Verse
Metamorphoses
Book 10, Line 16 by Henry T. Riley (English)
“While such things are being uttered by the prophetic lips of Apollo, behold! the blood which, poured on the ground, has stained the grass, ceases to be blood, and a flower springs up, more bright than the Tyrian purple, and it assumes the appearance which lilies have , were there not in this a purple hue, and in them that of silver. This was not enough for Phœbus, for ’twas he that was the author of this honour. He himself inscribed his own lamentations on the leaves, and the flower has ‘ai, ai,’ inscribed thereon ; and the mournful characters there are traced. Nor is Sparta ashamed to have given birth to Hyacinthus; and his honours continue to the present time; the Hyacinthian festival returns, too, each year, to be celebrated with the prescribed ceremonials, after the manner of former celebrations .”
MetamorphosesOvidHenry T. RileyEnglishVerse permalinkRead in Book 10
Book 10, Line 16ProseID metamorphoses-riley-en-prose-10-16