Olympian V
O Camarina, bright daughter of Ocean, with glad spirit greetHim who the crown of Olympian achievement and glory most sweetBrings for his gifts to thee won by his car-team's unwearying feet,
Psaumis! O nurse of a nation, to magnify thee hath he raisedAltars, twin altars twice three, where at feasts of the Blessèd Ones blazedSteers that were slain; and for five days the goals of the race-course they grazed,
Chariots of horses and mules, and swift coursers. To thee consecratedAll his proud glory was, and to his sire and the burg new-created.
Back from Oenomaus' home and from Pelops' dear dwelling he bringsSongs unto Pallas Protectress of Cities; her precinct he sings,Sings of thy river Oanis, the mere that thine highland enrings.
Hallowèd Hipparis sings he that quencheth thy citizens' thirst,Floating down fast for rebuilding thee trees in his hill-cradle nursed,So that from darkness the light of new life on thy commonwealth burst.
Labour and cost for all noble achievement in one must be blended:Veiled is the issue in risk; but success is for wisdom commended.
Cloud-hidden Saviour, O Zeus who art throned on the Kronian hill-crest,Honourest Alpheus' flood and the cave under Ida's green breast,Suppliant I come to thee, voicing through Lydian flutes my request:
O let this city with chivalry's glory be aye magnified!Thou too, Olympian victor, whose god-nurtured steeds are thy pride,Unto a peaceful old age mayst thou win with thy sons at thy side.
If as a well-watered garden thy bliss be, and if thou desire notMore, with thy wealth and thine honours content—unto godhead aspire not!
Words in this poem
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- burg n.
- A fortified town. [AS. burh, burg, cf. LL. burgus. See 1st Borough.]
- pallas n.
- Pallas Athene, the Grecian goddess of wisdom, called also Athene, and identified, at a later period, with the Roman Minerva.
- protectress n.
- A woman who protects. [NL. protectrix.]
- precinct n.
- The limit or exterior line encompassing a place; a boundary; a confine; limit of jurisdiction or authority; -- often in the plural; as, the precincts of a state. [LL. praecinctum, fr. L. praecingere, praecinctum, to gird about, to encompass; prae before + cingere to gird, surround. See Pre-, and Cincture.]
- commonwealth n.
- A state; a body politic consisting of a certain number of men, united, by compact or tacit agreement, under one form of government and system of laws. [Common + wealth well-being.]
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- saviour n.
- One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
- suppliant a.
- Asking earnestly and submissively; entreating; beseeching; supplicating. [F., p.pr. of supplier to entreat, L. supplicare. See Supplicate, and cf. Supplicant.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- aspire v. t.
- To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Olympian V 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 V, in The Odes of Pindar (1922), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pindar-odes/olympian-5.html, id L29128.
Form and metre
Olympian V is 24 lines in 9 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 75% 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 AAA greetA · sweetA · feetA
- 2 AAA raisedA · blazedA · grazedA
- 3 AA consecratedA · createdA
- 4 AAA bringsA · singsA · enringsA
- 5 AAA thirstA · nursedA · burstA
- 6 AA blendedA · commendedA
- 7 AAA crestA · breastA · requestA
- 8 AAA magnifiedA · prideA · sideA
- 9 AA notA · notA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O Camarina, bright daughter of Ocean, with glad spirit greet | 16 | ······/˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Him who the crown of Olympian achievement and glory most sweet | 16 | ·····˘/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Brings for his gifts to thee won by his car-team's unwearying feet, | 15 | ··············· |
| Psaumis! O nurse of a nation, to magnify thee hath he raised | 16 | ······/˘·/˘····· |
| Altars, twin altars twice three, where at feasts of the Blessèd Ones blazed | 16 | /˘·/˘··········˘ |
| Steers that were slain; and for five days the goals of the race-course they grazed, | 16 | ················ |
| Chariots of horses and mules, and swift coursers. To thee consecrated | 17 | /˘·/˘····/˘··/˘·˘ |
| All his proud glory was, and to his sire and the burg new-created. | 17 | ···/˘····/····˘/˘ |
| Back from Oenomaus' home and from Pelops' dear dwelling he brings | 15 | ···········/˘·· |
| Songs unto Pallas Protectress of Cities; her precinct he sings, | 16 | ·········/˘·/··· |
| Sings of thy river Oanis, the mere that thine highland enrings. | 15 | ···/˘······/˘·· |
| Hallowèd Hipparis sings he that quencheth thy citizens' thirst, | 15 | ········/˘·/˘˘· |
| Floating down fast for rebuilding thee trees in his hill-cradle nursed, | 16 | /˘···˘/˘·····/˘· |
| So that from darkness the light of new life on thy commonwealth burst. | 16 | ···/˘·······/˘·· |
| Labour and cost for all noble achievement in one must be blended: | 17 | /·····/˘˘/˘····/˘ |
| Veiled is the issue in risk; but success is for wisdom commended. | 17 | ···/˘···˘/··/˘˘/˘ |
| Cloud-hidden Saviour, O Zeus who art throned on the Kronian hill-crest, | 16 | ·/˘/˘··········· |
| Honourest Alpheus' flood and the cave under Ida's green breast, | 15 | /˘˘········/˘·· |
| Suppliant I come to thee, voicing through Lydian flutes my request: | 17 | /˘˘····/˘·/˘˘··˘/ |
| O let this city with chivalry's glory be aye magnified! | 16 | ···/˘·/˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| Thou too, Olympian victor, whose god-nurtured steeds are thy pride, | 16 | ··˘/˘˘/˘··/˘···· |
| Unto a peaceful old age mayst thou win with thy sons at thy side. | 16 | ···/˘··········· |
| If as a well-watered garden thy bliss be, and if thou desire not | 17 | ····/˘/˘······˘/· |
| More, with thy wealth and thine honours content—unto godhead aspire not! | 17 | ······/˘/˘··/·˘/· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.