Acts of Love Ancient Greek Poetry from Aphrodite's Garden

ANAKREON (ca. 563478 b.c.) 1 Lord Loud-Shout, playmate to Love the Winner, and the dark-eyed Nymphs and rosy Aphrodite, roaming the hilltops, I will kneel to you that you come to me disposed to answer my prayer favorably, O, D I O N Y S O S, and advise Kleoboulos to accept my love. 2 I've got a crush on Kleoboulos, I'm crazy about Kleoboulos, can't take my eyes off Kleoboulos. 3 Say, boy, you with that girlish look, I'm after you and you don't care, don't even know you're my charioteer and hold the reins to my heart and soul. 4 Look how I climb up the White Cliff, drunk with love, to dive into churning waters. 5 Since you're so open to strangers, how about a little drink for me. 6 See how Love, like a blacksmith, hammers me, and then douses me in the chilly stream. 7 Bring water, my boy, and bring wine, and bring me garlands of flowers. I'm ready for another bout with Love. (or) Waiter, a double Jack Daniel's on the rocks, please, and a dozen Wellfleet oysters on the half shell. I'm here to take on Love's next challenger. (or) Cheers! Light me! Ring the bell! 8 . . . and it was in this room he played at marriage but not as the married man. 9 So why do you look askance at me, my Thracian filly, and shy away from me as if I have no idea what I'm doing? You should know I could bridle you like that, mount and ride you around this track. For the moment, you enjoy the pleasures of the meadow, to frolic, frisk, and graze, believing there's no rider around who can break you. 10 It seems I'm both in love and not in love, mad about somebody, and yet not mad. 11 Golden-haired Love hits me with his purple ball, inviting me to play with the girl in the smart sandals. But no, she comes from that fine place, Lesbos, is turned off by my white hairs and goes all agape after someone else. 12 I fly up on light wings to fetch Love from Olympos, but he won't play anymore now my beard's getting gray, but flies right past me, blown aside by the wake of his glittering wings. ARCHILOCHOS (fl. 648 b.c.) 1 she delighted in holding a myrtle branch and a lovely rosebush flower . . . . . . and her hair's shadow fell over her shoulders and back 2 for such a hankering to love cut loose under my heart, poured a heavy mist over my eyes, stole my dim wits clean out of me 3 but, my friend, desire, the limb-loosener, takes me down 4 As a fig tree in rocky soil feeds many crows, so amenable Pasiphile puts out for strangers. 5 like a Thracian or a Phrygian sucking his beer through a straw, she was bent over and working hard 6 ". . . refraining altogether. Dare a mutual . . . But if you're fully heated up from the heart down, there's someone at our place who has a yen for you, a lovely young thing. To me she looks like your perfect 'ten,' and you can make her yours." So she said. And so I replied: Economou, George is the author of 'Acts of Love Ancient Greek Poetry from Aphrodite's Garden', published 2006 under ISBN 9780679643289 and ISBN 0679643281.