53. For the God of Yearly Feasts

I call on Bakchos of the yearly feast,
the chthonic Dionysos, wakening
with the young nymphs having beautiful hair,
who, in Persephone’s sacred domain,
slumbers and puts to sleep every three years
the time for Bacchic revelry. And when
he himself wakes up the triennial
festival, he spins a hymn with fair-girt
nurses, putting to bed and then rousing
the spans of time in seasonal circles.
But, blessed and horned Bakchos yielding green fruit,
come to this ritual honoring all
gods, with a shining face and abounding
in fully ripe fruit for the sacrifice.