguished bravery; valor; especially, military bravery and skill; gallantry; intrepidity; fearlessness. Chaucer. Sir P. Sidney. [OF. proece, proesce, F. prouesse. See Prow, a.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- sovran a.
- A variant of Sovereign.
- suppliant a.
- Asking earnestly and submissively; entreating; beseeching; supplicating. [F., p.pr. of supplier to entreat, L. supplicare. See Supplicate, and cf. Supplicant.]
- thereon adv.
- On that or this. [AS. . See There, and On.]
- cyprus n.
- A thin, transparent stuff, the same as, or corresponding to, crape. It was either white or black, the latter being most common, and used for mourning. [OE. cipres, cypirs; perh. so named as being first manufactured in Cyprus. Cf. Cipers.]
- hoary a.
- White or whitish."The hoary willows."
- touchstone n.
- Lydian stone; basanite; -- so called because used to test the purity of gold and silver by the streak which is left upon the stone when it is rubbed by the metal. See Basanite.
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- fang v. t.
- To catch; to seize, as with the teeth; to lay hold of; to gripe; to clutch. [OE. fangen, fongen, fon (g orig. only in p.p. and imp. tense), AS. f; akin to D. vangen, OHG. fahan, G. fahen, fangen, Isel. fa, Sw. f, f, Dan. fange, faae, Got]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- fraudful a.
- Full of fraud, deceit, or treachery; trickish; treacherous; fraudulent; -- applied to persons or things. I. Taylor.
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- armour n.
- Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
- despairing a.
- Feeling or expressing despair; hopeless.
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- storming a.
- from Storm, v. Storming party (Mil.), a party assigned to the duty of making the first assault in storming a fortress.
- stricken p. p.
- Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer.
- corse n.
- A living body or its bulk. [OF. cors, F. corps. See Corpse.]
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- righteousness n.
- The quality or state of being righteous; holiness; purity; uprightness; rectitude. [AS. rihtwisnes.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- chiefest a.
- First or foremost; chief; principal. [Superl. of Chief.]
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- nowise adv.
- Not in any manner or degree; in no way; noways. [For in no wise. See Wise, n.]
- baseless a.
- Without a base; having no foundation or support.
- unfeigned a.
- Not feigned; not counterfeit; not hypocritical; real; sincere; genuine; as, unfeigned piety; unfeigned love to man.
- exultant a.
- Inclined to exult; characterized by, or expressing, exultation; rejoicing triumphantly. [L. exsultans, exsultantis, p. pr. of exsultare. See Exult.]
- faintness n.
- The state of being faint; loss of strength, or of consciousness, and self-control.
- processional a.
- Of or pertaining to a procession; consisting in a procession.
- olden a.
- Old; ancient; as, the olden time.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Nemean VIII is in the public domain. This text is taken from Pindar in English Verse, Internet Archive, the Arthur S. Way translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Pindar, Nemean VIII, in The Odes of Pindar (1922), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pindar-odes/nemean-8.html, id L29157.
Form and metre
Nemean VIII is 48 lines in 9 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines.
See other poems in rhyming couplets.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AA-BB yearningA · turningA · grief · measureB · treasureB
- 2 AA-BB communionA · unionA · chief · flowerB · powerB
- 3 AABB-- townA · downA · bringingB · ringingB · won · thereon
- 4 AA-BB hoaryA · storyA · assay · praisesB · raisesB
- 5 AA-BB drivenA · strivenA · away · uncaringB · despairingB
- 6 AA---- twainA · strainA · travail · cavil · yes · rottenness
- 7 AA-BB cleavingA · leavingA · land · loverB · coverB
- 8 AA--- driftedA · liftedA · hand · inherit · spirit
- 9 AABBCC lineA · thineA · outpealingB · healingB · daysC · blazeC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Queen of the beauty of youth, thou herald of Aphrodite's celestial yearning, | 20 | ···/˘···/˘··˘/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Who on eyelids of boys and of maidens enthroned, in hands spell-weaving for ever art turning | 22 | ··/·····/˘·····/˘·/·/˘ |
| Our destinies to and fro, unto this man allotting joy, and to that man grief, | 19 | //˘·······˘/˘······ |
| Sweet is it for one who hath transgressed never in aught that he doeth the right's due measure | 20 | ·······˘//········/˘ |
| To be suffered to grasp the fulfilment of life's most noble aims, of his heart's dream-treasure. | 22 | ··/˘·········/˘·····/˘ |
| Such spirits were they who dispensed the Cyprian's gifts in the hour of the love-communion | 21 | ·/˘···˘/·/˘···/···˘/˘ |
