Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!

Subject: classical Greek paean to Peace
From: keberoxu
Date: 09 Mar 17 - 01:27 PM

Classical Greek lyric poetry includes this verse, which scholars say is a mere fragment of something larger that has been lost.
Bacchylides is the name of its author.
For a start, here is a poetic English translation from the 1800's.

Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
Wealth, and the honeyed flowers of song;
From burning hearth, to heaven, flows
The odour of the fleecy throng;

The young delight in joyous sports,
The ringing flute and merry dance:
The spider to the shield resorts,
And rust corrodes the sword and lance,

The brazen trump no longer rings;   [!]
Sweet sleep that cherishes the heart,
Unbroken, to the eyelid clings;
And childhood's songs delight impart.


This is way outside my area of expertise. I can't tell you anything about Bacchylides, except by quoting someone else. The English translator, above, says that B is a contemporary of Pindar.

This text is relevant to music history, because translations into other languages have been set to music by composers native to those languages. I am entirely ignorant if anybody has set the original classical Greek to music.

At the beginning of the 1800's, a Swiss curate who lived in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, published his poetic translation, a real change of pace from Germany's warlike patriotism. Another Swiss, German-speaking, composer made a men's chorus out of it.

Then, during the Great War, this paean was translated by a pacifist poet into his native Hungarian. A Hungarian composer was quick to set it to music, also for men's chorus.

Finally, there is a classical Latin translation of some antiquity, but I do not know if anybody ever put it to music.

Subject: Bacchylides, Latin translation (paean to Peace)
From: keberoxu
Date: 09 Mar 17 - 01:53 PM

The paean to Peace, translated from Greek into Latin.

Pax alma res fert maximus mortalibus;
Illa ministrat opes,
Blandosque lusus carminum.

Tunc laetus ignis in Deorum altaribus
Lanigeras pecudes
Caesasque consumet boves.

Gratus palaestrae tunc juventutem labor
Sertaque juncta mero
Et tibiae exercet sonus.

Tunc inter ipsa fibularum vincula,
In clypeique sinu
Araneae texunt opus.

Hic hasta, et illic ensium mucro jacet;
Cordis amica quies
Nullo fugatur classico;

Sed alta haeret et sui juris sopor!
Carminibus resonat
Vicinia, et festa dape.

The translator is identified as Grotius.

Both the previous translations come from:
the American Advocate of Peace pamphlets
Hartford, Connecticut: published by the Connecticut Peace Society, December, 1834.

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: leeneia
Date: 09 Mar 17 - 02:40 PM

Thanks, keberoxu. That's very fine. Except maybe for "fleecy." The only flower I can think of that's fleecy is the crepe myrtle.

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 09 Mar 17 - 02:49 PM

That line you singled out is especially misleading, if the translations by other English writers gives anything to go by.

After reading at least six or seven other English versions, my guess
is that that line of verse describes:

the sacrificial altar fire, upon which rises to heaven the smoke and scent
of the sacrificed sheep or lamb. Flowers having nothing to do with it.

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: keberoxu
Date: 09 Mar 17 - 09:16 PM

That florid "fleecy" English translation may have been written by one C. S. Henry. He edited the Connecticut Peace Society pamphlet from which the translation was quoted. Don't see it anyplace else.

This translation is by Christopher North and was printed in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine during the 1800's. The virtue of this translation is that he tries to keep it prosaic and not to match the meter of the original Greek, so it ought to be fairly literal.

Great are the things which Peace produces to mortals:
Wealth, and the flowers of the honey-tongued bards,
And on the daedal altars, to the Gods are burned,
Of oxen, and of well-wooled sheep,
The thighs with reddish flame.

And the youths busy themselves
With gymnastics, and piping, and revelry.

And in the iron-bound handles of shields,
Of black spiders the webs exist;
And the iron-pointed spears and double-edged swords,
mould is subduing;
And of brazen trumpets
No longer is the shrill sound;
Nor is soul-delighting sleep forced away from the eyelids,
sleep which soothes my soul.

