Epigram | Sweet Rhodoclea | Sweet Rhodoclea, here I send

by Rufinus (flourished 3rd or 4th century CE)

Translation by Jane Minot Sedgwick (b. 1859)

πέμπω σοι, Ῥοδόκλεια, τόδε στέφος,...

Language: Greek (Ελληνικά)

πέμπω σοι, Ῥοδόκλεια, τόδε στέφος, ἄνθεσι καλοῖς
αὐτὸς ὑφ᾽ ἡμετέραις πλεξάμενος παλάμαις.
ἔστι κρίνον, ῥοδέη τε κάλυξ, νοτερὴ τ᾽ ἀνεμώνη,
καὶ νάρκισσος ὑγρός, καὶ κυαναυγὲς ἴον.
ταῦτα στεψαμένη, λῆξον μεγάλαυχος ἐοῦσα:
ἀνθεῖς καὶ λήγεις καὶ σὺ καὶ ὁ στέφανος.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with The Greek Anthology. With an English Translation by. W. R. Paton, London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1916, no. 74.

Modern Greek:

Σού στέλνω αυτό, Ροδόκλεια, τό στεφάνι, 
μ’ ωραία λουλούδια ο ίδιος τό ’χω πλέξει.
Είν’ από κρίνα καί μπουμπούκια ρόδου καί δροσερή ανεμώνα, 
κι έχει ακόμα καί νάρκισσο τό λυγερό καί τέλος βιολέττα μέ γαλάζιο σκούρο χρώμα•
Μ’ αυτά στολίσου κι άλλο μή καυχιέσαι. 
Τι ανθείς τώρα κι εσύ καί τό στεφάνι αλλά κι εσύ κι αυτό θά μαραθείτε.

Show a transliteration: DIN | ISO 843

Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

by Rufinus (flourished 3rd or 4th century CE), no title [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 Andrew Lang (1844 - 1912) , "Golden Eyes" ; composed by Amy Elise Horrocks.
Also set in English, a translation by Jane Minot Sedgwick , "Epigram", appears in Songs from the Greek ; composed by Liza Lehmann.
Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Charles-Gaston Levadé.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

FRE French (Français) (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist) , no title

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2020-01-15
Line count: 6
Word count: 40

Sweet Rhodoclea, here I send

Language: English after the Greek (Ελληνικά)

Sweet Rhodoclea, here I send 
A wreath wherein fair flowers blend :
I plucked and twined them all for thee ; 
The lily and anemone, 
And the rose's crimson cup 
With the night-dews brimming up ; 
Narcissus that the rain hath wet, 
And the purple violet. 
Then, with my garland on thy brow,
  Forget to hold thy proud head high,
For though, like it, thou bloomest now,
  Like it, thou too shalt fade and die.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Songs from the Greek. Translated by Jane Minot Sedgwick, New York: George H. Richmond & Co., 1896, page 47.

Text Authorship:

by Jane Minot Sedgwick (b. 1859), "Epigram", appears in Songs from the Greek [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Rufinus (flourished 3rd or 4th century CE), 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):

by Liza Lehmann (1862 - 1918), "Sweet Rhodoclea", published 1901 [ voice and piano ], from Cameos : Five Greek Love-Songs, no. 1, London : Enoch & Sons [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2023-08-14
Line count: 12
Word count: 73