[Ode to Eros]

Eros, unconquered in

Combat! Eros, that

Leaps down upon

The herds! You

That pass the night-

Watch on a girl's

Soft cheeks, You

That cross the

Open sea and

Roam from hut to

Hut in the far

High fields-neither

The immortals nor

Man, who lives only a day, can escape

From you, and he

Who has you

Inside himself

Goes mad.

You that pull

The reins of just

Minds toward in-

Justice, disfiguring

Men's lives; You

That stir up this

Strife between two

Men of the same

Blood, while victory

Goes to the force

Of love in the gaze: the

Desiring eyes of

The bride shine with

Wedding joy-this Power on its throne rules

Equally with the great

Laws, for the goddess

Aphrodite at her play

Cannot be conquered.

Translated, from the Greek,

by Reginald Gibbons and Charles Segal