Where the cold bones of Sophocles repose;
May thy young tendrils clasp in soft caresses
The bursting petals of the blushing rose.
May the green vine, its dewy branches flinging,
A lasting bower above thy grave entwine,
For the deep wisdom thou didst show, when singing
Among the Graces and the heavenly Nine.
Thou knowest how the cruel Acrisius committed his daughter Danaë, with her infant Perseus, to the protection of a small ark, and the mercy of a raging sea. In this—certainly one of the most touching fragments of all antiquity, and written by Simonides, the Ceian, a poet, heart and soul—Danaë is introduced, alone and cheerless, yet watching, with a mother’s tenderness, over her sleeping son.
Round the frail boat the wild winds, roaring, swept,
And shook the heart of Danaë with fear,