Homeric Hymn to Pan
Tell me about that dear son of Hermes
Muse,
with the goat feet,
and the two horns
the one who loves noise,
who goes around
in meadows
with dancing nymphs
that tramp even on
rocky peaks
that goats can'r reach
calling for
Pan,
the pastoral god
with magnificent hair,
unwashed,
who's got
all the snow crests
and mountain ridges
and all the rocky roads
He goes about
here and there
in the thick shrubbery
and sometimes
he is drawn down to
gentle streams
and sometimes
he just wanders about
on steep rocks
climbing up
to the highest peak
to watch his sheep
and often
he runs across
a great white mountain range
and often
he comes down
the side of the mountains
killing animals
he has a very sharp eye.
And sometimes -
but only in the evening -
relaxing from the hunt,
he makes music,
playing a song
on his flute -
it's sweet
and no bird
weeping in lament
no bird crying
the song of it's honeyed voice
in the leaves
of spring's many flowers
could outrun him,
Pan,
in song
And the mountain nymphs
with clear voices
go along with him,
their feet excited,
they sing too,
by the springs of dark water -
Echo waiting
on the mountain-top
And the god
on this side
on that side
of the chorus
enters the dance
speeding his feet
into their midst, dancing
the red skin of a lynx
on his back
for covering
his head delights in
the piercing songs
in a soft meadow
where crocus and hyacinth
with their sweert fragrence
mix in with the grass
any-old-where
They sing about
the blessed gods and great Olympos -
For example
they sing about Hermes
the helper,
above all others,
how he is a quick messenger
for all the gods,
how he came to Arcadia
with it's many springs
the mother of sheep
where his precinct,
Cyllene, is
And there,
though he was a god,
he had tended sheep,
with their rough fleece,
for a mortal man,
because he,
Hermes,
felt a sensual wave
coming over him
to make love with
a nymph with beautiful hair
the daughter of Dryops
It ended
in happy marriage,
and, in their rooms,
she produced for Hermes
a dear son -
fantastic to look at,
with goat-feet,
and two horns,
very noisy
but laughing
sweetly
Its mother
jumped up and fled -
instead of nursing it
she abandoned the child -
she was scared
as she looked at
its brutal face!
its heavy beard!
But Hermes,
the helper,
was overjoyed
in his mind
and he took it in his hands
and received it.
And he hid the boy
in a thick skin
of a mountain rabbit
and he went immediately
to the home
of the immortal gods.
He set him down
next to Zeus
and to the other immortal gods
and he showed them
his boy.
And all the immortal gods
were delighted
in their hearts
and more than anyone else even
Dionysos,
Bacchos
And they decided to call him
Pan
because he had delighted the minds of
all.
And so, lord.
I greet you,
and with this song
I would please you.
I will remember you
in my other songs.