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MY SOUL WAS DARK AND DESOLATE.

Ἀκτῖνας ὄσσων μαρμαραζοίσας
δρακεὶς ὃς μὴ πόθῳ κυμαίνεται
ἐξ ἀδάμαντος ἠὲ σιδάρου κεχάλκευται
μέλαιναν καρδίαν ψυχρᾷ φλογὶ
πρός τ' Ἁφροδίτας ἀτιμασθεὶς ἑλικοβλεφάρου.
Pind. Scol. Fragm.

My soul was dark and desolate,
Sorrowing from thee afar;
Rayless and inanimate,
Like a night without a star,
  When the interlunar sky
  Mourns the moon's inconstancy.

  At the dawn of thy return
  Vital altars throb and burn;
All the heaven of love is glowing
In thine eye's unfolded blue;
Light and life around thee flowing
Waken hearts beneath thy view,
  As the daybreak's gleams and showers
  Call from sleep the shrouded flowers.