Editing Alcaeus (section)

===A drinking poem (fr. 346)===
The following verses demonstrate some key characteristics of the Alcaic style (square brackets indicate uncertainties in the ancient text):
{{Verse translation|italicsoff=y|
{{lang|grc|πώνωμεν· τί τὰ λύχν' ὀμμένομεν; δάκτυλος ἀμέρα·
κὰδ δ'ἄερρε κυλίχναις μεγάλαις [αιτα]ποικίλαισ·
οἶνον γὰρ Σεμέλας καὶ Δίος υἶος λαθικάδεον
ἀνθρώποισιν ἔδωκ'. ἔγχεε κέρναις ἔνα καὶ δύο
πλήαις κὰκ κεφάλας, [ἀ] δ' ἀτέρα τὰν ἀτέραν κύλιξ
ὠθήτω...}}<ref>David A. Campbell, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'', Bristol Classical Press (1982), p. 60</ref>
|
Let's drink! Why are we waiting for the lamps? Only an inch of daylight left.
Lift down the large cups, my friends, the painted ones;
for wine was given to men by the son of Semele and Zeus
to help them forget their troubles. Mix one part of water to two of wine,
pour it in up to the brim, and let one cup push the other along...<ref>Andrew M.Miller (trans.), ''Greek Lyric: An Anthology in Translation'', Hackett Publishing Co. (1996), p. 48</ref>}}

The Greek meter here is relatively simple, comprising the Greater [[Asclepiad (poetry)|Asclepiad]], adroitly used to convey, for example, the rhythm of jostling cups  ({{lang|grc|ἀ δ' ἀτέρα τὰν ἀτέραν}}). The language of the poem is typically direct and concise and comprises short sentences — the first line is in fact a model of condensed meaning, comprising an exhortation ("Let's drink!"), a rhetorical question ("Why are we waiting for the lamps?") and a justifying statement ("Only an inch of daylight left").<ref>David Campbell, "Monody", in ''The Cambridge History of Classical Literature: Greek Literature'', P. Easterling and E. Kenney (eds), Cambridge University Press (1985), p. 212</ref> The meaning is clear and uncomplicated, the subject is drawn from personal experience, and there is an absence of poetic ornament, such as simile or metaphor. Like many of his poems (e.g., frs. 38, 326, 338, 347, 350), it begins with a verb (in this case "Let's drink!") and it includes a proverbial expression ("Only an inch of daylight left") though it is possible that he coined it himself.<ref name="David A 1982 page 287"/>