Orphic Hymns to the Planets
Seven classical planets, by Al-Qazwini
Thomas Taylor translation, 1792
Heav’nly, illustrious, laughter-loving queen,
Sea-born, night-loving, of an awful mien;
Crafty, from whom necessity first came,
Producing, nightly, all-connecting dame:
’Tis thine the world with harmony to join,
For all things spring from thee, O pow’r divine.
The triple Fates are rul’d by thy decree,
And all productions yield alike to thee.
Whate’er the heav’ns, encircling all, contain,
Earth fruit-producing, and the stormy main,
Thy sway confesses, and obeys thy nod,
Awful attendant of the brumal God.
Goddess of marriage, charming to the sight,
Mother of Loves, whom banquetings delight;
Source of persuasion, secret, fav’ring queen,
Illustrious born, apparent and unseen;
Spousal, lupercal, and to men inclin’d,
Prolific, most-desir’d, life-giving, kind:
Great sceptre-bearer of the Gods, ’tis thine,
Mortals in necessary bands to join;
And ev’ry tribe of savage monsters dire,
In magic chains to bind, thro’ mad desire.
Come, Cyprus-born, and to my pray’r incline,
Whether exalted in the heav’ns you shine,
Or pleas’d in Syria’s temple to preside,
Or o’er th’ Egyptian plains thy car to guide,
Fashion’d of gold; and near its sacred flood,
Fertile and fam’d to fix thy blest abode;
Or if rejoicing in the azure shores,
Near where the sea with foaming billows roars,
The circling choirs of mortals pleas’d to shun,
Retire to chambers with the lovely One;
Come, all-attractive to my pray’r inclin’d,
For thee, I call, with holy, reverent mind.
O mighty Jove, much-honour’d, Jove supream,
Thron’d on the clouds, and earth’s all-fertile stem;
The lightning’s lord, by flashing fulphur known,
Jove, great and glorious, of majestic throne.
O various-nam’d, O best of all condol’d,
Whose mighty pow’r, what each possesses, holds.
O Jove, all-father, ruling with a nod,
All-blessed, mighty, most affective God:
Dark-ey’d, presiding, and with prudence skill’d,
Hurler of bolts, and over all fulfill’d.
’Tis thine abundant fates alike to bind,
And loose with ease, the offspring of the mind.
For all things are contain’d within thy pow’r,
Whate’er the world produces ev’ry hour.
O cloud-surrounding, proximate, divine,
Th’unchang’d preserver, father, and mankind.
Immortal blessedness, for ever found,
In thee the world’s best guardian is found.
Come, blessed God, and to my pray’r incline,
Propitious grant thy great assistance mine.
Mercury, draw near, and to my pray’r incline,
Messenger of Jove, and Maia’s son divine;
Studious of contest, ruddy, and divine,
Fruitful, and mighty, and of pow’r the sign;
You fav’rings, various, who by turns fulfill
The dread commands of Jove with rapid skill.
With winged feet ’tis thine thro’ air to course,
O friend of man, and prophet of discourse.
Great life-supporter, to rejoice is thine,
In arts gymnastic, and in fraud divine:
With pow’r endu’d all language to explain,
Of care the loos’ner, and the source of gain.
Whose hand contains of blameless peace the rod,
Correal, blessing, profitable God.
Of various speeches, aid, and healing pow’r,
Whom winged feet, thro’ air’s expanse, devour.
In heav’n, terrestrial, and in realms below,
Thy holy influence, all-prolific God, we know.
Come, blessed pow’r, and to my pray’r incline,
Propitious grant thy great assistance mine.
Magnanimous, unconquer’d, boisterous Mars,
In darts rejoicing, and in bloody wars;
Fierce and untam’d, whose mighty pow’r can make
The strongest walls from their foundations shake:
Mortal-destroying king, defil’d with gore,
Pleas’d with war’s dreadful and tumultuous roar:
Thee, human blood, and swords, and spears delight,
And the dire ruin of mad savage fight.
Stay furious contests, and avenging strife,
Whose works with woe, embitter human life;
To lovely Kythereia’s arms repair,
And give the weapons of destruction there.
Encourag’d, of man’s necessary need befriend,
And ever to the tongue of peace attend.
Hear, Goddess queen, diffusing silver light,
Bull-horn’d and wand’ring thro’ the gloom of Night.
With stars surrounded, and with circuit wide
Night’s torch extending, thro’ the heav’ns you ride.
Female and male with borrow’d rays you shine,
And now full-orb’d, now tending to decline.
Mother of ages, fruit-producing Moon,
Whose amber orb makes Night’s reflected noon.
Lover of horses, splendid, queen of Night,
All-seeing pow’r bedeck’d with starry light.
Lover of vigilance, the Month is thine,
And Summer’s dear delight, prophetic sign.
All-various Nature, lunar, wand’ring star,
Goddess, I call thee with thy radiant car;
Come, pleasant-minded, and thyself incline
To grant success, with fav’ring pow’r divine.
Hear golden Titan, whose eternal eye
With broad survey, illumines all the sky.
Self-born, unwearied in diffusing light,
And to all eyes the mirrour of delight:
Lord of the Seasons, with thy fiery car
And leaping coursers, beaming light from far:
With thy right hand the source of morning light,
And with thy left the father of the night.
Agile and vig’rous, venerable Sun,
Fiery and bright around the heav’ns you run.
Foe to the wicked, but the good man’s guide,
O’er all his steps propitious you preside:
With various founding, golden-hair’d, divine,
And universal nature is thine.
Therefore, blest pow’r, with holy light replete,
With flaming rays, and lively heat;
Shed on thy suppliant holy blessings bright,
Keep me from harm, and grant a lasting light.
Saturn, of diff’rent names, whom men invoke,
Whose works no end, nor scope, nor limit know;
Consumptive Time, good dæmon, Jove’s sire,
Whose motions, swift, with various forms aspire.
Sharp and unwearied, Kronos, ruling long,
Consuming all things, ruling all the world:
Memory and conscious mind is thine alone,
For all things spring from thee, and thee they own.
O father of the world, of various names,
Whose pow’rful mandate all the world proclaims;
Oblique and winding, best of eldest born,
Delighting in the whirlings of the morn.
Holy and blessed father, hear my pray’r,
And bless thy mystic votary’s pious care.
The Seven Planets Personified Text Unknown
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