Priapeia

Priaepia

by divers poets in English verse and prose. Translated by Sir Richard Burton and Leonard C. Smithers

  1. And, shouldst attempt to plunder time the third,
  2. This and that penalty thou shalt endure,
  3. Being both pedicate and irrumate.
  1. We all show special notes of bodily shape:
  2. Long-haired is Phoebus, arm-strong Hercules,
  3. And tender Bacchus owneth virginal form;
  4. Pallas hath grey-blue eyes, Venus a cast;
  5. Th' Arcadian Fauns thou seest bloody-browed
  6. And the Gods' Messenger shows proper feet;
  7. The Guard of Lemnos moves unequal steps;
  8. Ever untrimmed is Aesculapius' beard;
  9. None hath a broader breast than bully Mars;
  10. But, an Priapus' rank 'mid these remain,
  11. There be no better-membered deity.