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Almighty alway! many-namd!

most glorious of the deathless!

Jove, primal spring of nature, who

with Law directest all things!

Hail! for to bow salute to Thee,

to every man is holy.

For we from Thee an offspring are,

to whom, alone of mortals

That live and move along the Earth

the Mimic Voice is granted:

Therefore to Thee I hymns will sing,

and always chant thy greatness.

Subject to Thee is yonder Sky,

which round the Earth for ever

Majestic rolls at Thy command,

and gladly feels Thy guidance.

So mighty is the weapon, clenchd

within Thy hands unconquerd,

The double-edgd and fiery bolt

of ever living lightning.

For Nature through her every part

beneath its impulse shudders,

Whereby the universal Scheme

Thou guidest, which, through all thingsProceeding, intermingles deep

with greater lights and smaller.

When Thou so vast in essence art,

A king supreme for ever,

Nor upon Earth is any work

done without Thee, O Spirit!

Nor at the thers utmost height

divine, nor in the Ocean,

Save whatsoeer the infatuate

work out from hearts of evil.

But Thou by wisdom knowest well

to render Odd things even;Thou orderest Disorder, and

th Unlovely lovely makest.

Cleanthess Hymn to Zeusca. B.C.300.

Translation by F. W. Newman*

Forsohast Thou in one combind

the noble with the baser,

That of the Whole a single Scheme

arises, everlasting,

Which men neglect and overlook,

as many as are evil;

Unhappy! who good things to get

are evermore desiring,

While to the common Law of God

Nor eyes nor ears they open;

Obedient to which, they might

good life enjoy with wisdom.

But they, in guise unseemly, rush

this way and that, at random:

One part, in glorys chase engagd

with ill-contending passion,

Some, searching every path of gain,

of comeliness forgetful,

Others, on soft indulgence bent

and on the bodys pleasure,

While things right contrary to these

their proper action hastens.

But, Jove all-bounteous! who, in clouds

enwrapt, the lightning wieldest;Mayst thou from baneful Ignorance

the race of men deliver!

This, Father! scatter from the soul,

and grant that we the wisdom

May reach, in confidence of which

thou justly guidest all things;

That we, by Thee in honour set,

with honour may repay Thee,

Raising to all thy works a hymn

perpetual; as beseemeth

A mortal soul: since neither man

nor god has higher glory,

Than rightfully to celebrate

Eternal Law all-ruling.

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*Hymn to Jupiter, in The Soul, 3rd ed. (1852; Works, 2: 85-7).

The Francis William Newman Society 2008

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Most glorious of all the Undying! many-named girt round with awe,

Jove, author of Nature, applying to all things the rudder of the law;

Hail! Hail! for it justly rejoices the races whose life is a span

To lift unto Thee their voicesthe author and framer of man.

For to us Thy sons didst Thou give the echo of speech at our birth

Alone of the things that live and mortal move upon earth.

Wherefore thou shalt hear me extolling and always singing thy praise,

For Thee the great Universe rolling on its path round the world obeys,

Obeys Thee wherever Thou guidest and gladly is bound in Thy bands;

So great is the power Thou confidest, with strong immovable hands.

To Thy mighty ministering servant, the bolt of the thunder that flies

Two-edged like a sword and fervent, that is living and never dies.All Nature in fear and dismay doth quake in the path of its stroke,

What time Thou preparest a way for the new word Thy lips have spoke,

That blends with lights smaller and greater, and pervadeth and thrilleth all things,

Such, Jove, is Thy power and Thy nature, in the Universe highest of kings.

On earth, of all deeds that are done, O God, there is none without Thee,

In the holy ther not one, nor one on the face of the sea,

Save the deeds that evil men, driven by their own blind folly, have planned:

But the things that have grown uneven are made even again by Thy hand;

And things unseemly grow seemly, the unfriendly are friendly to Thee;

All things, good and evil, supremely thou has blent into one by decree.

For the whole thy decree is one ever, a word that endureth for aye.

That mortals rebellious endeavor to flee from and shun to obey:

Ill-fated, that, worn with proneness for the lordship of goodly things,Neither hear nor behold in its oneness the law that Divinity brings;

Which these with reason obeying might attain unto glorious life,

No longer aimlessly straying in the ways of ignoble strife;

Like the men with a zeal unblest, that are wearied with pursuit of fame,

Or those, with a baser quest, that are turned to lucre and shame.

There are men too that pamper and pleasure the flesh with delicate stings,

Yet all these desire beyond measure to be other than all these things.

O Jove, All-giver, dark-shrouded, great lord of the thunderbolts breath,

Deliver the men that are clouded with ignorance dismal as death.

O Father, dispel from their soul the darkness, and grant them the light

Of Reason, thy stay when the whole wide world thou rulest with right;

That we, being honored, may honor Thy name with the music of hymns,Extolling the deeds of the donor, unceasing, as rightly beseems

Mankind; for no worthier trust is awarded to gods or to man

Than forever to glory with justice in the law that endures and is one.

Translation by Tom Davidson*

The Francis William Newman Society 2008

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* Hymn to Jupiter, in Kleanths, The Radical 2 (August 1867): 726-31, 730-31.

Cleanthess Hymn to Zeusca. B.C.300.