Dolefully sound, ye groves and Dorian waters,
Lament, ye rivers, our beloved Bion;
Mourn, all ye plants, and whisper low, ye forests;
Ye flowers, breathe sadly from your drooping petals;
Put on deep red, anemones and roses;
Wail thine own letters, hyacinth, and ai ai
Write double on thy leaves for our sweet poet.
Begin the grief, begin, Sicilian Muses.
Ye nightingales, in the thick leafage sobbing,
Tell the Sicilian streams of Arethusa
Bion is dead, the shepherd–boy, and with him
Song too is dead, and all the Dorian music.
Begin the grief, begin, Sicilian Muses.
Strymonian swans, sing sadly by your waters;
Warble a funeral elegy, in ditties
Such as he sung, the rival of your voices.
Tell the Oagrian Nymphs, and tell the damsels
That play in Thrace, Dead is the Dorian Orpheus.
Begin the grief, begin, Sicilian Muses.
Our friend shall pipe beside his flocks no longer,
Nor sit and sing alone beneath the ilex;
But tunes oblivious strains to sullen Pluto.
Mute are the mountains, and the herd is straying
And will not feed, but wanders sadly lowing.
Begin the grief, begin, Sicilian Muses.
Thine early death lamented great Apollo,
Pan wept to miss thy singing, all the Naiads
Wept in their woods, and turned to tears their fountains;
Echo is weeping that she must be silent
Thy lips no longer mocking. At thy parting
Trees shed their fruit, and all the flowers were blighted;
Milk failed the flocks, and in our hives the honey
Sunk mouldering in the wax; for no more sweetness
Shall there be, now thy honey–song hath perished.
Begin the grief, begin, Sicilian Muses.
Not so beside the sea–beach wailed the dolphin,
Nor nightingale in shrubby rocks embowered,
Nor on the long green hills the piping swallow;
Not so for his Alcyone wept Ce
(Henry Alford)
More Poetry from Henry Alford:
Henry Alford Poems based on Topics: Flowers, Friendship, Music, Singing, Grief, Literature, Poets, Letters- The School Of The Heart. Lesson The Fifth. (Henry Alford Poems)
- The School Of The Heart. Lesson The Sixth (Henry Alford Poems)
- The School Of The Heart. Lesson The Fourth. (Henry Alford Poems)
- The School Of The Heart. Lesson The Second. (Henry Alford Poems)
- The School Of The Heart. Lesson The First (Henry Alford Poems)
- The School Of The Heart. Lesson The Third. (Henry Alford Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Friendship Poems, Flowers Poems, Literature Poems, Grief Poems, Music Poems, Poets Poems, Singing Poems, Letters PoemsBased on Keywords: ilex, arethusa, shepherd-boy, shrubby, bion, alcyone, strymonian, honey-song
- Fragments Of An Unfinished Poem (James Russell Lowell Poems)
- Songs Of Seven (complete) (Jean Ingelow Poems)
- Devon's Poly-Obion (Joanna Baillie Poems)
- A Confidant Without Knowing It; Or The Stratagem (Jean de La Fontaine Poems)
- Epistle To Earl Harcourt, On His Wishing Her To Spell Her Name With Of Catherine With A K. (Joanna Baillie Poems)