Three Songs from the Greek Anthology

Breathe music, O Pan that goest on the mountains, 
with thy sweet lips, breathe delight into thy pastoral reed,
pouring song from the musical pipe, and make 
the melody sound in tune with the choral words; 
and about thee to the pulse of the rhythm 
let the inspired foot of these water-nymphs keep falling free.

Text Authorship:

• by John (or Jack) William Mackail (1859 - 1945), "Pan's Piping"

Based on:

• a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Alcaeus of Messene (flourished between 219 and 196 BCE), no title
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Confirmed with Select Epigrams from the Greek Anthology edited with a revised text, introduction, translation, and notes by J. W. Mackail, fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, London, Longmans, Green, and Co., 1890, page 188. Note: this is a prose translation. We have added line-breaks to make it line up with the original.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Come and sit under my stone-pine that murmurs so honey sweet 
as it bends to the soft western breeze; 
and lo this honey-dropping fountain, where 
I bring sweet sleep playing on my lonely reeds. 

Text Authorship:

• by John (or Jack) William Mackail (1859 - 1945), "Wood-music"

Based on:

• a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , no title
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Confirmed with Select Epigrams from the Greek Anthology edited with a revised text, introduction, translation, and notes by J. W. Mackail, fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, London, Longmans, Green, and Co., 1890, page 190. Note: this is a prose translation. We have added line-breaks to make it line up with the original.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Let the shaggy cliff of the Dryads be silent, and the springs 
welling from the rock, and the many-mingled bleating of the ewes; 
for Pan himself makes music on his melodious pipe, 
running his supple lip over the joined reeds; 
and around him stand up to dance with glad feet 
the water nymphs and the nymphs of the oak wood.

Text Authorship:

• by John (or Jack) William Mackail (1859 - 1945), "The Garden of Pan"

Based on:

• a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Plato (428?7 BCE - 348?7 BCE), no title
  • Go to the text page.

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Confirmed with Select Epigrams from the Greek Anthology edited with a revised text, introduction, translation, and notes by J. W. Mackail, fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, London, Longmans, Green, and Co., 1890, page 191. Note: this is a prose translation. We have added line-breaks to make it line up with the original.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]