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The body of a suspected Ebola victim lies in a street in the town of Koidu in eastern Sierra Leone: photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters via the Guardian, 20 December 2014
Loveliest of what I leave behind is the sunlight,
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κάλλιστον μὲν ἐγὼ λείπω φάος ἠελίοιο,
δεύτερον ἄστρα φαεινὰ σεληναίης τε πρόσωπον
ἠδὲ καὶ ὡραίους σικύους καὶ μῆλα καὶ ὄγχνας·
Praxilla of Sicyon (5th c, BC): Fragment 747; the fragment comes from a hymn to Adonis; these lines are spoken by Adonis, in response to a question from the shades in the underworld ("What was the most beautiful thing you left behind?"); English by Richard Lattimore in Greek Lyrics, 1960
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Mourners in Wellington, a western area of Freetown, pray before the body of a suspected Ebola victim is taken away for burial: photo by Sarah Boseley for The Guardian, 14 December 2014
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The carcass of a fin whale on Retamar beach in Almeria, Spain: photo by Equinac/Barcroft Media via The Guardian, 20 December 2014
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The carcass of a fin whale on Retamar beach in Almeria, Spain: photo by Equinac/Barcroft Media via The Guardian, 20 December 2014
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The body of a suspected Ebola victim lies in a street in the town of Koidu in eastern Sierra Leone: photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters via the Guardian, 20 December 2014
Loveliest of what I leave behind is the sunlight,
and loveliest after that the shining stars, and the moon's face,
but also cucumbers that are ripe, and pears, and apples.
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δεύτερον ἄστρα φαεινὰ σεληναίης τε πρόσωπον
ἠδὲ καὶ ὡραίους σικύους καὶ μῆλα καὶ ὄγχνας·
Praxilla of Sicyon (5th c, BC): Fragment 747; the fragment comes from a hymn to Adonis; these lines are spoken by Adonis, in response to a question from the shades in the underworld ("What was the most beautiful thing you left behind?"); English by Richard Lattimore in Greek Lyrics, 1960
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A grave-digger sleeps near the graves of Ebola victims at a cemetery in Freetown, Sierra Leone: photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters via the Guardian, 20 December 2014
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Quarantined homes on Smart Lane, Freetown, Sierra Leone: photo by Sarah Boseley for The Guardian, 13 December 2014
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Members of an ambulance service disinfect a room in a village 30 miles north of Monrovia, Liberia: photo by Jerome Delay/AP via The Guardian, 12 December 2014
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Mourners in Wellington, a western area of Freetown, pray before the body of a suspected Ebola victim is taken away for burial: photo by Sarah Boseley for The Guardian, 14 December 2014
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Family and friends of a man who died of suspected Ebola gather outside his house in Wellington, a western area of Freetown: photo by Sarah Boseley for The Guardian, 14 December 2014
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The carcass of a fin whale on Retamar beach in Almeria, Spain: photo by Equinac/Barcroft Media via The Guardian, 20 December 2014
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The carcass of a fin whale on Retamar beach in Almeria, Spain: photo by Equinac/Barcroft Media via The Guardian, 20 December 2014