XXVII
Εὐμορφοτέρα Μνασιδίκα τᾶσ ἀπάλας Γυρίννως·
MNASIDICA in form and gait
Eclipses her ill-favoured mate
Gyrinna ; when I call,
I tremble lest the girl appear
Whose very shadow on the wall
Repulses me, and when I hear
Her rude, slow step I shake with fear.
Her gesture has no rhythmic law ;
She knows not how her dress to draw
About her ankles thin ;
And let the luckless child take care
Firmly her chiton-brooch to pin,
For, oh, she must not ever dare
To leave her flabby shoulder bare !
But when Mnasidica doth raise
Her arm to feed the lamp I gaze
Glad at the lovely curve ;
And when her pitcher at the spring
She fills, I watch her tresses swerve
And drip, then pause to see her wring
Her hair, and back the bright drops fling.
And now she leaves my maiden train !
Those whom I love most give me pain :
Why should I love her so ?
Gyrinna hath a gentle face,
And the harmonious soul, I know,
Not very long can lack the trace,
O Aphrodite, of thy grace.
