VIII.xxiv. as ( we ) rot ( we wont ) forget ( to drink from ) the well
ADEIMANTOS: O sailors of our craft, O Polly-tay,
how blows the wind on this, her holly-day?
SAILORS: who( which-all? )( what-all? )( -all? ), then,
( o somebodys )( o anybodys )( o many anyones )
( do you pay the price? )( do you pay-off your debt? )
( she-dyad-god )( was she binding )( bind, you )( god-
needed-bound )( was she in-need )( need, you )
( she-dyad-god )( indeed )must( be ) ?
τίνες δή;
ADEIMANTOS: but still its me, o yet-un-answered-we !
and how exhilaration bellows off the sea !
these breezes high indeed, and so far-flung
from smog of city men, she saves our lung.
but ( the air is thick with the smell of rot )
below, within our private pilots cell.
for she without be she within as well,
and ( weve been burning dupa ) given me
as gifts from islanders who welcome guests.
for there be no more pious men than what
some unreal men call swarthy savages,
gave scent helps me-ears mingling mightly.
whereby ( we hear ) shes ( clinging on tightly )
to what, an ear, an oar, the yard-arm or
the mast, broke be that merry beam no more,
no scrub for me, no scrub for her, sailors
supplied to do all dirtier chores,
let me, let be, relax, o soothing sea.. ( . . . Enya )
. . ( ..and then we talk )-( with her and really listening ),
HERA: but still( he )who, at least,
braver( stronger-mightier-better ) — be(
we )as much as far-sounding( euru-opa )Zeus( would be
braver )( mightier )( stronger )( better )( than )Kronos,
ἀλλ᾽ ὅ γε φέρτερος ἔστω, ὅσον Κρόνου εὐρύοπα Ζεύς.
SOKRATES: which( even-indeed, o )most wonderful
( marvellous, extraordinary )of all to hear,
ὃ μὲν πάντων θαυμαστότατον ἀκοῦσαι,
ADEIMANTOS: lets fare-thee-well, O best goddess !
at least as much as Euru-dike would
be braver than Euru-opa, what crazy ratios.
would she ( who made herself in me ) meet herself ( in we ) !
our promise as our payment, dear divine,
( and everything Achilles would to pine )
yet smouldering ( of leaves ) leaves air unclear.
( the what ifs and the buts ) begin to appear
soon as our flourish in pink ( -ink ) on papier,
SOKRATES: that in each of( those )which( we )praised
( approved, commended )( of )the( she- )nature
( growth-birth-origin )
( it )destroys( demolishes )( slays )( lays waste )( loses )
the( she- )having-holding-
( they cool )( we cool )( to be cool )( cooling )( of her )-soul
( life, spirit, ghost, source, self ),
ὅτι ἓν ἕκαστον ὧν ἐπῃνέσαμεν τῆς φύσεως ἀπόλλυσι τὴν ἔχουσαν ψυχὴν
ADEIMANTOS: and indeed we live in crucial-fiction, which brings
us to the ever-controversial ( mushrooms ).
first thing a mushroom can be many things.
it goes both ways, or three or four, parts-sing.
( we recommend those only grown on dung
or best discovered with a trusted pig )
eat me, they seem to say, eat her, or you?
or you-know-who! or him? not mine to say.
and mushrooms come in many different kinds, my kids,
( unsafe to say weve tried more than a few? )
they do a number on my surely-temple,
on whom, we wait for guidance from above
as sailors hit the decks, tripping-( and for
a moment )-if our sailors loose the ship —
SOKRATES: and( indeed, it )( would )tears- and drag( away-
from )( you )( would )( be tearing-away-
from )( she- )philosophy( wisdom-love ),
καὶ ἀποσπᾷ φιλοσοφίας.
ADEIMANTOS: ( but this has been a little prophecy )
( exteeeeeeeeeeeeeeended metaphor )
( a little pharmacy of written word )
( translating too all of the media that
the vast
numbers of men consume ) ( and possibly soul-
alt-
altar-ring technology ) ( which leaves a lot
of room ) ( we maybe beauty-calling scrolls )
but ( we flip? ) into this irony ( of anti-scroll
as these-shes grow the trippiest of blooms )
and how we drift in the all-pink
( a soul put under things at her own risk
and men on-going tax her stretchiness )
( we-being his remedy or pharmakon for his )
( hed we-being his own doctor his own ills )
as ( the hopeful dreams ) gathering- and holding-in,
( and the things we refuse to say ) to my best friend,
( really? ) ( of course ) my best friend ( we-being ) second-self,
( easy for him to say ) ( just stole to-for-by Aristotle )
( we are true pirates, through it all )-( but shhh )
in letters like a daily vitamin,
in some ancient cloud of shroom, weird-heavenly,
( by our best-friend-ship )-( we forget to hate myself )
and so this mushroom got our horses out,
SOKRATES: but( we would )say( she- )manliness( courage ),
λέγω δὲ ἀνδρείαν,
ADEIMANTOS: ( and you pinch )-( the goblin that lives in my head )
not hard! ( but fit to chase it out of bed )
( then baits it with a bite ) of ( sprinkles! ) sweet medicine.
