Translation of William Cowper.
Gazing upon my husband as my last thread was spun, I praised the gods of death, and I praised the gods of marriage,—those, that I left my husband alive, and these, that he was even such an one; but may he remain, a father for our children.
Translation of J.W. Mackail.
Righteousness has raised this house from the first foundation even to the lofty roof; for Macedonius fashioned not his wealth by heaping up from the possessions of others with plundering sword, nor has any poor man here wept over his vain and profitless toil, being robbed of his most just hire; and as rest from labor is kept inviolate by the just man, so let the works of pious mortals endure.
Translation of J. W. Mackail.
Translation of Alma Strettell.
[The following are undetermined in date.]
Translation of William Cowper.
I was young, but poor; now in old age I am rich: alas, alone of all men pitiable in both, who then could enjoy when I had nothing, and now have when I cannot enjoy.
Translation of J. W. Mackail.
I the reed was a useless plant; for out of me grow not figs, nor apple, nor grape cluster: but man consecrated me a daughter of Helicon, piercing my delicate lips and making me the channel of a narrow stream; and thenceforth whenever I sip black drink, like one inspired I speak all words with this voiceless mouth.
Translation of J.W. Mackail.
Translation of Alma Strettell.
Translation of Lilla Cabot Perry, by permission of the American Publishers' Corporation.
Her tambourines and pretty ball, and the net that confined her hair, and her dolls and dolls' dresses, Timareta dedicates before her marriage to Artemis of Limnæ,—a maiden to a maiden, as is fit; do thou, daughter of Leto, laying thine hand over the girl Timareta, preserve her purely in her purity.
Translation of J.W. Mackail.
Translation of William M. Hardinge.
Whoso has married once and seeks a second wedding, is a shipwrecked man who sails twice through a difficult gulf.
Translation of J.W. Mackail.
Me, Chelidon, priestess of Zeus, who knew well in old age how to make offering on the altars of the immortals, happy in my children, free from grief, the tomb holds; for with no shadow in their eyes the gods saw my piety.
Translation of J.W. Mackail.
He who enters the incense-filled temple must be holy; and holiness is to have a pure mind.
Translation of J.W. Mackail.
Hallowed in soul, O stranger, come even into the precinct of a pure god, touching thyself with the virgin water: for the good a few drops are set; but a wicked man the whole ocean cannot wash in its waters.
Translation of J.W. Mackail.
The rose is at her prime a little while; which once past, thou wilt find when thou seekest, no rose, but a thorn.
Translation of J.W. Mackail.
Know ye the flowery fields of the Cappadocian nation? Thence I was born of good parents: since I left them I have wandered to the sunset and the dawn; my name was Glaphyrus, and like my mind. I lived out my sixtieth year in perfect freedom; I know both the favor of fortune and the bitterness of life.
Translation of J.W. Mackail.
[A] The story of King Lear and his three daughters.
[B] The story of the three caskets in 'The Merchant of Venice.'
[C] Five hundred and thirty-seven miles from Seleucia, two hundred and three from the nearest coast of Syria, according to Pliny.
[D] Potter [detests] potter.
[E] "Whoever sees God must die."
[F] Oblómof is the genitive plural of the word oblóm or oblám, a term expressive of anything broken or almost useless, or even bad; a rude, awkward, unfinished man.
1. Images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break. And footnotes have been moved to the end of the text in this html version.
2. Some selections for Richard Watson Gilder are different from those mentioned in the Table of Contents.
3. The frontispiece "The Alexander Romance" and the photogravure "The Bride's Toilet" mentioned in the "Full-Page Illustrations" list are missing from this html version.
4. The original text includes Greek characters. For this html version these letters have been replaced with transliterations.
5. Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been retained.