CHORUS OF THE INITIATED (from "The Frogs")

by: Aristophanes

      OW we go to dance and sing
      In the consecrated shades;
      Round the secret holy ring,
      With the matrons and the maids.
      Thither I must haste to bring
      The mysterious early light;
      Which must witness every rite
      Of the joyous happy night.
       
      Let us hasten -- let us fly --
      Where the lovely meadows lie;
      Where the living waters flow;
      Where the roses bloom and blow.
      Heirs of immortality.
      Segregated, safe and pure,
      Easy, sorrowless, secure;
      Since our earthly course is run,
      We behold a brighter sun.
      Holy lives -- a holy vow --
      Such rewards await them now.

This English translation, by John Hookham Frere, of 'Chorus of the Initiated' is reprinted from Greek Poets in English Verse. Ed. William Hyde Appleton. Cambridge: The Riverside Press, 1893.

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