Callimachus, Epigrams 30 (28?)
I hate cyclic poems, and I certainly don’t enjoy the road which leads many people here and there. I hate the wandering lover, and I never drink from a fountain. I hate all common things. Lysanias, you are beautiful – yes, beautiful! – but before the Echo can even resound clearly, someone says ‘Someone else already possesses him.’
᾿Εχθαίρω τὸ ποίημα τὸ κυκλικόν, οὐδὲ κελεύθῳ
χαίρω, τίς πολλοὺς ὧδε καὶ ὧδε φέρει·
μισέω καὶ περίφοιτον ἐρώμενον, οὐδ’ ἀπὸ κρήνης
πίνω· σικχαίνω πάντα τὰ δημόσια.
Λυσανίη, σὺ δὲ ναίχι καλὸς καλός—ἀλλὰ πρὶν εἰπεῖν
τοῦτο σαφῶς, ᾿Ηχώ φησί τις· ‘ἄλλος ἔχει.’
