ἐξανθοῦντα πυώδεσι

φλυκταίναις πυρετοῦ, ζέσαντ'
ἀνίατα σέσηπεν ἕλκη

σφακέλῳ κελαίνῳ·

ἃ δὲ καλχαίνω, σίνος ἐν ψυχῇ

μέγα κεντρομανὲς, τὸ μάλιστ ̓ αὐτᾶς εὐαίσθητον δεινὰ διασπᾷ,

καὶ καταμύσσει φρένας οἰστροδόνους, καύματ ̓ ἐγείρανθ ̓, οἷς ἂν ἐπῳδὰς

οὐ πάρεχοι ποτὸν εὐμενὲς, οὐ φυτὰ

τὸ πάλαι τοῦ Σεμνοῦ,

οἷά τις εὐφιλόπαις ἔθρεψε τέκνον,

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650

Promised by heavenly message twice descending.

Under his special eye

Abstemious I grew up, and thrived amain.

He led me on to mightiest deeds,

Above the nerve of mortal arm,

Against the uncircumcised, our enemies.

But now hath cast me off, as never known,

And to those cruel enemies,

Whom I by his appointment had provoked,
Left me all helpless, with the irreparable loss
Of sight, reserved alive to be repeated
The subject of their cruelty or scorn.

Nor am I in the list of them that hope;

Hopeless are all my evils, all remediless.

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This one prayer yet remains, might I be heard,

No long petition, speedy death,

The close of all my miseries, and the balm.

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ὡσεὶ τηλύγετος γεγώς,
δις θεόθεν κηρυχθέντ ̓
ἄνων μαντεύματα.
ὑφ ̓ οὗ προη-

-γητοῦ, φρενὸς ἐγκρατὴς,
ἥβας ἐς τέλος ἱκόμαν,

θνατοῦ τ ̓ ἔργον ὑπερδραμὼν

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ἠρίστευσ ̓ ἐπὶ βαρβάρους.

ἀπεῤῥιμμένον αὖ τὰ νῦν
ἐχθοδοπόν τ ̓ ἐᾷ,

αὐτὸς ἐμ' ὃς μάχαν κελεύσε,
ζωγρηθέντ', ἀλαόν τ' ἰδεῖν,

ὧν οὐκ ἄν τις ἄκος φέροι, σκοπὸν τοῖσδ ̓ ὕβρεώς τε κἀπασ‐ -συτέρων ὀνειδών.

οὐδ ̓ ἐς ἐκείνους ἔστι τελεῖν μοι,

τοὺς εὐέλπιδας, οὐ γὰρ ἔτ ̓ ἐλπίδες,

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οὔτις ἀνιῶν, φεῦ, θεραπεία,

πλὴν τόδε δῶρον Θεοῦ πάρα μέτριον, ὡς δὲ τόδ ̓ ὤφελον εὐχαῖσι λαβεῖν, τέρμ ̓ ὀδύναισιν,

θάνατος, μῆχαρ ταχύπομπον.

CHORUS.

Many are the sayings of the wise,
In ancient and in modern books inrolled,
Extolling patience as the truest fortitude;
And to the bearing well of all calamities,
All chances incident to man's frail life,
Consolatories writ

With studied argument, and much persuasion sought,

Lenient of grief and anxious thought.

But with the afflicted in his pangs their sound

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Little prevails, or rather seems a tune

Harsh, and of dissonant mood from his complaint;

Unless he feel within

Some source of consolation from above,

Secret refreshings, that repair his strength,

And fainting spirits uphold.

God of our fathers, what is man?

That thou toward him with hand so various

Or might I say contrarious?—

Temperest thy providence through his short course; 670

Not evenly, as thou rulest

The angelic orders and inferior creatures mute,

ΧΟΡΟΣ.

ἦ μάλα πολλὰ σοφαῖς ἔνι κείμενα ῥήματα βίβλοις,

νῦν ἔν τε τῷ πάλαι χρόνῳ,

ἆθλον ἀριστείας τοῖς τλασιπόνοισιν ἔδωκεν·

ἐστὶν δ ̓ ὅσα δεινὰ βροτοῖσιν,

ὅσσ ̓ ἀμενηνὸν ἔχει μερόπων γένος

ἐξαντλεῖν, ἐπὶ τοῖσδε γεγραμμέναι
εἰσὶν ἐπῳδαὶ,

σαίνοντ ̓ εὔθετ ̓ ἔπη, ὀλοῶν θέλγητρα μεριμνών.
δυστάνῳ δ ̓, ἀλύρου τρόπον ἁρμονίας παραμούσου,
μάταιος οἴχεται ψόφος

ἐκ τούτων· ὁ δ ̓ ἔναυλον ἔχων θεόθεν μείλικτρον,
κρυπτὰν ἀρετᾶς τιν ̓ ἀφορμὴν

καὶ παλίνορσον ἐνῆκε φρεσὶν μένος.
ἦ, Πατρώϊε, ποικιλοβούλου

κἀξυμβλήτου

χειρὸς ἐπῄσθετο σᾶς γένος ἀνθρώπων ταχύποτμον

οὐχ ὁμαλὸν, ὡς μακάρων χοροῦ

ἢ νηπίων, ἄναξ, βοτῶν ἀλόγων, μέδεις

οὐδὲ λέγοιμ ̓ ἂν

τόνδ ̓ ἀδιάκριτον ὄχλον ἀλητῶν

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690