The Decree Of Athena

A poem by Aeschylus (c. 525 – c. 456 Before Christ )

Hear ye my statute, men of Attica–

Ye who of bloodshed judge this primal cause;

Yea, and in future age shall Aegeus’s host

Revere this court of jurors. This the hill

Of Ares, seat of Amazons, their tent,

What time ‘gainst Theseus, breathing hate, they came,

Waging fierce battle, and their towers upreared,

A counter-fortress to Acropolis;–

To Ares they did sacrifice, and hence

This rock is titled Areopagus.

Here then shall sacred Awe, to Fear allied,

By day and night my lieges hold from wrong,

Save if themselves do innovate my laws,

If thou with mud, or influx base, bedim

The sparkling water, nought thou’lt find to drink.

Nor Anarchy, nor Tyrant’s lawless rule

Commend I to my people’s reverence;–

Nor let them banish from their city Fear;

For who ‘mong men, uncurbed by fear, is just?

Thus holding Awe in seemly reverence,

A bulwark for your State shall ye possess,

A safeguard to protect your city walls,

Such as no mortals otherwhere can boast,

Neither in Scythia, nor in Pelops’s realm.

Behold! This Court august, untouched by bribes,

Sharp to avenge, wakeful for those who sleep,

Establish I, a bulwark to this land.

This charge, extending to all future time,

I give my lieges. Meet it as ye rise,

Assume the pebbles, and decide the cause,

Your oath revering. All hath now been said.

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

External links

Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

Talking Writing Monster’s Page –

Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh

Poems in English 

• Slant by Stephen Dunn by Stephen Dunn
• Poem For People That Are Understandably Too Busy To Read Poetry by Stephen Dunn by Stephen Dunn
• Named by Stephen Dunn by Stephen Dunn
• Landscape At The End Of The Century by Stephen Dunn by Stephen Dunn
• I Come Home Wanting To Touch Everyone by Stephen Dunn by Stephen Dunn
• Essay On The Personal by Stephen Dunn by Stephen Dunn
• Biography In The First Person by Stephen Dunn by Stephen Dunn
• At The Smithville Methodist Church by Stephen Dunn by Stephen Dunn
• Allegory Of The Cave by Stephen Dunn by Stephen Dunn
• The White Peacock by Stephen Vincent Benet by Stephen Vincent Benét
• The Quality of Courage by Stephen Vincent Benet by Stephen Vincent Benét
• The Innovator by Stephen Vincent Benet by Stephen Vincent Benét
• The Hemp by Stephen Vincent Benet by Stephen Vincent Benét
• The General Public by Stephen Vincent Benet by Stephen Vincent Benét
• The Fiddling Wood by Stephen Vincent Benet by Stephen Vincent Benét
• The Drug-Shop, or, Endymion in Edmonstoun by Stephen Vincent Benet by Stephen Vincent Benét
• The City Revisited by Stephen Vincent Benet by Stephen Vincent Benét
• The Breaking Point by Stephen Vincent Benet by Stephen Vincent Benét
• Talk by Stephen Vincent Benet by Stephen Vincent Benét
• Road and Hills by Stephen Vincent Benet by Stephen Vincent Benét

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

Doska or the Board – write anything

Search engines:

Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)

Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.

Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees

Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

Parallel Translations of Poetry

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works