Erotika: Dithyrambs: To Alcæus

Countless are the cups thou drainest In thy hymns to Dionysos, O Alcæus! War and wine alone thou singest;— Wherefore not of Aphrodite, O Alcæus! Spacious halls are thine where many Trophies hang in Ares’ honor, O Alcæus! Brazen shields and shining helmets, Plates of brass, Chalcidian broad-swords, O Alcæus! When with winter roars the Thracian North wind through the leafless forest, O Alcæus! Thou dost heap the fire and banish Care with many a tawny goblet, O Alcæus!