As in
Carm. De Vita Sua:
Σταθμός τις
ἐστὶν ἐν
μέσῃ
λεωφόρῳ
Τῆς
Καππαδοκῶν
ὃς σχίζετ᾽
εἰς τρισσὴν
ὁδόν.
῎Ανυδρος,
ἄχλους, οὐδ᾽
ὅλως
ἐλεύθερος,
Δεινῶς
ἐπευκτὸν καὶ
στενὸν
κωμύδριον,
Κόνις τὰ
πάντα, καὶ
ψόφοι, σὺν
ἅρμασι,
Θρῆνοι,
στεναγμοὶ,
πράκτορες,
στρέβλαι,
πέδαι·
Λαὸς δ᾽ ὅσοι
ξένοι τε καὶ
πλανώμενοι,
Αὕτη
Σασίμων τῶν
ἐμῶν
ἐκκλησία.
[N.B.—The last line marks the
quantity.]
“A post town on the king’s
high road,
Where three ways meet, is my abode;
No brooklet, not a blade of grass,
Enlivens the dull hole, alas!
Dust, din, all day; the creak of
wheels;
Groans, yells, the exciseman at
one’s heels
With screw and chain; the population
A shifting horde from every nation.
A viler spot you long may search,
Than this Sasima, now my
church!”