Ibykus lived in 6th cent B.C. (see info below)
The poem in Ancient Greek:
Ἦρι μὲν αἵ τε Κυδώνιαι
μηλίδες ἀρδόμεναι ῥοᾶν
ἐκ ποταμῶν, ἵνα Παρθένων
κῆπος ἀκήρατος, αἵ τ᾽ οἰνανθίδες
αὐξόμεναι σκιεροῖσιν ὑφ᾽ ἕρνεσιν
οἰναρέοις θαλέθοισιν. ’Εμοὶ δ᾽ ἔρος
οὐδεμίαν κατάκοιτος ὥραν.
‹τε› ὑπὸ στεροπᾶς φλέγων
Θρηίκιος Βορέας
ἀίσσων παρὰ Κύπριδος ἀζαλέ-
αις μανίαισιν ἐρεμνὸς ἀθαμβὴς
ἐγκρατέως πεδόθεν ‹φυλάσσει›
ἡμετέρας φρένας.
(D 6)
Lyrics in contemporary Greek and their English translation:
Την άνοιξη ποτίζονται οι κυδωνιές
απ’ τα νερά των ποταμών κι ανθίζουν
εκεί στον κήπο τον αμόλυντο
των κοριτσιών και τ’ άνθη των κλημάτων
θρέφουνε κάτω απ’ τα σκιερά
νιογέννητα κλωνάρια. Μα ο δικός μου
έρωτας στιγμή δεν ησυχάζει.
Μόνο καθώς απ τη Θράκη ο Βοριάς
στης αστραπής τις φλόγες τυλιγμένος
με μάνητα σκληρή κι’ αβυσαλέος
ξεχύνεται απ΄της Κύπριδος τους κόλπους
θολός που μέσ’ τα σπλάχνα του γερά
από παιδί το νού μου έχει δεμένο.
In the Spring, the quince trees are watered,
from the waters of the rivers and they bloom,
there in the garden the unspoiled
of the girls, where blossoms of the vines
grow under the shady
newly born branches.
But my love never rests.
Just like the North Wind from Thrace,
wrapped in the flames of the lightning,
with mania, abysmal
he surges out of Cypris’s gulfs,
turbid, since in his bowels strongly
my mind binds, ever since I was a child.
Please note that we provide above translation of the lyrics (from contemporary Greek to English). You may also visit “links” for sources translating the ancient text to English.
Brief info about the poet and the poem:
Ibykuς: According to Suidae Lexicon, his father was Phytios, he was born in Rigio, Italy from where he went to Samos in the 54th Olympiad (564-560 BC). The phrase “foolisher than Ibykus” had become proverbial in antiquity, because while he had the opportunity to rule as a tyrant in his homeland, he went into exile in Ionia. Ibykos was considered a poet of love and regardless of subject matter, he maintained a serious style inherited by Epos worthy of his apprenticeship in the choral poetry of Magna Grecia.
The comments on the poets are written by K. Martinides
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