And the streets are full of agreeable banquets,
And the songs of the youths resound.

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: leeneia
Date: 10 Mar 17 - 10:13 AM

Yes, that makes more sense. Thanks

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: keberoxu
Date: 10 Mar 17 - 11:41 AM

The opening post pointed out that there exist musical settings of this paean.
I know of none for an English translation.

Here, however, is that German-language translation from neutral/pacifist Switzerland. This was translated by a curate named Erhard Christian Eccard, and set for men's four-part chorus (a cappella) by fellow Swiss, Hans Georg Nägeli.

AUF DEN FRIEDEN

Vom Frieden begrüßet, blühet wieder das Land,
Die Leier umflattert ein rosichtes Band,
Den silbernen Saiten melodischen Klang
Begleitet der fröhliche Wechselgesang.

Es lodert die Flamme der Opfer empor,
Altäre umkreiset ein dankendes Chor,
Es schweben verschlungen zum blühenden Kranz,
Das Mädchen, der Jüngling im feiernden Tanz.

Nun weben am Schilden die Spinnen umher;
Nun rosten die Helmen, es rostet der Speer;
Es scheucht der Trompeten erschmetternder Ton
Nicht ferner die wonnigen Träume davon.

Das Schwert wird zur Sichel, die Pflüger lohnt mild,
Die emsige Mühe das Weizengefild.
Es reichet den Winzer beim festlichen Mahl
Sein Liebchen holdlächelnd den Freudenpokal.

The text was published in 1804, and the choral music in 1817.

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: keberoxu
Date: 11 Mar 17 - 02:58 PM

here goes nothing:

ΠΑΙΑΝΕΣ

Τικτει δε τε θνατοισιν Ειρηνη μεγανα
πλουτον και μελιγλοσσον αοιδαν ανθεα,
δαιδαλεων τ' επι βωμων θεοισιν αιθεσθαι βοων
ξανθα φλογι μηρα τανυτριχων τε μηλων
γυμνασιων τε νεοισ αυλων τε και κωμων μελειν.

(that's only the first part)

(and I may have mispelled the Goddess of Peace up there)

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: keberoxu
Date: 11 Mar 17 - 03:58 PM

second part:

Εν δε σιδαροδετοισ πορπαξιν αιθαν
αραχναν ιστοι πελονται


sorry. I'm running out of steam here. That's barely half of it. More to come.

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: keberoxu
Date: 12 Mar 17 - 05:59 PM

Interrupting the posts of Bacchylides' original Greek,
in order to bring you a translation in Italian,
which is much easier to code.

PEANI.

Produce ai mortali la Pace grandi beni:
la ricchezza e i fiori dei canti soavi,
e sugli scopilti altari
alla fiamma rosseggiante ardere in offerta agli déi
coscie di bovi e di pecore lanose;
e i giovani dedicarsi alla palestra, ai flauti, alle serenate.

E nelle ferree maniglie degli scudi si stendono le tele dei bruni ragni;
sulle acuminante lance e sulle spade a doppio taglio domina la ruggine;
delle trombe di rame non s'ode lo squillo;
né si toglie per forza dalle ciglie il sonno soave
che i nostri cuori conforta sul mattino;
di amabili conviti brulicano le strade,
e canti d'amore fiammeggiano.

from Bacchilide: Odi e Frammenti
Firenze: G. C. Sansoni, 1916

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: keberoxu
Date: 12 Mar 17 - 07:26 PM

third part, the original Paean.

εγχεα τε λογχωτα ξιφεα τ' αμφακεα δαμναται ευρωσ
χαλκεαν δ' ουκ εστι σαλπιγγων κτυποσ
ουδε σελαται μελιφρων υπνοσ απο γλεφαρων,

αμων ωσ θαλπει κεαρ.

Almost done here. One little piece left.

