§262πάντων τὴν καλλίχορον καὶ πολυύμνητον καὶ τριπόθητον ἀνθρώποις ἀρκέσουσιν ἀνοιμῶξαι πόλιν;
Will [the songs] of all suffice to lament the city of beautiful dances, much-hymned, and thrice-desired by men?
ὦ πτῶμα τῆς Ἀσίας, ὦ λοιπαὶ πόλεις, ὦ πᾶσα μὲν γῆ, πᾶσα δὲ εἴσω Γαδείρων τε καὶ ἔξω Γαδείρων θάλαττα, ὦ κύκλος ἀστέρων, ὦ πάντα ἐφορῶν ἥλιε, οἷον ἠνέσχου θέαμα ὁρῶν.
O ruin of Asia! O remaining cities! O all the land, and all the sea both within and without Gadeira! O circle of the stars, O sun that beholds all things, what a sight you endured to see!
ὦ παιδιὰ μὲν Ἰλίου πόρθησις, παιδιὰ δὲ Ἀθηναίων ἐν Σικελίᾳ συμφοραὶ καὶ κατασκαφαὶ Θηβῶν, καὶ στρατευμάτων ὄλεθροι καὶ πόλεων δύσεις, καὶ πάνθʼ ὅσα πῦρ καὶ πόλεμοι καὶ σεισμοὶ μέχρι τοῦδε ἀπειργάσαντο.
O the plundering of Ilion was mere child's play, and child's play were the disasters of the Athenians in Sicily, and the destruction of Thebes, and the ruins of armies, and the sinkings of cities, and all things that fire, wars, and earthquakes have wrought up to this day!
ὦ πρότερον μὲν κάλλει καὶ μούσαις ἁπάσας πόλεις ἀποκρύπτουσα, νῦν δʼ ἀποκρύψασα τὸ τῆς Ῥόδου πτῶμα.
O you who formerly surpassed all cities in beauty and the Muses, but now have surpassed the ruin of Rhodes!
ἔμελλες ἄρα τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ᾁδεσθαι δευτέρων σχετλιωτέρων.
You were destined, then, to be sung by the Greeks as a second, more terrible calamity.
ὦ πᾶσι τοῖς ὁμοφύλοις ἐναγισμάτων ἡμέρα.
O day of funeral offerings for all compatriots!
ὦ κοινὴ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἀποφρὰς, οἵαν κεφαλὴν τοῦ γένους ἀπήνεγκας.
O ill-omened day common to the Greeks, what a head of the race you have snatched away!
οἷον ἐξεῖλες ὀφθαλμόν.
What an eye you have torn out!
ὦ γῆς ἄγαλμα, ὦ θέατρον τῆς Ἑλλάδος, ὦ Νυμφῶν καὶ Χαρίτων ὕφασμα.
O ornament of the earth, O theater of Greece, O tapestry of the Nymphs and Graces!
ὦ πάντα ὑπομείνας ἐγὼ, ποῦ γῆς νυνὶ μονῳδῶ;
O I who have endured all things, where on earth am I now to sing my lament?
ποῦ μοι τὸ βουλευτήριον;
Where is my council chamber?
ποῦ νέων καὶ πρεσβυτέρων σύνοδοι καὶ θόρυβοι διδόντων ἅπαντα;
Where are the assemblies of young and old, and the clamors of those who give everything?
ἦν ποτε ἐν τῷ Σιπύλῳ πόλις, ἣν κατὰ τῆς λίμνης δῦναι λόγος.
There was once a city on Sipylus, which report says sank beneath the lake.
ὦ Σμύρνα, ὡς πόρρωθέν σοι τὸ προοίμιον ᾔδετο.
O Smyrna, how from afar was the prelude sung for you!
οἵας ἐκληρονόμησας τύχης, ὡς ἥκιστα σαυτῇ προσηκούσης.
What a fortune you have inherited, one so little fitting for you!
νῦν ἔδει μὲν πάντας οἰωνοὺς εἰς πῦρ ἐνάλλεσθαι, παρέχει δʼ ἡ πόλις ἄφθονον· πᾶσαν δὲ τὴν ἤπειρον ἀποκείρασθαι, πάντως αὐτῆς ὁ βόστρυχος οἴχεται· νῦν ποταμοὺς δάκρυσι ῥυῆναι, νῦν ὁλκάδας ἐκπλεῦσαι μέλασι τοῖς ἱστίοις.
Now it were proper for all birds to leap into the fire, and the city provides it in abundance; and for the whole continent to shear its hair, for surely its lock of hair is gone; now for rivers to flow with tears, now for merchant ships to sail out with black sails.
ὦ Μέλης διʼ ἐρήμου ῥέων.
O Meles flowing through a wasteland!
ὦ τῶν προτέρων μελῶν τὰ παρόντα ἀντίφθογγα.
O present discords to the former melodies!
ὦ κύκνων ᾠδὴ καὶ ἀηδόνων χορὸς ἐνθρηνεῖν.
O song of swans and chorus of nightingales to lament!
ἦ που καὶ Γοργόνες εἰ περιῆσαν, οὐκ ἂν τὴν Μέδουσαν, οὐδὲ τὸν αὑτῶν ὀφθαλμὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸν τῆς Ἀσίας ἐπένθησαν.
Surely even if the Gorgons were still surviving, they would have mourned not Medusa, nor their own eye, but the eye of Asia.
ποῖον Βόσπορον, ἢ ποίους καταρράκτας, ἢ τίνα Ταρτησσὸν τὸ σὸν, ὦ δαιμονία, κλέος οὐκ ἐπῆλθε;
What Bosporus, or what cataracts, or what Tartessos did your fame, O wondrous city, not reach?
ποίᾳ Μασσαλίᾳ τὸ πένθος §263τοῦτο ὁρισθήσεται;
At what Massalia will this mourning be bounded?
ἢ τίνι Βορυσθένει;
Or at what Borysthenes?
τίς Ἑλλήνων οὕτως ἔξω τῆς Ἑλλάδος; τίς βαρβάρων οὕτως ἀδάμαστος καὶ ἀνάλωτος τοῖς τῆς Σμύρνης βέλεσι καὶ φίλτροις, ὅστις οὐκ ἀκοῇ μὲν ἤρα, ἀκοῇ δὲ ἀνιάσεται.
Who of the Greeks is so far outside of Greece, who of the barbarians is so unsubdued and unconquered by the missiles and charms of Smyrna, that he did not love her by report, and will not grieve by report?
Ἡλιάδας μὲν δὴ λέγεται πενθούσας τὸν ἀδελφὸν τελευτώσας αἰγείρων ἀλλάξασθαι φύσιν καὶ τὸ δάκρυον αὐτῶν εἰς ἤλεκτρον παγῆναι· σὲ δὲ, ὦ χαριεστάτη πόλεων, αὐτοῖς ὥρα τοῖς δένδρεσι θρηνεῖν.
The Heliades indeed are said, while mourning their brother, finally to have changed into the nature of poplars, and their tears to have hardened into amber; but for you, O most graceful of cities, it is time for the trees themselves to lament.