Cyrus dead, and now bereft of purpose and reward,
The Grecian army faced their only choice, retreat,
Across the seedless deserts, the high and icy passes
Of Persia and of Armenia. Northwards they trudged
Through unforgiving clouds of biting sand
And blinding snow, Xenophon and the ten thousand,
A rudderless fleet, blindly swept about both here and there,
Attacked at all quarters by surrounding enemies,
Suffering the agonies of thirst and hunger
That death alone would salve. Yet in despair
They went forever northwards under that hostile sun,
The freezing air of evening as guards on vigil
Shivered with hypothermic fear, thinking of their homelands
And wondering why they'd come so far from home
To fight another's cause which now his death had cancelled.
At the break of day, a team of scouts were ordered out on survey.
Reluctantly they climbed a steady slope towards another ridge,
So many had they scaled the day before, each one a wave
Leading to another to mock their vain endeavours.
Not one of them dreamt that hope would come their way
As they took their final steps towards this ridge.
But then a moment later despair dissolved as they cried out
And clutching one another, shouted to their colleagues down below: Thalatta! Thalatta! The sea! The sea! '
Which in deepest blue appeared not five miles distant
Washing the toes of Trebizond,
A port of safety they thought they'd never see!
(cont.) What a bunch of Greek babies they were! ! ! ! ! the Marines (U.S.) would MAKE MEN OF THEM, OR they'd die in the attempt! ! ! Semper Fi! ! ! ! to MyPoemList. bri :) a Poet's Notes would have saved me (your friend! ! !) time. (:
(cont.) Thálatta! Thálatta! (Greek: Θάλαττα! θάλαττα! — The Sea! The Sea!) was the shouting of joy when the roaming 10,000 Greeks saw Euxeinos Pontos (the Black Sea) from Mount Theches (Θήχης) in Trebizond, after participating in Cyrus the Younger's failed march against the Persian Empire in the year 401 BC. ok, wrong Cyrus i had at first. (cont.)
or...did you mean my mean Uncle Cyrus? ..may he rest in! ! ! i guess i can resume reading at line #3 now. To fight another's cause which now his death had cancelled...does this and line 1 refer to the same corpse? ? (cont.)
this guy? [i found at least 4 DIFFERENT accounts online of how he died! ! ! ! ] Cyrus II of Persia, commonly known as Cyrus the Great and also called Cyrus the Elder by the Greeks, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian Empire. Wikipedia Born: 600 BC, Anshan, Iran Died: December 4,530 BC, Syr Darya (cont.)
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
I REALLY CAME HERE LOOKING FOR BEACH BUNNIES! ! ! !
Me too! Always on the lookout. Obviously there weren't any or they'd have been shouting something else rather than the Sea, the Sea! Probably Vi! Vi! Oh.. my...maybe we should rewrite the story, Br. It might even be closer to the truth! And certainly a lot more fun.