Hippocrene

English

Etymology

Ancient Greek Ἱπποκρήνη (Hippokrḗnē, literally “horse spring”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌhɪpəˈkɹiːni/, (poetic) /ˈhɪpəkɹiːn/

Proper noun

Hippocrene

1. (Greek mythology) A fountain on Mount Helicon, sacred to the Muses and formed by the hooves of Pegasus, the waters of which were supposed to give poetic inspiration when imbibed.
   • 1819, John Keats, “Ode to a Nightingale”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza 2, page 108:

     O for a beaker full of the warm South, / Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene, / With beaded bubbles winking at the brim, / And purple-stained mouth; […]

   • 1842, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Goblet of Life:

     Maddening draughts of Hippocrene.

Translations

Fountain on Mount Helicon

• French: Hippocrène (fr) f