Gaia, mother of all,
I shall sing,
the strong foundation, the oldest one.
She feeds everything in the world.
Whoever walks upon her sacred ground,
or moves through the sea,
or flies through the air, it is she
who nourishes them from her treasure-store.
Queen of Earth, through you
beautiful children
beautiful harvests,
come.
It is you who gives life to mortals,
and who take life away.
Blessed is the one you honour with a willing heart.
He who has this has everything.
His fields thicken with life-giving corn,
his cattle grow heavy in the pastures,
his house brims over with good things.
The men are masters of their city,
the laws are just,
the women are fair,
great riches and fortune follow them.
Their sons delight in the ecstasy of youth,
their daughters play,
in dances garlanded with flowers,
they skip happily on the grass,
over soft flowers.
It is you who honoured them,
sacred goddess, generous spirit.
Farewell mother of the gods,
bride of starry Heaven.
For my song, allow me a life
my heart loves.
And now I shall remember you
and another song too.
Homeric Hymn to Gaia XXX, translated by Jules Cashford.
I read this yesterday in my book and thought some of you might like it.
The Homeric Hymns were songs sung in ancient Greece, some were entertainment in and of themselves (the hymn to Demeter, the hymn to Hermes) and many were preludes to longer songs, or openings of contests. Many of them were wrote between the 7th and 6th century BCE.
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