Giant of gold! king of fire in the mind,
Ruler of light; with you, above all else,
The splendid source of life’s prolific fount;
And from on high you pour the wealth of your
Harmonic streams into our world of matter here. 5
Hear! for high above, on planes of ether,
And in the world’s bright middle realm you reign,
While all things by your sovereign power are filled
With mind-enflaming, providential care.
The fires of stars surround your vigorous fire, 10
And ever in unwearied, ceaseless dance,
Their vivid dew on earth’s wide bosom drops.
By your eternal and repeated course
The hours and seasons come and go;
And elements opposed are joined in harmony, 15
In sight of your majestic beams, great king,
From deity ineffable and secret born.
Unmoving Fates will yield to your command,
Roll back the fatal thread of mortal lives;
For wide-extended sovereign sway is yours. 20
From your fair series of attractive songs,
Divinely charming, Phoebus leaps forth
into light in joy; and with his god-like harp,
To rapture strung, he calms the raging din
Of dire-resounding Matter’s mighty flood. 25
And from your gentle dance, repelling harm,
A healing Hymn expands its light,
Diffusing Health, and filling all the world
With streams of harmony.
You, too, they celebrate in sacred song 30
The illustrious source whence mighty Bacchus came;
In matter’s utmost churning depths they chant
“Euan Ate” to you forever,
While others sound your praise in tuneful verse,
As famed Adonis, delicate and fair. 35
Ferocious daemons, noxious to mankind,
Dread the dire anger of your rapid scourge;
These Daemons plot a thousand ills,
And hatch their plans for wretched souls
That founder in life’s dreadful-sounding seas. 40
Enslaved and shackled by the body’s chains,
Souls lose all thought of fire sublime
And in the dark abyss they writhe.
O best of gods, spirit blessed and crowned with fire,
Image of nature’s all-producing god, 45
And leader of our souls to realms of light-
Hear! and purify my stains of guilt;
Receive the supplication of my pleas,
And wash away the poison from my wounds!
Release me from the torments of my sins, 50
And mitigate the swift, all-seeing eye
Of justice, boundless in its view!
By your pure law, the constant foe of evil,
Direct my steps, and pour your sacred light
In rich abundance on my darkened soul! 55
Dispel the dismal and malignant shades
Of darkness, pregnant with invenomed ills!
Give me strength! And give my body
Health, whose presence splendid gifts imparts.
Give lasting fame; and give that sacred care 60
That fair-haired muses, long ago,
Gave to my pious forebears.
Add, if it please you, o, all-bestowing god,
Reward my piety with your enduring wealth;
Because the power and strength of all 65
The Universe invests your throne.
And if the whirling spindle of the fates
Spins threats and dangers from web of stars,
May your arrows, rays of light, sound through the air
And vanquish ere it falls the coming ill. 70