The local tyrant
rants and blusters and you are silenced
like a school of frightened neophytes
confronting the dead in holy rituals.
But I tell you, O citizens of Lesbos,
rise up and quench the smoldering logs
before their flames climb and consume you all
in total fire!
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Chicago: Willis Barnstone, "To the Mytilenians," Alkaios Original Sources, accessed July 2, 2025, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=3TM9TH2FZAYNEQS.
MLA: Barnstone, Willis. "To the Mytilenians." Alkaios, Original Sources. 2 Jul. 2025. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=3TM9TH2FZAYNEQS.
Harvard: Barnstone, W, 'To the Mytilenians' in Alkaios. Original Sources, retrieved 2 July 2025, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=3TM9TH2FZAYNEQS.