Ode LXII | Fill me, boy, as deep a draught

by Anacreon (c582BCE - c485BCE)

Translation by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852)

Εις το πινειν

Language: Greek (Ελληνικά)

Αγε δη φερ' ημιν, ω παι,
Κελεβην, οπως αμυστιν
Προπιω. Τα μεν δεκ' εγχει
Υδατος, τα πεντε δ' οινου
Κυαθοις, ως ανυβριστι
Αναδευων βασσαρησω.
Αγε δωτε, μηκεθ' ουτω
Παταγω τε καλαλητω
Σκυθικην ποσιν παρ' οινω
Μελετωμεν, αλλα καλοις
Υποπινοντες εν υμνοις

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Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

by Anacreon (c582BCE - c485BCE), "Εις το πινειν" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

[ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in English, a translation by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852) , "Ode LXII", appears in Odes of Anacreon, no. 62, first published 1880 ; composed by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir, Ernest Walker.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

GER German (Deutsch) (Johann Friedrich Degen) , "Der Trinker", appears in Anakreons Lieder, nebst andern lyrischen Gedichten, in Anakreons Lieder, no. 55

Researcher for this page: Athanasios Papaisiou

This text was added to the website: 2014-09-07
Line count: 11
Word count: 41

Fill me, boy, as deep a draught

Language: English after the Greek (Ελληνικά)

Fill me, boy, as deep a draught,
As e'er was filled, as e'er was quaffed;
But let the water amply flow,
To cool the grape's intemperate glow;¹
Let not the fiery god be single,
But with the nymphs in union mingle.
For though the bowl's the grave of sadness,
Ne'er let it be the birth of madness.
No, banish from our board tonight
The revelries of rude delight;
To Scythians leave these wild excesses,
Ours be the joy that soothes and blesses!
And while the temperate bowl we wreathe,
In concert let our voices breathe,
Beguiling every hour along
With harmony of soul and song.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
Moore's note: This ode consists of two fragments, which are to be found in Athenaeus, book x., and which Barnes, from the similarity of their tendency, has combined into one. I think this a very justifiable liberty, and have adopted it in some other fragments of our poet.
¹ (from Moore): It was Amphictyon who first taught the Greeks to mix water with their wine; in commemoration of which circumstance they erected altars to Bacchus and the nymphs.

Text Authorship:

by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), "Ode LXII", appears in Odes of Anacreon, no. 62, first published 1880 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Anacreon (c582BCE - c485BCE), "Εις το πινειν"
- Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "Fill me, boy, as deep a draught", 1869-1878, published 1880 [ voice and piano ], from Three Odes of Anacreon, no. 2, London: Augener [sung text not yet checked]
by Ernest Walker (1870 - 1949), "Anacreontic Ode", op. 12 no. ? [ low voice and piano ], from Six Songs, London: Acott & Williams [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-04-20
Line count: 16
Word count: 105