| Of Olympian Zeus and the Nymph Aegina, and born was Oenone's king of their union, | 21 | ·˘/˘···············/˘ |
| One peerless in prowess and counsel; and many a time men prayed to behold that chief; | 20 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·/·····˘/·· |
| For of all the heroes that dwelt around him exceeding fain were their goodliest flower, | 20 | ····/˘·····˘/˘·····/ |
| Unchallenged of any, to bow in subjection before him, obeying his sovran power, | 22 | ˘/˘·/˘···˘/˘···˘/˘·/˘/ |
| Alike the heroes that marshalled the host in Athens' crag-built town, | 16 | ˘/·/˘·/˘···/˘··· |
| And they that in Sparta traced their long descent from Pelops down. | 15 | ····/˘···˘/···· |
| Lo, I come as a suppliant clasping the holy knees of Aiakus, bringing | 19 | ·····/˘˘/˘·/˘····/˘ |
| For his city and people a Lydian crown fair-woven, with sweet song ringing, | 20 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘˘··/˘···/˘ |
| For the foot-race victories Deinias and Megas his father at Nemea won; | 18 | ····/˘···/˘·/˘···· |
| For longest enduring mid men is prosperity sown with the blessing of God thereon; | 21 | ·/˘˘/˘···˘/˘···/˘··˘/ |
| So of old were riches on Kinyras heaped in Cyprus ringed with the sea-crests hoary. | 21 | ····/˘······/˘·····/˘ |
| Lo, upon light-poised feet do I stand, drawing breath till again I take up the story; | 21 | ·········/˘··˘/····/˘ |
| For in manifold wise many tales have been told; but to coin new thoughts and to put to assay | 22 | ··/˘··/·············/˘ |
| Of the touchstone—this is perilous all. A dainty morsel are heroes' praises | 19 | ··/···/˘··/˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| For envy's fang: she leaps on the great, but against the mean not a hand she raises. | 20 | ·/˘···············/˘ |
| By her was Telamon's son devoured, by whose hand through his side was his own sword driven. | 19 | ···/˘·˘/··········/ |
| For the tongue-tied, how stout soever of heart, when the bitter strife of words is striven, | 21 | ······˘/˘····/˘····/˘ |
| Is oblivion's thrall; but shiftful lying beareth the goodliest guerdons away. | 19 | ·˘/˘····/˘/˘·····˘/ |
| For by fraudful voting the Danaans showed to Odysseus favour, for truth uncaring; | 21 | ··/˘/˘·····˘/˘/˘··˘/˘ |
| And Aias, robbed of the golden armour, wrestled with death in his mad despairing. | 19 | ·····/˘/˘/˘·····˘/˘ |
| Ha, diverse the wounds were they tore in the quivering flesh of foes, these twain, | 16 | ·/·······/˘····· |
| When under the onset of storming spears men reeled in the battle-strain | 17 | ····/··/˘·····/˘· |
| Now o'er the fresh-stricken corse of Achilles, anon in the conflict-travail | 19 | ····/˘··˘/˘˘/··˘/˘/ |
| Of days wide-ruining! Ay, for of old the hate of malignant cavil | 17 | ···/˘·······˘/˘/˘ |
| Consorted with cunning speech, and imagined deceit and the venomous sneer. Ah yes, | 20 | ˘/˘·/˘··˘/˘˘/··/˘··· |
| The bright names still it assails, and exalts the abjects' fame which is rottenness. | 19 | ·····˘/·˘/········· |
| Never in me be such spirit as this, O Father Zeus! May I still be cleaving | 18 | /····/···/˘·····/˘ |
| To the paths of a life of innocency, and so unto death may I pass down, leaving | 22 | ·······/˘˘˘·········/˘ |
| To my sons no name of evil repute! Some pray for gold, and others for land | 18 | ······/˘/·····/˘·· |
| Without limit: be I to my fellow-men well-pleasing, ever extolling the lover | 21 | ··/˘····/˘··/˘/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Of righteousness, ever rebuking the doer of wrong, till the earth my limbs shall cover. | 19 | ·/˘/˘/˘··········/˘ |
| Ever groweth the fame of a noble life, as a tree that is quickened by dews down-drifted: | 22 | //˘····/˘······/˘···/˘ |
| Yea, so by poets inspired and righteous high as the heavens its glory is lifted. | 21 | ···/˘˘/·/˘···/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Of manifold sort be the uses of friends; but the chiefest of all is the helping hand | 22 | ·/˘····/˘····/˘····/˘· |
| In trouble. Yet also doth happiness crave some certain assurance of bliss to inherit. | 22 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘··/˘˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| It is nowise within my power, O Megas, to call back again into life thy spirit: | 21 | ··/˘···/·/˘···˘/····/ |
| Nay, vain is the end of baseless hopes! Yet for thee and thy Chariad line | 17 | ······/˘········· |
| I lightly may rear a pillar of song for feet of fair omen, thine | 17 | ·/˘···/˘······/˘· |
| And thy son's. With gladness unfeigned am I now the exultant praise outpealing | 19 | ····/˘˘/····˘/˘···· |
| That befitteth your deeds. By the spell of song hath the singer oft brought healing | 19 | ·˘/˘·········/˘··/˘ |
| To the faintness of toil: yea, victory-chants processional rang in the olden days, | 19 | ··/˘···/˘·˘/˘···/˘· |
| Long ere the flame of the feud 'twixt Kadmus' sons and Adrastus began to blaze. | 19 | ···············˘/·· |
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