Читать книгу Yale Classics - Ancient Greek Literature - Anacreon - Страница 154

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For human nature Hope remains alone

Of all the deities; the rest are flown.

Faith is departed; Truth and Honour dead;

And all the Graces too, my friends, are fled.

The scanty specimens of living worth,

Dwindled to nothing, and extinct on earth.

Yet whilst I live and view the light of heaven,

Since hope remains and never has been driven

From the distracted world--the single scope

Of my devotion is to worship Hope.

When hecatombs are slain, and altars burn,

When all the deities adored in turn,

Let Hope be present; and with Hope, my friend,

Let every sacrifice commence and end.

Yes, Insolence, Injustice, every crime,

Rapine and Wrong, may prosper for a time;

Yet shall they travel on to swift decay,

Who tread the crooked path and hollow way.