Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Greece and Turkey in Europe: Vol. XIX. 1876–79. | | | | Greece: Ios (Nio), the Island | | The Grave of Homer | | Alcæus of Messene (c. 190 B.C.) |
| | Translated by W. Haygarth
THE VISIONARY dream of life is o’er; | |
| The bard of heroes sleeps on Ios’ shore: | |
| Fair Ios’ sons their lamentations pay, | |
| And wake the funeral dirge or solemn lay. | |
| O’er his pale lifeless corse and drooping head | 5 |
| Ambrosial sweets the weeping nereids shed, | |
| And on the shore their sleeping poet laid, | |
| Beneath the towering mountain’s peaceful shade. | |
| Nor undeserved their care,—his tuneful tongue | |
| Achilles’ wrath and Thetis’ sorrows sung; | 10 |
| His strains Laertes’ son in triumph bore, | |
| Through woes unnumbered, to his native shore. | |
| Blest isle of Ios! On thy rocky steeps | |
| The Star of Song—the Grace of Graces—sleeps. | | | | |
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