Pindar and Anacreon/Anacreon/Ode 14
ODE XIV.—ON CUPID.[1]
Cease, cease the combat, I'll obey,
Oh, mighty Love! I own thy sway.
Cupid plann'd a new campaign,
And bade me join his camp again;
But I, grown weary of the trade,
Like a rebel disobey'd.
Straight the monarch, much displeased,
His dreadful bow and quiver seized,
And, wafted on his pinions light,
Defied me to the field of fight.
Then clad for war, like Peleus' son,
A corslet bright I buckled on;
With ample shield and quivering spear,
I waited till the foe drew near.
His bow-string twang'd—then seized with dread,
My courage fail'd—I trembling fled.
He plied his darts till all were spent;
Nor did his anger then relent:
Himself he changed into a dart,
And shot like lightning through my heart.[2]
Ah me! I felt my life-blood flow;
I sunk beneath my conquering foe
How vainly then a shield I wear!
In vain defensive arms I bear;
For victory who can hope to win
While fiercely burns the war within?
- ↑ In this ode Anacreon intends to show the irresistible power of "mighty love;" and he here represents himself as contending with Cupid armed with a spear and shield. The combat is described with much spirit; but in the end the arrows of his antagonist achieve the victory. The poet concludes with an admirable reflection on the uselessness of defending the outposts, when the enemy has already entered.
- ↑ "This thought is very beautiful and ingenious. It is taken from an ancient piece of gallantry, which ought not to be passed over in silence. The heroes of antiquity, when in any desperate engagement they found their darts spent, their strength exhausted, and saw no prospect of surviving long, would collect all their spirits and strength, and rush headlong with amazing impetuosity on their enemies, that even in death the weight of their bodies, thus violently agitated, might bear down their adversaries."—Fawkes.