Acadian Magazines

Front matter

FROM THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA SECOND SERIES—1903–1904

VOLUME IX

SECTION II

The Thirty-Third Ode of Anacreon (Dole)

ppoem|{fine} Dear Swallow! you, a friendly comer,

Returning every year,

Build your nest here in the Summer,

In Winter disappear.

For Nile or Memphis far you leave:

But love within my heart

His downy nest doth ever weave,

And never will depart.

One passing is just getting wings,

One hatching, one on egg:

A clamorous cry unceasing springs

From gaping mouths that beg.

The older loves quick zeal display

The younger brood to feed:

These, brought up, in their turn straightway

Another nestful breed.

What remedy therefore have I?

Since every effort proves

I have not power, howe'er I try.

To drive away such loves.

>>W. P. D.

(From Stewart's Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 3, Oct., 1869, p. 252.)

The Thirty-Third Ode of Anacreon (Minimus)

For The Nova Scotia Magazine.

Translation of the thirty-third Ode of Anacreon.

ppoem|{fine} You, dear Swallow once a year, In Summer's genial heat appear; Once a curious mansion build, Once with little swallows filled:—

But love, within my hopeless breast, Hath built a never falling nest. Some young desires in plumage bright, Half of some the shells detain; Some within the egg remain. The chirping brood with careless noise, Stun my ears and kill my joys. The elder loves, the younger feed: These again with wondrous speed, Other generations breed. Ah! what can ease this wretched breast With such a swarm of loves possessed! >>Minimus.

(The Nova Scotia Magazine, March, 1790, p. 230.)