Tea Poems

O Tea! Oh leaves torn from the sacred bough!
O stalk, gift born of the great gods!
What joyful region bore thee? In what part of the sky
Is the fostering earth swollen with your health,
Bringing increase.
Father Phoebus planted this stem in his eastern gardens.
Aurora, kind-hearted, sprinkled it with her own dew,
And commanded it to be called by her mother’s name,
Or called in accordance with the gift of the gods.

Thea was she called,
as if the gods bore gifts to the growing plant.
Comus brought joyfulness, Mars gave high spirits.
And thou, Coronide, dost make the draught
healthful.
Hebe, thou bearest a delay to wrinkles and old age.
Mercurius has bestowed the brilliance of his
active mind.
The muses have contributed lively song.