and possibly the goblin could turn cat
( or rat ) ( or dinosaur ) ( and it could bite me pretty bad )
( but we wont let go of the wanting ) and even
as we never did, even in ( my scare-
crone heart )-( born on fragrant spring mornings )
in her salad days ( before the unreal politics )
( before bad wisdom ) yet salvaging the goods
( as drawing butterflies on whats discarded )
( to-by-for ) me and you ( becoming beautiful
and young again ) ( in seeming poetics of )
SOKRATES: ( she-)moderation( sophrosune )( sound-
mindedness, prudence, discretion )
and( indeed )
( all things )which( she-dyad )( we )go through
all( which )( things )( his-so-called-all )( the she-dyad ),
σωφροσύνην καὶ πάντα ἃ διήλθομεν.
ADEIMANTOS: but we have some words on poems
haphazard heraldry ( even seeming innocuously )
( they turn into the ache of yearning ) tossed
across however many continents,
with latitude and longitude intact,
but tissue burden highly over-stretched,
for ( the yearning ) never could yearning dispell
and such i( wheres the we? )s life, and such i( wheres the we? )s happiness,
all mans desire ( keeps poisoning the well
of hope ) like all my cold hard pennies lost
for wishes
( swallowed fishes )
( empty stare )
HERAKLES: but Hermes sent( escorted-conducted )me,
and( look, you )gleaming-( glaukopis )-
eyed Athena( o Athens, o Politeia ),
Ἑρμείας δέ μ᾽ ἔπεμψεν ἰδὲ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη.'
ADEIMANTOS: so circumnavigated metaphors,
and speaking as ourselves of messy words,
or forceful dreams, dreams of a force to reckon
with her eyesight even ( as intense as the nettles )
could she guard ( the dreaming ) until ( we earn his name ) ?
and even as we drink ( the water never fully clear ) ?
and as to navigation ( are we on some divided-line ) ?
O sailors, where would be ours, to steer?
SAILORS: ( the )placeless( out-of-place, out-of-the-way, un-
wonted, extra-ordinary, strange,
para-doxical, ab-surd )
( a-topos ),
ἄτοπον,
ADEIMANTOS: O beloved Sokrates, who takes us there?
SOKRATES: ( smiles primly and steeples his hands )
well even ( with their outstretched arms ) in love
( no matter how hard we keep trying ) her ( its purifying! )
( my nettle tea ) she wont ( we wont ) seize hold of me,
ADEIMANTOS: even( indeed )beautiful( her-we-being )
therefore( to-by-for )me,
καλὴ μὲν οὖν μοι
SAILORS: ( he )was saying,
ἔφη,
SOKRATES: and indeed they ( reach for me on my way home )
( theres always a drop somewhere ) ( or how do you live? )
but she wont ( we wont ) be poisoned by her hope,
ADEIMANTOS: and( indeed )the( she- )guidance( pompe )
( conduct, escort, sending-home, sending-mission, she-procession )
( of )( the local customs )( of the chorus )( of the dances )
( on the open spaces )( epi-chorion )( on the chora )
would seem-seemly to( we-being )be,
καὶ ἡ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων πομπὴ ἔδοξεν εἶναι,
SAILORS: to hear,
ἀκοῦσαι. (491ξ)
SOKRATES: from the unsightly, she may feel fear.
however ( not quite touching ) her unseen heart,
she keeps her latern as her head held high,
she wont ( we wont ) look backwards at a phasma.
ADEIMANTOS: not however( even-indeed-by-you )inferior
( o worse, weaker, less, fewer )( did she )appear( shining-
forth )to resemble( be conspicuously like, befit, beseem )
( she )whom the Thracians( o Thracians )( we )were sending,
οὐ μέντοι ἧττον ἐφαίνετο πρέπειν ἣν οἱ Θρᾷκες ἔπεμπον.
SOKRATES: just so, she holds my trust and confidence
no less than they hold the vessel of my life;
( and then it spreads ) abroad her shining light.
ALL: ( and blowing in the wind for all to hear )
and then it spreads abroad her shining light !
//
from hymn to Apollo
Republic I, VI, X
Odyssey. 11.613-626