Parmenides, Fragment I
Horses carry me as far as my longing can reach,
Transport me to the many-voiced road of the Goddess
That carries the one who listens through vast silence.
On that way I am carried, for the very wise horses
Know where to go. They pull the chariot at full gallop,
And maidens lead the way. An axle blazes
In its sockets—urged forward at both ends by its whirling
Wheels—sends forth the eerie sound of a whistle
You hear traveling to the other world. These young
Women, daughters of the sun, as they leave the house
Of night, throw back veils from their faces with their
Hands, and hasten to convey me into the light.
There stand the gates of the ways of Night and Day,
Enclosed with a lintel above and a stone threshold below.
These ethereal gates themselves are covered
With great doors whose alternating bolts are held fast
By Diké, goddess of Justice, who lets nothing past her.
Speaking gentle words, the maidens cunningly
Persuade her to swiftly push back the bolted holder
From the great doors. As those gates fly open, they spin
On their bronze axles fitted by nails and rivets,
Turn in their sockets—one then the other—to make
A wide opening. Straight through them the maidens
Guide the chariot and horses along the broad way.
The Goddess welcomes me warmly, takes my right hand
With her right hand, addresses me and speaks this story:
“O youth, linked with immortal charioteers
And with horses carrying you to our home,
Welcome! It is not at all an evil fate
Sending you forth to come this way, far
From the beaten path of humans, but rather
It is your nature, the order of things,
And your deep urge to listen.
“It is necessary that you hear all things, both
The un-trembling heart of well-rounded truth
And the opinions of mortals, which hold no true belief.
“Nevertheless, you will listen to these also,
How it is necessary that things as they appear
Be acceptable, as they continually penetrate all things.”
Horses carry me as far as my longing can reach,
Transport me to the many-voiced road of the Goddess
That carries the one who listens through vast silence.
On that way I am carried, for the very wise horses
Know where to go. They pull the chariot at full gallop,
And maidens lead the way. An axle blazes
In its sockets—urged forward at both ends by its whirling
Wheels—sends forth the eerie sound of a whistle
You hear traveling to the other world. These young
Women, daughters of the sun, as they leave the house
Of night, throw back veils from their faces with their
Hands, and hasten to convey me into the light.
There stand the gates of the ways of Night and Day,
Enclosed with a lintel above and a stone threshold below.
These ethereal gates themselves are covered
With great doors whose alternating bolts are held fast
By Diké, goddess of Justice, who lets nothing past her.
Speaking gentle words, the maidens cunningly
Persuade her to swiftly push back the bolted holder
From the great doors. As those gates fly open, they spin
On their bronze axles fitted by nails and rivets,
Turn in their sockets—one then the other—to make
A wide opening. Straight through them the maidens
Guide the chariot and horses along the broad way.
The Goddess welcomes me warmly, takes my right hand
With her right hand, addresses me and speaks this story:
“O youth, linked with immortal charioteers
And with horses carrying you to our home,
Welcome! It is not at all an evil fate
Sending you forth to come this way, far
From the beaten path of humans, but rather
It is your nature, the order of things,
And your deep urge to listen.
“It is necessary that you hear all things, both
The un-trembling heart of well-rounded truth
And the opinions of mortals, which hold no true belief.
“Nevertheless, you will listen to these also,
How it is necessary that things as they appear
Be acceptable, as they continually penetrate all things.”
