Pythian VI
Hear! for our ploughshare is sunderingThe glebe-furrows of starry-eyedAphrodite, where Graces guideOur feet drawing nigh to the shrineAt the navel of earth hollow-thundering,Where for Emmenus' heaven-blest lineAnd for Akragas' city enfoldenBy her river, and, more than all,For Xenocrates, riseth the hallOf a treasure-house song-upholdenIn Apollo's glen of the goldenGifts gracing his temple-wall.
That treasure no rain-storm, hurlingIts pitiless hosts from the cloudAmid thunders crashing loudShall sweep to abysses of seaBy the storm-wind with shingle-drift swirling;But the porch of our treasuryIn brightness unsullied shall flame, itShall publish the triumph afar,Thrasybulus, won by thy carIn Krisa; and men shall acclaim itFor thy sire and thy kindred, shall name itTheir glory, their splendour-star.
At thy right hand thou settest him ever,And so by the charge dost thou holdWhich of yore mid the hills, it is told,To Achilles the child left loneDid Philyra's son deliver,Unto Peleus' mighty son:' First of Abiders in HeavenKronion do thou adoreLord of the thunder's roar,And be reverence alway givenUnto thy parents, evenTo the end, till life be o'er.'
This selfsame spirit aforetimeDid mighty Antilochus bear:For his father's sake did he dareThat Aethiop chief's death-strokeWhen Memnon prevailed in the war-time.For trammelled was Nestor's yokeBy the steed on the red earth lyingBy the arrow of Paris shot.Ever nearer was havoc wroughtBy the lance that Memnon was plying;And the sire to his son spake, cryingFor help, being terror-distraught.
That cry on the air was not wasted;But withstanding a mightier alone,His father's life with his ownThat godlike son redeemed,And death's cup of glory he tasted.So in after days he seemedTo the sons of each new generationIn those old times bygoneEver the noblest sonIn filial love's consecration.Now—by none out of any nationIs Thrasybulus outdone
In the duty ordained of our fathers.With his sire's brother's glory he vies,Is in usance of wealth ever wise,Nor in arrogance lawlesslyGrasps at youth's pleasures, but gathersFlower-wisdom of poesyTo the Muses' hid garden ascending.And he draweth nigh unto thee,O Earth-shaker, Lord of the sea,In thy chariot-contests contending.More sweet is his guest-befriendingThan the celled honeycomb of the bee.
Words in this poem 24
- ploughshare n.
- The share of a plow, or that part which cuts the slice of earth or sod at the bottom of the furrow. Plowshare bone (Anat.), the pygostyle.
- aphrodite n.
- The Greek goddess of love, corresponding to the Venus of the Romans.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- crashing n.
- The noise of many things falling and breaking at once.
- 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,]
- shingle n.
- Round, water-worn, and loose gravel and pebbles, or a collection of roundish stones, such as are common on the seashore and elsewhere. [Prob. from Norw. singl, singling, coarse gravel, small round stones.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- acclaim v. i.
- To shout applause.
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- selfsame a.
- Precisely the same; the very same; identical. [Self, a. + same.]
- aforetime adv.
- In time past; formerly.
- memnon n.
- A celebrated Egyptian statue near Thebes, said to have the property of emitting a harplike sound at sunrise.
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- havoc n.
- Wide and general destruction; devastation; waste. [W. hafog devastation, havoc; or, if this be itself fr. E. havoc, cf. OE. havot, or AS. hafoc hawk, which is a cruel or rapacious bird, or F. hai, voux! a cry to]
- bygone n.
- Something gone by or past; a past event.
- filial a.
- Of or pertaining to a son or daughter; becoming to a child in relation to his parents; as, filial obedience. [L. filialis, fr. filius son, filia daughter; akin to e. female, feminine. Cf. Fitz.]
- usance n.
- Use; usage; employment. [F. See Use, v. t.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- poesy n.
- The art of composing poems; poetical skill or faculty; as, the heavenly gift of poesy. [F. poésie (cf. It. poesia), L. poesis, from Gr. Posy.]
- shaker n.
- A person or thing that shakes, or by means of which something is shaken.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Pythian VI 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, Pythian VI, in The Odes of Pindar (1922), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pindar-odes/pythian-6.html, id L29143.
