XXVI A PRAYER TO PERSEPHONE
Mitchell S. (Mitchell Starrett) Buck translation
PURIFIED by the ritual ablutions, and clad in violet tunics, we have kissed toward the earth our hands laden with branches of olive.
“O Persephone of the Underworld, or whatever may be the name thou desirest, if this name is acceptable, hear us, O Shadowy-Haired, Queen sterile and unsmiling.
“Kokhlis, daughter of Thrasymakos, is ill, and dangerously. Do not call her yet. Thou knowest she cannot escape thee; one day, very late, thou shalt take her.
“But drag her not away so soon, O Dominatress invisible! For she weeps because of her virginity, she supplicates through our prayers, and we will give, for her deliverance, three black unshorn ewes.”