21 June 2006

On people who wear too much scent

παντοδαπῶς με τυφλοῖ μύρου ὀδμὴ ᾧ σὺ κέχρισαι·
    κείνης πως ὀδμῆς κρυπτομένη κακίων;

At the bucolic caesura I have taken a Homeric liberty with hiatus. Sterner metricians may substitute τῷ.

2 comments:

IVSTINIANVS said...

Hm. I would expect correption between μύρου and ὀδμὴ.

On the other hand, the hiatus between ὀδμὴ and ᾧ is perfect, since of course the latter word would have begun with sw- (sigma-digamma).

On the other hand, I couldn't possibly compose an elegiac couplet to save my life, so I guess I shouldn't be finding fault with yours :-)

Wm said...

See, the association between odor and Greek has stuck in your mind...

Well, given some of the poems in the Anthology on smell, I figured a little composition was a good way to work out my horror.

Hm. I would expect correption between μύρου and ὀδμὴ.

There is. I allow myself Attic correption earlier in the line — another feature of elegiacs.

On the other hand, the hiatus between ὀδμὴ and ᾧ is perfect, since of course the latter word would have begun with sw-

Actually, hiatus across the bucolic caeusra is common, regardless of the following word. That was my model here.