print previewback NONNUS OF PANOPOLIS
translation from Homeric Greek by Denise Low
VIII
Helios Explains (Sequential)
Time
Helios continued his advice, “Phaëthon,
listen. Begin in Aries, the Ram. Zephyrs
christen land with warm winds and rain.
Fork-tailed swallows mate. Days stretch
longer. My beams of light strike wet fields
with life’s fire. Grapes and barley swell.
At summer’s height, Cancer the Crab reddens.
Then comes lesser light and the leaves shake.
Libra’s scale of light and dark hangs balanced.
Winter comes last, with Capricorn, a mermaid-goat
creature of dark months. Storms rinse sins
of the year away. Midnight lasts for hours.”
Phaëthon kept quiet but gazed away, starward.
“The year must follow this sequence,” Helios said.
“Each day I cross the Zodiac in this order
or chaos would arise.” But he saw the boy only
desired the golden helmet with seven rays.
He only desired the blazing horses of ecstasy.
Contributor’s notes: Nonnus Of Panopolis
Contributor’s notes: Denise Low