Olympian XII
Hear, O thou Daughter of Zeus the Deliverer, Fortune the SaverFrom peril! Keep watch and ward, I implore,Over Himera, burg of the far-stretching might; for 'tis by thy favourThat ships be steered to their haven-shoreOver the sea; and torrent-like wars, and council-decisionsBe guided on land. Tossed high, whelmed lowBe the hopes of men, as over a sea of delusive visionsCleaving the treacherous waves they go.
But through all the years never any of men on the earth abidingHath found sure tokens from God to revealHow he shall fare in the days to come, but in darkness hidingAre the future's warnings of woe or weal.Many chances to men have befallen, yea, past all expectation:Some plunge from joy into sorrow's abyss;And some, who have battled with troublous surges, by sudden mutationTheir anguish have changed for the height of bliss.
O son of Philanor, verily even thy swift feet's gloryHad as dead leaves faded, unmarked, uncrowned,There by the hearth of thy fathers: thy name had been heard not in story;As a home-fighting cock hadst thou been unrenowned,Had contention in Knossus of burgher with burgher in conflict goryIn the homeland not left thee no foot of ground.But now at Olympia, Ergoteles, winning a victory-garlandAnd at Isthmus, at Pytho, twain—by theseThou exaltest to honour the steaming Baths of the Nymphs in a far land,On thine own lands dwelling in stormless peace.
Words in this poem
- deliverer n.
- One who delivers or rescues; a preserver.
- burg n.
- A fortified town. [AS. burh, burg, cf. LL. burgus. See 1st Borough.]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- 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,]
- troublous a.
- Full of trouble; causing trouble.
- burgher n.
- A freeman of a burgh or borough, entitled to enjoy the privileges of the place; any inhabitant of a borough. [From burgh; akin to D. burger, G. bürger, Dan. borger, Sw. borgare. See Burgh.]
- gory a.
- Covered with gore or clotted blood. [From Gore.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- stormless a.
- Without storms.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Olympian XII 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, Olympian XII, in The Odes of Pindar (1922), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pindar-odes/olympian-12.html, id L29135.
Form and metre
Olympian XII is 26 lines in 3 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas.
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 ABABCDCD saverA · imploreB · favourA · shoreB · decisionsC · lowD · visionsC · goD
- 2 ABABCDCD abidingA · revealB · hidingA · wealB · expectationC · abyssD · mutationC · blissD
- 3 ABABABB-B- gloryA · uncrownedB · storyA · unrenownedB · goryA · groundB · garlandB · these · landB · peace
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hear, O thou Daughter of Zeus the Deliverer, Fortune the Saver | 16 | ···/˘···˘/˘/˘·/˘ |
| From peril! Keep watch and ward, I implore, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Over Himera, burg of the far-stretching might; for 'tis by thy favour | 17 | ········/˘·····/˘ |
| That ships be steered to their haven-shore | 10 | ····˘··/˘· |
| Over the sea; and torrent-like wars, and council-decisions | 14 | ····/˘···/˘˘/˘ |
| Be guided on land. Tossed high, whelmed low | 10 | ·/˘···˘··· |
| Be the hopes of men, as over a sea of delusive visions | 15 | ··········˘/˘/˘ |
| Cleaving the treacherous waves they go. | 9 | /˘·/˘˘··· |
| But through all the years never any of men on the earth abiding | 16 | ·····//˘·····˘/˘ |
| Hath found sure tokens from God to reveal | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| How he shall fare in the days to come, but in darkness hiding | 15 | ···········/˘/˘ |
| Are the future's warnings of woe or weal. | 10 | ··/˘/˘···· |
| Many chances to men have befallen, yea, past all expectation: | 16 | //˘···˘/˘····˘/˘ |
| Some plunge from joy into sorrow's abyss; | 10 | ······/˘˘/ |
| And some, who have battled with troublous surges, by sudden mutation | 17 | ····/˘·/˘/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| Their anguish have changed for the height of bliss. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| O son of Philanor, verily even thy swift feet's glory | 15 | ······/˘˘/···/˘ |
| Had as dead leaves faded, unmarked, uncrowned, | 10 | ····/˘˘/·· |
| There by the hearth of thy fathers: thy name had been heard not in story; | 17 | ······/˘·······/˘ |
| As a home-fighting cock hadst thou been unrenowned, | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| Had contention in Knossus of burgher with burgher in conflict gory | 18 | ·˘/˘····/˘·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| In the homeland not left thee no foot of ground. | 11 | ··/········ |
| But now at Olympia, Ergoteles, winning a victory-garland | 16 | ···˘/˘···/˘·/˘/˘ |
| And at Isthmus, at Pytho, twain—by these | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Thou exaltest to honour the steaming Baths of the Nymphs in a far land, | 18 | ·˘/˘·/˘·/˘········ |
| On thine own lands dwelling in stormless peace. | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
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