The Lament Of The Old Nurse

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

NURSE

Our mistress bids me with all speed to call

Aegisthus to the strangers, that he come

And hear more clearly, as a man from man,

This newly brought report. Before her slaves,

Under set eyes of melancholy cast,

She hid her inner chuckle at the events

That have been brought to pass–too well for her,

But for this house and hearth most miserably,–

As in the tale the strangers clearly told.

He, when he hears and learns the story’s gist,

Will joy, I trow, in heart. Ah, wretched me!

How those old troubles, of all sorts made up,

Most hard to bear, in Atreus’s palace-halls

Have made my heart full heavy in my breast!

But never have I known a woe like this.

For other ills I bore full patiently,

But as for dear Orestes, my sweet charge,

Whom from his mother I received and nursed . . .

And then the shrill cries rousing me o’ nights,

And many and unprofitable toils

For me who bore them. For one needs must rear

The heedless infant like an animal,

(How can it else be?) as his humor serve

For while a child is yet in swaddling clothes,

It speaketh not, if either hunger comes,

Or passing thirst, or lower calls of need;

And children’s stomach works its own content.

And I, though I foresaw this, call to mind,

How I was cheated, washing swaddling clothes,

And nurse and laundress did the selfsame work.

I then with these my double handicrafts,

Brought up Orestes for his father dear;

And now, woe’s me! I learn that he is dead,

And go to fetch the man that mars this house;

And gladly will he hear these words of mine.

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 

• Николай Некрасов – Детство by Николай Некрасов
• Николай Некрасов – Деревенские новости by Николай Некрасов
• Николай Некрасов – Демону by Николай Некрасов
• Николай Карамзин – Триолет Алете в тот день, как ей исполнилось 14 лет by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Там всё велико, всё прелестно by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Тацит by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Странные люди by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Стихи с поднесением выписок by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Стихи на слова, заданные мне Хлoeю: миг, картина и дверь by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Стихи на день рождения А. А. Плещеевой 14 октября by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Стихи к портрету И.И. Дмитриева (Министр, поэт и друг) by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Соловей, галки и вороны by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Соломонова мудрость, или мысли, выбранные из Экклезиаста by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Сильфида by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Рогатому человеку by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Раиса (Древняя баллада) by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Прости by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Пророчество на 1799 год, найденное в бумагах Нострадамуса by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Приношение грациям by Николай Карамзин
• Николай Карамзин – Посвящение к «Аглае» by Николай Карамзин

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