Oh, if I had Orpheus' voice and poetry
with which to move the Dark Maid and her Lord,
I'd call you back, dear love, from the world below.
I'd go down there for you. Charôn or the grim
King's dog could not prevent me then
from carrying you up into the fields of light.
εἰ δ᾿ Ὀρφέως μοι γλῶσσα καὶ μέλος παρῆν,
ὥστ᾿ ἢ κόρην Δήμητρος ἢ κείνης πόσιν
ὕμνοισι κηλήσαντά σ᾿ ἐξ ᾌδου λαβεῖν,
κατῆλθον ἄν, καί μ᾿ οὔθ᾿ ὁ Πλούτωνος κύων
οὔθ᾿ οὑπὶ κώπῃ ψυχοπομπὸς ἂν Χάρων
ἔσχ᾿ ἄν, πρὶν ἐς φῶς σὸν καταστῆσαι βίον.
ὥστ᾿ ἢ κόρην Δήμητρος ἢ κείνης πόσιν
ὕμνοισι κηλήσαντά σ᾿ ἐξ ᾌδου λαβεῖν,
κατῆλθον ἄν, καί μ᾿ οὔθ᾿ ὁ Πλούτωνος κύων
οὔθ᾿ οὑπὶ κώπῃ ψυχοπομπὸς ἂν Χάρων
ἔσχ᾿ ἄν, πρὶν ἐς φῶς σὸν καταστῆσαι βίον.
Original text (Ancient Greek)
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Notes from Wikiquote
Had I the tongue, the tuneful yoice of Orpheus to charm Demeter's daughter or her husband by my lay and bring thee back from Hades, I had gone down, nor Pluto's hound, nor Charon, ferryman of souls, whose hand is on the oar, had held me back, till to the light I had restored thee alive. (tr. E. P. Coleridge, 1891)