Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IDYLL 3. FRAGMENT OF THE ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF BION by MOSCHUS

First Line: YE DORIAN WOODS AND WAVES LAMENT ALOUD
Last Line: BION THE [SWEETEST SINGER] IS NO MORE.
Subject(s): BION (2ND CENTURY B.C.); DEATH; DEAD, THE;
YE Dorian woods and waves lament aloud, --
Augment your tide, O streams, with fruit-less tears,
For the beloved Bion is no more.
Let every tender herb and plant and flower,
From each dejected bud and drooping bloom,
Shed dews of liquid sorrow, and with breath
Of melancholy sweetness on the wind
Diffuse its languid love; let roses blush,
Anemones grow paler for the loss
Their dells have known; and thou, O hyacinth,
Utter thy legend now -- yet more, dumb flower,
Than 'ah! alas!' -- thine is no common grief --
Bion the [sweetest singer] is no more.



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