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: keberoxu
Date: 12 Mar 17 - 10:18 PM

Oh dear. I misspelled the Greek word for "eyelid" in the post just before this one. I spelled it "glepharun" or something. It's more like "blepharun." I must be absolutely butchering Bacchylides here.
Then after that word, which is followed by a comma , ,
the next two words ought to be

αμον οσ θαλπει κεαρ.

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: keberoxu
Date: 12 Mar 17 - 10:34 PM

Fourth part, concluding sentence of Bacchylides' paean: this is the part
about the streets peopled with, instead of a warlike mob, convivial feasting -- "symposion" -- and the songs of youth flaming heavenward.

συμποσιων δ' ερατων βριθοντ'
αγυιαι παιδικοι θ' υμνοι φλεγονται.

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Mar 17 - 02:33 PM

Forgot to say that the Greek which I copied,
was sourced from the Wilhelm Theodor Bergk edition published in Leipzig
during the 1800's....written, not in German, but in Latin, while preserving the Greek originals.

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Mar 17 - 02:46 PM

To find a Spanish translation I had to dig deeper than usual! The Spanish study classical Greeks with enthusiasm, but they prefer victory odes to peace paeans it would seem.

This appears to be a prose translation, rather than a poetic one.

La poderosa paz
produce la riqueza para los mortales,
y las flores de la poesia de gratos acentos.

En los altares artisticamente fabricados
arden en honor de los dioses,
en la roja llama,
las piernas de los bueyes
y de las ovejas de espeso vellon.

Los jóvenes solo piensan en los juegos de del gimnasio,
en las flautas, en los festines.

En los anillos de hierro de los escudos
tejen su tela las negras arañas,
y el orin corroe
las puntiagudas lanzas
y las espadas de doble filo.

Ya no se oye
el estrépido de las trompetas de bronce;
y el sueño con sus visiones halagueñas,
el sueño, encanto de nuestros corazones,
no se nos quita ya de los párpados.

Llenas están las calles
de alegres banquetes,
y resuenan los himnos de amor.

from Historia de la literatura griega, segunda edición, por M. Alejo Pierron. Madrid, Barcelona & Habana: 1861. Sección instructiva, segunda série, La Maravilla.

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Mar 17 - 03:13 PM

And, not to be outdone, the French.

Sur la Paix.

La Paix, déesse immortelle et bienveillante,
verse sur la terre
l'abondance
et les fleurs de beaux vers
qui tombent des bouches d'or;
elle reléve les autels abattus et profanés.

Quand elle est dans tout son éclat,
on brûle en l'honneur des dieux
les cuisses des boeuf succulens
et les épaules des grasses brébis.

Les jeunes guerriers ne sont plus armés que des cestes;
ils reprennent les jeux du gymnase,
leurs flûtes et leurs amours innocens.

Ils déposent dans un coin ténébreux leurs boucliers terribles,
que les arraignées auront bientôt recouvert de leurs toiles.

La rouille use leurs hachés et leurs épées.

Les oreilles ne résonnent plus
du bruit effrayant du clairon;
le sommeil plus doux que le miel
vient clore doucement les paupières.
Nos sens sont enchantés
par des rêves délicieux.

Partout recommencent d'agréable festins longtemps interrompus;
et les hymnes d'amour
retentissent dans nos villes charmées.

from Les petits poèmes grecs. Traduction: Ernest Falconnet (for this particular poem; other translators wrote the included translations of other Greek poets). Paris: Auguste Desrez, 1840. From: Panthéon Littéraire, Littérature grecque, Poésie.

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: keberoxu
Date: 16 Mar 17 - 01:08 PM

If you read the novels of Mary Renault, i point out to you, The Praise Singer. Its subject is classical Greek literature, that is, the men who composed it. The protagonist is the poet Simonides. Bacchylides was his nephew; and as such, has a supporting role in the drama of The Praise Singer.

Subject: RE: Vast are the blessings Peace bestows!
From: Haruo
Date: 16 Mar 17 - 02:34 PM

Mi scivolas ću mi povos trovi esperantigitan version kanteblan.