Pythian VII
No fairer prelude of the minstrel's victory-chant can beThan praise of Athens' mighty town,When he would hymn the far-prevailing Alkmaionidae,And their swift steeds' renown.Yea, for what fatherland, what habitation,O singer, canst thou nameThat doth transcend, through all the Hellene nation,Fair Athens' fame?
There is no city but therethrough doth that proud story ringOf King Erechtheus' burghers told,Who made thy shrine in hallowed Pytho, Phoebus Harper-King,A marvel to behold.In Isthmian contests five were ye victoriousInspiring the bard's strain;At Zeus' Olympian Feast one prize most glorious,At Kirrha twain,
Thou and thy sires, O Megakles, achieved.In your fair fortune I delight,Yet for the recompense my soul is grievedThat envy doth requiteYour noble deeds withal. Yet long-enduringProsperity still brings, they say,Evil with good; for there is no assuringThat bliss shall stay.
Words in this poem
- fatherland n.
- One's native land; the native land of one's fathers or ancestors. [Imitated fr. D. vaderland. See Father, and Land.]
- transcend v. i.
- To climb; to mount.
- hellene n.
- A native of either ancient or modern Greece; a Greek. Brewer.
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- withal adv.
- With this; with that. [With + all.]
- assuring a.
- That assures; tending to assure; giving confidence.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Pythian VII 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 VII, in The Odes of Pindar (1922), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pindar-odes/pythian-7.html, id L29144.
Form and metre
Pythian VII is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each.
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 -A-ABCBC be · townA · alkmaionidae · renownA · habitationB · nameC · nationB · fameC
- 2 ABABCDCD ringA · toldB · kingA · beholdB · victoriousC · strainD · gloriousC · twainD
- 3 A-A-BCBC achievedA · delight · grievedA · requite · enduringB · sayC · assuringB · stayC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| No fairer prelude of the minstrel's victory-chant can be | 14 | ·/˘/···/˘/˘··· |
| Than praise of Athens' mighty town, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| When he would hymn the far-prevailing Alkmaionidae, | 12 | ······˘/˘··· |
| And their swift steeds' renown. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Yea, for what fatherland, what habitation, | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| O singer, canst thou name | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| That doth transcend, through all the Hellene nation, | 11 | ··˘/···/˘/˘ |
| Fair Athens' fame? | 4 | ·/˘· |
| There is no city but therethrough doth that proud story ring | 15 | ···/˘·······/˘· |
| Of King Erechtheus' burghers told, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who made thy shrine in hallowed Pytho, Phoebus Harper-King, | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘/˘· |
| A marvel to behold. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| In Isthmian contests five were ye victorious | 12 | ·/˘˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| Inspiring the bard's strain; | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| At Zeus' Olympian Feast one prize most glorious, | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| At Kirrha twain, | 4 | ···· |
| Thou and thy sires, O Megakles, achieved. | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| In your fair fortune I delight, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Yet for the recompense my soul is grieved | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That envy doth requite | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Your noble deeds withal. Yet long-enduring | 11 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/˘ |
| Prosperity still brings, they say, | 8 | ˘/˘˘···· |
| Evil with good; for there is no assuring | 11 | /˘······˘/˘ |
| That bliss shall stay. | 4 | ···· |
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.