Callimachus

310/305 BC / Cyrene, Ancient Libya

When First You Saw the Nymph Divine

Cleonicus, unhappy man,
Say whence thy sorrows first began?
For, by yon' blazing orb of light,
I ne'er beheld so sad a sight.
Where hast thou been? thy flesh is gone,
And nothing left but skin and bone.
My dæmon sure and hapless fate,
Reduc'd thee to this wretched state;
Eusithea stole thy heart, like mine;
When first you saw the nymph divine,
You gaz'd on her with wishful eyes,
And hence, I fear, your woes arise.
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