ADMETUS:Then in my dreams you’d come and go,
Making me glad; to see a loved face even in dreams
Brings pleasure, for as long as the illusion lasts.ἌΔΜΗΤΟΣ:ἐν δ᾽ ὀνείρασιν
φοιτῶσά μ᾽ εὐφραίνοις ἄν: ἡδὺ γὰρ φίλους
κἀν νυκτὶ λεύσσειν, ὅντιν᾽ ἂν παρῇ χρόνον.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Alcestis [Ἄλκηστις ], l. 354ff (438 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1974)]
(Source)
Telling Alcestis that, after she has died for him, he wants her to visit him in his dreams.
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:For visiting my dreams
Shalt thou delight me; for to see a friend
Is grateful to the soul, come when he will
Though an unreal vision of the night.
[tr. Potter (1781)]By visiting my dreams thou wilt delight me,
For it is grateful see those we love
At any hour, e'en in the midnight gloom.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]And in my dreams visiting me, thou mayst delight me, for a friend is sweet even to behold at night, for whatever time he may come.
[tr. Buckley (1858)]And, haunting me in dreams, thou may'st delight my heart; in stilly night
a darling sweet to see, whatever time it comes!
[tr. HBL (1884), l. 365ff]And coming oft
To see me in my dreams, thou'lt give me joy;
For sweet it is to see e'en in the night
The friend we love as long as he remains.
[tr. Cudworth (1888)]And thou wilt come to me in dreams and gladden me. For sweet it is to see our friends, come they when they will, e'en by night.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]In dreams shalt thou
Haunt me and gladden: sweet to see the loved,
Though but a fleeting presence night-revealed.
[tr. Way (1894)]Oh, visit me in my dreams, for thus
Thou wilt rejoice my heart, since sweet it is
To see one's friends if e'er they come at night.
[tr. Beloit College (1908)]And good dreams of thee will come
Like balm. ’Tis sweet, even in a dream, to gaze
On a dear face, the moment that it stays.
[tr. Murray (1915)]Often you will gladden me, appearing in my dreams; for sweet it is to look on those we love in dreams, however brief the night.
[tr. Aldington (1930)]Often, I think, in sleep you will come to me:
A sweet thing,
To revisit in dreams the dear dead that we loved.
[tr. Fitts/Fitzgerald (1936)]Then in my dreams you would come to cheer me; it is a comfort to see a dear face even in a dream, for as long as the vision lasts.
[tr. Vellacott (1953)]And perhaps you will cheer me by visiting me in dreams. For even in sleep it is pleasant to see loved ones for however long we are permitted.
[tr. Kovacs (1994)]In my dreams you would flit to and fro, bringing me joy' for joy it is to see a loved one, even in dreams, for as long as the vision lasts.
[tr. Davie (1996)]Wandering through my dreams, you will cheer me up; it is sweet
to see our loved ones even in the night, for however long they stay near.
[tr. Rabinowitz (1999)]And if you visit me in my dreams my joy will be even greater. It is a sweet thing to see one’s loved ones in dreams, even though it is for a short time.
[tr. Theodoridis (2008)]Coming in dreams
you could bring me pleasure. For it is sweet to see
dear ones even at night, for as long as they can stay.
[tr. Luschnig / Luschnig (2019)]