Form and metre
Pythian VI is 72 lines in 6 stanzas of 12 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 73%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABBCACDEEDDE sunderingA · eyedB · guideB · shrineC · thunderingA · lineC · enfoldenD · allE · hallE · upholdenD · goldenD · wallE
- 2 ABB-A-CDDCCD hurlingA · cloudB · loudB · sea · swirlingA · treasury · itC · afarD · carD · itC · itC · starD
- 3 -AAB-BBCCB-- ever · holdA · toldA · loneB · deliver · sonB · heavenB · adoreC · roarC · givenB · even · o'er
- 4 ABBCACD-EDDE aforetimeA · bearB · dareB · strokeC · timeA · yokeC · lyingD · shot · wroughtE · plyingD · cryingD · distraughtE
- 5 ABBCACDDEDDE wastedA · aloneB · ownB · redeemedC · tastedA · seemedC · generationD · bygoneD · sonE · consecrationD · nationD · outdoneE
- 6 AAA-A-BCCBBC fathersA · viesA · wiseA · lawlessly · gathersA · poesy · ascendingB · theeC · seaC · contendingB · befriendingB · beeC
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. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Hear! for our ploughshare is sundering | 10 | ··/˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| The glebe-furrows of starry-eyed | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Aphrodite, where Graces guide | 8 | ·˘/˘·/˘· |
| Our feet drawing nigh to the shrine | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| At the navel of earth hollow-thundering, | 11 | ··/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| Where for Emmenus' heaven-blest line | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| And for Akragas' city enfolden | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| By her river, and, more than all, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| For Xenocrates, riseth the hall | 8 | ········ |
| Of a treasure-house song-upholden | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| In Apollo's glen of the golden | 9 | ·˘/˘···/˘ |
| Gifts gracing his temple-wall. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| That treasure no rain-storm, hurling | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Its pitiless hosts from the cloud | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Amid thunders crashing loud | 7 | ˘//˘/˘· |
| Shall sweep to abysses of sea | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| By the storm-wind with shingle-drift swirling; | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| But the porch of our treasury | 9 | ····/˘/˘˘ |
| In brightness unsullied shall flame, it | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘··· |
| Shall publish the triumph afar, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Thrasybulus, won by thy car | 8 | ········ |
| In Krisa; and men shall acclaim it | 9 | ······˘/· |
| For thy sire and thy kindred, shall name it | 10 | ··/··/˘··· |
| Their glory, their splendour-star. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| At thy right hand thou settest him ever, | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| And so by the charge dost thou hold | 8 | ········ |
| Which of yore mid the hills, it is told, | 9 | ········· |
| To Achilles the child left lone | 8 | ·˘/˘···· |
| Did Philyra's son deliver, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Unto Peleus' mighty son: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| ' First of Abiders in Heaven | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Kronion do thou adore | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Lord of the thunder's roar, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And be reverence alway given | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Unto thy parents, even | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| To the end, till life be o'er.' | 7 | ······· |
| This selfsame spirit aforetime | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Did mighty Antilochus bear: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For his father's sake did he dare | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| That Aethiop chief's death-stroke | 6 | ······ |
| When Memnon prevailed in the war-time. | 10 | ·/·˘/˘···· |
| For trammelled was Nestor's yoke | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| By the steed on the red earth lying | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| By the arrow of Paris shot. | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Ever nearer was havoc wrought | 8 | /˘/˘·/˘· |
| By the lance that Memnon was plying; | 9 | ····/··/˘ |
| And the sire to his son spake, crying | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| For help, being terror-distraught. | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘/ |
| That cry on the air was not wasted; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| But withstanding a mightier alone, | 10 | ·˘/˘·/˘˘˘/ |
| His father's life with his own | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| That godlike son redeemed, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And death's cup of glory he tasted. | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| So in after days he seemed | 7 | ······· |
| To the sons of each new generation | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| In those old times bygone | 6 | ····/· |
| Ever the noblest son | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| In filial love's consecration. | 9 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘ |
| Now—by none out of any nation | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Is Thrasybulus outdone | 7 | ·····// |
| In the duty ordained of our fathers. | 11 | ··/˘˘/·/˘/˘ |
| With his sire's brother's glory he vies, | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| Is in usance of wealth ever wise, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| Nor in arrogance lawlessly | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Grasps at youth's pleasures, but gathers | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| Flower-wisdom of poesy | 8 | /˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| To the Muses' hid garden ascending. | 10 | ··/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| And he draweth nigh unto thee, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| O Earth-shaker, Lord of the sea, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| In thy chariot-contests contending. | 10 | ··/˘˘˘/˘/˘ |
| More sweet is his guest-befriending | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Than the celled honeycomb of the bee. | 10 | ···˘/˘···· |
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.