“Some men say an army of horse and some men say an arm on foot / and some men say an army of ships is the most beautiful thing / on the black earth. But I say it is / what you love.”

“Some say an army of horsemen, or infantry,A fleet of ships is the fairest thingOn the face of the black earth, but I sayIt's what one loves.”

“Some say an army of horsemen,some of footsoldiers, some of ships,is the fairest thing on the black earth,but I say it is what one loves.It's very easy to make this clearto everyone, for Helen,by far surpassing mortals in beauty,left the best of all husbandsand sailed to Troy,mindful of neither her childnor her dear parents, butwith one glimpse she was seduced byAphrodite. For easily bent...and nimbly...[missing text]...has reminded me nowof Anactoria who is not here;I would much prefer to see the lovelyway she walks and the radiant glance of her facethan the war-chariots of the Lydians ortheir footsoldiers in arms.”

“Some say thronging cavalry, some say foot soldiers, others call a fleet the most beautiful of sights the dark earth offers, but I say it's what- ever you love best.. . . .But that reminds me:now my Anactória is gone, and I'd rather see her lovely step, her sparkling glance and her face than gaze on all the troops in Lydia in their chariots and glittering armor.”

“...but I say whatever / one loves, is”

“someone will remember us I say even in another time”

“yet if you had a desire for good or beautiful thingsand your tongue were not concocting some evil to sayshame would not hold down your eyesbut rather you would speak about what is just”