Anacreon: Ode 66 Poem by Edwin Arnold

Calepon to mh filhsai


Ah! not to love is sad and hard,
And yet to love is heavy pain;
But harder, heavier it is,
Fondly to love, and love in vain.


Wisdom and worth are trampled down,
And nought avails an honoured line;
Not truth, but treasure woman wins,
Dazzling her heart with empty shine.


Perish the heartless wretch that first
Could learn to love his cursed gold;
To him our brother's blood we owe,
Through him our sires are dead and cold.


From him has sprung the ceaseless hate,
The bloody strife-the warring crew;
And worse, from his unholy lust
Lovers and love are ruined too.