40. For Eleusinian Demeter

Deo, divine mother of all, daimon
with many names, Demeter, nourisher
of the young and bestower of blessings,
wealth-granting goddess and giver of all,
nourisher of ears of grain, who delights
in peace and in hard work too, the sower,
thresher, who heaps up grain, and brings green fruit,
you dwell in Eleusis, in holy vales;
charming, lovely, who feeds all mortal things,
who first yoked cattle with sinew to plough,
and produced a lovely, prosperous life
for mortals, causing things to grow: Bright-famed,
you share your hearth with Bromios. Bearing
light, you rejoice in the scythes of summer.

You are terrestrial, you show yourself,
and you are kind to all. Blessed with child,
you love and nourish children, o holy
youth. And to bridled dragons, you yoke up
your chariot, and in whirls you conduct
them in frenzied circles around your throne.

Divine only daughter, but with many
children; to mortals, a mighty lady
of many forms, flowery and blooming.
Come, blessed and holy, heavy with the fruits
of summer, leading down peace and lovely
order, rich wealth, as well as queenly health.