Idyllium the Seventh | Sweet HESPER, thou, whose golden light

by Bion of Smyrna (flourished 100 BCE)

Translation by Richard Polwhele (1760 - 1838)

Idyllium the Seventh

Language: English after the Greek (Ελληνικά)

Sweet HESPER, thou, whose golden light
(The sacred glory of the night) 
Illumes the deep-cerulean skies; 
Whose beams so dear to VENUS rise; 
To whom the starry fires are pale
As thou to silver CYNTHIA -- hail! 
O guide me to my shepherd's feast! 
Ev'n now the lunar orb's decreas'd -- 
Soon will it set: O lend thy ray,
To gild my solitary way! 
I go not, shelter'd by the shade, 
The nightly traveller to invade; 
'Tis love impels! O HESPER, prove, 
Sweet star, propitious to my love!

Confirmed with Theocritus, Bion, Moschus, and Tyrtæus; Translated from the Greek. By the Rev. R. Polwhele. To which are added, Dissertations and Notes. In Two Volumes. Vol. I., London: Lackington, Allen, and Co., 1811, page 301.

Text Authorship:

by Richard Polwhele (1760 - 1838), "Idyllium the Seventh", subtitle: "To the Evening Star" [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Bion of Smyrna (flourished 100 BCE), no title
- 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):

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Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Jakob Mähly (1828 - 1902) , "An den Abendstern" ; composed by Erkki Gustaf Melartin.
Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Giàcomo Leopardi (1798 - 1837) , title 1: "Idillio", title 2: "Espero", subtitle: "Romanza" [an adaptation] ; composed by Charles Lefebvre, Carlo Rossaro.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2020-02-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 86